Thursday, May 13, 2010

PLN30

Baby drowns in bathtub; father held for investigation,” by The Denver Post talks about a father that is under investigation for child abuse resulting in death because he left his 6 month old baby in the bathtub. The child fell of her bath seat and into the water, she never regained consciousness and died a little while later. I don’t know how it is to have your child be killed, but I can’t even imagine the pain that that would cause. This man is going through even more pain than that, he has been given responsibility for the death of his baby. One side of me feels bad for this man, but the other half doesn’t. He made a stupid decision and left a baby all by herself in the bathtub. To me that seems like a no-brainer that you don’t do that. This man will most likely face a class-3 felony for child abuse resulting in death. Babies should never be by themselves, they get themselves into trouble because they don't know any better, especially not in the bathtub. This story is extremely depressing, but hopefully people can learn from this man's mistake and protect their children. This matters to the world because child abuse is a problem all around the world and it needs to end. This matters to me because I know hearing things like this is going to make me a better father when I get older and this man should have been the same way.

PLN29

just read "Niwot High evacuated in asbestos scare" in The Denver Post, by Monte Whaley about how students and staff were evacuated from Niwot High School today when work crews discovered material in the girls' locker room wall that might be asbestos. The evacuation was done as a precaution, said St. Vrain Valley School District spokesman John Poynton. Air quality tests at the school will be done throughout the rest of the day to determine if there was any contamination. St. Vrain Valley School District spokesman John Poynton said that, "Hopefully, everything will be fine and we'll be on a regular schedule tomorrow, but we haven't gotten that green light yet." The suspected asbestos was discovered during a $20 million renovation which included work on the boys' and girls' locker room.I know that this is a short article, but this is important to the community because we do not need schools putting kids' health in jeopardy. Plus, Niwot is a big school with a lot of students, so we are not just putting a couple of kids at risk, we are putting thousands of kids at risk.This matters to the whole state of Colorado because when construction is done on older schools, we need to be aware that running in to asbestos is always a possibility. All the staff and students need to be on alert at all times because you never know when something like this might happen.

PLN27

"Report: Fatal shooting by Thornton officer justified"
is about an officer in Thornton who shot and killed a man who they called "disturbed" and who pulled a knife on the officer. I here this story a lot and it is sad that a man had to die but the officer did the right thing because the man could have harmed the officer or other people if he was not shot. I also feel bad for the officer because I know that he will get criticisim from the family of the man and he could also be feeling guilty about it. Policeman all over should act the way this officer did against dangerous people because civilians should feel safe and know that policeman will protect them if there is danger. Although the officer did the right thing, I think that he should have used a taser gun to subdue the man. This matters to the world because people all over the world should feel safe with their police force. This matters to me because this could happen anywhere and I should feel protected by my local police department.

PLN28

In the article, “Our boys are falling behind in education” by Dottie Lamm, states that boys are falling behind girls academically because of a verbal differences. First, they explained how the girl’s brain is able to become verbally faster. They believe that boys verbal skills don’t grow until fourth of fifth grade. Though these are the average years, a school in Aurora separated kindergarteners into gender classes and the boys were just as successful as the girls, my feeling is that the verbal difference is not the problem but instead things like motivation. It seems, also being in a gender class myself, I have gained motivation to do well for some reason. Then, they say that the world will have a role switch and the women will be in charge based on what is happening in education; however I don’t feel this is true. There are plenty of guys that do well and try hard in school. Boys just need to step up and take education seriously. Obviously, the struggle that guys are said to have can be fixed and just because guys may struggle in school that doesn’t mean that they will fail in life outside of school too. This matters to the world because the statements are meant for all students even around the world so this may be a problem in other places. this matters to me because I am in a single gender class so I know the effect of what that has on learning.

PLN26

The article, 2txt? Or Nt 2txt by Garrison Keillor talks about how young men have lost social skills because of texting and e-mail. Keillor also states that girls have somehow maintained their personal relationship abilities through these tough technological times. This is because even though girls text as much as boys they also do a lot more talking. In spite of that, I disagree with Mr. Keillor, I personally still have the ability to talk to people and interact. In my own experiences I have found that I am still very capable of holding conversations with adults or even people my age. I text everyday, for the majority of the day, and yet I believe my social skills are fine. I can talk to my teachers, friends, girls, adults and anybody else you can think of without having much of a problem. The case might not be the same for other guys my age, but I know that I have no problem, and my friends don’t seem to have much of a problem either. Thus I am forced to disagree with Mr. Keillor, and say that I am just as capable as any girl, of maintaining good people skills while texting constantly. This matters to the world because technology is advancing everywhere and people could be bringing up the same topic. this matters to me because I felt almost insulted at this article because I have still kept my social skills.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

PLN25

I just read "Suspect arrested in iPad theft" by Kirk Mitchell in The Denver Post which is about a man who allegedly mangled a man's pinky during an iPad theft so that the finger had to be amputated and the man was arrested early Saturday morning. Brandon Darnell Smith, 20, was arrested at 1:14 a.m. during a traffic stop in the 3000 block of North Monaco Street. Smith is being held for investigation of second-degree assault and robbery in the April 15 strong-arm robbery of Bill Jordan, 59, according to Jackson, Denver police spokesman. Jordan previously told a reporter that he had just bought the iPad for a friend in Canada and was near the parking lot when the suspect struck. The suspect jerked so hard it stripped the skin on part of Jordan's pinky to the bone. At first he took off running after the suspect but saw blood on his hand and went for medical attention instead.This matters to the State of Colorado because people can feel better that the man who did this has been arrested and will not be robbing or hurting anyone else. It is nice to know that the police handled the situation perfectly and the robber didn't get away.

PLN24

"Zimbabwe: Technology and the end of dictatorship"
by Ndesando Macha talks about how new technolgy (to Zimbabwe) is starting to end the dictatorship that has ruled that country for a long time. People are going over to Zimbabwe and teaching the people how to use technology such as phones and computers and that seems like it is making civalized life easier to accomplish than with an ak47 and a grenade. I think this is a great idea and this should be happening all over the world especially in third world countries so that violence and poverty can be stopped. The world is moving in the fastest technological advancement ever and I feel like every country should be involved in this new world. However if a country or people feel like they are doing fine with their culture and how they worked then technology should not be forced upon them. This effects the world because if this happens in more places then I believe that is one step closer to world peace. This doesn't really effect my community because we are already caught up with the technology and advancements. This effects me because when I am older I may see this idea happen and I will get to see how it changes the world.

PLN23

"Obama & State School Leaders Want Facebook Unblocked in Classrooms!"
by Gary Stager talks about how Barack Obama wants to unblock internet access to things like Facebook and other social networking sites. I personally think this is a good topic to think about but it is a bad idea because it will just never work. If facebook is allowed in classrooms then kids will get carried away and start messaging their friends and looking up things they shouldn't and I feel like that would cause more problems and take away from the kid's time to learn. And if teachers say that it is fun and it helps them learn better and every student will want to participate then they should spend a day in my English class and see how many students in there want to "learn". This effects the world because I am sure teachers all over the world are either trying or not trying to make this available in school and that could be causing some problems. This effects my community because if the school board in my district approves this then a lot of schools will be teaching in a new way. And this effects me because education is the most important thing and if the style of teaching changes halfway through my school career then that could effect how I learn and how I understand things and schools should not take that risk.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

PLN22

"One Toe Back in the Classroom" by Karl Fisch is a topic that is effecting almost every student at Arapahoe High School. The article talks about the budget cuts that are happening at Arapahoe in which many teachers are being let go. Karl Fisch talks about how he is going to have to teach a section of algebra due to the budget cuts and he explains how that takes away from his other job which is to help students and staff with the new technology that is Arapahoe is embracing. I feel like this isn't a great thing because I always see him running around and coming into my class to help Mrs. Smith so I assume that he is a busy guy and that this teaching job and his old job is going to overwhelm him. It will also overwhelm the teachers when they can't work a computer and they need Mr. Fisch but he is teaching algebra. This effects the world because I am sure these school budget cuts are happening all over and a lot of kids feel the same way I do. This effects the community because the article said that a lot of scools in the area have had to lay of teachers and cut back. This effects me because Fisch frequently came into my class to help with problems and he won't be able to provide a lot of that help anymore.

PLN21

The article Weather forecast includes "muddy rain," snow
by Kieran Nicholson is what I believe another example of how the world is changing from the actions of humans. This article talks about the rain that fell last night carrying mud and covering cars, building, and houses most likely came from the desserts of Arizona. The reason I talk about this is because I strongly believe that this is not a natural occurance and that it is caused by the changing of the earth and global warming. I realize that there is not a direct relationship from the earth warming up and sands from Arizona but I think that global warming has effects on different things and that could possibly correlate to the mud rain. To me this is another weird phenomenon such as the record breaking earthquakes in a lot of countries. This relates to me because I wrote my postion paper on global warming and the effects of it and this could be one of the effects. This relates to my community because the mud rain fell in a lot of Colorado and it seems like people don't have a good understanding or even really care what's going on but I do not think this is a good sign. And this relates to the world because I bet things like this are happening all over the world and that could effect a lot of people.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

PLN20

The article "Parker man suspected of Internet exploitation" is about a man from Parker who used the internet the send obscene material to an underaged girl. I hate these stories because it is really sick and the men who do this have no life other than trying to lure young girls in through the internet. This puts major damage on technology because when kids ask their parents if they can have a laptop, all the parents are going to think about is how dangerous the internet can be and they get those thoughts by reading these types of stories. Something must have happened in the childhoods of these men and even women who stalk young teens on the internet because no normal person is lonely enough to resort to things like this. This relates to the world because companies that sell things that use the internet get effected when more of these stories happen and their profit goes down. This relates to my community because when parents find out that there is someone stalking teenagers then those parents are way more cautious to let their kids do things. And fortunately this doesn't relate to me other than I think online predators didn't enough love from their parents when they were kids.

PLN19

I read the "El Paso County mom to be charged in son's death" is the type of story that really makes me furious because this article says that a 39 year old mom killed her three year old son from blunt trauma to the head. The first thing I thought about was how could a mother beat her son in the head so hard that he died. Then I thought that maybe she suffered from some disease and that makes me mad at the people she knew for not letting child services know that the parent of a three year old son is not capable of raising him. I do not know if she suffered from any disease but I do know that anyone who has the capability of killing someone, let alone their child, has something really wrong with them.

PLN18

Sometimes This Stuff Still Amazes Me” by Karl Fisch talks about how fast information is spread and how easy it is to communicate these days. He talked about how he tweeted a question and extremely quickly had plenty of answers. Lately if we have a question there are so many ways to get the answer it is unbelievable. I typed “Schools in Colorado” and in 0.43 seconds there were 328,000,000 results. I can find that much information that quickly and easily? Information is so easy to come by these days and yet we take advantage of it. Some people think that computers are a waste of time and money and we should not use them in education. A computer just gave me access to all the information I would ever need about schools in Colorado and yet they are a waste of time and money? Our world is extremely technological and has become that way in only a couple decades. I know my parent’s generation see an Ipod, a Iphone, or a Hybrid car and talk about how they didn’t have that when they were born. I like to figure out how things work and think about what goes into making it, and I can never even imagine how people invented and created the internet. So much information that is so accessable to everyone. Yes there are some problems with that like Identity Theft and situations like that but the majority of the people that use the Web are responsible and use it correctly and for the right reasons. I can't wait to see what happens with technology and the internet in the future. With what has happened in our world recently, who knows what is next.

PLN17

I read the article "State trooper arrested on DUI charges in Douglas Co." in The Denver Post by Kieran Nicholson about how a State Patrol trooper, in uniform and driving a marked patrol car, was pulled over by sheriff's deputies and arrested on suspicion of drinking and driving. This happened at about 7 a.m. after the Douglas County Sheriff's Office received "multiple calls" reporting that a state patrol car was driving erratically on northbound I-25 near Castle Rock. A short time later the State Patrol called sheriff's dispatchers "asking for our assistance in locating the vehicle and checking on the welfare of the driver,". A Douglas County deputy spotted the vehicle on westbound C-470 at Santa Fe and was able to pull the vehicle over at about 7:05 a.m. at Platte Canyon and C-470. The trooper, David Dolan, 48, was handcuffed and taken to the Douglas County Jail where he was booked on suspicion of DUI and prohibited use of weapons. This matters to the State of Colorado because we do not need people who are suppose to be protecting us breaking the law while they are on duty. It is bad enough that there are people out there who drink and drive without us having to worry about State Troopers doing the same stupid thing.

PLN16

The article "Denver Heat Breaks-131-Year old Record" is a story that caught my attention because it relates to my changing the world paper about global warming. This article talks about how the temperature at Denver International Airport for March 30 was 82 degrees farenheit which broke the 131 year old record. I do not believe this is just a coincidence and I think that this new record is the effect of global warming. This relates to the world because global warming is effecting the whole world and everyone has to act to stop it. This relates to me and the community because this happened here in Denver and that means everyone is being effected by global warming and I am glad this article came out because then maybe people will take a more personal action to solving global warming.

PLN15

The article "Deer Creek Middle School math teacher apparently tackled gunman" by Jeremy P. Meyer of The Denver Post is about how a math teacher at Deer Creek Middle School tackled a gunman after he shot one of his students after school in feburary. He called his wife and told her that there has been a shooting at school and that he tackled the shooter. David Benke, the math teacher who tackled the shooter has been working at the school far 10 years and Benke was not injured in this incident, but he did save a lot of young people's lives. At 6 foot 5, Benke reacted fast and calm to prevent anything further to happen.This matters to the community, because we want all of our Colorado school communities to be safe. We need to make sure that this doesn't happen again, and if it does, someone needs to react like David Benke and be a hero. This matters to education because we never want kids to be afraid of school. All schools should do more things to prevent things like this happening so kids can feel safe and comfortable at school instead of being scared and distracted of learning.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

PLN14

In the article "No Choice" by Will Richardson is right about kids needing more technology in the classroom because, from first hand experience it will improve the kids learning habit and environments. Will Richardson describes his kids and how he devotes his time thinking about his kids future. More importantly the future of our kids but it's scary to think what will happen if we don't get more technologicly advanced. The future seems dark if something doesn't change. The children of America need to be properly trained with the right tools for a better tomorrow because thats what jobs will consist of in the future. Technologically will increase the learning environment and habits that occur and will have a national effect.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

PLN13

"Lesbian Couple Speak Against Boulder Catholic School That Rejected There Kids" by Amy Bounds is a type of story that raises controversy all over the world. The article says that two children of a same sex couple were denied enrolled in a catholic school but they won't stop their belief in the church. This story relates to the world because social sexual segregation happens all over the world and people always have an arguement about same sex marriage. This story does not relate to me but I get tired of all the legal problems it causes just because it makes some people uncomfortable. I am especially mad at this school for not letting the kids get an education because the they don't like the parents situation. I also give a lot of credit to the parents for keeping with the church and the religion even after what they did.

PLN12

"Hit and Run Driver Returns to Scene of Accident" by Kirk Mitchell is the type of story I see all the time and it reminds me that laws should be a lot more strict on things like drunk driving and reckless driving. the article says that two cars were racing down a road and one of the cars hit a pedestrian, seriously injuring her. The article ends by saying that both of the cars drove away from the scene, leaving the woman there. Now I don't care what people do to have fun, as long as they are not hurting themselves or other people but both drivers knew that they were putting themselves and other people in danger. The thing that makes me mad is that they drove away after the lady got hit and if nobody found her she probably would have died. the reason I say that laws should be more strict is that this was probably not these two driver's first crime commited in a car. So that's why people should get their liscenses taken away so they do not harm other people doing stupid things.

PLN11

"Climate Change and Global Warming" by Ambreen Salman is a story that I can relate to because I did my position paper on global warming and I undersand what the article is saying. The article talks about how Pakistan is dealing with global warming and the difference between natural cycles of the Earth and man made effects. Pakistan is starting to change their local factories from burning coal, to using natural gases to cut back on carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere. The article also says how global warming is already effecting wildlife in Pakistan. The U.S can relate to this crises because many of our species like the polar bear are losing their habitats and quickly becoming extinct because of our mistakes. Every country in the world should be changing everything that is harmful to the environment to natural things so that we don't put our kids in danger because of what we did wrong.

PLN10

"Street Named After Cigarette Company" by Mong Palatino talks about how a street in the Phillipines was named after a cigarette company and many health advocates protested. I don't like when I see commercials or bill boards advertise things like beer and cigarettes because I know someone will fall into the pressure and go buy that beer or brand of cigarettes. It is even worse with a street name see it everyday and it will not go away like commercials and bill boards. Also if there are families with children living on the street then the children might feel like cigarettes are okay because it is on a steet sign for everyone to see. If I were living in the Phillipines I would protest against this with the health advocates because it is not sending the right messege to people around that area.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

PLN9

"Students Helping Students" by professor Wesch shows a video of students from Kansas State University helping out random people on the first day of school. They do things like give people walking by money, paying for people's lunches and textbooks, helping people get parked, and even helping people walk across the street. There needs to more random acts of kindness like this in the world because I never really see much of it but this video reminds me that there is. Students gave up a lot of their money just so they can carry out these random acts of kindness to help other people.

PLN8

For my action plan I am going to write to an organization that focuses on stopping global warming and taking action through videos, marches, handouts, ect. I will contact them through stopglobalwarming.org and I will try to get involved by doing what I can to inform more people about the affects and causes of global warming.

PLN7

"Play 60? Not in th USA!" by Gary Stager is a very important problem that is effecting the entire nation. This article talks about a video where Barack Obama catches a pass from Drew Brees in front of the White House while running around with a lot of kids and it says that kids need to get an hour of play a day to cut back on obesity. The only problem is that kids don't have as much time anymore because recesses are getting shorter, home work is more abundant, and technology like computers are distracting them. More and more schools are cutting time out of recess so there will be more time for school work. Some schools are also cutting back on gym class and not making gym a requirement. I am lucky because I play sports so I get a few hours of play a day but not every kid plays sports so they need to find time to play but schools are making it seem like they are preventing that. Physical health is way more important than the loads of school work kids get everyday and once schools start realizing that, then childhood obesity will drop dramatically.

PLN6

"Six Needy Families Recieve Christmas Gifts" by Natavillage is the type of story I really like to hear. Six families in the Nata village in Batswana, Africa recieve Christmas presents from donations all over the world. Presents such as clothes, stuffed animals, supplies, and more. This really makes me happy because these families don't have any of the priviledges we do in America and other places and I like to see people who don't have as much getting what they deserve and still being thoughtful to everyone else. Right noew my family is having a hard time getting money and paying the bills because of the recession but we have it far better than the people in Africa and this village and they appreciate everything they have, expensive or not.

PLN4

"Laptops are a waste of time and money" by Dr. Warschauer talks about the debate of whether laptops are useful or just time consuming and a waste of money. I believe that in certain situations, laptops can be very helpful but in other situations, pen and paper is the better choice. If someone is working on a long paper a few pages long, they should use a computer because it is more efficient and they won't lose track of their work. However, if your teacher is planning on doing a little assignment, it is better to use pen and paper because you can access it quicker and it would be faster than typing. Dr. Warschauer has a very good point but I still don't belive that they are a waste of money or time but they should be used on occasion to be more efficient.

Monday, February 1, 2010

PLN5

"Do Grown-Ups Learn" by David Warlick talks about how everyone learns different things when they are growing up in school, but when we get a career, we stop learning various things and only learn what the job tells people to do. I think this is very bad because if people focus on one thing all the time, then they forget a lot of important things. So what this means is that adults who have tidious careers should do something in their off time to keep their sane state of mind. They also should make sure they don't forget the important things they learned in high school and in college.

PLN3

In "No Choice" by Will Richardson, the article talks about how students in most schools do not have a choice weather to use technology or not. I believe that students should have a choice because students learn better in some ways than they do in others and they might not be as good at typing than they are at writing with pen and paper. This story is similar to the "Keyboard Vs Pen" which asks the question wich way of writing is more efficient. Everyone says that you are going to need to know how to use technology when your older, but even then I still think people should have a choice.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

PLN2

I am doing my change the world topic on global warming and this is a big issue people need to worry about. Everyone talks about "going green" and making better choices but if they really were doing there best to cut back on carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere then global warming wouldn't be as big of an issue as it is. I feel like there should be more urgency to stop global warming than there is because I believe that if people are scared then they will make better choices. I also feel like people are not educated enough on the topic so they do not fully understand what they are doing to the environment. If everyone makes smart choices that help the environment, then we will take the world out of the terrible position it is in right now.

Monday, January 11, 2010

PLN30

The internet changes the way people think about a certain topic beacause they may read a web page that is someone's opinion rather than the truth so then those people start going by the web page instead of their own opinion. And I think that is bad because if someone has an opinion about something then they are less likely to keep listening in the future and to stand in what the believe.