1-30-12

Everyday you learn something new.Today is a really irritating day for blogging. The internet filtering system at the school is broken, so we have to write our blogs in word and post them later. The whole idea behind the filtering system is stupid. If the teachers monitor the kids in the computer lab we wouldn’t need a filtering system. Then we would be able to use sites that are blocked and useful (YouTube). We also wouldn’t have problems like the internet being down due to it, exactly what’s happening right now.  

 "Shoot for the Moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the Stars" - Les Brown

1-25-12

Everyday you learn something new. Today was our High School Registration day! In Social Studies we went through the long process of understanding our high school choices. I was really confused on electives but I came to understand what the 2 best choices would be. Yesterday was also the first day in Language Arts that I think the backchannel might have been helpful, but everyone did seem more focused. I wonder what Language Arts will be like next year along with all my other classes. Sometimes I can wait and others I'm preety happy the way things are now.

 "Shoot for the Moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the Stars" - Les Brown

1-24-12 (Makeup for 1-20-12)

Everyday you learn something new. I am really beginning to think that there needs to be SERIOUS change in this class. All the little things we are supposed to uphold are dissapearing. We are suppoesed to have a class meeting on a weekly basis. That has not happened. We could actually really use one. And i dont think anyone takes these blogs seriously, the students or the teachers. This is the place where we are supposed to voice our opinion about things. I decided to put a tracking code in on my blog to see if it has been viewed. So far there has been one view and it was me. Alot of people have compleley fogotten about theese things and havent posted for an excess of 6 weeks. And from what I see people dont put alot into their blogs when they do post.

 "Shoot for the Moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the Stars" - Les Brown

1-24-12 (Makeup for 1-18-12)

Everyday you learn something new. Latley I have been thinking about our book, The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The book is ok, it gets boring in some places, but I excpected that because it's not really my type of book. I think it dosn't really relate to our class at all. In fact the only class it's really helpful in is Social Studies, due to its relationship to WWII. I almost used it for a project, but decided to take on a different topic. When the book was introduced we were told it had something to do with a service project, but that dosent seem to be correct. The book has also become mildly inappropriate, and for some people it's a bit hard to handle.

 "Shoot for the Moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the Stars" - Les Brown

1-23-12

Everyday you learn something new. Today was strange due to my recent absence, and the substitutes. I made me realize how little anyone seems to care about this class, or school in general. Whenever we are in the computer lab people tend to play games or mess around another way. In class people spend more time cracking jokes. I'm not saying that I'm perfect because I'm not but still, nobody seems to care. Out of all the people It's the "Really Smart Kids" and the "Favorite Classes" that I see this in. At least it helps me look at and control myself.

 "Shoot for the Moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the Stars" - Les Brown

1-13-12

Everyday you learn something new. Today I learned about how people hod a grudge and how they get mad about the most superficial of things. Ill keep names anonymous when describing this situation. One day during a class we were presented with a project. Naturally, everyone stated what they were doing to the people around them. I and a friend (who was doing a different project) got into a short, half joking argument about the projects. The teacher told us we shouldn't be talking during instruction and we stopped. The teacher didn't make it seem like a big deal, so we figured it wasn't. A few weeks later we got in another half joking argument, this time during a work time. I had nothing to do so I stayed around to help. The argument was about if someone else was doing their work. Both arguments were school related. Because of it we both lost points in the class. The incidents were small and early in the quarter. I don't even understand how the teacher is bothered this much by these things and doesn't say anything to us. Then the teacher gives us a 20% loss for the 2 small incidents. This whole thing is completely irrational and extremely irritating.    

"Shoot for the Moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the Stars" - Les Brown

1-11-12

Everyday you learn something new.  Today we had a lot better luck with the back channel. We had a lot less fluff and people were able to use their phones to add to it so there was more people and more discussion. Its still distracting but a lot less when there isn't so much fluff. I also thought that the test we did was helpful. It helped me figure out who the characters were more accurate. I also think the chart for the character would be helpful, if you want to make it. I don't think it is a class project though, it should be an individual thing of you want to do it. 

"Shoot for the Moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the Stars" - Les Brown

1-9-12

Everyday you learn something new. Today was an interesting day for us in Language Arts. We tried using a chat stream to take notes over the day. I think it was a very bad addition to the class. Watching that stream and knowing It's there makes It far harder to concentrate on the class. You really want to see whats happening there or add to it and you cant do that and concentrate at the same time efficiently. People were also abusing it to an extent. The things posted were rarely educational or discussion related. It was mostly jokes or people talking to each other. The Ipads themselves also serve as a distraction to the people using them and the people around.

 "Shoot for the Moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the Stars" - Les Brown