Q3 Week 3 Comments

I commented on Ricky's blog.
https://rickyenglish1.blogspot.com/2017/01/free-post-disney-world-parks.html?showComment=1485809881347#c2669634979326662011

I commented on Kaelyn's blog.
https://ksenglish1.blogspot.com/2017/01/reading-response.html?showComment=1485810020353#c5484436612726549509

Summer 2017

This school year has gone by so fast and I can't believe it is already two days away from February. It seems like summer was just a month ago, but it turns out we only have a few months until the upcoming summer. My parents have been talking about what we're going to be doing and seeing this summer, so I have gotten very excited already. Most of my June and July will be spent away from home. We're planning on going to Greece, Ireland, Spain, Dubai, and maybe Morrocco or London all in the short span of two months. We'll spend around a week to two weeks in each place.

It's been a goal of mine for a while now to visit as many countries as I can before I get too old. I also want to go to all seven continents. My dad and I love to travel more than anything and we strive to accomplish these goals. Now, I'll be able to cross off at least four or five more this summer. I'm most excited for Greece because of the beautiful white buildings and crystal blue oceans. I'm also thrilled because my parents have friends that live in Greece so they can show us local and fun places to go to. Overall, I think this summer will be one to remember and it can't come soon enough.

Reading Response to Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian through page 53

So far, Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is an interesting book on a 14-year-old boy's life on the Indian reservation. He is determined to go to a better school than the one on the reservation because a teacher had told him he was better than this school. This happens to be the same teacher that had his nose broken by this boy. This boy doesn't realize how under average his life is until this teacher shows him how old the textbooks are, how undetermined his parents are, and how all of the others on the rez don't have any perseverance. He decides to go to a school called Reardon 22 miles away. The problem is that his family is extremely poor, it's an all-white school, and his best friend Rowdy won't go with him.

I think that it's a bold move for him to leave everything his has at home to go to a different school so far away, especially since it's all-white. It seems like so far the Indians are way poorer than the white people and most of them aren't as smart because they don't get a good education. For example, they use their parents' textbooks. I'm not sure how he will get to school every day though because his parents can't always drive him there because of money and he can't just walk 22 miles. I also think this is a bold move considering the reaction he received from Rowdy. Rowdy will never forgive him for abandoning him but I don't understand why he didn't just go with him. They could've both gotten the education they needed if they went together.

Q3 Week 2 Comments

I commented on Sarah's blog.
https://sarahcenglish1.blogspot.com/2017/01/last-semester.html?showComment=1485180204497#c2056501854777546995

I commented on Anna's blog.
https://annakweb.blogspot.com/2017/01/last-semester-i-learned-about-time.html?showComment=1485180321035#c833223597571529635

Hagia Sophia

How has the Hagia Sophia changed in looks, religion, and purpose over time? The Hagia Sophia is a church found in the Byzantine empire or modern day Turkey. This church is different from a lot of churches because of the way it has changed. The Hagia Sophia has had to be rebuilt three times with a bunch of renovations over the years. The final time it was built it was made by Justinian. Justinian is a famous ruler who made this church to be Christian. This changed because later the Hagia Sophia was made into a mosque. The final product of this church is now a museum. Although it is a museum in present day, there are possibilities of it becoming a mosque once again.

This church has served many purposes. For example, it was the main church for Christianity in the Byzantine empire until the fourth crusade where it was made into a mosque. This church also has rays of light that look like it came solely from the church. Justinian and others thought this was a sign that it was heavenly. Another purpose for the Hagia Sophia was a symbol of gratitude for the Persians. Justinian built this church, along with others, to give to Persia. This is significant because this was a cause to the Byzantine empire becoming Muslim.

Stress

I've learned that in high school stress can come very easily and out of nowhere. One minute you might be perfectly fine and happy. Then the next minute you can be close to tears and overwhelmed. Not only is there school/homework, but there is after school activities, social life, and time for yourself to rest. Some days there just isn't enough time to spend on all of these categories. The problem is that all of these things should have some effect on your day. For example, if you don't get rest you'll do worse on school/homework.

The way I try to handle this is working ahead. Most people want to procrastinate and wait until the last minute. I'm not going to lie, I do this too. Although it seems easier to do it later, it feels way better to get your homework done sooner so you can play sports or talk to friends without the worry of more work later. I know that some days this isn't a possibility to work ahead so I take a power nap. I'll get home from school and take a nap for only 15-20 minutes. I know this seems like a short time, but it's all you need. Power naps really help me because when I wake back up, I feel a lot more energized and this helps the rest of my afternoon.

Comments Q3 Week 1

I commented on Jack's blog.
https://jackcenglish1blog.blogspot.com/2017/01/looking-back-on-2016.html?showComment=1484754124796#c172541385421689578

I commented on Sarah's blog.
https://sarahcenglish1.blogspot.com/2017/01/mlk.html?showComment=1484754157083#c2124802256082000940

MLK Day Service

I agree with the idea of Martin Luther King Jr. day being a work day. I don't mean work as in homework or schoolwork. I mean work as in helping the community in any way possible. I used to always help my mom on MLK day with projects like painting classrooms or planting gardens. I loved going to help even though I didn't really know the purpose of it. Since then my family has become a lot busier and we started to do less over the years on this holiday.

This year, I got excited that there would be possibilities to help on MLK day that the school has provided. I immediately knew that I wanted to help with one of these activities. Not only does this help the community but students actually get service hours for completing this work. My friends and I are going to help plant trees this weekend and beautify the city. I'm glad that the school has given us this chance to really help in our community and give back, especially on this important holiday.

Research Update

So far my research has gone pretty well. I have a topic that I am very interested in and that I'm excited to write about. There are some downsides to my research so far though. For example, I had a hard time finding sources with different ideas from the last source. It seemed like every source was covering the ground information like looks and not the deeper information like purpose. I had to really dig into the sources and find more evidence. This problem also led to having a hard time coming up with a research question.

I also had a lot of problem with citations. I am not very good at citing my sources by myself or even identifying what type of source it is. I needed help on this so I asked my friends and teachers to help and I feel pretty confident with my result. At the beginning of this project I felt worried that I wouldn't have enough to write about but now I think I have enough research to develop a strong paper. I have made a good research question that I can answer thoroughly through my paper.