This I Believe Speech - 5/23/16

“A Family Created”

My belief was formed during the eighth grade when I finally joined a football league, something I wanted to do for a long time. I went into the league knowing nobody, but I left with a family.

We supported and encouraged each other; we were all accepted. Throughout the season there's one memory in particular that stood out to me.

It was a cool, gloomy day and practice was almost over but we had to do the most dreaded thing...run. The running was split up into two groups by position. During the run a lineman, who just joined, was struggling because he had asthma. The other group and myself, who had just finished running, noticed this and ran out there to him to encourage him and make sure he didn't give up. The rest of the linemen shouted words of encouragement as he finished. That day we ended practice on a strong note and it brought us closer together as a family. The lineman even started to encourage others and started to talk to others more often. 

After the league was over I realized how much sports can bring people who have never met each other together. I realized that losing doesn't demoralize a strong family. And most importantly I realized that sports creates families. Now I try to join sports and clubs that require a lot of teamwork and that has made all the difference.

End of Year Reflection Blog - 5/22/16

1- What are the three most important things you learned this year?

This year I learned that time management is the key to success. If you don't have a good schedule or routine it might cause you to fail. I also learned that procrastination can be stopped. I usually procrastinate by using my phone, but I found an alternative that personally helped me. I would instead listen to music on my phone because I don't need to use my phone and it's still something entertaining. Lastly, I learned that no matter how much you get stressed you can still make it through.  Stress is something you have to push past to succeed.

2- What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life?

Something that we did that  I think I'll remember for the rest of my life is the readers theatre skits. For this we were assigned to groups and had to make a skit that parodied a Edgar Allen Poe poem. I'll remember this because it was a very fun experience making the skit and practicing it. It was also funny watching some of my friends act for the whole class.

3- What was the nicest thing someone in our class did for you this year?

In my class a couple of my friends helped me catch up with work that I missed at the end of the year. I missed a lot of days towards the end of the year because of robotics and the musical, so I became behind on work. My friends helped me understand what to do and told me what I missed in class. I really appreciated their help.

4- What is something you taught your teacher or classmates this year?

I don't think I really taught anybody anything this year. Maybe some teachers and classmates can argue saying I taught them that anything can be made up or turned around with a little hard work. While reading To Kill a Mockingbird I didn't annotate for the first couple of chapters. I finally got over the stress and started annotating. Similar situations happened in other classes. In math I had 10 hours plus the currents weeks of Khan Academy to make up. I made up all that time and a little extra in three weeks.

5- In what area do you feel you made your biggest improvements? What is something you accomplished this year that you are proud of?

The are that I improved the most in was writing. This is because we had to write an argumentative essay, memoir, a speech, and a theme essay. These pieces helped me with TIQA, citing, quoting, and telling stories, which helped my overall writing skills. I'm the most proud of my argumentative essay becuase I believe I made a strong argument. I also am proud of it because I got a good grade on the assignment.

6- What was the most challenging part of this year for you?

The most challenging part of the year for me was when we were reading To Kill a Mockingbird. This was the most challenging part because of all the assignments we had with the book. We had to read, annotate, find quotes, and answer questions every night. I became very overwhelmed and stressed from these assignments.

7- What was the best piece of writing that you did this year? Why do you think it is your best?

My best piece of writing is my argumentative essay. This is my best piece because at this time I knew how embed quotes, introduce quotes, make citation lists, and I had practice with the TIQA format. This made my essay better than others because I could add these things to it that made it more organized. 

8- Of the books you read this year, which was your favorite? Why?

Out of all the books I read this year A Monster Calls is my favorite. One reason it's my favorite is because of the amazing illustrations in the book. The illustrator did a good job and the visuals helped me picture what was going on. Another reason is the plot is very interesting because what's going on in Conor's life. It's a very interesting concept and it was executed very well.

9- What advice would you give students who will be in this class next year?

For the students that are going to be in Mrs. Larsons class next year there are three things that will guide you through her class. These things are time management, organization, and persistence. You need to make sure you manage your time because some days you'll have more homework than usual, so you have to make sure you get it done. You have to make sure you're organized and have all your papers and you turned in everything. Lastly, if you feel stressed or overwhelmed you have to persist because it will soon be over. You have to take it one day at a time and just keep going.

Aphorism Project - 6/12/16

Prompts: 

1- Explain the aphorism in detail. what was Morrie's main message?

2-     Relate the aphorism to a movie, song, historical event, current event, personal experience, etc. and explain in detail how the example you have chosen relates to the aphorism.

3-     Evaluate the aphorism by explaining why you agree/disagree with it. Give specific reasons for your position and specific evidence from the text to support your position.

4-     Take a picture of your aphorism to use as your graphic.

5- Include your own aphorism regarding life.

          The Aphorism "Accept the past as past,without denying it discarding it." (p. 18) basically says that you need to accept the things you did in the past. Morrie wanted Mitch to embrace his past instead of putting aside and forgetting about it. I also think Morrie told Mitch this because you have to do this to fully forgive yourself before you die. You have to acknowledge your decisions right or wrong to forgive yourself, which will make you a happier person.

          I can relate this aphorism to To Kill a Mockingbird when Scout said, "I sometimes felt a twinge of remorse, when passing by the old place, at ever having take part in what just have been sheer torment to Arthur Radley." These quotes are similar because this shows that Scout didn't discard her past and feels bad about her decisions. In this aphorism Morrie said to do exactly that, which is why I can relate the two.

          I agree with this aphorism because accepting your past is good thing to do because your reflecting on your life. Reflecting on things can help you distinguish what is good and what is bad. Without reflecting you would make the same mistakes over and over again. I also agree with this because it helps you forgive yourself which is a good life skill.

Tuesday's with Morrie Seminar Reflection - 5/4/16

Tuesday's with Morrie

Author: Mitch Albom

Prompt: 

- Explain how the past four Socratic Seminars have influenced your thinking about Tuesdays with Morrie and life in general.

- What trends did you notice with yourself and your personal goals for each seminar? How did your personal goal(s) change and what did you actively do to change throughout our last four discussions?
- What trends did you notice with the class for each seminar? What did you notice that helped or hindered a specific seminar?

          The four Socratics Seminars we did in class helped he understand certain parts in of the book better. This is because I get to hear other people interpretations and observations about aphorisms, events, and quotes. For instance, on pages 175 and 176 when Morrie explain what his perfect day would be if he had full control of his body again. The day he described seemed so average and I was trying to figure out why he chose those things. I didn't know why until we had the Socratic Seminar where I realized everything he wanted to do was things he loved to do, like dancing, looking at nature, eating favorite foods, and meeting family and friends.

          A trend that I noticed in myself is that I didn't talk a lot through all the Socratic Seminars. It was hard to jump in because the seminars are fast paced and there are a little less than 30 students who also have things to say. This affected my personal goals becuase I always put to try and say more. To fix this I tried to say things whenever I could and I also made sure I didn't hesitate.

          A trend that I noticed for the whole class is that the same 6 or 7 people were the main people saying things. This was because they had a lot of things to say and everybody else seemed to be shy or too quiet. This could have been fixed if whoever was trying to talk spoke up so they are noticed, this also includes me. Something else that I noticed that hindered the Socratic Seminars a little is that we would get off topic at some point. Making connections is a good thing when discussing something, like a book, but we would usually get far off topic which wasted time.

What Tuesday Inspired You the Most? - Tuesday's with Morrie

Tuesday's with Morrie

Author: Mitch Albom

Pages: 0-139

Prompt: Based on the 6 Tuesdays you have read about in Tuesdays with Morrie, choose which topic (The World, Feeling Sorry For Yourself, Regrets, Death, Family, or Emotions) that has had the most impact on you or inspired you.

         All the Tuesdays in this book has inspired me in little ways, but the one that has inspired me the most was the sixth Tuesday which was about emotions. This chapter was the most inspiring because Morrie explained how to deal with the emotions and to move past them. It was also was really inspiring because humans deal with emotion all the time, so it's something that can affect your life greatly.

          One reason why the sixth Tuesday inspired me is because it has showed me how to handle my emotions. In the book Morrie says, "But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely" (104). This showed me that if accept my emotions then I could actually experience them completely and in a good way. This also showed me to not hide my emotions, but accept them. Morrie said you had to "wash yourself with emotion" (105).

          Morrie also talked about detaching from your emotions. Morrie explained, "... detachment doesn't mean you don't let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate you fully. That's how you are able to leave it" (103). This is similar to handling your emotions, but this way you are able to leave those emotions instead of accepting them. Morrie said, "When you learn to die, you learn to live" (104). I think this has some connection to the emotions because you feel fear, sadness, loneliness, etc. when dying. This especially occurs when you have something like ALS which hinder breathing and mobility.

3rd Quarter Reflection

4/8/16

Prompts: 1) In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in English Language Arts? 2) What is something you have accomplished this quarter that you are proud of? 3) What has been the most challenging part of 3rd Quarter for you and what did/can you do to help overcome this?

          In the 3rd quarter I think I made many improvements in school. In ELA my biggest improvement is researching a topic and gathering reliable data. In my class we chose a topic to research and had to develop a argument for a side on that topic. This project helped me a lot because I was finding a lot of the same information, which forced memtomfind new sources. Before this project I would only use the bare minimum amount of sources, but now I use a lot more. It also helped that in another class we also had to do a research project for the whole quarter, so I got more practice there.

          Something that I'm proud of that I did this quarter is my butterfly project. I had to make a butterfly that respresented a holocuast peom we where given and I'm proud about how my butterfly turned out. I really liked doing the project and I spent a lot of time on it. I feel like I did a good job on it and I had good reasons for the little things I added.

          The most challeging part of the quarter for me was organizing my papers. This quarter it seemed like I got a lot of papers for ELA. These papers started to pile up with the old ones and I started to lose track of them. This caused be to lose papers, leave them at home, or not be able to find them in my folder. Some of the papers where important other weren't important and some where needed for homework. To prevent this from happening in the 4th quarter I'm going to clear out my folder of unnecessary papers and packets.

Code Talker - 3/17/15

Code Talker

Author: Joseph Bruchac

Pages: 118-143

Prompt: 1) Select a quote from your reading that you liked. What made you pick it? 2) What is the mood of what you’re reading? Defend your idea. 3) Predict what will happen next.

          In the book Code Talker I found several quotes that I found memorable. The quote I found the most memorable so far is something Ned said about war. Ned said, "Never think that war is a good thing, grandchildren. Though it may be necessary at times to defend our people, war is a sickness that must be cured. War is a time out of balance. When it is truly over, we must work together to restore peace and sacred harmony once again." I picked this quote becuase I completely agree with it. I mostly agree with him saying that war isn't good and should only be used when necessary. I agree that countries should never be apart of wars that are necessary to fight in. For example in World War II the U.S. stayed out of it because it would have been wasting lives for no reason. However when we were attacked that put the countries safety at stake, so we had to fight back.

          The mood of this book varies thoughtout the book. This is because Ned is recalling his memories so he shares things that stick out, so these memories can be funny, serious, sad, or happy. The mood is sometimes funny because Ned said that his Navajo language was really easy to mess up if you aren't a native speaker of it, so Ned shares stories of Americans trying to say something in Navajo. The mood can be serious because he's fighting in World War II. This means that there's bullets flying around, bombs exploding, and countless injuries. Lastly, the mood can be happy or sad because like I said they're fighting in a war, so there are victories and loses.

          Right now in the Code Talker Ned and his task force was just assigned to take over Guam instead of Saipan. I think what will happen next is Ned and his task force will be faced with resistance from the Japanese. I think this will happen because in Saipan that happened the task force assigned there. However I don't think the resistance will be as strong in Guam because Ned said he was lucky not to be assigned there.

Code Talker - 3/10/16

Code Talker

Author: Joseph Bruchac

Pages: 0-118

Prompt: In 4-6 sentences, describe several things you learned from your reading.

          In the Code Talker you follow a Navajo boy's life through boarding school, boot camp, and World War II as a Navajo code talker. Since, you follow a born Navajo I learned a lot about the Navajo people, traditions, culture, and language. One thing I learned was that the Navajo language is a very difficult language to learn. Ned, the Navajo you follow in the book, said that you can try saying one thing, but easily say something else. On top of that there are also many slightly different variations of Navajo. I also learned something very interesting about Navajo's in war. It is a rule to never cry out in pain during war because they never want to give away their position and their weaknesses.

          I also learned more about how the Navajo people introduce themselves to each other and religion. I find it very interesting how they introduce each themselves to each other because they have different clans and houses. For instance, Ned would introduce himself with his real name and say he was born for Mud Clan and born to the Towering House. He would also say where he was born and who his father was. This is very different to how we introduce ourselves now. I also learned that in the Navajo religion has different gods for different things.

          From reading this book I also learned more about the boot camp for marines and the secret code the Navajos made. I learned more about what the future marines had to go through like carrying heavy packs, in the heat, for five miles. I found it interesting how the Navajo found this easy, while others found it hard. I also found it interesting that the peaceful Navajos were the platoon that scored the highest in the pistol and rifle range. Even though they did this easily. what was the hardest for them was the swimming test. Some of the Navajo people that made it through the boot camp were chosen to learn the secret code. Ned was one of those people, so I got to learn more about the code words, phrases, letters, etc. I also got to learn more about code talkers in general like the equipment they use.

Life is Beautiful Blog - 3/2/16

Prompts: What connections can be made between Life is Beautiful and our reading? What events, scenes, or situations are similar or different? What is similar or different about the mood or tone of the pieces? How is life shown as beautiful throughout the film?

          A connection between the book Night and the film Life is Beautiful would be father son relationship. In both pieces the fathers have a great relationship with their son because they look out for each other. In Night Elie and his father would always encourage the other to keep going and keep hope. Also, at the end of the book Elie never left his fathers side, giving him his rations of food, water, or anything else he needed. In Life is Beautiful Guido tells his son, Joshua, that the whole thing was a planned vacation and a game to make sure he doesn't get scared. This shows how much Guido cared for Joshua. Joshua would also listen to what Guido said, showing that Joshua trusted his father even in the most troubling moments.

          Life is Beautiful and Night have some scenes that are similar when the people were going to the camp and at the camp. A scene that was similar was the Jews being crammed into small train car. In Night Elie describes the car as, ". In Life is Beautiful you can see Guido and Joshua being loaded in to train car with barely any room left. Another, scene that is similar is the hard labor the prisoners had to go through. In Night Elie explains that he had to carry heavy slabs on his back for a good distance all day. In Life is Beautiful you can see Guido carrying what looked like anvil to incinerators for smelting.

          The mood of the movie Life is Beautiful and the book Night is different at the start of the movie. At the start of the movie the mood is very happy and humorous. The mood is like this because of the main character, Guido, who is a very wacky guy. For instance, he continually tries to switch his hat with his bosses. This is very different from the serious mood Night has throughout the book. However, the moods become similar as Guido and his family are put in a concentration camp. In both the movie and book they show the brutish attitude of the German soldiers. They talk about the gas chambers and crematory. This made the mood very serious and dark.

          In the film Life is Beautiful life is shown as being beautiful various times. One way life is shown as beautiful is through family/love. While in the concentration camp Guido tells Joshua that the whole place was a game for a tank. He did this to keep him away from the harsh truth, which shows he loves and cares for his son. Guido also sends signs to his wife, Dora, various times. Guido played a song from a opera they were at and also spoke over the loud speaker to her. 

Night - 2/25/16

Night
Author: Elie Wiesel
Pages: 81-109 (End)
Prompt: How do Elie's experiences during the Holocaust change him as a person?

          Throughout the book Elie Wiesel change his viewpoint about God and religion. At the beginning of the book Elie wants to dive in deeper into his religion, he said "One day I asked my father to find me a master to guide me in my studies of the cabbala" (1). This shows that Elie wanted to be a very religious person and believed in a God. However, the concentration camps changed his religious viewpoint. He stated many times throughout his time at the camp that God was dead. He witnessed a hanging happen and said "Behind me, I heard the same man asking: 'Where is god now?" And I heard a voice within me answer him: 'Where is He? Here He is—He is hanging here on this gallows..." (62). This shows that he truly believed that God was dead and could lent help them.

          Elie's relationship with his father also changes throughout the book. Before the concentration camps Elie and his father had a normal relationship. When they were transported to the camp there bond became very strong, they almost never left each other's side. He also never let his father give up hope. He said "'Father! Father! Wake up. They're trying to throw you out of the carriage'... I set work to slap him as hard as I could. After a momemt my father's eyelids moved slightly over his glazed eyes" (94). Then as his father is about to die Elie thinks to himself "I thought in the most secret region of my heart, but I dared not to admit it. It's too late to save your old father, I said to myself. You ought to be having two rations of bread, two rations of soup" (105). This is a huge difference compared to how Elie thought of his father before.

          Elie as a person has changed since the beginning of the book. Elie is now an activist and is trying to help out people who need it. Throughout out the book he only looked out for his father, friends, and himself. Now he trying to help out anyone he can and is trying to bring peace. From this he has a Nobel Peace Prize from telling his story of living through the Holocaust.

Night - 2/18/16

Night

Author: Elie Wiesel

Pages: 0 - 80

Prompt: List at least three problems the character faced? Which was the most life changing? Explain.

          Throughout the book Elie faces several problems with himself to the Nazi soldiers watching over him. One of the problems he faces is malnourishment. Since, he is at a concentration camp the conditions are horrible. The medical care is poor, the shelters are falling apart, and the prisoner barely get any food. Food and water is essential for surviving, so receiving a small amount of could cause serious health problems. This also makes him have less energy and strength, so some task are harder and more tiring.

          Another problem Elie is facing is keeping his faith in a religion. He starts to questions Gods powers and of he is even real. Elie questions this because all of the things happening around him. He watches as innocent people die from sickness, hunger, or an injury. He thinks why isn't God helping them. He also watches as people get cremated and hung at the gallows. He questions why God isn't preventing this. That is why keeping his faith to religion is so hard for him.

          The most life changing problem he is facing is staying with his family. Elie only has his father left after he was separated from his mother and sister. This was hard for him and the rest of his family. Now he tries his hardest to stay with his father at all times because he doesn't want to lose him, too. This is the most life changing because he never saw his mother and sister again. They never said a proper goodbye to each other and Elie never knew that was going to be the last time he saw them. 

Butterfly Project

Holocaust AoW Impressions - 2/16/16

          During the gallery walk I learned that direct Holocaust survivors have a higher chance of getting schizophrenia than the average human. This is because of all the things they have seen and had to live through. People who were indirectly affected to the Holocaust have a 27% of developing schizophrenia. People who directly affected by the Holocaust had a 41% higher chance than those who were indirectly affected. Those who were born in the Holocaust had even higher chance.

          I also learned that some Holocaust survivors want to help the world. One survivor wants to make sure that future generations know that history is important and should be learned. They believed this because they didn't want history to repeat itself. Another survivor wanted to help Syrian refugees. This survivor wants to help because she basically went through what they are currently going through. She loved through the Holocaust and knows the feeling of this situation. They know what it's like seeing innocent people die and don't want these people to see it too.

Berlin Memorial Activity - 2/3/16

Prompts: 1) What did you learn? 2) Why do you think this monument was built? 3) What did you notice about the number of laws passed in certain years? 4) Which restrictions do you think you would have the most trouble dealing with and why?

          From the activity we did in class I learned about many of Huremburg Laws put into place. These laws were put into place from 1935-1945 during WWII and effected the Jewish people. We learned got to see about 60 of the laws and when they we passed. As the years went on these laws got more and more strict. It got to a point were Jews could only shop at a certain time and Jews couldn't have any milk. The life for Jews also got worse as the years went on. Jews weren't allowed to work a certain job, buy certain products, or have certain possessions.

         I think this monument was built to give a feeling of a proper burial for all of the victims of the Holocaust. The victims of the Holocaust were just dumped into ditches and buried in groups. They were never buried in a proper way, so this monument was to at least give off a feeling of this. I think it is also a rememberence of the whole Holocaust and all of the lives taken from it.

          I noticed that more laws were passed in some years than other years. I also noticed that the years there were a lot of laws passed were the years with big events. The first year with a lot of laws passed was 1933, in this year Adolf Hitler came into power. The next year where a lot of laws were passed was 1938, which was the year Kristallnacht (The Night of Shattered Glass) happened. The final year where there were many laws passed was 1942. 1942 was a huge turning point in the war because Germany was finally defeated after a long streak of winning battles and it went all downhill from there.

          The restriction I think I would have the most trouble dealing with is the law that restricted Jews from joining any sports clubs. I would have the most trouble with this because I love playing sports. I have been playing sports for basically my whole life, so it would be way source of entertainment gone. It would also be a source of fitness taken away to, so it would harder to stay healthy.

2nd Quarter Reflection Blog

1/24/16

Prompts: 1) In what area do you think you made your biggest improvements in English Language Arts? 2) What is something you have accomplished since the new year that you are proud of? 3) What has been the most challenging part of 2nd Quarter for you and what did/can you do to help overcome this?

          The area that I think I made the biggest improvement in is essay writing. This quarter we had to write an essay about a theme in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which greatly improved u writing skills. The essay refreshed my mind about the "TIQA" format for body paragraphs and introduced me to the "ANT" format for the introduction. Along with writing my the essay this assignment helped with my revision skills. I now know what to look for when revising my papers, along with someone else's paper.

          The thing that I am the most proud of this year is doing good on my vocabulary tests and tests in other subjects. At the time I'm writing this I've only gotten threes and fours on my test in every subject. I'm proud of this because it wasn't just one class I did this in or one type of test. I hope I can say this again by the end of the 3rd quarter, even if it means I have to retake every test I take this quarter.

          The most challenging part of the 2nd quarter for me was time management. I can never tell how long it will take me to finish my homework, so I sometimes give myself to little time to complete my homework. Time management has been a big problem for me throughout the whole school year. However, I'm going to try to establish a time I start homework every day, but I have to see the amount of assignments I will get regularly in the 3rd quarter.

To Kill a Mockingbird Juxtaposition

1/21/16

Prompts: 1) What do you think is the most important difference between the written and filmed version? Provide evidence with specific details. 2) How would you prove or disprove that one version of To Kill A Mockingbird is more affective in delivering its message than the other? Be sure to provide specific pieces of evidence to support your opinion. 3) What is the purpose in having different versions of a story? Think about how different versions contribute to the overall understanding and interpretation of that piece of work. Use specific concepts to support your opinion.

          The movie adaptation of the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has several differences both major and minor. Out of all the differences I think the most important difference is Aunt Alexandra never is seen in the movie. In the book Aunt Alexandra affected Scout, Jem, and Atticus in different ways. For instance, Aunt Alexandra tried to make Scout more lady like by sending her to the other Finch's and having her join the missionary discussion. Aunt Alexandra was there for Atticus if he needed help with making decisions or just needed extra support.

          I think that the book version of To Kill a Mockingbird delivered its message better that the film adaptation. I think the book version is better because Harper Lee could explain settings, convey feelings, and character in a more clear way because she's using words and there's no limit. In the film to know how someone is feeling you have to analyze their facial expression, their actions, and their dialogue. Also, in the film not as many events happened compared to the book, so there wasn't as many times to convey a message.

          The purpose of having a two different versions of a story is to show different perspective of the story. The film had differences like not including some characters and having events happen in different orders. By doing this you can either understand a theme better or miss the theme in general. You can also see more of a characters behavior. For instance, in the film you can see how Bob Ewell acted when he was drunk. In the book you only heard of his actions while he was drunk.