Practice what you preach!!!!!

This is a rhetorical question, but have you ever asked yourself why does professors insist on treating their students so poorly? In the education department, professors go on and on about treating students with dignity and respect, but they fail to treat their own students that way. What ever happen to “practice what you preach?”

I get so annoyed with professors who require lengthy lesson plans and reflections from their students when they refuse to do any of it themselves. If you are a professor and you working with teachers in an elementary school, when you teach a lesson in their classroom and they ask you for the lesson plan, do not laugh and declare that you do not need to do lesson plans. With that attitude you come off extremely arrogant. I understand that they are professionals and they have already graduated college, but that does not excuse their behavior.

Another thing, why does it seem like some professors do not understand the difference between constructive criticism and applying a militaristic approach? Let me clarify, constructive criticism does not cause you students to cry themselves to sleep and doubt themselves as future teachers. Constructive criticism helps them identify what they are lacking in their lesson plans and teaching approach. Why do you pride yourself on breaking your students down? If the success of your student is a reflection of your teaching, why wouldn't you help your students become better students and better teachers? I do not understand the need to constantly knock your students down and tell them that they are in the wrong profession and they will not make it as teachers. News flash you are not perfect! Perfection does not exist! You might think you are perfect, but you are not, you make grammatical mistakes and you are a college professor. If you are going to tell a student that their work needs improvement, tell them what they need to improve upon. Do not tell them that you will not accept their work after they have spent hours completing it. How can you students learn and grow if they are kept in the dark? Cortland has a great education program, but some of the professors need to reconsider their approach.

When I was at Hunter College as a nursing major, one of the first thing the dean said was to look to your right then look to your left, only one of you will make it. If I wanted to be part of a program that discourages, weed out and apply a Darwinistic approach I would have remain a nursing major at Hunter. Having high expectation for your students does not equate to weeding out the weak, but providing the adequate support in order to ensure their success. If you cannot provide that for you student then you should not be preparing future teachers. There is much more to being a teacher than teaching content.

I would like to say to all the students in the education program that has had a professor say to you, you are in the wrong profession or you will not be a good teacher, “no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt. You are a work in progress and education is always a work in progress. If they do not understand that then they might be the ones in the wrong profession.

One professor's opinion should not dictate your future. You are strong, intelligent young ladies. If you weren't you would not have made it this far.

By: Bibi H.

http://holaminora.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/broken_heart_by_starry_eyedkid-11.jpg

Mending

A giant hand inside my chest
Stretches out and takes
My heart within its mighty grasp
And squeezes till it breaks.

A gentle hand inside my chest,
With mending tape and glue,
Patches up my heart until
It’s almost good as new.

I ought to know by now that
Broken hearts will heal again,.
But while I wait for glue and tape,
The pain!
The pain!
The pain!

It one of those days

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park is my favorite of all the national parks in the US. I can not wait to visit it for myself. Every time there is a Yellowstone special on television, whether I have seen it before or not, I will sit for hours and watch it.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Yellowstone National Park is America's first national park. It was established in 1872. Yellowstone extends through Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. The park's name is derived from the Yellowstone River, which runs through the park. It's unclear if the name first referred to the sulfurous yellow rocks below the falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River or to the sandstone bluffs that border its shores.

Within the massive park boundaries, you can find mountains, rivers, lakes, and some of the most concentrated geothermal activity in the world. The park has 60% of the world’s geysers as well as many hot springs and several mud pots. Perhaps the most famous feature of the park is the geyser Old Faithful.

You can also see the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, one of the world’s largest petrified forests, and countless waterfalls. The park is also home to diverse wildlife, including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk.

Outdoor recreation is boundless in this iconic national park. Madison and Yellowstone River are stocked with brown and rainbow trout and mountain whitefish. The many bike trails include an abandoned railroad bed that winds along with the wild Yellowstone River. You can backcountry camp or hike on the extensive trail system throughout the entire park, or boat on Yellowstone Lake. Stock outfitters lead horse and llama trips into the backcountry.

Historic points of interest include Fort Yellowstone, the permanent post of the cavalry when they managed the park in the late 19th century before the National Park Service was established in 1916. Old Faithful Inn is one of the last log hotels in the United States and is an impressive seven-story building of beautiful rustic architecture.

The original American national park and an icon of the entire National Park System, Yellowstone National Park is an American gem with millions of park visitors each year. Because of its magnitude and diversity, it is a park that really requires several visits to appreciate all it has to offer. Created in 1872 as the first national park in America, it set the standard for the entire national park system and is for many the most iconic park in the country.

—Caroline Griffith and Felicia Carr


By: Bibi H.

Fun Poems for children.

 

Some people

by Rachel Field

Isn’t it strange some people

make you feel so tired inside,
Your thoughts begin to shrivel up

like leaves all brown and dried!

But when you’re with some other ones,

it’s stranger still to find
Your thoughts as thick as fireflies

all shiny in your mind!

 

 

We Could Be Friends

Myra Cohn Livingston

We could be friends

Like friends are supposed to be.

You, picking up the telephone

Calling me

to come over and play

or take a walk,

finding a place

to sit and talk,

Or just goof around

Like friends do,

Me, picking up the telephone

Calling you.

 

 

And the Answer Is…
 by Carol Diggory Shields

Lunch Money and Other Poems About School

Teacher, please don't look at me
The answer is a mystery.
I'm staring into empty air,
I'm sliding underneath my chair.
I'm making myself very small,
I wish I wasn't here at all.
Teacher, teacher, pass me by,
Please pick on some other guy.

Teacher, teacher, call on me
I know the answer, can't you see?
This one's a wrap, a snap, a breeze.
Just look in my direction, please!
I'm almost bouncing off my chair.
I'm waiving both hands in the air.
Teacher, teacher, ask me first,
'Cause it you don't, I think I'll burst.

I Am Tired of Being Little

By Jack Prelutsky

I am tired of being little,

I am sick of being thin,

I wish that I were giant size,

with whiskers on my chin.

No one would dare to tease me,

or to take away my toys,

for I would be much bigger

than the biggest bigger boys.

My folks would pay attention

to everything I said,

they couldn’t make me eat my peas

or tell me, “Go to bed!”

I’d never be afraid again

If I were ten-foot-three,

I wish that I were giant size,

Instead of small like me.

Walking under the moonlit sky.

                I love walking. I would rather walk than driving anywhere as long as the distance is not more than three miles. When I am home in the in the Bronx I walk as much as I can but only during the day. However, when I am in Cortland, one of my guilty pleasures is walking under the moonlight along Waterworks. Sometimes there is no better remedy for a stressful day than a moonlit walk. I am a nature lover and personally nature is most beautiful at night. Although we are conditioned since we were young to fear the dark, I believe that you cannot say something is most beautiful during the day when you have not seen it during the night. I live in Whitaker Hall on the first floor. My entire wall made of glass and it faces Waterworks. During the day you can see the deer, birds, and other small animals. Occasionally you will see a few foxes. Sometime I would find myself standing by my window and looking over Waterworks without even realizing I have been standing in the same spot for 30 minutes.  

         Last night I walked for about an hour from Whitaker Hall down to 281 then to Groton then Broadway and back to Whitaker. That walk was one of the most peaceful experiences I have had since I have been in Cortland this semester. On my walk I noticed a lot of deer and ducks. If anyone has ever lived in Fitzgerald Hall, Clark Hall or Randall Hall then you can attest to the obnoxiousness of the ducks. I made sure I didn’t startle the ducks because I didn’t want anyone from the resident hall to strangle me. My heart almost jumped out of my chest when I was maybe 50 yards from Whitaker’s parking lot because there was a large buck sitting in the grass and I didn’t notice it at all. As I walked past it, the buck was startled by my unexpected presence and it jumped up and scared the living daylight out of me.

By: Bibi

Just one of those days!

So a teacher told me, not saying any names, that I will not make it as a teacher because I have problems with my writing. It mad me feel like I should just dropout now. Then I read my Horoscope and it said that I have a lot of thinking to do about my future career. OO that’s just great!

Not an Evil Minion!

Since my last post regarding my netbook my feelings towards this little machine had changed. As you may know, if you read my last post, my netbook was sent back to the company because it was an evil little minion. I was netbook-less for about two weeks. Thus I have not downloaded anything for EDU 315, but it is not my fault they should have given me a better computer. It really didn’t bother me that I didn’t have a netbook because the last one I had was such a pain. However, I did miss the convenience of having a small portable computer with internet connection wherever I went. So I finally went to Courtney and got a replacement.

Now I have a new netbook that actually works! I have absolutely no problem with this netbook. I love this one because it is not an evil minion and it understands that I am its master and it must obey me at all time. (hahahaha evil laugh) Ok that was a bit much, but yesterday was Halloween. Give me a break!

By: Bibi H