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Dakota Foster Public Feed

Dakota Foster's Capstone

Posted by Dakota Foster in Capstone - Kay - Wed on Saturday, May 31, 2014 at 12:01 am
​Abstract 

Recently, i participated in Doula Training Class by the suggestion of a colleague. I began taking classes under the Maternity Care Coalition. I was one of three high school girls with the rest of the ladies were either in college or well into their lives with kids. During the classes, I fell in love with everything and anything that came along with being/becoming a Doula. I loved the people that I met in the classes, I loved the atmosphere, and the spirituality that was embedded in everything we did. Two things that stood out to me where that: the teacher told us that Doulas aren't well known and how we are helping them by being 'community doulas' - being more accessible to the community. We watched stories about the women that had Doulas and I thought to myself: something this great, why don't more women know about? That is when I decided to make a video about what Doulas are, the history of Doulas, and something little extra. Hope you enjoy!

Video 
Bibliography 

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Final Podcast - Dakota, Ayoola, Maleena and Vannary

Posted by Dakota Foster in Statistics - Miles - C on Friday, May 30, 2014 at 9:56 am
Vannary was not present for this final podcast. 

For our final podcast, we talked about our feelings about the book and how it could've been better. We talked about misleading graphs and what we noticed. We talked more about the book and the conclusion, if it answered our questions or not. The process of getting the podcasts together has been a long hull because we had a lot of times when the group members weren't there but we wanted to make sure that everybody was able to contribute to the podcast. It was fun doing the podcasts with each other to make sure we had enough time to talk - we laughed a lot but it was still worth it. 
Here is the link to the first podcast.
Here is the link to the final podcast. 
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Quarter 3 Art - Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster in Art Advanced - Hull - e2 on Friday, April 18, 2014 at 11:59 pm
For this quarter, I didn't enjoy doing the drawings so much. Drawing people is very hard for me and takes a lot of time. I want it to be perfect but I can not get it there. However, I did like drawing with the colored pencils and not using a regular pencil at all. The pictures were more vivid and they made me smile because they were silly looking. For the lessons that had the people in them, it took me a lot of time to do. I wanted the proportions to be correct. Before when doing the shading, I couldn't ever get it right but with these lessons I started to get better at shading. The shading techniques were broken down better in these lessons and I started to grasp the idea of following where the light source is coming from to show the different highlights in the shading. My favorite drawing this time has to be drawing the hair in the man's face. It was so cute and the shading was broken down for me. I felt like I did a lot better this quarter. Also, to go with my drawings - I have some paintings that I have been doing. Hope you like it!

Here is the link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/123601934@N07/sets/72157644137708093/
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Dakota Foster's Q2 Art Drawings

Posted by Dakota Foster in Art Advanced - Hull - e2 on Friday, January 31, 2014 at 4:59 pm
Here's the link to my drawings
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1riqj_oPayD2hFeVrEGVKCzCu9obiADlX4vv_XPPlRqY/edit?usp=sharing
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Quarter 1: Drawings - Lesson F, Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster in Art Advanced - Hull - e2 on Friday, November 15, 2013 at 9:42 pm
My name is Dakota Foster and I am a senior at Science Leadership Academy. For this blog post, we will be talking about the drawings that we recently did in art class. We had to follow different lesson on a website called drawspace.com. In this blog post, we will be looking at the work that I did for Lesson F, which is called Hatching. Hatching is the way of coloring in spaces with a pencil or charcoal. 
The hardest part for me when drawing these pictures was trying to drawing Kobrah because his face has a lot of angles to it, A LOT OF SYMMETRY. Then, if I drew the line of symmetry wrong which threw everything off about his face and it was hard to get it back together. It was also hard to draw his face because the angles on his face were even weirder, they weren't natural angles - they were hard angles. I think drawing hair is also very hard for me, I can not get the texture right for the life of me. 
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Quarter 1: Drawings - Lesson E, Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster in Art Advanced - Hull - e2 on Friday, November 15, 2013 at 9:37 pm
My name is Dakota Foster and I am a senior at Science Leadership Academy. For this blog post, we will be talking about the drawings that we recently did in art class. We had to follow different lesson on a website called drawspace.com. In this blog post, we will be looking at the work that I did for Lesson E, which is called Perspective 1. This lesson was the shortest out of the all the lesson and it had to be the easiest. 
The drawing that i liked the most was One Point Perspective. I've always enjoyed doing perspective drawings because they are so simple, but they come out so interesting looking. It is like drawing what you see at different angles perfectly. I think it is just so amazing that somebody came up with a drawing technique like this because it is just perfect. I would draw my whole world in one point perspective. I also enjoyed doing the drawings of the smiley faces in perspectives because you can really see how the smiley faces become smaller in the background. 
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Quarter 1: Drawings - Lesson D, Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster in Art Advanced - Hull - e2 on Friday, November 15, 2013 at 9:09 pm
​My name is Dakota Foster and I am a senior at Science Leadership Academy. For this blog post, we will be talking about the work that we did in my art class. We had to do various lessons of a website called drawspace.com. In this blog post, we did Lesson D which was called Squirkling. I didn't enjoy doing this lesson at all, it was the hardest lesson to do for me. I couldn't really grasp the idea of what we had to do to get the certain texture in the pictures. 
Each drawing had its aspects of being a hard drawing for me. It was first trying to fully understand how to draw the texture, which I don't think I could grasp by looking at the drawings. The second was trying to get the texture to look a lot dark in places than others because I wouldn't make the squirkles close enough to each other or I didn't have the correct weight of the pen. Another thing was difficult for me was trying to draw the face of the little boy, I think I have a hard time drawing boys instead of girls. Because in the drawings of the girls, they were really great. 
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Quarter 1: Drawings - Lesson C, Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster in Art Advanced - Hull - e2 on Friday, November 15, 2013 at 1:53 pm
My name is Dakota Foster and I am a senior at Science Leadership Academy. For this blog post, I will be showing you the art work that I did in my art class. We had to look at lessons that our teacher provided for us on a website called drawspace.com. This set of drawings are from the Lesson C called Draw with Lines. I would have to say that this set of drawings were the hardest for me because I was never good at drawing faces or animals. So, I took my time when drawing these pictures because I wanted them to be the best they could be. 

My favorite drawing is in the lion because i really like how it looks. It was fun drawing it and I like how the lion looks more like a cartoon than a real lion. The hardest drawing for me was the drawing of the face with the girl with the large hair and the big eyes, her name is Kira. This was the hardest for me because I was never good at drawing faces. Never good at drawing faces of people either, I didn't really understand how the light and where it would hit. I didn't understand how the face was set up and where to put the lines to make the face look symmetrical. I would say that I did pretty good on this drawing to compared to the lesson it looks identical. I even had people say that the drawing looks like a girl that goes to my school. 
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Quarter 1: Drawings - Lesson B, Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster in Art Advanced - Hull - e2 on Friday, November 15, 2013 at 1:38 pm
My name is Dakota Foster and I am senior at Science Leadership Academy. For our art class, we had to draw these lessons that our teacher provided for us on a website called drawspace.com. These are my drawings for Lesson B, which is called Learn to see. In this lesson, we were learning to see the different shapes in certain objects, the lines that were used in the objects, and how the space around the objects is placed. These are my drawings for the every step of the lesson. 
I would like to stay that this lesson was had for me in the beginning with drawing the duck but by looking at my drawings you can see that I started to get better at drawing. The easiest drawing for me was the drawing of the values which is where I drew the different shapes in different orders on the paper. My favorite drawing would have to be the Gremlin. I would say that was my favorite because to me that looks like the best thing I have ever did in my life. I didn't think I was going to be able to draw it that great compared to the lesson. When looking at my drawing and the lesson, they are very similar and I am very proud of myself for doing it so well. 
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Hamlet Analysis Post - Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 3 - Rami on Monday, March 18, 2013 at 11:33 pm

Dakota Foster

English 3

Hamlet or The Tradegy of Hamlet: Prince of Denmark is a play written by WIlliam Shakespeare back in the late-1500s. Shakespeare had written many plays and acts while he was alive, but the most famous and well-known one is Hamlet. There are many different parts of the play that are very well known like “To be or not to be” soliloquy by Hamlet. Some cases it can be very hard to understand his writing when first glanced at, in the following paragraphs we will be analyzing one of the soliloquies/monologues in Hamlet.In Shakespeare's plays, he very often uses exaggeration to get his thoughts across through his characters. Also, he likes to show how sophisticated he can by using very elaborate sentences that have to be interpreted. Sentences that have to be searched through, read over and over again to get the full meaning of the passage. These traits of Shakespeare’s writing can be identified in this scene. 

The following monologues takes place in Act 1, Scene 3 from lines 65 to 80.  Polonius is talking with his children, Ophelia and Laertes. These few lines are directed to Laertes. Laertes is the oldest and he is going to college. Laertes has a sort of reputation where could people would consider him a ‘manwhore’. Polonius is warned Laertes about what he should do with himself as he goes along on this journey of life. 

“Look thou character. 

Give thy thoughts no tongue, 

Nor any unproportioned act of his own

Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.

Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,

Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;”

Polonius is telling his son that he should that he see what he can learn and be from other people. He shouldn’t pay attention to other people and be friendly to other people. Not to be mean to others and hold onto the friends that you find that are trustworthy. Shakespeare is using his knowledge that he found when he was growing up by putting him into Polonius. This is a thing that carries on to the people of today. These lessons and advice can be overheard from a parent to a child of today, sometimes the advice can sound different for what goes on today.  

“But do not dull thy palm with entertainment

Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware

Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,

Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.

Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;”

Polonius continues to tell his son Laertes about don’t waste your time with every new guy that meets your path, but also don’t start fights. He says that if you do get into a fight that you should stand you ground and finish the fight. Then, he says listen to many different people but only give your voice to a few people. This advice can be really helpful to Laertes because since he is considered a ‘manwhore’, a lot of different people could try to pick fights with him. Polonius could also be saying this to Laertes because at this time his daughter Ophelia is with a person that Polonius doesn’t trust entirely. The person that Ophelia is with is known as Hamlet, the star of the play. Polonius doesn’t believe that Hamlet actually loves Ophelia, he thinks that Hamlet is just playing her for a fool. Polonius wants Ophelia to stop seeing Hamlet. Polonius is trying to avoid Laertes from getting into the same situation as Ophelia. 

“Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,

But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;

For the apparel oft proclaims the man,

And they in France of the best rank and station

Are of a most select and generous chief in that.”

The last part of some of the dialogue from Polonius can be translated to listen to everyone’s opinion but hold back your judgmental thoughts. Spend as much money as you have on clothing, but make sure they aren’t clothing that are to showy or gaudy because clothes make the man. France is basically the capital of where people are judged on their clothing and where they find a person is made by the clothes that they wear. 

In the end, Shakespeare had taken a regular conversation that happens in most families. This advice can be given to a daughter or a son when they are going anywhere way from home. The children could be going to college or just moving away. Shakespeare used his very kind and intelligent words to communicate a very simple idea in an elegant way, a thing that Shakespeare is known very well for. 

Hamlet Analysis 2
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Grilled Cheese Circuit & Artist Statement

Posted by Dakota Foster in Physics - Echols on Monday, November 19, 2012 at 12:51 pm
For our project, we decided to create a grilled cheese sandwich, with light up chesse. We decided to conduct this because both of us like food and cheese very much. Grilled cheese is one of the simplest meals with food and it is recognizable by mostly everybody. The Grilled Cheese sculpture is a way for us to represent  that we are indeed still kids at heart, that are in love with food.

Dakota Foster & Danielle Little
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Citizenship Interview: Political Participation

Posted by Dakota Foster in American History - Jonas on Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at 10:25 pm
Interviewee: Jeanene Johnson, about 30 years old, African American woman, lives in West Philadelphia. 
She didn't want to be recorded because she was very self conscious, so I wrote down the whole interview.

Me: Hello, my name is Dakota Foster and I wanted to know if I could interview for a school project about voting. 


Johnson: Sure, I would love it. 


Me: Okay, thank you. What is your name?


Johnson: Jeanene Johnson


Me: Okay, and how old are you, about?


Johnson: I am around 30 years old, haha. 


Me: Alright, thank you. Let’s start with the questions. 


Johnson: Okay, let’s go. 


Me: What motivated you to come out and vote?


Johnson: I actually got to talk to older family members whom had to fight for their right to be able to vote because they were Black &/or women. I would be doing them and myself a disservice if I did not vote. Besides, my vote does actually count.


Me: What would you like to see changed in our political system?


Johnson: More bipartisan cooperation. 


Me: Do you vote in every election? (How regularly do you vote?)


Johnson: Every. Single. Election.


Me: Do you know why we vote on Tuesday?


Johnson: I knew but have forgotten! 


Me: Where have you encountered the highest amount of ad campaigning? 


Johnson: TV and radio. Oh, also Facebook postings.


Me: What was the most memorable campaign ad that you have encountered?


Johnson: Of course I am now drawing a blank but it was an ad for Obama.


Me: Are you always sure of who you are going to vote for when you walk into the booth or are you still deliberating?


Johnson: Always sure.


Me: What changes do you hope to see in Philadelphia as a result of this election?


Johnson: More support for teachers, financial aid for students


Me: What impact do you feel that your vote will have on the election?


Johnson: I think that the candidate that I selected is the best person for the task ahead. I feel that he (Barak Obama) will continue to make sure that people can love who they love, women’s rights and a woman’s body are protected.


Me: Did you learn about voting in school? If yes, did that impact your willingness to vote today?


Johnson: Yes. But mostly it was emphasized by my mother and grandmother.


Me: Okay, that’s the last question. Thank you for taking the time out to answer them. And I hope you have a wonderful day. 


Johnson: Thank you so much, you too. 


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Immigration Visualization Project

Posted by Dakota Foster in American History - Jonas on Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 8:27 pm
Dakota Foster
Daniel Tuveson
Diamond Blenman

Click here for our presentation.

What surprised you most about this information?

The thing that surprised me the most was the drop-offs. I thought the drop-offs were just because people just stopped coming, but it was cause America didn't want certain people to come. I think that is rude and that we should allow everybody to come. Especially, if there is a war going on in their homeland.

What seemed quite obvious about explaining this data set?

Something that seemed obvious is that a lot of people wanted to come to America. A lot of people thought America was better than where they lived. 

Looking at the overall trend and incorporating what you know about the US presently, predict and defend the immigration trend for the next two decades.

I think that people would still want to move her for some jobs. But, right now the economy is not so good and I don't think people will be coming here at time soon. 

Describe how you made a decision on how to visually represent the information.

My group thought the best way to do it was on a timeline, but we couldn't get it work. So, we thought the second best way was a graph because it could show the trends.

What parts of group work were challenging?

I think it was just trying to find data for specific years.

What would you do differently if you had this project to do over?

I would try to get the timeline to work better. 

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Q4 Art Projects

Posted by Dakota Foster on Saturday, June 9, 2012 at 12:10 am
Abstract Emotion

In this drawing, I wanted to show jealousy. I used colored pencils and crayons to do this. I wanted to make it so that on one side of the picture there was a lot of bright colors and that it was very happy. Then, on the other side of the picture I wanted it to make a part that is really small and green. The green representing jealousy of how big and bright the other part of the picture is. 
Abstract Motion
Adventure Time; Jake Tile
I worked with Morgan Taylor on this. We wanted to collaborate on a tile that we'd both be happy with. So, we picked our favorite cartoon; Adventure Time with Finn and Jake. We picked Finn the Human because he is bright and happy. And he is the young hero. We were going to have him have on a happy face but, we thought that it would be cooler as a nervous face. The tile is right when you walk in the classroom and we thought that would be funny for the freshman who were nervous when they came in this year. 
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Q4 Español Proyecto - Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster in Spanish 2 - Gierke on Friday, June 8, 2012 at 12:47 pm
Spanish Q4BM
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Humanities Portfolio 2012

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 2 - Block on Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at 9:30 pm

     Now that the year is over, Mr. Block gave us the task of summarizing our year with our general understandings from the year. It can connect to how we learned or what we learned. I wanted to talk about expression and struggle. The things we did in class involved a lot of both, which made us better people and made our work better in the end. We did a lot of things in class that would help anybody open up and become more comfortable with themselves. Our classroom became more comfortable everyday and as the year went on people participated in the actives more. The quality of our work was able to evolve with the knowledge that we gained in class. The assignments 'weren't do this at home and then we are done', it was more like 'do a couple of more drafts, read and peer edit them'. We would have to read our drafts to classmates and start to listen to other perspectives. We always lingered, in a good way, on an assignment to make sure that we were proud of our final product. We made sure that our final product was something that we would be proud to have published on the internet. We learned to express ourselves better.

     Nothing is weirder than doing an art show outside for strangers to see. People develop this idea of school that it is just this certain way to do everything. That everybody learns the exact same way, which causes kids to hate school. Kids need to express themselves because expressions helps a person become more comfortable with themselves and the world around them. This year, in my classes, English and History, that is what we did. We were taught how to express ourselves through different creative things. In class, we were all allowed to write a play for Philly Young Playwrights. The play was allowed to be able anything and everything. We were able to write in whatever we wanted to, about anything we wanted, and for whoever we wanted to. The plays allowed people to express the things that we thought about it. The things in our life that nobody else knew it about, but we were having trouble with. We could write about things that troubled us in the world, but we didn't know what to do about it. My play, 'So Ghey!' was about two girls that are best friends and they are trying to keep their friendships together while one if the friends's parents hate the other family. They go through a lot of ups and downs to get to a good point of the friendship. There is a climax and a wrap up, but sometimes things don't alway wrap up well. The process of writing this play was tedious and strenuous. At first, I thought it was going to be very easy but, then they told us that we were going to need to do a whole bunch of different drafts and edits. I thought this was a one time thing. As we went along, the one or two scenes we had were being molded into plays. Plays that we then acted out with people in our class. Some people didn't want to do it because they were shy, I know I was. I didn't want people to get a part wrong and then I would have to correct them. After a while of doing this, people were excited to have their play acted out. People became more comfortable with picking people for the scenes. Everybody was able to see their play for what it really was and they could tell what they needed to work on. 

     

     Near the end of year, we started to invest our time in an event called Art in the Open and we worked with the Leah Stein Dance Company on the project. Dancers from the company and Leah Stein came a had workshops with us on how to open our eyes to our different environments. We had workshops on how to get comfortable with our environment enough that we knew how to make movements that were creative and intriguing. My group 'Hidden Indulgence' wasn't a group of people that would usually hang out together, we had our own different social groups. But, together we were able to express ourselves successfully. As the process went on, we became more comfortable with each other and in our site (our performance place). We had movements that we planned out but, the more we worked together and with the site, it was obvious that we were comfortable and confident about our piece. We learned how to use daily objects like poles or rocks to make noise together that were creative. The day before performance, Sasha (the videographer) interviewed our group together and asked us how was it working together. I said that "It was hard at first because we didn't know what to do with anything around us, but as the process went on, it got better. We were all able to express ourselves and we became closer because of it. We were comfortable around each other, we talked, and laughed about everything." 


     We didn't only did this with subjects in English, but we did this in History class. It was different though because we did Role play. We would research a major event in history and then, we were assigned roles that we had to act out for the class. Or we would have a discussion as the people from history that we are. Even though, we weren't actually being ourselves and we had to hold back some our creative juices. It was still a good way to express ourselves. We would take a night to look over our person and write an introduction about them. Then, the next day at class we would come and sit in a circle and act our roles. Mr. Block would ask us questions about the events that we had to answer as the person. it was great because we had to think hard and fully understand our person's view on things to make we made sense. But, we got to show our emotion and put our own spin on things. During the year, we did two of theses. It was funny because the first time we did, some people were unsure of themselves and didn't really talk. But when the next one came, everybody was excited because we knew what was going on and what we had to do. We knew the basics that we build off of. It was a way of expressing ourselves, but not really ourselves. In the spiritual role play (a role play where we acted as a person that we thought was very spiritual and inspirational to us), I learned about different religions and how people get connected to the higher power: "People meditate and pray and I think that makes them spiritual. Because you have to open your eyes and realize what is going on in the world around you. Then, for you to become one with the world and yourself." I found out how other people express themselves in spiritual ways and that made me more comfortable with the world around me. In the end, expression helps a person become more comfortable with themselves and the world around them. The ways of expressing themselves can be totally different for each person, like artwork, dance, or singing. 

     

     As we went on in the year, I learned another thing: When a person struggles for something they want, the outcomes will be greater and better than expected. We read a lot of stories about people that struggled through their lifetime to get where they wanted to be. Most of the time, the outcome was better than expected. In some cases, it didn't always work out because they are just unlucky. Together, as a class, we struggled through a lot of things. We struggled through projects, days where we just didn't want to anything, days where the work was just overwhelming, but look at us now! We are very versatile 10th graders. We struggled to get our ideas out on paper, but we also read about struggles with people in history or short stories.

     Finding Freedom was a topic that we did recently. We learned about how freedom doesn't always mean that you are able to do what you want to, but that you are in a mindset where you feel free. Jarvis Jay Masters is a man that is in prison and is on death row. He was given a life sentence, but he wasn't just drowning himself in his sadness. He let himself be free in his mind. He started to meditate and become one with himself. He was able to deal with his situation, with his past, and with his future. Even though, he was going to die in jail, he could die free. Masters struggled to find himself and couldn't do it. He struggled the wrong way and landed himself in jail. But, after all that struggle he was able to become free in jail. Sometimes, people don't become rehabilitated in jail, but Masters did. We read about his struggle in different portions of his book called Finding Freedom: Writings from Death Row. Then, we took our favorite stories and wrote about them. They were called Jarvis Jay Masters Response. I learned about his struggles to be a person that was respected in the jail but, still a person that was watching out for people. I learned about how on death row, everything is put out in the open. He had to confront his problems and be able to deal with them. Masters had to be able to answer questions that he would never answer before. Within itself that was just a struggle. 

     The Holocaust was an event that we did a lot of work with. We learned about the struggle of everybody in that was involved in the Holocaust. We learned about Jewish people in the concentration that struggled to stay alive. The sons that abandoned their fathers because they wanted to stay alive. The Germans that became evil in a blink of an eye to keep their lives. The book Night by Elie Wiesel was a very powerful book that we read during that unit. It was very straight forward, but it was different. It was already known that the main character survived the Holocaust because he wrote this book about it, but it was just crazy to read about his experience. It was crazy to read about the struggles he went through with his father, but he lived through it. It was crazy to find out that if he just made a different decision that he wouldn't had to stay in the concentration camps. The journey was amazing. He struggled to stay alive but, he also struggled to keep his father alive. He kept his father alive as he could. Elie did anything he could for his father, Elie even let his sick father have his rations. While, other sons just left their fathers for death and didn't even look back. The struggles that he went through made me feel like that he lived the worst things in life. He went through hell and back. In the end, the outcome was amazing. He was able to live and see the world now. He was able to write a book and become famous. He didn't just write one book either, he wrote a collection of books. Books that are very well-known. He let the world know about what was going on in the concentration camps, he was able to share his struggles. 

     Sweatshops was also a unit that we spent some time on. We learned about modern day sweatshops, who worked in sweatshops, the condition of sweatshops, and their history. We watched a movie called Made in L.A. The movie was about a factory that made clothes for Forever 21. The workers were mostly immigrants that we treated unfairly. The conditions were horrific and so was the pay. The pay was barely even enough to live off of. The ladies in the factories struggles with everyday life, they struggled to keep food on the table for their children. They made a organization that was for the immigrants. They organized protests, spoke around the world, educated children, and told everybody or anybody that would listen to them. The strike lasted them three years to get the Forever 21 Company to even listen to them. In three years, the women changed the world. The struggle was very long and strenuous, but they won in the end. The outcome was great because not only did they get what they came for but, each women got a little bit more out of it. One women was able to get the job that she had always wanted. Another women was able to try and get her children to America, her children who she hadn't seen in 18 years. The organization that they had prospered even more than they thought it would. The organization gained more members before, learnt from their mistakes, and gained even more stability than before. In the end, through out history it is clear that when a person struggles for something they want, the outcomes will be greater and better than expected.      

     I feel like the year has been an success. I learned about people and myself. I learned that struggle and expression go hand in hand. People struggle to get through life and as they get through they learn about expression. People learn that expression is the key to a better life and that doesn't come without struggling. 

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Jarvis Jay Masters Response

Posted by Dakota Foster on Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at 8:48 pm
For A Long Time

"I began to get up early to try to calm my mind so I wouldn't panic. It was as if my whole life was being displayed on a screen during the death penalty case. Things I had never realized about myself and my life were introduced to me and the jury at the same time. Questions I'd never asked my mother - like how long she'd been abused, on the street, an addict - were being asked now. Through meditation I learned to slow down and take a few deep breaths, to take everything in, not to run from the pain, but to sit with it, confront it, give it the companion it never had."

 It is like he is free when he meditates because he is free to be inside of his thoughts. Masters is able to deal with things and become one with himself. I think that his incarceration changed him into the person that is able to get to a place where he can deal with his problems. Incarceration turned him into a changed man, which is what they want to happen to them. He turned in a person that would be able to succeed in the world after he got out, but he was on death row. He came to terms with his problems and in that sense became free. He was free even though, he was in jail.

 

The Dalai Lama Hat

"Man!' he said. "This picture makes me look a lot more human, don't you think so?" He handed me the picture. "Yeah, it does. But I think you've always been human. You just have to feel it." I gave it back to him. 

The key thing is this section is that fact that he says 'look a lot more human', that part stood out for me a lot. I questioned about what it meant, I interpreted as that prisoners aren't treated like humans in jail. Or they aren't viewed as humans, they are just animals. Animals that decide to do the wrong thing and go to jail to be reformed back in humans. While reading the rest of the vignette, I tried to think of the title The Dalai Lama Hat and how that connected to the man. I thought that the hat was the freedom and hope that he would get out of the jail. He would get out and see his family again. The hat gave him hope and you could see it in his smile, which made him look and feel human. Humans have hope. 

 

Stop! A Buddhist Is Here!

"According to the laws of prison life, none of this was suppose to be any of business of mine. but it was. This time it had to be. For all the life in me, I couldn't look at this gay person, sitting alone against the back wall of the exercise year, and not see an innocent human being. Yet I could not summon up the courage to become a snitch and risk my own life to warn him off this yard."

I thought this section was powerful, Masters went into this whole background about what happens if a homosexual comes to the jail. He talked about how they are viewed and what people will do to them and to people how help them. Masters says that would die if he helped this man but, if he didn't  anybody that would try and kill him, would die also. This is highlights the fact that some people view prisoners as animals. Anybody would do anything to kill this homosexual man because they wanted people to know that they hate homosexuals just as much as the next person. They would risk their lives just to get this one man. Masters showed that prisoners aren't animals. They are just trying to survive, like Crazy Dan. He was trying to show that was tough too. While Masters was trying to save him life, he wasn't being an animal. He risked his life because he could've been caught as a snitch. He would have been tortured by everybody. He showed his humanity. 


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History Journal #45

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 2 - Block on Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at 9:04 am
What are some of the best strategies for creating social change?
  • traveling different places
  • riots
  • protests
  • connection higher people
  • get alliances
  • demonstrations
  • conferences/gatherings
  • campaigns
  • rallies
  • social networking
  • speeches
  • boycotts
  • public awareness
  • petitions
  • marches
  • getting laws passed
  • propaganda
  • letter writing
  • violence

"My Faith in Nonviolence" by Mohandas R. Gandhi
Three quotes and 1 paragraph about one person
  • 'Such a struggle leaves one stronger for it. Nonviolence is a weapon of the strong.'
  • 'The perfect state is reached only when mind and body and speech are in proper coordination'
  • 'The law of love will, just as the law of gravitation will work. 
'Such a struggle leaves one stronger for it. Nonviolence is a weapon of the strong.'
I agree that nonviolence is a weapon of the strong. somebody has to be strong enough to hold back when they are getting beat on somebody else. For example, the Civil Rights boycotts and how the Africans Americans sat in the white restaurants while the Whits poured milkshakes, smashed food, and beat on them. The African Americans had to hold back that anger and that instinct to fight back. People have to be able to contain that instinct and I think that makes a person stronger for it. They are able to turn their cheek and become the stronger and smarter person in the situation. 
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English Journal #49

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 2 - Block on Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at 8:41 am
Why do people create art?

People create art because....
  • they are expressing themselves
  • for freedom
  • passing messages
  • to remember events
  • for deaths
  • to honor people
  • advertisement
  • emotion
  • to be known
  • personal and world issue
  • tell stories and teach
  • to grow
When is art powerful?
I think art if always powerful, it just depends on the person that is viewing the art. Their feelings of the art and how they react to it. Art is powerful when everybody has a different interpretation of it, when it makes me people think deeply about the meaning. 
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ADVART: Q3 - Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster in Advanced Art - Hull on Friday, April 13, 2012 at 11:54 pm
​Here I have:

Color Wheel

Texture

Shade

Self Portrait 

Color Wheel

     For the Color Wheel, I only was able to use yellow, blue and red. They are the primary colors, when mixed and matched they are able to make any secondary color. I wanted to keep my Color Wheel simply and classic. I was inspired by the one in our art textbooks and I went off of that one. I drew a circle and separated it into 12 sections. Each section had the color it was going to be. The paper I used wasn't that good though because it started to fold in on itself and everything like it. My technique for doing the watercolors and getting them to blend was to water down the base coat for the paint. Then, I would paint it over with the color need to be mixed and then the colors would bend easily. 

Texture

For Texture, I did scales, water, and hair. 
Scales
I based it off of the video that Ms. Hull gave us and tried to make it close to that. First, I made the outline of the snake. Next, I drew the eye in the middle of the head and drew the tongue. The head of the snake is full of diamonds of different sizes. Then, I drew a gride on the rest of the body. In every square, I drew an oval shape to make it look like scale. I would say that it came out well. 

Water

I had a really hard time trying to figure out what I wanted to do for water. I was doing many different types of water: still water, moving water, and water hitting rocks. None of them came out as nice as I would have wanted to them too. So, I decided to do waves. I saw a picture of them and thought I could make them look great. First, I drew the biggest wave and then drew the smaller waves under it. I made sure the curl of the waves overlap each other. Then, I drew lines inside the waves so, it would look like the water is moving in all direction. Also, the viewer's eye could follow the lines and know which way the water is going. 

Hair

I repeat, I repeat Hair was the hardest texture for me. I don't know why but it just was. I couldn't get it down. I tried short hair, long hair, medium hair, curly hair, and bone straight hair. But, the pictures never looked right. So, I just put up the one that I thought was the best. I drew the outline of the face first and then, I drew the hair around the girl's head. I made it so that one side of the head was bald because I think those type of hairstyles' are bold. 

Shade

For this part I did, Exercises 1, 2, 3, and 4. I think these show that I need more help with shading. First, I was pretty certain that I was using the wrong type of pencil - the grade. But, I tried anyway. The exercise weren't as easy as I thought they would be. I was trying to blend the pencil together, but that didn't work either. I didn't know what I was doing wrong but, I knew that I was doing something wrong. For my technique, I would start with a coat all over the page with a white part left over. Then, I would go over the part that would be the darkest part and blend that in with my fingers. I would keep doing that all over the parts after that, but I would go lighter and lighter as I went down the photo. 

Self Portrait

I don't really know what I have to say about this photo. I would say that I did my best. This was the hardest for me out of all the drawings. I didn't want to make myself look ugly because I would be embarrassed. I tried to separate everything equally with the lines of the page. I think my face was too big in the picture compared to my body, my face stood out more in the picture. I wanted to make everything portionable and realistic. 
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Q3BM Reflection - Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster in Spanish 2 - Gierke on Friday, March 16, 2012 at 12:05 pm

Link to Project: https://sites.google.com/a/scienceleadership.org/final-product-spanish/

Reflection:

Describe the Q3BM: what was the assignment?  What did your group decide to do and why?

     The Q3BM was to create a site about what places that you as a person like going to and want other people to go to. You were suppose to talk about what you like about the places and pictures of what the place looks like. We decide to make different pages that group the different things; Events, Restaurants, etc. Then, we each put our place on each page. We did this so it is organized and categorized.

What did you learn from doing this project? 

     I learned how to describe my favorite places in a way that would be appealing to other people. Also, how to write a 'how to' in spanish. I usually do them in English. Also, I learned how to use word reference, I didn't know about that website before.

How do you feel about your final product?

     I feel as though we need to do a little more work like add certain things, like the homepage. But after that, the website would be complete and acceptable. 

If you could do your project all over again, what would you do differently/the same?

     I would have started earlier and made sure everything was correct. Also, that everybody had their things together. 

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Crossing Boundaries Interview

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 2 - Block on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 10:11 am
This interview is of Sammanah Foster, my grandfather. He talks about dealing with racism in the Air Force and how people should deal with that now. 
english interview - edit 1
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Advanced Art: Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster on Monday, January 30, 2012 at 7:21 am
AdvArt: Quarter 3 - Dakota Foster

Copy the Master & Large Clear Object 

     I am doing the Copy the Master and Large Clear Object because it was assigned to me as a classwork grade. I wanted to try to make it the best projects I did before. For the Copy the Master, I used a picture from a collection by Ali Jabbar called Simple Public Figures. I drew everything with pencil and measured it out. I finished the rest with paint.  For the Large Clear Object, I did a glass. For the background, I shaded it with charcoal, lightly. Then, I drew the outline of the glass darker with a charcoal. I made the inside of the glass lighter by blending with a paper towel. 


     I wanted to make the glass look lighter in the middle because it needed to look like a clear object. I made other parts of the glass darker because the way of the sun hitting the glass. Since, one side of the glass is being hit my sun, the other side of the glass would have a shadow. I wanted the illusion that the glass was clear even though, it was a 2-D drawing. For Copy the Master, I wanted to picture to be an exact copy of the original. The painting wasn't the exact same but, I did the best I could. The color may be off some in the suit area,but it is a good replica.

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Adv Art: 5 Photos - Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 9:07 pm
Inky vs. Neon Glow Inky​

I took this picture of my cat, Inky, sitting in the sink again. He was very still and very serious faced. I thought I could get close up on his face without him closing his eyes if I moved the light around some. I moved the light so it was directly on his upper body and everything was lite up perfectly. I put the camera on marco and got in really close so, it would be very clear. In photoshop, I changed the color setting to Neon Glow. I thought is looked very abstract, so I kept it. 

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Adv Art: 5 Photos - Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 8:50 pm
Dakota vs. Half Pixelated Dakota

I took this picture a while back, I didn't really like any of the other pictures I had taken. Also, I liked this picture because it is focused on my face and nothing else is around and I was thinking about doing this picture for my Self Portait. 
In this picture, I used the Magnetic Loop and outlined that wasn't my face or neck. Then, I changed the setting to Pixelate > Crystallize. I wanted to blur the background at first, but I thought that was really typical. I used the Crystallize because it made a better effect on my face. It makes it look like everything is out of focus expect my face and neck. I think it is a very cool looking picture.
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Adv Art: 5 Photos - Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 8:40 pm
Daisy vs. Fighting Daisy​

I took this picture of my cat, Daisy, she was laying on the couch. I wanted to take a picture of where her paw would be the center of action. I took the picture of marco, so her paw looks clearer than the rest of her body. It took me a while to think of what to do with this picture in Photoshop, but then I remember cartoon fights. Like on Fairly Oddparents, where the characters would be fighting and there would be action words and colorful scenes in the background. 
For the picture, I took the Magnetic Loop and deleted everything in the background that wasn't my cat. I made another layer that would be around the outline of my cat, it is colorful like the cartoon fighting scenes would be. I made another layer and used the text tool to write on my cat's hand, saying 'POW!' The background makes the cat stand out more with her black and white color. The word 'POW!' has one of the colors from the background, so the picture can be cohesive. 
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Daisy 2
Daisy 2
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Adv Art: 5 Photos - Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 8:32 pm
Inky vs. Me Gusta Inky


I took a picture of my cat, Inky, in the sink. He was just sitting very calm, the light from the lamp was hitting him just right. For this picture, I used the Magnetic Loop and took out all of the edges that wasn't my cat. Then, I made another layer and wrote the words 'me gusta'. I was inspired by an internet meme that had a face like my cat and said me gusta. The meme is used for when you or another person like a specific thing and they say me gusta.
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Me GUSTA CAT
Me GUSTA CAT
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Dakota Foster's Language Autobiography

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 2 - Block on Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 8:19 pm
Introduction & Reflection
I never seen myself as a person that could have a language identity. I thought I spoke like everybody else. I thought that people who only spoke more than one language could have a language identity. Kids that translated for their parents or people that had to learn a new language for their public life vs. their home life. I thought I was just any ordinary Philadelphian with an Philadelphian accent. I didn't think I was judged for the way I spoke, but then I took the time to look back at my life. I remember the different schools I went to and the events that happen there. *BING* An idea came to me, I do have a language identity. The fact that I use different slangs that aren't stereotypical with my ethnicity and I found out that was something amazing to write about. Other people were writing about home language vs. public language, when I can talk about a more unique topic. The idea of slang for different races. 

When, I started writing this paper, the words and scenes came with ease. I just remembered everything that had to do with the different slangs. I was amazed by the fact that I could remember everything. After writing and rewriting, I finally got my final product that I am proud. I hope you enjoy it too. (:

Language Autobiography​


I always thought that language was just something that people used to communicate. I didn’t know that there were different accents until I got older and on top of that; I didn’t know there were different kinds of languages. Then I found out there were slang for different races and I wasn't speaking the right slang. I remember when I was little I didn't know the difference between white and black, I thought we were all the same. However then, I went to an all white school, everything changed there.

On one hand, I hung out with all the white kids most of the time because there weren’t a lot of black kids in my class. On the other hand, I would hang out with all of black people when I went home. I started to realize that I wasn't really using the words that the other black kids used. I didn't know all the slang words. For example, 'joe' or 'outtapocket' was used by black people, it meant someone was being stupid or unfair. While on the other hand, 'rad' or 'gnarly' was used by white people, which means awesome. They are many other words like 'jawn' which is a noun for black people. Another one is 'stoked' which means excited about something for white people. I used the words that would be used by white people more often, so people said when I talked I sounded white. It reminds me of my mom, because people would always tell her that she sounds 'white'. I didn't really understand what that meant. Then, her friends started to say that I sound 'white' too. "Cheryl, your daughter sounds just like you. Hahahahaha," my mom's friend Arnita would always say.

        "What are you talking about girl,” my mom asked confused.
        "She sounds like one of those little white girls, just like you."
        "I think she sounds normal, Arnita. Don't be crazy."
        "I just think you need to blacken her up a bit."

I went back and forth from the white slang and Black English, as I got older. My friends always told me that I sounded different. When I was with my black friends, they would say that I sound too white. When, I was with my white friends, they would say that I sound black and they love having me around. I always thought the way I sound was just like anybody else. One day, it finally came to me; I realized that I don’t really use Black English at all. I was texting my friend Fareed and he was just using words that I couldn’t even understand. The next day, he came up and talked to me about it. “Dakota, why do you spell out all the words when you text,” he asked.

        “Why do you shorten so many words? I can barely understand what you are saying!”

“That’s how everybody texts, you are the only oddball. You text like a white person, using ‘dude’, ‘bro’, and spelling out everything.”

        “I don’t think you are right, my white friends say I text like a black person.”
        “Then, you are just an oddball.”

I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I was either too white or too black. I felt like I was being judged everyday by my friends. What kind of friends judge because of the way someone speaks? I strongly believe that is wrong. I was just black enough to fit in with the black people, but just white enough to fit in with the white kids. While they could still be respected because they had a black friend, I felt like I was being taken advantage of by my white friends. On the other hand, I felt like I wasn't appreciated by my black friends.  I could never just be enough for anybody, expect for my mom. When, my mom was younger, she had the same problem. People would tell her that she sounded like a white person.  I was surprised that I was having the same problem as her. Even though, she was there to tell me what to do, I still couldn’t help but feel horrible. I couldn’t fit in with my friends and they always manage to bring it up.

“That movie was bangin’! We should go see that jawn a second time!”
“Yeah guys, that movie was gnarly,” I squealed.

"What? Dakota. What are you even saying?"

"I said the movie was gnarly. The movie was awesome, duhh."

"Hahaha! Gnarly means awesome? That is some serious white language. How about you just grab a skateboard and ride off with a white boy? Hahahahahahahaha," they said and all laughed in unison.

"Why do you guys have to be so mean?!?!? I am just a person," I yelled violently.

"Dakota, we love you to death. It is just the things you say sometimes are just not the blackest things. We are going to have to blacken you up a bit. Good thing, you go to an all black school."

"Whatever, guys,” I said unhappily.

“You have to speak the slang words like us, Dakota,” my friend insisted.

“I don’t want to use slang, I like sounding intelligent and being proper.

“So you are saying, cause we black and speak slang, that we are stupid?”

“No, I am saying that since you use slang, you sound stupid.”

“Well, all black people use slang.”

“Well, I guess I am not going to use slang.”

I had no idea that a person could be 'blackened'. I thought the fact that I was black meant I was 'blackened'. I started to find out as I got older that it doesn't mean the same thing. People started being rude to me because the words I was using weren't the words that I was stereotypical suppose to say. Then on top of that, they are basically calling themselves stupid because they are using slang. I am not going to be called stupid because of the way I talk when I can control it. I am not going to be a stereotypical black person. Some races think that African Americans speak the language of the poor, which reminds of a quote from the story How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua. “Chicanas who grew up speaking Chicano Spanish have internalized the belief that we speak poor Spanish. It is illegitimate, a bastard language.” Black people may not think they are speaking the language of the poor, but it is a known fact that black people don't get jobs because of the way they speak. I am not going to downgrade myself because I dream big and my dreams are going to become reality. So, my friends are just going to have to deal with the fact that I talk like 'white person', or they were never real friends.

Anzaldua, Gloria. How To Tame A Wild Tongue. 2nd. San Francisco : Aunt Lute Books, 1999. 75-85.
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Digital Story..
Digital Story1
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Q1 Art Drawings - Dakota Foster

Posted by Dakota Foster on Friday, November 4, 2011 at 3:00 pm
I am doing the Figure and Clea Object Drawing because it was assigned to me as a classwork grade. I want to make this a good drawing. I want to make sure I use all my ability to make the drawings as best as they can be. 

I use charcoal and pastel because that was the tool recommended. Also, in the Figure Drawing I want to make the drawing as big as I can read because I want it to look realistic. I want to make the colors in the back lighter and then darker. I want to make it that way because I want to be able to see the changes as I outline more of the body. In the Clear Object Drawing, I want to make the drawing have the effects of the light as in the model. So, I want to make outline of the model and then, the lighter parts compared to the darker parts. 

I would say that I do a lot of smudging, but I also do keep some of the lines. I want to compare the new lines to the old lines because I want to make sure that I get it as close as I can get it. I am exploring different materials and the different effects they have on the drawing. It is very challenging in the Figure Drawing to get the drawing to look like the model as much as possible. 

DROPBOX LINK:

Figure Drawing - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12710501/IMG_20111031_083436.jpg
Clear Object Drawing - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12710501/IMG_20111102_104503.jpg
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Q1BM: Español Proyecto de Dakota

Posted by Dakota Foster in Spanish 2 - Gierke on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 9:20 pm

Reflection

What grade would you assign yourself for each category?



Exceeds Expectations

20-19


Meets Expectations

18-16


Approaches Expectations

15-13


Does Not Meet Expectations

12-1

Design


17



Knowledge

19




Application


17



Presentation


17



Process


18



TOTAL: 88

Strengths of your process or product

Weaknesses of your process or product

- pictures

- sentences (structure)

- verbs

- recordings

- some conjugations 

- simple

How did you apply the SLA core values to your project?

I used collaboration to practice saying the words on my slides and checking over each other's work.. I used presentation by using Keynote and recording everything that was on my slides. Which is presenting, just not in the typical way. I used inquiry because I asked questions to other students on how to format sentences, how to say certain things, and asking if they can check over my work.



What did you learn about Spanish through completing this project?

I learned about the past tense verbs. I knew about them before but, I couldn't ever memorize them, which I can do now. Also, I learned that ir and ser have the same conjugation for past tense. 




What did you change about your final project based on peer feedback?  What did you change based on Srta. G’s feedback?

I changed a lot of verbs because they were in the wrong order. I changed where I put some commas at and other punctuations.



If you had the opportunity to start your project all over again, how would you do it differently?

I would practice more on the pronunciation because I know those could be better. Also, I would do the project on a different application like, IMovie or IPhoto so I could add more effects and such.



Did you enjoy this project? Why or why not?

I did enjoy this project because I was able to see my friends' pictures from when they were younger. We got to have fun and laugh each other. While, we learned how to talk about the pictures in Spanish. 


Explain this project in your own words.  (the mission, etc.)

The mission of this project was to demonstrate what we learned from the previous lessons. We had to learn the past - tense verbs about our past summers. Also, we had to use the new adjectives, verbs, and locations that we learned to talk about our past summers.


How did you apply the SLA core values to your project?

Everything fell apart when it came to the recordings. It was really challenging for me to get it to sound right. Even when I thought it sounded right, I knew it was probably wrong. I just tried my best to make sure it was understandable.

MY VIDEO (: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12710501/photos%20of%20summer.key





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Pipeline Monologues Projects

Posted by Dakota Foster in World History - Block on Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 8:24 pm
​ This project started off with us watching a video called 'The Story of Stuff.' The video was about the journey of how we get our materials that we use for a normal day. Then, we learned about a company called TransCanada, and about their new project. They are planning to make a series of pipelines from Alberta, Canada all the way to Texas. The pipelines would carry crude oil from Canada to different refineries in the midwest and to refineries in Texas. The project is called Keystone XL Pipeline. 

We read about different point of views of what people think about the pipeline, and then we were suppose to write three different monologues from a person/thing/animal affected by the pipelines. I picked to be a Native American, a protester (against the pipelines), and a bobcat (living in the area). I wanted to take point of views that don't really get to express their opinions. The Native Americans can protest but, nobody will actually listen to them. The protester is locked up for protesting and nobody actually will sit down to talk to them. Finally, I picked a bobcat because the people who started to project didn't care about the wildlife, they just acted like they did to please the public. I want people to know from all the research how these mammals would feel and what they have to worry about because of this pipeline project. These monologues are how I think they would feel. I hope for everyone who reads to understand and look at their point of view because they matter too. 


Monologues


Rally For The Cause

Makya Sparrow, the best hunter of the whole tribe, stepped up to the stage. She had something important to say and she wasn’t holding it back. Everybody has been thinking about it, she is going to say it. Makya grabs the microphone.

I’ve never seen anything more disrespectful than this. Why can’t they just leave us alone? They already forced us onto this reservation. The reservation isn’t even a place of high quality, we are forced to use horribly built houses, use food stamps, and there are barely any jobs. Now, they want to build pipelines through our sacred land! This is the land where we buried our ancestors, laid them to peace! Building these pipelines mean they are going to have to bury them up our people.

With every word, Mayka tightens her grip on the microphone.

Every time, they find something new here. They just want to take and take. We can’t just stand here and not do anything! We have to stand up for ourselves! We have to go to Washington D.C and show them they we can protest and stand up for our rights. We have to show them that no matter what they take from us, we will always have our pride.

We have to show them they can’t take our land again! They can’t contaminate our water with their crude oil. We don’t pollute the atmosphere; they don’t give us enough supplies to even try!

Why do we have to suffer for their mistakes? We shouldn’t have to! TransCanada say that we will be able to work in these factories and refineries that they will have. They say they will keep us updated about what it going on with the pipeline. But, we know from experience they won’t. I learned that there were 12 spills in 1 year for one of the TransCanada pipelines! We can’t let that happen to us.

Come my people. Let’s move from the rocks and hills of the reservation. We need to make our way to Washington D.C and stand up for our land.

WHO IS WITH ME? 

Makya thrusts the microphone in the air. 

Stand Tall

Alice Hall just got arrested for protesting in front of the White House. She gets into the jail and a police officer takes an interest in her. He starts to question her.

My name is Alice Hall. I am from Montana, 3 miles away from Yellowstone National Park.

I’ve lived there for my whole life.

Alice starts to get an attitude.

No, I am getting arrested for a legitimate reason. 

I don’t care if this on my ‘permanent record’. I am not five years old. I am standing up for what I believe in. I believe that the Keystone XL Pipeline is totally and utterly wrong.

What’s my problem? What is your problem? I was taught that if I didn’t agree with something, that I should state it in a non-violent way. And I am standing up for my opinion just like the 120 others in this jail with me.

I’ve lived in Montana for my whole life. My house was home to 4 generations of my family before me. I’ve live 3 miles from Yellowstone National Park; I got married in that park. My family and I have seen the park evolve into what it is today. I was there when they put the Yellowstone Pipeline in, I was there when the pipeline had a leak, I was there when everybody had to evacuate. I saw the horrid faces on the people that lived around the park, when they saw the oil slug start to run down their own streets. The whole place was filled with grief all we did was cry. The animals were soaked in the oil and most of them died we couldn’t even help. We weren’t specialized in the removal of oil, what do we do? We watched on the TV 750 to 1,000 barrels – 42,000 gallons of oil was leaked into the river for a half hour before the shut it down.

And now they want to build another pipeline? What makes this pipeline anymore safer?

How can they guarantee that the pipeline won’t leak? The same place where the pipeline leaked is the same place where they want to build the new pipeline. They cross each other over 4 states. I will not let my children grow up into a world where the water and national parks are polluted. I am standing up for what I believe in, you can call me an environmentalist. I don’t care.

I Hate Humans

Betty just had her 3 cubs 70 days before; they have finally opened their eyes. So, they are finally able to eat their own food, but first Betty has to get food for them to eat. Betty walks a few feet from her cave when she hears noise and sees things. She goes to check them out.

What are those noises? Are those people over there? What are they doing with those different machines? I have to go in and get a closer view.

Betty goes up into a tree to watch the people from above.

Okay, I am in a good spot. I should listen in now. Pipelines? Crude Oil? More jobs? Dirty water? What? So, they are building pipelines right under the aquifer and the pipelines are suppose to be moving crude oil from Canada all the way to Texas. Apparently, the pipelines leak too, they leak more than predicted most of the time.

Betty digs her nails into the tree.

Pipeline carrying the dirtiest oil is supposed to go through my neighborhood. I can’t allow that. My babies, my newborn babies. What happens to them? What happens to them when they have to go a hunt for food and land in a puddle of oil? I can’t stand humans. They just take and take until they have nothing else to take. Some of my friend animal species are already endangered. They were living so peacefully without the humans, they lived so peacefully when the humans didn’t even care about this area of the forest. My babies have to live to see tomorrow, but I don’t want them to see tomorrow if they can’t drink tomorrow’s water. I have to protect my children. I have to keep my children healthy. I can’t let them see this nonsense. They can never come this way. I will make a mark on this tree, so they know to stop right here. So, they know not to go any far.

Betty scratches a hexagon into the tree.

My food supply, what will I do about that? I have to watch out for animals with diseases. Some animals may not be smart enough to not drink the dirty water. I have to think about my family. I have to go up higher in the mountains to find my food, just to make sure my kids are safe. Being on the ground, may be too dangerous for my cubs. Maybe I can just move them. I need to figure this out before they all die. Before I die.

Humans, I hate them.

 

 


Adobe Flash CS3 Video Encoder
Tags: pipeline, environment
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Families Are Like Rollercoasters

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 2 - Block on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 8:32 pm
​ We were never the ‘socially accepted’ family. My parents were never married they only lived together long enough for it to be considered a common-law marriage. They met at a young age, my mom being 13 and my dad being 17. It wasn’t love at first sight it was hatred at first sight. Eventually, they grew to love each other, love each other enough to move into together. Loving each other enough to have a kid together, and  this is where I came in.
        My parents split up when I was 7 years old. I wasn’t very aware of the fact that they were arguing and upset with each other most of the time. I didn’t know that they couldn’t even talk to each other sometimes I felt so clueless. I was pretty certain that I knew everything that my parents did, but I obviously didn’t.
The day was like any other day it was just another day of second grade. A regular morning, everything was going great but there was a different feeling in the house. The house felt emptier. I walked into the kitchen and my mom is just standing there. My dad’s things packed in his bags. Finally, the tension broke; my mom and dad were splitting up.

“Dad and I need to talk to you about something,’ my mom said in a stern voice.

“Is it bad? Cause you seem sad.”

“You won’t be happy about it.”

“What is going on,” I ask cautiously.

“Your dad and I, we need to talk to you about something important.” My mom states firmly.

“What is it?’

“Your mom and I have been having some problems. Problems that aren’t getting ironed out,’ my dad says

        “What kind of problems,” I ask franticly.
        “Your dad and I aren’t getting along as well, as we use to.”

“WHAT? What does that even mean? You guys love each other and you are supposed to get along, perfectly.”

“Your dad and I are separating. He has to move out.”

“SEP-ER-ATING? What does that mean,” I state more confused than before.
        “Dakota, your mom and I aren’t getting along. We argue a lot more than is normal.”

“I’ve never seen you guys argue.”

Well, we have been so we decided to separate. This is for your own good; we want you to grow up happy in a healthy home,” my dad says.

“Okay, I guess,” I say in an unsatisfied voice.

I didn’t know what else to say, I didn’t know what to do. How was I supposed to go to school with this feeling in my stomach? I cried for as long as tears were still coming out of my eyes.

After my parents split, I use to lie to my friends or to anybody new I met. I didn’t want people to think I was in a broken home. I didn’t want people to think I was the reason why my parents split up. I never talked about my parents, never said anything about where I lived, or whom I lived with. For about 3 to 4 years, I never said anything about my parents or my home life.

I didn’t see my dad for a while, but when I did see him everything was different. My parents tried to work on getting along more just for me. They were getting good but I was still worried. The next thing I know we are going on vacation together. I never understood how a split up family could go on vacation. I swore my parents hated each other, I swore they never wanted to see each other again. I know they still loved me, but they didn’t love each other. How could they be together, at the shore for a week? I was scared for my dear life; I didn’t want to witness my parents getting into an argument. The drive to the shore was slow and full of anticipation I was just so excited to go to the shore, but in the back of my mind, my parents were always there. As the week went on, there weren’t any arguments; there weren’t any viscous looks at each other, just love. Everything was fine and dandy.

As I got older, life got better. My dad and my mom were getting along better. We went out to dinner together, to the movies together, and different places. We went to Longhorns together and everything was amazing. We were able to laugh and eat in peace. We tried each other’s food. Things became clear. My parents became closer because of me. If I did something amazing, like getting great grades, they were happy. If I did something horribly wrong, they both showed the same amount of disappoint in me.

On my 8th grade graduation, I went out to dinner with them. We ate with the whole family. Everybody was laughing, and getting along. Nobody argued all day, it was just like the vacation to the shore. I wished for more days like this, when we looked like a normal family. The conversation was loving and not disrespectful.

“Dakota, what are you going to do now? HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT,’ my dad yells in the middle of the restaurant.

“Hahahahahaha, Troy. Don’t pressure the girl, she is fresh outta middle school,’ my mom giggles.

“You guys are so weird,” I say in a loving voice.

“We are so proud of you, Dakota,” they state in the most loving voice.

I made it all the way to high school, with the grades. I knew everything that I needed to know. I graduated 8th grade on June 13th, I never failed any classes or was left back.  Just like any other married couple with a family, I had higher grades then some of than those kids. When I walked onto that stage, my parents gazed up at me, and then looked at each other. Right then, they knew and I knew. There wasn’t anything to every be ashamed of. They knew splitting up was better than me seeing people fight everyday or them holding it off. They knew that they raised me well. They were so proud of me and I was so proud of them. I rather am in a home with one parent, then being in a home with both parents who argue all the time.
        We are a normal family, no ifs ands or butts. My parents love me; they care for me it was always like this. I was just too young to understand. I thought a family had to be together, in the same house but I was wrong. We were able to have family events, see movies together, and go to dinner together. What was there to be ashamed of? My family was like any other family. I had nothing to hide; I didn’t realize that when I was younger. I thought your parents had to be together, but they don’t. I met more and more kids my age that had divorced parents I realized that things happen. Things change and sometimes the best thing to do is to split up.

Now, I am older and the problems aren’t arguments between them, but arguments with me. I wouldn’t want to talk to them because I felt like they wouldn’t listen to me. I felt like a kid and they were ganging up on me. Now, it was 2 against 1. Some days I didn’t want to talk to my dad or on other days I didn’t want to talk to my mom. It was just like if we all lived in the same house. I would see my dad every other weekend or during the week. I live with my mom and we got into arguments. We were still a family, just in different houses.

I never should’ve hid anything; I am proud of where I come from. People still give me dirty looks when they find out about my parents. Why? Because they are just jealous. Jealous of the fact that my family had a rollercoaster of a life, and it isn’t even over yet. Jealous that the rollercoaster isn’t even done yet, the hills will get higher and then downfall will get longer. Only my parents can keep me anchored to the rollercoaster seat.

Tags: Descriptive Essay, Foster, Block
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Element Print Project 2011

Posted by Dakota Foster in Art - 9 - Hull on Friday, June 10, 2011 at 9:11 am

For the project, the element that as chosen for was chlorine. 

The steps that I took form making my idea for the print into a final print h
were drawing different possible ways that my idea could be portrayed. I looked up different uses for my element and the harms that can it can have on people. Then, I drew two of the uses and one of the harms. I picked the best one of those three drawings. I traced the one I wanted to become my final print on tracing paper. I used the tracing paper to draw the print on the linoleum block. For the linoleum block, I decide that I wanted the body, the liquid, and the can of chlorine to be the positive space. Then, everything else to be the negative space.
I think I would chose a different drawing, if I could anything different because I would want to carve out more things. 
I thought that the project was really because I never worked with a linoleum block before and it was cool carving the drawing out. 


photo (1)
photo (1)
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End Of The Year Digital Portfolio - Reflection

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 12:28 pm
​ My portfolio shows that I am hardworking 9th grader. I had trouble in getting the grades that I wanted but I was still passing. As the year went on, I got better and better at writing papers and getting A’s on benchmarks.  

I think my strengths in English are coming up with ideas for papers. I would pick topics that no other person would pick to write about, or I would come up with reasons that no other people would even think about having. Also, I tend to be different that everybody else, so I bring different ways of doing things.

I think my weaknesses in English are participating in class and writing papers sometimes. Also, reading aloud in class.  I am always scared in all classes that I will say the wrong answer or that my idea is stupid, so I don’t say it. I would always try to get A’s on my papers in English, but it never worked out well. I would always get B’s, when I tried so hard to A’s. Reading aloud is very hard for me, the fact that everybody is listening to me read, scares me. I will get nervous and then mess up reading.

I would work on writing better, reading aloud, and not being so shy in front of class. I would work on being more confident about my answers and ideas so, I could say it to the class. I would work on reading aloud by reading to my friends or family. I would work on my writing by proofreading my work more than once and then give it to the teacher to read. So finally, I could get it to be an A.
I had issues with correcting my papers from the teacher’s comments. I never know what to change. I just sit there and look at the essays and think about what I should change. It is annoying. So, I go home, sit down, and really look at them. I realize what I need to change and then I proofread. The outcome is better essays than before. When I go through my old work, I just wondered why I would write something so weird. I feel like I matured in my writing because I think what I use to write is just goofy.
    
The piece that I am most proud is the ‘The Odyssey Compare and Contrast Essay’. This was the Quarter 3 benchmark and it was the highest grade I received on ANY of the benchmarks. I’ve always had a difficult time in English, getting B’s mostly on my essays or missing parts that were missing on all my benchmarks. This benchmark was different; I let a whole bunch of my peers read it. They all came to conclusions that it was too boring and that I should change everything, 3 days before the benchmark was due. I stood my ground and didn’t change anything. I was proud that I could write something so long and descriptive, so I turned it in. I received a 92%, 92% was higher than all my friends’ grades. They wanted me to change it; if I had changed then the grade would’ve been lower. I didn’t change it and I toped all their grades. I toped my own grades for the benchmarks. I was so immensely proud that I could get a 92% in English. 
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End Of The Year Digital Portfolio - Macbeth Character Analysis

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 12:25 pm
​The first book we read in our freshman year was Macbeth, that was the most difficult book for me to read. We had to analysis the change of either Lady Macbeth or Macbeth throughout the book. I decide to do Macbeth and this is was interpreted from the book. 

Macbeth Character Analysis

In the beginning, Macbeth was any normal person – polite, kind-hearted, and likeable - but by the end of the play, his heart was cold and his mind was evil. Macbeth never second-guessed anything and he was just looking at his position to stay king. Nobody could get in his way because he couldn’t be killed be a person birthed from a woman.

            In Act 1, Scene 3: Macbeth received a prophecy from the witches that he is going to be the Thane of Cawdor and then the King of Scotland. He stated: “If good, why do I yield to that suggestion. Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair? And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, against the use of nature?” Macbeth is basically wondering why he is thinking about murdering King Duncan, but the thought is so horrifying that it makes his hair stand on the back of his neck and his heart pound against his chest.

            In Act 1, Scene 6, and Duncan: Duncan has come over for dinner and is looking Macbeth, so he can praise him. Duncan says, “Conduct me to mine host. We love him highly and shall continue our graces towards him.” This is important because even other people can see how kind-hearted Macbeth can be. Duncan trusts him with everything and honors Macbeth.

            In Act 1, Scene 7, and Lady Macbeth: Lady Macbeth is trying to convince Macbeth to go with the witches’ prophecy. Macbeth wants to be king but he can’t take the risks needed – killing Duncan. Quote: “Like the poor cat i’ th’ adage?” In this quote, Lady Macbeth is calling Macbeth a sad poor cat that is too scared to do anything. This is important because even Macbeth’s wife is saying that Macbeth is too polite to kill Duncan. Also, that he isn’t brave at all.

            In Act 2 Scene 1, and Macbeth: Macbeth is convincing himself to Duncan. He is thinking about all the good things, so he is basically pumping up himself up. The beginning of the soliloquy Macbeth is nervous and doesn’t want to do it, but by the end, he is pumped and ready. Quote: “I go, and it is done. The bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell. That summons thee to heaven or to hell.” This quote is important because this is where Macbeth starts to become evil. He finally decides after a little convincing from Lady Macbeth and himself that he will kill Duncan. From here, everything goes down hill.

            In Act 2 Scene 3, and Macbeth: Macduff and Banquo came to visit Macbeth’s castle, but they found out that Duncan is dead. They tell Macbeth and Lady Macbeth who play it off, as they had nothing to do with the killing. Quote: “Renown and graceful is dead. The wine of life is drawn, and mere lees is left this vault to brag of.” This quote is important because this shows how evil Macbeth can be. He is now hiding the fact that he killed Duncan to all his close friends and that had any idea of it. Macbeth is using words to praise Duncan, even though he killed him.

            Banquo comes over for the feast and tells Macbeth that he may be late for the dinner, Act 3 Scene 1. Macbeth is worried about what Banquo will do because he knows about the prophecy that the witches said. Macbeth is alone and says to himself: “Rather than so, come fate into the list. And champion me to th’ utterance.” When Macbeth states that he is planning on killing Banquo, he doesn’t even hesitate with his decision. Macbeth’s servant then brings in the murders and tells them what the plan will be. This quote is important because this is where Macbeth’s evil rises, he doesn’t even talk to Lady Macbeth about it. Macbeth doesn’t talk to anybody about it. He is determined to stay in his position of being king and nobody can stop him now, but there are people that want him to be stopped.

            Act 3 Scene 6: Macbeth’s feast has just ended and it is the next day, Lennox is talking to another Lord about Malcolm, Macduff, and Macbeth. Lennox is suspicious about Macbeth; he thinks that Macbeth killed Duncan and Banquo. Lennox clearly states “May soon return to this out suffering country under a hand accursed” which basically states he wants Malcolm to come back and take out Macbeth as king. Lennox thinks Macbeth is a tyrant and a liar, this is important because even other people don’t trust Macbeth. Lennox is having a conversation with another Lord which may mean that he wants to know if his theory are also, suspected.

            The witches has told Macbeth another prophecy but this time with apparitions - Act 4 Scene 1 – they tell him to fear Macduff, the woods, and Banquo’s children. Macbeth takes this prophecy into his own hands and says this “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, seize upon Fife, give to th’ edge o’ th’ sword his wife, his babies, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line.” Macbeth is ready, the witches just gave him advice and he is once again taking it upon himself to deal with it. Basically, Macbeth is planning on going to Macduff’s castle and killing everybody. This is very important because Macbeth is once again being cold-hearted and he doesn’t even hesitate with this plan. He knows that Macduff could stop him from becoming king, so he is killing everything that Macduff loves. Macbeth doesn’t know that other people aren’t to sure about him.

            Act 4 Scene 3, Macduff is in England to have a chat with Malcolm. In this chat, Malcolm basically complains to Macduff about his father – Duncan – being killed and that he was blamed for it and Macduff just listens. Malcolm tells Macduff that he suspects that Macbeth killed Duncan. This is what Malcolm says, “This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues, was once thought honest; you have loved him well; he hath not touched you yet.” Malcolm is calling Macbeth the tyrant and that it hurts to say his name because he is traitor. Macbeth use to an honest man and people loved him especially Macduff, Malcolm says. But, now he is doing reckless things, but Macduff doesn’t know about it because Macbeth hasn’t hurt him yet

In Act 5 Scene 5, Lady Macbeth is sick from guilt and Macbeth is preparing for the war that is supposed to happen. Lady Macbeth has just screamed and after this Macbeth thinks about himself in the past and present self. Macbeth says, “ I have almost forgot the taste of fears. The time has been my senses would have cooled

To hear a night-shriek, and my fell have hair would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir, as life were isn’t. I have supped full with horrors. Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts, cannot once start me.” In this quote, Macbeth is talking about when he was scared of everything, when he was kinder, and didn’t have courage for anything. Now, Macbeth believes that he is prepared for any scary thing he has seen because he had many horrific things happen or done by him, that horrible things are familiar to him now.

            By the end of the play, all his followers were following him out of fear but everybody was scared to do something about it. Macduff successfully kills Macbeth and give throne to the rightful owner, Malcolm. Macbeth turned into the evil cold-hearted man from being a kind-hearted man who followed the power of suggestion. Macbeth turned into a person that he could never be and got killed for it. In the end, nobody should ever try to be what they know they can never be because there will be a downfall in the end. 

Tags: Dunn, English 9, Portfolio
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End Of The Year Digital Portfolio - Memoir Vignette

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 12:19 pm
​During the year, we read Freedom Writers for our 2nd Quarter Benchmark. Freedom Writers was about stories about different kids and this teacher. We wrote a memoir vignette about something that happen in our life. Mine was about my parents divorcing when I was about 7 years old.

Maybe Love Isn’t Forever

 

 I hoped and dreamed that he wouldn’t leave, but their life was such a hell being together. (Opener) Now my parents, they put up a front. Every time they come to my school for a meeting or conference, they have on a front

“Nobody needs to know our situation,” my mom says.

“But, some people already know cause it isn’t a big deal.”

“I don’t want anybody teasing you.”

“It is fine, nobody cares anyway.” (Dialogue)

I always thought that parents would always be in love, be together forever, and be happy together. (Magic Three) I was wrong, and I realized it when I was just 7 years old.

            5 A.M waking up in a cold room like any other day like every other day. At my age, no one should know about this time of day. The house was dark as a cave (Simile); I rolled out of bed and into the bathroom. The house, it feels different. It is like the house is angry, maybe even sad about something. (Personification) Maybe, I should just ignore it. My teeth are now brushed and they are white as pearls. (Simile) and off I go to get some breakfast with my parents! I walk in the kitchen; there isn’t a piece of bacon to be found, or my dad. My mom is standing in the kitchen alone with this blank expression that I don’t recognize. “Morning, Dakota,” (Dialogue) my mom says in a monotone voice. Her tone, her eyes, and her posture it is different. (Magic Three) I can’t identify what it is, but it isn’t happy and it isn’t tired.

“There isn’t breakfast today,” she says.

“Why not?”

“Dad and I need to talk to you about something.”

“Is it bad? Cause you seem sad.”

“You won’t be happy about it.” (Dialogue)

What could I not be happy about? Whatever it is, my dad always makes the best of it.

My dad, his footsteps, they aren’t peppy. They are loud and sad. The floor vibrates, more than usually. I can barely keep still. I want to see what is going to happen. I run over to my dad fast as a cheetah, (Simile) “HI DAD,” (Dialogue) I say enthusiastically.  “Hello Dakota.” (Dialogue) We walk over to my mom. Her eyes, I can see them better now and I could see the horrible emotion that filled them. Puffy, red, and cloudy, it is like somebody just punched her in the eyes but, they haven’t swollen up yet. (Simile, Magic Three) I look at my dad. His eyes, his breathing, and his clothes, they are all out of sorts. (Magic Three) He is never this messy.

“What is going on,” I ask cautiously.

“Your dad and I, we need to talk to you about something important.” My mom states firmly.

“What is it? I am shaking in my pjs!”

“Your mom and I have been having some problems. Problems that aren’t getting ironed out.”

“What kind of problems?”

“Your dad and I aren’t getting along as well, as we use to.”

“WHAT? What does that even mean? You guys love each other and you are supposed to get along, perfectly. I’ve never seen you guys argue.(Dialogue)

            The tension in the house becomes thicker. The house creaks, waiting in anticipation for the answer (Personification). The answer isn’t coming fast enough. I stare at my parents, in agony. I want, need, desire to know what it is going on.(Magic Three) Am I too young? Will I not be able to understand? I just want to know. My mom, she hasn’t said anything. My mom is holding on to the table as if it keeps her from falling. My dad is holding on to the wall like he is an old man and needs a walker (Simile). I am frightened, what if somebody died? I don’t know what I would do. I need answers and I need them now. TALK, PLEASE!

“Your father and I need some time off.”

“Cheryl, don’t lie to her. This time is off, Dakota. It is going to last forever.”

“WHAT! WHAT! I DON’T UNDERSTAND!”

“Your dad and I are separating. He has to move out.”

“SEP-ER-ATING? What does that mean?”

“Dakota, your mom and I aren’t getting along. We argue a lot more than is normal.”

“Wait…Dad. You are leaving…forever?”

“Yes, Dakota. I can’t live here anymore.” His voice is cracking like he is a teenage boy going through puberty (Simile).

“Dakota, this isn’t your fault. Your dad and I just don’t love each other anymore. We need to become different people”

“You said that love last forever! This isn’t forever!”

“I know. But remember, your mom and I will still be your parents, even though we aren’t together. We will still love you. I will still love you. You are my daughter, I will never stop loving you.”

“Dakota, mommy loves you. I will always love you.”

“Who do I live with?’ (Dialogue) I say as the tears fall like a stream from my eyes, to my nose, to my chin (Simile, Magic Three)

“You will be living with me. Your dad will be moving in with somewhere else.”

“Dad, you can’t leave! I need you! Your hugs when I have awful days! Your jokes when I need cheering up. You..can’t..leave!”(Dialogue)

            I am yelling and they don’t even seem to care. The room quiets down and I hear my mom sobbing. She has no reason to cry, it is not like she loves him anymore. I still love him and I will always love him. I have these memories and I can’t even make new ones with my dad anymore. He is basically gone. His hands, his embrace, his laugh are so warm (Magic Three) and they are leaving me. Now, I won’t be able to have them everyday, they are my own personal drugs and I am addicted. (Simile)

“I have to leave now, Dakota.”

“YOU CAN’T LEAVE!”

“I have to leave. I will be back. Not to live here, but to see you. Promise.”

“YOU CAN’T LEAVE! NOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“Don’t follow me.”

“Don’t let go.” (Dialogue)

            He lets go. I am standing in the middle of my parents, my mom is holding on to me and my dad has let go of me. I haven’t let go and I need to chase him back to where he belongs. I dash after him and grab hold of his leg. He isn’t going anywhere now because I won’t let him. The scent of tears travel to my nose, they are my dad’s. (Imagery) I didn’t know tears existed in my dad’s body. I thought he was too manly to have tears or to even cry. I feel his huge arms picking me up from his leg to his chest. My forehead is gently kissed as tears spill on to me. My dad’s shirt is drenched with my tears and the hallways echoes from my wails. My dad carries me back to my mother, who has fallen to the floor, and sets me down with her. She grabs hold of me and her touch is cold; (Imagery). My mom is making my dad leave the house; how can she think to even touch me. I am furious at her and try to wiggle out her grip but she just grips harder.

            My dad’s footsteps become quieter. The front door opens, shuts, and my heart stops working. (Magic Three) He is officially gone and I am with my mom. There is nothing else to do. She puts me in my bed and I cry until I fall asleep. I awake later on that day and realize that what happened wasn’t a dream. I yell as if somebody just broke both my legs (Simile) and my mom comes running in. Her eyes are worst than before, which I imagine my eyes look like too. I gaze up at her, turn over, and go back to sleep.(Magic Three) I want nothing to do with her right now. She closes the door and walks to her room. Sleep comes easily because I am fragile like glass. (Simile) Just a few hours ago, all the water in my body rushed out through my eyes. (Hyperbole) Life goes on and school comes the next day. The rest of the days, months, years of my life are different. (Magic Three). I become more and more unlike the person I was before the separation. I am stronger but I am weaker. I don’t fall for peer pressure but I get mad at meaningless things. Things like somebody bumping into me and saying excuse me. Things that I didn’t notice before my dad left. I am older now and understand everything. They won’t tell me the reason why they separated because they say I don’t need to know. “Not everybody can keep up with the changes a person goes through and they eventually fall out of love,” (Dialogue) says my mom. People can’t control if they fall out of love, it just happens,”(Dialogue) says my dad. Sometimes people take on bigger roles than they should of. As the years past, I realized that my dad was never actually gone he is always still here. My dad still loves me and I see him often. I realized that things happen and marriage isn’t always for everyone. Divorce was made for a reason. 

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End Of The Year Digital Portfolio - The Odyssey Essay

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 10:33 am
The Odyssey and O' Brother Where Art Thou is what our Quarter 3 Benchmark was about. We read the Odyssey and then compared it to the movie O' Brother Where Art Thou. O' Brother Where Art Thou was suppose to be based off of the Odyssey. For out benchmark, we had to compare either the book and the movie, characters, the book/movie to another movie. I picked Polyphemus from The Odyssey and Big Dan Teague from O' Brother Where Art Thou. Here it is!

Polyphemus vs. Big Dan Teague

 

While “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and “The Odyssey” are set in two different times and are from two different points of view, there are some major similarities and differences between events and characters. Both “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and “The Odyssey” are stories that describe a man’s journey home with the help of his crew, meeting different people, creatures, and triumphing over various obstacles. Although, the episode with Polyphemus and Big Dan Teague are set in different times, they both have some likenesses. Polyphemus is an antagonist in the book “The Odyssey”; he lives on an island that Odysseus comes to with his men. Big Dan Teague is an antagonist in the movie “O’ Brother Where Art Thou,” that Odysseus meets with his men.

         Polyphemus beat up Odysseus and his men, much like when Big Dan Teague beat up Everett and Delmar, while in the beginning of the movie/book that were kind. fgbh. Big Dan Teague greeted Everett and Delmar politely when he came up to them in the restaurant and then invited them onto a picnic.  However, Odysseus and his men snuck into Polyphemus’s cave uninvited, but Polyphemus was still pleasant towards them in the beginning. “Strangers! Now who are you? Where did you sail from, over the running sea-lanes?”(Homer, The Odyssey Book 9. Lines 284-285) Even though Polyphemus is a angry giant he was still kind to them when he found out they were in his cave, just as Big Dan Teague was kind and respectful to Delmar and Everett even though he wanted to rob them. 

            Both Polyphemus and Big Dan Teague attacked their prey for a reason. However, Polyphemus’ attack could be more easily explained than Big Dan Teague’s. Big Dan Teague invited Everett and Delmar to a picnic even though he had eaten lunch already. At lunch Big Dan Teague proceeded to eat everyone else’s food, then he began to explain how he was in the business of ‘making money in the Lord’s service’. Midway through his speech Big Dan Teague suddenly breaks off a tree limb and starts hitting Everett and Delmar with it. Big Dan Teague knocks Everett and Delmar unconscious, steals their money and leaves them dazed under a tree.   Similarly, when Odysseus and Polyphemus are just meeting, Odysseus is telling Polyphemus about how he and his men got to the cave. Polyphemus asks Odysseus about his ship and where it is, Odysseus expecting a trap of some kind, answers in his crafty way. “My ship? Poseidon god of the earthquake smashed my ship, he drove it against the rocks at your island’s far cape, he dashed it against a cliff as the winds rode us in.”(Homer, The Odyssey Book 9. Lines 318-321) Polyphemus doesn’t say anything in response, but he suddenly grabs two of Odyssey’s crew and eats them. Odysseus disrespected Polyphemus, by talking about his dad, Poseidon. Odysseus’s crafty skills ends up getting two of his men killed. Everett decided to trust a stranger, Big Dan Teague knew how stupid that was of him, and decided to use that to his advantage and steal their money. Both Polyphemus and Big Dan Teague attacked, but they attacked for different reasons. They both get something though, Polyphemus gets a meal and Big Dan Teague gets some money and another meal too. Both characters were aggressive when trying to get what they want.

            In both episodes, the monster or bigger opponent was given food; Polyphemus took the food without asking and Big Dan Teague was graciously given the food. Everett and Delmar went on a picnic with Big Dan Teague who ate their food from the restaurant. Everett bought food for Big Dan Teague and he thanked Everett for it, “Thank you boys for throwin’ in that fricassee.” However, Polyphemus just decided to eat two of Odysseus’s crew because he didn’t like what they said. “Not a word in reply to that, the ruthless brute. Lurching up, he lunged out with his hands towards my men and snatching two at once, rapping them from the ground.” (Homer The Odyssey. Book 9. Lines 322-325) Polyphemus thought he could just take what he wants because he is a giant and can kill all of them at once. On the other hand, Big Dan Teague knew that he couldn’t just kill them at once because he is bigger but there are two of them. So, Big Dan Teague decided to be nice about it, while Polyphemus decided to be violent. Both bigger opponents got their food, but in different ways.

            Both episodes have many things that are alike and different, even thought they are in different points of views and points in times. They show the difference between the real world and myths. In myths, giants are viscous are huge. They take whatever they want, but they get in trouble at the end or die. While, the human gets into trouble at the end to but the human is kinder at first and then gets mean. It shows how to worlds are different. Another thing is that it shows how some humans could be like mythical creatures because they are ferocious and larger than other humans. So, from the point of view of a smaller human that one person they know could be a mythical creature.

 

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End Of The Year Digital Portfolio - Macbeth Creative Project

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 10:26 am
In Quarter 1, we read Macbeth and did our benchmark on him. The benchmark was a character analysis of either Macbeth or Lady Macbeth. I picked Macbeth. Later on that year, we did a creative project about our character analysis. I picked a Keynote to do, here it is. Enjoy!
Q2_CreativeProject_Foster
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End Of The Year Digital Portfolio - Independent Reading Review

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 10:20 am
​During the year, we had to read to books of our own choice. Then, we had to write a book review about what we thought about the book, our favorite parts, and if we would recommend it to people. I picked the book Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler. Here is the book review. 

            The book I read was ‘I Am An Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World.’ by Eve Ensler. Eve Ensler is also the write of the ‘Vagina Monologues’, which was a bestseller. She received many awards for being an activist, Vagina Monologues, and some screen plays that she directed.

Basically, the book is made up of about 35 vignettes/stories that are fictional but inspired by girls around the world and their problems. There isn’t a main character but there is a conflict. The conflict is the way the world sees girls. The fact that girls are not able to speak, taken seriously, or allowed to have any right in controlling their life. The book is about showing people what girls have to go through and the real thoughts.

I don’t have a favorite character in the book but I do have a favorite vignette.

My favorite is ‘My Short Skirt’ which is about why girls wear short skirts. This is my favorite because it states the real reasons why girls my age where short skirts. “My short skirt is not an invitation, a provocation, an indication that I want it or give it or that I hook.”. “My short skirt is happiness. I can feel myself on the ground. I am here. I am hot. My short skirt is a liberation flag in the women’s army. I declare these streets, any streets, my vagina’s country.” I think this quote means that a short skirt is celebrating the fact that she is a women and talking about how women rule the world. Women rule the world because we have vaginas, we can give birth to all the children in the world, without us there wouldn’t be any. These paragraphs are my favorite because I connect to them the most. Also, they are universal for all girls that usually wear short skirts, with the expectation of some girls. I think people should take away the life of girls and how they are. Also, those men can find out that women are just as important in society as men are.

I can relate to many vignettes, for example, ‘What Don’t You Like About Being Girl?’, ‘I Dance (I-III)’, ‘Things I Heard About Sex’, and ‘What Do You like About Being A Girl?’.  I can relate to these stories because they are things that came up in my life and things I have thought about. Also, the paragraphs in the each vignettes there is at least two that I have talked to my friends or family about. I have done some of the things, for example, instead of dancing, I would sing. Even though I sing horribly, it would help me feel alive and go into my own place just like drawing would too. Another thing is that they had vignettes called ‘Would You Rather?’ which was two girls at a sleepover. One of the girls is asking the other girl questions and then girl isn’t answering the questions because they are just really out – there questions. I have done that with my friends and they ask really crazy questions and I don’t even try to answer them. I have felt some of the things that the characters did too. I feel that men don’t care about women’s feelings and that my views on things weren’t listened too before.

            I love this book. I am deeply, utterly, and totally in love with this book. I think the whole book is empowering but, mostly toward women. The book is good that is talking about the trouble within the women society. I think it would be better if that were connected to men because then men can change their ways. Also, they would learn about women society. Even though, men created most of the problems today for women. Men need to know about the way women are suffering. I wouldn’t change anything in the book, actually. I love the book that much and I think it should be appreciated in its original form.

 

 

 

 

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End Of The Year Digital Portfolio - Journal Entries

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 10:19 am
​Over the school year, Ms. Dunn had us do different journal prompts. Sometimes, it was a free-write, a prompt that has to do with our novel that we are reading, or it is a response to the book we are reading. Here are some examples from over the year. 

December 1st 2010

 

            My future isn’t a subject that comes up very often. Not in my head, not out of my mouth, but more of my parents asking questions. ‘Are you going to college,’ ‘What college do you like,’ ‘PLAY SPORTS! GET A SCHOLARSHIP,’ ‘Join clubs, it will look good on your college application!’ my parents start to talk and I just shutdown…completely. I have one plane for now, get good grades and past 9th grade, don’t be a dropout. The future scares me and I have thinking or talking about it. I don’t even know if I want to go to college but I have to know by 10th grade (says my parents). I just want to live to be 20, I have dreams don’t get me wrong. On the other hand, I hate thinking about college. My mom and dad technically didn’t go to college. My mom is worried that I will just say I don’t want to go to college because she didn’t do to college. I wouldn’t say that…ever. That is a very childish excuse. I just don’t have the motivation yet. PARENTS! If I do go to college…I would go to USC (University of South California), Ohio State, or Penn. I can barely talk in front of my class without getting nervous. Maybe, I should get over that first before I think about college. I just got out of middle school! My parents are frustrating.

 

 

December 17th 2010

 

A time when you were a part of a group but didn’t know what the group was doing or wanted to be a part of a group.

           

            In my old school there were a group of girls and older girls/boys that like ruled the school. None of them got eased and they always looked so nice. I thought that if I were in that group then I wouldn’t get picked on because I liked different things. I didn’t want to be a loner and they didn’t get into trouble. Also, they went to a lot of places and had cool accessories.

            My friend was in the group, but she wasn’t supposed to talk about what they did. Which I thought was really stupid. One day, it was just she and I hanging out and I asked her what they did in the group. She told me about everything! They all had C’s in classes, always were making out, and spent too much money on pointless things. We had uniform at our school, so it was pointless because they couldn’t wear it. Also, I saw some pictures of the group out and they all dressed the same and I hate that type of style. My friend told me about how they stole things from stores, too.

            I completely changed my mind from a week and half of waiting to be in the group, I changed my mind in the matter of 12 minutes. I didn’t want to make out with people all the time. I want to go somewhere in my life. I wouldn’t get there with all C’s and stealing things. I didn’t care if I would be teased, be popular, or be cool. I will be myself and get somewhere in life. I am glad I changed my mind because now I am in a great. Better off than everybody else! (:

 

March 17th 2011

 

What were you feelings when you read “nigger” last night? What are your thoughts about using the word in general?

           

My feelings were that I already knew and suspected what time period this story was taking place in, so I knew it would come up once or more than that. I prepared myself for it. Even though, I don’t like hearing the word because it is offense and rude, they thought black people weren’t even full humans. The fact that they are still using the word even though, when people come around they don’t, that means the word isn’t used.

            I think the word is terrible to use, like when people use it now, I think it is wrong. Why do people choose the word that haunted their ancestors for years? A word that still makes some people cringe and the darkest time for African American. Any form of that word is offense and then fact that people call their best friend ‘nigger’ is wrong. I know a lot of people that use it and I just don’t talk to them. That’s just unattractive and ignorant. I don’t think there is any excuse about why people should use it because it is a horrible word that makes me feel like black people don’t realize how stupid they are when they use that word. Also, the fact that people use it in different spelling and thinks it is okay, is nonsense. People think that ‘niggah’, ‘nigger’, and ‘nigga’ have all different meanings because it is different spellings. No it isn’t different, same word, and same meaning.

 

 

 

April 4th 2011

 

What are some of the expectations put upon you by others? What are your own expectations of yourself? Are these expectations different? How?

 

            I have a lot of expectations put upon me by my family, but mostly from my parents. My parents don’t want me to be like my cousins and go to jail or get into drugs. Also, to have a kid so they have grandchildren, to be successful in life with a good job, to be happy, and to be satisfied with my life. My grandparents want me to able to provide for myself, have a better life than they did, and be happy with myself.

            I know I want myself to be happy, but sometimes I can’t always be happy. I want to be able to live in a house or apartment. I want to have a job that I am happy with and interested in. I want to have kid(s) and a good family. They don’t have to get along sometimes because that wouldn’t be normal, but I don’t want any abuse. The things I want are things I expect to happen.

            All the expectations are mostly the same. For example, the fact that my grandparents want me to have a better life than they did with more privileges, that’s something, I would want too. Another thing is that they want me to have a happy family and have a job that I like; I expect those things of myself. I expect those things because I am the one that can make those things happen.  

 



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Be A Friend, Not A Judge.

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, May 27, 2011 at 2:00 pm

Illegal, Illegal - punishable, up to 2 years in prison, Illegal - punishable, up to 2 years in prison to death penalty, Illegal - punishable by death, Illegal – punishable by expulsions from country, Men illegal/Female legal, and Legal. These are the words you will see when you look at the homosexual policies for different countries. These names are just from the 'Same Sex Sexual Activity' column. Some people can't even openly say they are homosexual because they will either die or go to jail. Homosexuals can't travel to some places because they are going to be put in jail. No wonder why homosexuals have to hide who they are.

         What does this mean for other homosexuals in other countries? If teens are being bullying to death just because the religious groups are saying this wrong, but in other countries it is illegal, what happens to them? What are their stories? Do they even get bullied or do they just get killed? What are the emotions they feel when they realize they are homosexual but where they live it is illegal? The teens must receive hell in these places like Afghanistan, Barbados, Somaliland, or Sudan.

         We need change, I may just be on teenager at Science Leadership academy, but I know we need to change. Teens are the future; these teens that are attempting suicides could’ve been something special. How would we know though? We wouldn’t, but we can find out. Maybe if people realized that homosexuals are regular people then we can change the world. It may take time, but it would be better for everybody. I WANT to change this. WE NEED TO CHANGE THIS. Next time, you see a teenage being bullied for their sexual orientation, help them, defend them, or tell a teacher. Be a friend. 

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Why Do Homosexuals Have To Hide?

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 1 - Dunn on Sunday, May 15, 2011 at 6:33 pm
​Down to the Facts:

  • 28% of gay/lesbian youth are forced to drop out of school because of their sexuality. (National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, 1998)
  • Suicide is the second leading cause of death on college campuses (CDC 2008).
  • For every completed suicide by a young person, it is estimated that 100 to 200 attempts are made (Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey 2003).
  • Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers (Massachusetts Youth Risk Survey 2007).
  • LGBT youth who come from highly rejecting families are more than 8 times as likely to have attempted suicide than LGB peers who reported no or low levels of family rejection (Ryan C, Huebner D, et al - Peds 2009;123(1):346-352)
  • High school students hear 25 anti-gay remarks every day. Of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) high schoolers, 42 percent have been physically harassed on the basis of their perceived sexual orientation/gender identity.
  • 25 anti-gay remarks everyday, that is 175 every week, that is about 750 a month, and 9,125 a year 

Type in ‘teen suicides related to gay bullying’. There are a million links to stories about teens that died by suicide because of bullying. Those stories have links to a billion other stories. Here are some: Tyler Clementi, 18 - student at Ridgewood High School killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge on September 22nd 2010, Justin Aaberg, 15, hanged himself in his room in July 2010, Kameron Jacobsen, 14 – freshman at Monroe Woodbury High School 2011, Lance Lundsten, 18 – senior at Jefferson High School 2011, and Brandon Bitner, 14 – freshman at Pennsylvania High School threw himself in highway traffic, thirteen miles from his home.  Some stories are as young as 9 years old and the deaths are brutal. One stories about a boy that was 10 and shot himself in the head, in his closet.

GSANI, ILGA, IGLHRC, IGLYO, ILGLaw, GRIN are gay rights organizations. People that know about the hardships gay teens face, they know the taunts and the looks the teens get nowadays, run these organizations. These organizations are trying to change the anti-gay programs in school because they know that they are not working. If these programs were working, then there would be less teen suicides. These organizations have been around since homosexuals have been openly gay, this website It Gets Better. It gives videos from actors, strangers, and friends that talk about their experiences, and how it get better, promoting the Trevor Project. This project helps homeless teens that were disowned by their family, people to talk to about gay bullying, and tries to stop teen suicides.

In my next blog, I will talk about different polices or laws that have to do with gay rights. For example, Prop 8, Don't Ask and Don't Tell policy. I will even talk about different laws in different countries all over the world, like Uganda. 

 

Sites:

http://www.thetaskforce.org/reports_and_research/education_policy

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/yet-another-teen-suicide-this-week-anti-gay-bullying-blamed/news/2011/01/21/16889

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/gay-teen-bullied-for-years-commits-suicide/news/2011/01/18/16856

http://www.thetrevorproject.org/suicide-resources/suicidal-signs

 

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Some Boys Kiss Boys, Some Girls Kiss Girls.

Posted by Dakota Foster in English 1 - Dunn on Monday, May 2, 2011 at 2:47 pm
​
You and the World, for me, is about Teen Suicide related to gay rights and gay bullying. I've always heard stories about my friends being gay bashed, to the point where they want to commit suicide. I would hear it on tv, and I strongly believe that there is nothing worst than losing your child because kids are bullying them for their sexual orientation.

Teen suicide is the third leading cause of deaths for teenagers. It is more common for males to commit suicide because of getting bullied because they are gay, than it is for a female. As of now, anti-gay bullying programs are not working at all. Gay-right supporters want anti-gay bullying programs to be about harassment to the gay youth, while religious conservatives think it is an chance to change teen's views of homosexuality. Regarding to the fact that religions are saying that homosexuality is a sin. 

I wonder...what every made it okay to bully anyone. Someone is gay? So, they are still the same person you knew before they were gay. When was it ever right to brutally harass someone until the point, where they think nothing is going to get better?

I want to research about different cases of teen suicide because of gay bashing. I want to find organizations that are gay-right supporters and see what they are doing about this, to change it. 


Bibliography: 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20019163-10391704.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39593311/ns/us_news-life/

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Dakota Foster's Negative Space

Posted by Dakota Foster in Art - 9 - Hull on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 1:31 pm
Negative space is the space in a picture that isn't taken up with drawings or figures. Also, negative space could be the background of the picture. For example, if you draw a house in the middle of a paper, but then you color the space around the house. That is classified as negative space because that part is not occupied by anything. 
You can find negative space in my cut out drawing of the bird by looking at the black parts. The black parts are the negative space in the drawing. This space is empty because there wasn't a bird there before, but with the positive space around the negative space, you can see the bird and it's wings. Now for my second drawing, even though it isn't complete. You are able to find the negative space vs. the positive space. As the same for this drawing, the black or shaded in parts is classified as negative space. The non-shaded part which is the objects in the pictures are the positive space. The negative space isn't occupied and the positive space because it is the figures in the picture. 

It helps for an artist to see the negative space because the artist can focus on outlining the figures in the picture instead of getting ever detail. Once the artist can outline the figures in the picture then, the artist knows the basic shape of the figures in the picture. So, the artist can focus on drawing the positive space of the drawing last. Another reason, it helps for the an artist to see the negative space because it makes for an interesting piece of artwork. If the artist draws the negative space, then the audience can wonder what is in the positive space. 
In my opinion, I do think negative space enhances drawings because it make them look more interesting. Also, the artist can focus more on the details and take their time so, the picture is more likable. 
Photo on 2011-04-26 at 12.58
Photo on 2011-04-26 at 12.58
Photo on 2011-04-26 at 12.59
Photo on 2011-04-26 at 12.59
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Dakota Foster's Room Perspective

Posted by Dakota Foster in Art - 9 - Hull on Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 9:52 pm
This project is about drawing from different perspectives from drawing really simple things to complicated things like a room. We started with boxes and drew them from different points of view from the vanishing point. We did this because we can figure out what different object look like from different points of view. Then, we would see what sides could be seen from the vanishing point.
This technique helped us understand more when we had to drew the room. First, we started with a really simple room that was small and didn't have a lot of objects inside it. We drew simple things like ceiling tiles from the vanishing point or a walking mat form the vanishing point. While doing all of this, we learned about different types of line. For example, we learned about horizontal, vertical and orthogonal lines. Finally, we received our final product idea. We were suppose to draw a wall of the Art room and then the two walls connecting to it. There was many things that had to in the room because if they weren't then the room wasn't correct. We used a ruler, pencil and an eraser. My process of starting the room was different from everybody's else. I started trying to draw the rectangle in the middle of the room, I didn't use any measurements because that made it really confusing for me. I used my eyes to see if the lines were straight and even, which was much easier for me.  I made sure everything was connected to my vanishing point, when drawing the ceiling lines and the walls. If I didn't make sure everything was connected to the vanishing point, then the room would look off. 
I think the most easiest thing to learn was drawing the things in the room. For example, drawing the ceiling tiles, that was really easy for me to learn. I don't really know why it was really easy for to learn, but when I started doing it, it just came really easy to me. I made sure everything was straight and connected to the vanishing point. It is like it came naturally to me and easy to understand.  
I think the hardest part for me to learn was drawing the room. By drawing the room, I mean drawing the back wall. It was hard for me to try and find the first wall out of a plain piece of paper. I couldn't seem to get the wall to be straight enough sometimes or one line was longer than the other. Also, that the room was either too short or too long. Then, I had to read do it and correct it, so it looked more like the room. 

I think Ellen To's drawing was the best. I didn't just like the drawing because that is obvious. I think she was very successful in doing the room. Even though, she has never had art classes before. Also, she made sure that she worked hard and diligently to put most of everything in the room in the drawing. Everything was proportional and to the vanishing point. Everything was very detailed and elegant. 
IMG_0462
IMG_0462
Tags: perspective, Hull, Art, Orange, Foster
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10-20-30 Interview

Posted by Dakota Foster in African American History - Sherif on Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 9:13 am
​Interviewer: Dakota Foster
Interviewee: Drue Bocutti
Subject: 10-20-30 

1. What was the purpose of the 10-20-30?
To ask and interview people 10, 20, and 30 years before i was born about their favorite song and why it their favorite song. 
2. What questions were raised?
What is so special about this partially song? 
3. What was the best part of the 10-20-30 for you?
The best part was learning about my relatives favorite music and interviewing them. 
4. What was the most challenging part of the 10-20-30 for you?
Finding the articles that are 10, 20, 30 years before I was born. 

Link to my Wikipage: http://orange10-11.wikispaces.com/Dakota+F.10
Tags: AA History Ethnomusicology, 9th grade
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Espanol VideoBlog - Clase de Espanol

Posted by Dakota Foster on Monday, February 7, 2011 at 6:22 pm
Dakota Foster and Ellen To
Spanish - Spanish VideoBlog
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Espanol VideoBlog - Clase de Almuerzo

Posted by Dakota Foster on Monday, February 7, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Dakota Foster and Ellen To
Lunch
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Espanol VideoBlog - Clase de Bioquimica

Posted by Dakota Foster on Monday, February 7, 2011 at 12:39 pm
Dakota Foster and Ellen To
Spanish - Bioqumica
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Espanol VideoBlog - Clase de Ingles

Posted by Dakota Foster on Monday, February 7, 2011 at 10:43 am
Dakota Foster and Ellen To
English
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Espanol VideoBlog - Clase de Drama

Posted by Dakota Foster on Monday, February 7, 2011 at 10:40 am
Dakota Foster and Ellen To
Drama
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My Goals for Quarter 2

Posted by Dakota Foster in Freshmen Seminar - Kay on Saturday, November 20, 2010 at 3:30 pm

Goal #1: Write my homework in my Agenda. 

  Sometimes I forgot to write my homework in my agenda. I want to stop that so, when I get home, I don't have to ask people what the homework is. 

Goal #2: Raising my hand more in class

I don't raise my hand in class often. I need to raise my hand more in class because I usually have good answers, but I don't want them to be wrong. So, I don't raise my hand. I would like to raise my hand more in class because then I would better participation grades in class. 

Goal #3: Be more confident when doing presentations

I usually get nervous during presentations. Then, I blank out and don't know what to say. So, I would like to become more confident. Then, I can do better during presentations. Also, my voice gets extra high. 

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Dakota Foster - Hull Presentation Zen Slide

Posted by Dakota Foster in Technology - Hull on Monday, November 15, 2010 at 9:31 am

I changed what I changed because I considered the things they told us on Presentation Zen. Then, I applied it toward my slide. I used the rules of thirds. First, I moved all the pictures to one side and all the words. Another thing is that I moved all the words to one side. I also made the words bigger so, they would stand out. 

Next, I used bright colors on a black background for contrast. Also, I took the colors from the pictures, like the color of my hoodie or the color of one of the sheep. Then, I used those colors for the font color. I made the pictures bleed off of the slide so, it doesn't seem clutter. 

Lastly, I aplahed the back of the pictures, so you won't get distracted by the background. So, you would only see the faces of the people. Then, I made them smaller and put them together and overlapped them, like a collage. 

Tech_Hull_Foster1
Tech_Hull_Foster
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