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The rise of racism and political divide in America

The rising trend of racism in America is an idea that many seem to be aware of, yet any proof that racism is again experiencing growth is based mostly on anecdotal evidence. A rise in news reports on racist cops, the Charlottesville incident, and Trump’s inauguration all point to the idea that racism is making a revival in this country, but racism is a hard thing to track.

Add to that the fact that the left and the right can’t even agree on whether or not racism is a big issue makes finding concrete facts about the revival of white supremacy hard to come by.

Whether or not racism is experiencing a revival, many on the left seem to believe that it is happening. That belief, even on its own, can have ramifications.

However there is some evidence to support the claim. For one, hate crimes have been on the rise in the past two years, since 2015. As well, the KKK has claimed they are experiencing a revival in membership.

Even Fox News acknowledges that there is a problem, however the cause, they say, is debatable.

Technology integration in the classroom

My second data story was titled the Importance of Technology Integration in Teaching and Learning. I used different sources that explained how technology integration could improve the way teachers teach and the way students learn. The first source was titled Learning and Schooling in the Age of Mobilism which talked about how technology had became part of everyone’s life and the importance of including technology in our education system. The second source is titled The Impact of Education Technology on Student Achievement, and this source included different studies that talked about the impact of technology integration on students’ achievement. The third source is professor Mesut Duran, and he is an educational technology professor in the University of Michigan Dearborn. The fourth sources is an article about the TPACK model which stands for Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge. The fifth source talked about Howard Gardner which led to the sixth source which was about Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory. Last source I used was Professor Stein Brunvand who is the associate dean for the master’s programs, and the director for the educational technology program in the University of Michigan Dearborn.

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Curation of Ypsilanti School District

The Ypsilanti School District is at an idle for improving the schools due to the lack of support from many different factors.

Many of these issues occurred when Willow Run and Ypsilanti School Districts combined. This is important to note because both schools were suffering with their percentile ranks both below 10.

One discovery that I made was noting how many people are actually homeless at the various high schools in the area. The number of students, quite high for the amount attending the school, shows a possible cause for low performance. When these students have no where to go after school, it is not possible to know how they are able to complete their homework.

New kid on the block

Being an American in America is somewhat under heavy fire. For some people due to a flux of recent racial tension that has become one of the leading headlines besides “Russiagate”. The latest story that has been blasted across social media and television media is a story of a young man who almost became a hashtag.

Fourteen-year-old Brennan Walker woke up one morning not knowing that post events would forever change his life. As it happens with many children, he missed the bus for school and decided rather than play hooky, he would walk to school. Brennan a young black teen cut through a neighborhood hoping that he could get help from people in the area. Little did he know moments later he would be shot at and almost brutally murdered.

After knocking on a door in Rochester Hills, Michigan, he was confronted by an angry woman, her husband and a barrel of a shotgun.

Walker tells Fox 2 Detroit, “I got to the house, and I knocked on the lady’s door. Then she started yelling at me and she was like, ‘Why are you trying to break into my house?’ I was trying to explain to her that I was trying to get directions to Rochester High. And she kept yelling at me. Then the guy came downstairs, and he grabbed the gun, I saw it and started to run. And that’s when I heard the gunshot.”

For many people it was as simple as, “why doesn’t a teenager know his way to school” and for others many teens get on the bus and browse the web or talk amongst friends not really paying attention to the navigation of the bus driver.

It would seem this is a clear case of racial bias. Many people myself included, wonders if this would happen to say, a white American. I am an African American who just moved into a suburban neighborhood myself. As the “new kid on the block” I want to introduce myself to my neighbors and perhaps bring over a gift. Should I have to worry about whether I’ll be met with smiling faces or a barrel of a shotgun?

In this case we can say justice will hopefully be served. The shooter, Jeffrey Zeigler a retired fireman faces life in prison on the charges of assault with the intent to murder and a felony firearm charge. His bail was set at $50,000. I hope he will be an example to all registered gun owners and people with hidden racial biases that not ALL black people are monstrous despite Hollywood’s depiction and also that not ALL gun owners are reckless.