In Wagner's article " Rigor Redefined," he talks about schools not preparing their students for 21st century careers and citizenship.

Most of my teachers at Arapahoe High School talk about teaching us for jobs that don't exist yet. Thinking about this subject may be weird at times, but it is true. Us students have many ideas in-mind for future careers. The truth is, we might have a complete different idea if/when these "non existent" jobs become available.

Ideas like having an imagination, being a critical thinker or collaborating with others are going to be essential in the future. Even though we use these three ideas through out the school day, they will be used even more in the years to come. This may sound weird but most students don't realize we are being taught content that will be useful in the years to come, NOT now. Unlike our parents, that were taught content that was used when they were growing up, we are being taught content that isn't as useful right now. My teachers say, "most of the content being taught will be used later in life." So, just like Wagner said, " Even the "best" schools are failing at preparing students for 21st century content" because we just don't know what to expect in the future.

Media, People, and H1N1

While reading an article called,"1 in 4 hospitalized swine flu patients put in ICU" I began to think... Does the media influence the way the world reacts about the H1N1 virus? This strand of flu has clearly cause an epidemic, but is it really as bad as it sounds?

The experts said,"One quarter of Americans sick enough to be hospitalized with swine flu last spring wound up needing intensive care and 7 percent of them died, the first such study of the early months of the global epidemic suggests. That’s a little higher than with ordinary seasonal flu, several experts said." People all over the world are being affected by the H1N1 strand. We never hear about the number of cases from Indonesia, or even Europe. If we never hear about the cases from around the world, then why does it become the top story on the news?

If the numbers show that the it is a little worse than the seasonal flu, then why does this strand receive so much attention? I understand this is such a rare strand, but I think it receives a little too much attention. I am yet to catch the flu, seasonal or H1N1, but it is my understanding that our school, Arapahoe, has come within a few cases of being shut down. It has been so severe than the district installed "state of the art" foaming hand sanitizer dispensers in every classroom. The hand sanitizer works, but only for those who use it. Anyway, I understand this is sparking a hug debate with the vaccine coming out so I pose this question, Do you think the media influences the way we react to the Swine Flu?

Does Plaxico Burress Really deserve 2 years?

An MSNBC article published by the associated press, talked about Plaxico Burress kissing his son, pregnant wife, grand-father, father and stepmother good-bye before being taken away. My question is, does he really deserve this much time behind bars? I understand the gun wasn't licensed. But, if he shot himself, wouldn't that be different than him shooting other humans? People shoot themselves everyday and they don't have to spend 2 years in jail. If they don't, then why should Plaxico? Just because he is an NFL super-star, doesn't mean he needs to be punished harder. Burress's crime wasn't nearly as bad as Michael Vick's. Having organized dog fights is much worse than accidentally shooting yourself. Being sentenced to 23 months for dog fights? Shouldn't it have been longer? Plaxico Burress was sentenced to a month shy of that and what he did wasn't as bad. Controlling dog fights is crazy. They are living creatures. ALL living creatures should be given the same respect as humans. Unlesss in a life or death situation, ALL animals MUST be treated with respect. Did Michael Vick treat the dogs with respect? Absolutly not! He should have deserved more than 23 months for that. If it weren't a celebrity that committed that crime, they would have been sentenced to 5 years! Just because he is a celebrity doesn't mean that he isn't exactly like all the other humans in this planet!

If Plaxico Burress is reinstated into the National Football League, then the organization is out or control. Would you want convicts playing in a professional sport with guy who know what self control is? I know i wouldn't. If you were to read about what Micheal Vick did and compare it to Plaxico's case, you will find his sentence a little "over done." So, what do you think, did Plaxico Burress deserve 2 years behind bars?