Making the Invisible, Visible: The First Step...

The issue that our class is addressing is police corruption in Malaysia. It is important to resolve this issue because the police are supposed to be the people who are our role models, the people who keep peace. If they are corrupt, can we really trust them? Police corruption affects many people.  I think some of those who give the police officers' money don't realize they're not paying their fine; they're putting money into the police officer's pocket. I found it really surprising that so many police officers are involved with corruption. An article stated that there are 4,500 of 90,000 police officers involved with corruption. That's only 5% but 4,500 people is a lot. Studying this issue opened my eyes to the real world and that everything is not what it seems. Although I know more about police corruption now, I started off with pretty much no knowledge about police corruption, whatsoever. I knew that a lot of my family had experienced police corruption first hand, but I didn't know much about the whole system of police, and how many people were involved with corruption. The stations helped me get a general grasp about human rights and it helped my understanding grow. I'd studied human rights in 5th grade and 7th grade. This year, I feel like I fully understand them. Deciding on what to choose as a final topic was difficult because I wanted to go deeper into so many topics. It was interesting to hear everyone's opinions and reasoning for the topics they wanted to study most. I found the domestic workers' rights quite interesting but it's so important to have a good police system in Malaysia otherwise we can't do anything about many issues. For example, we can't help domestic workers if the police don't bother to do anything about it. In the end, I was satisfied with the choice that we'd made as a class. It was quite difficult to go through article after article, trying to find relevant information for our research topic. There are so many articles about police corruption, most of them being examples of police being fired or how much money they'd asked for. I couldn't find much about anything else. Using the school's resources helped a lot, though, otherwise it would have been crazy to search something up and find unlimited articles. The NoodleTools are very helpful because it's easier to gather information and cite the sources we used. I hope by the end of this unit, we will find ways for us to inform people about police corruption, so that something can be done to stop it.

How To Deal With A Dictator

To this day, dictators dominate their countries and suppress their citizens. Many are trying to stop them, in the best ways they can. Firstly, what is a dictator? A dictator is someone who rules the country on his own, and has ultimate power. Often, dictators misuse their power and, in most cases, end up making the whole world hate them. Most dictators are power hungry and omnipotent. Examples of dictators would be Julius Caesar, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jung Un. People are trying to take these dictators down from their power. In Julius Caesar, the conspirators chose assassination, but as the play shows, assassination isn't always the best option. Bit by bit, there are ways to remove a dictator from power. An example would be to organize a group of people to peacefully protest against the leader. Doing this will spread the word of how people dislike the leader and the leader may have to step down from his power, for the better of the people. Someone could also confront the leader. Talking to the leader may not take him down from power, but may make him realize how unreasonable he is being. Caesar had so much power, that he lost his sense of logic. Maybe all he needed was for someone to talk to him about it. Another solution coud be to cut off all trades and communication with the country so that the leader is forced to allow communications with other countries. North Korea has absolutely no communication with the rest of the world and a blockade could be a solution to that. Although there are many solutions to get rid of a dictator, sometimes it isn't always successful. There are still many dictators around the world and it's obviously going to be a challenge to get rid of them, but it has been done before, so it can be done again.

Girls Without a Voice

Chaeli Mycroft

Imagine not being able to move your hands or legs. Being wheelchair bound for life. Never knowing how it feels to have wind blow through your hair while running along the beach. That’s how Chaeli Mycroft, born in South Africa, lives. Born with cerebral palsy, she is wheelchair bound and cannot move her legs or hands. Despite that, she doesn’t let her disability stop her. Knowing how it feels to have almost no independence, Chaeli created the Chaeli Campaign, helping over 3,000 disabled children a year. The Chaeli Campaign started because she wanted to buy herself a motorized wheelchair, giving her more independence. She raised the money she needed within seven weeks and realized she could help raise money for others. She was rewarded in 2011 with the International Children’s Peace Prize for all the good she’s done for South African children. She believes that everyone is born equal and free, with independence and rights, whether they are disabled or not. She wants to show other children that there is still hope for them, even when it feels like there is nothing to live for.


Chaeli fights for the rights of disabled children and the fact that they are born equal and free and they all have independence. Chaeli herself was born with limited movement of her arms and legs. As said before, the Chaeli Campaign started because Chaeli wanted to buy herself a motorized wheelchair, giving her more independence. Her family couldn’t afford a new wheelchair, so Chaeli, her sisters and her friends sold cards, flower pots and their own artwork to raise money for Chaeli. After raising the money she needed within seven weeks, she realized she could help other disabled children and their needs. “This project has become the Chaeli Campaign, a professional organization that annually helps more than 3000 children with disabilities in South Africa with equipment, physical therapy and which defends the rights and acceptance of disabled children. Chaeli inspires other children to start projects and for that she has developed an ambassadors program.” Chaeli’s own needs ended up helping more than herself because she raised so much money, she decided to help others and donate to them. Of course, Chaeli didn’t do it all on her own. Her sisters and friends helped her along the road, sacrificing their free time to help others. Although it’s tough to have to sacrifice your own personal life, it’s all worth it because Chaeli and her friends have helped so many people recover and gain hope.


Chaeli takes her own hope and shows other disabled children that there is still hope for them as well. Born with cerebral palsy, she was less able to do everything everyone else can. But Chaeli didn’t let that get to her. Instead of pitying herself, she turned her disability into her gift. She started the Chaeli Campaign to help other disabled children and to show them they still have some hope.  “‘Hope is what keeps us going,’ Chaeli said in her speech. ‘It’s what keeps us striving for the lives we deserve. I have hope for myself, but I also have hope for all other children with disabilities. I hope that my actions as an ability activist will leave the world more accepting and more accommodating for all people and not just people with disabilities, because we are all different and we all have the need to be accepted regardless of having a disability or not.’” Her non-profit organization helps over 3000 children a year, donating money, helping them get back on their feet by giving them equipment they need or physical therapy. Despite the fact that Chaeli is disabled, she competed in the world championship for ballroom dancing for the disabled. Chaeli doesn’t let her disabilities get to her and she shows everyone else that being disabled shouldn’t discourage them.

The work that Chaeli has done helped show over 3,000 disabled children that there is still hope for them, and that no matter what, they should know they were born equal and free, with rights, despite their disabilities. Chaeli’s own weaknesses encouraged her to help others who are conflicted with similar disabilities. Chaeli given the publicity of an award has motivated and inspired others to take action, letting disabled children know how it feels to move their hands or legs, possibly getting out of their wheelchairs and even feeling wind blow through their hair as they run along a beach.

Sources Used:
"Children's Peace Prize winner Chaeli Mycroft in South ... - YouTube." 2012. 1 Nov. 2012 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24zQ13hQfKI>
"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights." 2009. 1 Nov. 2012 <http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml>
"Michaela “Chaeli” Mycroft | Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans." 2012. 1 Nov. 2012 <http://ysa2012.mg.co.za/michaela-chaeli-mycroft/>
"SA Career Focus: Chaeli Mycroft." 2011. 1 Nov. 2012 <http://www.sacareerfocus.co.za/displayArticle.php?id=215>
"Michaela Mycroft winner of International Children's Peace Prize 2011." 2011. 1 Nov. 2012 <http://chaelicampaign-co-za.si-sv3825.com/news/michaela-mycroft-winner-of-international-childrens-peace-prize-2011/>
"2011 Chaeli Mycroft - Childrenspeaceprize." 2011. 1 Nov. 2012 <http://childrenspeaceprize.org/childrens-peace-price/2011-chaeli-mycroft/>

Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Vonnegut's message about the world in this story is that there is no way to make everyone equal and the world will be chaotic, no matter what. Now, we have so much freedom but there are still many countries where people don't have equal rights, especially women. In the story of Harrison Bergeron, people are given handicaps so that they're not better than anyone at anything. That takes the freedom away and makes everyone equal, but in a torturous way. "The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the  law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else." (pg 130) Everyone wears handicaps, such as weights - to make a person weaker, masks - to hide someone's good looks, and ear pieces - that make sounds every time someone thinks to much, to keep people from being smart. "It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn’t think about it very hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn’t think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains." (pg 130) In this story, everyone is equal, resulting in chaotic, mindless people following ONE person's rules. Although most people are equal, there is still one person in charge and she gets to rule the world and she has all the power. Despite how hard we try, we'll never have a perfect world because there will always be disagreements and oppressive leaders, etc.

Identity IS Worth Fighting For

Where I'm From
I am from lawn chairs,
and being terrified of bees in our garden.
I am from soccer practice,
and being the smallest in the class.
I am from ice skating lessons, falling on my butt.
I am from my seven pairs of Converse that I’ll never throw away.

I am from Clifford the Big Red Dog,and the Boston Red Sox.
I am from N’sync and Britney Spears,
and wanting to be Michael Jackson’s background dancer.
I am from Corn Pops,and grooming vans,
and being the youngest on the flight to Las Vegas.
I am from No means no,
and my parents calling me my Chinese name, Ka-En.
I am from the angry old neighbor next door,
and High School Musical marathons.

A tradition that’s passed down the line,
generation after generation.
Tea ceremonies to celebrate weddings, 
Chinese New Year and birthdays.
Prolonging the past,
and foreshadowing the future.


Who I Am
Braided, puffy hair, into a pony-tail.
Dark brown eyes.
Cracked lips.
A watch from my half brother in Hong Kong.
A hair tie on my other wrist.
A uniform with one button undone and both sleeves rolled up.
Some rolled up pants; they’re too long.
Scar-filled legs, full of mosquito bites.
An awkward tan line from the wrist band that I wore for 2 years on my ankle because my wrist is too small.
My signature pair of Converse, with two tongues, ruined from dancing, running and skateboarding.
Socks that keep sliding down my foot.
Ears lacking earrings because of my sensitive skin.
Nails covered with pink, black and white nail polish.
9 toe nails, covered in white nail polish, one hanging off.
Different.
Quirky.
Awkward.
That’s me.

Identity is something that's worth fighting for. Everyone is their own self and nothing can change that. You have the right to fight for who you are and you should be able to be yourself no matter what. Your identity shouldn't even have to be something that you have to fight for. People are designed to be different and people should embrace that. People may try to take your identity away from you and that's when you have to fight for you identity. There isn't a certain way you have to be. Tradition can be an obstacle there and although it's tradition, I feel it's not fair. Everyone should be able to be themselves. Also, there are stereotypes and gender "roles". People often think that women have to do certain things, like work in the kitchen and clean up, and men have to do certain things, like work and make all the money. No one should have to live up to those expectations because they're not even real expectations.

Prejudice and Bias

Throughout John Boyne's The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, there was a lot of evidence of prejudice and bias. Bruno's father was in charge of one of the concentration camps and he was clearly a big supporter of the Nazis. Bruno didn't understand much of what was going on and he just listened to his father and agreed that the Jews were horrible people. When he went exploring, he met Shmuel and talked to him through the fence. He didn't understand why the Jews were horrible people. Bruno asked his sister, Gretel, if there were such things as nice Jews. Gretel thought that was a very stupid thought and told Bruno that there was no such thing as nice Jews. She learned from her father and the tutor that they have. This suggests that prejudice is caused by what our parents think.

Prejudice is caused mainly because of what our parents think and what their opinions are. Children are very much influenced by their parents and parents teach their children so whatever the parents think, the children would most likely agree. Also, Bruno being a German family, many, not all, Germans were siding the Nazis and they encouraged what they were doing.

Prejudice is also highly affected by what people around you think, like peer pressure. If a group of people think something, another person is most likely going to agree. Another reason people would be prejudice is because they have a leader. Hitler didn't like the Jews and many people followed his lead, hence the amount of people against Jews.

Bruno and Gretel were influenced by their father and they believed that Jews were horrible people. Bruno was the only one who actually interacted with a Jew for a longer time period and he knows that Jews aren't actually bad people. This shows that the opinions of people most likely revolve around someone else's opinion.

Treaty Of Versailles: Fair or Unfair

The Treaty of Versailles was unfair towards the Germans. After the war was over, in 1918, people celebrated their victory, and they left behind the destroyed grounds. The defeated parties were punished and Germany was forced to sign a Peace Treaty, giving the restrictions that you couldn't even imagine.

In January of 1919, David Lloyd George, of Britain, Vittorio Orlando, of Italy, France's Georges Clemenceau and President Woodrow Wilson met for a Peace Conference to decide how to punish Germany for the destruction they caused. They decided on restrictions Germany must follow such as limiting their military forces to 100,000 men and there shall be no air force or submarines.

Although it is reasonable that Germany should be punished for the damage they've done, I feel it's too harsh to make them give up all the land that they had title over. In the end, Germany had to pay for all the damage they've done which added up to about $33 billion. A lot of Germany's land was taken from them and lost their mining lands, making it very difficult for them to pay for the damage they'd caused.

No Man Is An Island

The texts of John Donne's poem No Man Is An Island, Armin Greder's The Island and Jason Van Gederen's Mankind Is No Island video poem all have similar themes such as equality, prejudice, and humanity. In Greder's The Island, the man is treated like an animal. He was forced to stay in a goat pen and he was absolutely dehumanized. In the poem No Man Is An Island, describes how every man is a part of the continent and should be treated equally. The video poem mentions "who do you love". All of these different themes are somehow portrayed in these three texts.

These texts each have a way of showing equality as one of their themes. In Greder's The Island, the people of town treat him like someone different. As if he's not even human, the townspeople aren't treating him equally. In John Donne's No Man Is An Island, he speaks a lot about being a part of the continent and how mankind should never be left alone. This suggests that everyone should be treated equally and no one should be left behind. "Your truth, your thinking, your inner spirit; no different to me." These words were in the video poem by Van Gederen. This implies, yet again that all of mankind should be treated equally and that no matter how different we are, we are all the same.

Another theme that is shown in all three of these texts is prejudice. In The Island, the people in town first see the naked man and immediately think of him as a threat. They didn't even bother asking about his life story or the reason why he's come. They assumed he was danger, which led them to start rumors and lies about this innocent man. This shows that they made snap-judgements and that the townspeople were really prejudice even thought they thought they were being nice by letting him stay. In John Donne's poem, he's saying that everyone is equal and there should be no prejudice. The video poem quotes "I walk by you today, I always look away". This suggests that people are being prejudice and they don't bother finding things out about anything before judging. In the modern world today, all around us there are many people being prejudice and soon enough, no one is going to care about another person other than themselves.

The final theme that is represented in these texts is humanity. Donne's poem suggests that we should treat everyone with humanity because everyone is part of the continent. The video version of that poem shows clips of beggars on the street and no one is giving them anything. "Do we measure empathy by donations?" The Island has a lot about humanity. Firstly, the people don't seem to have any humanity judging by the way they treated the man who appeared on their island. Also, the way they dressed and looked according to Greder's illustrations, they looked like beasts almost. Not exactly as beastly as the circus men in The Great Bear but they weren't far off.

These three texts each use different techniques to portray equality, prejudice and humanity. Poems, videos and a children's story book. Although these may not seem like big messages read literally but they actually have a deeper meaning to them. The Great Bear was an allegory about rights and respect, The Island was a way of showing how cruel and prejudice people can be. John Donne's writing is a poetic way of showing how people should act and how people should treat each other. The video poem was a tear jerking way of showing how prejudice people can be and how people aren't even sure of what they love now a days. "What is it we love today? Do we love the people or place?"

Kindness

Kindness is always positive. You can receive or give kindness. Kindness is an action that is nice and makes you or someone else feel good. It could also be something that someone else does to you. In some situations, people might think they’re being kind to someone but really, they aren’t. If you give someone your math homework, you might think you’re helping your friend out because you’re helping them get their homework done but what you’re really not helping them at all. If they copy your work, they won’t understand the method or concept of the math and they won’t succeed with their grades.

Can kindness be negative? I feel that kindness is always positive. Shouldn’t kindness be from the heart? If someone forces you to be kind, I feel that it’s not your act of kindness. It’s the person who told you do it. Can kindness have faults? You might think that you’re being kind to someone but they might find your action insulting. Perhaps it’s just the thought that counts? If you WANT to be kind, then whatever you’re doing, must be kindness.

Today, while everyone was getting their makeup done for the play, people were getting really nervous and they were complaining that their make up looked horrible. I encouraged them and said they looked fine. I feel that’s an act of kindness because I was complimenting people and gave them confidence in themselves. I made them feel good and as stated before, kindness is all about goodness and positivity.

Learning Profiles: Profile D

Last year, Mr. Whiting came into our humanities class to help us figure out our learning profiles. I found out that I was a learning profile A. This year, he came again and I've discovered that my learning profile has changed since then.

To figure out my learning profile, we had to find out which hand, foot, eye and ear was dominant. Last year, everything was the right side. But this year, my hand changed to left hand dominant. Just that minor difference changed my learning profile to D.

With a learning profile D, I learn best by focusing on visual and auditory details meaning that I listen and look carefully at what I'm learning. Also, I learn by analyzing meaning I make sure to look at every detail in what I'm learning. I like to do things in an orderly fashion, opposed to doing things all over the place, randomly. I need to see and hear details in order to learn.

My learning profile shows that I'm a left brain dominant learner meaning I'm a logic learner, opposed to gestalt learner. Logic learners need to focus more on the big idea, which is what gestalt learners do. I also need to improve with my ability to think with more variety.

Since my left hand is dominant, (although I'm right handed), it is connected to the gestalt side of the brain which causes me to need to use my hands to learn. Another thing that might help is sitting in the back of the classroom where I can doodle without disturbing the rest of the class.

Although my learning profile recommends that I doodle, I find that doodling doesn't really help me. A lot of the time, I just have something in my hands to fidget around with. I like to be organized so I can learn efficiently. When I'm under stress, I might have difficulty to communicate details logically in a verbal or written way.

We Love Libraries!

Libraries are beautiful places. You get to read, use computers and research, all for free. If people took libraries away from us, many people wouldn't be able to do many things. A lot of people don't have access to books or internet in their homes so they go to the local library to do their research, work or homework. In the UK, many libraries are being shut down and people aren't pleased with that. People should be able to have access to free computers and books because some people may not be able to afford buying them themselves.

Books help people learn a lot and help people in life. Without books, students don't have access to a lot of information that they might need. Some schools might not be rich enough to have computers for their students. They might not even have their own library so they would have to go to a public library. If people close down the libraries, what would those unfortunate schools do?

In the UK, people found anonymous sculptures carved out of books as a protest towards the shutting down of libraries. A lot of people are unhappy with what people are doing and they are doing what they can to make themselves heard. This anonymous artist left the beautiful works of art everywhere around the library with tiny messages on them. They were very poetic and meaningful but the artist didn't take any credit for them.

I believe that people really need books and libraries not only for educational and work purposes but some people who really love reading, love the library and people can't just take it away from others. Some people who don't want to spend money on books for themselves go to the library to borrow them for free. People would have to spend a lot more money on books without the libraries and if people don't want to. They wouldn't be able to fulfill their crave for books without libraries.

Objects as Adjectives

If you asked me to describe myself in three items, I don’t know which 3 I would use because so many things can represent me! We had the option to do up to 5 items and since I didn’t know what to choose, I decided to use 5 items instead of 3. I chose to use my favorite childhood book Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, my passport, my dogs, my collection of Converse and my headphones for multiple reasons. I love reading, traveling, dogs, converse and music! I hope after you read this, you’ll understand why I love these things and maybe you’ll learn to love them too!


First off, I love reading. Not only does this book represent a lot of childhood memories, it also shows my passion for reading. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, is my first item because when I was younger and I couldn’t sleep, my mom would read this book to me. I remember sitting next to her on the bed and I would listen to her read. While she was reading the book to me, I would spot all the items that the author was referring to such as “a comb, a brush and a bowl full of mush.” As my mom was reading, I’d think that this book was sad because when I was little, I never liked to sleep at night and sometimes, I still don’t. Not that I don’t enjoy sleeping, I just never liked sleeping at night. I would say goodnight to everything in the book in my mind and as my mom finished reading the book, I remember my heart dropping. It was time to go to sleep. I don’t understand why I never liked sleeping. I guess I just wanted to stay up all day and night, playing or doing something fun instead of laying in bed, sleeping. My mom would make me warm milk if I couldn’t sleep and she still does it now, if I can’t sleep. Anyway, back to the book. This book holds a lot of childhood memories and when I look back to them now, I get this tingly feeling in my stomach and I feel like I’m a kid again and I like it.


Traveling. I absolutely love going to new places to discover what there is to see in foreign countries. I travel so much that I’ve had to get pages added to my passport! In 4th grade, my mom asked my teacher permission for me to miss a few weeks in school to go to London. He replied, saying that going to different places was a wonderful chance to learn. After he said that, I realized that going on holiday wasn’t just about having a good time in another country but it was an opportunity to be educated about a new place. When we went to London, we went to the museum and I learned so much! Traveling has become a part of my life and I’ve been traveling since I was little! We go to Hong Kong a few times a year and every time we go, I learn something new. I have loved every single place that I’ve visited and I can’t wait to do some more exploring! Not only do I love traveling but this passport proves that I really am American! A lot of my friends ask me if I really am American. For some reason, they don’t believe me. I was originally born in America and I lived there until I was about 6 or 7 then I moved to Kuala Lumpur. I like to call myself American but my whole family is Chinese. To make things clear, my nationality is American but the things I do are more towards the Chinese culture, not American. But my personality is more American. I talk like an American and I don’t have any accent. At least I don’t think I do? My passport is a very big part of my life and without it, I would be so bored! I wouldn’t be able to travel all over the world and I would be stuck in one country forever!


Why dogs, you ask? There’s more than “They’re so cute and cuddly!” When I still lived in America, my mom and dad were dog and cat groomers! They both worked in a grooming shop but then they started their own MOBILE grooming company. We had a van and it had a little grooming room. We would go to people’s houses and groom their dogs or cats in the back of our van! My family had a cat and dog at home and when I was born and my mom brought me home, she said our dog tried to protect my mom and she wasn’t so sure about me. Then, as she got used to me, she learned to love and protect me. I grew up pretty much surrounded by dogs so I love dogs. My dog and cat both died when I was 3 and since then, I’ve always wanted a dog. It took a while to convince my mom to get a dog in Malaysia. Mini, the white and black dog was adopted from someone. Their friend was moving away so they gave it to the person we adopted her from and that person had 2 other dogs and they didn’t like her so she gave her to me! The other dog was also adopted but from a different person. This person was a family friend’s son’s dog and he was at work too much and he couldn’t take care of the dog so he was looking for a new owner and my mom asked if I wanted another dog and of course I said yes! Dogs have become a HUGE part of my life and I plan on keeping it that way.


You’re probably wondering why I chose shoes. Shoes may not be a big deal for you, but to me, SHOES ARE AMAZING! Not only do I love shoes, I’m absolutely obsessed with Converse. It all started in 5th grade. I joined circus arts and it was required to have Converse. They could be fake but it didn’t really matter. I preferred to buy the real ones because the real Converse were better quality and there were designs that were more appealing rather than just a plain, dull color. I have a total of 7 pairs of Converse. One of them go up to just below the knee, 2 are the ones that go up to your ankle and the rest are just the normal ones. I like Converse because it suits my style. The thing about me is that I’m girly but there’s still a tom boy part of me and Converse are neither girly nor tom boy so I love them! I suppose you could say that Converse has become a part of my style.


Music. I’m not exaggerating when I say music is my life. Basically, my life revolves around music. Everything I do, I relate to music. When I’m in class, I often find myself tapping my foot or shaking my leg to a beat. I love singing and dancing and without music, I couldn’t do either. Whenever we have the learning profile tests or how we learn best, I always end up with a high score of a musical learner. Even though I’m not the best singer, in fact, I can’t sing at all, I still love it because singing helps me express myself. Same with dancing. I’ve always wanted to sing and dance. Even though almost every little girl wants to be a singer or dancer, I’m actually serious. I take singing and dancing very seriously and I hope one day I can do something in life with it! I listen to music very, very often. It’s pretty amazing how I don’t get tired of listening to music. My iPod means a lot to me because whenever I feel sad, happy, angry or even tired, I just take out my iPod and it makes me feel better, or happier or I fall asleep listening to music. I’ve found that I fall asleep easily when listening to music. I believe without music, my life would be miserable. That’s why I love music so much!

So now not only do you know what’s important TO me, but you now know more ABOUT me! These items are very important to me and I don’t know what I would do without them. I probably wouldn’t last long without these items. I would have taken a picture of my computer but the maximum was only 5 items. Also, my computer is getting fixed so I’m using my mom’s. My computer is also a VERY big part of my life. Firstly, because a lot of things in life now require a computer but also because I’m very into social networking. I’ve listened to all the lessons about being safe on the internet and I take it all to mind. I try to stay very safe and I don’t share personal information. Also, without my computer, I probably couldn’t survive. I also use my computer for music. I have iTunes on there so I listen to music from there too. I could go on forever, telling you why my computer is so important to me but then I would end up writing a book! To sum things up, I think everyone has different opinions and everyone depends on different things. For me, the items that I listed above are what I depend on and some might not agree but it’s my opinion. Right?

What's My Name?

If I said I was named after a dog, would you think I’m crazy? Well, go ahead and think what you want because, guess what? I was named after a dog. When we lived in Boston, my parents were dog and cat groomers. One day, my mom was grooming a cute, fluffy shih tzu, the same color as my shih tzu now. Fascinated by the dog’s name, she asked her colleges if it was a girl’s name. Delighted with their answer, she named me Cheyenne.

“Unintelligible speaker”. How could my name possibly mean unintelligible speaker? Am I truly that hard to understand? I must admit, I talk a lot, but people hear me clearly, right? This is one of the reasons why I think my name doesn’t suit me. If there was a name that meant “Chatterbox”, perhaps that’s what my name should be!

Comparing myself and my name makes me queasy. Cheyenne, a graceful, elegant sounding name. I’m anything BUT graceful or elegant. I like the name Cheyenne, but it doesn’t quite suit my personality. I have mainly, two personalities, one which I clip up my hair and dress very properly, and the other, where I just throw my hair into a pony tail and wear a shirt and shorts. When I think about it, Cheyenne seems like a name for a beautiful, rich girl that everyone knows and loves. Not at all what I’m like.

When I say the name Cheyenne, it gives me a calm, cool feeling. Like a relaxing day at the beach, lolling in the sand by the majestic blue water, watching the beautiful sunset. There are exceptions, though. If you say my name wrong, it would sound worse than the wicked witch of a teacher’s long, claws on the chalkboard. A lot of people don’t know how to pronounce my name. Sometimes they say: CHeeyeenee, CHeyeen or Cheeyen. I find it surprising that people, even from America can get it wrong, knowing that there’s a city in Wyoming called Cheyenne. It really annoys me that I have to tell people over and over again, how to say my name. Can’t someone just GET IT RIGHT?

The letters of my name make it unique. There are quite a few Cheyennes in the world... but they’re most likely spelled differently. Either Cheyanne or maybe even Shianne. After all, there’s a world of possibilities. I’m quite fond of all the letters of my name because they tie it together. The letters individually are quite nice too. Except for the C. It’s so bland and boring. When I try to find a signature, I can never figure out what to do with the C. It’s like a barren desert. No one there to keep it company, nothing to make it interesting. Absolute emptiness. At least there’s only one C in my name. Then we get to the Y. That’s most likely my favorite letter of my name. It makes me feel... bouncy. Whenever I write the letter Y, I always write it with a spring. If the bottom part isn’t curly and springy, the top is super round and makes me feel like shooting up from my seat, like a Jack-In-The-Box. Y. Yellow. Happiness.

All my friends have nicknames, but do I? No. The only nicknames I’ve had were my initials, CT, given to me by Mr. Sheflin, my sixth grade math and science teacher. My other nickname, which I really HATE, was given to me by my friends in America, Chey-Chey. (Shy-Shy) No one even bothered to come up with anything better, and I learned to deal with it. I used to think it was funny when people said CEEH TEEH! because Mr. Sheflin would always exaggerate things. It reminded me of him, one of my favorite teachers.

When I think about it, maybe I’m not supposed to have a nickname. Maybe it was all a plan. Maybe, my name meaning “unintelligible speaker”, was all a plan to get me to stop talking so constantly in class. Perhaps. but who knows?

Live Your Life To The Fullest

I chose the quote: "You should live every day like it's your last day because one day you're gonna be right." ~Ray Charles~ because I feel that it's very important to live your life well. We only have one life and life is too short to waste. If you waste precious time of your life doing drugs, drinking or smoking, you'll then realize, when you're dying, that you shouldn't have wasted your life like that and you could have lived longer. You only realize what you've lost, after you loose it.

Life is so valuable. That's also the reason I smile so much. I feel if you waste too much time being depressed or unhappy, you are loosing precious seconds of your life and instead of doing that, you should smile and have a good time!

Another reason why I chose this quote is because you should never think you'll never be right. Not only should you live your life well, but you should always remember that you're always right in some way. A lot of people in the world live in misery and think that no one notices them and they have such low self esteem that they don't believe in themselves. I feel that it's very important to know that people do care for you and you ARE right about somethings!

Basically, I just feel that we should "Live like we're dying" because happiness and life is just so important to me and I hope everyone sees how important life really is!

The Arrival of Good-Byes

This year in 6th grade, we have done many things in Humanities. One of the pieces of work that I am proud of is my video about the Pharaoh Khufu. I'm proud of it because not only did I enjoy it, but I think we did a very good job with the recording and we worked hard to find pictures and when I showed the video to my family, they were all very impressed.

Although I didn't really any problems in humanities, I think one of my difficulties was finishing projects in time. Even though I used my time wisely and did them at home, I still had a bit of trouble and I ended up rushed a little near the end of our projects.

This year, humanities has taught me a lot of myself. One of the things that I learned is that I actually enjoy literature circles. I used to dread them because they were so much work but I really enjoy talking about the book that I'm reading because we predict and we try to figure out what is going to happen next.

Self Evaluation:

a) Behavior

Could be improved
Satisfactory
Perfect - the model student

Explanation: I think I have been well behaved for most of the year but sometimes I've been pulled off task a few times and sometimes I talk too much.

b) Participation

None
Satisfactory
Actively participate in class

Explanation: I feel that I have participated well in class because I know that I have asked many questions and raised my hand a lot in class.

c) Organization

Needs serious help
Satisfactory
I'm super organized

d) Effort

Needs serious help
Satisfactory
I always go above and beyond what is required.

If I had to make two goals for seventh grade, they would be:

Goal 1: In seventh grade, I plan to improve my persuasive writing because I find that I have trouble figuring out what to write even though I know the format of what I have to write, I just don't know what to write it about.

Goal 2: In seventh grade, I plan to improve my note taking skills because I remember that I tend to write to much when I take notes.

All that I want my teachers to know about me is that I like to do activities that all the students are involved in and that involve activities. I also like technology and I am the type of person who likes using the computers more than pen and paper. Despite that fact, I like to do it the old fashioned way with pen and paper every once in a while.

I would say that my favorite activity in humanities was literature circles because discussing the book that I'm reading really helps me understand because sometimes if I don't understand the book or a part of the book, I can just ask the people in my group to explain it to me.

I really wish we could have finished our auto-biography books that we started making because we put a lot of effort into starting it, it's a shame that we didn't finish it.

The only advice that I could give the next students are:

• Do not procrastinate
• Do your work on time
• DO NOT CHAT IN CLASS!!! (unless it's about work)
• Help your friends in class
• Stay on task
• Don't talk while the teacher is talking
• Respect everyone around you and accept their ideas
• Read the lit circle books carefully so that you don't get confused

Killer - Pretty Little Liars

Killer - A Pretty Little Liars Novel

By: Sara Shepard

I think this is one of my favorite books I've read this year. I'm reading the Pretty Little Liars series at the moment and I think Killer is the most exciting so far. I'm on the book Heartless and I haven't finished it yet.

Killer is very exciting to me because of the suspense and the action. The book is about four girls trying to figure out the mystery of their best friend, Ali's disappearance. Along the way, one of Hannah's (One of the girls) close friends, Mona, betrayed her by pretending to be a person called A. She wrote them letters about secrets that only Ali would know so the girls were all freaked out about the notes and letters.

I feel that the whole plot of the series because it's very exciting and has a lot of suspense. I enjoy reading books that have suspense because the author keeps you coming back for more and you don't want to put the book down.

This book made me think of the shows on TV where there is a murder and the FBI's are trying to figure out what happened but in the book, it's the four girls who are trying to figure out what happened because they might not be able to trust the cops.

This book has challenged me because I normally wouldn't read mysteries. I did when I was younger but I couldn't find any books that seemed interesting for me to read so I stopped reading mystery books for a while. Now, I think I'll start reading more mystery books because of the suspense and I now know that I love mystery!

I wouldn't read this book if you don't like to be caught hanging because at the end of each book, the author writes about something very important but doesn't say much about it. If you don't like to wait to get the next book, then I don't think you should read this series because that's all they do! Also, I wouldn't read this book if you don't like murders. There are a few murders in this series.

Literature Circle Response Two

Chapters 16-18 in the book The Giver by Lois Lowry have to do with freedom. In Jonas's world, as I've said in my last blogpost, is controlled. The people in his community have no control over their life. They don't get to choose what job they get. Their jobs are chosen by the people of their government who observe each person and give them a job based on their personality. There are no colors, no music, no hills and nothing that could cause conflict.

These chapters have to do with freedom because Jonas learns about love. He confessed that he liked the feeling of love. He discusses love with the Giver and when he gets home, he asks, " 'Do you love me?' " (127) and his father says that he shouldn't use that word. He said that love was equivalent to a swear word. Then, when Jonas was tucking Gabe in for bed, he shares secrets and talks about love with Gabe,
" 'Things could change, Gabe,' Jonas went on. 'Things could be different. I don't know how, but there must be some way for things to be different. There could be colors.
'And grandparents,' he added, staring through the dimness toward the ceiling of his sleepingroom. 'And everybody would have the memories.
'You know about the memories,' he whispered, turning toward the crib.
Gabriel's breathing was even and deep. Jonas liked having him there, though he felt guilty about the secret. Each night he gave memories to Gabriel: memories of boat rides and picnics in the sun' memories of soft rainfall against windowpanes' memories of dancing barefoot on a damp lawn.
'Gabe?'
The newchild stirred slightly in his sleep. Jonas looked over at him.
'There could be love,' Jonas whispered. " (128-129)

This quote from the book shows that Jonas wants freedom. He tells Gabe that he wants change. He wants there to be love. He wants there to be grandparents to comfort him.

This book talks a lot about freedom in general because of the way that most people can't see color. Only the gifted ones like Jonas, the Giver and Gabriel. There are many things different between our world and theirs. People think they have emotions but they really have no idea what emotions are. They would get upset about things that are unimportant. Children are grouped by age. For example, Eights, nines, twelves. The eights would get to start doing volunteer work. Then, when they become twelves, they get to receive their job. As you can probably tell by now, our world, in ways, is better than theirs. Their world could be better because there are no conflicts or bad happening but it is very boring.

The Giver - Literature Circle Post One

In class, we've received a new lit circle book. I am reading The Giver. In the book The Giver, peoples' lives are controlled for them. They get assigned jobs once they are 12. They call each other by age groups. For example, "eights, nines, elevens" instead of saying "second grader, eighth grader" etc. They also have adopted children. They come from Birthmothers and the baby gets sent to a care center and another family takes them. Each family is only allowed to have one girl and one boy.

We have to answer a question out of:
1. Would you want your future to be decided by others ? Why or Why not?
2. How do you feel about the "standard practices" and "rituals" in the community?
3. Why is interdependence fostered in the community?

I chose to do number 2: How do you feel about the "standard practices" and "rituals" in the community?

I think that if I lived in that type of community, it would be awfully boring. The people in The Giver wouldn't know the difference because they have never lived a life where they get to control their own actions. In Jonas's case, he's turning 12 and they are about to give him and 'assignment', meaning he's about to get a job. In the real world that we live in, we would choose our own job and get interviewed. But in The Giver, people observe you and give you your 'assignment' based on your personalities and your interests. I would also really hate to live in that type of community because you can't quit your job if you don't enjoy it. I would want to have my own opinion. Also, since the children don't get to stay with their biological mothers, I feel that they don't get the real experience of motherly love. I find it strange that people aren't allowed to get bicycles until they're nine years old because I know I would have wanted to ride a bike before then. I think that if the whole world were like The Giver, life would be much easier with no war, but then you would have wasted so many lives because they never got to live their life properly because they were being trapped and controlled and not spending their life with freedom and fun.

iMovie Self Evaluation and Peer Review

I've done it on my last blogpost. I evaluated two group's so I will do two more. Here are the rubrics:

My iMovie:

Content Rubric
Introduction~ A description of the pharaoh is relevant, factual and correct. Time he/she ruled is correct.	5	4	3	2	1
Pharaoh’s accomplishments ~ Clearly explains the important contributions the pharaoh made during his/her rule.	5	4	3	2	1
Architectural Achievements ~Clearly describes and explains the important buildings/monuments that were built during this time. Explain how evidence of their religious beliefs is shown in these buildings.	5	4	3	2	1

Skills Rubric
images ~ All images are relevant, interesting and of good quality (saved properly as a jpg). Images match narration throughout.	5	4	3	2	1
Narration ~ Voices are clear, loud and fluent with good intonation. It is obvious you have practiced your part before recording. No background noise.	5	4	3	2	1
Transitions & Effects ~ Subtle transitions between the parts of the presentation are used throughout. Any effects used only enhance the message and are compatible with the image content.	5	4	3	2	1

Dania and Johanna's -

I- Movie Presentation

Group members: Dania and Johanna

Pharaoh: Nefertiti Final Grade: 30/30

Your movie should be approximately 3 minutes in length ( no more than 4 minutes)

Content Rubric
Introduction~ A description of the pharaoh is relevant, factual and correct. Time he/she ruled is correct.	5	4	3	2	1
Pharaoh’s accomplishments ~ Clearly explains the important contributions the pharaoh made during his/her rule.	5	4	3	2	1
Architectural Achievements ~Clearly describes and explains the important buildings/monuments that were built during this time. Explain how evidence of their religious beliefs is shown in these buildings.	5	4	3	2	1

Skills Rubric
images ~ All images are relevant, interesting and of good quality (saved properly as a jpg). Images match narration throughout.	5	4	3	2	1
Narration ~ Voices are clear, loud and fluent with good intonation. It is obvious you have practiced your part before recording. No background noise.	5	4	3	2	1
Transitions & Effects ~ Subtle transitions between the parts of the presentation are used throughout. Any effects used only enhance the message and are compatible with the image content.	5	4	3	2	1

Notes:

I really loved their presentation. The introduction was wonderful because they said how long Nerfertiti ruled for and when she was born. I also liked the intro page because it was very creative. Their pictures were wonderful because they matched the timing and they matched the subject. The voice they used was very nice because they explained a few things then Johanna pretended to be Nerfertiti and spoke as if she was Nefertiti.

William and Cameron's -

I- Movie Presentation

Group members: William and Cameron

Pharaoh: Khufu Final Grade: 23/30

Your movie should be approximately 3 minutes in length ( no more than 4 minutes)

Content Rubric
Introduction~ A description of the pharaoh is relevant, factual and correct. Time he/she ruled is correct.	5	4	3	2	1
Pharaoh’s accomplishments ~ Clearly explains the important contributions the pharaoh made during his/her rule.	5	4	3	2	1
Architectural Achievements ~Clearly describes and explains the important buildings/monuments that were built during this time. Explain how evidence of their religious beliefs is shown in these buildings.	5	4	3	2	1

Skills Rubric
images ~ All images are relevant, interesting and of good quality (saved properly as a jpg). Images match narration throughout.	5	4	3	2	1
Narration ~ Voices are clear, loud and fluent with good intonation. It is obvious you have practiced your part before recording. No background noise.	5	4	3	2	1
Transitions & Effects ~ Subtle transitions between the parts of the presentation are used throughout. Any effects used only enhance the message and are compatible with the image content.	5	4	3	2	1

Notes:

Their presentation was short but enjoyable. Their voices had lots of echo but that wasn't their fault. The pictures were good but they weren't of Khufu although they did have to do with what they were saying. I also enjoyed the 'background music.' ;)

Victor and Ramon -

I- Movie Presentation

Group members: Victor and Ramon

Pharaoh: Ramses II Final Grade: 30/30

Your movie should be approximately 3 minutes in length ( no more than 4 minutes)

Content Rubric
Introduction~ A description of the pharaoh is relevant, factual and correct. Time he/she ruled is correct.	5	4	3	2	1
Pharaoh’s accomplishments ~ Clearly explains the important contributions the pharaoh made during his/her rule.	5	4	3	2	1
Architectural Achievements ~Clearly describes and explains the important buildings/monuments that were built during this time. Explain how evidence of their religious beliefs is shown in these buildings.	5	4	3	2	1

Skills Rubric
images ~ All images are relevant, interesting and of good quality (saved properly as a jpg). Images match narration throughout.	5	4	3	2	1
Narration ~ Voices are clear, loud and fluent with good intonation. It is obvious you have practiced your part before recording. No background noise.	5	4	3	2	1
Transitions & Effects ~ Subtle transitions between the parts of the presentation are used throughout. Any effects used only enhance the message and are compatible with the image content.	5	4	3	2	1

Notes:

The introduction was very good because they had all the required information. They included all the accomplishments as well. They also had the architectural information. The pictures matched their narration and the transitions were good.

Sorry about the spacing. I don't know what happened. I tried fixing it but it didn't work.