Zeitgeist-2010

2010 has been such a brilliant year, we will really miss you. It's really sad you have to leave, but I think your time here has been well spent. Now, let's have fun in 2011!

Learning Profiles-What Am I?

1. I learn best when.....
My profile suggested that I learned best when everything is in order, lined up and neat. Sometimes I may be that way, like have my papers in a certain order so it's easier to find them or have my books categorized. They never stay that way for long, though. I mess the order up and don't really care, so I have to disagree with my profile because when I try to be neat I end up disorganized again. I like it that way, though. It makes it more natural. So I suppose that I learn best with some order, but I don't mind surprises!

2. I need to.....
Try to concentrate on the big picture more. When I am stressed, I have trouble using the gestalt side of my brain, which is the "go-with-the-flow" side. I guess when I'm stressed out I need all the details in front of me so I don't have to stretch my mind more than it already it is. I can't think clearly when there are too many things on my mind, and if there's a visible order to things then I can access it without thinking too much about it.

3. The strategies that would help me with my learning.....
Strategies that would help me with my learning would be a basic sequence as a structure. I don't need every single detail drawn out for me, but to have some sort of visible order would be easier for me. Some classes I have allow me to walk into the class and know what to do with just a glance at the board, and I'm okay with that. I only want that kind of order in a few classes though, if my life gets too organized then I might start to feel a little bored.

4. I would like my teachers to know this about me.....
I like things with a sequence but if things get too orderly, I might not learn as well as I could be. Sometimes I enjoy having no idea what direction the class is going to take, but if I'm completely clueless, then it will take some of the fun out of it.

Collaborative Lit. Circles

1. The benefits of working with a classmate:
     The benefits of working with a classmate is that you could go to them for help when you're stuck, or confused.  Also, you could see their opinions and questions, and gain ideas from them.  For example, I didn't know what to choose as my question, but looking at my partner's passages and questions, I formed one in my mind quite easily.


2. Challenges and obstacles which you overcame (tried to overcome):
     One challenge I faced was when one of my partners couldn't get onto their account, therefore not being able to get onto our literature circle.  I didn't know this until the day before it was due, and was stressing about how I thought he wasn't doing any work.  I overcame this by working on the literature circle at school, and finding out my partner had done the work but not on the actual literature circle.  So they just moved their work onto it and everything was fine.


3. New understandings you gained about the novel:
     Using my partners' questions, I could understand the novel better by seeing it through their perspective.  Their connections and questions injected new thoughts about Charlotte into my brain, about how she was similar to them, and us.  I also learned that Charlotte was going through more changes than I thought she was through the book; not just by becoming braver and having an experience on a ship.  She's changing from a girl to a woman.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Lit. Circle #1

1. How my group discussion helped out understanding of the novel:

My group discussion helped me understand this novel better by voicing their opinions about the passages they chose, and explaining why they chose it. Seeing the book from their perspective really helped me understand it better, because sometimes they noticed certain things I didn't.

2. Connections we made during our discussion:

During our discussion, some of our predictions were based on connections to other books. We predicted Captain Jaggery wasn't such a good person, because of our experience with other books. Usually when a mysterious character is kind to the main character, they have a dark secret and is trying to get closer to them without revealing that secret.

3. Predictions:

Our group made some predictions about many characters in the book, especially Captain Jaggery. He is a very mysterious person, and although he seems nice, it may be an act to get Charlotte to trust him. Zachariah, her first friend, has some strange things to say about him, too. We also predict Charlotte will get executed at the end of the book for murdering someone.

Country Developement-Guns, Germs, and Steel

"Why do white people have so much cargo, but we New Guineans have so little?" -Yali, a New Guinean politician.

Professor Jared Diamond wrote the book Guns, Germs, and Steel. Last Friday all three 6th grade teams: 6A, 6B, and 6C watched a National Geographic Documentary based on that book. At first Professor Diamond had no idea what to say in answer to Yali's question, but after some research in New Guinea, he found an answer.

Professor Diamond thought geography led to America's wealth, as well as Eurasian countries. The New Guineans' didn't have the same resources as Malaysia did to grow into the country we are now, so why is it that Australia and New Zealand became technologically advanced and wealthy when located in the same region as Papua New Guinea?

I think the people who live in different places also play a big role in the development of their countries. If they are willing to work extra hard and use their brains for more than just simple survival, then they can go farther than people who aren't ready to leave their hunting and gathering ways.

Australia and New Zealand probably got better resources from trading, there were more people around to trade with and more groups to be friendly with than in a small country like New Guinea. So Professor Diamond was correct that geography was important in the development of a country. Also, New Guinea didn't have crops that were high in nutrients, like other countries did. They didn't have any docile animals, either, like cows or sheep.




http://www.refugees.org/countryreports.aspx?__VIEWSTATE=dDwtOTMxNDcwOTk7O2w8Q291bnRyeUREOkdvQnV0dG9uOz4%2BUwqzZxIYLI0SfZCZue2XtA0UFEQ%3D&cid=709&subm=&ssm=&map=

http://www.sweetmarias.com/coffee.islands.australia.php

http://www.thecommonwealth.org/YearbookHomeInternal/138891/

Mudskipping with Humans

Once upon a time, I, the amazing mudskipper named Brianna, was exploring the sticky mud that I call home, heard human voices and I felt the ground vibrating underneath me. Groaning, I slid over to my two sisters and my brother, who were hiding in a hole. "More people are coming, tell Mom and Dad," I commanded them. My brother stayed put, stubborn as always, while my younger sister, Bree, jumped quickly from one spot in the mud to another, until she disappeared from sight somewhere in the distance. Eva, the sister who remained by my side, turned to me. "Who do you think it is this time? A few civilized humans or some trouble-makers?" I shrugged and peeked out from the hole. Shiny black shoes passed by, then more and more in a huge crowd following them. I gasped, looking at Eva and Ethan to see if they were as nervous as I was. So many people outside... what were they going to do?

"Auugh!" I heard outside. "We have to walk in that?" A hand was gesturing to the mud around me. There was laughter and more voices, too many to keep track of. Faces, flashing before me, frozen mid-laugh and between words as I switched my gaze from one human to another. They were getting closer, my heartbeat accelerated and the ground shook with every step someone took. Then a blur next to me-Eva was escaping the hole. Gasps were heard outside.

"Look! Look over there! It's a...it's a..." I watched anxiously as my sister hopped to a bush and sat there in the shadows. Suddenly Ethan was next to her with cries of, "Another one!" Breathing deeply, I prepared to launch myself over to them, but then a black wall separated me from the open world. Screaming, I jumped back. Pushing myself against the wall, boots walked past me, blurring the outside and pushing air into the hole. The crowd wanted to see where those little creatures, who were my siblings, went to. I skipped to Eva and Ethan and glared at them. Ethan glared back while Eva ignored me.

"Where's Bree? Did she tell Mom and Dad about-" then she was interrupted by a yell. Startled, I looked out from under the bush and saw a human with their boot almost completely buried. Yet they were still trying to move on with the boot hugging the mud. Ethan started laughing, like he always does when someone gets stuck in the mud. I continued to watch as the human gripped the top of their boot and yanked on it. It wasn't very effective but apparently it worked.


Many voices were shouting different things, mostly about how sticky the mud was. Why couldn't they learn to move quickly like us mudskippers? And speaking of mudskipping... Ethan just decided to show off. He skipped over to the other side of the muddy path and back again with no one noticing. Turning to me with an evil grin, he said, "Can you beat that, Brianna?" I scoffed, not really sure what I was going to say next. Ethan was pretty good at not getting caught in the mud.

I squirmed, since I was sinking into the mud we were in. "Of course I can. I can walk right up to that human, in fact," I announced, then instantly regretted it. Ethan's eyes widened in delight and Eva sighed, "You two are so immature."

"I can walk right up to that human, in fact."

Ethan laughed. "Do it!" Shaking my head, I stretched my legs and then leaped over the mud to the human, who chose that moment to fall, almost on top of me! Luckily for me, I jumped out of the way as he fell. I could feel their eyes pass over me as they pushed their way up and I skipped back to Eva and Ethan.

"Happy now?" I growled. Ethan didn't answer my question. "What are all these people doing here?" he wondered aloud. "They're usually here for a short time only, to see what the wilderness is like, and then they leave. Why are these humans taking so long?"

I followed some people to a taller human in a bright green shirt and he was holding a giant stick. Using it, he made a hole in which the smaller humans placed a big lump with a stem sticking out of it. It looked like a young mangrove tree! Were they... giving us more trees?

Eva and Ethan appeared behind me. I turned around and smiled at them. "We're getting more mangrove trees! That's what the humans are doing!" Eva and Ethan smiled and we hugged each other in happiness. Our forest was being helped out.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This entire story is not true. Yes, my class planted mangrove trees on a field trip to Kuala Selangor, but I am not a mudskipper.

Thanks to these sites for the pictures I used in this blogpost.

http://www.tube.lankaeuro.com/mudskippers/
http://digdeep1962.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html

You Need Courage to Face Bullies

"I'm sooo bored," I groaned to my friend, Gabby, one recess. "There's nothing to do." Gabby shrugged. "There's lots of things we can do. Like..." she didn't finish her sentence, though, because she became interested in something near the basketball court. I waited for her to continue, but when her eyes widened in exaggerated surprise, I had to see what she was looking at.

A tall girl with short black hair was the first thing I saw. Then I noticed the petite girl with dark skin trying to avoid her speculating gaze. Four girls stood behind the tall one, smiling but not looking very happy. I turned back to Gabby.

"Um... you were saying?" I said, wanting to hear what we could do for recess that was not look at intimidating people. Gabby looked at me questioningly. "Do you know who that girl is?" I thought for a while, then answered, "No. Why?" Gabby looked worried. "That's May, she's really mean. She likes taking stuff from people that look different from her. She took my sister's sweater last month." Now she was looking at the small dark-skinned girl. "We should go help."

I laughed. "May doesn't seem mean," I lied. Then I tried to change the subject. "Hey, didn't Emily say she needed to finish her painting? Maybe we could help her," referring to a lone girl standing by the window of our classroom. Gabby was still looking at May. "No, I want to see what she's doing," she declared, and stood up, using me to support her. I started to protest, but she wasn't listening. I followed her reluctantly because I didn't want to sit alone.

As we got closer to the group, I heard May say, "I know where she got it. If you give it to me I'll buy you another one." The small girl kept shaking her head while looking at the ground or some space far away. She was clutching something around her neck...

Gabby gasped, "That's really pretty!" I looked again and I could see a green stone peeking through her fingers. She was wearing a necklace, and apparently, May wanted it.

The girl kept shaking her head while her grip on the necklace became tighter. I could see her face getting red while water was forming in her eyes. I knew I should tell May to stop bothering her, but the mischievous glint in her narrowed eyes made me hesitate, and my confidence was waning. I didn't want to make an enemy of such a tall, tough-looking girl.

"Let's go," I whispered to Gabby, pulling her arm. She turned toward me, "But-" she started to protest, but then followed me back to where we were sitting while I heard a soft cry. Gabby turned around but I didn't want to see look like I knew what was going on. I could hear Gabby starting to say something, but she seemed to realize I didn't want to interfere. Hearing the bell ring, we started walking to our classroom. I saw May's victim walk to her room, with a bare neck, and I was shocked to see droplets of water fall from her face to the ground, leaving a small trail of dark spots on the pavement. I looked at them, thinking if I stared hard enough they'd disappear, not wanting to believe they were there. I hadn't realized the girl's feelings had been hurt so badly.

If I could re-do the scene, I would change the part where I ignored May bullying an innocent girl. I would walk up to May and tell her what she was doing was not nice, that she should think about what she was doing and would she be proud of it later on? I would also ask if the bullied girl was all right and try to comfort her. That's all in the past now, and I wish I had reacted differently.

This year, I will stand up to bullies, and not just walk away because I don't want to humiliate myself. If anyone is getting bullied and not able to stand up for themselves, I will try to help in any way I can. If anyone is in a hint of danger, I will make sure they get out of harm's way. This will help make ISKL a safer and happier place, which is something I think everyone wishes they could have.



http://www.state.me.us/education/bullyingprevention/schools.htm
http://blogs.tampabay.com/.a/6a00d83451b05569e201156ff771c5970c-popup
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0S020tYUptMphYA54aJzbkF?p=girl+bullies&fr=yfp-t-701&ei=utf-8&x=wrt&y=Search

I Don't Know Myself As Well As I Think

I walked up to Mrs. Ferguson, the music teacher, and pointed on the list of students' names where my name was. She put a check mark next to it and I walked out of line, looking around the room for familiar faces. I saw my friend, Abigail, and walked over to her.

"So...", I began, smiling nervously. "You're auditioning for the play?"

"Pretty much," said Abigail. "I'm trying out for the evil stepsister. How 'bout you?" I shrugged, heart pounding as I realized I didn't know who I wanted to try out for.

Mrs. Ferguson clapped her hands and started calling out names. When they walked up to the front of the room, they had to sing the 'Happy Birthday' song. When she said my name, my friends whispered encouragingly while I walked up to Mrs. Ferguson. I looked at her and she stared back expectantly. Then realizing I was supposed to sing, I turned toward my classmates and other people, and I tried to imagine myself on a stage, where making a mistake was the worst thing that could happen. I opened my mouth and my voice was shaky. I cleared my throat and tried again. I don't remember how I sounded, just that everyone clapped politely afterward. I sat down again, cheeks burning.

As other people sang the simple song, I started to think. If I get in the play... children in other grades would look at me in the lights, singing and smiling. They wouldn't know who I am, won't hold any grudges against me if I make a mistake. I imagined myself, beaming confidently at the crowd, acting.

Mrs. Ferguson handed out scripts to us all. Again she called out names and asked whoever came up to say a specific phrase out of the script. When it was my turn, I tried to sound more confident, but all I could think about was me saying another person's line, or knocking over all the props on the stage. I realized that there was something worse than making a mistake; thinking about it! Maybe I didn't sound so well to everybody else, but to my ears I sounded a lot better.

When the auditions were over, I had learned so much. Before, I only wanted to be in the play because "everyone" was talking about it. Now, I was fantasizing about playing a big part like... the evil stepsister! I could be Abigail's sister in the play, if we made it in. I told Mrs Ferguson what my decision was.

As I walked toward the school gate the next morning, a group of girls called my name and dragged me toward the music room, where two pieces of paper were hung up. I gasped and looked for my name. There it was, next to... "Evil Stepsister #1!" The third emotion I felt was fear and nerves, which surprised me, because the first two were pride and happiness. I was looking forward to the play.

How Did Early Humans Use Art to Express Their Prehistoric Culture?

     Early humans probably didn't have a sophisticated language in the past, maybe some hand gestures and few words for simple meanings.  When they wanted to express themselves and their culture, they had to draw.
     
     Their drawing included many things: hunts gone well and gone bad, running animals, people, fire, and so on.  Modern humans, if given a piece of paper and asked to draw something, they would probably draw people, houses, dogs and cats, modern things you see everyday that people understand.  Not so different with early humans.          
    
      They wouldn't draw something they know absolutely nothing about.  They'll draw something they see everyday, like animals.  They didn't cut down trees to make way for buildings, they lived with the trees, with the bugs and the animals.  When they draw, they're sharing something with you because it's one of their ways of communicating.  When a group of early humans get together for a meeting, the leader or whoever it is sharing what they want to, they do it in drawings, and maybe some of the simple language that they have.  Him drawing a group of animals running might be him explaining something he saw that day.  Or maybe it is a warning of animals coming near where they live.
     
     Seeing these drawing let us know what the early humans did and saw.  It lets us know how much we've evolved.  It lets us know how different our lives and their lives really are.  And they are definitely different.

What Social Scientist I Want to Be

If I could be either a historian, a geographer and an archaeologist, I think I would best enjoy being a geographer. Geographers travel around the world, marking the land so others can see what there is beyond the comforts of their home. To be able to travel as a job? Analyzing the world from a million angles and adding my own? Meeting new people? It's a dream come true.

Geographers have an important job. They study landforms; rivers, volcanos, canyons, etc. I can climb large mountains and measure wide oceans. Explore new cities, see how different people live in different environments. Don't you find it strange how us as humans, the same species, are so different in many ways? Seeing all of this firsthand sounds simply amazing! It's a job where I don't have to be bored, and right now? That's important to me!


As a geographer, I have many topics to study. Economics, climate, health, plants and animals, it goes on. Different places do different things, and seeing everyone's way of life is an interesting way to make a living. I could probably also learn new languages. Some geographers are pretty famous, I could join the list!

egea.eu

www.armch...phers.com/

www.1st-art-gallery.com/Jose-Gallegos-Y-ArnosaThe-Geographers.html

Introduction

My name is Hime, and I'm from San Diego, California. I live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia now and go to ISKL middle school.

The last three books I've read are Gone by Michael Grant, The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, and The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester. Gone is a book about how everyone over the age of 14 suddenly disappears and the bullies take over. The Hatchet is about a boy who is the only survivor on a plane crash but has to wait for someone to rescue him while he fends off wild beasts and tries to find edible food. The Girl Who Could Fly is about (as you could easily guess) a girl who can fly. She has to be sent to a special school that is specially made for children like her, but things don't go too smoothly there.

The last movie I've watched is The Sorcerer's Apprentice. It was one of the best movies I've ever watched, I liked the humor and the magic. It was about a young boy who was descended from the great sorcerer Merlin, who unfortunately was vanquished by the evil sorceress Morgana. Merlin's assistant had searched the world for thousands of years, with a metal dragon ring, in search of the one who could bring it to life.

An academic goal I have for this year is to participate in more activities. A social goal I have for this year is to make a new friends, and keep them. This can only be accomplished if I maintain a good attitude, and talk with people who make me feel happy.

My favorite vacation memory is my first camping trip in Mount Laguna, a campground in San Diego County. I got to to lots of trees and wildlife for the first time.

Five adjectives I think are good to describe me are: stubborn, impatient, crazy, kind, and shy.

http://exlibrisandrea.blogspot.com/2010/05/gone-michael-grant.html
http://www.schenectady.k12.ny.us/TechResources/EETT/msela.htm
http://www.booktrailersforreaders.com/The+Girl+Who+Could+Fly+Book+Trailer