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SNAP COUNTRY USA
WHY READ THE INTERNET
ANYWHERE ELSE
DING
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October 29, 2009
Something that is becoming real for me is that I will have to take a standardized test about art so that I can become an art teacher. One thing that
makes my program different from others in the area is definitely this: you do not have to complete any standardized tests to be admitted. It is just
expected that over the course of the year you actually do take them because they're required for state licensure. It's true: Praxis one and two. You
are waiting for me. I will have to give my time to you. I will have to look at multiple choice questions like this:
The development of the arch, the vault, and the dome in classical Roman architecture allowed Roman architecture to differ from
ancient Greek architecture because these architectural features made it possible to construct:
(A) large interior spaces that were unobstructed by interior supports
(B) vast areas of walls to accommodate murals
(C) public monuments that required less expensive materials
(D) public monuments that required a relatively small labor force
My answer is: NOTHING. Actually, my guess is A. However, does anyone find the language that was used to write the question to be
confusing? They used the word architecture four times in one sentence. Is that Really Necessary?
I have been reading all these things about standardized tests and achievement in my classes. We read
Deborah Meier's chapter on tests. As an aside, I think I was alarmed by Google Books when the first news of it emerged, but now that a) my friend
Genevieve is employed by them and 2) If I did not make plans to shell out for a printed book and I need to read something from one - it IS pretty
magical that I can read a good portion of it on the internet. And then I get mad when Google has figured out that I have read enough, and they
restrict my access, and I'm like GOD, IT'S AS IF THEY WANT ME TO PAY FOR THIS BOOK OR SOMETHING.
Anyway, I guess I'm struggling with the notion of standardized tests perpetually. Clearly, it's not really a viable option for me to just choose not to
take the Praxis because I think it's wrong. But then, as soon as I take it, I will go on (assuming I still have the same test taking skills I had
in high school), and oh - while I may not find a job
- I will at least have my license because of this system, and then what? I agree that it's the people who succeed because of those exams who are the
ones who need to fight to change them. I guess I just don't know how. Maybe when John Kitzhaber is the governor again, I will message him on Twitter that
we need to sit down and have some coffee to talk about education in Oregon.
Things I will review: Oregon ranks 49th in the nation for teacher to student ratios. We have giant schools where it's nearly impossible for teachers
and students to create the kinds of relationships that encourage learning. We have a high unemployment rate. Oregon has the highest ratio of student
teachers to students. And out of 2,400 graduates of teaching, only about 300 have found jobs in Oregon this year.
My solution is! Build 50% more schools in Oregon, or at least in the Portland Metro area. Building the schools alone will employ tons of people
who build things. Like construction workers, electricians, and plumbers! Then, make small schools where students and adults don't necessarily feel like
anonymous figures shuffling around in an industrial complex. Then we can hire lots of new teachers and administrators. Also, I want the funding for these
schools to come from the federal government, and that they can't stipulate what to do with that money after they give it out. The decisions for how funding is spent can be
made by the parents, teachers, and administrators in each local school.
(To be clear, my opinions are pretty much a copy of what is listed in the Green party platform.)
And then we won't have standardized tests! And everyone will be brainwashed to be communists!
PS it's taken me a week to write this, because I started it a week ago but then I started following the Metro vote for House District 48 representative
between Lew Frederick and Karol Collymore on twitter. Lew Frederick won, and I was glad. It was then that I understood that twitter was so effective at transmitting real time
events. And then I realized that I was in the future, and that I was reading what is happening in the world off of a computer screen, just like in the Matrix.
And then I put on a leather trench coat, and some sunglasses, and I flew to school.
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October 17, 2009
This is a brownie recipe that I love but I never remember it, and I have to call my mom on the phone and make her recite it to me. It's from the Klutz Kids Cooking book.
2 c sugar
1 1/4 c flour
4 eggs
3/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
1 c butter
1/4 tsp salt
350 degrees
Grease pan
Melt butter, mix cocoa & sugar in a bowl and stir it into the butter
Add eggs & vanilla
Add flour & salt
Mix til smooth
Bake for 45 minutes
Now it is October. I realize I haven't really done a very good job of writing on this website for a while (again), but also, I'm sorry to report:
I've become a victim of Web 2.0. Twitter AND Tumblr have become places where I put things on the internet. Actually: Halt that. I don't want
to be a victim - that's not the person I want to be. I'm rather going to say that as much as I love coding text files, saving them, dragging them into Fetch,
and having my website update - I really also love that I can send a crappy photo of
Zac Efron faces from my cell phone to Tumblr and
it will simultaneously put out a Twitter post to just tell Everyone Possible that it's happening.
Today it's raining. I'm going to have lunch with my grandma at Rose's by Lloyd Center. I haven't seen her in forever.
Then, later? I hope to see my brother and go see Where the Wild Things Are and maybe we will cry because it will be So Beautiful. He is taking
a video editing class at PCC this fall and I really want to make a movie with him where we replicate this flood that happened in Champoeg in
the 1860s. It was so big and sudden in the middle of the night that everyone had to evacuate their houses super quickly and they didn't have time to put out their candles - and then, standing up at the top of a hill they saw their houses floating away in the night, and at Oregon City, they saw
these houses floating down the river and go over a waterfall still with the candles and lanterns lighting up their insides! So I have been wanting
recreate that, and have it be beautiful. I wonder how hard that is.
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