Family Final presentation

Here is the transcript of my interviews with my parents. I wrote this letter to my grandpa asking for more information about my family. Here is the family tree that I made.



Here is my infographic because it would'nt embed

Tuesday April 28, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:

Read THIS blog post by a teacher. I mean actually read it. Take it in. Think about it. And then, write about it. What do you think about it? What is the teacher trying to say? In your own words explain what "the main event" is.

I feel somewhat conflicted by the information presented by this teacher's post: on one hand, it makes sense and I agree with it because most of the information that we learn in school will not be applicable in our professional lives, whilst being resilient and a hard worker will get you far in life. Having said this however, I think that if this is supposedly the goal of schools today, there is a much better way to go about the grinding process of character building. I can appreciate what he has to say, however, students must not be driven to lose their individuality which is the case today.

Tuesday April 14, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
3 day weekend... how was it? Give me a good story or something funny that happened this weekend. Go.

My three day weekend was incredibly busy! Friday I had to pick up my music from solo ensemble, all the way out at 80th and Wornall, and mow my lawn. Saturday morning I preformed at district solo and ensemble and got a 1 rating (the highest score possible,) and therefore qualified for state! Later that night I went to Prom with my girlfriend Juliann Phillips; we had a blast! On Sunday I drove down to Arkansas and then on Monday I visited the University of Arkansas with my family and loved it! Then, I had to do my lit term journal and had to stay up all night long...

Tuesday April 7, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me ALL about what your idea is for your stop-motion animation. I need detail. Who is going to help you take photos? What props do you need? Where do you plan on shooting? EXPLAIN everything.

I plan to make a stop motion video of a deck of cards emerging from their case, shuffling, and then subsequentially dealing on their own. I plan to do this project completely on my own on the table outside in the hall. I'll be bringing in a new deck of cards and using a tri-pod to make it happen but I can do this project all on my own. I plan to do a birds eye view shot. 

Monday April 6, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me all about your weekend and please share photos!

I had a busy weekend! I had to mow several yards as that is how I make money, along with my summer job. On saturday I also had to do a lot of homework and practicing my snare drum solo for this weekend's solo and ensemble festival. Then, on Sunday we had things to do as a family for Easter. We had our annual easter egg hunt and went to noon mass at Saint Michael's. Sunday night I went to the Sporting Kansas City game; it was cold and an awful game! The end made up for it though because we ended up scoring two goals in stoppage time to win the game from 1-2 down! It was only the seventh time in MLS history that a team has entered stoppage time losing and won the game!

Five Frame Storyboard

Thursday April 2, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
What do you love most about this time of year? Explain why you love it.

My favorite part about this time of year is undoubtedly the weather. Kansas is never as overcast as it is in the spring and I LOVE cloudy, rainy weather. Additionally, I love the smells of the spring even though they give me really bad allergies. Cloudy days are the best but we usually don't get many in Kansas. I also really like the new growth and the grass/ leaves as they begin to grow again.

PICS

Monday March 30, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Did you complete the photo scavenger hunt? What kind of fun pictures were you able to capture? Did you do all your photos at school or did you do some at home over the weekend? Share one of your favorites.

Yes, I completed the photo scavenger hunt entirely in class on Friday. To be honest, I didn't particularly find any of the pictures to be "fun," just necessary busy-work. For the most part I just strove to complete the assignment.

Friday March 27, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
What do you know about photography and/or photo editing? Do you take photos? How do you take photos? Do you edit photos before posting them on social media? How do you edit them? Explain any background or knowledge you have about photography and photo editing. Do you like it? Do you have any interest?

I really have never partaken in photo editing and am not much of a photographer. The main type of photography that I appreciate are photos of nature; I find them to be much more breathtaking than nearly any other form of photography. The ways in which I have experienced photo editing outside of the cliche filters and iphone capable "edits" are through photoshop. The things that can be achieved through photoshop are incredibly interesting and I would love to learn how to edit photos through photoshop for the pure amount of entertaining material that I could create.

Russia Ukraine Conflict Prezi

Monday March 23, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Welcome back! Go ahead. Tell me all about your Spring Break. Include photos!

Over Spring Break I went to Marco Island, Florida with my family. My dad and I left on Thursday morning and were alone through Monday when my mom and sister joined us. They had to stay behind because my sister had a volleyball tournament that she couldn't miss. We stayed in our house on the island that we've owned since November. It was a lot of fun. While we were down there my dad and I went boating and fishing nearly every day. We also went to the beach a few times. Thursday night my aunt, uncle, and grandpa came down from Orlando so we got to spend time with them on our last weekend. All told I was there 10 days as we left yesterday. I had a lot of fun!

Wednesday March 11, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
What are you doing for Spring Break?

Over spring break my family and I are gong down to Marco Island, Florida. My dad and I are leaving tomorrow morning and my mom and sister are going to meet us down there after my sister finishes her volleyball tournament this weekend. While we're down there we'll likely work on improving our house and enjoy the water! I'll be boating and swimming all break long!

Thursday January 15, 2015

Accept change
Be bold
Choose your friends wisely
Deal with problems
Endure hardship
Forgive
Go with the flow
Have fun
ICE numbers can save lives
Jog often
Kind people go far
Look befire you leap
Mondays can be fun
Never be ignorant
Open your eyes
Park carefully
Queen is a good band
Reunite with old friends
Swim with the dolphins
Take risks
Umbrellas are useful
Vacations can be necessary
Weekends shouldn't be wasted
Xeroxed is a good word for scrabble
Y so serious?
Zebra

Monday March 9, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me about your weekend.

This weekend I learned a lesson about procrastination, although unfortunately, I will likely repeat the same mistakes in the future. I had been putting off the columnist project (an APELA project that spans the entire third quarter) and needed to make some major progress as it is due on Wednesday. I have to annotate five articles from a newspaper writer (hence columnist) and write short essay like responses to each. Additionally, I must write a full length essay at the end summarizing what I have learned about the rhetorical strategies that my columnist, Kathleen Parker, employs. That occupied essentially my entire weekend as I had barely made any progress up to that point. Other than working on my project, I spent time with my family and watched some Netflix when giving my brain occasional breaks.

Friday March 6, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
If you were the Principal for a week at BVHS, what would that look like? What changes would you make? Why?

If I were the BVHS Principal I honestly wouldn't change much. The school would honestly look essentially the same as I would not be able to make any changes in the short amount of time that I would have in charge. Additionally, I think that the school is pretty good as it is and does not need many changes. If anything, I would fix the wifi because it is completely broken at the moment.

Thursday March 5, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
List out 10 pieces of advice you would give someone on how to create an amazing presentation.

1) Don't make any mistakes

                -Practice presenting so that you don't mess up in front of others

2) Know what you're talking about

                -Make sure that your information is accurate

3) Use good word choice

                -Use a thesaurus

4) Let others help you

                -Ask for your friends and family to edit and check over your work

5) Stay concise

                -Be sure to only use bullets. Have what you want to say on notes, not just on the screen

6) Use pictures

                -Make it aesthetically pleasing

7) Question your purpose

                -Sometimes it is beneficial to ask "What am I doing here?"

8) Check the rubric often

                -Know what you will be graded on

9) Stay on topic

                -Make your presentation interesting but not overly tangential.

10) Make something that you would want to see

                -Engage others and make it fun!

Monday March 2, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me about your weekend.

This weekend was nice and relaxing! On Friday night, I had to play in the pep band for the basketball games, although I couldn't stay for the faculty game. That evening I went to watch my girlfriend's dance preformance. On Saturday I got a chance to sleep in and watch Netflix. That evening I went with my family to watch a dinner theater at the New Theatre. On Sunday I relaxed, did homework, and shoveled the driveway.

Infographic

easel.ly

Tuesday February 24, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Use the internet to find an infographic about infographics. Place it in to your blog post. Read it and then give me the top 5 things you learned from it that will help you make a better infographic.
http://blog.visual.ly/11-infographics-about-infographics/

1) Make the information that you are presenting easy to read
2) Make it entertaining and attention grabbing
3) Present interesting content
4) Give the infographic a story
5) Try to make the infographic a good combination of different elements so that it doesn't become overly boring

Monday February 23, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me about your weekend. Give me a story, something funny that happened, an experiencing you had, the way you felt, etc. Include photos!

This weekend was very relaxing! My Friday was mostly consumed by playing in the pep band for the varsity basketball games. On Saturday I celebrated my sister's birthday; we went out to eat at Kyoto's. Earlier that day I enjoyed watching my favorite soccer team, Manchester City, dismantle Newcastle United 5-0. It was a great time to be a fan! The return to form was desperately needed as they had been in a bit of a slump lately, but are playing FC Barcelona tomorrow and need to be on the top of their game! On Sunday I watched Family Guy and the movie Silence of the Lambs. That night, as I watched the Oscars with my family, I finished my homework. I needed to make a Quizlet for my Spanish vocab test tomorrow, read and answer questions about the book Don Quixote de la Mancha, and work on my math take home test that is due Wednesday. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my lazy weekend!

Friday February 20, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:



I think that the current curriculum is fairly effective in preparing us for life. As I plan on continuing my education through college, I am contented to take the classes I do now which make me a more well rounded person, a renaissance education. If anything I wish that there was less pressure to take "required" courses and more of a freedom to take a couple classes per semester that expanded our horizons to discover what subjects interested us. I would likely be more applied in my classes if I chose them for the sole purpose of learning. If anything, I would not change the classes that I have taken, but rather the style in which the curriculum was taught. I don't need tests and mandatory homework; if anything, that just lowers the amount that I will learn as I will lose all enthusiasm for learning. If I could take classes that I found interesting, only to learn, I would be much more successful in actually learning in those classes. Having said that, I understand why the requirements exist, I just wish that there was more of a freedom to learn about interesting things, not just taking Phys Ed, tech, and arts classes because it is mandatory. Instead make the elective classes completely up to the student. Additionally, there should be less pressure from colleges to take certain classes and completely fill a resume with exclusively rigorous courses because it prohibits the students from following their interests and discovering what career types would be the best fit for them.

Thursday February 19, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:

Copy and past these over to your blog and tell me a little about yourself. If you have a picture or two that might represent one of your answers make sure to include it.

My favorite food:
Foods I'd like to avoid: Olives
My favorite things to learn: Spanish, History
My favorite color: Blue
My best friends are: N/A

My favorite games to play: Soccer
My favorite books: The Harry Potter Series
My favorite movies or TV shows: South Park
My favorite holiday: Christmas
Things I do well: Drum
Things I need to practice more: Studying
My favorite place to go: Marco Island, Florida
My favorite family activities: Watching TV
My favorite thing to do outside: Fish
My favorite chore: Is there such a thing?
My least favorite chore: Homework
What I want to be when I grow up: Lawyer
A place I want to visit: Europe
My favorite part of the year: Winter Break
My favorite part of each day: Relaxation time

Tuesday February 17, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:


Tell me what you believe this cartoon is trying to say. Do you agree or disagree with this idea? Try and look at this from two different perspectives. What is your perspective? What would be an adult/teacher's perspective?

I think that the cartoon is trying to say that the youth of America, and the population in general, have become complacent in their power. The author is saying that compared to some of the cultures with the leading educations, America is lagging behind due to a culture that doesn't value education as much as it should. I completely agree with the message that the image is conveying. The dropout rates in America are astronomical and there is no culutural value placed on education. Education is largely viewed as a chore as opposed to the privelage that it truly is. I believe that as a student, the current state of America, and the expectations of America as a whole are completely deplorable. Parents and students on a whole do not place nearly enough of an emphasis on education, instead recieving only a remedial education (if that) and placing much more value on social image, or to a more extreme extent, furthering gang cultures.

Tuesday February 10, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:



Think about the quote above. What does this mean to you? How could this apply to your life? How could this apply to your school work? I would love to give you less work in class if it meant you were going to focus harder on the work. Do you think you would get more out of it? Would that work for you? Why or why not?

I think that the above quote addresses the question of quality versus quantity; that one centers his/ her full and undivided attention upon a task as opposed to attempting to multitask. In my life this can apply in many ways: whilst driving, doing homework, relaxing, and even interacting with friends and the people around me. This could be applied easily in an academic context because if I was constantly fully focused I would be working at maximum efficiency and would complete all of my work to an incredibly high standard. I think that doing less work while simultaneously remaining completely focused would doubtlessly be more beneficial; however, this requires the student to take personal accountability because the level of focus is not a quantifiable thing that can be graded so the teacher must become more trusting of the student. At the same time, the student's burden is the same because their ownness falls to the student to be working with total focus. I dont think that it is a feasible model; although it is a good idea, in practice it is unlikely to work as the student's level of committment is unlikely to match the expected.

Monday February 9, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me all about your weekend! I sure hope you have photos to share.

This weekend was completely consumed by the musical! I was involved in pit orchestra (I played the timpani and other auxiliary percussion.) It was incredibly busy as we had preformances on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights! At the end of Saturday night we had to take our things out of the pit and clean up which made it a pretty late night! On Sunday consequentially, I ended up sleeping in and relaxing and finishing my homework.

< Timpani
http://static.musiciansfriend.com/derivates/19/001/252/146/DV020_Jpg_Jumbo_478589_timpani_rear.jpg

Friday February 6, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me about some interesting things you have learned about your global issue so far. What have you learned that you didn't know before?

I have learned a lot about the Crisis in Ukraine since starting my research. I have not only learned about the conflict itself but also about the events leading up to it both during and following the Ukrainian revolution and its effects on the citizens of Ukraine. The combatants are not actually technically Russian soldiers but are troops wearing unmarked uniforms or pro-Russian insurgents. The war is also being classed as a civil war and Russia are "only" funding and providing resources to the pro-Russian forces although much more involvement is suspected.

http://g.foolcdn.com/editorial/images/107852/ukraine-ethnic-regions-with-caption_large.PNG



http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2014/04/Russia%20Invasion.jpg

Thursday February 5, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
You haven't had a chance to tell me about your Sweetheart weekend yet - tell me about it now! Include photos if you have them. Even if you just laid around on the couch and watched Netflix, tell me all about it.

Last weekend I had a busy weekend despite not going to Sweetheart. Friday night (which still counts as weekend) was spent in two ways. First, I had pit orchestra rehearsal for the musical which ran from 4:00 - 7:30, and then I hung out with some friends and watched Batman the Dark Knight Rises. The next day I actually had a free day. I used it to get my homework finished and relax. That night I went on a date with my girlfriend although we decided not to go to Sweetheart because we didnt have friends going. On Sunday I went to church and hung out with my family. That night we watched the Superbowl.

Monday February 2, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
What is email? When do you use email in your own personal life? List reasons and ways that people use email. What do you know about "email etiquette"? EXPLAIN.

Email is a tool through the internet that allows people to communicate. It is a more formal form of communication that is the most commonly used in the workplace. I use email in my personal life either to converse with teachers or to handle my more profesional interactions. People frequently use email online to register for websites, request information about a product, and, of course, to communicate in professional settings. I know that when email is used in the business world, formal structure and diction is preferred. When emailing in this way, a formal greeting and salutation are expected as are proper spelling and a traditional letter format.

Thursday January 29, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:

Finish this sentence "10 years from now I will be...." (explain)

10 years from now I will be practicing law. I plan to go to college and major in finance and either double major or minor in Spanish. Using this I plan to practice business law and fund management on an international level. If I choose to follow a path other than business, I plan to still practice some sort of law.

Tuesday January 27, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Yesterday I had you choose a global issue and you wrote about it on your blog. Today on your blog I want you to tell me about two different perspectives of your global issue. Are there people for an against your issue? Do people disagree on your issue? Is it a topic that can cause controversy? Look at the issue for two different perspectives. Tell me about those perspectives.

My topic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, is a global issue that sparks much controversy. The perspectives are typically centralled around a pro-Ukrainian or pro-Russian stance. This causes a lot of tension around the world as alliances are tested.

From a pro-Ukrainian standpoint the grievances are straight-forward: the Russians have invaded and intervened in Ukrainian affairs. They invaded and claimed the territory of Crimea and suspicions remain over whether or not they will invade further. Additionally, this is a way for Russia to keep its ally from separating and becoming less dependant on Russia as Ukraine integrates itself with the European union.

People who side with the Russians cite the ethnicities of the country as a justification. Much like when Germany invaded Austria to reclaim territorities with germanic peoples, Russia is ultimately reclaiming the slavic people living in the area who share Russian worldviews. Furthermore, Russia has a right to help decide the future of the country as they have traditionally been allies and shared resources.

The Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Once you have selected an issue, create a new blog post and answer the following questions:

Without doing any research, what background do you currently have on this issue?
What do you want to know about this issue?
Why did you choose this issue? Had it effected your life? Is it something you are passionate about? Explain.

I currently know little about the Russia Ukraine conflict other than what has been aired on the major news outlets. These have all been the major things only and I am interested to learn more about the topic. I have also heard about how soccer players in the Ukranian League have been affected so I am interested to learn more about that as well.

I would like to learn more about what has happened throughout the last year between the two countries and how other nations internationally have intervened. Additionally I would like to learn some of the history between the two countries and possible links and tensions between the two countries.

In the past I have heard about this issue and I am concerned about how it will affect the future of the world in general. The conflict between the Russian and Ukranian forces could potentially spark a massive war should the advances of Putin continue unfettered and alliances begin to become threatened. It is also something that could affect the relations of the United States globally throughout the coming years. Additionally, I believe that at least one foreign professional soccer player has been killed whilst in Ukraine plying his trade so I would love to learn how it has affected the typical citizens and everyday life throughout Ukraine.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/linkableblob/5297962/data/ukraine-eu-russia-map-data.png

http://static.businessinsider.com/image/5312480beab8ea9733f0786d/image.jpg

Monday January 26, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Last week I asked your to "think differently" and push yourself to be uncommon with your PSA project using Google Slides. Why do you think I asked you to do that? What is the point? Why not just use bullets and headers? Explain.

You probably asked us to do that so that we could expand our knowledge of how Google Slides works. By endeavoring to create new and exciting formats we would need to discover on our own how to work the program to tweak our presentation and make it look exactly as we wanted it to. By not using bullets and headers we were forced to think outside the box in terms of how to present our information giving the presentations more variance and creativity.

Friday January 23, 2015

The youngins these days dont know good music. Back when I was a boy I listened to Frank Sinatra; none of that Justin Beaver. They dont know how to talk to people anymore, all they do is keep their heads buried in their new-fangled technology. All this school rots the brain, you should be out in the fields by the time you're 8.

Texting while Driving PSA

Thursday January 22, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
What is a public service announcement (PSA)? What do PSA's do? What makes a good PSA? How can you get someone to take action after watching a PSA? What is you PSA idea? Explain in detail.

A public sercive announcement is a message broadcasted to the people addressing a large scale problem. PSA's can help to bring problems and facts to the attention of the general public and also make people aware of some common things that can be done to help. A good PSA is riveting and captures the attention of whoever is watching. To get someone to take action after watching a PSA, the call to arms must be easily achievable so that everyone can and wants to make a small change. If the solution(s) requires a long term committment then it is unlikely that anyone will contribute to making the change. I have not yet selected my PSA.

Friday January 16, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:

Tell me a little bit about yourself and your life here at BVHS. What activities or clubs are you involved in? What year are you in school? What is your favorite class and/or teacher so far this year? What are you looking forward to this school year? Include some original photos from your phone if you can.

I'm very involved in the band program. I am also in the National Music Honors Society and Mu Alpha Theta and used to play soccer. I am a Junior this year. My favorite class this year is undoubtedly Honors Spanish 4. This year I am looking forward to learning and becoming more prepared for college. I am excited to improve my Spanish too!

Who Am I Presentation

Tuesday January 13, 2015

Blog Post of the Day: What are your thoughts on this class so far? Easy? Hard? Informative? Frustrating? What have you learned so far? What do you want to learn? Explain yourself.

From what I have experienced so far, this class does not seem to be hard. It relies mostly on following dierctions and task completion, however I do think that I will be able to benefit from the information that I will learn. I've benefited from learning tricks to personalize Google Chrome, but I hope that we work with websites like it more in the future and not such niche programs as blogger.

Monday January 12, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me about your weekend. What did you do? Upload a photo to your Google Drive and then insert the photo (or photos!) to your blog post to show me what all you did.

This weekend I auditioned for state band in Salina, Kansas. I had to wake up at 4:00 AM and didnt get home until 7:00 Saturday. My audition went fairly well, but due to the massive competition, I'll be lucky if I make it. Unfortunately results won't be posted until Tuesday evening! Thanks to my early day Saturday, I spent all of Sunday sleeping, watching football, and celebrating my dad's birthday.

Friday January 9, 2015

Watching YouTube: A
Wasting Time: A
Procrastinating: A
Playing Drums: A
Fishing: A
Hunting: A
Being a Pacifistic Vegetarian: A
Cynicism: A
Sarcasm: A
Being Anti-social: A

Thursday January 8, 2015

Read this small newspaper clipping and then write a blog post about it. What are your thoughts? How does it make you feel? Do you agree? Disagree? Explain yourself.



The judge's comments, although not entirely without merit, are tainted by his dealings in court with the worst of teenagers. If his true aim was to motivate young adults to take up a more active role in their society, he would have approached it much differently. His comments come from an adult perspective and address skills needed later in life, however, the article contains a remarkable amount of cynicism and likely hypocrisy. His insulting demeanor and condescension serves to further alienate his target audience and makes his later points ineffective. As teenagers we need to be free to express ourselves and learn from mistakes so that when we are in positions of true power later in life the consequences of our actions are far less severe. In short, the true message should be to choose responsibly when entertaining yourself. While it is a teenager's job to find his/ her own fun, it is also their responsibility to learn how to have fun later in life, in conjunction with being productive.