REMINDER!!!!!!!!!!!

I know i posted this pretty late but i know you guys are probably awake so remember to do your comments and they can't be only three sentences long. So if you already posted a comment but it's really short add on to it. Please everybody do comment though. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No Red Pill No Blue Pill

I found the article No Red Pill No Blue Pill very relatable and very interesting too.  enjoyed the hook to this article by putting the introduction very mysterious and story like format. The way she presented her ideas and thoughts were much different then I usually read which really made me pay attention to the whole article making sure I wouldn't get confused along the way. I love the way she had pictures and visuals to go with the article though a few of the pictures confused me but captured my attention at first to read what the article was about. I found the infogrpahcis helpful and easier to understand the article.

I love how she said " Learning may be social, but in the end it is individual " because it is very true. We all have our different was of learning and we can work together to learn but in the end it is what each person takes out of the lesson and how they intercept it. Everyone has their own style and way of learning. I found the info graphic about the eight involvements of learning which is passion, work, focus, push, ideas, improve, serve and persist.  I strongly agree that no matter how hard a teacher tries, if a learner is not willing or motivated to learn they will not learn much at all or maybe not even learn anything. It is up to the learner to slowly take steps to push themselves, work and focus. However, it is also up to the teacher too. If you do not have a teacher willing to teach or not being able to help improve, push, serve, with the student, the student maybe discouraged. It is very important for both the learner and the teacher to do their role.

Nowadays we have depended too much on technology and can research things in a quick "click" or "tap". The internet is very hell[pull and useful to help with learning skills such as researching on Google or even using presentations as different ways of learning. Even though we have these amazing privileges I do not think we should abuse them. We are not to use to using as much paper anymore and  a simple crayon.
Usually we use the internet for gaming and social media.
I like the way she put links to some of the harder words or unfamiliar words. This helped me understand the article better instead of just sitting there confused and having to look the words up myself. I enjoyed No Red Pill No Blue Pill very much.

Poor Emily...

She is still awaiting feedback.  :(

No Blue Pill, No Red Pill Response

 

When I read your article it was a bit like reading a poem at the beginning then it got into more detail and I began to get your point. I thought all of the writing was very interesting and it connected to the audiences of school staff (teachers, principals, etc.), and/or students.

            My opinion was that you were telling us that some students just don’t care about school and they don’t care to try to work. Then the teachers have to try to harder to motivate those kids while dealing with all the other ones and then the teacher ends up working twice as hard and getting less motivated by the carefree kids. Also it is difficult to find a spark of inspiration to satisfy all the kids because they are always used to having the answers given straight to them. Just as people use the internet to find the one answer they are looking for nothing else.

            Also the pictures were pretty good but they did draw some of the attention away from the overall written part but they also added to it a bit. In total all writing was great and very interesting even though it was slightly disordered because of the photos. But otherwise it was great.

No Blue Pill, No Red Pill Response

                Hello there! I’m John from Ms. Lees’ class and I’m here to respond to your article of writing. Reading your article was quite enjoyable, since what you wrote made a lot of sense and can connect to different audiences such as; staff of various school, professors, and even students if they spare the time to read what you write. Your writing style for your intro was great! You made it sort of mysterious and put it in a poetic style. I think that was a really great start since it captures the audiences’ attention and makes them want to read more.

 In my opinion, I think you’re trying to express your thoughts on providing motivation for students, and also trying to find some motivation for yourself too. I completely agree with you and your thoughts on motivation of learning. It’s not only the students’ job to have motivation, but the teacher’s job to provide the student with some spark of inspiration and/or motivation. This can be quite tricky because the teacher would have to find ways to somehow flicker that spark of inspiration, and try to cast it to the students so they can get hooked, and have the motivation they need to learn. I think the message you’re trying to tell the audience is that it’s just as hard to have motivation when you’re a teacher, since it’s your job to provide the student with that inspiration that makes them crave to learn, which is quite hard if you think about it.

Like I mentioned before, your intro was well written. It can easily captivate an audience when they first read it. I’d like to give a note about your images that you add with your writing. I find it sort of misleading. Some of your pictures diodn’t connect to what you’re talking about. I do like graphics to help a writer express his or her thoughts, but too many pictures can make the article look sort of ‘squished’. What I mean by squished is that you’re not expressing your thoughts as much through your words, but with pictures.

All in all, I think your article was great! You had a way to connect to your audience, and you had graphics to help extend on your thinking, which helps a lot. For next time, don’t add as much pictures. But I thought the writing and her thoughts were clearly laid out, and maybe I’d like to see some of these types of articles in the future.

Mystery Skype Observer

For the Last mystery Skype I was and Observer. I was Observing the Google mappers group. The group had Jun,Jarrod and Alayna. [If there was someone else I can't remember sorry :) ] I thought they did a great job considering the minor tweak. So instead of asking question they gave us clues. So they looked up areas that fit with the clues like they mention they had a good football team. So they looked up states with good football teams (Their accents were a big hint). Also they looked up weather in cities in Alabama(which is the state that they were in.) The looked at big tourist attractions in Alabama. I though they did a great job following the hints and info we got from them. The Google mappers as well as look up the hint we got looked up some questions about their location we could ask them. They were on task and did a great job.

No Red Pill No Blue Pill

   I enjoyed reading the writing. It was written somewhat like a poem in the beginning I thought.My opinion in whats written is that in some cases there are students with no motivation whats so ever. I don't completely understand why this happens because when it does those students don't seem to find motivation to do anything else either. Is it because they aren't digging deep enough to fully understand and think about the concept. Or are they too lazy and carefree to think about something and want to learn about it. My thoughts are that she is right in some cases. In classes there may be students who don't want to learn but in that same class there are some students who do want to learn. However because there are students who lack motivation the teacher becomes disappointed and starts losing their motivation to teach. That is terrible because there are students who want to learn and if the teacher begins to lose motivation to teach those students may lose their motivation to learn. My thoughts on what's written is that in some cases today children lose motivation they stop questioning them selves about everything. Children lose their motivation because the answer to everything is right at their fingertips. Back before the internet was created kids were so motivated to learn the questioned themselves, looked for answers in books asked their parents did whatever but the made sure to answer that question. Today all you need to do is to look it up online it's so easy. However children still don't question themselves they don't look up things. They are using technology in a way that it will only destroy your mind instead of expanding your knowledge.

   The teacher who wrote this digital narrative clearly had a reason for writing this. So what was the moral. I think the moral was that she wanted to make children aware how much their lack of motivation affects them and other people around them. It doesn't just affect you but your teachers too. I think that she was wanting to tell kids how important motivation is and hard it would be on you in the long run, if you didn't have any motivation. She was trying to say that you can't expect us teachers to do everything. She was pretty much saying teachers open the doors of education but it is the job of the student to explore what is on the other side. Basically the moral of the writting was that children need to motivate them selves to explore their learning outside of school.

   So who was she directing her writing too? It could be directed to students and teachers. She is saying that students need motivation to learn. However the educator must trigger that motivation with inspiration. The educator must show to student how amazing knowledge is and how vast,great and never ending it is. But it is also the students job to look for and find the spark of inspiration the teacher has given them and hold on to it and never let go. Students and teacher must realize they both have equal responsibility. So in the long run if something goes wrong for a student you can't blame the teacher if you didn't look hard enough for the inspiration they gave you.

 What does this writing have anything to do with our class? I think Ms Lees may have shown us this writing because we have just started high school. We have many long years of learning to come and we have just started our Journey. Ms Lees may have shown us this writing because in the years to come if we ever lose motivation we will remember this writing. Also as students we should know how important motivation is in our school life. This writing is connected to every student in the world because nobody just starts out with motivation. You have to look for it along the way of your long school life. Ms Lees might have shown us this piece of writing because maybe this writing could be our inspiration. We have many years of school left and we wouldn't be able to enjoy them without our motivation to learn

What did I think of your Writing style? I like the way you wrote it in a somewhat poem style. Your writing was very well done. I personally didn't like the pictures all that much. I liked the whole idea but then you slightly overdid the pictures. There should be a few like 3-4 but you put in way to many. I felt that people would spend more time trying to piece together your writing with the images rather then think about what you are actually writing. The pictures were slightly confusing and took away from your great writing style. I thought the pictures made your writing look slightly less professional. However other then that I really enjoyed reading your writing and felt that what you were saying was true.

Saddened a little...

Poor Emily has responded in comments to peers, yet no feedback for her. :(

POVERTY ------------ SPEECH

Today, we face a problem. While a quarter of the people on the globe are thriving in a life of luxury, over six billion are being forces to endure insufferable daily lives of poverty, and a lack of food. The time for a drastic change has arrived. It is up to you and me to make a difference before a large portion of the world drown in an ocean of poverty. We must save lives.

Poverty is defined by the United Nations as a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It’s the state of one who lacks certain amount of material possessions or money and the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care and education.

Many people who encounter poverty during their life have one foot on their grave. This is due to the fact that poverty results in two major life-threatening choices, hunger and a lack of education.

Hunger:

Rises in the costs of living making poor people less able to afford items. Poor people spend a greater portion of their budgets on food than richer people. As a result, poor households can be particularly vulnerable to increases in food prices. This may has many different results and often death.

Education:

Education is vital for life. Nelson Mandela once said
“education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world, and fill your tummy.” Research has found that there is a high risk of educational underachievement for children who are from low-income housing circumstances. Educational underachievement has a major hand in poverty due to the fact that education is your powerhouse for money.

The battle has begun. We must cross the finish line before more lives are lost. We must help fellow humans in Africa to dodge this bullet. And for this, there are many things that can be done.

Agricultural technologies such as nitrogen fertilizers, pesticides and new irrigation methods have dramatically reduced food shortages in modern times by boosting yields past previous constraints. In Africa there are millions of acres of land that are a diamond in rough. If these lands are irrigated properly, they will provide enough food to eliminate hunger in most parts of Africa.

Government revenue can be diverted away from basic services by corruption. Funds from aid and natural resources are often sent by government for money laundering, instead of spending on the poor. These corrupted countries need a new leader.

 

Education in developing countries can be improved enormously, if money is spent on it instead of other redundant things like for military equipment.

 

Five dollars may be spare change for us, though it can feed a African family of four for over a week.

For them its a matter of life and death.

 

If we work together, we will overcome one of the largest barriers on earth, poverty.

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

If students designed their own school

If students designed their own school

If Students designed their own  other day in Humanities we watched a video on a school were students designed their own curriculum. To be honest I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t want to design my own curriculum. However it would be completely different from The students from the videos curriculum. Although I would love to design my own curriculum I don’t think I would learn anything. I like their idea but it would only work for senior grades. The reason for this is because the younger grades wouldn’t know the basics for any subjects. The younger grades wouldn’t be able to do anything because they don’t know even the slightest about English, Social Studies, Math or science. But if you run your own curriculum you could slack off and waste time at school and procrastinate. Since there is no teacher the students won’t be scared of wasting time and slacking off. I think it’s good being your own teacher but only occasionally. I feel that being your own teacher is a good learning experience but if you always do it you won’t learn anything from it. So I wouldn’t really want my learning experience to go by this way. This is what I have to say

Speeches - The First Day Of High School

Does everyone here remember the very first day of high school? Boy, was that the most pressuring days ever. Think about if, there’s so many things to worry about on the first day of school, like; your image, the friends you’re going to make, and even your reputation. These are some reasons why the first day of high school is so pressuring.

        You have to make sure your image in good. For example; how you dress says a lot about your character, and how you act . If you go to school with bed hair and in your PJ’s, obviously people get a signal that you were way too lazy to even care about school. That isn’t one of the best ways to meet your new teacher. First impressions are super important when it comes to teachers, it'll be their view of you for basically the rest of the semester, so make sure you get on their good side. But there’s another pressuring thing about the first day of high school.
        
        Friends. The friends you make in high school will affect you so much, your future basically may depend on them. You have to make friends with people who will push you further, and not drag you down a lot. Sure, you can still have fun since it’s your grade eight year, but when it come to further years, distractions aren’t the best. If you make friends with people that'd distract you, all they'd do is make the school year harder for you, and maybe even the next year. Pick your friends wisely. Make friends with people that would be by your side no matter what, those are the best ones to get.

        Lastly, reputation. This is basically your mark on your school, your big highlights in high school. Don’t get your reputation doing something stupid like eating gum off the ground or some stupid stunt. Get your reputation doing something great, like competing in school activities and getting that first place trophy or ribbon. Your reputation will change the way people would look at you, so you’d have to make sure you have a really positive.

        Just stay calm on your first day. have fun, make some friends. Try to do things to make your school year the best year possible, and don't do anything stupid on the first day of high school. This would be my advice to the new grade eight’s coming.Thank You.

If Students Designed Their Own School

 

If students designed their own school they would have lots of freedom which can be good and can be bad. It’s good because they could do things they would actually have a passion to learn about and not always be on the constant rush for finishing all their work for each subject and always studying for tests. They would get peer pressure from all the other students who were working with them to keep on going and to work harder. The only couple of problems would be where they could meet and the kids who just didn’t care about doing the work or not. The program does cover all your factors of learning like math, science, (etc.) and it would also teach kids to socialize a bit more is they were shy because of the daily meetings. This program though should only be limited to the grade 12 students because by then you would know what you wanted to do for a future job and you could work towards that. As for the kids who just didn’t care they would be eliminated from the program and just go back to normal school schedule. If we end up starting this program we are going to need lots of teamwork and problem solving.

If Students Designed the School

After I watched this video, I thought about it. This idea was very great in many ways. For one, the students get a lot of freedom, since at an older age, you don’t want to be very restricted. But with this idea, the student is in charge of his own learning and almost has no restrictions, but they must also demonstrate their learning, and will be graded on what they decide to learn. Also, it’s up to them on what they want to learn. This is really great because the students really get to discover what they love to do, and may want to pursue that career in the future. This idea also kills the stress that you normally get from regular high school with all your tests and such, since in this program, they rely on peer pressure to help push and motivate the students.This type of program is very good since it covers all the factors of learning, makes school enjoyable, and you can socialize and show what you’ve learned for the week.

      But this may also be quite a bad idea since some students in that high school may just slack off and just not try. Maybe peer pressure is really nothing to them, and not really care about their education. Also, some people might actually need a lot of guidance and help like a regular high school. Also, what would happen if you’re mind goes blank? You don’t know what you’d want to do. Maybe you’ll just sit there for an hour trying to figure out what to do. It’d be pretty much a waste of the school’s and the student’s time.

     If this actually manages to work, I think it’d be a very great way for education. The reason being is because students always school so boring and all that, but if we actually make school enjoyable to them, then education will be much more successful since they’d be looking forward into school. If student like what they’re learning, that’d raise their potential level in that certain area, and most likely pursue and heighten their learning on it. Also, the students have to rely on each other for motivation, so you can have your friends involved with your learning too.

    The only question I have for this is; how are you actually going to pull this off? This idea would take major teamwork and cooperation. For the teachers; can you trust the students enough for them to run the school? If they manage to resolve my questions, there is a high chance that this would be a great idea for the school and the students.