This I Believe speech

     

"Fail, Learn, Repeat"

         “You can never achieve what you do not try.” This was said by an ordinary person with big dreams. Sometimes we want to give up. Usually because it is too hard or you know it won't work out. I believe that you shouldn't give up. Every time you give up on an opportunity to improve yourself, you also give up on an opportunity to improve others.

          Giving up is something we learn. It is not something we know from birth. Giving up also affects other people in a negative way. If you give up you can pass that vibe to other people and let them think that it's okay to give up too.

          I remember I was in a tennis tournament and I had lost the first set and was down 5-3 in the second set. I felt the drops of sweat on my back and my face. I served with caution for fear of committing a double fault and losing a valuable point in the game. I managed to make a come back from the 5-3 and win 7-5. We played a tiebreaker and I won 10-7.

          I was losing at first but I had won and just like that I had chosen I wasn’t going to lose. I didn’t give up. I learned that everything turns out the way that you think it's going to turn out. If you know you're going to lose then you will lose. Don't give up so fast even if it seems like you're going to fail, don't give up.

Final Reflection

 4/22/16
1 - What are the three most important things you learned this year?
2- What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life?
3- What was the nicest thing someone in our class did for you this year?
4- What is something you taught your teacher or classmates this year?
5- In what area do you feel you made your biggest improvements? What is something you accomplished this year that you are proud of
6- What was the most challenging part of this year for you?
7- What was the best piece of writing that you did this year? Why do you think it is your best?
8- Of the books you read this year, which was your favorite? Why?
9- What advice would you give students who will be in this class next year?

           One of the three most important things that I have learned this year is giving your everything. Putting forth every last effort you have in you. I have tried to put every last effort in me into this class because this class has very high expectations. I respect this because I know Mrs. Larson is trying to push us so that we can be prepared. Respect is also something I was taught. Although I already knew what it was I really knew what it meant in this class. Respect is key in Mrs. Larsons class. Yes, every kid get distracted no matter how "smart" they are. Its natural but there should be more times where you showed respect rather than not. Another quality that was shown to me in this class is persistence. Persistence is a necessary quality that is needed in this class. There are many projects that you need persistence to complete.  

          I think the thing that I did this year that I will remember for the rest of my life is the Edgar Allen Poe play. I had lots of fun and my group really put lots of effort into it. It took creativity, persistence, optimism, and many other qualities. I really enjoyed it because it made me open up to a thing I would of never done on my own. In the end I enjoyed it and it helped me open up to it.

          The nicest thing that someone has done for me this year is to give me help when I need it. To always be there to correct me or to help me when I'm down. This class was tough but this class is like a family. We help each other. We all do. We always have.

          One thing that I taught my classmates this year is that not everything needs to be perfect. It can be perfect to you in your way. In the butterfly project many people said mine looked like a battle ax. It looked fine to me and it had everything it needed. Everyone's butterfly was great in their own way. They all had so much meaning. In that sense it is perfect. This is what I think I taught my classmates

           I think the area I made my biggest improvement is my writing style and my structure. I really think that my style has improved over this year. The way Mrs. Larson has guided me throughout this year was the most helpful. It was the most helpful year because we were able to understand more and take in more. The thing that I am proud of is getting mostly 3's and 4's Mrs. Larson has very high expectations and I respect that that is why I'm proud of getting mostly 3's and 4's.

          The most challenging part of the year was writing the argumentative paper. It was out of my comfort zone because I've never written anything like that. I had to research and find facts that went against my argument. Then, I had to prove why those facts were wrong. It was very challenging but I found it to be necessary later in life becasue that's basically what you have to do in everyday life.

           The best piece of writing that I think I did was my narrative. I think this because I out lots of detail into it, used figurative language such as: metaphors, similes, onomatopoeia, personification, etc. It was also really important to me because I could of died because of it. I was proud of the style I had in it. I was also proud of the structure it had. Overall I was really proud of this piece or writing

          My favorite book that I have read this year is "To Kill A Mockingbird." I really like this book because it shows lots of figurative language, has a life lesson, and it's very interesting. It caught my attention since the beginning. Even though we were annotating and analyzing it was still a great book. I would recommend this book to my peers.

           The advice I would give to each student in 7th grade is out forward your best effort. You think 7th grade was tough? Just wait until 8th. Even if you feel like giving up, persist. This grade is the one that counts. For high school, for the rest of your life. You need this grade. This is your school now. Make it greater.

         

Morrie Aphorisms Blog-Final Project

'Prompts:
1-   Explain the aphorism in detail. what was Morrie's main message?
2-     Relate the aphorism to a movie, song, historical event, current event, personal experience, etc. and explain in detail how the example you have chosen relates to the aphorism.
3-     Evaluate the aphorism by explaining why you agree/disagree with it. Give specific reasons for your position and specific evidence from the text to support your position.
4-     Take a picture of your aphorism to use as your graphic.
5- Include your own aphorism regarding life.

          "...Love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone." (p.133) This aphorism impacted me a lot. I never really thought about how or who would remember my legacy after I passed away. Now I know love is how I stay alive. This means that the bonds you make with other people is what you will be remembered by. The love you give out and receive is how you will be remembered. This aphorism ties in with many other aphorisms. Morrie main message is that you should give out love and let it come in so that you can not only be remembered, but also so you that your legacy that you have left behind also lives. This is what I think this aphorism means.

          The person I related this aphorism to is Robin Williams. I related this to him because he
made lots of people happy. He was a comedian and played in many movies. There is this one movie that I remember specifically. He was supposedly a doctor, but instead he made children laugh. Those children had cancer. As I remember, he was tried in court for something serious. The chidlren in the hospital went to him to court and as he left he left with a smile. He left with a smile because he saw that the children's hair was growing back. Slowly but surely, their hair began to grow back. Later, he died in jail. All of the children were now cancer free because of his actions. Even though he died he lived in their hearts forever just like how the aphorism states,"...Love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone." (p.133)  

          I agree with the aphorism, "...Love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone." (p.133) I agree with it because its true. Every person is remembered by love. That could either be positive or negative. If you always gave out love and always let it come in you would be remembered in a positive way. If you never gave out love and never let it come in you would be remembered negatively by many people. Maybe your family members wouldn't remember you that negatively. Love always manages to stay alive. This also ties in with the aphorism, "Death ends a life, not a relationship." If you love enough and you let people love you enough you will survive one way or another.

          "If you are true to yourself you will be true to other" (Nicolas Fuentes)

Socratic Seminar Morrie Reflections

5/4/16
Book: "Tuesdays with Morrie"
Prompts:
1.) Explain how the past four Socratic Seminars have influenced your thinking about Tuesdays with Morrie and life in general.

2.) What trends did you notice with yourself and your personal goals for each seminar? How did your personal goal(s) change and what did you actively do to change throughout our last four discussions?

3.) What trends did you notice with the class for each seminar? What did you notice that helped or hindered a specific seminar?

          I think that just the book alone opened up my mind and my heart a great amount. With all of the socratic seminars that we had it opened me up even more. It helped me notice more and more features of the world and what everyone and everything has offer to the world. Now I consider more pieces of nature and how we take it for granted. I see how beautiful everything is and how the wind moves the tree in a rhythm. Morrie is the science behind all of my thinking. He is the one who helped me realize everything. My classmates, as well, were a huge part of it. They helped clarify some aphorisms and many pieces of the book. I think that the socratic seminars were 50% of what got me thinking. It helped me open up in ways I never knew I could.

          The trend with me was that I seemed to, slowly but surely, contribute more to each seminar. The trend with my personal goals did not change at all. My goal for every seminar was to be able to contribute more to the group so I would be able to achieve a four. I tried my best but it always seemed like when the seminar came I had nothing to contribute. The seminars did open my eyes but I think I could of contributed more so I would learn and take more from them. The last seminar I think
was my best seminar because I talked a lot more than all of the others and I had a lot to say.

          The firt seminar there were some gaps in some of my classmates explanation as well with me. We talked mostly about the book and connections that we had made. Aphorisms were a big topic in the first seminar. With each seminar we began to shy away from aphorisms. The second seminar we began to realize that there were gaps and we tried our best to fill them in. The third seminar was one of our best/worst one. It was our best one because we went off topic and started making lots of connections to other people, events, places, etc. It was our worst one because none of us have ever went off topic in a seminar and not everybody made the same connections as other people. The fourth one was I think our best one because we did sometimes go off topic but most of the time we stayed on topic and made a plethora of connections.

Morrie blog

4/28/16
Book: "Tuesdays with Morrie"
Prompt: Based on the 6 Tuesdays you have read about in Tuesdays with Morrie, choose which topic (The World, Feeling Sorry For Yourself, Regrets, Death, Family, or Emotions) that has had the most impact on you or inspired you. On your blog discuss the importance of this topic with your own opinions, including textual evidence (direct quotes) from the book.


          The "Tuesday" I picked was the first one. "We Talk about the World." I picked this one for a variety of reasons. The first reason I picked this chapter was because it had almost all of the life lessons in the other chapter. It talked about how death made a person finally cry for another person. Also, when it talked about how to learn how to give love and bring it in. Another one is how Morrie crys for half the world. When he started to talk about what was happening in Bosnia he almost started to cry. This shows that we should be like Morrie and at least show some compassion towards the people that are suffering. 

          Mitch said that the death of a person could finally make a person cry for another person. "Maybe death is the great equalizer, the one big thing that can finally make strangers shed a tear for one another." This is true. I don't want to believe it because we should always show compassion towards other people, but this is true. The death of someone that you have held close to you can make you shed a tear for them or maybe even a stranger. This is one of the things that impacted me in this chapter.

          Another thing that impacted me was when Morrie said that you should learn to give out love and bring in love. "His voice dropped to a whisper. 'Let it come in. We think we don't deserve love, we think if we let it in we'll become to soft. But a wise man named Levine said it right. 'Love is only a rational act.''" This impacted me very much because it is I have never really thought about love like that. That if we let it in we will become soft, but that isn't always the case. I think "Levine" is right. He did say it right. These are the things that have impacted me the most throughout the story so far.

Tuesdays with Morrie - Bucket List

4/20/16
Prompts:
1.) What are your initial reactions to what you have read in "Tuesdays with Morrie" thus far?
2.) One of the main themes developing in "Tuesdays with Morrie" is not to take your life for granted. Based on this premise, what is your bucketlist?

          I have had many thoughts during this book. It has made me think about the small things in life and to step back now and then and see the big picture. Also, not to take things for granted. What caught my attention the most was the way Morrie speaks. His words hit you like a bulldozer, but as you make sense of them they become clear and understandable. You have to step back for a little and see the big picture. He has his own sort of language like a mix between figurative language and the regular way that someone else would talk. He is a very powerful speaker.

           Something that astonished me was how he was so open. Morrie isn't closed off. He is unique and some of us would consider him weird. I also liked how he advised 9 million people that they shouldn't close themsleves off from the world. They should accept that they are going to die and share it, talk about, laugh with it, mourn with it, be happy with it. You shouldn't just give up, you should not just contine you your daily life but add somethiong extra to it. He talked about his death and death in general. He talked about that he is not just a wave in the ocean, he is the ocean. He says that he will die, but will live on in a different way. Morrie is a very inspiring person and he was right. He stills lives on one way or another.

          I haven't really thought about my bucket-list before except going sky-diving and a few other crazy things. I have taken my very life for granted. Morrie says that you shouldn't take anything for granted. So I guess here goes my bucket-list:

• Sky-diving
• Be one of the few people to go into space as a traveler
• Bungie jumping
• Play in the US Open
• Meet the president
• Meg Messi
• Visit all 50 states of the United States
• Visit all 7 continents 

         

3rd Quarter Reflection

Nicolas Fuentes
4/8/16
Prompts:
1.) In what area do you think you've made your biggest improvements in English Language Arts?
2.) What is something that you have accomplished this quarter that you are proud of?
3.) What has been the most challenging part of 3rd quarter for you and what did/can you do to help overcome this?

          I personally think I have improved in many different areas in English Language Arts. The one that I think I improved most on was my vocabulary. Instead of using words like big and good I use words like supreme and excellent. I use better words to express myself in a more profound way. This helps me like in the narrative paper that we wrote and the argumentative paper that we wrote. This is what i think is my biggest accomplishment in third quarter.

           Something that I have accomplished this quarter that I am proud of is writing my argumentative paper. Even though it was the most challenging for me I am still very proud of it because I put a lot of effort in it. A lot of time was put it in. I extracted facts and details for it and that was hard for me, but I took lots of time to choose correctly. This is what I am proud of.

           The most challenging part of 3rd quarter for me was having to write the argumentative essay. It was hard for me because first off, we had to really investigate our topic. We had to pull key facts that would aid us in writing our research paper. Then, we had to write a argument for the other side and that was like contradicting what I had been researching for days. Finally, we had to piece all of the research together and develop it into a argumentative paper. It was somewhat confusing but then I was able to understand how it all worked. This is what was the most challenging part of 3rd quarter
for me.