Blog #5

TO GREEN OR NOT TO BE GREEN THAT IS THE QUESTION

After reading the article, "Green Schools Don't make the Grade", by Todd Myers, I had to shake my head in disbelief. Why is it that the minute we as a nation try to implement something positive as creating a greener school we are already testing it after only a year to see if it's working and if it's not we already hang the idea out to dry. I believe a greener school will benefit us all; however tweeking is needed. Large windows might not be the answer to saving costs in heating and cooling systems; however other things can be beneficial. For example, in my school we have an energy saving light system that is sensory activated. This means if your in a room the lights are on, moreover, if there is no movement in a room for a period of time the lights will go off. Also, if children use the bathroom, there is a light timer so the lights will turn off after awhile. We also have recycling bins in the classroom for paper. I believe this has helped us be energy efficient and is teaching the children that conserving energy is important. It might cost more to implement these new systems, but the benefit we will all reap in the future will prove itself!

I believe that the effects of becoming green in the long run will benefit us greatly and teach children how and why they need to be green. We must look at the benefits in the future and start measuring what is working and what still needs to be done.

Good always prevails and Green is a good thing.

Blog #4

In the article," New immigration stirs the melting pot" , Niko Kyriako discusses how he sees a new civil rights movement emerging from anti-immigrant acts. He expresses that immigrants are shocked at the anti-immigration feelings growing in the United States. Immigrants are looking for a way to become US citizens with an ideology that if they work hard they will be given what they need. Recently in the news, a baby was taken from a mother, by someone who posed to be an immigration officer. Since the mother was an illegal and scared she became a target and was stabbed a number of times for her infant. Luckily, she did not die and police officials were able to apprehend the criminal. The question then is "How far will the mistreatment of these immigrants be?"

In creating a Multicultural curriculum, author Adam Waxler discusses the importance of having multiculturalism curriculum without having to teach the exclusiveness of every culture. The more complicated teaching multiculturalism get , the more children will be wasting time not learning curriculum and creating nationalistic individuals. In my class, I have found promoting both help neither one become more important than the other.

In moving towards a centrist curriculum, the debate is whether curriculum should be moving towards promoting individuality when it comes to ethnicity or a centrist curriculum that promotes multiculturalism as a whole not as individualized ethnicities.
I say no, to both extremes, why not a world and individualized view, which would balance out any of the extremes in a classroom. Children need to come to an understanding of others ethnicity, as well as understanding that all races are special and important and not above another's.