Corinne’s Blog

“The Rhythmic Claims of Freedom and Discipline” by Alfred North Whitehead

Romanticism in education is primarily brought about in kindergarten and elementary school. Learning is advertised as fun and enjoyable; and school is the best place to be. On the first day of school each year, parents coerce their children to get out of bed and get to school with the promise of what fun awaits them. Once students get to middle school and high school, this romanticized view of school is gone, and school is no longer this perfect and enjoyable place. 

Teachers are obviously an important part of learning. But in order for a student to learn, he or she must have a teacher that is right for the kind of learning methods they have. Not everyone can successfully learn in a traditional classroom environment, and this is what Whitehead is talking about in this paragraph. Some students will not learn in the classroom, but will come across knowledge, and also wisdom, in their own way and on their own time. A teacher must be sought out by a student, not forced upon them.

My father is a very wise man. I believe that Whitehead would very much approve of the way that my father views and goes about obtaining knowledge and wisdom. My dad was never a great student. He hated high school and graduated a full year early to go to college. Once he got to college, it was better but not by much. My dad almost didn’t graduate from college, because he didn’t think that the little paper he would receive at the ceremony was worth all his trouble. My dad, however, is nowhere near unintelligent. I think that if my dad were suited for any profession, it would be a philosopher. He reads constantly; newspapers, scientific magazines, and all sorts of books. His personal philosophy is “if you can read you can do anything.” My dad is a very philosophical guy, and I can see that whenever we have discussions about my curfew, or my grades, or church. My dad doesn’t give me a strict curfew, because he understands that if he does that I will just rebel against it; instead, he tells me around what time he would like me home and asks me to use my own good judgement. My dad doesn’t give me a hard time about my grades either, but he does tell me that he would like me to be successful and happy in my life and asks me to think about what I need to do to accomplish that; so I take hard classes and push myself academically. Overall, my dad and my mom, have used their collective wisdom in raising my sisters and me; and I think that this is why my family has a much fewer problems that others.

Death is something that I have been thinking a lot about lately; and not in a morbid or suicidal way. Just in a curious and pondering way. When I think about death, I have to also think about religion. As a part of my religion, I believe that once a person dies their spirit goes through a series of stages and eventually ends up in one of three places. It is also my belief that a family can be sealed together; so once a person dies, they will be reunited with their other dead family members. Now, I have only briefly gone over my beliefs; but to me, knowing this is an extremely comforting thought. Because I don’t have to wonder what will happen to me when I die,  and I don’t have to wonder if I will ever get to see my dead relatives again. When I see other people who are not of the same faith as I am lose someone they love, I can’t help but feel grateful that I probably won’t have to go through the same kind of grief that they do. Sure, it’s a bit sadistic, but I won’t have to have that feeling of wondering where that person who I loved so much went, or if I will ever see them again and I am really  grateful for that.

After reading a lot of the research and theories on the website for the National Association for Single-Sex Public Education (NASSPE) single-sex education sounds like a really smart idea. All of the examples cited seems like situations that would happen at my school, and like situations that might even happen to me. For example, I have to take PE next quarter and I am dreading it. Why am I dreading this? I am an athletic girl and I’m good at sports. I am dreading taking PE because all the guys in my class are bound to show off and try and be as macho as they can. Will I push myself in this class? Probably not, because I want to fit in with the other girls in my class who shy away from attempting to excel in PE. This fits right into what they website says about coed schools enforcing “gender intensification.”

However, while the idea of single-sex education seems like a good idea, and appears to have benefits for boys and girls, I also think that it would be just plain weird going to an all girls school, or even just having all girls classes. It seems archaic that genders should be segregated in the classroom. It seems to go against the very basis of equality that America hold in such high esteem. But with all the science and research behind it pointing towards the benefits, both academic and social, I

“The Clan of One-Breasted Women” by Terry Tempest Williams

This piece is a protest towards nuclear testing, and especially nuclear testing in inhabited areas. Williams recounts her experiences with having her mother, grandmother, and aunts suffer from breast cancer which she believes to be environmentally induced. Williams also cites many court cases and instances of nuclear testing to help prove her point and to emphasize her theory of her family’s environmentally caused cancer.

What first caught my attention in the piece was the title “The Clan of One-Breasted Women.” It was very peculiar so I started reading. What then further intrigued me was Williams’ mention of her Mormon religion. As I read on I also got hooked as she told about her experiences and how they intertwined with her research and her theories. Another thing that I really noticed in this piece was the passion that Williams wrote with. She had a sure purpose in her mind and she was writing to let the world know about it. I was impressed with how strongly she felt about what she was writing about and how it really came through in her writing.

This piece is an author emulation in the style of Eudora Welty.

Grandma Shirley is my favorite grandma, and I have four others to compare her to. She is sweet and kind and generous, and also very devout. But Grandma Shirley is also a very nasty person to be on the wrong side of. You make her angry, and God so help you. She will let you know exactly what you did wrong and exactly how you need to fix it and she will hound you to make sure you do not do it ever again.

When my cousin Taylor got married to Gabby they sent out beautiful invitations. However, the invitations did not specify that they actual wedding would be taking place in the temple and that it was only the reception that was going to be held in Taylor’s parents backyard. Well that sure sent Grandma Shirley in a tizzy. She threw a fit and let Taylor and Gabby have it for not correctly wording their wedding invitations. Poor Gabby hadn’t come to the full realization of what kind of family she was marrying into until then when she saw just a glimpse of  Grandma Shirley’s wrath in action.

Grandma Shirley is also a very kind woman. She is wealthy and has no problem sharing her prosperity with those in need of it. She will donate any charity for any cause. She will volunteer for any position. She will help any child or grandchild in need.

Grandma Shirley has been going to the same hair salon for at least my entire life of seventeen years, if not much longer. I do not believe that the salon would still be alive and running if it were not for Grandma Shirley. When the salon was having a yard sale and special ten-dollar hair cuts Grandma Shirley donated half of the items sold and bought a quarter of what she didn’t donate. She was also the very first in line for the special ten-dollar hair cuts, though she had just had her hair done a few days prior. 

Grandma Shirley is so kind and sweet all the time. I love to be with her and helping her because she is such a joy to be around. But I am terrified of even the thought of having her angry with me. I would sooner have myself run over by a train than do anything to have Grandma Shirley’s full rage directed upon myself.

High school sports are something that can make or break a student’s high school experience. Playing sports with your high school can be a lot of fun, it’s a good opportunity to meet new friends and have something productive to do after school. However, a lot of the politics of college sports has translated down to the high school level. Now it seems that players will do any thing to get on the team that they want, and this very much includes sucking up to coaches. Athletes will do extra favors for their coaches to make themselves noticed, and girls will sometimes even flirt with their male coaches to make themselves stand out. It sometimes seems that a player’s skill and athletic ability will go unnoticed because of the antics of those players who draw attention to themselves by alternate means. Now, just because some players will do this to get on the sports team doesn’t mean that all of them do. There are still a lot of very skilled athletes who will get on their teams because of their athletic skill and ability. But it sometimes seems that these players are overshadowed by the ones who suck up to coaches.

So what should be done about this? I think that coaches should do all that is in their power to judge a player off of their athletic performance and not based on favors and flirting and favoritism. This trend is becoming all too common in high school sports, and it doesn’t do any good for the sports programs, the coaches, or the athletes.

I have a lot of family, so I get a lot of chances to babysit. When I’m babysitting I get a chance to see how my cousins, whose kids I watch, have decided to raise their children. It’s interesting to compare which kids are east to watch and which are difficult to watch, and so see what principles of parenting have been applied to make the kids either easy of difficult to look after.

My cousin Amy has two kids: Mya who is five, and Peyton who is three. Mya and Peyton are delightful kids, and they are fun to watch. However, problems always arise when it’s time to eat or time to go to bed. Neither Mya, nor Peyton will ever eat all of thier dinner. No matter if I make exactly what they asked for, they refuse to eat. Then it gets worse when bedtime rolls around. Mya will practically burst into hysterics to protest going to sleep. It doesn’t matter that her bedtime routine has been followed precisely, and it is irrelevant that she has gone to bed almost every other night of her life, Mya will still protest going to sleep every night.

Amy’s sister, Emily, also has two kids: Aydan who is four and Asher who is one. Aydan and Asher are almost exactly the opposite of Mya and Peyton; they eat all of their food, they go to bed easily, and they even help clean up their messes. What is it that Emily did different than Amy that made Aydan and Asher so much easier to take care of than Mya and Peyton? Often I have found myself wondering this after I have finally got the kids to sleep; and from all of my pondering I have come to a number of conclusions and opinions.

First, children need to be disciplined. Undisciplined children are obnoxious and just end up being directionless in their lives because they haven’t been taught what is right and wrong. Sometimes all a kid needs is a spanking to help them remember what they should or shouldn’t be doing. Second, children, though they need to be disciplined, also need to be taught that their parents are reasonable people and that their parents are humans that can make mistakes just like them.

Though I have only come to a few conclusions, and such conclusions are still developing, babysitting has still provided me with an experience which allowed me to consider my views on parenting. Babysitting has really taught me a lot about parenting and I have observed a lot which will, and has, helped me to keep these views on parenting and running a household in perspective.

Computer literacy is becoming increasingly important is today’s society, whether it be in education, business, or just in daily life. As technology advances and computers especially become a bigger and bigger part of everyone’s lives computer literacy takes a place of higher necessity in life. People used to get the majority of their new from the newspaper, but since the rise of computers more and more people will get and read the news via the internet, or on the TV or on their phones. Physically reading a newspaper is becoming much less common than it once was due to the uprising of computer technology. 

However, I do not think that computer literacy is becoming more important than verbal literacy. I think that in all things in life there needs to be a balance, and the various mediums of literacy are no exception. Computer literacy is very important, especially for my generation who have grown up with it; but keeping verbal literacy is equally important. So it’s necessary to up keep the same level of verbal literacy as there is computer literacy. Can you imagine a world where books and paper and pens are obsolete? Imagine how strange that would be where there is not purpose for things involving verbal literacy. Keeping the balance between verbal and computer literacy is the most important thing to remember when advances in computer and other types of literacy come around.

A few weeks ago Michael Phelps, the Olympic swimmer, was photographed smoking marijuana. Now Kellogg’s and Wheatie’s have revoked their sponsorship of him. Why do people feel the need to go and make fools of themselves by doing something either illegal or stupid after they come into success and fame? Now, I understand that marijuana is a commonly used drug and that there are many people who don’t even think that it is a drug. I also understand that there are many many people who are also caught using this illegal substance and that there is hardly any fuss about it. But when someone as famous and someone as influential as a 14-time Olympian, like Michael Phelps, is caught smoking illegal drugs I think that it is a lot more serious. Because someone like that is supposed to be an example to the public, especially Olympians, they are supposed to represent their country to the highest degree. Smoking pot is not the correct way for America to be represented.

“What you do speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Being the oldest of four daughters, my parents have always taught me to be a good example to my younger sisters. My church has also often said that the best way to lead and to teach is by example. So when i stumbled across this quote it hit home. People really do pay more attention to what you do than what you say. People will generally decide their opinion of you based on your actions, so it’s really important for a person to make wise choices about what they do. Therefore, if you say one thing and do another, then your peers will more likely judge you off of what you actually did rather than what you said. 

In my life I try to keep this quote somewhere in the back of my mind where it’s there when I need to make a decision. I think about what my sisters would think of what I chose, and if I would want them to choose the same thing. Being an example is something that I take very seriously, and it’s the reason that I do many of the things that I do.