2-29-12

Everyday you learn something new. Today we watched a video about a man and his photo editing. As I said in class, there was a definite relationship in the art of the 2 projects, the photos and our graffiti. I think that the differences are more important though, because the pictures are legal art, but graffiti is not. I read a whole article today about how graffiti can be justified, at http://www.graffiti.org/faq/damico_a_legal_and_economic_analysis_of_graffiti.pdf. I think that people need to find a way to make their graffiti somewhere other than walls. Could the same thing be done on paper? I dont even embrace the idea of legal graffiti walls, because it seems dangerous to get a huge group of people that might be in gangs together. I know my project is more about cleaning up graffiti, but in our awarness i think we should do something to recommend alternatives. 

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

2-27-12

Everyday you learn something new. My research has been going pretty well so far. I have found may sites by individual cities about graffiti, most of witch are .gov. I have also found many .org sites that outline financial effects of graffiti as well. There are a few .com articles that I hope to use, they are from sources that I find reputable, like the New York Times, but I still have to get approval for them first. In my research I found a few articles about graffiti internationally, in cities like Athens. I cant spoil the surprise, but I find it very interesting. I also found an article while looking for more information about the 2004 Olympic Stadium in Athens. Apparently after building the stadium and holding the Olympics, the stadium was abandon. It is now destroyed, and there are many refugees and gipsies living in the remains. It's terrible to see a country build something so great to hold the biggest sporting event in the world, then leave it to rot.

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

2-24-12

Everyday you learn something new. So far I think the direction we are going in our study of Tuesdays With Morrie are looking pretty good. I like the idea of doing literary questions and group discussions on it. I'm not as excited about the literary elements, but maybe those will seem better after I read and attempt to do them. I hope that I will like this book. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society wasn't really that bad, It just got a bit slow in some places. I don't really think it was very gender based, it's just that many guys in our class weren't very big fans of it. I don't know if Tuesdays With Morrie will be that much different, but it will be interesting to see what people think over the next few days.

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

2-22-12

Everyday you learn something new. Today was a pretty good day for our project. Since I haven't posted about it before my group's topic is graffiti. One of my group members actually told me a lot of interesting information about it. I always thought that graffiti was mostly gang related. He told me that more of an artistic release for people, mostly teenagers or young adults. I found out about existing programs in Phoenix (Graffiti Busters) while looking for group contacts. My personal job for my group is communication/education. I am supposed to manage our group contacts and educate the community about graffiti. It seems like a pretty big and important job. I was given the research assignment of financial effects of graffiti. I am planning to start my research today. I think this will turn out to be a great project.

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

2-18-12

Everyday you learn something new. After the recent discussion in class I have thought about 21st century learning, since we were told it would play a part in our projects. Being a teachers son I hear about all the programs that are being brought in like PBL, and its really interesting. The focus of some of these things seems to be attempting to give students a bit more freedom, but it doesn't seem to be a good idea to me. As children we can't really be trusted with the freedom to be that independent. Some people would not gain anything because they are too free to just do some kind of really bad project. I think the idea is good but it needs to be refined for the reality of how children our in this time.
"Shoot for the Moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the Stars" - Les Brown

2-13-12

Everyday you learn something new. I feel the need to voice my opinion on the way things have been going in our class. Last Friday Mrs. Schwarting went a little crazy and got mad about how nobody was working on their project. Even though I rebelled a bit then some of the things she said were valid complaints. Mrs. Schwarting said that people weren't taking the class seriously. That is very true. People don't take that class seriously. She said that people weren't putting enough effort into their work. I don't really know about others. but for that specific project I didn't put enough into it. The only thing I feel she said that was wrong was specific to that day, that we all said we needed more time. We didn't all say that it was about 50/50. I also think there is nothing wrong with doing our class work at home. We really need to do something to put some structure into that class, because unfortunately some people cant handle so much freedom.      

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

2-10-12

Everyday you learn something new. I have been thinking about my groups project. Even with the research that I have done I still haven't had a good idea for our group project yet. I think I cant really find much because I don't live in the community. I talked to my group and there hasn't been much of anything we can do from them either. I think I need to  talk to some active people in the community to find better ideas. What other places should I go for ideas? I have also tossed up visiting community centers and looking at bulletins and talking to people there. I hope can find a great topic for my group. We'll definitely need it.

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

2-8-12

Everyday you learn something new. I recently observed something that I found very interesting. I was at a meeting to apply for a home through Habitat For Humanity. The fact that the people were present there suggests a financial struggle. I noticed that before the meeting started, most everyone present there was using a Smartphone. I'm not opposed to the idea and I don't think it's really a bad thing, Its just something that's become part of society. Everyone has a smartphone now. I remember when it was the really cool new thing, and now it's just commonplace. I'm sure I will continue to see things like this as I grow up, it comes with advancing society and technology, but this is the first time it has really hit me. I continue to wonder what might come next. I guess I'll see that in a few years. 

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

2-6-12

Everyday you learn something new. Last week I got in alot of trouble and I have been thinking about the events recently. I was talking to 2 of my freinds before class (around 8:07), and in the conversation me and 1 other person used our phones to look at something. A teacher came up and asked us to give her our phones. The 2 of us were boshed shocked, but gave up our phones without argument. I mean no offense to any staff, only to the rule. I found out later that day, from my parent, that I had goten a referall. I had had one prior offense for a phone (it rang in class), about 4 months ago. I found out at the same time that it was a referall as well. Why was I not informed of this when it first hapened, and by a staff member, not my parents. Maybe some people dont care, but when I get a referall I would like to be informed that I received one! A school shouldn't just hand out referalls without even telling the kids that they received one! On top of that, I feel the second offense shouldnt have even happened. The first interrupted class, therefore being nessecary. The second was completley unessecary. I wasn't harming anyone or distrupting learning. I dont feel what I did was wrong, or deserving of a referall. I always thought rules were there to protect us, not force us through unessecary referalls and grounding.

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

2-3-12

Everyday you learn something new. Today was are final exam day! here are my responses.

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Final Exam           Zephyr Smith

6. I think that I can neither agree or disagree with Isola on weather “reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones”, because it is all dependent on your opinion of a good book. Every person has a different opinion on what a good book is. There are so many different types and genres, that for each person a good book is something completely different. Some people may like a book that you consider a “bad book”. In my opinion there are only books that you like and books that you don’t like. There are no good or bad books. For Isola, she probably got used to a certain style of book that she liked, which became her version of a “good book”. Her “bad books” were everything that she didn’t like.   

3. My favorite character from the Society was Isola, because she was so different from everyone else, or even the popular view of a normal person. Isola had a somewhat different occupation from others in the society, being a potion maker. She didn’t do something that you hear of a lot in the time period that she lived. It was interesting to hear about what she did. She also has a very direct voice. Isola was never trying to hide her feelings or thoughts from anyone except when she was spying on them. When writing to Juliet she said that she wanted to ask personal questions and that her friends had recommended she didn’t. Most people would probably try to hide the fact they were asking something personal and wouldn’t mention that they were told it wasn’t a good idea.  She also took everyone and everything very seriously. When she was sent the book about phrenology it was kind of a joke to everyone else, except Isola, who took it seriously. When she began her spying she actually took notes and tried to accomplish a mission. Isola was also a very honest and caring person. She seemed to take a liking to everyone very quickly. She always wanted to make people happy. She didn’t think less of anyone because they were different, like Sidney. She even made sure to keep his secret safe. Isola is a generally kind person and would be great to know.

1. I really liked how the novel was structured in letters. It was something I’ve never read before. I was amazed how it didn’t feel like there were gaps in the story. The letters also gave a more precise feeling of each person personality. It was also pleasurable just because it was different. It probably wouldn’t be as great if it were a common thing though. Letters are much more personal than other forms of writing. Each person has their own different style of writing letters and it gives an insight onto their personality. Letters are much deeper than other forms of writing as well. People put much more meaning into them. Most other forms of writing are meant to be fast and don’t allow much deep thought to be present in them. Letters let people say what they mean in a much more deep and personal way then other forms of writing.