Two-Column Notes

Date:9/1
4

Name: William Yeo

Class/Subject: EDTL 2760

Title(s): Democracy Rankings, Video

Page #

MR Source(s): I dont know how to site these.

The Text Says
I Say
Notes (key concepts, direct quotes, etc.)
My notes, commentary

Video

We sure used to be.

Video

Were seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in

math, twenty second in science, forty-ninth in
life expectancy.

Video

We waged war on poverty not poor people.

Global
Democra
cy
Ranking

You can see on this website that through the

past couple of year the united states has
slowly declined and stabilized around 15th,
while in the past couple years the nations at
the top have continued to improve or stay the
same.

I line said so short but meant with so much power. I

believe that part of this video is right. We used to be
such an amazing country with so many advances
and we have declined as a nation. Our society has
become soft and way to gentle. We dont aspire to
be better anymore and its costing us.
This is true that we arent the best in all these areas
but I still believe that as a country we are better
than many others. A countries greatness is not
defined by simple characteristics, and its not
defined by how long each person lives. But I think if
we worked on these areas and improved them then
we would definitely become a better country.
Although as stated before in the video that he
dosent side with either party it seems that he
belives in a lot of liberal idealism. He critizizes our
funding for the military and says we need to focus
on our ability to focus on fixing poverty instead of
waging war on poor people. I think this video is a
little biased but amazing none the less.
This shows that we are not the greatest country in
the world. If we go by this website were currently
15th. But lets note the size of Denmark how many
people live there. Do you think it would be easier to
control and monitor that many citizens compared to
the United states.

Connections to previous MR:

Last couple weeks we learned about why kids dont like social studies and the problems that we as teachers
might face, as well as the standards of social studies and why they are important. What I found interesting is that
in this week of studies none of it focused on social studies. It focused on where we are as a country and where
we could be. I believe that part of the reason that we are at a disadvantage in the world is because were not
educating our students about the past of the world and the united states. History is supposed to bring everyone
together, it is the past of our nation and where we all came from. But often we focus on what separates us, ie.
Slavery, Discrimination, Political Parties. We need to start focusing on subjects that bring us closer together; this
would lead to less conflict in my opinion.
To say that social studies is the only way for our nation to become a great nation once again is definitely false.
There are many more aspects that need to change in order for us to become a better nation. But social studies
and education could be a great start to that. The quicker you educate this generation, the more likely they will
educate the next generation better.