Journal # 8

            Writing has never been my favorite thing. I’ve never felt that I was good at writing, so I never could enjoy it. When I first took Mrs. Warren’s class for 1101 I was very nervous and dreaded taking it. Once I got used to it I actually started to enjoy writing and couldn’t wait for my next paper. One thing that I really enjoyed about 1101 was how we were able to write from personal experiences. Mrs. Warren is an awesome professor and I feel that the way she taught 1102 this semester was a great idea. However, if I had to do it over again I would choose 1101’s writing style. I found ENC 1102 to be boring because we always had to do research on each paper we had to write. This class was the first time I was introduced to blogging, there wasn’t much to it and wasn’t hard to do, but I would have to say that it isn’t something that I would keep up with if I didn’t have to. One thing that I did like about blogger was the ability to read all of my classmate’s papers. I enjoyed reading the different outlooks and opinions they had on each paper we did and would also use it as a learning tool. I can’t say that writing will never be something that I will one day love but if that day comes research papers will not be at the top of my list of favorites. 

Waiting for Superman

Uneducated

            Do you send your children to school every day expecting that they are going to learn something? I’m sure the majority of parents do. Our children attend school daily barely learning to write their names let alone in cursive. We always want to base the fact that our children aren’t learning as they should because of the neighborhoods we live in. I remember as a child I didn’t live in the best neighborhood in Duval County, but my second grade teacher was amazing. I now live in a decent neighborhood in Duval County that I have observed a second grade teacher that really doesn’t seem to care. The truth is we can have some of the best teachers in the worst neighborhoods.

            “Unfortunately, Duval County is not one of the higher-performing school districts in Florida; in fact Schooldigger.com ranks Duval County 56th out of 67 Florida counties. Nevertheless, there are many bright spots. For example, Jacksonville is home to four of the nation's top 100 high schools, and is also home to a number of high-quality elementary schools” (About.com). I live across the street from Greenland Pines Elementary school, a school that has been rated an A school. But the teacher that my 8 year old cousin has in the second grade is a perfect example of a bad teacher in a good neighborhood. My Aunt will normally take my cousin to school and when doing so has naturally come across several parents with kids in the same class. She has made it a point to ask them if their children were having issues with their grades in this teacher’s class, just to make sure it wasn’t just my cousin cutting up in class and not paying attention. Four of the other parents that she has spoken with have said that their child too was struggling, and two out of four of those parents had put their children in tutoring. If this isn’t a good example then I don’t know what is.

            When I was younger I lived off of 103^rd street, and attended Jacksonville Heights Elementary school. Granted 103^rd street is not considered to be the worst neighborhood in Jacksonville and clearly not the best. In 2nd grade I attended Jacksonville Heights and I never once came home with a bad grade. I remember Mrs. Daily as if it was yesterday, and I remember her because she was one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. She always spent so much time with her students. If my mother ever needed to be in contact with my teacher, it was always a simple process to do so. There was never a question on what homework was due, or what my grades were like, or if I was struggling and possibly going to fail.

            Now a days to get in touch with a teacher, is like waiting on the president to give you a call back. A really good friend of mine has a child in 5^th grade, and any time she needs to get in contact with the teacher, it’s never easy. The teacher lets her get bad grade after bad grade, and waits close to the end of the school year to let her know that her child is close to failing. If she had only known this earlier in the school year she could have addressed this issue. Now due to the lack of communication with the teacher, her child is at risk of failing. This teacher has an address, home phone, cell phone, work phone, email, and a student to send information home with but still shows no concern in this student’s education.

            Why is this? Why do our children have to take a chance in whether or not they have a good teacher? There was a quote from the film Waiting for Superman that really struck me the wrong way. “I get paid whether you learn or not”. (Waiting for Superman) I couldn’t agree with that statement more, this is exactly what those bad teachers stand by. And because of the policy tenure that has been put in place for teachers, teachers are allowed to feel this way and are basically allowed to put in less effort in teaching our children and encouraging them to stride for a better future and education. Because at the end of the day when those bad teachers go home they still have a job.” I have worked in a state that did not have tenure and one that does.  In both of those states, most of the teachers were hard working and dedicated to the children.  There were no more "poor" teachers in one state than the other”. (www.education.com)

           

                                                                         Works Cited

            "About.com Education." About.com Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2013.

                "Duval County Public Schools: Teaching. Learning. Achieving." Duval County Public Schools: Teaching. Learning. Achieving. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2013.

                "Should Teachers Have Tenure?" Education.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013.

                "Waiting for 'Superman'(2010)." Yahoo! Movies. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013

Journal 7 Waiting for Superman

Waiting for Superman

            Last class we watched a documentary called “Waiting for Superman”, it revealed the reality of the struggles that take place in our schools as our children strive to get an education. It saddened me to watch these helpless children struggle while trying to get an education. The Documentary showed what it’s like in our schools, how children never get a one on one with teachers and how they end up failing because of a bad teacher. Parents send their children to school every day expecting that they will get the proper education, and they only will if they are lucky enough to have a good teacher. The Documentary also showed the children that are unfortunate to have that bad teacher, and how they have resulted to being chosen to attend a better school. It broke my heart to watch the children’s faces as they sit in a room waiting for a chance in life, as their numbers or names were being called out or not. It is a sad situation and it happens in several schools, and it’s not only in the so called bad neighborhoods that these bad teachers work in.  I live in a decent neighborhood in Mandarin and the school that my 8 year old cousin goes to is graded an A school. However, the teacher that he has doesn’t reflect that. He’s been sent to a math tutor for several months to help him and once he was doing “wonderful” as the tutor said he no longer needed to attend. Since he’d been going to the tutor he brought his math up to an A, and since he’s stopped his grade dropped back down to a D. It isn’t just the neighborhood that we live in, but it’s the teachers want to teach our children. 

Miss Representation

Tiara Roman

ENC 1102

Miss Representation

09 April 2013

Undivided

            Have you ever been let go at a job or turned down because you weren’t a male? I have, and although you may not know it and though it states in an application that they will not discriminate it happens every day. You can be over qualified for the position and the male that sits beside you, be his first job ever and he get the position before you. Most of the time this isn’t something that us women always pay attention to, we base it on the economy and how many people have applied. But the truth is we are getting looked down upon, our qualifications are getting overlooked and we are being discriminated against.

            Reasons for discrimination against women vary amongst workers and bosses around the world. Because women could possibly become pregnant, they are seen as unreliable of a sort as they would leave the workplace for some amount of time, if not permanently, due to the child. Another reason is appearance. Many men that are in charge of hiring employees may deny a woman a job because a lack of sex appeal, or approve them because of a comely appearance.

            “The "glass ceiling" is also a form of gender discrimination. The term refers to the invisible barriers that prevent women from climbing the ranks of management because upper level and executive positions are given to men. Glass ceiling policies are unwritten, and sometimes referred to as the "old boys network," but whatever it is called, it is another form of gender discrimination. If men get more time off, better compensation packages or benefits than women based on unfair gender bias it is gender discrimination and it is illegal” (http://womeninbusiness.about.com). Although discrimination is not as prominent as earlier years, female workers still endure more of it than male worker. On average, men are paid more than women, and it is also more difficult for women to receive a promotion or a raise than it is for their male coworkers. Women are also succumbed to sexual harassment which, while highly illegal, is normally disregarded. While it may seem as though no woman should have to be given this poor treatment, it happens daily and can go without being treated properly.

            “If you’re being paid less than your male coworkers or you feel like you’re not being promoted because you’re a woman you can file a lawsuit or threaten to do so. Tread lightly though. If they find out you’re thinking about suing them they might fire you awfully fast. If you’re at a company where you’re not getting paid your worth or you’re being held down then you probably don’t want to work there. If your lawyer can prove that the company has systematically prevented women from advancing and refuses to pay them a fair wage then you’ll be in line for a big settlement. There’s a long history of cases of this nature going for the women” (http://womenslegalresource.com).

            “Computer Sciences Corporation was sued by a former high-level female executive who was fired after identifying and complaining about pattern and practice gender discrimination and sexual harassment. She was told to "quit complaining." She did not, she was fired” (PR Web. April 18, 2012). “In 2011, Wal-Mart dodged a bullet when the Supreme Court ultimately overturned a decision that would have held Wal-Mart accountable in a class action suit. The justices ruled that the "women did not share enough in common to qualify as a class in what would have been the largest class action discrimination suit in history." However, individual lawsuits against Wal-Mart continue to be filed” (Huffington Post. January 24, 2012).

            Although gender discrimination is not always gone about correctly, it continues to be a large problem in the working world. Women continue to lose jobs while men continuing receiving them. As time passes, whether the discrimination increases or decreases in occurrences remains completely in the hands of those around the world in charge of hiring and firing employees in their work environments.

            The truth that discrimination against women though it may be getting somewhat better is still happening is known. It should not be happening at all. There shouldn’t be any getting better, this needs to stop. Where I am currently working I don’t feel that I am being discriminated against, but you can definitely see that when it comes to a male, he will get the promotion or raise first. We are all equal as people, some can do things better than others but it shouldn’t divide us as women and men.

Works Cited

"Corporations Sued For Gender Discrimination Against Women And Men." About.com Women in Business. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2013.

 "Discrimination against Women in the Workplace." Womens Legal Resource. N.p., n.d.

Web. 09 Apr. 2013.

"National Partnership for Women and Families: Workplace Discrimination." National Partnership for Women and Families: Workplace Discrimination. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2013.

               

Journal 6 MIss Representation

Miss Representation

After watching the film Miss Representation I was surprised to see the reality of discrimination against women in Congress that I didn’t know about. The film showed several different aspects in how women are viewed by society and how degrading it can be. The video also showed the different levels of congress or government jobs that women are in and how little of them there are. Granted I’ve seen for myself how women are exploited on the television as a piece of meat but I didn’t know to the extent of discrimination in the work place. Watching the film also showed how even though a woman is in a position such as Congress, they still aren’t viewed differently nor as equal to a man. Society is so used to this happening, that it’s basically a hidden subject or just overseen. The film was a great view on what really goes on and opened my eyes to a lot that I did not know.  I too have applied for certain positions for employment that I know I was over qualified for and have been turned down to a male getting the position. I could literally work circles around this under certified male, but it didn’t matter because it was a warehouse job where mostly males worked. The application you fill out at a workplace states that they will not discriminate against, sex, race, orientation, etc. But the truth is, it happens every day.