Thursday, October 4, 2012

main idea of my narrative paper... learning country music

Having a sister who is three years older than you that doesn’t live with you when you’re a five year old girl means that you want to be like them and do the things they do. My older sister Brittany, who lived with her mom in South Carolina, came to visit every summer and every other Christmas. We shared a room when she was here which meant we were very close and also meant I would annoy her to death. Brittany, when she was younger, was in beauty pageants and was really good at them. She won many categories like beauty and talent. I remember seeing my sister… who was from the south… performing a song in the living room to my parents. To me, it was the best performance I had ever seen and left me wanting to sing with a twang that filled people ears with a sweet heartfelt sound. At a young age I knew the simple song that I would learn in school like “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and Mary Had a Little Lamb” but had not really paid attention to any certain type of music. She sang “Why Haven’t I Heard from You” by Reba Mcentire and I was hooked on country music.

common classificaitons of food

To classify foods nowadays one common way is the food pyramid. In the food pyramid we have created different groups. These groups are grains, veggies, fruits, dairy, proteins, and fat. The USDA says “Each group has specific essential nutrients most easily obtained from foods in that group. Being aware of the classification of food groups is the first step to planning a healthy diet. “The food pyramid helps us plan a menu and make sure we are eating what we need be healthy. Another way we classify food is what the labels say on the box. Things like fat free, whole grain and low carb are a few of these labels. We classify these as healthier processed foods. Also our grocery stores classify foods by section and amount of nutrition. Healthier, not as processed items like veggies, fruit, meat, and dairy products will be on the perimeter of the store. While more processed items like bread, crackers, and caned items will be in the aisles.

Works cited
Live strong- classification of food groups- http://www.livestrong.com/article/299591-classification-of-food-groups/

Malcolm X vs. Benjamin Franklin

When reading about Malcolm X and Benjamin Franklin I noticed some similarities and differences about their education. The main similarity was that they were both learning grammar and how to read. Another similarity is that people helped both of them. Benjamin’s family and friends helped him and Malcolm X got help from the people who worked in the library at the jail by letting him check out more books than the amount permitted. A difference was that Malcolm had started off as a self-teacher and then people helped him, whereas Benjamin was put into a grammar school at a young age and always had people to help him. Another difference is how they learned. Benjamin learned from years of class while Malcolm learned from writing down words from a dictionary on a tablet and slowly learning how to read his own writing and slowly being able to read other books. Another difference was that Benjamin was given an education by his father because his father wanted him to go into the church. where Malcolm sat I a jail cell reading because he had the desire to learn and be able to speak in front of people and sound educated.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

education in america


With unmotivated students and abused school budgets I think that the education in America is not where it should be.

            Students in America seem to not care as much as they should about their education. In high school you see students sleep, text, and not pay attention in class.
Students come to class without homework on time and some are ok with the lowest possible grade that will get them to pass the class. They think school is a joke and that what they are suppose to learn, for example; algebra, will not help them later in life. One problem about the students is that they are obsessed with their cell phones. It has gotten so bad that I know of people that will call other people in the middle of class when we are suppose to be working on an assignment. They text in class constantly and the teachers have gotten to the point where they don’t care because they feel students are not going to listen to them no matter what the rule is. The truth is most students don’t care what the rule is because they know they can get away with it. Students also don’t get enough sleep. They will stay up until two in the morning and will get up at six for school. They go to school unable to pay attention and they sometime will fall asleep in class. This means that they are not learning and will not be able to succeed in the class easily. It seems like students set themselves up to not  be ready for college and to go into a good career. Students dropout because they make regretful decisions and have to or they just don’t like school. Also, a lot of students have to stay in high school for an extra year because they don’t pass their classes and are pushed behind of their peers.  This is all because they are not motivated.

            Lately, because of the economy school budgets are being cut around the country. Schools can’t afford new supplies like textbooks or cant get enough for all students. Then sometimes the school says they don’t have enough money for stuff but are able to buy things that the school could have a cheaper version of. At my high school they said that they only had enough money to buy class sets of the new math text books which meant that we wouldn’t get a text book and we would have to get our homework from an online book  that sometimes didn’t work and was unreliable for the forst few weeks of school but somehow paid for 32 apple Mac computers for the web design class, a DJ to play at lunch for homecoming week, and flat screen TVs to show a slide show of pictures in the commons area. I don’t know how they separate the budget but from a student’s point of view it seems like they don’t have their priorities straight for what we as student actually need in the classroom.

            Because of students who are not motivated in school and poor budget choices the educational system in America is not up to standards but it is something that can be fixed. if you are a student you can make sure you get enough sleep, turn off the cell phone, and try to pay attention in class. If you’re a parent, teacher, principal, or a school board member you can take part in what we spend school money on by going to school board meetings and letting them know what you think money should be spent on. Then, maybe we could make a change in the educational system in America.