Blog Assignment #4: Grades

In today’s society education is crucial. Not only should you graduate upper secondary school you should also get a Collage education to get a good job. To do all this you will need good grades otherwise there is a good chance you will not get admission to the program you want, either in Upper secondary school or Collage. Today this hunt for good grades starts in 8th but since the new governments’ decision it will soon start in 6th grade. It is my opinion that grades should be kept out of primary school.

.

When I went to the senior level of the “grundskola” I only studied to get good grades. All my time went to reading book, practicing for exams and getting those grades that sooner would get me in to that popular programme at Upper secondary school. I studied so hard that I did not do anything else because the grades were too important to me. Even whet I got in to Upper secondary school the hunt for the good grades continued because these grades were, if possible, even more important for my future. Studying should not be about grades it should be about learning and educate your self.

.

Grades do not actually tell you anything about your knowledge- it tells you how good you are at studying. You might say it is a grade of your studying skills in that typical subject. Because that is just what it is! You study for tests and exams and when it is over the knowledge is gone as well. I often said that if anyone should give me an exact copy of a test a week after the actually test I would fail it miserably. Many with me push all this facts into our head and keep it there until the test is done. Then we leave the knowledge we stored in our head right there in the exam room pretty muck gone forever.

.

Some say that grades actually motivate you to do better in school and take better responsibility of your studies and those grades could easily be introduced earlier than 6th grade for even better results. Learning and getting new knowledge should be fun, interesting and motivating and grades immediately takes that out of your education when grades with all the stress and pressure have a great tendency to take away the purpose of our education- life long knowledge.

.
To let the children in school get the most of their education think it is unnecessary with grades. And if it has to be grades I think they should be introduced as late as possible to let the children have more use of and fun with their new won knowledge.

Blog Assignment #3: Climate Change

Even though climate change has been a realization for quite some time now we still do not do enough to prevent or decrease it. The world is heating up, polar ices are melting, animal species are being extinct and environment catastrophes are a part of our every day life. Although this is the truth of today we put our head in the sand and pretend like nothing is happening, why is what?
.
Most of us live normal lives with a job and a family in a middle sized town and are happy with that. This is our life, this is our world! We live here and now and this is it. The fact that this life that you are living right now in this moment, that thing you are do right now and the place you are living in is all a part of something bigger. Just that thing, that we all are and have a part in something bigger might be too much to handle for most people. It is too much to understand, to abstract, so we just push it a side.
.
We all watch the news or read the news papers and almost everyday you hear of villages getting flooded, cities being wiped out by tornados, water rising, water disappearing, ice bears not having enough ice to live at etc. All this because of climate change caused by us. But it is in Africa, South America or some other place around the world- it is not happening here. As long as you and the ones closest to you are safe and not bothered of this climate change it is difficult to motivate a change.
.
It does not matter how aware we are of the climate change if we do not think that we can actually make a change. Most of us do not believe that what we, I- one single human being, do make a difference in a bigger perspective and therefore does not do anything at all.
.
It is a fact that everything we humans do effect the word and the environment in one way or another, in a small or big extend. But it is difficult to realize that what you do here i Sweden effects not only the climate change far away on the other side of the globe but also here, right outside your window. It is happening and even thought you might not think that you can make a difference- You can, so do it!

Blog Assignment #2: The Fascination of a TV Series

For a true TV junkie as my self I have to say it’s very hard pick just one favourite of all the TV series I have watched and followed through the years. It all started with 90’s typical girly series like Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson’s creek and Felicity about teenagers and young adults and their different lives and problems. And of course the Swedish series Tre Kronor and the soap operas Vänner och fiender and Vita lögner.
.
Since than my taste in TV series has changed a bit , even though one of my favourite series is still a girly one- Sex and the city. Otherwise in the last couple of years I have been totally caught up with more adventurous series like Lost, Heroes and Prison Break. Although I’ve actually stopped watching those series now because the stories started to feel more and more messy and the plots unreal and rediculous. It's like they are trying to squeeze out the most of it even though they should have ended the series a long time ago.

.
Although I have followed a lot of different TV series through the years I must say that my favourite one is the American sitcom Friends. It’s a comedy TV series about six friends in their 20’s and 30’s living in New York. But I’m sure you have watched it, if not as frequently as me, at least once or twice since it at first was aired for ten years and then in repeat almost everyday at Swedish channel Kanal5.

.
Friends, with its different characters, humours and stories, has something for everyone. I’m sure that you'll find someone and something you like. I love the smart, funny and quick dialogs and its story which always surprises me. Okey, maybe it doesn’t surprise me anymore since I’ve watched through the whole DVD box with all the ten seasons for about seven times, but I always laugh. Although I more or less like all the characters my absolute favourite is Ross. He always ends up in the weirdest situations, saying the goofiest things with the squeakiest voice and has got such funny body language and faces.

.

Some of my favourite Ross moments:

.

.

.

.

Blog Assignment #1: Childhood Memories

When I grew up in the late 80’s and 90’s I and other children played with dolls, cars and other typical toys. Even though I didn’t, I had friends playing with Barbie dolls and My little ponies through out middle school. At school breaks we played all sorts of games or sports outside. It didn’t matter that we were twelve years old- we were still playing hide and seek in the bushes, getting all wet and dirty. We didn’t really care about our looks or appearance. We were just children having fun.
,
When I now meet children in middle school I notice that they do not play together the same way children did when I grew up. They also talk about other things than we did. They discuss things which I, when I was twelve, wouldn’t have understood or at least thought of as topics for teenagers or adults. Subjects as what clothes to wear, makeup, how to wear your hair, who’s thin and who’s fat and how to look your best to your friends and the opposite sex.
.
Today’s children grow up so fast. To fast! They don’t only talk about things they shouldn’t be concerned about they also dress more like adults and clothes like short skirts, high-heeled shoes, brand sneakers and t-shirts aren’t very suitable for playing. I have seen too many eleven year olds acting like teenagers and think they are too old and to cool to play silly games at school breaks. Instead they gather to talk about the latest in music, tv, computer games or fashion.
.
I think it is so sad to see children today worrying about their image and appearance. It seems they want to leave their childhood behind as fast as they can, and sooner rather than later enter what they think is an exciting adulthood.
.
It is my opinion that children should be children for as long as they can. You are only a child for a short period of time in your life so you better embrace it and make it the best. Take the chance to do those things that only a child can get away with- dress in crazy coloured clothes, wear your hair all messy, play kissing and hugging games and jump in water piles! Not worrying about what other people will think of you and your looks. You will have plenty of time worrying about yourself and adult things later in life...