Tag Archive for 'education'

Summertime Traditions

Published on July 16, 2009 in Computer Academy and Dover Carnival. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .
Summertime Observations
Although I haven’t written about it this year, yet, I’ve been really enjoying my job at the Computer Academy, just as I have in years past. This year, I’m teaching children all day; in the morning, I teach a programming class, and in the afternoon, web design.
Teaching at the Computer Academy is very rewarding. I’m teaching topics that I’m passionate about, and the students, for the most part, seem to share my passion. After all, that’s why they’re there.
Besides, what could be better than a job where you get to teach children, while they’re still impressionable, that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is responsible for somewhere near 90% of the world’s problems?
Just as in years past, the Dover Carnival is happening at the same time as my four-week summer job. I attended last night. What used to be a full-fledged obsession for me has deteriorated to something between a nuisance and spectacle. I’ve been giving it some thought, but I can’t pinpoint what, exactly, has changed. Although there was the notable escalation of violence last summer, I assume that I have changed more than the Dover Carnival.
I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing; it’s just a thing.

Although I haven’t written about it this year, yet, I’ve been really enjoying my job at the Computer Academy, just as I have in years past. This year, I’m teaching children all day; in the morning, I teach a programming class, and in the afternoon, web design.

Teaching at the Computer Academy is very rewarding. I’m teaching topics that I’m passionate about, and the students, for the most part, seem to share my passion. After all, that’s why they’re there.

Besides, what could be better than a job where you get to teach children, while they’re still impressionable, that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is responsible for somewhere near 90% of the world’s problems?

Just as in years past, the Dover Carnival is happening at the same time as my four-week summer job. I attended last night. What used to be a full-fledged obsession for me has deteriorated to something between a nuisance and spectacle. I’ve been giving it some thought, but I can’t pinpoint what, exactly, has changed. Although there was the notable escalation of violence last summer, I assume that I have changed more than the Dover Carnival.

I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing; it’s just a thing. It’s interesting to publicly document my changing feelings for my Summertime Traditions.

Awesome Feedback

Published on July 24, 2008 in A Dover Dilemma, Computer Academy, Dover, Dover Carnival, Feedback and Ideas. 2 Comments Tags: , .

If you’re a Dover resident or a frequent visitor, you’ll find this post a particular treat. If not, it may be less relevant.

I’ve been so busy working at the Computer Academy and planning future endeavors that I haven’t had time to address the many awesome comments that you all, my readers, have posted. I always appreciate feedback, so I’ve made some time to highlight the recent comments on my blog. Individuals all across the spectrum have been leaving me their insightful thoughts, people who have been moving through my life this last year, and people who I have yet to meet in person.

Feel free to skip to the comments about the Dover Carnival Incident. If not, let’s get started.

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Day One, Year Two, Computer Academy

Rick (without a Y) wrote:

I was searching for the DCC Academy website and I came across this. Now I get to read up on Dover Drama! Woot! But if it makes you feel better, I was always blown away by how much Dover students were able to get away with. I subbed there for about six months (I think I subbed one of your classes once), and rarely did a day go by that my jaw didn’t hit the floor after seeing a student say or do something that I wouldn’t have DREAMED of doing.

I feel real old saying that, and I had to check myself before I typed it. Was it really that different for me? Or am I just remembering the good parts? That’s probably the case to a certain extent, but when a student jumps out of one of the windows in the middle of class and doesn’t even get a lunch detention… Well, something smells rotten. My mother vents to me aboutn it often.

Anywho, it’s good to have you in the program. Our approach seems to evolved into team-teaching, which is a fantastic method. Now we just pray that they all bring their parts in by Tuesday and it’ll be a perfect class.

-RT

Rick is the gentleman who taught the Computer Hardware class at the Computer Academy during the first two-week session. For those two weeks, I was his Teaching Assistant. We had a great time and got a lot of work done. I look forward to working with him again in the future.

It doesn’t make me feel better that it’s seemingly common knowledge about what “Dover students (are) able to get away with”. It’s just sad, really. I’m sure everyone agrees.

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AP Scores

Mike wrote:

Getting a 5 on either Calculus Exam is literally easier than passing it. For some odd reason, about 65 of the 110-or-so are necessary to get a 5 each yeah, though the results are always heavily skewed toward the high-grade end. The tests with more common results have about 10% 5’s, 30% 4’s, 30% 3’s, 20% 2’s, and 10% 1’s. Calc AB has about 30% 5’s, with more than 60% getting a 4 or 5. Calc BC is “worse”, with about 50% 5’s.

To me, this seems to be a grading contradiction on part of College Board. If I get a normal percentage score (earned/possible) of 80% on both my Calc BC and Language Exams, why do I get a 5 of the former, but a 3 on the letter.

That’s interesting, Mike. But, all tests have their own rules and curves – that’s just a part of life for an American mainstream test-taking student. I don’t mind.

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Kim wrote:

I’ve never seen a college accept 5s but not 4s. Granted I only actually looked into a few schools’ policies.

And the AP, like other College Board exams, is curved, which is why there’s a difference between the scores earned by different percentages on different exams. Whether or not that’s a good policy is another issue.

I saw a school or two who had an AP policy of only accepting “fives”, and I’ve heard of others, but they don’t really matter now. I wasn’t upset because I thought I wouldn’t get credit, entirely. I just felt that I had studied too long and too hard for the score I got; I was wrong, obviously.

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Reflections on the Dover Carnival Incident

J wrote:

Ricky,

I’m glad that someone is reporting about how the so-called “gangs” are popping up in this neighborhood. Quite frankly, I feel that this issue is being overlooked in our community, and I believe this is because nobody can take teenagers seriously these days. When people hear the word gang, they think of Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings, and so on. I believe that these “gangs” aren’t taken seriously because there have not been any issues. Until now. I believe the incident was a wake-up call, and it’s proof that something needs to be done now to prevent this from happening again, although it should have been prevented from happening at all.

Hello J! Welcome to my site; I encourage you to come back. Although I assume posting as “J” is to keep you anonymous, feel free to email me to claim your identity. I’d love to have a chat with you, really. This goes for any commenter in the community, always.

I agree with J’s contention that this issue is being overlooked in the community. I too have noticed that people have a hard time taking teenagers seriously. I’ve made it my last year’s work to change that perception, but there’s only so much one person can do in isolated incidents.

And really, if this vocal minority of teenagers keep causing public trouble, this misconception will never be changed.

If a Dover student finds the need to affiliate himself or herself with a “gang” of any type, it’s a sad statement on his or her life. That isn’t to say it’s his or her fault; the nurture side of the nature v. nurture debate comes to mind. All I know about the psychology of gangs comes the book Freakonomics and episodes of This American Life, which isn’t much.

These students should and must be taken seriously. They must never be dismissed as people not worth our time. That’s all I know – I’m not sure where to go from here.

…

John Morello wrote:

What a tragedy! The violent acts both immediate and brewing. To see a beautiful thing deteriorate like that…To feel helpless. Awful.

Thinking of you Ricky and wishing you and your community well.

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand; ”

THE SECOND COMING
W.B. Yeats

Despite the somber mood running throughout the threads of my website’s discussions recently, I was so glad to see John’s comment. For anyone who doesn’t know, John spoke at the Dover High School “Leadership Rally” earlier this year. I fought for several months to secure the funding for this normally-routine assembly to be held. The fact that John and I have been keeping touch after the ordeal is rather impressive.

Finally responding to John’s comment, I couldn’t put it any better. Watching something I’ve loved so much crumble in front of my eyes was painful. I appreciate your thoughts and wishes, John.

…

Christopher S. Penn wrote:

Dover is not alone.

As the economy goes in a capitalist nation, so goes the society.

My condolences still to the community breaking apart.

I’ve been giving this a lot of thought and I’m starting to think that Chris is right. My generation has grown up in a time of relative prosperity and safety. It’s only now that I’m starting to internalize that this can change, will change, and is changing. Knowing something and internalizing it are two different concepts.

Within hours of reading Chris’ comment, I had a phone conversation with one of my former history teachers. We talked about AP scores and the Carnival Incident. Not surprisingly, he said exactly the same thing. If the United States’ economy reflects the peace in Dover Plains, we’re in for a rough decade.

…

Meg wrote:

I agree with what you wrote. The carnival use to be a fun place to go and hang with friends, meet up with family and have a good time but this year it did feel different. Walking around with my 2 younger sisters, 9 and 13, I felt like I needed them by my side at all times. It never use to be like that, I could take them and let them go off with friends and enjoy themselves but this year it just felt very unsafe. From the mexican’s who stood around and starred and checked out a 9 year old as well as myself who is clearly very pregnant to the drunken teenagers fighting with each other, I just felt like I could have spent my money elsewhere. Its really sad but this town is slowly becoming a place I do not want to be associated with But how do we, and the town as a hole turn things around?!?! There really is no way and that is horrible. The event on Saturday was the last straw. I returned to see the fireworks like I always do and then to witness a stabbing only 50 feet from where I stood was incredible. I can not stop thinking of what would have happened had I walked that way a few moments earlier. We shouldn’t have to fear our town or watch our backs at a place that is suppose to bring joy and excitement. This year marks the last year of the carnival for me and sadly I think for quite a few others.

Hey Meg! It’s nice to see another new face around here.

I obviously agree with Meg’s belief that this carnival was tangibly different than those of the past, but again, I don’t have the answers for turning it around.

Regardless, I’m willing to throw out some ideas. We need to keep doing what we do. We must move through our daily lives propping ourselves up in society while never forgetting to help others. Over time, things may improve. If they don’t, I’m not sure if it’s feasible to think our actions can change the lifestyles and values of others. It may be, but I have my doubts.

I hope I will attend the carnival again. I look forward to writing about my joy on the fairgrounds sometime in the future.

…

Anne Castro wrote:

Why doesn’t the Dover community promote AA rather than open another liquor store? It has been to my observation that Dover and the surrounding communities are socially reclusive, impoverished, and in denial. Been here six years, can’t wait to move because there is no productivity or prosperity. I’ve been noticing that the general consensus of the neighborhood is “alcoholism, and compulsive television/video game involvement!” Not a very intelligent community, VERY LAZY.

Welcome, Anne! Yet another new face? You commenters have me overjoyed.

These thoughts are very insightful and I think there’s some merit here. I’m not quite sure how a community “promotes” Alcoholics Anonymous over opening another liquor store. Doing some research, I’ve learned that there are AA meetings in our community and in nearby communities. The open market dictates the opening and closing of stores, so any liquor stores that open will be regulated by capitalism.

You’re hinting at something that’s always disturbed me about the Dover Carnival, which is its dependance on alcohol. I don’t mind when adults get together for a few drinks in public, but I clearly saw my former classmates, those who I just graduated with, drinking during the four nights. I doubt they brought their own beer.

I had a chat with a coworker of mine today about Dover’s social problems, and Meg’s comment came to mind. We talked about shifting populations and the eventual influx of new residents as a result of future residential projects. Will these new populations, likely coming from wealthier districts of the nation, clash with the “VERY LAZY” community? Again, I don’t have the answers, but I bet that social dynamic will be interesting.

..

I love my blog’s community. I can always count on you guys to have an intelligent conversation that I can’t find elsewhere.

Job

Published on July 21, 2008 in Computer Academy and Tech. 3 Comments Tags: , .

I love my job.

The Computer Academy is a four-week program broken into two sections of two weeks. Over the last two weeks, I was a Teaching Assistant in a computer hardware class and a video production class. In the hardware class, the teacher and I helped a few talented young people build computers from scratch. In the video production class, another teacher and I guided similarly talented young people from brainstorming to shooting to editing a short film.

For the next two weeks, I’ll be a Teaching Assistant in another round of the video production class in the morning. An awesome change, though, is that I’m finally teaching a class in the afternoon – web design, something I enjoy. I’m certain that I’ll be learning a lot over the next two weeks, likely more than my students.

We’ll see what happens.

Day One, Year Two, Computer Academy

Published on July 7, 2008 in Computer Academy and Ricky. 1 Comment Tags: , .

Today was my first day back at the Dutchess Community College Computer Academy!

If you’re not aware, last year I worked a great summer job as a counselor and teaching assistant at a technology-oriented summer camp for children. Obviously, it’s a perfect fit for my skills as a nerd. I love comptuers, and I really enjoy working with children. During my time in high school, (Oh! – Those were the days!) I did oodles of community service working with kids at an elementary school After-School Program. I loved it, and likewise, I love this job.

I expected to be full-on teaching a class of young children about basic comptuer skills, but enrollment was low, so I was again asked back as an assistant and counselor. I’m doing a computer hardware class in the morning and a video production/podcasting class in the afternoon. So far, so good; I know I’m going to have a great time.

I’ll be working this job, full-time, five days a week, for the next four weeks.

Hopes and Fears

Published on May 15, 2008 in A Dover Dilemma and Dover. 6 Comments Tags: , , .

If you’re a Dover student of the past or the present, you definitely want to read this post. If you aren’t, I invite you to read it anyway, but you may miss some of the complexities of the topic.

I have dedicated my free time in the last few months to speaking out against Dover High School’s major problems. I’ve written about some of these problems in the past on the blog, but I haven’t spoken about some aspects. To catch everyone up, these are the two problems:

  1. Extracurricular activities are in a sad state of affairs. Although there are many successful activities right now, others are failing for two different reasons. Students seem to have no interest in several of the activities, but there are other activities that have a disgusting and unacceptable problem; many club advisors aren’t holding meetings or even trying to have a club. Even worse, no one is making them – there’s very limited oversight.
  2. Student behavioral problems are rampant. That is to say, everything changed this year after the development of local “gangs”. There are constant fights and rowdiness in school, especially in the lunchrooms. In my opinion, the school administration hasn’t taken the necessary zero-tolerance policy toward this ridiculous behavior.

I’ve been working my heart out on both of these problems. Let me explain the recent developments on this front.

After Dover’s Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent found the money to hold our traditional spring assembly, the Leadership Rally, Student Council’s new committee, Save Our School (SOS), set its sights toward the first problem I listed. We developed a list of recommendations to send to Administration to address the problem of advisors who simply aren’t doing their jobs. Administration took those suggestions into a meeting with the advisors, but from what I’ve heard, the main problem isn’t solved. There is no clear authority enforcing the rules for advisors, and until that is made clear, I won’t rest.

Dealing with the second problem is much harder. I attended my first Board of Education meeting this last Tuesday night in order to gain approval for a new club for the high school; this new club, the Green Team, plans to raise awareness about climate change and make the community greener. I’m very jealous that I won’t be able to participate in this noble effort. However, I digress.

At the Board of Education meeting, one of the members asked me if I have any perspective or opinions on the behavioral issues in the High School. Needless to say, I was more than happy to tell the Board how I felt. I explained the emergence of these “gangs”, who’s involved, and why I think they’re able to succeed in Dover High School – the lack of punishment.

I can’t singlehandedly change the direction that Dover is heading, that’s impossible. However, while I’m still here and able to have my voice heard – able to make a difference – I’ll try. Thus far, I think SOS has been successful in its efforts. We’re raising the awareness of the highest authorities in the school district that there is a palpable problem here and who is failing to respond. In response to my perspective, I’ve been given some deeply regrettable news.

After double-checking that I’m allowed to publish this development, I’m now able to divulge that a massive and sophisticated camera system will soon be installed in Dover High School. Things have gotten so bad that it’s now necessary to constantly monitor students. In addition to this truly depressing news, it was made public today that one of Dover’s greatest, youngest, and most popular teachers will not be coming back to Dover in September. I’m not in the position to say whether or not this has anything to do with Administration’s failure to respond to these two problems, but I’m willing to place a bet.

I have great hopes for the future of my high school. It’s natural to think that things will get better from year to year, that newer students will have more opportunities to grown and learn in school. However, right now, this isn’t the case; things are getting worse. My fears for the future of Dover High School are drowning out my hopes.

Can someone throw Dover a life preserver?

If you’re a Dover student reading this post, I want to hear from you. Please find a way to talk to me and tell me what you think about these problems. Anything you can offer helps.

The Computer Academy

Published on July 23, 2007 in College Admissions and Computer Academy. 2 Comments Tags: , .

I’ve been getting questions left and right about my new job, understandably. People are inherently interested in where and how others are making money. At the time of this post, I’ve been working at Dutchess Community College for two weeks at a function called Computer Academy. Also, at the time of this post, I’ll be working there for two more weeks.

The Computer Academy is a summer camp program for children interested in computers. It’s broken up into two two-week sessions, of which students may attend either one or both. I’m a Teaching Assistant, and I also work as a monitor while escorting children around campus. I’m really enjoying it, and I’m actually learning a lot. It’s some good money, and a desperately needed college resumé booster.