My element is sliver It is used for jewelry making food utensils and conducting energy
When I found out that my element was the best conductor of electricity Benjamin Franklin with the whole key idea popped in my head and i thought to use that
I first drew my idea then 3 others to see which was the best. After that I drew my project on tracing paper then traced the tracing paper on a clay board. Last I painted over the board and pressed art paper on the paint so it can come out looking like print art work.
I think the project was a cool project. It was different and something I enjoyed doing. I must say it was also hard since I am a beginner at this.
I would draw I different idea so that my understanding of the element would be much clear.
Throughout English and World History, it has been gradual process of learning and working. Throughout these courses, we have all been asked to form opinions and beliefs about the various world issues of yesterday and today. In my opinion, I hope that every single student does not hold the same beliefs, opinions, and learning techniques and skills that they had in September. Hopefully, we all have grown in our educational journey and process.
In English, I feel that we have been encouraged to use our opinions more to decipher the text we read and to find "deeper meanings" within. One of the key examples of this is the very first Q1 Benchmark about The Lord of the Flies.In this paper, I expressed an idea through my opinion, and then I took the readers through my journey to reach my conclusion. This is a prime example of allowing one to understand multiple perspectives of the same topic in order to receive a well-rounded education.
Throughout the English course, I was also encouraged to immerse myself into the world of various people, from prisoners to world leaders. This was the goal of the Jarvis Jay Masters' readings. In my response to the readings, the observations of the powerful effects of desperation is evident.
In World History, the focus has changed slightly. Instead of exclusive opinion-forming, we are also required to learn non-biased facts about the past and present them to people. A prime example of the was the Museum Exhibition Benchmark we created to education patrons about colonialism. In the presentation, we had to state the facts to our classmates and allow them to form their own opinions.
Also, History encouraged us to explore different fields, such as traditional art during the Renaissance. In the Exploration of a Renaissance Artist assignment, I had to highlight the work of a great artist of the day and try to find the meaning of their work.
However, one of my favorite assignments in History is by far the trials. In the Aztec trial, we had to learn facts about the topic, just had he had in the Museum Presentations, but then, we had to use those facts to alter the opinion of everyone else. This taught us a new skill of using facts to sway the opinions of a majority.
English and World History has merged and separated in order to teach us things about the the world, ourselves, and each other. The lessons we have learned here are invaluable.
My element is Germanium. My element is used for diamonds, and lead for pencils. My idea was a diamond in the middle of the print. I used diamonds because Germanium are used to make diamonds. I stilled used the Diamond idea. The diamond has many aspects that can really make a print creative. This project is a creative way to show scientific art for SLA. With this project I would use a different design or print.
My element is Uranium. Some things my element is used for is the production of nuclear power,weaponry, and smoke detectors. I came up with the idea for my print by researching the America Uranium fission bomb dropped over Japan in 1945. The steps I took to make the final print were discovering the right picture to use, drawing it, reverse drawing it, carving it, printing is three times, and framing them all. I thought this project was fun, practical, and will look good overall in the outcome. What I would do differently was to to do some better carving so you can see the Uranium sign.
For this project we had to use negative and positive space. I had the element Oxygen so I looked up some images on Google. We used negative space because it makes the project and image better. It shows that the artist was trying to be different and make the image pop up more. In the end the project was hard to do it required a lot of work and time but it was worth it, I am proud of this assignment.
This quarter in art we made colored prints of things representing elements of the periodic table. My element was element 54: Xenon. Xenon was used in the first excimer laser, so I decided to print a laser. First, we made three sketches of possible ideas for our print. Then, we picked one and transferred the drawing to a linoleum block. After that, we carved in the negative space (or positive space), put paint on the block and then pressed the block against paper, leaving a print.
For this project we were given a element from the periodic table and make a design for it that fit the element best. My element was silicon and it is number 14 on the periodic table. In able to pick the design it took me a lot of thinking but mostly a lot of creativity. After making many designs my best one was a design of bricks and cement with the negative space being Si and the name of the cement being the number 14. For this project after we chose the best drawing we then carved it on an a linoleum and then painted and matted it. Through out this project the hardest parts were making design and carving out the design from the linoleum. After all i was proud of what I did and would enjoy doing it again.
This
year was challenging yet very exciting and interesting. I’ve learned so much
and have grown as a person in the process, from adjusting how to work with
different people to learning how to be in a trial, I even became a poet. I
never even knew what a monologue project
was until I came here and had to write one myself. I learned how difficult it
is to write an entire monologue it takes lots of time and effort it isn’t
something you can just rush through. I learned how to make myself into another
person and to see other people’s struggles and also their strengths. I’ve
learned that I have other sides to me; I’m more than I appear.
My
favorite project had to be the poetry unit. I liked this the most
because it let me show my poetic side and I also got to expand my thinking way
beyond what I normally would. I got to let people in and let them see my
thoughts and my feelings and the way I view the world. And the feedback I got
made me happy to know that people actually cared we’ve all grown into a little
family who cares and respects one another.
Another
unit I liked was the trial. Things got very intense but that was
good because it showed that everyone was really engaged with what they were
doing and the parts that everyone had to play. It shows a lot about human behavior
and how when anyone is put in an intense situation they act on feelings and not
actually think about what they really should do.
My
final all time favorite unit was the prison unit. I never knew the crazy
statistics that they had for prisons. I also never knew they had a book program
for them. Because the media never showed the fact they wanted to read they
would only show the fights, or the way the guards would beat on the prisoners.
Never how they wanted to read or how they would make this beautiful art work! I
was amazed to find out all this and now my views on prisons have changed so
very much.
Finally,
this will always be my favorite year because Mr. Block has become my favorite
teacher. He's pushed us to our limits and broke us out of our shells and let us
know it was ok to be ourselves there are people who have it worst than we do so
appreciate everyday and our education. Before being in this class I never
voiced my opinion because I didn’t want them getting shot down. But Mr. Block
showed us it’s ok to voice them and it’s ok if they get shot down because even
if they do you can still say that you tried instead of being quiet and not
heard at all. I really love these classes both and will miss them dearly! Coming
into this class I hated the thought of having back-to-back classes but they
weren’t as bad as I thought they were actually my favorite classes and I can
say that I learned the most from each class.
For this project we printed out an element of the periodic table. My element was Cadmium with the atomic number 48. Making the print was a long process, first we drew the print-mine was a television because cadmium is used in the cables-then, we carved the same drawing into a tablet and covered it with paint. After this we made four different prints, three we gave a border and one we used to make a large periodic table.
Art, English, Plays, History, World,
Dance, Poetry, Diversity, Religion, News, Change, Revolution, New, Beginning,
Corruption, Government, Pain, Torture, Genocide, Survival, Understanding,
Slavery, Trial, Judgment, Stereotypes, Hope. These words have created my 10th
grade education. I have gone
through anything but a normal English and History courses. Many of my friends
out side my own school have told me stories of the many tests and papers they
have had to write over the year. When I ask them what they remember about the
projects they needed to do, or the papers they needed to write they cant
remember. When I tell them about my projects and number of pages I have done
this year they cry for me. I have had a most unorthodox year with Mr. Block.
I have written a play in History
class about librarian Pirates. We started with a few monologues and through
over ten pages of revisions and work we submitted them to Philadelphia Young
Play Rights. Writing a full play for history class seems like an English
assignment, this is not true. We had to research a topic on a present day event
and create a story about it first as monologues, then as full plays. This is
the first time I have ever been in a class that took such a drastic spin on
tradition.
We
went far beyond the goal of understanding news and journalism to writing our
own Op-Eds. We took interesting real world topics and made them into articles
that draw the attention of people and make them think. These topics are things
out of the obvious and serious under looked problems. We submitted this
assignment to real newspapers. Through email we sent our papers and contacted
them as students in hopes that they would be added to a section of the paper, going
beyond the call of the everyday standards of an English Class.
Another
thing we learned was how to create poetry. We went through all the stages from
learning simple rhyme to writing five different poems. Not saying these poems
simply had different words for each, which would be easy. The five poems I
wrote were five different types of poems all together, they consisted of, Memory,
Riff, and I was raised by, a Sonnet and an Ode. Each poem has its own unique
them or story about my life. The Riff poem is about my martial arts training,
my Ode is expressing my love for my favorite hat, and the Memory poem is about
an event that happened in my life. Each poem is detailed and fallows its own individual
them.
Many schools don’t take the time to teach the children about
religion. We learned the facts and the struggles many people go through. The
assignment was to research a religion and make a creative wiki about a point.
Mine was the on the oppression of Muslim women. I went into the hardships they
are forced to go through, and how they deal with it. I compared this religion
to Christianity and went into how they both oppress their women. Throughout
both English and History I have learned many different things about my world in
such ways that I will never forget any of them. I hope that my projects can be
used to help future generations to have a unique education like I have had.
Throughout this year in Copper
Stream 2010-2011 something that really stuck out to me was the poetry unit.
There were many points that I was able to take with me after doing this unit.
The general understanding that I got from this was that poetry is a way of
expression and can be expressed through more than just writing. When we had to
do our wiki spaces most of my poems talked about my dad and what I was going
through at the time. The poems allowed me to get some of my bottled up emotions
out and let someone hear me without hearing my voice. The poems I wrote can be
found on my wiki spaces.
I learned that poetry is more than just roses are red and
violets are blue, poetry can be a song, rap, the outside world, and a drawing.
There are no limits when it comes poetry and what it can mean.
Another thing that I will be able
to take with me is that writing is a group process and not just an individual
project. It takes more than one opinion on someone’s paper to make it right.
With every paper I had wrote this year it had been edited at least twice before
I finally made my final paper. One paper that I was proud of was I believe the
first quarter benchmark. We had to write a letter for Lord of the Flies. On
that paper I had it reviewed a few times and kept making many different
adjustments to it so it will be perfect. This paper can be seen at the bottom
of my blog.
The final thing I will take from
this is the crossing boundaries unit and when we read the book Their
Eyes Were Watching God. The units went hand in hand with one another
and it’s a good thing they were placed right behind each other. We had even
written some “rules, roles and responsibilities” that we as teens hear all the
time and have to deal with. In mine I wrote how your suppose to go to school
and maintain A’s and B’s only, your suppose to act your age not your shoe size,
your not suppose to go around acting crazy or like a little boy, also you can’t
just be round boys all the time. This unit helped and showed me how society
looks at people and how women are treated.
While reading the book Their
Eyes Were Watching God I noticed how put down a female is in society.
The women are supposed to let the man be in charge and cater to his every whim.
As a woman they have no control over their life and not until they get the
courage to stand up and leave will anything change. I made a video that showed
how many women deal with the abuse of a man but takes a long time for them to
do anything about it.
Throughout the year in English and
History I’ve just learned that there are a lot of things to learn about in the
world. We have to understand how women get paid less than a man.Another thing that I wont forget is how
society has a certain standard of speaking. There is a Standard English that
people need to live up to but in reality no one can live that standard. This
classes taught me that’s its alright to be our self and live life expressing
how we feel.
Lord
of the Flies
From
the time Piggy stepped onto the island until his fatal death he was judged
about everything. From his appearance to his asthma to the little things he
tried to say to the group. He could never say what was on his mind or even try
to act as a normal kid because of his awkwardness. Just like the way Piggy was
judged so is everyone else in society.
People
judge one another like its nothing. It has become a part of human nature to
just turn to someone else and start talking about someone. The judgment can be
for the good or the bad. When it was time to vote for a new President people
didn’t judge based on what could get done they judged based on color, gender,
and age.
In
2008 when the presidential election was going on ever I went people were extremely
happy to know that we would either have a women president or a black president.
The thing I noticed though was it wasn’t about what people wanted to be able to
get from these two candidates it was about color and gender. To just for
everyone to be able to say they would have a black president or a women
president would have been enough for the USA.
“Assassinate
Obama”, school children chanted when Obama was elected president. This was
found on the site.Another incident that happened was a
nine year old boy told a little girl on the bus “I hope Obama gets
assassinated.”The same night
someone trashed the little girl’s aunt lawn and left two pizza boxes full of
feces because they had Obama posters on their lawn. This just shows that
because of the color of Obama’s skin and the people that followed him they were
judged and had to deal with the actions of other people that didn’t like the
idea of having a black man run the country. People still live in the past were
whites run everything and other people have to deal with the actions of those
people.
Another
thing that I found was something from Karen Armstrong’s speech is whenshe said that stereotypes divide us,
which is very true. Ralph, Piggy, and the twins were all divided from Jack and
the rest of the boys because of the differenced Jack and Ralph had. They had
caused everyone else to pick a side and try to live their life as if that was
the only way they could live on the island. Karen Armstrong’s statement was
proved based on what theses little boys had to go through in this novel.
Reading Lord of the Flies all the boys judged each other
on what they can or can’t do and how they looked. The one that experienced the
most judgment was Piggy. He was noticed a little when Jack’s boys realized the
specs were what gave them fire, but even then it wasn’t the type of attention
he wanted or deserved. The only time he got respect was when he died, and the
only one that showed him that respect was Ralph. Throughout the whole book
Piggy never got a say on anything that happened. Even though Ralph listened to
Piggy in some way he really didn’t listen to anything he had to say. Everyone
treated Piggy as if he was just someone taking up space.
As
the time came closer to Piggy’s death he had gotten some type of respect. When
he went back to get his specs he took the conch shell with him. Every time he
would start talking and someone would interrupt him he got control again just
by waving the conch shell around. As the bolder hit Piggy and knocking him off
the cliff he never died with the respect that he should have died with. As he
fell off the cliff and the shell broke everyone was a lot more worried about
the shell then him.
Never Shall I
Never
shall I forget the phone call that we had received
Never shall I forget seeing my family rushing to the
hospital
Never shall I forget seeing my uncle all bruised up with
broken bones
Never shall I forget sitting on my grandma’s lap while she
cried her eyes out
Never shall I forget the details of my uncle’s body flying
across the concrete
Never shall I forget the day my uncle was almost killed
A look inside the mind of a young black male growing up in Philadelphia where statistically he is supposed to fail. Everything around him tells him to do that of that isn't healthy or progressive to his lifestyle but unlike people's image of what he should be, he is different. These are his thoughts and experiences as he travels to school. This is "Before The Day Starts"
Going
into my sophomore year I was exciting to see what would be in stored for me
academically. I was not so positive and confident about my writing skills
freshmen year. So 10th grade was a new chapter to my life and I would make the
best of it. The first few months we used our brains in a different way. We
opened a new deeper level of analysis. Class discussions were a great asset
because our growing inquiry and statements. I believe every student in copper
stream had brilliant ideas and views and that was the reason to why our
discussions were so successful and interesting.
The
tool I will take from this year is to analyze a situation on a deeper level.
Exploring a subject in a broad method is not the same as investigating in a
more depth way. Often in high school students tend to read the same books from
middle school. It is not a mistake. It is simply an opportunity to reread in a
more intense style to make new deeper connections.
I
had very little knowledge about the Cortez trial. I knew the basic information
such as Cortez and his army took over the Aztec people. I never questioned why.
In the trial we put our differences aside and accepted our role. “A story can
be told in a million of different ways. Every story has a unique beginning or
ending. Many stories can be hearsay.” That was a quote from my Cortez Trial
response; I was referring to the testimonies from each of the groups and what
really happen with the Aztec people. “We would have to be there at present
moment to verify the honest truth.” History consistently repeats itself.Also in my response paper talked about how
Cortez men let Cortez brainwash them into helping him take over the Aztec
people. From then on in class we were exposed to different examples that
consist the same criteria. That’s when I came to the assumption that the alpha male can influenced and or alter
the way people think or believe. My proof of that statement is of course the
Cortez Trial, also Colonization, Prisons, Night,
and Persepolis. In my history proposal for the museum exhibit "Till Death do Us Part: Story of the Aboriginal People" I
explored the story line of the Aboriginal People and how Britain took over all
of Australia. Even though our Prison unit was short but it proved my theory.
Most prisoners are in prison because they don’t want to “snitch” on there friends.
They rather face the consequences than stand up for themselves.
I
enjoyed reading the graphic novel Persepolis
it was something different and new. It showed how one person could turn a group
of people against another group by labeling them as degrading. This also tied into the Holocaust with
the book Night. That general understanding really helped me with my Quarter 4
Benchmark. In my thesis paper, Beating to
the Breaking Point was to prove that certain people could be a torturer. “To be intimidating, one has to act tough, making sure to set the record
straight for anyone who once doubted his or her strength and took it for a
weakness. Guilt must be replaced by no remorse.” That quote was from Beating to
the Breaking Point and it was referring to the certain qualities a torturer
needs to have.
Over
the course of the year my writing skills has improved tremendously. No paper is
perfect with out revisions. At first I was not at all thrilled at the fact
someone else would peer edit my work. The reason for my actions was because of
my low confidence and most importantly I did not want anyone to belittle my
writing. I put my differences aside and became more open to feedback. At the
very point my writing became to progress because of the helpful tips of peer
edit sheets. The proofs of success are my Op-ed "Eating Our Way to the End", Lord of the Flies Thesis paper, Language Autobiography, and Beating to the Breaking Point.
Everything
that was taught this year will be forever remembered. This course really
prepares my peers and I for a higher education. From reading more than one back
at a time to making connections on a deeper level it is all needed to help us
succeed. And I am truly thankful to be exposed to such new and different
studies.
This year was insane. The changes I went through - that all of us went through - in all aspects such as character, writing, views and knowledge were immense and I can’t say that any of us are the same people that we once were when we first walked through the doors of Room #307. We grew, over the course of this year in the subjects of English and History, because of all the readings, pieces we had to absorb and spurt back out into unique and creative such the benchmarks and papers.
Looking back, I laugh. At times, there were moments when I couldn’t tell when an assignment was for History or English - because it could fell in either category. Like with the Prisons, the resources that were given to us were filled with facts that talked about the history and events that occurred. One would think this would be for History, but instead it was English. Responding to this on a forum on Moodle made me question why, but then again, it does make sense. The two fields go hand-in-hand, so why not incorporate them together in topics such as this one.
Being fifteen and sixteens year olds in the U.S., one could make a reasonable argument that our minds have an already set path on certain issues plaguing our world. But then, the real information is introduced and everything just goes haywire. Like with Religion Unit, when had to choose a topic like marriage and choose several religions and look for the correlations and differences between them. It was a chance for us to immerse in “contrasting” religions and see, first hand, how similar they really were. "To love someone, no matter their sexuality, no matter what religion they practice is what is the basis of a healthy, long-lasting relationship. If you love someone, go for it. If your soul mate is the same gender as you, don’t sweat it. And, if the two of you have different views on God, life, etc., know that the road ahead will be bumpy, but in the end, it’s worth it." (IronReligion2010) And with the Cortes Trial and the Sweatshop Trial, having to go out and research by oneself opened my eyes to how cruel the circumstances were for the victims, how could such catastrophes occur and where the blame lie. Which goes to show, once exposed, the truths push to go further, to want to make us want to know more.
Creativity just happens to be middle name, so of course I had to enjoy the more inspiring and imaginative parts of the school year. I, myself, am personally fond of Poetry, but being asked to make a page full of our own was a new idea to me. "My process doesn’t come naturally. I just need a song, a phrase, a word that give me just enough spark to make it happen. I type unconsciously. My mind wanders and my fingers just know how to voice my thoughts." (Poetry Page Intro) It required a lot of re-writes, though, in the end, I must say, I’m pretty darn proud of that work. Then, there was (what I like to call) the Descriptive Saga - a collection of scenes based on our lives, which eventually became a paper. To be honest, I was probably sugar high (because it was the beginning of the school), but I still cannot believe that I wrote that well, so long ago. And, the Monologue Project? The one when we had to choose a country, make up a storyline, and write about characters, their problems and simply come up with several scenes. I love writing, don’t get me wrong, but writing over three thousands on one topic can only keep one sane for so long. Still, I can’t say I expected any less from myself.
It was fun, sophomore year. I got a chance to tackle matters, completely fresh ones at that, and thoroughly make the most of every obstacle - project - thrown my way. And, I’m happy with my final results. Each of pieces required tremendous loads of effort, determination and work. And sure, I side-tracked in pretty much all of them - due my short attention span and a serious case of procrastination - but, yeah, I manages to do it somehow, thanks my friends, these classes and of course, Mr. Block. So, without further or do, I close the chapter of this school year.
My project was about who I was, who I am, and who I want to be. I tried to keep it simple yet creative by doing a little booklet. My original plan was to do the complete booklet with cutouts from magazines but I couldn't find all the pictures I needed in the magazines that I had available to me. I do like my sentences and I feel like I'm a lot better with my spanish and I did reach the goal of this project, showing my knowledge of spanish. If I were to do something differently it would definitely be my design of this project I wasn't satisfied with the messiness and the child looking arts and craft that I handed in. I was attempting to go more for "made for children" rather than "made from children". I would have changed my direction once I realized that my original idea was too much for me to handle and gone with a neater looking presentation.
Education is a
funny thing; everyone interprets things differently, so no one set of
guidelines can guarantee a class room of students the same values that they may
or may not take from that class nor can it ensure that their I.Q levels will
all be the same. What it can do though, is provide an opportunity for each
individual to take that lesson and learn at least something from it when they
step out the door of the classroom.
This year, I
learned a lot of new things, not only about religion or monologues or
descriptive writing skills, but I learned a lot about myself and the people
around me. From the moment I stepped in the doors of SLA freshman year, I had a
“leave me alone unless you’re like me” kind of personality going. Granted, I’d
be nice to everyone, but I generally only stuck to the people who I could
relate to, mostly by music. I always tried to be open-minded but at the same
time, I always kept my distance. This year, I had a really diverse stream,
which allowed me to be immersed in a lot of different kinds of people.
At first it was a little scary and
disappointing, because I could no longer cling to the familiarity of my
freshman year crew. But I got something so much better, something so much more
from it. I learned to appreciate people, more so than I ever had. I learned to
appreciate them for how we could humanly relate, having the same problems or
the same sense of humor or the love for making others smile. I became really
good friends with a girl that I probably would’ve stared down last year. And I
accepted her, and I love her, and I appreciate her, for everything that she is,
does and learns.
With the lesson of
diversity strong in mind this year, I think that the most powerful project we
did was the one on religion. I liked being able to compare religions and learn
about the different beliefs of each one. I started the unit really ignorant to
the different kinds of worship and faith that went into every religion, but
when the project was over, I had a new sense of appreciation for each one. When we started the unit I had
originally thought of religion in a one tone way. “Religion.
There are many different meanings of the word, many different origins and
beliefs that go into it. But when stripped down to it’s bare meaning, religion
is more like a preference to guide lines of redemptions. But after looking and
studying each one, I learned that there’s a lot more that goes into each belief
than just some crap that they read from a book.
Another thing that was really interesting, diverse and educational
were the trials. I liked how everyone really got into their roles to defend
their group even if they didn’t believe they were guilty in the end. I think
that the trials were one of the most important projects as well because they
teach you lot of different things. For example, you learn a lot of researching
techniques, social lessons and historical facts as well. I think in the end you
also learned how people’s opinions have changed over time and how we can ponder
and reflect and learn from previous mistakes made in the past so we can learn
to avoid them in the future, and that’s what history does, it teaches you, not
only about the past, but how you can learn to better your future.
This year in English and History class I learned a lot not only
about the world around me but also about myself. Mr. Block has shown me a lot
about what has happen and is still happening in the world. The class was always very
good at connecting the past to the present and has given me the chance to make
my own connections through the projects I have completed. I have grown to love
the new ways of expressing myself that I have learned in this class from things like the
art in the open or the young playwrights monologue project.
The
play writing experience had to have been the most mentally touching project I
have done since I have entered High school. In the months spent doing the
project I became extremely emotionally attached to the topic and cared deeply
for the characters that I was molding. Doing this project made me think
differently in both History and English, I started to feel comfortable
experimenting with different voices and characters that I would have never play
with before. My characters ranged from an emotionally traumatized young girl to
a pride army leader and even a dead character. The ability to work out and
change these characters felt great but I also was able to learn a lot about
Colombia. I learn about families losing their homes and children going off to
fight for the rebel army I also learned about drug trade which is why the rebel
army fighting the government.
The
poetry unit was also a big project that meant a lot to me. I have always had an
interest in poetry and found the chance to view different kinds of poems to be
unique. I liked being able to listen again to what I wrote and feel my own
words like I feel other poetry. I took a lot out of this unit including a poem
that I love called “I Was Raised By sounds” which I really love. Another project that I
learned a lot from was the group Podcast. I know that this project made me
closer to my grandma then I have ever been before. I had known of her child
hood abuse for years but I did not know all the deep struggles she felt within
the interview. I learned the most after the recording stopped but that was the
thing that got up talking and made our relationship grow.
The
next thing I come away with is more like multiple things it’s the people in the
class. I learned from all the forum posts that we share with each other in both
classes. I learned the especially from descriptive scenes. I heard so many
stories about peoples past and made me feel more connected to them. This was
important to me because I was new to the school and didn’t really know everyone
well at all. I can think back to the scene that I wrote about my friend Jackie
and how much it meant to me back when it happened compared to what it felt like
writing about it years later. English and History were great this year. As much
as I complained I really have grown to love this class and even Mr. Block. Even
though I say his class is boring I have to say I’m really going to miss
it. I owe a lot of what I know now to him. This year was great and I hope next
year can be this awesome.
Goal: to make people feel the effect of colonization on the
world and cultures. Also, to make people feel against the idea of colonization
(audio speaking available for descriptions)
Intro:
In the museum I want you to get a
look at how colonization effects how a culture is. You will see the changes in
the area, the changes in leadership, and the changes of houses. There will be
interactive sections of the tours to keep you all involved and I hope you enjoy
it. There will be a brief survey at the end asking what you thought of the
museum and areas for us to improve, we would appreciate and look into any ideas
you suggest.
Artifact one:
I will set up a treadmill and offer
people to walk up them and walk a quarter of a mile. Then I will explain to
them that this could be only a small amount of work that some of the children
have to do to get some water.
“In Niger the people need to walk
to get water and most of the time it is the children. Now, back then with the
people not be colonized, there were less people, meaning less use of water.
However, now with Niger being colonized there are a lot more people and thus
more resources are needed. It makes it harder for the country to survive.”
Artifact two:
Have this house
set up next to this house
People will be able to walk
through the two different houses
“As you
can see, over colonization that there are some drastic changes in the housing.
It went from nice small huts that could fit people fine, to rows of homes made
of cement. Now the ones made of cement are the rather, higher class people.
Most of the people live in houses made of plastic, trash, and sheets of metal.
What a life style.”
Artifact three:
Make photos larger and show how
things have changed due to colonization. I will have the people walk into a
dark room and show them the first map and then show peaceful tribes in a
natural wild life setting, and then I will switch to the newer map, showing how
people have made everything more “civilized.”
“Over the years you can see from
the pictures that the areas have drastically changed and become more distinct
regions. These are the effects of colonization. Over the years you can see that
the regions have become more define and less tribal. Africa is no longer
Africa, it is regions and country’s that make up Africa.”
Artifact four:
I will
have two men standing next to each other, one will be a tribe leader from the
past. The other man will be a French general. So that the people can get a look
at how leadership has changed.
“Hamani
was the first president and was elected in 1960, before that Niger ran under
tribes. There is an obvious difference in the way the two may address
themselves. Hamani used suits and was “formal” in a sense, where the tribal
leaders would have been, as most people would consider today “primitive.” In
the artifact I am showing you that difference.”
Artifact five:
I will take 61% or because we will
have groups of 10 then I will just take 6 people out and I will give them 1
dollar. I will then explain to them that this is the only money you get in one
day.
“This represents the 61 percent of
the country that lives in poverty with only 1 dollar a day. The houses are made
up of dirt and wood, and they eat cooked cereal and milk. Before colonization,
there were no systems like this were people were suffering and living in such
bad conditions. Those that live in the slums are forced to build their own
houses out of plastic metal and what ever other material they can find.”
Artifact six:
This artifact expresses the power
that the French had over these people. It shows that the people didn’t get what
they may have wanted due to the.Hamani Diori was he first elected president of Niger and had a lot of
French influence.
“Hamani
Diori was the first elected present of Niger. He had a lot of French influence,
so I wanted to have you watch the two candidates talk. Now it turns out that
the guy that gave the terrible speech won! I want you all to reflect on this
and tell how they feel if this is what was happening, and the power was
switching. “
Artifact seven:
In the artifact I will create a
video, demonstrating the French coming into Niger and affecting the amount of
people there causing there to be less resources.
“In 1946 the French
constitution conferred French citizenship on the inhabitants of the
territories, provided for decentralization of power and limited participation
in political life for local advisory assemblies. On December 4, 1958, after the
fifth French republic was established, Niger became an independent state within
the French Community. In 1960 the full independence was given and at that point
the French were free to come and go, live, participate, and do as they please.
“
Artifact eight:
“The Nok people where people that
lived back in the ancient times of Niger. They were not the wealthiest of
people however they maintained a normal life style and farmed as normal people,
now there are people that are dying from starvation. Connection there? Blame
colonization and greed.”
Conclusion:
In conclusion colonization has
changed a culture, tribes, and a country. It has “revolutionized” and changed
things so that they were not primitive and in result have made a country turn
to poverty and starvation. I hope you have seen how colonization has
unknown, unknown. "The people of nok ." kids page . N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May
2011. <http://www.kidspast.com/world-history/0097-nok.php>.
unknown, unknown. "HISTORY OF NIGERIA."History of nigeria . N.p., n.d.
Web. 18 May 2011.
<http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad41>.
unknown, unknown. "Niger's military coup is
condemned by France and Africa." BBC.
N.p., February 19th 2010. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8523573.stm>.
unknown, unknown. "Niger Information." Niger. N.p., October 15th 1998. Web. 18
May 2011. <http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/countries/Niger.html>.
As the prosecutor i have made questions both before and after i heard things from the trial:
I also made a few questions up based off of responses... Thousands upon thousands of you and yet only hundred of Spanish is this true…?
You know what gorilla warfare is why where you not prepared enough for this?
You saw a prophecy of Cortes’ arrival correct?
You had the numbers did you not?
You mentioned that they had the advantage however, they had the lack of knowledge, it says here that Aztecs used hand, heart and arrow symbols to represent fractional distances when calculating areas of land http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23940691/
Could you not have out witted them?
You mentioned that they had the advantage however, they had the lack of knowledge, it says here that
towards king Charles:
You are full of riches and already full of power is this true?
Then why did you feel the need to travel over and try and steal more from people?
You are our leader, we look up to you and what kind of example are you setting for us people, a greedy and self absorbent one? Or a good one?
I have been told that you were the one that gave the orders for Cortes to travel to the Aztecs, even with a man that dropped out of school, was part of the military for a brief time, is this true?
So an unemployed man, with little knowledge, and time in the forces and helped to conquer Cuba in 1511, and you still choose to send him, was there any thought behind this?
So you knew there was a possibility do to the lack of his knowledge and military experience that he would kill some innocent people?
So you hid behind your power and told these men what to do and you think you can get away scot-free?
Cortes was a drunk so what makes you think you could change him?
Would you have liked it if someone just marched into your land and took it from you?
Is it true that you felt sorry for this man cortes?
towards the Aztecs: Is it true that you saw prophesies of the arrival of Cortes and the incoming destruction? Then why did you accept him so easily into your home? Why didn’t you get rid of Cort es when you had the chance?
towards king Charles: You are full of riches is this true? Then why did you feel the need to travel over and try and steal more from the people? You are our leader, we look up to you and what kind of example are you setting for us people, a greedy and self absorbent? I have been told that you were the one that gave the orders for Cortes to travel to the Aztecs, even with a man that dropped out of school, was part of the military for a brief time, is this true? So you knew there was a possibility do to the lack of his knowledge and military experience that he would kill some innocent people? So you hid behind your power and told these men what to do and you think you can get away scott free? Cortes was a drunk so what makes you think you could change him?
Some other notes: “Cortes is the conqueror of the Aztecs”- Cortes do you feel proud of what you have accomplished? “We have stronger hearts and minds”- Aztecs does that make you any less guilty then anyone else? “Aztecs could have defended themselves”- system correct they could have but does this prove you innocent? “systems don’t believe in anything” “I tried to give him something to do”-king is this a logical thing to do?
Art work in my house:
descriptive detail analysis
So when I was in wildwood a few years ago I bought
this spray paint painting and this is what is looks like. I will start off by
telling you the major parts in this. There is a circle that is about the diameter
of the board. Inside the circle there is the USA flag that appears to be the
sky. Also in the circle it the twin towers that show the reflection of the
American flag on the two towers. The reflection isn’t precise it is more like a
watery reflection where it is kind of distorted. Below there are several other
building. There appears to be a straight line of buildings TOWARDS the bottom
where underneath there is a body of water. The water fills the bottom portion
of the circle and at the bottom of the circle the water becomes a waterfall and
flows off the bottom of the circle. The water shows a nice white foam effect
when flowing over the circle, which adds some realistic effect to it. Right
under the row of buildings there is a foggy mist. Behind the twin towers you
will notice a few smaller buildings that show distance effect because they and
they are to the left. They also show the reflection of the flag in the
background. Around the circle you will notice that there are white spots
everywhere outside. The artist I believe was trying to make it appear as though
the circle was in fact a planet. There is a dim red outer circle the surrounds
the bigger circle/ planet to show the atmospheric effect.
It was the beginning of a hard day. It would be full of work, work,
and more work. It started off with me waking up. I woke up with a bit of a headache and not wanting
to do anything. My
hair looked as if I had just got done a pillow fight. It was everywhere.I walked into the well-lit room. The sun filling me with warmth
and I thought maybe this wont be such a bad day after all. It was nearing the time I
needed to leave for work. Hair fixed and ready for work I brought my bike outside and rode off.
The breeze was wonderful; filling my lungs with fresh
air was much needed. I arrived to the job that I had both hated and enjoyed at the same time. Angelo my boss greeted me just
as he does everyday. The smell was the same. A smell that was full of pizza goodness. My boss is a very generous man
and allows me to eat a slice before I get to work. So I take a slice and sit down. I taste the
delicious pizza as it enters my mouth. It fills my taste buds with joy. When I got done
drooling over the delicious pizza I grabbed the some pizza menus and walked to
my destination.
My job requires me to deliver menus to doors, so that hopefully the pizza
shop will get more business. It is a very tedious job. Requiring me to go up and downmust go through. With 8$ an hour I get more
money then most people in Philadelphia. Kind of pathetic if you ask me, but ill
take it.
Money in pocket, pizza box in my one hand, it was a
pretty good day at work. I didn’t have any problems. The smell of the pizza was permeating up through my
nose. The hills were
brutal. Making my legs burn with intensity as I pedaled up the large slopes.
Almost home, just 3 more blocks and then I can dig into this awesome pizza. My
hair was being a pain so I flipped it out of my face. BAM! Was all I heard and a car
was all I saw. I stumbled, hand in pain, leg scratched up. I had lost my balance when I
flipped my hair and ran straight into a car. Pain was intense, shooting up my arm. I couldn’t
move anything.
Hurting, throbbing, pain like I never felt before. “Is it broken?” I asked
myself. My
bike was twisted and mangled just as my arm was. I fought through the pain to
pick up my bike and move it out of the street. The pizza box was demolished but
the pizza was still in tact. The pizza was good but my arm wasn’t.
I called
my mom told her I had crashed. Away she went to the spot of my tragic crash. My arm was still in
excruciating pain. The
cuts and scraps that lay all over my leg have no effect on me because the pain
in my arm was so intense. My mom put my bike in the back and we drove those 3 blocks back to my
house. I rested my
arm on my other arm.
No smell, no sound, nothing but pain. I walked into my house.
Suddenly I thought that 16 dollars wasn’t worth this. I never broke a bone so I
couldn’t tell if it was actually broken or not. I have a ton of homework to do and with this pain
I’m not going to get anything done. A two page paper due in 2 days, a 10 page packet due
in 2 days, and even more. I’m in pain and now I’m panicking about all the work that I now have to
do with only one arm at my disposal.
I started with math. I was hungry but there is no
time for food right now. My stomach is growling; mad at me because I am denying it food. The frustration overwhelmed me
and I was not very successful with the math. I didn’t even finish half of the packet. Now, more
pressure lays on me. Demanding that I do more work with so much pain. It wasn’t going to be
a fun next day. I
went to sleep with a brace on my wrist so that my wrist wouldn’t move in my
sleep.
I woke to a mother that demanded my presence, however she wasn’t going to get
it because my arm was in so much pain. It was un bearable. I couldn’t move at all, not a
single part of my body without wanted to scream in pain. Such a pain should not be
forced against someone, not anyone. Still I knew I had a ton of homework that I had to
do.
I got up and wobbled to the kitchen. I got out the cereal and a bowl
to pour it in. I poured the cereal half way just as I usually do. Walked over to the refrigerator
and got milk and continued to pour milk in there until the cereal rose. Just the way I like it. I grabbed a spoon and began
eating the wonderful cinnamon toast crunch as I walked to the table. I wasn’t
very successful with just one arm but I got one spoonful before I reached the
table. I set the bowl
down and enjoyed each and every bite.
The birds were chirping and the sky was blue. It was set out to be a
beautiful day; that I of course could not enjoy. I was forced to suffer indoors and do homework.The hours past and eventually I come to
present. I
sit here in pain TV in background. Still have a lot of math to do. Obviously not done this essay.
Every time I even try to use my thumb for any reason
a sharp pain travels up my arm. Making it impossible to type with that hand. Now I’m in a predicament, one
hand to type, one hand to do everything, and still a lot of homework. Its now 8:26 and I still
haven’t eaten dinner and I am not even half done my math.
What a way to end my weekend. My eyes are heavy, my arm still
hurts and I have school tomorrow. I am supposed to be getting x-rays tomorrow to make
sure that it isn’t broken. Hopefully its not broken but I never broke a bone before. If its not broken I would hate
to know what it feels like if it was broken. I probably wouldn’t be able to move my fingers at
all. The smell of
chicken is starting to fill my house. I sense that dinnertime is coming shortly. I’m starving, my stomach is
growling and I think it is about time to eat some food. A good day at work gone wrong. A new experience in which I
will learn from.
Next time I wont flip my hair.
Throughout this
school year my thoughts have been changed many times. One thing I remember very
vividly is the classes Sweatshop trial. The sweatshop trial was a trial that
the class did to figure out who was the most responsible for sweatshops. Every
student was put into a group. My group was the U.S consumers. The other groups
were sweatshop workers, multi-national co-operations, the system, and the
ruling elite. Now of course people were trying to make their group sound the
least guilty. When the trial was over we had to do a response
to the trial in which we voted on who was the most guilty at the time since I
was being a little bias I gave my group very little points. Now after looking
back on everything I see that I was wrong and that in that situation you can
put blame on any one person. It is like a rotation and everybody fuels
everybody. What I started to understand from this is that it is not good to
start coming to a conclusion while you are still focused on one group.
Another piece of
work that helped me realize that with time everybody can get better at their
creativity is my Poetry
unit. During the poetry unit we had to write several different types of
poems that we were going through in class. The reason why I say it helped me
the way it did is because there is a noticeable difference between this and what
I did in the beginning of the year for my English
B piece. My English B piece was set at the beginning of the year and we had
to write a poem based off of Langston Hughes’ English B poem.
One piece of work
that I am most proud of is my English photo essay. The reason why I am most
proud of this piece is because it showed that one could produce very good work
even if they are talking about themselves. This also helped me learn a lot of
things about my Irish side. The assignment was to take a heritage that you were
apart of and research that. After you research you have to come up with several
pictures and analyses for why you chose each picture. I was able to find out a
lot about the Irish heritage through this like the fact that Irish dancers keep
their arms by their sides because when the English invaded Ireland the Irish
were not allowed to have any fun so the Irish kept their hands at their sides
when they danced so the English could not see them. Unfortunately I do not have
the photos but I do have my analyses.
My
last piece of work that I would like to share with you is my colonialism museum
project. The reason why I would like to share this with you is because I am
very proud with my work in this project. In this project we had to make museum
based off of colonization in a country of our choosing. My country was Kenya
and my exhibit presented only artifacts that made complete sense like money.
You can find my explanation for all my artifacts here. This project helped me learn a lot
about Kenya and colonization like the fact that sometimes it can be good and
sometimes it can be bad.
This is a portion
of what I have learned throughout this year. It has been fun for me to share
this with you. It has also been fun to take a trip down memory lane. I hoped
you enjoyed the journey through my thoughts.
Throughout the courses of both History and English this year
had has its ups and downs. History and English, as subjects, have always been
easy for me but this year through my projects, papers, wikis, essential
questions and more… has changed my views on the topics of each subject.
In
English, I noticed throughout my work that I have become a more fluent writer
in writing my papers. My aspects of me to have became a more fluent writer
includes, being able to pull several significant quotes from books I have read
and outside sources from research. Also, analyzing throughout my paper, the
quotes, my feelings and beliefs into thesis papers. Stating the facts with
being stated in opinion form at first was very hard for me, but through
practice of constantly writing and peer editing helped me a lot, it bettered me
because of the helped I received by my teachers and friends. Click here to view
my latest thesis paper about religion and the world
Within this paper I, as I stated
before, express several beliefs and stating that they are true. In my 9th
grade year and beginning of this 10th grade year, I had a harder
time formatting and making my thesis papers clear by using well thought-out
quotes.
Something
that I grasped over this year was that there are many certain aspects that aren't talked
about everyday. Click here to view my work of both my op-ed ;and now my monologue
project;
Throughout my op-ed I express different corruptions
throughout the world such as the religious people and leaders abusing humanity
laws, here is a quotes I stated of my own words “A priest of a catholic church has been
accused of sexually abusing a young little boy. To point that we are talking
about a Catholic church who provide us with a Catholic religion in which the
bible says “homosexuality is against God.”
On
the other hand, my monologue project was a long projects and included several
aspects of thinking rather than the op-ed yet they are both similar and I
learned a lot from both of them. Though, to begin, my monologue project brought
several ideas of both imagination and research. I learned a lot form my
monologue project because over the several months that we were given to work on
it, I developed a well thought-out story about children and sex trafficking
throughout Europe in an interesting, unique way.
A
major benchmark, one of my most recent one is of my Colonial Benchmark which
can be seen here ;
I express many different aspects of colonialism. Through my
research I learned a lot and in making this museum, which was the goal of
making this benchmark, using different artifacts and stating facts and also
giving opinion with supporting evidence that “overall colonialism is better for
a country because it is influenced by more cultures and as the country grows
older there is a more variety.”
Furthermore,
I’d like to save this for the last, my wiki of my poetry, because it was my
most favorite project to do. I believe I can express myself more with writing
poems and giving information rather than papers because it flows more easier to
me and I believe a lot of other people may believe the same way. Click here to
view my poetry wiki.
