September 29, 2005
Lincoln Elementary
Lincoln Elementary school is not a school where high income families take their kids for their education; it's the opposite. The school is a nieghborhood where low income is very common, actually, it's the majority. When it comes to testing, the school percentage is lower then the district's. The ethnicity is either black or asian and 22% cannot speak english at a proefficient level. It is not what you call a great school to start, but it's still a start, the students still get an education whether they want to or not.
Posted by at 4:41 PM
September 22, 2005
The Things We Carry by Danielle Williams
I believe "The Thing We Carry' by Danielle Williams is a better essay. The content was very clear. She explained how the teacher was like, how she use to study, how the new way of studying, and described the new relationship between her and the teacher. She was very organized. She wrote the essay in a order that was clear to focus on and understand very easily. The style was also organized. There wasn't any run-off sentences, nor was it wordy. I thought this essay had a lot more impact on me because I can relate to it. I know how it feels to be entering a class that I think would be easy, but it turns out that it's very had.
Posted by at 4:19 PM
Long Essays
A problem I have with the current essay assignment is that I’m not use to writing 4 pages. Most of the essays I use to write have been no greater then 2 pages, which was during high school. As of today, I’m at 3 pages on my 2nd draft and slowly getting use to it. I’m just typing all of my thoughts and just putting them all together, I find that way easier. But I guess I’m going have to get use to it, but it’s not bad.
Posted by at 1:35 PM
September 15, 2005
Chapter VII
I read Chapter VII by Frederick Douglass. A personal trait that was most influential to Douglass was that he was very interested to read and write. The family that owned him tried to make sure that we wouldn’t educate himself; they did this by always checking up on him when he was in a room alone for a period of time. Douglass would take books from the house that he knew that no one would notice they are gone and read them when he went to do errands.
The exterior force that influenced Douglass was all the little kids on the street that had just came back from school. He would confront them saying that he knew how to read, and of course, being the slave he is, they didn’t believe him. He would trick them into writing new words, and then later in the day, Douglass would teach himself how to write.
I liked how Frederick Douglass was very anxious to learn how to read and write. He would have been one of the few slaves that would actually have this type of knowledge, and the fact that he would go behind his Master’s back just to learn.
Posted by at 4:20 PM
September 13, 2005
"Shitty First Drafts"
"Almost all good writing begins wtih terrible first efforts."
That sentence sticked out most for me because I can actually relate to it. Everytime i try to start a first draft of a paper, its always short and there are grammar errors all over as I read it over again. I use to feel that everyone never had a problem writing papers and it always makes me worried, and I start to think that my first draft will just be horrible. When I read this sentence, it made me feel that everyone goes through the same problem that i go through. When i actually finish with my final draft, it just turns out to be awesome.
Posted by at 4:36 PM
September 6, 2005
About myself
1. Describe the neighborhood where you grew up.
I was born in Flint, MI, and to this day it was known as one of the top 10 most dangerous cities in the U.S. Luckily for me, I grew up in a nice neighborhood where there wasn't any crime. Right across the street were my cousins; they were all older, so they treated me like I was their little baby and just spoil me, it was awesome. There weren’t any parks around, so my Dad made assembled a swing set for my Brother and me to play; our backyard was huge.
2. What did you like the most and least about your time in high school?
What I loved the most about my high school was that they cared a lot about people with different cultures. They had a multicultural group, in which I was in, and each year they have a day called, "Diversity Day." It was when the majority of the students in that group would perform dances, read poems, or sing in different languages. I did the "Dabkeh," which is a Lebanese form of dancing; many of the students loved it. I just think it is a great way to see how people from different ethnics express themselves. What I didn't like about the high school was the overcrowding. Out school was meant to fit 2,400, but instead it fit over 3,000. There was one time where there weren’t any desks left for other students to sit in, and that made everyone realize the problem we had. Even at the pep fest, students would have to sit on the floor instead of the bleachers.
3. Who was the best and worst teacher you've had so far? What did you like/dislike about them?
The best teacher had to be Mrs. Kehrwald, my French teacher. She was very patient with all of us when we are trying to speak in French with a big smile on her face to make us feel confident in ourselves. It wasn't just French she enjoyed seeing; it was the different cultures that were in my class. Mrs. Kehrwald was the one who put me in the multicultural club and I thanked her for doing that.
The worst teacher that I've had is Mr. Grove, the psychology teacher. He is a very nice guy and very funny, but his style of teaching wasn't great. I didn't feel like he did good job teaching us a lesson in the book, he mostly told us stories about his life. When he tells stories, we just all start to daydream which causes us to not work as hard.
4. How would you evaluate the education you received?
I believe my education was good. It could have been excellent, but I didn't try as hard as I could have during my freshman and sophomore year in high school. Most of the teachers I had did a good job in teaching and an excellent job in helping students out.
5. At what point did you decide to go to college? Who/what do you think was the most responsible of that decision?
I knew since the day I started school that I would go to college. My parents have never gone to college due to the lack of money, and now that there is plenty of money to go around, I want to make them proud and show them that I will graduate college with a major. That is my motivation to do well during my four years
Posted by at 8:53 PM