Moments in Time

I remember in class somewhere at the beginning of the semester, we took like fifteen minutes to brainstorm our topic and just put ideas and thoughts on paper. When I looked back at the paper, below are the issues or problems that I wanted to discuss in my paper. As the class days went by, I started really focusing on one main idea and what is listed below is the everything else that falls under the umbrella. As I think about what I want to write in my paper, the issues dissolve, but they are details that could be mentioned within the paper. I could say that they are details that can support what I'm trying to let the public be aware about. As I think about it now, my paper shifted gears almost. Since I am getting a better understanding of what I'm suppose to be writing about, I can gain strengthen what I have written on paper so far. If you look at the list below, these are problems that are occurring within the schools.

- cafeteria food: money issues, better food
- not enough teachers: new teachers do not last long
- violence/safety: security issues (ways of preventing fights and guns in schools)
- the concerns from parents - what are students learning at school? (grades could be a factor)
- what are the problems school administrators are facing? how are they dealing with these problems?
- are there any awards or rewards given out to encourage excellence at schools?
- is there anything schools are missing? (books, supplies, lack of funding, a need of teachers) student involvement (clubs, organizations, SGA)
- Memphis City Schools vs. Shelby County Schools (district vs. district)
- if students are learning, they why do we not see better results? (reports, school based reports, state reports)

I guess I can put the list to the aside as a reference. I noticed a quote that is an article on the Education Week website about the state making stronger and tougher standards for students. At the end of the article, Governor Phil Bredesen says that "what we want students to do is to develop their minds, and think critically ... and to be better assure that when our students graduate from high school, they are truly prepared." I like what the governor said since it is something I believe that teachers at schools are required to do since it is their job to teach. To further state what I'm saying, this is something (I believe) Wendy is trying to tell the class. We should think beyond the box and get in depth with writing and researching our topic. When we leave this class, we will be prepared for other classes we will be taking.

When I graduate from college, I will be prepared for a career and what the world has for me. If there is a major crisis going on somewhere, I should be able to think critical to come up with a plan or more than one if the main plan fails, in order to help save lives. Focusing one or more skills in life will not help us; there we should be able to accept everything that we are learning so we can be prepared. As stated in my rough draft, the mission statements of an individual institution will be the key principles of gearing towards a better education for the generations to come. It is important to make sure that we are getting the best education we can get.

To conclude, I think that I have found a different direction that I will attack this issue. I'm evaluating what I first wanted to do in mind; however, I'm just following the foundation and then moving on to building the walls.