Recently we have been doing  20% projects in mt Gifted and Talented class. I have been told to say my difficulties and how far into the project I am.Here is a list of my progress, difficulties, and achievements.
     
      Progress: 95% done
      Difficulties:Copy and pasting the pictures
      Getting correct information
      Achievements:Finishing my power point first
      Having 30 slides and finishing before others who only had 10
      Learning alot

Things to come...........
      Jeopardy
      Quiz about the power point
     

Grades? What are they? What is their purpose? Why do we need them?

          The purpose of grades is to inform society of how you are doing intellect wise. It sets a bar for you and your standards. If you can not reach that bar you will be punished in someway.

          I would rate the current grading system a 5 out of 10. Unlike standards-based grading, it does not tell you any areas to improve on. It just tells you what grade you had gotten for that class. Standards-based grading does not tell you your grade but, it tells you how much you understand that concept. It rates it from a scale of 1-4 for proficiency.
       
            I think the accuracy of knowledge is not very good for traditional grading. Before the extra credit, the tests don't really show how much they know. I could know allot about the topic but just not show it.There have been times where I have taken a test unprepared but, I still got a good grade. There is something teachers do that is called,"Falsifying grades." An example of this is when teachers say to bring in a tissue box for 3 extra credit points on a big test. This boosts their grade when they could of failed that test so, it does not properly display intelligence.

           In my opinion we should transfer to standards-based grading. It lets you know what exactly could be improved on. For example in reading you could have to work on persuasive essays. That would tell your parents to help you out every time you have a persuasive essay.

School so Far

     So, well, life is going great. 8th grade has been fun so far and I have kept old friends and made 2 or 3 new ones. I have nothing really to complain about in my life right now. One thing keeping me going even if I am having a bad day is my family. They are always there for me when I need it the most. I just want to have them always be there and help me. I hope the school year is always this great.  Batman signing off.

           In my interpretation of the Giver, Jonas is still alive after the ending. In my eyes Jonas seeing the house was basically the memory of that leaving him as he left the farthest boundary from the community. When he fainted or closed his eyes he was fainting because of the lost memory. A little while later, a group of natives(or Indians) had found Gabe and Jonas. They then took the two children into their village. Jonas after re-awakening, had such a big chunk of memory lost that all of his memory was lost. Gabe just grew up from then on. It may sound a little far fetched but i still belive that Jonas and Gabe are alive.
http://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/813.Lois_Lowry
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/lois-lowry-interview-transcript

http://www.teenink.com/reviews/music_reviews/article/123483/How-Music-Affects-Teens/

Music’s influence on Teen Culture

     Music, a way for people to express themselves. This can turn into something very bad. All it could take is just one simple song to change someone’s life. Many rappers can emit a bad influence that can ruin some teenager’s lives. They also can emit the fact of new items or stores.

     The fact that people may repeat in steps of some rappers are very bad. For example some people at a young age may start smoking. This can ruin reputations and hopes as a good future. It can also turn them from the right direction into the pits.

     This can also emit a good attitude too. For example it can tell people of let’s say, new uggs. This can tell people that are a fan of uggs that there is a new pair. This can increase the buyer productivity of those uggs.

     As you may see, music can be both good and bad at times. From emitting bad influence to telling of a new product. It can range from helping someone’s life to destroying it.

My 20% project is about the history of lacrosse and how to make a lacrosse shaft. I want to so this because I am very intrigued in the sport and would like to learn more about it.I mainly want to know is how lacrosse had originated. I need :

1. 10 bamboo poles
2. A carving knife
3. Flexible wood(for the head)
4. String
5. A way to put my brand onto the stick

    My plan is to first come up with a way to carve my pole and make it be aerodynamic. After that I will try my hardest to carve a head and if I cant I will have to buy one myself. After that I will come up with an emblem for my brand and put it on the stick someway.

              What I learned throughout 2012

In 2012 I learned that in order to amount to something great you must train and get better a  using your skills. For example I had tried out for an advanced lacrosse team and made it. They only had one complaint about the way I had used my stick skills. From now until the first practice been training and getting better with it.

As a matter of fact, my resolution is to get better with my stick skills. I am practicing with my stick rolls and ball hawking players passes. So far I have gotten better at ball hawking but, I still need better rolls. It is hard to stick with but, you just have to persist and it will soon get easier. It takes a while to get used to New Year resolutions but after a while it gets easier.