Lego

What is this about?
I have a large, quite healthy I might add, fascination with Lego. I did give a hint that this post would be about "playing well" and this is. Lego is basically blocks that one can build different things with. The Lego brand was originally wooden toys but has evolved to the current plastic blocks enjoyed the world over.

Why Lego?
I don't really know the answer is but I think it comes from the human idea to create something to our own mind. I really believe what Lego does is give ideas of expressions in forms of a physical object - forms of human expression are always in need of a way of doing so. Everyone has their own way of expressing things in differing ways and I believe that Lego is one of them - certainly one of mine.

Lego is loved the world round because of the way it gives people the avenue of being creative. Or in the case where there are instructions, to make a lovely model of their favourite theme - Star Wars being mine. While Lego is most certainly overpriced over here, what is not different is the amount of people buying Lego. Lego will continue to enjoy a wide audience, all they have to look for is their price tag!

Summation
Okay, this was really short but I had to put something up! Something juicer will be coming up, "juicer"? In any case it will be two parted. Hint! It will be about difference.
A VERY Small Perspective again.
Thanks : )

Exams...In the long term?

What is this about?
Since the exam period (for me at least) is now over, a question nagged me for a while. What is the point of these exams? Well, I think I have an answer for that, what I wanted to look at is viewing at what this short period of exams would mean in the longer run.

The lead up to the Period
I always find there is this air of tension around when one is going around their daily business. Always in the mind about the exams and what to do for it. This is where I find exams to be useful, not this air of tension and high competitiveness between people but the actual lead up to the exams. The studying, the prioritising, the notes - what do they do? If the content doesn't stick with you, then what does?

Handling the pressure - whether it is there or not, this stage is critical in growing up in adding to one's opinion. A valuable skill is adding to the experience of learning - patience. The counter to stress, on a mental note I believe, is patience. Patience is a valuable part of one's life, it teaches one how far they can go on their tether, it gives one understanding and it also gives one the feeling of content when in doubt (I hope...)

The Examination
I often find that the purpose of the exam is to test how well one is able to engage with the content . I often forget this purpose because the only raison de'tre I seem to hold for tests is...the marks. I am not saying marks are bad, marks are needed for the reflection of the content tested, the problem is the whole competitiveness and pressure than can really affect and push someone. It might not, but there are times where it may weigh one down. This in itself is another test and what does one do? Be patient!

The Aftermath
This is the part where I can grill this long-term idea of exams. Where do exams sit in the long term. My answer is two part. The first part is, you know the content and the content will help you in whatever endeavour there is. The second part is that it doesn't. That is also a two part answer.

Let's look at exams in the long run. These marks don't really mean anything after your schooling life, although a friend of mine says that if you can save it up one day to show off to friends in a conversation like: "Yeah? What have you achieved?" To answer with "Full marks in all my tests!". Of course, I don't get full marks in tests - but I know a guy who invariably does or gets close!

I hold the opinion that these grades, marks and most of the content holds no real value as you get older (well...most of the content translates into skills but). The whole marks issue and this stress only adds unnecessary pressure on kids but that's your point of view. No, this short term period only is a means of measure. What really matters in this short term, is what you make of what you do.

This means that what you decide to do and how you react are all what matters. The consequences of what you choose will manifest into change into the outlook on one's life. Or, a new skill may be learnt. But what I urge you to remember during all of this is patience. Key lesson here. : )

There is also an argument that testing is a reflection of how well you are versed in your particular work. I agree with this - partly. The problem here is that one examination cannot and is not a true wholistic reflection of the potential and level of ability one holds. I am all for testing but I do not believe for a final grade or comment be based on testing. There are numerous considerations to be taken including class work, class participation, book work, homework etc. This may be (and hopefully) already happening in schools but this zeitgeist that is currently present still is gripping students.

What did that have to do with the long term purpose of this article? That this short period of exams and marking is important - for a time. However, in the longer run of things, if you do not get past all those criterion in place through you reflecting on yourself then one sinks a little. You'll naturally get up again but this is where reflection helps. It drives towards change and change can be good or bad. Change is affected by how you reflect and change affects how one progresses as one matures.

Summation
So, what is the best way to have these exams useful in the long term? Simple:
1. Learn to have patience
2. Reflection
3. Change

That is everything condensed down. Please remember that this is all my own opinion and that I am open to you posting comments. Thanks for reading. Next article? A hint: "Playing Well". It may not be accurate, I can tell you that!
This is just A Small Point of View.
Thanks. : )

Small Talk...

What is this?
Exactly my sentiment. What is this? I recently found out that small talk is conversation made just for the sake of trying to have one. So, how well does one fare at this?

Talk
I often find I am no good at dealing with silences I have in conversations with people - even friends. So, I quite unconsciously start talking about topics related to work at school (Yes, I know) to get out of these silences. I absolutely can't stand them, but I am not sure talking about school can make it any better. The best times I can make conversation is if I start with a polite "Hello" or some facsimile thereof and talk about the day.

Topics for this requisite conversation
Often the one you find the one often referred to is the weather. Then perhaps the sport or what's on the news. We do it out of being polite or getting out of that awkward situation. It also can be very good to open conversations, so if one wants to get into a conversation, you probably have already started with small talk. Even the simple "Hello, how are you?" conversation is a "small talk". I remember I was introduced to a new person once and the first time we met, our conversation was first dominated by this. However, it developed into more mundane topic areas! But anyway, conversation is essential to a social component of one's lifestyle.

Summation
Well, this article was probably small talk as well. Nothing much was there? Next post is about something with a bit more substance - "Exams in the Long-Term".
This was A VERY Small Point of View.
: ) Thanks.

The Spirit of the Law vs. The Letter of the Law

What's this about?
Yeah, yeah, this is another boring article - but with these ongoing court cases here that may seem unfair, I'd like to talk about two black and white interpretations of the law although, the law is actually very grey!

What is the Law?
I suppose the very basic definition of "law" would be a system of rules that govern behaviour. Did we ever have laws and do we have a need for it? I believe its natural. Under this definition, laws are everywhere, in the home, in the workplace and in the country - everywhere! It is a human need to have laws in order to minimize chaos because the natural disposition of a human is peace. But what your peace is may be very different to others!

In this blog post, I'll be discussing two interpretations of the law there are and try to give you ideas on how to interpret the "law".

Spirit of the Law
Quite simply, the spirit of the law is what the law was intended to achieve by those who wrote it. It basically is that, for example, a law about Human Rights is about safekeeping human rights. Those who wrote it, intended for this law to be about the security of those rights wholly. It would basically be the essence of what the law is intended to do. This would be regardless of what was written in the law as under this interpretation, those words are only ways to express the idea in sentences that cover a whole range of issues that follow on from this interpretation.

Letter of the Law
As opposed to what the essence of the law was intended to achieve, what is more common and more prevalent is the "letter of the law". This is basically a little idiom for what is actually written in a Law. So basically if the law was the Racial Discrimination Act (for example), most would follow what the literal writing of the law was. This is an important part of those in the legal word because a law does a - z. But if it missed an e or a t, then it would become a loophole and cause some upheaval. So this maybe, if not, equally important to the Spirit because this is the expression of the Spirit.

Which is better?
I most certainly believe that there are certain times to apply each. The spirit of the law would be most important where there is a crime and someone or something has been hurt or damaged because the law is supposed to protect those who did nothing and punish those who did wrong. In cases where the letter of the law becomes important because the way it is worded may wrong people because of what it says it does, then things should be decided by that concept then and there.

But especially in cases of Appeal, the spirit of the law should apply because it no longer becomes what the law is saying but what it is meant to achieve. The law achieving justice, to be just - this is about what we need to be on the look out for!

Summation
This may have been a useless post but its because I wanted to start my understanding on legal topics. If you have any opinions otherwise, please let me know by commenting! Of course, you need a Google account to do that below but the email is on the side - I think. I am open to your views as long as they are constructive!

But please, the point of this is that the law is always meant to achieve the best outcome for those who do the right thing. Or to protect from those who did wrong. It is important that we citizens take active interactions in our legal world because if we don't, how the heck do we know what's going on? Then, it may affect us! We never know.

Next article will be something about life, so look out!
Remember, this is A Small Point of View...
Thanks : )

Viewing the Public vs. Private Issue

What's this about?
A friend of mine attended a Public High School before he chose to make the switch to a Private school. This reignited with me the debate between the two schools and reinforced what I believe with regards to this issue. The question you might want to keep in mind is, "What does education offer to the student?" – And no, I won’t be answering it directly. This will be looked at in a very general Australian context.

 Problem with the Question
The first problem that I have with this issue is the use of "vs." or "better" or any similar word where one is being compared to offer something more than the other. Whilst it is natural to judge and make our evaluations on which is better than the other, we must view what each offer that are the same. In reality, no school type is better than the other because so many contextual questions have to be asked. For example, different public schools in different socioeconomic areas would have varying methods of teachers and the quality of the school. The same can be said for private schools, private schools in the area of higher socioeconomic backgrounds would have a more expensive fee than others. Then comes into consideration the quality of teachers, funding, quality of welfare, student backgrounds or even number of students. There is no definitive answer to put to this but remember, the content is almost the same just some other factors are different. 

So? What's the issue then?
It is important to note that there are two different options to go, which branch out into other options. If you go public, you can have your local area, selective, agricultural (selective too) and go into other areas. If you go private, you can have your different religious and different independent schools. I hope that you notice that Choice plays THE part in this whole issue. That there is the ability to exercise your right to choice to choose different schools. So, it is up to one's discretion to what they want but it is essential to see that different factors affect how one can choose.  

The Real Comparison
Now that there is no residual difference in difference between the school types and only becomes one of choice, what really sets up schools apart? We can take into account comparison between public schools vs. public schools, public vs. private or private vs. private. In a Private School, you pay money and as a student, one receives a higher return than in a Public School because of that funding. Believe you me, if Public Schools had the funding that Private had, there would be no difference between the two. So, two considerations come to mind:1. What can the school do for the student's interest in learning.2. What the student brings to the school learning environment. Obviously this is all up to one’s discretion but take into consideration the bottom note. What we must all remember, the education system has the student’s best interests at heart. Not sure about the Governments though… 

Little Notes
A little earlier I talked about the idea of the socioeconomic backgrounds that can affect how the outlook of school may affect the individual. However, one point that must be made is that in both systems, the same (just about) content is taught as per the rules of the National Curriculum (will be getting to that sometime). So, in terms of what is being taught, there is pretty much no difference but how it is taught. Teachers play a very important part as a result and quality of teachers in important as well. But when you are weighing up options, sometimes it can be hard to pick quality of the 5 w's over what type of institution offers best pleasure.

Summation
So the important point to note is that in terms of the “what” being taught, there is really no difference. Only as to the “how” and anything else extracurricular. But if one searches hard enough in one’s heart, one can make the very best of school anywhere they are. I know I may have been going around in circles, but I need content! Jokes about the content bit! But I think I was going around in circles and only stating the bleedin’ obvious… Education is essential and is a gateway to many pastures (will be talking about education’s importance as well some time!). Well, thanks for reading but content updates will be slowing down slightly, otherwise I’ll run out! If you have any opinions on this matter, please let me know!
This is only A Small Point of View.
Thanks : )