The book I am reading is Black Hawk Down. The book is a very good representation of modern warfare in the Middle East. So far I am on page 100 or so, but I am really into the book, so to speak. It is very believable, which I think is good for a book based on an actual event is important.
So far, there are not many casualties, but one or two characters that I thought were going to last a lot longer that he did. One guy even fell off the speed rope on a Black Hawk and fell 70 feet. I don’t know yet if he will survive, but he seems to be in pretty bad shape. The soldiers are in Somalia, and many of them are eager for a firefight because there hasn’t been one in a while. They seem to be killing evil Somalians, but some of the chapters are about young Somalians who are just firing at the Americans because they feel like they are intruding on their land without rhyme or reason. I don’t know whether to be on the American side or the Somali side.
I have gotten to the part where the Black Hawk chopper (super six one) got hit with an RPG and fell to the ground. When the army was discussing this, they were not expecting an RPG firing into the air, let alone a Black Hawk. This makes me feel as if the army didn’t really know whom they were dealing with, and these men probably crazy psychopaths who will do anything to keep them out. Is the US blindly going in and killing people who are innocent? They even mowed down a cow with a Black Hawk mini-gun in one of the chapters.
So the chopper is down, and the soldiers appear to be stuck in Somalia. There are other Black Hawks and other vehicles on the ground, but I don’t think that the soldiers will be rescued at all. Due to the fact that the enemy has RPG’s, the Black Hawks will probably want to get out of there as quickly as they can. The tanks, vehicles and such might be blown up, or just unusable. They have found that the supposed war commander they are searching for to be in or near their general area, and the book has used his point of view a few times. Missiles attacked him, but somehow he was able to survive the onslaught.
The book changes many different angles and views as it progresses. It changes from a soldiers view, to a pilots view, and even to an ordinary Somali man’s point of view. There are many soldiers that are introduced in the book, and it is kind of hard to keep track of them all. There are many parts of the book that explain the soldiers, or what they went through while they are in a firefight, something that I think would be lost in the movie if I saw it. It’s nice and juicy, and even though I’m only third of the way through, I highly recommend it.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
ON STUDYING PRE BLOG
1.) What are some ways that school encourages or discourages a person's desire to learn? What makes some objects in school exciting and stimulating and others boring?
Everyone is different when it comes to his/her learning style and what they are interested in learning. Ways that schools encourages a person’s desire to learn is teaching them new subjects and ways to gain knowledge. They teach subjects like mathematics, language and literature, art, and other topics that they view fit to teach a child. For a lack of better words, they “put down the foundation of learning,” so to speak. Now, when I say they, I mean teaching up until college.
They teach the basics of learning habits on basic concepts and subjects, but also stifle a person’s desire to learn by only teaching them these concepts. They really don’t allow much leeway in letting a “student*” research and learn what he/she wants to learn. They have a very basic, cookie cutter system that they force the student to follow. This can discourage a person’s desire to learn the specific things that he/she wishes to learn and will use. That being said, I think that it is important to learn the basics, but not to the extent where you have to learn everything by this system. Again, different people have different learning styles and systems, and the basic system that the schools teach them can impeach their creative way of learning and stifle their learning process.
School can make subjects interesting to learn mostly by having a good “teacher**.” All students can probably agree this because it is the teacher who informs you and “teaches” you what is required. If the teacher is able to teach you something in a way that you find enjoyable and interesting, then it will make it easier for you to learn the subject is. Even subjects that might seem boring, a good teacher can take any “bad” subject and make it interesting for the student.
What also help to make objects in school interesting are the student’s own personal interests. Again, each person is unique with his or her personal “objectives” that they want to achieve and topics they want to learn. When a student is engaged in a topic that seems interesting or intriguing to them, they tend to enjoy the class more and most likely do better academically in said class. One student likes one subject, another students prefers another subject. Most likely the subject will be something that the student thinks will help them later on in their near to mid future. Also, this doesn’t have to be a academic idea or class, it can be aspects like people and environments. A student will most likely feel more “at home” in his or her school if they set a nice and friendly environment, or he/she has friends there to talk to and be with.
Aspects that make school duller are the same as what can make them interesting. Teachers can make classes interesting, but can also teach in a way that can be so uninteresting, that the student hates going to said class because they are not engaged and being taught in the way they can learn “properly.” Student’s interests can also create whether or not some aspects seem boring. If a student is not interested at all in the subject she/he is learning or just doesn’t think that the topic relates to them at all, they won’t participate. This subject is seen in their eyes as boring and just busy work that they are doing to proceed through school.
I don’t really know how we (everyone) as a whole can help school become less boring and catch their interest. If we do find a way, it will take a generation to put it into action because it took several generations to create the system we have now.
*I use Student very loosely, and please note that all the other references to student should be written as: “student”
**All other teacher references should be written as: “teacher”
Everyone is different when it comes to his/her learning style and what they are interested in learning. Ways that schools encourages a person’s desire to learn is teaching them new subjects and ways to gain knowledge. They teach subjects like mathematics, language and literature, art, and other topics that they view fit to teach a child. For a lack of better words, they “put down the foundation of learning,” so to speak. Now, when I say they, I mean teaching up until college.
They teach the basics of learning habits on basic concepts and subjects, but also stifle a person’s desire to learn by only teaching them these concepts. They really don’t allow much leeway in letting a “student*” research and learn what he/she wants to learn. They have a very basic, cookie cutter system that they force the student to follow. This can discourage a person’s desire to learn the specific things that he/she wishes to learn and will use. That being said, I think that it is important to learn the basics, but not to the extent where you have to learn everything by this system. Again, different people have different learning styles and systems, and the basic system that the schools teach them can impeach their creative way of learning and stifle their learning process.
School can make subjects interesting to learn mostly by having a good “teacher**.” All students can probably agree this because it is the teacher who informs you and “teaches” you what is required. If the teacher is able to teach you something in a way that you find enjoyable and interesting, then it will make it easier for you to learn the subject is. Even subjects that might seem boring, a good teacher can take any “bad” subject and make it interesting for the student.
What also help to make objects in school interesting are the student’s own personal interests. Again, each person is unique with his or her personal “objectives” that they want to achieve and topics they want to learn. When a student is engaged in a topic that seems interesting or intriguing to them, they tend to enjoy the class more and most likely do better academically in said class. One student likes one subject, another students prefers another subject. Most likely the subject will be something that the student thinks will help them later on in their near to mid future. Also, this doesn’t have to be a academic idea or class, it can be aspects like people and environments. A student will most likely feel more “at home” in his or her school if they set a nice and friendly environment, or he/she has friends there to talk to and be with.
Aspects that make school duller are the same as what can make them interesting. Teachers can make classes interesting, but can also teach in a way that can be so uninteresting, that the student hates going to said class because they are not engaged and being taught in the way they can learn “properly.” Student’s interests can also create whether or not some aspects seem boring. If a student is not interested at all in the subject she/he is learning or just doesn’t think that the topic relates to them at all, they won’t participate. This subject is seen in their eyes as boring and just busy work that they are doing to proceed through school.
I don’t really know how we (everyone) as a whole can help school become less boring and catch their interest. If we do find a way, it will take a generation to put it into action because it took several generations to create the system we have now.
*I use Student very loosely, and please note that all the other references to student should be written as: “student”
**All other teacher references should be written as: “teacher”
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