When you get your report card what do you look for? Most people have an average letter they are looking for; A, B, C, Ds and even Fs. If we were to take away our “letter grades” our society would falter: job offers would not include grades and not reflect intelligence: scholarships would only exist for athletes and musicians: and we would not have awards for hard work and perseverance. We need to keep our letter grades for our economy and to improve self esteem.
When you go into a job interview you will be questioned about your Cumulative GPA. If you didn’t have letter grades in your district or school there is no way to determine your GPA. Your employer could be looking for a smart person in one of their departments. How is he/she going to decide who is best for that job if two people both have all passing? If you went to Stanford or Harvard and worked extremely hard to receive the proper education for the job how is your employer going to decide if you really were a smart person by seeing the word passing? There would be no academic scholarships.
When you filled out an application for a scholarship you would not be considered unless you were an athlete or musician. Many reasons we have scholarships would change. You would not need to be a very smart person to play for the basketball team. You didn’t need a 3.5 Cumulative GPA to play in the university/college band. Our society would no longer have people setting goals for college that meet the regular standards. You wouldn’t need to study every night to qualify for a scholarship; your goal would be to play basketball every night. As a whole we would not have awards showing hard work.
My third reason we should have letter grades is that we can improve self esteem. If everyone in America could know exactly how their schooling improved them most people would be very happy. We would have less suicides and cases of medical depression. Instead we would have lots of people who were very happy with what happened. I know that some people would like to have a pass or fail grading system so that they wouldn’t have to work as hard, but then they wouldn’t be able to say that they really worked hard for what they earned.
In conclusion I want to emphasize how important I think letter grades are. We would have a better economy because we would know where you could and could not function properly. We would have a better education system because we would have people who still really tried hard to earn scholarships. Finally, we would have people who were happy with awards they received in high school and college for their dedication. I want you to help me fight for letter grades so that we can measure today and prepare for the future.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Diploma before Driving?
Have you ever been incredibly busy? What if you had to be somewhere and no one else could get you there? This would present a lot of problems. If we couldn’t drive during high school, then we wouldn’t be able to support our high school at after school events as well. We would not be able to do as many extra curricular activities after school. Lastly, we would have a tough time developing skills that are needed in the work place. We should be able to earn a driver’s license without a high school diploma.
The first reason I feel strongly towards driving in high school is school support. If we can’t make it to the concert or to the game because our parents our busy then it would not be as meaningful to earn a scholarship outside of academics. We wouldn’t need an athletics team because no one would make it to the game. People would argue that we would probably have more time to do homework if we didn’t go to as many games, but I both disagree and agree with that. I think that our ability to manage our time would probably go up. Many adults have to be good at managing time if they want to be successful. I believe that if we’re supporting our school then we probably are involved with it too.
All work and no play will make Jack a dull boy and Jill a dull girl. We need to have fun in high school. Not only by going to the dances, but by being on student government and helping to plan and throw the dance. If we can make it to the game to support your team it would be pointless to find out that there is no team because no one could drive themselves home from practice. It would help our parents out if we were a little more capable of doing things ourselves. We would develop skills that are necessary in the work place if we could make it to parties and dates.
One of the most important issues that we as Americans face right now is the economy. We would have a better economy if we were able to develop the skills necessary in the work place at an early age. If we were able to drive ourselves to a job regularly we would be able to practice skills in the work place. If our parents have a car for us to take, but they can’t take us we would need to be able to ourselves there.
I think that there are many benefits to driving during high school. Not only can we get ourselves places, but we can show support, we can participate in after school activities, and we would be able to develop people skills. I think that we should all fight for this so that we can have a more powerful tomorrow.
The first reason I feel strongly towards driving in high school is school support. If we can’t make it to the concert or to the game because our parents our busy then it would not be as meaningful to earn a scholarship outside of academics. We wouldn’t need an athletics team because no one would make it to the game. People would argue that we would probably have more time to do homework if we didn’t go to as many games, but I both disagree and agree with that. I think that our ability to manage our time would probably go up. Many adults have to be good at managing time if they want to be successful. I believe that if we’re supporting our school then we probably are involved with it too.
All work and no play will make Jack a dull boy and Jill a dull girl. We need to have fun in high school. Not only by going to the dances, but by being on student government and helping to plan and throw the dance. If we can make it to the game to support your team it would be pointless to find out that there is no team because no one could drive themselves home from practice. It would help our parents out if we were a little more capable of doing things ourselves. We would develop skills that are necessary in the work place if we could make it to parties and dates.
One of the most important issues that we as Americans face right now is the economy. We would have a better economy if we were able to develop the skills necessary in the work place at an early age. If we were able to drive ourselves to a job regularly we would be able to practice skills in the work place. If our parents have a car for us to take, but they can’t take us we would need to be able to ourselves there.
I think that there are many benefits to driving during high school. Not only can we get ourselves places, but we can show support, we can participate in after school activities, and we would be able to develop people skills. I think that we should all fight for this so that we can have a more powerful tomorrow.
Air Conditioning in our Schools
26 minutes until class is over. I think that I will go dunk my head in the drinking fountain. Man, it’s hot in here! Ok, back to the test:
A…Russia
B…Antarctica
C…Kenya.
Umm, Antarctica, it seems nice and cold there. Only 24 minutes. Maybe tomorrow I should wear shorts like tom; they don’t look that short.
Kids are distracted from the lesson, test, or assignment by the heat and ways to get rid of it. Many thoughts are elsewhere: the swimming pool: popsicles: etc.: they are thinking what to wear tomorrow and after school, and it’s hard to do well on a test if we aren’t focused in class. We need air conditioning in our schools.
Heat is a very distracting thing. Heat affects everyone’s hygiene and health (both are very important things to teenagers). At the start of the year Mrs. Cobia’s science classes figured out the average temperature for 3 weeks. The average temperature was 82 degrees! An air conditioning company did a study and recorded that, 1“People have been observed to be the most productive at 72°-74°.” It was a tough class to concentrate; that was a problem because it is a core class. Her class was full of groans and complaints. “This room is too hot,” “Can I go get a drink,” and “I don’t feel well.” You were more focused on getting out of her class then you were on the assignment. The only other solution was to turn on a fan, or wear more cool clothes.
When it is hot outside you probably don’t wear an over coat and ski pants. It doesn’t change in the classroom. The easiest thing to do in a hot classroom is wear shorter clothes. When you can’t wear shorter clothes you wear fewer clothes. There is a boundary where you can’t take off any more layers/wear shorter clothes and still be in the dress code. Violating the dress code would not help the focus and concentration in the class. If our focus in school is on our clothes and who’s wearing what, we will not do well on tests.
If we bought air conditioning our district would do better on many national tests. Our results would be out there for all teachers to look. When a good teacher is looking for a place to teach and notices that we are doing well, it will certainly catch their attention. Good teachers would equal good students and that would result in an educated nation; that is a key thing in countries being competitive in the world. It would cost a lot of money, but if we were to get the best insulation and air conditioning it would pay for itself in the end.
In conclusion, I believe that we should have air conditioning. Not only would our health and hygiene improve, but so would our dress code problems. Following the dress code would improve our concentration in schools. The cost would be great but it would be a very good thing for our country. We need air conditioning in our schools in Davis County.
A…Russia
B…Antarctica
C…Kenya.
Umm, Antarctica, it seems nice and cold there. Only 24 minutes. Maybe tomorrow I should wear shorts like tom; they don’t look that short.
Kids are distracted from the lesson, test, or assignment by the heat and ways to get rid of it. Many thoughts are elsewhere: the swimming pool: popsicles: etc.: they are thinking what to wear tomorrow and after school, and it’s hard to do well on a test if we aren’t focused in class. We need air conditioning in our schools.
Heat is a very distracting thing. Heat affects everyone’s hygiene and health (both are very important things to teenagers). At the start of the year Mrs. Cobia’s science classes figured out the average temperature for 3 weeks. The average temperature was 82 degrees! An air conditioning company did a study and recorded that, 1“People have been observed to be the most productive at 72°-74°.” It was a tough class to concentrate; that was a problem because it is a core class. Her class was full of groans and complaints. “This room is too hot,” “Can I go get a drink,” and “I don’t feel well.” You were more focused on getting out of her class then you were on the assignment. The only other solution was to turn on a fan, or wear more cool clothes.
When it is hot outside you probably don’t wear an over coat and ski pants. It doesn’t change in the classroom. The easiest thing to do in a hot classroom is wear shorter clothes. When you can’t wear shorter clothes you wear fewer clothes. There is a boundary where you can’t take off any more layers/wear shorter clothes and still be in the dress code. Violating the dress code would not help the focus and concentration in the class. If our focus in school is on our clothes and who’s wearing what, we will not do well on tests.
If we bought air conditioning our district would do better on many national tests. Our results would be out there for all teachers to look. When a good teacher is looking for a place to teach and notices that we are doing well, it will certainly catch their attention. Good teachers would equal good students and that would result in an educated nation; that is a key thing in countries being competitive in the world. It would cost a lot of money, but if we were to get the best insulation and air conditioning it would pay for itself in the end.
In conclusion, I believe that we should have air conditioning. Not only would our health and hygiene improve, but so would our dress code problems. Following the dress code would improve our concentration in schools. The cost would be great but it would be a very good thing for our country. We need air conditioning in our schools in Davis County.
Monday, January 7, 2008
A Potential Eruption...From a Star
What would happen if our Earth were in the pathway of a major eruption? Not just a volcano eruption, but there a star that might blow up and seriously harm Earth.
Super Novas are about as bad as a n explosion can get. A super nova is when a star dies and it usually ends up with a big explosion and turns into a black hole. There are many stars that astronomers have noticed with a super nova or the same “symptoms” of a super nova.
There was a star estimated at 240 million light years away that recently experienced a super-duper nova (big star, big explosion). There is a star in our galaxy about 7,500 light years away that is showing the same signs that SN 2006gy showed before its super nova. If Eta Carinae had a super nova it could affect Earth if it released deadly gamma radiation. There also is the possibility that the gamma radiation could totally miss Earth. It’s believed that these kind of eruptions are what formed Earth as we know it. This could be bad if it happened to close to Earth.
I think that an eruption of any kind could hurt Earth, the devastation would differ, but I am positive that it would hurt us. We only have a little radiation from the sun on Earth and it still hurts people on Earth. It also isn’t exploding on us to give us that radiation. I think that there is a chance that we might be passed over by the radiation, but if a start blew up we would surely be hurt. I also have some reasons why I think that this would hurt us.
We believe that our Earth was formed by an eruption millions of years ago. We don’t know where that eruption could have happened, but no doubt it was close. If we were to receive an eruption from a star, relatively close, it would probably affect life on Earth. If light can travel forever from a star than a massive star could probably launch some radiation pretty far. The affect would probably leave Earth with a quick “attack” or time when we were directly affected by the eruption. I believe that after we would be affected by the things that were left over, like radiation.
In conclusion I think that an eruption could be pretty devastating, but it also could be a very small matter. What I mean is that if Eta Carinae did blow up that we could be out of its reach, or we might be seriously hurt by it. I think that 7,500 years light speed is a lot different than the speed of radiation so if we were affected it would be a long time from now. I really am totally clueless, because I don’t think that we have ever seen a star explode on Earth. I do however; think that it would affect Earth some way or another.
Super Novas are about as bad as a n explosion can get. A super nova is when a star dies and it usually ends up with a big explosion and turns into a black hole. There are many stars that astronomers have noticed with a super nova or the same “symptoms” of a super nova.
There was a star estimated at 240 million light years away that recently experienced a super-duper nova (big star, big explosion). There is a star in our galaxy about 7,500 light years away that is showing the same signs that SN 2006gy showed before its super nova. If Eta Carinae had a super nova it could affect Earth if it released deadly gamma radiation. There also is the possibility that the gamma radiation could totally miss Earth. It’s believed that these kind of eruptions are what formed Earth as we know it. This could be bad if it happened to close to Earth.
I think that an eruption of any kind could hurt Earth, the devastation would differ, but I am positive that it would hurt us. We only have a little radiation from the sun on Earth and it still hurts people on Earth. It also isn’t exploding on us to give us that radiation. I think that there is a chance that we might be passed over by the radiation, but if a start blew up we would surely be hurt. I also have some reasons why I think that this would hurt us.
We believe that our Earth was formed by an eruption millions of years ago. We don’t know where that eruption could have happened, but no doubt it was close. If we were to receive an eruption from a star, relatively close, it would probably affect life on Earth. If light can travel forever from a star than a massive star could probably launch some radiation pretty far. The affect would probably leave Earth with a quick “attack” or time when we were directly affected by the eruption. I believe that after we would be affected by the things that were left over, like radiation.
In conclusion I think that an eruption could be pretty devastating, but it also could be a very small matter. What I mean is that if Eta Carinae did blow up that we could be out of its reach, or we might be seriously hurt by it. I think that 7,500 years light speed is a lot different than the speed of radiation so if we were affected it would be a long time from now. I really am totally clueless, because I don’t think that we have ever seen a star explode on Earth. I do however; think that it would affect Earth some way or another.
The World touches all our senses differently
Have you ever met someone who was color blind? I know several people who are. My grandpa for one, some friends, and I am told that I am color blind. Only problem with that statement is that no one can prove to me that I see things differently.
How in the world are we supposed to know that a lion's roar sounds exactly the same to everyone? We may just recognize the sound is a roaring lion. I might hear the lion's roar as a train. You might hear the same lion and think that it is a symphony. I believe that when you turn to your friend and ask what the lion sounds like, he will tell you, but you still may not know exactly how it sounds to him.
When we see things we all see things differently. I might not see red and green as well as you see red and green. I sometimes have looked at a pine tree and seen a color that was laughed at. When I taste something sour and don't like it; it tastes like pencil lead. When someone who likes sour things tastes it, they may taste a handful of sugar.
I have discovered this over several years. I have realized that there really is no way to prove to someone that they are color blind. We don't know that they see anything different and they may never know that they see anything different. Look at it this way, we do not know if someone is deaf, they just might be faking it all the time. We don't know if there really is such thing as blindness, we might see people with sight dogs and glasses who can see just fine, but it just looks like they can't use their eyes very well. The same goes for people who are mute, they may speak fine, they just don't know how to talk. People who think that they are strong may just have lifted enough heavy things they convinced there body to lift heavy things. I know that that sounds harsh and I really believe that there is such a thing as people with disabilites, but my point is that we have no reason to be so harsh when we have no idea how we ourselves see the world.
How in the world are we supposed to know that a lion's roar sounds exactly the same to everyone? We may just recognize the sound is a roaring lion. I might hear the lion's roar as a train. You might hear the same lion and think that it is a symphony. I believe that when you turn to your friend and ask what the lion sounds like, he will tell you, but you still may not know exactly how it sounds to him.
When we see things we all see things differently. I might not see red and green as well as you see red and green. I sometimes have looked at a pine tree and seen a color that was laughed at. When I taste something sour and don't like it; it tastes like pencil lead. When someone who likes sour things tastes it, they may taste a handful of sugar.
I have discovered this over several years. I have realized that there really is no way to prove to someone that they are color blind. We don't know that they see anything different and they may never know that they see anything different. Look at it this way, we do not know if someone is deaf, they just might be faking it all the time. We don't know if there really is such thing as blindness, we might see people with sight dogs and glasses who can see just fine, but it just looks like they can't use their eyes very well. The same goes for people who are mute, they may speak fine, they just don't know how to talk. People who think that they are strong may just have lifted enough heavy things they convinced there body to lift heavy things. I know that that sounds harsh and I really believe that there is such a thing as people with disabilites, but my point is that we have no reason to be so harsh when we have no idea how we ourselves see the world.
Monday, November 26, 2007
The Changes in Our World Based on Race
There are many things that Dr. King believed in very strongly. In the 1970’s there were many people who believed that African-Americans, Asians, and Native Americans were not as good as the whites were. There were separate schools, drinking fountains, different rights, all because the whites believed that they were all “masters” of colored people. Dr. King got us started, but in no way are we even close to completely ridding ourselves of stereotyping and prejudice.
I know for a fact that we still have stereotyping. Nowadays we think that all Latinos are illegal, Chinese make the best piano players and African-American athletes are the best athletes. We still have a lot of work to do if we want to eliminate all the problems we still have in our society today.
Some people nowadays are very prejudice to other races in our country. Have you ever met someone who just couldn’t get along with someone and said it was because he was “Mexican?” Or he has “Black man hops?”
Another one of Dr. King’s hopes was a day to come when a man is judged by the content of his heart and not the color of his skin and I think that that will happen over the next 100 years. With more and more countries studying English, I think that we will come to a time when we all understand the same language and we all understand each other a lot easier. The best way to be able to judge the content of an individual’s heart is to be able to effectively communicate with them. I have noticed in my home how effective communication can overcome a lot of frustration. My 3 year old sister cannot speak yet. She tries to tell us what she wants and how she feels, but there is always a gap of understanding, which complicates things for both of us. As she learns a new word or a new sign, the level of frustration changes, we usually know better what she wants and we can get her that effectively. Common language breaks down barriers. However, I think that the major communication problem lies not in the language used, but in communicating ideas.
I believe that there are many ways to learn to communicate effectively. One, we can try to learn several languages so we can understand them. Two, we can try to avoid frustration when we talk to others who may not understand us very well and eliminate the overall way of looking at some things for example, “Spanish is hard to understand.” The biggest communication technique, though, is listening. I think if people stopped to objectively listen to other people, without using preconceived biases, but just listened to their ideas, we would see that we are really all the same. We all want to be loved and to love. We all have unique view points and personalities, no matter what our skin or hair color is. If each person could be appreciated for the content of their hearts, then predjudism would be against tyrants and villains.
I think we can and will someday get to the point where we will be at the point where we have eliminated prejudice and stereotyping from our society. May we all work to get someday to happen today.
I know for a fact that we still have stereotyping. Nowadays we think that all Latinos are illegal, Chinese make the best piano players and African-American athletes are the best athletes. We still have a lot of work to do if we want to eliminate all the problems we still have in our society today.
Some people nowadays are very prejudice to other races in our country. Have you ever met someone who just couldn’t get along with someone and said it was because he was “Mexican?” Or he has “Black man hops?”
Another one of Dr. King’s hopes was a day to come when a man is judged by the content of his heart and not the color of his skin and I think that that will happen over the next 100 years. With more and more countries studying English, I think that we will come to a time when we all understand the same language and we all understand each other a lot easier. The best way to be able to judge the content of an individual’s heart is to be able to effectively communicate with them. I have noticed in my home how effective communication can overcome a lot of frustration. My 3 year old sister cannot speak yet. She tries to tell us what she wants and how she feels, but there is always a gap of understanding, which complicates things for both of us. As she learns a new word or a new sign, the level of frustration changes, we usually know better what she wants and we can get her that effectively. Common language breaks down barriers. However, I think that the major communication problem lies not in the language used, but in communicating ideas.
I believe that there are many ways to learn to communicate effectively. One, we can try to learn several languages so we can understand them. Two, we can try to avoid frustration when we talk to others who may not understand us very well and eliminate the overall way of looking at some things for example, “Spanish is hard to understand.” The biggest communication technique, though, is listening. I think if people stopped to objectively listen to other people, without using preconceived biases, but just listened to their ideas, we would see that we are really all the same. We all want to be loved and to love. We all have unique view points and personalities, no matter what our skin or hair color is. If each person could be appreciated for the content of their hearts, then predjudism would be against tyrants and villains.
I think we can and will someday get to the point where we will be at the point where we have eliminated prejudice and stereotyping from our society. May we all work to get someday to happen today.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Southern Utah
Over the 3 day weekend I got to see Southern Utah and Arizona. We spent the night's in St. George but during the day we were everywhere. We would drive to the Grand Canyon and marveled at how BIG and deep it was, I just about wet my pants walking on the trail, then we went ot Zion's and drove through that, then we slept. Then we drove to some sandstone and climbed that, after we went swiming, that was a major opposite. The last day we went to Cedar Break, by Bryce Canyon, and we drove home. I started to realize how cool Southern Utah, Northern Arizona is.
My brother tells me that in Utah Studies they learned that all 5 National Parks in Utah are in Southern Utah. It was cool to go see some of them. I think that most of the national parks in Utah have a "rock" sort of theme, but St. George has some really cool rocks. I saw a lot of cool rock formations that make them cool like Bryce, a bunch of pointy rocks in the same canyon, Zion had a bunch of cool tall rocks, and the Grand Canyon was insane! It was by far the coolest canyon I've ever seen. I knew that it was an incredible thing to see, but to be there was awesome. You looked down into it and thought that it would never end and that you weren't worthy to live again unless you shot yourself or something. I think that it was a neat experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat, but man has also made some cool things in that part of the state.
On the way home we stopped and did some go-karts and that was really fun and I started to wonder, "Why do people live in St. Geoge if it doesn't have very much water?" How did th immigrants decide to just stop in the deseret? They could have gone on to California or even to Mexico and instead they chose the hard way of life. Nowadays it's no big deal to go to St. George and enjoy yourself but how did we ever get to that point? Some pioneer or mountain man was too tired to care where he ended up?
Whatever the reason is, I'm glad they did stop so we could see all those cool sites.
My brother tells me that in Utah Studies they learned that all 5 National Parks in Utah are in Southern Utah. It was cool to go see some of them. I think that most of the national parks in Utah have a "rock" sort of theme, but St. George has some really cool rocks. I saw a lot of cool rock formations that make them cool like Bryce, a bunch of pointy rocks in the same canyon, Zion had a bunch of cool tall rocks, and the Grand Canyon was insane! It was by far the coolest canyon I've ever seen. I knew that it was an incredible thing to see, but to be there was awesome. You looked down into it and thought that it would never end and that you weren't worthy to live again unless you shot yourself or something. I think that it was a neat experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat, but man has also made some cool things in that part of the state.
On the way home we stopped and did some go-karts and that was really fun and I started to wonder, "Why do people live in St. Geoge if it doesn't have very much water?" How did th immigrants decide to just stop in the deseret? They could have gone on to California or even to Mexico and instead they chose the hard way of life. Nowadays it's no big deal to go to St. George and enjoy yourself but how did we ever get to that point? Some pioneer or mountain man was too tired to care where he ended up?
Whatever the reason is, I'm glad they did stop so we could see all those cool sites.
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