Journal 8-Class Review

Journal 8 – Class Review

 

First of all, I would like to start by saying that I took ENC 1101 in 1997.  The following term, I registered for ENC 1102, but had to withdraw for personal reasons.  I have done everything in my power since that time to avoid taking ENC 1102 due to the fact that I despise writing research papers.  As this is my final class that was necessary to graduate, I was forced to take the class.  That being said, I am so happy that I waited to take ENC 1102 and was able to take this particular class.  I thoroughly enjoyed all the film screenings.  Each one was so meaningful and thought provoking.  The thing that I liked most about the class was actually two items.  I liked the peer critique process and getting immediate feedback on my paper.  Second, I am now a blogger!  I learned how to set up and post to a blog.  It is so awesome to be able to read my other classmates thoughts on their blogs.  The OWL website was a wonderful tool.  I will use that site from this point forward for all future writings.  The only things that I would change, or at the very least maybe modify, is the blog review tracking process and the peer critique sheets.  There should be some sort of spread sheet built into blackboard with pertinent tracking information that would make it easier to keep track of all the blog reviews completed for both the student and the teacher.  Some of the questions to answer on the peer critique sheets, seemed a little difficult to understand or slightly cumbersome. 

Overall, I thought the class was wonderful.  This new format is like a breath of fresh air to the old
ENC 1102 research paper format.  Thank you Professor Warren.  It was an outstanding class!

Waiting for Superman - Education Essay

Janet Dodd

ENC 1102

Professor Kelly Warren

April 16, 2013

 

Waiting for “Superman –Our Education System

 

     “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”  Willliam Arthur Ward said a mouthful in that quote.  How do we identify and reward these “great teachers?” Our education system is broken and we have no clue how to fix it. There are so many problems, where do we start?  We must look at the most important factors that influence a child’s performance in school; parents and family, standardized testing and most importantly teachers. Each factor has a huge impact on a child and can greatly affect them all the way from grade school into college.

     Parents play the most important role in a child’s life and education. Parents essentially set the baseline for a child’s development and learning.  If a child is taught at a pre-school age, the importance of school attendance, homework, paying attention in class, and performance, it will be instilled in them throughout their school years. However, parents do have to play their part in their child’s education.  As parent’s, it is our responsibility to be a role model for our children and stay active and involved in all aspects of their learning. “Daily assistance with homework and attitude toward school has the biggest impact on your child’s performance.” (Standardized, Scholastic.com) Whether it is meeting with teachers, attending school functions or just assisting them with their homework and reading at home, it is our job to keep our children involved and engaged. When my son started pre-kindergarten, it was brought to my attention that he was disrupting the class so much so that some type of action had to be taken.  The teacher was unable to effectively teach the class.  At first, I was in disbelief.  I thought, she can’t be talking about my son, he is so sweet.  I had not heard any negative reports about my son until the day that the director asked to speak to me. The next day, I observed my son from the hallway. While the class sat at the carpet for reading at circle time, he just stood up and went to the other side of the class to do his own thing. The teacher was unable to get him to stay on the carpet or sit still.  She spent the entire reading time trying to get my son to sit with the class.  I could see how this was unfair to the other children. I called my Pediatrician.  We had my son evaluated and he was diagnosed with ADHD.  It is a new experience everyday to find ways to keep my son engaged and interested in his school work. This is my job as a parent. At this time, my son is being tested for gifted classes.

    

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     However, parent’s can only do so much to keep children on task.  How do we know if children are retaining the necessary information that will be needed throughout their school years?  Schools have standardized tests that are suppose to measure how much a child has retained and if they have a basic understanding of what has been taught. “Now that the No Child Left Behind Act federally mandates and regulates state testing for elementary and middle schoolers, standardized tests play a major role in today’s schooling.”(Standardized,Scholastic.com).  These tests are designed to successfully test a child’s retention of the knowledge and to assure that they have what is needed to be promoted.  However, there are several factors that can affect a child’s performance and score. “The conditions in the classroom, how well the school curriculum fits the material, whether she had a good night’s sleep, and her test-taking ability can all affect her score.”(Standardized, Scholastic.com)

     Although these standardized tests can provide information as to where schools need to focus their curriculum, it is important that the tests alone provide the entire learning picture. Teachers play a critical role in our children’s education and future.  A study conducted by economists Raj Chetty and John N. Friedman of Harvard and Jonah E Rockoff of Columbia found that “second only to parents, are the most important part of a child’s education. Great teachers make a great difference; poor teachers hurt a child’s like chances.”(Bennett, CNN.com)  “A good teacher not only improves a child’s test scores in the classroom, but also enhances his or her chances to attend college and earn more money,” (Bennett, CNN.com) according to this study.

     Knowing this, what do we do to get more “great teachers?”  We reward them for doing a “great” job. According to the documentary, Waiting for “Superman”, “one out of every 57 doctors loses their license to practice medicine, one out of every 97 lawyers loses their license to practice law, and only one out of every 100 teachers is fired for performance-related reasons” The biggest problem is the tenure.  Tenure is the practice of guaranteeing a teacher their job.  If a teacher has tenure, essentially it doesn’t matter how they perform as long as they show up to work.  If a teacher does not care about their job, how can they effectively teach students?  “In 2009, no state required student performance to be the central to whether a teacher is awarded tenure’ today eight states do.”(States, USA Today.com) Essentially, great teachers should be rewarded and bad teachers should be fired.  Seems simple enough right?  Unfortunately, the adults who run the teachers unions, administrators, and some of the teachers themselves, have forgotten what is the most important thing about all of this; the children.  Thankfully, many states have realized that tenured teachers are a huge problem and are working to correct it.  “Eleven states now require districts to consider teacher performance when deciding who to let go.”(States USA Today.com) We must continue these changes to remind the “bad teachers” that they have lost sight of what they went to school to do; teach.

      

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     On the other hand without tenure, teachers could be might hesitant to express new ideas or different ways of teaching for fear of being labeled outcast or worse, losing their job.  In an existing system, people of fearful of change.  As in any job, subordinates can’t always feel free to express themselves.  This is what tenure was designed for; protection of teachers.  Unfortunately, it now needs to be changed and updated to accommodate the “bad” teachers or “lemons.”

     So how do we fix our broken education system? There is not one solution, but a combination of many.  First, as parents, we must continue to help our children stay on the right path and provide the baseline for learning that our children need at home. Secondly, review standardized tests to be sure that they alone do not determine the ability of a child.  Standardized tests should be only be a tool if properly used. These tests should not be administered by the teachers, but by a not-biased third party to eliminating cheating by teachers. Next, eliminate bad teachers.  They can be detrimental to a child’s education.  Finally, reward great teachers.  A great teacher can have the biggest impact on a child.  Bottom line, the children are the future of our nation and need all the help that can we can provide them.  Don’t you agree?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Works Cited

 

“Standarized Tests/Prepare and Interpret Results”            http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/study-skills-test-taking/standardized-tests-prepare-and-interpret-results, accessed 4/14/13

Bennett, William J., “The Lasting Impact of Good Teachers, http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/11/opinion/bennett-good-teachers , updated 1/11/12, accessed 4/14/13

“States Weaken Tenure Rights for Teachers” , http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2012-01-25/teacher-tenure-rights-firings/52772354/1, posted 1/25/12/updated 1/25/12; dated accessed 4/14/13

 

 

Journal 7 - Education Essay - Waiting for "Superman"

I am so glad that we watched this film.  This is a subject that I am definately passionate about.  Being a single parent of a six year old, serverly ADHD boy, I am very interested in his education.  I have always felt that the right teacher can make or break a child's ambition and goals.  I have experienced this myself two times over my life.  There are many factors that affect a child's education; parents, teachers, friends, moral and religious upbringing and environment.
Any one of these factors can greatly influence a child's education and sway them one way or the other.  The legislation surrounding teachers is changing for the better everyday and will continue to do so.  Items to discuss: tenured teachers and how to eliminate the bad ones, how to reward the good teachers, how to enhance the effectiveness of good teachers, and how to keep parents involved. These are our challenges.

Miss Representation - Effects of Media

Janet Dodd

April 2, 2013

Enc 1102

 

Miss Representation – Effects of Media

 

     What are we doing to teach our children, both girls and boys how to have more confidence, self worth and to be good upstanding adults? The answer is not enough. Today’s society has gotten away from the core family values that children need to start down the right path in life. In order to even attempt to correct the way women are viewed, then we should start with the children. Children should be taught good morals, manners, and religion.  If we instill these values in the children from the beginning, they will take it with them throughout life.  This is a huge problem in our world today.  We have bullies in schools, young people taking guns and killing other children, curse words flying out of mouths as if it is gospel, and overall no respect for themselves, or others.  You must respect and love yourself before you can love and respect others.

     How many times have you heard the saying, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?”  There is much truth in that statement.  Parents are not teaching their children to be respectful of others.  Laurence Sterne said, “Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners.”  Morals is defined by the google dictionary as “a lesson, especially one concerning what is right or prudent, that can be derived from a story, a piece of information, or an experience. A person's standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and is not

acceptable for them to do.”  It goes on further to define morality as “Principles concerning the

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distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.”  It is our jobs as parents to teach good morals and morality to our children to make them good, functioning, happy and healthy adults. No one has time to sit down and spend quality time with their children to start them on the right path in life.  We let our children watch television, play violent video games on whatever electronic device is handy and basically tend to themselves.  I observed my son one day while I was cleaning house for about an hour.  Within that time, he played on his Nintendo 3DS, my cell phone and my Kindle.  When I asked him to put them away and go play in his room, he acted as if I was taking away an appendage. I do monitor the television that my child watches and the games that he plays, however none of my friends do this with their children. They mock me and make fun of my restrictions on my son. I have been at a friend’s house and heard her son from his bedroom with the door closed screaming in anger at the television screen because he could not kill all the people in Halo.  What are these violent video games teaching him about how to treat other people. I don’t have a daughter, and frankly would be terrified to raise one in this society.  Children are not automatically born with the knowledge or the life experience necessary to make good choices.  It is our job as parents to teach them, by monitoring their behavior and how they interact with others, screening what they watch on television and the games they play, and setting good examples. 

     By teaching our children about morals and manners, we are also teaching them about self worth.  They must be taught to love and respect themselves and others. This can be something as simple as saying, “yes mam, no mam, yes sir and no sir.  Manners and respect are synonamus. “Teach your child to respect themselves. Self-respect is one of the most important forms of respect. Once we respect ourselves, it is easier to respect others”(McChesney, Respect). People

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comment to me all the time about how polite my son is.  When others notice, you know that you are doing something right. Children will take these lessons into their adult lives and will respect others as adults.  Boys will be respectful of girls.  Many parents do not realize the effect of such small things on the children throughout their lives.  Small things can make a huge impact well into adulthood and how others are viewed.  My niece is a very good example of a low self worth brought about by the effects of childhood. Her parents divorced when she was four.  It was an extremely messy divorce and constant fighting even today, all in front of the children.  The mother lost custody and was a horrible example for her daughter.  When she visited her mother, there were no boundaries or guidelines for the mother or herself. Her mother did not lead by example. When my neice turned eighteen, she lied to her father to get to spend the night at a friend’s house for the weekend and hitched a ride to Gainesville, quit school with only six months left before graduation and now lives with an older boy who is listed as a pedofile. She refuses to listen to anyone in our family. She has no job, no personal belongings other than the clothes on her back and no prospect for the future.  She has no self worth.  Who knows what she could have accomplished, had she been taught morality and self worth by her mother at an early age.

     Manners, morality, self worth are lessons needed early in life as well as a religious foundation.  We have gotten away from the very values that our country was founded on.  The Pledge of Allegiance states, “one nation, under God,” however few households have any type of religious belief system established. Philip Yancey writes in his paper on religion, “U.S. courts today take pains to decide the merits of a case apart from religion or natural law…what possible grounds the Court might rule against polygamy today or incest, or pederasty, for that matter.  All

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of these moral taboos derive from a religious base; take away that foundation, and why should the practices be forbidden” (Yancey, Religion)?  He is correct. Without the religious foundation there would be nothing to dispute.  A solid religious background and maintained religious upbringing, sets children on the right path in life. “Whatever your views on religion this is something that will dictate a lot of how your child views life. When you believe in a higher purpose or a certain God or reason for creation this then gives you a moral compass and a right and wrong way to live life” (Danish, Parenting/Health Guidance). They learn right from wrong, they learn about family, how to treat others and most importantly to believe in a higher power and lead a good way of life.

     Our children are our future.  It is up to us as parents to teach them and provide them all the tools that they need to go forward and have a well structured life.  If we teach them to respect and love themselves they will respect and love others.  If we teach them that having good morals and manners are important, they will have good morality.  If we teach them to have a sense of self worth, they will.  It is our most important job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Works Cited

 

     McChesney, Steve, “Respect-How to Teach It and How to Show it”, www.tech-nology.com, 1999-2012, date accessed April 7, 2013; http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/teaching/respect/

     Yancey, Philip, “Religion is Essential to a Moral Society”, taomon34.tripod.com, date accessed April 2, 2013; http://taomon34.tripod.com/yancey.htm

     Danish, Elizabeth, “Teaching Your Child About Religion”, www.healthguidance.org, date accessed April 7, 2013; http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/15830/1/Teaching-Your-Child-About-Religion.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journal 6-Miss Representation-Effects of Media

The movie Miss Representation made me think about many different things.  After watching the video, my head started swimming thinking about things like how women are viewed in the media, in politics, in entertainment, and overall in general.  There are several factors that I believe may contribute to this and they involve young people, both male and female.  Lack of parental involvement at home, lack of religion, lack of manners and morals being taught both at home and at school, and maybe event the fact the parents are getting younger and younger.  Let's face it, it is difficult to instill morals in a child, if you are a child yourself.  We have taken religion out of schools and politics and it has all but disappeared from the home as well. 
Young people are not being taught to have self respect much less respect for others.  I am extremely thankful not to have had a daughter.  I have no idea how I would have been able to deal with raising a daughter in this disrespectful world.  I have a six year old son and I am trying my very best to instill morals, manners, values, and a good religious foundation in him.  This world has so much negative and maybe if we can start with the kids are young, we might be able to make things different.  After all, the children are the future.

Janet Dodd

ENC 1102

Kelly Warren

March 18, 2013

 

Food Waste in America

 

     We have all had our mothers tell us at some point, “you need to eat all of your food; there are starving children in Africa.”  The truth is not only is there starving children in Africa, but all over the world.  There are people starving every day right here in the United States.  America is a wasteful society. Food waste is one of the biggest and most urgent problems in our world today. There are many things that could be done to work towards solving or at the very least, minimizing this situation.  Things like food waste recycling, lowering our food standards to avoid waste, food donations, and just limiting our food purchases and consumption could reduce the waste produced by a great degree. If we do not get control of this problem, the waste will take over.   

     According to the Food Recovery Network website, “1 in 6 Americans or more than 49 million people, don’t know where their next meal is coming from. 1 in 4 American children are in this category.”  Most of us have never had to worry about where our next meal would come from. Turn on any news show and nine times out of ten you will see some type of reporting about obesity in America. It has been instilled upon us since we were old enough to understand that we should not waste food. However with bigger meal portions and the option of “upsizing or super-sizing” your meal at restaurants, it is no wonder why we have such a problem in this country with food waste regardless of what we were told growing up. Dana Gunders, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s food and agriculture program said, “As a county, we’re essentially tossing every other piece of food that crosses our path, that is money and precious resources down the drain.”  The NRDC’s report stated that, “Americans discard 40 percent of the food supply every year.” How is this possible?  Where is our country heading?
Who will step up and work towards a solution?  We could start by doing the basic things; eat less, and we will in turn waste less.

     Where is the food waste coming from?  We can follow the path that food takes from growth to consumption to track the waste.  According to an article from the Washington Post.Com called “How the U.S. Manages to Waste $165 Billion in Food Each Year”  it starts with farming, post-harvesting and packing, processing and distribution and then continues to retail and grocery stores, food service restaurants and households, then finally at disposal…. Food crops can go

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unharvested for a variety of reasons, insufficient demand for the product, insufficient workers for the field, and food safety scares by the FDA.                                                                                       

     Once the crops are harvested, they are sorted to ensure they meet minimum standards.  Then the problem turns to processing and distributing.  Food must be stored in proper containers and proper temperatures to be sent out for distribution. Otherwise, it must be discarded.  “If there’s a culprit here, it’s our high aesthetic standards for food.” (The Washington Post-Plumer 2012).

     There are alternatives to wasting tons of food, we must be open to implementing the possible solutions.  One way is to cut back on our food purchases and consumption. “Just a 15 percent reduction in losses in the U.S. food supply would save enough to feed 25 million Americans annually.”(Huffington Post) Another solution is food donation.  The Food Recovery Network is a program that has been established in many colleges and universities where student volunteers take the left-over food from the dining hall after closing and take it to nearby shelters and food banks where it is then distributed to people in need. “Recovering just 15% of wasted food would be enough to feed 25 million people.”(Food Recovery Network).  Per the Food Recovery Network website, they only have chapters in 7 college campuses. 75% of American colleges don’t have a food recovery program(Food Recovery Network).  The best solution is food waste recycling. However, implementing a food waste recycling program can be a bit costly, but well worth the cost. When food waste is recycled, it can be turned into compost that could be then sold back to farmers. “An average single-family household throws away about 45 pounds of food scraps and food-soiled paper every month-around 25% of total trashed materials!”(Sierra Club). The food waste that can be recycled to be later turned into compost can consist of: food scraps, food-soiled paper products, milk and juice cartons, egg cartons(paper not styrofoam), boxes from frozen and refrigerated foods, waxed paper and paper containers, coffee filters and tea bags and other compostable items (full vacuum cleaner bags, dryer lint, tissues, cotton balls, floral trimmings, and household plants).  By recycling the food waste, we could greatly reduce the amount of waste produced and reduce the amount of debris going into our landfills daily.

     With all the good that can be done with these options, why wouldn’t everyone just do it?  There is a cost associated with every change, not only monetarily, but also, time and personnel.  Why shouldn’t all grocery and retail stores donate their, “near expiration date” food to shelters and food banks instead of tossing it in the dumpster?  It has to be packed up, delivered and stored.  What would stop the average American to not purchase food in the store and wait until it gets near expiration and then simply ask for it?  No purchase involved and no profit made.  The store would lose money.  The recycling program is the same.  A place would need to be set aside to develop the compost, people and trucks to pick up the road-side containers, thereby increasing tax dollars spent in the community. No matter what the cost associated, isn’t doing the right thing and saving our environment worth it?

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      There are millions of starving people in the United States and yet we still waste thousands of pounds of food every day.  Why can’t the food waste be donated?  Why can’t we set up curb side food waste recycling programs? We could do any number of things to help our country other than waste food. The next time that you go shopping, think about the amount of food that is wasted and thrown out and ask yourself, what can I do to help reduce food waste and in turn help ourselves and our country?

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Works Cited

 

“Food Waste: Americans Throw Away Nearly Half Their Food, $165 Billion Annually, Study Says”,

www. Huffington Post.com, August 21, 2012; accessed March 11, 2013: Web,      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/food-waste-americans-throw-away-food-study_n_1819340.html

 

Brad Plumer; “How the U.S. Manages to Waste $165 Billion in Food Each Year”,

www.washingtonpost .com, Updated August 22, 2012; accessed March 11, 2012: Web, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/08/22/how-food-actually-gets-wasted-in-the-united-states/

 

Scott Learn; “Portland Ready to Test Recycling Residents’ Kitchen Scraps; Oregon Live. Com;

February 03, 2010, updated October 29, 2011; accessed March 12, 2012; Web;    http://blog.oregonlive.com/environment_impact/print.html?entry=/2010/02/portland_ready to_test_collect.html

 

“Curbside Food Waste Collection – A Growing Trend”,  Sierra Club Green Home; accessed March 12,

2013; Web; http://www.sierraclubgreenhome.com/go-green/curbside-food-waste-collection-a- growing-trend/

 

Grzeskowiak, By Jennifer. "ON THE CUTTING EDGE." Waste Age. 01 Mar. 2005 eLibrary. Web. 11 Mar.

     2013

 

http://www.foodrecoverynetwork.org/about-us/our-work/; Accessed March 12, 2013; Web

 

 

Journal 5-"Dive!"

I have thought about the video that we watched and wondered if I could or would ever do that.  Many thoughts have crossed my mind.  What would it take for me to jump into a dumpster and dig?  I have a six year son and I am pretty sure that as a mother, I would do whatever would be necessary to provide for my son.  I have a pretty good job right now and make a decent salary, however there has been a time when I was unemployed and had an extremely limited income.  I  have been able to provide for my child on both incomes, although I am unsure how.  I also started thinking about trying what they did in the video, by calling various stores and asking about them donating the food at the close of business, before going in the dumpster.  But from the store's perspective, what would keep people from not shopping at the store and just coming in at the close of business and getting their food.  There would be no need to shop in the strore.  Just thinking.......