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Melanie Harrington Public Feed

Melanie Harrington Q4 Art Portfolio

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Art Advanced - Hull - a2 on Friday, June 5, 2015 at 11:37 pm
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As an artist I use painting as a way to cope with my everyday life, especially situations I find stressful. I find the stroke of the paint brush calming and I am filled with a sense of pride whenever I finish a piece. My favorite way to paint is by using acrylic paints. I like to paint solid pictures or pictures that don’t involve a lot of blending with these. When I use water colors, I’m better at blending. I normally paint scenery whenever I use watercolors. Currently, I’ve been really interested in landscapes and fantasy paintings. I try to use these elements in my current work. I hope you enjoy my fourth quarter portfolio.


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Melanie Harrington Capstone

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Capstone - Echols - Wed on Monday, May 11, 2015 at 12:36 pm
​For my capstone I decided to make a fitness patch program that girl scouts of all ages could earn. There aren’t many patches dedicated to fitness and health that girls could explore.Fitness is something that I find very important and I wanted to give others the opportunity to learn about it. I created two sets of requirements for girls to follow depending on their ranking (Brownie, Junior, Cadette, etc.). I then put these requirements into action by conducting an event with the girls at one of our weekly meetings. Everyone who participated will be given a patch for their hard work. I learned a lot through this project, like how to plan events and how to work with children of all ages. I think the girls that I worked with really enjoyed themselves and learned valuable things about exercise and taking care of their body.

Below are the requirements for the Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador Girl Scouts that I created.

Fitness Is Fun Patch Program

Cadette, Senior and Ambassador Patch Requirements: Must complete at least 8 requirements (3 skill builders, 3 technology, 1 career exploration, 1 service project)

Skill Builders

  1. Learn how to do two new exercises for each of the following body parts: calves, thighs, abs, and arms. Incorporate these into a fitness routine of your choosing and add some cardio work as well. Cardio exercises may include jumping jacks, high knees, and zumba.  

  2. What is self-esteem? Research the way exercise and fitness has an effect on a person’s self-esteem. Do people typically feel better after they exercise? Why or why not? Share your findings with a group.

  3. Being fit is more than physical. There are a lot of mental aspects that tie into fitness. Research 3 different mental disorders that benefit from eating healthy and exercising. How does this help?

  4. Using the right equipment is essential for any activity. They help prevent injury and provide different uses that vary from activity to activity. Choose and research three different sports (these may include running, dancing, gymnastics, etc.) and what equipment they require and why. What injuries do these pieces of equipment prevent?

  5. Yoga is another great way to exercise and stay fit. It promotes both mental and physical health and emotional balance. It can be used as a strengthening exercise and as a way to stretch and elongate your body. Research different kinds of yoga and incorporate them into your fitness routine.

  6. Being fit is more than simply exercising. In order to be truly fit you must find a balance between staying active and eating healthy. Differentiating between what is healthy or not can be really hard. This is what nutrition labels on food packages are for! If you are doing it right, you should be able to eat whatever you want, but in moderation. Find a new healthy snack that you think you will like and try it!


Technology

  1. Research different ways that technology is used in sports. Some things to consider are how sports channels broadcast and comment on live sports events, how scoreboards in basketball games are used, and how people use technology to stay up to date with sports.

  2. Research different ways in which technology is used in the running world. How do runners track their progress? How do races time thousands of people all at once? What are some tools that people use to track their diet and exercise?

  3. A person’s heart is one of the most important organs in their body. It is imperative that their heart stays strong and healthy especially when they are engaged in physical activity. What are some different heart conditions and how has technology changed the way we are able to detect them and monitor them?

  4. What are some different types of equipment that a person might see in a gym? What parts of the body do they work?

Service Project

  1. Run a workout clothes drive in your school or girl scout troop and donate them to your local thrift store.

  2. Research the way performance enhancing drugs affect the body. Make posters to hang in your school protesting their use.

  3. Reuse an old running shoe or sneaker as a flower pot to plant something of your choosing. Take care of your plant until it has grown significantly and then plant it in a local garden or park.

  1. Volunteer at a local race for runners/walkers. Pay attention to the type of planning and organization that goes into running an event that large.

Career Exploration

  1. Learn about and research 5 different careers involving fitness. How long do you have to go to school? What are some responsibilities that come with the job? Are these things that seem interesting to you? Share your new information with a group.

  2. Interview a personal trainer at a gym. Ask them how they keep their clients motivated, what techniques and tips they have for working out and staying fit, and how they got to become a personal trainer. Feel free to ask any questions you are interested or curious about.

  3. Read two stories about women who have impacted the world of fitness. What did they do? Why was it significant?

  4. Watch a documentary on a famous Olympian or sports player. What are some obstacles that they faced? How did their dedication affect their current position? What other things factored into being successful?

​Below are pictures from my event on May 5, 2015.
​

Bibliography


"4 Yoga Poses That Should Be Part of Your Cool-Down." ACE Fitness. The American Council

on Exercise, 14 May 2014. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

<https://www.acefitness.org/blog/4857/4-yoga-poses-that-should-be-part-of-your-cool-

down>.


One of the requirements for my patch program is to learn different yoga stretches and to incorporate them into a workout routine of your choosing. I chose this requirement as one of the activities I will be completing with the girls during my event. I’m not very familiar with yoga and this site was one of the first helpful ones I came across. I must admit however that I was skeptical about this sources reliability. Upon doing some research on the American Council on Exercise I found that they were a nonprofit organization that offers fitness certification, education, and training. This source provides different cool down yoga poses that would be great to stretch different parts of the body at the end of a workout.


Ambassador: The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting. N.p.: Girl Scouts of the USA, 2011. Print.


Brownie: The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting. N.p.: Girl Scouts of the USA, 2011. Print.


Cadette: The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting. N.p.: Girl Scouts of the USA, 2011. Print.


Collins, Sonya. "The Truth About Stretching Find out the Best Ways to Stretch and the Best

times to Do It." WebMD. Ed. David T. Derrer. WebMD, 25 Feb. 2014. Web. 29 Jan.

2015. <http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/how-to-stretch>.


WebMD is one of the few medical sites that I can truly rely on. I’ve used this site before in the past to conduct research for multiple classes. It is a very well known site that diligently provides sources for the information published by them. This article gave me great insight on the pros and cons of stretching before and after a workout. They has been a strong controversy recently regarding whether doing  static stretches before a workout is the best thing for you. This article has taught me something new about stretching that I can and will share with/teach the girls during my event.


"Cool Down Postures." The Mobile Yoga Workout Blog. N.p., 9 June 2010. Web. 29 Jan.

2015. <https://mobileyogaworkout.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/cool-down-postures/>.


Whenever I conduct research I am always wary about different websites that may come up in my google search. This blog was one of them. I don’t normally put a lot of trust into homemade blogs and websites because they’re just not very reliable sources. They’re often filled with more opinion than fact, never cite their sources, and it’s hard to connect the site back to a publisher/author. However, this source has proved to be useful by providing me with detailed descriptions and pictures of yoga poses that would be perfect to include in my event. The poses on here are unique from any other source I have used and all of the information on this blog was corroborated with other sources of information.


"Cross-Training." Senior: The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting. N.p.: Girl Scouts of the USA, n.d.

N. pag. Print.


Over the years girl scouting has changed a lot of things. For example, their badge books. It’s hard to keep up with all of the new changes, especially if you are accustomed to the old ways. One of these revolutionary ideas that the Girl Scouts have come up with is to promote more empowerment to women as opposed to their physical and mental wellbeing. This patch is one of the very few new fitness patches I could find in any of the badge books, including the ones or the younger girls. This patch was created by the Girl Scouts of the USA and I completed this badge as a senior myself. I found some of the activities in here helpful for finding things to add to my event while still planning. This source challenges girls to get moving and create their own workout routines and sports events.


Daisy: The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting. N.p.: Girl Scouts of the USA, 2011. Print.


"ELEMENTARY: MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2015." CrossFit Kids. CrossFit Kids, 25 Jan.

2015. Web. 29 Jan. 2015. <http://crossfitkids.com/elementary-monday-january-26-2015/>.


Harrington, Melanie A. Workout Routine. Philadelphia: Google Docs, 29 Jan. 2015. PDF.

Hayward, Lee. "A Beginners Guide To Gym Equipment And Workout Accessories." Lee

Hayward's Total Fitness Body Building. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

<http://www.leehayward.com/gym_equipment/>.


Interest Projects: For Girls 11-17. New York: Girl Scouts of the United States of America,

1997. Print.


Junior: The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting. N.p.: Girl Scouts of the USA, 2011. Print.


"Make Your Own." Ambassador: The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting. N.p.: Girl Scouts of the

USA, n.d. N. pag. Print.


This was another badge in the newer badge books that proved to be helpful. Because I am

creating and running my own patch program, I needed to think about how I was going to design the event/requirements and how I was going to get badges. This section in the Ambassador badge book is walks you through step by step the process it takes to complete and earn a badge. This gave me an idea of how to set up my patch requirements for each age level and I was able to find a website that enabled me to order or design my own patches.


Mezzaroba, Isabella, Nia Godwin, and Haley Arici, comps. Ambassador Troop #97234. 29

Jan. 2015.


I have been a girl scout for 12 years. During this time I have made a lot of friends, all of whom have supported me in any endeavors that I have had prior to this capstone idea. We’ve planned to teach at patch programs before for younger girls but we have never been left in charge to plan the actual program itself. From my experience teaching at these patch programs, I know that I’m going to need to enlist the help of my fellow girl scouts to set up, clean up, gather the girls, run different activities, etc. I can’t handle 44 first graders on my own for two hours straight. These three girls have agreed to help me when the time comes to carry out my event.  


"Nature, Science, and Health: Women's Health." Interest Projects: For Girls 11-17. New York:

Girl Scouts of the United States of America, 1997. 82-83. Print.


Peanut/Nut‐Free Snack List. Ohio: Buckeye Valley K12, n.d. PDF.

<http://www.buckeyevalley.k12.oh.us/docs/Peanut%20Free%20Snack%20List.pdf>.


One of the skill builders in my patch requirements is to learn about a healthy snack and

then try it. This is one of the experiences that I will be giving these girls during the event. Some of the girls in each troop are allergic to peanut butter so in order to ensure that everyone can get a healthy snack that provides protein, salt, and carbs, I researched different healthy snacks that don’t catin any peanut butter. This PDF is from a school district in Ohio and it lists the nut-free snacks that the school provides its children. This gave me the idea of giving the girls cheese sticks and pretzels.


Perry, Marc, CSCS, CPT. "Best Full-Body Stretch Before You Work Out." The Huffington

Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc, 10 Aug. 2013. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/builtlean/full-body-stretch_b_4042604.html>.


I have used the Huffington Post when conducting research for english papers and other various assignments. I find that popular news papers like this one tend to be filled with reliable information. In this article, I learned about different full body stretches to do before a workout. This source not only provided me with ideas on how to stretch at the beginning of a workout, but it told me that dynamic stretching is a lot better for your body before a workout as opposed to static stretching. It also explains that dynamic stretching moves full groups of muscles at a time to get the moving.


"Practice with Purpose."Junior: The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting. N.p.: Girl Scouts of the USA,

n.d. N. pag. Print.


Printable 5-4-3-2-1 Workout…Cardio and Strength! 2012. Fit Fab Cities. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.

<http://www.fitfabcities.com/2012/01/17/printable-5-4-3-2-1-workout-cardio-and-weight

s/>.


Senior: The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting. N.p.: Girl Scouts of the USA, 2011. Print.


Shaffer, Alyssa. "Stretch for Greater Flexibility." Fitness Magazine. Meredith Corporation, n.d.

Web. 29 Jan. 2015. <http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/yoga/poses/stretching-tight-muscles/>.


Sindoni, Barb. "Creating a Girl Scout Patch Program: Planning." Personal interview. 27 Jan.

2015.


I have known Barb Sindoni for about 9 years and she’s been a girl scout leader for close

to 30. Her knowledge on the ways of scouting is far beyond anything I have experienced in my 12 years of girl scouting. I picked Barb Sindoni to be my mentor for my Capstone as well. She really knows her stuff when it comes to girl scout protocol and has a lot of experience with dealing with girls of all ages and planning events for them. I sat down with her in a meeting this past week and we discussed the next steps of my project. She provided me with useful tips and information on where to take my project from here.


"Sports & Fitness - #60858 Fitness Is Fun." Joycrest. Joycrest, Inc, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015.

<https://www.joycrest.com/?page=stock&action=patch&id=2459&sess_id=cb4icp0saof

jo109j2d5v6as12>.


Joycrest is the website I will be using to order my patches once my patch program is over. Every girl who participates will receive one patch that I have specially chose for my event. I know a lot of people who have used this website before and when I began asking where I can find a place to get patches, Joycrest kept popping up. This source gives me a wide array of categories to choose from when picking a patch. I can order in bulk and the price changes for each patch depending on how many I order at a time. This is a great resource to get the rewards that my hardworking girls will deserve. This website also allows me to personally customize any patch of my choosing.


"Sports and Recreation: On the Playing Field." Interest Projects: For Girls 11-17. New York:

Girl Scouts of the United States of America, 1997. 164-65. Print.


"Sports and Recreation: Sports for Life." Interest Projects: For Girls 11-17. New York: Girl

Scouts of the United States of America, 1997. 176-77. Print.


"Staying Fit."Junior: The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting. N.p.: Girl Scouts of the USA,

n.d. N. pag. Print.


"The World of Well-Being: Sports." Girl Scout Badges and Signs. New York: Girl Scouts of the

United States of America, 1990. 44-45. Print.


"Top 25 At-Home Exercises." ACE Fitness. The American Council on Exercise, n.d. Web. 29

Jan. 2015. <http://www.acefitness.org/acefit/fitness-programs-article/2863/Top-25-At-Home-Exerc

ises/>.
Tags: Echols, Capstone 2015
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Melanie Harrington Q3 Art Portfolio

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Art Advanced - Hull - a2 on Friday, April 10, 2015 at 9:36 pm
As an artist I try really hard to use the art to my advantage. Art for me is very therapeutic and I especially enjoy painting. This quarter, the only thing I had the chance to work on was a self portrait painted with india ink due to personal absences from school. Each time I visited the art room I noticed a difference in my mood. Art makes me feel alive and it takes away my stress.Throughout my art I try to show how I am feeling, whether that' scribbling on a piece of paper, or writing song lyrics down, or even using calming brush strokes to complete a painting. I enjoy being part of this two day a week art class and look forward to pieces that we will be working on in this upcoming and final quarter of the year. 
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Melanie Harrington: MP 2 Art Portfolio

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Art Advanced - Hull - a2 on Thursday, January 29, 2015 at 1:28 pm
As an artist, I always try to create pieces that I know I will enjoy. As part of my process, I always make it a point to carefully think about the subject matter I will be working with. The artwork in this portfolio highlights the child within me and I think it is important to acknowledge our old selves and how we once had very imaginative minds. My old self fueled my creativity whenever I created a piece this quarter.
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Melanie Harrington Q2 Art Portfolio

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Art - Senior Art - Hull - E on Thursday, January 29, 2015 at 1:25 pm
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As an artist, I always try to create pieces that I know I will enjoy. As part of my process, I always make it a point to carefully think about the subject matter I will be working with. The artwork in this portfolio highlights the child within me and I think it is important to acknowledge our old selves and how we once had very imaginative minds. My old self fueled my creativity whenever I created a piece this quarter.


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Melanie's Q1 Art Portfolio

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Art - Senior Art - Hull - E on Friday, November 14, 2014 at 5:11 pm
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Meme

Posted by Melanie Harrington in English 3 - Rami - E on Friday, November 8, 2013 at 2:03 pm
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Screen shot 2013-11-08 at 3.01.47 PM
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To Kill a Mockingbird Book Review

Posted by Melanie Harrington in English 3 - Rami - E on Friday, October 25, 2013 at 12:34 am
Screen shot 2013-10-25 at 12.25.11 AM
Screen shot 2013-10-25 at 12.25.11 AM

Melanie Harrington Q1

Earth Stream

To Kill a Mockingbird Book Review

Harper Lee’s compelling classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, forever touches the hearts and minds of those who read it. Harper Lee created a thought provoking world that would not soon be forgotten. While the genre may be fiction, the book is anything but. It still remains today to be one of the best books ever written and over 30 million copies have been sold worldwide since its publishing date in July of 1960. Upon it’s release it generated a lot of controversy and uproars among its readers. A few aspects of the book are perceived to have come from Lee’s experiences and life in her hometown, Monroeville, Alabama. To Kill a Mockingbird is the only piece of writing she ever published.  It is amazing how someone’s first and only book turned into a worldwide best seller, won the Pulitzer Prize and several other awards and was adapted into an Oscar Award winning movie. To Kill a Mockingbird is still taught in classrooms across the nation today.


Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. Lee developed an interest in writing and literature during her high school years. When she graduated in 1944 she attended the all-female Huntingdon College in Montgomery. Unlike many of the girls who attended, Lee focused less on fashion and boys and more on her studies and writing. It wasn’t until after she transferred to the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and enrolled in a law program that she took all of her focus away from writing, when she finally confessed to her family that it was her true calling. Soon after, at twenty-three years old, Lee dropped her law studies and moved to New York City to follow her dreams. With the help and financial support from new founded friends, Lee finished her manuscript of To Kill a Mockingbird in 1959.


This mind blowing novel follows the life of a family living in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. The world may be changing but Maycomb is in no hurry. Racism and gossip are prevalent in this small town. An innocent black man is put on trial by the word of a white man and Atticus Finch, lawyer and single father of two kids, is put on the case. Atticus faces the scrutiny of the town and his family for openly defending a black man and the choices he makes when raising his children. Jean Louise “Scout” Finch takes us through her early years and the events that all add up to the trial, all the while opening our eyes to the many themes brought up in the book.


To Kill a Mockingbird is not based on any one topic in particular. Every event undergone by Scout and her brother, Jem, bring up a new theme for discussion. Childhood, parenthood, innocence, justice, social norms and racism are a few that recur throughout the novel.  Every theme is interconnected and the transitions are flawless.


Society is ever changing. All of the unspoken rules we abide by without question are created and upheld by society. Face forward in an elevator, not back, bring a gift to the host or hostess, don’t take your shoes off unless you’re at home, call before you show up, fill up the gas tank before you return a borrowed car. We follow these rules every day and don’t even realize it. It just comes naturally to us because it’s the way we were brought up. We watched others do these things and assumed we had to as well.


Society and it’s norms force us to do one of two things. The first is to conform into society’s ideal person. This means following all the rules, spoken and unspoken, following trends in style and technology, making sure that you meet every standard and resemble every other person around you, in every aspect, in order to fit in. The second thing society forces us to do is break away and rebel on our own. This means standing alone, being different, and not following the set rules and guidelines to life.


Throughout the book society has an impact on the way people present themselves. Atticus, the wise and very observant lawyer, sees the flaws in the way society is made up but can not speak up about it because it would be frowned upon greatly. The choices he makes when raising his kids are scrutinized by the entire town and speaking out would only cause more trouble. Scout is in a constant battle of fitting her aunt’s idea of a perfect lady. Even Boo Radley, the town shut in, battles with fitting in on a daily basis. On the other hand, the Ewells, the sleaziest white family in Maycomb, actively rebel against society. The children run wild, they don’t go to school, aren’t polite and collect free money like a shelf collecting dust. They refuse to be a part of the black and white sea that is society and instead prefer to make a sea all of their own.


To Kill a Mockingbird is recommended to anyone looking for a good historical fiction or drama book or someone who is interested in one of the topics listed above. Considering there is some mature content throughout the book it is not recommended that children who are not mature enough to handle it read it. Do not force yourself to read this book if you are uninterested. It will ruin your reading experience. Come back when you grow a little older and see how you like it. You won’t ever regret picking up this book if you do and the life lessons will stay with you forever.


Title: To Kill a Mockingbird

Author: Harper Lee

Publisher: J. B. Lippincott

Date of publication: 1960

Number of pages: 384

Genre: historical fiction, drama, suspense, legal


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“Murió poeta colombiano Álvaro Mutis”

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 3 - Bey - A on Wednesday, October 2, 2013 at 9:36 pm
Melanie Harrington                                                                                                                        Q1

Don Marcos

“Murió poeta colombiano Álvaro Mutis”

En lunes 23 de septiembre, Álvaro Mutis, un escritor y una poeta, murió. Tenías noventa años. Fue el más grande escritor y poeta de su generación. Él nacido en Bogotá en 1923 y fue un hijo de diplomático. Él comenzaba su labor literaria en “El Espectador”, un diario en el capital colombiana. Mutis escribía las críticas de las poemas en el diario. Él publicó su primer libro de poemas en 1947. En 1956 él fue acusado de abusar de fundos en la petrolera “Esso” y se mudó a México. Él escribió un libro sobre las acusaciones. Mutis tenía muchos buenos amigos y hablaba a los escritores famoso. Él ganó muchos premios también para sus poemas y cuentas. Álvaro Mutis es un escritor talentoso.

Yo escogí este artículo porque yo no sabo muchos escritorios hispánico y yo pensé este artículo fue muy interesante. Yo aprendí mucho sobre la vida de Álvaro Mutis y sus literatura. Yo también aprendí que es posible para las personas a ser exiliado de un país. Me gusta este artículo mucho porque yo penso Álvaro Mutis es un persona interesante, talentoso y inteligente. Cuando yo leí este artículo, yo pensé sobre todas los autores y escritores en el mundo y cuántas personas leen sus literatura. El vocabulario nuevo que aprendí es la petrolera, ganar, el premio, exiliado y comenzar.


Word Count: 221


"Murió poeta colombiano Álvaro Mutis." Ponte Al Día. N.p., 23 Sep 2013. Web. 30 Sep 2013. <http://www.pontealdia.com/america-latina/murio-poeta-colombiano-alvaro-mutis.html>.


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“Eventos culturales en Philly”

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 3 - Bey - A on Monday, September 30, 2013 at 8:24 am

Melanie Harrington Q1

Don Marcos

“Eventos culturales en Philly”

En domingo 15 de septiembre, el Consulado de México en Filadelfia y el Centro Cultural Mexicano invitaron los gentes de la ciudad a participar en “Grito de Independencia.” La celebración estaba en la gran plaza de Penn’s Landing. Los asistentes disfrutaron un día de comida y música tradicional.  En sábado 21 de septiembre en la Theatro de Arden, la comedia de Indira Paez, “Mujeres de par en par”, entregó por primera vez en Filadelfia. La comedia está sobre la sexualidad y los sentimientos de cinco mujeres. También en sábado 21 de septiembre, “El yunque” celebró riqueza cultural en gala de ‘Concilio’. El yunque está el símbolo del evento. El objetivo de la celebración para informar los jóvenes sobre el orgullo cultural. En jueves 26 de septiembre, los gentes celebraron la semana puertorriqueña en Filadelfia. El obispo auxiliar de la Arquidiócesis de Rockville Center, Nelson J. Pérez, conductió  una misa religiosa en la catedral basílica de San Pedro y San Pablo.

Yo escogí este artículo porque es muy interesante. Yo no sabía sobre estos celebraciones o la existencia de la semana puertorriqueña. Yo aprendí que hay un pájaro llama el yunque y todos culturas tienen los jóvenes que necesitan recordarse de sus culturas y tradiciones. Estos celebraciones recodan me de la festival Italiano. Esta festival celebra los tradicionales y el patrimonio Italiano. Yo pienso que cada cultura necesita se celebra. Yo aprendí  dos palabras nuevas; la misa y disfrutar.


Word Count: 238


" Eventos culturales en Philly (sept. 15 - 26)." Ponte Al Día. N.p., 10 Sep 2013. Web. 27 Sep 2013. <http://www.pontealdia.com/philadelphia/eventos-culturales-en-philly-septiembre-15-26.html>.


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Humanities Final Portfolio 2013

Posted by Melanie Harrington in English 2 - Block on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 12:01 pm

Throughout the year, in both my English and History classes, we did very deep exploring into different topics that may be confusing and taboo in real life. By this I mean that people find them hard to talk about or deal with straightforward. Through this exploring I was able to come up with a few general concepts that I think are very important and have helped me improve my learning throughout the year. These two statements are, “reflection allows you to connect with the thoughts and feelings of others and gives you a better understanding of different perspectives” and “when challenging yourself you are bettering yourself.” My experiences connected with these statements have not only allowed me to grow and challenge myself academically, but they have allowed me to start growing and changing as a human being. These are two lessons that I will carry with me throughout my life and I will fall back on them when I am dealing with a real world situation.

There is a lot of evidence throughout the year of me applying those two statements to my work in both English and History. Those two concepts came into play in almost every lesson and activity that we have done. This year, in English especially, I have challenged myself in multiple ways in order to produce high quality work. I’m not very good at expressing myself in my writing because it’s hard for me to bare my soul on a piece of paper and have it out there for anyone to read. However, this year I have made my best effort to put a piece of me into everything that I have written. By doing this I have not only made my writing something worth reading, but I have bettered myself by learning how to be more open about myself and trustworthy. The first example of me applying this skill to my work would be our first journal entry of the year. It was called “I know something about...” I was very scared of writing this and when I wrote it I was in a very dark place at the time. I had never displayed myself like the way I do in this journal entry before. At the time I wasn’t ready to show anybody or talk about it, so I folded the page down so my teacher couldn’t read it. But now I’m ready for people to see.

I found comfort in my classes and eventually was able to be more upfront about the way I was feeling and the things I was dealing with and soon applied them in my writing. My english class became a form of release for me. When we started our Descriptive Scenes and Essays unit, the class was asked to write an essay incorporating a descriptive scene we had written earlier. I titled it “Poor Unfortunate Souls” and in it I wrote, “It all spiraled out of control from there. It was like I was stuck in a never ending freefall, and every time I thought it was over I would fall again.” I felt like this was the first thing I had ever contributed to the world. It took a lot of thought and a decent amount of time to write it and when I was finished the class was instructed to post it onto our english class's public blog. I was really proud of being able to say that I wrote this essay.

During our Poetry unit in english, we learned about different types of poems and how to analyze them. Every student in the class was then asked to create a poetry wiki page of their own. On this page we had to create our own poems using the style of poems we had learned about in class. We also had to research a poet and do a report about how we can connect the type of person the poet was to the way they wrote. “To me a poem doesn’t have to be obvious to be meaningful. Your poem must leave something up for the reader to interpret and come to their own conclusions about.” Poetry has never been one of my strong areas of writing, but this project really helped me learn how to express myself in ways that I have never experienced before. Poetry can be anything, mean anything, and be seen in different ways by different people. That’s what’s so great about it. Anyone who reads a poem will be able to connect to it in some way because we all interpret things differently.

Most of the time when I challenged myself it was on an English assignment and I was challenging myself to express how I felt and to show the real me. But most of the thinking I did in both classes was reflecting about different events in history and different experiences of people from a vast amount backgrounds. In english we did some reflecting after reading and analyzing a book or text. Upon finishing the book Night by Elie Wiesel, we were asked to write a reflection on our thoughts about the book and it’s meaning. In my reflection I wrote, “Remembrance keeps people alive in spirit and forgetting them makes them disappear forever. Forgetting about horrible and tragic events helps heal you and puts the past behind you.” When a person is asked to reflect on something, it gives them the opportunity to think long and hard about the thing they have just experienced and whether or not they can relate to it or not. In this case, by reflecting on two quotes by Elie Wiesel, I was able to understand the points he was making and connect with the way he felt about what he was talking about.

As I mentioned before, our class held a lot of thought provoking conversations about taboo topics that one wouldn’t have in a normal conversation or even think very much about. In our sixth english journal we had to respond to the question “Why do humans treat each other badly?” At first I thought it was kind of an odd question. This question only looks on the negative side of things and implies that most humans treat each other badly. But the more I thought about it the more I was able to understand that in fact most humans do treat each other badly. I could see why someone might ask this question because a lot of things that go on in the world today are violent and cruel. One of the problems is a lack of understanding about different cultures. In this journal entry I wrote, ““Things like race, religion, language and all the other barriers...” I referred to these things as barriers because they are one of the main reasons why there is still so much cruelty in the world today. This journal got me really thinking about a topic that is happening globally each and every day and by thinking about it, it opened my mind to solutions and the feelings of those who are treated badly.

During our Revolutions unit in history class this year we learned about different types of revolutions throughout history and discussed how revolution still exists today around the world. Throughout the unit we completed several interactive activities such as a role play of different people/roles from the French Revolution and a video made with a partner about the Arab Spring. Upon the closing of the unit, the class was instructed to write a response about what we had learned about revolutions. In my Revolution Final Thoughts I talked about how different aspects of a revolution were evident in the French Revolution and the Arab Spring. I feel as though by writing this response I was able to fully understand what a revolution was and make connections between events in time based off of the expectations of a revolution.

Although I have created a lot of great work this year in both English and History, I feel like the pieces of work I have explained above are the best and fully relate to the concepts of “reflection allows you to connect with the thoughts and feelings of others and gives you a better understanding of different perspectives”, and “when challenging yourself you are bettering yourself.” Theses two concepts have pulled me through both of my classes and have been the main structure for almost every piece of writing I have written this year.


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English Journal #1: I Know Something About...

Posted by Melanie Harrington in English 2 - Block on Monday, June 10, 2013 at 11:06 pm
I know something about feeling so low you can't feel anything at all. I sort of kinda talked about it in my "English B" piece, but I didn't really explain it. Imagine that everyday you wake up and all day you have comments and insults and just real ignorant things thrown at you from various people. The numbness starts in your stomach and spreads, to your arms, chest, hands, face. Your eyes start to sting and it takes everything you have not to cry. All day, every day, this. You go home and it doesn't get any better. So you go to your room and have a complete break down. No food, no homework, no anything. You fall asleep and wake up and do it all over again. Your parents start to notice things, but then maybe they don't, and them finding out is the scariest thing ever. 
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English Journal #6

Posted by Melanie Harrington in English 2 - Block on Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 9:08 am
​Why do humans treat each other badly?
Humans treat each other badly because we isolate people and put them into categories. Everyone outside of your group is different and therefore not likable in most cases. The people in all of the groups have babies and raise them to believe in the same things and act the same way. 


What different things change this cycle of negative behavior towards each other?
Rebellion. If more children rebell against their parents they are breaking away from these groups. As you can see, little kids have no care in the world about who they hang out and play with. Things like race, religion, language and all the other barriers that separate us don't mean a thing to them. We could learn a thing or two from them. 
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History Journal #29: "The Somebodies"

Posted by Melanie Harrington in English 2 - Block on Thursday, May 23, 2013 at 9:01 am
"The Somebodies"
The somebodies
The somebodies are not blind
Blind to the fact that there are nobodies.
Nobodies are powerless
Powerless does not inclue the somebodies.
Somebodies have power
Power is money
Money does not grow everywhere
Everywhere like places in other countries
Countries where countless people are forgotten
Forgotten by the somebodies, everybody
Everybody that is a somebody. 
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Crossing Boundaries Podcast

Posted by Melanie Harrington in English 2 - Block on Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 7:55 pm
​I interviewed my mom about the boundaries of being a teacher. 
Crossing Boundaries Interview 2
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Language Autobiography 2013: The Wonderful Sounds of Humans

Posted by Melanie Harrington in English 2 - Block on Monday, January 14, 2013 at 10:00 pm

During this unit in our English class, we learned about the different aspects of language and how it is perceived through the ears of different people. To prepare us for writing our own language autobiographies, we read short stories written by authors who shared their personal experiences and views on language. Our class brainstormed ideas about the different ideas, issues, and themes related to language and were asked to pick a topic to analyze and write about our own experiences related to it. I decided to write about accents and how they make us unique.


Growing up as people in today’s world, we all go through phases. These phases can be anything from bad habits to following trends. They don’t always have a big impact on our lives as some others might, but all phases still leave a mark; memories, feelings, a new way of thinking. No matter how old or forgotten the phase is, it still makes itself present in times of anger, passion, and stress. Sometimes the recurrence is involuntary, but it’s something that stays with people no matter how old they become in their life. One of these marks are accents. No two people speak the same and everyone possesses an accent. Accents are what make us unique and separate us from each other. They give people a sense of where you’re from, where you grew up, your ethnic background, and so on. They way you speak tells a person something about you.

As a child I developed a very strong and drawn out South Philadelphia accent. It was so strong that some thought I was from New York or Columbia. I always thought it was strange. How could one possibly think I was from Columbia?, I thought.  I don’t sound any different from the rest of you. I was apparently wrong. I would draw out my vowel sounds and pronounce words in a way that was foreign to those I was going to school with at the time. However, it appeared to be simple and natural to me. I had changed schools quite a bit during my time spent in elementary school. The first two schools I attended were in my neighborhood in walking distance, so everyone spoke the same. We all grew up in South Philadelphia. We all drew out our vowel sounds and spoke in a way that was easy to understand if you were one of us. It wasn’t until I started going to school farther away from home that I realized I spoke funny.

“Okay now what’s the thing that you color with that’s made out of wax,” my friend Elyse asked me while we were sitting at recess one day. “A crown,” I replied, a little confused as to why she would ask me this. She laughed and corrected me, “It’s crayon. Okay now what do you dry yourself with after you take a shower?” “A tail.” “It’s a towel,” she exclaimed rather loudly, catching the attention of some of our other friends that were sitting with us. It went on like that for the rest of recess, question upon question of how to pronounce words and the turning heads of my peers so they can all listen in on the girl who talked funny. I saw the slight grins and heard the snickers come and go every now and then. Others joined in the questioning while others laughed every time I opened my mouth.  In my mind, talk was tawk, walk was wawk, bathroom was beathroom, water was wudder, and so on and so forth.

I was moved to a different part of the city for my schooling and wound up having to learn a whole new dialect of the language that I thought I spoke correctly. It’s just about the same thing for people who move to different countries. When learning a second language, or even moving to a new country, people will always take their accents with them. Their accents can lead to impediments that may take a short time or a long time depending on how well you learn the language. Even though a person may be a fast learner and pick up things fairly quickly, the dialect and slang can be completely different, depending on what part of the country you are living in. Therefore, making it more challenging and extremely difficult to become fluent in the new language.

While learning a new language, a person may experience moments of frustration, particularly when unable to pronounce a certain word or phrase. This can lead to confusion and insult, though most times without intention. The process of learning a new language often takes longer to learn and acquire because of the difficulty of foreign pronunciations. Those learning how to perfect their way of speaking may receive negativity or ridicule during that process because of their ever developing and improving pronunciation skills.

In Gloria Anzaldúa’s story, How to Tame a Wild Tongue, she says, “I remember being sent to the corner of the classroom for “talking back” to the Anglo teacher when all I was trying to do was tell her how to pronounce my name. ‘If you want to be American, speak ‘American’. If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong.’” In order to be able to survive in a new country or environment, you must learn to adapt to the language. Almost all Americans, who were born here, don’t speak with a foreign accent from a different country. It can sometimes be very obvious and easy to identify when someone is from a different country. If you can not adapt to the language and way of speaking, it is assumed that you are ignorant and unintelligent. It looks as if you are ungrateful to be in a place if you can not learn to talk in a way that is ‘normal’ for your peers. Some, like Anzaldúa’s teacher, take it as an insult.

I still find myself slipping up and relapsing back into my outgrown South Philadelphia accent. This goes for everyone. They way you speak is part of your way of life. It doesn’t just magically disappear no matter how many times it changes, twists or turns. No matter how many languages or dialects you speak, your native tongue always has a way of finding you and making itself known. I guess what they say is true, old habits really do die hard.


Anzaldua, Gloria. Borderlands/La Frontera. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books, 1999. Print.

LangAuto Q2 BM from Melanie Harrington on Vimeo.

Tags: "English, Language
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Language Autobiography 2013: The Wonderful Sounds of Humans

Posted by Melanie Harrington on Monday, January 14, 2013 at 9:58 pm

During this unit in our English class, we learned about the different aspects of language and how it is perceived through the ears of different people. To prepare us for writing our own language autobiographies, we read short stories written by authors who shared their personal experiences and views on language. Our class brainstormed ideas about the different ideas, issues, and themes related to language and were asked to pick a topic to analyze and write about our own experiences related to it. I decided to write about accents and how they make us unique.


Growing up as people in today’s world, we all go through phases. These phases can be anything from bad habits to following trends. They don’t always have a big impact on our lives as some others might, but all phases still leave a mark; memories, feelings, a new way of thinking. No matter how old or forgotten the phase is, it still makes itself present in times of anger, passion, and stress. Sometimes the recurrence is involuntary, but it’s something that stays with people no matter how old they become in their life. One of these marks are accents. No two people speak the same and everyone possesses an accent. Accents are what make us unique and separate us from each other. They give people a sense of where you’re from, where you grew up, your ethnic background, and so on. They way you speak tells a person something about you.

As a child I developed a very strong and drawn out South Philadelphia accent. It was so strong that some thought I was from New York or Columbia. I always thought it was strange. How could one possibly think I was from Columbia?, I thought.  I don’t sound any different from the rest of you. I was apparently wrong. I would draw out my vowel sounds and pronounce words in a way that was foreign to those I was going to school with at the time. However, it appeared to be simple and natural to me. I had changed schools quite a bit during my time spent in elementary school. The first two schools I attended were in my neighborhood in walking distance, so everyone spoke the same. We all grew up in South Philadelphia. We all drew out our vowel sounds and spoke in a way that was easy to understand if you were one of us. It wasn’t until I started going to school farther away from home that I realized I spoke funny.

“Okay now what’s the thing that you color with that’s made out of wax,” my friend Elyse asked me while we were sitting at recess one day. “A crown,” I replied, a little confused as to why she would ask me this. She laughed and corrected me, “It’s crayon. Okay now what do you dry yourself with after you take a shower?” “A tail.” “It’s a towel,” she exclaimed rather loudly, catching the attention of some of our other friends that were sitting with us. It went on like that for the rest of recess, question upon question of how to pronounce words and the turning heads of my peers so they can all listen in on the girl who talked funny. I saw the slight grins and heard the snickers come and go every now and then. Others joined in the questioning while others laughed every time I opened my mouth.  In my mind, talk was tawk, walk was wawk, bathroom was beathroom, water was wudder, and so on and so forth.

I was moved to a different part of the city for my schooling and wound up having to learn a whole new dialect of the language that I thought I spoke correctly. It’s just about the same thing for people who move to different countries. When learning a second language, or even moving to a new country, people will always take their accents with them. Their accents can lead to impediments that may take a short time or a long time depending on how well you learn the language. Even though a person may be a fast learner and pick up things fairly quickly, the dialect and slang can be completely different, depending on what part of the country you are living in. Therefore, making it more challenging and extremely difficult to become fluent in the new language.

While learning a new language, a person may experience moments of frustration, particularly when unable to pronounce a certain word or phrase. This can lead to confusion and insult, though most times without intention. The process of learning a new language often takes longer to learn and acquire because of the difficulty of foreign pronunciations. Those learning how to perfect their way of speaking may receive negativity or ridicule during that process because of their ever developing and improving pronunciation skills.

In Gloria Anzaldúa’s story, How to Tame a Wild Tongue, she says, “I remember being sent to the corner of the classroom for “talking back” to the Anglo teacher when all I was trying to do was tell her how to pronounce my name. ‘If you want to be American, speak ‘American’. If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong.’” In order to be able to survive in a new country or environment, you must learn to adapt to the language. Almost all Americans, who were born here, don’t speak with a foreign accent from a different country. It can sometimes be very obvious and easy to identify when someone is from a different country. If you can not adapt to the language and way of speaking, it is assumed that you are ignorant and unintelligent. It looks as if you are ungrateful to be in a place if you can not learn to talk in a way that is ‘normal’ for your peers. Some, like Anzaldúa’s teacher, take it as an insult.

I still find myself slipping up and relapsing back into my outgrown South Philadelphia accent. This goes for everyone. They way you speak is part of your way of life. It doesn’t just magically disappear no matter how many times it changes, twists or turns. No matter how many languages or dialects you speak, your native tongue always has a way of finding you and making itself known. I guess what they say is true, old habits really do die hard.


Anzaldua, Gloria. Borderlands/La Frontera. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books, 1999. Print.

LangAuto Q2 BM from Melanie Harrington on Vimeo.

Tags: "English, Language
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Pipeline Monologue Project

Posted by Melanie Harrington in World History - Block on Saturday, October 20, 2012 at 9:10 pm
​Introduction
For our Benchmark project in my World History class, we had to create three monologues from different points of view related to the Keystone Pipeline. The Keystone Pipeline is a pipeline that will run from Western Canada to Texas to transport oil from tar sands. There’s a lot of debate and controversy as to whether or not the pipeline should be built. This class project was created to inform others about the pipeline and to give them a look at how the pipeline might affect different people. I wrote my monologues from the points of view of Earth, the pipeline itself, and Fred Hassel, a man who has been looking for a job for three years. Throughout my research I have learned that the pipeline will cost about $7 billion to build and will run about 1700 miles long. It will carry over 800,000 barrels of oil a day and run over the biggest aquifer on the continent. People who argue for it usually argue that it will provide jobs, it’s cheap, reliable, and abundant because they’re buying it from ‘friends’ and allies. On the other hand, people that argue against the pipeline are more concerned about the environment. They live in fear of leaks and spills.  Hopefully the project I will show to you both informs and interests you and gives you an idea about the affects a choice has on a wide variety of things.

Monologue #1 (Earth): Earth and the People That Hate It

(raining) I’m dying. Those are the words the human’s fear the most. They hear it from a loved one and they believe their world is falling apart. (sigh) They hear it from me and decide to ignore it. To carry on with their days as if they don’t see the signs. The tears I shed pour upon them in waves, creating tsunami tides that wash away loved ones; my children. The emptiness I feel has caused droughts. The anger and rage has boiled over to emit fires, erupt volcanoes, that destroy everything in their path. (sigh) I’m falling apart. I’m running high fevers. These fevers are melting the world. Yes, melting the world. Destroying animals. Pollution. That’s what is causing this. It has to be. If that isn’t enough they decided to build this eye sore that runs through North America, transporting the world’s dirtiest oil through the Nation and eventually to other countries, causing more pollution.  

(scowl) Stupid humans. Do they not see what they’re doing? I’ve treated them well haven’t I? The pain they cause me is unbearable. I can’t believe this. (yell) What have I done to make them hate me so much? (thunder and lightning) I’m their mother. I feed them and provide shelter and resources. And this is how they repay me? By destroying me? By destroying the life that inhabits me? (thunder and lightning) Their world is actually falling apart. (sigh) I’m falling apart.

(sounds determined) I should destroy the pipeline. I should teach them a lesson. I could just end this now. No oil would have to be transported anymore. I’ve heard what the protesters say, “It’s game over for the environment”. That means game over for me.

But...(sigh) I can’t. If I destroy it, the oil will just spread on the land. It’ll cause more damage. I’m stuck. (look down) (raining)


Monologue #2 (Pipeline): Story of My Life

(lying on the floor) (disgusted) Here I am. Sitting here in the dying grass on the land a farmer once owned. I knew it. (angry)I knew since the moment I was mined from the ground they were gonna ruin me. Silly little humans. Uprooting me and my family, separating and compressing us into perfect sheets of shiny brown metal, penetrating our outer skin with big dull screws that cause more pain than necessary. (scowl and grip the grass tightly) (release) It wasn’t until I was shipped to to Texas and bolted to a stranger that I realized they planned to run the dirtiest oil in the world through me. 800,000 barrels a day. (raises voice) (tighten fists around the grass while saying...) A day! (release grass) Do they have any idea what they have done? It’ll ruin me! (pause)

(eyes widen, voice becomes shaky) Oh no. No, No, No! Why? What if I end up like my friend? He was so worn out he burst and caused one of the largest oil spills in history. I’m going to be over worked I just know it. I can’t do anything about it. (looks down) I feel so helpless. I can’t even find my family. (looks up with sad eyes) I’ve even tried to play “whisper-down-the-lane” with other parts of the pipe in order to find them. They’re gone and now I’ll never be able to say good bye. Even if I don’t burst, what will happen when all the oil is gone? There would be no use for the pipeline. No use for me. (angry)They tore apart families for nothing. ( grab the grass again) Dug up whole towns and civilizations of precious metal to make a profit. (release grass) (sad) I guess now all there is left to do is sleep. (weakly) Goodnight.


Monologue Revised #3 (Fred Hassel): Desperate and in Need of a Job
(sad) So this is how it ends, huh? (rock side to side on rolly chair) Sitting alone in my office spinning on a rolly chair. No job, no money, near foreclosure. My family probably hates me. I have no idea why my wife hasn’t left me yet. It’s hopeless. There is no way to pay off our debt. (angry) I have no job! Haven’t had one for three years now! I should just...(eyes widen in excitement and smile) “Ohh, an email!”

Dear Mr. Fred Hassel, (mumble under breath like reading a letter to yourself) . …..................help.................pipeline............................welder..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................money(eyes widen in excitement)....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................(raise voice in disbelief and question)guaranteed job................



Sincerely,
TransCanada
(happily, smiling)) I can’t believe this! This is great! (excited) I can’t wait to tell the wife and kids. (types really fast on the computer)(yells) “Sweetie, come here. I have some great news!” (pause speaking. look over to your left) “Here, sit down, sit down.” (stop typing. look up in front of you)(take a deep breath and close your eyes) “I got offered a job. They saw my resume and want to hire me” (excited) “I know, I know! Isn’t it great? It’s so...(doubtful) well no I don’t really know when I start. Here I’ll explain it to you. So they decided to build this pipeline that runs from Western Canada all the way down to Texas, that will transport oil from the biggest tar sand in the world. Well they have this idea but no one to build it. So, they offered me a job as a welder to...” (pause) “Are you insane? Of course I’m going to take the job! I’d be stupid if I didn’t.” (pause) “No it’s nothing bad I promise. You have to trust me. We’ll be able to pay off our debt and send the kids to that nice school we were looking at.” (pause) (smile) “Yes I’ll even buy you that new pan that you wanted. The kind that you don’t have to grease before using.” (smile) “Thank you baby. I love you so much.” (close computer and stand up. hold out hand) “Come on lets go celebrate.” (walk off stage)


Appendix:
1)  Bill McKibben, an environmentalist, says that tapping into the tar sands will increase greenhouse gases. (PBS Newshour)
2) The tar sands are the 2nd largest pool of carbon on earth (PBS Newshour)
3) Carries about 800,000 barrels of oil a day (PBS Newshour)
4) The pipeline runs over the biggest water source on continent (PBS Newshour)
5) Joe Handson, a NASA Climate Scientist says that the pipeline will be “game over for the environment.” (PBS Newshour)
6) Over 400 protesters have been arrested (PBS Newshour)


Bibliography
perf. "Tar Sands Pipeline Plan Renews Energy vs. Environment Debate." PBS Newshour. N.p., 29 2011. web. 16 Oct 2012. <http://video.pbs.org/video/2110582932>.

"Tar Sands." Tar Sands. n. page. Print. <http://www.foe.org/projects/climate-and-energy/tar-sands>.

BILL , MCKIBBEN. "Three simple numbers that add up to global catastrophe - and that make clear who the real enemy is Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719

https://vimeo.com/51796645

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Quin eres t?: Mara Harrington

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 2 - Bey on Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at 8:25 pm
​https://vimeo.com/50644241
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Descriptive Essay: Poor Unfortunate Souls

Posted by Melanie Harrington in English 2 - Block on Friday, September 28, 2012 at 10:14 am
​

“I’m scared”, Trisha whispered to me as we stood on the side of the mountain, looking down at her brother, Josh, who was eagerly encouraging us to ride down. It was getting late. The wind was blowing, penetrating my gloves, chilling my hands to the bone, slightly harder than it was five minutes ago. “I’ll go with you” I promised, sounding just as terrified as she did. Giving eachother a look of understanding, we pushed off of the snow covered hill.

We’re going too fast! We’re going too fast! Those were the words that ran through my head as soon as we pushed off. I felt the wind nick at my face repeatedly. It felt like my face was being stretched and pulled apart. Josh’s laughing could be heard over the wind howling in my ears. Trisha fell and lost her ski polls as she slid down the hill, her skis popping off due to an emergency default setting. I kept going, screaming at the top of my lungs. Oh no...
My eyes grew wide and my screaming grew louder and more urgent as I saw the tree line approaching sooner than I would have liked it to. “Josh!” The sound was ripped out of my mouth by some unseen force and carried backwards towards the boy I had just passed, left standing on the bottom of the hill, dumbfounded, wondering what was going on.
BAM! I felt pressure on my legs. My vision grew dark spots and the breath was shoved out of my lungs. I laid face down on the snow covered gown, mouth open, unable to breathe. My vision returned and I flipped myself onto my back. Past the tall green tree tops, that seemed so far away, I could see the beautiful sky in the distance. Terrible thoughts ran through my head. Staring at the sky, the cold dampness seeping through my clothes, I laid there unable to move, wondering what was going to happen next. I grew tired, each blink seemed drawn out. For those few minutes I was at peace.

I realized that this moment was terribly beautiful. Even though I was injured and most likely would have died, fellow skiers kept passing by, simply overlooking me as if they couldn’t see the contrast between my bright blue snow jacket and orange helmet, and the white, icy ground. But at the same time I was, in a way, forced to see the world around me. This time I couldn’t get distracted and I couldn’t overlook things anymore the way that those skiers overlooked me. I had a real chance to actually see the world for what it was. I finally understood something. Terrible things happen everyday, and no one cares. The world in all it’s beauty carries on. The sun still shines and the rain still falls and people get up and get on with their lives everyday. Everything I once knew, everything I was taught since childhood was lost. I am alone. I have always been alone. It only took me up until now to realize it because I was so blinded by the ignorance of the world.

It all spiraled out of control from there. It was like I was stuck in a never ending freefall, and every time I thought it was over I would fall again. The feeling of helplessness and hopelessness consumed me most days. Little things started to get to me. I would cry a lot and I couldn’t take a joke anymore. I think everyone has those days where they just feel like nothing. They act like nothing and live the whole day in silence, simply consumed by their own thoughts. Terrible thoughts that eat away at your mind, telling you how worthless you are. You can’t escape. How do you outrun something that’s a part of you, something that you can’t control?
Each day is a struggle. Like a war between you and, well, yourself. Memories that you thought you had forgotten or never gave a second thought to suddenly flood back, and you become mortified even though you try and convince yourself that no one remembers. People go on with their lives and seem to forget you. It’s like you’re only here to be here. You’re here as a rock for other people, but as they become strong, they leave. It’s like waking up from a spell, cast by the world and people and influences around you. You don’t see things the way you were taught. There is no one answer anymore. Things become less clear, less ignorant, less narrow-minded. Unlike the people around you. They don’t see the way you do. You’re different now. An outcast. A simple organism in a vast sea of conformity. Everyone talks the same and acts the same and looks the same and pretends like they know what they’re talking about. But if you ever dare say something different, you are shunned and perceived from that day on as “rude” and “stupid” and my personal favorite, a “freak”.
We live in a world where “children don’t own opinions”. Where people are looked down on and bullied because they don’t “look right”, because someone’s idea of beauty weighs more than someone elses. Where you have to be skinny and wear the right clothes and have the right things, just like everyone else. People wonder why children kill themselves. No one really cares unless you’re pretty or dying. That’s just how it is, and that is sad. Very, very sad. Just the thought of someone slitting their wrists, skipping meals or even just consuming and doing things they shouldn’t feel the need to do, just to make up for the fact that they can’t “fit in” is sickening. We’re teaching kids that it’s okay to torment and attack other people because they’re different. If everyone was the same it would be a pretty boring world and even more conformed than it already is. When you tell someone that they’re ugly, fat, annoying, stupid, and/or any other type of insult, they will start to believe it. Because that doesn’t go away. If you feel the need to hurt someone, then maybe you should try and seek help of your own. That’s not a bad thing and I think both you and other people would benefit from your doing so. You can’t outrun your mind. You could try and ignore it and pretend it isn’t there, but in the end it has a way of ruining your life and reopening old wounds.
Depression can be triggered by many types of things and in many different forms. Most happen through traumatic experiences, just like the skiing accident I wasn’t so fortunate to experience. It’s like a domino effect. Once it’s triggered it never really passes. The dominos keep falling, knocking over one another as they go down. And the last domino to fall is you.
Tags: English
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Perfecta Casa de Ana: Melanie y Sieanna

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Sunday, June 3, 2012 at 10:25 pm
Está en Miami, Florida. La casa es moderna, median, y simple. Está cerca de la playa, la biblioteca pública y el parque porque de el perro.  Es perfecto para relajar y estudiar porque es muy tranquilo. Tiene dos cuartos y dos baños. Tiene un garaje para el carro y la motocicleta, un balcón leer,  y un estudio/biblioteca pequeña estudiar. Hay muchas ventanas. En la dos piso, hay la cuarto de Ana, la cuarto de invitado, y un baño. En la cuarto de Ana y su novia, hay una cama grande, dos ventanas, una lámpara, dos cómadas, un reloj, un guardaropa,  un teléfono y una cama para el perro. Está es grande y limpio. En la cuarto de invitado hay una ventana, dos lámparas, una cama median, una cómada, un reloj. El cuarto es madian y limpio. En la baño primero hay una ventana, un espejo, un dulche, un inodoro, una bañera, un lavamanos, cinco toallas, y un radio. Está es grande. En el balcón hay una sofá. El estudio es pequeña y muy, muy limpio porque Ana necesita enfocar. En el estudio hay un escritorio, una computadora, un teléfono, y estantes de libros. En la pisa primero, hay un estudio/biblioteca pequeña, un cocina grande, un comedor pequeña, y un baño pequeña. En el baño en el piso primero, hay un lavamanos, un inodoro y una toalla. Está limpo para los invitados. La cocina es grande porque ella gusta comer y cocinar. Hay una lavamanos grande, una nevera grande, un horno,  un lavaplatos, dos ventanas, una mesa median, dos sillas, un teléfono, siete gabinetes y una basura. El comedor es pequeña. En el comedor hay una mesa grande y ocho sillas. La sala es median y perfecto para invitados. Hay dos sofás, dos lámparas, una café mesa pequeña, un tele grande, dos ventanas grande y una puerta. El garaje es median y simple. Tiene un carro y una motocicleta.


1. Ana y su novia 
2. La casa 
3. La sala 
4. El estudio 
5.El baño en el piso primero 
6. El comedor 
7. La cocina 
8. El baño en el piso dos
9. El estudio en el piso dos 
10. El cuarto de invitados 
11. El cuarto de Ana y su novia 
12. El balcón 
13. El garaje 

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Tags: E1U9
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Mi casa

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Aquí mi casa. Mi casa es grande y adorable. Tiene una piscina grande. Tiene muchas flores y ventanas. No hay garaje. Está lejos del la casa de mis padres. 
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Negative Space

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Art - 9 - Hull on Friday, April 27, 2012 at 11:17 am
​A. What is negative space (explain this concept to a fourth grader that has never heard of it)

Negative space is the space an object does not occupy. It's also the outter shape of the object. 

B. Explain how you found negative space in 1. your cut out?, 2. in your stool drawing?

In my drawing I drew the out line of each object and erased the lines where they intersected. In my cut out I cut out the different layers of the bird and then I put every other layer on oposite sides of the paper. 

C. Why does it help an artist to see in negative space?

It gives them an idea of how to start and portray their artwork. 

D. Does seeing in negative space enhance drawings, why or why not

It enhances drawings because it gives you the basic shape of the drawing and it makes it easier for the viewer to identify what the picture is supposed to portray. 
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¡Perú es muy fantástico! Melanie y Jamelia

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Monday, April 16, 2012 at 9:36 am
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Screen Shot 2012-04-16 at 9.34.50 AM
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Food: Why does it matter?

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Museum Experience - Echols on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at 2:09 pm


Food matters because we need it to live. We eat it all the time. People eat it when they're bored, hungry (obviously), and when they get upset. Plus it will always be there for you. 
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La Parte 1: El Secreto de la Ardilla. Melanie y Bailey

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at 1:07 pm
Hay una familia en el parque de Filadelfia. Hay tres hermanos. La familia tiene no casa. La familia tiene una ardilla. Es una ardilla no inteligente. la ardilla es my importante. La ardilla tiene un secreto. La ardilla embarazada. La ardilla llora. La ardilla le dice al un hermano, "Mamacocha no visitar esto mes. Mamacocha va a destruir mi persona." Hay un problema. Es un problema grande. La ardilla le dice todos hermanos, "¿Sube el arbor más alta encontrar el papá de mi bebe?" La familia sube el arbor con la ardilla. 
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Melanie Harrington: "Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley. Music and Culture.

Posted by Melanie Harrington in English 1 - Kay on Friday, March 30, 2012 at 6:46 pm

Music and Culture

Music is a very important part of my life. It’s always been there for me to pull me back on my feet. Dancing is a very big part of my life as well and it’s one of the very big cultures I am apart of. You can’t have dance with no music. I mean you can, but it’ll be difficult to count and appear to be graceful and flowing. The song that I chose to write about for this assignment is called, “Suspicious Minds” by Elvis Presley. Not only is my uncle a big fan, but I also find his music quite enjoyable. This song plays a very important role in my dancing life this year. It’s the song we are going to dance to at our annual dance recital. The music itself is slow and flowing. The beat of the music helps the dancers to stay on track and count their steps. In the world of dance we count our steps in 8. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…and repeat.  It’s easy for the dancers to get into the song and actually feel it. Plus it’s really easy to choreograph a dance to this song because it’s not too fast nor is it slow and boring. It’s just the right speed for experienced dancers such as myself. 

Elvis Presley- Suspicious Minds
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Melanie and Jamelia's creepy gchat.

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Tuesday, March 27, 2012 at 1:36 pm
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Melanie Harrington

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 11:49 am
¡Hola! Mi nombre es Melanie. Tengo catorce años. Soy mucho inteligente. Es por eso que nunca estudio. Después de las clases, hago la tarea. Soy más o menos sociable. Es por eso que a veces paso un rato con amigos. Soy bastante activa. Así que siempre bilo. Soy tambien súper perezosa. Por la tanto cuando tengo tiempo libre, surfeo la red. 
Photo on 10-14-11 at 3.04 PM
Photo on 10-14-11 at 3.04 PM
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Human Trafficking

Posted by Melanie Harrington in English 1 - Kay on Friday, February 10, 2012 at 12:37 pm
MelanieHarrington
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Mi clases favoritas

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 8:26 pm
SLA es muy divertido y libre. Tenemos una biblioteca, un café, y chéveres profesores. Aprendemos mucho. Tenemos más o menos 500 estudiantes y más o menos 25 profesores. Estamos en Filadelfia, PA, 22 y Arch Calla. SLA es diferente. Parese gusta mi casa. Es mi familia.
Clase: Español
Professora: La Señorita Manuel
Actividades en la clase: cantamos, jugamos conectar 4, escribimos, y leemos cuentos
Responsibilidades: tomar apuntes, prestar atención, y participar 
Materiales: la carpeta, la computadora, un lápiz, y unas hojas de papel
Opinión: Me encanta porque es divertida y creativa
E1U4_Q2_BM Español1

Clase: Geometría
Profesora:
 La Señora Thopson
Actividades en la clase:
 trabajamos problemas y tomar pruebas
Responsibilidades:
 tomar apuntes, prestar atención, participar, trabajar duro, y estar preparada
Materiales:
 la carpeta, un lápiz, unas hojas de papel, y hojas de trabajo
Opinión:
 Me encanta porque es fácil y interesante

E1U4_Q2_BM Geometry
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Peer edits: Alex Held, Thomas Jeffcoat, Treavon Gray, Bailey Collins

Tags: E1U4, CralosHerrera
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Mis Seres Queridos

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 10:19 am
E1U3 Benchmark
Tags: CarlosHerrera, E1U3
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Christopher Drew

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 11:38 am
Él tiene el pelo mereno.
Él tiene los ojos marrones.
Él tiene un hermano menor y una hermana mayor.
Él tienen veinticinco.
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¡Hola Carlos!

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Querido Carlos, 
¡Hola! ¿Qué tal? Soy Melanie y tengo catorce años. Vivo en Filadelfia con mi familia. Es una ciudad bastante grande entre la ciudad de Nueva York y la capital. Es famoso por sus "cheesesteaks". It's diverso. La gente es muy culta. Se conoce como "La Ciudad de Amor Fraternal". Sebastian y Sean es mi hermanos y Mackenzie es mi hermana. Mackenzie es muy bonita. Soy la mayor. Mi cumpleaños es el ocho de Julio. Estoy muy cansado. ¿Y tu? Hace mucho mucho frio. ¿Qué tiempo hace en Maracaibo? 
Me encanta escuchar en musica y leer. Me encanta la banda Mayday Parade. Uf, no me gusta nada mainstream musica. Me gusta estar de vago con mi amigos y sufear la red.  ¿Y a ti? ¿Qué te gusta hacer en Maracaibo? ¿Qué música te gusta hacer? Qué te interesa? Soy muy intelegente y muy muy peresoza. Soy extraña y habladora. Soy más o menos bajo y morena. ¿Cómo eres?
Bueno, me voy porque tengo que tengo que ducharme. Espero conocerte alqún dia. Responde cuando puedas. ¡Adios!

Con cariño,
Melanie
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Tags: Venezuela, CarlosHerrera
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Melanie Harrington Q2 Media Fluency

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Technology - Hull on Monday, November 21, 2011 at 11:43 am
In my slide i made the title large so that the audience is drawn to it. Surrounding the slide are little "me"'s . I used repetition and designed the "me"'s to travel in a circles so that each me would lead into the next. Then, i wrote some words that described me. The end of each word lead the readers eyes right into the begining of the next one.
Melanie Slide
​After some thought and constructive criticism from my peers, I decided to make some changes to my slide. First off, I noticed that my picture was not aligned with anything in the slide, so I moved it over to aligne it with the green text box. When I moved my picture over, the words shifted so that "responsible" was overlapped with the "me's" on the side. I changed "responsible" to "dancer" so that it fit in the slide and all the words were about the same length. Also, I had to aligne "cat"  because it was off on it's alignement to the word "caring".  
Revised Melanie Slide
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¡Hola Ryan Renolds!

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Monday, November 14, 2011 at 7:54 pm
Se llama Ryan Renolds. Tiene trenta y cuatro años. Es de Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada pero vive en Beverly Hills, California. Él es muy, muy guapo y delgado. Es deportista y muy encantador y muy, muy talentoso. Le encanta practicar deportes y jugar videojuegos. No le gusta nada ir a la escuela ni cocinar. 
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Courtesy Phrases

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 5:57 pm
If you want to know about courtesy phrases in Español, then click this link to see my partner True's page.
http://www.scienceleadership.org/blog/Courtesy_Phrases:5
Tags: E1U1, Manuel, 2011, E1U1, Manuel, 2011
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Days of the Week

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 5:57 pm
The days of the week in Sapanish are never capitalized like they are in English and it always starts with Monday. Here are the days of the week in Español with their meaning and pronunceation: 

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You also need to know how to tell someone what today is, or what tomorrow will be if they ask. Here is how:
 

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Imagine your dad wanted to know what day today was and what tomorrow will be. You would need to know how to tell her the day of the week.
Movie on 10-26-11 at 12.23 PM #2
Tags: E1U1, Manuel, 2011, 2011, Manuel, E1U1
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What Time Is It?

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 5:56 pm
People may think that it's really difficult to learn how to ask and tell time in spanish,but in fact it's really simple.
First you need to know your numbers.

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Another thing you will need to know is how to tell time.

1:00- es la una (en punto)                    7:00- son las siete (en punto)
2:00- son las dos (en punto) 8:00- son las ocho (en punto)
3:00- son las tres (en punto)                 9:00- son las nueve (en punto)
4:00- son las cuatro (en punto) 10:00- son las diez (en punto)
5:00- son las cinco (en punto) 11:00- son las once (en punto)
6:00- son las seis (en punto) 12:00- son las doce (en punto)
  
                      12:00 AM- es la medianoche (it's midnight)
                      12:00 PM- es la mediodia (it's noon)


:05- y cinco           :45- menos cuarto
:15- y cuarto          :55- menos cinco

EX: 5:05- son las cinco y cinco
      5:15- son las cinco y cuarto
      5:45- son las seis menos cuarto
                          6   minus   15
      5:55- son las seis menos cinco
                          6   minus   5
       4:10- son las cuatro y diez
        8:20- son las ocho y veinte
       10:40- son las diez y cuarenta





...de la mañana (in the morning)   ...y cuarto (quarter after)        ...en punto (on the dot)
...de la tarde (in the afternoon)     ...menos cuarto (quarter of)
...de la noche (in the evening)      ...y media (half past)
Imagine you were stuck in Mexico and you needed to catch the next train out of there. Your train leaves at 1:00, but you don't know what time it is. You would have to ask someone what the current time is..
Movie on 10-26-11 at 12.10 PM
Tags: E1U1, Manuel, 2011, E1U1, Manuel, 2011
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Awesome Alfebeto

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 5:56 pm
Do you want to know your ABC's in Español?
"A B C, it's easy as one two three!"
Here is the Alphabet and how to prnounce the letters:



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There are some other things you need to know.
For Example:

v and b make the same sound: beh.
v= beh corta (small)
b= beh larga (big)

h is silent
hola (hello)= oh la

ll- two l's= j

ay= eye

i= eeee

j=h

n does not equal ñ
ñ= ny

ge= he
Imagine that your talking to a spanish speaking friend and they want to know how to spell a word in spanish. You would need to spel it out for them.
Movie on 10-26-11 at 12.03 PM
Tags: E1U1, Manuel, 2011, 2011, Manuel, E1U1
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Greetings and Goodbyes in Español

Posted by Melanie Harrington in Spanish 1 - Manuel on Friday, October 28, 2011 at 8:40 am
If you want to know more about saying hello and goodbye, then click here to see my partner True's page.


Tags: E1U1, Manuel, 2011, 2011, Manuel, E1U1
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