This school year was hard and easy and the reason for that is because of the grades and the different classes. The end of the year for this school year was very hard because of all the teachers talking about grading, test, making up work, and summer school. Also this end of the school year is the time where kids would try to make everything right before the last day and talking to the teachers so that they won’t fail. When it comes to this school year I feel like it had push me to the edge because I had to learn things fast and some of the teachers well not too sure what to say about them.
Final Reflection
This year as a student I feel good. I would feel better if I had gave it my all this year. The thing that was good about this year is that there was many chances to get easy credit. I have met my goals by trying to pass all of my class and to focus on my regents. My new goals for next year is to study all the time, pass all of my classes, and pass all of my SAT's.
Through To You by Emily Hainsworth is about our main character, Camden Pike. Cam's girlfriend, Viv has just been in a tragic car crash and has died. Cam is having such a hard time coping with this loss. To add on to this bad experience, he has gotten a major injury which prevents him from ever playing football again. Cam is trying to move past all of this but he keeps finding himself coming back to Viv. "The old utility pole that snapped in two has been replaced, the landscaping patched back together. The cards, pictures, and drooping stuffed animals are even beginning to blend in.
Emily is miserable with her life, her more-than-a-best-friend-but no-one-knows, moved away, her english teacher mocks her, her mom is making her join a social group for teenage girls and she feels no one understand her. The only thing she enjoys is running, she could run for miles and think about her problems while her legs scream for her to stop. So over the summer for her 16th birthday she decided to legally change her name to Dante. But that doesn't work put well, even though she changed it her mother still calls her "Emily" and Dante had to make Emily her middle name.
For my social studies class this semester, I read the book Kaffir Boy. We were assigned to read fifty pages every week and then write a few things on each fifty pages.
We were supposed to write something we found interesting, questions we have, relate something to our lives or just life today, evaluate the author, and write about one thing you found evocative.
We finished the book awhile ago. I thought it would be cool to post my “blog” of what I wrote as reading it, so here it is:
I read Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. The book was about a girl named, Hannah Baker, who commits suicide, but before she does this she creates tapes explaining her thirteen reasons for doing that. Each reason is a person. Something that that person did. The tapes get passed around in order of who did what and when. The book is written from the perspective of Clay Jensen. He was romantically involved with Hannah. In the tapes Hannah says to him that he did not do anything bad she just put him there so he knows what happened. The book reminds me of Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson.
Hannah Baker is someone who took her life and made tapes about the 13 reasons why she committed suicide. If the tapes are mailed to you then she wanted you to listen to the tapes and understand from her point of view how that person is involved in any way. Hannah’s first reasons will hear the tapes first and pass it on the the next reasons. Clay Baker is one of the final reasons, but he is confused why the tapes got mailed to him. He never bullied her or harassed her. He briefly remembers talking to her at a party but that’s it.
As teachers we are always thinking about ways we can challenge our students to grow and think about the world around them. We know that as surrogate parents to our students, we try to nourish their growth through academics. In my opinion true growth happens at home with their guardians and friends in the environment that they establish their identities. As an educator and a parent it is an everlasting battle to select the right learning experiences for your child and to catch those moments that authentic learning happens.
While I have been reading about Hunts Point and how so many things has happened there I feel deep compassion for those who are living there and are trying to keep their heads above the economic tides that are just flushing everyone away. I now realize how much of a difference there is from where I live compared to Hunts Point, and I only live a little more than three or four miles away.
I finished the entire book
I found the following quote interesting:
"But your feelings got hurt, so you started spreading lies, and now every girl in school is talking about me like I'm some kind of pervert."
Student failure is a major factor in which the United States government is extremely concerned about. This topic is extremely controversial acknowledging it is constantly debated whether it’s the schools or the students’ we should be trying to fix. According to the many articles I have read, the government is spending too money on schools, information, utensils, and much more when all that students need is some discipline. This topic extremely interested me because of the fact that i’m a major nerd. A’s are my passion and everything I have worked for.
The pages 304-307 of Not-So-Smart Miss Know-It-All by Rachel Renee Russell might leave a reader feeling sneaky because the main character, Nikki was at her friend’s party when her dad suddenly came knocking on the door asking for directions. Nikki was shocked because she does not want her friends to see her dad and his ugly car with a roach on top of it. An example of this is on page 306. "But I just stood there frantically holding my breath. I was DOOMED!
I read the first 98 pages of the book
I found the following quote interesting:
"I am Outcast."
In the text, the narrator considers herself as an outcast. While going to school, she is self-conscious of herself. Her former friends don't hang out with her anymore and she has to find a new "safety blanket," whether it is hiding in a corner or making new friends. She is also at fault when her actions have to be made. While escaping from the terrors her classmates pose to her, she gets in trouble by Mr. Neck. She has to deal with consequences both by teachers and students.
This book is a total of 210 pages. On this outside, the 17 year old Alex looks like she has everything laid out for her. She is beautiful, smart, and she's best friends with M who is the most popular girl in school. The two of them get real bored of fancy Orange County so they decide to visit L.A's busy scene every once and a while. Once they're there, they meet Trevor and Connor, two rich older guys. So, they pretend to be 19 years old and hang out with them.
In Thomas's and Brown's book, A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change the author explains how learning in today's technological climate is different from twentieth century learning today--school, teacher, text--and much better for everyone.
When the new mayor takes office in New York City, education is an issue that he/she and the City Council will need to address to ensure the future and vitality of our city. New York City’s education is in dire need of reform - our schools are focused on testing and they lag behind the nation’s and world’s standards. New York City is the greatest city in the world - shouldn’t we be able to say the same about our public education system?
I Believe in good education. I remember when I was young and I didn't care about school, but I still did what I was told. My Mom and Dad are always supporting me with school no matter what. My friends are are always telling Me to do my best in school. I want to do well in school so I can get a good education and go to college and study to be a doctor.
I believe that if you push yourself you can do anything. My sister got into Michigan University. So she gave me the motivation in my head that if you work hard, you can achieve anything. If you push yourself you can do it. If I study long enough I can get a great education in Middle school, High school, and college.
Something I believe in most is learning. Learning is important because it helps you a lot. There are many different things it helps you with like getting a job, going to college ,and many more.
I believe in learning because if you never learn you wouldn’t be walking or talking. You learn how to walk by your parents and the school teaches you to talk and speak correctly, but your parents teach you how to speak a little bit too.
My name is Taily and there’s so many different areas I have my beliefs in. For example I believe that the most important thing is my family. Without my family I wouldn’t be who I am today. My family, especially my mom and dad are very helpful, caring, supportive and wishes nothing but the best for me and to see me grow up to be successful as I am capable of.
UPDATE: Paul and I are doing some fundraising for a YouthVoices Summer Camp project for students. As a part of this, we are hoping to put together a short video with some testimonials about the power of YouthVoices and connected learning in general. If you are willing to record your thoughts or perhaps do a short Google Hangout with us to be recorded, please let us know! Thank you.
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I'm an educator and writer, and over the past year or so, I've gotten to spend some time with Youth Voices and gotten to know a few of you here.
