Last Blog of the Year

Last Blog!

     I think blogging was a good experience. It kind of allows you to write about what you feel is important. I enjoyed the Having Your Say blog because we got to write about basically what we wanted to. I didn't enjoy so much during the blogs that we had class specific blogs. I would have enjoyed to blog about more things like the Having Your Say. Also, I did not like the blog where we had to complete the story, I am not a very good creative writer and that just wasn't my cup of tea. That is only my opinion though, I know many people enjoyed writing that blog. I feel like I gave a solid effort on my blogs. There may have been a few that I didn't enjoy and didn't do as well on as a result, but for the majority I took my time while writing them, making sure I knew what I was talking about before writing them. These blogs taught me about other ways to express yourself. They help you get your ideas onto the page in front of you so you can understand yourself better, as cliche as that may sound. I think this blogging is a great idea. 

Miss Wolff

Letter to Miss Wolff

     Some advice that I would give to you would be to have fun with teaching English, because if you love English and show it, kids will be more likely to catch on that enthusiasm and enjoy it too. One thing we did this year that made the class interesting was being able to watch the movies such as The Help to get the feeling for the time of our book and help us understand different characters mind sets as we read. (Maybe finish the movies as well). 

      As far as the research paper goes, definitely do it first semester! It is a big relief when we are finished and don't have to worry about it anymore.

      Another thing that our past teacher did was reviewing for the ACT. We have not reviewed much of what is on the ACT in years because Sophomore year is mostly papers, not grammar. 

      One final piece of advice is to make sure you know how to tell time in the Lutheran way, or Lutheran time. We say things like, "We get out at the 3," instead of "We get out at 12:15." Regardless of whether or not it is easier, most everyone ends up using it, so I would make an effort to join. It will give you a better connection to the kids. 

      Good luck next year! 

Music for The Great Gatsby

To describe Daisy as a character I choose Material Girl by Madonna. In the song she talks about the man with the money always being Mr. Right which is exactly why Daisy picks Tom, for his money, instead of Gatsby, for love. 

Another song that I picked is If I Could Be Like That by 3 Doors Down. This songs talks about wanting to be in someone else's shoes (or having the girl) and that she would be just as happy if it were him instead another guys in those shoes. This Song relates to Gatsby wanting to be in Tom's shoes. He has everything he can possibly get, besides old money, to make Daisy happy and he knows he can make her happy. 

Don't Stop Believing by Journey is another song I though would work in this book. It would work at the end when Gatsby never gives up on Daisy. He always expects her to call even up until he is shot. He never ever gave up on is dream of getting Daisy someday. 

I think that a great overall song for The Great Gatsby, or a theme song would be Lying Eyes by the Eagles. It talks about a girl marrying for money but having an affair because she doesn't love him. It covers the main plot of Daisy's role in the story. 

Mark Twain's Wit

Age

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Mark Twain

    I like this quote because I agree with it so much. When I saw this quote, I immediately thought of my grandpa. He is over 70 and still runs almost everyday and enters a lot of runs around here, most of the time he is the winner only because he is the only one in his age group. But because he doesn't think of his age, it doesn't matter. He can do whatever he puts his mind to, within reason. I hope someday that I will be like that. I will still be doing everything I love, despite my age. I know I may get sad sometime when I'm older that I am getting too old too fast, but then I'm going to try to remember this quote, because it's the truth. Mind over matter and I will do whatever I want, within reason.

What's Good?

HARRY POTTER

 

     This is my favorite series by so far. No other series that I have read can match these. I just love the way that Rowling ties all of the books together. Every single thing in every book had some kind of significance that comes out later. The seventh and last book is really the one that nails everything down. 

     Also, every time that reread the series, it has been 8 times now, I learn something new, or make a connection I never did before. There is just so much packed into them, it's ridiculous. I can never just put them down, once I start I finish that book in a couple of days, usually less. Then, when I do finish it, I run upstairs, grab the next one and start reading that one. I will continue to read them despite the fact that I know what is going to happen.
     They are classic books, and whenever I have kids, I will have them read that series or I'll read it to them if they can't read yet. Anyone who hasn't read them, slash thinks they are dumb, I tell you, don't say that until you have read them, because you wont say that afterward.

Stories of the Quest for Civil Rights

Another Sit-In

The story I found was very short so I will just type it out.
"As we were sitting in at McClellan's in Nashville, persons pulled Paul from his seat next to me and began hitting him roughly. I turned aside in shock, but was trained to do nothing."

civilrights.historybeat.com/gannett.php?page=110458091 

     This story, though short connects to the other stories we've read. The first to the sit in at Woolworth's were there was much violence taking place. This story also had violence. This violence was an uncommon thing at a sit in. It was expected those who choose to do the sitting in. They, had he said, to do nothing. This was also mentioned by Martin Luther King Jr. in his writing Stride Toward Freedom. He says in this writing how he trains all the people he protests with not to react to violence and not to protest by using violence. He tells how this takes the focus off of the problem at hand. There are numerous testimonies just like this out there that prove how many people followed that to get was should have been theirs in the first place.

Augusta Fells Savage (1882 - 1962)

Augusta Fells Savage (1882 - 1962)

     Savage was an artist who lived in Florida. She started out by making clay figures against her father's wishes. She was so passionate about her art that she went to New York to study art and receive training to become an artist. At one point, she applied for a summer art program, but was denied by the French government because of her race. This was how she was like the sisters because though she was denied there, she was determined. She ended up studying with the sculptor Herman Mac Neil.  She became a portrait sculptor and portrayed W.E.B. DuBois, Frederick Douglass, and many other famous black persons of the time. Another way she was like the sisters was that she strived for education. She knew, just like the sisters, that education was the only way to get ahead in life. In the end, she became a teacher just like the sisters were at one time. She did it to help others use their gifts to get ahead just like her.