1/16/13

What a warm day it was today! Warm in terms of the temperature and warm in terms of the smiles. Today, Miss Kritzeck's fifth period class went to go join the special ed's physical education class. At this point, the sun is shining and we're energized after a quick lunch break, so it's time to rock and roll! We started off the period with doing some good ol' stretches-followed by a lap around the track. Now, I guess in any case, I wasn't wearing the right type of shoe for the occasion, so I kept it slow and talked to some of the other students along the way. Bright and chipper as ever, we exchanged pleasantries and bounced bad jokes off of each other. We then followed suit with a drill where we would get comfortable with a small blue ball. We started off with rolling the ball back and forth. Then slowly, the class changed positions from a sit, to a kneel, to a pushup, finally to an upright position where we practiced catching and throwing the ball with one hand. Needless to say, hand-eye coordination is not my strong suit. However, even if I couldn't catch, my two other group mates and I joined hands to compete against the extremely athletic S-man! As the girl next to me said, we totally won.
Winning against someone or not, this day was a victory on our part as we managed to go through the day and hopefully, make a difference. In this case, I hope we were able to make the students in that class happy by adding a hint of spice to their daily life. In any case, if we didn't then they surely made a difference in my day as I had much fun hanging out with them-despite the hardening of my heels and the over bearing sun shining above us.

1/14/14

This, included here, is an example of an ad aired by United Airlines during the summer Olympics of 2012. This is a very well put together ad as it posses persuasive strategies such as "big names". The big names here are the Olympic athletes. At the same time, they employ the tactics of Ethos. They build a sense trust by displaying that their customers range from famous celebrities to normal families. They also establish that they've been flying for so many years, which also goes along with logos. For pathos, they show that you would want to fly with them because everybody idolized the athletes, so they too want to partake in the experience. All these strategies tie into their claim; that thet're America' s most trusted airline.

1/08/14

Here, I include a slam poetry session featuring the theme of bullying.

1/06/14

New year, new me!

Well, not really. Though, I guess one can say that my prior year wasn't the best in terms of improvements-to say I regressed into a perhaps lazier and more blank minded person. Never mind all that though! For this is the year of change. I promise to mend my ill work ethics and replace them with a more alert and responsible mindset. My goal this year is to finally get on track with school.

Aside from an academic point of view, I'd also like to put more time into my hobbies which have taken a bout neglect as a result of my schoolwork and poor time management because without these little, stress relieving habits, I feel as if I'm loosing a part of what makes me unique. Aside from my extra-curricular activities, I'd like to put more thought into my health as this marks my last year taking PE. Without a designated class to get me moving, I fear I'll be condoned to a life of schoolwork. So it's important to me to start some new healthy rituals that will hopefully carry on in the years to come.

I've learned that often when one bites off more than one can chew, the end result is nothing short of disappointment. So, until I've accomplished all my new resolutions, this shall be it. After all, though the start of the new year is a wonderful time to start a new batch of habits, it's not the only time one should choose to reflect and improve themselves.

12/11/13

Salutations to all those star studded students, fabulous fish, and great goats out there! This wonderful Wednesday started off with a our daring day leaders opening the door to greet the class. It also  just so happened that three students were late on this very fine day. I won't list names, but it just so happens that our class had a couple missing students today as well. Alexis, Nav, and Kathy were all very much missed.  After a series of rigorous exercises meant to punish the undisciplined habits of our class, we proceeded to read through all that was written on the board. Finishing it off with an explanation as to why one must be wary of those who seek power and a current event detailing Nelson Mandela's funeral. In transition, homework was stamped, various people were called out to read the fake GLRP words, and questioned Basil's half mustache-half goatee.  We then moved on to a brief summary of ch. 6. With this, we completed the day's objectives. As a bonus round, Ms. K asked us if we could identify which songs were used to base the tune of Animal Farm's very own anthem. After a long hard battle round of guessing, Aaron finally pointed out which song it was. We then commenced a cheating scandal involving Privthi and what not. The day ended with NVSS still in the lead and a class of kids humming a mash up we know as "Beasts of England".

QOD: What do you think is the cause of greed? Even though greed is classified as one of the seven sins, do you think greed can be justified? In what ways can geed be looked upon with a good light? Who is the greediest in all of Manor Farm?

12/10/13

Squealer, oh so full of praise for his overseer, Napoleon.

In my perspective, Squealer is appealing to the animals' fear or making mistakes. In a way, it is because they are so new to the idea of independence that they tend to leave things in the hands-or rather hooves- of the pigs. Not to add the fact that the pigs constantly advertised how it was them who were in fact superior-intelligence wise- towards the  other animals. So it only seems natural the animals start to believe that the pigs are meant to rule. Throughout the entire book, the animals display many characteristics that are more commonly seen associated with humans. So now, Orwell is tackling on the emotion of fear, and no one knows how to utilize fear better than Napoleon. With this, the animals soon begin to stop thinking for themselves and as a result loose their individuality. leading to a mindless mass under the dictatorship of one higher up being. Which  is what Napoleon says he aspires to stop but is in fact what he is promoting.

12/09/13

There are many qualities that make a good leader. Intelligence is undoubtedly one of those, but intelligence itself has many forms. Beside being book smart, which though isn't a mandatory aspect to have, there is the sensibility to be able to carry oneself in a respectable manner. In most case it portrays itself as being dependable to make the right choices at the right time, weighing in the responsibility. Above all though, beside having to know how to speak, delegate, and act, a leader should be respected. For without respect, leadership is nothing but a joke. Just as in animal farm, the pigs have demonstrated that respect is the key to naïve trust. For Snowball, it was his speaking skills and charisma that drew the animals to idolize him. Napoleon, on the other hand, opted for using fear.

For our table, I am the leader, but honestly, I just volunteered. There was no big senile examinations in the court of our  citizens to see whether or not I was qualified.