Final Post

     For this assignment, I chose to do the book Safe Haven because it's one of my favorites and grabs the readers attention. This book yet again showed me that Nicholas Sparks is amazing. 

     One of the most descriptive quotes I found throughout the passage read "As Katie wound her way among the tables, a breeze from the Atlantic rippled through her hair. Carrying three plates in her left hand and another in her right, she wore jeans and a T-shirt that read Ivan's: Try Our Fish Just for the Halibut. She brought the plates to four men wearing polo shirts; the one closest to her caught her eye and smiled." This quote adds to the text by using a vast amount of imagery and diction to help the reader understand the situation better. I chose this quote because it best shows diction and syntax throughout the text and benefits the text the most. Although this quote is not extremely lengthy, it still gives the reader the same amount of information as a loose and cumulative sentence would. So, not only is this quote less lengthy, it allows the reader to feel like they are there and apart of the story. 

     Throughout this piece a sizeable amount of diction and syntax were used. As mentioned above, the author uses imagery to enhance the text and make the reader feel apart of the story. An example of this was shown throughout the part of the quote where Sparks says "As Katie wound her way among the tables, a breeze from the Atlantic rippled through her hair." Imagery is shown here when the author goes into more detail about the breeze which allows the reader to visualize Katie's hair being blown by the wind. The reader can also see the use of casual diction through the words wound and rippled. The use of this diction adds to the text by allowing the reader to better understand the meaning. Also seen in the text, was the use of syntax. The author uses a semi colon to create a pause in the text without ending the sentence completely. The addition of the semicolon better allows the reader to interpret the passage and the significance of the sentence.

     In the video shown above, you can see a preview for the movie version of Safe Haven. This movie clip allows the reader to make connections between text and film. 

     

What school has taught me. The top 10.

     As freshman year comes to an end, I decided to reflect on some of the many things I've learned this year.

1. Stay on the right side of the hall. Kids are not friendly and they really don't want to walk all the way around you, so they won't. 

2. Beware of the bells. Teachers are NOT okay with you being 10 seconds late to class their locked doors will back up this tip. 

3. Foreign Languages are not electives. Enough said.

4.  Honors class are not your worst nightmares. There about the same amount of work but you get more credit...sounds like a good deal to me.

5. The hallways do not exists so you can have a group message. Do not stop in the middle to catch up with your BFF on her weekend. Some of us actually have classes we have to get to.

6. Keep the PDA to a 0. (Not really a tip but just stop it)

7. Eca really won't kill you. No one likes talking in front of other people, that won't change.

8. Get involved! High School is one of the only times that you'll be able to have the opportunity to join whatever sports team you want so don't wait for senior year, start now!

9. Start drinking coffee, soda, energy drinks, anything that will keep you awake to make up for your lack of sleep.

10. Dry your feet. The stairs like water and they are not afraid to pull you down them to get it. 

Technology at Mason High School; is it a necessity???

    As technology advances, so does the amount of kids who have these devices. Now, weather or not these new things are good or bad probably differs from teachers to students. Why? These new devices can become severe distractions as well. But, the thing many teachers are forgetting is the positive things these devices bring.
     Not only does it help to have these devices in class, it is almost a necessity. Now, with new school policies, more and more activities in class are beginning to be done online. This may seem like an invisible problem but it causes major problems for the students. The average amount of computers per classroom ranges from  1-5; but with 30 students per class, you can begin to see this dilema.
     Although I think having these devices are a plus, I can also see some of the teachers frustrations with these distractions. Many students have probably caught themselves, once or twice, on their phone during a non-device time. These new introductions to the classrooms cause students to draw their attention to their phone instead of the teacher or the lesson being taught. I know that sometimes I'll take out my phone and completely forget whatever he teacher is talking about. Later I don't know what we were talking about during class and have to catch up on work.

     Now that you know the positives and negatives of having devices during school , what do you think, allow them or ban them?

Parent-teacher conference left someone out

  

After reading this extremely interesting article by Krista Ramsey, I was able to gather some main points of the piece. First off, the article discussed the stress and inefficiency of parent-teacher conferences. Another main idea of the piece included the new way of addressing these meetings.
     Shroder Paideia Middle School in Kennedy Heights is the most recognized to have made "the change" from the past, uncomfortable, and inefficient meetings, to the less stress, and quicker meetings. At these meetings, the students are the teachers. They put together a presentation for their parents about grades, curriculum, and overall behavior in class. The teacher, to ensure truthful presentation, circulates around the room to help students, and to answer any questions that may arise.
      A quote in this passage that grasped the main idea in this passage was "Having students accept both the praise and the responsibility for their own performance is one of the ways to make education work best." I think this quote did a great job of summarizing this piece because it allowed the reader to see that these dreaded conferences don't actually need to be as bad. An example of syntax in this piece is the long sentence length. This prevents the reading of the usual 100 word quotes some passages have, to a quote that is able to sum up the piece while still giving enough information.
     Also, after reading the three different columns by Ramsey, I was able to gather a better understanding of her writing. First off, she gathers the audiences attention while also adding details that enhance the text, further gathering the audiences attention. Another part of Ramsey's writing that was noticed, was her use of strong conclusions. These powerful conclusions not only recapture the entire text, but also allows the reader to confirm previous thoughts and ideas about the passage.
     If I ever got the chance to ask Krista Ramsey a few questions, I would diffidently ask her how she comes up with these marvelous ideas, where she gets her inspiration from, and when she decided to become a columnist?
Be sure to check it out @: http://enquirer.com/columns/ramsey/1998/10/103198kr.html

The Learning Commons: The Future of MHS

     Soon to come to Mason High School, is the new and improved Library (soon to be known as the Learning Commons). As MHS is welcoming the change, it creates problems with the regular Library hours. Frequently, the Library is closed for the rennovations throughout the day; and as this dosen't seem like a huge problem, it creates many problems for students who need access to computers or printers.

     Some of the renovations there looking at adding include a coffee cafè alike Starbucks, and addition they already have added include booths for better group work space.

     What do you think, are the changes good or bad?

MBC vs. The Chronicle

     At MHS we all know what a little group called CSPN is. Not only does it create an extraordinary newspaper for the shook but also gives students the opportunity to watch a broadcast for the school and events that recently happened. But, the real question is, which is better? 

     While they both share about the same content, the newspaper allows you to have a permenant copy while the broadcast has to be accessed via Internet. Some though think this is better because it prevents students from caring around yet another paper. Also, nearly every student has a phone or device that allows them to quickly access internet thus allowing acess to the broadcast. 

     In the broadcast, extra sections such as in the hall, and top 5 not 5 are included. In the newspaper though, you are able to see different advertisements and coupons for nearby restaurants, stores, and photo company's (for senior pictures or any other photography need).

     So, now that you know the facts, you decide, which is better the newspaper or the broadcast?

Divergent Movie

     So I haven't yet read the actual Divergent book but this past week I got to go see the movie. 

     This movie mentions a future society outlook. In Tris's society, there are separate sections in which you are apart of. Through a test each citizen is usually able to determine their future section in which they belong to. You are able to chose weather or not you want to be apart of your expected section if society during the choosing ceremony. This movie shows the life of Beatrice (later known as Trish) and the deductions she has to make thought the movie. At the test that usually determines your future, Trish is given an inconclusive results. People given these results are known as divergent. Being divergent is punishable by death because it inspires radical thinking. 

     As Trish goes through her training for her specialty, she meets a helpful friend named Four. She has to hide her true identity while staying alive. 

     I would recommend this movie to anyone interested in action movies and movies that have a deeper meaning. I also give it 5 out of 5 stars.