Article Review

In this article BRETT NELSON talks about Financial Illiteracy Is Killing Us.

Seeing this data and knowing all this thing show us teenagers are not having the correct education to affront real world.This would lead their money and the money of the others in a big whole where one day you maybe be so irresponsible and so dumb you can loss your money.I think schools should give classes to teach their students how to manage their money and not affront financial illiteracy.

No one’s fault but also schools that provide education in our homes some parents put on the mentality of children who have money and they do not affect anything in life, from an early age children begin to look like money the will to get things without knowing that to make money have to work. Banks when they make a proposal to the children and their parents will give a benefit but are not given the reality that they will have to face when the card reaches its credit limit and in the market or at the mall do not pass the bank what matters is how much money comes not in what way the customer will pay. The Ninon look so easy to spend and spend and not an seen the reality of our countries because they live in a flawed world where money has made our mind that wrong and not for more say millions of people who can not use either your money and the first thing they do is buy more expensive things to brag to their friends to the living is getting worse but did not realize because the schools do not provide the information necessary or students do not pay attention to the levels illiteracy that exist in our country.

My Article

Financial Illiteracy Is Killing Us 

By BRETT NELSON

As Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve dither over what to do about the darkening economy, I’m reminded of, and damn near demoralized by, a scene in “I.O.U.S.A.”, the remarkable and terrifying 2009 documentary about the burgeoning debt crisis in America.

In the scene, a cameraman asks a smattering of people to define “trade deficit.” Here was one of the better answers, delivered by a fresh-faced woman who looked roughly 18 years old: “Deficit usually means…disorder or something. Something is wrong with it. It’s not good.”

Ok, maybe the notion of importing more stuff than we export is a tad abstract. How about the notion of debt? Cameraman to passersby: “How big is the federal debt?” Some responses: “I’m guessing quite a bit”; “3 million”; “I know it’s in the billions.” Try $8.7 trillion. (The film was made in 2009–after bailouts, stimulus packages and healthcare reform, that number is now a few trillion higher, and will soon surpass the $14.5 trillion worth of goods and services this country produces annually.)

The point of “I.O.U.S.A.”—sponsored in part by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation (Mr. Peterson is a billionaire investor and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce)—is to scare us stiff about the consequences of mass fiscal irresponsibility. It succeeds. But it also drives at something deeper: our rotting education system that ultimately led to this problem.

That teenagers are allowed to drive, vote and parent, all while not knowing the difference between an asset and a liability, is nothing short of a travesty. Yet that’s what we have–and we are all paying for it.

I’m thinking now about the $1.3 trillion in delinquent consumer debt–$986 billion of it overdue by at least 90 days. One. Point. Three. Trillion. I’m also thinking about the wide-eyed throngs who signed up for no-doc mortgages they could never in their wildest dreams afford. And then there was the obvious mental mismatch between members of Congress and the Hank Paulsons, Ben Bernankes, Lloyd Blankfeins and their pin-striped ilk that led to a “financial reform” bill with so many holes that two institutions–Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which now own or guarantee half the entire mortgage market–fell right through. (Does anyone truly believe that was a fair fight?)

Here’s who should be thinking about all of this: the folks who run our schools. If the U.S. aims to compete–for anything–on a global scale, its populace has to be financially literate. And it isn’t. Not even close.

Consider the atrocious findings in a 2008 report by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy (underwritten, ironically enough, by Merrill Lynch). Begun in the 1997-1998 school year, the nationwide biennial survey of 12th graders aimed to determine “the ability of our young people to survive in today’s complex economy.” The 31-question exam touched on topics ranging from credit cards and car insurance to the stock market and home ownership. The results were bad, and are getting worse.

The average grade on the first exam was 57.3%. (You need a score of 60% to pass.) In 2008, it had dipped to 48.3%, with nearly three quarters of the 6,856 students failing. Fewer than 5 out of every 100 earned a “C” (75% or better). While college seniors scored higher on the same exam in 2008, averaging 64.8%, the Jump$tart report points out: “The good news is that most college graduates are financially literate. The bad news is that only 28% of Americans graduate from college, leaving nearly three quarters ill-equipped to make critical financial decisions.”

Here are some more arresting numbers, compiled by the folks at Practicalmoneyskills.com, sponsored by Visa.

–A 2009 Financial Literacy Survey of adults, conducted on behalf of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, revealed that:

• 41% of U.S. adults, or more than 92 million people living in America, gave themselves a grade of C, D, or F on their knowledge of personal finance.

• One-third of adults report that they have no savings and only 23% are now saving more than they did a year ago because of the current economic climate.

• Among adults who have children under the age of 18 living in their household, 33% want to provide a college education for their child but have not done anything about it yet. Only 21% have established a 529 Plan or other education savings account and expect to be able to pay for four years of college for their children.

–Sallie Mae’s 2009 survey of how undergraduate students use credit cards revealed that:

• 84% of the student population has credit cards; half had four or more.

• Undergraduates are carrying record-high credit card balances. The average (mean) balance grew to $3,173, the highest in the years the study has been conducted. Median debt jumped to $1,645 from $946 in 2004. One out of five undergraduates carried balances between $3,000 and $7,000.

• Only 15% of freshmen had a zero balance, down from 69% in 2004.

• 60% of undergrads experienced surprise at how high their balance had reached, and 40% said they have charged items knowing they didn’t have the money to pay the bill.

• Only 17% said they regularly paid off all cards each month, and another 1% had parents, a spouse, or other family members paying the bill.

• 84% of undergraduates indicated they needed more education on financial management topics; 64% would have liked to receive information in high school and 40% as college freshmen.

–A 2009 survey of America’s “Financial IQ” by Capital One revealed that:

• Nearly half (47%) of those surveyed said they are putting less money into savings and the same percentage report that current economic conditions have caused them to dip into their savings to cover day-to-day expenses.

• While a third of those surveyed said they save regularly every month, only 12% report that they are saving the recommended 10-15% of their income for the future, and another 12% said they are not saving anything at all.

• The majority of Americans (59%) consider themselves to be highly knowledgeable or very knowledgeable when it comes to personal finance, down from 64% in 2007.

• Nearly two-thirds (63%) of those surveyed say they are extremely comfortable or very comfortable managing short-term finances but only half (54%) feel comfortable managing long-term finances.

(On those last points, I can’t help but recall the Lake Wobegon effect, which describes our collective tendency to think that we are all above average.)

The best weapon in the fight against financial illiteracy: education. Consider the results of a 2008 study by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Charles Schwab Foundation of teens participating in the financial education program Money Matters:

• Teens who reported learning a great deal about goal-setting were significantly more likely to also report that they had saved money for something they wanted and then purchased it (79%), compared to those who reported they learned little or nothing about goal-setting (58%).

• Teens who reported learning about managing savings and checking accounts were more likely to report having opened both types of accounts (57% vs. 44% opened a savings account; 36% vs. 28% opened checking accounts).

• Those who reported learning about saving money were more likely to save regularly (72% vs. 57%).

• Teens who learned to track spending were more likely to report having developed a budget (50%) vs. those who learned little or nothing (29%) and also more likely to save money to purchase something (80% vs. 60%).

Computers and Education in America

Computers and Education in America

In the last decade, computers have invaded every aspect of education, from kindergarten through college. The figures show that schools have spent over two billion dollars installing two million new computers. Recently, with the explosive increase of sites on the Internet, computers have taken another dramatic rise. In just five years, the number of Internet hosts has skyrocketed from 2 million to nearly 20 million. It is not uncommon for 6th graders to surf the Net, design their own home pages, and e-mail their friends or

strangers they have "met" on the Web. Computer literacy is a reality for many junior high students and most high school students.

In the midst of this technological explosion, we might well stop and ask some key questions. Is computer technology good or bad for education? Are students learning more or less? What, exactly, are they learning? And who stands to benefit from education's current infatuation with computers and the Internet?

In the debate over the virtues of computers in education, the technological optimists think that computers and the Internet are ushering us into the next literacy revolution, a change as profound as Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. In contrast, a much smaller but growing number of critics believe that cyberspace is not the ideal classroom. I agree with the critics. If you consider your own experience, you'll agree that the benefits of computer literacy are at best wildly overrated. At their worst, computers and the Internet pander to the short attention spans and the passive viewing habits of a young television generation.

The technological optimists sing a siren song of an enchanted new land where the educational benefits of computers and the Internet are boundless. First, they boast that children can now access information on every conceivable subject. If little Eva or little Johnny wants to learn about far-away cultures, they can access sites from their own homes that will teach them about the great languages and cultures of the world. Second, these starry-eyed optimists warble about how the Internet has created a truly democratic space, where all children--rich, poor, black, white, and brown--have equal access to information and education. Third, they claim that computers will allow students to have e-mail

conversations with experts on any subject around the world. No longer will students be limited by their own classroom, their teacher, or their environment. Distance learning is the wave of the future, and classrooms will become obsolete or at least optional. In the words of John Sculley, former CEO of Apple Computer, the new technologies have created an "avalanche of personal creativity and achievement" and they have given students the "ability to explore, convey, and create knowledge as never before." Children who used to hate going to school will now love to learn to read and write, to do math and science. They will voluntarily spend hours learning on the Web instead of being bored to death by endless books and stodgy teachers.

Sound too good to be true? Let's examine these claims, one by one. First, promoters of

computer learning are endlessly excited about the quantity of information available on the Internet. The reality, however, is quite a different story. If you've worked on the Internet, you know that finding and retrieving information from a Web site can sometimes be tedious and time consuming. And once you find a site, you have no idea whether the information will be valuable. Popular search engines such as Yahoo! are inefficient at finding relevant information, unless you just want to buy a book on Amazon.com or find

a street map for Fargo, North Dakota. Information is definitely available on the Web, but the problem is finding relevant, reliable, and non-commercial information.

Next, the optimists claim that the Internet is truly a democratic space with equal access for

everyone. Again, the reality falls short. First, access to an Internet provider at home costs over a hundred dollars a month, once you add up service and long distance fees. And then there's the technology barrier--not every person has the skills to navigate the Web in any but the most superficial way. Equal access is still only a theoretical dream, not a current reality.

Finally, computers do allow students to expand their learning beyond the classroom, but the distance learning is not a utopia. Some businesses, such as Hewlett Packard, do have mentoring programs with children in the schools, but those mentoring programs are not available to all students. Distance learning has always been a dream of administrators, eager to figure out a cheaper way to deliver education. They think that little Eva and Johnny are going to learn about Japanese culture or science or algebra in the evening when they could be talking with their friends on the phone or watching television. As education critic Neil Postman points out, these administrators are not imagining a new technology but a new kind of child: "In [the administrator's] vision, there is a confident and typical sense of unreality. Little Eva can't sleep, so she decides to learn a little algebra? Where does little Eva come from? Mars?" Only students from some distant planet would prefer to stick their nose in a computer rather than watch TV or go to school and be with their friends.

In addition to these drawbacks are other problems with computers in education. There is the nasty issue of pornography and the rampant commercialism on the Internet. Schools do not want to have their students spend time buying products or being exposed to pornography or pedophiles. Second, the very attractiveness of most Web sites, with their color graphics and ingenious links to other topics, promotes dabbling and skimming. The word "surfing" is appropriate, because most sites encourage only the most surface exploration of a topic. The Internet thus accentuates what are already bad habits for

most students: Their short attention spans, their unwillingness to explore subjects in depth, their poor reading and evaluation skills. Computers also tend to isolate students, to turn them into computer geeks who think cyberspace is actually real. Some students have found they have a serious and addictive case of "Webaholism," where they spend hours and hours on the computer at the expense of their family and friends. Unfortunately, computers tend to separate, not socialize students. Finally, we need to think about who has the most to gain or lose from computers in the schools. Are administrators getting more students "taught" for less money? Are big companies training a force of computer worker bees to run their businesses? Will corporate CEO's use technology to isolate and control their employees?

In short, the much ballyhooed promise of computers for education has yet to be realized.

Education critic Theodore Roszak has a warning for us as we face the brave new world of computer education:

Like all cults, this one has the intention of enlisting mindless allegiance and acquiescence. People who have no clear idea of what they mean by information or why they should want so much of it are nonetheless prepared to believe that we live in an Information Age, which makes every computer around us what the relics of the True Cross were in the Age of Faith: emblems of salvation.

I think if you examine your own experience with computers, you'll agree that the cult of computers is still an empty promise for most students. Computers, the Internet, and the Web will not magically educate students. It still must be done with reading, study, good teaching, and social interaction. Excellence in education can only be achieved the old fashioned way--students must earn it.

--Dudley Erskine Devlin

text types

  Narrative:

 Children write many different types of narrative through Key Stages 1 and 2. Although most types share a common purpose (to tell a story in some way) there is specific knowledge children need in order to write particular narrative text types. While there is often a lot of overlap (for example, between myths and legends) it is helpful to group types of narrative to support planning for range and progression. Each unit of work in the Primary Framework (fiction, narrative, plays and scripts) provides suggestions for teaching the writing of specific forms or features of narrative. For example: genre (traditional tales), structure (short stories with flashbacks and extended narrative), content (stories which raise issues and dilemmas), settings (stories with familiar settings, historical settings, imaginary worlds) and style (older literature, significant authors).

 Process:

The problem of hairballs that have already formed in cat’s fur can be solved by proper brushing. In order to brush your cat’s hairballs, you’ll need two kinds of brushes: a wide-teeth wipe and a metallic one. The former will help you dissolve and, partially, remove tightly knotted hairballs without causing any pain or discomfort to your cat. The latter, used subsequently, will remove excess of loose puffy hair and decrease the possibility of reoccurrence the next day. Once brushing is over, make sure to polish your cat’s fur all over his body with the help of a clean, cotton, or woolen cloth

 Analogy:

 1.Glove is to hand as paint is to wall.
 2.Citizens are to president as solar system is to galaxy.
 3.Horses are to past societies as computers are to future societies.  

Compare/Contrast:

There are many different terms which are used to for computers. These terms denote the size, use or competence of computers. Broadly speaking the word “computer” can be applied to almost any device with a microprocessor in. It is a general conception that computer is a machine which receives input from the user through a mouse or keyboard, processes it and shows the outcome on monitor’s screen. Computers can be divided into five classes on the basis of their purpose and capabilities.”

 Cause Effect:

"I worry about the private automobile. It is a dirty, noisy, wasteful, and lonely means of travel. It pollutes the air, ruins the safety and sociability of the street, and exercises upon the individual a discipline which takes away far more freedom than it gives him. It causes an enormous amount of land to be unnecessarily abstracted from nature and from plant life and to become devoid of any natural function. It explodes cities, grievously impairs the whole institution of neighborliness, fragmentizes and destroys communities. It has already spelled the end of our cities as real cultural and social communities, and has made impossible the construction of any others in their place. Together with the airplane, it has crowded out other, more civilized and more convenient means of transport, leaving older people, infirm people, poor people and children in a worse situation than they were a hundred years ago." 

 Illustration: 

"If any one wants to exemplify the meaning of the word 'fish,' he cannot choose a better        animal than a herring. The body, tapering to each end, is covered with thin, flexible scales,    which are very easily rubbed off. The taper head, with its underhung jaw, is smooth and        scaleless on the top; the large eye is partly covered by two folds of transparent skin, like     eyelids--only immovable and with the slit between them vertical instead of horizontal; the cleft behind the gill cover is very wide, and, when the cover is raised, the large red gills         which lie beneath it are freely exposed. The rounded back bears the single moderately long dorsal fin about its middle."                                                                                                                   
(Thomas Henry Huxley, "The Herring." Lecture delivered at the National Fishery                    Exhibition, Norwich, April 21, 1881)             

 Description:  

  Writers commit plagiarism every time they reword sources without crediting original authors or fail to reference their sources appropriately. Plagiarism through paraphrasing can happen in two cases. First, writer may choose to substitute some words from the original with different vocabulary, rearrange words, or rearrange the whole paragraph. In this way, he or she presents stolen information expressing it with his or her own words. And second, writer may try to use exactly the same vocabulary and stylistic constructions and use them with respect to another context. Plagiarism occurs in both cases.

Autobiography

    My name is Sharmaine D. Bautista. I am 17yrs.old. I was born on January 19,1994. I live in Kalipulako Extension Granja, Lipa City. I am 1st year college taking Certificate in Hotel and Restaurant Management at De La Salle Lipa. My father is Eric Bautista and my mother is Donna Bautista. I was the only child of them.

 

    As the only child,I was fortunate to attend a good school. When i was in my highschool days, I was also fortunate because my parents able to send me in a private school. One of my unforgettable when i was in highschool is our principal called me to come in his office bacause of my absences.

    I have a lot of plan for my future, to finish my studies and to have a restaurant so that I can help my parents and give them back what they give to me when i was a child.I see myself ten years from now as a successful one...

comski1

Communication skills is the set of skills that enables a person to convey information so that it is received and understood. Communication skills refer to the repertoire of behaviors that serve to convey information for the individual.