Woessmann, Ludger. "The Importance of School Systems: Evidence from International Differences in Student Achievement." Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 30, no. 3, Summer2016, pp. 3-31. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1257/jep.30.3.3. In this study, Woessmann assesses how students in other countries learn and where they are performance-wise among other countries. Woessmann states that students in higher income countries are more likely to attend private schools, and that students in lower income countries are not. The author states that competition of private schools may be enough to improve the performance of public schools and lift the achievement level system-wide. In the text, Woessmann gives a lot of statistics for education levels across many different countries. For example, more than 75% of 15-year-old students in the Netherlands attend privately operated schools, and more than 60% in Belgium and Ireland, but this share is below 10% in many other countries. The focus of this text is to inform of the differences of education systems across the world. This is relevant to my research paper because it backs the other claims of wealthy vs low income students and their opportunities surrounding public schooling and private/charter schooling. Eyles, Andrew, et al. "Academies, Charter and Free Schools: Do New School Types Deliver Better Outcomes?." Economic Policy, vol. 31, no. 87, July 2016, pp. 453-501. EBSCOhost,search.ebscohost.com.libdb.dccc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=117500597&site=eds-live. This text shows some differences and changes that schools have made and new types of schools as well. Andrew Eyles studies the fact that some countries have added school choices to make them more or less autonomous. This was written strictly to inform the reader on how changes made to the school system and school autonomy can make a difference for students. He states that charter schools while being highly autonomous are being publicly funded and privately owned. This goes to show, again, that they are being funded just as much as, or more than, public schools, often causing public schools to suffer. Strauss, Valerie. “A Dozen Problems with Charter Schools.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 20 May 2014, www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/05/20/a-dozen-problems-with-charter-schools/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.48ccb640f4f9. Valerie Strauss wrote this article to pinpoint the issues with charter schools. She points out that just because charter schools add choices of schooling in the community, that doesn’t mean that they are performing to a standard that we should have for our children. Most of these charter schools, especially cyber charter schools, are under-performing by up to 20% in comparison to regular public schools. Often charter schools receive more funding than public schools, even causing some public schools to close their doors. The purpose of this article written by Strauss, is to inform people of what charter schools are about. Some of these schools and their administrators are involved in fraudulent financial activity. I, myself, went to a cyber charter school that I am just now learning was involved in fraudulent activity. This is relevant to my research paper because it hits close to home with me. I know that I was deprived of education for my junior and senior years by going to a cyber charter school, where I wasn’t held accountable and wasn’t actually taught anything. I was able to choose the classes as if they were electives, just to gain credits for graduation. If all cyber charter schools operate the same way as mine did, then I know students aren’t gaining the knowledge they need for life after high school. Chen, Michelle. “Charter Schools Are Reshaping America's Education System for the Worse.” The Nation, 11 Jan. 2018, www.thenation.com/article/charter-schools-are-reshaping-americas-education-system-for-the-worse/. In this article by Michelle Chen, she talks about how charter schools are not benefitting anyone or anything by existing. Charter schools often boast of diversity, but turn out to be anything but diverse, thus creating more segregation in the charter school systems. In Arizona, it is mostly white and Asian students who attend charter schools, leaving out the majority of the Latino based communities. These schools focus on the students who are already doing well overall and do not give much help to lower-scoring students, who may eventually drop out because they realize they are not meeting school standards. Chen’s approach when writing this article is to let us know of racial and social class inequality in charter schools. She also let us know that there are school receiving funding from taxpayers that don’t have anything to spend the money on. Cyber schools do not need buildings to teach students in, yet they are receiving the same amount of money as other charters while our public schools suffer to afford much for its students. This is all relevant to my research paper because it talks about the unequal learning opportunities for students in urban areas, or where wealthier families can afford to send their kids somewhere for higher learning. Charter schools are receiving too much money and not having a rule standard to follow because many of them operate so differently. Moore, Michael. Hulu, 23 Dec. 2015, www.hulu.com/search?q=Where to Invade Next. In the documentary Where to Invade Next, Michael Moore visits several European countries, plus Tunisia, to find out how they deal with common political issues. He acknowledges that things are much different and possibly even better than they are here in America. As he visits the different countries, along with different political issues, he vows to “adopt” certain practices to bring back to America. He proposes that these countries are living the “American Dream” better than Americans are. This is mostly interesting because a lot of these ideas are ones that were developed here in America, and it seems that we have forgotten about them over many years. Michael Moore visits women’s rights, prison systems, the war on drugs, education, healthcare and much more in this documentary. These are some of the most important topics that we cannot seem to get right in America and it is interesting to see how other countries work through the issues. Moore traveled to these countries to inform and persuade Americans that life can be better here if we can just follow some ideas and guidelines of these other countries. The film contains some hard to swallow truths about America and Americans that we may not have known otherwise. Moore believes that it is important that we are informed on these subjects so that we can adopt some of the same ideologies. In the film, Moore visits Finland, where they do not have charter schools or tuition paid schools. This ensures that children are taught equally despite social status and that too much money isn’t going into places that education isn’t top priority. Toppo, Greg. “Charter Schools' 'Thorny' Problem: Few Students Go on to Earn College Degrees.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 14 Mar. 2017, www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/14/charter-schools-college-degrees/99125468/. In “Charter Schools ‘Thorny’ problem: Few Students Go On to Earn College Degrees”, we learn that charter school students are less likely to complete college than students who attend public schools. Having more K-12 choices will not increase the chances of these students attending or finishing college. Students end up dropping out for different reasons which include stress over high-level academics, poorly matched schools, and even higher earning families often can’t afford tuition and other school costs. Toppo is trying to prove a point that just because there are more options available as far as k-12, that doesn’t mean that students are going to be any more successful in pursuing college degrees. His goal is to inform us of staggering statistics based around charter schools and how the are failing to prepare their students for college life. This is relevant to my research paper because if there isn’t anything that charter schools can do to guarantee the success of their students, then why have them? If America can come up with one school system and one better way of learning and teaching, then students have an equal chance and a fair fight at attending and finishing college.
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In this blog post, I will provide my opinions on how a few things should change in America. I watched Where to Invade Next, a documentary from Michael Moore, and wrote a summary based on what I saw. There are so many topics and political issues to choose from, but for this, I have chosen 3.
Topic: Universal healthcare coverage in America Research Question: Should America provide free healthcare coverage to its citizens? Argument: America should provide free universal healthcare for citizens simply because everyone needs it. Not all employers provide this to their employees and it is crucial that they should. People that don’t get this often overwork themselves, and in turn, get sick and now can’t make it into work. When people don’t work, they often don’t make money. It is unlikely that an employer provides sick time when they don’t provide health benefits. People need to see doctors in order to get any and all medical help they need, and so many people unfortunately go without. An employee with health coverage is more likely to get medical attention they need when they are ill. Health coverage often takes care of rehabilitation employees may need when they are recovering from drug use, which Portugal is proof that drug use is lessened in this case. This would also benefit employers, because the better people feel, they will come to work and get their jobs done. Topic: Extended vacation and maternity leave Research Question: Should America provide mandatory paid vacation and maternity leave to full time employees? Argument: America should provide mandatory vacation and maternity leave. The vacation is important because a person will suffer from the stress of being over-worked and feeling as though they are not appreciated or rewarded. Italy provides 8+ weeks of paid vacation time because they believe in relaxing and enjoying life. They find that Italians actually enjoy their jobs more and are more successful at them when they are being rewarded. Italians also live an average of 4 years longer than Americans and get sick less often because their lives have less stress. Italy provides 5 paid months of maternity leave, as well, which is an important time in the lives of new mothers and babies. This gives an appropriate amount of time for mothers to bond with and care for their families. In fact, there are only two countries that do not provide paid maternity leave, America and Papua New Guinea, as they are too poor to do so. Topic: Free college education Research Question: Should America provide free college education to its citizens? Argument: America should provide free college education to anyone looking for higher education. In most cases, people looking for higher education means there are people looking to do the more important jobs of the world. Teachers, doctors, veterinarians, etc. are all people that we need, a well as people looking to go to trade schools. Slovenia has free college for its citizens and will actually allow people to move there and still not pay anything for school. Most American schools are so expensive that a lot of people do not actually finish due to the discouragement from the increase in debt. In the documentary Where to Invade Next, Michael Moore visits several European countries, plus Tunisia, to find out how they deal with common political issues. He acknowledges that things are much different and possibly even better than they are here in America. As he visits the different countries, along with different political issues, he vows to “adopt” certain practices to bring back to America. He proposes that these countries are living the “American Dream” better than Americans are. This is mostly interesting because a lot of these ideas are ones that were developed here in America, and it seems that we have forgotten about them over many years. Michael Moore visits women’s rights, prison systems, the war on drugs, education, healthcare and much more in this documentary. These are some of the most important topics that we cannot seem to get right in America and it is interesting to see how other countries work through the issues. Americans are entitled people, and most of us don’t even realize how incorrectly we are living. We are taught that America is the greatest “free” country on the planet, not knowing what a prison we have created for ourselves. Michael more establishes ethos, or credibility, by giving facts to the people watching his documentary. He doesn’t choose to sugarcoat the fact that America needs change. He acknowledges, instead of arguing, that other countries are doing great things for their people. Things like universal healthcare, extended vacation time and maternity leave from employers. These are things that Americans can only dream about. Michael uses logo, or logic, again, by using facts. The fact that Italians live an average of 4 years longer than Americans, makes sense considering that they are less stressed. Norwegian children are smarter, because they are less stressed about school and not as bogged down by everyday hard work that American kids are bothered with daily. French children eat healthier because school officials care more about what they put into children’s bodies. These are things that we can do for the children of America because we owe it to them. Michael Moore easily appeals to the audience, pathos, due to the fact that these issues are personal. Even if we are Americans that wholeheartedly love our country, we know that things need to be better for us and for the future. There isn’t any person who watched that film that can say at least one of the many topics discussed didn’t apply to them. The purpose of Michael Moore’s documentary, I think, was to inform Americans. To let us all know we can have so much better if we work for it as one. I think he wants to bring us to a place that we were ultimately meant to be in. His point is that America already has the capability to care about its people, we just needed to be reminded. In Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway, a man and a woman are sitting at a bar while they wait for the train. They are discussing something, without really saying what they are discussing. The man feels one way about a certain operation, and it seems as though the woman really feels the opposite. He seems to be pushing her a bit, and she questions the things that he is saying. As if whatever it is they are discussing would really change anything. He says it won’t and that things will go back to how they were “before”.
I think the woman may have stayed with the man. Whatever procedure they were discussing, he wanted to do but she was unsure of whether she wanted to go through with it or not. I think she may have stayed with him because he kept telling her that it was ultimately up to her what was done, and that she didn’t do it if she didn’t have to. He tells her he loves her anyway, no matter what. Often, we as humans, only need to hear that before we make our decisions. We just want acceptance from the person we love and to know that they have our back regardless of the decision they are about to make. I have gone through a few bad break ups, and lost quite a few friends along the way, but one sticks in my mind the most. I don’t know if I really “walked away” or if we just grew apart somewhat naturally. Some might say I have, after explaining the situation, or may say that I didn’t try hard enough to keep a friend. I had a best friend that I considered more of a sister. I was friends with her for some time before I met her brother, who became my boyfriend. Him and I were together for a few years and it was a rocky relationship from the start. My friend was always on my side, no matter what, despite him being her brother. Her loyalties always were with me, and that was for her own reasons really. He was in and out of jail a good portion of his teenage and adult life and for the most part that’s why she kept her distance. She and I did everything together, were together every day and then some. After a few years, she decided she needed to get away from her family and her and her boyfriend moved to another state. She really wasn’t that far, and I visited as often as I could, both by myself and with her brother. Another couple of years went by and she moved a few more times, each time being a little farther than the last. We still always kept in touch but over time it became harder to travel more due to the distance. Finally, her brother and I broke up for good reasons. The relationship wasn’t a good one and she was still always on my side. After the break up, her and I started to drift a little, as I started dating someone knew after some time, and I began to keep my distance. We would argue more, I felt as though she was judging me, often for the same things that she had once done. I felt like she questioned my new relationship and I began to withdraw myself more from her. I was tired of always feeling as though I was being “bitched” at. We would argue mostly over text message, which it seems that’s how everyone loves to communicate these days. Often, emotion is lost within texts. She was also like her brother in the sense that when they were mad, they would say hurtful things. It was their go-to. We stopped talking for quite some time, I just flat out stopped answering her. I didn’t talk to her for a good 6 months or more. One day I decided to answer one of her random messages and we began to try to work on our relationship. She eventually fell into the same pattern of always questioning me, and I know at the end of the day it was because she cared for me and wanted the best for me. Our relationship became more of an on and off friendship. She moved back to the area and we tried again to be friends. She was so demanding of my time and claimed that I didn’t care because I didn’t come around as often. Truth is, my life is completely different now. My work schedule is different, my other relationships are different. I gained new friends and I would try to involve her, but she was never very accepting of the people I was with. We kept at it, trying to be friends. Just before Christmas, I found out I was expecting my first child and was really excited to tell her about it. She was the first one I told. And she was happy for me! We hung out a few times after that and then ultimately it came down to the fact that I STILL wasn’t making enough time for her. In my eyes, that wasn’t fair, though, because I had so many other responsibilities than we had when we were just out of high school. We ended up back in one of our same old arguments, and she was again telling me I had changed, but changing isn’t a bad thing.. its only seen as bad to the people who don’t want you to evolve into the person you are meant to become. We just decided on parting ways, ultimately realizing that we just don’t know each other the way we used to, and that we may never be able to get that back. I never imagined a life where I would be raising a child without my best friend, but I guess things happen. Maybe one day we can communicate again and see where life takes us. Lulu Wang’s story of lying to her grandmother for her health (What You Don't Know) was interesting. They believed that keeping her grandmother’s diagnosis from her would actually keep her healthier than telling her that she had cancer. I understand why they did this. They care for their grandmother and want her to live the rest of her life without having to deal with any negativity. Lulu wasn’t okay with lying to her grandmother, but she knew it was important for her well-being.
I can agree with why Lulu’s family chose to keep this from her because I would want my grandmother to live her last few months as happy and peacefully as she could, as well. I know that it would be hard, not being able to properly say goodbye. Often, cancer treatment is invasive and can make people feel a lot sicker than they would without it. Lulu’s grandmother was also only given a few months, so medication may not have been an option at that point. They chose to pull off this elaborate scheme with a wedding celebration, so that everyone could come together and have their last times with Lulu’s grandmother. Lulu’s grandmother ended up living past her 3 month “time-frame”, and the family believes this is due to the fact that they gave her joy instead of worry. This makes sense to me because people say that stress does the most damage to a person. To be honest, this blog post is a bit difficult for me to write because I don’t feel like I have ever been in a situation where something was too hard to tell someone, or where I felt like I needed to lie to someone to make them feel better. I have always had relationships in my life where I can be open with the people in my family and we all talk amongst each other. We feel as though it is important to share our struggles, so we can all pray together and for one another. My family believes that prayer is truly the best medicine and God will do what he wants in any situation. Most of my family is in the church heavily and realize that we don’t have control over what is happening in most cases. I suppose I can understand why people may do either of these things in certain situations. I have been lied to in order to “protect my feelings”, but after I find out, I realize I would have rather known exactly what was going on. I tried to dig deep to think of something to relate myself to this story, but maybe my life has luckily been uneventful in that way. After reading My Name Is Margaret by Maya Angelou, I have come to the conclusion that sometimes we have to do things, whether handled correctly or not, to get our points across and allow our silent voices heard by people who may otherwise ignore them.
Margaret broke some dishes that were important to Ms. Glory’s mistress to let her know that she refused to be disrespected any longer. I have to say that I agree with her decision because otherwise she would have been doing herself an injustice by dealing with it. Sometimes you let things go for so long that you leave yourself no other choice but to handle them the only way your heart knows how to at the time. The women in the story repeatedly called her by a name that was not hers, at the convenience of themselves, just because they couldn’t be bothered to say her entire name: Margaret. To them, it was too long and unnecessary. To Margaret, this was rude and disrespectful because this was not the name her mother gave to her. They blatantly showed their lack of respect to her. As someone who rarely holds their tongue and doesn’t hesitate to stick up for myself when necessary, I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same thing. Simply voicing your opinion doesn’t always work with people who aren’t willing to hear it. I can’t think of a specific time that I have had to challenge authority because I don’t believe another human has “authority” over another. Mutual respect in all relationships and settings are important to me. There have been times where I felt like my voice needed to be heard, but they are usually in places that “keeping my cool” was detrimental to whatever I was doing at the time, like in a work place. Personally, I can take a lot of stress from other people before I feel the need to “lose my cool”. Of course, I believe in letting someone know how they have bothered you, because how else are they supposed to know and have the chance to fix it? It’s when you give those people the chance and they ignore it, that they begin disrespecting you and you can’t allow anyone to do that to you, no matter what power they feel they have over you. "For this post, I read and annotated the following three readings:
I have chosen these following quotes from this reading Teaching Writing as a Process Not a Product by Don Murray, as they stood out to me the most. I believe these quotes are important for, not only English Composition, but in anything we, as humans, can learn. I believe these can be applied to everyday situations like parenting and work environments. If everyone taught with the intention of teaching and learning from their students, I think people would be a lot more successful. 1. “And you don’t learn a process by talking about it, but by doing it. 2. “We have to respect the student, not for his product, not for the paper we call literature by giving it a grade, but for the search for truth in which he is engaged. We must listen carefully for those words that may reveal a truth, that may reveal a voice.” 3. “It is the responsibility of the student to explore his own world with his own language, to discover his own meaning.” The next three quotes are from The Daily Routines of Great Writers collected by Maria Popova. I have chosen these quotes in hopes to follow them into great writing routines. 1. “A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.” – E.B. White 2. “I will write in the notebook every day.” – Susan Sontag 3. “If the work is going well, I spend a quarter or half hour reading what I wrote the day before, and I make a few corrections. Then I continue from there. In order to pick up the thread, I have to read what I’ve done.” – Simon de Beauvoir The three quotes I have chosen next are from Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott I chose these quotes to serve as a reminder that writing isn’t always easy, but as long as you have an idea in mind, it will eventually write itself through you. 1. “You don’t have to see where you’re going, you don’t have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you.” 2. “Very few writers really know what they are doing until they’ve done it.” 3. “Beginners are learning to play, and they need encouragement to keep their hands moving across the page." Below, I have also added three of my own quotes about writing, as I have had time to think about them as I was reading. 1. “Sometimes writing just happens. You start with a topic or an idea, and you don’t realize how much you actually have to say about the subject. Before you know it, you have a completed paper or story.” 2. “It doesn’t matter where or when you start, it just matters that you do start.” 3. “Whenever you write, do it with passion – even if you don’t care about what you are writing about. Pretend you care more and see where it takes you.” I have answered these questions from the Proust Questionnaire to give you some insight into my thoughts. It has been said that this questionnaire tells you who someone truly is.
What is your idea of perfect happiness? - My idea of perfect happiness doesn’t exist. Perfection is something that only one can hope to achieve, in anything, especially happiness. My idea of happiness, though, is financial freedom and having the ability to block out anxieties. What is your greatest fear? - I have a fear of not being a great mother and of not having the patience to be a great mother. I think being an only child has kept me from being fully selfless, although I don’t consider myself to be selfish. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? - I second guess myself a lot and I question everything. I don’t always believe in taking people’s word for it, sometimes even if I know their answer is perfectly fine. What is the trait you most deplore in others? - I hate the fact that people refuse to see all sides of something. Nothing is as cut and dry as it may seem. There are many ways to get the result you seek, but most people believe that “their” way is the only way. Which living person do you most admire? - I admire my mother. It may seem cliché, or like an easy answer, but I have been very fortunate to have a mother who does love selflessly and would give everything in her power not only to me, but to anyone who may need her. What is your greatest extravagance? - My greatest extravagance would have to be my cars. Every car I have bought has been brand new, with a lot of creature comforts. I just find things are better that way. Less maintenance What is your current state of mind? - Currently my state of mind varies. I have days where I am overly confident in everything I do, and then I have days where I wish the world would swallow me whole. This doesn’t vary because of anything in particular, I think just some days are better than others. What do you consider the most overrated virtue? - The most overrated virtue is probably self-control, if that counts as a virtue. Most people, including myself, lack self-control and do not even realize it. I purchase things when I know I probably shouldn’t, then excuse it by telling myself I deserve it, for whatever reason. On what occasion do you lie? - I really don’t lie often, but if I was going to lie, it would be to protect someone else. What do you most dislike about your appearance? - I don’t mind my appearance, I just wish my face was friendlier sometimes. So many people have told me that they didn’t think I was a pleasant person just because of how my face looked when they first met me Which living person do you most despise? - I despise anyone who is intolerant to another person. We don’t have to have the same opinions, but we all should respect each other What is the quality you most like in a man? - Nothing is better than when a man can keep their word. If they say they will do it, they should. Which words or phrases do you most overuse? - I overuse the word “like” and “um”, which are pretty typical things for people, but I really need to work on that. I don’t want it to show a lack of intelligence What or who is the greatest love of your life? - I know that once my child is born, that love will surpass anything or anyone that I have ever met. Which talent would you most like to have? - I would love to be able to play the piano. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? - I would change how anxious I often am about things, I would change how much I overthink things. What do you consider your greatest achievement? - I don’t consider myself to have any great achievements, except maybe graduating high school, which for a while I didn’t think I would do. Starting college is another great achievement, because I never really wanted to before. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? - If I could come back as a cat, I would. Cats live life so carelessly and when they are less than pleasant, people just accept it. Where would you most like to live? - I am pretty content where I live, but I wish it was warmer year-round What is your most treasured possession? - My most treasured possession would have to be, again, the cars I have owned. I work hard to pay for them and I am proud to have them. What is your most marked characteristic? - I think mostly my friends would say that I am a loyal friend and I take pride in that characteristic. I am more loyal than some people deserve from me but that’s who I am as a person. I would do anything for the people I care about What do you most value in your friends? - I really value someone I can simply laugh with. Sometimes that is the most important thing Who are your favorite writers? - I don’t think I have any favorite writers. Who is your hero of fiction? - I don’t have a hero of fiction. Which historical figure do you most identify with? - I don’t identify with any historical figures Who are your heroes in real life? - My heroes are my parents. Being adopted, my life could have been completely different, but I was adopted by two people who love me unconditionally and who, more importantly, love each other unconditionally. They have always showed me what a happy and healthy, loving relationship was and I could never thank them enough for what they have taught me about life What are your favorite names? - I don’t know that I have ever given a thought to my favorite names What is it that you most dislike? - I really dislike being ignored, and people who don’t feel the need to speak when they are spoken to. I am a generally friendly person and there are some people who will just look at you like they don’t have to talk to you. Which, I guess, they don’t have to necessarily, but it’s rude in my opinion. What is your greatest regret? - My greatest regret is not finishing high school like a “normal” senior. I left high school after tenth grade and did cyber school for my junior and senior years. Even though I hated school, I feel like there was a lot I may have missed out on How would you like to die? - I am not sure how I would like to die. Truly, I wouldn’t want to die at all if I had the choice. Aging scares me because I have seen people suffer in their old age What is your motto? - My motto would probably be, “You get what you give”. Again, I am a generally friendly person, but if you are rude to me there isn’t any chance that I’ll care enough to give you the time of day anymore. |
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