Assignment #20: My Group's SOLE Presentation (Part 2)

Well, as I finished part one if this assignment I thought it was really easy. Then, the next day I thought it was too easy, so I went back to Miss Pollock's post about this assignment. After I read it I decided to make a part two for this assignment and type the things that I forgot to type in part one. 

   Here are three things that I want you guys to notice:
1) I really want you guys to notice how important it is to get enough sleep. There are a lot of bad things that can happen if you do not get enough sleep.
2) Notice all the amazing facts about sleep. I think sleep is one of the most interesting things our body does. Why do we dream when sleeping? What does it do to help our body? Does it help our body physically or emotionally? There are a lot questions, but not as many answers.
3) If you do not get enough sleep please notice all the helpful tips that we put in our slide show presentation.

Assignment #20: Here's My Group's Presentation!

Well, here is my group's presentation. We worked hard on it, so hope you enjoy it! I will gladly accept any comments or questions.

Assignment #19: If I Had $100

For this assignment we had one hundred (imaginary) dollars. We had to pick how and where we should spend our money. Click here for more information.

   The organizations that I chose to spend my one hundred dollars on are Oxfam, Plan, and Happy Factory. I chose Oxfam because they have great gifts with great prices. The Plan foundation donates money and gifts to children and they also have gifts with great prices. Happy Factory is a foundation that sends toys to children who have never held a toy before. Part of being a child is having fun and playing with toys and I think it's great that this foundation is trying to make sure every child has a toy.

   From Oxfam I chose to spend fifty dollars on a gift that helps girls go to school. In many developing countries (Ethiopia, India, Cambodia etc.) most families don't have enough money to send all their children to school, so they only send their sons to school. That's where this gift comes in. It gives those families the money to also send their daughters to school. Girls would also get married later since they're busy finishing their education.

   The gift I chose from Plan is "an endless harvest" for forty dollars. This gift helps a family grow crops and feed themselves. They could also sell the food from their crops. The best thing is that it will never stop giving. It will feed families for years.

   Happy Factory is where I'm going to spend the ten dollars I have left. Happy factory will make twenty toys with ten dollars. Which means twenty children will get the happiness they deserve. 

   I can't believe one hundred dollars could change so much!

Assignment #16: Eric Walters Response

This is a response to Miss Pollock's post about our lunch with Eric Walters.

For the first part of our assignment we had to choose three books by Eric Walters and write what we think is the main idea or message for each book. Here are the three books I chose, along with their messages:

Bifocal: Do not judge or assume things about someone before knowing them or their side of a story.
Run: Do not ever give up because you can accomplish anything with hope and perseverance.
Black and White: Don't judge someone just because of where they are from.

For the second part of our assignment we had to make our own short story about an issue that we think is important. Here's my short story:

   I'm the new kid at my school. I've only been here for about two months and luckily I made some awesome friends. Today was just another ordinary day. My friends and I were laughing our heads off, as usual. I had a peanut butter, jelly sandwich, as always. I saw Veruka sitting by herself, as usual. Everyone ignores her for some reason, so I ignore her too, but I do smile or wave at her sometimes. When I do wave or smile at her people give me weird looks. While Emily was talking about her new video game I saw Veruka running towards us. Maybe she wanted to be our friend. No, it couldn't be, her face was as red as a cherry and streams of tears were rushing down her face. I looked around and saw that she was running towards the ladies' room. I couldn't just pretend I never saw her, I would feel too guilty. Finally, I decided to go see what was wrong. While I was opening the door I heard someone sobbing. It was Veruka and she had something sharp in her hand. "Oh no! I hope she's doing what I think she's doing!", I thought. I quickly ran to her and took the sharp thing from her hand. Luckily, I came before she had done any harm to herself. I asked her what she was doing and why. She said that every time she got picked on she held it inside of her, until she couldn't hold it in anymore. That's why she was going to hurt herself. I told her that it doesn't make anything go away or make her feel better. From that day on we became best friends. People gave me weird looks at first, but I didn't mind because why should they care who I become friends with. I learned my lesson. Just because people ignore someone it doesn't mean that you have to ignore them too. Nowadays, I judge people after I meet them not before. Everyone deserves to have the chance of making friends and you never know if that person becomes your best friend.

Well, that's my story! Hope you enjoyed it! (:

Teenagers and Sleep

I'm writing this blog in response to Miss Pollock's post about Assignment #4

For this assignment we had to work in groups. My group members are:
Jeffrey, Noah, and Walid

If you still want to read more about this interesting topic, here are some websites that are really helpful:
 - Chart on the right amount of sleep click here.
 - For an article that's really interesting click here.
 - Of course Google.ca helped a lot and you can always search there for further information.

This issue is all about teenagers and sleep. People our age are supposed to have eight and a half hours to nine and a half hours of sleep. Unfortunately, many teenagers don't get as much sleep as they should! Some people say that we should change the time school starts because that is one of the reasons for why we don't sleep enough. Another reason for why we teenagers don't sleep enough is because of electronics. Many articles say that ever since laptops, cellphones and other electronic gadgets were invented, we have been getting less sleep. One specific article, that I have listed above, says that before the light bulb was invented people slept more than they do now. This was probably because after the sun set and it was too dark to stay outside with friends, teenagers just went home to sleep.

   This topic is important for the "Digital Classroom" because in order to work on a computer and look at the screen, you cannot be tired. You need to be well rested. Some people actually get glasses if they're on the computer all night and are tired as well. Also, when you're doing assignments on blogs you have to do it at an appropriate time, not at 12:00 am. It's crucial to get enough sleep so you can pay attention in school and not fall asleep by accident. We all should get our homework done at least before 10:00 pm. That way you can go to bed and have around 9 hours of sleep, which is how many you should be getting.

NOT GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP:

ENOUGH SLEEP:














So, think before the next time you decide to stay up late watching TV or doing anything else!

Assignment #17: The Slam!

This is a response to Ms. Pollock's post.

3)a) What did you learn from Greg and Beth Ann? (at least 2 things)

- I learned a lot about how to perform and how to make my poems flow better.
- Both of them gave me new ways to write my poetry.

3)b) When writing your own poem, what did you use as inspiration? (at least 3 things)

- I made a list of world wide problems and then I chose one that I thought was the most important to me.
- I also chose a topic that I knew I would be able to work with easily.
- A topic that the audience can relate to and understand is also important, so I chose a topic that everyone has heard of before.

3)c)  What are you most proud of from your poem or your presentation of it? (at least one thing)

- Well I was proud of how I thought of nice metaphors, I usually suck at them, but since I chose a topic that I think is really important, I was able to write a lot about it.

3)d) How did you feel before you performed?

- I felt super nervous. I kept on reading my poem and making sure everything was okay.

3)e) How did you feel AFTER you performed?

- Right after my performance I felt embarrassed because I kind of messed up. After a while I felt relieved that I got it over with.

3)f) What would you change about your own poem or performance for next time? (at least 1 thing)

- I would try not to be so nervous and I would also make more eye contact with the audience.
- I would rehearse a little more next time because I didn't really feel ready.

3)g) What did you learn/like about someone else's poem?

I liked how some people didn't just read words from their paper, they added actions and performed well. I think everyone in our class had really deep poems and I thank everyone for sharing their words with us, I really enjoyed the slam!

Here's the poem I read at the slam:

  Mother Earth

    Crystal clear oceans. Fields of green grass with colourful plants, like precious gems. Wonderful white snow all the way up north and way down south. Rainforests rich with exotic life. She tries her best to sustain it all. Everyday we wake up to the sweet melodies of birds chirping. Breathing in fresh air and drinking fresh, ice cold water. We take her beauty and protection for granted and what do we do for her in return? We build factory after factory, filling up her lungs with smoke. We tear too many trees for our own needs. Using the fertile ground as a garbage can. Staining the clear, blue oceans with our own filth! Slowly, we're turning her into a furnace, melting away all the magnificent glaciers. We behave selfishly, using up all of her resources. Her beauty is slowly fading away, she's turning green to grey. If we keep this up then we'll be living in a colourless world, slowly burning her up. But, it's not too late, we can still make a difference. There is still time to save all her glorious wonders. Start by doing little things because they all add up. We can all work together to patch her up, and remember, by hurting her we are only hurting us.

Well, that's my poem. Feel free to comment! Hope you enjoyed it!