Blog Archives

Is it Dope to Vote?

10/31/2018

Voting. When I hear young people, especially young people of color say, "I don't vote," "my vote doesn't count," or "they choose who they want to anyway, so I don't vote," my heart breaks and I get mad.

If nothing else, you should think about those who sacrificed all they had, including their lives, for your right to vote. Some teens will say they've heard it all before, but the fact is, it can never be said enough: "Your vote counts!"

My good friend, Matt Clarke, had this to publicly say on voting:

"I feel I have a responsibility as a white male, in our social hierarchy, to privilege and hold up the experiences and voices of people of color, women, and others who are marginalized in a society that supports white supremacy and patriarchy. I am not perfect, I can always do more, but it is important to me and people I love."

And it doesn't just stop with Matt Clarke, sports journalist, Dale Hansen, of Channel 8, until this week, had not voted in 46 years. Click below to find out why.

Why I Vote.

So here's a thing: if white males can feel so strongly about voting and your rights, why shouldn't you? Have you grown so accustomed to being complacent with your political, economic, environmental, and social conditions that you are willing to sacrifice your fundamental right, then complain when your green world turns gray?

Not me. I voted. Your ancestors did: the "strange fruit" who hung from trees. The young bodies beaten, bloodied and bullied with nightsticks. The homes, yards and cars that were bombed in an effort to "stop the vote." These stories are real. They did it for you. So you can sit where you want, live where you want, attend school and worship where you want, and work where you want. They voted or died trying to vote. For you.

Will you? Be dope and go vote.

Read the commentary above, then comment on the following: To what extent should people of color feel obligated to uphold the rights inherited by our ancestors by voting?

1. INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

2. Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five.

3. You MUST respond to at least TWO other posts from any student. Your replies cannot be identical comments on different posts and posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will earn you a zero. Make sure your reply addresses the comment that you are responding to.
Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

CAUTION!! Do NOT embarrass me, yourself, your class, the English department, the school or your parents with tasteless, meaningless comments. This is for a grade.

DISCLAIMER: If you do not respond AND comment on TWO others, you will not receive credit for this assignment. It's all or nothing.

Due: Fri., Nov. 2, 2018 11:59 p.m. CST

It's On Me, Baby...

10/25/2018

As a teacher, at the end of each six weeks, I take time to reflect on my teaching: How I taught. What I taught. Do I feel I was effective? Did my students learn anything? About school? About life? And finally, I try to find my areas of opportunity. I search for answers to these questions vigorously because I've learned that through mistakes we learn to gather wisdom about how to improve.

One thing I had to learn not to do is blame. I cannot blame my students for issues I know I have. I cannot blame illness or unexpected events to hinder my progress. And I cannot blame life for not finding resources or information I need to "be great." To prevent even going down that path, I have to humble myself enough to know that I, too, err. And so do they.

A few things I learned this last six weeks is that no matter what, I'm the teacher and they are the students. Period. But to that end, personalities abound! Even when you think they know you, or you think you know them, you realize, neither of you really do. (There are a few exceptions: In the past, I have been highly successful at forging relationships with my students. Many have taken me to college with them, in spirit, as their mentor or confidant.)

On the other hand, what I have also learned is that, people have become so desensitized that sometimes good intention is erroneously decoded as attack. I blame it on technology and social media. While it is absolutely a beneficial and useful tool, it is computerizing our brains and causing us not to think holistically. Instead, we react defensively, even when our gut tells us otherwise. We have to be told what to think, how to think, when to think, and how to react because, on our own, we've forgotten how. Humanitarianism is becoming extinct it seems.

How do you grow? Do you look within and constantly reflect upon your behavior, your actions, and your thoughts? Do you blame everyone else, life and/or your circumstances? Are you always a victim? Do you look in the mirror, admonish your mistakes, then devise a plan to improve? Or do you look in the mirror, look away like the woman in the mirror above, then walk away the same you?

Nevertheless, I hope you do take some time to reflect, re-evaluate and reboot who you are: how you behave, how you function in conjunction with others, and how you intend to act or react in your near future. It's the only way we can grow.

Read the commentary above, then BRIEFLY explain your reflections and areas of opportunity for the next six weeks.

1. INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

2. Respond in no more than SEVEN sentences and no less than FIVE.

3. You MUST respond to at least TWO other posts from any student. Your replies cannot be identical comments on different posts and posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will earn you a zero. Make sure your reply addresses the comment that you are responding to.

Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content: Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

CAUTION!! Do NOT embarrass me, yourself, your class, the English department, the school, the district, or your parents with tasteless, meaningless comments.

DISCLAIMER: If you do not respond AND comment on TWO others, you will not receive credit for this assignment. It's all or nothing. One post. Two responses.

Due: Fri., October 28, 2018 11:59 p.m. CST

Obese Kids...Who's Fault Is It?

10/15/2018

Media, schools, peers, parents or the kids themselves. Whose fault is it that young people are obese?

There are fast food restaurants on every corner and in every supermarket. In addition to fast foods, chemicals, growth hormones, GMOs, sugar and carb addictions, processed foods and super-sizing contribute to the obesity epidemic that is happening all over the world.

The image above shows some hurtful ads that are being run in Canada about obese kids. Read any report on childhood obesity and the percentage of young people who are overweight is alarming. Today, it is difficult to find active kids. They are all either on a phone or a tablet playing games instead of running outside, riding bicycles or skating. And worse, young people who are active have the worst diets, ever.

In my school, I see teens eating hot chips, kool-aid pickles and icing-heavy honey buns for breakfast, double-meat burgers and burritos for lunch, and sodas, chips and sports drinks for dinner because they are in some practice or club or other.

What's disturbing is that usually, overweight young people lead to overweight grown people. And by the time they get to that point, they have accumulated heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, or some other life-threatening illness to add to their weight.

What can we do to stop it? What will you do? How do you feel when you see kids who are overweight? How do you feel when you see the diet and lifestyle of overweight young people?

Read the commentary above, then comment on the following: "How can we as a society make a difference in childhood and teen obesity?"

1. INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

2. Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five.

3. You MUST respond to at least TWO other posts from any student. Your replies cannot be identical comments on different posts and posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will earn you a zero. Make sure your reply addresses the comment that you are responding to.
Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

Invest in Your Education

10/9/2018

Students in Advanced Academics should pay to take their exams.

Do you think that's unreasonable? Here's the thing: if students pay to take their exams, they would take the classes more seriously and try hard on the exams. Right?

Before you oppose, imagine this for a minute. Go ahead, close your eyes. Suppose you own a school where you pay all the bills. There are 152 students in AP and 24 in IB in your school. AP exams cost $94 per exam. IB exams cost $199, plus there is a registration fee of $172 per IB exam. For the amount of students signed up to take the exams, that is a bill of $23,192 that you have to pay!

But it's fine. The students are worth it. But wait...we're still imagining. On exam day, all the IB students show, but of the 152 AP students who exams have been paid for, only 42 show up to sit for the exam.

Wait...it gets better.

Of the 42 that show up to take the exam, only 25 actually attempt the exam. The rest, rest. They sleep the entire exam. So you paid $23,192 for 49 students to take an exam. Hold on...our math is off. For any unused exams, there is a $15 return fee for AP exams. So, if you had to return 127 exams, you actually paid $25,097 for 25 students to take an exam that 152 were supposed to take.

Yikes!

Why aren't students taking these high stakes exams that could give them a boost in college? Why are they in AP? What is the goal? The question then becomes does it not matter simply because you, the school pay person, had to pay and the student didn't? According to business expert Nadine J. Larder, "people don't appreciate what they don't have to pay for."

In some schools, students do have to pay either half or the full amount. In those schools, the turn out is almost 100%. What do you think? Should students have to pay for exams? Would they value the education they're getting more? Would they try harder in class?

Read the commentary above, then comment on the following: "What role does accountability play in shaping who we are as individuals and influencing our behavior?"

1. INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

2. Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five.

3. You MUST respond to at least TWO other posts from any student. Your replies cannot be identical comments on different posts and posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will earn you a zero. Make sure your reply addresses the comment that you are responding to.
Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

Yesterday is Gone..Isn't It?

10/1/2018

These days, when you are in high school and in college, you are encouraged to "live your best life" because "that's what young people do." Right? And social media...although young people are warned to "think twice before you post once," they still post damaging messages that can be life altering or professional suicide decades later.

For instance, a potential college student was stripped of her admissions and scholarships to a top university when it was discovered that she was tweeting derogatory comments about the school while touring the campus. These kind of rash decisions can be detrimental to your entire future.

Or can they?

In the news recently, there seems to be an influx of people in prominent positions whose past has chased them down and haunted them like Freddy on Elm Street.

Bill Cosby. Women who willingly took pills and booze from him, three decades later, resurfaced and accused him of rape. He was convicted and sentenced to prison.

Kevin Spacey. Thirty-one years later, his alleged victim came forward claiming to be traumatized by Spacey's alleged sexual assault against him. It was career damaging and reputation ruining.

Charlie Rose. Accusations dating back to the 90s have seeped their way into 2018 to destroy Rose personally and professionally.

But then, there's Brett Kavanaugh, a US Supreme Court nominee. He's been accused of more than one sexual assault that allegedly happened during his high school and college years. In this case, instead of past social media posts haunting him, old year books and printed calendars provide snapshots of his indiscretions.

Despite these serious allegations against him though, Kavanaugh was still considered for one of the highest positions in the judicial system. What is alarming about this consideration is that these positions have life time tenure. That means, once a person takes this position, it is theirs for life unless they retire, resign, are removed for unusual circumstances, or die. Therefore, it begs the question, is this country okay with hiring someone who allegedly rapes or sexually assaults women, or who could even find themselves in such a conundrum, when past evidence proves their consistent character?

There are dozens of adages that stress, "you can't go forward looking backward." But there are also as many that urge the opposite. A loose version of a famous quote by philosopher, George Santayana says, "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it," and more eloquently, Mark Victor Hansen said, "You control your future, your destiny. What you think about comes about. By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands - your own."

Read the commentary above, then comment on the following: "To what extent should colleges and employers consider information from your past, print and digital, in the admissions and hiring process?"

1. INCLUDE: First initial AND last name AND class period.

2. Respond in no more than 10 sentences and no less than five.

3. You MUST respond to at least TWO other posts from any student. Your replies cannot be identical comments on different posts and posting shallow comments such as "I agree" or "I disagree" will earn you a zero. Make sure your reply addresses the comment that you are responding to.
Be sure to--

Be clear about your position
Provide specific support for your argument
Use rhetorical devices and other grammar elements
Write EPIC Content-Engaging, Powerful, Informative, Creative

Mixed Ink

Mixed Ink is our class blog, the window into our souls. It was designed to improve students' writing, critical thinking and communication skills by giving them a platform to provide meaningful content based on their interpretation of what they see.

Although the students receive a grade based on a rubric for completing this assignment, they are not graded on complexity of thought. This is a place where students of all levels can freely, confidently and creatively express themselves and their opinions in a nonjudgmental platform. They are required to respond to and critique each other, but degradation, slander, lewdness, etc., will not be tolerated.

Bridge Builders

All subjects are vital to learning, but English is the bridge of communication. So let's build the arch, one word at a time...

Grading Rubric

Learning Objectives

Communicate effectively
Be aware of current events
Write concisely
Boost critical thinking skills
Be accountable
Follow directions
Have a voice about what goes on in the world around you