Right now my knowledge of quantum physics is lacking. For those of you who do read this: I apologize for my lack of knowledge on the matter. I intend to gain more knowledge about this subject as I progress.
Generally, I do not think, "I wonder what quantum physics involves!" I actually had no idea what it really was before today. This morning, while on the phone with my boyfriend, he told me to look up a YouTube video to explain Schrodinger's Cat. He had tried to explain a t-shirt he found and I did not think it was funny, nor understand it. Being a curious person, I just HAD to know so I could understand. "Curiosity killed the cat right?" Literally, this involves that saying! I had no idea where that saying came from and now I do!
For those of you who don't know Schrodinger's Experiment, I will explain it to you the best I can. If I am wrong, I will come back and make changes, but this is how I have come to understand it.
The idea begins with putting a cat in a bunker with some gunpowder that has a 50% chance of blowing up and a 50% chance of not doing anything after 1 minute. The gunpowder was actually Einstein’s idea, but Schrodinger used poisonous gas. The point is, until we look in the bunker, we do not know whether the cat is dead or alive. When we finally look in the bunker either the cat is dead or alive. If we do this experiment enough times, you'll eventually see that half of the time the cat survives and half of the time, the cat dies. This seems self-explanatory, but the next part is where it becomes tricky.
The quantum interpretation is that before we look the cat is both dead AND alive. Our act of looking forces nature’s decision. Our "curiosity kills the cat." Then there is the cat prospective that comes into play. Either the cat doesn't see the gunpowder explode and lives or sees it explode and dies. The cat’s reality becomes entangled with the experiment. "It is our observation of the experiment that forces nature to collapse into one option or the other."
"We're like the cat too, either the cat dies and we see it dead, or it lives and we see it alive. So who is observing us to force nature to collapse to one reality? Or do both possibilities happen in parallel within a larger multiverse?"
I had to quote the YouTube video for the harder stuff. I couldn't explain it any better than that! Here is a link to the website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOYyCHGWJq4
Anyway, this caught my attention today, and my boyfriend and I have been debating it. I thought maybe it would spark the mind of others out there. I hope to write more on this later!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
Lost Art
Where did it go? I know I left it around here somewhere!!! Where did my speech for composition class go? Okay, so I didn't actually lose my writing assignment, but I do believe America is losing the ability to fluently speak and have that ability to sound intelligent. For the remainder of this post, I am going to attempt to use improper language. (Which will be quite a challenge!) I will also freeform write and my thoughts may not be cohesive within a paragraph.
Taday in America we gots uh problem with the speach. No one can speek write, and they can't right well either. Whut has happend to us an why did our language gets o sloppy. What whent wrong? Wuz it in the skool system that stewdent faled? I dont think it was our skool system that faled us, I think its jus my generation. Lazeeness has koorupted our society and generation.
Perhaps it began with the use of teknology more n more. Txtng lingo strtd the prblm n then frm thre it escalated dwnwrd. I dunno whut happened but we became lazy, and thats uh fact. Maybe the use of computers didn't help, but we cannot blame it totally on technology. At some point we have to take responsibility for our actions.
I have heard so many people state that they didnt need to kno how to spell write because they have spell check. Let me address the public with this: SPELL CHECK DOESN'T CATCH EVERYTHING! In fact, it doesnt catch a lot of what people believe it should. We stil need to lern to right intellegently and it is importent to lern what is and aint proper grahmer. It drives me nuts wen peple cant or dont spell things write, or put them in a sentence write. Wat even bugs me more than that is wen peple give me there paper to read and then their sentence jus.
Wat also relly cuncrns me is the fact that prety soon our skool sistems are going to stop teaching cursive. Where is our society headed?! It achally makes me sad that im not uh hundred purcent shure on how to form strange cursive leters like "z". im shure its not hard to learn, but if our skools wont even be lerning the students that any more i gess it dont matter.
Writing, reading, and speaking well are now all becoming a lost art. They're all going to be gone soon for Americans. It's not just our school systems messing up, nor our technology use; we must take on some of the responsibility. It is so hard for me to proof read papers that are not well-written. I have tried to proof papers that are written as I wrote above. People don't seem to capitalize, "I," nor use proper punctuation. I have a friend, who is now in college, which cannot spell to save his life. I'm not sure how we are getting away with this in our society. When did we stop caring about speech?
If you do have any thoughts on this, I am all ears to your suggestions on where this art form went.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
My Hat is Off to Teachers!
As a teenager, it is very typical to sit there and look at the teacher in front and think, "I DON'T CARE!" But the truth in the matter is, we really should care. It's our education and we should care about the things they are telling us. Teachers try really hard, and what they're telling us is real. Now, I can't speak for everyone, but I know that when a teacher tells me something it is hard for me to simply believe them unless have previously experienced what they're teaching us about. The point is that, for the most part, teachers really care about what they are sharing with their students. Students often forget that, indeed, teachers are people too. They feel and have emotions....and wait for it.....THEY HAVE LIVES OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL AS WELL! Shocker! Anyway, so many students let these facts slip their mind. The teacher became a teacher for a reason, and a reason other than they just needed a job.
People often don't know the difficulty of teaching until they have to be a teacher.
I came to the realization today of how much respect I have for those whom students have their qualms about. I am a teacher at my local church, where I lead first graders around and try to teach the message of Jesus. Ideally, my job is to simply lead them. I am to lead them from class to class, and at the end review the lesson in, "journal time." Now, I don't know how many of you have worked with first grade students, but convincing them to sit and write in their journals after eight hours in school and two hours of learning at church is nearly impossible!!! I don't blame them; my head would be exploding as well. This non idealistic class gives me a new job; instead of simply leading the children around, I must teach them as well.
The hardest part for teaching elementary students is trying to keep energy, patience, and ideas fresh. Energy requires more than just physical strength, but mental strength as well. As a senior in high school, I am drained by the end of school. Somehow, though, we have to find this extra energy boost inside us to teach these children. We also must acquire patience out of our irritations and aggravations due to the stress levels. This energy and patience comes from the root reason we're there- to share about a matter which is vital and important to us. We care about what we are teaching, and we want the students to care as well. Keeping ideas fresh is also difficult because first graders must have something new and exciting to discover. Making up ideas that are educational, exciting, and new is a challenge.
Teachers are constantly faced with challenges. One of their biggest challenges are parents. Parents seem to always be on the guard and look out for their students. Usually, no matter what really happened, the parent will defend their student. Teachers must be cautious in their actions. If educators are not careful their jobs could quickly be on the line if a parent is perturbed. There is one main challenge that drives most teachers-Atychiphobia. The fear of failure. Most all teachers want to feel success and if the student isn't learning something...they feel they've failed. Teachers merely want the best for their students, and hope to make at least a small mark on the lives of others'. If teachers don't make some sort of dent, they've failed.
My hat is off to teachers tonight! Thank you for all your hard work and care. I now know what it is like to be in your shoes- and some days...it flat out stinks. Just remember to look for the students' smiles and joys because, for whatever reason, that gives us the strength to pursue.
People often don't know the difficulty of teaching until they have to be a teacher.
I came to the realization today of how much respect I have for those whom students have their qualms about. I am a teacher at my local church, where I lead first graders around and try to teach the message of Jesus. Ideally, my job is to simply lead them. I am to lead them from class to class, and at the end review the lesson in, "journal time." Now, I don't know how many of you have worked with first grade students, but convincing them to sit and write in their journals after eight hours in school and two hours of learning at church is nearly impossible!!! I don't blame them; my head would be exploding as well. This non idealistic class gives me a new job; instead of simply leading the children around, I must teach them as well.
The hardest part for teaching elementary students is trying to keep energy, patience, and ideas fresh. Energy requires more than just physical strength, but mental strength as well. As a senior in high school, I am drained by the end of school. Somehow, though, we have to find this extra energy boost inside us to teach these children. We also must acquire patience out of our irritations and aggravations due to the stress levels. This energy and patience comes from the root reason we're there- to share about a matter which is vital and important to us. We care about what we are teaching, and we want the students to care as well. Keeping ideas fresh is also difficult because first graders must have something new and exciting to discover. Making up ideas that are educational, exciting, and new is a challenge.
Teachers are constantly faced with challenges. One of their biggest challenges are parents. Parents seem to always be on the guard and look out for their students. Usually, no matter what really happened, the parent will defend their student. Teachers must be cautious in their actions. If educators are not careful their jobs could quickly be on the line if a parent is perturbed. There is one main challenge that drives most teachers-Atychiphobia. The fear of failure. Most all teachers want to feel success and if the student isn't learning something...they feel they've failed. Teachers merely want the best for their students, and hope to make at least a small mark on the lives of others'. If teachers don't make some sort of dent, they've failed.
My hat is off to teachers tonight! Thank you for all your hard work and care. I now know what it is like to be in your shoes- and some days...it flat out stinks. Just remember to look for the students' smiles and joys because, for whatever reason, that gives us the strength to pursue.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Education- Part lll
The list for, "Flaws of Education," could go on for an eternity. There is one matter that I would like to touch upon- the teachers role in the classroom. One can look at this matter several ways, but no matter what way you look at it, everyone can most likely come to the conclusion that every classroom is different and that there is no specific, "right way," of teaching.
Teacher A provides only the facts to your child. Teacher A gives assigned problems every day with very specific structure, leaving no room for the child's own thoughts to be included. Your child must simply memorize information and spit it back, and must excel through a certain amount of information in a small period of time. If your child fails to complete this, he/ she will be expelled from the school. Your child will be held responsible for learning the information, and if he/ she were to fall behind, or struggle in comprehending any area, they will be required to transfer to another school.
How many people would send their child to this school? I know that this is an extreme version of how some teachers teach, but it makes my point. Some teachers simply throw out the facts; students must jump, leap, and run to retrieve these facts, only to be tested on them just to move on. This is considered, "bad teaching." I realize that some people in this world do not agree that this happens. A teacher just shoving information and testing us over it happens more often than our society would like to admit.
I don't believe that teachers intentionally do this, but school systems have to have these great test scores in order to continue to run. Teacher A is considered the, "bad teacher," and only provides facts and expects children to apply it to their live on their own.
Teacher B begins his/ her lesson by telling everyone what they will cover in the next unit. Teacher B then informs the students how this material will be related in their lives now, and in the future. Then, he/ she will begin to teach the facts after a few days in class covering how this unit will apply to their lives. In this classroom, it is almost care-free and there is a lot of wiggle room for kids'. There is rarely standardized testing, and they are graded over projects that they present. All learning abilities and disabilities are accepted into this classroom.
This classroom would be considered unorganized and having a lack of proper structure. Parents would feel as if their child is not learning anything in this classroom. The dilemma one can find in this classroom is the fact that the students must take the teachers word that what they're learning will one day apply to their lives. Schools have different children coming with different backgrounds and not many backgrounds are the same. This level of teaching is not sufficient or very productive because the kids' aren't able to learn the concrete, stable facts that they will need in life.
The point is that no classroom can be perfect or ideal. Every person has their own mindset of the perfect classroom, but reality tells us that does not exist. The ideal classroom in my mind would be a mix of both teacher A and teacher B. The teacher would tell the students how they will apply the information in their life. After that, they would teach the basic, concrete knowledge of the subject matter. Then before they test, there would be a written assignment of how the child may have already used that concept in their lives. If they hadn't already used it, how they think they may use it in their future.
I can't guarantee this method would work, mainly because I haven't ever seen it in practice. All I know is this: there is no ideal classroom and everyone needs to realize this. A good classroom is possible to achieve, but it takes more effort. Unfortunately, this is effort that most people aren't willing to put in.
A great teacher learns from their mistakes and can admit when they have made one. A bad teacher will make the same mistake several times, but not accept the blame. Teachers should not be deemed a failure until they refuse to take initiative and responsibility for their poor actions. It's okay to make mistakes; we all have to learn some way.
I will leave you with this poem I wrote,
"If I could inhale just one breath and exhale the wind, my mind would surely flutter away. The butterfly wings on the tips of my imagination would thrust into the world. Flapping in the breeze of all I exhaled would be a rise in the next revolution. Changes would erupt and explode as the wind varied in shapes. Gusts of energy would burst as the revolution broke through. Altered, we'd find one another, scattered like leaves that the wind blew about. If I could inhale just one breath and exhale the wind, surely society would change."
-Sydney Pickle
Teacher A provides only the facts to your child. Teacher A gives assigned problems every day with very specific structure, leaving no room for the child's own thoughts to be included. Your child must simply memorize information and spit it back, and must excel through a certain amount of information in a small period of time. If your child fails to complete this, he/ she will be expelled from the school. Your child will be held responsible for learning the information, and if he/ she were to fall behind, or struggle in comprehending any area, they will be required to transfer to another school.
How many people would send their child to this school? I know that this is an extreme version of how some teachers teach, but it makes my point. Some teachers simply throw out the facts; students must jump, leap, and run to retrieve these facts, only to be tested on them just to move on. This is considered, "bad teaching." I realize that some people in this world do not agree that this happens. A teacher just shoving information and testing us over it happens more often than our society would like to admit.
I don't believe that teachers intentionally do this, but school systems have to have these great test scores in order to continue to run. Teacher A is considered the, "bad teacher," and only provides facts and expects children to apply it to their live on their own.
Teacher B begins his/ her lesson by telling everyone what they will cover in the next unit. Teacher B then informs the students how this material will be related in their lives now, and in the future. Then, he/ she will begin to teach the facts after a few days in class covering how this unit will apply to their lives. In this classroom, it is almost care-free and there is a lot of wiggle room for kids'. There is rarely standardized testing, and they are graded over projects that they present. All learning abilities and disabilities are accepted into this classroom.
This classroom would be considered unorganized and having a lack of proper structure. Parents would feel as if their child is not learning anything in this classroom. The dilemma one can find in this classroom is the fact that the students must take the teachers word that what they're learning will one day apply to their lives. Schools have different children coming with different backgrounds and not many backgrounds are the same. This level of teaching is not sufficient or very productive because the kids' aren't able to learn the concrete, stable facts that they will need in life.
The point is that no classroom can be perfect or ideal. Every person has their own mindset of the perfect classroom, but reality tells us that does not exist. The ideal classroom in my mind would be a mix of both teacher A and teacher B. The teacher would tell the students how they will apply the information in their life. After that, they would teach the basic, concrete knowledge of the subject matter. Then before they test, there would be a written assignment of how the child may have already used that concept in their lives. If they hadn't already used it, how they think they may use it in their future.
I can't guarantee this method would work, mainly because I haven't ever seen it in practice. All I know is this: there is no ideal classroom and everyone needs to realize this. A good classroom is possible to achieve, but it takes more effort. Unfortunately, this is effort that most people aren't willing to put in.
A great teacher learns from their mistakes and can admit when they have made one. A bad teacher will make the same mistake several times, but not accept the blame. Teachers should not be deemed a failure until they refuse to take initiative and responsibility for their poor actions. It's okay to make mistakes; we all have to learn some way.
I will leave you with this poem I wrote,
"If I could inhale just one breath and exhale the wind, my mind would surely flutter away. The butterfly wings on the tips of my imagination would thrust into the world. Flapping in the breeze of all I exhaled would be a rise in the next revolution. Changes would erupt and explode as the wind varied in shapes. Gusts of energy would burst as the revolution broke through. Altered, we'd find one another, scattered like leaves that the wind blew about. If I could inhale just one breath and exhale the wind, surely society would change."
-Sydney Pickle
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Education- Part ll
So what went wrong with our education system? Where did it start to fall? What caused our education system to corrupt into a mess of cramming information, memorization, and then test after test after test? Twelve years of testing has brought me to this point in life. A point where I can't get help with what I need because of acts passed by our government.
Our government did not corrupt the school system alone, but it has played a major role in it. Government involvement has its pros and cons in school systems. Schools use to rely on the government for fundings for programs, activities, and food. Now, the government has run dry of money to offer schools, and hardly any money can be given towards education.
The government has tried to assist our school systems by measuring the progress of students so that, "No Child," will be, "Left Behind." This was a great idea, but in practice fails horribly. It isn't that kids' aren't being left behind anymore, they just aren't noticed. This system merely masks the children who need help. It covers them up, so they will struggle all the way through school and never receive the help needed.
For those of you who claim that this never happens; I will share my testimony.
I struggle with reading comprehension, but can read fluently, and I am a great test taker. I needed help starting in elementary school, and at one point my parents noticed this. My parents are the type that will address the school when there is an issue. I am lucky for this because a lot of parents do not care enough, or will never notice that their child needs help. My parents went into the school and told them that I did not comprehend what I was reading.
Can you guess what they did? If you guessed that they pulled out my test records, you were correct. They said, "No, your daughter is doing well in school, she tests quite high; she does not need help." My parents fought for extra help for me for several years, but could not receive it because of my test records. The school fought back and even had me read aloud to people; they then informed my parents that I could read, "big words," very well and that I was a fluent reader. I was, "fine."
Test after test after test, here I am; my senior year, without help on my reading comprehension. I am preparing myself for the next level; one level that I probably won't be able to guesstimate through tests like I do now. I am worried, and quite scared. Do I want help? Yes. Do I need help? Yes. Can I get help? No.
This is only my testimony that standardize testing merely masks the kids who need help. More than half of these kids' who are, "hidden," don't have parents who will fight for them. The government has aided in hiding these children and they don't realize it.
We appreciate what little funding we are able to catch from the government. But is that little amount worth it when our education has been downgraded and lost its' true meaning? Our government seems to think that education is about how much information you can cram into a person and that the perfect student is like a computer. They inhale all this information, and then can spit it back at you. These, "computer-like," kids' get a whole bunch of money for being able to reciprocate information. They may not ever fully grasp the concept or be able to apply it to life, but as long as they can quote books and do the math problems, they are, "smart."
What about the kids' who can't take the information and just spit it at you? What about the kids' who have B's in school, but are actually learning? What do those kids' get? Yes, they'll make it into college, but with hardly any money or help from our government. Why? All because they're actually learning. The purpose of school systems has been lost. It's was an idea and concept that was great, but has lost all of its original roots.
Our government did not corrupt the school system alone, but it has played a major role in it. Government involvement has its pros and cons in school systems. Schools use to rely on the government for fundings for programs, activities, and food. Now, the government has run dry of money to offer schools, and hardly any money can be given towards education.
The government has tried to assist our school systems by measuring the progress of students so that, "No Child," will be, "Left Behind." This was a great idea, but in practice fails horribly. It isn't that kids' aren't being left behind anymore, they just aren't noticed. This system merely masks the children who need help. It covers them up, so they will struggle all the way through school and never receive the help needed.
For those of you who claim that this never happens; I will share my testimony.
I struggle with reading comprehension, but can read fluently, and I am a great test taker. I needed help starting in elementary school, and at one point my parents noticed this. My parents are the type that will address the school when there is an issue. I am lucky for this because a lot of parents do not care enough, or will never notice that their child needs help. My parents went into the school and told them that I did not comprehend what I was reading.
Can you guess what they did? If you guessed that they pulled out my test records, you were correct. They said, "No, your daughter is doing well in school, she tests quite high; she does not need help." My parents fought for extra help for me for several years, but could not receive it because of my test records. The school fought back and even had me read aloud to people; they then informed my parents that I could read, "big words," very well and that I was a fluent reader. I was, "fine."
Test after test after test, here I am; my senior year, without help on my reading comprehension. I am preparing myself for the next level; one level that I probably won't be able to guesstimate through tests like I do now. I am worried, and quite scared. Do I want help? Yes. Do I need help? Yes. Can I get help? No.
This is only my testimony that standardize testing merely masks the kids who need help. More than half of these kids' who are, "hidden," don't have parents who will fight for them. The government has aided in hiding these children and they don't realize it.
We appreciate what little funding we are able to catch from the government. But is that little amount worth it when our education has been downgraded and lost its' true meaning? Our government seems to think that education is about how much information you can cram into a person and that the perfect student is like a computer. They inhale all this information, and then can spit it back at you. These, "computer-like," kids' get a whole bunch of money for being able to reciprocate information. They may not ever fully grasp the concept or be able to apply it to life, but as long as they can quote books and do the math problems, they are, "smart."
What about the kids' who can't take the information and just spit it at you? What about the kids' who have B's in school, but are actually learning? What do those kids' get? Yes, they'll make it into college, but with hardly any money or help from our government. Why? All because they're actually learning. The purpose of school systems has been lost. It's was an idea and concept that was great, but has lost all of its original roots.
Education- Part I
The purpose of a school system is to.....is to....is to what? Why were schools even invented? Why do we need to go to school and become educated? There are numerous amounts of children running around with math assignments in their backpacks that are frustrated and have no concept of why the world is forcing, "hell," upon them. Somewhere along the line, the idea that school benefits you as a human being was lost.
Curiosity slaughtered the cat right? Humanity, when it first began, knew nothing of molecules, atoms, the ozone layer, etc. We use to basically survive. We could get by, but no one ever really LIVED. As we advanced and began to gather more information about the universe as we saw it, we began our education. We did not have formal rooms where everyone sat and could swallow gobs of information as we are, "forced to," now. Once ideas began to solidify and become more concrete, people would pass on these ideas to children. Soon, we had a general school where kids could attend classes to learn and become a productive citizen.
Some of these, "concrete," ideas were eventually disproven, but until that point, they were taught. This still happens today. The point is that these schools were formed in order for children to grow into adults and then a citizen. They could provide their support, and offer more to their communities with this educated background. As we expand our knowledge, we grow into productive citizens and begin to understand and comprehend the world we live in.
As our knowledge became more advanced, jobs requiring a certain skill level began to increase. At first, not every person needed a job to get by. The man could receive an education and the women could tend to household needs and keep standards. After many years, women began to work and had more options than merely staying at home. Eventually, society evolved into how it is now; everyone needs a job in order to survive. Therefore, we have to have an education in order to get the job that we need to survive. We are back to how we were at the beginning in a sense. Everyone is trying their best to survive, and only the rich people are getting to LIVE.
Education has turned into an obligation for children, so that when they grow up they won't be without food, shelter, job, family, etc. Going to school turned from the public seeking for information, and personal growth to certain standards that we must meet from an early age in order to survive.
Curiosity slaughtered the cat right? Humanity, when it first began, knew nothing of molecules, atoms, the ozone layer, etc. We use to basically survive. We could get by, but no one ever really LIVED. As we advanced and began to gather more information about the universe as we saw it, we began our education. We did not have formal rooms where everyone sat and could swallow gobs of information as we are, "forced to," now. Once ideas began to solidify and become more concrete, people would pass on these ideas to children. Soon, we had a general school where kids could attend classes to learn and become a productive citizen.
Some of these, "concrete," ideas were eventually disproven, but until that point, they were taught. This still happens today. The point is that these schools were formed in order for children to grow into adults and then a citizen. They could provide their support, and offer more to their communities with this educated background. As we expand our knowledge, we grow into productive citizens and begin to understand and comprehend the world we live in.
As our knowledge became more advanced, jobs requiring a certain skill level began to increase. At first, not every person needed a job to get by. The man could receive an education and the women could tend to household needs and keep standards. After many years, women began to work and had more options than merely staying at home. Eventually, society evolved into how it is now; everyone needs a job in order to survive. Therefore, we have to have an education in order to get the job that we need to survive. We are back to how we were at the beginning in a sense. Everyone is trying their best to survive, and only the rich people are getting to LIVE.
Education has turned into an obligation for children, so that when they grow up they won't be without food, shelter, job, family, etc. Going to school turned from the public seeking for information, and personal growth to certain standards that we must meet from an early age in order to survive.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
College English Comp. Page 180 AWA #3.
Bilingual education I view as a very important subject. Americans only learning one language is extremely naive and crude. Almost every other country can speak two languages, a least! They speak English, along with their native language. I believe that America should follow this trend of learning to speak another language. It should not be a requirement for just high schoolers, but a requirement from grade school. Little children learn and pick up on information a lot faster than older people trying to comprehend it later in life. In America, this switch would not be an easy, or cost effective one to make; although, it'd be well worth it.
Imagine if some mass chaos erupted and all the countries needed to work together to save the human race, but no one spoke any language other than their own. We would not be able to save the world. Americans are very ignorant compared to some other countries when it comes to speaking multiple languages. I believe that this is a topic that has been sitting on the backburner for awhile now. When will it ever be time to step up and someone shout, "We need better and more advanced education in our school systems!"?
Imagine if some mass chaos erupted and all the countries needed to work together to save the human race, but no one spoke any language other than their own. We would not be able to save the world. Americans are very ignorant compared to some other countries when it comes to speaking multiple languages. I believe that this is a topic that has been sitting on the backburner for awhile now. When will it ever be time to step up and someone shout, "We need better and more advanced education in our school systems!"?
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