Book Review

     "He shined the light on the mound of fallen leaves. Jutting out from the pile was an unfathomably small- yet unmistakably human-foot." Catherine Ryan Hyde's When I Found You captured my heart with its compelling compassion.
     When I Found You encourages its readers to follow their hearts. Nat met a girl at Frosty Freeze named Carol. He knew that he liked this girl a lot, so he decided to win her over every way he could. Nat also wanted to be a professional boxer when he got good enough to fight better players. He followed his heart to get to his goal as close as he could. Nathan wanted Nat to except him and get to know him. Nathan never gave up on trying to the best parent figure he could to Nat.
     The author's style totally sets the mood of her book When I Found You. The diction and how much she described every event really made this book so enjoyable to read. Such as, "Then a click, and a brusque male voice on the line." Her description in her book made everything so clear. Such as, "It was wrapped in a sweater- a regular adult-size sweater- and wore a tiny, well-fitted, multicolored knit cap." This gives her readers a perfect picture of a scene she was trying to portray. Another example of this is "Nathan stood in the cool autumn dark, a moment before sunrise, his shotgun angles up across his shoulder."
     The setting of the book impacts the main conflict of the book in a huge way. The book says, "He scooped underneath the lump with both gloved hands at once, lifted the child up to him, blew leaves off its face." This affects the conflict by telling the readers that the baby was in the woods. Another example is Nathan's wife would not him keep the child. He was worried about what kind of home he would be going back to. Lastly, Nat's grandma could not handle him anymore, so she dumped him back off at Nathan's house years later. Nat had behavioral problems, so Nathan had to teach him to become the man he needed to be in the time period that they lived in.
     I recommend this book to anyone who loves to read about following your heart and having compassion. This book shows that it is possible to put ourselves aside to help others and help them chase their dreams.

Current Connection 3.2

According to http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/genderbias.html teachers need to be aware of the gender roles we are facing in our schools. The teachers are the ones who are suppose to make the schools comfortable environment. Being constantly put down by their teachers, the students will not perform their best.

If teachers realize that they cause problems with gender roles, they should go out of their way to make sure the problem is solved. The website says, "Gender bias in education is an insidious problem that causes very few people to stand up and take notice." This means that if gender roles are causing so many problems, someone needs to stand up and say what they feel. Being noble leaders, The teachers should definitely stand up and speak their minds.

The people higher than the teachers, the ones who should be lifting up our students, should help out with this issue as well. The website said, "Departments of education should be providing mandatory gender-equity resource modules to in-service teachers..." This simply means that the teachers should not work alone. The people who are above them should be working on the issue as well, trying to be problem solvers.

Someone needs to make sure that every teacher knows about the gender role problem in our schools. The website states, "..teachers need to be aware of the gender bias.." If no one brings it to their attention, how could they fix it? No one can fix a problem, if they are not aware. 

I watched a movie called "Paradise" recently, and the main character Lamb could not go to college because of how her community thought of the women. She was not happy with how she grew up and now she could not pursue her dreams because how women were portrayed. 

Boys and girls everywhere are being put down in their school settings. That is where the journey should begin and not end. It should not matter what a persons gender is. Everyone should have their shot, starting with our schools. 

Current Connection 3.1

Gender roles have always been a major part of our way of life. The competition of gender roles do not just begin in the workplace; it starts in the school atmosphere.

Gender roles in the school environment have an affect on the rest the students' future. The text says, " Schools serve as 'gatekeepers'..." This means that the schools, the influence to the personal lives of the students, are responsible for what they feed to the minds of the students. The schools are to watch what they teach their students because their minds are still clay that is being crafted. 

Both genders go through different phases from when they start elementary school to when they enter in the higher grades. The text says, "In some measures of school readiness, such as fine motor control, girls are ahead of boys. Twelve years later, girls have fallen behind their male classmates in key areas such as higher-level mathematics and measures of self-esteem." This means that girls start out at a higher level than the boys. Falling back, girls now have lower math grades and self-esteem.

Feeding young minds of students, schools could see a brighter future. The text states, "...Latinas are not achieving primarily because they are in low-achieving (poverty) schools, not because they are girls." This means that the school is at fault for not choosing to truly invest in the lives of young Latina girls. The text clearly states that it is not because they are girls, but the school should focus on all of the students and make sure that they are doing their absolute best.

Making sure every student has what they need, Schools should have the main goal that they will their best no matter what their gender. What would the world be like if this goal was met?



http://www.education.com/reference/article/gender-roles-schools/

Current Connection: 2.1

In an article entitled "4 Keys to Good Decision Making" from Karen Wolff gives her views on making good decisions.

Some people do not have any problems on making the correct decision, but others have a really hard time. The article says, "...it's difficult to know if we're using good judgement as we make daily decision about life." Some people's lack of judgement can get them into tough situations. We must try our best to gain as much good judgement as we can, so when the problems pop up, we can make sure we make the right decision.

Life, a crazy roller coaster, a maze that we are all trying to find our way through, becomes even harder to figure out when it is time to make important decisions. The article states, "It becomes even harder with important, life-changing decisions." It seems like when everything is finally going smoothly a problem pops up. We must make wise decisions accordingly. We must look ahead and try to picture every possible outcome.

We always ask other people what their opinions are. Whether it is a parent or a friend, we want to know how another views our problem. The article says, "Surround yourself with people who are further along in the journey." When we are not sure about a situation, we should ask someone's opinion who has already went through something similar. Learning from someone else's mistakes, we can prevent our own from occurring.

Looking into my own life, I have found more than enough mistakes that I have made. They developed by not making the right decision. I have now learned from my mistakes, expecting to make good decisions in the future. Life is full of mistakes, yet lessons come out of each one.

Whether you make the right or wrong decision something positive is bound to come out as the sun the morning. Always try your best. We all mess up, but make sure you look on the bright side.


Works Cited
Wolff, Karen. "4 Keys to Good Decision Making." http://christianity.about.com/od/practicaltools/a/decisionmaking.htm     2013. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.

Current Connection 1.2

     Is the American school system fulfilling the goals of a true education? The picture shows a gap between the human and the goal by a puzzle piece that seems to be missing. The school system needs some construction, but it will not become successful until we take action.  According to the picture, there is only one person holding the missing puzzle piece. It will take everyone trying to complete the puzzle bridge to reach our goal, a school system that will be suitable for our students. One person cannot do it alone; therefore, we should all do our part.  Also according to the picture, there is one puzzle piece missing out of the bridge, a path that will eventually lead to our main goal. That one missing piece is the one we need to make the bridge functional so that we may reach our goal of education as a nation.  The picture shows the person and the large red word "GOAL" separated by a gap that can be filled with the missing puzzle piece. It can easily be put in place if we are willing to work together and put it there, so we can crossover and be where we need to be educationally.  This picture can be related to a situation not so serious as well. Such as, if my goal was to make a homemade chocolate chip cookie. I would put all the puzzle pieces, my ingredients, together and eventually be able to cross the bridge. My stomach would then be filled with a warm yummy cookie; therefore, my goal would be met.  Sometimes it takes a large group and more than just a few ingredients to achieve a goal. The goal of a true education can be accomplished if we all match our puzzle pieces together to create the pathway to an outstanding American school system.

Current Connection 1.1

     In the Three Rivers Edition paper on Sunday, September 8th, 2013 there was an article about a teacher named Nathan Waggoner. The article is called "Searcy resident recognized for EMT teaching excellence," by Lisa J. Burnett. Nathan Waggoner is not only a teacher, but also a paramedic. He uses his real life situations as he teaches his students to become future paramedics. By teaching his students with this method, he is preparing them with all sorts of knowledge for their medical careers that are to come.  The article says, "He uses his real-life experiences as an emergency medical technician as learning tools to teach his students each week..." Using real-life examples in teaching students can help the students truly understand the lesson the teacher is trying to teach. Those examples can also open up doors to new thoughts and help them analyze those thoughts with a totally new perspective.  The article also says, "Waggoner said he loves seeing his students succeed inside and outside the classroom." Teachers everywhere should be proud of their students. Nothing encourages students more than to see their teachers proud of them in what they accomplish.  The text states, "Waggoner's experience off campus gives him a way to connect with his students." Connecting with students is the key to great success in their future. They will always remember the connections they have made in the past and apply what they have learned in the past to the future problems that they will face.  This article reminds me of my dad who teaches respiratory therapy. He works at the local hospitals on his days off or when the hospitals needs an set of hands. He uses his experiences to teach his students just as Nathan Waggoner does.  Nathan Waggoner's way of teaching his students should be the main example of educators around the world. He is putting forth his true effort in the goal of education. Because of his teaching strategies, there will be so many people who are assisted and even saved. That should be the main goal.

Missing Mom

     After 11 years, a missing mother returned home. The text says,"A Pennsylvania mother who left the laundry half done and dinner defrosting in the kitchen 11 years ago to go hitchhiking with strangers has returned home." A true mother would not have just dropped everything and left her family. The family must have been heartbroken to see their wife and mother just get up and desert them. The text also says, "Her family had long ago written her off as dead. Her ex had even been a murder suspect in the case." Because of her choice to just get up and walk out with strangers, she caused everytone around her to hurt. Her ex's life was ruined by her choice to leave randomly.
     She gave up everything. The text says, "She was my best friend, her and I were so close, I never thought she would do this to me and my brother..." Those were the words of the woman's daughter. I could never imagine that happening to me and my family. It would break my heart if my mother walked out on my family. The text also says, "...she lived in tents, and under bridges, scavenging discarded food..." Why did she give up everything and then hurt her family and the ones who loved her in the process? She had a loving family and a roof over her head. It would not have been worth it to me to give up everything and then end up with nothing.




http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2013/05/02/20788606.html