Assignment 9-1 Great Depression II

Since the announcement of the declining United States economy and the second Great Depression Americans have been on edge. The downward spiral that is occurring in our nation is due to the irresponsible spending habits of both consumers and government. When I questioned why we had to learn history in school, I was told that in order to prevent the same events from occurring again we must know how they happened before. In my opinion, we are watching history repeat itself due to many of the same reasons as during the first Great Depression.
During the height of the Great Depression the United States was involved in World War II. The crash of the stock market was due to a drastic change in supply and demand. Mass layoffs in industry jobs forced millions to struggle for survival. The economic downturn that was experienced during the late 1920’s is very similar to what we are living today. Every day the news broadcasts the nationwide struggle. New clips of people standing in mile long lines outside the unemployment departments, the declining stock market, and corporations pleading for bailouts are seen daily. What is the cause for this? First, the expenditures that are being incurred because of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan cost the United States billions of dollars a month. Corruptions of corporate executives which force large corporations into bankruptcy loose trillions in consumer’s money are also a source of the problem. Irresponsible lending practices were adopted by banks and independent lending institutions allowed unqualified individuals to receive loans for homes and cars that they could not afford.
All of these things contribute to the current depression that the United States is in. Another big factor is the United States dependence on foreign oil. Our dependence on foreign goods is a contributing factor to the decline in available jobs. It has become cheaper for many companies to produce goods outside of the United States. How can this problem be fixed? That is question that many ask every day, but the answer is still unknown. Banks must start lending the billions in bailout money they received from government to responsible qualified consumers. Consumers must spend money realistically and act more responsibly for their decisions. All aspects of business must reassess their production processes in order to achieve maximum efficiency. Once consumers have restored faith in the stability of the economy they will return to spending money. This increase in spending will increase the demand for products which will increase the number of jobs. Americans and businesses need to stop turning to government with their hand out and find the independence to survive with what they have.

Assignment 7-1 Weekly Blog-Home schooling

Home schooling is becoming increasingly popular today. There are advantages and disadvantages of home schooling. Home schooling has been under the microscope due to people who oppose this type of learning. In my opinion, the decision to home school requires not only a commitment of the student, but also the parents. Child development habits must also be considered because they will not experience the same type of socialization that public school children do.
Parents are given a curriculum at the beginning of each school year that outlines the various courses that must be covered over a period of time. Parents are then responsible for adopting teaching mechanisms that will help their child learn. The course curriculum that home schooling organizations offer is far more comprehensive and diverse than classes that are taught in regular school. For example, my sister is in kindergarten and is currently being taught history, simple math, reading comprehension, foreign language, science, art, and music. In comparison to kindergarten children that are taught in public schools are not expected to complete such an intensive curriculum.
Public school does introduce children to socialization as early as preschool. Children are taught social skills through interactions during class, lunch, and recess. The social skills that are acquired throughout public school prepare children handling and responding to adult situations. These situations may be related to work, relationships, friendships, and general communication. Children that are home schooled are not subject to the same socialization as those that are publicly schooled. Home schooled children are not sitting in a “typical” classroom environment. They are more commonly in their house where they complete exercises after a lesson from the parent. This is where the parental responsibility part of the equation comes in. Parents that home school their children need to also ensure that they are involved in extracurricular activities. Various charter schools have regular gatherings which assist in the lacking socialization skills.
While home schooling is becoming increasingly popular, the fundamentals instilled in public school must be preserved. The debates between which education system is better will undoubtedly continue for a long time. People must remember that the true goal of education is to instill a good foundation of knowledge and skills to help children grow into productive members of society. While home schooling has many checks and balances that monitor the progression of children in comparison to publicly schooled children, ultimately the parents are responsible for the education their children receive. This experience may prove to be either positive or negative, which relates to the individual child and their learning skills.

Assignment 5-1 Weekly Analysis-Doodling

Doodling is something that I have done throughout my life. Typically, I doodled while I listened to lectures in school or while I talked on the phone. According to HealthDay, researchers in the UK found that doodlers had recalled information better than those who did not. It was refreshing to hear this information because my instructors always frowned on me for doodling. I remember a teacher in high school calling my parents because I was unable to pay attention during class because I was more focused on my drawings. My parents punished me because of this; however, my grades were always “A”’s. I continued doodling regardless of what they said.
How many of you doodle while listening to a dry instructor cover a new topic? The reason why it is now considered better to doodle is because if you focus on a bland lecture or conversation naturally your mind starts to wonder. The wondering of the mind is called daydreaming. Daydreaming is more distracting because if breaks your focus on the task at hand. Daydreaming is a more complex task. Doodling is a simple task which helps to stop daydreaming which does not distract you from the main task at hand.
A two-and-a-half minute recording of people’s names and places were played for the participants. Only certain participants were asked to shade in shapes while the recording played, however, they were told not to pay attention to the neatness of their shadings. Once the recording concluded the participants were asked to name the eight places and names from the recording. “Those asked to doodle wrote down, on average, 7.5 names and places, while those who didn’t doodle listed only 5.8.” (Healthday, 2009)
While doodling is something that is currently not viewed as “socially acceptable” is a learning environment, maybe instructors will become more lenient in the practice of punishing students. I wish that I could have shown this article to my high school instructor and to my parents when I was punished unnecessarily. To those parents that choose to read this, I hope that you consider this if you ever experience this same situation with your children.

HealthDay. (2009). Take Note: Doodling Can Help Memory. Retrieved from MSN.com on February 27, 2009. http://health.yahoo.com/news/healthday/takenoteDoodling canhelpmemory.html