Saturday, March 5, 2011

Single gender in class? What kind of idea is that?

Currently many students are facing some ups and downs by having double gender in the class. Some students think that it would help them in many ways. But the others are not allowing them to change the classes to have a single gender class. So teachers are interested to know if it would help each student to be in a single gender class or in a double gender class.
In my opinion,  having the same gender class is a bad idea. This is mainly because many kids wont participate in the class and it will get boring if there in not double gender. Also if there is just single gender, it will be impossible to do projects like advertising. If there is in need of a boy voice or a girl voice, the kids will struggle in their work which is actually supposed to be fun.
For example, in my English class we had to advertise an audio ad. We so needed a boy voice so we can make the advertisement more fun and special. But unfortunately our group only had a group of girls. So we had to think about another advertisement which was not as good as our last one.  If just a group of girls cannot mange an advertisement good, then how will you even think a class would be with only one type of gender?
According http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/education/11gender.html?_r=2  having single gender classes is useful. They prove kids that by changing into single gender classes, more kids will participate and there was a higher grade for everyone in the class. But that is not really true. Sometimes kids participate only because of impressing the opposite gender. They try to answer every single question asked to prove the opposite gender that they are really smart. So if there is only one gender classes kids will not show up and participate in class more often.
In America many kids try to be as cool as they can by being as smart as they can. If there is single gender, then no one will be interested in anything and every kids will turn into nerds.  We should let each kid to feel that each one of them is cool and smart and we should let school be cool!


Friday, February 4, 2011

Do you have to apply for even electives too? That’s not fair!



Currently students across America are having electives that would help them challenge in many ways. Some educators think that their friends are as smart as them or even smarter. While the other students think that some of their friends are doing really bad at the elective that is chosen and should be in a different elective that would help them even more. So they came up with a decision that people make a resume, a cover letter, and an application to join an elective.

In my opinion I think having a a resume, a cover letter, and an application is a bad idea. This is mainly because if someone does not get selected it would hurt a person’s feelings and people would not get a chance to experience what they want to. Why would you even stop a person enjoy a class after so many hard classes that you are forced to join in? Why would they force a child t do something they don't want to do?  I think that doing these will hurt them in many ways.
If there is a person who is really bad at English but good at band and they try to apply for band, then the reader might get fed up of the writing and they will not apply him/ her to join band. That would not be fair to have a person get better at English just to join band. Does it mean that if your bad at something you need to just not do it? If you ask them for a cover letter, resume, and application then its like you are not giving a chance for a person to do something they want from you. As I can see many people are really not good at art but they like that subject a lot. If they need to do something like apply for it then probably they might not get a chance to do art, to create art, or even get better at art.

When I just had come to Herbert Hoover Middle School, I had was really bad at the violin. I didn’t even know how to hold the violin in a way everybody did. I didn’t know how to read notes and play at the same time. I used to hold the violin like I am disabled. But then I challenged myself to learn my passion and success in what I want to. This school encouraged me to do such a thing and made me better at the violin. My friend also wanted to join violin in her school. But unfortunately they did not like her application and she couldn’t success in her dreams.

In America most people think themselves as “Super Stars” But if you need to apply and all that things for you favorite subject then that would just ruin the whole “Super Star” feeling in a person. We must build  America in a way that each person must be a  “Super Star” in their own way. The only chance to this is letting each child choose their own electives that they are passion about.

Should Electives be Applied for? That's Not Fair!


Why would you have to apply for a certain class, like your electives to be chosen for? Electives have always been fun classes to attend. They aren’t usually academic, but they teach you new skills that might come in handy later on. Plus, it wouldn’t be fair to students who always think of themselves as poorly educated or one who always gets bad grades. These classes are supposed to be fun, exciting classes that students always enjoy.
Electives shouldn't’t be for students to compete and think of themselves as the best to be in that class. Every class that a student attends is for one main purpose, the joy of learning. If students were to write a resume, cover letter, and application the judges or teachers always have a chance of saying “no” to that student. In that scenario the student doesn’t get to go to the class they want and never learn whatever was taught. It divides up the students between smart children and not as smart. Like I said before this would be unfair to many students and never gives them a chance to learn. For this reason, I believe that a student shouldn’t have to write a resume, cover letter, and application to be in a certain class.


Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Applying for an Elective Class in Middle School? I'm Not Writing that! - Rishika

Middle school students; many of which are engrossed in the negative things - complaining being one of the major ones. I have noticed that many students complain about how low-level some of there peers are. This complaint usually refers to the students in elective classes such as Educational Technology, World Languages, and Photography. These students who complain make the others feel little of themselves. So what should be the solution to this? Should students have to complete a resume, cover letter, and application in order to participate in elective classes?


In my opinion, students should not be required to write a resume, cover letter, or application just to attend a class they have a passion for. No matter what the passion for a student may be, they will excel in that category; guaranteed.
For some students, the elective class they may choose may be the only subject where they are satisfied with their grade. Shouldn’t the student be relieved from the overwhelming feeling of whether or not they were accepted into the class?
Having been a middle school student myself, I know the pressures and tensions that pile up over time. The last thing I need is to write a resume, cover letter, and application to attend a class when I may not even know the proper technique for these documents!

Furthermore, these three documents will take away time to progress on work for other classes. This eventually will lead to an unwanted feeling of stress and anxiety.

So why should we pressurize students for something they may not even know how to do and may affect their academic progress?
If this matter is considered carefully, more reasons to not make students write these documents will become crystal clear.


So let’s think about the well-being of our future stars and make sure that they always shine!


http://www.fundalarm.com/stars1.JPG