End of the Year Reflection - (Final Blog of the Year!)

      I cannot believe that we have reached the end of the year already! It all went by so fast. So much has happened this year, and although I am kind of heartbroken that it is coming to the end, I am really excited for summer. 

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

      I learned a lot of things this year. I think that the most important thing that I learned about this year was time management. Last year and at the very beginning of the year, I would usually wait until the last minute to do homework or projects. This year, since there is a lot more homework, and I had more after school activities, I had to learn how to manage my time more and plan things out so that I can get things done and still have time do the activities that I want. The second thing that I learned this year was about studying. I learned that the best way for me to study was using flashcards. This helped me very much when I had to study for the vocabulary tests. And the third most important thing that I think I learned this year was about annotating articles. We learned how to annotate, and what to annotate for. I think that annotating is important for understanding news articles. 

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

      Something that we did this year that I think I will remember for the rest of my life is the poetry unit. I learned about different types of poems, figurative language (mostly metaphors), and how to write poetry ourselves. During this unit, I found out that I actually like poetry, and I really like writing it. I think that I never really liked poetry because I didn't understand it. But, now that we learned about metaphors and figurative language, I think I can understand it a little better, so I enjoy it a lot more. I also really enjoy writing poetry. I have written a number during the unit (Where I'm From, Spine Poem, Found Poem, AOW Poem, etc.) I think that this unit helped me a lot, and I think that I will continue to use these skills for a long time. 

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

      The nicest thing that that someone did for me was when Evelyn helped me with my homework. If there was something that I didn't understand, I would call her or text her, and she would explain it. And I would do the same for her. I am very grateful because she helped me so much. Thank you, Evelyn (if you read end up reading this).

What is something you taught your teacher or classmates this year?

      Something that I taught my classmates was about gender equality. For one of my AOWs, I chose an article that talked about the pay gap between men and women. It said how in some countries, women don't even have the same access to food that men do. The article said that even though International Women' s day is considered a holiday (kind of), women aren't close to being equal to men, at least not with equal pay. So, during the AOW gallery walk, I taught my classmates about gender equality. 

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

      I think that my biggest improvements were with poetry. At the beginning of the year, I didn't understand most poems, so I didn't like them. I also could not write a decent poem. Ever. I wrote a terrible poem about how I didn't have anything to write about. Then, we did the poetry unit, and I got better at writing poems. I guess I was good at writing when I could write about anything and write in whatever style I wanted. I also learned about metaphors and figurative language, so I understood poems better. Something that I accomplished this year that I am proud of is getting up in front of the whole class and reading some of my poems. I was crazy nervous, but I did it. And, to my surprise, they actually liked them.  

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

      I think that the most challenging part of the year for me was the 40 book challenge. I completely underestimated my time. I spent about a month on a book that I wasn't interested in (so I don't know why I kept reading it) and didn't read as much as I wanted to this year. For the 40 book challenge, I read 31 books, so I didn't complete the challenge. I blame myself completely. I underestimated how much time I had and wasted most of the time I had. I wish that I had spent more time reading, because I enjoyed a lot of the books that I read. I discovered that I enjoy historical fiction books, and the author Mitch Albom. But, I am really disappointed in myself that I couldn't finish the challenge. 

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

      I think that the best piece of writing that I did this year was my poems. I am really proud of them. I think that the best poem that I wrote (for this class) was the Where I'm From Poem. I think that it is the best because it has a lot of memories from when I was a little kid. For example: "from making weird videos with friends." A bunch of friends and I went to the park and spent the whole day filming an awkward dancing music video to "Worth It" by Fifth Harmony. The poem brings back a lot memories and it just makes me happy. 

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

      My favorite book that I read this year (that was not for this class) was The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. This book is very different from the rest of the books that I read because it starts off with the main character, Eddie, dying. The book is his journey with five people, who help him understand his life and what happened to him. I really like this book because it is really interesting, his journey through heaven, meeting people who help him understand his life. He meets a "blue man" from the carnival where he worked, who (after a chain of events including Eddie) died. He meets his marine commander who sacrificed himself so that Eddie could live. He meets Ruby, who died before he was born, but was the inspiration for Ruby Pier where he worked, where his father worked, etc. He met his wife, who had died in a car crash trying to apologize to Eddie for yelling at him. And finally, he met a little girl who helped guide him to heaven, and had an impact on his journey through heaven, as he was trying to figure out who she was. 

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

      My advice for the sixth graders going into this class next year is to manage your time well. Obviously, get your homework in on time, but leave time for after school activities. Say, if you have soccer practice or something Tuesday and Thursday, and an AOW due Friday, get it done on Monday, so 1) you don't have to worry about it the rest of the week, and 2) you aren't frantically trying to rush through it at 1 A.M. on Friday. Because if you do it at the last minute, your work won't be as good.

Blog For Week: 5.16.16 - Of Mice and Men: The Movie

      We just recently finished the novella, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, and yesterday finished the movie. Both were great, although there were some things that were different from the movie than in the book. There were also some scenes that were added into the movie. For example, the movie shows us the incident in Weed, when in the book, we hear about it from George reminding Lennie why they are on the run.

Section III

      Although the plot has the same ending in both the book and the movie, the actual ending moments of each piece are different. The movie ends with a flashback; the book ends with dialogue.

      The flashback at the end shows Lennie and George "buckin' barley bags", as they would say, and then walking off together. This shows that Lennie and George are a team and they work together. Always. This leaves the audience (at least, in my opinion) feeling sad, knowing that George has just killed Lennie, and destroyed that friendship and teamwork. 

      The book ends with a quote however. The last line is, "Curley and Carlson looked up after them. And Carlson said, "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?" It kinds shows that it wasn't normal to really care about another person. It was kind of like it was every man for themselves. That's why everyone was so surprised that Lennie and George traveled together because it wasn't common for men to do that. And that is what the quote shows. It shows that Curley and Carlson thought that it was unusual for Slim to feel kind of sympathetic towards George because he had just killed his best friend. This shows that back then, it was every man for themselves. It kind of makes me feel bad, the line because no one really had a true friend or people that they could rely on. So I don't think that the feelings at the end of the book and the movie match up that much. 

Section IV

What are your general thoughts, feelings, reactions of Of Mice and Men? What had the most profound impact on you or your understanding of the novella? Who would you recommend this  book to and why?

      I really like both the movie and the book Of Mice and Men. Although I think I like the book a little more, I think in the movie, it gave off slightly different emotions (like mentioned, with the ending). In the ending of the book, there was a quote, which some people think takes away from the death of an amazing character. In the ending of the movie, there was a flashback which shows how much of a team Lennie and George were, which makes you feel really sad because that was just destroyed.

      I would recommend this book to everyone. I really would. I think that this is an amazing book and I've seen so many people (classmates), who usually don't enjoy reading, fall in love with the characters, and cry/get upset when something happened to Lennie and when Lennie died. So I think I would recommend this book to everyone. 

Blog for Week 5.9.16 - Conflict in Of Mice and Men

      In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there have been a few conflicts that have affected the plot. For example, Curley immediately doesn't like Lennie and George. "His glance was at once calculating and pugnacious. " (page 25). The other characters have informed us that Curley has a pretty bad temper and picks fights with bigger guys a lot. This is an example of a Man vs. Man Conflict. And this conflict affects the plot. “He slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down on his nose with his right. Lennie gave a cry of terror. Blood welled from his nose” “Curley’s fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it. The next minute Curley was flopping like a fish…” “Looks to me like ever’ bone in his han’ is bust.” (Page 63 & 64) The result of Curley not liking Lennie and George, is Curley getting into a fight with Lennie, and Lennie breaking nearly every single bone in Curley's hand.
Another example of a conflict in Of Mice and Men is Lennie and George not having enough money to pay for the ranch they are dreaming of, which means that they cannot make their dream come true. This is an example of Man vs. Self. "We got ten bucks between us." (page 59). The result of this conflict is Lennie and George letting Candy come along to help pay for their dream. "S'pose I went in with you guys, Tha's tree hundred an' fifty bucks I'd put in. I ain't much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some." This affects the plot because Candy is now a part of making their dream come true which is a HUGE part of the plot. They all of the time mention their dream of owning the ranch, and letting Candy come along, which will help their dream come true, is huge.
The third conflict in Of Mice and Men that I will talk about is Curley's wife flirting with everyone. ""Hi Slim," she said. ... "Hi, Good-lookin'," (Page 31) Curley's wife and Slim seem to flirt with each other all of the time. I think that this is an example of Man vs. Man conflict. The effect of this is that Curley confronts Slim way to much, thinking that he is with his wife. Slim gets angry, which makes Curley angry and Curley takes his anger out on other people. "Curley said, "Well, I didn't mean nothing, Slim. I just ast you." Slim said, "Well, you been askin' me way too often. I'm getting God damn sick of it. If you can't look after your own God damn wife, what you expect me to do about it? You lay offa me." This makes Curley mad, and then Curley takes his anger out on Lennie, which in addition to the first conflict I mentioned, resulted in Curley getting into a fight with Lennie. So it is kind of like a chain reaction of events.
And the final conflict in Of Mice and Men is Lennie's disability. This is an example of Man vs. Self. "I forgot," Lennie said softly. "I tried not to forget. Honest to God I did, George."" (page 4) He has the mind of a child and is very forgetful. This can sometimes get him into trouble sometimes because he doesn't know better. "Jus' wanted to feel that girl's dress--just wanted to pet it like it was a mouse--- Well, how the hell did she know you jus' wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in a irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin' for us..." (page 11) He didn't think anything of it, he just wanted to feel the little girl's dress because he liked the texture of it, he didn't think that he was doing anything wrong, but who wouldn't be scared if a huge man comes up and starts feeling your dress? His mind gets him and George in trouble sometimes because he doesn't know better, and they usually get kicked out of camps, which affects the plot a lot. 

Blog For Week 5.2.16 - Dreams

"The Dream That Flew Away"

The dream that flew away from you
that gave you so much hope,
well, now it's gone, Oh WHAT TO DO?
Because you can't do anything to cope.

Maybe you gave up to soon
Maybe you gave up too fast
I don't know what you did
But I know your dream didn't last.

Maybe it flew away like a balloon,
Maybe it ran away,
But it left you way too soon.
Because it knew it couldn't stay.

Now you feel so broken
You don't know what to do
that dream was all you had left
and it flew away from you.

Blog For Week 5.2.15 - Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

      We have recently started reading the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. We have been introduced to a whole crew of characters, the main ones being George Milton and Lennie Small. George is kind of short tempered with Lennie. They get into fights a lot, mostly because Lennie forgets things very easily and gets them in trouble. Lennie is very childlike. He doesn't even know that is is getting them into trouble. In Chapter 1, it says, "Jus' wanted to feel that girl's dress--just wanted to pet it like it was a mouse--- Well, how the hell did she know you jus' wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in a irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin' for us..." George gets very irritated with Lennie, but Lennie doesn't know what he is doing wrong. He just likes the texture of things. Mice, especially mice. He starts petting a little girl's dress because he likes the texture of it and she starts screaming. Who wouldn't if a large strange, full grown man comes up and starts petting your dress? They get kicked out of the work camps because of all of Lennie's little mistakes like that.


      They end up in a new work camp. Lennie, because of George's request, doesn't talk or answer any of the questions because George is worried that The Boss won't give them a job if he sees "how much of a crazy bastard" Lennie is. So George answers all of the questions and The Boss gets suspicious. He thinks that George is trying to steal Lennie's pay. Curley is also kind of suspicious of the two guys because Lennie doesn't talk. Curley is The Boss's son. We learn about him through the swamper named Candy. He says, "...Curley's like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He's alla time picking scraps  with big guys. Kind of like he's mad at 'em he ain't a big guy. You seen little guys like that, ain't you? Always scrappy?" Candy is saying that Curley is always picking fights with bigger guys. I think that he is jealous of the bigger guys because he is not a big guy. We have also been introduced to Slim through direct characterization. “A tall man stood in the doorway. ... He was a jerkline skinner, the prince of the ranch, capable of driving ten, sixteen, even twenty mules with a single line to the leaders. He was capable of killing a fly on a wheeler’s butt with a bullwhip without touching the mule. There was gravity in his manner and a quiet so profound that all talk stopped when he spoke. His authority was so great, that his word was taken on any subject, be it politics or love. This was Slim, the jerkline skinner.” The author wants us to know that this man is powerful. People respect and trust him, so they come to him with their problems. They know that he will give them a good answer and they take his word on everything. They listen to him when he talks and when he tells them to do something, they do it. So, I think that Slim has a lot of power in the camp.

  In Of Mice and Men, Curley's wife does not have a name. She is just referred to as "Curley's wife". For example, "Wait'll you see Curley's wife." The author and the characters don't refer to her by name, they just call her "Curley's Wife". I think that John Steinbeck could've done this because she is not an important enough character to name. Maybe she will not be seen much or talked about much, so it wasn't worth giving her a name. Maybe he though she didn't deserve a name. She flirts with a lot of other guys, basically anyone she sees, so maybe John Steinbeck though she didn't deserve a name.