Passion Project Progress

My passion project has been going very well so far.  I have researched the specialty dishes from each country that I am interested in.  Also, I have found many of the recipes and I am very excited to start making some of the dishes.  One problem that I have faced is that I sometimes can't find the recipes because they are from different countries.  However, once I looked at multiple websites I was able to find all of the recipes.  Since I have finished all of my research, I have to make up a sheet that is almost a "questionnaire" for each dish that I plan on making, comparing it to the U.S foods.  Also, I have to actually start preparing some of the meals and desserts.  I plan on making one entree and one dessert from each country.  I will then compare my answers on my questionnaire to answers that I find on the internet and in books that I can use about culinary arts from certain countries.  I will see if I pick up on the main differences, and if I didn't, I will try and see why I didn't.

Grades

       100%. What does that mean?  To me, it means that I did an assignment perfectly.  However, I don't like how numbers define how much material I know.  Nothing goes into my head and can detect exactly how much knowledge I have on a scale from 1 to 100.  In my opinion, the current grading system is okay, but if we combined it with the "new and improved" system, Standards Based Grading, your grades would be represented more appropriately.

       What is the purpose of grades? Do we even need the current grades that we have?  I believe that the purpose if grades is for schools to assess your abilities.  Also, I think it helps them place you in the classes that you need to be in.  In addition to that, I think it is for other schools that you may be interested in attending to see if you are a good contender for their program.

       I don't think that the current grading system represents my knowledge.  For example, this year in my English class, the highest grade we can acquire is a 95%.  My teacher tells us that no writing is perfect, and I agree that you can always change at least one thing to make it better, however if we meet all of the requirements for the essay, I believe that we should receive the grade that we deserve, a 100%.  In this way, I think that our grade is "fake" and we can't go by what this grade is to assess our knowledge because we were in a way given a false grade.

       If we combined Standards Based Grading with the current grading system, I think that our grades would be more accurate.  We should still be given an overall grade, but that should be the only number grade that we have.  Under that should be the topics that were focused on with either a 1,2,3, or 4 next to it to tell is where we need improvement.  With that, I think that we would learn more and be able to know where we needed to spend most of our time studying.

8th Grade Year

My 8th grade year has been going very well this year.  I have made many new friends in addition to the new friends that I made next year.  I enjoy all of my classes this year, especially ROGATE, because they are all so much fun.  Outside of school, I am on a dance team, and that is one of the things that makes me the happiest.  I love to be able to see my friends from New Egypt that are also on the dance team.  Without that team, my life would be kind of boring. It makes my life so much happier and so much better.

The Giver

"Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo." The last two sentences of The Giver sparked debates in classrooms around the globe.  I think the music Jonas hears is coming from Elsewhere, a town where not everything is perfect, and not everyone is perfect, a community unlike the one he left behind.  Elsewhere is somewhere with color, feelings, memories of past times, a place where you could love and be free.  I believe that Jonas and Gabe made it to this place called Elsewhere, and they lived a happy, care-free life.  

Interview One:

In an interview, a student asks that by writing a "sequel" other than his brief appearance in Gathering Blue, called Messenger, doesn't it ruin the ambiguity of the ending?  She responded by saying "It will, for some readers. But it didn't for me, because it allowed me to tell MY version of “what happened.” Actually, the new book, Messenger, will very likely leave readers thinking about what might happen next as well. A good book always does that, I think: leaves you satisfied on one hand... answers a lot of questions... but also starts you asking new ones."  Lowry says that she likes when you argue about the ending because it really makes you think.
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/lois-lowry-interview-transcript

Interview Two:

In another interview Lois Lowry was asked "Do you think that love for the book made you feel a certain sense of responsibility? A need to give readers an ending?" Lowry answered by saying, "I suppose I did. Not consciously. When you ask the question, I realize I must have. Mostly I felt I wanted to tie things up, to make people feel satisfied with the ending. I know that, nonetheless, there will be some readers who will still ask, "Yes, but what about Gabe?" I think you can assume that he'll be OK." 
http://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/813.Lois_Lowry

Interview Three:

In the last interview I read, Lois Lowry states, "I will say that I find it an optimistic ending. How could it not be an optimistic ending, a happy ending, when that house is there with its lights on and music is playing? So I'm always kind of surprised and disappointed when some people tell me that they think that the boy and the baby just die. I don't think they die. What form their new life takes is something I like people to figure out for themselves. And each person will give it a different ending." 
http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/guides/give.html

I  think that Jonas and Gabe made it to Elsewhere, and that Jonas was able to move past the fact that he left his one and only true friend, the giver, and his so called "family" behind for somewhere he didn't even know how to get to.  Even though it seems at the end that Jonas sees the last memory that his has, the memory with the grandparents and the Christmas tree,  I believe he is actually living the memory.  The end of The Giver was arguable, but I strongly believe that Jonas lives.

Dance Teams

       I am planning to do my 20% project on various dance teams, such as high school dance teams, college dance teams, and professional dance teams.  I would like to learn about this because I am a dancer and I have been one since I was about 4 years old.  I would also like to know this because I want to go to a college with a dance team, and I would like to pursue a dance career.  However, I want to go to a high school with a dance team, too.  Additionally, I would like the dance team to be pretty competitive and successful.  

Materials needed:

Laptop/ Net-book

       There are a few anticipated obstacles that I could face.  One of them is my laptop could crash and I wouldn't have a source of information.  Another is if I can't use the laptop, I won't be able to do that much research.

       Someone I can consult about this project is my dance coach, Jenn.  She knows a lot about various dance teams.  I can also ask a teacher that my mom works with, Mrs. Taft, because she used to be on a dance team and she knows a lot about them.  

The New Year is Finally Here

           2012 was a very crazy, but amazing year.  Now that it is the new year, 2013, I want to take a look back at how I have changed, the world has changed, and how the people around me have changed my life.  First of all, I have become a better person.  I have learned how different things can impact my life and how different people can impact my life.  Many things have impacted me and changed how I look at life and how quickly things can change.

          In 2012, the world changed a lot.  The United States reelected Barack Obama as president.  A girl in Benghazi, Malala Yusofzai fought for her education and was a target for many people.  She believes that education for women is just as important as education for men, and she is 100% correct.  The world has changed a lot in the past year, some things for the better, some things for the worse.  I believe that 2013 will be just as exciting as 2012, and I hope there is less conflict.

           I have also learned a lot about life.  We should never take life for granted, because it can be taken away from you any second.  Many people were hurt by the bus crash that occurred this year at Chesterfield Elementary School.  It brought sadness to the entire town and surrounding towns, because many people were close to the people who lost their lives and were injured.  Also, in the beginning of the year, my friends and I were going through a rough time.  During that time period, I learned who my true friends are.  We eventually made up, but some those few months were some of the worst months of my life.  I now look at life as a privilege, and not something that you automatically get.

           Since it is the new year, many people make New Years Resolutions.   Some people, although are anti-resolution.  I like to make resolutions so that I have something to live up to.  Here is a list of some of my resolutions:

1. Get all A's all year long.
2. Be more optimistic.
3. Live life to the fullest.

Effects of Media

          Recently in class we learned about how the media affects teenage culture.  Our question was "Does the media affect teenage culture or does teenage culture affect the media?"  It's a question that really no one can answer, like the chicken and the egg, which one did come first?  Personally, I think its a little bit of both. The media definitely has an affect on teenage culture, and I think that teenage culture does somewhat have an effect on the media.  The media tries to intrigue teenagers and tries to get them to do certain things such as lose weight.  That effects the media and teenage culture at the same time.  

          The effect media has on a teenagers' body image is immeasurable, says teens.lovetoknow.com.      Many ads say that you need to be skinny to be pretty, which isn't true.  Many teenage girls want that model figure because they think that girls like that live a perfect life.  The girls do anything to become like them, and they end up hurting themselves in the process.  They go on crazy diets that make them sick, they exercise too much and they hurt themselves in the process.

              Teenage girls aren't the only people affected, however.  Teenage boys are also greatly affected.  They see advertisements for acne-free skin and automatically their instinct is to want that.  They also see ads with guys with toned muscles and they want the, so they go on crazy diets and if they want them that bad, they take steroids and that can get them in a lot of trouble if they want to participate in sports.

           Also, many ads for certain games and other things are violent.  This promotes violent behavior in adolescents.  Many people get very into these video games and they get aggravated when something doesn't go exactly how they wanted it to go.  This transfers into real life and they get even more angry at people and themselves.  Clearly violent ads have a negative effect on teenagers.

           So many teenagers change themselves every year because of the media.  If we didn't pay so much attention to what the media says, we would be an entirely different person, most likely.  I believe that we should pay some attention to the media, but our life shouldn't revolve around it.