Implication

This post, although it is shown as my last has been one developing for a long time. In this post I am trying to show what potentially could happen if the two different sides on this topic do not come to agree or convince the other what is right for everyone. As I have said I do not feel like their are two real opinions on this topic because everyone wants what is best for children. The people who want to continue to let the No Child Left Behind legislation run the education system have to be convinced that it hasn't worked and needs to be reworked. This may seem like a very bias statement, but there is nothing else that can be done to bring people wanting to keep the legislation and people wanting to change it together.
If we continue to leave the education system the way it is and there is no change then there will be many consequences. More importantly to me their will be many consequences for my family. Since the legislation calls for all student to be proficeint in reading and math by 2014 there are going to be many schools that will not make the increases necessary to reach this goal. When a school does not make the increases necessary then the schools are put on probation. This can cause principals, teachers, and other staff members to lose their job. Also, if the legislation is not changed then their will be a continued decrease in funding for schools who need it to make it better for the students. The fine arts category will also continue to experience a decrease in funding and perhaps eventually be taken away completely so the schools can focus on meeting the goals they must for the legislation. Schools will continue to teach to the test and kids who do not test well will continue to do bad and be deemed by the government as "not proficient" if the legislation remains the same. As you can tell things will more than likely continue to get worse if there isn't an understanding come to. Everyone wants the best for children it is just what different people see as "the best" in terms of education.

Post Election Day

To start off with I would like for everyone who voted to give themselves a pat on the back. Voting is our duty as citizens of this great country. It is a simply price to pay for the many luxuries we do have.

I wanted to wait until after the election to post about my election day experience and my feelings regarding the election. This blog is all about the No Child Left Behind legislation and the field of education, but education has been the least of the candidates worries due to the state of our economy. Because of this, the candidates views on education did not influence the way the majority of people voted. So, this post is not going to revolve around education, but around the election day experience.

When I woke up on November 4th I realized that it was time for me to vote, since I had not done so early. I was actually very excited about the thought of having a part in who was going to be the leader of our country. I stood in a relatively short line compared to my expections, voted, took my sticker and was off. After this it was all about waiting. Many news station were predicting who won different states after only a small percentage of the votes were turned in early and I was confused on how this could be done. Early on it looked as though the election was going to be close, but later on in the night when the winner was unofficially declared it did not seem so. From my blog I am sure my political opinion can be deduced and because of this I was even more frustrated with the scene I saw last night. There were cheers that could be heard all around campus, but what really annoyed me was the people screaming about how anything could happen and the mesiah had come. This moves to my other strong opinion that someone should be voted for based on their policies alone. Otherwise the Franklin St. experience was one of a kind and a really exciting place to be.

Yesterday was a historic day in this nations history and regardless there is something special about what happened last night. People have very strong opinions regarding this election both positive and negative. For those who think that our nation is now "screwed", take a moment, step back and think as positive as one can. One man will have a significant influence on the country, but because of this the country is not going to fall apart. Everyone should love this great country and embrace whatever the future holds for it and believe the future can be positive.

Theory Post

Education has been a widely argued topic between intellectuals and non-intellectuals alike. In the past 8 years there have been sides on the topic of education due to the legislation, No Child Left Behind. Personally, I feel the two sides are those who are for the the complete reworking of the legislation and those who are not. These positions came after the american public education system experienced the No Child Left Behind plan for the first year. The side not in favor of the plan continued to move further and further away from it as time progressed. It is not this simple, but with all the evidence that the legislation has not worked and can not work it would seem that the group of people who want to continue to with the same legislation are not well informed on the issue. Politically, both democrats and republicans want to reform the legislation in order to better the education system and set atainable goals that can be funded. In the end the different sides on this issue are not that polarized.
To bring the two sides closer together I believe it would be helpful for the people who want to keep the legislation to listen to some people who are in the field of education talk about their problems with it. This particular issue is one that is hard to bring both sides together on. Either you change the legislation or you don't. Both groups want what is best for children and if one group presents an idea that works better than the other one would think that the other group would be in favor of changing their plan so the children could experience the best education possible.

My peers

Aparently Money Doesn't Grow on Trees

This is Britney's blog and it is wonderful. Everytime I look at this blog I feel enlightened and omniscent in regards to the economic crisis our country is in. This blog is tasteful and is usually very up to date. Sometimes the post can get a little long, but it is always worth reading the entire post. Although there are many blogs on the economic crisis this one inparticular is comfortable and really fun for me to read and see the new updates. The post follow the same suit as the title and usually contain slight sarcasim and humor which makes this blog even more fun, interesting, and exciting to read and blog on.


Renewable Energy: The New Oil?

Tommy has one of the most informative and up to date blogs of anyone I have read. This blog is filled with tons of post showing the different aspectives of the renewable energy topic while also showing the bloggers political opinion. It is important to be unbias, which Tommy flirt with but does so in a proper manner, but it is also nice to see someones personal views show up mixed in with the "science" of the blog. After reading several of his post one will find themself much more educated on different kinds of fuel and the benefits they have. I believe the best thing about this blog is that the blogger brings his topic down so that readers who have no idea about his topic leave his blog feeling like they know something.

*Financial 9/11*

This blog is quite different than the other two I have mentioned. This blog is in your face from the begining. The picture on the blog, the comments on the side wake the reader of this blog up. It says this blog will explore how the bailout plan will affect YOU. These subtle things make this blog fun to look at, draw the reader in, and then once the reader is drawn in the post are informative and interesting. This blog, like Britney's, is very informative and is always up to date, making it a fun blog to check up on. It is always fun when you never know what you are going to see when you visit the blog. There is a sense of suprise and excitment with this blog. I highly recommend anyone who has not visited this blog to check it out. The facts are layed out and are very helpful in formulating an opinion about the bailout plan.

To Be Well Rounded

As I was scanning through the internet for pictures to put up as my profile picture I ran into several funny cartoons. One such cartoon had several students in a classroom with tubes going into their brains. These tubes contained writing, math, and reading. There was one girl trying to jump out of the window towards a sign that said fine arts. The moral of this cartoon was that with the no child left behind plan leaves out many other fields that may be interesting and even important for students. It is the belief of many including myself that a well-rounded education including the fine arts is the best education. Sadly, the present no child left behind plan only measures students ability in reading and math. The goal of the plan is for all students to be proficient in reading and math by the year 2014. As I have already mentioned, this is an unatainable goal and legislators should recognize this and rework the plan completly.
When or if the new plan is re-worked fields like the fine arts shoule be addressed. Since this program was inacted classes in the fine arts category have received less funding. Some programs at some public schools have been cut because of this. From my personal point of view as a trombone player, I found band to play a very important part in my life. There is a definite correlation between my studies and my trombone playing. I truely believe that when someone paints, acts, plays an instrument, ect., they are participating in deep thinking and stimulating their brain intellectually. This aside about my personal experience with the fine arts further shows the need for them in the educating of our young people. Learning is not always just about math and reading. Learning is about being well rounded, participating in many different activities that challenge ones brain and expands ones thinking. Most educators would agree and this is just one more thing to think about in the formulation of a new education plan.

Blogger

Is anyone else having trouble with blogger? It will not let me view other peoples blogs.

What I've learned

This project has been one of the most fun ways of learning that I have ever taken part in. Through this blog I have been able to develop as a thinker and develop strong opinions on important political subjects. The no child left behind legislation is a piece of legislation that has a huge effect on students and educators alike and I am proud to say that I now have a real reason for not liking this legislation.
Before this project I felt that the no child left behind act was a good idea, but wasn't funded enough and had some glitches. My feelings on this issue are the exact same as they were before I started on this project, but I now have reason for not liking the plan and have even more solidified my choice for this years presidency race. This project has made me see why many educators, like my father, are struggling with this issue, and why there has even been a call for a total redo of the legislation. I now can have deep, meaningful conversation about an issue that is important to my Dad and stepmom. I have my own developed opinions that are not overlooked, but listened to and taken into consideration. When I told my family I was doing this project at first my Dad was scared, but now whenever we talk on the phone we sometimes will get into lengthy discussion on my next post or a comment that is on my blog. I believe that through this I will have helped to persuade my Dad to vote for who is going to vote for because of all the information and research I have and have done on this issue. Had I not participated in this project I would not have been able to give out such knowledge and would not be able to give informed opinions about education to others.
Even more important than the ability to converse with my family about this is the fact that I am proud for the knowledge I have on this legislation. I do not believe I have been so informed on one particular issue ever, because I haven't had to research anything so in depth. Although there has been a lot of work involved with this project I am happy that I have been able to learn so much about education, a field that affects me everyday.