Mr. P

Mr. P

Monday, March 22, 2010

Health Care Bill

I do not have much time to discuss the Health Care bill as I am writing this as break to a paper that I need to write for one of my classes. I did feel though that I should mention a few of my first impressions on the subject and what I saw from the vote on Health Care.

First off is the fact that the vote was almost 100 percent by party lines. George Washington mentioned in his farewell address that he never spoke but only wrote, that he warned against the creation of parties. Now I am someone that does feel that parties are needed to create some competition and different opinions I also feel that in situations like this it is a very negative thing. Health Care is a topic that should not be voted fully upon party lines as their are so many parts to the bill. Its not just about what and how it will be covered but with it being a very big bill I feel that in a real vote more people would of voted the other way either yes or no depending on how they voted. Why did they not, because sadly in politics if you go against your party you often commit political suicide and with an election coming up soon this was not what they wanted as politicians.

Secondly, I have thought all a long and it has been shown by the lawsuits coming from the states, I am wondering how it is even constitutional. In the constitution it states and I paraphrase, that whatever is not in the constitution is left up to the state to decide on how its ran. Even education which seems to be federally ran has differences as you go from state to state. So it will be interesting to see what happens with these lawsuits and I know that if I was a supreme court justice I would find it unconstitutional. Along these lines how are other pieces of legislation even constitutional such as No Child Left Behind. Anyways...

Lastly, I find their to be one positive from this Health Care Bill and I will be agreeing with Glen Beck which I find to be way to passionate most of the time. That is that finally people will realize that conservatives are right. President Obama has many attributes of socialism. This has been negated many times by the media and democrats but I find no way that conservatives can be debated on the fact that this bill is a sign of socialism. That is a strong word but really in no other bill ever that I know of requires us to sign up for insurance. Where is the freedom of choice I ask.

So lets hope that people do realize this sickening reality and that in 2012 things go the elephants way. In a perfect world, the bill will be found unconstitutional and will be scratched.

I am not saying that any type of Health Care Reform is bad but I am saying that any that takes away my choice of even insuring myself (which I will do) is not good.

I think Alabama winning the National Championship in College Football is a good sign, (The Rise of the Elephant!!!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Principal El and Love the true educator

Being a future educator I always am looking to learn from those who have experienced much in the education field. For two of my education classes I was offered extra credit to go and listen to a guest speaker from Philadelphia. The only problem is that I would have to get off work one hour early and so I debated is the extra credit worth the money. Let me tell you that YES it was well worth the money.

Principal El is a principal for a high school in the inner city of Philadelphia. He grew up and went to the same school as a child and can remember more kids getting murdered each year than those who would go onto college. With a mom that always pushed him he graduated in communications and than felt that he needed to go back and teach. Many people are so grateful that he did.

With the passion and love for the children he associates with he has helped his school become one of the best schools in all of America. His experience is truly amazing and it really helped me realize why I want to become a teacher. Some of my favorite quotes from his presentation include...

"Believe in them until they begin to believe in themselves"

"Discipline is a form of love"

"Smart is not something that you are but something that you can become"

"It is so important to be in touch with your mission as a teacher"

"Leadership is about service, if you don't serve you cant lead"

"Teamwork makes the dream work"

"Their is unity in diversity" and my personal favorite

"I love them before I meet them"

All of these quotes were just part of his overall message of how to help the students. He was such an inspiring many and if I could describe it in one word it would be LOVE. In my multi cultural class we discussed the differences of cultures and I have realized that the one part of education that can be the same across all the world is if LOVE is shown. Principal El showed love and I could even feel that he loved me and he did not know who I was.

His success is simply amazing when you think about it. He started coaching the chess team when he first moved to the school and amazing things happened. Even though he did not have a strong history of chess he helped the students understand how it worked. In his chess teams very first year they traveled to a huge tournament in New York that had amateur players from across the world. That included college kids from Ivy league schools.

In this very first tournament one of his kids from the inner city beat a kid from the Bucknell University Chess Team. With all the success that his kids had they were invited to dinner at a very expensive hotel. He had one rule for them. Nothing inside the hotel leaves the hotel. He expressed the fact that some of these kids had never had a steak in their lives and had the opportunity to eat anything they wanted to on the menu.

His chess teams have gone on to win the national championships 8 different times for high school and lets remember that they are form the inner city ghetto. That simply did not matter.

One other great story he told was about being able to go to the first college graduation of one of his students. The quote "Rather go to Jail than to Yale" was popular in the school and he changed this thought. Having a kid graduate from college let alone high school was amazing for this area.

With the love that he has shown most importantly by example he has been able to create a success story that most anyone would love to read about. Luckily we can watch it. Disney is making a movie about his story soon and Principal El will be acted out by Will Smith. I cant wait to watch it and see in action the great man that I was honored to meet.

I just hope that I can be an educator half as good as he was.

Also check out his website at principalel.com

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Spring is in the Air

Spring is one of the most amazing seasons as it fits somewhere in the top 4 ranks of top seasons. I will explain why I love it so much though. BASEBALL is upon us.

I simply love spring training and feel that it needs to be broadcast more. As I watch and listen to ESPN I hear almost everything their is about the NFL. Sam Bradford's shoulder is probably the most talked about body part ever going into the NFL draft. I do love the NFL but this time should be more about the true American game.

I care more about how Cliff Lee, Roy Holliday and Johny Damon are fitting into their new teams. I care more about who the Giants 5th starter is going to be. How Aubrey Huff is going to fit into the Giants line up and also if Timmy is ever planning on cutting his hair.

Basically the SF Giants are my team and I love checking the website daily.

The NFL is overrated in March and needs to wait a few months. Lets go BASEBALL

Sorry for the lack of posts these last 2 weeks as I have had midterms in all my classes. I have some ideas and will get them posted soon.