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Amanda Thieu Public Feed

The Insanity Defense:

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Science And Society - Best - Y on Monday, June 6, 2016 at 10:41 pm
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“The criminal justice system continues to struggle for a method to distinguish offenders whose mental illness is so severe that society should not morally responsible for their behavior, from whose actions, while perhaps objective irrational nevertheless merit punishment.” There are also a few tests following that assessment of the insanity plea. The M’Nagten test or the Brawner test followed by the irresistible impulse test. The “M’Naghten” test is when “an offender is insane under this test if mental illness prevents the offender from knowing the difference between right and wrong.” Whereas the Brawner test is defendants are insane if, because of a mental illness or defect, they lack the substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of their actions or to conform their behaviors to legal requirements. Followed by the irresistible impulse, under which offenders are insane if a mental disorder prevents them from resisting the commission of an illegal act that they know is wrong.

One viewpoint is from the person who’s claiming that they are mentally ill or the person defending the insanity defense.
It’s not a “Get out of jail free” card, defendants found not guilty by reason of insanity are rarely set free. Instead, they are almost always confined in mental health institutions. They may remain confined for a longer period of time than had they been found guilty and sentenced to a term in prison. States may compel defendants adjudged insane to remain in a mental health institution until they convince a judge that they are no longer legally insane. The defense may argue that due to a mental illness or disability it caused them to not know right from wrong regarding their actions or a third party factor that lead them to do the things that they did.

Another viewpoint is from the person opposing the insanity defense and believe that it’s just a tactic for criminals get off scots free. Many may argue that criminals, “insane” or not, still committed the crime at the end of the day and deserve punishment. Like for example, a teacher who thinks that his brain tumor was the cause of his pedophelia. Yes, the brain tumor may have caused him to have those urges, but they might have brought out prior urges to become a child molester and he used that brain tumor as a justification for his actions. One of the viewpoints is that it’s just an excuse. Many criminals are said to have planned out their killings, so if they had the mind to plan an intricate plan to kill someone they must know what they were doing.


The two most famous real-life examples are from Jeffery Duhmer & John Wayne Gacy. Both heinous men who did heinous acts against humanity.
Jeffrey Dahmer is a notorious serial killer and sex offender in 1991. His long list of offenses involved sex, cannibalism, necrophilia, and dismemberment. Since he was a child, he had shown symptoms of withdrawal and avoidance of any social interactions. He would collect dead animals, then dissect, dissolve, or mutilate them in various waters. In the trial, Dammer pled not guilty by reason of insanity. The plead was rejected and Dammer was convicted of all 15 murders charges and sentenced to 15 consecutive life sentences.
John Wayne Gacy is a profilec serial killer in the 1970s. He was notorious for dressing up as a clown and performing at parties and events. He later raped and killed 33 young boys and men in Chicago. Many of his victims were lured into his home and then murdered by asphyxiation. He pled not guilty by reason of insanity, and was able to produce psychiatric experts who would testify for his case. But he was found guilty.

Whether you believe that the insanity defense is probable we need to acknowledge that there are many mentally unstable people who deserve the help they need.


http://listverse.com/2012/04/11/top-10-most-notorious-insanity-defense-cases/ 

http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/insanity-defense.html 

http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/criminal-defense-case/pleading-insanity-a-criminal-defense-case

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/aron/qa227.htm

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/crime/trial/faqs.html

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Scoliosis

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Science And Society - Best - Y on Tuesday, May 31, 2016 at 11:28 am

Science:


Scoliosis is the abnormal lateral curvature of the spine. It ranges from different degrees depending on the person or the severeness of the scoliosis.

There are multiple causes and cases of scoliosis. Degenerative scoliosis may result from traumatic (from an injury or illness) bone collapse, previous major back surgery, or osteoporosis(thinning of the bones) Idiopathic Scoliosis is the e common type of scoliosis has no specific identifiable cause. Congenital Scoliosis caused by a bone abnormality present at birth. Neuromuscular Scoliosis is a result of abnormal muscles or nerves. Frequently seen in people with spina bifida or cerebral palsy or in those with various conditions that are accompanied by, or result in, paralysis.

There are certain cases that can be corrected by surgery or a back brace. The back brace can’t fix scoliosis but it can straighten and keep it from getting worse. It basically acts like a stabilizer.


Society: Approximately 2%-3% of Americans at age 16 have scoliosis. Less than .1% have spinal curves measuring greater than 40 degrees. Scoliosis is diagnosed by Most scoliosis curves are initially detected on school screening exams, by a child’s pediatrician, or family doctor or by a parent. Some signs include: uneven shoulders, a prominent shoulder blade, uneven waist, or leaning to one side. Speciality hospitals like Shriner’s children’s hospital can do screenings and X-rays to evaluate the magnitude of the curve. Girls are more likely to be affected than boys.


Self:

I have a rare case of scoliosis called Spondylothoracic Dysplasia.  Instead of one curve, I have two curves. Compared to a normal spine that have perfect rectangular vertebrae, my vertebrae is jumbled up resembling a puzzle. Therefore surgery would have been a risk. The physical aspects are visibly short torso, and a lot of back pains. Sources: http://www.webmd.com/osteoarthritis/guide/arthritis-scoliosis  http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/scoliosis/home/ovc-20193685 http://www.medicinenet.com/scoliosis/article.htm http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/scoliosis/scoliosis-what-you-need-know
http://www.niams.nih.gov/health_info/scoliosis/ http://www.srs.org/ 
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How To Lie With Statistics

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Statistics - Miles - C on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 9:39 pm
  • Group members present during the discussion: Amanda, Adowa, Sattera, Nashay 
  • What your club discussed: Whether the methods in the book manipulate people 
  • How you discussed it: We brought up different examples and what we found deceving. 
  • Any points of conflict/disagreement in discussion: The main conflict is that we all feel like there are certain samples that are not considered as sufficient samples to derive a conclusion from. 
  • Questions that came up as a result of the discussion: How did you guys feel about the book so far? etc. 
How to lie with Statistics
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Amanda Thieu Capstone

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Capstone - Jonas - Wed on Thursday, May 19, 2016 at 1:25 pm
Philadelphia is one of the most heavily populated homeless cities in America. “Each year in Philadelphia homeless outreach organizations engage over 5,500 individuals living on the streets in cars, abandoned buildings, train/bus stations, and other places not meant for human habitation.(Project Home)” We are surrounded by people on the street daily but we never take the time to actually sit down and have a conversation with them. Get to know who they are as people, what makes them tick, or how they feel on a day to day bases. The main concern is how can we break the stigma of homelessness.
As we walk by people experiencing homelessness on the streets and different motives of transportation, their very existence as a living breathing human is going to waste. Society is making these citizens feel invisible. The goal of this project is to inform people and raise awareness that homelessness, not only in Philadelphia but across the United States is a serious issue we as a society need to help fix.
Throughout this project and exploring the city, I have met some inspiring and tremendous individuals. Each story is unique and I’ve been honored to be able to interview and transcribe their realities and paste them on a website. I’ve also covered a Philadelphia Youth Commission meeting on Youth Homelessness. Many people from across the city gathered to engage and discuss how we as a society assistant and diminish youth who are experiencing homelessness.
 All of the photographs on the website are my original pieces.    http://placewithoutahome.weebly.com/ *Disclosure: More stories are going to be posted. Burns, Amelia. "CLICK HERE to Support The Homeless Photo Booth Project." Indiegogo. Accredited Business, n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-homeless-photo-booth-project#/
This link is somewhat of a go fund me page to accept donations for a Photo Booth for the homeless. Overall as a project, I don’t think it’s the best idea because I don’t think it’ll benefit everybody if they just sit in a Photo Booth. I came across this project looking for ideas about how I was going about this photography project, and honestly, I don’t think this is practical…


Henry, Desmond. "What Happens When You Give 100 Cameras Out To Homeless Londoners." Refinery29. N.p., 2015. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
http://www.refinery29.com/100-cameras-were-given-to-homeless#slide-1
So this is basically the same article as another one below, but instead of looking at the actual content, I noticed how they structured the website/blog. They have a clickable slide show that flips through the photos that the homeless people taken with a brief text on the side. I’m not sure if I like this type of method but it’s a different approach to what I originally wanted to do. This link helped me see how the same information can be portrayed in a different layout.

Huff, Steve. "My Homeless Project." Stevehuffphoto. N.p., 19 Nov. 2006. Web. 3 Feb. 2016.
http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/who-am-i/my-homeless-project/
Steve Huff used monochromatic photography to take the profiles, action shots, and other poses of homeless people in their natural place. His photography captures the emotions of the people just in one click. His site and project are useful to me because that’s exactly what my project is going to base around. He gave me the foundation to start and structure my capstone. He also shows which techniques and camera he uses to take pictures of the people. Under the photos of the people, he attaches a writing piece which is what I’m going to do.

Jeffries, Lee. "I Photograph The Homeless By Becoming One Of Them."Bored Panda. BoredPanda, 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
http://www.boredpanda.com/homeless-people-portrait-photography-lee-jeffries/
Lee is an amazing photographer that shoots closeup head shots of his subject. These pictures and works of art move me as a photographer and a person. This is breathtaking and it has so much more of a meaning behind it than just photoshopping it to perfection. When looking into the eyes of the subject, you feel like you’re literally looking into their soul and feeling the pain that they’re feeling. The composition of photographs are perfect r

Rowse, Daren. "Street Photography: Exploitative vs Respect." Digital Photography School. Digital Photography School, 1 Feb. 2013. Web. 3 Feb. 2016.
http://digital-photography-school.com/street-photography-exploitative-vs-respect/  
This is one of the biggest concepts to think about when doing street photography. When doing street photography, everything needs to be genuine and not exploitative. There needs to be a boundary that gives a willing subject to have a conversation with you. Everything has to be truthful and with consent. This link differentiates the difference from Exploitative and Respect. Before you put them under pressure, you have to build a relationship and connection with them, it makes the photographer and the subject more comfortable to be interacting with each other, the pieces will come out more pleasing if they’re compliant. I need to learn this boundary before I go off and take pictures of the subjects.

Schoeller, Martin. "#SycamoreandRomaine."Https://secure.qgiv.com/event/sycamoreandromainefundraiser/. HobNob, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2016.
https://www.instagram.com/martinschoeller/
https://secure.qgiv.com/event/sycamoreandromainefundraiser/
Originally, Martin’s instagram that my advisor showed me after I told her my final idea of my capstone is going to be one of the part of my final piece” On Martin’s instagram he has luminous profile shots of his subjects that exposes every crack and crevice of their face. He’s taking these head shots and the following interview below to raise awareness of people living on the street and maybe how they got there etc. He’s a professional photographer that works for the secure.qgiv.com organization to raise donations to help the homeless. With 111k follows on instagram, and roughly around 2,000 or so likes on his pictures, he’s reached people not only in his own community but others to raise awareness to these people. For my project, not only will I document the interview but so focus more on their positive aspects, I don’t want to make them known for their homelessness, I want them known for all the passions and ambitions they have in life.

Stanton, Brandon. "Humans of New York." Humans of New York. N.p., 4 Nov. 2010. Web. 3 Feb. 2016. http://www.humansofnewyork.com/
This is probably the most famous project that people will know about. A photographer in New York started this project on November 4th, 2010 where he randomly approaches strangers on the street and interviews them. Not only is it a brave tactic to use for a photojournalism project, but it captures the raw image of people walking down the street and saying the first thing that comes into their mind. Unlike me though, he focuses on people’s backgrounds or opinions on different topics. He has a well praised page and project and I also based my project like his. Where he has an online blog and posts the photo gallery up there with the text of the interview below. I hope to broadcast my project on flickr, facebook, create an instagram page, and another blog site.

Zheng, Michael. "100 Cameras Were Given to the Homeless in London. Here's What They Captured." PetaPixel RSS. PetaPixel, 25 Aug. 2015. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.
http://petapixel.com/2015/08/25/100-cameras-were-given-to-the-homeless-in-london-heres-what-they-captured/
Instead of the homeless being the subject of the photographs, 100 cameras were given to the homeless in London. The results are spectacular. They go into places that ordinary people never have the chance to visit and take amazing photos of their surrounding environments. This link helped me to realize that when the people I’m interacting with talk about their passions, I hope to help them achieve their goal even if I have to teach them guitar myself. This is amazing work that these people produce and it gives them some sense of importance when they see their works of art at an art exhibit.
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WHYY Radio Piece: My story, bullying

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Reading, Writing And Rising Up - Block - B on Wednesday, February 3, 2016 at 11:20 am
WHYY RADIO PIECE BULLYING FINAL  - 2:3:16, 11.58 AM
Hi my name is Amanda Thieu and I am currently a senior at Science Leadership Academy. I am honored to have the opportunity to produce a radio piece on a topic that I'm passionate about. Bullying has not only has gratefully impacted my life, but it has also changed me to become the person that I am today bully-free. I hope my story helps other people realize the damage that bullying causes. We need to stop this. It's traumatizing that it could happen to a younger generation. 
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The U.S Involvement during the India-Pakistan Conflict

Posted by Amanda Thieu in American History - Jonas - C on Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 8:33 am
https://magic.piktochart.com/output/5194176-untitled-infographic 

  The India-Pakistan conflict led to several different conflicts around the world where third parties wanted to intervene to either rescue one of the countries or to prevent a catastrophic event. Fighting over territory was one of the main causes in this on going conflict. With The U.S, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, China etc. I chose to do this topic because I was interested to in learning about India's connection to the United States. When I found that India had a conflict with neighboring country Pakistan and the United states and others were also involved in the conflict. I wanted to research more about it. 
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NAFTA: Was It Really Worth It?

Posted by Amanda Thieu in American History - Jonas - C on Wednesday, January 28, 2015 at 9:48 pm
http://63384233.nhd.weebly.com

My website shows the long term affect of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Even though the ideas were initially great ideas, Bill Clinton (president that signed the treaty) wasn't ready for the disadvantages that this system has created. It's much more than trading when it's dealing with people's lives. 


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"A Stolen Life" - Jaycee Dugard

Posted by Amanda Thieu in English 3 - Rami - D on Tuesday, November 4, 2014 at 9:21 pm
  “For eighteen years I was a prisoner.” Jaycee Dugard unravels her real experience on pages as she spills the words of her traumatizing kidnapping. Today, Jaycee, 34, has published a book, done many interviews, and reiterates her description from the 18 years she has spent in a backyard as a slave. Her book, “A Stolen Life,” written by herself has hit the No. 1 bestseller spot on Amazon and sold 175,000 copies on the release date. 

  On June 10th, 1991, the unthinkable happened to Jaycee Lee Dugard. The eleven year old was walking to school before coming to the realization that a car had stopped right along side her on the road. Soon before she knew it, Jaycee has been abducted. Convicted sex-offender Phillip Garrido and his wife Nancy snatched her on the side of the road and held her captive for 18 years of her life, stopping her from experiencing her preteens and adolescents years, stopping her from going to prom, and keeping her from her loved ones for years. 

Although this novel is graphic and detailed, it tells of a taboo incident that nobody would ever have dreamt of actually happening. In all honesty, it was hard for me to read at first because I was in shock that this event occurred. After a while, I chose to continue to read it because I was curious as to what happened and how she survived. Even though most of the book is repetitive, it was extremely well written. She was very straight forward with her points and feelings. She would not sugar coat anything. The sequence of the book was not in chronological order because she jumps from one part of the experience to another. In the beginning, she narrates about her first encounter with Phillip. Honestly, I wanted to stop and put down the book as fast as I read that a forty year old man kidnapped and sexually assaulted an eleven year old. It makes me feel violated, nervous, and cautious about my surroundings from now and so forth. Although this event wasn’t necessarily preventable, it made a huge impact on my life. I took away several different methods of life that I should always cherish and no longer take advantage of. While her basic human rights and freedom were striped right from under her, I am grateful for the life I have now. 

  The book is written and structured like a memoir. Jaycee is telling her story based on memories and old journals. At the end of each chapter, there’s always a reflection page summarizing and explaining her thoughts and feelings on what happened during an incident that she told in the previous chapter. I feel like the reflection page is really helpful because it helps me understand what she was trying to say, elaborate how she felt, her inner thoughts etcetera. 

  She decided to write the book because she didn’t want to “protect” her abuser anymore. She felt like she had preserved his identity enough throughout the years and writing the book publicizes the incidences that occurred while held captive. In her opinion, she felt like she could help others who are facing with difficult situations, showing them that it will be better. I also think that she wrote the book because throughout the 18 years she’s been imprisoned, she couldn’t really express her true feelings to anybody. Now, she finally has the chance to let thousands of people know what went on in the Garrido’s backyard. 

  I wouldn’t say there’s an obvious theme of the novel because it’s to every independent person’s opinion. But what I get from it, is that through any tragedy there will always be a brighter side. During her interview with Diane Sawyer, she mentions a lot about hope and how she nor her mother lost any hope during her disappearance. “There is life after something tragic” - Jaycee on Oprah. This is an amazing quote coming from someone who went through the toughest situation and still seems to put a smile on her face. Even though, her story’s immensely horrifying, Jaycee Lee Dugard is a survivor.

In my opinion, overall the book was interesting and eye catching. First page you read instantly grabs you in and makes you want to read more. But this was by far the hardest book I’ve ever had to read because of the subject of the matter.  I recommend this book to anybody who is interested in real life events. I wouldn’t highly recommend this book to a fellow high-school student because it’s such a mortifying and graphic story.  It just depends on the certain comfort level you have with sensitive topics. 

"a stolen life" by Jaycee Dugard 
Publisher: Simon & Schuster 
Published: 2011 
Pages: 273 
Genre: Memoir 

Creative Project: 
This collage of what seems to be random things, symbolizes some of the many things that occurred in the time she was kidnapped.
Pine cones: In the book, she says that it was the last thing she had grasped onto before getting taken by the Garridos.
The two hands represent her two daughters.
Why her name is in big fonts is because during the entire 18 years, she was not allowed to say her name. Once she broke free, I interpreted it on the canvas like she's the main subject. Her name just had to be known and visible. 
The tv represents the little small television that Phillip gave her in the beginning of her kidnap where she only watched infomercials.
During her kidnap, Phillip gave her 3 kittens the ball of yarn and the cat on the side represents that.
The wawa symbol represents the fast food he fed her every single day.
The little butterfly charm on the side was the only thing she had left from her childhood. Before she got abducted, she was wearing a butterfly ring.   

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IMG_5168
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2014 National Day of Writing

Posted by Amanda Thieu in English 3 - Rami - D on Monday, October 20, 2014 at 10:20 pm

You say coffee, we say ‘cawfee’. You call it a sub, we call it a hoagie. You say “water” we say “wooder”. “Hey! Get that jawn for me over there? No the other jawn”. The thing is, you really can’t experience or understand real “Philly” unless you’ve lived here yourself. Outsiders may be alarmed at how different our lives are from their own. For example, It’s easy for Philadelphians to take SEPTA (public transportation) everywhere, or knowing where to get the best pizza in South Philly, and finding the nearest Wawa to demolish those certain cravings you have throughout the day. With all the social and historical events that went and goes on in the City of Brotherly love, Philadelphia is my home and I’m proud to live here.
All year round, Philly people are so hype whenever our sports teams are playing. Either watching it on live television, tailgating in the parking lot of the stadium, or actually having season tickets, we are the most proud fans and outshines any other fans. Whether we’re cheering for the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, or the Sixers, we go to the extreme and probably voted the best fans any sports team can ever have. When watching a Philly team on t.v with a Philly person, expect to have many snacks, loud voices at the television, and a lot of team spirit.
Historically, Philly is where it’s at. Having the Declarations of Independence signed, to the first post office and university. Greats like Benjamin Franklin resided in Philadelphia and made it a better place to live. We also have a bell, a very cool bell. The Liberty Bell in fact, basically symbolizes our city.

People have many misconceptions about Philly residences, but it’s hard to judge what you don’t know. Philadelphia is an amazing city and should be on everybody’s places to visit list one day in their lives. We love our city and you should too.


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Final Portfolio 2014 Thieu

Posted by Amanda Thieu in World History - Block - B on Wednesday, June 11, 2014 at 12:39 pm
​​Here is my word art. 

    Throughout the year we’ve gone from learning about the keystone pipeline to writing plays on civil rights, to looking into another culture from a native perspective lens. 

  From a playwright’s perspective, you can write from different personalities and you can understand the situation from different points of views.
    When Mr. Block announced that my play was going to be performed. I was already thinking of the actors to be in it. I had so much to do in so little time. The main focus points of the play is “How do people find hope in the face of struggle? How does change happen? In what different ways do people struggle for rights?” Well the first thing that popped up in my head was a student in school struggling with multiple problems and rights they deserve from everybody they’re surrounding. The main character Paige is struggling with a weight problem and she realizes school nor home is a safe place for her. Along the way she goes through obstacles that make her realize she doesn’t need to be a certain way to fit in and be popular. 


It regards back to our civil rights unit because the main character in 
my play should be treated equally regarding her physical appearance. My play reconnects to many things we’ve done this year in history class. For example, going back on the Cortes trial, each individual of our class had a to defend a role from that situation in a mock trial. My group had to defend the system, they weren't actual human beings but a line of laws Europeans have to follow. This is a google doc where my group and I collaborated on during the trial to write important information and notes. The Aztecs were defenseless against Cortes and his men and Paige in my play is defenseless against the “popular kids” at her school. Even though they’re two different scenarios they still relate to a base of “Civil Rights” and “Struggling with a problem”. 

Like the my Civil Rights play, we’ve done things like learn about Revolutions. As a class we studied about the French Revolution from 1789 to 1799. We also made a revolution Guidebook Project. We talked about different topics regarding revolutions. Where the lower class attacked the higher classes because of unfair treatment and high raises in taxes. It wasn’t fair for the lower class because they couldn’t afford to eat and provide for their families. In this case, the third class is struggling with a problem and fighting back for civil rights. Without giving away the ending of my play, the main character goes through the same realization that she should fight back whenever something’s unfair. 

Here's some extra information: 
Amanda's Journals: Here

Quotes:

1:Boys are taught to only show the parts of themselves are defined as what’s “manly” Journal # 46 
2:  “ Yes a person’s past can heavily affect someone’s well being and future events.” - Journal 44 
3: “Each man’s labor is just as important as another” - Gandhi film questions. 
4: “We are the system of empire. The more property that we have, the more security the people will have. Therefore, we travel to different lands to find empty properties in order to protect and give opportunities to our people.  We should not take the blame for other people thirst for money because our main goal is expand our society into a bigger place.” - Cortes trial: opening statement. 
5: “All I’m saying is that we should care about this environment instead of digging it up and replacing that land with a metal pipe. You shouldn’t call yourself a protest leader you’re just a creature who has no soul and no regard towards other people except for yourself.” - History pipeline monologue 
6: “ANYTHING, CALL SECURITY DO SOMETHING BEFORE I BODOSE OVER THEIR TREE HUGGING BODIES MYSELF!” - History pipeline monologue 
7: AARON

See this potato? yeah, that’s you, and this french fry can be you if you stopped eating half of the damn fridge. (Eats the french fry) - History Playwright.
8: There could be many different things to cause revolutions. Greed, shortage of supplies, high rise taxes, inequality between estates, and much more. - Revolution Benchmark 
9: As you all know, I am Napoleon Bonaparte. I am a Corsican-Italian who became the Emperor of the French after a coup-d-etat. - French/ Haitian Role play.
10:

IS IT LOVE OR IS IT A LABEL? - Religion unit. 

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Revolution Guidebook Project

Posted by Amanda Thieu in World History - Block - B on Tuesday, March 4, 2014 at 8:37 pm

In this history unit learning about revolutions. We talked about many ideas about how one starts a revolution, the certain causes of revolutions and different variables that go into making a revolution successful or it failing completely. We didn't just learn about one revolution in one certain time period but many different ones all through out history. We also learned different techniques on how to make a revolution stand out and let people speak their minds. 
One fascinating revolution we studied about is the French Revolution where King Louis the 15th, and Marie Antoinette led France into corruption and putting themselves over their own people. One method the third estate used is ambushing and mobbing different areas and using violence to show how they were treated unfairly. While this revolution used violence there are also many different ways to go about a revolution. Here   are 198 non violent actions that can involve a revolution. 
Whether you use violence or not, certain things can determine whether your revolution is a success or not. 

What Sparks a Revolution? from Amanda Thieu on Vimeo.

Tags: digital story, revolution, rev
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Pipeline monologue

Posted by Amanda Thieu in World History - Block - B on Wednesday, October 2, 2013 at 7:57 pm
​In this unit in history class we have recently learned about a proposal about the Keystone XL pipeline. Essentially, the pipeline is a 1,179-mile (1,897 km) long pipeline that starts in Canada and travels it's way into the United States and ending in Illinois. This pipeline transports crude oil and is supposedly a much safer and faster way for the oil to travel. Since there are many convincing bias opinions on the proposal it was very challenging to conduct a personal opinion on the idea of this contraption. Personally, I am against the idea of the pipeline. For example, Transcanada has stated that 100,000+ jobs are going to be created. They are only temporary jobs, and plus there are many experts saying that the Keystone pipeline can actually kill more jobs than it creates. For instance, there will be many " "job losses will be caused by additional fuel cost in the midwest, pipeline spills, pollution, and the rising cost of climate change." 

Five Quotes: 

1) "We are also one of the largest providers of natural gas storage and related services, with more than 400 billion cubic feet of capacity. That’s enough to meet the needs of nearly four million homes each year. See more at: http://keystone-xl.com/home/transcanada/#sthash.QzpQedZV.dpuf - Transcanada  (For)


2) “
The total carbon pollution impacts of Keystone XL are the equivalent of putting 9 million cars on the road when considering the total emissions of tar sands and refining processes.” http://act.350.org/letter/a_million_strong_against_keystone/ (Against)


3) “Keystone XL will contribute dramatically to climate change. The State Department confirmed that tar sands fuel is up to 19% more greenhouse gas intensive than conventional fuel, and the tar sands industry admits that Keystone XL will lead to more tar sands production.
Link:  (Against)



4) "The pipeline will have capacity to transport 830,000 barrels of oil per day to Gulf Coast and Midwest refineries, reducing American dependence on oil from Venezuela and the Middle East by up to 40 per cent. - See more at: http://keystone-xl.com/about/the-project/#sthash.G57gYy1h.dpuf"  (For) 

5) "The pipeline will cross more than 1,000 water bodies across 3 states and 875 miles threatening drinking water for people, farms, and ranches with a devastating tar sands spill" 
Link: (Against) 


I hate you. (Ian: prisoner)


(Reading the sentences at a faster pace than normal)

This isn’t my fault… this just isn’t my fault…. it’s that bastard’s fault. (prison guard passes him a pen and paper) (phones aren’t working have to communicate it in an old fashioned way)
(Pacing in the jail cell writing a letter: frustrated, babbling, angered) Look you idiotic moron, you are the most ridiculous protest leader out there. You my friend have a lot of things coming your way. Once I get out jail FOR THE SECOND TIME NOW, I’m coming for you. Jail changed me man. It changed me, I should not be in here for the ideas you planned for the entire group to sabotage the Keystone Pipeline. YOU. YOU SHOULD BE IN PRISON NOT ME. Yes, I admit that I wasn’t the best person before, ya know doing heroin and closely sending a man to his exile but that’s the past. I finally turned myself around, got help from you to construct my anger and psychotic feelings into something good, like protesting against the pipeline. Remember at the protest? Yeah, when the cops recognized me from 3 years ago, and simple mindedly arrested me for speaking my mind about this mental proposal for a lazy way of transporting oils across North America. YOU my group leader, my “supposedly” best friend deserted and abandoned me,  while rough man hands groped and violated my personal space to force me into a cop car yet once again. Therefore, I thank you, because I realized that I’m going to rot in prison for a while. Keystone XL proposal must be stopped but I do not trust you to be in charge of protesting. You know jack squat about this project and you’re defending it as if it was your own child. Quit the facade and learn the real issues.  People through fucking trash everywhere now a days, and basically we live in a pig house. All I’m saying is that we should care about this environment instead of digging it up and replacing that land with a metal pipe. You shouldn’t call yourself a protest leader you’re just a creature who has no soul and no regard towards other people except for yourself.



Why Me?

Quinn- Protest leader

(Along the pipeline land with the other protesters reading the letter from Ian)

(Reads last few lines of the letter then starts her rant)

(Pacing just out of earshot of the protest)

Wow I didn’t realize that this would be taken so far... What happened to people just standing up for what they believe in. My parents and grandparents did not have to deal with the cruelty of going to jail for speaking their minds. At least not like this... (Stops pacing) I don’t think... Anyway I don’t know why they didn’t arrest all of us maybe there was someone still on the hunt for him... I mean I understand "The man" just as much, if not less than he does. He could have joined any protest and they might still have taken him. There was an article in the news the other day about the Native Americans blocking the construction workers from getting the supplies to where they need it to build the pipeline correctly. I only did this because I believe in something I thought thats what he believed in too but I am guessing he has have changed his mind because of the tone in his letter. Sometimes things happen to us because we need them to or we need a lesson so maybe instead of blaming me...You know what why the hell am I trying to explain this crap. (Throws letter to the ground) HE KNEW! He knew what he were getting himself into, he knew that there was a chance of getting caught and he OF ALL PEOPLE should know that this THIS would get you back in jail! THEY KNOW HIM FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!! If THEY are going to arrest somebody out of anyone here they would most likely go for him! I mean he has been there before. This was his choice not mine protests usually don't go to well when the police get involved but what do I know all I wanted to do was stand up for what I believe in and look where that got him...Maybe he's right... Why would anyone believe in me... I am the kid in the classroom who shares her ideas and questions and they get shot down because they are "stupid" or "immature." Why would all these people come here when I, I of all people... Aaaaaaahhh (Grabs hair like she is going to pull it out), forget it everything is my fault isn’t it everything I do good or bad is always.... Why me.... Why me... I was just trying to do something to change the world for the better that is all I ever wanted was to make something no matter how small better but now I’ve gone and screwed things up again why do I always do this?(Walks back to the protest)




New Perspective

The land surrounding the pipeline

(Resting on the floor of the ground to represent the land around the pipeline)

Humans have done some crazy things but I never knew that it could get crazier. This Keystone, XL program is supposed to destroy 1,179 miles of me. They Are saying that it will only have a 36 inch diameter but if my inhibitions are correct then these humans will just get crazier and either put more of these things here or they will make this one “bigger and better” That’s how humans work i guess, doesn’t make a whole lotta sense to me but you know I’m just the land under their feet i don’t do much but sit here and try to look pretty or as pretty as they will let me  be. It was much easier to be beautiful before the humans went bonkers. Hardisty, Alberta used to be this wondrous, lovely place now it will have a stinkin' pipe starting there. Also if you thought that was bad Nebraska is such a quiet state that most Americans forget about it in the Midwest just minding its own business now it is going to have a pipe ending there. Oh and lets not forget folks about the 181 million metric tons of carbon dioxide being sent up into my friend Air, who by the way I think has had it worse than I with the whole ozone thingy. Anyway I remember when the only thing that was being built on me was a place to sleep for a night or two but now they need to have everything for everyone so they build nonstop there are humans who specialize in this which I think is amazing that they can make a profession out of the simplest of tasks that everyone used to do together back in the day. I remember all the trees that would shade me from the harsh sun in the areas I needed and in the areas that needed the sun there was nothing blocking it I remember when the only thing running along me were my friend Water's gushing rivers and the pitter patter of the feet of animals being chased by humans or other animals. I remember, even when the first rode was built and it was such a new experience that I was excited for what was to come now I am not so excited I don’t think I have been happy or excited in a long time.



This Means the World and More

James- Construction worker

(In bosses office to talk)

Hey uh...boss? I don’t know how to tell you this but... Yeah there are some umm... I’m sorry but uh... There are some uh protesters sir... Yes, they are along they land where we are supposed to build sir... Well, the problem is, sir is that they are blocking us from doing the prep work and... Sir i understand but I would not have come to you if they hadn’t gotten in the way of our work...yes sir I already called the police but when they were here they only arrested one man and the rest were all left here...No sir they said that the land is not private land and there is no other way to get them arrested unless the protesters turn violent or they destroy property which they are not doing they aren’t even a disturbance because they are pretty much silent except when we come around.... I understand sir but... Sir I know but.... Sir...I want to get them out of here just as much as you do sir... Why sir? Because I need to bring home enough money for me and my bed rest wife who is staying home now because her job laid her off once they saw that she would not be able to do the work they ask of her... (Starts to pace because he is rambling) And sir we have been preparing for this baby for forever we had to try for the baby for four years and now that she is carrying I will stop at nothing to make sure she is happy. She was so upset when she found out she couldn't do more to prepare for the baby and I really want her to relax and just enjoy the time she has to spend alone but she doesn't want to unless everything else id perfect so I want, no I need to make sure everything is perfect. I need this job just as much if not more than you need all of us to work the job... I don’t know what I would do without this job right now because it is the only thing that is bringing in the money and things for the baby right now and though that isn’t much it is more than I could ever ask for at the moment so thank you for giving me this job. i know that there are many others that also thank you because this is just an amazing opportunity You don’t know how much this means to me but I will need to be able to work so if you could do something about the protesters that would be great... Thank you sir.

(Leaves office)

The CEO Boss :
Oh lord, these things again.

Hey James... You can tell me... Just spit it out James... THE PROTESTERS ARE WHERE???DOING WHAT????? CALL SECURITY DO SOMETHING BEFORE I BODOSE OVER THEIR TREE HUGGING BODIES MYSELF. <talks to self> <squeezes squeeze toy for stress relief> “okay Charles calm down, the freaks will move it’s okay don’t worry” ANNA! (assistant) WHERE ARE MY STRESS PILLS. Anywho look James boy I’m going to try my best and get rid of those monsters, they’re too busy worrying about their precious environment but I’m going to tell you a little secret. I honestly don’t give a flying fladoodle about any of it, I care about the profits, and the investment into this entire operation. Understood? So I need you to be on my good side and help me extinguish these rebellious human beings. That is unacceptable. Yes I understand that you need money for your new expected child, unfortunately since the Keystone XL pipeline has YET to be built, I cannot pay any of my workers because I AM nor our company is getting paid. Ya get what I’m sayin man. Come back when the workers get off their lazy asses and do something about this pipeline. Dismissed.




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Negative Space

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Art - Freshman - Hull on Thursday, June 6, 2013 at 8:12 pm
 A. What is negative space (explain this concept to a fourth grader that has never heard of it)

Negative space is the space between the figure or object. It's not the object it's the areas around it. 



    B. Explain how you found negative space in 1. your cut out?, I found my negative space by cutting around the bird. all the access paper is the negative space. 


 2. in your still life drawing? I drew the objects first then shaded in the space around it. I also erased all the detail inside the objects. It should just be a shadow. 

  



  C. Why does it help an artist to see in negative space? It helps an artist to see in negative space because it's easier to see the entire picture not the small pieces of the drawing. 

    D. Does seeing in negative space enhance drawings, why or why not? It depends on the artist if they put specific detail in their negative space then it might look really nice. But for me, I pay attention to detail so negative space doesn't help me as much. 


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Tags: art, ms.hull
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The Fault in Our Stars: Thieu

Posted by Amanda Thieu in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, June 6, 2013 at 7:22 pm
​ For the last semester of the Independent Reading project, I am reading the book “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green. John Green is an American “young adult fiction” author. The book also reached number one on the New York Times bestsellers list. Time magazine called it “damn near genius.” It has many excellent reviews and people seem to really enjoy it.
           The main character Hazel Grace is battling stage 4 thyroid cancer and she attends a support group for kids living with cancer. There she meets a mysterious, tall, and deep, male she is attracted to name Augustus Waters or Gus for short. Their relationship begins getting closer when they start spending more time together. There is a person vs. self conflict. She doesn’t want to let anybody in because she starts to think that she’s a burden. For example, in the story she says she’s a grenade; one day she’ll explode. She’s saying is that she doesn’t want to be close to anybody because she doesn’t want anybody to mourn over her if she dies. This feeling affects her relationship with Gus because he seems to have feelings for her. My favorite characters in this story are Gus and Isaac. Gus is an gentleman who respects Hazel. He’s also my favorite because he’s very deeps and sentimental. For instance, symbolically he puts a cigarette in his mouth but never lights it because his quote is,
“it's a metaphor, see: you put the killing thing right between your teeth but you don't give it the power to do its killing.” That quote speaks to me because he’s not letting what kills him any fear. I think that, that was such a strong quote to draw from the story. Isaac is also one of my favorites because him and I are alike. He’s gone through a tough heartbreak when we needed them the most. It’s really hard struggling with cancer and having to be blind, while also losing your true love. Who ever reads this book should take away the real emotion behind every character. Hazel is a misunderstood teenage girl who’s having sudden feelings for a guy and she feels like she’s a burden. Augustus just wants to live in the moment and not letting his cancer stop him from doing anything. Isaac is angry and feeling abandoned because his “true love” left him because he became blind. The parents of Hazel are frightened everyday because there’s a chance they’re going to lose a daughter. There are many important themes in this story like, never let anything scare you, or if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen.
Aside from connecting with Isaac, I can also compare myself to Hazel Grace. The way she feels like nobody appreciates her and she feels lonely all the time is the exact way I feel most of the time. She usually never goes out of her house and neither do I. Maybe it’s because we don’t want people staring at us and judging us. Everywhere she goes she gets judged or looked at because of her oxygen tank. Everywhere I go I get judged and stared at because I have an abnormal body. It’s not something we asked for, nor can fix.
In my opinion, I’m in LOVE with this book. Have you ever had the feeling that it’s going to be an amazing book, while only reading the first chapter? That’s how I felt when choosing this story. It grasped my attention quickly and I’ve been very fawned of it ever since I’ve been reading on page one. The strengths of the book has to be the characters and the relationships between each other. It’s so realistic and interesting to read to the point I just want to place myself into the story. Another strength of the book is that it’s not overwhelming with so many things or else I would be really confused. There weren’t really any weaknesses about the book. It has a great expansion of words not yet recognized in my vocabulary, so it was difficult for me to understand what the author wrote to Hazel and Augustus. If I could change something about the book it would probably be the events that happened to Isaac. But if it weren’t for them, the reader wouldn’t feel the emotions of sorrow and sympathy towards him. The events happened to him causes excitement and visual aspects of the book.
You can understand what’s happening in this book fairly easy. I would target this book more toward teenagers though because we can relate to the relationships, heartache, and situations these characters are going through. But adult are welcome to read this book as well. This was on the New York Times Bestseller List for a reason.


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The cigarette is the same cigarette that Augustus puts in his mouth from time to time. Three puffs of smoke for three different quotes. From top to bottom, the first quote Gus says," It's a metaphor, see: you put the killing thing right between your teeth but you don't give it the power to do it's killing" Augustus means he's not going to let the object that's killing him any power to hurt him anymore. He's not showing any mercy or fear toward the object that hurts him. The second quote is from Hazel, "I'm a grenade" in the story she feels like she puts a lot of stress on her loved ones because she is told that her cancer is not curable. This shows that she's very conscientious of others because she knows she might just explode (die) at any moment. The last quote is from Gus and it says, "Oh i wouldn't mind, Hazel Grace. It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you." From this quote, Augustus shows his true feelings for her. He will always love her no matter what happens, even if she dumps him or is out of his life. It goes from Gus being brave(top) then Hazel using her cancer as a bulwark for her real feelings for Augustus then Gus falling for this girl who he would do anything for. It shows the evolution of this conflict going back and forth from Hazel to Gus. 

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La casa de Sanchez!

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at 10:07 pm

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 El cliente es Sr. Sanchez! Él es nuestro profesor de historia.Vamos hacer diseñar perfecto casa! Le gusta cocinar, ver la tele y cines, juega videojuegos, nadar y leer. Sanchez tiene 31 años (treinta y uno) y sus colores favoritos son oro, negro y rojo. Le gusta athleticas y animales también.



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​Sanchez tiene un totalmente ideal casa. La casa es de en las afueras de California. La casa está cerca del parque, supermercado, teatro, y biblioteca. Hay un elegante restaurante cerca de la casa, tambien. Pero, la casa está lejos de la playa y autopista. Está es lejos, pero el transporte carro esta cerca y bastante conveniente. 

¡Es la casa de sus sueños!

  • ​Hay un cinco habitaciones hermosos. Están es muy elegante y grande. 
  • Tres baños de lujo con muy espacio.
  • Dos pisos. 
  • Hay un television en la sala con videojuegos y biblioteca pequeña. Es bastante lindos.
  • La cocina es moderno y negro y pequeña. Hay un rojo sillas también con uno horno y nevera.   
  • Hay un MUCHOS ventañas y ocho puertas.
  • Un comedor lindo. Hay un arte magnifico y muchos pescados.
  • El cuarto es enorme de lujo. Hay un muchos oficinas pequeñas en el cuartos con fotos tambien.
  • El secundo piso tiene deportes y juegos con dibujos también. 
  • Hay un garaje enorme con nueva carro y dos bicicletas. 
  • El jardín tiene muchos flores, arboles alta y una piscina elegante.
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    El primero piso
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    La silla​
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    El comedor

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    La cocina 
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    Cinco habiticiones.
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    La piscina
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    El parque
    ​Sólo cuesta: $180,000
    Contacto: Señorita Jones y Señorita Thieu 
    Teléfono: (215) MICASA
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YATW Blog #3: Teen Depression

Posted by Amanda Thieu in English 1 - Dunn on Tuesday, May 14, 2013 at 8:56 pm

Since the second blog, I’ve taken my plans into action. Almost every week on Thursday, I’ve asked some class mates to come and join the SLA Support Group Lunch. Surprisingly a hand full of students arrived. It’s fine to start small, it’s easier to control.  I’ve had about 4-5 or so support group lunches and they’re around an hour long. I hold this lunch in my english teacher’s room during Y band lunch. This group of kids are ranging from 9th grade to 12 grade. My idea was to generate a “theme” for each week. For example, our discussions have been well organized with the help of Siobhan, our school's counselor's intern. She’s been guiding my support group lunch into something more planned out.

The first week, which was the introduction, consisted of getting to know each other and explaining what “Safe Space” is. Safe space is basically an area where students can say anything they wish and not get judged. Also in the safe space, we’re not allowed to discuss what happens outside of the area, therefore defeating the purpose. The students who came to the lunch, understood and followed that main rule. At first the group of kids were extremely shy about sharing. I thought, I’d talk about myself and my story first so my peers can see that it’s fine to talk about personal infomation regarding their lives. Everybody only shared little things in the beginning, which I’m alright with. They were making progress. It turned out totally different than what I imagined before the actual lunch took place. In blog one, originally I wanted to create a formal support group where everybody sat in a circle and discussed their problems. I've looked up images of "Support Groups" and that was the major theme of them. Here's one example that I looked off of when thinking about a support group.  Thinking back to it, that was such a horrid idea. I' I'm glad how it's really chilled and relaxing, and not stiff. 
The next week I held the gathering, we talked about what depression is, what it looks like (symtoms), and how does one cope with it.  The great thing about having these free discussions, is that we jump from one topic to another. In that hour lunch time we might either talk about the main subject or a couple different ones regarding depression. During the second or third lunch, I’ve been noticing an abundence amount of comfortablity within the members. They’ve been sharing more and they are comforting each other. This project has already impacted my life because I have this bond and trust with this group of people I’ve never thought in a million years I would ever talk to in my high school life. People are actually looking forward to my lunches now on. The people who are attending frequently are my motivation to go on wared through out my four years of high school.
photo 5This picture was taken on April 18th, 2013.

The theme of this week was Friends & Family. During the discussions, the key points were jotted down on the board. This shows how we jump from topic to topic but still relating back to the main theme of the week. 

Here is my Bibliography 
Tags: Blog #3, Teen Depression, YATW, Ms. Dunn
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Final Perspective Drawing

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Art - Freshman - Hull on Friday, April 19, 2013 at 9:26 pm
​While drawing this room with a forward perspective, I've learned how to sketch objects like tables and door hinges as if I was actually standing and facing towards that wall. This learning made my drawing better by giving it a realistic feel. It shows the three-dimentional aspects of the room. If I were to do this entire sketch over, I would have outlined everything in a darker shade so the person reviewing it can see it easily. My advice to someone that has never drawn a perspective sketch like this one, I would tell them that it's not that hard. It's just a bunch of shapes and a lot of erasing. The resource that helped me the most is Ms. Hull's guidance power point. That helped me so much during this entire process. 
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Macbeth Dies A Tragic Hero.

Posted by Amanda Thieu in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at 10:17 am
​ This is my Macbeth creative project for english class. I wanted to show his's stages throughout the play.  I wrote Macbeth's name 5 times to represent all the quotes that I incorporated. It also shows that Macbeth's name changes it's font, color, etc because it shows the audience how much his character changes. It goes from bottom to top, Act 1 to Act 4. I used two quotes from Act 3 therefore, I didn't amalgamate quotes from Act 5. For my first quote, Lady Macbeth was conversing with her husband saying that he wasn't a man until he killed King Duncan. That's why I drew LADY over lapping Macbeth to represent the dominance in Lady Macbeth's character. I colored LADY in pink because in the play she was using her feminine features (being a woman) to her advantage. The second quote which is blue is similar with the quote Macbeth saying that he will not sleep innocent any more because he feels extremely guilty on the deed he has done. I drew a night cap, "zzz", moons, and stars to represent his sleep. The third quote which is in yellow represents his royalty and greed. He has finally received the crown and is now convincing the murders that Banquo is their enemy as well. Macbeth is taking over Lady Macbeth's manipulative character trait and using it on the murders. The swords represent how many times Banquo gets stabbed. I drew the ghost of Banquo sitting in Macbeth's seat at the banquet. Whenever you see a gold crown it emblematizes Macbeth. The fourth quote is all red and bloody because the quote regarding that is when Macbeth says he has stepped in blood so deep... The red color betokens the body count that Macbeth has annihilate. The last and final quote which Macbeth recites is that he is not worried that the forest will walk to Dunsinane hill. So I split the Macbeth in half, I drew "MAC" in trees to represent the forest and the "BTH" as the hills. I had the idea to draw the "E" the moving people who carried sticks to the Hills and the crown exemplify where Macbeth is located which is in the hills. All of these Macbeth's are written to show the change in his personality once he was crowned King of Scotland. Since I love to draw and paint, this wasn't that much of a challenge for me. I'm most proud of the creativity I put into the project. I would change the quality of the work. I might add more quotes next time. 
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Nuestras actividades

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 2:10 pm
Mi nombre es Amanda. Tengo quince anos. Soy bastante activa. Es Por eso que casi nunca veo la tele ni juego videojuegos. Soy súper sociable. Por lo tanto, después de las clases hablo por teléfono con mis amigos o salgo con mi novio. Me encanta leer y escribir. Así que cuando tengo tiempo libre leo libros de ficción. Y de vez en cuando escribo poemas. 

Su nombre Allison. Tiene quince anos. Su muy deportista. 
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E1 U4 Banda C Amanda

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Friday, February 8, 2013 at 7:11 am
Day 1:
Mi nombre es Amanda. Mi apodo es Panda. Tengo quince años. Soy un estudiante de Science Leadership Academy. Esta ubicado en Filadelfia. Esta cerca de pequeña con un tienda y parque. Es muy pequeña y no hay un montón de gente. Hay cuatro pisos y 600 personas en esta escuela. Tenemos computadoras de todo el mundo. Tenemos béisbol, ultimate frisbee, softball, porristas y atletismo. Tenemos Alianza Gay Straight, Bike club, servicio comunitario, club de lectura, y flashmob.Participó en el softbol y porristas porque me encanta estar activa.

Day 2:
Tengo las clases de inglés, español, geometría, historia, ingeniería, bioquímica, y la arte. Mis clases favoritas son arte y Inglés, dos clases muy interesantes y divertidas. En la clase de Ingles, leemos libros y escribíos letras. La clase que no me gusta es la geometría porque es muy difícil y aburrida. En estas clases, es necesitamos tener lápices, bolígrafos, papel, carpetas, computadoras, y una mochila. Es importante prestar atención.

Day 3: Señorita Dunn enseña inglés. Ella es muy interesa en libra. Ella tiene una hija. Su clase es divertida y tranquila.  Necesito la pluma, la computadora, y las hojas de papel.
Senor Sanchez ensena historia. Ello muy inteligente. Su clases son super aburrido y es un hablador. Necesito la computadora y la pluma. Señorita Thompson enseña geometría. Ella es muy baja. Su clase es difícil y larga. Señor Sherif en enseña bioquimica. El es muy extrano.
 
Day 4: Science Leadership Academy es muy tranquilo. Me gusta Science Leadership Academy porque tiene mucha libertad y confianza. Lo que más me gusta de SLA son las computadoras. No me gusta nada mucho los proyectos porque es muy estresante. SLA es bastante divertida, difícil y emocionante.

Here is the Video.
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New tech slide

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Technology- Freshmen - Hull on Friday, January 18, 2013 at 8:10 am
​ From the other slide, I am mimicking the same idea of the rules of the third. Like I said in the other slide, the giraffe is too big to fit in the tiny slide. So, I split the giraffe into three separate sections it make it more visually. I changed the background from the dark granite color to a very light cream color because it matches the accents on the giraffe. I also changed my lettering color to match the colors on the giraffe. I also alpha on the white parts of the pictures to blend into the cream background. I split the quote into two, the part about the sky is all the way on the top; the land part of the quote is at the bottom. 
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YATW blog 2: Teen Depression

Posted by Amanda Thieu in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, January 17, 2013 at 7:50 pm
Since the first blog post I’ve written, I’ve done research on new information for my topic, “Teenage Depression.” In my school, I have conducted questions based on the subject and formed a survey to deliver out to the student body. The basic questions were for example, asking their age, their grade, and if they have ever felt sad, and what might be the cause of their sadness. So far, an abundant amount people answered my survey. 



           From the pie chart at the bottom, you can tell that the majority of the participants are females. This shows that the males weren’t as eager to answer as the females in this survey. 



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    This conspicuous question, “Are you Sad/Depressed?” was asked, and the outcome is very close. 57% of the students answered no, while the other 43% said yes. 

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  The students who also answered this survey were between the ages of 12-18.
The people at SLA who answered this survey, was also required to answer, “What do you think causes your sadness?” 


*The highlighted words were all answers that occured more than once.* 

  • Insecurities
  • Low self-worth 
  • Seeing people better than me, or better off. 
  • School 
  • Stress with my relationship with my boyfriend/girlfriend 
  • Changing how I look at myself; disappointment
  • Family
  • Benchmarks
  • Rumors 
  • Bullying 
  • My Past 
  • Loneliness 
  • I occasionally feel extremely dysmoprhic. Or as though I don't matter to others.
  • Love, how I feel that nobody loves me. 
  • Self-esteem 
  • Self image 
  • Life and Death 
  • Hormones 
  • My Weight 
  • Not having any friends
  • Girls 
  • Language problems 
  • Thyroid condition 
  • Negative enviornment 
  • Drugs 
  • Problems of the world 

One of the most popular answers for causes their sadness is family issues. For instance, there could be many problems at home; Divorce, death of a loved one, abuse, arguments, etc. This can have a lot of impact on a teen. Another main problem found in my suvery was stress regarding school. Most people went to school and delt with school work, homework, projects etc. 

My research has gotten me a better understanding on my perspective on teen depression. I found out that most people at my high school struggle from depression like me. My personal opinion about my results is that all of those people who answered to being sad are around my age let alone go to my school. I would love to help and talk to them; to let them know that I'm on their side dealing with the same problems. The thing that I am still wondering about is that what can I do for those teens at my school who are struggling with depression? Well, I can start by listening to them at my support group lunch at school and giving them comfort with their situation. 
My agent of change has been to develop a support group lunch, which was said in the first blog post. I've done a lot of research on how to run a big project like this. For instance, this website has many ideas I am basing my group on. What you see on television about support groups being portrayed as just a bunch of people sitting in a circle talking one at a time nervously is the total opposite of what my support group lunch is going to be like. It's going to be a very safe environment supervised by my school counselor and english teacher. 
Here is my Bibliography
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Mis Seres Queridos

Posted by Amanda Thieu on Friday, January 11, 2013 at 8:12 am
Intro: ¡Hola! Bienvendios a mi vidao! Difruta!

Yo: Mi nombre es Amanda. Tengo quince años. Soy inteligente y artistica. No, no me gusta nada correr y leer. Ten los ojos morena y el pelo cafe. Soy muy baja. 

Ella: Su nombre es Elizabeth. Su apodo Lizzie. Ella es de Filadelfia. Tiene alto y muy guapa. Tiene quince años. Cumpleaños cuatro y deciembre. Le encanta música y pasar un rato con amigos. Ella es a veces serio. Esuna buenisima amiga. 

Ellos: Sus nombres Nashay y Nagee. Ellos son increíblemente cómicos. Ellos son Afro Americanos. Tiene catorce años. Ellos bastante hablador. A menudo trabajadoros. Jamás tímidos. Les gusta ir de la compras. Ellos un amor de gente. 

Ellas: Esto son mis mejores amigas. Sus nombres son Allison y Zoe. Ellas súper guapa y increíblemente simpáticas es por eso que Zoe y Allison muy sociable. Ellas muydeportista. 

Nosotras: Soy y Jasmin somos mejor amigas por mucho tiempo. Los dos nosotras encanta dibujar. Jasmin los ojos morena y rojo cabello. Nosotras extrañas. 

Gracias por ver mi proyecto. https://vimeo.com/57178442
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Book Review Amanda Thieu

Posted by Amanda Thieu on Tuesday, January 8, 2013 at 7:27 am
The title of the book I am reading for my project is called “the full spectrum”, These stories expressed by real teens around my age who are experiencing their sexuality whether being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transexual, etc. The editor of this book is the famous David Levithan. This acclaimed author is known for his books about same sex relationships. He has received many prestigious awards for his written work. He was awarded the “Lambda Literary Award for Children's/Young Adult” for his book Boy Meets Boy.

Since this book consists of many mini stories, I’m going to summarize a couple of them that stood out to me. L. Canale is in love with her best friend Carol. These two are inseparable. She’s in a situation regarding her conservative christan father; He does not approve of same sex relationships, yet it’s happening under the same roof. She feels unaceppted and different because her parents downgrades her sexuality. In the beginning of the story L. Canale was trying to keep it a secret but her father ess-dropped on a phone call between the lovers that discovered the hidden relationship. She despises him. All of her thoughts and feelings are written down in a diary form. Her emotions torwards them are horried and agressive. In her diary she uses an abundance amount of curse words and repeatly saying how they should accept her because she’s their daughter. The main conflict in this story is person vs. person because her parents are against her being gay and it creates many problems. The next story is written by a transgender who is now a male named Evin Hunter. When he was younger as a straight 10 year old girl in the 5th grade, he heard about a boy named Matthew Shepard who was murdered because he was gay. He was abducted and left to die in the cold night. This hasn’t struck the writer back then because she barely knew what the word “Gay” meant. Since he is now a different sex it has a much more impact on his life than it was in the 5th grade. He feels that it could happened to him at any moment. There were many “Gay Bashings” which means that they would punish the people who were openly gay. He describes how fear pushes people into sucidal thoughts and actions. The conflict in this story is person vs. society. Many groups around the country are anti gay, which puts gays in jepordy and harm.

For me, I’m straight but everybody has their gay moments. At a point I was bi-curious just to find out my sexuality. Since I cannot relate to being gay, I can relate to the feelings of being an outcast. People can make you feel important and apart of something good, or can tear you down with words and actions. I’ve been in their place. I’ve felt like I was alone and that everybody hated me but I just did not know why. Even though you’re different from most people does not make you a weird or wrong, it makes you an individual.

In my opinion, I was in love with the book. The strengths of the book was that it was in fact written by real teens with real emotions. I felt that there weren’t any weaknesses in the book. I think, that the book was very well written and explained very nicely. If I would have changed anything in the book, I would organize the topics better. For example, I’d put the sexualities in different parts. For instance, gays into one part, transgender in another and so forth. I would also put narratives into one place and poems into another just to make it easier to read.

I would recommend this book to people who like to read anything regarding teens and their lives or like stories about kids in highschool having trouble with their sexuality.  

Photo on 12-24-12 at 10.37 PM
Photo on 12-24-12 at 10.37 PM
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Adivina

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Ella tiene los ojos morena.  Ella es largo y cafe pello. Le gusta en. No me gusta, comer. 
Megan Fox, Mila Kunis, Nina Dobrev
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Chocolate-Brown-Hair-With-Caramel-Highlights
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Slide.

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Technology- Freshmen - Hull on Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 11:34 am
Script for Tech: 

Why did I chose how to place this slide.
My name is Amanda Thieu, this slide is to respresent me as a person, following regulations from the website presentation zen. For tech class 2012 we are being introduced to making visual slides than text slides. For example, we are learning to how use slide to capture the main image and make it stand out the most, trying not to let the text over power the image.


I placed my picture of the griaffe in three sections because it was too long to fit on one slide fully. I used the dark to light background, because it gave contrast to my picture and also the text as well. I am using the method bleeding a picture to create three separate sections because it looks neater. Since, humans are more comfortable seeing things from left to right, I placed the Giraffe's head first, it's neck next, and the rest of it's body last. I put the text at the bottom because I wanted the picture to be the main view of the entire slide. You can tell what the image is at first glance, and if you leave the image in just one main picture it would be terriably small. Making the image be the main point in the slide is very imporant. There are several reasons why I chosse the quote. Why? It respresents how some people are meant to be tall and others be short, it does not matter how you turn out. 



Amanda'sTechProjectpdf
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Letter

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Friday, November 30, 2012 at 7:55 am
¡Hola!
Saludos desde Filadelfia! ¿Que tal? Mi nombre es Amanda. ¿Como te llamas?  Tengo quince años. ¿Cuantos anos tienes tu? Mi cumpleaños es el trece de noviembre. ¿Cuando es tu cumpleanos? Soy asiatica, china y vietnamita. Hace mucho frio. ¿Qué tiempo hace? Me gusta comer. Me fascina deportes y musica. Y tu? Soy muy deportista. No me gusta nada correr. Le encanta Josh Hutcherson. Soy morena. A veces soy trabajadora. Soy hablador. Tengo un hermano. Soy bastante cómica. Y tu? Soy de Filadelfia pero vivo Vietnam. Soy baja. Soy Increiblemente intelligente.  De vez en cuando me gusta escribir.  No soy gorda. Soy divertida. No soy aburrida. Los fines de semana soy ir de compras. Cuando tengo tiempo libre soy dibujar. Depende del dia, me gusta ser sola.  Me gusta One Direction mucho. Soy nunca gusta estudiar. ¿Y a ti? ¿Qué te gusta hacer? ¿Cómo eres? Bueno, me voy porque tengo que ayudar en casa. Además, mucho gusto. ¡Adios! ¡Qué le vaya bien!   Amanda
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Amanda Grace Thieu's YATW

Posted by Amanda Thieu in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, November 29, 2012 at 12:20 pm
​ Hi there, my name is Amanda Grace Thieu. For this year’s 2012 English class project to take action in the world to make a change, I’ve choose the cause Teenage Depression. I believe that this case should be taken very seriously because it’s how abominable a person feels about a situation or just in general how their outtakes on life. This was the first thought that came into mind when I heard “Pick a topic that struck you to heart and make a change” Teen Depression, I feel is a very gigantic discussion whether someone is actually depressed or just trying to get attention. But I never fail to turn my back on someone who came to me for help and advice. Many of my friends have it and since it affected their lives so much, it’s starting to effect mines. That’s why I want to make a change in the world to help these teens find their happiness. For the project I’m teaming up with my guidance counselor and English teacher to organize a monthly support group lunch here at school. The group may be as small as four people or as large as an entire classroom. But not necessarily everybody has depression maybe they just need someone to talk to or relate to their situation and make new friends. Anyone can join just to talk about their problems, Freshman to Seniors. I am hoping this will change the way people feel about life, also to learn to have a better perspective about any problems they might have.
Depression is a serious mental illness that makes you feel morbid or unhappy for a long period of time. Depression can occur to anyone, but it usually affects teens the most. The chances that teens actually receive professional help is very slim. We do not really like to share our problems with anybody else because we’ve created this wall or barrier to protect ourselves from getting hurt or judged. Now a days people judge you for the silliest things just to make you feel bad, this is basically a sign of insecurity from the person who’s bring you down. But that doesn’t mean that you should stoop down to their level and try to get vengeance. Kids aren’t usually as open to their family than to their friends because they feel that their friends do not judge them because they might go through the same thing they do, where as family members only care that you’re hurting yourself or just thinking you’re seeking attention.

PostPartumDepression300
The  picture above can be interpreted in many ways. How I portray it is, that a mother is listening but not understanding her teen by the way you see the serious expression in her face. The teen seems like she’s crying how she is positioned and how red her forehead seems to be compared to her arms. The daughter figure seems like she has a lot going on in her life but the mother seems like she’s about to yell at her. This picture shows how the adult cannot relate to her teenage daughter.
She wants to but doesn’t know how.




There are many indications of teen depression.
  • Persistent feelings of sadness
  • Feelings of helplessness or hopelessness
  • Decreased interest in school or friends
  • Decreasing in grades if once a good student
  • Alcohol or drug abuse
  • Feeling suicidal
  • Feeling alone
  • Traumatic weight loss or weight gain
  • Low self esteem
  • Sleeping too much or feeling sleepy all the time
  • Frequent Headaches
  • Experiencing difficulty concentrating or thinking
  • Anger problems
  • Behavior changes
  • Slow thinking, speaking or body movements
  • Self-Harm such as, cutting, burning or excessive piercing or tattooing
  • Neglected appearance- such as mismatched clothes and unkempt hair
  • Suicidal thoughts
  • Rapid crying
  • and many more.
  • Stays in their room all day with the door closed
  • Likes being alone all the time

                                     stock-photo-teen-depression-teenager-with-hands-on-head-holding-handgun-40978147
I chose this picture above because this shows that even males have problems too, and since he is holding a gun in his hands he’s giving me the impression that’s he’s thinking about attempting suicide. He might be suffering from some of the cases below.




There are also many causes for depression. For example, family difficulties, the lost of a loved one, or perceived failures may also cause depression so does:
  • Bullying
  • Harassment
  • Self-esteem
  • Relationship issues
  • Sexuality issues

Depressed-teen-6-5-12

The picture above is expressed in a gloomy vibe, you can tell that she’s in a dark place. This picture represents the lonely feeling people have when they are dealing with a strong problem that doesn’t seem to go away, it stays with them everywhere they go.




Many teens go through problems such as sex, drugs, alcohol, relationships etc but it does not exactly mean they have depression. In a teen’s life there are many ups and downs that occur and we learned to stick it out and be strong. That’s not an option for some people. When dealing with these problems it seems like you’re alone the entire way, like you have nobody on your side. The purpose of this project is to support teens in my school that are dealing with any problems, to let them feel welcome and to be there with them right by their side



Here is a link to my Bibliography
Tags: English, YouandThWorld, Dunn
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Mis Favoritos

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 1:17 pm
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Screen Shot 2012-11-27 at 2.14.32 PM
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Josh Hutcherson

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Sunday, November 25, 2012 at 8:04 pm

El eś Josué Hutcherson. Eś chico. Soy de Kentucky, pero vivo en California. El eś diecinueve anos, le feliz cumpleanos octubre doce. Le no me gusta nada, leer. El eś bueno en bailar. Le encanta comer. El eś súper cómico. 

YIR_bigscreen-kids_Josh-Hutcherson_15-pica-wide
YIR_bigscreen-kids_Josh-Hutcherson_15-pica-wide
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Amanda Thieu

Posted by Amanda Thieu in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 9:26 am
editorial
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Bienvenido Mara

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 8:40 pm

Here is a embed for Greeting Flashcards.  Learn how to say Hi or Hello, How are you, What's your name, Good-Bye, Nice to meet you and Nice to meet you too etc. 
https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/file/d/0B7tlFAq13C0MbmpxeTltN0FmZXc/edit
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When is your birthday?

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 8:40 pm
Here is a chart showing the numbers, months, and how to ask someone for their birthday
https://docs.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/file/d/0B7tlFAq13C0McmtyLWVnenhrZ00/edit
Screen Shot 2012-10-25 at 9.10.18 AM
Screen Shot 2012-10-25 at 9.10.18 AM
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Amanda Thieu's Web

Posted by Amanda Thieu in Technology- Freshmen - Hull on Friday, October 19, 2012 at 9:05 am
My network

For my home network all of the items I own, is connected to the internet. The company I use for my house that provided internet and telephone network is Verizon Fios. It is connected with a fiber optic glass wire. This is connected to my modem that connects to my Verizon Fios wireless router. The wireless router gives wifi connection to any wireless electronics if they have the password. For example, 3 IPhones, a xbox 360, Ps3, a printer, 3 laptops, and my television. I learned what connects to what in my house and how the internet works. I also learned that even my printer is connected to my wireless router. I would tell someone that doesn't know anything about Internet and what not. You have to research a lot depending what network you want like Verizon, or Comcast, or Direct T.V. 
ThieuSIntranetWeb
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