Let's reflect.

The Hall of Mirrors in Versailles is a lot like a break; it is great for reflection. A few weeks ago, I asked you to write out some specific things that you could do to maximize every day between the Thanksgiving and winter breaks. After re-reading your comment to that post, write how you did. Did this plan help you have a great month? Was it an easy plan to follow? Did you set measurable goals for performance (for example "I should participate in every class" instead of "I should participate more")? If you were to re-do the past month, what one thing would you do differently?

Favorites

I absolutely adore a mug of steaming hot chocolate on a cold winter day. Especially when snow is slowly drifting down, creating a peaceful, gray-toned, soothing scene I love to read and relax in front of the fire with hot chocolate by my side. In the past I have also found that hot chocolate is a wonderful tool for warming up more quickly when coming in from the cold on a blustery day. Fingers frozen to the bone regain their feeling much more quickly when wrapped around a piping hot mug of heavenly hot chocolate.

What is your favorite winter treat? When do you enjoy it the most?

Snow!!

Snow means many different things to different people. Snow causes me to drive more slowly, which means I have to get up earlier in the morning. It means that I have to shovel out my driveway and keep walkways clear around the house. I have to wear boots around outside, and bring shoes with me if I don't want to walk around in wet shoes all day.

However, I still enjoy snow. I look forward to seeing it filter down across gray skies, drifting through pine boughs and gently coating everything. I look forward to going sledding with my family, and playing with my dogs until the cold drives me in. I look forward to seeing the familiar scenery shrouded in a white blanket. I even look forward to the occasional snow day, although I hope that we don't miss any school during wrestling season.

What does the snow mean to you? What do you like or dislike about it?

Back to the grind

It can be tough to get back in the swing of things after a quick break, especially with enthusiasm about the upcoming break building ever higher. Anticipation and excitement about the holiday break and what it might hold in store for us can lead to daydreaming and inefficient use of time. This compounds our being out of routine from the Thanksgiving break.

Like sprinters headed down the final stretch, it can help us to keep the finish line in sight and make sure each stride has a purpose. If we slow down and coast into the finish, we're unlikely to be pleased with our results.

What is one specific thing that you can do to maximize each day in school before the next break?
(The more specific you are, the more easily you'll be able to evaluate your process and assess how well you did at a later date. Hint, hint.)

Thanksgiving

When I was growing up, I was fortunate enough to have parents who made me eat all kinds of different food. Even if I didn't want to try something, I had to have at least a taste. Now that I'm older I appreciate the broad array of foods and flavors to which I was exposed. Many things that I didn't like at first I ended up enjoying. If I had been given my way, I would never have taken a bite!

While I acquired a taste for many different foods, I never grew to like sweet potatoes. I think this is partly due to their texture and partly to their flavor. If they are buried under enough butter and brown sugar I can stomach sweet potatoes, but I would prefer not to have to deal with them. This makes Thanksgiving somewhat problematic because sweet potatoes are almost always a featured item. I don't want to seem rude to the person nice enough to prepare them, but I also don't want to eat them.

What is your least favorite food at Thanksgiving? Are you able to avoid having to eat any? What tricks do you use to get out of eating this food?

Musical inspiration

One of my favorite groups these day is Flobots. I like their music because many of the tunes are catchy but have substance below the catchy surface. Since they have more depth, I find that I can listen to the songs over and over without growing tired of them. Their lyrics have some important, socially significant points. While I don't necessarily agree with everything the group says, I do like the idea of groups using musical arts to express opinions about important social issues.

What artist or group have you been particularly enjoying recently? What do you especially like about her/him/them?

Open for suggestion

What should next week's blog comment be? Submit a topic that you think would

a) be interesting.

b) provide opportunities for explanation.

c) be an entertaining topic.

Make sure to explain why YOUR submission should be the one.

Writing

Calvin seems to be voicing an interesting opinion about the purpose of intricate and jargon-filled writing. What is he actually saying? Do you agree with him? Why or why not?

You should click on the comic to get a version of it that is large enough to read clearly.

Evaluating processes

Even major league baseball players look silly occasionally. In order to remain in the big leagues, they constantly evaluate their processes. For example, in the picture above Russell Martin has taken a horrible swing, and has missed the pitch badly. Rather than evaluating his result ( a swing and a miss), he will evaluate his process - when he decided to swing, how he distributed his weight, where his hands were, etc.

Often we are tempted to evaluate our results. We think of successes and failures as the grades we earned rather than the process we used. It will be more helpful for us to evaluate our processes - for example, what specific strategies we used to study. Instead of thinking about homework in terms of doing it or not, we can evaluate the process we used to make sure we completed it and had it with us.

What is one process you think you should either change or adapt to achieve better results in one of your classes?

Re-visiting Brock Mealer

A phenomenal fall poem will use words to evoke strong emotion (click "evoke" to see the definition). Watch the Brock Mealer video above. You have some background knowledge about his situation already, but the video will give you more insight. After watching, answer the following two questions.

What scenes evoked the strongest emotions for you?

What purpose do the scenes from right before the game fulfill? (You might want to rewatch this part to refresh your memory.)

Performance indicators

On Friday, report cards for the first 5 weeks went home. Along the way you have had some hints as to how you were doing: tests and quizzes handed back, homework that you did or didn't do, and your feelings about how well you were grasping concepts. Now that you have seen your grades, in which class do you feel you are doing the best? Why do you think you are doing well in that class? Is there anything you could improve?

Learning

Brooks Conrad, a second baseman for the Atlanta Braves, made three errors in a playoff game against the San Fransisco Giants over the weekend. Before the next game, as the players were getting warmed up, Conrad was given an ovation from the Braves fans. Why would the fans cheer for Conrad in this situation? Shouldn't they have let him know that he had let them down when he cost his team the game? What can we learn from this situation?

Plot charts

Plot charts can be a great way to develop the framework for a story. Once the framework is in place, it is relatively simple to add in appropriate supporting details that make an interesting story. Starting to write without having a framework in place, however, can lead to a long, boring story that never comes to a climax or a conclusion.

In order to practice making charts, pick a favorite book or movie. Write out a brief plot chart, being sure to include at least three examples of rising action.

Armageddon
Exposition: A meteor is headed toward Earth; if it isn't stopped, it will destroy our planet.

Rising Action:
1. A plan is developed to have a crew of oil drillers drill into the meteor and deposit a bomb.
2. The crew is separated on the meteor; down to one active drill, they begin work
3. After many complications, the second crew arrives on the scene to make the final push.
4. They drill to the necessary depth; however, the remote trigger for the bomb fails.
5. Harry Stamper stays behind to detonate the bomb.

Climax:
Harry is ready to press the trigger, and time is running out. The remaining crew blast off, but worry that something might have gone wrong. Can Harry detonate the bomb in time?!

Falling Action:
He does. The shuttle comes back safely to Earth, and the surviving members of the crew are happy.

Conclusion:
Harry's daughter and one of the crew members get married; at the wedding, there are large pictures of the crew who died on the mission. Happily ever after.

A new season

Autumn is upon us again! While there are many things I love about the summer, autumn is my favorite season. As summer winds down and begins to give way to the fall, I look forward to crisp air, vibrant color spreading over the hills, and the coziness and smell of a nice fire in the evening. I enjoy the building excitement of football season and the sizzling culmination of the baseball season. My favorite part of fall is the timelessness of a warm autumn afternoon. Memories of seemingly identical days from previous years filter through, and it seems that in an hour I can relive many happy times from when I was younger. I think this is because, the drab fall days make the gorgeous ones stand out that much more. Each nice fall day is more easily imprinted on the mind, along with the sensory circumstances of the day. When those sensory circumstances are duplicated, the memories of great days flood in.

What do you like most about the fall? Why?

Work

Often when we say the word "work" we are referring to a job or a career. However, students have quite a bit of work to do. What is work? Given the choice between doing work and goofing around, many choose to avoid work. What is the point of doing work? What is the point of avoiding work?

Goals for the year

As we start a new school year, it can be very helpful to set goals. By choosing to pursue a certain level of accomplishment we can develop the plan we'll need to follow. Once we have a plan, we can check our progress from time to time; this will let us know whether we need to change anything we are doing. If we're setting our goals high, there will probably be some obstacles in the way of achieving them, like the goalie standing in front of the net.

What is one academic goal you would like to achieve this year? What is one obstacle facing you that will make it difficult to accomplish this goal?

(If you can't think of an obstacle, you might have set your sights a little too low; try thinking of a more challenging goal.)

Overcoming challenges

Sometimes simple acts can be the greatest achievements. For years, Michigan's football players have sprinted out of the tunnel and soared to touch the banner. Fans love watching it, and it is an emotionally charged moment full of power and grace. The stampede of fast, strong, agile athletes fills the stadium with awe.

What could be so special about one man slowly walking across the field to reach up and touch the banner?

Overcoming challenges

Looking back over the course of the year, we can see the many challenges we have faced. Each year in school we encounter more and more difficult materials, a more rigorous workload, increasingly abstract ideas, and grumpier teachers.

What is one challenge you faced? Did you successfully overcome the challenge, or did it prove to be too much for you at that point in time? If you were able to overcome it, tell what strategies allowed you to do so. If it the challenge was too much for you at that time, tell what strategies you used the first time, and what strategies you will try the next time you are faced with a similar challenge.

Everybody makes mistakes; if you learn from yours, you will be less likely to repeat them.

The good life

If I could be any non-human animal, I would choose to be a dog. I love that dogs are energetic, affectionate, loyal, intelligent and enthusiastic.
The characteristic that I enjoy most about dogs is that they love to play; additionally, they are ingenuous when it comes to finding toys. Jake has entertained himself quite well with the spray from a sprinkler. Blue can spend hours playing with an old shoe. They love playing tug-of-war with hoses, plastic tubing, sticks and anything else they can find. Even if they can't find a toy, they'll run in circles nipping at each other. I would love to have the freedom to play all day and the ingenuity to turn so many things into toys.

If you got to choose an animal to become, what animal would you choose? What do you appreciate most about this animal? Why would you find life enjoyable as this animal?

Perfection!

Yesterday, Dallas Braden threw a perfect game for the Oakland A's. In the photo above, Dallas and his catcher jump for joy as the final out is made. What is a perfect game? How many have been thrown in the history of Major League Baseball? How was it especially signifcant to Dallas that players wore pink necklaces to raise awareness of the fight against cancer for Mother's Day?

Make sure to answer all of the questions ("I don't know" is not an acceptable answer), and include the source of your information in your comment.

If given the gift of time . . .

If we had one more period we could add to the school day during which you could study whatever subject you wanted, what would you study?

I would love to take a gardening class in which I could learn how to grow a phenomenal flower garden that would feature the best flora upstate New York has to offer.

What did you learn?

Over break I learned how to use a posthole digger (and prybar) to dig holes in really rocky soil. I learned how to use carriage bolts to secure 2x8 boards to 4x4 posts. I also got to practice a couple of things I learned to do while completing previous projects. I practiced mixing and pouring concrete, and hammering lots of nails.

What did you learn over break?

Whew!!!

Portfolios are done!!

You did a fantastic job crafting, editing, and working to perfect the elements of your portfolio and your presentations. If you had one more day, what would you do to make your portfolio or your presentation even better? Feel free to think big on this one.

Outside activities

I hope that everybody had a chance to get out into the great weather this weekend. I love spending chunks of time playing, digging, and planting outside in comfortable weather. I've been working recently to make my yard as beautiful as possible.The dogwood tree, pictured here, are a classic image of springtime here in America (I planted one last fall). Azaleas are very common down south, and can be seen in full bloom beautifying the Masters golf tournament in Georgia. Washington DC is famous for its gorgeous cherry blossoms in the spring, and forsythia are quite common locally. If you are unsure what each looks like, head over to google images and do a little searching.

Of these four spring blooms, which is your favorite? If you could plant the ideal spring garden, which two of the above plants would you be sure to include? Which of the four is your least favorite? Why?

Which will you choose?

You have been walking in the woods for hours. You only meant to take a short walk to clear your head, since you've been really stressed out about your portfolio recently. You inadvertently lost track of where you were going, and now it seems as though you've been walking in cricles. You feel as though you've been here before; if you remember correctly, the last time you tried the left fork. You can't really remember for sure, though. Part of you thinks that maybe you went right last time, and maybe you haven't really been here before - maybe your mind is just playing tricks on you. You're ravenous, and on top of that you're so thirsty that your tongue feels like it's made of cotton and covered in sand.

You really need to make it back to your cabin soon. Not only are you hungry and thirsty, but you can see the sun beginning to descend toward the treetops. Before long it will set. The air will cool, nocturnal predators will come looking for you, and you'll have an even harder time finding your way along the path.

Which direction do you head next? Why?

Retribution?

Most of you did a good job of locating good information about the Manhattan Project and commenting on Truman's decision. Some of you were a little confused on the timeline of events. Japan and America were not in direct conflict until the attack on the military base at Pearl Harbor. Although there is some debate as to whether anybody knew of the attack before it hit, it is widely accpeted that those on the base were taken completely by surprise. Further, the American public was shocked and outraged by the attack.

Locate some good information about the attack on Pearl Harbor and on the reaction by regular American citizens. Do you think that public opinion regarding Japan played any role in the decision Truman made to attack Japan with atomic bombs a few years later? Would you change your opinion of Truman's decision now that you know more about the attack on Pearl Harbor?

Important Decisions

The series Band of Brothers was an incredibly popular HBO show about soldiers in the European theater of the Second World War. HBO will soon be airing the series, Pacific, which will detail the experiences of soldiers in the Pacific theater of the war. As the battles between Allied and Japanese forces were prolonged, it seemed to some that many were being killed and captured for relatively little territorial gain. While it seemed likely that the Allies would be victorious in the Pacific theater, it looked as though achieving the victory would be a very long, arduous, and bloody affair.

The Manhattan Project was undertaken in part to find a way to more speedily achieve surrender on the part of the Japanese. Harry Truman was the President of the United States who ultimately gave the go-ahead on the plan to drop nuclear bombs on two Japanese cities. Going through with the plan meant killing a vast but unknown number of civilians; generally, the killing of civilians is considered wrong even during war. However, it was thought that many American lives could be saved in the process, and that many soldiers on both sides could be saved from gruesome death and injury in battle by a quicker Japanese surrender.

Do a couple minutes of research on the web. What information can you find about the decision? What source did you use to learn this information? Based on this information, do you think Truman made the right move?

Decisions, decisions

Mazes and puzzles present us with obvious points at which we have to make a decision. Should we go left? Should we go right? Have we already strayed down the wrong path?

One strategy for making good decisions is to pause and consider the REASON that you might choose one thing or another. Since it is supposed to be sunny today and tomorrow, I might choose to do some outdoor work on my house today rather than putting it off until later in the week, since there's a chance of precipitation later on. If I choose to do other things now and end up cleaning up my yard in the rain, I'll have nobody to blame but myself. Generally, the more information I consider before choosing to do something, the better chance I have of making a solid decision.

What important choice have you made recently? What were your options? What reasons led you to choose one path over the alternatives?

Olympics

The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver just wrapped up. I was moderately interested, although I didn't watch or follow the coverage as much as some of my friends. I did enjoy watching some of the speed skating, the hockey, and the ski jump competitions. I was most impressed by the coverage of the bobsled competition. The way that the event was captured on camera showed vividly the insane speeds at which the bobsleds shoot down the chute. Having less than total control over the sled probably makes it even more stressful to ride, since you might feel the sled losing control but know that you couldn't do anything about it.

Did you follow the Olympics at all? Why or why not? What were your favorite events to follow? Why?

Fight songs and sound effects

The Michigan marching band plays the Michigan fight song at football games when the team storms onto the field. Touchdowns, field goals, and other great plays often are closely followed by the playing of the fight song. What song would you like to hear as you enter a room? What song would you like to have playing as you do something good?

A change in behavior

Click on the picture to learn about the effects of concussions and head trauma on Mike Webster. Does some of Ponyboy's behavior make more sense when his recent head injuries are taken into account? Give one specific example of a choice or action of Ponyboy's that you think resulted at least in part from his concussion.

A look behind the scenes

Click on the picture above to read about the experiences of one of the cast members from the movie version of The Outsiders. Why would the director have wanted the actors playing the greasers and Socs to feel animosity towards each other?

Last week I put a Delinquent Habits line on the board:
"How you gonna understand where I'm from when you're looking at me smug, think I'm packing a gun?
How you gonna understand the life I live when you refuse to listen, [have] no time to give?"

What is it like to feel that things are slanted unfairly against you? Do those who benefit from the unfairness understand how you feel? How does this affect their approach to the situation?

In the movie version of The Outsiders, this is how the greasers looked. If there were greasers today, how would they be dressed? How would they do their hair?

Walter goes to Hollywood

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is being made into a movie. Mike Myers, who played Austin Powers, is the actor who will play Walter onscreen. Since Walter has an extremely active imagination, it is certainly conceivable that he frequently pictured himself as a movie star. What star do you think Walter would imagine himself being? If they did a movie about your life, what movie star would you want to play you? Why?

Favorites

Recently in Mr. Noto's room I noticed a list of the Top 100 movies of all time. Inspired by this list, I began a list of my favorite 100 movies of all time. One of my top sports movies is Miracle, which is the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie for several reasons. I am easily annoyed by overly exciting or unrealistically portrayed sports action scenes. I much prefer to see the action as it was, and the movie Miracle steers clear of exaggerating the action.

What is one of your favorite movies? What about it do you particularly enjoy? Make sure to use a few adverbs in your response!