Joyas Voladoras

In my mind, the meaning to this is that you should never get attached to something because it will always break your heart.  Also, he is saying that the bigger the heart the more you will care.  I think this is a very discouraging essay because it makes you think that love is not good and that little things like birds can love just as much as human.  That's why they make offspring and more little baby birds.  It makes you think that your heart will always be broken when you become attached to something or when you use it a lot.  For example, if you run, you use your heart more.  He is saying that you will die your heart out by loving and using it.  My favorite lines were in the last paragraph.  Actually, the last paragraph was the best and I liked it.  Especially the part where he say's, So much is held in a lifetime.  It is very true.  I like this piece and it makes me think that people have very different opinions about things.

quotes

Whats worth knowing

Something that is worth knowing is how to defend yourself.  You never find out that in school.  What if someone breaks into your house?  How are you going to deal with that?  School is not helpful because it doesn't teach you that.  It teaches you how to yell for help but what if no one is there to help you.  Why won't school help you with that?  Another thing worth knowing is how to read another persons face so that you know whether someone is sad, mad, happy etc.  It would help you when you get older if you are going into an area where you need it.  Also it would help gamblers.  I would like to be able to read faces and school doesn't teach you that.  Also why don't they teach you how to keep a straight face.  It's really hard to keep a straight face when you are trying not to give something away.  For example,  when you give someone a birthday present.  You try to keep a straight face because you don't want to give away the surprise.  These are all worth knowing but are not thought in school.

Boston picture redo

I chose this photo because it was cool that someone managed to take this picture on water day in the US.  It surprises me how someone has a camera and can take a picture like this in the rain.  Thats why I chose this.  In this picture, there are raindrops with a pedestrian crossing sign reflected inside them.  The yellow sign might have been missed at first glance.  It is in the background of the picture.  People might just pass over it but i thought it was stunning.  This tells the story of a photographer in the rain and he took a picture of the sign.  When he looked at it again he saw the raindrops and zoomed in.  Thats the story this pic tells.  It means that people actually take time out of their day to take a picture for water day (which is obviously good).  How did someone have the chance to take this?

Waste Land

The most memorable part was geting shown their lives outside of the dump because it shows how bad their life actually isand why they work in the dump.  It shows the circumstances they are in when they are made to work in the dump.  I leared that working in the dump isnt something to be secretive about.  Its okay to work in the dump and its something to be proud of.
 I think it felt good for the people working in the dump to have their job turned into a senation.  It must feel like something that was bad turned nto something good.
I think i would of felt pretty good about myself and i would feel happy to be a sensation and an art project.  No i dont think any of my life would lend to that project.

pic challenges

chaos

death

beauty

life

looking in

colorful

photo challenge 1 & 2

Family food

 Our favorite food is probably tacos or pasta.

 Our staples are rice and lots of veggies.

 My family spends approximately around 200-300 dollars a week but most times it varies.

20% project

I am making a game.  I chose it because I have always had an interest in making games.  I am going to need a computer.  That is mostly it.  One roadblock is to find out how to make a game and fast.  I can consult my dad.  My dad is good at this stuff.

2012

In 2012 I learned that I can run a mile in 5:00 minutes but only with cleats on.  I learned I run really slow with shoes on.  I learned that my soccer team is not very good.
The world does not work together well.  The world lets bad people to control the countries.  Also the world has very bad people in it like the people who did the shootings.
I learned that life can be very short so you should have fun.  I learned that from the shootings.

I resolve to have fun this year and also to not be as hyper.

Im not an anti resolution person.

questions about first amendment

One of the questions I had was what are the limits of freedom of religion?  For example, the christian science (i think thats what it was called) didn't let people get medicine or go to doctors or etc., then someone died because of that.  Does the freedom of religion cover that?  Or is it considered murder?  Also would violent protests be considered under freedom of speech?
 In the christian science one, the freedom of religion came out on top at the high court.  At the lower level court though, murder came out on top.  Some places are still not sure.  I'm not sure what i'm supposed to know for that one.  It is a really wierd case and I don't knw what to think of it.

Limits of freedom of religion:

• your practice can never violate civil law
• The main limitation regarding freedom of religion is simply that the dominant creed will no longer dictate the laws of the state. Freedom of religion dictates that secular beliefs must no longer be allowed to unfairly influence the state into encroaching upon the unalienable right of every individual to live or die as he/she choose.
• Congress cannot pass any laws respecting the establishment of religion
•  prohibits the government from interfering with the practice of one's religion so long as it is practiced within the laws of the United States

In most cases, violent protests are not covered by the first amendment which is reasonable.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_some_limitations_about_freedom_of_religion

Traditional and Standard grading systems

I think we have to combine both the traditional method and the standard grading system because the traditional is only a bunch of numbers.  The standard is only a bunch of words.  So if you combine the two types of grading then you will get a grading with words and numbers.  Numbers tell you exactly where you are after a group of time.  Words tell you where you are struggling and where you need more help.

The purpose of grades is to tell you how you are doing and they also use it to put you in groups by your skill.  I think both the traditional and the standard are good but they are lacking things which the other one has.  The 100 point scale is more accurate and it makes you feel better.  If it were like a 5 point scale and you got a 3 out of 5, that wouldn't look good.  If you got an 60 out of 100 that would look a lot better than a 3 out of 5.  Letters are bad in some places because if you got a really bad letter then you would feel very bad.  This is how teachers think of letter grades: A-awesome  B-above average  C-average  D-below average  F-Fail.  This is what I think of grades: A-an average grade or great you got an A  B-your going to get in some trouble  C-just stop, your going to fail  D-oh god, bye bye  F-take it easy, they'll get used to it.  I think that the grading system right now is fine, but it needs some improvement.  It shows your grade for over a long period of time like the marking period.  If we add the standard and the traditional together we will get a system that shows where you are struggling, where you are strong, and how well you can do over a long period of time.  

Creativity and schools

From watching the Ken Robinson video and reading the article, I think that school are really killing creativity.  Most schools just focus on the standardized tests and not on art or music.  Really only electives are the creative part of school.  All they worry about in normal classes like LAL and math are to finish the curriculum and make their students get good grades on the NJ ASK.  When you get to high school all the schools worry about is preparing you for the SAT.  For example the high school is having a pre SAT or something like that on like October 17th.  I know the SAT is a very important part of school but preparing the high school kids from the beginning of the year is just not smart.  Also all the parents care about now is if their kids get good grades on the NJ ASK or not.  America is a major country in which school is killing creativity.  Creativity should be saved.  I agree with Ken Robinson that school is killing creativity.

Two tests

From the two tests that we took, I learned that I am very different than I thought.  For instance, in the Anthony Gregorc test, I was Concrete sequential which totally shocked me because concrete sequential are people who are ordered, structured, practical, and organized.  How they do it is by checklists and outlines and charts and etc.  For the Gardner test I was a Logical-Mathematical person.  It means that I like to think by reasoning.  I love experimenting.  Need things to explore, science materials, manipulative, and etc.

Three people I admire are My dad, mom, and brother.  My dad I think is another Logical-Mathematical person because he likes to experiment with things.  My mom I think would be a linguistic and a logical- mathematical combined.  I think that because my mom just fits into both.  My brother is a Bodily-Kinesthetic person because he likes to work hands-on and he likes to play sports and run.

There is a lot to take from these tests about yourselves and I learned more about myself here than anywhere before.

The ups and downs of being gifted...

If your gifted you are smart in a way.  When you are gifted, you get advanced classes, which is a good thing because then you get to make other people look stupid.  Another up to being gifted is that you are different from normal people.  You get to be special in a way.  We also get to see things differently.  Being gifted also helps you when you get to college.  To be gifted is to be special because only 10 percent are gifted.  There a lot of ups to being gifted.
There are downs to being gifted also.  If you are gifted, you have a bigger chance of being bullied.  Bullies always pick on the nerds.  Also the columbus group say's that if you are gifted then you are vulnerable.  Most gifted people have asynchronized development.  Being an asynchronized developer is bad because then we won't have all our maturity at one level.  Thats bad because then you won't be equal.  Also you have lots of higher expectations.  Higher expectations are bad because everyones wants you to do good all the time.

Myths and Truths...

Some Myths about being gifted is that you get straight A's all the time.  The truth about that is that people dont always get A's.  Another Myth is that gifted kids know everything.  A thruth is that gifted people are smart but they dont know everything.  We are good is a huge myth.  People that are gifted can be very bad.  People say gifted people are nice. Most of the time I am kind but lots of times im not kind.

Those are the ups and downs and myths and thruths of being gifted.

intro post

My name is Sai V.  I'm in 8th grade.  My favorite subject in school is math.  In my free time i play with my friends or video games.  I also play soccer.  When i grow up i want to be a pro soccer player.  I am happy most of the time.  The only time im not happy is when im mad or tired.  Im happy mostly all the time so i dont know what makes me happy.