#Educationproblems

There are so many problems with the education system in the United States today and a lot of those problems lend themselves to money. My parents always told me that education is a business and I didn't really understand what they meant until I got my first teaching job. Unfortunately, the world revolves around money and there is nothing we can do to change that. I find it absolutely appalling that money should dictate the education of a child. For example budget cuts are ruining our children's futures. If there isn't enough money to pay the teachers, class sizes sky rocket limiting the amount of student-teacher contact. This is extremely upsetting to me because there are celebrities and huge business owners who live their daily lives with so much money that they don't know what to do with it. How is that helping our society? Why are professional athletes getting paid millions of dollars to play a sport that a child wants to play while at school but can't because their school can't afford equipment or can't fund the sporting events. All of these facts make me so nauseas.

Another thing that came up recently was the closure of charter schools around the city. Mayor Bill de Blasio decided that the Success Charter Schools should be closed because they are getting "free rent" at a public school. Again, money is the culprit in this situation and now several children's educations are at risk. These children go to charter schools to either give their child the best education possible because the public school that is in their area is not up to par, or there is a lot of crime associated with the school that is in their neighborhood. Now, these children are forced to go back to a public school or to find another charter school for the following year. Education should be the most important thing in regards to our country's success. If we don't breed educated and worldly thinkers, how is our country supposed to grow and prosper? It won't.

Vocabulary:

revolves- to focus or center on

appalling- unbelievable

dictate- guiding principle

budget- estimated amount of funds

fund- supply of money

culprit- person guilty of fault

associated- linked with

Vocabulary Activity: Match the vocabulary word to its definition.

revolves                                                         

person guilty of fault

appalling                                                        

linked with

dictate                                                             

unbelievable

budget                                                             estimated amount of funds

fund                                                                 

to focus or center on

culprit                                                             

supply of money

associated                                                      

guiding principle

Grammar Point: Possession is shown by using an "'s". For example: children's futures. It is their future.

Grammar Activity: Write 3 sentences showing possession.


Success Charter Schools Closures

Un mundo de acro iris

 I have read many poems in my lifetime but it wasn't until I started my undergraduate degree that I found poems that were the most beautifully written poems I have ever read. I came across this poem while researching for a project that I had to do for one of my undergraduate classes. The poem uses color to represent different races and colors around the world and that all of these colors make up a beautiful "arco iris", which means rainbow. I think that this poem is extremely helpful in guiding students to become more accepting of not only other people but of themselves. I love the imagery that is used in this poem to represent the different races in a lighthearted and tasteful way. The rosas, roses, represent people as well. When you think of a rose, you automatically think of beauty and love and that's how all people should be viewed. This poem forces the reader to see that without all of the different colors of the rainbow, or different types of people in the world, the world would be a boring and bland place to live in. The message behind this poem is so powerful, but was made in such a simple and beautiful way.        

Un mundo de arco iris 

por Florencio Santos Arranz 

                                         Si ves una rosa azul

dice una mariposa.

Si ves una rosa

roja

dice un arroyo.

Si ves una rosa

amarilla

dice una nube.

Si ves estas rosas

verás

todos los niños de este mundo.

Pero me faltan los niños

me faltan las rosas

negras.

¿Es que no son hermosas?

¿Es que no son hermosos?

¡Claro!

Combina los colores

y tendrás

rosas

todas las rosas.

Rosas azules rojas amarillas

y negrasy niños negros amarillos rojos

y azules,

con todos los colores del arco iris 

que yo para vosotros, queridos

niños,

yo quiero.

-Dicen la mariposa el arroyo y la nube

Vocabulary:

lifetime: the term of a life

represent: express

races: group of related people

guiding: force to move in certain path

imagery: use mental pictures to convey meaning

lighthearted: cheery; joyful 

tasteful: good taste 

Vocabulary Activity: Unscramble the words using your definitions as clues.

1.the term of a life

temiefil                       ________________

2. express

tnreperse                    ________________

3. group of related people

sarec                          ________________

4. force to move in certain path

gugdini                        ________________

5. use mental pictures to convey meaning

ygemair                      ________________

6. cheery; joyful 

reathilhtgde                ________________

7. good taste 

luastetf                     ________________

Grammar point: In english, we add "s" to show plurality of a noun. ex: one bike; two bikes.

Grammar Activity: Circle all of the singular nouns and underline all of the plural nouns written above.

Scandalous

I have never been a fan of politics and don't plan on becoming one anytime soon. In my opinion, politics are all about popularity and are built on a foundation of lies and persuasion. I feel that majority of politicians don't truly believe in what they stand for when in the running to clinch the title that they have been campaigning for. My view of politics became more solidified after watching three full seasons of the show "Scandal". 

Although I am aware that "Scandal" is completely fictional, I can't help but think that some of the plot is based off of true events. Olivia Pope, played by Kerri Washington, is my absolute favorite character on this series. In the preliminary seasons, Olivia was so poised, responsible, and emotionally detached. She was a strong and fearless character who lead a team of "lawyers" who stood by Olivia's side through anything. Together, they are called "gladiators". As the seasons went on and new secrets were revealed, Olivia began to crack and became an emotional wreck which forced her team of "gladiators" to question their loyalty towards Olivia.

Olivia's trustworthiness was built on a web of secrets that she shared between her and her gladiators. Once her team figured out her own secret, their regime began to crumble. Olivia had been involved in an affair with the president and was also involved in a lot of behind the scene cover ups, in which, if they were revealed, the president would be impeached and Olivia would be the most talked about campaign manager in history. 

As the seasons continue, I can't help but wonder if these stories could be true and if the government hides its true identity behind its politics and campaigning. And for this reason, I am very skeptical of the government and the politics that go along with it.

Vocabulary:

popularity- favored by the public

foundation- the base of something

persuasion- force an opinion on someone

majority- most 

fictional- imaginary, not true

poised- stable

detached- divided

revealed- made known

Vocabulary Activity: Match the word with its definition.

popularity                                                          made known

foundation                                                          force an opinion on someone

persuasion                                                         most

majority                                                             stable

fictional                                                              divided

poised                                                                 base of something

detached                                                             not true

revealed                                                             favored by the public

Grammar Point: The present tense is used to locate a situation or event in present time. ex: I am tall. This sentence is not talking about how tall I will be or was, but right now.

Grammar Activity: Underline all of the verbs in the present tense.