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Capstones
Gonzalez, Esperanza, Lucid
My Q1 Benchmark Podcast
Middleswarth Jacklyn, Lucidchart, Homenetwork
2) MY OMG moment was while we were learning about the internet connection and how packages came through to your computer, there were so many things that had to be done but it was done in such a quick amount of time. It shocked me that a computer or device could move so quick and people get irritated if it takes longer than ten seconds.
3) Other people in the world should know about having an ISP/Home network that you should always have a password if you have a WIFI connection. Random people near you can connect to that network for free if it's not password connected. If there is a password only people who know of the password can connect, so that way it's easier for you and you're not paying for multiple people than you need to.A Review Of Holidays On Ice
For the past week I have been reading David Sedaris’ Holidays on Ice, a short collection of essays, each of which is a reflection of our culture’s attitudes and behaviors around the Christmas season. I do not consider myself an avid reader, but I found this comical collection hard to put down. While at times I found the book discouraging, I feel that it was well worth reading and would recommend reading it if to anyone who haven’t already.
David Sedaris is a well known author and comedian, making regular appearances on many National Public Radio programs such as Fresh Air and This American Life. He is the author of many bestselling books including Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day and When You Are Engulfed In Flames. He is known for his ability to make everyday situations into hilarious comedy sketches. The humor in his works are further enhanced when he reads them aloud.
Sedaris opens his book with a memoir called “The Santaland Diaries” in which he describes his experiences working as an elf in the Santaland at a Macy's in New York. He talks about his experiences with a combination of humor, spite and cynicism. In one section, he recalls the different requests made by customers regarding Santa’s racial identity, “...a woman approached me and whispered, ‘We would like a traditional Santa. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.’” Sedaris sends her to one of the store’s two African American Santas. “Two New Jersey families came together to see santa. Two loud unattractive husbands with two wives and four children between them. The children gathered around Santa and had their picture taken. When santa asked what the ten year old boy wanted for Christmas, His father shouted ‘A WOMAN! GET HIM A WOMAN, SANTA!’” Mr. Sedaris does a very good job of conveying humor while still putting out intelligent and meaningful analysis of our society’s holiday culture. In The Santaland Diaries, he’s depicts the greater american populace as a swarm of rude, impatient, and self important shoppers who pay little respect to anything other than themselves.
Many parts of the book however, do not reflect as much of his humor as they do his spite. An example where I see more spite than humor is in this excerpt from “Dinah, The Christmas Whore” “Kettles boiled over and steaks were routinely left to blacken on the grill as my co workers crept off to the stockroom to smoke and play cards or sometimes have sex. ‘It suddenly occurred to me that people are lazy’” There may be humor here, but to me this just sound like another person complaining about their job. It almost irritates me because if I want to hear this type of thing I can just talk to my friend who works at McDonalds. That being said, I found that changing my perspective as a reader and prepared myself for a book that was more analytical than comical it made things a bit more tolerable.
As I write this review, I feel I may not be giving the book it’s due credit. I feel that as a teenager, some of the humor may go over my head. While I do find much of the book funny and have often laughed through much of the santaland diaries, I feel that it is meant for a more mature audience. While teenagers who read this collection will find some things funny, much of the humor is aimed at a more adult audience. Much of his humor comes across as a deterrent rather than an incentive to keep reading. This passage from “Season’s Greeting to Our Friends and Family!!!” is something that many adults I know found funny but I found overly cynical and even angry. “When his tour of duty ended Clifford returned home, where, after making the second biggest decision of his life (I am referring of course to his brief eight month marriage to Doll Babcock), he and I were reunited.” I do understand that there is humor here. And I understand why it could be funny, I simply Don’t get it. I feel like the older you are, the funnier this would be. Since People my age have not yet experienced or are currently experiencing interactions like this it is hard to look back and laugh. I look forward to reading this book once I reach adulthood when I will understand more of his humor.
Holidays on ice is a book that will appeal the most to those who share Sedaris’ cynicism and dark humor. Even if you are not a fan of this sort of humor I would still recommend reading this book purely because of the variety of interesting content that it offers. It is also worth it just to have the cadence that is David Sedaris’s Writing course through your head. I feel that Sedaris set out to write a comedy and ended up writing a comedy as he planned, but ended up doing so much more. The book has a wide enough variety of humor that anyone can read and enjoy it, and he made it have enough of a plot so that those who don’t understand his all of his humor like I do can still enjoy this book. If you have not already, I seriously recommend reading it.
Nocella, Veronica, Lucidchart, Home Network
The internet connects to my modem from my ISP, which is Comcast. My modem then connects to my wireless router through my ethernet. My router is connected to my printer, my desktop computer, and both of my laptops.
One thing I learned from this that I didn't know before was how many connections had to be made in order for me to access the internet through my computer. When casually using the internet for social networking, I never thought much of the fact that I was connected to the internet.
Something that I would like someone else to know is that once something is on the internet, it no longer belongs to you. When uploading a picture, video, or any other kind of media to the internet, you no longer have any control as to where it goes.
Los Das de la Semana
Monday |
lunes |
Tuesday |
martes |
Wednesday |
miércoles |
Thursday |
jueves |
Friday |
viernes |
Saturday |
sábado |
Sunday |
domingo |
alphabet lesson
But learning to in spanish can be rather difficult which i why we have made this lesson. here is a chart to make it easier
b now say be
c now say ce
d now say de
e now say e
f now say efe
g now say ge
h now say hache
i now say i
j now say jota
k now say ka
l now say lee
m now say eme
n now say ene
~n e~ne
o now say o
p now say pe
q now say cu
r now say ere
s now say ese
t now say the
u now say u
w now say use
x now say doble
y now say ye
z now say zeta
The video you will soon see is a brief song example of the alphabet its catchy and will be sure to help you learn the alphabet.
https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/file/d/0Bx8Lf_z6_-S0X0otTmd1ZXMzNDQ/edit
English Benchmark Quarter #1
Zeitoun Book Review
All Is Not Lost When You Have Determination
Could you ever imagine losing everything that was important to you? Ever visualized being so close to death? It is hard to believe it, but some people have experienced those things. On August 23, 2005, America encountered one of it’s most devastating and deadliest hurricanes. One of the worst hurricanes America has faced was called Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina has impacted many innocent lives in a way that many people will never forget. Dave Eggers, the author of an award winning book entitled, Zeitoun, is a well known American author who wrote a memoir about the dangerous experiences one individual faced during Hurricane Katrina. In his efforts in crafting such a life changing story, Eggers wanted to inform the readers that with hard work and determination people could make a difference in the eyes of danger.
The story Zeitoun is about a man named Abdulrahman Zeitoun. Abdulrahman Zeitoun is a middle aged Syrian American who is the father of four children. Zeitoun is a successful owner of a painting and contracting business. Because he wants the best for his family he values hard work. Zeitoun is married to a woman named, Kathy. Zeitoun and Kathy both went through numerous problems, racism being the main issue. Many Americans demonstrated prejudice acts towards the Zeitoun family all because of 9/11 considering their similar appearance to former terrorist. Despite all of the downfalls, his family manages to overcome these boundaries and carry on with their lives. Since the incident of 2001, Zeitoun has demonstrated great strength and determination for his life and the lives of others.
Two days before the storm arrived, thousands of people were already aware that the storm was coming. Many people were preparing to migrate away from the storm. However tensions arose in the Zeitoun household. Kathy decided to take the four children with her to Baton Rouge in order to get her and her children away from the storm. Kathy had persuaded her husband, Zeitoun, to come with them in order to get away from the terrible hurricane, but Zeitoun denied her requests and remained in Louisiana to keep watch over their home and business. Because Zeitoun was born in Jableh, Syria and worked as a sailor for most of his life, he believed that he could survive the tragic storm. At that time Zeitoun didn’t realize how dangerous it was. The next day Hurricane Katrina hit, tossing roofs off of houses and flooding many areas of Louisiana. Louisiana declared a state of emergency and that it was mandatory to evacuate the state.
Zeitoun realized that he was stuck in the worst hurricane of all time. He could no longer save the house from the forces of the hurricane because the repairs had become too expensive. Later, Zeitoun left his house and went out on a canoe to observe the effects of Hurricane Katrina and to help other people in need. After seeing the impact, he had realized that his whole neighborhood was flooded in ten feet of water. Kathy heard on the news that the Coast Guards were making efforts toward Louisiana, bringing supplies to help people in need. The whole time Kathy was worried for her husband's safety. Kathy called Zeitoun and begged him to leave Louisiana, but Zeitoun once again denied her. Zeitoun declared that he had a mission to fulfill and that he wouldn’t leave Louisiana until he accomplished that mission.
Overtime Zeitoun made sure to call his wife daily to let her know what was going on. Later on in the story, six armed soldiers showed up at Zeitoun’s house. At first Zeitoun thought that the soldiers were there to help him, but they actually threatened him with a gun. After a few days goes past Zeitoun turns out missing and does not ever get in contact with his wife, Kathy. Kathy then believes that Zeitoun is dead and that he would not be coming back. This was very hard for her because she has mixed thoughts about her husband's whereabouts.
Shortly after this alarming event she received a phone call saying that her husband was arrested along with three other men. This was due to FEMA issues. Zeitoun was accused of being a possible terrorist in the United States. The men were held at a facility. This meant Zeitoun could not call his wife to let her know what had happened to him. Later in the story, Kathy found out where he was and bailed him out. After everything was resolved the whole family traveled back to Louisiana to help rebuild their home and community.
After reading this inspiring memoir I encourage other young readers to read this book. The book Zeitoun really touched my heart because it showed me that there are people in this world who are in need, but we as citizens don’t stop and take the time to help them. Instead we care mostly about ourselves and not others. When I think of what Zeitoun has done, knowing that he isn’t a US citizen, it really touched my heart and made me want to make a difference in this country. Zeitoun placed his life on the line for others. Not because he wanted to but it was because he cared. Despite losing everything in the storm he still made a difference in other people lives.
Respect Your Elders!
365 of Spanish!
Go Ask Alice by Laura De Jesus
By: Laura De Jesus
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous is a 4 million best seller. It’s that good of a book, you never want to stop reading. Sends chills down your spin, keeps your mind wondering “What’s gonna happen next?”
I didn’t want the story to end.
Go Ask Alice is about a girl named Alice, she’s your average 15 year old girl who lives in a small town. Her father was offered a job in new job in a slightly bigger town. Thats when everything started changing. Alice was no longer the innocent young girl anymore. She was not the most popular girl in her old school, she thought she could start again, with the wrong crowd of people.
After Alice attended a party back in her old town in the summer her world turned for the worse. She was introduced into the world of drugs. It was planned that she go to a party once a week and do it only it during that time period, that lasted barely anything.
This is when the story went into a turn.
Alice started using drugs daily, with people, by herself and with her new boyfriend, her boyfriend was a college student who did everything in the book. He took her into a new world of fun and excitement, but never was she sober. The high was what she looked forward to.
I knew I was reading an amazing story when I hit the first page. "Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice Acid & Smack & No Way Back." The quote explains the whole book. Once you start to use drugs, especially heavily they play an important part, had to go back, thats what the quote is explaining.
I managed to read this book in less than a week, and me personally I dislike to read, but this book… this book made the way I look at reading change for the good.
As the story goes on you begin to see why the things that happened to Alice were her fault. She went so heavy into her addiction that she would sell drugs to kids in middle school. Working for her boyfriend is how Alice and her friend made money to support their habit. It was a shock to the both of them that their boyfriends were gay. Reporting them to the cops was the best option, but they had to escape before they got put into the issues too.
Alice went from the girl that her parents adored flaws and all, into the biggest bitch to walk the planet. She ran away on various occasions, she was never alone. In the mist of "finding herself" as she liked to call it, she went through rape, sexual harassment, and overdoses. Home sickness is what brought her back to her home.
Reading this far into the book, my jaw dropped.
Trips back and forth, getting sober and falling right back into the trap was her biggest problem. There was no more hope for Alice. Her parents placed her into an Institute. She overdosed as she was babysitting, it was a trap. Bugs were eating her female parts away, her hands were gone, her feet was fractured in casts. There was nothing anyone could do for her. She was a lost cause at the moment.
Months and months went passed, Alice received an education within the Institution and figured she would want to work with people in the same predicaments as her when she got older. Home Sweet Home. Sad to say Alice died three weeks after she made her decision to no longer keep a diary. No one knows the cause of death.
The story did not end the way I thought it would which makes it even better, its an excellent book. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading books in general but more to the people who love reading books full of suspense. That's what Go Ask Alice is all about. Young adults would fall in love with it, just as I did.
My Network
¿Qué Tiempo Hace?: Know Your Weather- en Español.
First, we’ll begin with how to say: “What’s the weather like?”
Read and repeat: ¿Que tiempo hace? (Kay tee-em-poh ah-ceh)
What about: “What’s the weather like today?”
Read and repeat: ¿Que tiempo hace hoy? (Kay tee-em-poh ah-ceh oy)
Next, we'll go over a few simple phrases that will help you say how you think the weather feels.
These flashcards have fourteen simple weather words and phrases for you. Read them over and over to really get a grasp of them.
Enjoy!
Asking the Time in Español
Asking the time is Spanish is important in order to know your schedule around school.
Here are the simple ways of asking the time;
To ask the time, either say Que hora es?, Que hora son?, or Que hora tiene?
To respond, either start off with "Son las," or "Es la"(If the time starts with a 1.)
Lets say it is 2:00
It would simply be "Son Las dos."
As for if it was 1:00, it would be "Es la una."
If the time is not exact (15, 30, 45 or 55) say either "y cuarto(15)," "y menos cuarto(30)", or "menos cinco(55) after saying the time.
In order to also say if it is PM or AM, after saying the time, say either "De la mañana(Morning)," De la tarde(Afternoon), or "De la noche(Evening)
Here is a video of Josē waking up a sleeping student and having him ask what time it is.
Image from google
Greetings in Español
To start a conversation, you can either say "Buenos Diaz(Good Morning)," Buenas tardes(Good afternoon)," or "Buenos noches(Good evening)." Or, you can simply say "Hola!" (hello)
Image from
"¿Cuándo es Tu Cumpleaños?": The Months and Dates en Español
First, let's talk about los meses, or the months. In Spanish speaking countries, many of the months sound the same as they do in english, actually. A major difference is that, when writing the months out, they are not capitalized as they are in english.
Let’s go over a few Spanish pronunciation rules:
- v’s sound like b’s
- e’s sound like a’s
- a’s sound like “ah”
- j’s soundlike h’s
- i’s sound like e’s
- d’s sound like “th”
See the quizlet flashcards below to practice these letter pronunciations!
Note: Whenever there’s an ‘r’ in any of the months (in spanish, only), slightly roll it. Not a whole lot, but just a little- a little latino pizazz. Check the youtube video at the end of the lesson if you can’t roll your r’s.
- The syllables that are in all caps are the ones that have emphasis on them, notice that!
- enero = January - pronounced: en-EH-roh
- febrero = February - pronounced: feb-REH-oh
- marzo = March - pronounced: MART-soh
- abril = April - pronounced: ah-BRILL
- mayo = May - pronounced: MY-oh (not like the stuff you might put on a sandwich! MY not MAY)
- junio = June - pronounced: WHO-nee-oh
- julio = July - pronounced: WHO-lee-oh
- agosto = August - pronounced: ah-GHOST-oh (¡Cuidado! Careful! Don’t say ah-gust-oh, say ah-ghost-oh)
- septiembre = September - pronounced: sept-tee-EM-bray
- octubre = October - pronounced: ock-TOO-bray
- noviembre = November - pronounced: no-bee-EM-bray
- diciembre = December - pronounced: dee-cee-EM-bray
DRILL YOURSELF! Cover the English translation with your hand and practice the spanish one. Say what month it is in english and check to see if you got it. Do it until you can get all 12 twice.
Next, let’s go through the numbers. For the purpose of this lesson, I’ll only go through days 1-31 and how to say them in spanish.
- primero (pree-MEH-roh)
- segundo (seh-GOON-tho)
- tercero (tear-SARE-oh)
- cuatro (KWAH-troh)
- cinco (SEEN-koh)
- seis (sehs)
- siete (see-EH-teh)
- ocho (OH-cho)
- nueve (nu-EH-beh)
- diez (THEE-ess)
- once (OHN-ceh)
- doce (THO-ceh)
- trece (TREH-ceh)
- catorce (kah-TOR-ceh)
- quince (KEEN-ceh)
- dieciseis (thee-ess-ee-SEHS)
- diecisiete (thee-ess-ee-see-EH-teh)
- dieciocho (thee-ess-ee-OH-cho)
- diecinueve (thee-ess-ee-nu-EH-beh)
- veinte (BAIN-teh)
- veintiuno (BAIN-tee-u-noh)
Hey! Did you notice how in 21, there are essentially two numbers there? You can see both veinte and uno, right? Well, the spanish word for ‘and’ is simply ‘y’. To make things simpler, the good ol language makers decided to put all three words together, turning the ‘y’ into an ‘i’ for convenience. Think of it this way: veinte+y+uno= veintiuno. Apply this to numbers 21-29. What would 22 be? How about 24? 27?
30. treinta (TRAIN-tah)
31. treintaiuno (TRAIN-tay-u-noh)
Alrighty! Now, you’ve got the months and the days. You’re ready right??
Wrong. You need the basic question! How do we actually say “When is your birthday?”
Simple! You know that ¡Feliz Cumpleaños! means “Happy Birthday”, right?
Cumpleaños = birthday. Check.
When = Cuando. Check.
Is = Es. Check.
Tu = You/Your. Check
Let’s put it together: Cuando (when) es (is) tu (your) cumpleaños (birthday)
¿Cuando es tu cumpleaños?
Now, you know how to ask your friends their birthday in Spanish!
But, how do you answer this question when asked?
Also very simple!
You know your months, you know your days. The Spanish word for ‘of’ is ‘de’- add the three together!
seis de noviembre.
You’re all set!
Asking the weather in Español
To begin, start by asking "Què tiempo hace?
To reply you can either say;
Hace sol - It's sunny
Hace frio - It's cold
Hace fresco - It's cool
Hace calor - It's hot
Llueve - It's raining
Nieva - It's snowing
Here is a cartoon to show how to ask the weather in Español.

Image from Google.
And here is a video of Joe asking Alex what the weather is.
Leonard, David Lucid chart Home network
MY HOME NETWORK :-)
- my internet comes in through the out side wall of my house.
- ISP (internet service provider) is Fios
- these are the things on my home network, my mac pro, my macbook, my moms mac, my sisters mac pro, and our printer.
- theses are all connected through a wireless router
Bell, Tiarra, lucid chart, homework
1) My home internet comes from the phone line, then is traveled to computer brain, next to a modem, then ethernet cord is connected to the home computer.
2) My ISP provider is Verizon Wireless Internet.
3) My internet is added on to my monthly phone bill, so its an additional $15 per month. Yearly its $180.
4) Things such as laptops, tablets, iPod touches, are connected to the internet through the modem and the modem release the internet wirelessly.
Nashay Day/Lucid Chart
Weather en Español
Also:
It's raining----- Está lloviendo
It's humid-------Está húmedo
Days of the Week, Espaol Style
This table shows the relationship with the the day of the week in english and in spanish.
Remember and notice how in spanish, there is no capital letters for the days, even though there are in english.