Title: HIV/AIDS Awareness Presentation
Specific purpose: To inform my audience on prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
The Dangers of ADD/ADHD Diagnosis
The topic that is most significant to me would be the over prescribing of drugs to children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder/ Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD). The controversy with this issue is that school administrators, teachers, parents, and child psychiatrists are diagnosing thousands of children each year with these disorders. There are no scientific basis and valid test to prove that this disorder even exists. I feel that our society is over prescribing children, so that problem children can become more manageable. Many children are hyperactive and have trouble staying on task, a problem which could have just as much to do with a child’s discipline or diet than a neurological disorder. It may not be safe to assume the child has ADD/ ADHD and needs to be medicated simply because the child has problems paying attention. These prescription drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin are powerful and potentially addictive. The Journal of the American Medical Association recently published a study showing that one of the stimulants used to treat ADD/ADHD is more potent than cocaine. Between the years of 1990 to 2000 over 569 children were hospitalized, 38 of them were life threatening hospitalizations, and 186 died from Ritalin. The side effects of these stimulants are insomnia, excessive nervousness, changes in blood pressure, weight loss, rapid heartbeat, loss of appetite, and hair loss. The National Alliance against Mandated Mental Health Screening and Psychiatric Drugging of Children is an organization that formed because of several children who have died because of their ADD/ADHD medication. In some cases, the children’s deaths were caused by physical reactions to the drugs after a period as short as a few months. In other cases, some children prescribed to Concerta and Strattera were found to cut themselves. In severe cases, other children committed suicide as young as twelve to fifteen years old.
I feel that the negative effects from these medications outweigh the positive for these children. I feel teachers need to educate themselves about the side effects, short-term effects, and long-term effects of all the types of ADD/ADHD medications before suggesting that a child has this disorder to parents and doctors. The decision to diagnose and medicate a child with ADD/ADHD can not only affect the child short-term, but also can affect the rest of that child’s life. For many children, psychiatric drugs are the gateway to drug addiction. Our children deserve to be treated with every alternative educational technique before being prescribed mind altering drugs. There are other alternative methods to help children with ADD/ADHD without medications, such as exercising each day, counseling with family and/or psychiatrists, and proper diet. Parents and teachers need to consider the horrible, life altering effects that these medications have on children who are diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and realize that our children are precious enough to take the time and effort to exhaust every alternative resource before we tamper with the delicate chemical balance of their minds.
The target audience is parents, teachers, and psychiatrists because these people have the most influence on the child’s diagnosis of ADD/ADHD. The purpose of this editorial was to inform any reader to the harsh reality of the long-term side effects of psychiatric drugs on the developing minds of improperly diagnosed children. The situation that we as a society face today is that there are approximately 6 million children are diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and medicated. This could affect millions of children their whole lives by creating mental conditions that did not exist previously. This editorial will hopefully inspire parents to take more responsibility for their children’s health and well being.
This website has helpful information about the controversy about ADHD:
http://www.ritalindeath.com/ADHD-Controversy.htm
This website has helpful information about the controversy about ADHD:
http://www.ritalindeath.com/ADHD-Controversy.htm
This website has advice about alternative ways of helping children cope with ADD/ADHD:
http://www.learningabledkids.com/learning_disability_LD/ADHD_medication_alternatives.htm
This website has facts and statistics about ADD/ADHD:
http://www.chaada.org/Page3.html
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Beginning the Job Search
The qualifications and skills that you must have to become an elementary teacher are the love for the age group they teach, possess classroom management skills, use of instructional methods and materials, ability to engage students in learning. Elementary teachers must have a bachelor’s degree from an approved teacher training program, as well as completing a student teaching internship. They are also required to pass a state licensing exam, which must be renewed regularly, by taking additional required courses. If an elementary teacher acquired a master’s degree, they could become an administrator in schools, such as assistant principle or principle.
The skills, experiences, and qualifications that I possess to become an elementary teacher are that I love working with children. Since I was twelve years old, I babysat my two brothers and several other children. I have also been a summer camp counselor for the City of Biloxi summer camp program for three years. I have been in a teacher assistant for going on seven years now and I love it. I am currently a teacher assistant working with children with language and speech disorder and I help these children to improve their writing, reading and decoding skills. I have had experience writing lesson plans, substitute teaching, and supervising children during recess. I think because I have experience working with children with disabilities, I would be qualified enough to be an inclusion elementary teacher and become a major asset in teaching these types of children. I am glad that I started as a teacher assistant before I started Elementary Education because it will gave me firsthand experience of what it would be like if I was an elementary teacher. I feel that this would show school administrators that I am more than qualified to take on a teaching position at their school.
There were only a few job openings in the Hattiesburg and Lamar County Schools area for elementary teachers. The job opening that I would be interested in pursuing further would be Purvis Upper Elementary because I would love to work with children in that particular age group. I also like this school because they are a Title I school, meaning the school receives funding the United States Department of Education in educational programs for students in low-income families. Purvis Upper Elementary has programs such as, Accelerated Reader and Fast ForWord, which are great for students to improve their reading skills. The schools have third, fourth, and fifth grade classes and their student-teacher ratio average is around twenty to one. Their third grade classes are self-contained, which is when a teacher keeps the same students in the same class throughout the school day. In their fourth and fifth grade classes the teachers participate in a team teaching approach, which is when the teachers collaborate with other teachers and share instructional responsibilities. This will be very beneficial to first year teachers if they are paired with veteran teachers because veteran teachers could mentor and be very helpful to first year teachers.
Here are some links for job openings in the Hattiesburg area:
The ways that I could go about writing a cover letter and resume to maximize my chances at obtaining this job position would be to write a cover letter that would grab the attention of the employer. The cover letter has to be interesting to employers because it is the first impression that the employer will read. If your cover letter is not interesting the employer might not read your resume and this could lessen your chances on getting the job. The way that I would structure my cover letter would be to state the job that I am applying for and give examples of my professional work experiences and skills. I would also state why I want this job and what I could contribute to their school as an educator. I would structure my resume to be well organized and an easy layout for the employer to follow. I would keep the font the same but highlight the past job positions that are relevant for the desired job position. In the beginning of the resume, I will include an objective statement that would state a summary of my profile and career goals. The will help identify my intentions for this job position. I would state on the resume my professional experiences, skills, education, certification, and credentials. I think that structuring my cover letter and resume to be interesting and attention getting but yet making it easy to read would increase my chances on getting an interview and become an elementary teacher.
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