Today was pretty normal for the most part. Test, sleep, haircut, history, fun spanish class, a math class I didn't understand. Nbd (No big deal) lol :) Oh and yesterday I found out I have bronchitis! That was fun...now I'm on meds.
Then this afternoon we had 5 education experts in DC and in the country come in and talk with us. We all sat in a circle and had a cool discussion about education, education in DC, different types of schools, and Chancellor Michelle Rhee. The conversation got pretty intense at times, which was good :) Some of the people who came to talk to us were very very passionate, which was cool, and made the discussion more intense. I really liked it. The people weren't there to preach, but really just to participate in our discussion.
I ate pizza to last me for the next 24 hours because it's Yom Kippur...yay? I fast every year but every year it's just as hard, I just love food wayyyy to much! On the way back to the house on the Metro we saw Bud Krogh again which was really cool.
I'm going to services tomorrow with Dana and then staying with her the whole day! yay! and then breakfast...I ALREADY CAN'T WAIT!!!!
And now I'm doing homework because I don't really have any other time to do it this weekend...
Showing posts with label DC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DC. Show all posts
Friday, September 17, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
EDUCATION!!!
This week's case study is on Education, specifically in DC.
DC's education is historically one of the worst in the country. There has been controversy over Chancellor and Superintendent of DC public schools, Michelle Rhee. In her first 18 months she shut down 21 schools, and fired 270 teachers and about 20 principles. She fired many teachers after she had them agree to revoke their tenure, which I think is unethical.
Yesterday, Tuesday, we had a visit from a guy who does diversity-work in schools. He had us do some different exercises which were very interesting regarding race, racism, class, and classism. The exercises were very hands-on which I liked. We talked about illegal immigration and similar issues too. My belief that race should not be a forbidden subject was reaffirmed by the speaker and the exercises. I am white, that's a fact. To become sober, you first have to recognize that you have a problem. To become more tolerant, I also believe you have to recognize other races, and not hide the fact, because there is nothing to hide or be ashamed of (I'm not saying race is an issue like addiction). We can't make progress if we keep race a forbidden subject. (Sorry if that's a bad analogy)
Yesterday was also the mayorial elections, and the mayor who hand-picked Chancellor Rhee lost, so she probably won't be around for much longer.
Today we visited 2 DC schools. One is one of the top schools in the country, National Cathedral School (NCS) which is an all girls private school in DC. The school was unbelievably nice, state of the art everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! It was like college. Although it was nice, I felt very uncomfortable there, just a gut feeling, I can't really describe it. Maybe because of the wealth of the school, but I don't know for sure.
We then went to a charter school, Thurgood Marshall, in DC. A former SEGL student goes there and he gave us a tour which was really nice. I really liked the school. 100% of seniors there get accepted to college which is awesome! They also do the best on tests out of every other school in the area.
We had a bunch of interesting conversations about private schools, and these schools, so far. These schools are so nice, but at the same time the public schools in DC aren't doing well at all, there's about a 30% graduation rate. This case study made me think alot about how I go to a public school, and many people here go to private schools. Is there a difference in our education? Would I be different if I was always in a private school? I just don't know, but I can live with that.
DC's education is historically one of the worst in the country. There has been controversy over Chancellor and Superintendent of DC public schools, Michelle Rhee. In her first 18 months she shut down 21 schools, and fired 270 teachers and about 20 principles. She fired many teachers after she had them agree to revoke their tenure, which I think is unethical.
Yesterday, Tuesday, we had a visit from a guy who does diversity-work in schools. He had us do some different exercises which were very interesting regarding race, racism, class, and classism. The exercises were very hands-on which I liked. We talked about illegal immigration and similar issues too. My belief that race should not be a forbidden subject was reaffirmed by the speaker and the exercises. I am white, that's a fact. To become sober, you first have to recognize that you have a problem. To become more tolerant, I also believe you have to recognize other races, and not hide the fact, because there is nothing to hide or be ashamed of (I'm not saying race is an issue like addiction). We can't make progress if we keep race a forbidden subject. (Sorry if that's a bad analogy)
Yesterday was also the mayorial elections, and the mayor who hand-picked Chancellor Rhee lost, so she probably won't be around for much longer.
Today we visited 2 DC schools. One is one of the top schools in the country, National Cathedral School (NCS) which is an all girls private school in DC. The school was unbelievably nice, state of the art everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! It was like college. Although it was nice, I felt very uncomfortable there, just a gut feeling, I can't really describe it. Maybe because of the wealth of the school, but I don't know for sure.
We then went to a charter school, Thurgood Marshall, in DC. A former SEGL student goes there and he gave us a tour which was really nice. I really liked the school. 100% of seniors there get accepted to college which is awesome! They also do the best on tests out of every other school in the area.
We had a bunch of interesting conversations about private schools, and these schools, so far. These schools are so nice, but at the same time the public schools in DC aren't doing well at all, there's about a 30% graduation rate. This case study made me think alot about how I go to a public school, and many people here go to private schools. Is there a difference in our education? Would I be different if I was always in a private school? I just don't know, but I can live with that.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
doesn't matter...as long as it's chill :)
Today was alot of fun. We had english at the house for 2 hours from 11-1. We talked about 2 readings that we had read prior. The readings were written by 2 very controversial philosophers Singer and Hardin. Singer arugues that everyone should donate as much as they can to the poor, and that money used to go out to dinner and buy a new tv is essentially killing a child because that money could be going to them. Hardin argues that we really shouldn't give to the poor, something that I don't agree with. The readings go into a lot more detail than this, what I'm saying about it is just very basic. We debated the readings in class, and Noah, director of SEGL and our english teacher, enjoyed playing devil's advocate. He had said to me something like, "When was the last time you went to Starbucks?" I replied by saying a few days ago and he answered "that money could have gone to saving a child's life, it can add up. To save a child's life, are you going to give up starbucks?" Or something along those lines. I thought about it and I'm not going to give up starbucks or things like that because I think giving up things and donating should be in moderation. It's just not practical that everyone's going to give up some type of things, though morally maybe we should.
We then went to Eastern Market, a little walk from us. It's kind of a flea market/farmer's market with cool stuff. I got a ying/yang necklace which I felt good about buying because it was supporting a local woman. And there were red velvet cupcakes there which are my favorite! :) We came back and Noah cooked our dinner which was really good. Surprisingly enough, I've been eating a lot of tofu and vegetables and healthy stuff here! I've even been exercising! I know this may come as a big shocker to people who know me but....believe it :).
For our Saturday night activity, which students plan during the week, we did a night tour of DC's monuments. It was so cool and the monuments and memorials were beautiful, and it's so cool that we can walk to all of them! (but not without some sore legs). We went to the Washington Memorial, WW2 Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korean War memorial, a small local WW1 Memorial etc. We left at 8:30pm (ish) and roughly came back at 12:30am, just to give you an estimate. It was a ton of walking (and running!) and now my legs and feet are suffering the consequences...but it was worth it. I'm looking forward to just chilling tomorrow :)
I'm working on putting up videos but the site's givin me issues so bare with me :)
We then went to Eastern Market, a little walk from us. It's kind of a flea market/farmer's market with cool stuff. I got a ying/yang necklace which I felt good about buying because it was supporting a local woman. And there were red velvet cupcakes there which are my favorite! :) We came back and Noah cooked our dinner which was really good. Surprisingly enough, I've been eating a lot of tofu and vegetables and healthy stuff here! I've even been exercising! I know this may come as a big shocker to people who know me but....believe it :).
For our Saturday night activity, which students plan during the week, we did a night tour of DC's monuments. It was so cool and the monuments and memorials were beautiful, and it's so cool that we can walk to all of them! (but not without some sore legs). We went to the Washington Memorial, WW2 Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korean War memorial, a small local WW1 Memorial etc. We left at 8:30pm (ish) and roughly came back at 12:30am, just to give you an estimate. It was a ton of walking (and running!) and now my legs and feet are suffering the consequences...but it was worth it. I'm looking forward to just chilling tomorrow :)
I'm working on putting up videos but the site's givin me issues so bare with me :)
ARTSINESS AT THE FLEA MARKET :) :
CAPITOL HILL:
IN THE HOUSE:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)