From Pre-College to College-Ready

The students over at In Need of Coffee have recently finished writing about media for their second essay of this quarter. They will finish a third and final essay this week on the topic of community. They've done an extensive amount of writing, and most likely despise the word essay at the moment. But, I'll give them credit for continuing to persevere and accept this as preparation for next year.
I would like to share with you some excerpts (unedited):

"The media sends contradictory messages to women about what its like for a woman. On one hand, women should be independent, competititve, and assertive as part of the American culture. On the other hand, women are supposed to be dependent, submissive and uninterested in success or competition (Douglas, 17). Growing up femal in America is confusing."
--I especially liked the last sentence. It is only a few weeks until babyTate arrives and I am nervous about raising a daughter.

"Today, sex appears to be a mainstream topic; our culture can't get enough of it....Teen males, who watch pornography, develop a warped perspective on females. Most male teens will get the expectation of sexual encounters that no normal woman will fulfill....Females who view pornography feel inferior, and insecure because they can't reach the expectations of appearance."
--I appreciated her careful dealing with such a mature topic. Also, she didn't take the easy route of just harping on males, but instead brought up up the shadow topic of females and pornography.

"Many of the labels put on people come from the media. For example, white equals intelligence and affluence. Asian equals very high intelligence and incredible motor skills. Black, on the other hand, equals enigmatic entertainer or highly paid sports star. However, they will likely either smell, lack basic education or live in the ghetto. The media functions as a labeling machine."
--His insights throughout the essay were personal and profound.

"Blogs can be used for education for normal students and AP students as well, such as the one at http://criticandbuilders.typepad.com/ap3/. Some people go farther with internet education like the man in http://budtheteacher.typepad.com. He extends interent education to not only blogs, but to podcasts also. A podcast is a web feed of audio or video files placed on the Internet for anyone to download or subscribe. The uses of a podcast can allow the teacher to do many things, ranging from lectures to presentations."
--This student went to a very different place with the topic than the others in class. It was a risk, and it paid off for him!