Education between Generations
Needless to say, my education and that of my parents have been very different. Both my mother and my father graduated high school in 1987, over 20 years ago, and now that I am about to graduate high school and move onto college, I have really come to recognize the differences on the education system between generations: the way research is done as well and the pace of the subjects being taught.
My education seems to revolve around everything electronic. Teachers now have many more resources available to them than they did during my parent’s time, specifically computers. Computers are everyday tools used for teaching and are in every classroom. Teachers now have lap top computers available to them so that students are able to use a computer to write or research most of their assignments. Every year, the amount of work we do on computers, and the amount of other electronic gadgets that are in the classroom increases. Even in math almost every student owns a graphing calculator rather than a standard basic calculator; in fact many teenagers haven’t seen a basic calculator in years. We also have an advantage in research with other technological advances, such as scanners and the Internet. Scanners allow us to photo copy pages of a book we are reading and cannot take home, and the internet provides a fast and efficient way to gain any kind of information one can imagine.
My parents never could have imagined such things. There wasn't much too their high school education, a lot of lecturing, bookwork, tests and research papers. Most of what they learned came from teacher lectures, our issued school books and hours at the library doing research. They actually had to pull books from the shelves, read from numerous books and articles just to gather the information we needed to do a research paper. Then it invariably always had to be written in pen and double spaced on notebook paper, rather than on a computer. They didn’t even know what e-mail was; instead we passed notes during class and in the halls, hoping not to get caught! My parents still refuse to get texting on their phones, “why text when I could just pick up the phone and call the person.”
Another main difference is the class structure or pace. Teenagers today enjoy class structures based on competency levels. For example, we have basic studies, advanced studies, accelerated studies and advanced placement studies. My brother and I have always been in the advanced placement studies program. This means that if we maintain their GPA and stay on the course outlined for them, we could be dual enrolled, earning high school and college credits at the same time; by doing this they could potentially receive an Associated Degree quicker than other students. The pace of these classes is intimidating to me. They will often cover twice as much material as a basic level class in the same amount of time. My parents attended classes, such as basic math, English, reading, and science. They were not introduced to high level math classes, such as, Algebra until high school. Now Algebra concepts are introduced even in elementary school. Both me and my brother took Algebra in seventh grade. There are so many different classes available to students today. In fact, if the school doesn't offer the classes desired, students can often take them on line.
When my parents were in school, they had all competency levels in one class, but teachers did try to make class stimulating for those more advanced students, while still working with those that tended to lag behind in class. Unfortunately, this was a disadvantage for my mom, as well as many other students. Although she made great grades, she easily got bored with classes. As a result, once she graduated high school, she did not foresee my self going to college, feeling that it would be such a waste of time and a bore.
I think that the education difference between my parents and me will also be just as different from that of me and my future children, but in other ways. Who knows, maybe children won’t even be required to leave home to attend class, it could all be done on the Internet. And I am sure that the computers we know today won’t exist; they will probably all look like a laptop, or smaller and lighter and their connections will be faster. Who knows, maybe their teachers will be robots. (;
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Man sometimes people really push my buttons...
How about some jerk called me today at work and yelling at me because a bus driver was going "90 miles an hour" on this road. I kinda laughed a little and was like alright let me give you the number to transportation and you can call them and they will take care of it,because I know nothing about the buses, that's not my job its a whole different department. He told me, "no this is something you need to handle personally." I replied, "I'm sorry sir but that's not possible all I can do is call transportation and ask them to communicate to their bus drivers to slow down." He didn't know the street name or the bus number so the only other thing I could do for him was to give him the number to transportation. Well he didn't like that idea, and preceded to yell saying that I needed to transfer him to transportation. I explained to him that this was not possible, being that they are not on our phone network its a separate number. He continued complaining about how I was making him waste all of his minutes because I wouldn't handle the situation, and how he has no more minutes to call transportation to complain. Then he made a comment like "that's what you get for letting a damn women drive the buses". That's when I realized there was nothing that I could do to satisfy this man. So I simply said, "alright, I'll see what I can do," and hung up. Later I got another call from another gentleman; the same thing except the second guy asked me for my name and told me he was going to write down that he called me and that he was going to sue me if i don't handle the situation. Grinning, I said "alright here is the number for the bus lot you do what you feel you need to do," and hung up the phone once again. It is the situations like these that make me honestly believe that some people in this world sit around scoping out unsatisfactory things, to complain about. I feel sorry for the people today who have such little gratification in their life's that they result to this, carrying so much pessimism that they feel the need to harass the first person that crosses their path.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
It's All About the Money (example essay final draft)
We met in the 540 A Publix (aka The Baby Publix). His name, Cup, Reece’s Cup. I was with my mom doing our biweekly, Sunday afternoon, grocery run when we made eye contact. Maybe it was his shinny orange packaging, or perhaps it was his pasty peanut butter heart. Caught up in his rich dark chocolaty skin, I begged my mom to let him join us after dinner. Of course I didn’t realize it then, but now it is completely clear to me, I was tricked. The owners of the Publix Corporation, or possibly Reece’s, used me to get to my moms check book.
That Reece’s Cup was put there on purpose, with unflawed logic behind its exact placement. Sure, my mom walked past them without being sucked into the rabbit hole of Skittles, Twizlers, and M&M’s, but it all rested on my direct level of eye sight. There is no way, that at seven years old, I would have been able to pass by a Reece’s Cup.
(2)
So I wonder, are people subject to all of the tricks up the corporations sleeve’s, or rather are we the basis of their selling techniques.
Think about it, in every grocery store candy is always in the check out line. Why? Mothers who bring there children into the store can not avoid the register, but it expands even farther than that. The actual candy is placed on the bottom half of those shelves, to be absolutely sure that children notice it, with gum and magazines at the top. Not just any magazine, mainly the weight loss magazines, or those with headlines such as “Brittany Still Fat after the Baby”. Ironic that they are positioned directly above American’s largest temptation, sugar? Not at all, simply genius. It is a very productive thought, to place items in a way that would attract the appropriate paying customers; similar to the way Hollister plays their music loud enough to reach out and grab the attention of nine out of ten teenagers from across the mall.
Walking into the dim lit split doorway of a Hollister or Abercrombie is a little different than that of most department stores. A mixture of darkness, sweet scents of perfume, and overbearing fake plants create an atmosphere of relaxation. An atmosphere that makes you want to take your time to glance around at everything. One that makes you look a little harder at things you normally wouldn’t, because the dark lighting makes it slightly more difficult to focus your eyes. The spot lights are always rested on the most expensive items in the store, but they are the items that many would give into the price in order to receive the satisfaction of “trendy” clothes. The loud, upbeat choice of rock music that bounces past the perimeter of the store makes one excited, and often forget about how much he or she really is paying for a paper thin blouse.
(3)
It is because of all of the above statements that once we enter the store, we can no longer think clearly, and that we are distracted from truly analyzing the signs that read, “Buy two get, one free!” We get so caught up in the “sales” that we cease to realize that the regular price has increased from $15 to $21.99; so that we really are still paying for the “free” shirt. Only one who has a brick wall for a conscience could escape the temptations that lurk around every corner of the store; from the spot lit mannequin, with a god like aurora, propped at “center stage”, and the life size posters in the dressing rooms, to the faces on the bags and the pictures of Jake and Malaya on the human named cologne bottles. They all stare at you, sending the message that if you buy that top, you will look like the poster model, it’s a trick. A trick that is even performed, innocently, by Hollister’s employees, who are almost forced to spend half of their weeks pay check on their work dress code.
Sometimes what our eyes see, and what our ears hear is no further than skin deep, however our mind still believes it. Corporations are all about the money. All about tricking their audience into believing it’s a deal, and diminishing their customer’s ability to make rational decisions. Sales articles and commercials have convinced us that these companies actually care about the money we are saving in this economic downturn. Instead, it is misdirection, a manipulation of a person’s emotions by using lights, signs, and colors, almost like magic, possibly to save their own butt’s from bankruptcy.
That Reece’s Cup was put there on purpose, with unflawed logic behind its exact placement. Sure, my mom walked past them without being sucked into the rabbit hole of Skittles, Twizlers, and M&M’s, but it all rested on my direct level of eye sight. There is no way, that at seven years old, I would have been able to pass by a Reece’s Cup.
(2)
So I wonder, are people subject to all of the tricks up the corporations sleeve’s, or rather are we the basis of their selling techniques.
Think about it, in every grocery store candy is always in the check out line. Why? Mothers who bring there children into the store can not avoid the register, but it expands even farther than that. The actual candy is placed on the bottom half of those shelves, to be absolutely sure that children notice it, with gum and magazines at the top. Not just any magazine, mainly the weight loss magazines, or those with headlines such as “Brittany Still Fat after the Baby”. Ironic that they are positioned directly above American’s largest temptation, sugar? Not at all, simply genius. It is a very productive thought, to place items in a way that would attract the appropriate paying customers; similar to the way Hollister plays their music loud enough to reach out and grab the attention of nine out of ten teenagers from across the mall.
Walking into the dim lit split doorway of a Hollister or Abercrombie is a little different than that of most department stores. A mixture of darkness, sweet scents of perfume, and overbearing fake plants create an atmosphere of relaxation. An atmosphere that makes you want to take your time to glance around at everything. One that makes you look a little harder at things you normally wouldn’t, because the dark lighting makes it slightly more difficult to focus your eyes. The spot lights are always rested on the most expensive items in the store, but they are the items that many would give into the price in order to receive the satisfaction of “trendy” clothes. The loud, upbeat choice of rock music that bounces past the perimeter of the store makes one excited, and often forget about how much he or she really is paying for a paper thin blouse.
(3)
It is because of all of the above statements that once we enter the store, we can no longer think clearly, and that we are distracted from truly analyzing the signs that read, “Buy two get, one free!” We get so caught up in the “sales” that we cease to realize that the regular price has increased from $15 to $21.99; so that we really are still paying for the “free” shirt. Only one who has a brick wall for a conscience could escape the temptations that lurk around every corner of the store; from the spot lit mannequin, with a god like aurora, propped at “center stage”, and the life size posters in the dressing rooms, to the faces on the bags and the pictures of Jake and Malaya on the human named cologne bottles. They all stare at you, sending the message that if you buy that top, you will look like the poster model, it’s a trick. A trick that is even performed, innocently, by Hollister’s employees, who are almost forced to spend half of their weeks pay check on their work dress code.
Sometimes what our eyes see, and what our ears hear is no further than skin deep, however our mind still believes it. Corporations are all about the money. All about tricking their audience into believing it’s a deal, and diminishing their customer’s ability to make rational decisions. Sales articles and commercials have convinced us that these companies actually care about the money we are saving in this economic downturn. Instead, it is misdirection, a manipulation of a person’s emotions by using lights, signs, and colors, almost like magic, possibly to save their own butt’s from bankruptcy.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Busy Week...
...started last weekend. Saturday I took the SAT then after that I got lost in Macon (not completely familiar with the area around Mercer). Then I went to the perry fair and fed the cutest water buffalo named Landon. (: Got home kind of late Saturday night, and woke up early Sunday morning to go to six flags. It was Geico family day, very crowded, but wonderful weather for the day. Slept till twelve on Monday then did some house chores. Tuesday I thought it was Monday, so my week is flying by. Helped my dad out at the fire station Tuesday night. Wednesday, totally confused because it was new block schedule already. Hour and a half full body work out. Tomorrow fair with FBLA, for fall motivational rally. Friday test, report, and a load of stat homework due. Babysitting my niece Friday night. Saturday house sitting for my sister, as well as going to Gray fair. Sunday catching up on all the homework and studying I miss out on during the week. Busy, exhausted, but so worth it.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Greatest Day Ever!
A's on all my progress reports! Decided I really want to go to Southern! Made arrangements to be in the homcoming parade! Full body workout with new trainer left me completely enegized when i got home! And in case anyone else needs a little boost, Black Pepper Jack Doritos are sooooo back!!!! Today is awesome! (:
Comments
Comments have not seemed to be a problem in this blogging experience for me. On my descriptive essay I received 4 comments, they did not have to much constructive criticism in them, however they were comments. They all stated that they liked my paper and that they could relate, which is a good start. You can not expect perfection on any ones first attempt.
On this example essay I received 5 comments, all of them very helpful. Each comment stating the reason they could relate to my essay, each telling me specific elements of the essay that they really liked or appreciated, and each saying one small thing that I could change to help improve my essay. So for me, the posting and commenting has worked great.
Honestly, as much as I love seeing comments because it lets me know that people are actually reading and because it helps me improve my essay, it is not mandatory. For people to get so upset over not receiving comments is a little childish. We have to remember that this is a college course that we have the privilege of taking while we are still seniors in high school. It is part of one of the largest transitions in our lifetime, and for anyone to sour the experience just because of a few comments seems a little ridiculous in my opinion. I mean we have never been in a class in which we had this kind of opportunity of making our writing public, and open to public criticism, we always ran to our friends for peer review. No one says that we can not still do that. So personally I think that the griping needs to stop, this is not something that we need to get used to or expect throughout college. And we all must also remember we are all asking our teacher to be lenient about our grades because we are not keeping up with our blogs like we were asked; however when she asks us to be patient and understanding about the blogs and comments we continue to criticize her technique. Remember that this is the first time she has done this with a class as well, and we can not expect perfection from any ones first attempt.
On this example essay I received 5 comments, all of them very helpful. Each comment stating the reason they could relate to my essay, each telling me specific elements of the essay that they really liked or appreciated, and each saying one small thing that I could change to help improve my essay. So for me, the posting and commenting has worked great.
Honestly, as much as I love seeing comments because it lets me know that people are actually reading and because it helps me improve my essay, it is not mandatory. For people to get so upset over not receiving comments is a little childish. We have to remember that this is a college course that we have the privilege of taking while we are still seniors in high school. It is part of one of the largest transitions in our lifetime, and for anyone to sour the experience just because of a few comments seems a little ridiculous in my opinion. I mean we have never been in a class in which we had this kind of opportunity of making our writing public, and open to public criticism, we always ran to our friends for peer review. No one says that we can not still do that. So personally I think that the griping needs to stop, this is not something that we need to get used to or expect throughout college. And we all must also remember we are all asking our teacher to be lenient about our grades because we are not keeping up with our blogs like we were asked; however when she asks us to be patient and understanding about the blogs and comments we continue to criticize her technique. Remember that this is the first time she has done this with a class as well, and we can not expect perfection from any ones first attempt.
2nd Essay in Review
I disagree with anyone who claims that this is the most difficult essay to write. Honestly it is probably the easiest to actually write, after you pick a topic. Picking a topic is difficult no matter what type of essay you are writing about, however when you chose a topic for an example essay you have to be sure to chose a topic which you can support your generalization with examples that relate to people other than you. The idea must be universal. Your topic must still be narrow, just like the description essay, but you have to expand the description and examples into something that everyone can relate to and understand. To me the example essay is just like the descriptive essay, except it requires a little more knowledge. If you do not know enough about you topic you may need to do a little research. Example: in my essay I wrote about how corporations use placement of colors, shapes, and words to make items in their stores look more appealing to the eye, so that we as consumers will be more likely to purchase their product. The examples that I used in my essay were facts, I had read about this online a few months before i completed my essay. So no, to me this essay was no more difficult than the next. My advice to the next 1101 student, research never hurt a paper.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Exhausted
I feel like someone has shoved a sword into my back and left it there and evertime I move it sinks a little deeper. I have been bent over a table paintint shirts for thursday for 4 hours 3 of which i was working by myself. So two of the shirts look decent and the rest progresivly get worse and more crooked. Next time I wont be working by mself, and if I am I will be making profit off of each shirt. Exhausted, in pain, and in bed. Night.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Spirit Week!
Monday: Super Hero Day
Ninja Turtle T-shirt, which took me two walmarts plus an hour to find. Who would have thought it would be in the mens, and not the little boys. I mean seriusly when did little kids stop wearing Ninja Turtle Shirts?
Tuesday: Career Day
A little chilly for hawain day, so I think I will settle for my normal everyday work attire and a lei.
Wednesday: Camo Day
Since I dont really own anything camo, I am borrowing a friends T shirt and pants and wearing my brothers camo jacket.
Thursday: Hippie Day
Tie Dye Tshirts! (that I made) (:
Friday: Purple & Gold
Purple JC T Shirt, Gold Keds, Purple and Gold Beads, Purple and Gold Socks. Maybe paint and hair color, have not completely decided.
Last homecoming spirit week ever! So glad to be a senior! 2010 baby!
Ninja Turtle T-shirt, which took me two walmarts plus an hour to find. Who would have thought it would be in the mens, and not the little boys. I mean seriusly when did little kids stop wearing Ninja Turtle Shirts?
Tuesday: Career Day
A little chilly for hawain day, so I think I will settle for my normal everyday work attire and a lei.
Wednesday: Camo Day
Since I dont really own anything camo, I am borrowing a friends T shirt and pants and wearing my brothers camo jacket.
Thursday: Hippie Day
Tie Dye Tshirts! (that I made) (:
Friday: Purple & Gold
Purple JC T Shirt, Gold Keds, Purple and Gold Beads, Purple and Gold Socks. Maybe paint and hair color, have not completely decided.
Last homecoming spirit week ever! So glad to be a senior! 2010 baby!
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