Brenda63's Blog

Course Evaluation

brenda63 — Mon, 24 May 2010 18:02:28 +0000

American Studies was probably not one of my favorite classes at all this year. I didn’t enjoy American Studies for many reasons. Although I thought that the teachers were good, just the way that they taught it was what I didn’t like. The reason why I didn’t like it was because of the combination of American History and English. Some examples on way I didn’t like the class were because the shared projects, the writers notebook and the way the class dragged on and on.

They were kind of pointless because of the kind of topics we could do in each section. In each topic it should be something that the kids wanted to do, I know that we were allowed to pick the topics, but most people chose the ones that would be the easiest thing to do. Not because they enjoyed them. It was a good learning process, I must admit. But on thing I kind of hated about the class was the shared projects. The only part I liked was when we were able to go to the computer lab and library, because we were able to do our own thing and research what we wanted to, and we didn’t have to hear Mr. Sass’s lectures about another decade or something.

The one thing I did hate about American Studies though, was the writer’s notebook. The one main reason I didn’t like it was because of the writing, I love to write. But I don’t like it when I have to write a lot of my thoughts down into a notebook, then have my teacher read it. I understand that it’s suppose to help us think and to help us write. Just the part on how we are getting graded on our thoughts isn’t good. For one thing I think it’s bad because you can get a hundred percent in connections, variety and volume then you can get like a eighty-five in thought or lower. And not to be mean or anything it makes me feel kinda dumb when I get a bad grade on my thought. For a second reason why I didn’t like them was because I always forgot to do them. I would always bring it home though, but I wouldn’t do it because I would do my more important homework first. They by the weekend before it was suppose to be due I would write all my entries and it did take up a lot of time. And I know what your probably thinking, “It’s your fault that you waited that long to do it, and that’s why it took you so much time do it.” But if it were more enjoyable to write in it I think I would’ve done better and kept up.

There was never really a enjoyable part in the class throughout the whole year. I did meet a lot of people and became really good friends with them, but everyday I get out of 3/4 I always say the same thing “I have to go to American Studies now!” And I usually like learning about history, but this year I didn’t because it was mixed together with English. The only part I looked forward to in AS was seeing my friends and being able to talk to them. I was actually excited to watch movies or power points in AS, because it made the class go by quicker. But everytime Mr. Sass gives a lecture it feels as if it is about the same thing all the time. I don’t want to sound mean or anything, because Sass is a good teacher, but when he talked I didn’t want to listen.

This year was really good and quite a good learning experience, when I was able to take notes and enteract with other people. But when someone has life in their voice then goes into a monotone when they start giving a lecture, I space out and end up missing many things, and I have to ask my friends for help with some of the notes because I do space out a lot. Even though this year was really fun, I was not at all happy to come to this class. It was a good learning experience just some of the ways that the teachers had it was not as fun as many of the other American Studies classes that I heard about.

This year has gone by really fast, but when I look back at what we did in American Studies it feels at like it has been a lifetime. I did find more bad’s than good’s, but I think that will help me with my other course classes next year. And the years to come.

Choice Novel Lit Crit.

brenda63 — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:50:00 +0000

The book Thirst by Christopher Pike is an interesting and thriving novel about a five thousand-year old vampire. I would have to say that Thirst was one of the best vampire novels I have read in a long time. I really did enjoy this book. Although it was a little long, and skipped around in places it made the book more interesting. The way Pike wrote was as if I were standing there next to the main character as the scenes were going on. Although I did not pick this book for the way he wrote but for his nail-biting action, unique characters and understandable romances that he had created.

Initially, I was going to read a book that one of my friends had recommended. But then when I started reading that book, I realized that I wanted to read something with more action. My mom had thought that I would enjoy Thirst so she bought it. I had begun reading it and the first chapter was all on action. Not the kind of action with things getting blown up right away, but the main character got to her point. In the first five pages she had already gotten herself in more trouble than she wanted and did more damage than she intended. She was called into a private meeting and having a argument with the investigator, when he got to nosey, she killed him. This had led her to her first romance in the book.

Then, the main character is what made me like the book even more. The main character’s name is Sita, but not many know her by that name. She usually goes by the name of Alisa Perne but now that she has enrolled in high school to get to know a young man named Ray, she has decided to go by Lara Adams. Sita is not one that a person can relate to because she in the novel she is a vampire. But if you read in between the lines you can relate to her. She wants the same things that every other person in the world wants. To be loved and to love. The other character’s in the book that were important were Yakasha, the first vampire, Ray, her first love and first person that she turned into a vampire, and Joel, her last love and the last vampire she made.

After that, the romance just fell into place. I would say this because if she never would have enrolled in high school, she wouldn’t have been able to met Ray. Ray was the son of a private investigator who was investigating Sita. After, her mess with Ray, she met Joel. A FBI agent who was sent to met with her after many disappearances that were linked to her name and a big LA shoot out. Each of these had led her to a love. Although the romance wasn’t all about the love. It was also the fight for them to stay together. Whether she has to change who she is in order to do that.

Even though the book ended I was still shocked on how interesting each sence was. The nail-biting action was probably one of the best things I read in this book. The characters were just as interesting each of them had a unique and different style to them and the romance was probably just as good as the action and characters. After all the reading I did enjoy and like this book.

Review/Critique

brenda63 — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 18:40:05 +0000

In Maycomb County, Alabama of 1935, Haber Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird is a story of a young girl reflecting on her past that has happened to her. After reading To Kill a Mockingbird, I would recommend this book because of the unique characters, exciting story line and interesting mysteries that Lee had created.

To begin with, I liked this book because of all the characters that Lee had created. Jean Louise Finch, also known as Scout, is the narrator and main character of this book. Out of the whole book I would have to say that Scout was my favorite character because she is the youngest and is brave, strong-welled, stubborn, and has a lot of courage for a young girl. She was my favorite because she was the easiest to relate to because I am just like her. The other main character I liked was Atticus Finch. One of the main reasons I liked Atticus was because the way he spoke in the book. One of the things I remember most about Atticus was when he said “simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not try to win.” (76)

Then the exciting story line was one of the reasons that kept me reading. The time the novel was during the Great Depression racial era when a black man named Tom Robinson was accused of raping a young girl named Mayella Ewell. When Scout was describing this trial I felt as if I were standing there next to her and felt exactly the way she felt. I liked this because it was easy to get into the book when I can get a picture in my head. This kept me wanting to read more.

In the end, the mystery of Arthur (Boo) Radley was what really made me interested in this book and not give up on reading it. Arthur Radley, also known as Boo, lives next door to Scout and very few people have seen him. When I was reading about Scout’s, Jem’s and Dill’s scary stories and fun games made me wonder if Boo would ever come out of the house and talk to them, or ever make a appearance. During the whole book all I wanted to do was skip chapters and skim the pages so I could get to the part with Arthur (Boo) Radley.

As Harber Lee’s Book came to an end, the mysteries eased up, the story line was over, and the characters were reviled, I decided that I really liked the book. Although, the book was difficult to read at times, I did think that this book was great for educational reading about the 1930’s. I do suggest that other classes should read this but I don’t think I would read this book again.

Review Questions,

brenda63 — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 23:49:27 +0000

The most difficult things I thought was hard about writing my review/critique was for coming up with examples of why I liked the book and why I didn’t. The hardest was coming up with what I liked about the book because I didn’t like the book that much. Also I would have to say that exploring all my thoughts while reading the book and making sure I was writing all of my thoughts down when I was writing my review.

The strongest part of my review/critique is what the main thing that kept me reading the book and my examples from the novel to help explain why I liked this book. The explains that were strongest were when i was quoting the characters to help explain why I liked those characters.

The only new insight I got about life was these things possibly would’ve happened back then in the 1930′s because people were still discriminating against blacks and people in the south still didn’t like them. But other than that I didn’t develop any new in sights about life.

WN DBQ

brenda63 — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:10:39 +0000

Writing is a wave of comprehension that crashes with mind to express ones feelings, or improvements. With the months of school coming and going, writing in my writer’s notebook feels like taking a walk in the park. As a reader, writer and thinker I have progressed in so many ways.

As a reader I have progressed by getting a deeper understanding of what I am reading. By writing in my writer’s notebook I have been able to express a deeper thinking for writing and as I am reading I am able to get into the reading, by getting into the reading I am able to understand what is going on with the characters and what is happening in the story. I have progressed as a reader by being able to keep reading and knowing what is going on. It’s nice to know that I don’t have to stop and think what is going on. As a writer I have progressed by exploring my thoughts a lot more. By exploring my thoughts I am able to get a lot more in my writing and as I am reading and exploring deeper in my thoughts I am able to make more sense when I write. Getting feed back such as “instead of reporting, do more exploring of your thoughts!” (Scow, 11/2/09) is a nice way to help me get into a different thinking process and helps me go deeper in thought as I am writing. As a thinker I have progressed by getting new topics to talk about. With new topics to talk about, I am able to explore my thoughts and am able to think deeper in things that will help me with the new stuff that we are learning or what we have learned. Also, with new topics I am able to explore my thoughts more than just repeating myself when I write about the ideas we got on our pink handout sheet that we got at the beginning of the year.

Although, this year is still going on, I hope that I will keep progressing as a reader and that I will keep being a good reader, writer and thinker. With new topics, new readings and a better way to express my thoughts I will be able to progress as a student in reading, writing, and a thinker.

Childhood Story.

brenda63 — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:31:58 +0000

Dear Diary,

You would never believe it! I just got back from my black belt testing! I am now a black belt! My dawn number is 46015 only four people away from the person who runs our group. And guess who is running our group… It’s my sister Amanda! So Friday I didn’t go to school because my sister, mom, and dad are part of the staff so we drove up to Breaking Ridge at like 8 in the morning. I and my friend had to stay in the hotel room all day until 6 at night because our parents were at the meeting all day and we weren’t allowed to be in the meeting. We left at 6 because we had to go to the main testing floor so the testing could start. It started out the same. All Grand Master Seo did was talk about what was going to happen and what he had in store for us.

We started out on forms. Mostly the basic forms such as basic one and two. Then we worked our way up to the harder ones. People were messing up a lot because on how nervous they were. Everything was going good until my sister, Morgan, and I were called to the front of the room. Grand Master Seo asked the rest of the room to be quiet and to sit down so we could perform a form because he was planning on having us be at the front of the group. We performed and he set us up as Morgan first, Amanda second and I was third.

“Brenda,” Grand Master Seo asked. “Do you mind if your sister was in front of you?”

“No sir,” I replied automatically.

He sent us back to our group. I was shaking so hard, I thought I was in an earthquake!

The rest of the night went by in a blur! It was watching a movie on fast forward it felt like. We ended up getting out around midnight. And let me tell you I was tired! I feel asleep right when my head hit the pillow.

Saturday was the hardest day that I could probably have ever had! We woke up at 6 in the morning and got ready. We headed down to the main floor again and lined up. After role call we found out on a 5 mile run. So ran upstairs to change. It was a big wake up call.

Splash, splash, splash! The puddle that I had ran through was really cold. When I got back I was almost the middle person to arrive back. I was breathing so hard. I just decided that running up in the mountains is not fun at all. I ran upstairs and got changed and headed downstairs with my family again. This time we were doing forms, sparring, board breaking, one-step sparrings, self defense, written exam and running around to every other room that was made for testing. We ended up getting a dinner break and being told that we were done with the bad part the only thing we had left was a lot of talking and the re-testing would be held when we were all done.

I was really tired after that. I went bed around 11 that night. It had been late nights that whole weekend. I was happy that Sunday was going to be that last day and all we had to do was that get our belts and some more talking. I went to sleep with a smile on my face wondering where I would be standing in my group.

I woke early today. And ate breakfast. My family and I were anxious so we went down to the testing room early. When we got done there a lot of people in our group were already done there too. The testing started at 10. After the other groups got there belts and stars my group was called up. After we were taking off our belts I was really anxious. After the 10^th person for the top was called I was really wondering where I was going to be. 9, 8, 7, 6…… then I was called! I was number 5 to the top! That is pretty impressive. Then after I was called it went down, 4, 3, 2, and Amanda was called. She was the leader! I was shocked! Speeches were given and I had to give one! It was my whole family up there. I was nervous but I was able to do it! Now I’m a black belt and I cant wait to learn the new material! Well I’m going to bed, it was a long weekend!

December Blog.

brenda63 — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 03:38:46 +0000

I could feel the excitement running through my veins it was like a waterfall that was rushing off an edge of the cliff. It was September 18 and was the Broomfield Days Parade. The karate school was meeting there because we were in the parade and the DEMO team was performing throughout the parade. I was on the DEMO team. We had been practicing all of 2 months and for about 2 hours a day. My karate instructor knew we were ready. We parked and I went to the back of the car and grabbed my Bostaff, a long performing stick the DEMO team and I were using to in our performance. I walked up to find my team huddled in different groups practicing moves. I had joined the group that was practicing the Bostaff. I could remember the first day I went to DEMO team practice. The first thing we learned was the form we would perform. It was full of punches, kicks, and hand chops. Each move had to be to perfection. After that, that was when the real fun started. DEMO team practice was the hardest. I remember my karate instructor teaching us each form. The Bostaff form is the one form I could do in my sleep. It’s the one I remember the most. Turning, spinning, flinging and punching. We spent weeks learning this form. So the day that we would perform it, we wouldn’t drop our Bostaffs. Through the weeks the hardest part in that form was the baseball swing. While you were turning and walking backwards you had to bring the Bostaff behind you, twirl it, and making sure your moves were all clean. It was the only part we had to take out of our routine, and out of the form. That year we performed in front of the judges and did really good. But we couldn’t stick around to hear that we had placed. We had to go to Arvada so we could have our Prep cycle, a test that the Grand Master could see that we were ready to test in Breaking Ridge.

Vignette

brenda63 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:40:12 +0000

Three months of high school has come and gone just like a snap of your fingers. Seeing the changes were like watching the seasons change from summer to fall, fall to spring, and spring to summer. Opening up is one of the hardest things anybody could ever do. Trying to break down a wall that was to protect me. The wall was my safe zone, hiding me and keeping me from breaking free. It kept my hands tied behind my back, keeping me from making friends and hanging out with them. It kept me surrounded so the only way to look out was up. When the wall came crushing down, it was like a river that was rushing off a ledge that created a waterfall. So fast and powerful. The many secrets that had been locked up in a mysterious door had been unlocked for the first time in years. The many secrets and advice I was so willing to hide and not take came whispering to me. The whispering was like the wind weaving in and out of trees in a forest that was close by.

I felt free. An eagle soaring through the air kind of free. Meeting new people and hanging out with them was the easiest thing a person could. Going to the movies and the mall, having sleepovers is the easy, fun, and relaxing. It is a wave that’s ready to break the stillness of the ocean. But the changes have stopped so far, hoping I think a change stopped in the middle of a season. I’m still waiting and that wall is still waiting to re-build.

Second Month Of HighSchool and Loving It!

brenda63 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:04:16 +0000

My second month of high school has been really fun! I have learned how to get to class to class without getting lost or being late. I have learned at school about many things like SOAPstones, Writers Notebooks, and about the Civil War and about Western Expansion. What I’ve learned about myself is that you can lose your friends that you have been close to for a long time and that as you lose them you will always gang new ones. You’re able to grow up and mature between the months and that you will always be changing.The things that are most challenging has been that you’ve got a lot of homework and that you need to make time for all the assignments. And that you can’t have anything late, if you miss a day you will be up, up to your head in homework and assignments that you missed and that you have to make up. I have overcome these difficulties by making time and doing my homework right after school, so everything I learned that day is still fresh in my head.The things that are surprising are how many upper classmen are really nice and they will talk to you if you are nice. I wouldn’t want to do anything different because I wouldn’t have learned from any of my mistakes. I would most differently go back to homecoming and do that again, because it was a lot of fun. I try to using the SOAPstone for many things but I can only really apply it to my third hour class.So far high school has been extremely fun and I am hoping that this wont change for the next four years I am here.

My First month of High School

brenda63 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:31:31 +0000

My first month of high school has been amazingingly fun. I’ve learned a lot in all of my classes and a lot about myself as well. In American History I have learned about Reconstruction and the Civil War. The things I learned about me is that I don’t need to be the most outgoing or funny person around to have my friends laugh I can just be myself. Also, I have learned that you shouldn’t become another person or change who you hang out with just because one of your friends don’t like the person. I’ve learned not to live in the past and to just move on with my life.The things that have been most challenging for me have got to be balancing my school work, sports and friends throughout the week and trying to make time for everything. To overcome my difficulties I have decided to take my time and make sure that I understand the difficulties and then try to figure them out. Some things that have been surprising is that you will have upper class men in your other classes and it’s not just kids in your own grade. I wish i kept my class schedule for next semester because I’m not sure where my first and second classes are, and I would make sure I had no missing assignments or late ones either. And I would make more time for things and I would have more fun. Also, I would make sure that my time was better kept so i didn’t have missing things or late things. But, this semester has been surprisingly fun and I’m excited for the rest of my ninth grade school year.