Is it just me or are Australian current affairs restricted to Australian television? Do you ever hear about anything going on in Australia in the States? I certainly haven't. Is it because nothing happens here, or is it just that we ignore Australian news? Doing a search on Al Jazeera's (AJ) English website, I only found current events as recent as December of last year! What the hell? You would expect with AJ's in-depth coverage of the American primaries (which happens to be some of the best and most reliable), Australian politics would be mentioned a few times a month or even more. With so much else going on in the rest of the world, why would anyone care to read about whats going on on the largest island in the world? I would, especially from a reliable source like AJ.
Al Jazeera plays frequently on Australian local stations for world news coverage and I rely on it a few times during the week to catch up on whats going on outside of the bubble that is Australia. Why does it play here but not in the States? Is it the Arabic name (it couldn't be...could it?), or is it because of the outside, highly intelligent take on American issues? Is it because it's based out of a Middle Eastern country? To hell with that. If you want some good international and even US news that is non-partisan (as opposed to bi-partisan) check out http://www.aljazeera.com/. You may, however, pick up on a few opinion editorial authors' agendas, but most seem to be logical and well thought out.
I bring this up at the start of this entry because good news and good news coverage is something that I feel very strongly about. At home, when I turn on the television to Fox News, I expect to watch "Fair and Balanced" news since that is their claim. Instead, I get right-wing agenda shoved down my throat; agenda so thick that you couldn't cut it with a knife, you'd need a saw. MSNBC is about as left as Fox News is right. Who can you trust? Not CNN, especially when Anderson Cooper gets the giggles in the middle of his program. Well, I guess thats not a totally valid argument against the Time Warner station, but it seems that they, too, have an agenda. Unlike the other two stations, they are just a little confused about what it is.
From my many travels and experienced, I've found that the best source of news is from the outside, specifically from the outside of the country where you're from/living/visiting. What about Australia? All of the news about Australia, IS Australian! I wish there was a source where I could find out what's going on here. Its really not that hard to find out what's going on but I'm still trying to figure out which source is the least likely to fill their words with political or social agenda.
Now that I'm done ranting about the news, I can talk a little about my day. I had class commitments during periods 1 and 4. I was able to get a lot of planning done during the middle two periods.
Period 1 was year 11 Biology, an absolutely fantastic class! I was a little surprised to find that one of the students thought that Captain Cook was a Dutch explorer. Duh, even the American in the room knows who he was! His name was brought up when talking about the early classification of flora and fauna of Australia when people first explored the "Southern Land." I am planning to take over the class tomorrow with a short practical about classification using keys. Can't wait, especially since I recently completed a field botany course that required me to understand how to use keys to identify different trees.
The middle two periods were used for planning. I also managed to get my photo taken for the school pictures! I was pleased that they invited me to have my photo taken as a faculty member! I hope I didn't blink...
Period 4 was "Animal Inside." I worked with students to complete their assignment that was issued to them the previous day. I think the class is a good group of students but there are a few that may need some help getting motivated. One, unfortunately, needs a lesson on proper glue use. IT'S THE NINTH GRADE! I think I'll be able to manage a lesson that incorporates proper school utensil use. Hopefully scissors aren't going to be an issue!
The end of the day came quick and we left for home. I hopped on the bike, as I have habitually done after school and rode around for a few minutes; I had to go back to fix the handle bars, which had slipped out of place. Tuesday nights is also Bowls night so I took the bike to meet the team at the club at 5:30. I managed to make it in time to see the first match. The team invited me to play the second match after a tough loss. I happily obliged. My first roll was about 5 meters short of the jack; granted I didn't make it in time for practice. After a laugh from the crowd, my game started picking up. I managed to score the final 2 points which tied the match. Thankfully for us, we managed to win more games during the match so we left victorious! If you have no idea what I'm talking about...you'd just have to see for yourself, or check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowls.
After the quick ride home, I walked in the door to some homemade stir-fry. Delicious! Truly a great end to an eventful day!
Have a happy Tuesday America! Since I've already been through the day, I can tell you it'll be a great one!
Al Jazeera plays frequently on Australian local stations for world news coverage and I rely on it a few times during the week to catch up on whats going on outside of the bubble that is Australia. Why does it play here but not in the States? Is it the Arabic name (it couldn't be...could it?), or is it because of the outside, highly intelligent take on American issues? Is it because it's based out of a Middle Eastern country? To hell with that. If you want some good international and even US news that is non-partisan (as opposed to bi-partisan) check out http://www.aljazeera.com/. You may, however, pick up on a few opinion editorial authors' agendas, but most seem to be logical and well thought out.
I bring this up at the start of this entry because good news and good news coverage is something that I feel very strongly about. At home, when I turn on the television to Fox News, I expect to watch "Fair and Balanced" news since that is their claim. Instead, I get right-wing agenda shoved down my throat; agenda so thick that you couldn't cut it with a knife, you'd need a saw. MSNBC is about as left as Fox News is right. Who can you trust? Not CNN, especially when Anderson Cooper gets the giggles in the middle of his program. Well, I guess thats not a totally valid argument against the Time Warner station, but it seems that they, too, have an agenda. Unlike the other two stations, they are just a little confused about what it is.
From my many travels and experienced, I've found that the best source of news is from the outside, specifically from the outside of the country where you're from/living/visiting. What about Australia? All of the news about Australia, IS Australian! I wish there was a source where I could find out what's going on here. Its really not that hard to find out what's going on but I'm still trying to figure out which source is the least likely to fill their words with political or social agenda.
Now that I'm done ranting about the news, I can talk a little about my day. I had class commitments during periods 1 and 4. I was able to get a lot of planning done during the middle two periods.
Period 1 was year 11 Biology, an absolutely fantastic class! I was a little surprised to find that one of the students thought that Captain Cook was a Dutch explorer. Duh, even the American in the room knows who he was! His name was brought up when talking about the early classification of flora and fauna of Australia when people first explored the "Southern Land." I am planning to take over the class tomorrow with a short practical about classification using keys. Can't wait, especially since I recently completed a field botany course that required me to understand how to use keys to identify different trees.
The middle two periods were used for planning. I also managed to get my photo taken for the school pictures! I was pleased that they invited me to have my photo taken as a faculty member! I hope I didn't blink...
Period 4 was "Animal Inside." I worked with students to complete their assignment that was issued to them the previous day. I think the class is a good group of students but there are a few that may need some help getting motivated. One, unfortunately, needs a lesson on proper glue use. IT'S THE NINTH GRADE! I think I'll be able to manage a lesson that incorporates proper school utensil use. Hopefully scissors aren't going to be an issue!
The end of the day came quick and we left for home. I hopped on the bike, as I have habitually done after school and rode around for a few minutes; I had to go back to fix the handle bars, which had slipped out of place. Tuesday nights is also Bowls night so I took the bike to meet the team at the club at 5:30. I managed to make it in time to see the first match. The team invited me to play the second match after a tough loss. I happily obliged. My first roll was about 5 meters short of the jack; granted I didn't make it in time for practice. After a laugh from the crowd, my game started picking up. I managed to score the final 2 points which tied the match. Thankfully for us, we managed to win more games during the match so we left victorious! If you have no idea what I'm talking about...you'd just have to see for yourself, or check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowls.
After the quick ride home, I walked in the door to some homemade stir-fry. Delicious! Truly a great end to an eventful day!
Have a happy Tuesday America! Since I've already been through the day, I can tell you it'll be a great one!
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