My ILP is with The Gift of Life donor program. So far, I love it. It offers a nice contrast from the classroom environment. In the past few weeks, I’ve toured the building, met most of the employees (even the CEO!), and worked on many small projects. These include creating educational packets and making centerpieces for donor recognition dinners.

I initially picked this site because I wanted to participate in something meaningful. Although it is not the most talked about, organ donation is a great way to save lives. I didn’t know that much about it, besides the fact that my mom was a registered organ donor, before I started. During my first three visits, Faith (my mentor) has taught me almost all I need to know.

Taylor V.
Iron English
9/8/08

During the 4th quater, we read Hamlet.  When we finished, we wrote acedemic papers around a variety of topics.  I chose to focus my paper on the Laertes foil to Hamlet.

For this project, we had to pick 10 places in Philadelphia that were important in our everyday lives.  We used our new vocabulary from our directions unit, and made a guide book to "our Philadelphia."  It gives directios from my house to each place.

For this project, we were asked to brainstorm a list of 20 memories.  We then had to add sensory detals to five of them.  Finally we choose one, and expanded it, telling the full story of the memory.  I choose to write about my experience of leaving the girl's department for the junior's.

In one episode of "This American Life", Jack Hitt visits a prison, where incarerated men are putting on Hamlet. He interviews many of them, but I found one comment from "Big Hutch" quite controversial. He said that Shakespeare made a huge mistake when writing Hamlet: the entire point of the tragedy is unrealistic. If Hamlet's father was truely murdered, he argued, Hamlet would never have spent so long deciding to kill Claudius. It would have been automatic. He puts himself in a version of Hamlet's dilemma. "I couldn't see somebody raping my daughter, and just sitting around. No, I gotta do you; you're done."

thought his take was very interesting. However, I felt that he missed a central point in the play. Hamlet was never that close with his father. Old Hamlet was always away from home, fighting a war or gathering tribute. Unlike Big Hutch and his daughter, Hamlet did not have a strong connection to his father. That's why it took him so long to decide if he should actually kill King Claudius. He had to decide if aveging his father was worth the consequences that would follow. I don't think Shakespeare made an error when writing Hamlet. The story depicts a true human dilemma that anyone in Hamlet's situation whould have faced.

    Our class discussions on Hamlet so far have been extremely helpful in understanding the text.   We always find an interesting topic to debate.  It's usually a comfortable environment, and when I have question like "What were Hamlet's thoughts in this moment?", I'm able to ask it and have it answered.   The two films we've been watching are also very useful.  They're different from one another, so it's an interesting contrast.

    Surprisingly, I'm really enjoying Hamlet.  There are many smaller plots inside of the larger one.  The emotions and relationships in the play are constantly changing, which keeps me absored in the text.  In Act 4, it has become clear to me that Hamlet is actually a coward.  Even after being told of his father's murder and reminded, he still hasn't avenged it.  Laertes, on the other hand, within a few days of hearing of his father's death, was in the palace questioning the king and swearing to kill the murderer.  In the beginning of the play, I would have guessed that Hamlet would have killed Claudius by now, judging by his evident agression and madness.  However, it seems he has simmered down and is waiting to see how Polonius' murder will "play out."      

    During the third quarter, we focused on colonial and state laws that affected African American history.  We did this in many ways.  We studied the Bill of Rights, we did a group project, and we created a timeline, among other things. 

    For this benchmark, we reflected on our quarter-long learning.  We explained our process using our five core values: inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, and reflection.  I spent a lot of time creating an outline, writing a rough draft, and editing it to make a final draft.  The finished paper came out well.   

For this project, we submerged a regular chicken egg in three substances, one of which being ethanoic acid. The other two were our choice. We observed the egg over the course of approximately two weeks, and noted the change in circumference and volume. The purpose of the lab was to see how the selective permeability of the egg membrane affected what substances could enter and leave the egg.

I worked with Sophia Moreno, and the substances we chose were salt water and lemon juice. We had to research the projection models and forulas for each liquid. The lab came out well and we had some unexpected results.

For this project, we had to create a portfolio that included the pictures we had taken, with the microscopes, during the quarter.  It displayed our knowlege of cell structures and other specimens, such as hair, and sucrose crystals.  There were many required photos as well as two student choice photos. 

I worked on this project individually, but I collaborated with many people.  I spent a l ot of time making the pictures as good as possible and the explanations as clear as they could be.  My favorite pictures came from the onion cells.  I found it interesting that they looked so organized.  

I hope you enjoy.