20% Time

2012-03-06T09:19:00.002-08:00

This past week I wrote my first reveiw on a set of wrenches that I had recived for christmas.
after struggleing for a few weeks with sears to get my log in fixed with sears so that could write the reveiw. You can follow the link that i atached below to read my reveiw.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/allreviews_10153_12605_00946935000P?dataBrand=SEARS&dataWriteReviewsUrl=http://www.sears.com/shc/s/writereview_10153_12605_00946935000P&dataProductPageUrl=http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00946935000P&dataProductTitle=Craftsman+26+pc.+Standard+12+pt.+Combination+Wrench+Set&dataProductId=00946935000P

Thanking you

2012-03-06T08:03:00.002-08:00

I have chosen to write another story about someone or a group of people who are so close to me, that I haven't been able to thank enough for all they have gotten me through. I want to write about them and show them how much I appreciate everything they have done for me.

Emotions

2012-03-06T07:41:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been to draw emotions and portray them through drawings or objects. Lately I have been happy doing the drawings. Every Tusday I try to portray some emotion and I post them beside Mairlyn in the English room. I will keep on doing this project because it very fun and it relaxes me when just being able to draw random stuff.

Should you Stay or Should you Go!?!?!

2012-03-02T09:01:00.001-08:00

Grade________
Do you enjoy prom?

What do you like about it?

Are you going to Prom?

Rate how stressful prom is to you?
1 3 5 7 9

How much do you think you spent on your accessories for prom this year? (Dress, Shoes, Jewelry, Ect….)

The Help.

2012-02-28T14:45:00.002-08:00

Alrighty, this book hasn't been a huge priority for me, but I'm slowly getting through the book and enjoying it overall. I'm far from done, but will try to focus on finishing. I'm going to answer a few discussion questions I found online. I'll answer more specific questions next cycle.

1. Which character do you relate to the most?
Thus far I relate most to Skeeter, because of her bookish ways and uniqueness both in appearance and thought.

2. What part of 1960s life in Mississippi do you find most shocking?
At this point in the book I find the treatment of the hired help the most shocking. A complete lack of compassion and respect-- they even believe these women shouldn't be able to use the same bathroom.

I also took a good reads quiz on the first 17 chapters of The Help and got 7 out of 7.

Whitney Houston

2012-02-28T11:08:00.002-08:00

August 9th, 1963 - Feburary 11th, 2012

My reading standard is 11.R.5.1. I have summarized this on a different document. I didn’t do the Fearbook for this check point. Instead I am doing a report/investigation/tribute to Whitney Houston. She was a recording artist, producer, model, and actress throughout her life. She will always be remembered by her family and her fans.

She was born in Newark, New Jersey on August 9th, 1963. She got into the music industry from her mother, Cissy Houston who was also producing and singing gospel/soul music with her cousins. Her music career accorded when she was singing in a church choir when she was a teen. She tour with her mother to nightclubs. She started to become a back-up singer with other bands. Whitney Houston’s first album was in 1985. Her album made the top 200 albums for fourteen non-consecutive weeks. Her single “Greatest Love Of All” was No. 1 for three weeks in a row. In 1986, she won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Fans thought that she should have won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, but she wasn’t eligible for the award. Whitney Houston won all types of Awards in her music career. She was a caring woman because she formed a program called The Whitney Houston Foundation for Children. It was a non-profit organization and it was for children who were homeless, had cancer, or other issues.
On July 18th, 1992, Whitney married R&B singer Bobby Brown. They soon had Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown, now 18 years old. She is Whitney’s only child and Bobby’s fourth. Throughout their marriage, Bobby was dealing with drug addiction and run-in with the law. During 1992, the movie The Bodyguard was released and the audience heard a single by Whitney Houston. This song is still remembered till today. The song is called “I Will Always Love You”. It soon won her a Grammy Award in 1994 for Song of the Year. Throughout the marriage of Bobby and Whitney, they went through tough ups and downs. Whitney started getting into drugs because of Bobby and she was changing into an addict with alcohol, cocaine, and prescription drugs.
The day before the Grammy Awards were suppose to be taken off, there was a mystery going on in the Beverly Hills Hotel. Whitney Houston’s mother found her daughter in the bathtub not responding to anything on Feburary 11th, 2012. She was pronounced dead at the scene when paramedics showed up. This left devastation to friends such as Ray J and other artist that sang with her, her family such as her daughter, and fans all over America. They want answers to what happen to Whitney Houston. Detectives and paramedics say that her death had dealt with the mix of prescription pills and alcohol. Until this day, there has been a couple of cause of death.
There have been a few articles for the mystery of her death. They say cause of death was drugs, but others say either suicide or murder. Murder isn’t really the huge topic though anymore. It’s either between suicide or “accidental” drug overdose. I read articles online that say she didn’t have any money because she always spent her money on cocaine. Another article said she killed herself because of money and that her secret life was coming out of being lesbian. No one knows the answer, but people do want the answer. I was reading an article at the store and it said that she was possible murder and she was also pregnant? I don’t know if I believe any of these articles because I think it’s just trying to confuse everyone. In my opinion I think it was drug overdose or suicide. I can’t really pick which one it was. No one will know until the autopsy comes back in a few more weeks.
Her death has left her daughter hospitalized twice. Her daughter went to her funeral drunk and high. Her actions have got her family worried about her. Her funeral was held in Newark, New Jersey. Whitney Houston will always be remembered by fans and family.

2012-02-28T09:28:00.004-08:00

Overview:

For 20% time I played and read reviews for Cartoon Wars.

Standard:

11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

Game Review Site:

No helpful game reviews for this game.

Thoughts about the game:

My thoughts about the game were that it is a great game to play in your free time. The only place to find this particular game is on your phone and the only way can play it is if you have a smart phone. The goal of the game is to keep you castle protected from wave after wave of monsters. How you do this is that you send out heors that all have certain powers or abilities that they use to protect your castle and destroy the monsters castle. But you also have arrows that are mounted to your castle that help you out to. All in all it is a good game to keep you entertained.

Evaluation:

I got most of the results from the gameplay but little from the research. Some of the difficulties that encountered were no review sites for this particular game. So i had to go throught alot of sites and i think i only found one that was still not helpful. Yes i would repeat this project. I would keep playing the game and try to finish it and find more review sites.

Still Helping the Animals

2012-02-28T09:06:00.002-08:00

For the past couple of weeks, I had been working on the posters to post up around the school. I am completely done with them and so I will be printing them off soon so that Nicole (our school secretary) will hopefully be able to make multiple copies of them so then I can really decorate the walls with them. I will also hopefully try to get her to announce it over the intercom so that people will be able to hear about it.
Now, I have some good or bad news…depending on how they react. I have not made any contact with the shelter about the thing I am doing for them, so when I bring in the items (that’s if I do get items) it will be a giant surprise. I hope they do not mind, although I am sure they won’t…so surprise! I am really looking forward to see what the ending result will be for this project.

Call of Duty Black Ops

2012-02-28T09:01:00.008-08:00

Call of Duty: Black Ops

I haven't really been playing a lot of new games lately so i decided to do one that has been in my collection for a while now.

Call of Duty: Black Ops is a great game with lots of action and adventures. You start out as a spy trying to find secrets in a Russian missile organization. I must find out what big plans they have. I finally realize that they are planning to blow up the moon with multiple rockets, but you have been caught and brainwashed into think you are someone you are not. The Cummunist Russians make you fight your own team.

You finally realize that you have been brainwashed and your now confused about who you were and where you came from. you are now back on track trying to find a way to stop the missiles, but hwo will you do it? Thats for you to find out.

This game is a first of its series of Call of Duty series (Black Ops 2 will be coming out in November).

Instead of having Special Ops like Modern Warfare 2 and 3 has Black Ops has Nazi Zombies which a survival mode where you fight hordes of zombies that want to kill you. Nazi Zombies is a really good game to play with friends because you have to use team work and stategy in order to survive. Each waveof zombies becomes smarter and there is more of them.

The Multiplayer is probably the lowest part of this game becuase there corrupted gamers and unfair advantages in the maps and guns. There is a multiplier game type called Combat Training where you fight computer based enemies that attack to which difficulty you set them at.

If you are looking to buy this game, you might want to rent it or barrow it from a friend becuase it really depends on what you like in order to understand the game. If you like close quaters combat than this would be a good game for you. If you like spread out combat than you would most likley want to play the Battlefield Series which is more expanded.

I will try to get a newer game for next post but there is no promises.

Isaac

Scholarships

2012-02-28T09:01:00.006-08:00

I applied for several little scholarships and am sending one large scholarship off today. I used 11.R.5.1 Students can analyze factors that influence the credibility of informational sources, and 11.W.2.4 Students can edit for correct use of parentheses, dashes, hyphens, and ellipses. For reading I have to read all the requirements and find out if I meet them and for writing there are often times essays that are required.

Desert Journal

2012-02-28T09:00:00.002-08:00

In the Desert Chapter of Survivng the Extremes, Dr. Kamler tells us the story of a Italian policeman, Mauro Prosperi, who found himself lost after a sandstorm interrupted the Ultramarathon of Sands in the Sahara Desert. He survived for nine days by himself with just drops of water left in his water bottle and no food. When he was found, he lost 33 pounds, and he also needed to replace 4 gallons of water that he lost. His skin was so dry that water couldn't be absorbed by it right away. His throat and mouth were swollen to the point where he couldn't swallow or talk. Military doctors in Morocco said it was impossible to survive for more than five days in the desert without supplies, and they postulated that he must have been taken in, somewhat restored, and reentered civilization with a dramatic story to tell. Could he possibly live that long without the most important essentials to sustain human life? Kamler tells the amazing story of how he did it, and I created a daily journal of what he did each day he was stranded.

Day 1

Today was the first day on my own out in the Sahara Desert. The rules of run stated that if any runner was to become lost, we are supposed to stay put where are and wait for
rescue. I did. A rescue helicopter passed overhead, and I waved and waved, but it didn’t see me. I finished my last bit of water today. I don’t know what I’m going to do about water. When I’m finished with this journal, I think I’m going to pee in my bottle to recycle my fluids. It won’t taste good when I drink it, but I must do anything and everything to live. I can and will survive. I will survive.

Day 2

I woke this morning and gazed in the distance; what I saw was very disappointing: a barren wasteland with nothing in site besides rolling dunes of sand. I knew I couldn’t stay here because the sun would roast me alive or I would die of starvation. After hours of walking, I finally spotted a small Muslim shrine in the distance. I was extremely lucky I found it, but unlucky because it was completely empty. It didn’t take too long for me to discover I was the only organism taking shelter in that shrine. There was a colony of bats in the shrine. I instantly thought food. I grabbed two bats and broke their necks. After I sucked the bats dry for water, I ate them raw. The taste was horrendous, but it was food. I started to feel more and more like a predator. I am going to rest up tonight in the shrine and tomorrow I will figure out what to do. I will survive.

Day 3

Today I created a SOS in the sand for planes to see. I also placed my Italian flag outside on a post just in case someone will luckily come by. I made some useful observations during the day when I was outside. These observations were about the effects of heat during the day. My muscles started to kind of convulse or shake during the day when I was outside. I also discovered that my heart started to beat faster when I was just sitting outside; this made me conclude that the chemical reactions in my body speed up when it’s hot. So this must mean, at night when it is cold, the chemical reactions slow down along with my heart rate. After a while, I realized that I can’t be out here too long because I sweat, and when I sweat, I lose water. I can’t lose water. I will…

Day 4

I really don’t know what happened last night. I woke up this morning and my wrists were slit. I was finishing up my journal, and I don’t remember what happened after that. That must be another effect of heat on the body; confusion, fainting, and maybe suicidal thoughts or actions? Luckily I fainted inside, so the sun wouldn’t kill me. Anyway, a plan flew over this morning, but unfortunately didn’t see my SOS or my Italian flag. After I gave up on waving, the mountains off in the distance sparked something in my mind. I remembered that the race ends at the base of those mountains! I must head there, and I will be rescued! I will walk during sunset and sunrise, and rest at night to cool my body off; I will also rest during the day in shade, so I don’t dehydrate or roast myself alive. I will lick rocks for water in the morning, and I will suck the water out of any plants that I can find to stay hydrated. I ate some beetles that weren’t actually that bad. “Slimy yet satisfying”; Simba was right! (Lion King reference) I also ate a mouse that I killed with a slingshot made from a bungee cord and stick. I will survive.

Day 5

Today I felt the real effects of the desert. I swear I spotted water ahead of me as I was progressing towards the mountains. I moved toward it, and it remained there, however, I knew it might not be real. I remained hopeful though as I progressed towards the water. As I got to it, the water disappeared. It was a mirage. Stupid me. I wasted a lot of energy trying to get to that for nothing. I became stressed. My heart started to beat faster, and I started to sweat. I was losing even more water. I calmed myself down. I remembered back in college when we learned about stress: Stress enhances danger to survive. Stress causes the endocrine system to release adrenaline which makes your heart beat faster and you start sweating. Sweating requires more water. Chaperone proteins are used to respond to rising levels in stress, starvation, sleep deprivation, and vigorous exercise. That is why vigorous exercise relieves the mental stress on the nervous system so well.

Day 6

I really have nothing to talk about today. I am becoming extremely lonely. I have been finding myself talking to myself a lot. When I sleep, I dream of my family and their beautiful faces. I miss them, and the times we had together. Oh my, I need to stop otherwise I’m going to cry and lose even more water. I just need to keep my head and get to the mountains.

Day 7

I don’t know how much more I can take of this. I know I should be dead right now, but miraculously, I’m alive. I’m starting to think surviving isn’t worth the pain I’m in. The mountains are becoming close…I think. I’m giving myself to day 10 before I finally decide whether or not to give up. I found a couple beetles today and ate them. I haven’t found water for days, and my urine is starting to take an effect on me. I think I figured out some reasons as to why I survived this long: My endurance training strengthened my cardiovascular system to require less pumping to maintain blood flow. It also enhances my liver’s ability to convert glycogen to glucose. My muscles contract smoothly which conserves energy. The energy saved reduces heat buildup. My training also made it easier for his blood to flow to the surface for cooling and reach the deep organs for nourishment.

Day 8

As I am writing this, I am periodically licking a puddle of water in a wadi! When I first discovered it, I drank it, but I threw up. I think I threw up because my throat and mouth were so dang swollen. That really hurt my throat because it was scratchy and all. I never thought muddy water tasted so good! My moral has been boosted exceptionally! I’m staying here all day and night to drink. Tomorrow is another day, and we’ll see what happens. I am surviving.

Day 9

This will be my very last journal entry. I came across fresh goat droppings and a small human footprint! I continued on and later came across a Tureg girl. She was very little. She screamed at me and ran away. I wouldn’t blame her though. I lost at least 30 to 40 pounds, and I probably look hideous. I tried to speak but nothing came out because my throat was so swollen. He reappeared with what seemed to be her grandmother. They kindly led me to their camp. Apparently I’m in Algeria now. They first took me by camel than a car to an Algerian Hospital. I survived…

Hunger Games

2012-02-28T08:58:00.002-08:00

In the past three weeks I started and completed the first two books in the Hunger Games series. Katniss Everdeen is the main character who is a teenage girl struggles to feed her mother and sister, but when the all ruling capitol draws tributes for the 74the annual hunger games, Katniss's worst fear has occurred. Her innocent sister has been chosen to participate in the blood bath of the hunger games, and Katniss must volunteer in her place. With a background of hunting illegally, she catches many off guard and becomes one of the favorites to win the game. In the ever adapting games Katniss struggles for survival and a new twist forces Katniss and Peeta (the male tribute from district 12 together). These two "star crossed lovers" survive to the end of the games and are the last two alive. But because there can only be one winner the two defy the capitol. They are pulled from the games and declared winners before they have a chance- ending book one. In book two, the Quarter Quell is opon them (the 75 anniversery of the games where Peeta and Katniss and thrown back into the games with previous winners where rebellion in the districs turn the tide against the capitol-putting an interesting spin on the games.
I am in the process of reading the final book and will blog in three weeks about my thoughts.

I must say was entrapped by the action packed plot of Suzanne Collins and I even enjoyed the love struggle of Katniss Everdeen where she has to choose between Peeta and Gale. I think that the books show a struggle for democracy in a world where the Capitol rules over 12 districts like an overseer. It is a series of hope for the future and taking a stand on what you know is right. Like the millions of others who have read the series, I would reccommend these books to anyone.

New Topic

2012-02-28T08:16:00.005-08:00

I am thinking of researching on the best fundraisers that are easy and quick. The ideas that i have come up with are change jars, car wash, recycling and pancake breakfast. The idea of change jars are put jars around the school and around business to ask for their loose change. The car wash would be like having people pledge for how many cars you wash and you charge a certain rate per car pledge. The Recycling ideas is when we ask for all your old cell phone, ink cartage, old batteries from cars and just sending those things in for money. And finally a pancake breakfast feed which is pretty self explanatory or some sort of feed that is not to are or messy to clean up. I will narrow it down in the coming days and will start planning the event. I plan on it being a week or 2 effort for this project unless if it works out really well.

One Hit Wonders!

2012-02-28T08:16:00.004-08:00

We finally are going to be performing our song, "White Horse" by Taylor Swift. We were going to perform today, but we'll have to wait until tomorrow because Ellie is absent today. We have been progressing very well; for the most part, we all know our parts. I think our band is a one hit wonder. We did better than what we thought we were going to do. We didn't think we were all actually going to be able to learn this song, but we did!

Chicken Soup for the Teacher's Soul

2012-02-28T08:08:00.001-08:00

Michelle Schwab
20% time

At first I started to read and summarize a different book, but after picking up Chicken Soup for the Teacher’s Soul I changed my project to these heart wrenching stories.
After reading various stories I pick out 3 that were my favorite.
#1.This kid was dirty and gross and had been picked on all 5 years of elementary school. At first he got moved from class room to class room because he was always disruptive. Then after this sped teacher got him into her class she started thinking his parents didn’t care about him. She researched where he live and found out that the father had eight kids and was raising them on a third grade education. So once she realized the dad did care and was doing the best he could with what he had she took the boy under her wing and taught him life lessons that his father couldn’t have.
#2. This one was about a college professor on their first day. Everyone in the class room seamed bored and didn’t seem to be listening, until the teacher spotted one student in particular who seemed to have it all together. Later in the semester the teacher noticed she wasn’t attending class for two weeks. As an attempt to get to know this girl better the teacher went to the dean of students and asked where she had been. The teacher found out the girl had committed suicide. Shocked the teacher created a class on love. It filled the class room and student brought other students who weren’t even taking the class. The most touching part of this read was the fact that for the first time a college student went up to his dad and told him he loved him for the first time. It brought tears to my eyes.
#3. This story was about a long time teacher who had prided their self on being a great teacher; putting their self through grad school even and after twenty years of teaching burnt out. And just at the divine moment, a message from God sparked their interest in teaching again. A student who had probably been about ten years back was at the hospital with his wife and child and pointed to the teacher who was picking up pills saying “HEY THAT’S THE LADY THAT KEPT ME IN SCHOOL AND THE REASON WHY I READ TODAY”. It created that fire for teaching again in the teacher that they actually canceled their new job of being a car salesman to still teach after 20 years. Wow, that’s a story; they found what they were called to do.

I’ve really enjoyed this book. I will be reading tid bits in BANDOLOGY. It’s a warm fuzzy book. J

ACT Prep and Scholarship Search

2012-02-28T08:05:00.003-08:00

Reading Standard - Indicator 2: Students can comprehend and fluently read text.
(Analysis) 11.R.2.1 Students can analyze how diction affects the interpretation of text.
(Application) 11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text. Writing Standard - Writing essays for the scholarships I apply for.

I started a new project this week. I will be searching for scholarships and hopefully applying for some soon. I will also be studying and reviewing for the ACT since I signed up last week and will be taking the test in April. So far, I have found a few scholarships that I could apply before, but I haven't gone too far into detail with them.

Continuing to read Life As We Knew It…

2012-02-28T08:05:00.002-08:00

Scholarship Search

2012-02-28T08:02:00.002-08:00

Reading Standard: Indicator 2: Students can comprehend and fluently read text.(Analysis) 11.R.2.1 Students can analyze how diction affects the interpretation of text.(Application) 11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.
Writing Standard: Writing some essays for the scholarships

I am starting a new project today. I will be doing some scholarship searching. These scholarships offer different amounts of money from hundreds to thousands of dollars.
http://www.free-4u.com/scholarships_for_high_school_students.htm
This is a website that has a few scholarships listed.

Dresses.....Shoes.....Tanning....Stress.....Decorating.....Parties........PROM!!!!

2012-02-15T07:28:00.001-08:00

As of today Prom is only 45 days away. My only question is why do we stress out so much about it?
Girls with finding the right dress and making sure we have all the perfect accessories. Guys with their fidgety ways of wanting to ask a girl to go but deathly afraid of that simple word "NO". So can someone please tell me how we went from simple yet elegant to wild and crazy yet some what controlled.

Survival Guide For the High Seas

2012-02-14T09:02:00.000-08:00

The next chapter in the book is called The High Seas. In the chapter, Kamler doesn't adventure out to sea, instead he gives us insight on what happens to the body through other survivors' stories. This chapter has many useful and interesting tips on what to and what not to do. I decided to make a short survival guide for when someone is stranded in the ocean.

Finding Food and Water

Take advantage of rain! Use a canopy or tarp of some sort to funnel in rain water in containers. Two thirds of the body is made up of water, and water is used in all chemical reactions and bodily functions. A person can’t eat without water, so because the digestive enzymes won’t function properly. “Sea water sends you mad”. Organs and tissues are intolerant to increased salt. Salt is very hard to get out once dissolved in water. The more salt water you drink, the thirstier you get.
Dehydration can lead to hallucinations it can be very convincing because the brain doesn’t get enough excitement, so it creates its own excitement. Electrochemistry is generated by emotion and memory. People have even been known to walk off the boat.

Watch what you eat! Normal human diet should contain 60% of carbohydrates because they are an important fuel, and our bodies can’t manufacture it. In the ocean, a human needs to about a pound of carbohydrates a day. In order to obtain carbohydrates, eat fish that eat algae due to the fact that algae are directly inedible. 25% of daily intake should be from fats. This is difficult in the ocean due to the fact that fish are the only source of food, and they only contain one percent of fat. The other 15% of daily intake should be protein. Protein is easy to find because fish are made up of nearly all protein. Too much protein is bad though. Due to its complexity, proteins take nearly five times more energy to break down so the body can use. Hunger means that not enough fuel is being distributed by the food. Glucose burns easily. Blood resupplies glucose levels with the release of glucose levels. from the liver.

Adaptations

With steady fat and carbohydrate levels, the body takes steps decrease the rate of power consumption. Reaction times slow down because nothing that requires reaction has taken place for a while. The decreased production of cells that repair wounds takes place. The decreased production of sex hormones takes place due to the fact that that is not a priority Metabolic rate is decreased because the body doesn’t have to break down as much food, and it conserves energy. Due to lack of energy, protein can be burned for energy. Muscle is the first one to lose protein because of its abundance. At this point, the body starts to literally eat itself alive

Cannibalism and Mentality

It is the process of eating of the same species. It works against individuals but favors the survival of the groups. Fairness and morality which is in the cerebral cortex, is easily deactivated. As ethical standards drop, the cerebral cortex drops back to more primal instincts and less control over primitive urges. This is seen in the novel Lord of the Flies. It is imperative to have the WILL to live that will keep a stranded person alive.Hope alone has kept people alive for over a month when stranded out at sea.

Indo Board

2012-02-14T08:24:00.000-08:00

Indicator 2: Students can comprehend and fluently read text.
(Analysis) 11.R.2.1 Students can analyze how diction affects the interpretation of text.
(Application) 11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

I got the idea to Indo Board from Noah's Demonition Speech. It looked like a really fun thing to do and it looked like a good thing to improve my balance for golfing and surfing. To learn more about Indo-Boarding, I went to http://indoboard.com/. There, I looked at different techniques and trick/workouts that you can do on the Indo Board.

The last few weeks I have been working on Indo-Boarding. Lately, I have gotten better because I can get up and stay for several minutes. I am helping other people learn how to Indo Board. Noah is also there to help others with learning because I don't know as much as he does about it (because he is the owner of it).

Clothes For a Cause

2012-02-14T08:14:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, Nicole and I took our items into the Children's Inn Society. We had a total of 595 items ranging from clothing to toys, to shoes, to breakfast foods. Anything that the Children's Inn couldn't use would be donated to another organization that helps families get started on their own feet.

100th Post!

2012-02-10T06:10:00.000-08:00

I was just sitting there, about to make a post on my own blog (link!) when I noticed that there were 99 posts on the main blog. That means that this is the 100th post!

That's about it I guess.

Clothes for a Cause

2012-02-09T09:02:00.000-08:00

Nicole and I have reached our goal of 150. We actually have probably doubled it. We will be taking our "closet" of clothes to the Children's Inn this weekend.

We have items of all types. We even got extras. We've received shirts, jeans, shoes, dresses, hats, gloves, jackets, snow pants, and breakfast foods. The extras we received were toys.

L.A. Candy

2012-02-09T08:28:00.000-08:00

The last 20% time I finished the book L.A. Candy. Madison is jealous that Jane is getting all of the attention. Jane is falling between two guys: Braden and his best friend, Jesse. Madison decides to hire a camera man to photograph Jane with Braden, and then Jane with Jesse, trying to make Jane look like she was two timing both of them. She gets pictures of Jane and Braden making out, and she gives them to a magazine editor. Before Jane knows it, she's all over every magazine and every headline imaginable. She's incredibly embarassed, and Madison tells Jane that it was all Jesse who gave the pictures to the magazine editor. Scarlett, Jane's best friend, goes over to Jesse's house to freak out on him, but when she returns, there's a note from Jane saying her and Madison had gone away for a few days to Madison's parent's house. In the note she also writes there is no cell service there so Scarlett wouldn't be able to tell Jane it was actually Madison.

Fearbook: Zodiac Killer

2012-02-09T08:22:00.000-08:00

My reading standard is 11.R.5.1. I have summarized this on a different document. I am still going through the Fearbook and learning about past notorious serial killers and what made them blow up like a ticking time bomb.

The next man I have researched about is the Zodiac Killer. There is no suspects and the case is still unsolved. The Zodiac Killer may never be solve because it has been going on for about 40 years. The suspect behind the Zodiac killing is possibly deceased now. The Zodiac Killer has claimed to murder 37 victims. The reason I have said "claim" in that sentence is because in the 1960's and the 1970's the Zodiac Killer sent letters to the detectives that were trying to solve the case. He would always start in the letter saying, "This is the Zodiac speaking". No one really knows why he is called that.

The Zodiac always wanted his murders in the papers and he wants his mysterious letters in there as well. He would send cryptograms to the news media and demand them to print it out on papers. If they didn't, he would warn them that he will kill again. He kills mostly couples where there are no witnesses around. He mostly have killed women because most of the men survive to tell their stories. The most daring procedure he tried to do was warn the police department that he put a bomb on a school bus and threaten the police department that he was going to kill all the children. He sent a letter of the school bus and where the bomb was. He always called the chief of the police department "The Blue Piggy".

There has not been a Zodiac killing in a maximum of 30 years. Hopefully there will never be another Zodiac killing again.

Band's Still Working Together

2012-02-09T08:16:00.001-08:00

This last two weeks we have been practicing very, very, very hard. We, yet again, changed our song to White Horse by Taylor Swift. We think that this song choice would be easier for us to preform.

Her story

2012-02-08T11:31:00.000-08:00

No one will ever know my sister like I do, but not even I will know the way she feels. I know she is a strong woman, but at this time she needs help to build her strength. I am there for her along with all of the nurses who help her, which I could never thank them enough for.

I wrote just a small portion of her story and how I learned a lesson behind her accident. I used to say good-bye as if I would see you tomorrow. I now say good-bye as if I'll never see you again. I make sure to tell them how much they mean to me.

I inserted a picture of her and her first son with the portion of her story for memories of her every day. I will never forget my sister.

Yoga Shmoga

2012-02-07T21:23:00.000-08:00

Michelle Schwab
20% time blog
Yoga
Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.
For the first week, a couple of us did power yoga, seriously. This stuff was fast and advanced. We definitely clicked the wrong video. And for the second week, while listening we did yoga in class while listening to Huck Finn. Let me say this, Mrs. K has got some ADVANCED MOVES. I could hardly do half of them. I learned it is all about balance.
Ever since my 20% time I have been doing yoga moves as stretches to help me get lose over the course of weeks. It’s really improved my flexibility for working out!
I read this article on yoga. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,106356,00.html

And learned some interesting things:
You should feel famous while doing yoga… all the big stars do too! J
I keep spelling yoga as ‘yogo’. GoodNESS.
Yoga has increased 75% in the past five years. Understandably.
It takes the western culture out of its body to inside but yoga see its as a chance to see what’s inside to experience it on the outside as well.
There was a testimony of a woman who had cancer and they did surgery on her arm and how she can stand up on her arms with her feet on her head because she uses breathing and mental techniques to keep her going.
Through this project I have found a new love for yoga stretches. It’s great for the body and gives you a non toxic mind after and during. The stretches are great to cleanse the mind with.

Scholarship Search

2012-02-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

This past few week I have been apply for scholarship from thousands to hundreds of dollars. It doesn't matter how much or how little it helps pay your way through college someway. So far I think I have signed up for about 10 to 15 scholarship. Some are easy, like submiting a your name to them or as hard as writing essays that have to meet certain guidelines and regulations that you must follow. All I can do is try and do as many as possible to increase my odds in getting a scholarship.

Helping the Animals

2012-02-07T09:03:00.001-08:00

So instead of doing the whole "Shasta-and-Me" thing, I am switching my project to something a little more helpful. I had been doing research these past couple of weeks, and I couldn't help but look at the Sioux Falls Humane Society website. I saw that they had a wish list, including a new building project that is needing money. I thought to myself for a while and knew that I couldn't just straight out and ask for money from people, so instead of getting money for the building project, I am going to try to fulfill the wish list which includes: dog food, cat food, distilled water gallons, latex gloves, cotton balls, pill containers WITHOUT labels, hand sanitizer, Clorox Bleach (because the other types don't have the correct concentration for disease prevention), air fresheners, stamps, Dawn Dish Soap, and of course money for either the building fund or for animal care and medical services.
Now, I myself am an animal lover and it shows because I have four dogs and two cats. To help the poor animals that were abandoned, abused, or just brought in for different purposes means a lot to me. So hopefully I will be able to make some change for everyone at the Humane Society.
For the next couple of weeks I will be making posters to post around the school so that the word will be getting out. With those posters, I may even print pictures of the animals that are at the Humane Society and post them along the walls as well. Hopefully this project will work, and I will be looking forward to keep the people updated with how it is going.

regretable I sunk so low to write poems

2012-02-07T08:59:00.001-08:00

I used standards 11.R.1.1 and 11.W.2.2. I wrote poems.

I also read some poems on http://thepoetsgarret.com/2011Challenge/form1.html

I wrote poems to the rhyme scheme of:
A
B
A
B
C
On a day such as this you may feel dismay
But for what? Just don’t lose sleep at night
Don’t let this gloom make your whole day gray
Be confident you’ll chose what’s right
Stay in school and don’t do drugs!

I’m listening to a techno mix
Thinking of the next line
But wishing I had a Twix
Realizing I’m glad moles are benign
700,030 die from cancer in a year

Blue is everywhere
Is it because it’s our school color
Look it’s right there
Blue is just duller
Blue is overused

Red Dead Redemption

2012-02-07T08:59:00.000-08:00

Red Dead Redemption

This action packed western game brings gun slingers to life in a free roam world. John Marston is out to rescue his brother from one of the most dangerous gangs ever in the wild wild west.

John was found passed out in front of an barricade, he was shot trying to find his brother. A ranch family took him in until he became healthy. Now, John is out to get revenge on the gang and to rescue his brain washed brother.

John must train for his missions, but first he must become familiar with the land and all the people that might stand in his way. He must explore in order to succeed. John has no idea what he is up against and how he will be able to survive.

I my opinion i think this game is amazing. You almost forget that you are actually playing a video game. You can tell the creators spent a lot of time making the graphics and scenory perfect. This game is just like Grand Theft Auto but in the western era which makes a new twist in free roam game. This game is huge, the world is huge and the mission set is huge. The multiplayer is ever perfect. with teamdeath match and co-op campaign. I understand how this game got game of the year and why poeple are still playing it even after a fews years its been out. It always has something new to do.

If i were to give this game a rating out of 10 it would definelty be extremely close to a 10. The characters are perfect and the bad poeple are perfect, they have the perfect amount of villain.

The Help

2012-02-07T08:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm about a fourth of the way through the book so I'm going to speed up my reading a bit and hopefully finish it by the end fo the next cycle. Once I finish the book I'm going to find some reading guides/ book club questions and answer some of my favorites. So far, I'm still loving the dialect used in the story and the characters are so believable. Looking forward to reading more! Adieu.

Life As We Know It... 3

2012-02-07T08:07:00.000-08:00

Change in Project

2012-01-31T08:58:00.001-08:00

I'm sorry to say that I am dropping the project of "Childhood Obesity" and am moving on to scholarship hunting.

College is only a year away and I think it's about time that we all start searching for as many scholarships as possible to allow us to get into college with paying as minimal from our pockets as possible.

So..........the hunt is on. :)

Learning to Live Again

2012-01-24T09:03:00.000-08:00

According to Steven M Schwarz, MD, FAAP, FACN, AGAF, author of article, Obesity in Children.

Approximately 21-24% of American children and adolescents are overweight, and another 16-18% is obese. Childhood obesity predisposes to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, liver and renal disease, and reproductive dysfunction. This condition also increases the risk of adult-onset obesity and cardiovascular disease. Sadly that percentage slowly starts to increase the more we don't do anything about our children's diets and activities.

We say we try but do we really?

Happy, Sad, Mad, Boy am I glad

2012-01-23T07:33:00.000-08:00

We have all felt fear loved or even at times hopeless. I have decided to change topics I was in the works of doing a stop motion but unfortunately the pictures got deleted and I was not going to start all over. I have decided to express emotions through art. The 1^st emotion I did was Hopeless and I decided to write Friendship over and over and over. Sometimes it seems that we lose our hope throughout friendship because either you lost a friend or they have just turned away from you. We just get that feeling in our hearts and we can’t do anything and it seems like our hope has just faded away. But in the end we shine with those who stuck with you until the end. The next emotion I am focusing is FEAR and I will try to express it throughout drawing a monster or something that we have all feared in our lives.

Living to Learn Again

2012-01-20T08:15:00.000-08:00

11.W.1.1 Students can write text using comparison/contrast organizational patterns.

Well I can safely start off by saying that it's a new year with a new attitude and with this comes a new 20% time project.

My new project entails that I will be blogging about the growing child obesity rates and their causes. It's sad enough that we feed our children fattening foods at a very young age. I feel that this is something that our students shoud be aware of as well as the adult world. Because if we know, at our generation, what's happening to our generation then we can help to prevent it from happening to future generations.

Mush!

2012-01-19T14:17:00.000-08:00

The past couple of weeks, there has actually been snow fall. The first day it snowed I ran outside with her. I was hoping she would go running around, but she stayed at my side, as if she didn’t know what she was supposed to do. See, when we had gotten Shasta, I had a thought in the back of my mind, that one day, I would be able to have a sled dog team. Of course that would mean I would need to get more Siberian Huskies, but let’s just keep that a secret from my mom. Anyways, I even yelled “MUSH!” a couple of times, just to see how Shasta would react to it. She must have thought it meant up or something, because all I got from it was a giant dog standing on her back legs, looking into my eyes. I pushed her off and she kept jumping on me, so then I decided I would play with her. My little brother, Adam, would wrestle with her when she was inside, and so I had learned some new “moves” to use on her. One of these moves being an arm bar that UFC people use on each other, and well, Shasta did not like that. So I let her go and decided I would put her in a leg lock. Shasta, being a Siberian Husky, she is an extreme escape artist. She got out of all the moves I would put on her, and by the end, it seemed as if she had won, because I was so tired from having to chase her down. So this time, the victory had gone to dog, but not for long. One of these times, I will be victorious.

Above here are two pictures of my dog Shasta. She is a giant baby, and I love her very much.

We're Getting The Band Back Togther!

2012-01-17T21:18:00.000-08:00

For the next three or so weeks Ellie, Casey, Abby and myself are in a band and will be preforming a song for our class. Ellie will be rocking it on the guitar, Casey will be scream her lungs off on vocals, Abby will be calm and collective playing the piano, and I will being keeping a nice steady beat on the drums. It will definitely be a fun and interesting process!

The Help

2012-01-17T09:43:00.000-08:00

Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

I've always preferred to read on my own terms, so although this may seem late to those in Book Club I have decided to read The Help. I was going to write a summary for each chapter but have decided instead to read the whole book, then do a project over it that involves writing. I'm excited to read this book so I can finally watch the movie.

Thus far I love the writing style and use of dialect. I've been in the South on multiple occasions and reading this book transports me back to those warm summers.

Adieu.

Fearbook: Ted Bundy

2012-01-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

The second man I have researched and many people should have heard about him. His name is Ted Bundy also known as Theodore Robert Cowell. He was born on November 24, 1946 in Burlington, Vermont. Throughout the years, he always thought that his sister was his mother and his grandparents were his real parents. Ted Bundy was an attractive young man who was very intelligent especially when it came with politics.

When he entered college, he fell in love with a girl who broke his heart which made him start his depression. After awhile they got back together because she loves the “new” Ted Bundy. He started to run for campaigns, but soon after he left politics and Washington after suspicion from police when they started investigation of missing women. Ted decides to move to Salt Lake City, Utah to attend law school. Soon after he was charged with murder, but he somehow escaped from the prison. He was soon caught after and went back to prison, but soon after he escaped once again.

Ted Bundy murdered from 20-100 women, but he only confessed to 29 murders. There was a young woman by the name of Nita Neary who was an eye witness and saw Bundy leave a house of two women who were murdered. He was arrested for the third time for those murders. He went to trial and he was his own lawyer. After the counts of murder, he lost the trial and was sentence to death by the electric chair. Ted Bundy was executed on January 14th, 1989.

2012-01-17T09:15:00.000-08:00

Overview:For 20% time I played and read reviews for the game Grand Theft Auto Episodes From Liberty City.

Standard:11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

Game Review Site: http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/143/14352794.html blocked at school

Thoughts about the game:My thoughts about the game were that it is awesome but it is nothing compared to the new grand Grand Theft Auto that will becoming out soon. The graphics in the game were outstanding it looked so real. The only problems that i have from this game is that it might have a minor glitch here or there but nothing major like Saints Row the Third. But over all the game had great missions that challenged your skills to see if your a noob or a pro at the game. And the game is so addictiong that you want to keep playing the game.

Evaluation:I got most of the results out of the gameplay and and it took me a while to get the results i wanted out of the research. I found alot of good review sites after alot of looking throw gaming companies and other gaming reviewing sites. But there are also the bad game sites where they dont eather have the game you are looking for aor they dont have alot of reviews for them yet. Yes i would repeat this project because it it is fun and entertaining. I did the research on the game and i have played the game and have decieded that this is a great game for anyone.

Surviving the Extremes

2012-01-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

I've recently started reading a book called Surviving the Extremes by Dr. Kenneth Kamler, a microscopic surgeon from New York. I haven't gotten that far into it yet, but the prologue is quite interesting.

Dr. Kamler is a microscopic surgeon from New York who is vice-president of the Explorers Club. He wanted to try something new to cure his monotonous life in the big city, so went off on an expedition to scale Mt. Everest as a medic for the other climbers. While on the mountain, a man fell 80 some feet head first into a crevasse, and didn't die. He starts the prolouge by saying, "If the chanting stopped, my patient would die." After the other climbers brought the injured man back to camp, Kamler went to work on him right away. These climbers were Sherpas, a native in the Everest region. They, unlike Kamler, believed in spiritual healing, and that the body can heal by men praying and chanting around him. The praying and chanting kept the man alive for a while, but his wounds were too great. This influenced Kamler to discover what happens to the human body when it is confronted with the most extreme environmental conditions. He continues the prologue talking about his first adventure with the Explorers Club. They were going to clim a 19,000-foot mountain in Peru called Taqurah. Even before they started the ascent, a truck in front of them tipped over a hillside leaving numerous amounts of and various injuries for Kamler (the only doctor present) to treat. After treating the patients, Kamler took them to the nearest clinic, and was named a local hero. That's where he ends the prologue and begins his adventure in the jungle.

Craftsman reveiw

2012-01-17T09:03:00.001-08:00

For my 20% time I am will be reading reveiws for tools that i have then righting new reveiws on them based on how well they work. I will use the 11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text. reading standard and the 11.W.1.1 Students can write text using comparison/contrast organizational patterns. writeing standard. The tools I write reweiws on will post the URL of the site to the blog. In the weeks up to now I have been resurching topics and reading other peoples reveiws. For the upcomming weeks I will read reveiws on tools that I have and then write several.

Short Film

2012-01-17T09:02:00.001-08:00

I have started a new project where I will make a series of short films in the next few weeks, each being roughly 5-10 minutes long using the Website Curriculum from ISM (Independent Student Media) Films. There will be a few different genres including my first piece, which is a western. I also have a good creative idea about a murder mystery that takes place in my school. Because I am taking a production class at the CTE Academy, I thought I would create a few of my favorite pieces that I wrote and make them into real short films and post them on the blog. I would need some help with the casting of the roles and production team, but besides that I see no other obstacles that will stop me in this project. Below is a short minute long sample of the first film that I have started to write:

FADE IN:
EXT DAY OLD WESTERN TOWN YUMA- EMPTY BECAUSE GUNFIGHT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN.jace ringer and joe silas standing at the top of the street looking west. jace is the yuma marshall,26, 5, slim, tanned like leather, looks indifferent, joe silas is the deputy sheriff, has a handlebar mustach,long hair with a ten gallon hat and is short and chubby.He is a pleasant looking man who wears overals.

JACE RINGLER
This town looks pretty empty.
Joe silas
Yes, Jace it does.
Jace ringler
Wasn't Tommy's gang supposed to be here by now.
Joe silas
Yeah- I reckin' so, Maybe they help up that train in Carson City like we thought they would.
(Suddenly Lucy walks out of the Prancing Pony Saloon and falls to the ground and starts crying)
Lucy
I need your help!
Joe silas
Lucy, what's the matter?
Lucy
Tommy's gang is in the saloon and she slit me sister's throat!
Joe
Wait a minute-they are supposed to be 20 miles away robbing the train from Tempe!
Marshal Jace
Guess we misjudged them. Joe, you go around back, I'll cover the front Lucy, go to the post office and have Mr. Johnson send a telegraph to Sheriff Woody in Toyville.
Lucy
Jace be careful, I love you.

I tried

2012-01-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

I did the challenge of writing a story in 420 characters or less I tried to get as close to 420 as possible, sometimes I succeeded and got exactly 420 other times I was a failure and didn't. So that met my writing standard using 2.2, but for the reading one I read some stories other people wrote on the website http://420characters.com/, using the first standard.

Here are some of my examples:

English class: Always something to do, read a book or write a paper, but on Every Tuesday we take a break. We work for a company called Eng. III for 20% of each week we do what we want so long as it relates to Eng. III. There are no carrots and no sticks but instead joysticks. A hand full of students have chosen to play video games in this “20% time”. Even though it made us famous I hate the blogs!

The color green make me think but as it write this down I think about how hard it is to type with one hand .Just a fair warning this has no plot and no theme as soon as you think you have figure them out it will change. poor doctor gravy sit all slouched over probably because he gets beaten every Friday during dance parties. There is a disco ball up on the shelf one of its colors is green.

Some like it while others despise it. what is “it“ you may ask but I cannot tell you the answer to that question. Personally it is one of the worst curses god hath bestowed upon us, although it does make the world look clean – even though it really is just a facade that just covers up how dirty everything really is. I will give you the answer but first you will have to take a guess before I will tell you… it’s snow

L.A. Candy

2012-01-17T08:56:00.000-08:00

Jane and Scarlett aren't exactly liking filming L.A. Candy. They're both very annoyed with the cameras being with them all the time and never having time to themselves. Scarlett just isn't into the show at all. Jane likes the show and being involved, but when she's on a date with a boy she prefers to be alone, and not be filmed the whole time. Madison and Gaby, two other girls on the show, aren't getting along very well with Scarlett. Scarlett doesn't like them, and will hardly even give them a chance. Jane doesn't mind them, and tries to get along with them as best as she can. Their show has just went up at the number one show watched on MTV.

Skyrim: Elder Scrolls V

2012-01-17T08:55:00.000-08:00

This blog i decided to review: Skyrim: Elder Scrolls V

This has just about everything in it from fighting dragons to going hunting in order to survive. This action packed game takes you farther into Skyrim to find its hidden secrets.

Skyrim has gotten the prestiges awards as E3 and all round best game of the year award.

Skyrim is a RPG about dragons coming back to skyrim to seek revenge to the poeple that sent them to their burial ground. You have just found out that you are the last DragonBorn, the only person that can send every dragon back to their resting places. You must now learn and master skills that can kill the dragons and by doing that, you must go on dangeous and heroic quest to find the true meaning of being DragonBorn.

Along the quest you must train to become more skilled in combat and magic and by doing so you must fight every enemy that challenges you. When you rank up you become more powerful, that makes you have more enemies, with more enemies that even helps you rank up faster.

There is also a overall level that whe nyoue level gets higher so does the enemies and so does the difficulty of the game. For example, if you were level 30 that means your emenies would be around level 20-25, but when you are level 10 you enemies are levels 1-5. When you reach level 50 with all skills mastered you are next to god mode, you are basically invinsible.

The higher level you get the better weapons and armour you can make in the blacksmith, the better armour you have, than it is harder for you to die, and better weapons means your enemies will die faster and easier.

In my opinion this game is one of the best games i have ever played along side the Call of Duty games. there is no word that there is going to the a VI coming out but if there is that I'm deffinently going to buy it. If i were to rank this game out of 10 i would rank it at a 7 1/2- 8.

420 Characters

2012-01-17T08:41:00.000-08:00

Writing Standard:11.W.1.2 Students can write a document analyzing how a work of literature mirrors the themes and issues of its historical period.
Reading Standard:11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

Writing a detailed story in around 420 characters.

Drip … drip … drip that’s all I hear tonight, besides all the screaming and moaning. I feel insecure and feel like the walls are coming in on me. They treat me like a wild animal in a cage, holding me back from everyone next to me, from beating me. He brings me to a room, dark room with a chair, he grabs my arms like toothpicks. Brings me, tenuous, sits me down and straps me in for a rollercoaster and watch my life fly by. I see my family’s lifeless bodies look at me when they are hoping to stop it and I see the fear.

I had difficulties trying to figure out what to write about but once it came to me it seemed like it just a came to me. Did some creative thinking and read others, and I would repeat this project.

Guitar.

2012-01-17T08:23:00.000-08:00

For the second portion of 20% Time, I decided to change my project. I am learning how to play guitar now, but I will also play video games with Edward and continue on with that blogging. I am teaching myself how to play guitar, but I may acquire someone's assistance if things aren't going as planned (Noah, Adam, Ellie A, Mark F, etc). My goal of learning how to play guitar started when my parents bought me one for Christmas.

To start off, I have looked through several online guitar lesson books to get familiarized with the notes and frets. This link is just one of them that I found and it is a very basic one for anyone to follow (http://www.ashleyintl.com/SpectrumInstruments/AB-Guitar-booklet.pdf). Hopefully next, I will learn the scales, and then from there, progress onto learning more advanced songs. I know a couple songs already: Smoke on the Water and Hey Ya.

Checkpoint: War Diaries.

2012-01-17T08:13:00.001-08:00

Indicator 4: Students can interpret and respond to diverse, multicultural, and time period texts.(Analysis) 11.R.4.1 Students can analyze a text within cultural, geographical, and historical context.
For the past couple weeks, I've been writing journals set in the time of the Civil War. I wish I would have gotten farther than what I wanted. I wanted to have a lot more journals and led up to a bigger climax. I didn't run into any difficulties because it's all of my creative writing. I think I'm going to put this project on a pause because I often have writers block, but maybe I'll come back to it.

Here's a link to see what I've been up to... .~*

Remembering You

2012-01-17T08:13:00.000-08:00

For my next project, I have chosen to write about a person who is very special to me. She isn't just my sister, but she is a mother of two, and an aunt. I chose to write about her, because I don't want the slightest feeling that she is being forgotten. She is progressing slowly and I wanted to show her that I will always be thinking of her. The story will then be put

People and time spent together are sometimes taken for granted until they are gone. I have a second chance to change the way I spend time with others, and I have. I used to just leave like I would see them tomorrow, but now I will hug them and remind them how much I truly care. There is always the possibility that one of us won't be here tomorrow.

There is no reading standards for this, because I'm writing the story instead of reading it.

Clothes for a Cause

2012-01-17T08:11:00.000-08:00

Reading standard
Indicator 2: Students can comprehend and fluently read text.
(Analysis) 11.R.2.1 Students can analyze how diction affects the interpretation of text.
(Application) 11.R.2.1 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.
Writing standard
Indicator 2: Students can apply Standard English conventions in their writing.
(Evaluation) 11.W.2.1 Students can edit text for the correct use of independent and subordinate clauses.
(Evaluation) 11.W.2.2 Students can edit for correct use of verbals and verbal phrases.
(Evaluation) 11.W.2.3 Students can edit for correct use of semicolons and colons.
(Evaluation) 11.W.2.4 Students can edit for correct use of parentheses, dashes, hyphens, and ellipses.
Nicole and I started a project together. We chose to donate clothes to the Children's Inn in Sioux Falls. In the process of setting this up, we made flyers to hang around the High School and the community of Baltic. We also found facts that dealt with a few things the Children's Inn takes care of. For example: battered women, families in loss of a home, children with disabilities, etc. We also made a goal of 150 items to be brought to the High School office by Friday, February 10, 2012. We hung up the flyers today and our project is under way! Please help if you can! Thanks!

Life As We Know It ... 2

2012-01-17T08:06:00.000-08:00

Indicator 1: Students can recognize and analyze words. Indicator 2: Students can comprehend and fluently read text. (Analysis)
11.R.2.1 Students can analyze how diction affects the interpretation of text. (Application) 11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

I am continuing to read in Life as we Knew It. For some reason I cannot put the book down! I didn’t think that I would be that into it because it’s kind of a sci-fi book, but I wanted to try it out just to see if I liked it…and I did! They are finding more and more out about all the deaths in other places and things going on in other places besides where they are now. They found out their favorite baseball team is safe and doing just fine, because they got away from the coast just in time before the big happening. Mom does more shopping, even though they don’t need it. She stocks up on warm clothes for the winter, even though it’s only almost summer. She says she’s not letting her kids go cold this winter, and if they end up not needed it, at least they had it.
It was beginning to be normal to not have electricity at all during the day now. Normally just a few hours here and there, just enough to get laundry going and catch up with new stories on TV and the internet. Miranda’s brother will be coming soon, which makes he feel a lot better and that everything will be okay. All her worries have been about him and if everything is alright down where he lives. School is going to start being closed off now, which disappoints Miranda. It was the only thing normal still going on in her life. But they were running out of food to feed the children (without electricity to make anything or back up food stored).
I will continue reading the book, whether it is for 20% or not. I’m not sure what I’m doing for my next project, but I have a few things in mind. I guess we’ll have to wait and find out! :)

The Beach Club

2012-01-17T08:05:00.000-08:00

11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.
- For the past two weeks ive been reading The Beach Club by Elin Hilderbrand. This book has been something I just happened to pick up over brake and haven’t had much time to read it with all the ENGLISH homework. ;) Just kidding. So far, my plan is to continue this cycle until the book it finished. The book has been pretty decent so far, kind of slow really. But I like the way the words are displayed and how smooth they read. The chapters are long, so what I have been doing is splitting one chapter into three days of reading.
Book review: http://www.amazon.com/Beach-Club-Novel-Elin-Hilderbrand/dp/0312979649
Thank you Publishers Weekly!

Day one:
- The owner of a beach club gets letters every year from a mystery person offering to buy the beach house and hotel and pay one hefty price. The owner however, doesn’t see the value in the persons offer and every year declines it. Therese Elliott is perhaps the mom of the resort. She listens to everyone’s complaints and problems in attempt to save them from their aiking selves. Nantucket attracts many people, one in particular is Leo. His wife left his with his children as he was perusing his career. The only reason why he kept going with his life is because the docter said it was normal and what his children needed, even if that meant his son CRIED all the time. Leo, to bond with his two older sons invited them to play tenis. But they wanted to play doubles so they asked the “mom” of the resort to play with them. They will be meeting at four.
Day two:
- Mean while, Tetherese takes it upon herself to mentor Leos family. Before playing tennis though, she teaches a new girl how to clean hotel rooms. The girl just about quits because she has to stick the pinky in the toilet in order to check the temperature. Finally four oclock rolls around and they all get to playing tennis; they hardly speak a word to one another, as if they hadn’t ever talked in their entire life. During tennis hot topics come up. One son admits he is gay and the other tells Leo he isn’t interested in going to law school anymore even though he just finished his four year degree at Harvard Law School. In Leos warped way of thinking, he takes his two older sons out to dinner and tells them that if they were put together into one man… They would be Leos perfect son. Ouch right?!

Day three:
- Twenty eight years ago, in this book, was Memorial Day. The day the owners of the club found out their son died in the womb at eight months. The janitor of the hotel relived his experience of finding out his parents died, he also told us that he puked in his moms car. I wouldn’t expect anything less after finding out your parents had died. A young boy after work stopped by and had cheese and crackers with Lacy. Lacy was eighty and with in the past year and a half her husband had died in his sleep. They married late in life and that was Lacy’s excuse for not having children. Also her husband, Max, was really against adopting kids. So in the end she is lonely with out anything to her name in her eighties.

Graisins

2011-12-19T22:15:00.000-08:00

New standard: 11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

I recently got inspired by an online site entitled Hyperbole and a Half. It's a cross between a blog and an online comic strip. The author of Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh, chooses a topic to "rant" over, through a humorous story.

I decided that I would try to do my own version of a similar type of story along with my own illustrations, so here's a sample.

Graisins

There’s something about raisins that just make me feel sick. Maybe it’s the texture, maybe the color, maybe their appearance…

But whenever I’m forced to shove those small spawns of Satan down my throat, I get the strange feeling that I’m eating old people. Old people…like my grandma. How can I eat dried fruit that resembles my grandmother? Graisins, that’s what they are, grandma raisins—graisins.

I wonder sometimes if others feel the same way about raisins (possibly my grandma?).

It’s like a phobia, haunting me. They’re everywhere around me, it seems! In my dad’s cereal, in my grandma’s (bless her soul) cookies, and at school…always.

In elementary, they handed those bad boys out like candy on Halloween. “Nature’s candy?” Please…more like my grandma’s skin!

I don’t think it’s just me that feels this way about graisins, and if it is just me, what’s wrong with me. For some reason, graisins sound semi-satanic…

And quite frankly, I don’t understand how juicy, succulent grapes can turn into such a foul “snack.”

I feel bad for my dad, because when he buys trail mix, I feast on the nuts and M&M’s, but never dare to touch the graisins.

So there ends up being an over-graisin-populated bag of trail mix in the cupboard that nobody wants to touch. Even my dad doesn’t eat straight up graisins.

It seems as if my graisiphobia has taken control of my soul. More like a corner of my body designated to graisin-hating.

Thanks for reading! Also here's the link to to Allie's Hyperbole and a Half blog page. http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/

Wait, College requires you to be tested on how fast you can accomplish something rather then what you've learned?

2011-12-15T09:27:00.000-08:00

For my 20% time i've been doing ACT prep after taking the Pre-ACT. I've started on the english portion and i've realized that i don't know a lot of words pertaining to the English Language. Who is going to describe someone as atrabilious when we can refer to them as cranky or grouchy. I understand the need for knowing a vocabulary but words that i won't use after school can determine whether i am able to go to college with a decent scholarship and being flat broke. I'll continue working on ACT prep but i'd rather criticize articles written in major magazines or news sources. Now all that stands in my way to a firm begining is a catchy slogan, hmm..
Peace out,
William J.

Halo Reach

2011-12-15T09:08:00.000-08:00

For our third book, Edward and I played/reviewed Halo Reach. Halo Reach is the epic finale to the amazing Halo story line. Being the sixth game of the series, Bungie improved it like never before. With new features in almost every aspect of the game, Halo Reach is the best Halo game. The new features in multiplayer include new maps, firefight, different personal preferences, new weapons, and co-op campaign. Other new features includes the armory to customize your character, weekly/daily challenges, forge, and ranking up your character to change the level of elite armor (from minor to field marshall/officer). Other games have also reviewed this game at bestbuy.com under Halo Reach http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Halo%3A+Reach+-+Xbox+360/9713872.p?id=1218156775197&skuId=9713872&st=halo reach&lp=2&cp=1.

Edward and I have completed the campaign. However, Edward has accomplished that like 4 or 5 times. I achieved the completion of the campaign and experiencing online with Edward and Isaac, whicle playing through the various assortments of game modes. Having bad, lagging internet is the only complication that I faced. With the horrible internet, it makes gaming with Edward and Isaac not as fun because sometimes I get kicked out for not connecting properly or it lags everyone else out along with me. I overcame the problem of horrible internet by moving my Xbox to the clubhouse at Northern Links Golf Course - good wireless internet. I would definitely repeat this by playing online with Edward and Isaac. The online multiplayer is a great way to play various game modes with your friends and have fun doing so. I would redo the campaign, however, because I would like to pass it with the difficulty of Legendary - like Edward did several times.

L.A. Candy

2011-12-15T08:50:00.000-08:00

I've started reading the book L.A. Candy. It's based off the reality show The Hills. Two 18 year old girls, Scarlett and Jane, move to L.A. to go to college and begin their new lives. Jane just began working for Fiona Shen, who owns a company that organizes huge parties. Jane is Fiona's assistant, but she's finding out she's not very good at the job. Scarlett just started college, but she can't find where any of her classes are. She's thinking of dropping out. One night when they were in a club, a TV producer came up and asked them to be interviewed to be on their new show: L.A. Candy. Scarlett, Jane, and two other girls, whom they haven't met yet, will be on the show. The camera's will follow them around and watch them do their everyday life routines. Scarlett isn't liking being followed around by all the cameras, but Jane surely is.

We Global

2011-12-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

This whole project didn’t work out quite as I had hoped. I have missed a couple of days that I was given to use to work on the project. There has also been the inconvenience of finding lyrics while at school.

As I read the lyrics I became aware of the album and its background of the artist. I realized that the music didn’t have a real meaning to it. It was just one of the rappers who is able to rap about anything and make money off of it. The album “We Global” is also not just one artist rapping like Eminem or Snoop Dogg. DJ Khaled collaborates with many other artists in each song.

The album wasn’t what I hoped it would be which was a real meaning in life with a cool sounding beat. I have switched into another album to review and it is called, “Curtain Call" by Eminem. Through his catchy rhythms and fast rapping, he talks about things that really happen in life and how things need to change and go on. He has a great way of staying in the music industry over the years as he continues to collaborate with others and write his own rhymes.

I used the reading standard: 11.R.3.1: Students can analyze and explain literary devices within text.

Remembering the Classic Novels of High School!

2011-12-13T17:02:00.000-08:00

While being freshmen we encountered Of Mice and Men and saw the love of two unique friends. Our sophomore year we yet encountered two more novels Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mocking Bird. In Lord of the flies we discovered the true animal we as humans hold. Later To kill a Mockingbird only showed us we should cherish our innocence and childhood. As we read these classic novels in the past I have decided to do a stop motion of these books. I will summarize these novels through stuffed animals, toys, and objects…etc. Stop motion is very difficult especially because of movement and light. So please don’t expect a lot as if I were a professional. The lighting may change at times, I will try my best to get it right and look its bets possible. But some things may be sketchy. I will also include some quotes that the characters say. I will also analyze some parts from the novels into paragraphs.

11.R.4.1 Students can analyze a text within cultural, geographical, and historical context.

Blogception

2011-12-13T09:30:00.000-08:00

A blog within a blog...
Magical!

One Book, Two Book, Red Book, Blue Book

The Fearbook: David Berkowitz

2011-12-13T09:20:00.000-08:00

My reading standard is 11.R.5.1. I have summarized this on a different document. Right now, I have changed up my 20% time process. For two weeks, I have been going through The Fearbook. It shows the most evil and gruesome men in history. It shows Ted Bundy, Albert De Salvo (The Boston Strangler), and also the Gary Ridgeway (Green River Killer). The Fearbook shows a picture of them, information on them, their nicknames, etc.

The first man I decided I wanted to talk about was the first man listed in The Fearbook, David Berkowitz also known as “The Son of Sam”. He shot couples with a .44 caliber just so he can get his crime in the newspaper or on the news. Throughout the investigation, detectives and the news station received threatening letters from David Berkowitz just stating why isn’t he in the news or in the papers. He kept scolding the detectives that they weren’t looking for the right person. When the detectives realize that it was him, they finally arrested David Berkowitz. All David said to the detectives was, “You finally got me. What took you so long?” Now David is held in a correctional facility in Sullivan County, New York.

The Fearbook link: http://investigation.discovery.com/investigation/infamous-murderers/infamous-murderers.html#icpgn=idnavcrsk

Forza 4 - A Battle of the Trucks

2011-12-13T09:14:00.000-08:00

Well, Matt and I decided we needed to switch up our styles on Forza a bit, and I decided to analyze a major part of the game as well while doing this: Affinity Level. But, before I start getting into this, let me explain that Forza's amount of realism is unbelievable, like I've said before. We decided to take some trucks to the track, which was very different. The handling of these trucks was unlike those of the beautiful 600horsepower Nissans we had before. This task wasn't easy, we had to battle for first in a race that we both weren’t used to.

Anyways, while doing this, I had learned much about affinity. Basically, for every big name brand car dealer, you get this sort of level. The more cars you race with that are of the same brand, the faster and higher your level gains. I'm pretty sure you can get up to about a level 20 or something, but after Affinity Level 7 for a car brand, you get 100% off all aftermarket parts for any car of that brand.

This feature is just great, it makes the game more fun, so you don't have to sit there for endless hours and pay for millions of dollars worth for parts. So, to demonstrate, I tried this out with some Ford cars, I had started with a classic mustang, and once I had got Affinity Level 7, I bought a Ford Raptor and tuned it for the track. Matt got some little GMC, this seemed like an un-fair advantage, but I wanted to prove how much faster my truck really was.

The starting line was unlike any other race we had dealt with before, and though Matt in his yellow GMC was started in second place, I was determined to destroy his little puny truck.

Around the first bend, Matt was still actually in the second place, but, I wasn't far behind. This was a real battle of horsepower, and neither of us were ready to lose a big race like this.

The video above shows the in-car view of my Ford Raptor, and you can see me passing Matt extremely easy here, even if it meant I had to go off-road.

Well, in the end, I had won by a long run, and this just shows how much horsepower actually matters in a race. Until next time, drive to live and live to race!

stupid stress!

2011-12-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

I again have been working on my act prep., which I found I really needed after taking a practice test and not getting anything close to what I would have liked to have gotten. So I started timing my self while I practiced on number2 and was able to do much more of the test and get better grades on the tests as a result. I believe it was all mental and I got stressed out about it.I now know I need to work on not getting stressed about it. It is only a test. I will keep working to improve my ACT score and maybe just maybe ill do OK.

Relax just do it,
Pedo Bear

COD MW3

2011-12-13T08:59:00.001-08:00

Call of Duty Modern Warefare 3

This weeks video game is Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. This game came out in mid-November and has been a huge hit to all gamers. Just recently this game beat a record for the most money ever recieved from a video game, beating Halo 3. MW3 is the third of the Modern Warefare series starting in 2007 with just Call of Duty Modern Warfare. The Call of Duty series has entertained people form around the world and has always been a fan favorite.

MW3 has 3 bases: Campaign, Multiplayer, and Special Ops. Starting with Campaign, it takes you into the world of being a top military expert trying to track down the biggest threat ever in the U.S., Makarov, the leader of a secret terrorist group that has an objective of taking over the world. You must fight through every corner of the world, from Russia to Mexico and China to Germany.

In Multiplayer, you can play against and with differnet poeple across the world. You and your teammates must fight to win matches. When you you win matches it brings up your rank and your experience so when you play more you are a higher rank and when you are a higher rank you have the privilege of unlocking more things to help you win, for example: weapons when you reach a new rank you unlock a new weapon that you can use to fight poeple. When you use a weapon for a few matches your gun rank will go up unlocking different attachments for that gun for example: a suppresor, or a red dot sight. The attachment will help you fight in later matches.

Finally in Special Ops, you must complete different missions with a friend or solo. When you complete a mission you get a star depending on the difficuly you are on (regular, hardened, veteran, regular giving you 1 star and veteran giving you 3). In Special Ops there is also a survival mode were you have to face a horde of enemy soldiers of infinite waves on all the multiplayer maps. There is also a ranking system for survival, when you reach a certain rank, you unlock a new item that helps you beat the ememies.

In the end i think this is one of the best games i have ever played and when next year's Call of Duty comes out i hope it is better than this one.
During christmas break I plan to go on a big videogame haul and buy several games including a Kinect system so i can expand my gaming experience to a whole new level.

Isaac

New Project

2011-12-13T08:30:00.001-08:00

For my new 20% time, I'm going to be doing a creative writing piece set in the Civil War. I'm going to write in the form of journals. Beings I just started my project, I still have a lot of work to do. I'm going to hopefully continue this project, if we continue doing 20% time. Write any comments or suggestions you thing that "Abigail Wilmot" should do or who she should meet.

Click here to follow her enteries.~*

The Sun Also Rises

2011-12-13T08:15:00.002-08:00

Alrighty, I have been definitely taking my time with this book. I only read it during class and the book takes a bit more thought to comprehend. I have read the first “book” (chapters 1-7) Here are my summaries of what I've read thus far.

Chapter 1: Jake (narrator and protagonist) starts off the novel describing a man, and acquaintance, named Robert Cohn. Basically Robert was a middle-weight champion boxer, who came from a wealthy family. He married and divorced, lost his inheritance, then started dating a lady named Frances. She convinced him to move to France, where he is an author, and is always trying to get him to marry her. She is protective of him and doesn’t really like him going out without her.

Chapter 2: Cohn goes to New York to find a publisher for his novel. The publishers love his book, and women notice him for it. When he goes back to Paris, he tries to convince Jake to travel to South America with him, offering to pay for the entire trip. He worries that Jake isn’t living life to the fullest. Jake disagrees, but Cohn continues to hassle Jake about traveling outside of Paris. Jake says he needs to return to the office to work, and Cohn asks if he can sit in the waiting room. After work, him and Jake have a drink and watch Paris.

Chapter 3: Cohn leaves, and catches the eye of a prostitute named Georgette. (She has bad teeth.)They have a drink together Jake decides to go hang out with her. He tells her he received a wound in the war that makes sex impossible for him. He sees some friends, and together they invite him and Georgette to go dancing. Lady Brett Ashley comes to the bar, a woman Jake is infatuated with, and Jakes gets mad that she’s with guys. Jake and Brett leave the club together. Before he goes, Jake leaves money to the bar owner, telling him to give it to Georgette if she asks for him. Once Brett and Jake get into a taxi, Brett says she's miserable.

Chapter 4: Jake kisses Brett in the taxi— she tells him to stop. They love one another, but Brett refuses to have to date Jake because he cannot have sex. At the café, Jake and Brett again run into their friends. They meet Count Mippipopolous, a Greek man who is interested in Brett. Jake goes home and gets into bed, and he begins to think about his wound. He knows he feels bad about it because of Brett. He cries then falls asleep. After four in the morning, Brett wakes him up by trying to get to his room. The count is waiting outside in his car. Jake lets her up to his room, and Brett says the count offered her ten thousand dollars to go to away with him, but she turned him down. She wants Jake to go out with them, but he declines. He tries to persuade her to stay, kissing her, but she refuses.

Chapter 5: Cohn meets Jake at his office to have lunch. Cohn asks about Brett, and Jake says that she is a drunk and that she is going to marry Mike Campbell (rich Scottish guy). Jake also says that Brett’s true love died of dysentery during the war. Jake says he met Brett while she worked in the hospital where he was taken for his injury. Cohn gets annoyed that Jake doesn’t describe Brett in positive ways. Cohn gets mad at Jake and threatens to leave lunch. Jake smoothes things over and persuades Cohn to stay. Afterward, Jake knows Cohn wants to talk about Brett but avoids bringing up the subject again.

Chapter 6: Jake goes to meet Brett, but she stands him up. After looking for her in a few places, Jake walks around Paris and sees his friend Harvey Stone, a compulsive gambler. Harvey is broke and claims he has not eaten in days. Jake gives him money. Cohn and Frances arrive, and she asks to speak to Jake privately. She tells him that Cohn has refused to marry her and that she fears that no man will marry her now. She claims that Cohn won’t marry her because he wants to tell people that he had a mistress. Cohn sits through her barrage. Jake excuses himself and leaves them alone.

Chapter 7: Jake goes home, and Brett and Count Mippipopolous show up. Jake asks why she missed their date and doesn’t believe she forgot because she was drunk. Jake asks why they can’t live together, and she tells him that she would cheat on him. She says she’s leaving Paris for San Sebastian, Spain, and it will be better for both of them. Then, the count talks about his life. He has been in seven wars and four revolutions. He is always in love because his values include love. The three of them have a great dinner before going out to a club. The count asks why Brett and Jake do not get married, and they give short answers. Brett begins to feel miserable and wants to leave. (Brett is always feeling miserable.)Jake takes Brett to her hotel, but she doesn’t want him to come to her room. They kiss and she pushes him away.

Standards: (reading) Indicator 2: Students can comprehend and fluently read text.

(writing) Indicator 1: Students can apply the writing process to compose text.

Evaluation: This book has gotten off to an extremely slow start, and if 20% percent time makes it another quarter or two I will definitely speed the process along somehow. I wish I would have made a reading schedule at the beginning of the book, so again I will evaluate after a decision is made. I enjoy the writing style of Hemingway so far, and the amount of culture he infuses into his writing. He also makes the stories of nearly all his characters fantastical. So far, so good.

Adieu.

Life As We Know It

2011-12-13T08:03:00.000-08:00

Indicator 1: Students can recognize and analyze words.
Indicator 2: Students can comprehend and fluently read text.
(Analysis) 11.R.2.1 Students can analyze how diction affects the interpretation of text.
(Application) 11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

I started reading the book Life As We Know It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. It starts out by telling everyday life of main character, Miranda. Her parents are divorced and her dad and his wife are now expecting a baby. Her and her brother both live together with their mother, and in the summer go visit their father for a certain period of time. Both of Miranda’s friends seem to be coming further and further distant because of different interest and change of each others’ way of life. She talks about school and how every single teacher bombards her with homework all on one day, all due on the same day. This time the homework is about something that’s going on with the moon. Some very rare and spectacular is going to be happening on the upcoming Friday night. It’s all over the news, and now all over her mind because each homework assignment that was assigned to her was about what is going to happen. I haven’t found out what’s going to happen yet, but I am very excited for when it will tell me!
I was kind of disappointed on how little of time I got to read. I have been super busy with basketball season starting, working, and homework that I never got a chance to read outside of the classroom. If I could find a time to read for just 15 minutes a night I would get significantly further in the book and fulfill my accomplishments. By doing this, I could also get the book done much quicker so I could return it back to the library without having to check in out again and again.

Dave Ramsey Apply It!

2011-12-07T09:04:00.000-08:00

Following up from my last blog, I have continued to draft for my scholarship essay for the principles of the Constitution. Unfortunately I am not finished yet and have hit a dead spot, so to brainstorm ideas and look for inspiration I started reading Dave Ramsey's book, The Total Money Makeover. The book is about how to change bad financial habits in a person's life and replace it with smart money savvy habits. I am not in debt and don't have a difficult financial situation, so I turned to the college saving chapter. The chapter first outlines how an adult should save and invest for their child's education. First Dave Ramsey makes sure that the reader knows that college does not ensure success, wealth, or happiness. He agrees that it is important but thinks a college education shouldn't cause such a financial dilemma that no one can escape it. He explains that there are many ways for adults to save for their child's education as long as they invest in fund that stays above the interest rate of inflation, which is 4% annually, but college inflation is even higher at a rate of 8% per year! Funds like ESA's and 529 plans are fine, but don't have a very high interest rate, which can then loose its value over a certain amount of years due to inflation. There are many ways of investing but Dave suggests that a flexible, pre-tax fund that has a good interest rate is the best way for funding education, which with some digging can be found fairly easy. If you haven't saved much or any money, it's okay. Dave explains how to get through college with little or no debt if there isn't much time.
This is where I found my inspiration for my essay- scholarships. There are thousands of scholarships that are available every year. Sholarships that don't take many requirements. This is a very simple way of staying debt free that just takes some hard work. With that I think I am ready to complete my essay.

A Post... Not on the Checkpoint? BLASPHEMY!

2011-12-06T17:39:00.000-08:00

I just thought that Tuesday warranted a post, that's all...

That's a lie.

Megan has a NEW project now!

tada---http://one-two-red-blue.blogspot.com/

Blog #2

2011-12-02T09:57:00.000-08:00

These past few weeks I've been proceeding with doing ACT Prep on www.number2.com. I've been struggling between a few of the answers on the reading sections. I narrow it down to two answers, but then I usually end up choosing the wrong one of the two. I don't like how www.number2.com sets the questions up and doesn't tell you which phrase or words the questions are working with. I got through one section of the reading portion, and now I'm on the tutorial on another reading section.

Ninja Dog

2011-11-30T08:54:00.000-08:00

I’ve always known Shasta has special abilities. Some would even say super powers, but dogs can’t have super powers…or can they? I remember one particular day this past summer when my dog actually took off flying. My brother and I were in the backyard tossing a ball around. I noticed Shasta had stopped playing with our other dog Charlie and began taking an interest in the ball. That’s when I decided to play a little game with her. I thought it would be a great idea to play a game called Monkey-in-the-Middle and Shasta got the role of the monkey. My brother Adam threw the ball to me from across the yard and Shasta (being the good “monkey” that she was) charged after it. I teased her with it just a little bit and then threw it back to Adam. Again, Shasta charged after it. This went on for about five or six times when Adam decided to make it a little more interesting by standing on the steps of our deck. This must have been the time when Shasta decided to put an end to the “monkey” business. I asked Adam if he was ready to catch the ball and then threw it his way. Shasta immediately charged after the ball and launched herself into the air about five feet from him. Adam wasn’t expecting a flying fur ball to come hurling his way. Shasta looked like a super hero about to take out a villain, her front paws directly stretched out in front of her. Adam didn’t even know what was coming, but Shasta managed to drop-kick him with her paws against his chest. He went flying back and landed on the deck quite a bit stunned. Shasta ended up with the prize – the ball! At the time Adam didn’t find it so funny, but now we get a good laugh when we talk about my “super” dog.

I have accomplished everything I had wanted to do for this check-point. Although, I remember that I had told you that I would be posting pictures up. I do not have any pictures of her yet because she has not been cooperating with the camera, but I will try to get some for the next time.

Everyone Is a Phony...

2011-11-29T19:53:00.000-08:00

11.W.1.2 Students can write a document analyzing how a work of literature mirrors the themes and issues of its historical period.

11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text

J.D. Salinger never thought of inspiring American culture through the theme of his novel; and only focused on writing what was happening to society for the first time. In the 50s many teens were driven away from the goody scene and TV shows like Happy days, The Dona red show and other family TV shows would soon be losing its young adult audience. Parents would soon be wishing for the day to see the innocence in their children again. In this novel the main character Holden has trouble with swearing, relationships, homosexuality, depression and in general rebellion. The 50s was the era were teens would start to rebel and follow their emotions instead of parents or other adults. Throughout the novel J.D makes Holden have these inner problems with himself. One big problem Holden faces is the search of relationships and even at some point in the novel he turns to a guy through his desperation. He talks very perversely with other guys and is always trying to have sex talks rather than a normal conversation. As you can imagine libraries wound not tolerate racy literature in the 50s. Society was willing to deny the fact what was happening to teens during the 50s. But J.D showed American through his famous novel the theme that would show thousands how to rebel and be different from others. Holden says he wants to be “the catcher in the rye” and to save the children from falling off the cliff. There’s a part in Holden of wanting to save the next generation into falling into the deep dark hole. He does this in several ways, while it’s erasing F*** You at an Elementary School or helping little children. Overall J.D. had the guts to write this incredible novel making it a truly classic novel in today’s society.

This cycle I have achieved what I had wanted. Last time I was still in the middle of the novel, but I have met my goal and finished it. I also finished writing the theme and issues of the 50s. I have also finished the File Folder Project. This time I didn’t come over any difficulties, and I enjoyed it. I wish to do this again and read this novel. But I think I’m going to take a break of reading novels. I also think that I would take more time on the file folder project. I would recommend this novel to others because it’s very entertaining and you get sucked right in the life of Holden Caulfield.

Thank you ladies and gents!

Tuesdays with Morrie

2011-11-29T19:26:00.000-08:00

11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text, I am reading the book Tuesdays with Morrie by: Mitch Albom

The story starts with an older man, Morrie, learning about the coming of death in his life. Morrie was a college professor in sociology and loved teaching the class. One of Morrie’s best students became great friends with him and this student in the later years of his life came back to see him in the days and months before his death. This student flies in about every Tuesday after they first meet and they talk about everything. Morrie talks about all the things going wrong with his body, and this student that works for the press and is telling him about the strike that they have going on right now so he is out of work.

I have loved this book so far and am going to keep reading it. I would repeat reading a book because I get to choose what I want to read and enjoy reading. I wouldn’t do anything differently right now because this book is super good.

As I continue to read on in this book it become more and more interesting. The depth of the conversation be come more in depth and detailed.

The Sixth Tuesday: The Talk About Emotions

Mitch comes to Morrie's house this Tuesday and brings more food because he wants to give Morrie something but already is giving him something, and the refrigerator is still full from the last week that he brought food. Just the present of Mitch being there is a gift to Morrie. When dealing with emotion if you don't let it go, then you will always be afraid of emotion Mitch says. On the other had Morrie says the opposite wash yourself with emotion and if fear gets inside of you then put on the same face you always do to make it through the day.

The Professor, Part Two

More background information about Morrie, his first job was to observe mental patients and record their teatments. Morrie meet some interesting people during this job, he helped a woman get off of the floor and sit up with him. He also had patents refuse to eat , soil their pants and medicated. Soon after that, he took a job at the college and his class would travel to different places around the U.S.

The Seventh Tuesday, We talk about the fear of aging

On the seventh tuesday, Mitch had learned that he had lost another ability, to wipe like his nose or in the bathroom. At this stage in Morrie's life he really didn't have any abilities beside eating and breathing. Morrie states that when you become old and can't really do anything that you feel like a child all over again because you have someone help dress you.

Evaluation: I think that i have achieved what i have wanted to do for this short period of time. The only difficulties i had were trying to find time to read and journal about my progress. I would love to continue this project so that i can get reading book cause thats a thing that i don;t get to do enough.

Selena

2011-11-29T10:17:00.000-08:00

The next case that I have read articles about is the Latin singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez. My reading standard is 11.R.5.1. I have summarized this on a different document. This is the second case I have read about. Selena was a popular Latin singer in the early 1990's. The other day, I watched the movie Selena. It was a very interesting movie about her life, but ended very tragically. In the movie, Jennifer Lopez played the roll of Selena. Jennifer Lopez and Selena actually almost look alike. In the articles and the movie, it said that Selena was shot by her fan club president, Yolanda Salvidar. Selena and her father, also the manager, found out that Yolanda was stealing money from the club and Selena wanted to confront her about it. On March 31st, 1993, Selena was killed.

Here is a link to the biography of Selena Quintanilla-Perez: http://www.biography.com/people/selena-189149

Evaluation: Till this day, no one really knows why did Yolanda shot Selena. Many people have said that it was for the money. After Selena's death, Texas has established "Selena Day" on April 12th in Texas. Texas is the birthplace of Selena. Selena is remembered as "The Queen of Tejano".

Forza Motorsport 4

2011-11-29T10:10:00.000-08:00

Overview: For 20% time, Matt and I played the game . We also created new top of the line customized veichles and raced.

Standard: 11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

Review Site: www.gamespot.com/forza-motorsport-4/reviews/forza-motorsport-4-review-6338542

Our Thoughts: We thought the game has very realistic qualities. The graphics make it seem like real life. The customization options seem to never end from Paint to performance. Not only that, but the game handles more realistically than any racing simulator we have ever played in our lives. This game is tons of fun, you really get into the action with how real the game is, and not only the game is good but there are tons of top of the line cars.

Evaluation: We think the game was great we are going to continue playing we will be uploading pictures of the custom cars and more information on them. Until next time customize, go fast, and have fun and maybe even try it out for yourself!

Madden NFL

2011-11-29T08:58:00.000-08:00

For my second game that I played, I played...

In any of the Madden NFL games you can be whoever you want and whichever team you want to be. You can even create your own players and teams.

I play this game all the time at my house and i have been playing it at school. At my house i have created a super team, to were i have all of the greatest NFL players all playing with eachother.

In the latest Madden games there has been a mode called Madden Momments and in this mode you replay situations from real games that actually took place in an NFL season.

There is a mode called Franchise mode were you can choose you favorite team and play through their entire season. You start at the draft and end when you reach the Pro-Bowl.

You can play online with football fans around the world to test your skills. Yuo can figure out if you have what it take to be come a madden pro.

Isaac

act for ACT

2011-11-29T08:56:00.000-08:00

I have decided to change from my previous topic to something new and different! I didn't really comprehend much of what I was reading. So, while I was trying to come up with a new topic I decided figured ACT would be pretty simple and very beneficial, especially because we are starting to do ACT preparation in English class any way, so why not double team this. In the futur I think I will also so do preperation to the math and science not only english, but since our 20% time comes from english I am only allowed to do the english ACT preperation.

Have a nice Day,
Pedo Bear

Great Bear!

2011-11-29T08:27:00.000-08:00

Great Bear Ski Valley in Sioux Falls will have it’s grand opening on December 23, 2011. It will all start with a rail jam!
Great Bear has lots of things to do. You can ski, snow board, or tube. There are many trails, rails, and jumps for the skiers and snow boarders. Great Bear has high prices on EVERYTHING! That’s the bad thing…Rates and Rentals:
Lift Tickets –
Full Day (9 am to 10 pm) $23Half-Day (3 pm to 10pm) $20 Kids 5 and under ski free with an adult Season Passes -Single $249 All Area Pass $348 Family (4 passes) $845 Each Additional Family Pass $183 All Area Family Pass $1240 Each Additional All Area Family Pass $269 Tubing Only $129 Punch Card (10 uses) $175 Equipment (Ski or Snowboard) $125.00

Equipment Rentals
Skis, Boots & Poles (Cross Country, Downhill and Telemark) Full Day (9 am to 10 pm) $17 Half-Day (3 pm to 10pm) $15 Adaptive Ski Equipment Great Bear has a limited supply of adaptive ski equipment available to the public at no charge. Snowboard & Boots Full Day (9 am to 10 pm) $31 Half-Day (3 pm to 10pm) $26 Snowboard Only Full Day (9 am to 10 pm) $25 Half-Day (3 pm to 10pm) $20

I get a season pass every year and I think it is worth it. But the rates are just so high! Everyone complains about the lack of rails and jumps. Great Bear should use all the money they get to make some more ramps and buy more rails.
In the long run; getting a pass is a good decision.

Saints Row The Third

2011-11-29T08:18:00.000-08:00

Overview:
For 20% time I played and read reviews for the game Saints Row the Third.

Standard:
11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

Game Review Site:
http://www.gamespot.com/saints-row-the-third/reviews/saints-row-the-third-review-6345399 blocked at school

Thoughts about the game:
My thoughts about the game were that it is awesome but it is not as good as Grand Theft Auto. The graphics in the game were outstanding it looked so real. There were only a few things that i had problems with one of them is that the game is so glitchy and weird things happen when it glitches out. And the the other thing is that when you start another mission is it might freeze your Xbox 360 and you cant do anything but shut your Xbox 360 off and restart. But over all the game had enought missions that you can keep playing the game and still want to play it more.

Evaluation:
I got the most of the results that i wanted out of the research and the gameplay. Some of the difficulties that encountered were that some of the game review sites some of them people talked about random things and not even the game. So i had to go throught the helpful game sites and the unhelpful game sites. Yes i would repeat this project. I would do more research and finish the game that i started weeks ago.

Modern Warfare 3

2011-11-29T08:11:00.000-08:00

The standard that Edward and I used was Indicator 2: Students can comprehend and fluently read text. (Analysis) 11.R.2.1 Students can analyze how diction affects the interpretation of text.(Application) 11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

For the second game, I played Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (outside of school because the Mature rating). I bought the game at 12:00 on November 8, 2011 when the game released at GameStop. That morning, I started the campaign and only played four missions. However, I have not completed the campaign yet because of the awesome online multiplayer. The multiplayer is completely different than Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2. It has new features: different types of Special Ops, new weapons, new killstreaks with different types to choose from, and new game modes. Hopefully, I can complete the campaign in a week or two.

The reviews of the game that Edward and I read were on Best Buy and Game Informer. For others peoples' reviews, you can see them on Best Buy also (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Call+of+Duty%3A+Modern+Warfare+3+-+Xbox+360/2670133.p?id=1218343210400&skuId=2670133&st=call of duty_&lp=1&cp=1). I achieved almost everything I wanted to: online, special ops, campaign. However, I did not finish the campaign which I hoped to do. Some of the difficulties that I encountered included complications with internet, homework/holiday, and friends not on to play with. I overcame that stuff by fixing my router for my laggy internet, and I finished homework before I would game. With my friends not on, I decided to play by myself, which isn't as much fun. I would definitely redo this project because I am a fan of Call of Duty and the new Modern Warfare 3. If I was to do anything differently, I would do campaign before going online and playing multiplayer or special ops. Also, I would play the campaign on the hardest difficulty to challenge by skills of gaming.

Pregnant Women in Prison

2011-11-29T08:05:00.000-08:00

Reading about the harsh circumstances that some women went through really saddened me. It was very informative but also unbelievable how our security forces could be so inhumane. Granted that these cases were some of the most harsh and brought into the news, there should still be sympathy put on others. The women could have been treated harshly because they were frowned upon for what they were being held in prison for, but it's still never an excuse for inappropriate care for women.

Indicator 2: Students can comprehend and fluently read text. (Application) 11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

Collier County Jail – Florida
Joan S. sought medical attention – age 22
-Near due date
-Leaking amniotic fluid
-Two weeks
Got ultrasound
-Fluid was completely gone
-Babies’ skull had collapsed
Jail delayed
-Transporting her to the hospital
-Giving her a shot that would prevent complications in being pregnant again later on

Miscarriages
Maricopa County Jail
Michelle M
-Punched repeatedly in the stomach by two other prisoners
-Bled heavily
Taken to doctor
-Miscarried
-Needed follow up checkups
Jail failed to bring her to her check up until she was bleeding heavily, again, and called an ambulance
-Needed blood transfusion
-Surgical procedure to remove remains of the pregnancy from her uterus

Giving birth – in some cases
Informed staff members to help women while in labor
-In cells
-Some have assistance of a nurse
Aren’t taken to doctor until after they have given birth

Nineteen-year-old Terra K. screamed, pounded on the door and asked for the nurse in the Dubuque County Jail in Iowa, only to give birth alone in her cell. Afterward she asked, “How does somebody have a baby in jail without anybody noticing?”

http://womenandprison.org/motherhood/view/pregnant_in_prison_and_denied_care/

Just be YOU

2011-11-22T09:02:00.000-08:00

11.R.3.1 Students can explain literary devices within text, also 11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

Grade-level reading for some is a boundary to whether or not they will allow themselves to pick out a more complex book and try to read it, let alone trying to obtain the mental capacity for picking out and fully understanding literary devices like the point of view from which the piece may be written or even the genre of the piece.

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks is an inspirational heartfelt story of a soldier who comes home for 2 weeks and during that time he falls in love, impossible right. This soldier, John Tyre comes from a background of drugs and gangs. Having a troubled adolescence he didn't really care. Finally realizing that he wanted to make something with his life he enlisted in the army. Then you have Savannah, a small shy girl with a never ending compassion for wanting to lend a helping hand. She and a group of friends are on a mission trip for Habitat for Humanity when she first meets John. Of course having someone bringing back your sopping wet satchel isn't exactly the ideal way to meet if you ask me but it worked for them. Time flies when you're painting details you didn't realize were there to begin with, before they know it he has to deploy once more and she promises to write. In one of his letters he tells her that, "No matter where your at in the world the moon is never bigger than your thumb.." The story ends with a tough lesson in love and that believing in yourself and staying true to who you are will get you farther in life than anything else ever will.

"Don't follow your dreams......Chase them." -Richard Dumb

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

NEW BOOK!!

I can't tell you much about this new book yet because I just started it but it is so enthralling that it's nearly impossible to put down. What information that is available is this...The book is called After River by Donna Milner. In the first chapter the main character, Natalie, describes how she first sees this figure walking up the lane towards their valley nestled dairy farm home. Natalie is very hesitant toward this strange man and yet it seems as if her mother, Nettie, is expecting him. What to do, what to do?

RuRo Shaggy!

No one wants to get a phone call in the middle of night hearing your brother telling you that your mother keeps asking for you. Let alone having to go back to the place that you have spent most of your adult life trying to stay away from.

Natalie Ward's mother (Nettie) has been slowly dieing for the past 5 years and it is all now catching up to her. Nat as she is called in the book, feels that there is nothing there for her anymore.

As she boards a bus and settles into her seat for the next 13 hours she reminisces about her life before HE showed up.

"Sometimes people put up walls, not to keep others out but to see who cares enough to tear them down" - Anonymous

It Helps to Actually Post...

2011-11-22T08:53:00.001-08:00

1.1.R.2.2- Students can read fluently to comprehend grade level text

Since my project would involve a lot more work to use for the analytical part of 20% Time than I want it to, I decided I would also do a book review so as to have something easier to write about. Since it had just come out and I read it recently, My first book was Inheritance, by Christopher Paolini.

This is the fourth and final book in a series that was originally meant to only have three books, And in my opinion, it shows. There are some parts that seem to just be filler, sections that add length and nothing else. Other than that the book was well worth the wait and an enjoyable read.

The story starts with the protagonist, Eragon, in a fight to capture one of the many cities unter the control of King Galbatorix. During the struggle he and Saphira find a Dauthdaert, a magical artifact that has the ability to bypass a dragon's magic, killing it. Their chances of killing Galbatorix improve greatly, but are by no means certain. Eragon's brother Roran becomes a war hero after capturing two more cities for the Varden, the force opposing the king.
Much of the story after this vague point cannot be done justice without including spoilers, which isn't acceptable at all, but it includes Eragon's work to discover the secrets of the Vault of Souls and the struggles to avoid Galbatorix's forces as the Varden gets closer to the capital city.

Overall I enjoyed the entire series, so I'd reccomend the books to everybody who doesn't mind a 400 page count.

Since doing book reviews seems like an easy, likeable thing to do, I think I'll continue.

The last book I read was The Redemption of Althalus, by one of my many favorite authors, David Eddings. This book, along with many of his other works, centers around the basic idea of good versus evil. In this book, the main character, Althalus, is approached by a man who offers him countless treasures in exchange for one thing: a book. Thinking it but a simple task, Althalus travels to the house at the end of the world to retrieve it, only to discover that the 'simple book' was actually one of the two books of the gods. Dweia, the keeper of the book, informs Althalus that he is actually the 'chosen one' who will use the book to defeat the evil controller of the opposite book's power, essentially saving the world from disaster. Unfortunately for Althalus, the book is not an easy tool to use. In order to comprehend what he needs to simply to use its power, Althalus spends more than two thousand years in the house at the end of the world, unaging thanks to Dweia's influence. Thus Althalus must save a world that he is two milleniums removed from, facing an evil that has had two thousand years to prepare.

I love this book and (again) reccomend it most highly to those who aren't daunted by page count.

Genre: Fantasy

PTSD

2011-11-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

I used the (Analysis) 11.R.5.1 Students can analyze factors that influence the credibility of informational sources standard.

I chose PTSD because the night before we chose our topics, I was watching Grey's Anatomy (don't make fun), and in the episode, the hospital fell victim to a shooting at the hospital. One of the surgeons was operating on a friend who was shot while having gun held to head by a man who was telling her to stop operating and let him die. After the traumatic event, she experienced PTSD so horribly that she quit being a surgeon. She turned into the opposite of what she was. She did things that she wouldn't have done before the incident, and she didn't do things she did before the incident. After that episode, PTSD really sparked my interest.

Many people will say that they have heard of PTSD, and that soldiers only get after returning from war, but not a lot of people really know what it means. PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder that occurs after a traumatic event such as combat or military experience (most common or most heard of), sexual or physical abuse or assault, serious accidents such as vehicle and environmental accidents, and natural disasters. After the event, the victims may feel scared, angry, confused, and/or lost. These feelings won’t go away, and will sometimes get worse as time goes on. These feelings may disrupt a person’s life, and make it feel like the victim can’t continue their life.

The first symptoms of PTSD may not show up for anywhere between one day and a couple weeks. There are four main types PTSD symptoms. The first one and possibly the most extreme symptom is reliving the event. A victim could possibly feel the same horror and fear in everyday situations, and it seems like everything that happens is a flashback from the event because of the horror feeling. This symptom is usually causes by some sort of a trigger. These triggers include hearing a loud bang or noise which would recall gunshots or battles from previous traumatic events. Other triggers includes seeing a car accident happen or hearing of the accident or seeing or hearing violent, physical or sexual assaults.

The second main symptom of PTSD is when a victim avoids situations. A victim of a train accident experiencing PTSD would avoid any place dealing with trains and also possibly avoid conversations about trains. A person who was attacked by a construction worker would want to avoid construction workers because they don’t want to think of that certain experience. A victim could possibly avoid their therapist because they would have to relive the situation in order to talk about how they feel. Victims with these situations will tend to avoid people, places, and thoughts that would relate back to that incident.

The third symptom of PTSD is numbness feeling. This symptom would make it hard for victims to express their feelings towards family members, therapists, friends, and whoever they talk to. They also fail to communicate normally on a daily basis. Victims will also avoid relationships and positive feelings. Victims will also fail to participate in their usual activities because of their loss of interest in them.

The fourth and final symptom when victims become alert. Victims could possibly have a hard time sleeping because they are afraid and alert about everything. They could also be paranoid about the smallest things. Because of this paranoia, victims will be unable to concentrate or pay attention. Another sign of this symptom is when the victims feel like they are in danger all the time.

After a traumatic event, it is normal for people to experience these symptoms. Some people will think that they have PTSD because they are experiencing these symptoms. However, if the symptoms go away or decrease after several days, then they are experiencing normal trauma. People who PTSD, on the hand, will experience these symptoms just people with normal trauma, but their symptoms don’t go away. It only gets worse for PTSD victims. This is because the mind is in a psychological shock. All of the feelings and memories towards the event are disconnected, and will remain disconnected until the victim faces their fears. In order to move on from the event, victims should reconnect all the memories and feelings about the event, and talk about them. Another way to face the feelings of the event is to go to the place where it happened and relive the event in the mind. Doing so will free the mind and release all the anger, frustration, and sadness. It may not work the first couple times, but it will. When experiencing PTSD, it is imperative to do whatever means necessary to get better because PTSD can and will put someone on the edge of life and death.

I believe I achieved what I wanted to learn about PTSD. I’ve found so much information of PTSD, and there is much more information out there to find. I didn’t really encounter any difficulties besides having to find the websites I used because one of them was recently blocked at school, so I had to cite that information at home. Besides that, the only difficulties I really encountered were what information I should use. I don’t know if I would want to do a project this long again; towards the end, it started to bore me. I don’t know why it did, but I am kind of bored of reading about PTSD. It might be because I haven’t found a whole lot of new information lately, and I’ve been finding all the same information I found before. I probably wouldn’t repeat this project once I finish it because it’d pretty much be the same exact blog.

Works Cited
Hall-Flavin, Daniel K., and David Mrazek. “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).” Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2 Aug. 2011. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. http://www.mayoclinic.com/‌health/‌post-traumatic-stress-disorder/‌DS00246/‌DSECTION=symptoms.

Segal, Jeanne, and Melinda Smith. “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” HelpGuide. Segal Enterprises, Oct. 2011. Web. 1 Nov. 2011. http://helpguide.org/‌mental/‌post_traumatic_stress_disorder_symptoms_treatment.htm.

The First Day

2011-11-09T09:15:00.000-08:00

So for my 20% time, I am going to be journaling about my dog (Shasta) for my project. Like in the book, Marley and Me, I have been inspired by the main actor/character in the book/movie. So for the next couple of weeks, I am going to be journaling about her telling stories about her life or the different things she does. So for instance, in the next paragraph, is a story about her when we had first gotten her.

The first day we brought Shasta home, we couldn't believe how big she was. She was already three months old when we got her; she was born October 29th, 2010. It was a Saturday when we got her, and I still remember the feeling I had when I saw her for the first time. I fell instantly in love with her. Her ears were floppy at the time because she was still just a puppy, and so the muscles in the ears had a hard time keeping them up, but I didn't care. Her eyes were ice blue, and huge! She looked at me, at first with curiosity, then with a type of trust that can only happen between an owner and his dog. She snuggled up on the way home and it was a moment I will cherish forever. Her love was and is unconditional and has in some way, shape, or form has changed not just me, but my family as well. It’s funny how a chubby, little, ball of black and white fur, could bring so much joy and laughter into someone’s life.

So everything is going well, and I cannot wait to tell you more about Shasta and the different things she has done. I will also be posting pictures of her soon, so everyone can see her.

Here is my link: http://shasta-and-me.blogspot.com/

Life is hard!! =/

2011-11-09T08:26:00.000-08:00

11.W.1.2 Students can write a document analyzing how a work of literature mirrors the themes and issues of its historical period.
11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text
For this Cycle I have selected to read a novel by J.D. Salinger titled The Catcher In The Rye. It's one of the most popular book in the 20th century that introduced teen rebellion and emotions. It reveals the life of Holden Caulfield, showing his teen angst and his moving emotions. In this classic novel the main character, Caulfield, struggles in the real world and shows the readers for the first time how to not care and be a free teen.

In this cycle I didn’t achieve what I have wanted. I desired to get the book done during this cycle but unfortunately there was not enough time. Currently I’m in the middle of the book. I would have wanted to take more time to read the novel and get it done quicker. So I could have started my next project but unfortunately that will have to get pushed back. Hopefully at the end of this week I will get done with the novel. For my writing project I have decided to do a file folder book project. I will also add the journal that the file folder book project requires. I will write from the character’s point of view using first person narrative.

Journal Entry 1

Holden Caulfield

Dear Journal,

My mom and dad are going to be really mad at me for failing out of school. Boy, I hope they won’t get too mad at me. I says the word boy a lot, I really do my grammar aint very good either but that was the only class that I didn’t fail. All of my other classes though I failed. My history teacher Dr. Thurmer invited me today to his house to talk to me about my classes and school and other useless things. I really hate when adults have to tell you things over and over and over. It drives me insane especially when they think they want to say an “emotional speech” when really they just want to waste my time with their words. Well Dr. Thurmer is really a great teacher he really is. He has a good soul. Well I have to leave journal my roommate Ackley is in my room again. I swear he always comes in here just to touch my stuff and his teeth are really disturbing. He says he brushes them but the whole goddam school knows he don’t. He also thinks he is better than me because he is 18 when really he acts childish –Goodbye

Rock Band 3

2011-11-09T08:20:00.000-08:00

Edward and I decided to do our 20% Time on playing and reviewing new (or in the past year releases) video games for Xbox 360. To start off the review of the games, we read reviews from Game Informer Magazine. After the reading of the reviews, we play the desired video game. Edward and I, like other gamers, will post our own review of the games on their websites or retail stores like Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy.

For out first part of 20% Time, we played Rock Band 3. We decided to pick this game because it is a great game for all ages and has new songs on it. It also has amazing graphics and features: multi-vocals, keyboard, and new drums. Edward and I started playing the World Tour; however, it starts off as Road Challenges, which is a cool way to show how you need to progress your way through setlists. With the amount of time in school, we couldn't finish the Tour. We play Rock Band all the time at Edward's house (with Josiah, Isaac, Tom, and many others), and I know we have beaten the World Tour before. I would repeat this project because it is a great game and it is really fun to play modern and older well-known songs with friends. If I did this again, I would probably do the Tour with the keyboard because I haven't really played enough songs to see how the keyboard is.

Meth, Abuse, and Abandonment! (OH MY!)

2011-11-08T21:27:00.000-08:00

I used this writing standard: 11.R.2.2 reading standard where students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

I have been reading the book Fallout by Ellen Hopkins. I haven't got very far into the book yet, but I plan to do a project of some sort that portrays Hopkins' writing style. I also plan to give 3-week by 3-week intervals of what's been happening throughout the book, sharing comments on certain ideas/happenings from the book. Along with my project, I plan to do some research on her and why she writes about what she does.

Firstly, Hopkins has a writing style so unique compared to other authors. Actually, you could consider her more of a poet. Hopkins is also the author of Crank, a book of hers that people may be more familiar with. People are easily intimidated by the 650-page books she writes, but in all actuallity, the 3-4 inch-thick books are pretty quick reads. Instead of using normal paragraphs, she creates story through free verse poetry, and sometimes makes things even more intricate by creating illusions with her words. (Example: If she is talking about money, she forms her poem into a dollar sign).

Some people aren't so fond of her books because they tend to be rather morbid. Her first novel, Crank, is about a girl who gets hooked on meth and becomes far more distant towards her family. Another novel, Tricks, is about 4 different people living completely different lives in Las Vegas, but all being connected somehow. This book, Fallout, is actually a sequel to Crank. Crank came first, then Glass, and now Fallout. (Sorry for confusion).

So far, this book talks about the 3 of the 5 children of Kristina, the main girl from Crank who gets addicted to meth and ends up getting raped by this seriously jerk-like guy, then getting pregnant with his baby. Anyways, this book goes back and forth between the 3 kids: Hunter, Autumn, and Summer. Hunter is a guy who is living a wild college life, while dating this supposedly awesome girl. He wants to find out why his mom left him with his grandparents and never bothered to care. Autumn an extremely self-conscience girl, living with her aunt and alcoholic grandfather. She has some OCD, and a few other problems, including her prision-ridden father. Summer is a girl who finds it hard to live up to her name. She's a foster kid who basically has to look out for the "family" because her fostermom doesn't really seem to care. Where I just left of in my story is when Summer gets in a nasty fight with her "sister" after standing up for her younger "sibling" because she violated her.

I feel like some people don't grasp the concepts of these stories in the same way I do, hence why I enjoy them more than most. I feel like reading about the morbidity of other's lives (to be blunt) makes me appreciate what I have so much more. It makes me want to strive to do better and help others stay away from any related or non-related problems.

Evaluation

2011-11-08T20:46:00.000-08:00

For my 20% time project, I chose to pursue a a field that I am fascinated with-finance. Since taking personal finance at the beginning of this school year, I have become a sponge in search for knowledge of finance. One of my favorite people in finance would be Dave Ramsey. His teaching, writing, and experience have made him a millionaire. The best part about it is he wants everyone to be a millionaire too, so he started writing and he published the book called The Total Money Makeover. The book is directed toward adults who are struggling with debt but also talks about how to stay out of debt in college. I have applied some of his tactics to try and keep myself debt free. I have applied for a scholarship called Being an American Essay Contest worth 1000 dollars. The guidelines are as followed:

Essay may be submitted between Constitution Day – September 17, 2011 through Bill of Rights Day - December 15, 2011. All contest entries are due by 11:59 (PST) on December 15, 2011.
Question:
How does the Constitution establish and maintain a culture of liberty?
In an essay of no more than 1000 words, analyze and discuss:
• How one of the Founding principles established in the Constitution helps preserve liberty• Why at least one Founder, as evidenced in a primary source document, believed your chosen principle was a safeguard to liberty• Why your principle continues to be important today• How you personally help preserve a culture that ensures the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in America

My drafting from my research is going well and I have a great idea on what to write and can't wait to follow up on further progress of 20% time in the next 3 weeks!

Exotic Fruit

2011-11-08T20:19:00.000-08:00

I used this writing standard: 11.R.4.1 Students can analyze a text within cultural, geographical, and historical context.

I am taste testing exotic fruits. During every piece of fruit I will write what I smell, taste, flavor, texture and appearance. I will also give my thoughts about the fruit’s characteristics.

I have accomplished everything that I wanted to for this cycle. Some difficulties were trying to find the exotic fruit and looking at different places. Some things I would do differently for this project: eat in class more and get the food earlier.

1) Cactus Pear
The appearance of the pear was a green outside with cactus pricks and reddish inside with a purple/ dark red seeds. The whole cactus pear smells like green beans. When we move onto the texture of the pear was like a watermelon, but had more seeds than normal. The flavor was very small and had a little bit of a sweet taste to it for a second, but really no taste. I really didn’t like the cactus pear because the seeds in the pear were not appetizing to me and had no specific taste to it.

2) Apple Pear
The yellow/gold outside and white inside describes the appearance of the apple pear. When you take a whiff of the apple pear it depends on what you smell, but I smell more of an apple than pear and other people says it smell more like pears. The texture of the pear was very juicy and had the watermelon membrane but tougher. When you taste the apple pear it’s like an apple and has the crisp bite into it and flavor of an apple, and later in that tasting period you can also taste the pear towards the end. The apple pear was very good and was my favorite out of all of the fruits.

3) Pomegranate
The appearance of the pomegranate was bigger than I thought it would be and it was an orangish red color and the inside was a red seeds and a milky white membrane that is holding the seeds in place. The aroma of the fruit also smelt like green beans. The texture of the pomegranate was smooth around the seed and the seed was rough and grainy when you were chewing on it. The flavor of the fruit was sweet on the outside of the seed and once I bit into it, it turned tart. The pomegranate was a delightful fruit because it had the sweet and tartness of the fruit was really good.

4) Persimmon
An orange tomato characteristic with green leaves for the outside and the inside was orange and had a star like shape of an apple. The odor of the persimmon was interesting because it smell nothing fruity or really pleasant. The texture of the fruit was soft and had little grain fibers inside of it. The taste of the persimmon had its own unique taste to it because I couldn’t think of anything that it tasted like. This one interesting fruits because it was very unique and delightful but I couldn’t eat that every day.

Oil Changes for Dipsticks

2011-11-08T17:26:00.001-08:00

For my 20% time I choose to write a how to instructions guide. Researching from CDX Plus the online book for my auto class at The CTE Academy I used the 11.R.2.2 reading standard where students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.
The guide will have step by step instructions on how to
· Drain motor oil
· Remove the old oil filter
· Replace oil
· Replace oil filter
· Grease the front end
During the work days I thus far I have researched ideas and information on my topic. I have also been drafting my guide as well as collecting images to put a visual to some of the objects that the person using my guide may need to find. for the next cycle I will post the first draft of my guide.

This week I am posting what i have of my guide thus far.

Safety precautions
When doing an oil change you might want to run the engine for ten to fifteen minutes so that the oil will run out faster and take less time to do the oil change. If the engine is warm you can get burn easily so take caution when draining the hot oil, as well as hot metals on or near the engine. Never go under a vehicle held up by floor jacks. If you need the vehicle lifted use jack stands or car ramps, and if you lift the front of a front wheel drive car block the back wheels so the car cannot roll away while on ramps or jack stands.

Supplies and tools needed
To do an oil change some things you will need are: Drain pan to catch oil, correct size wrench or socket to remove the drain plug, oil filter wrench to remove the old filter, set of car ramps or jack stand (not needed if you have an overhead car lift), A new oil filter for the make and Model of your vehicle, fresh oil the correct weight of oil and enough for your vehicle (most common is 5 quarts of 5W-30 or 10W-30).

Procedure
Put the car on an over head lift if possible otherwise a set of ramps or jack stands will do just fine. Next you will want to get an oil drain pan underneath your car to catch your old oil. Once your catch pan is in place you can take out the engine oil drain plug shown in the pictures below. Make sure when you take out the drain plug that you don’t take the transmission fluid drain plug by mistake. Let all of the oil drain out of the oil pan then remove the old oil filter with a filter wrench by tuning the filter to the left and dispose of the old filter. Let any oil drain that remains in the engine. Once all of the oil is out of the engine you can put the drain plug back in being careful not to over tighten the drain plug. Next make sure that the old oil filter seal is not stuck to the oil filter seat if the oil filter seal is stuck to the motor remove the seal. When replacing the oil filter you should rub a small amount of oil on the seal of the new filter to ensure that the filter seals well, to install a new filter line up the threads and turn the filter to the right and tighten it hand tight. Once the filter is on the car pour the new oil into the fill cap under the hood until the dipstick that you check the oil with reads full (most cars take five quarts). Remember that the filter will absorb some oil so check the oil once the car has ran and cooled down. Once the oil is full and there are no leaks you are done and all you have to do is clean up.

Clean up
Pour the waste oil out of the catch pan into a container that you can take to a waste oil recycling facility. Make sure that you put all of your tools away in a place you will be able to find them. Dispose of any empty bottles that the new oil came in. Clean up any spilt oil and put away the car ramps.

Night

2011-11-08T14:42:00.001-08:00

I used this writing standard: 11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

I am reading Night by Elie Wiesel. After each chapter I will write a short summary of what has happened so far; I will also be writing some of my thoughts of the chapter.

I have accomplished everything that I planned on doing for this first cycle. Some difficulties that I faced were procrastination. Some things that I would do differently for this project are: not procrastinating and reading in class.

Chapter 1:
Throughout chapter 1, the narrator explains his life in the beginning of the Holocaust. There is a family of 6 and the only son is the narrator. He is a very intelligent child. In my opinion, this first chapter is very informative. I can tell already that I am going to like this book. It has kept my interest throughout the whole first chapter. Eliezer (the narrator) describes his story of what happened to his family and him in the Holocaust.

Chapter 2:
In chapter 2, Eliezer and the other Jew are locked in the synagogue for a few days. Then they get on a train to get deported again. There is a woman who got accidentally separated from her husband and two sons. This woman keeps shouting about a fire when there really isn’t one. When the train finally stops, she yells fire again. There is actually a fire this time. There is a horrible stench that fills the train. The Jews look out the window and see flames billowing from a tall chimney. They are forced to get off the train and leave all their stuff on it. That is where the chapter ends. My thought of this chapter is sadness. It is heartbreaking to read about these people getting treated with no respect. You know what they see when they look out of the train at the fire. And it is just sad to see that they don’t have any control of what will happen to them.

Chapter 3:
In chapter 3, Eliezer and his dad are separated from the rest of their family. The men were then separated by age/health/occupation. Eliezer and his dad were together, they had to then strip down and through their clothes in a pile. Then they were shaved and put in the shower. At this point they were all thinking that they were going to die. But then they were given new clothes and started walking to a different concentration camp. They were then able to sleep and eat. They received a new “name”. Eliezer new name was A-7713. In this chapter, Eliezer and his dad get lucky. They aren’t one of the strong people so they stay in one camp for a while. They get bread and soup every day. My thoughts are that the dad is worried but he doesn’t want to show it because he doesn’t want to scare Eliezer. This book is very sad but it is also very interesting.

Second check up
Review: I don't think that I really accomplished what I wanted for this cycle. I wanted to be finished with this book but I didn't have time to read it except for class time. Some difficulties that I encountered were not having enough time to read and journal; and I was having a hard time journaling for a while because some of the chapters are the same story. I would repeat this project only if I had more time to actually read. Something that I would do differently would be to make a time every night to read the book.

Chapter 4:
Chapter 4 was very pessimistic. It was about Eliezer and his dad moving to another camp. When they get to another camp the routine is to pass through the showers, new clothing, settle into tents, assigned to a block, roll call, and then eat food. In this chapter, Eliezer meets a new girl. She works with Eliezer and but she is not Jewish. One day Eliezer took a beating from a guard and the girl helped him when it was over. She started talking to him and he realized that she was Jewish she just lied. Later on in the chapter, the alarm goes off; and American planes fly by dropping bombs. Quote: Eliezer says: “The last sound of the American plane dissipated in the wind and there we were, in our own cemetery.” This sentence is distressing because they thought that they were going to die and they couldn’t do anything about it. They weren’t able to move from their spot or else they would get shot. For example: during the bombing, a man crawled over to soup kettles and started eating. He was shot and died. After that happened the guards started hanging people, and made the rest of the people watch. My thoughts on this chapter are similar to my thoughts on the other chapters. It is interesting to read about what actually happened in the Holocaust.

Chapter 5:
In chapter 5, Eliezer is still separated from his dad; one day they had selections; which is when the Jews are evaluated and then separated. This separation was between the strong and the weak. They were forced to take their clothes off and stand in front of the doctor to be evaluated. If the doctor writes a name down, then you are considered weak. Eliezer and his dad both passed the selection. Later in the chapter Eliezer had to go to the infirmary and have surgery on his foot. He was to stay in the infirmary for two weeks. After being in the infirmary for a few days, Eliezer heard that everyone was going to evacuate the camp. The people in the infirmary were to stay at the camp. Eliezer did not want to get separated from his father so he and his father decided that Eliezer would evacuate with his dad. At the end of the chapter, everyone evacuated. Before they evacuated a few men were sent into the block to clean and the Blockälteste said: “Let them know that here lived men and not pigs.” Eliezer thought: “So we were men after all?” Eliezer has a good point here. At the beginning of the book Eliezer thinks that he is no longer a man because after being sent to a camp, he was treated just like everyone else. My thoughts on this chapter are that Eliezer is a very strong character. Even though he has been separated from his dad and has an injured foot, he does not give up at all. I can’t really tell what kind of person Eliezer’s dad is yet. I think that he has given up, but he doesn’t want Eliezer to see that.

Third Check Up:
Review: I don't think that I have achieved what I wanted to this check up. Some difficulties that I had were not having enough time to read my book. I was always doing homework or something else. Something that I would do differently would be to make a schedual for when I need to read and how long.

Chapter 6:
In this chapter, Eliezer and his father are moved to another camp with the others. On the journey there, they were ordered to run. After a few hours of running, many people slowed their pace. When someone slowed their pace, an SS officer would shoot them. One kid that was running next to Eliezer collapsed and the officer didn’t even have to shoot him because he got trampled by the others. They come to an area that has a shed where they were able to rest for a while. Many people had to stay outside because there was not enough room in the shed. Eliezer and his dad got to stay in the shed and rest. After a while the officers decided it was time to go. They started marching again and after a few hours they finally arrived at their destination. When they got there they were pushed to the ground and piled on top of each other. Eliezer was lying on top of a boy he met earlier who played the violin. After a while Eliezer heard the boy playing his violin. Later Eliezer found the boy dead in the snow. They stayed at the camp for three days. They were finally given bread to eat. They were thirsty so they started eating the snow. On the third day they were put on a train to go to the middle of Germany. My thoughts on this chapter are that Eliezer and his dad were lucky because they didn’t die from exhaustion and from the cold. There were many people that died on the trip to the next camp. I am very interested in how this story is going to end. Is Eliezer going to die? Is Eliezer’s dad going to die? Are they both going to survive? I only have a few chapters left to read and I am interested in what is going to happen in them.

Book review: http://bestsellers.about.com/od/nonfictionreviews/gr/Night_r.htm

Food bank

2011-11-08T12:11:00.000-08:00

11.R.5.1 Students can analyze factors that influence the credibility of informational sources.

Casey Warkenthien and Hunter Roberts
1 Bulldog Ave.
Baltic, South Dakota, 57003
605-759-2987 605-553-1452
CW3392@k12.sd.us HR3024@k12.sd.us
November 8th, 2011

Baltic High School
1 Bulldog Ave.
Baltic, South Dakota, 57003

Mr. Aisenbrey, Mr. Sittig, and Mr. Gunderson:

In our English III class we are doing independent projects where we take every Tuesday of class just to focus time towards our project. We decided for our project that we could do something for the people that just don’t get as much: a food drive. What we plan on doing is raising as much money and donated food as we can accomplish.

We are planning on all ages, anyone that may be interested in helping people that don't get as much. We plan to do plenty of activities with everyone K-12, including parents. In 2010, 48.8 million Americans lived in food-insecure households: 32.6 million adults and 16.2 million children.

Some of the activities that we are planning to do to raise food and money are around the time before Christmas because December is the month of “giving”. We want to give the food bank for the people who may not get enough, we plan to put fliers and posters up around the school to show when it will start and end. It will also be in the announcements and notes will go home with K-12. We are wanting everyone to get involved. We are trying to pass it through the school that if you bring 2 canned goods (or anything for the food bank that is needed) to a certain basketball game, you have to only pay 2 dollars.

Another thing we can do is use coupons. For the High School and Middle School students want to eat or drink something (unless they are participating in a computer class), they have to bring 3 canned goods or anything that is needed for the food drive as well.

We are hoping that everyone is willing to give because this is for a good cause. It’s not just for us; it’s for the needy of our community. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Casey Warkenthein and Hunter Roberts

So far we have achieved what we have been trying to get done. Getting everything set up. Passing everything that we want to be done during this giving time through teachers that we needed to pass it through.

Video Games (Review and Hints)

2011-11-08T09:33:00.000-08:00

The standard that I used was, Indicator 2: Students can comprehend and fluently read text.

(Analysis) 11.R.2.1 Students can analyze how diction affects the interpretation of text.

(Application) 11.R.2.2 Students can read fluently to comprehend grade-level text.

During 20% time, Dylan Brende and I read review on current, and what we thought were interesting video games. Then when we decided on a game that was school appropriate and visually appealing and chose to play that game. During my 20% time I decided to play the game, Rockband 3 and attempt to fully understand the features that this game had to offer. If you would like you could visit the Best Buy website and read reviews by other gamers on their opinion and viewpoints of the current games that we are playing. To see reviews on Rockband 3 visit The Reviews on Best Buy and check it out. Throughout this 20% time Dylan and I will be reviewing games that we might play outside of school and then blog about them on the blog site and and blog on the games official site as well, or in this case on Best Buy's website. During this 20% time Dylan and I plan on playing most of the newer games either inside our outside of school and writing reviews on them to learn how professional reviews are written. Some of the difficulties will be the games that are not school appropriate so we will have to play the games outside of school and write the review during 20% time in class.

This week my group had come together after school in order to play the video games that were not entirely school appropriate, such as Modern Warfare 3. Dylan Brende and I had decided that we were going to attempt to finish the campaign on Veteran, which is the hardest difficulty. I will be commenting on the official website or Best Buy's website, on the games abilities and features. The entire game has much more to offer than the previous games made around the view of Call of Duty. I think that newer is most of the time better which means that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was amazing and the best Call of Duty yet. This Call of Duty has the option of Survival mode which allows for a Hoarder based mode that requires all of the Allied players to compete against AIs in a new twisted game mode. Each player starts out with either a pistol (Five Seven) or an Assault Rifle (M16) depending on the difficulty setting. Then as you battle through waves of oncoming AIs you gain money to purchase a vast variety of weapons, grenades, and air support to help you survive, hence the name Survival. Each player is also allowed to get perks throughout the game mode through carepackages and some cash. As the game progresses on it obviously gets harder which means that each AI gets more armor, air support, and weapons. Overall Modern Warfare 3 is a completely different game then Modern Warfare 2 with a new campaign, many more options of game play modes, and a whole new multi player exprience.

This week was more of a independent 20% time because I went through the Gears of War 3 campaign and finished that on Insane difficulty which is the hardest difficulty in the game. The best part about it though is that I did it by myself which makes the game much harder because you don't get skilled players helping you defeat the horde. Instead, the players gets to experience a whole new game type with a bunch of ridiculous AI's walking around like they have their heads cut off and not even helping you complete the mission. The cool thing is that they do the same thing on the Halo: Reach campaign, in which you can go through the campaign by yourself and get extra gamerscore. For those who don't know hat gamerscore is, it's the point that your account receives for completing achievements that the games come out with. An average game will have 1250 gamerscore for you to get, but most of the time the achievements that are worth more are harder and the game designers usually try to come out with some that are close to impossible to achieve. For example, Gears of War 3 has 1750 gamerscore that you can get and then they added more when they came out with the new DLC's, which are also known as map packs. All in all, I think that Gears of War 3 has a lot to offer with it's new and improved maps with the exciting new Horde mode that allows you to be Locust and upgrade your Command Centers.

For the new year I have decided to go semi-solo with this project because I am playing games that only require a single player instead the multiplayer games I was playing last year. This year I thought I would start out with a new and truly loved game by all of the gamers, Skyrim. If you ask anyone who is truly a gamer they will be able to tell you everything and anything about Skyrim. Skyrim is a open map game that is have a medieval setting, but with a twist of magic and dragons. Throughout the game the player is able to battle newer and tougher dragons and learn new spells such as Flame Cloak and Thunes or shouts. The Thunes and shouts are special to your character because he/she is of dragon blood which allows him/her to speak in the tongue of dragons and do special things. For example, one of the first shouts that you learn is Fire Breath and later on in the game Dragonrend which is a shout that you shoot at other dragons to make them land. The game offers over 400 hours on in game play time because of the massive amount of quests that are available. Skyrim also allows the character to customize and enchant weapons and armor to make them better. You can also learn a variety of spells such as Spark to Storm Atronarch. Skyrim is all around an amazing and intense game that offers, in my opinion, more than any other game, that has come out in the last 3 years.

Alduin (the main dragon in Skyrim)

Daedric Armor (the best armor in Skyrim)

The video game of this checkpoint is going to be World of Warcraft. I don't think many people who have played World of Warcraft or are still playing have noticed that the creators are planning on coming out with a new expansion pack. The new expansion is going to entail a new class, Monk, and a new race, Pandaren, which is sort of like pandas out of Kung Fu Panda but they have unique features. For example, the Pandaren are able to choose a side unlike the other races. For those who don't know about the different sides, there are only 2, Alliance and Horde. For some who just play for fun that isn't a big deal, but for others who are hardcore gamers choose their side with great passion and chose their race of character based on either Horde or Alliance. As a gamer who loves most games, I can't wait for this to come out and see the new features that the Monk class has to offer. If you want to see the trailer about the Monk and new expansion go to the official website and read some of my blog posts, http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/ .

This week I will be talking about another new thing/ things that I have learned throughout my experiences of playing video games. This week's game just happens to be World of Warcraft again, but this time it is about the best and most effective way to gain different types of currencies. First and most importantly, Honor Points, which are earned by attack players of a different faction, Alliance- Horde and Horde-Alliance. These are best earned when you are higher levels because you get a larger bonus for winning the battlegrounds. The best way is to play until you win and the bonus drops one level and then go for a different currency until the bonus goes back up. This technique will be applied to every type of currency except for daily quest currencies which can only be awarded on a daily basis. The most prestigious of currencies is Conquest Points or Valor Points depending on the type of player you are. Both of these have certain limits that you can get per week, and are the hardest to get based on the amount that you get each time and the amount that you need to purchase items with these points. The only other currency that can be awarded is Justice Points which are used to purchase heirlooms and other lower level equipment. These points are earned best through bonuses within the dungeons. Thanks for reading my blog and hopefully this helping in the always epic World of Warcraft.

ACT Prep

2011-11-08T09:27:00.000-08:00

I did ACT Prep on http://www.number2.com/. I started with the English part. In the beginning, Number 2 has a guide you can read that explains what will be on it and what types of questions and what they're looking for. After I read through that I did the actual testing part of it, and I got 62%. Not such a good percent, but I'll have to review more before the I actually take the ACT. I wouldn't say the testing part was hard, but there were two close answers and I always chose the wrong one of the two. I think this ACT Prep is very helpful.

West Memphis 3

2011-11-08T09:22:00.000-08:00

In my 20% time, I'm reading articles and watching videos on Datline that deals with murders. The reading standard is 11.R.5.1. I am reading articles and then analyzing the case. I am summarizing it on another document. I am doing this for my 20% time because I want to become a detective and this will help me understand why do people kill. My first case I read about was the West Memphis 3 case. As we read The Crucible it made me think of that case. The West Memphis 3 are three young men named Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. They were accused of killing three young boys in 1993. The three young boys were: Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers.

From left to right: Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols, and Jessie Misskelley Jr.

Here is the link to read the article: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/famous/memphis/index_1.html

Evaluation: This case made me think of The Crucible. In The Crucible, inncoent people were being accused, without any evidence, for dealing with witchcraft. Well in the West Memphis 3 case, Damien, Jason, and Jessie were blamed with dealing with Satin. They all dressed up in dark clothes and wore eye liner. Throughout the years, the West Memphis 3 knew that they were innocent the whole time. There was no evidence against them and they had many of followers.