College Champ

I know college is hard, and I know my brother is emotionally complex. When his grades took a sharp dip this semester, I expected him to get all complicated about it. Then I remembered he's only complicated when I'm arguing with him; when he's normal, he's mellow and life-loving, and only had this to say about his hard times:

"Its ok. Because I'm learning, I'm enjoying school, I have awesome friends here, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else, and I don't regret coming to a hard school."

So when you take a dip in life, look up like my awesome brother.

Week...oh, this isn't a required post!

Why is cappax.com worth visiting?

“Without an open-minded mind, you can never be a great guesser.”

-Martha Stewert

          I want to talk about cappex.com for a couple of reasons. For starters, it's a great place to get your bearings if you're stepping onto the college stage blind. It gives amazing statistics for every college you could think of, comparing where you stand with their current enrollment, it pulls scholarships out of everywhere and anywhere from cheap and easy to impossible full rides, and it helps you with everything else in between. Another thing I love about it is it's like a nosy parent; you don't have to watch is constantly to learn what you need to know because it e-mails you everything (in a good way, not a facebook flood way). All I have to do to see the colleges it matches me with or the scholarships I can get is check my e-mail per norm, and poof, it'll be there whenever there's something I want to know. It also has a neat cap-collection gig made to motivate you to search more for what your future needs. I don't know about everyone else, but I've got 13 various headgear, making me a site titled 'college pro'. It makes the process fun and easy, and it's the only site I've used to make my final decisions. 
           Lastly and most selfishly important, cappex gives away cappex caps for doing certain things, and they happen to be orange with a white 'C' on them. I'll throw in as an unrelated side note that my college of choice (thanks for helping me with it, cappex!) is Clemson, and their colors are primarily and most popularly orange and white. Orange. 'C'. You see where I'm getting at. But personal self-interest aside, this site is handy, helpful, and hospitable. It's easy to see scholarship difficulty, school size, and much more. I won't tell you anything more specific because you should really check it out yourself. Try it, like it, graduate with confidence: www.cappex.com 
           Thanks!

Week "10"

What have people said that's interesting?

“You take a bad boy, make him dig holes all day in the hot sun, it turns him into a good boy.”

-Mr. Marion Sir, Holes

          I used to laugh at the philosophy of laboring the problems out of people, and it's not true on its own, I believe, but yesterday in my Teacher Cadet class we visited Fair Play School Camp for boys. I'll talk a bit more about the enlightening trip below, but here I wanted to mention the amazing work they do, changing behavior right in front of your eyes. They take boys ages eight to eighteen in, take away computers and phones and distractions, pack their lives with strenuous but fun and constructive activities, and work out their problems. I never thought about it, but having a completely busy day every day for a year and a half or so can really give you time to think, ironically. It's the fact that they do everything together, dealing with problems where and when they show up and teaching respect, commitment, and determination with everything. The boys we talked to kept making sure they addressed us and our teacher with respect. One said 'no offence' before a harmless statement, just to be sure, and you could tell just by looking at them and watching them talk with each other that they were a tight knit group of boys. I was amazed. That camp builds epic psychological bridges.

What's happening in education?

http://www.educationnews.org/technology/student-desks-of-the-future-feature-interactivity-connectivity/

         Anne Mishkind from Education News reports on 'desks of the future' that are about to come out. Before I get into I want to say that about two weeks ago I went on a college visit blits to visit four colleges in a weekend, and one of those was Savannah College of Art and Design, informally known as Scad. Scad had all the top notch features, including game hardware more advanced than the top game making industries have right now. One of their high tech gadgets was the equivalent of a four by six foot touch pad made into a desk top. The tour group I was with threw around icons and tapped something to make it huge, and it was great distracting fun. Ok, back to the news article: the aforementioned new desks are basically three by three touch pads made into desk tops shared four students to a desk. See what I did there? Now if one table could distract thirteen adults and teenagers, how are ten tables not supposed to distract the middle schoolers pictures in Mishkind's article? Students will divert their attention with anything, anything. See the invention of the paper airplane and paper football. See the fore-running new style of art: desk doodles. See passed notes, spit balls, all that other cheap but innovative stuff kids not wanted to pay attention did with what they happened to have on them. Now see a giant Ipad swirling at their fingertips. I don't know about you, but I feel like classroom quality is made by the teacher more than the fancy equipment you can fit into the lesson.

And what have I learned this weak?

          As mentioned above, my Teacher Cadet class went to Fair Play School Camp for boys yesterday, and I wanted to spend just a second talking about their councilors, or 'chiefs'. Honestly, these men, though not technically qualified to teach, are putting so much of their lives into helping boys function in their families. All of them bring something unique and helpful to the group of boys they work with. One sang all the time, so he taught the boys bizarre, old songs. One happened to be a stone mason to he helped the boys make a stone fireplace in their cook-hut. Oh, I'll also add that though the chiefs are a big help, the boys do everything almost entirely out of their own accord. They schedule the week's events. They build the cabins they live in. CABINS. They build the paths by freaking tracking erosion, they plan equipment need for a hike and get their food dehydrated first; it is a strenuous camp that I wouldn't last a week in, but these boys are gaining so many life and family skills, primarily learning that what they do isn't about them but everyone around them and everyone around the people they're with. It's encouraging and I almost wish that everyone had to spend a year at a place like Fair Play.

Week "9"

What have people said that's interesting?

“...the three children had one another for comfort and support over the course of their miserable lives. And while this did not make them feel entirely safe, or entirely happy, it made them feel appreciative.”

-Lemony Snicket

          Last class in Teacher Cadet we ranted a bit about how it's a teacher's job to spot a child who is suffering of going through abuse, whether socially, emotionally, or physically. And as the quote above suggests, reaching out to help and protect these children may not always make their world turn inside out from misery into eternal happiness and wonder, but what it can do is show them they have someone. Maybe a child you approach will resist. Maybe a friend you confront will lie. They'll still know that there's someone who sees and wants to care and help, and that's one more positive thing than they had before, isn't it? While it may not take away the abuse, or may make them upset that you're prying, it will make them know you're there.

What's happening in education?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/nov/29/bogus-teacher-forged-qualifications-jailed

          Steven Morris, writer at The Gaurdian online news, spoke yesterday of a teacher that was arrested and put in jail for eighteen months due to faking her teaching qualifications. The judge who condemned her said that her "entirely self-centered approach to this has blighted the careers of everyone [she] taught." Morris added that, in her defense, she had a troubled childhood in Africa and only faked the information for social gain, not financial gain. I still have to agree with the judge, though, that it was approached selfishly. Her fraud took her to teaching positions in advanced biology classes and even scoring the exams for said classes nationally. Her attorney, Lee Bremridge, later commented that it was ironic the fake teacher was clever enough to forge information that she could have achieved the same status legitimately. Honestly, it's great to want to help children, even if your priority is somewhat to help yourself, but there comes a point in an airplane crash where if you put the oxygen mask on your child before yourself, you become a passed out, 120+ weight in their way instead of a strong adult there to help them. This teacher fits there, to me, barely crossing the line from help to hinderence. 

And what have I learned this weak?

          Again, it's been a packed week. Our class has been focusing on barriers still, social, physical, emotional, and so forth. It reminded me a lot of my first year in school when my social life was stunted by what people called a 'sheltered' lifestyle. I forced myself into a lot of miscommunication situations just by not having the pop-culture definitions of certain words, and once it got around to some that I was homeschooled, all my 'differences' were blamed on that. A girl in a group I worked in thought my love of old music and figurines, unconventional as it apparently was, came from my homeschooling. A boy that sat behind me in one class thought my disdain towards profanity was chalked up to homeschooling. A girl in another class accused me of basically being racist, unfriendly, and discriminatory because a friend of hers who was homeschooled had such traits. So all this was brought back to mind and just yesterday a boy in a disruptive class was talking loudly (as usual) and mentioned a friend of his that saved up his money to by a minivan, which, in this classmates opinion, was the stupidest car he could have bought. And he decided to pointedly mention "Why? Because he's a homeschooler!" I'm not sure where these stereotypes and misconceptions come from. . . but I'm glad the occasional violent accusation and ditching by friends due to misunderstandings is all I have to go through. The situations we've talked about have kids going through much worse. And I'll mention here at the end that teachers were in almost every above situation backing me up against the unintentional ''bullies.'' Go teachers!

Week "8"

What have people said that's interesting?

“If you would thoroughly know anything, teach it to others.”

-Tryon Edwards

          I don't necessarily think you're obliged to share knowledge, like 'Hey, you! You know more about cooking than anyone! You had better teach that to someone, or hey, you're just a grey matter hoarding jerk, aren't you?" But it is truly important to me, and maybe I've touched on this before, to know your subject matter. I know some coaches have to teach geometry and some history teachers may also teach psychology, but it's a true pain to sign up for a class with burning interest and then be taught with someone... not so interested. It's like trying to drive a train over snow-laden tracks. The tracks are there, of coarse, but they're kind of buried in thick, icy clumps of opaque white with no easy way through. That's my token, and there isn't much to it, not that that makes it less important.

What's happening in education?

http://news.yahoo.com/high-school-teachers-wish-parents-asked-conferences-155245643.html   

          Kelsey Sheehy of Yahoo! news recently broke down a list of what she thinks is the rising and most prevalent current problems in students with their parents in today's society, narrowing them down to a handy dandy list of 'things high school teachers wish parents asked in conferences'. I'm going to break her four points down and give my quick opinion real fast.
          Number One: Is my student giving his/her best effort? I think this one is, personally, a little stupid. I mean, I realize today's parents can be busy and neglectful, but you shouldn't need to ask the teacher if your child is actually working. If anything that's something they'd ask the parent. Do they put time into homework? Are you motivating your child? Do they act interested in the benefits of good grades or do they actively seek out-of-house activities and rarely spend time so much as touching their textbooks? How is a teacher supposed to truly know if your child is putting in the effort par? That's just my middle-class opinion.
         Numero Dos: What could my teen do that he/she is not already doing? I guess I get this one, but it's generally the same for any class of any subject in any age, and not necessarily for today's society, anyway: do the work. Bad grades, mad motivation, and bad ethics come from not listening like it's your job to, not doing homework like it's your job to, or not taking notes like it's your job to. And the parent has little real control over two-thirds of that list, so why should teachers want it asked of them anyway? Are the teachers doing a bad job now, not getting your kid to pay attention or put pen to paper?
         Number three: What can I do to make your job easier? I really don't get why a parent would ask this to a teacher. I mean, the problem, if there is one, is with the student. You can't step in the classroom for him. All you could really do is remind him to work or make sure he's motivated to study, and that should be a given anyway. Again, I'm cutting the rug a bit on neglectful parents, but this article is based towards them all, not just ones with slight issues.
         Finally, four: How are you doing? Sheehy explains this one as a need teachers have for warding off their unappreciated jobs, and I disagree. Teachers don't long for attention for whipping your kid into shape, not the picture-esque ones Sheehy is describing anyway. A good teacher doesn't need outside upkeep on their self-esteem; they work for the students, not to get, i don't know, lecture recognition or something. So, basically, I think Sheehy's "advice" is underestimating the tough and proud that are teachers. And the parents of today's young.

And what have I learned this weak?

          Wow, so much has happened this week. My main observation, as always, though, is in my peers ore than in my studies. As we're taught barriers and issues that can lurk in teens by our Teacher Cadet class, I've noticed more signs and situations unfold in my own student body: A girl friend quits an elective because her boyfriend was kicked out of it, suggesting a need for his affection through co-dependency she lacks in home life. A girl never turns work in on time and doesn't care because the boys around her find it a feisty  bold personality only built up by her meticulously maintained looks. In class, we were randomly given various barriers to build onto a character, as though we were given a new life, and I ended up being an anorexic high schooler who was the poorest in my school with never enough money to hang out with my peers and parents that worked too long to ever show they truly loved me. We were asked to make details for our new lives, hour by hour in the day, and I found my temporary, anorexic self to suffer from severe anxiety over feeling ostracized by family and friends. My desire to be accepted by all the rich kids turned into a need to be as attractive as possible to lure them in despite my circumstances, whatever price my health had to pay, all to avoid the fear of complete social isolation. The more I got into it, the more I realized how good I had it compared to other classmates of mine who were dealt lives with obesity or paralyzation or responsibility bearing down on them far beyond what their age could take. And still my temporary life was an awful mess. It's made me better understand the drop outs and slackers, not to the point of condoning it but to the point of identifying with it how you might identify with a family member going through addiction issues. My Teacher Cadet class has been very eye opening. For that alone it's been worth taking.

Week '7'

What have people said that's interesting?

“You get more with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.”

-Al Capone

          Bear with me; I'm not saying classroom threats are the way to take this. I had a teacher a while back that wanted anything but to be that resented, hated, strict teacher, so she dove in the opposite direction and was probably the sweetest teacher I'll ever know, but not the best teacher. See, she had a problem getting kids to turn work in on time, and she couldn't figure out why her reminders weren't encouraging them much. Well, that's because her reminders were less 'this HAS to be turned in by next Friday, okay? Let me see it before then' and were more 'it'd be really cool if you could get this to me as really fast, ok?' As you could imagine, most kids smiled, said 'sure,' and went on their way ignoring what they were told to do. She gave them too much slack and it made them not respect her deadlines. Years later I saw her again and she's gotten a bit better, giving penalties for late work, but she also gave her students the opportunity to say, at any time, 'I need another day,' and, no excuses, she'd give it to them because she 'understood' that life happens. I think she was a bit too understanding. Teachers can be nice, but they really also have to give kids reason to want to turn in work and respect what they tell them. Cool? Cool.

What's happening in education?

http://www.educationnews.org/k-12-schools/4-school-houses-its-not-hogwarts-its-danville-kentucky/     

          Educationnews.org's Julia Lawrence reports that a school in Danville, Kentucky is trying a new education strategy for its freshmen highschoolers that crosses a bit into J. K. Rowling's fantastic world of Hogwarts Houses. At Danville, however, the seperated class communities are labeled less like Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and more like the Tech house and the Arts house. Students are being dissected into 100 person groups categorized by career interest in an attempt to help its lower income populace transition into highschool's expectations and social stress. I, personally, love the idea. Apparently Danville students do, as well, because the technique seems to be working. Attendance rates have gone up, graduation rates have gone up, and dropout rates have took a plummeted. It would be so cool starting out highschool with peers that have the same passions as you, and, I imagine, it's very inspiring and encouraging, as well!  

And what have I learned this weak?

          My spectacular teacher cadet class has been exploring children with 'barriers,' whether they be disabilities or abuse or labels, all week, and what has really astounded me is the methods people have made to put 'regular' people into the barriered perspective. It's truly eye opening, the difficulties some kids are born with, and in a video we watched, participants were dumbfounded at how arduous a task as overlooked as reading or writing became. What was more shocking was when the instructor in the video showed the studying class of therapists and parents a picture of a skull and asked them to title it. One woman he called on gave the title 'Death Stalker' and the instructor became extremely upset, spouting that she was wrong and not explaining why as though she were idiotic for not knowing. He enlarged the picture and it turned out to be an illusion; a woman was looking at herself in the mirror and it appeared, at a distance, to be a skull. He explained that a teacher could be astounded and angered at a title like 'Death Stalker' made for a woman looking at herself, and that the perspective of impaired children can be confusing to them because people react without being fully aware of their reasoning. I don't know. The power of stepping into their reality for a few activities amazed me, and it was so easy to understand their hardships so much better. As a whole I would encourage taking steps to understand what those around you could be going through or seeing things through. Perspective is a powerful game changer.

Week '6'?? Already?

What have people said that's interesting?

“Students today are a pretty somber lot.”

-Robertson Davies

          As a very young child, before school, I always loved watching my mother homeschool my brothers. I would sit in with them and my sister and I would pretend to also learn, even though they were two grades ahead of us, therefore we understood nothing going on. Still, it excited us to be in the crowd. School was the next stage of life, and we wanted to be involved in it. The year we finally started, I was bouncing off the walls. I wrote the cursive alphabet ten times every day just to be the first to learn it. We always jumped out of bed and ran straight to our books. After a few years, though, the excitement dimmed. A lot. We would take half hour breaks after twenty minutes of working. Our imagination was severely stimulated simply because we would think of games to do with anything in the house just to get out of work. Whether it was advance hide and sick played with laser detectors or a version of Dungeons and Dragons we established ourselves, we would think up ANYTHING to do for 'quick breaks.' So it shouldn't have surprised me in high school when so many around me would rather goof off then pay an ounce of attention to the teachers. I broke out of the spell because high school was completely different for me. 'Teachers' was a new concept I was thrilled about (no offence, Mom. You were great for all eight years of it!), but I didn't think about the fact that everyone else had been through the same classroom setting forever. I mean, there are minor changes; in middle school you start getting new teachers for every subject, and in high school (I think anyway; pfft, I wouldn't know) recess goes away. Still, it's designed to be a bit mundane, isn't it? Interest level is left up to teachers to make or break, a dang it if they don't do an awesome job at it.

What's happening in education?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443768804578038191947302764.html?mod=googlenews_wsj       

          The Wallstreet Journal writers Hutchison and Mikulski have noticed that some people are arguing against a states right to give students the option of single-gender classrooms or schools, which I didn't even know was a thing, really. Apparently their argument is that these opposing parties are 'particularly troubl[ing]'  because they are trying to strip children's opportunities to work in their best fitting environment. What? Okay, I understand that some people may be sexist at an extremely young age or uncomfortable with the 'cooties' of another gender or just severely distracted by the infatuating opposite sex, but co-ed classrooms are what will fix that behavior because teachers will stop a sexist student from speaking out or force an uncomfortable student to work in a group with boys and girls or tell the flirting couple in the back to shut up and pay attention. If kids honestly have just a real problem with it, they can go to a college that hasn't jumped on the equalist bandwagon yet. All in all, that 'real' world everyone is so concerned with has *gasp* men and women in it, so they'll have to learn to manage in that environment eventually.

And what have I learned this weak?

          This week, I was given the amazing chance to skip a day of school and job shadow an art teacher else where. It can be pretty eye opening to see some place with less advantages than where I'm at, but what was most surprising was how the teachers worked hard to give their kids as best a chance as possible, given their circumstances. The teacher I shadowed had a classroom probably a fourth the size of my school's art room, but she was organized, gave lessons fine tuned to specific classes, and informed them, in depth, of everything there was to art. As I mentioned above, this really showed me that it's not about the school or the class or the fancy materials. It's the teacher that makes it all great or disastrous or, in some occasions, tremendous. Keep being amazing, Mrs. Teacher-I-Shadowed.