What matters presntation

PLN 26

I was going through the articles when I noticed a rather sad article on the BBC blog. In big bold letters the words Gunman goes on rampage at US mall. Immediately I knew it was talking about the incident of a young man murdering 8 people and then committing suicide.

Police have identified the gunman as Robert Hawkins, 19, from Bellevue, who committed the shooting. In the past he has suffered from depression and recently lost his job at McDonalds was thrown out of his home and just broken up with his girlfriend. He later resided with a family friend who called him a lost puppy. She also said that he was doing a lot better and was getting back on his feet before the incident. Next to the shootings one of the most sickening things was his suicidal note where he said “he would be going out in style”. Later that day he went to a Omaha mall and killed 8 people and after the shootings committed suicide with the murder rifle.

I know many people who own weapons such as guns or knives. I also know many people who are depressed and very confused. This makes me wonder if a shooting like this could happen at our own school. Throughout 2007 there have been three other mass shootings not including this one.
Oct 2007: Asa H Coon, 14, shoots four people, injuring them, at his school in Cleveland, Ohio, before killing himself.

April 2007: Cho Seung-hui , 23, shoots 32 people dead on campus of Virginia Tech university, Virginia, then kills himself.

Feb 2007: Sulejman Talovic, 18, shoots dead five people and injures four at a mall in Salt Lake City, Utah, before being killed by police.

In the classroom today and around the world I hope that people realize how precious and rare life is. I hope that people can one day comprehend what is going on around them and that they don’t have to “go out in style” but just live their life to the fullest. In the end I ask the question will something like this ever stop is there any way to help it?

pln 24

I was skimming through the older Denver post articles today when I found one of interest. To my surprise I found a surprise titled Denver's dubious award - drunkest city . Intrigued by this I opened up the article and found out that Denver was ranked the "most dangerously drunk city." In the U.S., Colorado springs coming in third and Aurora in nineteenth place!

I found out that an annual death rate In Denver is due to alcoholic liver disease, and an average Coloradoan regularly downs five or more drinks in a sitting!

This not only ruins the reputation Of Denver and the state of Colorado but definitely is a bad influence for younger more impressionable minds. Obviously if a young teenager sees people guzzling a 6 pack of Corona they might think it is okay for them to.

This affects the students in Colorado because many teens have been caught drinking and Driving and some have been killed in fatal accidents due to drunk drivers.

In all this definitely leaves an impressionable mark on Colorado and hopefully we can set up some laws to fix the mess we are in.

pln 23

I was going through the Google reader articles today when I came around an interesting article titled Pocket Texting and Open Phone Tests by Will Richardson. The article talks about how a highschool student named Insoo uses his phone to text answers and uses the computer to reach answers to complicated problems.

Insoo doesn’t even have to take the phone out of his pocket to send an SMS. He knows how to slide it open, which buttons to push how many times to reach the “Send SMS” menu option, compose the entire text message, and hit the send button — all without even looking at the phone. This is especially handy when he needs to send an SMS during class. There is also a website that you can log into and types in any type of question and in a few minutes have another person answer them. Then Insoo can reward that person “knowledge points” which gives them credit for doing the problem. There are about 70 million users on this site so it is an easy way to cheat on homework.

I personally believe there is no gain from this what so ever. Even though you get your homework done you are not really learning the content. Soon that type of problem or question will come up on a test and you wont know how to solve it. This obviously is not beneficial.
In the classrooms today many children text each other. Some are pros and can text in their pockets like Insoo. In the article it talks about how they could be Texting answers to test questions with the teachers being oblivious to what is happening. With the technology today children should be able to use this technology wisely.

PLN 21

While going through the articles on the 2 cents worth blog I found an interesting one titled How Much does this Really Matter? . The article talks about how the U.S. one of the most prosperous nations on the planet don’t even know basic elementary and middle school subjects. While going through a scientific organization put together polls and tests and came out with appalling results. It is said that 66% of the U.S. population does not understand DNA, “margin of error,” the scientific process, and does not believe in evolution. Also 50% do not know how long it takes the earth to go around the sun, and a quarter does not even know that the earth goes around the sun. Not only is this sad but it is disgraceful. No wonder why “Are you smarter then a fifth grader” can find so many contestants. Educators must be shamed to know that students they probably had taught are as dumb as a rock. In the article he also asks does all this really matter. Sure they don’t know elementary curriculum and yes they do not understand that the planet is indeed not flat. But does it matter; they are all citizens who keep the economy together. They raise families, they pay their taxes, and they don’t break the law (at least some). So in the long run does It really matter that they know that DNA isn’t someone’s initials. My personal opinion is that they should know at least some of this information. The future is rapidly changing and so are the people in it. A lot of people do not have time to remember such facts but also focus at the task at hand. For example a person is in the army what should they rather know the scientific process or how to reload an overheated gun in a gunfight. Obviously the would rather know something that is more beneficial to them at the moment. You can’t kill a terrorist with a hypothesis and a procedure for those that don’t know that’s part of the scientific process). In our classroom certain students do show that they are eligible to be the next Paris Hilton all glam no brains. But others do retain their knowledge and do remember things from their first year of school. Hopefully our teachers are doing a well enough job to keep our brains afloat.

PLN 20

While going through the articles today I found an interesting one that related to not only baseball, a well loved sport, but to steroids and usually when you think of baseball and steroids you think of Barry Bonds. Baseball star Barry Bonds charged was the name of the article on thee BBC news post. FACTS In the past Barry Bonds has been tested multiple times for taking anabolic steroids. He has tested negative every time since then. Many people have wondered whether he has taken steroids or not. In the past he has said that he has never knowingly taken anabolic steroids or performance enhancing drugs. This somewhat makes you wonder if he did take steroids saying he never knowingly took the steroids. Today he was convicted with four counts of perjury and one of obstructing justice, which together carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in jail. Federal police have found out that during the criminal investigation, evidence was obtained including positive tests for the presence of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances for Bonds and other athletes. CONNECTIONS TO OTHERS This connects too many other sports and raises many questions. Obviously Barry Bonds has been in the spot light for steroid abuse. But the WWE or the World Wrestling Entertainment has also been rumored to be run by anabolic drugs. Recently CNN conducted an interview with former WWE champion John Cena about the steroid issue. In the interview John told the news reporter “absolutely not” and then later went into detail on what others have said and how people have lied about it. CNN then decided to edit out John Cenas answer and replace it with him saying yes he has but they will never catch them. Taking this totally out of context from different parts of the interview CNN has showed that the media has played in a large role in steroids. Connections to myself and the classroom To myself I adore WWE and all of wrestling entertainment. Yes wrestlers have died because of steroids and yes it may promote violence and yes the famous Benoit killings have been linked to performance enhancing drugs. But to myself I love to wrestle. I am currently on Arapahoe High Schools wrestling team. But due to recent events it has become shaming talking about sports because in the end the conversations end up talking about steroids. In the classroom people have written PLN’s about sports and whether they support them or how good a certain player is. It is sad that one person has to always succumb to steroid abuse to do an amazing feat such as win a world championship or the World Series. In the end it’s not our decision if they will take steroids we will never be able to stop the will of a person. All I know is I will not harm myself by taking the easy way out and hopefully people will realize that to.

pln 19

I was going through the Denver Post articles today when I found a controversial headline saying Do schools have birth-control role?. This experiment would take place in six Denver High Schools. FACTS I personally believe that the schools should not interfere with the students. Yes, it is true that 54. 5% of teenagers in Denver High Schools become pregnant in High School. But they should learn to take the issue into their own hands and not have sexual intercourse or to practice safe sex methods. I don’t think its right that the school should interfere with personal affairs. A large step in a teenager’s life is to be responsibility. I think that schools should take it upon themselves to have sex-education courses that provide knowledge in safe sex practices and on sexually transmitted diseases. By providing these classes they can either stop kid’s from having sex at to early and age and prevent many kid from getting sexually transmitted diseases. Any information that can be given to youth is useful. But schools are here to educate not be doctors. CONNECTIONS TO OTHERS Even with the pills being shown as an easy get out option to not get pregnant could convince students they can have sex and not be involved in the commitment that having intercourse really represents. This is not only sending the wrong message to students but to their parents. One of my close personal friends who lives down in Aurora South Carolina has experienced intercourse. She says she did not use safe sex methods but luckily her peers had a “magic pill” to get rid of the “little problem” she made. She now uses safe sex methods. Her counselors help her cope with these issues and supply students with proper materials in case intercourse ever happens. CONNECTIONS TO OUR SCHOOL This is important to our school because if the program passes with the school boards we might be given pregnancy pills like they are skittles. I don’t want to promote sexual intercourse at such a young age. In the end the choice comes down to the students. What choices they make is up to them. How they act today will affect who they are tomorrow.