Square Dancing free essay sample

Square dancing was first developed by lonely farmers as a means of entertaining and wooing their livestock (or at least that’s the rumor I’m choosing to believe/spread). But honestly, how drunk on moonshine and bored with wife-beating did people used to be to develop this jig of humiliation? More importantly, how—I reiterate HOW is it still around today? I mean wasn’t Bugs Bunny mocking this like 60+ years ago? Barnfolk during a hootenanny. Personally, I’m for jettisoning into the sun everyone involved in any non-farming interaction that regularly takes place in a barn. Who the hell wants to dance around a friggin’ barn?! Barnfolk, that’s who— and they permanently forgot to evolve. Let’s talk about some things that would be present at any square dance jig-off. First, it’s impossible to picture a group of people square dancing without there being that one guy with the obscenely long Rip Van Winkle beard. We will write a custom essay sample on Square Dancing or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Of course, he wasn’t magically asleep for 20 years when it grew, unless you count his life-long whiskey haze and vow against critical thinking. Second, the band always does that foot-stomp knee-slap head-bob thing, telepathically conveying the message â€Å"we’re all a bunch of asinine hicks and we love it!† The head-bob is the â€Å"and we love it part.† Third, well you may not see this, but square dancing is the only dance where it’s easy to picture a random farm animal suddenly standing up on two legs, joining in, and it seems natural. Another bumpkin seduced by a jigging goat. Bumpkins promenading across the room with goats and sheep; why not? They make-out with them regularly anyhow. I will admit I’m fairly surprised they called it â€Å"square dancing† at all considering the highest level of schooling in the room is probably a forged G.E.D. (like they know what a â€Å"square† is) †¦Bunch of geometrically confused hill-folk buck-toothed and guffawing as they spin around a cow trough. Damn I hate that square dancing still exists! One thing that’s hard for me to picture is anyone hearing square dance music coming from a barn and not getting the imperative urge to run in the opposite direction. Speaking of the music, isn’t there just that one â€Å"swing your partner† song and that’s it? Photo taken during a rendition of their song Proud to be Illiterate. I guess it’s hard to play a variety of tunes when your band consists of people playing the washboard, broomstick-bass, and blowing into that jug with the â€Å"XXX† on it. Stay tuned for my upcoming entry on jug bands†¦ Speaking of the musicians, apparently square dancing was so lacking in class that renamed the violin the â€Å"fiddle.† I can picture that conversation: â€Å"Hey hairy, drooling jug band member, is that a violin you’re playing?† â€Å"A vi-o-what? Welp, I don’t rightly know, mister. An accurate description of square dancing. I just fiddle with it, so I guess that’s what it is†¦. a fiddle†¦ *drool, drool, drool, slurping up drool, more drool*† I’m sure he also â€Å"fiddles† with other things like the engine of his primer-colored pick-up truck and his malformed wiener whenever his cousin is watching. I don’t mean to over generalize, but in reiterating my idea to launch all square dancers into the sun, I propose it would do the world more good than harm. This is exactly what square dancing looks like to me. I’m willing to bet that other long-standing â€Å"traditions† like racism, sexism, fear of progress, and hatred for the scientific community would prove directly correlated as they dropped exponentially. Sad Fact 1: There’s an international association of square dance callers named Callerlab. Seriously. An international organization†¦. Sad Fact 2 : Did you know that square dancing has been designated the official state dance in 19 states? State dance?! Why the HELL are there even— oh I give up! (*gun fires and body hits the floor*) End. Supplemental material: Link to Bugs Bunny in â€Å"Hillbilly Hare.† Excerpt of lyrics from â€Å"Pickle Up a Doodle,† a square dance call. When that devil comes a-courtin’, Ah-haw! He’ll catch all eight, with a right hand half, Back by the left, go once and a half. Turn the corner by the right, make a wrong-way thar, And ya’ pickle up a doodle in the middle of the star. Shoot that star, left allemande, gonna pass your partner by, You box the gnat with the next one, and you swing ‘er mighty high. Walk all around that corner, turn a left hand round your girl, Four ladies chain, chain the big, wide, wicked world. Roll promenade a shady lady. Gents roll back, but only one, Promenade, you’re gonna have a little fun. It ain’t no sin to swing and sway, An’ you pickle up a doodle in the middle of the day.

Booker T. Washington, African-American Educator

Booker T. Washington, African-American Educator Booker Taliaferro Washington grew up the child of a slave in the South during the Civil War. Following emancipation, he moved with his mother and stepfather to West Virginia, where he worked in salt furnaces and a coal mine but also learned to read. At age 16, he made his way to Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, where he excelled as a student and later took on an administrative role. His belief in the power of education, strong personal  morals, and economic self-reliance earned him to a position of influence among both black and white Americans of the time. He launched Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, now Tuskegee University, in a one-room shanty in 1881, serving as the schools principal until his death in 1915. Dates:  April 5, 1856 (undocumented) - November 14, 1915 His Childhood Booker Taliaferro was born to Jane, a slave who cooked on a Franklin County, Virginia plantation owned by James Burroughs, and an unknown white man. The surname Washington came from his stepfather, Washington Ferguson. Following the end of the Civil War in 1865, the blended family, which included step-siblings, moved to West Virginia, where Booker worked in salt furnaces and a coal mine. He later secured a job as a houseboy for the mine owners wife, an experience he credited with his respect for cleanliness, thrift, and hard work. His illiterate mother encouraged his interest in learning, and Washington managed to attend an elementary school for black children. Around the age of 14, after traveling on foot 500 miles to get there, he enrolled in Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. His Continuing Education and Early Career Washington attended Hampton Institute from 1872 to 1875. He distinguished himself as a student, but he did not have a clear ambition upon graduation. He taught both children and adults back in his West Virgina hometown, and he briefly attended the Wayland Seminary in Washington, D.C. He went back to Hampton as an administrator and teacher, and while there, received the recommendation that led him to the principalship of a new Negro Normal School approved by the Alabama state legislature for Tuskegee. He later earned honorable degrees from both Harvard University and Dartmouth College. His Personal Life Washingtons first wife, Fannie N. Smith, died after just two years of marriage. They had one child together. He remarried and had two children with his second wife, Olivia Davidson, but she too died just four years later. He met his third wife, Margaret J. Murray, at Tuskegee; she helped raise his children and remained with him until his death. His Major Accomplishments Washington was chosen in 1881 to head the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute. During his tenure until his death in 1915, he built Tuskegee Institute into one of the worlds leading centers of education, with a historically black student body. Though Tuskegee remained his primary undertaking, Washington also put his energy towards expanding educational opportunities for black students throughout the South. He founded the National Negro Business League in 1900. He also sought to help impoverished black farmers with agricultural education and promoted health initiatives for blacks. He became a sought-after speaker and advocate for blacks, though some were angered at his seeming acceptance of segregation. Washington advised two American presidents on racial matters, Theodore Roosevelt  and William Howard Taft. Among numerous articles and books, Washington published his autobiography, Up From Slavery, in 1901. His Legacy Throughout his life, Washington stressed the importance of education and employment for black Americans. He advocated cooperation between the races  but was at times criticized for accepting segregation. Some other prominent leaders of the time,  especially  W.E.B. Dubois, felt his views promoting vocational education for blacks curtailed their civil rights and social advancement. In his later years, Washington began to agree with his more liberal contemporaries on the best methods for achieving equality.

John Dewey Significane to Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

John Dewey Significane to Education - Essay Example Adhering to the belief that education should be practical and relevant to the needs of society, Dewey argued for the reformation of the educational system. In Experience and Education, Dewey (1925) stated that in many cases, schooling stands in the way of learning. In order to make intellectual progress, he noted, "we mostly have to unlearn what we learned in school" (p. 7). As revolutionary as they were several decades ago, Dewey's philosophical theories in the field of education have stood the test of time and have tremendous relevance to education in the 21st century. Dewey's theory of experiential learning focused on learning within a social environment (Semel & Sadovnik, 1999). He asserted that knowledge was based on prior experiences and constructed in social settings. He argued that knowledge needs to be organized in real-life experiences that provide a context for the information being presented. The role of teachers is to help students organize content and facilitate real-life experiences to reinforce the information included in the lessons. Dewey suggested that experiences in education should reflect the capabilities and readiness of the learner, and the quality of the experience is a critical component of his theory on experience and education. If the experience is appropriate, learners can develop the knowledge needed to apply their experiences to other situations. As a result, they have created new knowledge, have advanced to a different level of readiness, and are prepared to acquire and construct additional knowledge. Dewey was frustrated when philosophers did not view education with sufficient seriousness. He maintained that learning by participation in the ways of their communities, allowed children to achieve and grow cognitively and become productive adults. Rather than teaching isolated bits of information in a given lesson, Dewey perceived education as an interactive process with schools providing opportunities for students to engage in activities that require the exercise of a complete set of reflective thoughts and experiences (Tanner, 1997). This is quite a contrast from the traditional model of the classroom where the teacher transmits the knowledge to the students and the students are passive recipients of knowledge. At the present moment, as schools face challenges in providing students with adequate education to become productive citizens in a global economy, stakeholders in education are searching for ways to provide effective educational experiences for the students (Davis, 2005). Everyone is looking for results. With the government requiring greater accountability and academic outcomes from students through the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 educators must assume accountability for the intellectual development of their students. This has once again focused the teaching profession on creating classroom experiences for students that produce more lasting learning. As a result, many educators are beginning to revisit Dewey's educational philosophies and theories (Semel & Sandovik, 1999). They recognize that education that builds on the prior experiences of children contributes to development of new knowledge. This use of experiential education also can help children become act ive learners who take more responsibility for their academic outcomes. Thus, Dewey believed that building on prior experience as an instructional strategy should be primary in all educational