Writting 100 final blog

I have really enjoyed writting 100 class. It has been a long time since I had to write a paper, so the paper assignments were the toughest for me to get back into the swing of it. I really enjoyed writting blogs. In the begining I didn't think I would enjoy writting blogs because I wasn't really sure that I would have enough to say in them. Writting blogs helped me with free writting. I am much better at writting when I have a specific topic to write about. My favorite part about the semester was readying "God, Dr Buzzard, and the Bolito Man". That book was interesting to me and I learned to look more at big pictures and not just what is happening around me. I enjoyed getting comments on my papers because it helped me develope talent.

<div class="prezi-player"><style type="text/css" media="screen">.prezi-player { width: 550px; } .prezi-player-links { text-align: center; }</style><object id="prezi_g4yt5m7ixogj" name="prezi_g4yt5m7ixogj" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="550" height="400"><param name="movie" value="http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf"/><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"/><param name="allowFullScreenInteractive" value="true"/><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/><param name="wmode" value="direct"/><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"/><param name="flashvars" value="prezi_id=g4yt5m7ixogj&amp;lock_to_path=0&amp;color=ffffff&amp;autoplay=no&amp;autohide_ctrls=0"/><embed id="preziEmbed_g4yt5m7ixogj" name="preziEmbed_g4yt5m7ixogj" src="http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowFullScreenInteractive="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="550" height="400" bgcolor="#ffffff" flashvars="prezi_id=g4yt5m7ixogj&amp;lock_to_path=0&amp;color=ffffff&amp;autoplay=no&amp;autohide_ctrls=0"></embed></object><div class="prezi-player-links"><p><a title="God, Dr. Buzzard and the Bolito Man" href="http://prezi.com/g4yt5m7ixogj/god-dr-buzzard-and-the-bolito-man/">God, Dr. Buzzard and the Bolito Man</a> on <a href="http://prezi.com">Prezi</a></p></div></div>

Woman Role Models

Having women role models is a very important thing for a child growing up. Growing up I only really rememeber having one role model which was my mom. My mom was a single parent trying to raise two of us. There were often times that we had to deal with out television so I didn't really have access to another role model. I learned from her to be very independent, work hard, and go after anything I want. Today it basicly stays the same. I have television but there is still only one role model. I feel that todays media is not the only reason for lack of woman leaders. Having strong women in media might help encourage woman leaders but I feel the main source of encouragement should be at home or friends. Parents should explain to children that the media doesn't not portray how society is and that it is fiction. Having a strong parent or set of parents around to provide the strength and capabilities is what creates leaders of both sexes. Media doesn't create or fail to create leaders its how the media is used to teach children.

Sapelo Island

Sapelo Island
The Geechee people have a very strong connection to their land. Not only have their families lived there for many generations but the enitre family works hard on the land care for it and to grow crops. I don't feel like there are any connections with my family and land. My mom and her husband of moved to 5 different houses in the past, and my dad and his wife have moved a few times too. As soon as someone in the family passes away the first thing people think of is getting rid of everything inside so they can sell the house and move on. There is nothing that is passes down from family to family in different generations. I do not even know if my family has  ancestral land. I guess it affects my identity because I am not a 100% sure where I come from. To the Geechee people their land is the base of their whole life. There is really nothing that is more important to them. Their culture and way of life supports that. If they don't live there it changes who they are. In the book it talks about how papa is not himself once they move to Hog Hammock. He did what he had to do for his family but it changed him. His happiness was not the same. The article talks about how the government is trying to push out the Geechee people. The Geechee people fight so hard because they feel like they are basically one with their land.

Paper

Lauren Helffrich               

Professor Eileen Brumitt

Writing 100

                                                                Effect Demographic Location has on Education.

                Education in America is not the same everywhere you go, it varies on type of city, type of teachers, the teacher union, and the view of potential the students has. A big effect of the type of education you receive depends on the demographic area you live in. Jean Anyons “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum” and Paolo Freire’s “The Banking Concept of Education” help to explain how the demographic area of a school district, whether in the suburbs or city, determines how the students are tracked and the type of education they receive.

Growing up in the suburb of Kutztown is entirely different experiences that growing up in a big school like Parkland. Kutztown High School has three main types of high school classes you can take. There are the college prep students that aim to continue their education after high school, the vo-tech students that are hoping to start a basic career right out of high school by learning the basics requirements early, and there are the agriculture students who are children of farmers and are assumed to continue the “family business” and tradition by helping on the farm. Students at schools closer to the city with a larger population do not have classes for agriculture. Parkland for example is a school with a good education that has more options available.  At school districts like this, there are more art, music, business classes available for students. It is not that some of those classes are there for students in suburbs, however at schools like Kutztown it is encouraged to participate in agriculture to keep the community into farming. Students in school districts that track to keep the community enriched in the same culture and that is not open to change, inhibit student’s educational growth. If children choose to follow their parents footsteps it should be just that, their choice. Farmers sons and daughters should have that option available however they should also have the option to take other classes and experience on a small scale what else is out there and other roads of opportunity.  Schools should not be making the decisions for our next generation.

                The way the students are taught affects their education. The demographic location of schools, affects the type of students that are attending there. Larger suburb schools tend to have a population of adults that have better paying jobs. Schools located more in the city have a population of lower income. The use of the “banking” concept is more commonly known in the lower income schools. Paolo Freire explains what the “banking concept” is and how it affects students. “This is the “banking” concept of education, in which the scope of action allowed to the students extends only as far as receiving, filling, and storing the deposits (Freire 368). Using the description Anyon gives us of the various classes of education. The main classes of education are the working class school, the middle class school, the executive elite school and the affluent professional school.  The “banking” concept is not allowing the students to debate information they are given and understanding the reason behind it. Most students that are taught by the “banking” theory might know the answer to a question, however they may not understand why the answer is what it is and the thought process behind it. They will not be able to think for themselves without direction. The “banking” concept would be more likely found in working class and middle schools. Kutztown is a school that focus a majority of its effort toward the agricultural aspect of its classes. There is not a lot of pressure put on for the college prep courses. Kutztown would fall into the Middle-Class School. There are teachers her that use the “banking” concept. Many of the staff at Kutztown, have also come from small schools and talk at the students. The main goal is fill the students head with the required knowledge. There are not high expectations of students to become great inventors or creators. The thought is only half (if lucky) will continue education. Parkland High School is known to be more focused on the arts and embracing the students creativeness. There are still teachers that will use the “banking” theory to try to just get students by and fill their head with enough information to pass state tests. There are more options for students to choice from to do with their future. The students are able to express themselves. Parkland would fall into Executive Elite School. “A primary goal of thought is to conceptualize rules by which elements may fit together in systems and then to apply these rules in solving a problem (Anyon 8). The way a student is taught effects they type of career have and the life they are given.  

                Although there are state regulations and government regulations, not every school is teaching their students the same way.  There have been many programs that have been tested to try and fix current problems with education. The problem is that everyone has different opinion on what is wrong with the education system so there is no clear answer of what to do to fix the education or how it should run. There are many differences between school districts because of the demographic area of the schools , they type of teachers they employ, the stereotype that the school is under. Students are the ones that pay the consequences. The area that a student lives, does not affect how smart they are, therefore they should all be able to have the same options available to them. Having Jean Anyon and Paolo Freire to help show explain the exactly how the demographic area of a school affects how the students are tracked and the type of education they receive.

Interview.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Jacquelyn. Jacquelyn  grew up in North Hampton, moved to Whitehall, and now currently lives in Allentown with her boyfriend Jarid. They have been together six years. She is the middle child. She has an older brother named Eric who is in the National Guard. He has traveled to Iraq where is his job was to drive a tank and detonate bombs that are on the street. She also has a younger brother Matthew who wants to join the Marines. Jacquelyn has two dogs, Stevey and O’rion

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Jaquelyn plays piano and flute. The grandparents encourage the entire family to get into music. Her older brother Eric is a musical genius. Jaquelyn is currently learning Spanish. She wanted to learn another language that was more unique however she figures that Spanish is language that would benefit her the most to know.  After high school Jaquelyn started going to Bloomsburg University. She attended for a year, and then decided to leave because they didn’t have the major she wanted. At that time she was looking to go to school for Sign and Interpretation. Jaquelyn currently works full time at Fresenious Medical Care. She has been there for three years and spends her days verifying health insurance. She has decided to come to Cedar Crest College to receive her degree in social work. She wishes to use this degree towards a promotion at work. Although she enjoys what she does at work, her true passion is horses. Ever since Jaquelyn was a child she has gone horseback riding and even had a summer job in high school taking care of them. Twelve hour days and taking care of 30 horses was what she loved. She loved her job so much that she would work straight through the summer without a lot of days off.  The horse she rides every week is named Taffy. Even though Jaquelyn loves being with horses, it is not always easy. Along with the joy and relaxation that comes with riding horses, it has also brought broken bones. Jaquelyn has broken her foot and ribs. The worst accident experience was when she fell off of her horse while jumping over a bench.  If she could have any job in the world it would be a horse trainer, unfortunately, generic knee problems prevent that from happening. If Jaquelyn could go anywhere in the world she would travel to China and Ireland.

Teacher Unions

I always thought that teacher unions were there to help the system and the people in it. Watching "Waiting for Superman" really opened my eyes. I always know that teachers at colleges could get tenured into a school. Watching the video has really opened my eyes as how that is such a horrible thing expecially for teachers in elementary, midddle and high schools. I beleive that there are a lot of teachers out there that are tenured and feel like they don't have to work anymore or make sure that the students are learning what they are supposed to be. They go home with a paycheck no matter what the student goes home with so what does it matter to them. Tenured should be taken away from teachers in those schools. I teacher should always care what they are teaching the children like they are their own. The most disturbing part to me was when the one mom mentioned that education is only about adults. We have gotten way off track and allowed politics to affect schooling way to much. Why should the children have to suffer and be a part of lotteries. What happens to the children that don't make it. Why should the children have to suffer because of problems with adults and lazy teachers that decide teaching is not important anymore now that they are tenured. I don't belive in teacher unions anymore because they are the ones that support the broken school system and are preventing us from fixing it. I understand that they are there to support the teachers, however they need to fix the contract so that teachers that are not keeping their students learning and reaching levels that they are supposed to be at can leave. Everybody wants what is best for their child but they never see the big picture unless it happens to them or close to home. I truely believe that this movie has opened my eyes and I believe that teacher unions need to end or be fixed in order to fix they broken system.

Education

I grew up in Kutztown and attended Kutztown Area School District. In elementary school my teachers taught by the banking concept. The teachers would tell us what we had to know and stress that we had to obey strict classroom rules. There was no questioning what they taught us. We were to know the material even if we didn't understand why it was that way or how. Moving into middle school, there is only one teacher that sticks out that had a different teaching style outside of banking concept. My eighth grade english teacher allowed us to gather in groups and discuss books we had to read and debate what we felt was hidden meanings behind certain parts of the story. The rest of the teachers stayed within "the box" and talked at us and not to us. Kutztown Area High School full of teachers that would lecture too. Even in art class, people had to draw a certain way or had to have the pictures turn out a certain way up to the teachers standards. There was no straying from the path or trying something different. I have not had a lot of college experience, however at Cedarcrest College I am seeing a huge difference teaching styles. Four out of my five teachers I have had so far, have allowed us to discuss our opinions, thoughts, and feelings. There is not grade reduction for questioning why something is or how it works. These teachers have talked to us and made the class feel like they are part of it. I have learned just as much from fellow students as I have from the professor.

HI Everyone!
My name is Lauren Helffrich. I work at Walmart as a Zone Manager.I love my job however I know its not where I would like to be in five or ten years. Last year I decided to go to school and change the direction my life was headed. I used to think that accounting would be the major I would take when I went for college.  I decided that nursing and helping people is what I really want to do with my life. I have five beautiful neices and one nephew on the way. I don't have any children of my own yet, so I try to spoil all of them as much as I can.   I love being spontaneous and trying new things. I love the thrill of sky diving and try to do that as often as I can.I have decided to go in the Warrior Dash next year to help raise money for St Judes Hospital.  I also enjoy reading. My family and friends are my life and I enjoy spending lots of time with them. Thats me!