Journal 8

I really enjoyed Professor Warren’s ENC1102 class. She taught the class very well and the movies we were watched were very informative. I liked everything about the class and was glad that we were able to read each others essays. I like to help, so it was good for me to be able to help me other classmates. I really enjoyed her getting the rooms for us so we could watch the films. She defiantly made sure that we could be part of not only a speech, but also we got out in time to go to the art galleries. I have not had another professor like that. We knew what to expect before coming to her class. She kept us informed via Blackboard under announcements, which helped me remember what to do on the day of class. She also followed her syllabus as well. So overall, this class was awesome and I will recommend her to anyone that is interested in taking an ENC1102 class!!!

Why Teachers Should be Paid More...

Why Teachers Should be Paid More

The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called 'truth'.- Dan Rather
            I believe teachers should be recognized for their continuing efforts. They need to be recognized and rewarded with excellence. Teachers deserve a raise because of their effort, grades, and the danger of their job. Education funding has been promised over and over again, however these promises have never been fulfilled. Our teachers are a very important asset to our society. Our kids need these teachers, need their education, and there should not be any dispute about money. Our teachers should be passionate, proficient, and qualified at their job. Teachers are educators, not nannies. Parents need to help their children to learn, so that child can have a good academic progress.

Yes, it is true, teacher only work 180 days out of the year. However, that does not mean they do not work the rest of the days of the year. Teachers spend a lot of sleepless nights grading papers and planning for the next day’s agenda. The teacher is focused on the continuing progress of their students. In addition, they are passionate about their student’s success. Therefore, good teachers should be compensated and “bad” teachers should not be teaching. There is a huge gap when it comes to good teachers and bad teachers. According to galegroup.com, “Having a good teacher, as opposed to a mediocre or poor teacher, makes a big difference. Raising average teacher quality does seem a promising direction for public policy.”

Furthermore, I believe a teacher should be compensated for their student’s academic progress.  All students have the same rights. If a student has difficulties learning the required material, then that child should be put into a tutor class. It should not be the teachers fault if that student has a lower learning capability than other students. I believe the teacher will have more motivation to ensure their students do well. According to galegroup.com ,  “The average annual salary offered college graduates going into teaching this year was only about $26,000, ranging from as little as $19,000 in North Dakota to $33,000 in Alaska. Graduates taking engineering jobs, for instance, averaged almost $43,000. The average for graduates who went into the field of computer science was $41,000. For those in business administration it was $35,000, in accounting $34,000 and in sales and marketing about $33,000.”

Here lately, our teachers are in a danger zone. There have been many school shootings and our teachers are being killed along with their students. For teachers being in a hazardous environment, they should be paid better money. One shooting was not too long ago. It happened in Newtown, Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary. In 2012, there were a total of 10 school shootings, which killed 41 people and 13 injured.  Our teachers are putting their life on the lines everyday and should be rewarded for it. Teachers do not receive enough recognition from the public or the government.

In contrast, bad teachers are being paid the same amount of income as a good teachers. A good teacher can do everything right, while a bad teacher can be lazy and they both have the same salary. This part of our school system needs to be fixed. I do believe that if students apply themselves than they can become very successful. I understand that it is not all of the teacher’s responsibility to teach their students, but students must be willing to work hard and apply themselves.

In conclusion, I think there have been a lot of promises that have not been met. It comes down to our good teachers being dragged down and working extra hard for no reason.  I think we can all help our teachers by being a good parent and pitching in and teaching our own kids. According to galegroup.com, “Some parents will make excuses regardless of the situation, and they are raising children who will grow into adults who turn toward excuses and do not create a strong work ethic. If you don't want your child to end up 25 and jobless, sitting on your couch eating potato chips, then stop making excuses for why they aren't succeeding. Instead, focus on finding solutions.”

Works Cited:

Grant, Leslie W., James H. Stronge, and Thomas J. Ward. "What makes good teachers good? A cross-case            analysis of the connection between teacher effectiveness and student achievement." Journal of Teacher Education 62.4 (2011): 339+. Academic OneFile. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.

Hancock, Carl B., and Lisa Scherff. "Who will stay and who will leave? Predicting secondary English         teacher attrition risk." Journal of Teacher Education 61.4 (2010): 328+. Academic OneFile. Web.    12 Apr. 2013.

Kirchhoff, Allison, and Frances Lawrenz. "The use of grounded theory to investigate the role of teacher              education on STEM teachers' career paths in high-need schools." Journal of Teacher Education      62.3 (2011): 246+. Academic OneFile. Web. 13 Apr. 2013.

Journal 7- Waiting for Superman

Teachers deserve to be paid more because of their time and effort. The teachers are educators, not nannies, but a lot of them play the role of a nanny. They spend more time with your children probably anyone else. They are a great asset to our society and their salary is not as much as you think it would be. We spend more money on keeping high school drop outs in jail, than we do on our education. That is sending a negative message across the board. I believe all students should have a fair chance of having a great school and teacher. Some students are less fortunate to having a great teacher or school to attend because of what side of the road they live on, or what their parent’s income is. I think as an education system, we need to do more in providing what is best for our children. Teachers do a lot for our children and they want the very best for them. Teachers are leaving their jobs because of the annual salary. That is not fair to the children. A lot of schools in Duval County do not have the best grades, but the ones that do require more money. All kids should be treated equally and have the same rewards as the other ones. Our Education system needs to be fixed to make the best of American kids.

Miss Representation

Miss Representation

She got her looks from her father. He's a plastic surgeon.- Groucho Marx I do not think that looks are what make you beautiful. While there are many people that disagree, I think true beauty is within the person. There are many young girls and women who are being misled by the images portrayed in media. The media in the Unites States represents young women as objectified sex symbols.  These misleading messages, lead to social, health, and mental problems. The most dangerous tools of this misleading propaganda to these girls, are the television and the internet.

 I believe when young ladies are distracted by the essence of beauty, they become so involved in spending money on material accessories like hair extensions, eyelashes, and makeup products.  The danger arises as young girls become subsequently fixated with physical beauty. This can lead to neglecting time to build relationships, a self imposed fear that they are inadequate, or too conscious of appearance to associate with a certain group of people. This drastically affects a girl’s self-esteem, their body image and aspirations they may have set for themselves. 

 The list of health problems that are associated with being a transformed beauty goes on and on. The risk of plastic surgery includes bleeding, infections, scarring, and nerve damage. The danger of Botox injections is death. Botox is made from the same set of poison that carries the bacteria from which we get from food poisoning. Given these points, a number of young women and girls of the age 20 and under, have been hospitalized because they are anorexic have eating disorders.  These women and young ladies are tricked to believe that the only way to be accepted in society is if they are 110 lbs or less.

In addition, cat-fighting reality TV shows enforce the negative images, stereotypes, and behavior that make the Miss Representation case clear.  Furthermore, there is an immense gap between women in media and women in real life. Today, young girls spend many hours using social media, watching television, or indulging in the latest gossip or fashion magazines. To emphasize, girls as young as 11 years old are being bombarded by these advertisements each day. Truth is, this generation is being raised on scripted reality TV. They watch bodies being transformed, faces taken apart and pieced back together, while simultaneously having those who do not fit media norm are on famous for neglecting their real beauty to fit the criteria for televisions false glamour.

Life as a teenage girl has always been difficult in the transition from a child to a young lady. Unfortunately, in today’s society media bombards every aspect of our culture and livelihood and often times purposely influences the way we think. Scruton states, “the continued cultural and communal conditioning we receive every day of our lives that physical beauty does have a standard…it is in our newspapers, on our television, in our motion picture houses, on our advertising billboards…[and] in our daily interaction with our fellow human beings”(Beauty 2).

 In my opinion, parents of young girls are disturbed about the regular pressure their daughters are subject to in a society. In today’s perception of adolescent women, media displays anorexic actresses, and models and uncontrollable television stars.    We as women are now more than ever conditioned to think that this is what attractive women should look or act like.  Reality TV has damaged the confidence of some young women to believe that their value is based on looks and it’s better to be recognized for superficial beauty than true beauty. When young women look to media for role models, they are immediately at a disadvantage that neglects intellect and positive values that ensure a positive and healthy life. Unfortunately, the source of “role models” are media controlled and are walking advertisements for the most current looks and fashion trends. Therefore, when they see the reality TV shows, the message portrayed clearly states the only way to success, respect, or path to achievement is through beauty. What other choices do they think they have available to them?  This continuation of rewarding false values is the reason why young girls are bullied. They are simply not pretty enough; it goes to the extent where some have committed suicide because of it. 

In conclusion, women should to learn to respect and embrace themselves and teach the young ladies following them how to achieve self love in a society that forces one to believe what is and isn’t beautiful. All things considered, I sincerely hope the women of society will awaken to there beauty from within and not their outward appearance. All women have the potential of being a leader, a world influence, or a financial success and beauty will donate nothing to ones achievement. Examples throughout history will prove it’s all about how hard you work, your dedication, and how you apply yourself to achieve personal goals. I think this problem of media and its influence is worldwide but as the worlds leader in entertainment we suffer from the consequences the most. I think we should fight for the girl that is being bullied for being overweight, or has a birthmark on her face, or is beautiful but doesn’t have the confidence. It does not matter what you see on the outside, it’s the person’s real beauty that resides on the inside.  Beauty has no standard or concrete definition; however, due to commercial influence there are certain qualities people unfairly associate with beauty. There is no definition of beauty, but when you can see someone's spirit coming through, something unexplainable, that's beautiful to me.- Liv Tyler 

Works Cited:

Bay-Cheng, Laina Y., and Nicole M. Fava. "Young women's experiences and perceptions of          cunnilingus during adolescence." The Journal of Sex Research Nov.-Dec. 2011: 531+.   Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Apr. 2013.

Bush, Vanessa. "Some Like It Hot." Essence (Essence) 32.2 (2001): 25. MasterFILE Complete.       Web. 29 Mar. 2013.

Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood Press, 2010. Print.

Scruton, Roger. Beauty. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.

Journal 6- Miss Representation

After watching the film “Miss Representation” I realized how much media and the world we live in today has an impact on young ladies. We have all seen the real truth when the Dove ad finally showed the truth and took us through the process of becoming beautiful. Social media is giving off false information and is leading girls/women into more harmful issues than they are helping them. There have been times when I have walked into a public bathroom and there have been little sticky notes on the mirror that say “Smile, you’re beautiful”.  I think it is important to keep the message of “You are beautiful”.  Many young women today are trying so hard to fit in with society and the media. They are led to believe that you can only be successful if you are a certain weight, or if you have flawless hair and skin. That is not true, and I think everyone needs to become a part of society that stands us and help ladies accept themselves for who God made them into be. All of the plastic surgeries, and eating disorders associated with becoming “beautiful” is on the rise and it is not healthy. The truth about beauty dates way back into history when artists made women beautiful by painting their faces and bodies. I think women/girls need to learn to respect who they are and not try to be someone that they are not meant to be. I hope more ladies will realize that they are beautiful from within and not how they appear on the outside.