Musical Morning Motivation

For my last blog post I am going to talk about a video that I stumbled upon on Facebook. The video consists of a teacher in front of her second-grade classroom dancing and singing a modified version of a popular song called “Juju on the beat”. This video made me smile because all of the students seem very involved in the lyrics and the dance, plus the song’s message had no negative connotations to it.

This is a great way to put teaching into a more positive light. The video has gone viral since it was uploaded, racking up almost 9 million views. The song and dance is a cute and innovative way to get students on their toes and in the mood to learn. Lyrics like “We are sharp, we are smart, everyone on their feet” really encourages students to be active in a physical and learning aspect. Along with being active, the teacher, Ms. Finch, is telling the students that they are all smart and having them sing it with her. This is such an important message to give to a classroom full of second graders because not only are the students getting up and moving, but they are getting a confidence boost reassuring them that they are intelligent, and persuading them to learn at the best of their ability.

I think that Ms. Finch did a great job organizing the song and dance into her curriculum because it really spices up the typical math, writing, reading, and science classes and gives students a break to get up, move around, and encourage themselves to be the best they can be. More teachers should start integrating clever songs and dances into their schedules because it will bring learning into a better light and encourage students to be excited to come to class every day.

It is amazing how much teachers can do and have done for the world thus far. As time goes on, teachers have only become more and more creative in how they want to educate their students. Nobody should ever underestimate the ability of a teacher because nobody would be where they are today without them.

-Jenna

@ABC13Houston. "Students Have Musical Morning Motivation to 'Juju on That Beat'" ABC13 Houston. N.p., 17 Nov. 2016. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

One Moment Can Change a Persons Life Forever

In my first blog post I posted a video that was important to me. This video is about a man who chnages peoples days by just telling them nice things about them, such as "you have a beautiful smile." As this is one of my last posts, I thought I would reiterate the theme from the video, it is the little things that matter most.

The attached story tells about how a boy helped another boy and they ended up becoming best friends. That is how the boy who did the helping viewed it, until four years later when he found out that he had saved his friends life.

This is the story (as written by the boy from here till end):
One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. It looked like he was carrying all of his books.

I thought to myself, “Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd.”

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friend the next afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about 10 feet from him.

He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, I saw a tear in his eye.

As I handed him his glasses, I said, “Those guys are jerks. They really should get lives.” He looked at me and said, “Hey thanks!” There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now. I had never hung out with a private school kid before.

His name was Kyle. We talked all the way home, and I carried his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes. We hung all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him. And my friends thought the same of him.

Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, “Damn boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!” He just laughed and handed me half the books. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going to study business on a football scholarship. Kyle was valedictorian of our class.

I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn’t me having to get up there and speak.

On graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than me and all the girls loved him! Boy, sometimes I was jealous.

Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, “Hey, big guy, you’ll be great!” He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. “Thanks,” he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began.

“Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach … but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story.”

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn’t have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home.

He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. “Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.” I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.

I saw his mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person’s life.

________________________________________________________________________

-Eric

Source:
http://www.inspiremore.com/jock-saves-kid-from-bullying-and-learns-truth-4-yrs-later/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=SHRD&utm_campaign=partner

Prompted Post #1: Preconceptions about Political Science

Going into political science, as one can imagine, I had a lot of preconceptions.

Two Major Preconceptions Included:

1.     Most political science majors become either lawyers or politicians.

2.     Professionals that majored in poly sci are boring and that their work is boring.

Through my introduction to political science class, I was encouraged to get to book 4 Novel Approach to Politics. Through its use of popular culture and humor, it tested these preconceptions I had. And this is what I learned:

1.     There are a lot of career options out there for political science majors including working with an interest group, a business, a nonprofit, becoming a lobbyist, journalist, reporter, etc., or working at any position at the local, state or federal level of government.

        It’s just that from the outside there doesn’t look like many options but from the inside there are many possibilities yet to be discovered.

2.     This textbook used humor to show that things in government aren’t as boring as they seem, and it did this by analyzing government functions and processes and democracy and the list could go on. The key thing is, if you find an area of this field that you’re passionate about, like international relations, then it won't be boring.

https://www.mrconservative.com/2012/02/1945-government-beauracrat-cartoon/

A lot of people have assumptions about the government and how it works, like some believe that officials are all crooks or that the man on the moon was staged. Whatever the idea was, I would like to believe that I had a pretty good understanding of the truths of this field.

I know that not everybody involved in politics in some way is corrupt and I know that they’re not out to get people. Even though I had a realist point of view going into this major, this textbook helped clear up the assumptions I had left about political science.

-Riley

People Need to Grow Up

On November 8, 2016, Donald Trump was elected to be President of the United States. After a year and a half of primaries and debates, Trump won the election against Hillary Clinton. The results shocked the nation, but the reaction was completely unexpected. The same people who claimed that Trump incites violence, that he will ruin American, that he must accept the results of the election, are in protest that he won. Ironically, they are the ones inciting violence as well as not accepting the results of the election. Trump has not even been inaugurated as the president and people will not give him a chance and are demanding he be impeached. These people say how they are ashamed in America for voting for this man. Well, America should be ashamed that these people are their citizens. They did not get what they wanted so now they will throw a temper tantrum hoping for a change which will certainly not come. In six months, if you do not like the way Trump is conducting his presidency, fine, protest, but at least give the man a chance. From the moment he was elected he has been trying to united the country, but nobody is listening. President Obama needs to make a speech to stop the protests, yes we have freedom of speech, but it is that freedom which will tear this country apart without giving the president elect a fair chance.

My Facebook feed is filled with friends all voicing their opinions on the election, most of which die hard democrats crying that they didn't get their way. Shocker that the kids from New York were told no for the first time in their lives. In disgusts me to read these post because it shows that these people have to sense of reality, as well as no faith in the way our democracy works. The reason the electoral college exist is for equal representation from each state, this way states like New York and California can't sway an election using their mass populations. Our democracy is set up on a checks and balance system, so no president can do anything that will directly impact our safety or our constitutional rights. Lastly, people need to realize that the Republican Party won Congress and the Senate. This clearly proves that Trump winning this election was no mistake and would happen again if the election was re-held. The people wanted change and change is what they got.

-Eric

My Favorite Teacher

This week, I will be using my post to talk about my favorite teacher. I have had many teachers throughout my educational career, but my freshman year Environmental Geoscience teacher was by far my favorite. I was a young timid freshman who was scared to raise her hand in class, and at the end of the year my hand went up almost every question. My teacher’s name was Mr. Wurth. He was middle aged, and had previously been an environmental lawyer, but then decided that teaching was his true passion.

Mr. Wurth loved his students. At the beginning of each year he would pride himself in memorizing each of their names and faces by the second day of school. He would build both professional and personal relationships with everybody and took the time to get to know his students, not just grade their work. I became very close with Mr. Wurth because he attended the college that I have been a born and raised fan of. He quickly began to learn about my family and extracurriculars and took the time to check up on me on occasion.

Not only was Mr. Wurth so personable, but he was an amazing teacher. He had the most unique teaching style I’ve ever been taught under. He engages the class with wild stories all pertaining to the subject he is teaching. These stories are so unique and interesting that to this day I still remember them. His astronomy lessons blew me away with how much he put the Earth into perspective and how much he knew about the subject. I never once felt bored in the class and I looked forward to going to it every day. When a teacher makes their students excited to learn, that’s when you know they’re doing something right.

To this day I still visit Mr. Wurth whenever I am at the school and occasionally email him about football updates. He made a huge impact on my life as a freshman in highschool and even though he was a Geoscience teacher, he taught me more about myself as a student than any teacher has ever had.

-Jenna

Brandon Marshall Decides to Stand

Over the past year, Colin Kaepernick has become a household name, known not just for being an NFL quarterback, but for starting the movement of kneeling or sitting during the National Anthem. One of the first NFL players to join Kaepernick was the Denver Broncos linebacker, Brandon Marshall.

Half way through the season though, Marshall announced on Instagram that for the remainder of the year, he will stand.  

Brandon Marshall is adamant that his feelings and views have not changed regarding social injustices and that there’s still more work out there to do, but he has hope for what's to come and that’s why he will chose to stand.

Marshall has been and is still currently working with the Denver Police Department and through his involvement, the Police Department is now rewriting its use-of-force policy, a policy that encourages officers to use as little force as necessary and provides specific situational guidelines.

Marshall states that he is still committed to working with organizations, one being the Idriss Shelby Foundation, that helps victims of police brutality. This also includes his Tackle Change Program, where for each tackle he makes, he'll donate $300 to certain organizations for this cause.

Brandon Marshall’s actions are incredible for many different reasons.

1.     He is one man with enough passion about improving social injustices, that he himself, got the Denver Police Department to rewrite policy. This shows us as a society, it only takes one person to make a difference.

2.     By standing up, he’s going against the status quo set on him. For him continuing to kneel would be easy, standing back up would be controversial. Marshall was brave and courageous enough to do what he believes in and stand.

3.     Marshall put action behind his stance. He is involved in multiple organizations and is an activist for this issue.

4.     He recognizes the men and women in uniform doing a good job, while at the same time speaking out against the officers that don’t.

Instagram.com/bmarshh54

Why is this important?

There's no doubt that police brutality has been an issue, especially in the past couple of years, but it takes more than just saying it to change it.

 Brandon Marshall is a role model. He puts action behind his words and changed the Denver Police Department's Policy. Marshall also stood up and gave credit to the officers that are doing their job and emphasizes how we shouldn't generalize every officer.

That one police department was willing to change, imagine how different it would be if we had more people like Brandon Marshall changing the country. To everybody, especially those little kids who model after him and Kaepernick, be the changing factor that Brandon Marshall is.

He now stands as a representation of hope. Will you stand?


______________________________________________________________________________________________

-Riley

Sources:

Gibbs, Lindsay. "NFL Player Stops National Anthem Protest after Denver Police Rewrite Use-of-force Policy." ThinkProgress. N.p., 07 Nov. 2016. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

Prompted Post #4: Politics in News Vs Scholarly Articles

A news article relating to my field generally consists of a lot of opinion based arguments and assumptions. Written by CNN's Jim Acosta, Dana Bash and Tal Kopan, Trump picks Priebus as White House chief of staff, Bannon as top adviser is written as an article which has been summed up all in a title. The article is written directed towards any audience to get their message across very quickly. It is in no way a formal article and can be understood by anyone in a matter of seconds, simply saying what happned then going into what the writes think of this event.

A scholarly article written by a professor in regards to politics is written after much research has been conducted. The author will work on an idea or review a bill numerous times before the process of writing even begins. The article is filled with facts to support the main argument. This piece of writing is done in a very formal way for someone to learn from, not necessarily to be a quick skim over. Scholarly articles are long and contain a mass amount of information, typically teaching the reader something regarding their interests or field.

A scholarly article is without a doubt a better source of information than a news article. They are more though out, studied and supported with facts. They are written with less opinion than anything else and will teach the reader about the topic as well as the current situation.

- Eric

Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/13/politics/donald-trump-reince-priebus-white-house-chief-of-staff/index.html

Prompted Post #2: A Teacher's Code of Ethics

A code of ethics is a very important set of rules pertaining to every profession. However for teachers, this code is taken extremely seriously. The Preamble of the National Education Association states: “The educator, believing in the worth and dignity of each human being, recognizes the supreme importance of the pursuit of truth, devotion to excellence, and the nurture of the democratic principles. Essential to these goals is the protection of freedom to learn and to teach and the guarantee of equal educational opportunity for all. The educator accepts the responsibility to adhere to the highest ethical standards”.  This statement stood out to me the most in the whole document because it recognizes how important the profession is, and demonstrates how teachers need to teach with the utmost skill and importance.

A teachers code of ethics relates to my personal code of ethics by giving equal opportunity to everybody. I believe that nobody should be at a disadvantage to anything, especially education. The NEA explains right off the bat in their Preamble that it is essential to have the guarantee of equal opportunity, which is something that I strongly believe in as well. The Code of Ethics is divided up into 2 main principles: Commitment to the Student and Commitment to the Profession, basically a system for the people you work with, and you and your job. I find this very crucial because a profession stems under many different categories and it is important to have defined ethics for each one. How teachers act around their young students is not going to correlate to how act around their supervisors.

Outside of the field of teaching, I believe that people perceive that teachers follow their code of ethics very well. This is because in order to become a certified teacher, there are many prerequisites and lots of inspection into the teacher beforehand. Every job requires extensive interviewing and a processing period, but when it comes to teaching, more steps are needed in the process in order to ensure that children will be taught to the greatest extent at the highest level, that they will be safe in the classroom, and that the teacher knows how to handle personable situations. There are so many factors into becoming a teacher that it would be impossible to make one general code of ethics.

The code of ethics in every job is coming to take very seriously. When it comes to teachers, there is a lot more content that is easily taken for granted so in order to prevent this, a more specific code of ethics is developed. Just because a profession’s code of ethics comes off as daunting, it does not mean that you should stray away from it. If anything, it is teaching you how to become more successful.

-Jenna

Source:

"Code of Ethics." Rss. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.

Career Opportunities for Political Science Majors

Once somebody hears that you’re a political science major, the automatic questions that you’re going to be asked are: Are you going to law school? Or do you want to hold a political office? I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been asked that and my answer to both is just simply no.          

While these two professions are options for political science majors, they’re not the only options out there. Remember that political science deals with the systems of government, and analyzes political behavior and activity, this leads to a wide variety of career opportunities.

Here are just a few:

Government & Advocacy Jobs

· working at local, state or federal level

· range from being in the human resources department at city hall to legislature to CIA Intelligence

· According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), about 55% of political scientists worked for the federal government in 2015

· some political scientists advocate for a cause or community, this can be done through working at a particular organization that advocates for that issue

Lobbyist Professions

· lobbying the government on behalf of interest groups & nongovernmental organizations

· work closely with various stages of the government

· negotiates with elected officials

· influence policy to advance their agenda

Business Field

· this degree can lead to careers in business

· with banking, advertising, public relations, etc.

Journalism

· Graduates with interests in media can pursue journalism

· report on domestic/international policy

· political correspondents, editors, news directors, etc.

Teaching

· teacher certification is also required to be a teacher

· at any level (elementary, middle, high, college) teach a subject regarding government/political science

There are many jobs for political science majors, and these are only some of the more popular options besides becoming a lawyer or an elected official. It's important that people know that there are a variety of career options associated with this major, then what they see on the surface because that could change their career path, you never know.

-Riley

Sources:

                    " (2008) President-Elect Barack Obama's Election Night Victory Speech, Nov. 4th, 2008 | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed." (2008) President-Elect Barack Obama's Election Night Victory Speech, Nov. 4th, 2008 | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2016.

                   "What Can I Do with a Political Science Degree?" Study.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2016.

 Yacucci, Ted. "Exploring a Career Choice to Be a Lawyer..." Delaware Family Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2016.