Reflection

1- What are the three most important things you learned this year? I've learned a lot in this class this year and I think the three most important ones should help me in high school. Like a technique called TIQA, it stands for Topic sentence, Introduction to quote, Quote, and Analyze. I will use for future essays in high school. It's a good strategy and way better than the C-EI one. Another thing I learned was a lot of new words. It really improved my diction and I sometimes use words that were on previous vocabulary tests. I also learned to participate more and how to discuss openly. Like in Socratic Seminars we learned to make the questions broad and able to be challenged. So it could start a discussion. 

2- What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life? It's difficult trying to remember the past things we did which already eliminates most. But, I think the most memorable was the UIC university trip. It's the most relevant and I will be reminded of it when I get into Junior or Senior year in high school. When someone mentions college visits or I start going on them, I'll think of the trip we had in 8th grade. 

3- What was the nicest thing someone in our class did for you this year? There was a lot of kind gestures and acts in the classroom. Since everyone typically got along easily. Like sometimes if someone needs to study the vocabulary words we'd let them borrow ours. Or how most of us test each other in the 5 minutes we have before the test. It's hard to say the nicest thing that happened because nice gestures happen to people all the time in the class. I guess the cheesiest thing to say is people let me be their friend and have conversations with them.

4- What is something you taught your teacher or classmates this year? If we're not talking about academics, I could've taught someone in the class to come prepared or something based on something I got in trouble for. Like I need 3 words (for prefixes) for Quizlet, someone overhears Mrs. Larson tell me that, then adds an extra word for each prefix. I didn't really play a teacher role at all in this class. 

5- In what area do you feel you made your biggest improvements? What is something you accomplished this year that you are proud of? I think I improved greatly in objective summaries. Also I think I improved a little in formatting in general. Since we've had all those lessons on thesis statements and conclusions. We've also practiced objective summaries almost every week of this year with AoW's.   

6- What was the most challenging part of this year for you? All the homework and essays, especially the essays. The homework wasn't really challenging more time-consuming. The essays just sucked the life out of me. I didn't really want to do it and my brain was just being lazy. I tried to get into the essay while proofreading so it could be decent. I usually got average C's on my essays. I think I might've done good on one essay, but not sure. 

7- What was the best piece of writing that you did this year? Why do you think it is your best? I think the best piece of writing was the Poe narrative we did. It was fun to write and also fun to read others' pieces. I enjoyed doing it unlike a lot of other things and got an A on it. It might've been a low A but still an A. It was a creative and fun experience. 

8- Of the books you read this year, which was your favorite? Why? Of all the books I read I'd have to say Night by Elie Wiesel was my favorite. I was always interested in learning about historical events. Whether it's bad, or good. It was cool being able to read and learn about the camps and things. Also, the experiences that one might've had. 

9- What advice would you give students who will be in this class next year? Some advice I'd have is to manage your time wisely. A lot of people say this because it's very important. You don't want to wait last minute to do things. Also, use your class time wisely. I remember sometimes I'd have stress-free nights because I finished homework in class and didn't need to finish it at home. 

Aphorism Blog

     The aphorism is about questions in life. Morrie was telling Mitch about how people think of non-important questions in life. The important questions, one you should focus on, should be about love, responsibility, responsibility, spirituality. An example would be how Morrie wanted to bring up Mitch's family, and he said to "love each other or perish." Morrie's main message was to think/question other things other than money and keeping with the culture. "We are too involved in materialistic things, and they don't satisfy us." Morrie states this when discussing about how everyone is deficient, spirituality-wise, in some way. To think about love, your responsibility, spirituality, and your awareness towards the world and other things you might overlook since you're "sleepwalking through your life". 

I agree with what Morrie is saying, we should think about the most important questions in life, so we can try and live it to the fullest. The aphorism was practiced as a homework assignment. To look around your neighborhood and see all the things you missed in life. In a way you think about awareness and how you're missing out on some things in life. 

Aphorism: The important questions have to do with love, responsibility, spirituality, awareness

  

Tuesdays with Morrie Blog 4/29/15

Based on the 6 Tuesdays you have read about in Tuesdays with Morrie, choose which topic (The World, Feeling Sorry For Yourself, Regrets, Death, Family, or Emotions) that has had the most impact on you or inspired you. On your blog discuss the importance of this topic with your own opinions, including textual evidence (direct quotes) from the book.

     I think the third tuesday, regrets, has impacted/interested me the most. In this chapter Mitch starts thinking about possible regrets he would have if he started dying. Like any secrets he wanted to tell or apologies. He asked Morrie and he said, "It's what everyone worries about isn't it? What if today were my last day on Earth?" This gets Mitch thinking about his own life, him at his desk writing an article and then getting ill. Seeing his editor snatch up the story as the medics take him away.

     Morrie sees the ambivalence on Mitch's face and goes on to say, "the culture doesn't encourage you to think of such things until you're about to die." Then went on about how no one really thinks about their life or their things because of little challenges they're faced with everyday. No one steps back and evaluates their life naturally, they need someone to guide them into thinking/doing that.

     I chose regrets because of it's main message. Which was that everyone has some regrets and most of the time people don't think about them/their life because of the culture. Everyone always has a challenge or something to do. No one can naturally "take a step back" and see if they like their current position. If it's all they want or not.

Tuesdays with Morrie 4/23/14

Pages Read: Whatever we needed

     My initial reactions to Tuesdays with Morrie were mixed. The beginning seemed nice with a college graduate saying goodbye to one of his favorite professors. Then it went on to tell what happened to Mitch, the college graduate. How Mitch had wanted to become a famous pianist and it was rough. After college he had lost contact with a lot of his friends. Including his professor who had cried when Mitch had left. Which made the happy tone in the beginning go down. It shows the reality and hardships that come after college/in real life. The book started showing how you'd hardly stay in touch with old friends and you can't always get your dreams. Although Mitch did get very successful. It's hard to say my reactions, I was just kind of taking the information in. But, I can say this book's portraying a more happy/hopeful mood to anyone who reads it. With a few reminders that not everything's peaches and cream.  

     Tuesdays with Morrie follows a dying professor. Who overall teaches you to not take life for granted. Even though Morrie is dying, he stays optimistic and tries not to feel sorry for himself so much. Which is a great take/perspective to take when you're dying. A bucket list hasn't come up in the book yet but it's one of the things that are highly associated with death. They usually include fun/scary new things to have done before you die. This is my bucket list.  

-Go down Route 66 with just a Harley Davidson motorcycle and a dream. (And money, of course.)

-Go to college and stay for at least 4 years.

-See how hard farmer's lives are and based on that temporarily become a farmer

-Rent a sports car and drive it full speed (In a controlled environment.)

-Live life to the fullest

-Become independent and stable at young age

-Skydiving.

Life Is Beautiful Blog 4/16/15

     Life is Beautiful and Night both have what usual Holocaust things contain. For example, there's always a showcase of life before and ends at the liberation. A very great connection made was that both fathers died right before liberation. There was also a situation in which the family was separated. Causing the father and son to bond. Although in Night the father/son band was more special since the father and son never usually communicate or hang out with each other. In Life is Beautiful the father, Guido, constantly protects his son's innocence by telling his son that the camp is a big game.

      What events, scenes, or situations are similar or different? What is similar or different about the mood or tone of the pieces? As stated before, the likes and differences are things like family separation, and father/son bonding. Both have a grim mood and only Life is Beautiful had a comedic mood throughout the film. A big difference that I found was that in Night, the prisoners were cruel and one even killed his own father for bread. In Life is Beautiful, most of the prisoners played along and helped preserve Joshua's innocence. 

     Life is shown as beautiful and is easily spotted in the beginning. Guido meets the woman of his dreams. After marriage, they had a kid and Guido opened up his bookstore. Although he did have to make the books half off, he was living his dream in a way. Then in the camp, Life is beautiful because for the most part, everyone's alive. Also, Guido got to comfort/give his wife a sense of security that everything was ok twice. Once by using the speakers and the other time by playing the song they heard in the play when he was a waiter for the camp. 

Night 3/31/15

Pages Read; Done
Prompt: How has Wiesel changed through the book?

     Eliezel Wiesel has changed a lot in the book, one example is religion. In the beginning of the book he wanted to practice it and found Moshe and asked him to teach him all about his religion. "Why did I pray?... Why did I live? Why did I breathe?" Elie started questioning things like if God was actually watching him and why would he let this happen to them. Instead of being really religious he started losing faith in his religion.

     Elie has changed emotionally too. When his father died he said, "I did not weep, and it pained me that I couldn't weep." Elie said this once he woke up and saw that his father had been missing. He also states earlier in the book that most people to be hung never cried, since they were out of tears. Elie is way less likely to cry now than before.

     Elie and many other prisoners are now on survival instinct. They'll do anything to help themselves. For example, Kapos are Jewish prisoners turned into leaders. One told Eliezer, “Here, every man has to fight for himself and not think of anyone else… Here, there are no fathers, brothers, no friends. Everyone lives and dies for himself alone.” Eliezer had a though that he should be getting his father's rations and he shouldn't help him, then feels really guilty afterwards for even having that thought.

Butterfly Project

I commented on Steven's, Citlalli's, and Jesus' blog.