"The Rise of Standardized Educational Testing in the U.S.: A
Bibliographic Overview" by Torin Monahan
I don't make straight A's. When I was in elementary school, I always got into that coveted top 1 percentile of students' scores on standardized tests. You would think by that indication alone I should be one of the smartest people in the country right? For my age way back when I was. I think standardized testing proves only one thing, that you can take a single isolated basic test well. I was never a straight A student all the way up through Highschool. I had a good GPA and all, but it had nothing to do with my test scores.
The American Education system should take a hard look at why it continues to do standardized testing. Each year classes stop for a few days so children can take tests, taking away from their learning time, costing millions in paper to print out all those tests and their test answer booklets, while offering nothing to the learning experience. Although standardized testing may seem of concern to only the education system, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about the performance of our children in school. Because let's face it, life is not like passing a test, it is much more like passing a class. If a child can succeed in their classes there is no need for these kinds of tests.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Essay I Agree With
C.S. Lewis' The Abolition of Man
In The Abolition of Man, C. S. Lewis postulates that modern educational methods are the downfall of mankind. I agree with his views on education because in my opinion education is often buying the rights to be able to work in fields that allow you to make more money than if you did not buy that education. Both C.S. Lewis and I feel that education should be more about personal, spiritual, and mental growth that encourages well-roundedness in a person instead of forcing them to be a laborer in one field or another.
In The Abolition of Man, C. S. Lewis postulates that modern educational methods are the downfall of mankind. I agree with his views on education because in my opinion education is often buying the rights to be able to work in fields that allow you to make more money than if you did not buy that education. Both C.S. Lewis and I feel that education should be more about personal, spiritual, and mental growth that encourages well-roundedness in a person instead of forcing them to be a laborer in one field or another.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Blood Gods
C.S. Lewis once asked: "Why are holy places always dark places?" The temples of our many human gods have always been places shrouded in mystery, secrets and of course darkness. Do the gods hide from us in the shadows for a reason? Are they shy? Are they too terrible for the eyes of man to view? Maybe the gods are just simply something that the average person could not understand if they were to look upon them.
The Literature of Video Games
It is my honest opinion that someday people will consider some video games' writing and writers on the same level as many of their contemporary novels and novelists. This may not be something that happens in the near future, but it is something that I would personally abdicate. The main reason people are so skeptical of video game literature is that most people don't realize that there are hundreds of genres of video game. They are not all Call of Duty, Mario, and World of Warcraft.
Bushido and Chivalry
I grew up in two different cultures. Now when most people say this they are in fact referring to how one of their parents was white and the other was some other race, but not so for me. Both of my parents are white. I simply was exposed to something that is well outside of the traditional western values my parents associate themselves with. I almost don't know if to this day they fully realize how much of a profound impact on my personal philosophy studying martial arts in the very traditional school I attended had on me.
The Death of the Martial Artist
There are some people that when you meet them you cannot help but think to yourself: if this man were to die the world would have lost something irreplaceable. This man that I have the pleasure of knowing is not famous, though that is mostly of his own choice. His teaching and actions have shaped a large part of my life and shaped my understanding of many things from the body, art, philosophy, combat, respect, integrity, and discipline. I owe this man much of what I am today.
An Interpretation of Mythology
I sometimes wonder if all the gods anyone has ever heard of really do exist. I doubt they are all exactly as we are told they are supposed to be. Sometimes I wonder if all the gods we've heard of aren't Christianities demons masquerading as deities to trick people into doing their bidding. If nothing else they could make people break the first commandment. I cannot prove this, but it seems as good an answer as any.
C.S. Lewis once asked: "Why are holy places always dark places?" The temples of our many human gods have always been places shrouded in mystery, secrets and of course darkness. Do the gods hide from us in the shadows for a reason? Are they shy? Are they too terrible for the eyes of man to view? Maybe the gods are just simply something that the average person could not understand if they were to look upon them.
The Literature of Video Games
It is my honest opinion that someday people will consider some video games' writing and writers on the same level as many of their contemporary novels and novelists. This may not be something that happens in the near future, but it is something that I would personally abdicate. The main reason people are so skeptical of video game literature is that most people don't realize that there are hundreds of genres of video game. They are not all Call of Duty, Mario, and World of Warcraft.
Bushido and Chivalry
I grew up in two different cultures. Now when most people say this they are in fact referring to how one of their parents was white and the other was some other race, but not so for me. Both of my parents are white. I simply was exposed to something that is well outside of the traditional western values my parents associate themselves with. I almost don't know if to this day they fully realize how much of a profound impact on my personal philosophy studying martial arts in the very traditional school I attended had on me.
The Death of the Martial Artist
There are some people that when you meet them you cannot help but think to yourself: if this man were to die the world would have lost something irreplaceable. This man that I have the pleasure of knowing is not famous, though that is mostly of his own choice. His teaching and actions have shaped a large part of my life and shaped my understanding of many things from the body, art, philosophy, combat, respect, integrity, and discipline. I owe this man much of what I am today.
An Interpretation of Mythology
I sometimes wonder if all the gods anyone has ever heard of really do exist. I doubt they are all exactly as we are told they are supposed to be. Sometimes I wonder if all the gods we've heard of aren't Christianities demons masquerading as deities to trick people into doing their bidding. If nothing else they could make people break the first commandment. I cannot prove this, but it seems as good an answer as any.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Instruments of the Kitchen
I am no stranger to the dishes. I have long since been the family member who donned the enormous yellow gloves, wielding the purging sponge to make dishes clean enough to eat off of. I have long contemplated the meaning and symbolism of these various items as I spent hours of my curious and imaginative youth in the kitchen with the pots and pans. And after careful thought there is one particular piece in my parents kitchen that defines me better than any of the others.
It was a small brown glass pot with a handle. This was my favorite piece of glassware in the world while living at home with my parents. It was just large enough to make enough food to appease my appetites. I would fill this pot with a pair of ramen noodles packets and macaroni and cheese just for me.
I used to use this pot almost every day. I would come home from school and the first thing I would do was throw on a pot of water to boil so I could eat my pasta dish before I had to go to work as a lifeguard, which was the job I did all through high school and into the first year of college. Ramen was about the only thing I would eat during those days. I'm not really so sure why I enjoyed those simple noodles so much in those days, but for some reason I loved them back then. They got me through the day.
It was also nice to be able to make food only for one. I have always been a loner my whole life. The only change that has ever come about to this has been when I got married, but before that I was almost always perfectly content with just sitting alone to read, write or play a video game by my lonesome. This is why the single serving nature of this pot is so perfect for me. It was as content as being alone as I was. It was sufficient on its own to make meals and I was content to eat that small portion alone.
It was a small brown glass pot with a handle. This was my favorite piece of glassware in the world while living at home with my parents. It was just large enough to make enough food to appease my appetites. I would fill this pot with a pair of ramen noodles packets and macaroni and cheese just for me.
I used to use this pot almost every day. I would come home from school and the first thing I would do was throw on a pot of water to boil so I could eat my pasta dish before I had to go to work as a lifeguard, which was the job I did all through high school and into the first year of college. Ramen was about the only thing I would eat during those days. I'm not really so sure why I enjoyed those simple noodles so much in those days, but for some reason I loved them back then. They got me through the day.
It was also nice to be able to make food only for one. I have always been a loner my whole life. The only change that has ever come about to this has been when I got married, but before that I was almost always perfectly content with just sitting alone to read, write or play a video game by my lonesome. This is why the single serving nature of this pot is so perfect for me. It was as content as being alone as I was. It was sufficient on its own to make meals and I was content to eat that small portion alone.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Cold Raviolli
One of my favorite foods in the whole world is eating Chef Boyardee pastas straight out of the can without warming it up or doing anything else to it. Most people cringe at the very idea of eating food at room temperature, but I love it.
Interesting fact about myself, my tongue burns really easily. I don't know why this is, but I really cannot enjoy hot foods because my taste buds almost always get burned right off. It's really not any fun at all. Whenever someone serves up some soup, coffee, or really much of anything I am almost always forced to let it cool for several minutes before I can even think to enjoy it. This is the origin of the room temperature food habit.
I started eating food this way when I was in elementary school. It was partially because even at this very young age I was relatively lazy. I was a very bookish child hardly ever coming up for air from either a book, my Lego creations or a video game. Often I just simply lacked the patience to take the time to microwave my food and then wait for it to cool back down to the right temperature. There were times when I simply would not eat anything if there wasn't something I could just pop open and eat.
Another cause for this habit is that one of my chores growing up was doing the dishes. Which I personally was not fond of. I believe that I was also fairly mindful of how wasteful it was to have to wash all those plates and bowls out after using them only one time. So to save myself time, whenever possible, I would eat foods straight out of their containers anything from pastas, soups, chips, or beef jerky. I was always quite pleased with myself for finding a way to get out of doing more dishes. I thought that I was being extremely efficient which is something my laziness has bred in me.
I think the main reason why I love eating my Chef Boyardee straight out of the can is the flavor though. I know almost everyone in the whole world will disagree with me on this, but some things just taste better before you heat them up. This is because the way these foods are packaged they have very dense amounts of flavoring in the can so that when they are heated up if some of the liquid precipitates and takes some of the flavor with it it can still taste like the intended flavor. But, if one does not heat these foods up the flavors are intensified and that is why they taste so good.
Other foods that taste superb straight out of the can are the overwhelming majority of Campbell's soup. Anything from chicken noodle to tomato. These soups are generally meant to be watered down, but again since I like the highly concentrated flavors it tastes much better to me.
Interesting fact about myself, my tongue burns really easily. I don't know why this is, but I really cannot enjoy hot foods because my taste buds almost always get burned right off. It's really not any fun at all. Whenever someone serves up some soup, coffee, or really much of anything I am almost always forced to let it cool for several minutes before I can even think to enjoy it. This is the origin of the room temperature food habit.
I started eating food this way when I was in elementary school. It was partially because even at this very young age I was relatively lazy. I was a very bookish child hardly ever coming up for air from either a book, my Lego creations or a video game. Often I just simply lacked the patience to take the time to microwave my food and then wait for it to cool back down to the right temperature. There were times when I simply would not eat anything if there wasn't something I could just pop open and eat.
Another cause for this habit is that one of my chores growing up was doing the dishes. Which I personally was not fond of. I believe that I was also fairly mindful of how wasteful it was to have to wash all those plates and bowls out after using them only one time. So to save myself time, whenever possible, I would eat foods straight out of their containers anything from pastas, soups, chips, or beef jerky. I was always quite pleased with myself for finding a way to get out of doing more dishes. I thought that I was being extremely efficient which is something my laziness has bred in me.
I think the main reason why I love eating my Chef Boyardee straight out of the can is the flavor though. I know almost everyone in the whole world will disagree with me on this, but some things just taste better before you heat them up. This is because the way these foods are packaged they have very dense amounts of flavoring in the can so that when they are heated up if some of the liquid precipitates and takes some of the flavor with it it can still taste like the intended flavor. But, if one does not heat these foods up the flavors are intensified and that is why they taste so good.
Other foods that taste superb straight out of the can are the overwhelming majority of Campbell's soup. Anything from chicken noodle to tomato. These soups are generally meant to be watered down, but again since I like the highly concentrated flavors it tastes much better to me.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Five Essays I'd Write
Blood Gods
The Literature of Video Games
Bushido and Chivalry
The Death of the Martial Artist
An Interpretation of Mythology
The Literature of Video Games
Bushido and Chivalry
The Death of the Martial Artist
An Interpretation of Mythology
Sunday, January 23, 2011
The Flawed Friend
In high school, I used to have a friend whose name starts with the letter K. I'm pretty sure the only reason we kept him as a friend was because of how easy it was to make fun of him. And it was so easy. I almost feel bad about typing this up on the internet, but the sad thing is K wouldn't even be able to deny any of this or even be able to defend himself in anyway against the comments I'll make here.
K had extremely bad grammar. I think it was because he had a family in which three different languages were spoken. Frankly I think it would be cool to have that kind of exposure, but it seems that while he was in his formative years attempting to straighten out how to speak in any of the languages his family spoke he seems to have failed to learn how to speak very well in any of them. Friends of ours that tried to speak to him in languages other than English claimed that he was even harder to understand in the foreign languages than in English.
As you can imagine some really odd an humorous things came out of this boy's mouth and he had no idea that he'd said something absurd. One specific example I can think of off the top of my head is that he would call hoodies, hoedies.
K used to make this ridiculous over the top hand gestures almost every time he talked. He would point at you and wiggle his finger around in your face the whole time he was talking to you if he thought he was saying something important. He would also do that point and wink thing all the time.
K was also really gullible. You could convince him of almost anything if you tried hard enough. It didn't help that he really was fairly ignorant about a great many things. He also didn't like people to know that he didn't know much so he would lie about things to make it seem like he was smarter that he really was.
Another thing about him that was easily ridiculed was that he liked to draw Japanese anime style art pieces. But of course the only thing he would ever draw were female subjects. If you watched him draw he would spend about 90% of his time on the drawing working on the female's curves. It was really hard not to point this out to him, of course he would deny it a hundred times.
Perhaps the thing that takes the cake on his list of mock-able tendencies and habits was that he used to write fan-fiction. Which for the sake of this discussion is when you make up a story for something that you watch, play, or read usually at an extremely lower level of quality than the thing you are attempting to emulate. He wrote his about some mech fighter game and made himself the main character and basically proceeded to try to make himself seem really cool and sexy killing robots and hooking up with over the top gorgeous women.
I think the saddest thing about all this is that I went along with all the ridicule. Most of the things he did weren't his fault. He was a very trusting person who really was just content being himself even if he was what most of us would consider to be odd. He was a good guy and I hope I, nor my friends didn't cause him too much harm emotionally. Honestly though he knew that we made fun of him and I think in some ways he enjoyed being the joke that we told over and over again. He always got to be included in everything our group did and despite anything we said about him we had a lot more fun having him around than we would have without him.
K had extremely bad grammar. I think it was because he had a family in which three different languages were spoken. Frankly I think it would be cool to have that kind of exposure, but it seems that while he was in his formative years attempting to straighten out how to speak in any of the languages his family spoke he seems to have failed to learn how to speak very well in any of them. Friends of ours that tried to speak to him in languages other than English claimed that he was even harder to understand in the foreign languages than in English.
As you can imagine some really odd an humorous things came out of this boy's mouth and he had no idea that he'd said something absurd. One specific example I can think of off the top of my head is that he would call hoodies, hoedies.
K used to make this ridiculous over the top hand gestures almost every time he talked. He would point at you and wiggle his finger around in your face the whole time he was talking to you if he thought he was saying something important. He would also do that point and wink thing all the time.
K was also really gullible. You could convince him of almost anything if you tried hard enough. It didn't help that he really was fairly ignorant about a great many things. He also didn't like people to know that he didn't know much so he would lie about things to make it seem like he was smarter that he really was.
Another thing about him that was easily ridiculed was that he liked to draw Japanese anime style art pieces. But of course the only thing he would ever draw were female subjects. If you watched him draw he would spend about 90% of his time on the drawing working on the female's curves. It was really hard not to point this out to him, of course he would deny it a hundred times.
Perhaps the thing that takes the cake on his list of mock-able tendencies and habits was that he used to write fan-fiction. Which for the sake of this discussion is when you make up a story for something that you watch, play, or read usually at an extremely lower level of quality than the thing you are attempting to emulate. He wrote his about some mech fighter game and made himself the main character and basically proceeded to try to make himself seem really cool and sexy killing robots and hooking up with over the top gorgeous women.
I think the saddest thing about all this is that I went along with all the ridicule. Most of the things he did weren't his fault. He was a very trusting person who really was just content being himself even if he was what most of us would consider to be odd. He was a good guy and I hope I, nor my friends didn't cause him too much harm emotionally. Honestly though he knew that we made fun of him and I think in some ways he enjoyed being the joke that we told over and over again. He always got to be included in everything our group did and despite anything we said about him we had a lot more fun having him around than we would have without him.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)