Journal Response #18

If I could change two things about my school campus, I would get rid of certain teachers who just don't do their job. In my 2 years of going to Castle Park, I have came into contact with teachers who shove a book in my face and tell me to learn. No instruction, no interaction, just silence or some times chaos, and worksheets that require no effort except copying. That has always bothered me because I always do excellent in those classes but I really don't learn anything and at the end of the year it shows on exams and finals. I would have teachers come in that love their job and won't spend a majority of class time telling their students about their personal life or hiding behind their computer. I want to learn and my fellow students, that are actually serious about their education feel the same. I understand that college will be a similar in some aspects but because this is a high school I feel that some teachers need to be removed in order for students to actually learn. 


Another thing i would change about my school campus is the people running it. The new principal seems to never be around. Always hiding in her office and never interacting with her students. So far since she has taken over- I haven't seen much improvement in my school. If anything I feel like everything as gotten worse, especially with the recent controversies tainting the Castle Park reputation. When I was a freshman i only heard rumors that Castle Park was ghetto. Full of cholos and teachers who don't care about their students. I was pleasantly surprised when i discovered just how wonderful the school actually is. High test scores, excellent teachers and students. Castle Park was in the news for their achievements, their awesome Saturday school program and now I only see scandals left and right. This school needs better management before those revived rumors become a reality. 

Journal Response #19

I strongly believe that attendance should be mandatory in school, with the few exceptions of being ill or having a serious family issue. Many students don't realize what a gift education is and what life would be like if they weren't put into school at the age of 5 and weren't forced to learn. I find it terrifying to imagine this nation without an education system that requires every child to go to school because those uneducated children turn into adults and though those adults may have skills or have been self taught, the majority would most likely be ignorant human beings. If kids in this generation had the option to go to school or not, they would choose not to. They would rather be playing video games or watching cartoons instead of being in a classroom and learning tedious subjects that might not interest them in the slightest. In the end, it would of course be their parents forcing them to go to school because their parents would know how difficult it is to make a living and how much more prosperous their children would be with an education that extends beyond elementary, middle school and high school. Years ago people were fighting for the right to get an education in order to get better lives right? Just like some people still do today though they are denied because of where they come from. If the masses of this nation were not educated, that would just be asking for a dictatorship in my opinion. The few people that would have an education would manipulate the rest and eventually you would just have a repeat of history that the masses wouldn't know about in the first place. Just looking at other nations shows how vital education is and how we take it for granted. Attendance should be mandatory in school because knowledge is power and whether people agree or not, we are nothing without it.

Journal Response #20

20.If you had the ability to talk to one species of animal, which animal would you choose to communicate with? Why?

If I had the ability to communicate with one species of animal I would choose cats because they are independent creatures that tend to roam around the neighborhood rather than just remain indoors or in a closed off backyard like a dog. They are solitary animals that probably witness a wide range of human behavior and hear much communication between their masters. I would be interested to know what the cat experiences everyday. What it does when it is not home and who or what it comes in contact with on a daily basis. Though they aren't gregarious like dogs, I would also be interested to know about the cat's companions and if it has any at all. Do they hang around other cats? If so, how do they communicate? What do the say to one another? Also cats are intelligent creatures, I would want to know to what extent their knowledge goes and if they understand humans or other animals. Personally, I would be more than thrilled to just have a casual conversation with a cat. Talk to them and know that they understand and respond though it could be quite troublesome if the cat has an attitude or turns out to be a complete chatterbox.