20% Review

A 20% Project is a project that you choose something to learn about and present it in any way you want. We work on it and research once a week(every Friday.) I chose to work with a partner, my best friend, Karissa. We chose to learn about Forensics. We got a lot done on our project. In 8 days we got 25 slides done. Almost 3 slides a day. I felt so happy seeing how much we got done in so short time. It was hard finding a lot about Mass Murderers because no one really knows much about them. We have researched so much, for example:

• Mass murderers
• serial killers
• boy in the box mystery
• autopsy
• forensic scientists
• unknown people
• crime scenes

 Me and my partner still need to:

• make 2 crime scenes
• talk more about how criminals think, etc and things like that
• add our sources onto the end

THEN WE'RE DONE :)

To overcome the obstacles we should try harder in our research, and maybe even interview Forensic workers via Email to get more info that we may need.

Grades

         Grades are very pointless. They are just letters put out there to make us try harder or maintain a goal. Grades also are numbers to give your parents an "average" of how hard you tried in school. Some people can make them selves feel better about themselves from their grades. Grades show students how well they are doing in school. I think the grading system we have is very pointless. It doesn't really show how we do in specific parts of a subject. Like if in Algebra a student gets a 100% on a test, but forgets about homework because they are unorganized that 0% can bring them down in their final grade. That grade doesn't always show how much they learn or their educational standing. 
          I think they should have the kind of report card that has the separated "themes" for example. These test you on all different things not just not all of the specifications all together. It is unfair to the smart, but unorganized people. They could ace every test but never do their homework and get a low final grade. If i could control which one my school should have i would choose, this. 
               

Hi, I'm Jenna. I am in Rogate 8 and I am in 8th Grade. My 8th Grade year is going great, I have made many friends, all of my teachers are so nice and they understand if i am having trouble. Also I have good grades in every class. There is also a lot that is going good in my life. I am so close to being 5 foot tall :). Also, I had pizza for dinner last night :). I could live on pizza every day. 

THE GIVER

We had read the book; The Giver in our Rogate class. We had finished and the end was a cliffhanger. The book had ended while Jonas was almost freezing to death with his "little brother" and there was a sled at the top of the hill. The book ended with, "Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he ad left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo." That had left the entire class wondering, was he dreaming? dead? or was all of that really happening? I thought of the end of the story literal. I think Jonas was a and is a live. Nothing can change my opinion because I feel very strong about it. I think he actually did run away.
The author, Lois Lowry had gotten many interviews asking what really happened to Jonas. She says she leaves it up to everyone and they can make their own ending up. 

Student Question: Dear Lois Lowry, My name is Melissa. My class just finished the book The Giver(aka Great Book). But we have to do a project and ask you questions: Did Jonas marry anyone in his later life? Did Jonas go to college? Did Jonas ever return to the community? Did Jonas get a job? Did Jonas buy a house? Please answer these questions as soon as possible. Thanks a lot and good job on both Number the Stars and The Giver. I read both. MelissaLois Lowry: You will meet Jonas again very soon in a book called Messenger to be published in April. I don’t want to ruin the book for you by answering your questions too specifically. But it is about 7 years after the end of The Giver. So Jonas is a young man. He has a particular role, or job, in the place where he lives. He lives in his own house. Not married... But... oh, that’s all I’m going to tell you.

But reading Lois Lowry's response she partly admits that Jonas is infact a live.
   
       In another interview Lois Lowry, readers asked,

GR: Who do they usually ask about?

LL: Most readers in the early days would ask about Jonas [the protagonist of The Giver]. By the time I wrote a couple more books [2000's Gathering Blueand 2004's Messenger], it was clear where he was. But I had not dealt with the baby, and I had not realized that kids would be so attached to a toddler. I started [writing Son] with him as an adolescent, but I found my own attention diverted by who had given birth to him. What turns out to be the final third of the book, when he began questioning about his own mother, started out as the beginning of the book. 

Google 20% Project

One of the perks employees at Google get is 20 percent of their time to work on a special project. They can choose anything they want to research.   One well known product that has come out of this program is GMail. We were intructed to research anything we wanted and make something, instruct something, etc. I decied to research Marine Biology, the study of underwater life. I want to focus more on the animals of coral reefs because they include sharks and tropical fish and I have an interest in sharks and clownfish (tropical fish species)

Celebrity and Media Influence

          Now-a-days, in 2012 teenagers do not follow what they think they think is right for them. Mostly ages from 12 to 19 usually follow what other people do, considering popularity, appearance, ect. They don't follow their heart. If other people are doing it that it is okay to do that action. That is how most drug addictions start, from either peer presure or celebrity influence. Also, teenagers are influenced by celebrity apperance and clothing brands. They get the idea that they will boost their popularity if they are unoriginial and copy famous people. That is probably how a lot of the good, expensive clothing stores became more famous, from pictures on the media and again, Celebrity Influence.
           Many teenagers have been doing things that are not good for their health, or their social life. They try to copy or mimic what famous people are doing just to become "popular". They may take a certain drug because a famous person is doing it. Like smoking and other drugs. People do not think before they say or do anything, especially teenagers. They just do what pops into their head first not thinking nor second guessing. They get influenced way easier and faster than adults do.
            "Teens" get influenced by pictures and videos and magazines also. If they see a beautiful model wearing hollister, they get the need to buy hollister clothing, sometimes even the same exact outfit. They mostly do this because it looks "good" on the model, but this is olnly because the photo editors have probably photoshopped the picture to make the model look "perfect." There is no such thing as perfection, it is only a label. Also, most stores get more customers when a peer or even a popular person wears it and others find out about that store.
            Teens get influenced way too easily and they agree to things they have no clue what they are, like drugs, jobs, or even wavers. They never feel the need to read the wavers they just sign them. Teens get influenced by the way things look and by the way people who people look up to do things.

Reflections and Resolutions.

2012 onto 2013

REFLECT: In 2012 I learned many things about myself. I learned that I can do anything I dream of if I try hard enough. I also learned that I can make new friends if I try. I have also learned how mean many "friends" can be and I now am not friends with the mean/dramatic people. I have made many new friends and they are very close to me.

REBUFF: I am anti-resolution. I feel new years resolutions are worthless because I don't know one person who actually followed through with their resolution. Even my mom has never completed her New Years resolution all year. Even if they are as simple as stop eating so many snacks, nobody can with hold the craving.