I read an article from "The Rocky Mountain News" about a former police officer who was sentenced to 72 years in prison after killing two college students while driving drunk.
Patrick Strawmatt, age 43, will not be eligible for parole until he is 91. He still faces previous charged in which he eluded police, rammed a cop car, and punched a sheriff in the face. Stawmatts blood-alcohol content was 0.29 percent and he had five prescription drugs in his system when he killed Jake Brock and Jennifer Kois.
This article applies to me because I will be driving soon. Although the man in this story was not a teenager, many times fatal accidents involve drunk teens. This article shows how important it is to not drink and drive. Two innocent people were killed because one man decided to try and drive home after he had been drinking. People need to be able to make better decisions when it comes to driving. There are too many accidents in the world that are caused by drunk driving. If people would just stop and think, a lot of lives would be saved.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
PLN 5
I read an article from “Think: Lab” that talked about paying kids for getting good grades.
I think this could be both a good idea and a bad idea. The good thing would be motivation for kids who need to work harder in school. If they know they will get rewarded for getting an A in a class then maybe they’ll work harder to get one. I think this method would work for a lot of students because kids these days are spoiled and just plain lazy. If they would get money from doing a little extra work I think they would. This would improve their work ethic a little bit as well. It would be more like the real world because they would be getting paid according to their work. If you slack off in the business world then you will get fired and you won’t have as much money.
I think this method of getting kids to work hard could also be a bad thing. One reason is that some kids don’t have to work hard in school to get good grades. If we paid them as well it would be like a reward for doing nothing. They wouldn’t have to work hard and they might even do less work because they know they will still get money for their overall grade. The other reason is that if kids get paid for getting good grades in school, they will get used to being rewarded for every little thing they do. Pretty soon they will expect to be praised every time they do something right. Kids need to have their own goals and motivation, without bribes, to do well in life. They can’t grow up getting rewarded every time they achieve a goal or else they will be in for a huge shock when they enter the business world.
This article relates directly to me because my parents don’t pay me to get good grades, they are disappointed when I get bad grades. I think this is a better method because, I don’t know about you, but there is nothing worse than when my parents tell me they are disappointed in me. I think that this type of motivation is better because it helps you to get used to doing good work without being rewarded. Then when you achieve a real goal you can appreciate it and it will mean much more to you.
This topic applies to the world because I don’t think our future business leaders should grow up this spoiled. They have to be able to set goals and achieve them with no hope of rewards. If we let people know that they can still be praised without doing the best they can do then they won’t. We need people in charge of our country that are used to not getting everything they want. They will be good leaders if they grew up knowing that good grades and good work is what is expected of them.
I think this could be both a good idea and a bad idea. The good thing would be motivation for kids who need to work harder in school. If they know they will get rewarded for getting an A in a class then maybe they’ll work harder to get one. I think this method would work for a lot of students because kids these days are spoiled and just plain lazy. If they would get money from doing a little extra work I think they would. This would improve their work ethic a little bit as well. It would be more like the real world because they would be getting paid according to their work. If you slack off in the business world then you will get fired and you won’t have as much money.
I think this method of getting kids to work hard could also be a bad thing. One reason is that some kids don’t have to work hard in school to get good grades. If we paid them as well it would be like a reward for doing nothing. They wouldn’t have to work hard and they might even do less work because they know they will still get money for their overall grade. The other reason is that if kids get paid for getting good grades in school, they will get used to being rewarded for every little thing they do. Pretty soon they will expect to be praised every time they do something right. Kids need to have their own goals and motivation, without bribes, to do well in life. They can’t grow up getting rewarded every time they achieve a goal or else they will be in for a huge shock when they enter the business world.
This article relates directly to me because my parents don’t pay me to get good grades, they are disappointed when I get bad grades. I think this is a better method because, I don’t know about you, but there is nothing worse than when my parents tell me they are disappointed in me. I think that this type of motivation is better because it helps you to get used to doing good work without being rewarded. Then when you achieve a real goal you can appreciate it and it will mean much more to you.
This topic applies to the world because I don’t think our future business leaders should grow up this spoiled. They have to be able to set goals and achieve them with no hope of rewards. If we let people know that they can still be praised without doing the best they can do then they won’t. We need people in charge of our country that are used to not getting everything they want. They will be good leaders if they grew up knowing that good grades and good work is what is expected of them.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
PLN 4
I read an article in “The Denver Post” about an 18 year old kid that is being charged with careless driving after an accident on September 8th.
Jeremiah Ogden was driving in the car with three of his friends when he drove in front of a delivery truck. All three of the other kids in the car were killed. Ogden will appear in Jefferson County Court on October 25th. He is being charged with three counts of careless driving resulting in death and two driver’s license violations. Ogden did not have his license long enough to have more than one passenger in the car with him. He also violated a law stating that a teen cannot be driving between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m.
I think the main thing that matters from this article is responsibility. When you first get your driver’s license you have to be responsible and careful when you are on the road. Kids don’t really tend to think about laws and violations that they could be breaking, they just want to have fun. I think if more kids knew about how many people die every day in car wrecks they would be a little more conscientious when they’re driving. This story makes me think about what I will be like as a driver. I know that there will be temptations to break rules when I am able to drive that I need to resist. This article applies to the world because every day kids are out there driving and we need to do something to get them to be more careful. Too many teenagers die in car accidents in the world and they need to be taught to be more careful.
Jeremiah Ogden was driving in the car with three of his friends when he drove in front of a delivery truck. All three of the other kids in the car were killed. Ogden will appear in Jefferson County Court on October 25th. He is being charged with three counts of careless driving resulting in death and two driver’s license violations. Ogden did not have his license long enough to have more than one passenger in the car with him. He also violated a law stating that a teen cannot be driving between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m.
I think the main thing that matters from this article is responsibility. When you first get your driver’s license you have to be responsible and careful when you are on the road. Kids don’t really tend to think about laws and violations that they could be breaking, they just want to have fun. I think if more kids knew about how many people die every day in car wrecks they would be a little more conscientious when they’re driving. This story makes me think about what I will be like as a driver. I know that there will be temptations to break rules when I am able to drive that I need to resist. This article applies to the world because every day kids are out there driving and we need to do something to get them to be more careful. Too many teenagers die in car accidents in the world and they need to be taught to be more careful.
Monday, September 17, 2007
PLN 3
I read an article titled "Classrooms For The Future" by David Warlick and think that these ideas for classrooms in the future could be an excellent way to improve education.
In this article, Warlick tells how he is going to talk to a group of educators in Pennsylvania. The idea is to make the classrooms in all of the high schools in the state more technologically advanced. They would put laptops, imaging software, electronic whiteboards, and much more in each classroom. The project would take about $200 million dollars for the whole state which is one setback. Warlick said something in this article that gave me something to think about when considering the idea of these futuristic classrooms,
I think that this type of learning environment would be great for high school students because they are so used to doing things on their computers at home. Kids these days are very knowledgeable when it comes to technology so it would be an easy transition and it would probably speed up the pace of things in class. I think that we will eventually have these types of classrooms in most schools around the country. It would be interesting to see how it goes in just one state before they decided to go countrywide with the idea. This would make learning a lot easier because none of the kids would have to bring heavy textbooks home every night and, chances are, it would be a lot harder to forget to do homework. You wouldn't have to worry about forgetting a book at school because all of your class work would be on your computer. This would help me a lot because the main thing that I do is forget to bring home one of my books and then the assignment is late. If all schools changed to be like this it would make high school and college students a lot more ready for the business world because they would already be used to doing most of their work on the computer. There are a few downsides to this idea but all in all I think it would be a great improvement to our school systems in America.
In this article, Warlick tells how he is going to talk to a group of educators in Pennsylvania. The idea is to make the classrooms in all of the high schools in the state more technologically advanced. They would put laptops, imaging software, electronic whiteboards, and much more in each classroom. The project would take about $200 million dollars for the whole state which is one setback. Warlick said something in this article that gave me something to think about when considering the idea of these futuristic classrooms,
This type of project would require a lot of time and money. It would not be a small job to install these things in every high school around the state."It’s going to take stamina, enthusiasm, dedication, and hustle. And it’s going to take, perhaps more than anything else, imagination."
I think that this type of learning environment would be great for high school students because they are so used to doing things on their computers at home. Kids these days are very knowledgeable when it comes to technology so it would be an easy transition and it would probably speed up the pace of things in class. I think that we will eventually have these types of classrooms in most schools around the country. It would be interesting to see how it goes in just one state before they decided to go countrywide with the idea. This would make learning a lot easier because none of the kids would have to bring heavy textbooks home every night and, chances are, it would be a lot harder to forget to do homework. You wouldn't have to worry about forgetting a book at school because all of your class work would be on your computer. This would help me a lot because the main thing that I do is forget to bring home one of my books and then the assignment is late. If all schools changed to be like this it would make high school and college students a lot more ready for the business world because they would already be used to doing most of their work on the computer. There are a few downsides to this idea but all in all I think it would be a great improvement to our school systems in America.
Friday, September 14, 2007
PLN 2
I read an article in The Denver Post about CSAPs and how they will be looked at and possibly changed.
The CSAP (Colorado Student Assessment Program) has been given to Colorado’s students every year for the past 13 years. The Colorado Department of Education Commissioner thinks it is time to look at the test and see what changes can be made. They will look to see what students in each grade should know. The commissioner said that he does expect changes to be made.
This article affects me because we all take CSAPs in Colorado and they could change the test. This could affect me in a good or bad way. I went to a private school so I never took the test but I’m sure if it was changed it would be for the better. I think schools need to look at annual tests each year to keep them accurate and up to date. Kids are getting smarter and are used to electronics. I wouldn’t be surprised if they changed all standardized testing to be on the computer sometime in the near future. This article doesn’t apply too much to the world just because it is only for Colorado but it could help other states to make changes in their tests. It would affect Colorado because it would probably educate our kids better and give us a better understanding of what they need to be taught and what they already know.
The CSAP (Colorado Student Assessment Program) has been given to Colorado’s students every year for the past 13 years. The Colorado Department of Education Commissioner thinks it is time to look at the test and see what changes can be made. They will look to see what students in each grade should know. The commissioner said that he does expect changes to be made.
This article affects me because we all take CSAPs in Colorado and they could change the test. This could affect me in a good or bad way. I went to a private school so I never took the test but I’m sure if it was changed it would be for the better. I think schools need to look at annual tests each year to keep them accurate and up to date. Kids are getting smarter and are used to electronics. I wouldn’t be surprised if they changed all standardized testing to be on the computer sometime in the near future. This article doesn’t apply too much to the world just because it is only for Colorado but it could help other states to make changes in their tests. It would affect Colorado because it would probably educate our kids better and give us a better understanding of what they need to be taught and what they already know.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
PLN 1
The Denver Post had an article about a man from Grand Junction who drove his car off a cliff.
Police identified the man as 28 year old Chad Reiner, from Grand Junction. The man apparently was driving too fast on a dirt road through a spaghetti-squash field and drove off the edge of a 200 foot cliff. His car plunged downward into the Colorado River and landed upside down. Reiner never lost consciousness and called for help from inside his car. The amazing thing from this story is that he was not wearing a seatbelt. I guess it just wasn't his time to go.
This article shows mainly to be careful while you drive and wear a seatbelt. Nine times out of ten a crash like this would have been fatal but Reiner got lucky. People need to pay more attention to their driving, especially young people like Chad Reiner. We also have to care more about wearing our seatbelts. I try to wear my seatbelt every time I'm in the car but it is hard to always remember. I luckily have not been in a bad car accident and I hope I never will be. I think this incident will show people to be more careful as they drive and hopefully they will realize that it was a miracle that this man did not die from the crash.
Police identified the man as 28 year old Chad Reiner, from Grand Junction. The man apparently was driving too fast on a dirt road through a spaghetti-squash field and drove off the edge of a 200 foot cliff. His car plunged downward into the Colorado River and landed upside down. Reiner never lost consciousness and called for help from inside his car. The amazing thing from this story is that he was not wearing a seatbelt. I guess it just wasn't his time to go.
This article shows mainly to be careful while you drive and wear a seatbelt. Nine times out of ten a crash like this would have been fatal but Reiner got lucky. People need to pay more attention to their driving, especially young people like Chad Reiner. We also have to care more about wearing our seatbelts. I try to wear my seatbelt every time I'm in the car but it is hard to always remember. I luckily have not been in a bad car accident and I hope I never will be. I think this incident will show people to be more careful as they drive and hopefully they will realize that it was a miracle that this man did not die from the crash.
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