Poverty

I would like to suggest two alternatives for bringing some solutions to poverty. Next to the physical truth of the absence of basic things such as food, shelter, clothing there is a poverty that is of the mind, soul, and spirit. The barriers of the soul can be related from traumatic experiences, wounds from the past, or thoughts/words of curses of impossibilities. Behind the mental barrier is negativism, low self-esteem, fears and doubts that become giants in a man’s mind, this makes men live with a very low and miserable profile. Behind the spiritual poverty there is the separation and rejection of where a man comes from and where he will go. It can be summed up as the rejection of a creator. I consider that if in schools, centers of educations, churches, communities, and social medias would all talk about this these three points of view; the next generations would be more conscious to not lack these aspects, but recognize, identify them, and face them. Poverty of the soul, mind, and spirit concrete themselves in the absences of material needs. It is known that several of those who live in extreme poverty feel themselves as victims; victims of the society from where they live, victims of any environment surrounding them, victims of the government, and from their past generations.

People either have a commitment with their social lives, or a commitment with their personal faiths/beliefs, and some use both commitments for helping others. Several people could target solutions towards the poverty in their surroundings. There are many people with visions who want to bring prosperity, hope, a plan of improvement, and start weeding out a poverty mentality that is evident in people’s daily life. Anyone with the characteristics that I’ve mentioned can start the initiating step to gather kids from poor comminutes and continue with these groups small or big of kids for a specific time and with a determined work plan according to their needs. An example of a work plan could be for those who lack and have been damaged from the image of a father. If they are taught, loved, receive the care, and the healing of the image they’ve had of a father then they could be able to help others the way they’ve been helped.

In conclusion this method of helping get rid of poverty would be summed up as not doing just another social work, but having people/leaders with the heart for being part of a solution.
Anyone who is considered socially stable and not “poor” could be in these kinds of small projects. At the end these high class people would feel richer having planted hope and love in the hearts of the poor.

ADHD

     Let me start of by telling a short story; my mother was a second grade teacher at a school in Peru. She dealt with the different behaviors and personalities of kids. There was one kid who started losing concentration, couldn’t focus, and didn’t want to work. My mom and the school’s psychologists noticed this. This kid was diagnosed with ADHD; the first thing the psychologist recommended was to go under medication. A few weeks on medication there was a drastic change in the kid. He seemed ill; he wasn’t active or young-spirited as he was. He would hide himself under his books, lunchbox, and would always cover his face. When someone would talk to him, he’d never look at them and only would answer by shaking his head as answers.  Whenever he had any sort of interaction within his friends, he’d always turn out hitting or excluding those who weren’t his closest friends. Shorty, he started not speaking either; he became depressed. His parents were very concerned, so they took him to the hospital. He had to be in the hospital for several weeks. He was given several treatments and went through intense medications. When he came back to school, he literally seemed like a zombie child. He expressed no emotions, he had the expression of being miserably tired, but he could have any sort of panic attack so there was a nurse in the school that would be responsible of looking out for him. The little second grade kid who was energetic, but lacked concentration was now the depressed boy who was ill and considered ill amongst everyone. He lasted three days in school, having a panic attack once or twice a day. He left school and did not come back.
     What is ADHD? Well it basically is known as a disorder. 8-10% of schoolaged kids, especially boys are diagnosed of it. This simply means that these kids can’t sit still, have a hard time focusing, they have a hard time being attentive and or obeying what they’re told.
Nowadays people treat everything with medications. If one has a cold one takes medication to cure their illness, not their grandma’s natural remedies. That’s perfectly okay, right? I mean one’s pain is gone and they recuperate quickly. But aren’t there side effects? Of course, usually  pills heal/alleviate pain of/a symptom/pain, but what people don’t take in mind is, while it heals (or seems to heal) one thing in their body it is also harming something else; either one’s stomach, bones, etc. This happens with kids who are under medication due to their ADHD. The side effects that children will get are the following, underdeveloped growth, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, and other symptoms. There are two kinds of treatments that a person who was ADHD meds and therapy. I personally believe a child shouldn’t go through medication if they are said to be diagnosed with ADHD. In my perspective, therapy is essential for treating and actually attending, helping, improving a kid’s actions, thoughts, and attentiveness/concentration skills. Why on earth put a young child under pills and medication when a well-trained psychologist can help improve the kid’s life with the kid actually doing things/activities/talking/learning how to improve in the aspects he lacks. People obtain knowledge by learning/experimenting/failing/hearing advice/ facing their problems not by magically taking a pill. Most people say that ADHD isn’t real; they say it’s due to bad parenting. If ADHD is or isn’t real that’s not something I will discuss, but what I am concerned about is the fact that people are putting kids under the slave-life of taking medications when they can “act human” and learn how to dominate their struggles with the help of one who has more knowledge, in this case a psychologist/having therapies. 

Difference between public and private teacher salaries

How much a teacher makes is something most people who haven't pursued the career don't know, nor are interested in knowing. Since I'm going to live off of these numbers, I'll make an explanation and summary of what being a teacher looks like. For teachers who've just started, they obtain around $30,000 to $40,000. Throughout years to come their starting salary shifts and stays around $45,000 to $68,000 a year, in a public school. That’s a reality for only public school teachers. For those teachers who choose to work in private schools, make way less; around $10,000 to $20,000 less! Why is this? Well it’s because in public schools, teachers are demanded more; more jobs and tasks to do are required and there are less people willing to work harder; so there needs to be a nice recompense for their jobs. Private schools have fewer amounts of students in each room being taught by one teacher. This could be considered a benefit for the teacher because they deal with a fewer amount of students, meaning a fewer amount of everything; work, essays and papers to grade, and even dealing with less drama and conflicts. Private school teacher’s answer to their principles, and parents, meanwhile public school teachers have a huge load on their back of being responsible to answer to their principles, parents, and government. When it comes to the well-being of the teacher like their health insurance, public beats private schools. Typically, state systems offer a better coverage of needs for their teacher’s and their families. So what now? Why would one want to be a private school teacher if there seems to be more benefits from being a public school teacher? Well, public school teachers have accumulations of things to do, to hand out, and to explain; leaving less time to actually teach a class the way it should. A benefit of being a public school teacher is that you get to keep the “free” education system going on for those who need of an education and can’t afford to pay for a private school. Private schools are mostly religious and that’s a main reason why several teachers who share the same faith prefer to attend at those schools. Private school teachers actually teach and have a one-on-one interaction with their classes. This is why private school teachers tend to have way more experience on how to deal with kids/teens. In conclusions both private and public school teachers care about their profession and will thrive to do their best for the children/teens, but these are some reason why there is a big difference between the pay being received annually. 

Role of government in education

    Ever wonder what your child is being taught in public school? Did you know that the government and each state take major responsibility within the education being provided to your child? The typical education system that has been used all over the states has been available for all kids, (especially the poor, needy, and those with disabilities) the No Child Left Behind Act. Ever since Obama stepped foot in government he's wanted to change and implement a new system called the Common Core. The government has a major role in education because they provide all the curriculums and structure for schools, (especially public schools) but it's the states job to either accept and implement the government's upgrades or keep their education systems the same. 

   NCLB provides all children to be attended and able to go to school. NCLB, for some, is summed up as a program that prepares kids for standardized test; so it's like you're being taught to take that test. People could say that this Act doesn't give others freedom of choosing what they'd like to learn but rather are being forced to learn the topics being strongly emphasized (math, reading, ECT...). The government makes these tests and plan out the study material for the kids in these schools. Usually to those who aren't meeting the standard tests/quizzes/materials have more attention than those who do meet these standards. Then what happens, there is an uneven balance of studying for the children. Others, with different backgrounds and perspectives see this program as an opportunity for those who are needy and poor to succeed with good education. Preferably, in my opinion, I think NCLB is a way to motivate those families who lack motivation and dedication for their children to do well in school. With the Act, kids have a chance and it makes it so that they always have an opportunity, and if they stay in school they will go farther in life. While with the Common Core, if they slipped up they would just fall out of the system. In America there are thousands of families who are in need of jobs/money/education. Knowing this, parents don't really take importance if their children go to college or stay in school; so many kids slack off in school, with NCLB they are able to stay in school. 
   On the other hand the Common Core wouldn’t be as nice to kids within these situations. The Common Core was created when Obama stepped foot into presidency. There was a discussion over how low the standard student’s education is, so the government decided to create a system that allows all the fifty states to teach under the same curriculum. The Federal Government cannot force the states to follow a new curriculum, but it has been pushing its way through. Do the needy still not get left behind in this system? Do they still get help? Well, basically if a child doesn’t fulfill the Common Core’s standard tests (which is more computer based) then they’d need tutors (that requires money). Several children could consider themselves dumb or unable to work like the rest because they simply have a harder time in a certain subject, but what can they do about it? Common core is forcing those who aren’t as great in certain subjects to get good grades in those subjects. This system, for me, isn’t a system that helps a child grow but forces them to speed to levels that could cause anxiety, depression, or children/teens to think of themselves as less because they can’t solve something like a math problem. It is true that American colleges are full of International students, and most students who graduate from high school prefer to work in McDonalds than to pay for about 10 years to the government for their loans, but that’s because both the common core and NCLB need a better tactic when it comes their materials for teaching. Kids/teens should have the right to study what they’d like to pursue when they become older. Instead of extra tutors classes there should be clubs that help kids and teens work with different people and for different things that can enlighten them for their future. Most Americans simply don’t have the mind set of someone that should go to college because there isn’t that initiative with neither NCLB nor Common Core. Each state is responsible for what they teach their kids/teens, therefore there should be actual thought to combine common core and NCLB and see what happens as a result. If there is still that opportunity for children/teens to go to school even if they’re not the richest or smartest according to society, but a little bit more pressure to help those kids/teens to strike upwards, without feeling pressured to be as smart as everybody else, then everyone in the states will know that they’ve achieved the best education system. 

Some information about me

Hello there friend,

My name's Michelle, you can call me Michi. 

I would like to major in child development (psychology), or become a teacher. I love kids *if you didn't catch that*.

I've been isolated from the city for a pretty long time growing up. I came down to Peru at age twelve. My parents were/still are missionaries. I spent several years giving free English classes to 1st- 3rd graders in a public school in Lima, Peru. I also managed giving bible classes to kids around ages of 4-13. Funny thing is, I was 13 around that time... it was actually pretty awkward when I'd teach kids my age. It was very enjoyable though, I never felt more content with the feeling that I was actually fulfilling the purpose that God had planned for me.
Now, I'm a senior in high school. College decisions are sinking in, while most, if not all the students in my grade know what they're going to do or where they're going to go, I'm just patiently waiting for God to lead me to the right door. One thing I do know is that God's timing is perfect and all I have to do is have faith. My mom, this past New Year’s had a severe appendicitis complication, she was very ill and was stuck at home. After her operation dad had to work, so I was at home attending my mom. I learned several important things that marked me, "I took up the responsibility of a mother" you could say. I helped her by filling in for her job and I learned how not to burn food *chuckles*. I'm not the best with finances so I look forward for some help with managing how much I spend and how to prevent from spending too much (since mom would get frustrated when I’d bring back no change after buying food, haha) . Having my mom around is a huge miracle and blessing. When one is blessed to have loved ones around for a little longer, one sees life with a different perspective. I choose to see this economics course not as something that I'll find of unimportance, but rather see it as a chance to learn awesome information that can contrast with learning how to manage situations that deal with my desired path of education. My dream is to build a school someday. I’d appreciate this course giving me a heads up of what I should do to make it the best school I can make.

#YOLO