RJA #15b: Reflection on What You Learned

I learned so much this semester. I've written plenty of papers prior to this class but had no idea about some of these websites that my teacher showed us this semester. I was a big Google person and now I know about plenty of other search engines that are just as good. I also became a lot more familiar with the auraria library website, like the databases and checking out books online. I was not familiar with a blog and never really knew what the purpose of it was. I will definitely continue to use my delicious account it is a great website and is very helpful. I have learned so much more about MLA format which will be good for me in the future because I know I will be writing more papers throughout college. This class has really taught me a lot and I'm glad that I have learned so many new things that I can use in the future.

RJA #15a: Word Cloud

This is my link to my word cloud http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1405875/Home_Schooling_vs._Conventional_Schooling

RJA #14: Annotated Bibliography, Part 2

Oak, Manali . "Why is Education So Important?." Buzzle.com Intelligent Life on the Web N.p., 30 May 2008. Web. 6 Nov. 2009. .

Manali is a software engineer. He spent time in the software industry as a developer, since than he has been writing because that it what he has a passion for. This article gives a clear explanation on what education is and why it is so important. It gives examples of the positive things that can happen with an education and how by having an education it can open many doors to great things in life. Manali discusses that education is important for the economic growth of a nation and people need to have education in order to be successful.

Smith, Michael. "Home-schooling Popularity Grows." Washington Times (2009). LexisNexis. Web. 27 Sept. 2009.

Michael Smith is the president of the Home School Legal Defense Association. Home School Legal Defense Association is an organization which protects the rights of parents who choose home education as their way to satisfy compulsory attendance law in the various states and Canada. Michael discusses how more parents are recognizing the need for more parental involvement. The article discusses how home schooling will continue to grow because it is much easier today than it was five or ten years ago. Michael includes how home schooling parents can shape their education to fit the needs of their child. Every parent wants to see their child succeed and more and more parents are noticing the positives that can come out of home schooling.

"Advantages and Disadvantages of Home Schooling." Teens Health from Nemours N.p., 2009. Web. 7 Oct. 2009. .

Nemours is one of the largest nonprofit organizations which is devoted to children's health. Nemours also supports important clinical research through scientific advances into practical ways to improve health care for children. This articles on this site are all created by physicians, writers, editors from Nemours Foundation's Center for Children's Health Media. This article talks about why parents home school their children and how home schooled children can learn just as much at home as they would in regular schooling. It also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of home schooling. Home schooling may not provide the convenience of school facilities, like the gymnasium or the science lab. Home schooling children can benefit from the one-on-one attention. This article gives both the positives and negatives between the two.

"Education: Types of Schools." Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law. Ed. Shirelle Phelps. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 527-531.Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Auraria Library. 22 Oct. 2009 .

The Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law fills a gap between legal texts that focuses on the theory and history behind the law and guides dealing with the law and the everyday effect on citizens. The encyclopedia includes descriptions of each issues historical background. It also covers important cases and profiles of U.S. laws and regulations. This section of the encyclopedia discusses education, the types of schools. It went into the background of education and talked about public, private, and parochial schools. It also discussed home schooling. All of them having some similarities and differences.

"Public School Advantages." Public School N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2009. .

The information collected through this website is used to improve systems to help other business partners and clients to help with their own marketing. This article goes into the advantages of public schooling and how public schools are ran by the government which means there is no tuition. Average families usually send their children to pubic schools. Public schools are very common and are found everywhere compared to private schools. So many parents have put their trust into public schools because there are many students who are enrolled in public schools.

"Advantages/Disadvantages of Public Schools." Educational Gateway N.p., 2008. Web. 11 Oct. 2009. .

Educational Gateway is a website resource for parents who want to provide the best education for their children. Educational Gateway provide articles with tips and advice on topics that may be a concern with parents. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of public schools. It discusses how classrooms can be large and there can be less individual attention but at the same time this environment exposes students to different social economic backgrounds. With public schools there are positives but with these positives comes negatives as well.

"The Many Benefits of Home Schooling." Tools for Learning N.p., 2007. Web. 11 Oct. 2009. .

Tools for Learning is a website directed by Richard Keir, PhD. He has worked in clinical psychology and many of his activities involved training and workshops. The Tools for Learning goal is to find and present articles, resources, and programs that will help gather information to become more familiar with certain topics. This articles goes over a few of the benefits of home schooling such as the religious home school curriculum. individualized learning, and the parent child relationship. It discusses how home schooling can benefit both the home schooled child and the children in public school because the number of children who attend public school is lower when more children are home schooled. A teacher can spend more individual attention with more students.

Chen, Grace. "Public School vs. Home School." Public School Review N.p., 30 Apr. 2008. Web. 4 Oct. 2009. .

Public School Review is a website that provides free, detailed profiles of USA public schools. The site evaluates schools relative to each other. It also evaluates state-wide averages for several things such as student teacher ratio. This article presents a very clear view on both home schooling and public schooling. It talks about the home environment vs. the school environment. Home environment being the more safe and calm place while the school environment is more about the importance of socialization. The article compares home curriculum and school curriculum. This article presents both sides very well leaving it up to the parents to decide what is really best for their child.

Chen, Grace. "Parental Involvement is Key to Students Success." Public School Review N.p., 25 Mar. 2008. Web. 12 Oct. 2009. .

Public School Review evaluated state-wide averages for several things such students teacher ratio. It provides detailed profiles of USA public schools. It can be helpful for families who just moved to an area and want to know the ratings of a particular school. This article goes over how important it is when parents are involved in their children's lives. Research has shown that students achieve more in school when parents are involved in their education. It provides tips that parents can use to become more involved. By staying involved and being apart of their education it provides the parents with the satisfaction of making a difference in their child's education.

"The Pros and Cons of Different Types of Schooling." Extreme Intellect N.p., 2009. Web. 3 Sept. 2009. .

Extreme Intellect is a website for anyone who is interested in IQ intelligence or to increase knowledge for personal reasons or for students. This page gave a list of all the different types of schooling such as home schooling, private schooling, and public schooling and than described the pros and cons of each one. It was a good list to look at and also a good starting point for anyone who was wanting to know the differences and similarities between the three types of schooling.

Selakovich, Daniel. Schooling In America: Social Foundations of Education. New York: Longman Inc., 1984. 144-247. Print.

Daniel Selakovich is a professor of education at Oklahoma State University. He has directed the social foundations program since 1967. His book talks about the importance of socialization. The book talks about how the school has become a major agent of socialization and this environment is what links the child to the society. I also read about a couple of studies, one studied showed that the more time spent with the student the higher his or her achievement was. The book discussed what it takes to make a good quality teacher. The book has a lot of good information with important concepts to understand.

RJA #13b: Annotated Bibliography, Part 1

Smith, Micheal. "Home-Schooling Today: Programs to suit needs of students." Washington Times 2009. LexisNexis. Web. 27 Sept. 2009.
Michael Smith is the president of the Home School Legal Defense Association. Home School Legal Defense Association is an organization which protects the rights of parents who choose home education as their way to satisfy compulsory attendance law in the various states and Canada. Micheal Smith discusses how more and more parents are recognizing the need for more parental involvement with their child's education. This leads to the consideration of homeschooling as an alternative. He discusses the benefits to homeschooling and believes homeschooling is very beneficial for children. The author provides a good article to help parents who are considering homeschooling.

Cox, R. S. (2003, January 17). Home Schooling debate. CQ Researcher, 13, 25-48. Retrieved November 15, 2009, from CQ Researcher Online, http://0-library.cqpress.com.skyline.cudenver.edu/cqresearcher/cqresrre2003011700.
Rachel S. Cox is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C. She has written for Historic Preservation magazine and other publications. She graduated from Harvard College in English. In this homeschooling debate the author brings up very good points about both homeschooling and conventional education. Advocates of home school say it is the best way to assure a high quality education while critics argue that removing children from public schools threatens democracy. Critics also believe that it keeps students away from other students and adults from different social economic backgrounds. Rachel discusses this criteria in a very detailed explanation of both sides, depending on one's views will determine which they believe is better.

Hill, Paul T. "Home Schooling And The Future of Public Education." Peabody Journal of Education 75.1/2 (): 20-31. Web. 16 Nov. 2009.
Paul T. Hill is the John and Marguerite Corbally Professor of Public Affairs at the University of Washington-Bothell and director of the Center of Reinventing Public Education. His work focuses on reform of public elementary and secondary education. The article discusses homeschooling and what it looks like for the future of public education. Paul Hill talks about the public school system and how home school parents do not like the system and how certain things are being done. Homeschooling will limit public school enrollment which reduces the amount of money the state provides, this being one example of the harm that is being done to public school education.

Haverluck, Michael F. "Socialization: Homeschooling vs. Schools." CBN News CBN, 2 May 2007. Web. 3 Nov. 2009. .
Michael Haverluck writes for CBN news which is national/international, nonprofit news organization. Michael Haverluck discusses socialization, between homeschooling and conventional schools. Many people believing that homeschooled children do not get any type of socialization. The parents would rather extend their everyday classroom and take them to visit places like museums, city halls, national parks, and colleges where they say real community interaction is made. There are alternatives that are positive for homeschooled students.

RJA #13a: Field Research Report

I work at a school and I do the before and after school program. So I decided for my field research that I would go observe a class for a day so that is what I did. I went and observed a fourth/fifth grade class with a teacher I know who teaches there. I brought a notebook and a pen with me and watched for certain things in the classroom. I looked for the student teacher in interaction along with student to student interaction. I also looked to see if the teacher assigned group activities/work. I also looked to see if the teacher tried to bring all her students together when teaching something or when asking questions. I also looked to see if the more quiet students interacted with the teacher if needed or even his or her peers. These were all important because socialization is key in my paper.

RJA #12b: Presentation Plan

I plan on doing a brief outline on my topic. Not going into complete detail but summarizing the main points of my argument and depending on how many slides this covers I may also talk about the other side of he argument. My topic is homeschooling vs. conventional schooling and which is more beneficial. I am more for public schooling but I am also going to support homeschooling for my specific reasons. So these will be my main points in the paper.

RJA #11c: Thesis Statement Check

I checked two of my classmates thesis statements:
http://missylewis.blogspot.com/ Missy
http://janeparksblizog.blogspot.com/ Jane