In Praise of the F word Read and Respond

The theory Sherry is standing up for is a good one. I do not totally agree with her though, 
Someone in my family is very smart, they are getting higher grades in all of their classes, but they have struggled in science all year.  They have trouble getting motivated to do their assignments for this class. They do however get high marks on the tests.

I believe that in this particular subject the teacher and the child do not get a long.  This child has been through four school changes in the last four years. They are a product of a very nasty divorce, and they are being forced to live with the parent they do not get along with.  This child entered in the middle of a term, and the teacher expected the child to catch up in the science workbook.  I know because during Christmas vacation they stayed with me and we worked about eight hours to catch up that work.  They are bitter about having to catch up that work, when they entered school later than everyone else. According to what I have been told, the teacher reprimands the child in front of the entire class. The child is still in a difficult situation at home, and they have had all their privileges taken away, and Dad is really angry at that child all the time.  Dad refuses to sit down with that child, Dad thinks this child does this to get back at him for divorcing their Mom. Like I said, each learning problem can have another problem behind it.

Now, I will explain why I do not totally agree with Sherry's theory.

I believe that children work at their own level of skill, with help, most of the time.
I believe that children respond to family situations in different ways. One way, is do things to get attention, or maybe they really do have problems understanding the workbook.
Maybe, failing students should be ok, but I think it only embarrasses them and might harm their ability to recover from failing.  I know from my own personal experiences if I receive a F,  it makes me feel depressed, and with the effort I have put into the work, and yet I do no comprehend what I am being taught, it is hard to get back to studying again.  I go to all my classes and pay attention, take notes, do homework, and yet sometimes I do get and F. So, I believe we need to find out what caused the F and work with that child and encourage them, not belittle them.  Failure is not a good thing for anyone, I do not encourage failure, but sometimes, failure happens.

Some day it would be wonderful if we were all smart and did not have to struggle so hard to be an "A" student.

What I have learned from this class Blog

      The one thing that I have learned from this class is that I need to study our writing text this summer.  There is so much information that I was really over whelmed. There is so much to learn about writing.  The work load is huge and that I am very slow.  I try to accomplish everything that was assigned, but sometimes all my class assignments were very time consuming, at the same time, and time did not allow for me to turn in all assignments on time.  I still did them, though.

      Learning how to blog was fun and I have finally figured out how to do it. (Laugh out loud.)
There is a lot of typing in this class, which is so time consuming to me.  I have a new laptop, and for some stupid unknown reason, as I am typing it will jump and show me the date and time in large black and white features.  It is new, and I am still learning how to work it. (sorry Jenn)
    
     I have really trusted those kind tutors in the center to help me when I can not understand what I want to say to the audience of my papers. I like writing and I have discovered that there is a load of terminology that a good writer must know and incorporate into their papers. I know that Jenn has really stretched us this term. I learned to lean on some of the other students to edit my papers. Some of the opinions were very helpful.  If, we did not learn something, we were not paying attention.
  
     After all is said and done, I am glad that I have the ability to write about anything at anytime. I know that having peer opinions is valuable, and when classmates help each other, we gain a new experience.
    
   


    

Affordable Low Income Housing

      Low income families should be allowed to have a nice, warm, and affordable place to live.  The house should be built so it is safe for the occupants. The house should be clean, have fresh paint, working appliances, with space to live comfortably.  The occupants will be more likely to keep it nice looking if it starts out looking nice.
      The landlords are responsible for making sure that the house is ready to live in, and it does not make the family feel inferior because they are low income.  Every low income house should be clean, the yard should be manicured to look clean, the fixtures should not have rust on them. The bathroom should be clean without toilet bowl scum.
       Any house built for any income should be built up to code. When renting the landlord is responsible for fire alarms in the rental, and the maintenance of broken pipes.  Hopefully, low income landlords will not raise the rent every year.
       Low income housing should be put where there are stores, bus lines, and the area is taken care of by other homeowners. There should be lots of outdoor play ground equipment and space for children to play.
       Maybe low income renters should have electric and water bill discounted to enable the renter to keep on task pay their bills.
       The important thing is that low income does not mean a different kind of person. It just means there it is not much money to spend.

The Seat Not Taken Blog

      Mr. Wideman's observation is so on target. This country once had a war, to fight off those exact prejudices toward people of color. I believe that we have not grown much since then the war.  The feelings that he has continues to be right, but are wrong in the behavior that is shown to him.  The seat should have someone sitting in it, and it is really weird that even when the train is full he does not have to share his seat.
      The scenario is bad, it proves that this country is still bias against the black man.  We have not grown much since Abraham Lincoln was in office. It is hard to imagine how the colored people feel when they are treated so mean.  It has been a long time since I even noticed the color of a person's skin.  Mr. Wideman is experiencing bigotry in an extreme fashion. Come on, the other half of that seat is good for the all men and women. Wow, we are such a foolish establishment.  Why do we have a constitutional right to be equal, if it does not cover all races and colors of this nation?
     Thank you, Mr. Wideman, for reminding me that I need to be kinder and not be so judgmental to people of any color.