Traditional Schooling VS Online Schooling

Today, numerous students throughout the world spend countless hours staring at a computer screen, television, cellular device, and other technologies. Due to this fact, traditional schooling is much more beneficial to students lives. With the increase of social networking on websites such as Twitter and Facebook, it is almost impossible for students to stay on task while at the computer.

With online schooling, these addicting websites are just a click away. With the temptation of checking your Facebook at your fingertips, makes learning more difficult do to distractions. Not only will you be checking these websites, you will be thinking about checking them instead of comprehending the material you are being taught. Along with disrupting your thought process and learning, staring at a screen cannot be beneficial to your eyes. Sooner or later, your vision will begin to ware and headaches could occur. It is clear that online schooling would decrease your learning abilities.

Traditional schooling is more beneficial to students because there are less distractions and more encouragement. In a typical classroom, students do not have their computer out in front of them; students’ have a pencil, paper, a teacher, peers, and other hands-on materials. In a traditional classroom your teacher is encouraging you to learn as well as your peers helping you understand the material. Physically taking notes keeps your mind off of social media and causes your brain to interact with the information you are learning.

Apple products, video games, cellular devices, and computers have not become a recreation for teens; they have become a part of daily life. Interacting with peers and teachers should not be done through the Internet. Classrooms get students away from computers and into their notebooks. Traditional schooling is the most effective way for technologically savvy students to learn. 

Why Does Genocide Happen?

  Why Does Genocide Happen?

            Genocide is the killing of a large group of people due to their ethnicity or nationality. This is an extremely terrible thing that should not be going on in this world today. The most popular genocide we all know of is the Holocaust where the Nazis killed the Jews because they were Jewish. The Holocaust shows how impacting genocide truly is to the world.

            How many people are actually aware that genocide is still happening today? I was one of those people who were unaware of what was actually going on around the world. After researching multiple modern genocides, I found that genocides are still a huge issue today. For example, in Grant Solis’blog, we find that there is a modern genocide in Darfur where more than one hundred people continue to die each day and five thousand die every month.

But why does genocide happen?  Generally, genocides occur because one group of people that have a higher power over another group thinks that the other groups of people are causing problems in a certain country. In Holly Matthews’ blog, we find that the conflict in Darfur began when the government was accused of favoring Arabians over Africans. Darfur had previously faced many years of tensions over land rights between the Arabs and African tribes, which thus sparked a rebellion. Genocide is a terrible world issue that needs to come to an end.

Modern Genocides: What Really Goes On?

Genocide In Darfur

   In spring of 2003, we saw the start of genocide in Darfur after two Darfur rebel movements were launched against the government military. "About the size of Texas, the Darfur region of Sudan is home to racially mixed tribes of settled peasants, who identify as African, and nomadic herders, who identify as Arab. The majority of people in both groups are Muslim” The people of Darfur launched these attacks to stand up for their political, economic, and historical power of Darfur. This genocide lasted six years and finally ended in 2009. More than one hundred people continue to die each day; five thousand die every month.

In May of 2004, Physicians for Human Rights investigated the refugee camps along the Chad and Sudan border, which confirmed that there was now genocide beginning in Sudan. On July 22, 2004 the United State Senate and House of Representatives adopted a joint resolution, which accused Sudan of genocide against the Darfur’s. The United States asked the international community to help the United States bring an end to the genocide beginning in Sudan. President Bush gave a speech in September of 2004 at the United Nations, which spoke of genocide, and Darfur.               

In January of 2005 the United Nations Commission of Inquiry found that the government of Sudan was doing extremely harsh things to the Darfurians. Sudan was killing, torturing, kidnapping, raping, pillaging and removing innocent Darfurians rapidly. Not only were Darfurians killed by the violence of the Sudan’s, but diseases and famine also killed them. The United Nations Security Council created a resolution to the genocide against Darfur in March of 2005 and President Bush was finally positive that there was a serious genocide taking place in Darfur. The Human Rights Watch said the Sudan government was spreading systematic abuses in Darfur in December of 2005 and in September of 2006, President Bush gave a speech to the United Nations reporting the violence and killings in Darfur as a major genocide. In February 2007, Sudan's Humanitarian Affairs Minister was charged with 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity which consisted of murder, rape, torture and persecution of innocent civilians in Darfur.

                  Finally, in July of 2010, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir was arrested which added three more counts of genocide to the list of what was going on in Darfur. Sadly, this genocide is still continuing right now. As we speak, roughly 400,000 people have been killed and two and a half million citizens of Darfur were forced to leave their houses and live in camps or refugee camps in Chad and the Central African Republic. Over 400 villages of Darfur have been destroyed in Darfur. This is a very serious situation that needs to be dealt with very soon.  

Vacation Mentor Text: Charlie St Cloud

Over vacation, our class was assigned to read or watch a mentor text or movie. I decided to watch Charlie St. Cloud as a mentor movie. My story, Colliding Paths, is a story about this rich snobby girl named April who does not really understand life. As she runs easily through life being rich and popular, April does not know what reality is. She meets this boy named Brayden who ends up being an angel that only April can see. I chose to watch Charlie St. Cloud to observe how other people viewed Charlie when he was talking to Tess as well as his old friend that had died because only Charlie can see these people.          

While watching this movie, I observed that the majority of the time Charlie is alone when speaking to the angels; however there were about three times when Charlie was talking to these “invisible” friends. When he was communicating with the angels in public and people were watching him, everyone just stared and looked confused. This wasn’t the best mentor text for me because it didn’t give me the clear understanding I needed to get as to how other people viewed someone talking to basically them selves. Charlie St. Cloud did influence me to make most of my story happen when they are alone and then work my way up to actually communicating in school in front of everyone because she will start to wonder why people believe she is crazy. Also, in the movie, the Girl that was invisible to everyone but Charlie, Tess, did not know she was invisible, she could see everyone and attempted to communicate with other people. This influenced me to show dialogue of Brayden speaking to class mates but having him be ignored because they can not see him. I believe that this will hide the secret of Brayden being a guardian angel, for a longer period of time.

Although Charlie St. Cloud was not the best mentor text for my story, Colliding Paths, it did spark a few new ideas on how I should set my story and add more dialogue, even though it will only be to trick the reader. But that is my newest idea, to not give away Brayden’s big secret until the end of the story. 

Interview On Chandler Mayberry

1) What is your story about?

My story is about a young girl who writes a letter to her mother on the same day as her death. The girl faces many challenges throughout this book and the only person who can help her is herself.

2) How did you come up with the idea of your story?

I came up with this idea on my own, for some reason it just came to me.

3) What works have inspired you to write this story?

The book Ellen Foster as well as Forest Gump inspired me.

4) What genre is your story?

            My story is fiction.

5) When does your story take place?

            My story takes place around the 1990's.

6) Where does your story take place?

            My story takes place in a small town in Kentucky called Mayberry.

7) What is the moral of your story?

            The moral to my story is to never give up.

8) Who is your audience?

            Everyone, or anyone who knows how hard it is to overcome something difficult.

9) What are the major themes of your story?

            I'm not quiet sure yet.

10) Is your book going to be a chapter book, a picture book, or somewhere in between? 

            It’s going to be written in letter formatting.

11) What is the climax of your story?

            The climax is when the abuse from her father begins.

12) Who is your favorite character? Why?

            Brooke is my favorite character because she is so strong.

13) Who is the main character of your story?   

            Brooke is the main character.

14) Is there a bad guy in your story? 

            Brooke's father is the bad guy because he becomes abusive towards her.

15) What conflicts do your character face?

            My character faces the conflict to survive and also to protect her brothers.

16) Are you going to have a conflict between any characters?

            The only conflict will be between Brooke and her father.

17) Are there going to be any conflicts within your plot?

            Yes and no I’m still working on that.

18) What obstacles do your characters face?

            Brooke faces the obstacle of the abuse and also trying to gain custody of her brothers.

19) What has been your greatest difficulty when writing your story?

Coming up with new ideas I keep getting a little of topic.

20) Have you suffered any writer’s blocks?

Yes, every time I start writing.

If you would like to read Dear Mommy by Chandler Mayberry click here

Ready, Set, Don't Go.

Becoming a senior had been a dream I thought would take forever to accomplish, everyone told me high school would fly by but I would just shake my head thinking they couldn’t be serious. It turns out everyone was right; moving to such a rushed and exciting town, as Plymouth, has made my teenage years come to an end much too fast.  

Being born in Arizona has always inspired me to go back because that is my true home. Since I was six years old I have dreamed of going to college at the University of Arizona, and that dream is still very alive. Living in Arizona is something I have always been ready for. With college just around the corner, I now have to make the decision if I would like to follow my dream or stay close to my family. This is not an easy subject to discuss with my family because we have never spent more than a week apart. My dad always sings, “Get Ready, Get Set, Don’t Go” to me because he doesn’t want me to go. I have come to realize this song is extremely relative to my life and thoughts towards going far away to college.

I know my dreams are way too big for Plymouth, and even though my parents want me to obtain my goals, they don’t want to let me go. Miley Cyrus says; “I'm at the startin' line of the rest of my life as ready as I've ever been. Got the hunger and the stars in my eyes the prize is mine to win.” This line always speaks to me because I know I can never give up on my dreams just to make someone happy. If I have enough passion and hunger to reach my dreams, then I will achieve what makes me the happiest.

With my high school career coming to a close, I am finding it very stressful to make the most beneficial decisions for my future. As my dad says “Get Ready, Get Set, Don’t Go”, I do not see it as a bad thing he is telling me. I know when he tells me this; he is giving me his blessing to strive for what I want in life, to obtain my goals, and to most importantly make decisions for myself. As much as he does not want to lose me to a state, thousands of miles away, he wants me to go so I never give up on my dreams; and as much as he tells me not to go, I am going to go to achieve my aspirations. 

A Twist to Personification

 We see them in the halls of school everyday. We call them ferocious, demanding, in-style, and extremely hot. No, they are not what you think, the popular girls of the school. These are not even humans, but they have a mind of their own and cause heads to turn. This is my blog post about the inanimate object, high heels.

Marilyn Monroe once said; “I don’t know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot.” To me, heels are unlike any other shoe on the shelf due to the idea that they show power. Heels are equivalent to the president in the shoe world. We have flip flops to represent the people in poverty, sneakers to symbolize the everyday person, and flats to signify the upper class; however, the heel seems to always come out on top in the fashion world. Why you ask? Because heels give people dignity. Meg Ryan stated; “When I wear high heels I have a great vocabulary and I speak in paragraphs. I’m more eloquent. I plan to wear them more often.” The elegance heels bring out; the more educated, responsible, and classy us girls become. Along with the sophisticated heels that women can wear to refined events, we also have the edgy heels.

Daring heels have become wide spread throughout the United States. When we approach a shoe store there are many displays showing five inch heals with an assortment of patterns; such as the fierce cheetah prints, the tasteful glittery patterns, and the eye catching snake skin prints. With this new fashion trend, no one can stay away from these new stilettos because they give the ‘shoe’ a whole new name. Wearing these shoes makes a bold statement; they scream confidence. A typical boring girl would not have the confidence to put on a pair of stilettos with cheetah print on it and wear them in public, no matter how much she loved the shoes. Heels are definitely a confidence booster; they make you taller, they make your legs look longer, they are cute, and they are inexpensive. High heels show men power, dignity, nobility, and put them in awe.  

Last Tuesday I decided to live a day in my most daring heels and all of this was proven to be true to me. People would stare with shocking looks as to what I was wearing and I received numerous questions. Although I got an immense amount of weird looks, the overall outcome of my shoes was a great choice because it stood me apart from everyone else for a day. I did something out of the ordinary and for that I gained a lot of self confidence. High heels are a simple way to make a bold statement, I think all girls should wear them for at least one day in their lifetime.