The "Widget Effect"

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/03/27/how-to-raise-the-status-of-teachers/we-need-to-stop-treating-teachers-as-widgets

I have to agree with Mr. Daly, teachers should be treated based on their performance. The status of the teaching profession is at a very low point in the US, this is partly b/c of the bad teachers people had to put up with, leaving a stain upon their views of teaching. When a school has a great teacher, one who really connects with his or her students, who can actually teach something to them, who is committed to teaching and all that it entails, they should recognize such superb performances.

Good teachers have been a pivotal point in young minds for as long as there have been schools. But the same goes for bad ones. I respect everyone of my teachers on the first day of school, it's up to them how they use that respect. Some teachers will be worthy of that respect, and, in my eyes at least, they are some of the most inspirational and respect worthy individuals I have ever had the pleasure to be in the same room as, let alone being taught by them. However, those great people don't get the recognition they deserve as teachers. This is because of an influx in the scales of quality educators and those who are not of such quality. While seniority it the only thing most teachers can look forward to, the real "go getters," the bright and best, and the highest preforming teachers,  don't have any intensives to truly help children in their learning endeavors.

Seniority causes things like "last-in, first-out," which bases the removal of teachers solely on how long the teacher has been there. It is illegal in 14 states to consider job performance in layoff decisions. Why would any self-respecting parent vote for something like that? This policy doesn't help the students, or the good teachers. It doesn't encourage teachers to do anything but show up. If you have to get rid of a teacher or two, wouldn't you want to get rid of the teacher who can't teach, the one who doesn't help the students, the one who wastes the students time with things like busy work, rather than the young teacher who raises test scores and attendance because of their enthusiasm and teaching methods?   

It truly, truly amazes me how some teachers are allowed to teach, let alone be paid for it.  Said "teachers" are the cause of the drop in the status of teaching. If we, as a nation, could purge the teachers who are in schools only by seniority and tenure, and replace them with fresh, young minds to match the fresh, young minds of todays youth, we would find a profound increase in the quality of the overall schooling experience. A good teacher is all I ask, but  will I get one?

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is considered a classic by many. I can see why by only reading the last 4 paragraphs. With such a deep and relevant topic, he weaves a philosophical statement that we can all relate to. Fitzgerald's dark and brooding criticism of mankind's need to create brings words to the never ending struggle between Nature and Civilization.

When the "new world" was found by the Dutch, it was during a time when nature was of little importants to the Europeans. As Fitzgerald looks upon his time, he sees the product of that indifference, and criticizes the "inessential houses" and mass consumerism that had washed over mankind. Man cannot coexist with things as they are, he must make them better. When those Dutch made their way here, to the place where they stood "face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder," the balance shifted.

Man must make what  he has better. But this begs the question, what is better? Better for whom? After that moment of eclipsing wonder at the awe of the "new world," man found what was "better." Better is easier, a life of "inessential"s, such as cars and electricity. Fitzgerald brings us to the struggle, man versus nature, but in the end man won. His last line, "So we beat on, boasts against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past," would have us believe that mankind is being thrown back by nature, that the struggle is evenly matched. However, the competition is in favor of mankind, as we "beat on" the current grows weaker and weaker, the boat's getting better and better, and the "green light" is upon us.

Since the dawn of man, there has been the struggle of man's creative mind and nature. Fitzgerald has been criticle of the struggle, he brings up the point that the "old, unknown world" was better, and as we progress away from it, we, as humans, become worse. But who is to say?

Reading List

I read 3 books, the equivalent of 7 books.

• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (334)
• A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin (774)
• Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (545)

A Feast for Crows is the 4th book in the series A Song of Ice and Fire, one of the most celebrated fantasy series' of all time. Martin's books have a gritty realism that makes the fantasy so much deeper, this book is taking place during the end of a massive war before a harsh winter sets in. One attribute of Martin's gritty realism is that main characters live and die, and antagonists outlive the protagonists.All this together it's a great story.

E. M. Foster

I must agree with Foster. The whole process of "One upping the Jones'" gets heavy as it builds, as well  as owning property. In terms of math, with each addition it squares itself. As the "need" for more stuff grows and grows, so does your collection of stuff.  It seems to me that property contributes to all seven sins in one way or another. Such accumulation causes Sloth, or being slow, Foster brings up this point at the end of the second paragraph. Greed is a no brainer, the want of more and more. Envy for someone else's stuff, as Foster thinks about "his" bird and Mrs Henessy.  The Pride one feels for his work, his property, is almost unmatched, Foster touches on this in his fifth paragraph.  Wrath to those who disturb your property, your Pride. "It is intersected, blast it, by a public footpath," that seems like Wrath to me, "blast it" is very powerful language. Lust goes together with Greed, property seems to give the owner a Lust for more, "Happy Canute! Happier Alexander!" This brings us to Gluttony, or getting fat. The owner of the wood near Lyme Regis has a good understanding of Gluttony, as he "gorges on the blackberries unseen."

All of this builds upon the basis of property and its correlation to the seven sins. The Seven Deadly Sins can all be caused from the owning of property, this begs the question: is owning property worth it? When everything about it can be bad, should it be allowed? Foster's point of heaviness is true indeed, but in that heaviness comes a form of satisfaction. I say owning property is good, even if there is such side effects.

Ads of the New Age

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq58zS4_jvM

This commercial uses a type of ethoical pathos. Using the concept of the "Green Police" to fight pollution, which is a major problem nowadays. The actual advertising is for the new Audi line of clean diesel fueled cars. The way the "Green Police" enforce the eco-friendliness adds humor to the advertisement. When the actual Audi comes to the road block he easily makes it through easily enough because of its eco-friendly clean diesel. I like the humor factor of the ad. The main thing I got from this is how the Audi is helping the environment, which is getting worse during this age of consumerism. The building up to the Audi part was a little much, but the whole of the ad was effective.

 "Audi 2010 Green Car Super Bowl Commercial ."YouTube. Web. 9 Mar 2011. .

Consumerism

The greed of gain has no time or limit to its capaciousness. Its one object is to produce and consume. It has pity neither for beautiful nature nor for living human beings. It is ruthlessly ready without a moment's hesitation to crush beauty and life out of them, molding them into money.

-Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941)  

This Quote helps illustrate the "ruthless" nature of consumerism, and greed in general. When money is involved, so much can go wrong. Marriages are broken, friends are lost, lives are destroyed, all for the pursuit of wealth. Although money isn't a bad thing in and of itself, it can build upon sore emotions and cause things like consumerism, buying things for the sake of buying, and one-upping the Joneses.