6/3/2018 0 Comments Moose Mail!
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5/23/2018 0 Comments HAPPY SUMMER! LIFE UPDATE!
5/4/2018 0 Comments Stay Tuned!I'm back! It has been a very busy past couple weeks. AP exam prep, the AP Chem final, meetings, cheer tryouts, and more have absorbed my life. It may still be a few weeks before I am regularly back on the blog. I want you to know that although this blog was created for an English project, it will not be ending anytime soon! I look forward to posting updates on my life, latest projects, and thoughts as well as my favorite photos that I have taken. Thank you all so much for supporting me! If you would like, you can sign up for email updates by entering your email on the home page of my blog!
4/4/2018 0 Comments April 3 VLOGWARNING: This video is very choppy, crazy, awkward, shakey, and terrible quality, but that's life! Enjoy!!! 3/21/2018 6 Comments TOO MUCH HOMEWORKToday's High School students are given too much homework. This mountain of work isn't new, its been there all year long, but it is weighing down on students especially this time of year. It's not senior-itis, or junior-itis, or whatever you want to call it. Kids are getting burnt out and stressed out. The average nightly homework load is taking a toll on teenagers, whether its due to the teachers, or the structure of the school system.
Holly Roberts wrote an article for LIVESTRONG.com that details the effects of the work load on teenagers. Roberts explains the different types of effects: academic, emotional, health, and family. She explains that "For most teens, homework is part of high-school life, who spend an average of four hours each week doing homework ". I am not sure if because this article is three years old, or Roberts isn't looking at the same school I am, but it's more like an average of four hours a night. This doesn't include extra curricular activities, eating a meal, or actually taking time to be with your family or take care of yourself. And once all these things are accomplished, if possible, there is no time left for what else students should be doing: hobbies, friends, college and scholarship applications, jobs, more family time, devotion, etc. And if you think students get time to do these things on the weekends, you're usually wrong, since students have a bigger workload since teachers assume we have more time to get it done. So much homework alone hurts a students motivation, disrupts family life, makes kids less active, and decreases the amount of sleep teens need to perform and live well. Robert has found that "More than two hours of homework a night, though, did not improve a student’s future academic achievements, though, according to Cooper's 2006 study published in the "Review of Educational Research." Too much could prove counter-productive to academic success, especially if the homework isn’t appropriate for a teen, because it’s too challenging or not challenging enough." Raychelle Cassada Lohmann very recently elaborated on what I have mentioned in her article "How Much Homework Is Too Much for Our Teens?". Lohmann understands the amount of work that high schoolers, especially 11th graders, get and the pressure we are faced with, especially this time of year. She proposes that "Whether it’s setting up a shared school-wide assignment calendar or collaborating across curriculums during faculty meetings, educators need to discuss upcoming tests and projects, so students don’t end up with lots of assignments all competing for their attention and time at once." I can agree with her idea but teachers should also look at what is necessary or just busy work for students and how much time in class they give students to work, A modified schedule with long class periods should include a work time long enough to get work done. Teachers also need to understand how long it actually takes a student to do the work they assigned. What do you think about the amount of homework today's teenagers, especially at my school, do each night and how do we fix it? 3/7/2018 4 Comments The IT Girls![]() Well, I have a major life update for you all! I have recently been given the opportunity to create my own program to inspire girls in technology! I am so excited! I am working along side The Lutheran Schools Partnership to create a summer camp that will teach girls entering grades 7 and 8 robotics, programming, and a little bit of the making and hardware side of technology. I have to submit an application my this Sunday in order to receive a $3,000 grant to run the summer camp! The timeline has been so fast, since I learned about this opportunity just last week! I have created my own curriculum, planned out my budget, and started to look at advertising, registration, and all the other factors that goes into running my own "mini business". I am going to teach girls how to use and complete challenges using Mindstorm robots, program a turtle to move around an obstacle course in Java, and complete a project on a Raspberry Pi! (Its okay if you have no idea what I am talking about haha) My favorite part about all this is not just being able to create and running my own summer amp, help make technology more known and available to girls, but naming and designing it! The name for my program will be "The IT Girls" (IT means information technology), and this is one of my top ideas for the logo. I am so so so excited for this opportunity! I will try and keep you all updated throughout the process. 2/19/2018 0 Comments NO MORE SNAPCHAT!?!?That's right! No more Snapchat! This past week, I made the decision to remove all my social media apps from my phone and iPad. I had been contemplating this for quite a while but never wanted to go through with this since most of my groups I talked to could only talk on these apps. Akshata Shanbhag, an author on the technology based website, Made Use Of, wrote about her similar experience with her social media accounts. Like me, there was no momentous event that led her to give up her accounts, but felt she just needed a break. Here are a few reasons why I, similar to Shanbhag, got rid of social media:
1) It's Distracting I have a ton of homework. But when I get home, I scroll through Instagram and other apps until, all of a sudden, two hours had gone by! I had wasted precious time that I could have been productive during, and would make my night exponentially easier and less stressful. I could have spent all that time playing a board game with the family or getting extra sleep! 2) It's Addicting I found myself picking up my phone almost every free second just to check Snapchat stories or scrolling through Instagram. I didn't even pay any attention to half the stories there! At times, I didn't even mean to get on my phone, but it was just a natural reaction. Shanbhag talks about how she felt directionless online without her Facebook to aimlessly scroll through, but instead, she found a new hobby and better way to manage her time! 3) It's Usually Pretty Pointless What do people ever look at on social media? We see other's lives through a screen. It takes away conversation topics, it causes drama and starts fights, promotes self-consciousness and is rarely used beneficially. Shanbhag defends against the argument of "being out of the loop", but if it truly is important, your friends will talk to you and spend more time with you in person. I have noticed how much time I have saved and made better use of already this week! I do not plan on going back to social media for a very long time, if ever! Not all social media is bad, and certainly not if you use it for positive reasons with self-control, but you should definitely take a close look at the impacts and reasons behind the use of social media. 2/7/2018 4 Comments Immeasurable Love![]() I am beyond loved! I know this and see it everyday, but lately, it has been overwhelming! One of my best friends recently mailed me a letter. I love getting mail, but who doesn't?! The envelope contained a watercolor painting and a piece of notebook paper filled with her gorgeous handwriting. The watercolor was made for me and is the waterfront of one of my favorite places, Camp Lutherhaven. She is so talented! The letter was her thoughts recently on how blessed we are and how thankful we should be. It included a bible verses, and will be used as my new favorite devotion. Thank you Sparky for reminding me to praise God for every little thing! Everyday at school, I see so many friends I love! They make me extremely happy! They constantly make my long days fly by and add extra pep into my life. Thank you all for being my supporters, laughing at my joke, and being such amazing beautiful people! Today, another one of my best friends gave me a bracelet in between classes. It is a prayer bracelet. As she made it, she prayed for me over each knot forming the bracelet. Not only that, but she remembered my three favorite colors to make the bracelet with! This may seem normal, but I have a terrible memory and find this incredible! I cannot wait to wear this love on my wrist everyday! (CHECK OUT HER BLOG HERE) My 31-day devotion plan lead me to read 1 Corinthians 13 this week. This is the love chapter, and I highly recommend it!! I was reminded of how powerful love can be! If I live my life and do amazing things, but I do it without love, I have done nothing. I must do everything in love! this chapter also provides guidelines for what love looks like and doubles for some fantastic relationship guidelines! Last but definitely not least, my family reminds me of how loved I am. They always make sure I know I'm loved, but this week a few things stood out to me. I came home from a busy day and my dad had cleaned my room! A busy environment stresses me out and he had helped me to be more calm and productive! Such a small action showed so much love! Then grandma sneakily slipped into my house and did my laundry! My Mom also just brought me home a biscuit from Red Lobster, which are the best biscuits ever! YUM! Also, Valentines Day is in one week, so I don't see the love stopping anytime soon! 1/26/2018 0 Comments need a laugh?This post is dedicated to making people laugh. Comment links to add to the list! Enjoy!
Click HERE to go to my vine playlist! 1/15/2018 5 Comments Liberty pups
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