Two for the Timeline

Write two important events on what we've read. These two items can be a description or very brief summary of what we read.
1.

2.

Three Item Timeline

Write three items about what we read to add to our timelines.

They can be simple descriptions of the important events of what we read.

1.

2.

3. 

I am better than you!

Luis and Esmeralda take a chance on competing to win the mascot contest at school. They were tired of seeing their schools mascot, the Aztec represented in the wrong way, by what they called "Anglo" students.They felt they knew more about the culture and what "Aztec" really represented.
Has their ever been a time when you felt you could do a better job at something than what was being done?
Write about it.
What was the situation where you thought you were better at something than what was being done?
What happend?
Did you try it and do a better job?

Ways to start...
A time when I knew I could do a better job at something was when_______________.
What happend was________________.
I tried my hardest to _________________and the results were______________.

A Break

Louie (Luis) gets caught trying to leave without paying his bill at a restaurant. Cowboy, the officer wants to take him in, but Mr Kearney cuts him a break and feels for his situation.

Write about a time where you were in a situation where someone cut you a break, when maybe they could have been harder on you.
What happened the situation?
What could have happened if they didn't cut you a break?
How did you feel in your situation?

What did you think about Louie's situation?

Community Center

At the begining of chapter 5, Luis writes about the community centers that are safe havens for the Sangra and Lomas gangs.

• What center or place is your safe haven?
• Describe it using 2-3 sentences.
• Why do you consider it your safe haven or place you feel most comfortable?

Let's brainstorm ideas:

Putting in Work

On Page 82, we read about how Luis tried to do something good for his mom by making a little money and giving it to her to help. Then she threw the money in his face and called him a hypocrite because he is doing so poorly at school and she felt like she was trying to buy his love.
Do you think that Luis was genuinely trying to help or was he really trying to buy his moms love?
What evidence in the book makes you think this way?
What advice would you have given him if he was your "homey" in this situation?

The Tribe and Botherly Love

BLOG #1: Luis introduces us to the gangs of East L.A. On page 42, he talks about how he started his gang "The Impersonations" because him and his friend Miguel needed protection.
What are your thoughts on why people join gangs?
Create a list or write your reasons out.
Do you feel like Luis will get all the things that you listed from creating his gang and then later joining "The Tribe" with Gregorio?

Why or why not?

BLOG #2 : Luis grew up with his brother beating on him and picking on him. Rano was the trouble maker growing. However as teens, Luis feels a shift happening. Rano is doing well, playing sports and on track. Luis is joining a new gang and giving teachers hell.

Describe a relationship between you and a FRIEND or FAMILY MEMBER where you grew apart.

Who is this person? How did you meet them?
What was the relationship like before you grew apart?
How is it now?
How did you feel about the change in the relationship between you and this person?

Chicken!

Luis' friend Tino calls him a chicken for not wanting to hop the fence at school and play basketball even though the school is closed. Luis decides to go. The get chased by the cops on the roof and Tino falls through the glass in the roof to the floor.


Write about a time when you've been called chicken for not doing something.

What happened?

Did you give in or hold your ground?

How did you feel about your decision?

Always Running Blog #1

Luis Rodriquez writes about his unfair experience in school. Schools placed student's whose 1st language was Spanish in classes with what he called "retarded" kids because they didn't speak English well. Schools thought it would support the students but families saw it as a form of discrimination.

Write about an experience that you have had in school where you either felt discriminated against or you were unfairly judged.

What happened during this experience?
What did you do in the experience?
How did you handle it?
How did you feel?

Weekend Check

Reflect on your weekend.

What is something you did that was pure fun (keep it school cool). Think of a movie you watched or who you hung out with.

What was something you had to do that maybe you didn't want to. Think of a family function or hanging out with someone you really didn't want to hang out with?

How did it go? What could have been better? Would you make a different choice next weekend?

Ways to start:

Something I did this weekend that was fabulous was...
I felt like this was fun because...
Something I did that I wasn't really into was...
Someone I saw that I wasn't really into hanging out with was...
I would make a different choice next week. The choice I would make is to...
I would NOT make a different choice next week. I would...

Prepped for life

Some people feel that the public school system does not adequately prepare students for the real world. Identify one improvement you think schools need to make in order to better prepare students for life after high school. If you can write a letter to the people in charge what would you say?

Think about what your parents or people who are older than you are experiencing. How could high school have better prepared them?

Creating a brochure

Research Stage:

We are going to create a brochure describing a specific place or organization. This may be real or made up.  You can be advertising a product, program or simply give information about something cool that you choose. It could even be on something that you are learning about in class. It must be school cool.

Introduction
One way that people learn about places, people, or things that they do not know is by reading about them. But what if they don’t have time to read a whole book or they just want a quick overview of the subject? Businesses often use brochures to inform, educate, or persuade—quickly. They use a brochure to grab the readers attention and get them interested enough to want to know more.

A brochure for a business can have

a map

list of all the locations 

a brief description of the types of food products it sells. 

A travel brochure may:

show beautiful pictures that make you want to visit that city or country

details about the place

cost of the visit

These types of brochures tell enough about a place or an organization to get your interest and make you want to know more.

Task
Create a brochure about ___________________________________ (place/organization) that informs, educates, or persuades. The brochure is not an in depth study of a topic but it should give enough information to grab and keep the readers interest from start to finish.

A brochure may cover a broad topic but it shouldn’t contain so much information that it overwhelms the reader. Choose 2 to 3 key points about place/organization to describe. If there are other important elements, consider listing them in a simple bullet list or chart somewhere in your brochure.

In addition to what your brochure says, you must decide the best format to present your information. Different formats work best for brochures with lots of text, lots of pictures, small blocks of text, lists, charts, or maps. You’ll need to find the format that works best for your information.

Conferences

What did you think of the conferences with your parents/guardians or representatives yesterday?

Does it help you to meet with teachers and your parents/guardians ? Why do you feel like it doesn't or does help you?

What do you feel like was the best part about meeting yesterday?

What do you feel like could have been better?

Ways to start:

I thought the conferences were_________________ because_________________

I feel like it helped/didn't help me because__________________________.

What went well for me was________________________.

What I think could be improved is___________________________________.

Can't live without

What is something in your live that you feel like you can't live without? Money MIGHT be the first thing you think of but MOST people can't live without money. Pick something specific to you.It can be a physical item or a person. Examples are:

• Your favorite teddy bear
• A family member
• A Friend
• Your headphones
• Music- 2 Pac (get specific)
• iPod

Ways to start:

Something that I know I can't live without is......

I feel like it would be hard to live without because......

It has really been an important part of my life because.......

Mother's Day/ Non Mothers Day

Mother's Day Journal

1) Imagine that you and your mom switched places and you suddenly became "Mom for a Day." What would it be like? How would you feel? How would your life be different? Write about it.

2) You can choose a word or sentence for each letter

M
O
T
H
E
R

3) You can write a non-mothers day response. It might not mean as much to you or you might not celebrate. You may also celebrate one of the mother's days from other cultures which occur different times of the year. What are your thoughts on not celebrating mother's day.

Junior Seau

Some facts about him:
Linebacker for the Chargers, played in the NFL for 20 years
Junior Seau went to the Pro Bowl (where the best players play) 12 times
Was an all-pro starter for 10 years
He ownes his Seau restaurants
He is part owner in some Ruby Tuesday Restaurants
In September he donated $25,000 to Oceanside High School for an obstacle course.

Yesterday:
Police are investigating his suicide.


Write a response to his death. Something tons of money, fame and fortune is dead.
What message do you take away from hearing about his death?
How did you feel when you heard about it?

Ways to start:

I think Seau's death is_________________
I feel that his death_____________________
I feel ________________ about his death
My reaction was______________________.

Weekend Check

How was your weekend?

We were all surrounded by positive and negative choices this weekend.

Did you make a good choice that made an impact on your weekend?

What made you feel like it was a positive choice?

Skittles

Eat all your skittles but save one color. With your color answer the following question for todays blog.

LIME GREEN - What is a comfort food that you have? A comfort food is something that makes you feel better when you eat it. Why do you like this food? What is it about the food that makes you love it so much.

RED - Have you ever thought about death? What are your thoughts about it? Does it scare you or make you want to change something about yourself?

PURPLE - How do you turn around a bad day when you have one?

YELLOW - What do you feel like is the hardest thing about the research paper? What do you like best about the paper?

ORANGE -  What is the most creative idea you have ever had? What did you feel was creative about it?

"Whatcha Say"

Is there something you had trouble with or found hard to say to someone? 
Who was that person?
What did you want to tell them?
Pretend that you are telling a third party and summarize what you would like to say.
Continue the exercise by considering what would happen if you actually told the person involved. How would/did you feel afterward?

My day in proportions

Who do you spend the most time talking to? Is it homies, a staff member, friends, a boyfriend, girlfriend, television, parents? 
Make a list of who you actually talk to during the day and estimate the amount of time invested in each individual. Does the list reveal your priorities?  Does it represent what is important to you? 


After you make a list create a pie chart which divides and labels who you talk to.

The place to be

Imagine yourself in a place you like to be (not necessarily someplace you like to "go"). What do you like about it? What are the most intriguing/appealing aspects? In contrast, think of a place you do "not" like being. What makes you not like being there? 




Think how you can use this to develop ideas for writing.

Dressed to the nines

Think of a time when you have been dressed up.

Think of a time when you have been dressed in your "street clothes."

Talk about an experience where you felt you were treated differently because of how you are dressed.

Be specific but appropriate.

What happened?

How did you feel?

Uncontrollable Anger

Write about a time when you experience anger that you felt you almost couldn't control but eventually did control it.

(Keep it school cool) What helped you control it?

What was your thought process that helped you calm down?

What ended up happening in the situation?

Do you feel this is still an effective way for you to control your anger now?

Ways to start:
A time I experienced extreme anger was_____________________.
What ended up happening was_____________________________.
What helped me calm down was ___________________________.
I feel this is an effective way to help control my anger because _________________.
I feel this is not an effective way to control my anger because___________________.

If you had a GPS on you

What would you do if you had a GPS (global positioning system) on you or you found that someone put a GPS on your clothing or stuff?

How would you react?

How would that make you feel?


If I found or had a global positioning system on me, I would____________________

It would make me feel_________________________

Weekend Check

What was so special about it?

What could have gone better?

Did you make a choice this weekend that made a positive impact on your week or day?

Ways to start:

This weekend I _______________________
My weekend was great because _________________
My weekend could have gone better because __________________
Something that happened that made a positive impact on my week/weekend was______________


Keep it school cool.

Writing an objective for a resume

A clear and defined objective can help you show off your skills and experience that you can contribute to the job you are seaking. All objectives should contain key elements that allow the people hiring you to figure out what your career goals may be. When drafting your own objective, be sure that it contains what skills you are bringing to the open position and how your experience can benefit the employer who is hiring. The bottom line: what are you going to bring to the business or company?




Examples:

Reliable and mature high school senior seeking a part-time retail sales position with a youth-oriented clothing environment to gain experience and insight into the fashion industry for a future career in fashion and design.

To obtain knowledge of the day-to-day work of a business through a part time job, summer internship and/or job shadowing experience.

To obtain knowledge of the day-to-day workings of a communications, public relations, or publishing firm through a part-time job or summer internship.

Computers

Write about your experience not using computers last week and this week.

Have you benefited at all from not using them?

Are there any positive points or ways you have benefited from not having them?

Think of how you did utilize your computer when you had access.

Weekend Check

How was your weekend?

Did you make a choice this weekend that impacted your weekend or can impact your week in a positive way?

What was it?

How was the outcome positive?

Ways to start:
A choice I made this weekend that made a positive difference was...
When I made this choice, I felt it would affect me in a positive way because...
The outcome was...

Class Community

We are always striving to improve our class community by making everyday better as we all get closer to graduating. What you do today could affect the culture of the class long after you are gone.

What are changes you would like to see?

Is there anything you like already that you would continue to see?

Think about what is realistic. For example we can't have a party and a field trip everyday because we've got to take care of business in the class. What we can do it outline some things we all can agree on. For example, listening to music during the times when we are not having a discussion, or doing more cool projects.

The class community wants your input.

Blog: Wednesday 2/16 - When the TV Died

What would it be like if we had no TV? 

What do you think the world would be like?

How would it affect your life? 

Do you think there would be benefits to not having TV?

Valentines Day

It's one of the busiest days for florist and stores that sell Valentines Day candy.

Who is that special someone or the special something that you pay tribute to today? It could be a girlfriend or boyfriend. It could also be a relative, someone in your circle of friends that you care for, or even your Xbox. It could even be yourself.

What do you care most about today and why?
What is something you can do that shows you care about them? It could be something that may not require money or gifts.

Keep it "school cool."

Weekend Check

CHECK, CHECK, CHECK (is this thing on?)

Let's check in about your weekend.
What were the highlights?
What could have gone better?
Did anything interesting happen?

Be detailed and appropriate!!!

African American Firsts

We're doing a project today on African American Firsts

Who is the first African American pro skater?

Here are two resources to help you select your person.

http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/101-african-american-firsts
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmfirsts.html

When you select you biography subject, Use search engines like Google to find more information.

Biography vs Autobiography

What is the difference?

Today our focus is the biography. What are some things that we should include when writing a biography about someone.

Ways to start:
The different between a biography and autobiography is that a biography_______________.
An autobiography is different because it_______________________.
I think that a biography should include 1.
                                                              2.
                                                              3.
                                                              4.
                                                              5.

Who is....

Thurgood Marshall. We have tons of schools and buildings named after him, but why was he important?

What was one of his biggest accomplishments (he was the first what?)?

What historic case in the 1950s was he part of? 

What did he change by winning the case?

Who is...

Ralph J. Bunche.

Why was he significant in history?

What were some of his accomplishments?

What year did he achieve this accomplishment?

Who is...

Mae Jemison.

What can you find out about her?

What makes her story so significant?

Why do you think that she is not highlighted more when it comes to black history month?

Superbowl or Stupidbowl

You sometimes take this time to reflect on your weekend. Part of this weekend was the Superbowl. For some of us it is a big deal to watch the game, others would rather not. What was your favorite part about the Superbowl (it could have been not watching it at all)? What do you think about the commercials?

Ways you can start:

I thought the best part of the Superbowl was...
I thought this was the best part because...

My Stock

Yesterday we learned about Facebook going public with an IPO (initial public offering). This allows the public to get a piece of the company if they buy shares of the company. If the stock goes up a person who owns shares can make money.

http://www.google.com/finance?tab=ee

Use this Web Site (above) to find a stock you would invest in if you could buy 100 shares of a company.
You can search for an item like "pencils" in the "get quotes" window. Think of something which would be a popular item in our economy to invest in.

What stock did you pick?
What is the ticker (or abbreviation for the stock)?
Why did you choose this stock?
Why do you feel this stock is a good choice?
What is one interesting thing in the description of the stock/company that attracted you?

Michael Vick

Football star quarterback Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months of prison in 2007 for running a dog fighting operation from his house. We will watch a short video together after break and write a reflection on what you saw.

What was running through your head when you saw the video?

What are your thoughts on his conviction? Do you think it was fair?


Keep it appropriate and at least a paragraph in length.

THREE on it

Make a list of three things that you are heavily interested in or knowledgeable about. For example: skateboarding or painting houses because you help your uncle. Also write about what makes you experienced or knowledgeable about it. If went to interview for a job how would you explain your knowledge about these THREE things?


Ways to start:
Three things that I am knowledgeable about are_______________, _________________ and _____________

I am knowledgeable about _____________because ________________.
I am also knowledgeable about ____________ because ______________.
Lastly, I am knowledgeable about ________________ because _______________.
I feel that these are good skills I have because________________.

Be creative, be appropriate, be detailed, have fun.

Cruelty to Animals

This week we will complete a t-chart and write about whether dog fighting should be illegal.
Today reflect on a time when you've seen an animal (any animal) being mistreated. This could have been by the animals owner or someone else. For example, owners who leave their dogs in the car with the windows rolled up.

What happened?
Did you say or do anything?
If you are an animal lover, how did you feel?

If you didn't have an experience, that is OK. You can write about how this never happened you. You can still reflect on how you feel about people who treat their animals well or not.

Ways to start:
A time when I saw a person treat an animal bad/good is when...
I didn't/did say something because
What happened was...
When I saw this, I felt...

Weekend Check

Reflect on your weekend.

What went well?

What could have gone better?

Did you do anything special?

Keep it "school cool."

A routine you keep

Write about a routine that you keep in your life. In this case a routine is a process that you do the same every time. It could be a daily activity or a weekly activity that maybe you do on the weekends. It could be something you do to help around your house. It could be the way you get ready for school every day or the night before. Remember, keep it "school cool."

Ways to start:

A routine I have is that every ________ I ___________.
I enjoy this routine because_______________.
I don't enjoy this routine because_______________.
It's my favorite thing to do because_______________.

A hand-me-down story

Reflect and write about a story that has been handed down to you by someone in your family. For example a story that was told to you growing up about an ancestor or elder.

What was the point of them telling you this story?
How did it make you feel?

Ways to start:

A story that has been passed down to me by a family member is about...
In the story... (what happened)
The reason they told this story is because....
When I heard this story I felt...

Keep it "school cool"

Guess what?

Using appropriate writing, describe a place or physical thing without writing the name. Let's see how vivid and detailed you can be without writing what it is.

For example:

I use my fingers to click on the keys. I frantically extend my fingers and watch the screen as the words appear. I play games when I shouldn't and try to minimize the screens before Ms. L comes through. I push my palm over the mouse to direct the pointing arrow. Success! I finished typing the answers to CNN news and successfully completed the level without Ms. L seeing me.

You can pick something that would be harder to guess, but be descriptive without giving it away. Let's pick the best one and see if we can guess as a class.

KEEP IT SCHOOL COOL.

Joepa

Joe Paterno (Joepa) died this last week. He was Penn State's football coach for 46 years. He build a legacy there that was overshadowed by a scandal at the school involving a student and a staff member. Here is an article that discusses more about his life:

http://news.yahoo.com/fired-penn-state-coach-joe-paterno-dead-85-151950813--spt.html

You will all build a legacy of some sort in your lives. Most of us will leave a lasting affect on each other whether we got along or not. A legacy is something physical like property or money that you leave behind. It can also be a reputation (think like a family legacy).

What legacy would you like to leave behind?
What would you like to be remembered for?
Be detailed yet appropriate.

Ways you can start:
A legacy I would leave behind is...
I would be remembered for...
I feel this is where I would make my mark because...

Weekend Check

Sometimes they are never long enough. Sometimes they don't come soon enough.

Reflect on your weekend.

What went well?

What could have gone better?

Did you do anything special?

Keep it "school cool."

Four days until the next weekend

Your worst fear

It's Friday....

What is one of your worst fears? Some of you might feel like you're not afraid of anything anymore, and if you're not that's OK.  What was one of your fears growing up?

For example, mine were spiders. If I were going to write about it, I would describe how when I saw them, I would imagine them crawling on me. I could write about how when I closed my eyes sometimes I would see them, all eight legs moving in unison. When you write, help the person reading imagine what you are writing with your descriptions. Use imagery and figurative language.

It could be something physical or something psychological like being afraid of heights.

Your response should be at least five sentences. Be creative, yet appropriate.

Trying a 10-year-old as an adult

Is it fair to try juveniles as adults?

A 10-year-old Lakeside juvenile stabbed  his 12-year-old friend. Here is a link to the article: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Lakeside-Stabbing-Child-Identified--137501168.html

A police officer in the article was quoted saying:

"California law does not recognize that a child can commit a crime, so there are many different factors that come into play in this case."

Read the article and write at least a paragraph response.

Should this youth be tried as an adult?

What facts or evidence in the article influenced your perspective/opinion? Use quotes or facts from the article to support your writing the way I did above.

Two Bills To Censor the Internet

If you check out the Google homepage, you'll see that there is something black "censoring" the page. The reason why is, Google is asking people to take action on two bills that are being passed that will change the way we use the internet. Here is a link to more information

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/


What are your thoughts on the Bill(s)?
How do you think this will affect the way you use your computer?
Have you ever experienced censorship of your opinion or perspective?

Here are ways to start:
I think the bills are good because...
I think they are bad because...
It will affect me because...
I feel....
An experience I've had with censorship was...

The Edge

Write about a time when you tried to get an advantage over something, someone or in a certain situation?
For example, an athlete who uses performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) to gain an edge in their sport in hopes of being better than everyone else.
This example doesn't necessarily have to be negative.

What was the advantage you wanted to get?
Did you handle it in a positive or negative way?
What was the outcome of the situation?

Ways you can start:
A time I tried to get an advantage over something was...
What I was hoping to do was...
What happend in the end was...
Afterwards, I felt...
When I made the decision, I felt...
During that time, I felt...

MLK

Monday is not just another day off. We are off from school or work to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and legacy. I'm sure you've heard a lot of his famous quotes.


Here is one:
"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education."


What do you think of when you read this quote?
How do you feel when you read it?
What does it mean to you?


Ways to start:
When I read this quote, I feel....
This quote makes me think of my experience when...

A Vivid Dream

Sometimes dreams can be so vivid. When I say vivid, I mean a dream feels like it's really happening in real life because it's so clear or powerful in your mind.

Write about your most recent dream that you remember that was "school cool" but odd or crazy.
What happened?
How did you feel when you woke up?

Have you ever had the dream where you are falling and get startled or scared into waking up like you really hit the ground?

Ways to start are:
A vivid dream I've had is...
In the dream I...
When I woke up I felt....
This dream was important to me because...
This dream didn't phase me because...

Three Pictures, Three words

We are going to continue working on our I AM poems. Today we are going to add pictures to our collage. A collage is a collection of pictures that are stuck together and overlap each other on a piece of paper. In this case, the pictures will relate to your poem. 

Find three pictures that are "school cool" and post them to your blog. Next to them write one word that relates to you, the picture or the poem. Make sure they are saved to your picture folder so we can use them later.

Example: 

                                                                     

                              struggle

Your Best Quality

Yesterday you wrote about two adjectives that describe you. We plan to use these to complete a poetry project to display in the class. Today, describe your best quality. What is it about you that is special. Tell a story of when you put this quality of yours into action. For example if you chose "loyal," you can write about how you had your friends back when there was drama.

Here are some good ways to start:

One of my best qualities is that I am.....
This quality really comes out when....
This quality really came out when....
I use this quality often when...


I trust you to keep it school cool!

My two adjectives

This week we will be working on a poem and collage that represents you. To get us started, think of two words, adjectives that really describe and represent you. For example, mine might be motivational and diligent (hard-working). Explain why you chose these two.

Also, find two pictures that are school-friendly and appropriate for class that represent you. Google your two adjectives and see what images you find. Again, I trust you all to use good judgement when choosing photos. Here are some sample adjectives to motivate you to find yours.

adorable

adventurous

aggressive

alert

attractive

beautiful

blue-eyed 

blushing

bright

clean

clear

cloudy

colorful

cute

distinct

elegant

excited

fancy

glamorous

gleaming

gorgeous

graceful

handsome

homely

light

magnificent

misty

motionless

old-fashioned

plain

poised

precious

quaint

shiny

smoggy

sparkling

spotless

stormy

unusual

wide-eyed

alive

brainy

breakable

busy

careful

cautious

clever

clumsy

concerned

crazy

curious

different

difficult

famous

fragile

frail

gifted

helpful

important

impossible

innocent

inquisitive

modern

mushy

outstanding

powerful

puzzled

real

rich

shy

sleepy

super

talented

tame

tender

tough

wandering

wild

agreeable

amused

brave

calm

charming

cheerful

comfortable

cooperative

courageous

delightful

determined

eager

elated

enchanting

encouraging

energetic

enthusiastic

excited

exuberant

fair

faithful

fantastic

friendly

funny

gentle

glorious

good

happy

healthy

helpful

hilarious

jolly

joyous

kind

lively

lovely

lucky

nice

perfect

pleasant

proud

relieved

silly

smiling

splendid

successful

thankful

thoughtful

victorious

vivacious

witty

wonderful

zealous

zany

The "dis" in Discrimination

With the Arizona immigration law still a hot debate, we have gotten glimpses of both sides of the argument. Some call it racial profiling and some deem it necessary to protect our country and border.

However discrimination doesn't always have to be about the color of your skin. Write about a time when you have felt that someone has passed judgment on you. For example, the way you are dressed or the way you have your hair, or even what they "think" your race is. This could have been in your academic career or a general experience out in the world.

How did you handle it?

How did you prove them wrong?

What are your feeling when this happens to you?

I look forward to reading your great writing but keep it appropriate. 

The Animal Inside

If you could be any animal, what would it be? Why did you choose this animal? What are qualities that you know about this animal that you wish you had. For example, I want to be a giraffe because it's a tall animal and I could see for miles from where I stand. Or I would be a cat because they are the most visually keen, meaning they are born with special eyes that allow them to move and hunt in complete darkness.

Keep it appropriate

Your responses should be at least five sentences.

If I would be an animal, it would be...
I chose this animal because....
A special quality/ability this animal has is...
I feel....
Another interesting fact about "cats" is...

The Best Advice

What is the best advice someone has given you?  Did you use it or not. What were the results?
What about advice you have given someone. Did they use it or not? What were the results?


The best advice someone has given me is....
I took it and the results were....
I didn't take it and the results were...
I thought it was good advice because....
I didn't think it was good advice because....

Setting goals / New Years Resolution

Wikipedia defines a resolution as  a commitment that a person makes to one or more lasting personal goals, projects, or the reforming of a habit. This goal must be reached by the next New Year. Keep in mind that this is a goal, not a wish and should be something that you as a person could strive for.

I know that some of you briefly wrote about your goals in your last blog. For today I'd like you to read this article and blog about detailed goals you have and how you are going to achieve them. Have you already started?

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/siegle/SelfEfficacy/Jordan.html

We will discuss it before you start