Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Timeline of events for the Constitution

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/409870

Classroom Update: 9/26/12

Today in class we participated in our very first "Ed cafe" activity of the year. The overall summary of this activity was that we were each divided into groups that were assigned a different part of the 1st amendment (speech, religion, petition, assembly, and press) then in class we would be separated into 3 different groups that consisted of one person from each of the original 5 groups. We would then each take turns leading 8 minute discussions about our part of the first amendment until mr. Boyle would tell us to switch to the next part. I overall found this activity fairly enjoyable because not only did it give us enough time to closely examine each part of the 1st amendment but it was also, for the most part student run and kept everyone on their feet which I felt was a lot better then a long lecture by the teacher on the 1st amendment. The downside to this activity was the way the original groups and assigned parts of the amendment were assigned because the night before the "Ed cafe" I opened an email to learn my group and topics to research and was faced with a rather confusing email attachment (see image below) that just looked like a bunch of random names instead of assigned groups and assignments. I'll admit I probably should have checked the email prior to the night before so that I could voice any concerns that I had in class but at the time I figured everyone must have come across the same attachment and was just as confused as I was. This was not the case I found out today in class as everyone, aside from me had detailed lists of topics to talk about in the discussions they would soon lead but I had no preparation for mine. Never the less I was able to think on my feet to navigate through a discussion I was leading on a topic that I hadn't prepared for at all. I enjoyed this activity a lot but I wish that the groups and assignments could have been given out in class to avoid confusion.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Classroom Update: 9/14/12-9/17/12

Over the past couple of days in class we have been focusing on how the president is elected and the powers that the president has while in office. In today's class we looked at various different types of executive branches that had one or more executives for te country. We saw how long the president(s) term was and if they could be re-elected afterwards. This really gave me a lot of insight into how our government was formed as how we choose a president.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Three Artifacts That Could Be Used To Describe Me

There are several artifacts from my life that if found several years in the future could give a lot of insight into my life. The three artifacts that would probably give the most insight into my current life are my laptop, binder, and cell phone.

My Laptop:

     My laptop is one of the artifacts from my life that reveals the most about me personally. The metal exterior, small size, and lightweight design could probably be clues to determine that I move around a lot and that my laptop needs to be portable. When my laptop is opened by someone who is trying to discover more about my personality they would see that I keep a small amount of icons and that my documents and photos have all been put into neatly labeled folders. This would tell anyone looking through my laptop that I am organized.  If someone looking to learn about my life from examining my laptop they would find that I browse the web with google chrome and after opening the chrome icon they could see my browser history and my apps. This would be an easy way to find out what my interests and hobbies are.

My Binder:

     One of the binders that I use for school was designed to be sort of a universal notebook for organizing notes that I can then sort and archive into separate other binders, folders, or notebooks for each class. This binder kind of goes against a lot of the requirements set by teachers for notebooks in their class. Someone looking at this binder would see that I like to customize things to make them fit to my personality. The color coded folders with labels would convey to anyone looking at it that I like to keep my things organized. My binder also features a custom schedule I designed myself that has a lot of information that would usually need to be split between the two schedules that the school provides such as times, which lunch I have on what day, and the periods for each subject. Anyone looking at this schedule would see that I like to keep things simple so that things are easier for me.

My Phone:

     My cell phone is an artifact from my life that reveals a lot about my interests and personal preferences. One of the good things about cell phones is that they can be customized in a large variety of ways meaning that you can learn a lot about someones phone by seeing how they've altered their phone. An example of this on my phone is that my lock screen is a picture from an episode of south park. This would tell someone looking at my phone that I enjoy watching south park. The way I set up my phone can tell anyone who looks at it a lot about my personality.