News Reporting

Online News Reporting

2009-11-15T21:12:00.000-08:00

The New York Times website has a lot going on. There are many different sections on the left side for the readers to choose from. The main page is a little cluttered and hard to navigate. The stories that are being covered on this Sunday evening are foreign policy issues, the Obama administration and politics at home. There are not many feature articles but straight news is the priority. There is a video feature on the front page which is interesting. I don't think a few years ago there would have been videos used at a print agency as much to report. Websites are evolving more and more and technology is becoming more and more available and access able even to smaller news industries.

I compared another news website, The Daily Beast. The name is catchier than The New York Times and when the page first opens it is like your eyes are attacked. The Daily Beast looks like the cover of a tabloid magazine you see at the grocery store trying to catch your eye with catchy headlines and photos. Instead of sections they have categories that sound more like something in a high school year book then actual news but they leave the reader wondering what it is. It also allows advertisers with the big bucks to have time in video content. There are more human interest stories like whose goatee is cooler. The stories differ from actual hard news to covering those who cover the news. Obama is a common thread and videos and shorter stories dominate to make blurbs more than stories.

These two contrasting styles are old school and new school. I can see that the New York Times is trying to keep up but they are falling behind as The Daily Beast is more controversial and up on the technology. The news stories on the Times are more hard hitting clear news stories that actually mean something to the public. The Daily Beast is capitalizing on the public's interest in quick news rather than actual reporting. I compare Beast with the water cooler talk that you bring up around lunch break. The Times has informative stories that go deeper and make the reader more informed. The readers of Internet news will pick their poison. The majority of readers are not those who are well informed citizens of the world. Many just go along with the trends. There are some people who are just too busy to read a full news story. They want it when they can get it and the Times is slowly coming around to that idea. I do feel that the readers of print news will still read print and stay away from other news agencies like the Beast as entertainment more so than actual news.

Atlantic City Friday

2009-10-19T06:05:00.000-07:00

Atlantic City, NJ- On Friday night October 16, 2009, I went to Harrah's Casino in Atlantic City. The last time I was there I managed to loose $400 in one night. This time I was determined not to let that happen. The drive from West Orange to Atlantic City took a little over two hours. I had two friends in tow and four more were waiting at the hotel. It was my friend Brian's first time to the city of lights and he was excited the entire ride down.

When we got to the hotel we met up with our friends and decided to start drinking. Atlantic City has a very interesting system that seems to work them while giving out free drinks to gamblers they are taking almost double their money because the house usually wins. The drinks at the bar are almost double what you would pay at any normal bar on the street. We had payed nine dollars for a drink that is usually five or six.

We finally got to our room on the eighth floor of the old hotel. There are two parts to Harrah's Casino the new and old towers. The new one was created to keep up with other hotels like the Borgata and currently under construction Revel. Harrah's also added a state of the art pool bar which is an indoor pool by day and a state of the art night club at night.

Our first stop of the evening after having a few more drinks in the room was the roulette tables. We would end up spending most of our night and well into the morning there. The dealers were very attractive young women that are part of the brand Atlantic City is selling to keep you playing.

All Eight of us were up a few bucks so we decided to hit up the Pool Bar around 2:30am. The cover charge of ten dollars seemed like nothing to us as we figured we should be high rollers by now. The lighting and sound system combined with a few hundred beautiful young people all dressed to impress created a Vegas like atmosphere. There was the main pool surrounded by plam trees and two dance floors on either side one with a stage where a dance contest was being held and one bookended by a hot tub. To either side of the pool were bottle service cabanas where for a small fee a private bartender decked out in a bikini will serve you for the night along with your own private hot tub. This excursion took us up to the four o'clock hour where we would continue to gamble.

Roulette was our game and we were sticking to it. I had doubled the money that I had brought there are considering I was able to loose all of my money the last time I was more than happy to bow out of the games at 6 am with an extra two hundred dollars. The big winner of the evening was Brian Taylor who somehow in his first trip to A.C. made an extra $800.

The next morning we needed to be awake by 8 am in order to make it to work where I had to stay awake for ten hours. The trip was well worth the sleep deprevation and I am looking foreward to another trip in a few months.

Week 15

2008-12-11T06:18:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to say that this class is happening right before our eyes. There is an amazing thing happening right now. There are not many times you get to live through history but right now is one of those times. We have the ability to change the way we live now before it is too late.

Week 14

2008-12-11T06:03:00.000-08:00

This week we examined just how much pressure humans are putting on the environment. We are pushing the natural portions of our states out and installing energy sucking pods or communities. The sprawling that is occurring can be seen on a ride down any highway in New Jersey there are massive amounts of communities being built everyday.

I was looking around the Internet and found the New Jersey Energy Star homes. These homes use all of the proper mechanisms to conserve energy rather than us it up. It houses energy saving appliances, lighting, improved windows and insulation to cut down on heat costs and a lower energy output. These are the types of start up companies that are going to be making the money in the near future. Their solutions however costly they may be now will pay off in the long run. We can only use the planet for so long before we need to allow it some breathing room. There are really no other planets out there for us to use.

The sprawl we have all created is massive. We are moving into the homes of mountain lions and deer and pushing them into the arms of hunters. We are creating more and more and giving less and less. I think I wrote early on the blog about planting a million trees for every number of houses we build. We need to use less of our natural resources and more of our intelligence to create for the long term.

Week 12

2008-12-11T05:54:00.000-08:00

In our class today we looked into the problems of New Jersey's environmental state. We are the most densely populated state. We have many factories in the northern part of the state. Much of the waste was dumped into the Passiac River. There is the Delaware river that could be damaged. The natural population of fish and wildlife that we have changed forever.

Good thing that we are a fairly rich state and are making money as well as polluting the natural air. The worst site to see when driving down the shore, mainly Ocean City, is crossing the bridge and seeing a nuclear reactor. This is the first thing I want to see when I am ready to go down the beautiful blue ocean and see a nuclear reactor starring me straight in the face. It is like the article says a "toxic legacy" is being left on our natural habitats for wildlife in the state. No wonder all the bees are leaving.

Week 11

2008-12-11T05:31:00.001-08:00

Finally the saving grace is here. All my questions comments and concerns are answered. The possibilities are endless it seems. Through the semester we have looked at all the problems that have contributed to the environment. We never really sought for a solution just talked about the need for one. It was mentioned that we needed to alternative energy and conserve our resources but now the answers are here.

The low emissions of hybrid cars are still harmful to the environment but are made in such a way that slow down the hyper drive addiction to oil and uses another form of energy to power its engine. I was also completely unaware that there was a wind power field in Delaware. It is less expensive than that of solar power which we are years away from being able to sustain ourselves. "What he found was that Delaware’s coastal winds were capable of producing a year-round average output of over 5,200 megawatts, or four times the average electrical consumption of the entire state." I found this statistic staggering. I wonder what coastal town would be able to field enough turbines to power part of the state. Imagine if every state was able to sustain itself on wind power alone. There would be no need for all of these solar and oil power players that are making millions on what seems like an addiction to cigarettes.

The idea of the Volt sustaining one gallon of gas for 100 miles is incredible and helps in the conservation effort. In this part of the class there were so many options to explore to fix or slow down the problem. We have finally found some solutions. The one that I liked the best was the wind field idea. I find the wind turbines fascinating the way in which are able to power the entire state. Installing these turbines along with the conservation efforts of the Volt we can fight this problem and start the GREEN REVOLUTION!

Week 10

2008-12-11T05:05:00.000-08:00

In our readings this week we learned first hand just how much of an affect humans can have on the environment. The amount of oil that we run through on a daily basis is astronomical. It was bound to happen with the massive amount of oil tankers making the crossing that a few spill millions of gallons of oil into the natural habitat of animals and the natural environment. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill took its toll spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil. Imagine all the money lost for the oil company, so sad. And imagine the toll it took on the Alaskan shore. The money really doesn't matter but the area took 3 years to clean up and that is priceless.

When I was reading the Saudi syndrome I never realized what the money from gas goes to i.e. terrorism and war. It is particularly troubling that something that we use every day is being filtered into the very thing that wants to hurt us. These funds are allocated to other countries that are hostile to the U.S. no wonder why we are at war over oil.

This is just another case of how our society in its addiction for oil puts the environment in danger everyday. There is no need for us to be using 11 million gallons of oil. We should be cutting back as a global community so that the demand can slow and the supply can be put on hold. This will allow the reserves and oil fields to have a stock pile. We still need alternative forms of energy to have renewable sources for when the oil runs out.

Week 9

2008-12-11T00:42:00.000-08:00

An interesting Fact came up in our class this week, We are producing 4% of the worlds oil and using 28% The middle east is producing most of the oil. In my mind this is a sickening statistic. And my blood gets pumping a bit when I talk about the U.S. and the Middle East. I have done some research prior to this class about why we are at war with 3 different countries in the middle east, OIL!

Oil is what drives this war everyday. It keeps us in control of the price of oil and where it goes and how big oil is operating. It makes me think that we are waiting for the rest of the world to help us use up what is left of the oil and keep our reserves in Alaska and wait for the right moment. We want to wait for the rest of the world to run out so we can sell our "American Oil" at top dollar. Great plan but what about what happens when that runs out. The idea of gas powering our lives is nothing short of true.

As this course has raged on there are not a lot of answers to be had because it is unfolding right in front of our eyes but to watch it happen and have no way of containing or suppressing it is frustrating. I know what I need to do and it is to conserve to the best of my ability and think twice about my decisions and I think just that extra thought in my mind really works when I get in my car to drive down the street or leave a room or I'm just sitting in my room with extra lights on. The revolution of thought needs to expand celebrities are not the answer it is all of us that need to be on the look out.

Week 8

2008-12-11T00:30:00.000-08:00

I missed class this Monday but I figured that I would write in my journal anyway. Conservation seems to be the key in this lesson. It has been on my mind for quite some time now. I have been looking into my own life kind of like the game Energyville as to how I can cut back. When I look at the game I have been overlooking the cost of these changes. Sure I can deal without heat for a few nights or live with the lights off. But how about the long term. How am I supposed to really put myself in a position to help the environment without the proper funding.

Dr. Thomas has explained to us countless times just how much funding is required in order to successfully power a house on solar energy alone. How would I be able to as a college student to create energy rather than just use it. This is why people are against the revolution and I find myself even more discouraged at times.

I believe that there will eventually be a way for companies to be cut off along with federal regulations a.k.a help from Washington to help PULL THE PLUG!! The pieces of the puzzle are there for us to put together we are just ignoring them.

Week 7

2008-12-11T00:21:00.001-08:00

We are running out of everything now it seems I have been listening to our professors really engrain in our minds the amount of mistakes and overlooking is going on. Our population is still growing and we have not given it a second thought. Well, China has given it a thought but they are a bit inhumane in their solution. Our peak oil term has come and gone still with no change. It is only a matter of time before we are subject to running out of food and water.

It comes down to the question of where we will find another planet. We seem pretty confident in our exploration of Mars and the Moon that we will just be able to colonize like the British. This lesson was confusing to me because I am so used to the fact that everything seems to reproduce. We are reproducing food we are reproducing energy we are reproducing people. We seem to be in good shape but it is this attitude that has us falling short as a global community.

Other countries like Nigeria know what they have and it is marketable and that is why it thrives. There is this idea that was brough up in class that "oil touches everything". This rings true with almost every product that is around us has been transported to us by way of fossil fuel. We have lost the value of craftsmanship and the skill that comes with it.

Week 6

2008-12-11T00:09:00.001-08:00

As we continue to move along in the world in respect to energy and the environment we have taken a wide view of our problem. We have not really taken a lot of time to look at our options within our natural renewable resources. We still have a bunch of oil reserves that we know that we are keeping in our back pocket just in case. The just in case should not be to prolong the problem but to solve it.

I can see the Alaskan off shore drilling going off without a hitch as long as there are corporate sponsors powering the drills. We have so many other options out there like; electric cars or wind power or solar power. All of these cost money none of which the country or the world for that matter is willing to pay for. Our next generation car will still need something to power it it is a matter of what we chose, electricity or bio-disel or a new found source of energy we need to choose.

SIDE NOTE: I have begun to find myself more conscience in my daily life about how much energy I am using.

Week 4

2008-12-10T23:56:00.000-08:00

So a quote that stuck out in my mind this week from class was our "addiction to power". We have an unhealthy addiction to power. It is starting to set in just how much we rely on our everyday lives to be powered by something other than ourselves and the elements around us. Our expanding need for oil and energy has led us to a point in time where we have run out of answers. They are there but i find that we are not capable of doing such things because we have an attitude of arrogance about ourselves that we don' t need the earth that we are fine.

We find ourselves constantly looking for other things to fix the original problems. There are answers. STOP DRILLING!! We need to start planning now for our new way of life that is coming faster than we all think we are putting ourselves in a terrible position. We are leaving our selves vulerable for the a total end of energy. We don't know when it will happen but it will and we don't really seem to care as long as the money keeps rolling in.

We have the resources to switch over to a natural sort of lifestyle. We would never do such a thing because it involves too much money. Money is what is ruining our way of life and we need to come down off of our high horse and realize that there is much more to our lives than just a green pay check at the end of the week but that of a green world that we must protect.

Week 3

2008-12-10T23:49:00.000-08:00

Now Dr Thomas is putting the pressure on us. He asked us What if we were to pull the plug? The discusion along with the readings really put me in a tough spot. I found myself in my car wondering where I would be going or how I would be going somewhere if we did not depend on energy and oil. There are many things to think about notably:

Food
Shelter
Transportation
Power
Social
Economic changes
Lifestyle

There would a whole different way of life that we have never seen. There is nothing that we can relate this to. We can see the Indians and the people of New Guinea but we are not experiencing it first hand. We should all take a pledge to be energy free for a day. We couldn't. Everything that we have contains energy even a cheeseburger or a blanket that we would sleep with.
Our revolution needs to begin with ourselves and go from there. Think about the list and figure where what we do now and how it would change with out electricity or other technologies.
I really found this troubling and how it is even possible to convert a whole society that is based on energy to abandon it. It starts with one person and can touch others and be spread.

Week 2

2008-12-10T23:35:00.000-08:00

This is the second week of our exploration of energy and the environment. This week we are looking in to the environmental effects that the human race are having on it. Our effect on the globe be it by industrialization or technological advances has been out of control. It is just that, because there has been no control over the output of energy across the globe. We have been using and using and using think that we will not be held accountable for our actions in any way.

Global warming has been the first sign that we are taking a toll on our environment that we are using and giving nothing back to. We should be replenishing our footprint that we are making on the whole. There is no need to be taking away oil the way in which we are and chopping down more trees to make a strip mall. We should be planting a million trees for every oil reserve we dig.

Our affect on the global climate is only going to become more of a problem as we continue to expand and find new ways to spread our use of technology and mechanisms. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said “Today, the time for doubt has passed,” it is true. Right now action needs to happen. The amount of persons who are mobilized for the revolution are small and few know the problem and the problem is plentiful. But how to fix it is still a problem.

Week 1

2008-12-10T22:47:00.000-08:00

So it's the first week of class. When I stepped into the classroom for the first time I had no idea what this class was about. There is no possible way in which we can just stop using every resources we have.
Sure alternative energy is an easy answer, but Dr. Thomas really put all of this into perspective for us when he told us what would go into such an operation. The planning, the money, the resources. He also gave us an example of people that are living without any of the amenities that we have. The people of Papua New Guinea have been living on nothing but nature for years and are in better shape than we are.
Where would we begin to put ourselves in a position to abandon everything that we know. There needs to be a revolution a word that I am sure will pop up throughout this journal. A revolution that will put us in a position to further our kind. The sheer fact that we are going to run out of everything that we take for granted at some point no matter how much science or technology we have. The need to find something else is imperative but how is the question.

Mark Strand

2008-04-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

Mark Strand has quenched my thirst to find the modern poet as I think his voice has captured the flag and ran home with it. While exploring many poets this semester, for me, Strand exemplifies many qualities that we have thrown around as modern. He has that experimental side of him, the philosophical edginess, the references that kind of capture many of the poets in lump sum. That is my rookie opinion but I just feel like there is a lot of what we have talked about going on in these poems. While Strand is very very very dark I still find light in his poems that even though this night or dark shade is there, there is still someplace else to go as the world is always moving and it must be light somewhere.

I want to examine In Celebration, I think that is very far from a celebration of any kind but is a commentary on how we celebrate and what we should celebrate. Even though people may be dying or sick or ill they have lived a lot of life and life is not easy. There are a lot of things to do and if you are upset that your life has become boring what are you doing. There is plenty still to do in life and just because you are old and cant do everything you used to doesn't mean there still aren't things to be done. I like the lines "It is the same wherever/you are, the same if the voice rots before/ the body, or the body rots before the voice." There is a belief here that you can't give up even if you still have one or the other you are still alive and that is what is important. The "celebration of giving yourself over to nothing" quote gives new life to the person allowing them to be free of regret or hurt or whatever happens. The idea to live is more important and worth celebrating than anything that has happened to you. When it is your time to go it won't be a huge deal because you will have lived and the "dust settling" should be the dust you kicked up when you did everything you possibly could to enjoy yourself and the art of living and celebrating that not death. The reference to childhood makes me think about how innocent and care free children are and how quickly it goes by until you grow up, but who says you have to lose that innocence.

John Ashbery

2008-04-18T17:06:00.000-07:00

The argument was presented in class about Ashbery's work not really being poetry. This really upset me and brought about some bigger questions of art and poetry. Is poetry art? What is poetry? Is Ashbery's work considered word play? That just kind of pissed me off but most of the class agrees that is indeed poetry. Poetry does not have to be a certain thing and that is what is so beautiful about it. There is no structure or rules that bind the poets making them all unique and beautiful. The page is no longer the boundry for poetry. There is poetry on desks, in bathroom stalls, on the internet, in music, spoken word. It is art it is progressing and it is what continues to make modern poetry modern.

I liked the way Ashbery was able to bring you to a place or a particular scene and a moment in time yet still be in the moment. The popculture refrences and jargon of the time kind of put a time stamp on it and make it dated but the reflection on those incidents allows us to question ourselves. The modern structure of rambling on but still making sense is his contribution to progressing the art.

The poem that I am going to look at briefly is Wet Casements and it is a stream of conscience that I see as an entertaining and more readable for me.

This poem starts out by the speaker seemingly peering into a window where he sees a woman with all of her pretty little things. And turns to look into this woman's past and how she came to be "drifting" through. The speaker has turned the attention to himself saying presumably that he is the one who is looking at the past wishing he hadn't lost that small part of himself that flash in the pan. The speaker refuses to let it hold him down and uses everything holding him down as motivation for the future and where he is going. This goes in like 4 directions all coming back to one thing. It is really inspiring to read a poem where the past can't hold you down and things are created from mistakes.

Allen Ginsberg

2008-04-10T00:24:00.000-07:00

I like Allen Ginsberg. Of all the poets we have read this semester and looking for the modern voice I see him as being a bridge nothing too special but a team player. But hey what can you do not all are winners. He is a very good poet just not the one I was looking for to help me out. His contribution I think to the progression is his casual and direct references to specific things rather than mask them behind a vail like some other snotty poets do. I see him as a conversational poet in dialogue with the world.

In A Supermarket in California, he is going off on what he sees around him and the contribution of Walt Whitman to the scene. I really like his poetry I just have no idea how to explain it. It is so conversational and direct that it doesn't really need it. In this poem there is a lot of consumerism and modern society and how the small parts are all moving at once. Whitman and his every mans writing ties in with Ginsberg as they are writing to a similar audience. The Supermarket would be the perfect place for the two of these poets to meet. They have that same attitude towards society and it shows in this poem. Where are we going Walt Whitman?

E.E. Cummings

2008-04-01T07:09:00.000-07:00

When reading these poems and seeing how we have progressed in the course and how modern poetry has changed, I think that this is the turning point in this era. As we move on through the years the jump from Whitman to here is drastic but many of the ideas and the call for change and questioning of mind and self have remained the same. Cummings has a varied word choice and experimental style that tends to start my definition of modern poetry. The loss of punctuation leaves the poems very open and interpretive I really enjoy that. As I still try to search for the American voice I have now turned to the voice of the modern poet as we move into more defined styles and diverse poets. The style of Cummings is an unstructured chaos that spills out on the page and pours over to leave the reader of the poem really grasping to hang on as the ride swivels and twists to make the reader dizzy but in the end hangs on as it comes to a screeching halt.

The poem I am going to examine is different than other poems that we have touched on and I believe harnesses that voice of the modern Poet that I am now searching for speaking with the brash voice of the American poet. I will be looking at pity this busy monster, manunkind. I really like this poem it is playful but at the same time profound. It comments on the state of the world we are living in and where we are going. Cummings seems to be fed up with the manunkind. He uses a phrase that I think is amazing "hypermagical ultraomnipotence" I took this as optimism in the face of depression. The natural world here is working but manunkind is somehow ruining it. The speaker is definitely pissed off that things aren't working out the way he or she had hoped. The speaker actual gives up on this world but looks to the next universe next door. It is a fun little poem that is relevant to today's issues of global warming and how no one is really trying to fix this "hopeless case". The fun is still in this poem which makes in not depressing. The "bigness of the littleness" quote really shows just how much can be encompassed in just a few short lines.

Langston Hughes

2008-03-31T07:39:00.000-07:00

Hughes is a voice that has a lyrical style without any music but creates a melody in your head. When I read that poems I am creating my own art through his poems through song. I feel like I am hearing the music and lyrics without them being there or painting a picture of a scene in my mind based on his words.
There is an argument I have found in this class and another class that I am taking on Hughes being a jazz poet or a blues poet.

The poem that I am going to take at look at is Bad Man. This poem has the elements of jazz with the almost chorus like lines that really drive home his points like "I'm a bad, bad man/Cause everybody tells me so./E'm a bad, bad man./Everybody tells me so." Hughes really has that riff that in jazz as opposed to blues has a structure. In this particular poem he is a Bad Man cause people tell him so. When he is writing this in 1927 there is most likely a race issue involved. He is speaking on stereotypes of the age. The idea that the black man is evil and will beat his wife and is not a good person. Hughes is a poet and I'm assuming would never hurt a fly. He takes issue with the fact that people are telling him and the rest of society how people are without really giving them a chance. He "Don't even want to be good." says something about the "everybody" that is telling him he is bad. This is unfair and now in our society stereotypes are still an issue. To be a "Bad Man" is to be stereotyped and pinned as something you aren't and "to keep from feelin blue," you have know in your heart that you can rise above it.

Marianne Moore

2008-03-04T22:34:00.000-08:00

We had the online discussion of Moore and I find much of her poetry to be in the same structually and with punctuation. I took a look at a few other poems and did not really like this type of poetry. I shouldn't say that it was not my favorite poetry that we have read to this point, but still had some relavance to me. "To a Snail" was the poem that caught my eye on the page because it looked normal unlike "The Fish" which had words all over the place but still in an order that makes sense to the pattern. I am still not sure what the author is trying to do to the reader in the structure and punctuation of the poems except to be on point and pay attention to the words that are being used. Much of this I have written in the discussion board so I feel like I am repeating myself so I am going to stop now.

Robert Frost

2008-02-27T18:22:00.000-08:00

Another week long disscussion of a poet is finished and I really liked this weeks battle with the poems. It was challenging and made my mind twist and turn at times but I was able to get a grasp of where I was in the poem. We went over "For Once, Then Something" and "The Silken Tent" in class but I just wanted to take another poem and see what I can get out of without any prompts or anything. Frost is one of my favorite poets from this class so far and find him to be that American voice we have been searching for. He ties everything up most of the time in the last line of his poem with a question or wisdom that makes us look at ourselves and reflect. The poem I will be looking at is, "Putting in the Seed".

I see this poem as the metaphor for birth and even sex. He is a slave to a springtime passion for the earth." I love the word passion it tells you about everything and how powerful it is. This springtime passion the speaker has is a lady friend who he is "planting in the seed" with. The petals he is describing could be the innocence of the woman in white along with the other blossoms who are not as beautiful. The soil that tarnishes could be the change in the body as the woman who is pregnant begins to show more and more. My favorite line of the poem is the last line "shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs." The beauty that is found in nature can also be found in the birth of a human baby.

Wallace Stevens

2008-02-20T17:02:00.000-08:00

Our full week discussion of Wallace Stevens has come to an end and since we started this I remember the professor saying something about Stevens. Professor Nicosia brought up the idea of Stevens writing being the Great American Poem or a Stream of Conscience. I have been looking back to the other poets and wondering if they have that mainstream American voice that we can say is "AMERICA IN A POEM!!!". It is almost impossible in my mind to pinpoint the voice but I still find myself saying which of these poets is the Great American Poet. I almost feel like that is the first thing I ask myself when reading these poems now Are you the American poet I have been looking for?

Anyway, Stevens is one of those poets that leaves a lot of things open to interpretation between "The Emperor of Ice Cream" and "Anecdote of the Jar" there is some much to find and look for. I wanted to take a look at another poem we didn't discuss in class that being "Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock", I am a sucker for the titles of poems it is almost like an advertisement to me. The poem is set up very neatly for any sort of disillusionment but the lines that follow get all screwed up, there are lions and colors and baboons. I see this poem as misleading and maybe that fun prank side of Stevens coming out to play with us. I would probally read this to a younger person and see what they get out of it as it can be seen in our minds. The haunting is where things get tricky and what houses and where are they in this poem. The mind of a child could be having these nightmares more often than the fun type of fun baboon chasing dreams. This would be a great activity to have in a highschool or middle school class room to compare them and see where they stand on this poem.

NOTE: I want to be a teacher so sometimes I put things in a classroom context

William Carlos Williams

2008-02-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

I had written down in my notebook a poem which to anazlyze so that is what I am going to do today rather than tackle the style itself. I am going to really devour the poem as Professor Nicosia says, that poem is "Portrait of a Lady". Like a few other poems that are in this collection there is a sexual undertone to the poem. The speaker has a very vocal role in this poem as the reader you are able to hear what he is thinking questioning himself and making sounds like an actual conversation, like; "Ah" and "yes". In many points of the poem there is seraching for the perfect comparison which leads me to wonder if she is so good why is he searching for anything? The connection between human and nature is very interesting and a part of the poem that I enjoyed. The "thighs are appletrees" and the "shore", are all places that the reader can see and go in their mind and touch and smell and it seems like these types of poems cater to me a bit more and make it easier to relate to but I enjoy these poems more than something criptic like T.S. Elliot. I am not saying I hate any other poetry but I just like it more. Back to the poem, He is unsure what shore to go to and that is a problem while all beaches are beautilful some are more beautiful than others the fact that the speaker is still searching still is suspicious as to how serious he is about this woman. But than again it is only a "portrait".

Emily Dickinson and H.D.

2008-02-06T17:49:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed the discussion on Dickinson this week but I feel like we went more in depth with her than the other poets assigned for the week so I will also be examining H.D. in this entry. I feel bad for Emily Dickinson for people reading her poems and criticizing them when she was only writing them for herself. The personal aspect of her poetry is very striking as she talks about her deepest desires and what she wants as opposed to what things should be like or telling people what to think like Whitman. She is what I would classify as American poetry more so than Whitman because she has the lyrical style that I grew up reading. The verse the structure and the overall flow of the poems.

H.D. is fun to me maybe just beacuse of his initials but its mysterious to me and intriguing. I examined the poem Epitaph, I thought there was something that the speaker and author were trying to get across.

In Epitaph the stanzas are broken up nicely to get the point of each across almost like each a seperate letter to someone else, the dead the living and the dying. The "soliciting illicit fervour" caught my eye as something that is very energetic is in a poem about death. The "lost measure" is what through me for a loop. There seems to be some regret in the speakers voice. There is also the "having lived one hour" which leads me to believe there is something left unfinished but it was pursued to the utmost. I think that H.D. is trying to let the reader know that there is a need to live life without regret or you will be left with that "lost measure" in your song that is your life.

Walt Whitman

2008-01-30T16:00:00.000-08:00

When I first read Whitman I really enjoyed his poetry. This is my first time examining poetry critically instead of just reading it for myself. I am unsure how this will go as this is my first poetry class but I am going to try my best.

In class we discussed how Whitman is very high and mighty with his writing which I can see but I do not like to think about his poetry like that. He is speaking to the reader and talking directly to the reader and I really like that. He is that American voice that I think the nation was searching for at the time, the strong type that is going to say what is on his mind and it is a little jumbled up at times it is truth in his mind. It is bold and courageous to say what is on your mind some people get hung and cucified for saying what is on their mind. In class during our disccussion on Whitman a few people in class seemed to chastize him for talking down to the reader but I admired it.

In "Cavalry Crossing a Ford" he is speaking to us telling us what is going on. He TELLS us about "each group, each person a picture, the negligent rest on the saddles". I see this poem as someone starting out on a journey or test of some sort. The part about "some emerge on the opposite bank, others are just entering the ford." I see this as a light at the end of the tunnel that this water and strong current they are enterintg does have an end but you have to want to get there.

last community service and meeting

2007-12-12T10:04:00.000-08:00

So today was my last day of school visits and it went really well. I was paired up with a slower student who was behind in the class and i felt as if i really helped him. His progress from when we first started at the begining of the semester up until now has made me feel as if he is making strides to get better. Although i dont think he will ever be the greatest writer in the world i think he is going to make strides in other areas. He is a shy boy but has opened up to me recently and i think that will continue. Small errors in his papers he has been catching and i think that he is going to figure out the language soon enough and become proficient in writing.
Overall the school experience was a success i learned alot about dealing with students on a daily basis and how a school is run as a whole and how much goes into it. I saw a bit of student teaching and veteran teaching as well which gave me a pretty well rounded experience.
My last meeting of the semester was a grade level meeting in which they discussed the previous years test scores in writing and how they are graded. There was much debate as to what needed to be emphasized and what was bringing the score down as no one had scored in the high profiecency. At one point a teacher made a comment saying "who cares about high proficency we just need them to be proficent". This bothered me because who wouldn't want to being out the best in all of their students. If they are on the boarder why not strive to get them to be better. All of these expierences were great in helping me get to the next level of teaching.
All that is left is to apply to the program. I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog, Luke

Community Service/Board Meeting

2007-11-27T05:32:00.001-08:00

My whole experience shadowing and visiting and being immersed in this school has been nothing short of amazing. My community service I have begun with my host teacher and is a lot of fun. In this experience the students were writing in small groups and I was in charge of the kids who were a little slower and tended to get off task very easily. It was very hard and took a lot of energy and patience for me to put them in the right frame of mind to write and think creatively while also having a good time with them. Sometimes there was a need for me to be the "mean" teacher and I had to get a little attitude with them.
The second part of my community service after the students went to another teacher was to help my host teacher with a bulletin board. I really felt like i was part of the school community when i was doing this as other teachers passing by were talking to us and commenting on our board. It was a nice feeling to be a part of the school community even if its only for a short while.
I went to a board meeting the other day after a $14.00 parking tab a ride on New Jerseys finest roads the parkway and turnpike and an hour of driving I finally got there. This was a business meeting at the superintendents office to disscuss an audit and the governance of the district. There was a team for an outside auditor and a check list that was failed and needed improvement to regain goverence of the district from the state. This meeting all be it confusing was helpful in the way that I was able to see what is important to the board of education and how they work. There was no public participation but the board was very vocal and upset with the communication to the district from the state. That is all for now I will have more updates soon so check back as the semester comes to a close and my field experience is nearing it's end.

Technology

2007-11-26T05:50:00.000-08:00

I never knew how extensive the requirments for teaching actually were. When looking at the hand outs the standards for teachers are very detailed almost like the portrait of a teacher. There are many things to learn but I think the new generation of teachers are capable of taking on this new technological atmosphere that will be the classroom. The powerpoints, the media presentations and the usage of technology as a tool rather than a burden should be the main goal of inclusion of this concept into the classroom. Copyright laws also limit the amount of material that a teacher can use but I have seen meny teachers break the laws and not get in trouble and I think within moderation there is room for error.

Portrait of a Teacher

2007-11-20T05:50:00.000-08:00

The Portrait of a Teacher is a document from Montclair State University that spells out the characteristics of it's future teachers and what is expected of them. I enjoyed this document, it is one of the few that I have enjoyed from MSU, as it really caputred what i look forward to in the future. The themes of Democracy, community and social justice echoed in my ears all day. These are many things that I want to put into my lesson plans.
There was also the issues of caring about a student, taking into account the way people learn and presenting the material in different ways. This is important to me as a teacher and to my future students as they are the future leaders of America and if I can transfer these principles and nothing else I think the way they will act in life will be more productive and respectful towards eachother.

Include Me?

2007-11-20T05:37:00.000-08:00

When I think about the idea of inclusion I think about all the students that I have come in contact with throughout my life. There are many different kinds of students with many different ways of learning. I remember a girl in my high school math class that was so proud to be "classified" and I always wondered why. She enjoyed the extra time on tests and the extra attention from teachers. This made the idea of inclusion seem unfair to others in the class and didn't like the way she got what seemed to be special treatment.
After learning more about what inclusion is and how it works I think in this day and age where in schools being "different" is considered a bad thing it would be hard to include everyone. It is a more realistic goal to set in 5 years where younger students who are exposed to people who are different than them from the beginning would not have to question it as it would be there from the beginning.

Moving on to the No Child Left Behind Law, this law seems to be more of a hassle it is one of those things that could be talked about for hours. There is a screwed up system in place where the money and the funding is not provided for the goals that have been set. While I fully support being a highly qualified teacher, I can not support something that holds these same highly qualified teachers responsibile for test scores and not the way they teach their students. It seems that this law his taken away from teaching and narrowed the curriculum to what is on the test. There is much more for a student to learn, even in life skills, that can be beneificial. NCLB is a lofty goal which would be amazing to reach and I do not mean to seem pesimistic but it seems as if it is set up for failure in schools that lack funding.

Second School Visit

2007-11-20T05:28:00.000-08:00

I went for the second part of my full day shadowing last week and felt like I was actually helping students to learn. My host teacher has been very helpful with easing me into the classroom with the students and allowing me to explain things to them in smaller groups rather than a full class. There were times when i felt overwhelmed with all the help the children needed mostly because i was something new to play with in the classroom.
There was one student who was a little slower at getting things than the rest of the class and needed some extra help. I was the one that would be giving him the positive reinforcement that he needed and the extra explanation of the material. After a little while in the class when everyone was showing their examples he showed me one of his and said "I got it" which really inspired me to know that it could be done on a daily basis as a career to make students understand something they originally didn't get is amazing.
Throughout the rest of the day I got a better understanding of the way a classroom is run and how the teacher is able to discipline students without really delaying the class. She will kind of embarass them and they usually get pretty quite and the class can continue. This particular teacher has been doing it for 20 years so she is pretty damn good.
I will be going back this week to help out in the classroom more as community service and to hang out with the students as they enjoy the extra help sometimes.

Raising the standards?

2007-11-11T14:56:00.000-08:00

This issue is an issue that bothers me and when i get enough power i want to try and take this up as a cause to try and change this system. This viscious cycle that is associated with the tesing world ties up funds and doesn't allow schools to improve themselves. This is an issue that i could talk about for hours but i think this has been a theme throughout my blog and i will touch on this in depth in my ethnographic report.

For now, what i will say is that how is one supposed to teach in the curriculum and also be able to teach a test that does not have a clear cut objective except to test knowledge? What knowledge are they looking for and where will they use this knowledge again?

Reaction to school visit

2007-11-11T14:50:00.000-08:00

I went to my first visit with my host teacher a week ago and i am alittle late in responding to this but I wanted it all to sink in. It was very overwhelming at first as the teacher gave me hand outs that the class was working on and quickly tried to explain this lesson plan for the day. When the class arrived they were suprised to see another adult in the room but also excited. The class was very active in communicating with the teacher. It was as if each student wanted their chance to be heard and their ideas to contribute to the class. There were a few exceptions to that as a few students who were either struggling or bored did not contribute as much. The teacher instead of trying to quite the students organized all of their ideas on the board. Then went into an activity hand out in which the students worked together to find out the answers.

All in all i had an amazing time and can not wait to get back into the classroom with the kids and help them learn and succeed

Conversation of Frustration

2007-10-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

I'm not frustrated at all i just thought it sounded pretty cool. There are a bunch of things to talk about in this update of the blog with a few current events to touch on and the idea of dress codes and charter schools has popped up in the public purposes course. I will also be discussing my first field visit and the questions I have.

The current event that brought fourth the most conversation was the idea that art programs could be cut due to poor test scores. The standardized testing system if anything is helped by the arts as they encourage students to see the bigger picture and not just what is going on at the moment, it provides children with a broader sense of knowledge. The arts also promote students to be more culturally well rounded and in tune with the rest of the world. These can only help children not hinder their test scores.

The idea of dress codes was also brought up, I do not have much to say about this issue as I went to a private school with a uniform. This was never a question for me sandals, shorts, tank tops were never an issue. To be completely honest does it really matter if a child/teenager wants to wear ripped jeans if they want to learn there doesn't seem to be a problem with me. As long as their is respect then freedom with responsibility should reign supreme.

Another big topic of conversation was the idea of Charter schools, I really enjoy the idea and the premis but when put into practice it doesn't always work out. The idea of a broad range of topic and curriculum is amazing and that is what gets me into it, but the lack of funding and the small enrollment kind of kill it for me. So much could be done with students who want to learn more than just math reading and writing. There are so many more things to do in this world and with the proper funding could be afforded.

This brings me to something I am very excited about, visiting the public school for my field observation. There are a bunch of questions that are going through my mind and when I try to think about what i am going to ask my mind goes blank because I have no idea what it is going to be like. So I guess my first question would be How do you manage the classroom because it is not really in the teacher program? Is teaching hard? What strategies do you use or activities to get the children involved? I don't know there is a bunch of things I want to know but i think I will have to wait to find out.

That is all, Rock On, Luke

School Visit Number 1

2007-10-17T21:05:00.001-07:00

I was very excited to finally get to this big part of the course. Visiting an actual school to get some actual field experience is a way to apply what we have already learned to this point in all of the education courses that I have taken up to this point. Taking into account the way specific school's have different policies and philosophies is a good way to observe what is going on in the classroom in board meetings. This first step into the classroom is an exciting one that offered alot of answers to questions. I found the round robin session to be extremely informative with the union and also the PTO. I was unaware as to how much it took to keep the school system afloat. This also brought up some more questions that i hope to have answered in the classroom visits like; How much does a teacher stick to the lesson plan? What is the hardest part about controling students? Where do i want to teach? How much empahasis is put on test scores?

I dont know, just throwing some things out there into my blogging world. I hope these questions and how I will be as a teacher with my pedagogy come around and pop into my brain while i am visiting the schools. Rock on, Luke

Practicing citizens or robots?

2007-10-10T13:02:00.000-07:00

This issue has been brought up in a few of my education courses this year both historical, psychologically and now in the curriculum. What is the role of the public school when it comes to knowing what makes an engaged citizen? There is an argument that this is what students need to know to be a good practicing American citizen which in the early 1900's when immigration was at it's peak would sound great to anyone. There is also the argument that if a child knows the difference from right and wrong it will become second nature (i.e. Pavlov's Dog). And here in the realm of curriculum where does the purpose of the public education process come in. In the midst of all this standardization talk and government funding in schools, Should a school just pump out a bunch of robots that are no longer individually responsive to situations or are schools duty to allow students minds to develop into a cognitive critical thinkers that should be able to process this information and situations to become better engaged citizens?

I guess what I am getting at is that we should at a younger age instill values and principles but as students grow into young adults guide them into becoming better engaged citizens. An understanding of what is happening around them and a knowledge of what is right and wrong in this society should be enough to light a fire inside and make them want to engage themselves in civic decisions and become more involved with injustices, wrong-doings on a global scale and research the material and make their own inferences.

I see that there is a theme of freedom to develop the mind in my writings at the moment and im not sure why yet but it is just an observation that i have made i'll figure it out soon enough. Rock on, Luke

Response to Class standards and practices

2007-10-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

The debate that we had in class got me very fired up. I hate the way the public school system is set up that funding is needed to supply schools with the resources they need. These resources need to go to the schools with the lower test scores in order to improve the results otherwise this vicious cycle will just repeat over and over, with failing grades and an insufficient standardized scores.

This now brings me to the argument of teaching to the test and how much of a pointless exercise this seems to be. These tests need to be geared more toward the curriculum of a school or teachers need to find a way to bring their style of teaching to the test. There needs to be a way for teachers to remove the material from the pages of the test and bring it into the classroom.

While funding is needed for schools to be successful it is needed more in urban schools to succeed and remove the negative connotation from the name urban. If schools that the government have classified as urban received more funding for tutors and technology to support it’s students so they can actually take something from the classroom. Instead there are students in classrooms being drilled for hours on end to take a test that will allow the school to test better next year while not taking into account this year.

This is me wrapping up with the No Child Left Behind Law and how it is brought into all of this. If a child could be “left behind” the public school system would have no problem allowing a child to learn and understand the material. Instead in the over sensitized society that we now live in it is imperative that as a country we do not discourage or classify a child to their knowledge and treat everyone as if nothing was wrong. It is like we are pretending or that we are hiding it that there is a problem and it NEEDS to be changed, other wise this problem will continue to pain our education system.

someone needs to come up with a change, with a solution to fix the problem...Rock on, Luke

bilingual education

2007-10-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

Now on to a topic that pushes buttons with a lot of people the idea of bilingual education and standardization.

While there is much to be said on the topic i hate the idea of standardization and would prefer a more individual critical thinking type of examination but that is almost impossible to put into numbers which is what makes the money and is what "the man" wants to see. The purpose of bilingual education is one of the selling points in my opinion of American education. With such a diverse cultural how could you not want a child to be schooled in the differences and similarities of these cultures. It would make for a less ignorant and more understanding attitude in America and its socital circles. I can not wait for the day when this conversation will no longer be an issue and it is finally realized that this is an assest to a country not a burden.

So for my passion or preaching but it is just how i feel about the subject. ROCK ON LUKE

standards through purpose

2007-09-25T08:16:00.000-07:00

The first topic that I would like to talk to myself about is the idea of the "purpose of schooling". There are two conflicting views that are seen in the textbook. The Hutchins purpose of "transmitting society's knowledge and values," and the Dewey purpose which calls for a "reconstruction of society". While I agree with Hutchins that the knowledge of society and the values that it preaches are important aspects of an education, Dewey tickles my fancy a bit more. His idea of reconstructing society is one that preaches individualism and critical thinking. I would not call for a rebellion or anything like that, more of a revolution of thought. There is nothing more powerful than a person with an idea. That idea can grow from a puddle, to a pond, to a lake, to an ocean with the right guidance and that is where the transmission comes in from Hutchins. That is where i stand on the purpose of schooling, a general balance of individual thought and essential knowledge.
LUKE

Baby steps

2007-09-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

After this last class i have found a better understanding of what will be expected of us throughout this semester. The readings are interesting as they have to do very much with the topics we are going to encounter. The Dewey v. Hutchins was an internal battle I have also had with myself. How can a class be run off of pure social interaction? The only way to properly run a class would be to find the happy medium between both a social and lecture or transitory method.

Since i was young people have been telling me to live and learn, live and learn. I felt that the trasitory class setting is sit and learn, sit and learn. The way i respond to a class is by being included in the class and to have a dialouge and critical thinking the focus of the cirriculum. That is how opinions and thoughts are created in a young person, by presenting them with the facts and asking them to think about it.

Rock On Luke

Welcome to the Blog

2007-09-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

This is the first posting of my brand spanking new blog. The Educational Adventure will have updates on a weekly basis on my expierence in Public Purposes of Education. I am very excited and a bit nervous to off the class it seems like a lot but i think that it will definitly be worth it as long as I put in the effort it will pay off in the long run 10 fold. The teacher seems normal and down to earth. The course work seems extremely relevant to the class which makes me excited because i actually want to do it. I seem to write a little better in a blog, well i shouldn't say that. I think about things alittle better when i write in a blog and tend to get more out of it.

Welcome to the blog check back soon make some comments and leave your own interesting wonders of the educational world as we go along. Rock on, Luke.