Seattle Boycott

The Seattle Boycott was a major event in the U.S. that just recently happened. It was a boycott against the MAP or any standardized test given in school. Teachers in Garfield High School are protesting against giving the MAP test because they think that it doesn't really effectively show the student growth over time. The argument is that the students don’t learn most of the material that is given on the test, so it then results in being a waste of time.

Teachers don’t disagree though with the idea of giving tests and other forms to show student growth, they just believe that standardized tests don’t help at all. They want assessments that are related to what they are teaching and show what they have learned over time.   

“Many others, myself included, believe that portfolios, which collect student work and demonstrate yearlong student growth, would be a good replacement for the MAP. Such assessments would be directly tied to our curriculum and would demonstrate improvement over time rather than a random snapshot of a student on one particular day.”

Teachers aren’t alone in trying to get their point across though; parents and students also joined in to get their opinions out. Usually when a boycott of this strength occurs parents usually don’t get involved. It’s always the teachers trying to get their point through.

For me this boycott actually makes complete sense. A standardized test can take up from 1-3 hours, maybe even more, which cuts off a good portion of class time. It wouldn’t be a problem if the time token to take those tests were to be used to take something relevant to what the students are learning in class, but these assessments don’t even do that. Instead of staying in class and actually learn something useful, the students are in front of a computer for hours not even paying attention to what is being done. While in class a couple days ago my teacher asked the class if somebody liked the MAP test I was expecting nobody to raise their hand. I was shocked that someone actually did. The teacher then asked why she liked and she said “ I like it because I don’t have to do anything”, basically implying that she doesn’t take it seriously and just guesses on everything to finish fast and play on the iPad.  After watching this video here, I can tell that the majority of the people who actually take this assessment don’t even care about it. 
So why take a test as long as the MAP, when kids don’t even bother to get anything out of it?

Another good point that was made was that these tests don’t allow students to use creative thinking. If all year the teachers are only focused in teaching the students what is going to fall on the assessment, then the students won’t be able to think out- side the box when they are needed to. Recently having watched this video about how schools in some ways kill the child’s creativity, I had been wondering if all these tests don’t already take away some of it.  If you are only allowed practically to think of the same type questions that have only one answer then how are you supposed to think of something that has many various answers that you won’t be able to have everything planned out. When the students get a job that makes them think in many different perspectives, how are they going to do it if in school they were taught the same things that only would work for standardized tests?

I watched the video, here, that Sir Ken Robinson made about if schools kill creativity. He makes a statement that everyone is born creative but the problem is to remain an artist (creative) as we grow up. We don't grow into creativity but we grow out of it by getting educated. With all the testing it actually makes sense. 

“Our kids will need both traditional academic abilities and innovative critical-thinking skills to solve these real problems. If we inundate our students with standardized testing year-round, these larger lessons are lost.”

In my opinion standardized testing doesn't really show the students growth as properly as it is supposed to. As that video shows students learn differently so it isn't really fair that if one student learns and works slowly then on the timed assessment it won't really show what he has learned that year properly because of the time restraint.  The standardized test is made all the same way so it doesn't show properly the strengths and weakness of the student. It doesn't measure properly the students intelligence, therefore making it a complete waste of time. A better way to show this was allowing the student to create a portfolio or something that is unique to that student so therefore each student can "win" or actually show what they are capable of. 

This picture is a perfect example because of course the elephant aren't going to be able to not because they are "dumb" but because it isn't what their strengths are. If you give a test that only the fish might have a chance like swimming than the others won't be able to show their strengths. To be measured properly what each one is good at then you have to give each one a different assessment and compare it to the one they took early to see if they really did grow or improve. The assessment has to be unique to each one so it can actually be accurate and fair. 

In conclusion standardized testings don't serve the purpose they are supposed to. Student growth can be shown through one test because of many factors so therefore instead of learning something valuable they are "wasting" their time on something that doesn't work out. If I went to Garfield High School I would completely agree with the boycott. This boycott has grabbed the attention of many people around the world including me here in Brazil and has helped many schools see what these standardized tests really are and how they affect the ones taking it. 

Obama's Re-Election

I have been for Obama ever since the beginning and the couple of days before when they were counting up the states that would go Republican or Democratic I kept thinking "please U.S. vote for Obama". I knew that they wouldn't hear me I still had my hopes.

Obama has done a very good president for the past 4 years. He had to fix a country that was breaking and he did his best, which is actually a lot for only 4 years in office. Well now that I am not in the U.S anymore and considered kind- of international my view of the U.S and the president has changed. The U.S is the boss of the world and now I have to think about what Obama and the U.S will do to the place I live, Brazil.

I know the president has a lot of things on his mind and privileges and I don’t really think he will do anything to help Brazil, but I know he will influence the whole world in a good way which in a way will end up affecting us. I think that Obama will have an impact on the world. He knows that he has a lot of work to do in the Middle East. For example in this quote that the French President Francois Hollande stated, "Your re-election is a clear choice in favor of an America that is open, unified, completely engaged in the international scene and conscious of the challenges facing our planet: peace, the economy and the environment." 

Obama's re-election in the United States has created strong feelings — from optimism to skepticism — around the world. Many countries believe that Obama would be a very good president not only for the U.S but also for the whole world, and I really do believe that to.  

This article here has international views on Barack Obama's re-election.

Time Management

Since we had the meeting with Ms. Terrell I have really put thought on my time management. Usually when I have homework in school I have everything planned out and what time I am going to do it. When I am at home I just get so excited and want to do anything that isn’t homework. I always think “oh I’ll do it after eating, or after I watch just this one show.” I always do something fun before homework and end up having to start my homework at 8 or 9 at night sometimes finishing and other times waking up super early to finish it. 

When Ms. Terrell came and spoke about how time management is super important and that later on in 11^th and 12^th grade time is going to be rare, I started thinking that I should start getting ready. Imagine I barely finish my homework now when its “easy” so imagine in 11^th and 12^th grade. That’s why I am starting to get my act together.

I made 4 goals that may not be so big but that will help me anyways.  The first one is to keep a weekly planner. When Ms. Terrell made us make a planner of all our homework and tests that week it seemed like a good idea so I went ahead and tried making one at home. So the day I came back from school hearing all those things about time management I went straight to my room without stopping to eat or do any stupid little thing (that was a big accomplishment for me) and started on my weekly planner. Ever since that one day a weekly planner has been common to be in my position. That one planner that I have always thought was useless and a waste of time has actually helped me so much. My grades have increased so much that my parents were even shocked at it. It was all thanks to that one little planner in which one day I thought would never help.

The second goal I made was to not procrastinate. This one is a lot tougher than the planner. I always set in my mind that I am not going to wait to start a project on the day before turning it in. Whenever I think about starting that one project I always get distracted. Homework is just so boring that I find a way to escape it and then I look at the time and say “oh well it’s too late to start now, so tomorrow I do it”.  Well my solution was that when I have a project that is due next month I start it on the day I get it and finish a couple of days later. To not get distracted I put aside a time to play and a time to do work. That has actually been working and the impressive thing is that I did my work when I was supposed to.

 My third goal to manage my time was to make a routine. Whenever I get home from school I eat and then go straight to work. That may seem like a silly goal but a routine helps me get organized. Having a routine allows me to always to kind- of do the same thing at the same time. It puts the important things I have to do first in first place and the non-important (fun) things after I finish all of my work. It doesn’t have to be boring and have the same thing at the same time every single day but it allows me to kind- of know when to do my work.

Watching this video has added another goal to my list of how to manage my time. Whenever I get home I make a list of everything that I have to do and circle the most important or biggest one to do and finish. This goal has made me realize that if I try to do the little and not so important assignments first, then I have to do the more challenging ones I have with no energy or want to actually do it. I think this is one of the most important goal because it has allowed me to quickly and efficiently get rid of the tough assignments without having to use up all of my energy.   

I haven’t had any problems managing my time so far. It has been a weird transition from going to starting my homework in the middle of the night to actually having to do it during the day. Other than that nothing has gone bad. My goals have remained practically the same, but now since I actually have more time due to those goals I have more time to do whatever I want. Even on this project I managed to be able to finish it before the day before it was due. That has been a huge accomplishment for me and I know that from now on all of my projects will be like this one. 

 Having goals and being able to manage my time really has helped me and my grades. Seriously before I had that class about time management I didn’t really care about when to start my work or when to finish it. I didn’t think that in the future my free time would be scarce if I didn’t manage it and I am so glad that I actually started now before it was too late.

College

Before the college recruiter came I haven't really thought about college. I always thought, oh I have another 5 years to go or another 4 years to go, but the college recruiter got me thinking. Thinking about college does bring some fears out of me. I always think about how I might fail the SAT or how I might disappoint my family if I don't get good grades. I keep thinking about how I might not get into a good college and how that might affect my career later on in life. Also I keep thinking if I am good enough to be able to get into a good college.  In Miami my friends were always panicking about not being able to get into UM or FSU. Whenever they said that I always thought “how can getting into UM be hard?” I mean they should aim for bigger and better collages like Harvard or Yale, that’s what I always did. My mom always said if you aim big then you will get big. Its kind- of confusing but it makes sense. If you try for something that is amazing and do your best, even if it seems impossible, you will always get better than aiming low. Now being here I actually have hope for going to an amazing college. Everyone aims big and it has even give me more hope. 

When I do go to college I know I will try my best and always look forward. I won't let my fears interfere with my studying and I will become part of the "family". My major goal when I get into college is to become a leader and to do my best for myself and for the college itself.  Being an aware Academic Leader will give me an advantage for many reasons. College recruiters want people who will not only help the students but that will also help the college itself. They want people who are leaders so they can know what they want and to help the others around you. You have to be strong and not break down in tough situations. You have to serve as a role model, not someone who follows behind.  To be a leader is to be someone who strives to be better and will work their hardest to reach there and to help others along the way.