Paper 3

Public Education in America is, to put it simply, a mess. We are ranked 17th in the developed world for education, which is pretty frightening since all this money is going into a broken school system. In the beginning of the movie chalk, a quote appears, saying that “50 percent of teachers quit in the first 3 years of teaching”. Clearly something is not working. We have gone through several readings in the past few weeks of how to solve this growing problem, but I think ultimately we need a complete overhaul of what we define "success" as, how we measure it, and the class structure itself.

What is Public Education for? There are various opinions on that, I think what is is for and what it should be for are two different things however. I identify with an idea of an author we discussed about how school is ultimately an exercise in creating a group of conforming individuals who can fit certain, predetermined niches that "the system" has laid out for us. The system will toss aside students who don't fit well into this system and label them as "useless". They then end up with several problems later down the line, including poverty and then even more stigma attached to them later down the line. This is unacceptable.

Education in America should be about discovering student’s strengths and weaknesses, rounding them out, setting goals and pointing kids in the right direction regarding their ultimate niche that they decide for themselves, not what is decided for them. People who can get through the system who know what they are good at and where they could apply it would be much better off than children who receive a broad, shallow, punitive education that expects them to know what they want to do with their life at 16 and expects them to spend exorbitant amounts on a college education, since that is a common view of what success is. They spend more money on the school itself in some situations, rather than the education that goes into. On an episode of “The Daily Show”, Lewis Black talks about a school that opened up in California. "Half a billion dollars on a school? Did they build Los Angeles a Hogwarts?" Black said. "I went to school in an empty carton of Pall Malls!" There would be less debt across America if people did not just go to college because they feel as though they have to as well, and their time spent there would be much more productive.

So why should there be a change? Well for one thing, it is largely impractical to assume a student’s intelligence based on a bunch of test scores. Tests should not be assumed to be these perfect, infallible tools when they are definitely not. They do not take into account any situational influences that could affect a grade. For example, I recently read an article about a teacher being forced to administer a certain test to her elementary school students by the district. Many of these students were ESL, but the test was clearly biased towards white, native English speakers. It was testing on idioms that were often confusing for these Spanish speakers.

I believe another way we can help change our school system is buy changing the entire format. Kids go to school for 8 hours a day, plus homework. They are crammed with as much information as they possibly can in this time period to remember until their next test. Students could be placed on a system where they attend school for a half a day, with only 2-3 classes at a time. A part of the class could be blocked for lecture, another part of the class would be application and discussion. bell Hooks refers to this as “engaged pedagogy”, which “begins with the assumption that we learn best when there is an interactive relationship between student and teacher”. A small quiz could be done at the end of the period to determine if the students “got it”, and if they didn’t, an extra discussion could take place before lecture the next class period. I think this way emphasizes critical thinking and gives students time to process information without switching back and forth between disciplines.

Do you need another reason for a call to change? Standardized test companies often make ridiculous amounts of money by selling these new tests, all the money that is getting spent on buying these tests to measure an abstract amount of success could be used to hire more teachers and improve class sizes. Possibly these test companies could be sabotaging students and teachers so more tests could be ordered and made so they can make even more money. Privatizing the public education system in this way is incredibly detrimental.

The good of society depends on something being done to fix this. Apathy and judging the students and teachers as lazy, incompetent, or just stupid is only perpetuating this system.  

Some people are stuck on tradition. They are proud of the grades they made in their day, and they got into a good college and have a nice job with no debt. Well good for them, but it is a very different world now. You cannot assume that just because you had a wonderful experience in the public education system that everyone else did, especially if you are white and have parents that have moderate to high income. Privilege does not erase that the system is set in your favor.

"Well, how do we measure success?" some may ask. Success is a very individual thing. For some people that is being the CEO of a company, for others it’s having good interpersonal relationships and being able to get by independently. I’m going to use the definition of success as being capable and comfortable in the amount of money you are earning. A test score from the College Board is not going to predict this however, it is going to predict how well you do on a test. If we stop measuring students in test scores, and start measuring success in how many students can get jobs out of high school that can support themselves, that might be better (this also involves a overhaul of the minimum wage system, but that is a separate essay). It could be how many students manage to pick a major and stick with it in college, it could involve testing their stress levels.

Finally, some people are hell bent on believing that some kids are just stupid, and are doomed to fail. This could be because of the narrow definition of what success is, or because the education system is failing right now and people cannot seem to accept that its not the sole problem of the parents, teachers, or students. It may sound a bit elementary, but everyone is good at something, whether it be empathy or mathematics. John Gatto discusses this in his paper when referring to the “basic functions” of public education, including the “diagnostic and directive function…School is meant to determine each student's proper social role.” School emphasizes that the student is stupid and useless if they are not conforming or performing in the way that is expected of them. However, no one is useless, no one is untouchable.

I am not a teacher. I am not someone with a master’s degree in education, I have not spent time working on a school board. However, I am someone who went through the ringer when it came to public education, and there are clear failings to be seen that cannot just be blamed on the student. As Pablo Freire wrote "Those truly committed to liberation must reject the banking concept in its entirety, adopting instead a concept of women and men as conscious beings, and consciousness as consciousness intent upon the world. They must abandon the educational goal of deposit-making and replace it with the posing of the problems of human beings in their relations with the world."

Freire, Pablo "Chapter 2, Pedagogy of the Oppressed" Pedagogy of the Oppressed, New York, Continuum Press, 1993. Print

Gatto, John "Against School" Harpers Magazine, 2003. Print

Black, Lewis “On Education in America” Comedy Central, 2010. Television

Hooks, bell “Teaching Critical Thinking” Routledge, Print

Chalk, Film, 2006

My HS experience vs. Gattos ideas

My experience in high school was similar to Gattos in that I felt like I was being stifled by several varieties of the same stupid institution that bred conformity and lack of critical thinking among its learners. I went to five different high schools before I graduated. One was an online public high school, one was a "bad" school with a few exceptional teachers but the constant threat of gang violence and the apathy of teachers who were already looking for new jobs. I went to another in Texas that was snobby and felt like I had teachers political opinions shoved down my throat, a school on Cape Cod that was also snobby and inclusive, and finally another school in Texas that was too large to have any kind of real drama within the student population, but you were ultimately just a number to administration.

I definitely did see some of the themes discussed in Gattos paper, especially in the mentions of the "functions" of education.

I saw the differentiating function in action when I was trying to get into an AP government class in high school. My first 2 years of high school were spent being flung across 4 different high schools, and I had a hard time getting a solid foundation. Plus, it honestly is not very motivating doing school work when you know you are not going to get any credit for it in 6 months due to lack of communication or stubborness on the part of the school district. My junior year though I had an awesome history teacher who challenged me and and inspired a great love of learning, I ended up with a 99 average for the whole year in his class.

My senior year I was basically fighting to graduate, retaking classes that I had passed in other schools or just taking classes that I hadn't taken before. My counselor treated me like an idiot, and when I wanted to take an honors level class so I had at least one challenging class in my schedule, she ignored my requests after I bothered her about it for a month. I got my parents involved and they told them they denied my request but could not be bothered to at least let me know. My parents were very angry and finally got me into a honors level class about 2 months into the year. The school had decided that I was not competent even though my test scores were brilliant and my grades were great because it did not fit into the picture they saw my freshman and sophomore year. My counselor even laughed at me when I told her my plans to go to a 4 year school eventually, they were incredibly disrespectful of any idea that didn't fit into their norm.

Author ranking 1-5 (hooks, Gilyard, Aronson, Large, Boyce)

1. hooks- I ranked hooks essay number one because I felt like it was the most thorough and reasonable. Several of the other authors did not seem to have the same effect as she did and I felt like she made the strongest argument.

2. Aronson- Aronson made a very good case about the issues going on in these Arizona schools and why they were happening. Sometimes the truth can be uncomfortable but it is discussed in a very reasonable fashion.

3. Large- The article that included Larges thoughts was a book review. It discusses what the book is about "Grit", and how kids need character. It also briefly touches on attachment parenting, and how that helps children in the beginning, but kids need adversity to grow character. I felt like it was not very well rounded and that it did not discuss things very thoroughly.

4. Boyce- Boyces approach was through mindful thinking and empathy. While these are all nice concepts, I would love to see some science behind why he thinks this is the key to everything.

5. Gilyard- I ranked Gilyard last because it felt wistful for the good ole days without giving any reason for his position. He discusses the humanities being cut, and says they should not be, but gives no explanation as to why they shouldn't be, he just talks about DuBois.

How does each author support their ideas?

Jerry Large is an author who believes that early attachment, and a little adversity later on helps kids develop "grit" which is an essential part of character. He discusses differences in two different schools, one with a large amount of privilege and another with less privilege and the differences in their test scores.

Barry Boyce believes that empathy is the most important trait that we take to the job market, and encourages Mindfulness by using contemplative approaches. These feature "nonattachment,noticing our cognitions, and being able to find a spot in our heart and mind where we can see whats going on but not get caught up in it". This nonattachment can come about via meditation or yoga.

Gilyard is a believer in the Humanities, however I don't feel like he went too into depth with his paper. However he insists that keeping the humanities in schools helps promote a democratic and egalitarian environment.

Deb Aronson talks about the MAS program and how even though it was a good program, it made administrators uncomfortable and was cut, going along with many of the other racist events happening in Arizona at the time. Books were banned, and students rights were being violated.

bell hooks discusses critical thinking and engaged pedagogy and how it is important in the class room.

Group Discussion about Chalk with Comparisons to Freire, Gatto, Rose, and Black

In Gatto's "Against School", he speaks of students and teachers boredom and the structure that a public school environment enforces, namely conformity and teacher/student dynamic. We see this in Chalk when Mr. Stroop the history teacher pulls two students aside and asks them to dumb themselves down so the teacher does not appear stupid in class. In effect he tells the young male student that they both know he knows more about history than he does, and to the young woman to stop using so many big words. He does this because he has a huge ego, but more importantly because the teacher/student dynamic was being disturbed. 

In Mike Rose's "Resolutions we should make for 2011", he mentions that one idea that has been stated is to get "rid of the bottom 10% of teachers (as determined by test scores) and replaced them with teachers at the top 10% we’d erase the achievement gap, or leap way up the list on international comparisons". He then mentions that this is flawed because a students achievement is often proportionate to their parents income. We can see this in "Stand and Deliver" because of how low income the students are and how it is a challenge for them to rise to occasion academically.

In the Daily Show rant, Lewis Black discusses a misplacement of funds or a lack of funds. He discusses a new school in California that is extremely lavish, and it was built for 570 million dollars. None of the money actually affects the educational quality "Im pretty sure schools shouldn't be the nicest building you'll ever be inside, I went to school in an empty carton of Pall Malls!". In chalk there is a scene where one of the teachers is talking about how the volleyball team needs new uniforms, because they "cant go out naked" but they cannot afford it. Also, a running gag throughout the movie is the broken copy machine that doesn't work the whole year, presumably because they cannot afford to fix it. 

Friere believes that students are forced to conform and that the teachers are oppressors that stifle creativity, the teachers teach and the students are taught in a rigid manner. "Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor". Mr. Lowry was very strict and anxious in the beginning, demanding respect from his students when  he really had not done anything to earn it, like yelling and sending students out of the class. Over the year he starts to loosen up, he wins the Spelling Hornet and starts letting the students teach him and they open up to his teachings. 

What do I think high school is for?

I think high school is an awful babysitter for older children. I think high school is largely rehashed things from middle school with some electives thrown in to make the experience somewhat tolerable. High school is a way of delaying people from entering the workforce while forcing them into a box that makes colleges and testing companies lots of money at the expense of students finances and well being. High schools breed apathy and conformity whilst trying to establish a group of manager types to run the whole show. High schools should teach critical thinking, actual job skills, and not put students into boxes based on abstract test scores about how well their ESL students know English idioms. We need electricians, plumbers, nurses, and these are all fields that could be introduced in high school. We could offer more tech programs, even make them mandatory that way students can graduate with some kind of job skill besides filling out a resume with school clubs. This in turn could help the government by lessening the need for welfare, and that money could go back towards the schools.

I also think standardized tests need to be eliminated. My senior year of HS I had to take a Social Studies state test as one of many that determined if I graduated. Some of the stuff covered on this test was World Geography, a class I never took due to me living in California at the time and is normally offered to freshmen. They expected me to remember some random river names and statistics after if I did take the class, NOT REVIEWING IT FOR MORE THAN 2 YEARS.

WS 32-37 and how these pertain to P#3

This section shows ways to categorize things and how to show their differences. Some of these include Compare and Contrast approach, or a Cause and Effect approach. It also goes into how to make your argument in a clear and concise manner. This can relate to paper number three because we have to make a argument as to changes we would make to the public school system, as well as comparing and contrasting different materials that we are exposed to during the units period. For example I could compare and contrast Chalk as well as Gattos writing and put my own argument as to whether each is right, one is right, or neither is right.

What do Freire and Gatto agree on?

Freire and Gatto do seem to agree upon that our Public school system definitely has some issues. Freire believes that the students are oppressed, and I think Gatto believes this as well, however Gatto delves more into how the oppression is done and its roots in a Prussian system while Freire takes a more social approach.

Comparative essay final paper

I have had some great teachers. They were passionate, knowledgeable, and determined to cram that knowledge into our brains in the best ways they could think of. And then I have had others that cared...not as much. I have had quite a few teachers, especially after doing 5 different tours of duty at different high schools, but there are two examples that come to mind when I think of notable teachers in my life, and they very different people who I have very different opinions of. One was passionate, creative, intense and dedicated to his students and his classroom. The other was apathetic, lazy and mean to his students. They both stand as testament to how our school system can go wonderfully...or terribly wrong.

The first teacher, Mr. Scalia, was my US History teacher my junior year.  He was Cajun, loud, enthusiastic, demanding total attention of his students, and would often go off on hilarious rants at the beginning of class. One time I walked into class, and he was not there by the time the bell rang. We squirmed in our seats unsure of what was going on, when he opened the classroom door, and without a word, climbed on his desk, stood up and held a big bible. Then he started shouting and preaching like he was on a soapbox in the gilded age. He went on and on for about 5 minutes until the assistant principal decided to poke his head in and ask if there was a problem going on. It was hilarious and painted a very clear picture of the lesson ahead.  Mr. Scalia kept an open door policy and always had plenty of time for his students. I would occasionally come in early before class and discuss what we were learning, relative current events, and would just joke around. I learned so much just from those brief interactions, he actually gave me his copy of “Lies my History Teacher taught me” which was a great book. He also gave extra lectures occasionally during his lunch period to students that were interested and organized an optional assembly to listen to a WW2 Vet speak. Mr. Scalia, while fun and a great orator, kept a stern grip on his classroom. Noone really minded, since we were so engrossed in what he was saying, but the one time that someone did decided to act foolish, he quickly kicked them out of his class and had him put into a different class. He did not play games and had very strong opinions about certain subjects we covered, he did not tolerate racism at all. The fact that he was Cajun and grew up when the US was trying to destroy their culture and language probably contributed to that. When one student threw out a racist remark towards Cajuns (our school had a large percentage of Louisiana natives that came after Hurricane Katrina), he completely laid into him. They were both shaking when he was done, the kid from fear and the teacher from rage. It was awkward, but good to see him stand up for his principles.

The other teacher I had, lets just call him Mr. Black, was awful. He had dark hair and large, buggy eyes. He was tall and spoke with a hoarse voice, I found it was impossible for him to whisper when he spoke, it was always booming. He was quiet most of the time though, since he seemed to take a stance that since he was a coach, he was too good for teaching. He sat at the back of the room, chewing foul smelling tobacco and spitting it into a cup while he would have a student pull up the powerpoint he prepared and recite it to the class. After we had notes, we would have a worksheet, where he would scream at us to be quiet over and over again.  As students of course we would get bored of this and talk, or we would finish early and talk, and he would scream at us to shut up. He also insisted on using terms of endearment with the female students whilst still looking like he wanted to tear a hole in our throats, which was confusing and scary. We had a Special Ed. Teacher that would come in to help with teaching, but Mr. Black would just leave, so the other teacher had to actually be in charge. When this other teacher came he would  actually explain the material and help us learn instead of just having us take in information and spit it out. This teacher later confessed to his disliking of the teacher and how he had tried to tell the district of our situation, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. "Hes a coach, if he is going to coach he has to teach, so why not just give him to the 'dumb' kids anyways" is basically the message we felt we were getting. 

These two teachers had very little in common, if anything. Sure they were both teachers at the same school, but one of them actually wanted to be teaching while the other just wanted to bell to ring so he could coach the girls tennis team.  Mr. Scalia actually knew his subject, while Mr. Black either did not or did not care enough to bother demonstrating his knowledge outside of the artificial medium of PowerPoint. Mr. Scalia embraced the chaos of the classroom with his own brand of rambunctious energy, which in a way, drowned everyone else out and just left us watching the lecture unfold, while Mr. Black sat quietly in the back, screamed at anyone who disturbed the peace and indulged in his nasty habit. Mr. Scalia inspired greatness and challenged his students to do better, while Mr. Black had a "Do as I say or else" approach that inspires you to dig your heels in the dirt and cover your ears. 
Both of these were exceptional teachers…exceptionally great and bad.

Rough Draft of Essay

I have had some great teachers. They were passionate, knowledgeable, and determined to cram that knowledge into our brains in the best ways they could think of. And then I have had others that cared...not as much. There are two examples that come to mind when I think of notable teachers in my life, and they very different people who I have very different opinions of.

The first teacher was my US History teacher my Junior year of High School. His name was Mr. Scalia, and it was his first year teaching at this school (however he had been teaching a while at other high schools and was a professor at Virginia Tech and in Louisiana). He was Cajun, loud, enthusiastic, demanding total attention of his students, and would often go off on hilarious rants at the beginning of class. Once he had accomplished illustrating his tangential points (which were completely engrossing to listen to actually), he started talking about the meat of discussion, and history. He was never afraid to call historical political figures out in history, at one point he had a rant about why General Custer was an "Idiot" (he had been demoted several times for disobeying orders, and at the time he was killed he was doing just that again). He did not tolerate ruffian behavior from his students however, and actually had two students that year forcibly removed from his class and placed elsewhere. Of course, no one minded this, we were happy to just bask in his lectures. When the time for our state test rolled around, he prepared us well and the classes he taught actually had the highest scores out of any in the school, even the AP/Dual Credit kids. He was a fantastic teacher, and I wish to this day I could have another history class with him because of how honest and interesting he made it.

Eventually though, my Junior year comes to an end. I actually was on high school number 5 at the time as a result of being a Military brat, and my credits were all kinds of screwed up. Me and my counselor had worked out my plan for my senior year before, but she moved and a new counselor took her place who helped contribute to my misery for that school year, but that is a different essay. She decided to place me in World Geography, which is a Freshman course, instead of just having me take the course in my credit recovery class that I was in all year. I was mortified that I was going to be the oldest in this class, but I quickly resigned myself to it since I felt I had no other choice in the matter. For six weeks I was in one teachers class who was fair and cared about his subject, but clearly exhausted by the rowdy freshmen. As I was taking this class, I was also taking my Senior history class, and I had them switch me over to an advanced version since I was going to pull my hair out because of my classmates and the boring content. The awful woman in the office finally let me in after I hounded her for weeks, which screwed around my schedule some more and I was in a different World Geography class, this time with Him.

I do not recall his name, lets just call him Mr. Black, like the tar in the cup he would spit his tobacco into. He was a girls tennis coach, he had large bulging eyes, a loud hoarse voice. He was chewing tobacco constantly, and never actually spoke besides screaming at us to shut up. He would prepare a Powerpoint and have another student administer it while we copied down notes. Then he would give us a work sheet, then a quiz. Then the day was over. He demanded total silence all the time, however he never actually taught or engaged us, so of course a bunch of rowdy freshman are not going to care. We had one assistant teacher who came into the class about 2 days a week, and often Mr. Black would just leave and have the other teacher supervise. This teacher was actually a special ed teacher normally and knew how to handle the students better. The best part? He actually explained the content. You could tell that he hated the position he was in, and he had expressed subtle dislike of the man who was supposed to be running the classroom. It was sad though, when Mr. Black left, the students would come to him and have him help us prepare for the tests, explain things, laugh with us. I hope he is doing well.

I think a part of Mr. Blacks problem is that he did not want to be a teacher. I do not believe he went to college for education, he went to school to be a tennis coach. However, the High School I went to demanded that all coaches be teachers, so you had some very unqualified people teaching classes, usually the on-level classes since we were assumed to be stupid and not know the difference anyway. He was forced to sit at a desk and teach a bunch of kids he did not care about, teaching a subject he was indifferent towards, and basically making his students suffer for his own incompetence. A large part of the reason I now abhor the public school system is the fact that people like him are in a way forced to be a part of it. Teachers like Mr. Scalia are a rarity nowadays, apathetic teachers breed apathetic students, who grow more apathetic as they work through the system. New teachers go into the system either idealistic and wanting to cause positive change, only to be startled by how lazy the students and administration are, or people become teachers because they need a job and just don't care, contributing more to the cycle.

Audre Lorde's essay

Lorde illustrates some of her teachers various characteristics in ways such as "she was supposed to be totally dedicated, like all the other Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, to caring for the Colored and Indian children of america. Caring for was not always caring about. And it always felt like Sister MPH hated either teaching  or little children " and "Sister Mary of PH made me sit in the back of the room
on the window seat with a dunce cap on. She had the rest of the class offer up a prayer for my poor mother who had such a naughty girl who broke her glasses and caused her parents such needless extra expense to replace them. She also had them offer up a special prayer for me to stop being such a wicked-hearted child.".

What makes a good teacher?

I think a good teacher is someone who is passionate about what they are teaching, knows their stuff, and makes an effort to connect with their students. They have reasonable expectations of their students, they don't expect perfection but they do expect effort, they challenge their students as individuals rather than as a group. I think good teachers take a little bit of extra effort in their lessons, they don't just give Powerpoints and have someone else recite the material as they sit at their desks and read a magazine. Good teachers are often discouraged by current practices in public education, such as teaching to a test, because they don't allow much room for their own material and often have irrelevant content. My best teachers were not afraid to give supplemental instruction outside of class in a fun way, I enjoyed going with my Art Teacher to the museum on a saturday, or listening to an extra lesson my History teacher gave after school about how to be a smart voter.

The Point of it all (My Ed. Narr)

What I was trying to get across was that while this would not be an ideal job for everyone, I love what I do in my field, and that there is a lot that goes into it. We are often viewed as low skilled workers, disposable, and are overworked and I wanted to illustrate some of the things that we actually do on a day to day basis. I also wanted to give a brief history of how I got into this and why I cared about it so much.

Ted Talk notes

Creativity is as important as literacy in education
Children are not afraid of being wrong, taking chances
Adults are more hesitant to do this
We could be educating people out of their creative abilities
Academic Inflation is changing how we get jobs

We should change the way we think of people and what they are capable of, not in clinical terms of how we can "fix" them, but as unique individuals with their own capabilities that need to be nurtured.

Ed Narrative Essay

I come from a family of nurses and engineers, and while as a child I did not plan on working in health care, its only natural that I would find myself working in this field now. I have always had a love of the elderly and have been very empathetic, and wanted to be an activities director for a long time. When adulthood rolled around however, I compared wages and realized that I would be better of getting a CNA certification, since it was quicker, there was a higher need for good CNAs and I could really get a feel for if this was "right" for me.

What is a CNA? A CNA is a Certified Nursing Assistant (in Washington state, they are titled NACs, or Nursing Assistant- Certified in order to distinguish them from Certified Nurse Anesthetists).  With my license I can take vitals, perform activities of daily living, help with toileting, and other intimate but necessary things. I am also certified to perform CPR and use a Defibrillator, however since most of the people I work with are DNRs (Do Not Resuscitate), it is unlikely that I will ever use this at my current job.

There are several places to learn how to be a CNA in Kitsap County, some facilities offer it for free, this college offers it as a program. I am very glad that I managed to find a free class, since I don't make an amazing amount of money and training can become quite expensive very quickly.

I started out on NOC shift, which is from 10 pm to 6 am. I was actually already on that kind of a sleep schedule since I have chronic insomnia, so it worked great for me and my body. Quickly I learned that the majority of my job would not be what I learned in my class though, it wouldn't be bed baths, or brushing teeth, or other random things, it would be changing diapers, or "attends".

I learned how to change a diaper, not in my CNA class, but on the floor after my clinicals. I felt largely unprepared since I was not doing any of the things I was taught on my shift, it was a bit of a "baptism by fire". I felt fairly comfortable with the process, but was slow after the first week, then I gradually began to speed it up and felt confident. Id say it took about 3 months to feel completely settled in to this job, but I think that may be the case anywhere really.

The routines on other shifts are all different, but most CNAs at my facility have not worked NOC shift and have no idea what it entails. On NOC shift, we change people usually 3 times a night, between 10-11:30, 1-2:30-and between 3:30 and 5. It usually takes at least 45 minutes a round, and even more time later in the shift.

Some other things we do include passing out hot chocolate to the residents that wake up and giving them a sandwich or some applesauce or yogurt if they are dysphagic. Sometimes people will snack and go back to sleep or watch some tv or netflix.

We also clean utility rooms, clean wheelchairs, do charting on residents and record their outputs for the nurses, so if they are not having a sufficient amount of bowel movements the nurse can give them something to help "move things along". Sometimes we still have a lot of free time, so its always a good idea to bring a book to read.

I have learned several things working this shift, but here are a few tips I have if you ever find yourself in a caregiving position, or are considering taking a job like this:

Focus! I have ADD and am absolutely awful at staying on task, its important to know how to focus without making the process too formulaic in your head and causing undue anxiety.

Don't get hit! If you are dealing with someone with dementia, this can be a confusing process for them and they might think you are molesting them. Its not fool proof by any means, but it is always a good idea to tell people that you are going to change them before you start pulling down their pants. How would you like it if someone you didn't know went in your room in the middle of the night and started undressing you and pushing you around?

If they are uncircumcised men, don't forget to retract the foreskin while cleaning them. I have seen some nasty infections because people forget to do it or are afraid of hurting the man. If you are gentle, it shouldn't hurt unless its already damaged. They will be in much more pain if they have an infection, trust me.

If they start swinging, do your best to speak soothingly and calm down them down. Don't be afraid of grabbing another person and having them help you, since your personal safety is what is most important. You can play Good Cop/Bad Cop or have them hold down the flailing appendages while you quickly (and gently) change someone. I had one resident who was refusing any and all changes and was extremely combative, it took 4 of us to change him. I wouldn't have bothered with him by myself since he was clearly dangerous, he already put one of my coworkers on light duty since while we were each holding a hand, he grabbed me and threw me against the wall, which jerked her and badly hurt her back. He later ended up having to be sent to a Geriatric Psychiatric ward where he passed away after trying to smother his roommate with a pillow and wrapping his hands around a nurses throat.

Don't be afraid to talk to the people! If they are awake at 4 in the morning, they probably don't mind a little conversation if you have the time. It makes them feel less awkward, and unfortunately they may not be getting as much social stimulation as they may like during the day. Also, its easier to sneak them candy this way, since no one is there ;) I would keep chocolate on me in case one resident wanted some, he had quite the sweet tooth.

Stuff a cloth in their crotch as you are rolling them, some people urinate forward and it will get EVERYWHERE. Also, be careful when pulling out an incontinent pad if you don't know the contents of the situation. I have been splattered with biohazard body fluids before and it was definitely a nasty experience, I threw those scrub pants away.

Make sure there are no wrinkles in the pad, and make sure their feet are floated if necessary to prevent sores. My facility actually has had very little episodes of bed sores seen among their residents, which is awesome (the few that did have them were usually hospice and were even more vulnerable than usual).

Do not pull hard on the diaper when you are taking the dirty one off of the resident. You can damage the skin and cause tears and abrasions. Make sure the diapers fit during all of this, it needs to be snug enough to hold in the fluids but loose enough to not cut into the skin.

Always put Protective Ointment on their bottoms after every incontinent episode, it keeps them fresh, protects them, and smells great!

If a resident has a history of accusations against staff, go in with another person, protect your license. Incident reports have to be filled out and it will be reported to the state, it will be subject to an investigation, even if it is completely ridiculous. For example, I had a resident accuse the kitchen staff of beating her up and shaving her head. While it was obviously not true since she had no bruises and all of her hair, there was still a pile of paperwork to do.

Do not treat the residents like children, they are adults. Be smart about how you talk to them, especially nicknames. I have one resident who has 1 nickname, but I call her grandma even though its not on her careplan because that is how she refers to herself to me ("Now remember, Grandma loves you very very much!"). I have one resident who was a psychiatrist and only wants to be called "Dr.____", I would not use "sweetie" with her since it is against her wishes and almost disrespectful.

Finally, be compassionate. Just because someone cannot verbalize their discomfort or distress does not mean you should be rude, cruel, or apathetic towards them. Nursing is incredibly demanding, emotionally, physically, and otherwise, but no-one deserves to be your punching bag.

Cate Huston's "How I Learned to Love Traveling Solo"

I really enjoyed this "blog post". I was expecting it to go into the mechanics of traveling alone and doing it safely, but it ended up be about taking care of yourself emotionally mostly. I would have liked to see more of her perspective about how being female affects her traveling alone as well. It seems a little bit different than the other posts we have read recently, this one being much more casual and in more of a "how to" format, which was similar to the first two essays we read. It seems pretty straightforward and would be easier to replicate and use in my ed. narrative, and while Rose's and Malcolm X's narratives were deep and wonderful to read, they definitely used a bit more of my brain to process.

I did relate to a lot of the advice in the essay however. I am an ambivert as well and need to balance my alone time vs social time. Too much or too little of either leaves me needy and moody. I appreciated the reassurance to not try to be "beautiful" the whole time and to just adventure and have fun, this is for ME after all, and effort on your looks isn't really necessary if you are just enjoying yourself.

Fingerpaint

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Fingerpaint can be used to create beautiful masterpieces upon paper, the walls, the skin, and other dry mediums. Fingerpaint is often Tempera paint, which can be used on pinatas and posters. It can turn you into an impromptu member of the Blue Man group, it can help color the lava in your science fair volcano. You don't necessarily have to use your fingers to fingerpaint, you can place various extremities in a puddle of paint and slap it on the wall to create something special. Babies often fingerpaint with their foods. However, it is generally not a good idea to eat things that have been fingerpainted unless they are actual foods, because you might get sick to your stomach or get lead poisoning.

Comparison of Malcolm X and Mike Rose's Essays

In Malcolm X's narrative, we learn about how he learned to read and comprehend books in prison, and how his search for knowledge influenced him in civil rights (though it does not go too deeply into that. Mike Roses narrative is about his "alternative" education in a private school, and a teacher who inspired and challenged him. Both of these essays are quite endearing and well written, you want the "little guy" to win. They both show how books widened their perspectives, how they inspired a desire to understand and possibly change society. Both of these essays also gave a different perspective on what education really was.

In Malcolm X's narrative, it seems like it is mostly about him, while Roses introduces a wide cast of characters and even goes into their lives and habits somewhat. Malcolm X's narrative also had a little bit more closure to me, Mike Roses seemed like the abridged first half of a book and I was not fond of the way it ended. Although, now I want to find out more about him, so I guess that works in its own way. Malcolm X's essay had a bit of a rhythm to it too, it was shorter and it almost read like poetry.

A Proper Introduction

Well hello there! I actually just set this blog up, the last post was written a few days ago. So what to say, what to say, hmm....Well, my name is Kelley. Im 21, I live on a lovely island in Washington and im having my first kid in a few months. I was born in Louisiana, and shortly after I made my debut, Hurricane Andrew wrecked the house my parents were living in and displaced us for a while. My mom later remarried a military man and I can honestly say that I have lived a fairly transient existence my whole life. I honestly don't know if I will ever be comfortable enough in one place now to buy a home, I like changing scenery :)

Im going back to school after an awful attempt 2 years ago. I really wasn't ready and was very depressed, I was going to school because I felt like I had to and I screwed up my GPA badly. I feel much more motivated this year to keep up with my assignments and do my best. I think it is a combination of becoming a parent and needing to provide on a single income (if I screw up myself, thats just myself, now im responsible for another person), being a little older and knowing what I want to do, and having time to decompress from a stifling public school environment.

As evident from my last post, I work as a NAC at a nursing home that deals primarily in Alzheimers/Dementia but also has a few people working on some long-term rehab. I had wanted to work in a nursing home forever, I actually used to volunteer in an Assisted Living home when I was about 14 (I hosted bingo and passed out drinks at happy hour). I learned about what CNAs do, how they make a somewhat decent living (not really, but better than 6.50 an hour), and how it could get me into other health care fields. Since working, I have decided I want to be an RN. I like how I can get a job anywhere, the pay is nice, and I get to take care of someone that isnt me for extremely important reasons. I get that customer service jobs are important and the world needs them, but I hated faking smiles and feeling like I was B.S.ing people all the time. I also HATE HATE HATE!!!! being micro managed. Seriously, I get curt and cold when people treat me like I don't know how to do my job. If im an RN, it will be even less micromanagement.

I wish I had some fun things to list as hobbies, but laying in bed and messing with my tablet is not really anything interesting. I like to make things out of polymer clay sometimes though, I also like to draw on occasion. I wish I knew more cloth-type crafts, like sewing or felting or needle work or even crocheting and knitting (im awful at those two, when I crochet I just make big triangles instead of squares). Ive only lived here a year and I don't have a bustling social life but I would love to learn how to play Settlers of Catan and some other board games and play with some people.

Well, I believe that is all I have to say for now. I have a Reeses Ice Cream bar I am going to eat now, nom. See ya.

First post!

The readings I was assigned ("How I Learned to Program Computers" and "How I Learned to Live Google Free") could be used as models for my essay by a kind of "How to" format and being written in the first person. I think my paper is going to be written about how I became a CNA and the steps to changing an adult diaper (which I know EVERYONE is dying to know how to do). It took a little bit to learn and become comfortable with but its useful in my workplace and will probably come in handy when I have a screaming infant with poop up her back. If you can change a 400 plus lb woman who is screaming obscenities at you and swinging her fists, I think you can change a baby.

The timeline will probably follow finding out about the free CNA classes that Washington state so lovingly provides (they reimburse the facilities offering it, or if you take it at OC, they reimburse you when you work at your first job after working a set amount of time), then my experience with clinicals, and finally training and working on graveyard shift on a locked dementia unit. Between 10 pm and 6 am, not too much fun stuff happens, besides changing people, doing vitals, making people hot chocolate and trying to make sure no one falls or hurts each other. Changing people could probably be executed humorously and slightly more informatively than teaching how to convince a paranoid schizophrenic to stay out of other peoples rooms.

Im not convinced this is the best intro for a new blog, but this is a class assignment. Maybe ill write one for my next assignment, which is "Whatever I want".