I read an article on Guilderland Center's nursing home and how they are in big trouble. According to the article: "state inspectors have cited the Guilderland Center Nursing Home for 52 deficiencies over the past three years, more than double the statewide average." This is a very troubling fact. It shows that the nursing home, where they are taking care of the elderly has many issues. This is especially bad for a nursing home because senior citizens need and deserve the best care possible as they live the last part of their lives there. As the story goes on it goes more and more in depth into how much trouble the nursing home is in. In the article it says: "The company that owned the facility, Guilderland LTC Management, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008. Last month, the new owner of the Route 146 nursing home, Guilderland Realty Holdings Corp., struck a deal with the city of Albany to repay $1 million in unpaid property taxes allowing the home to stay in business." This is a troubling fact. It shows that the nursing home went from unfit hands to equally unfit hands. This shows that on top of the deficiencies that the nursing home has they also have very poor ownership. Unfortunately these are not all that's wrong with the nursing home. Certified nursing assistant, Leonard Clark was accused of: "grabbing the breast of a 95-year-old resident in 2010, leaving a sizable bruise. According to the complaint filed by the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit." This makes the situation very messed up and along with this the nursing home is also accused of giving seniors medicine that they don't need and ignoring the seniors when they need help. This is a very messed up situation and Richard Mollot summed it up best when he said: "Clearly you have staffing problems here."
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
48. What do you think about war?
This is a very hard question for
me. I would like very much too just write about how much I don't like war and
how I disagree with it but I can't do that. For the most part I don't agree
with war in any form. I don't like the idea of regular people getting killed
for, what is sometimes, a useless argument. For an example I feel that the Iraq
War is a very just drawn out war that should have never happened. In my opinion
we should have never gone into the Middle East in the first place. But as I
said I can't completely bash wars because I see their purpose. Although I don't
like that soldiers go to war and sometimes end up dead I do see wars purposes.
Without war we might have never became an independent world superpower that we
are today. Without war we could have still been using slaves for labor. These
reasons and more help to show that with all its evil, war can still be
ultimately good for the world. What I disagree with is when you have disastrous
wars, such as Korea, Vietnam and Iraq. All of those wars have turned out to be,
or are in the process of being massive failures. When you are having so many
soldiers die for a useless and pointless cause I do not agree with that at all.
But there is another reason that I don't completely disagree with war and that
is my cousin Robert. Rob is in the military and he is now in his second tour of
duty, this time in Afghanistan. As much as I don't want Rob there because I
don't want anything to happen to him I see the good in what he is doing. You
can tell how proud he is to fight for the country that he loves and he doesn't
mind risking his life to protect America. I find that very a very admirable
trait. With all this being said I can say that I am very ambivalent in my
feelings about war. In some cases I don't like it at all and in others I can
see that good it can bring. I guess it's all about how you look at it.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
What is Crippling Us
In both Fahrenheit 451 and Against School, Bradbury and
Taylor Gatto make comments about society. Even though they are both about our
society they are brought about in different ways. Fahrenheit 451 is told as a
story taking part in the future while Against School is written from the view
of an ex-teacher who says; "I taught for thirty years in some of the worst
schools in Manhattan, and in some of the best, and during that time I became an
expert in boredom." Also along with the fact that there are written from
different perspectives they also have different messages. In Against Schools,
Taylor Gatto talks about how boredom is widespread in schools, saying:
"Boredom is the common condition of schoolteachers, and anyone who has
spent time in a teachers' lounge can vouch for the low energy, the whining, the
dispirited attitudes, to be found there." He says that not only are the
children bored with school but the teachers are as well. Well Taylor Gatto
talks about our poor public education system, Bradbury talks about society more
as a whole. Fahrenheit 451 takes place in a world where books have been banned
and firemen burn books instead of putting out fires. It has been so long that
people have forgotten the old ways. In one part of the book a girl asks the
main character, Montag about the past. She says: "Is it true that long ago
that firemen put out fires instead of going to start them." This takes
Montag off guard and he replies with: "No. Houses have always been
fireproof, take my word for it." This shows how clueless the people in the
world have become. Fahrenheit 451 is Bradbury's way of saying that as we become
more and more culturally advance we lose touch with what is important and the
great ideas that shaped the past world. In the cases of both pieces I am
convinced to think the way that they do. In Fahrenheit 451i agree very much
with Bradbury's points. I agree that as we become more advanced we lose touch
of the past and I think that we can't do that; we need to hold on to it. In the
case of Taylor Gatto I also agree. I feel that if teachers gave more of an
effort to make kids want to learn we could achieve a much better and relevant
education.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Tried and True
Monday: The old homeless man. He is wearing baggy dirty sweatpants and a over sized sweatshirt that has multiple holes in it. People who pass by him make a conscious effort to avoid contact with him.
Tuesday: A very nice young lady. You can see that she tries to look good for the day and you are attracted to her. But, once you get closer to her you realize that she is sort of annoying and soon you are looking for any excuse to leave her side.
Wednesday: Wednesday is the sort of overweight man that you can't help but be friends with. He is pretty slow and sometimes he can just get on your nerves but most of the time when you hang out with him you have a good time and leave happy.
Thursday: Thursday is the girl who you are really good friends with but that's all. You really want to further you relationship with her but the feeling is not mutual and you just end up bummed out. She is a real tease.
Friday: Friday is your best friend. Whenever you are with him you feel so good. You love Fridays company so much that you are always thinking about hanging out with him. He is your best friend and you never get sick of being with him.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
TU Tuesday - Commencement Speech
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/06/text-of-j-k-rowling-speech/
2nd speech: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/apr/23/nelsonmandela
It is very special when you can connect with something, especially something a famous person has said. In this case I made a connection with a speech by J.K. Rowling. In 2008 Rowling made the commencement speech at Harvard and during her speech she said: "Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it." I could not agree with this quote more. Today there is so much pressure on kids to succeed. As a kid I experience this myself, not from my parents but from many other sources. Today it is a common belief that if you fail at something you are screwing up your life and that you won't amount to something. But as Rowling says: "Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me." This helps to prove that failing is an important part of maturing. In a way everyone should fail at something just so they understand how terrible it is and gain more determination to not fail. Rowling goes on to say: "Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged." This speaks so much to me. To me it shows that it is OK to fail, that an extremely successful author failed and she is still what she is today. It helps to show that failing is OK and that is a normal part of life. A quote from Rowling speech that really puts this into perspective for me is; "You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default." I feel that this is the most moving quote and really brings the whole meaning to life.
Another speech that helps to show the power of failing is Nelson Mandela's speech in 1964. "I came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable; it would be unrealistic to continue preaching peace and non-violence. This conclusion was not easily arrived at. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle. I can only say that I felt morally obliged to do what I did." Though this quote is talking about the use of violence it still is very powerful. It shows that Mandela failed many times and even though he failed he still kept fighting. Many people would have just backed down but with Mandela it made his drive even stronger. This helps to show the power of failing. It can ignite a determination in you that you never though was possible.
In this blog I am not saying that I think kids should go to school and just fail classes and receive no repercussions for it. What I am saying in this blog is that I feel that there shouldn't be so much pressure on kids to succeed all the time. Kids shouldn't have to live under the shadow of failing all the time and when they do fail; they can use it as a motivational tool to succeed even better than before.
2nd speech: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/apr/23/nelsonmandela
It is very special when you can connect with something, especially something a famous person has said. In this case I made a connection with a speech by J.K. Rowling. In 2008 Rowling made the commencement speech at Harvard and during her speech she said: "Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it." I could not agree with this quote more. Today there is so much pressure on kids to succeed. As a kid I experience this myself, not from my parents but from many other sources. Today it is a common belief that if you fail at something you are screwing up your life and that you won't amount to something. But as Rowling says: "Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me." This helps to prove that failing is an important part of maturing. In a way everyone should fail at something just so they understand how terrible it is and gain more determination to not fail. Rowling goes on to say: "Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged." This speaks so much to me. To me it shows that it is OK to fail, that an extremely successful author failed and she is still what she is today. It helps to show that failing is OK and that is a normal part of life. A quote from Rowling speech that really puts this into perspective for me is; "You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default." I feel that this is the most moving quote and really brings the whole meaning to life.
Another speech that helps to show the power of failing is Nelson Mandela's speech in 1964. "I came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable; it would be unrealistic to continue preaching peace and non-violence. This conclusion was not easily arrived at. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle. I can only say that I felt morally obliged to do what I did." Though this quote is talking about the use of violence it still is very powerful. It shows that Mandela failed many times and even though he failed he still kept fighting. Many people would have just backed down but with Mandela it made his drive even stronger. This helps to show the power of failing. It can ignite a determination in you that you never though was possible.
In this blog I am not saying that I think kids should go to school and just fail classes and receive no repercussions for it. What I am saying in this blog is that I feel that there shouldn't be so much pressure on kids to succeed all the time. Kids shouldn't have to live under the shadow of failing all the time and when they do fail; they can use it as a motivational tool to succeed even better than before.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
12: How Schools Could Use Social Media
12 How Schools Could Use Social Media:
For a few years now I have been a part of the social media scene. A couple of year ago a joined Facebook and last year I joined Twitter. From my years of experience I have come to favor Twitter much more over Facebook but they both have features that I find very interesting and useful. For school use I feel that both of these services could be very useful but I feel like Twitter could be extremely useful. With Facebook I find it harder to picture what schools could use it for. Teachers could definitely take advantage of the page feature and make class pages where they could converse with students and tell them the homework if they forgot. But that is about all I can think of for Facebook. With Twitter I feel like it could be very useful. Teachers could make Twitters and have their students follow them. This would be just a simpler version of the Facebook idea. The students can then ask the teachers about homework and other questions that they have. If the students have private questions for the teachers than they could just direct message them and keep it secret. With this use though, problems can occur. That is why all the social media use could be regulated by the school. The teachers would give over their passwords for easy access by the school. That way if something bad happens on the sites than the school can easily get proof. I feel like the use of social media will soon come to schools all over and will play a huge role in schools. With GHS already using Google apps which are basically a form of social media I can see the use of Facebook and Twitter coming soon.
For a few years now I have been a part of the social media scene. A couple of year ago a joined Facebook and last year I joined Twitter. From my years of experience I have come to favor Twitter much more over Facebook but they both have features that I find very interesting and useful. For school use I feel that both of these services could be very useful but I feel like Twitter could be extremely useful. With Facebook I find it harder to picture what schools could use it for. Teachers could definitely take advantage of the page feature and make class pages where they could converse with students and tell them the homework if they forgot. But that is about all I can think of for Facebook. With Twitter I feel like it could be very useful. Teachers could make Twitters and have their students follow them. This would be just a simpler version of the Facebook idea. The students can then ask the teachers about homework and other questions that they have. If the students have private questions for the teachers than they could just direct message them and keep it secret. With this use though, problems can occur. That is why all the social media use could be regulated by the school. The teachers would give over their passwords for easy access by the school. That way if something bad happens on the sites than the school can easily get proof. I feel like the use of social media will soon come to schools all over and will play a huge role in schools. With GHS already using Google apps which are basically a form of social media I can see the use of Facebook and Twitter coming soon.
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