My Thoughts
Written on April 7, 2009 – 4:26 pm | by sdonati
“Solutions for Dropout Prevention”
The post about dropout prevention was insightful. I agree with many of Warlick’s opinions. He states, “They [the idea for dropout prevention listed] each have their value, or else they would not have been included in the list. But, as with many things, their value increases in combination.” I agree, no one would make a list of dropout ideas if they were not important. Warlick also says the ideas need to be implemented in order to really be effective. The comment that hit me the most is, “I suggested that rather than raise the compulsory school age, we lower it, challenging schools to treat their students as customers with a choice, instead of inmates serving time.” It seems crazy to consider such a concept, but I believe he has a point. Many students I went to high school were simply going through the motions until they were legally allowed to drop out of school. It’s sad, but true. Why should we force students to be in school if they are not interested in attending? If they aren’t getting anything out of the experience or do not intend on completing high school, then why don’t we let them pursue something with more value to them? I know I shouldn’t be so passive, but if students aren’t wanting anything to do with school, and they would like to do something “better” with their time, then we should allow it. Our jobs as educators is to find a way to keep them in school, so we need to make it interesting and “worth” their time. If we cannot do that, then how are we to change students’ minds about sticking with school?
Mike Temple made the comment that “Everyone is on Facebook.” I agree. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. I like that we have the ability to decide who can and cannot see our profiles, but there are ways around it. I think it’s a great way to keep in touch with people because I use it for that reason. I like to be able to talk to my friends and family who are never in the same area as I am without having to call each one of them individually, I could od that, but it’s quite expensive. Despite the social aspect of Facebook, does it have any other value? Everyone is aware of the negative aspects of networking tools like Facebook because they can be used to bully other people, staulk, etc. One issue I have with Facebook, is that employers are starting to check potential employee’s pages to see if he/she is a good person outside of work. I understand it is done to ensure a quality employee, and they don’t want someone to misrepresent a company, but if someone performs well at work, why should it matter what he/she is doing in his/her personal life? As long as work and personal life do not come into contact, then I don’t think a problem exists.
Grant Guru Tip #12 by Gary Carnow: Managing Time Commitments and the Writing Process
I found this article to be extremely helpful. I haven’t had to write a grant before, but I do think the same process can be applied to writing anything, especially papers or projects for school. He explains the grant writing process, and he makes it seem so easy. After I read this, I felt like I could easily write a grant. Carnow seems very knowledgeable regarding grants. He has many articles of how to be an effective grant writer. I didn’t realize there were this many tips on how to do such a task.
