Reading for me is a chance to Escape, to Travel, and to Gain Knowledge.....
Ever since I was little, I have always loved sitting outside on a summer day, my nose deep in the pages of a novel, letting my mind float off to new places and to fictional magical worlds where the impossible becomes a reality.
Reading for me has always been a way to gain knowledge about the world and about different customs and cultures. I love to learn about other countries and languages, and through books, especially multi-cultural, travel guides, and language books, I am able to transport myself to faraway places without even having to step onto an airplane.
Reading also allows me to travel through time. Books,especially historical fiction/fantasy novels, are a portal to the past, where through another character's eyes, I can see what the world was like many decades ago, and the struggles people my own age faced during different time periods in history.
Mystery novels are my absolute favorite genre of literature to read. When I was little I used to read the Boxcar Kids Mysteries, Nancy Drew Mysteries, The Bobbsey Twins Mysteries, The Dana Girls Mysteries, and The Hardy Boys Mystery Series. Even today, every once in a while when I have the time, I will re-read one of the Nancy Drew novels I have already read, just for fun. These novels were crafted in a way where the reader is able to experience what being a detective is really like. The readers are also able to see through Nancy's eyes and are able to solve the mystery alongside her. Each book in the series is a suspense filled adventure where Nancy is able to track down and outsmart the meanest and cruelest of criminals. She has a brilliant mind and her skills in discovering clues are outstanding. Other types of mysteries I like are historical fiction/fantasy mysteries as well. I also like adventure novels too.
Therefore, books are the key to knowledge, and reading for me is a hobby that allows me to see the world, to discover, and to use my imagination ...............
The world of nature offers a writer so many opportunities and can provide inspiration when the mind becomes empty and thoughts run dry.
Reflected in nature are all the emotions that humans feel every day. For example: the pitter patter of rain on the roof, the gentle whispers of a silent breeze, the silvery rays of moonlight seeping in through closed blinds, the golden rays of sunlight that stretch themselves out as the sun makes it slow climb into the azure blue sky, and the flashes of yellow light that streak across the ebony sky on stormy afternoons.
Sorrow and happiness, anger and calmness are all reflected in the weather that Mother Nature sends to Earth. The weather can often times be the light that can help a person to start writing and to generate ideas.
The colors displayed in nature through the petals of flowers, the leaves of the trees, the swaying blades of tall green grass, the aqua blue sky above, all stimulate the senses and offer a way to capture one's emotions, by using the elements of nature to disguise the words a person may have a hard time expressing onto paper.
Nature is a way to escape ,and when the world is crashing down and it seems like there is no hope, a brilliant sunrise or a colorful rainbow can rejuvenate the soul, and is often times the invisible comforter of optimism and faith that can help to flip a person's emotions upside down, and make them realize that everything will eventually be alright.
Therefore, the next time you are writing and you feel the awful sensation of emptiness in your mind, take a look outside your window. View the painting that Mother Nature has created outside, and take a moment to breathe in the fresh air and cast your eyes upon the array of colors and images that are there. Maybe the smells and images within nature will trigger the light in your mind that will help produce the inspiration you desire when you are writing.
The last piece of paper that any teacher wants to be given is a pink slip. Those two words, "Pink slip," create an uneasy feeling in the pit of the unfortunate receiver's stomach. Those words also send a wave of nervousness through the bodies of the fortunate instructors that were by-passed. A pink slip can be devastating, especially for new teachers that just finished their first year teaching at a school they really enjoyed being a part of.
In the past few years, due to the bad economy, more and more towns have been turning to schools as a way to cut the amount of money being spent. Teachers have been issued pink slips indicating they are being laid off, and students are losing out on experiencing young teachers who have new styles of instruction to offer them.
Even though towns feel that schools are a huge part of the budget and that aspects of schools need to be cut, who is really benefiting from this?
In the world of today, teacher's are more vital than ever before in the lives of children. Students have greater pressures being placed on their shoulders every day with No Child Left Behind, standardized tests they need to pass, and college looming not far down the road in their future. Students need good teachers to support them, and to help them grow and develop both as individuals and in their education.
And with more parents worker longer hours to make a decent living in a household, many children are not practicing what they are learning in school at home. Even more children are not being taught the material and skills they should be learning from their parents before they even enter school. This makes the job of a teacher even more crucial in the lives of children. Especially for those students who live in dysfunctional families, where there are divorced parents, various home situations, violence, physical and emotional abuse etc... Students need good role models in their lives and they need someone that can lead them on the right path and provide them with the tools of success.
With teacher's being cut and materials in school being eliminated, how is this helping the next generation of children (many of which are struggling) to become better educated? If anything, the logic behind the town's budget cuts is taking opportunities away from students and is narrowing children's abilities to express themselves and to learn in various forms.
For example: At the end of my senior year of high school, the town I live in began to issue pink slips to many of the younger teachers in the school that weren't tenured yet. All of the students loved these new teachers because they had a style of teaching that matched the attitudes and interests of high school students. They understood how high-schoolers functioned in today's modern world. Many of the students in my school backed up these new teachers and tried to save them from being laid off, but in the end their pleas were of no use. Who benefited from this? The students certainly didn't. They lost out on teachers that had a huge impact on their education and made them want to come to school.
Another example is: In the same year, my town also restructured the schools so that there were k-2 schools and 3-5 schools. They did this in an attempt to decrease the budget in schools. But just think about this for a minute. All of the schools are still being used. How is this helping the town budget? They still have to maintain all the schools in my town. It would be a different story if they abandoned a few schools completely. But now the children in my town are not getting the experience of being in schools with third fourth and fifth graders or with kindergarten, first, and second graders. When having k-5 schools, the fifth graders could have reading buddies with the kindergartners and the smaller students had older students they could look up to as role models. But now this notion is gone. With the split in the grades, this is only putting more stress on parents who have to drive their children to two different schools, and on the students themselves, who have to become accustomed to new bus schedules, a new school, new classmates etc..
In today's world where there are so many "failing schools" with students who are below average in reading, writing, and in different subjects areas, and overcrowding in classrooms, how is cutting teachers and cutting materials in school helping anyone? It may be reducing the budget in towns, but isn't children's education more important? One day these children are going to grow up and they are going to be the future of America. They need good teachers and they need to be provided with materials that are going to help them to be successful and to make something of themselves.
I feel that schools should be the last place that towns should look to cut money because they are the most vital institutions. They keep our children occupied, safe, and allow them to explore, to discover, to think at higher levels, and to be intellectually stimulated.
Therefore, teachers are the key to the success of the next generations (in terms of education), and the "pink slip" is only eliminating children's opportunities and possibilities to be victorious in life.
Reading for me is a chance to Escape, to Travel, and to Gain Knowledge.....
