Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Low Standards
It is not okay for teachers to assign 3 out of 40 math problems on a page for homework. It is not okay for parents to barge into a classroom to get their kid for Pop Warner practice while an authority figure is standing in front of the room teaching. It is not okay to think that by forced "reading" 30 minutes a day, you will get a student to become a great reader. It is not okay for parent to think that the school will cure all their child's behavioral problems. It is not okay to not know how to spell "fruit" by the time you are 10 years old. It is not okay to learn science just from a textbook. It is not okay to take an hour to write three sentences. It is not okay to teach a kid algebra when he/she can't even add yet. It is not okay to keep on telling kids they are doing great when in reality they are failing by all standards. It is not okay for parents to take the easy way out and buy their kids stuff to shut them up. It is not okay to use the television as a replacement for family time. It is not okay to use the fact that it is Friday as an excuse to not assign a child homework for the weekend. It is not okay to fail to foster a sense of respect for elders at this early age.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Oh the places you'll go
Men doing the Asian squat on Denshemen?Dongshemen? Dajie (big street) in Beijing, China.
Monday, September 22, 2008
My summer job site
A pavilion above a pond in a traditional Chinese garden at the Former Furen University, Xicheng District, Beijing, China
Saturday, September 20, 2008
questions
At various points in this game of Life, milestones were properly marked and significant events are rightfully recognized. An awkward junior high dance, a 16th birthday, a first drivers license, the immigration stamps in a passport, a cap and gown, and the first legal alcoholic drink are just the tip of the iceberg's plethora of important rites of passage.
As we maneuver through this board game, I wonder where we will all end up as our final placement. How many hundreds of miles will we travel? What mountains will we tackle and which ones will we be resigned to leave to the next generation to take on? Whose dreams will be turned into reality? And whose dreams and goals will fade into oblivion? Some big questions indeed.
Goodbye college. Gone are the days when picking a major was the biggest decision of the hour. So long, late nights and inconsequential late mornings. If you don't know how to eat right and do laundry by now, you're in trouble. Dormitories of friends, you'll be missed. Random adventures and rich tradition, I hope our paths will cross again someday.
I've spent 3 years in my major learning about various facets of human social organization and interaction. Interesting, interesting years. Poverty, class stratification, social capital, white privilege, power, gender norms, organizational behavior, tracking, deviance theories...yup, covered it at some point. Not only did sociology provide some answers to the questions I had asked prior, but it helped cultivate this way of seeing situations as being socially constructed- a disputed idea but interesting nonetheless.
This being said, I don't think my particular major was entirely useful for providing me solutions to how a person should live a life. Nor did all the preaching about fairness really induce fairness both in greater society I observed and my life personally. How should one find a balance between being selfish and selfless? Individual desire and family obligation? Settling and, well, not settling? Compromising and being unreasonable? Where should the balance be between idealistic to the point where nothing of substance can be accomplished, and being practical to the point where it's not backed with any passion?
As we maneuver through this board game, I wonder where we will all end up as our final placement. How many hundreds of miles will we travel? What mountains will we tackle and which ones will we be resigned to leave to the next generation to take on? Whose dreams will be turned into reality? And whose dreams and goals will fade into oblivion? Some big questions indeed.
Goodbye college. Gone are the days when picking a major was the biggest decision of the hour. So long, late nights and inconsequential late mornings. If you don't know how to eat right and do laundry by now, you're in trouble. Dormitories of friends, you'll be missed. Random adventures and rich tradition, I hope our paths will cross again someday.
I've spent 3 years in my major learning about various facets of human social organization and interaction. Interesting, interesting years. Poverty, class stratification, social capital, white privilege, power, gender norms, organizational behavior, tracking, deviance theories...yup, covered it at some point. Not only did sociology provide some answers to the questions I had asked prior, but it helped cultivate this way of seeing situations as being socially constructed- a disputed idea but interesting nonetheless.
This being said, I don't think my particular major was entirely useful for providing me solutions to how a person should live a life. Nor did all the preaching about fairness really induce fairness both in greater society I observed and my life personally. How should one find a balance between being selfish and selfless? Individual desire and family obligation? Settling and, well, not settling? Compromising and being unreasonable? Where should the balance be between idealistic to the point where nothing of substance can be accomplished, and being practical to the point where it's not backed with any passion?
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