Final Reflection

1. What are the three most important things you learned this year?

  There have been so many things that I have learned from Mrs. Larson's lit and language arts class. I learned many new words. This has helped me improve my vocabulary but I do think that I should apply these new words in my writing. Another thing that I learned was how to embed quotes in my essays. I never knew that I had to cite the source in the essay. This is something I'll have to use in my writing for the rest of my life. Lastly, I learned that I actually do have potential. I never really saw it until being in Mrs. Larson's class. She challenges us because she sees that we can do so many great things.

2- What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life?

  The vocabulary that we have learned these past two years are ones that I will never forget. I never looked forward to vocabulary quizzes because I thought that it would be a waste of time. It clearly wasn't because I see myself using the words we have learned in my everyday life. Many other students can relate, too. It makes me really happy whenever someone uses a big word and I think, "hey, that was one of last weeks vocabulary words!"

3- What was the nicest thing someone in our class did for you this year?

   Everyone has treated me so nicely in this class. People always complimented my blog and drawings and whoever it was that I sat next to, we always had fun discussions. I remember last year when I came back from missing a week of school, I felt so out of place. It felt like no one really noticed until I went into Mrs. Larson's class. I was just standing awkwardly and Elenia came up to me and gave me a hug and asked me how I was. We weren't super close or anything but she always went out of her way to see how I was. She's a great person to talk to because you can talk about anything with her. We can go from a serious discussion to talking about a boy's eyebrows. I want to say thank you to her and everyone else in this class for making me feel happy this year.

4- What is something you taught your teacher of classmates this year?

  The only thing I can think of is that I taught Mrs. Larson how to add a favicon to her blog.

5- In what area do you feel you made your biggest improvements? What is something you accomplished this year that you are proud of?

  I've made huge improvement in my writing because I learned many different forms of it. There was argumentative writing, objective summaries, thematic essays, and so many more. I was able to get good grades in my essays so I'm proud of that. These are skills that will be important for me to know for the rest of my educational career.

6- What was the most challenging part of this year for you?

  The most challenging part of this year was managing my time. I always save my homework for the last minute but that wasn't really an option this year. With all the eighth grade events and my sister's senior events, there was always something going on after school. The way I was able to overcome this challenge was by doing part of my homework whenever I had free time during school. This way, I only had a bit of work left for home.

7- What was the best piece of writing that you did this year? Why do you think it was your best?

  There aren't any specific pieces that I would say are amazing but there were the occasional AoWs that I was proud of. I noticed that the write ups I did a good job on were the ones that I turned in early. For me, turning things early means I gave undivided attention to my work and was able to finish it in that time. If I gave myself until Thursday, I'll slack off and turn it in last minute, not putting my best effort.

8- Of the books you read this year, which was your favorite? Why?

   Of the many novels and short stories we read in the last two years, my favorite has been To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I think that one of the main reasons it was my favorite was that I actually understood it. Many of the short stories that we read were confusing for me to understand. To Kill A Mockingbird just has such an amazing storyline. It talked about real life issues like racism, all sorts of prejudice, and losing innocence. Something that made this novel unique to others I have read is that this book had a few main conflicts opposed to only one important one. This is a book that I will cherish for the rest of my life and I'm excited to read the sequel this summer.

9- What advice would you give to students who will be in this class next year?

   Many of the future students may be intimidated by this class because of its challenges. It is difficult but if you really but your best effort, you'll be okay. Time management is key in this class. We are assigned a blog post, article of the week, and vocabulary quiz each week. If you save all of the assignments and studying for Thursday night, you won't even learn. To prevent future stress for yourself, do one assignment each day. Another thing is that it is okay if you don't understand something. You will not understand everything in this class so make sure to ask questions. Asking questions doesn't make you dumb or make the teacher mad. Your teachers want to help you, it's part of their job to help you when you don't understand something. Lastly, have fun. We do really fun projects and have some hip celebrations every now and then. I became friends with some amazing people in this class and I'm sure that you will too.

Thank you Mrs. Larson and classmates! :-))

Tuesday's With Morrie: Final Project

Explain the aphorism in detail. What was Morrie's main message?

   The aphorism that I chose was, "Don't cling to things, because everything is impermanent." Morrie was referring to being detached. Detachment doesn't mean that you don't love or live that experience to the fullest, you actually let yourself fully experience it. Once you feel the emotions and everything that is part of it completely fulfills you, it is easier for you to let it go in the end. It is easy to let it go because you have finished that part of your life.

Relate the aphorism to a movie, song, historical event, current event, personal experience, etc. and explain in detail how the example you have chosen relates to the aphorism.

  I can't think of a specific thing that I can't relate this aphorism to but I can say that I find it inspiring when people live their life by this quote. I tend to cling on to things in my past. Even if I'm the one who ended things or lost things, I'm still so stuck in that moment. The worst part of it all is that I don't let it fulfill me either. From now on I will let embrace my memories and let them go.

Evaluate the aphorism by explaining why you agree/disagree with it. Give specific reasons for your position and specific evidence from the text to support your position.

   I do agree with the aphorism. There have been some amazing things and people in my life that I lost and I'm still not over them. I still think of these things constantly. Not only am I not letting it go, but I also didn't appreciate those times. As Morrie said, "I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion for a moment." This is the way I would like to live.

How To Switch Admins on Blogger

1. Open two different browsers, one with your eChalk blogger and one with your personal Gmail (if you don't have one, just make one)

The reason we do this is because you cannot have two Gmails open in one browser.

2. In your eChalk one, go into setting>basics

3. Where it says your eChalk name as an 'Admin', below you can invite an author. Click 'invite authors' and write down your personal Gmail.


4. In your personal Gmail, you should have received an email to become an 'author' on your school blogger. Accept and you are now an author.

5. Back in your eChalk email, refresh the settings page and your personal email should now be an author

6. Change your personal email to an Admin so once your eChalk account is deleted, you still own the blog.

Week of 4/27: Tuesdays with Morrie

  Of all the Tuesdays we have read so far, the second has been the most interesting to me. In this lesson he talk about feeling sorry for yourself. Often, when people hear the words, "stop feeling sorry for yourself" they believe that it's not okay to cry or mourn. Crying is such a misunderstood concept; it's okay to cry. It lets the emotions out and can help someone feel better. Like in Morrie's case, crying in the morning can help you enjoy the rest of your day. In the book he says how he mourns for himself in the mornings. "I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on all the good things still in my life." The rest of the day he is a busy with all the people who are visiting him. He is inspiring people and people are inspiring him. There are many good things in his life despite his situation.

  After reading this book, I will try to apply these things to my life. For this lesson, I will permit myself to cry if I really need it. Letting these emotions out will help my day go by a lot better because I am not busy with the sadness that is still in me. Not being distracted with negative thoughts will help me only see the positive things in my day and life.

Let yourself mourn

So you can spend the rest of your day happy

Week of 4/20: Tuesdays With Morrie

  Tuesdays with Morrie is a magnificent read for all age groups. I've read it before in fifth grade and did enjoy it but I believe I will really appreciate it more this time around. I used to read books just to say I read so many books but now I actually think about what I'm reading. There are a lot of lessons I didn't learn in the first time of reading Tuesdays With Morrie that I notice now.

  Morrie makes sure to live the life that he has left to the fullest. When Ted Koppel from Nightline speaks to Morrie, Morrie says, "When all this started, I asked myself, 'Am I going to withdraw from the world, like most people do, or am I going to live?' I decided that I'm going to live-or at least try to live-the way I want, with dignity, with courage, with humor, with composure." Even after being diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) he is still trying to live life to the fullest. The disease is eating away at his everyday functions yet he isn't feeling bad for himself. In the book Mitch states, "I was astonished by his complete lack of self-pity." Morrie could no longer do his favorite things such as dancing or swimming or even do simple tasks like rolling over in bed and he struggled to eat but there he is. Morrie is teaching people lessons right from his wheelchair.

I think bucket lists are fun to make because it's just all the things you plan to do. I have a lot of things I would like to do in the future. The future seems fun when I make these lists but sometimes they sadden me because what if I can't do it all? I know I won't be able to do all of them and from the things I can do, I will live them to the fullest.

My Bucket List

Life is Beautiful

Based on the Holocaust literature and poetry we have read, what connections can be made between Life is Beautiful and our reading? What events, scenes, or situations are similar or different? What is similar or different about the mood or tone of the pieces?

   One of the most obvious similarities that Night and the film Life Is Beautiful have is the power of father and son bonds. They both try to help one another survive but in different ways. In the film, Guido implicitly helps Joshua survive by making up a game. He continuously tells Giosue, "You don't want to lose points" in order to keep him out of trouble. Night displays explicit aid from father to son when they share rations of bread and keep each other motivated.

Guido goofs around in front of Giosue
 despite the horrors coming to him

  The pieces have very different mood and tones. Night by Elie Wiesel has a melancholy tone. Even the beginning when things were okay, the book gave off a a neutral even sad mood. I think that the fact that it is a memoir really makes it sad. Life Is Beautiful, on the other hand, has a humorous tone. Guido is always joking around, even in the camps. The last time that his son saw him, he was playing around while an officer pointed a gun to him, just to let Giosue keep his innocence. Both works give a powerful message but in their own ways.

How is life shown as beautiful throughout the film? Pull out at least two examples from different parts of the film and explain your rationale.

  Life is shown to be beautiful in the film by the way Guido lives his life. He is a cheery man and always jokes around. In the film, he saves the love of his life and from there, they always seem to see each other. Guido goes out of his way to see his "Princess." Five years later, they are married and have a son. Their family is happy and healthy so their life is beautiful.

  I think that life is indeed beautiful at the end of the film. Though Guido dies, Giosue and Dora are reunited. This was Guido's plan, after all. Giosue got his mother and his tank, Guido got what he wanted, even though sacrifices were made. Guido worked hard throughout their internment in the camp to help his son maintain his innocence and survive. It takes great sacrifice to make life beautiful after something as terrible as being in a concentration camp occurs.

"Yes, we won!" 

Night: Changes in Elie

  Elie Wiesel goes through drastic changes during his time in the concentration camps. These changes include his relationships, his faith, and the inhumane thoughts that may go through his head. The two that I will focus on is his relationship with his father and his faith in god.

  In the beginning of his story, we learn how devoted he is to his religion. In the first section he states, "During the day I studied the Talmud, and at night, I ran to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple" (3). This displays the strong relationship he has with god and how much he cares for the religion. He also compares praying to breathing when asked why he prayed. Breathing comes very naturally to us and praying must have come very natural to Elie. He questioned his faith once he experienced the concentration camps. Throughout his time in the camps, terrible things happened. What I noticed is that during certain events, the Jews will say, "Where is God?" They wonder why god would let such horrid things happen, questioning their faith. As time progresses, people lost their faith in god but Elie's case was different. He would have moments where he no longer believed in him but once an inhumane thought crossed Wiesel's mind, he would automatically pray. He questioned god but I don't think that he lost his faith.

  Wiesel's compassion towards his family changed during his time in the concentration camps. When he was separated from his mother and sister, he was devastated, a natural reaction to a separation of a family. Throughout his time there, he states, "From time to time, in the middle of all that talk, a thought crossed my mind: Where is Mother right now...and Tzipora.." At first he was concerned for his other family members and took time to think how they were. He later stopped worrying about the girls but did focus on the survival of both himself and his father. This changed after awhile because family isn't the number one priority for concentration camp victims, but survival. Like one told Elie, "In this place, it is every man for himself, and you cannot think of others. Not even your father." (110) Wiesel realizes that he can only save himself and his priority was surviving, changing how he treated others.

"The Storm" by Jirka Polak: Butterfly Project

“The heavens sense our burden:
the threat of future downpours I carry on my back.
We are drunk on wine vinegar.
The nearing storm rouses me,
it makes me want to shake the world.

We are an assembly of misery.
If our hands are bloody,
it is from the blood of our own wounds.
The grotesque scars
we bear on our bodies
testify to battles fought
that went unrecognized.

But the next storm will unfurl our flag
and uproot the rotted trees!
Then we, together with the gusting wind,
will scale Spilberk's heights,
and stand in victory on the peaks of cliffs,
our hair blowing freely in the wind.”
J.P

Comments: Marisa Emily Carlos Steven

Night Blog #1

Pages: 0-40s
Prompt: Writing style, Misunderstood characters

 Wiesel has a very unseen writing style. He focuses on his views from the time he wrote the story and when he was a young man. From the memoirs that I have read, authors tend to focus on only one point of view. For example, if something were to happen during their childhood, that is the only thing they focus on; how they assumed things were when they were children. Elie Wiesel writes about what happened in reality and what processed through his mind during that time.

  From the people that we have been introduced to, many seem to be misunderstood. When Moche the Beadle was taken because he was a foreign Jew, he saw terrible things. Infants were being thrown as targets, people were killed. This is a traumatizing sight for anyone, so of course it changed Moche the Beadle. Before he was taken, he was a calm man. He stayed out of people's way and people respected him for that. Now in his return, he is seen as a madman. He attempts to share his story with everyone, trying to warm them, but he is only ignored and seen as if he wants pity. I feel really bad for him because he is probably suffered PTSD and these people making him seem like the bad person really doesn't help.

  Another person that we are introduced to is Madame Schächter. She is a fifty-year old woman that is on board the train with her ten-year-old son. I think she starts hallucinating because of the conditions that the Jews are going through. She begins screaming of a fire and a furnace even though there is no fire visible. This scares the other people on board but I think what they did was the same thing as they did with Moche the Beadle; label her as crazy. Labeling these two characters as mad gives the other people comfort even though deep inside that the worst is yet to come.

Holocaust AoW Impressions

  This week we learned a lot more about the Holocaust. I realized that survivors all have different experiences. Some of them were very open about their experience and want to speak out and some of them kept to themselves. It took awhile for some survivors to speak out about their experience like one of them who had not said a thing about it for 20 years. He didn't even tell his children or wife about it. I find it very interesting and I'm really glad I was able to hear more survivor stories this week.

  The article I found most interesting was one read by Stanley and Autumn. Their article talked about how the descendants of Holocaust survivors have altered stress hormones. This really had me thinking for I never really considered how the descendants were affected. Studies show that many of the descendants have low levels of cortisone and high level of enzyme which cause more illnesses to them. Descendants have a higher risk of developing anxiety and PTSD.

  I'm really glad that we focused on the Holocaust for our free choice article because this is a very broad topic. There are so many things that are still being discovered today about that time and this is a great way to learn about the topic.