I spent a lot of time and effort editing and trying to make my paper the best it could be. My work space was not what I call neat... Papers were strewn all over my computer desk. I had past drafts out along with all the resources posted on the website. Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com were permanently open on my computer. I wanted to make sure I understood every word used in the article, so that is why I needed Dictionary.com. And as a general rule I know writers aren't supposed to use Thesauruses but I have the constant problem of not being able to remember the perfect word for a situation. Using Thesaurus.com helps me think of the words I want to use. Because of my short attention spanned I ended up taking a lot of breaks, ESPECIALLY when I was having writers block... Generally these breaks consisted of going to the bathroom, looking in the fridge, going through my internet tabs, playing a quick game of brick breaker, or just staring out the window. At night you can see right into my neighbors house from the computer, if there is lights on. You can often see my neighbor working away on their computer as well. Sometimes I stare over at them or I will just look out into the yard, watching the occasional squirrel run across the fence.
Even after hours of editing, revising and changing the essay it is still hard to be completely happy with an essay that is worth so many points. I understand it isn't the end of the world to get a C in a class, but it is extremely frustrating. So even though I did really like my essay I was not content with the draft I turned it... But I guess you can always make writing better, maybe an essay or a story is never actually done.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Scarcity.
When I came home from school today I REALLY wanted an apple. So I opened the fridge and looked in the fruit drawer. NO APPLES.
With dinner, I wanted to drink some milk with my frozen pizza, the necessary beverage for the meal (SO GOOD!). So I looked in the fridge. NO MILK.
About 5 minutes ago I really wanted some orange juice. Perfect drink to help analytical juices flow right? So I went to the fridge, opened it, peered up at the top shelve where the orange juice goes and. NO. FLIPPING. ORANGE. JUICE.
Leave it to my fridge to be lacking ALL the foods I have been craving today...
Guess I will have to compromise for now and be satisfied with my caramel apple sucker. But I am not sure if it is as good in promoting thoughtful analysis as orange juice... So if I don't do as well on the rhetorical analysis as I would like, lets make the fact my system was lacking in orange juice be the scapegoat... Our generation doesn't like to take responsibility for ourselves right? But yeah! At least this way I am not blaming the teacher :) I think that is our societies problem. Placing blame on the wrong people. It isn't the students fault , obviously we're perfect... It isn't the teachers fault, they work hard and try their best to teach students who don't always want to learn. It is in reality the fault of lacking orange juice. Problem solved. Blamed placed.
But I digress, not what I intended/intend this blog post be about. Going back to my original point. I want some apple, milk, and orange juice... Maybe it shouldn't be a big deal, the fact that I find this a big deal (because I do! why else would I write about it?) is probably due to the fact that I only got 2 hours of sleep last night (combination of mo pro and AP comp is... not fun... what happened to senior slacking? I am starting to think it is a myth...) and now everything seems like the end of the world.
I just hope my caramel apple sucker does the job my orange juice would have and I am able to focus and create a BOMB essay for tomorrow :)
With dinner, I wanted to drink some milk with my frozen pizza, the necessary beverage for the meal (SO GOOD!). So I looked in the fridge. NO MILK.
About 5 minutes ago I really wanted some orange juice. Perfect drink to help analytical juices flow right? So I went to the fridge, opened it, peered up at the top shelve where the orange juice goes and. NO. FLIPPING. ORANGE. JUICE.
Leave it to my fridge to be lacking ALL the foods I have been craving today...
Guess I will have to compromise for now and be satisfied with my caramel apple sucker. But I am not sure if it is as good in promoting thoughtful analysis as orange juice... So if I don't do as well on the rhetorical analysis as I would like, lets make the fact my system was lacking in orange juice be the scapegoat... Our generation doesn't like to take responsibility for ourselves right? But yeah! At least this way I am not blaming the teacher :) I think that is our societies problem. Placing blame on the wrong people. It isn't the students fault , obviously we're perfect... It isn't the teachers fault, they work hard and try their best to teach students who don't always want to learn. It is in reality the fault of lacking orange juice. Problem solved. Blamed placed.
But I digress, not what I intended/intend this blog post be about. Going back to my original point. I want some apple, milk, and orange juice... Maybe it shouldn't be a big deal, the fact that I find this a big deal (because I do! why else would I write about it?) is probably due to the fact that I only got 2 hours of sleep last night (combination of mo pro and AP comp is... not fun... what happened to senior slacking? I am starting to think it is a myth...) and now everything seems like the end of the world.
I just hope my caramel apple sucker does the job my orange juice would have and I am able to focus and create a BOMB essay for tomorrow :)
If I Had a Twitter
Wow left my rhetorical analysis rubric AND annotated article at school... Brilliant. #freakingout #gametime #letswriteanexcellentpaper #withoutmakingsureitmeetstherequirementsbecauseidonthavethestupidRUBRIC #stillfreakingout #idiot
That is how many hashtags most tweets have, right? #accurate? #mocking
That is how many hashtags most tweets have, right? #accurate? #mocking
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Bed Time Soon?
I am sooooo tired. I just want to go to bed. I bet I could fall asleep right now, sitting up, at my computer, if I let myself. Which is sort of weird since it is only 10 which isn't THAT late. But for some reason I am EXHAUSTED!
Wish me luck?
But I can't go to bed. I need to finish my rhetorical analysis essay. But I don't get it! I have no idea what I am supposed to be writing... Or my mind just doesn't know what to write. It is a blank slate, and empty slate, filled with nothingness. I have read the assignments sheet a lot. Like at least 5 times in a row this evening. And that was in one sitting I maybe have read it around 15 times today in total... I have re-read my text many times today. But I am still stumped.
Maybe it is just writers block. But I wish it wasn't coming now... I just want to go to bed.
Lucky though, I think I get read for bed in like 5 minutes tonight (compared to my normal 30ish) because I don't need to shower and I am wore my (new) glasses today so I don't need to take out my contacts. All I need to do is brush my teeth, wash my face, get in my pjs and jump in my bed! I am excited...
Now I have watched some youtube videos. Hopefully my writers block has gone away a little at I can write something...
Wish me luck?
Well so much for not procrastinating...
I really needed this four day weekend! It was great. Even though I managed to leave my mountain of homework until today. DUMB. But whatever I can talk about my stupidity in another post I am not writing about it today.
On Friday and Saturday I helped build houses through Habitat for Humanity. Doesn't that sound neat "I build houses"? Well I guess "build" is sort of exaggeration what I did. But it makes me sound more productive!
On Friday we (we refers to the group of kids who did Habitat for Humanity through Club Y.E.S) went to a house in New Hope. I sanded some walls in the downstairs bathroom. Then I cut off some dry wall and figured out that wasn't what I was supposed to do... Oops! So I had to fix my mistake... Then I helped cut some holes in a piece of sheet rock, that would soon make up part of the wall in the bathroom, so some pipes could come through it. I also did some sweeping. I feel like I didn't do much... But hopefully I played at least a small role in building/fixing the house. :)
Saturday we were in Columbia Heights. At this house we had to pick up the yard, put away scaffolding, bag leaves and twigs, etc. Then we working on painting the outside of the house. But we ran out of paint.... So we didn't get to finish. Once the top of the garage was painted (it got finished before we ran out of paint) we had to take down the scaffolding. We had done it earlier in the day too but oh my goodness, it is sort of a drag to take it down. There are planks that go across the scaffolding so people can walk on them and we had to move all of them into the garage since apparently they were valuable and people could steal them and sell the scraps... But it a pain. I working on doing this once the stakes were already pretty high and I had to wedge myself between the stacks and some wood and it just was not pleasant...
I think habitat is a good program so I was glad I got to help out. But the consequences of doing it is now I am sore in the oddest places... Who knew building houses worked your armpit muscle?
Monday, October 17, 2011
Comp is EVERYWHERE
Someone posted this video on Facebook and I could not help but notice some of the techniques it used to make it's argument. Logos, pathos and ethos jumped out at me in every direction! I thought it went along with some of the stuff we are learning in class so I decide to post it on my blog :)
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Education
How do you gauge success? By how you feel? How much you learn? Your grade? How well the people around you do? Everyone looks at success in a different way.
In India and China they strive to do well. They put in a lot of time and effort into their schoolwork in hopes of getting into the university of their choice. Hours upon hours are spent in school and then out of school learning everything they can. The problem is everyone is doing this. Because everyone is putting is so much effort it raises the bar of expectation. This makes it so if you don't put in a ton of work into school, like everyone else, you will not seem as smart in comparison. This is why even the really smart people did not get into their first choice of college, since almost everyone is really smart.
This can all be related back to "I Just Wanna Be Average". Mike Rose talks about needing to set higher expectations. When he was in the vocational track he had low expectations so he met them. But when he was in the normal program, with higher expectations, he had to work hard but he was able to succeed. The exceptions in America are lower than in that of other countries so american kids do less school work than the kids in foreign countries. American kids also have the expectations to do extracurricular activities and other things outside of school. Because kids are expected to have other commitments than school american's can't possibly be expected to but in as much time in school work as the kids from India or China.
Mike Rose also touched on an other interesting point. The other day Mrs. Cardona posed an interesting question, is it the teachers responsibility to put in extra effort with kids who's passed teachers didn't prepare them for the current class? Now if a majority of the class does not know how to do something or know something that should have been taught previous then I do think it is the teachers responsibility to go over the topic and teach it to the students. But what if you have a situation like Rose's? Being in the vocational program he didn't learn everything he should have to have him be prepared when he entered the normal program again, is it the teachers responsibility to take out class time to work with that one student? As of now, my thought is no, the teacher does not have to take out class time to help the one student. However, the teacher MUST have opportunities outside of class, maybe before or after school, for the student to come in and get additional help. The student should be able to ask for help and try to understand everything and the teacher than in turn should help the student figure out a way for he/she to learn and do well in the class. It should be a team effort, where both sides are putting in a bit of extra effort, but they don't need to take class time.
I think what we have been talking about has been extremely interesting and has brought up a lot of interesting questions.
In India and China they strive to do well. They put in a lot of time and effort into their schoolwork in hopes of getting into the university of their choice. Hours upon hours are spent in school and then out of school learning everything they can. The problem is everyone is doing this. Because everyone is putting is so much effort it raises the bar of expectation. This makes it so if you don't put in a ton of work into school, like everyone else, you will not seem as smart in comparison. This is why even the really smart people did not get into their first choice of college, since almost everyone is really smart.
This can all be related back to "I Just Wanna Be Average". Mike Rose talks about needing to set higher expectations. When he was in the vocational track he had low expectations so he met them. But when he was in the normal program, with higher expectations, he had to work hard but he was able to succeed. The exceptions in America are lower than in that of other countries so american kids do less school work than the kids in foreign countries. American kids also have the expectations to do extracurricular activities and other things outside of school. Because kids are expected to have other commitments than school american's can't possibly be expected to but in as much time in school work as the kids from India or China.
Mike Rose also touched on an other interesting point. The other day Mrs. Cardona posed an interesting question, is it the teachers responsibility to put in extra effort with kids who's passed teachers didn't prepare them for the current class? Now if a majority of the class does not know how to do something or know something that should have been taught previous then I do think it is the teachers responsibility to go over the topic and teach it to the students. But what if you have a situation like Rose's? Being in the vocational program he didn't learn everything he should have to have him be prepared when he entered the normal program again, is it the teachers responsibility to take out class time to work with that one student? As of now, my thought is no, the teacher does not have to take out class time to help the one student. However, the teacher MUST have opportunities outside of class, maybe before or after school, for the student to come in and get additional help. The student should be able to ask for help and try to understand everything and the teacher than in turn should help the student figure out a way for he/she to learn and do well in the class. It should be a team effort, where both sides are putting in a bit of extra effort, but they don't need to take class time.
I think what we have been talking about has been extremely interesting and has brought up a lot of interesting questions.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Going to be bald soon...
Why is life so stressful? Why does EVERYTHING happen at the same time? Why do teachers find joy in assigning a bunch of homework?
I am currently SOOO stressed. Liking freaking out on the inside and outside stressed. I am having a physical reaction because I am so overwhelmed. My brow is sweaty, stomach tossing is circles and am more than a little irritable.
The funny thing is I should have had a bunch of time to work on homework and get all the things I needed to get done this weekend. I didn't hang out with friends once this weekend (I did see friends but in none of the circumstances would I categorize it as "hanging out"). So basically I have no life and should not be stressed! But I am.
Now lets break it down why.
On Friday Yom Kippur started at sundown so I ate a nice family dinner before hand. Yom Kippur is the most important Jewish holiday of the year. It is also know as the Day of Atonement and it is when you ask forgiveness for all your sins and forgive those who hurt you. To celebrate the day you fast. So it was a very religious weekend since Yom Kippur was going on. To get an idea of HOW Jewish my week was... I spend a total of almost 13.5 hours at my synagogue (7 hours Sunday and 6.5 Saturday). On Saturday I attended two services, a total of 4.5 hours, listening to the same sermon twice since no one goes to both, I was one of the exceptions... Now I did have a legitimate reason for going to both services, a friend and I gave a speech during it so I sort of had to be there, but it was a lot of services. Then I went to family to break the fast, meals are always better when you haven't eaten in basically 24 hours. Sunday morning I helped out in a Pre-K class then I needed to get stuff ready for a youth group meeting, make the agenda, print some fliers etc. Then I actually had my youth group meeting... And because of Yom Kippur and all my time at temple I have barely had any time to my homework and college apps etc. I did work on some homework on Friday and Saturday but both days I had to do other work for my temple so I couldn't spend that much time on school work.
So basically the rest of my Sunday is NOT going to be fun.... Since I still have a pile of homework AND I really need to apply to Madison like TODAY. Ughhhhh. If you havn't picked up already I am stressed.
It is times like these that you just need to watch a really good youtube video. Now I was shown this one a while ago and I just think it is soooooo funny. But I do have to warn you that there is some profanity, so don't watch if you have virgin ears. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jib7aQBpcAM
Hope you like it :) And are less stressed than me...
I am currently SOOO stressed. Liking freaking out on the inside and outside stressed. I am having a physical reaction because I am so overwhelmed. My brow is sweaty, stomach tossing is circles and am more than a little irritable.
The funny thing is I should have had a bunch of time to work on homework and get all the things I needed to get done this weekend. I didn't hang out with friends once this weekend (I did see friends but in none of the circumstances would I categorize it as "hanging out"). So basically I have no life and should not be stressed! But I am.
Now lets break it down why.
On Friday Yom Kippur started at sundown so I ate a nice family dinner before hand. Yom Kippur is the most important Jewish holiday of the year. It is also know as the Day of Atonement and it is when you ask forgiveness for all your sins and forgive those who hurt you. To celebrate the day you fast. So it was a very religious weekend since Yom Kippur was going on. To get an idea of HOW Jewish my week was... I spend a total of almost 13.5 hours at my synagogue (7 hours Sunday and 6.5 Saturday). On Saturday I attended two services, a total of 4.5 hours, listening to the same sermon twice since no one goes to both, I was one of the exceptions... Now I did have a legitimate reason for going to both services, a friend and I gave a speech during it so I sort of had to be there, but it was a lot of services. Then I went to family to break the fast, meals are always better when you haven't eaten in basically 24 hours. Sunday morning I helped out in a Pre-K class then I needed to get stuff ready for a youth group meeting, make the agenda, print some fliers etc. Then I actually had my youth group meeting... And because of Yom Kippur and all my time at temple I have barely had any time to my homework and college apps etc. I did work on some homework on Friday and Saturday but both days I had to do other work for my temple so I couldn't spend that much time on school work.
So basically the rest of my Sunday is NOT going to be fun.... Since I still have a pile of homework AND I really need to apply to Madison like TODAY. Ughhhhh. If you havn't picked up already I am stressed.
It is times like these that you just need to watch a really good youtube video. Now I was shown this one a while ago and I just think it is soooooo funny. But I do have to warn you that there is some profanity, so don't watch if you have virgin ears. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jib7aQBpcAM
Hope you like it :) And are less stressed than me...
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Obama's Speech
Obama starts off the speech by complimenting the hosting school. This shows ethos, it at least builds credibility with the people at the school, because he must have good taste in what is a good school. He goes on to sympathize with the students, he acknowledges that he knows all the students have a lot on their plate. Also in this part of the speech he also says the word "twitter" with a different inflection that adds to the comedic effect and lightens the mood. He uses the phrase "old folks like me" to help remove himself from the argument and emphasis his age, that he won't be here in the future and it is the younger generation that will grow up to be the people in our society that make the decisions.
He owns up to his own flaws which shows ethos, it makes him seem more reasonable and trustworthy, he is being honest with his audience. He also says "don’t give [your parents] a hard time when they ask you to turn off the video games and the television, and sit down to help you with your homework" and adds onto that with saying he has to do that with his daughters. So he is following his own advise.
Obama uses logos in his reasoning on why it is important for kids to be educated and succeed. "So that’s a big part of your responsibility: Testing things out. Taking risks. Working hard. Engaging with the world around you. Those are the things that will make school more fun. And down the road, those are the traits that will help you succeed – the traits that will lead you to invent a device that makes the iPad look like a stone tablet. Or figure out a way to use the sun and wind to power a city. Or write the next great American novel." You need to work hard so you can do well when you are older.
He uses hand gestures throughout the speech to help amplify his message and keep the speech moving forward. He also didn't look down all that often so he was able to keep a good amount of eye contact with his audience. I though parts of it was delivered sort of awkwardly but on a whole it was a good speech.
He owns up to his own flaws which shows ethos, it makes him seem more reasonable and trustworthy, he is being honest with his audience. He also says "don’t give [your parents] a hard time when they ask you to turn off the video games and the television, and sit down to help you with your homework" and adds onto that with saying he has to do that with his daughters. So he is following his own advise.
Obama uses logos in his reasoning on why it is important for kids to be educated and succeed. "So that’s a big part of your responsibility: Testing things out. Taking risks. Working hard. Engaging with the world around you. Those are the things that will make school more fun. And down the road, those are the traits that will help you succeed – the traits that will lead you to invent a device that makes the iPad look like a stone tablet. Or figure out a way to use the sun and wind to power a city. Or write the next great American novel." You need to work hard so you can do well when you are older.
He uses hand gestures throughout the speech to help amplify his message and keep the speech moving forward. He also didn't look down all that often so he was able to keep a good amount of eye contact with his audience. I though parts of it was delivered sort of awkwardly but on a whole it was a good speech.
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