Official Start Time: 10:00 p.m.
Date: 12/22/08
Official End TIme: 11:30 p.m.
A thought came into my head into today after sitting through my AP English class and trying really hard not to get up and walk out. AP English isn't really my favorite class and the instructor is probably the main reason. She's been complaining about how we aren't doing the best in her class and that our choice of how we get her work done has really disappointed her. I really could care less!
She thinks that her class is our only prerogative and that we should work according to her schedule. I respect the idea that her class should be given the same amount of time as every other class but saying when we should have her work done by and on the hour is just crossing the line. In my opinion if you get the work done on time and the quality is all the same it shouldn't matter if you do it at 3:00 p.m. or 3:00 a.m. We all have our own issues and things to deal with and it wouldn't be fair if we marched up to her for every time she fell behind on the syllabus or "misplaced" one of our assignments.
The whole conversation really came about over a book and how in her class reading seems like it is one of our last priorities. Reading has lost its art over the years but it seems less and less intriguing when the person giving the reading is someone you would want to punch in the face. My issues with this teacher are deeply rooted from freshmen year and ail not only my soul but the souls of hundreds of students only trying to pass and move onto the next grade. Her teaching style is nothing of extraordinary and is crippled by her attitude that subjugates her students and makes them feel like doing the work or not doing the work will only give them a zero anyway; so why bother?
I do fine in that class and aim only to pass with a B or higher. We've had our fair share of arguments and when I know the material and actually give a crap I can preform at the top of the class. But forcing students to read and then believing that the reason they didn't read was because they didn't want to is just paposterous. We all have to pay our dues and it is understandable that complaining doesn't make the situation any better. It does however spread awareness and show the people that something needs to change; that we can't keep living like this.
Reading (since it suppose to be the topic for this piece) has lost its art over the years. Kids today don't read as much as kids of previous generations and their test scores can explain that. The conditions however are different and these reasons justify the drop in reading and rise in social change. The internet for one thing moved students from the 2-d uni-linear text found in books to the 3-d multipurpose text that links the world and creates this information highway. The information literally comes from the books and 1st person sources that we seem to have stopped reading. But the reading itself continues through web-pages, blogs, and simple instructions for the everyday actions. We have not loss this foundation but transferred it to a source where we can produce it for the masses with a click of the mouse.
The real issue is the content being uploaded and how it is being used. It doesn't help us to archive an entire encyclopedia online when the great percentage of users are just clicking on the ads for the free XBOX 360. Not enough is being done to encourage reading as kids get older as funding has crippled us from experimenting with new ideas to just getting done what needs to be done. Our ethics are something are something we should question before sticking the finger at technology and blaming it for the lack of reading for information that plagues our students today. We have the ability to influence change and inspire good morals such as reading and hard work. The more emphasis you put on these values, the easier it is for you to maintain the habit and excel in fields where the instructors still run off the uni-linear doctrine of their time.
Sincerely, Hector Guzman
Date: 12/22/08
Official End TIme: 11:30 p.m.
A thought came into my head into today after sitting through my AP English class and trying really hard not to get up and walk out. AP English isn't really my favorite class and the instructor is probably the main reason. She's been complaining about how we aren't doing the best in her class and that our choice of how we get her work done has really disappointed her. I really could care less!
She thinks that her class is our only prerogative and that we should work according to her schedule. I respect the idea that her class should be given the same amount of time as every other class but saying when we should have her work done by and on the hour is just crossing the line. In my opinion if you get the work done on time and the quality is all the same it shouldn't matter if you do it at 3:00 p.m. or 3:00 a.m. We all have our own issues and things to deal with and it wouldn't be fair if we marched up to her for every time she fell behind on the syllabus or "misplaced" one of our assignments.
The whole conversation really came about over a book and how in her class reading seems like it is one of our last priorities. Reading has lost its art over the years but it seems less and less intriguing when the person giving the reading is someone you would want to punch in the face. My issues with this teacher are deeply rooted from freshmen year and ail not only my soul but the souls of hundreds of students only trying to pass and move onto the next grade. Her teaching style is nothing of extraordinary and is crippled by her attitude that subjugates her students and makes them feel like doing the work or not doing the work will only give them a zero anyway; so why bother?
I do fine in that class and aim only to pass with a B or higher. We've had our fair share of arguments and when I know the material and actually give a crap I can preform at the top of the class. But forcing students to read and then believing that the reason they didn't read was because they didn't want to is just paposterous. We all have to pay our dues and it is understandable that complaining doesn't make the situation any better. It does however spread awareness and show the people that something needs to change; that we can't keep living like this.
Reading (since it suppose to be the topic for this piece) has lost its art over the years. Kids today don't read as much as kids of previous generations and their test scores can explain that. The conditions however are different and these reasons justify the drop in reading and rise in social change. The internet for one thing moved students from the 2-d uni-linear text found in books to the 3-d multipurpose text that links the world and creates this information highway. The information literally comes from the books and 1st person sources that we seem to have stopped reading. But the reading itself continues through web-pages, blogs, and simple instructions for the everyday actions. We have not loss this foundation but transferred it to a source where we can produce it for the masses with a click of the mouse.
The real issue is the content being uploaded and how it is being used. It doesn't help us to archive an entire encyclopedia online when the great percentage of users are just clicking on the ads for the free XBOX 360. Not enough is being done to encourage reading as kids get older as funding has crippled us from experimenting with new ideas to just getting done what needs to be done. Our ethics are something are something we should question before sticking the finger at technology and blaming it for the lack of reading for information that plagues our students today. We have the ability to influence change and inspire good morals such as reading and hard work. The more emphasis you put on these values, the easier it is for you to maintain the habit and excel in fields where the instructors still run off the uni-linear doctrine of their time.
Sincerely, Hector Guzman
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