Pecha Kucha

The presenter does many things well. He provides many different pictures of what he is talking about and explains the images that may not be easily interpreted. The pictures that he used of the unique 3-D printed items were the most effective aspects of his presentation.

 The most lackluster part of his presentation was that he has a thick accent and was not completely fluent in English which made some of the more complicated areas hard to understand. He also did now have enough to talk about during some slides leaving anywhere from 2 – 5 seconds of no talking.

Overall I noticed that he had put in a lot of time and effort into his Pecha Kucha and it was rather good. Although I’m skeptical about how well a Pecha Kucha will turn out at the high school level, it does work very well on the professional side of things. I’m completely confident in making a Pecha Kucha that meets all requirements.

在中国教数学 (Teaching math in China)

在中国教数学

Talking to any math teacher on an educational level makes one realize just how much it takes to become a teacher. Likewise, if you’ve ever wanted to become a math teacher and have looked into the college courses they have to take, you may see classes that likely make you start doubting your decision just by reading their titles. You probably looked for these jobs in America which has been slowly declining in the mathematical department for many years. If you move this occupation over to China, the challenges in becoming a math teacher are exponentially increased.

I originally chose the topic of teaching in China because my penpal aspires to take part in the profession; however she did not tell me what kind of teacher she wanted to be. I then decided to narrow it down to teaching math in China because this was a topic I most wanted to explore as far as teaching professions go. I knew that China had many different ways in which they teach math and that the Chinese students score much higher on their math exams than most of the rest of the world.

I knew that the competition between the United States and China in math was very rigorous but I didn’t know that Canada felt the same way. By looking for my second secondary source, I found that the Canadian Embassy is also very concerned with falling behind in math to China. They have gone so far as to hire Chinese instructors from Shanghai to teacher their more advanced students.

I am just as concerned as the US and Canada governments on how far ahead China is becoming in math. Thinking about how much math affects the world and how slowly Americans are learning how to use these types of math is quite a nerve-racking thing to think about. I'm not the only one that is afraid of this as Britain's Education Minister Elizabeth Truss states,

A Chinese teacher
teaching math to her 4th grade class

              “it’s skyscrapers, and its ambitions, are all built on maths,”.

I would like to see more American institutes being on the same page as one another but that’s not to say that this page should be easy. The course needs to be much harder than it currently is and the teachers must make sure that every student understands the material completely before they are sent into the next class. This will make the instructional time faster and the teacher won’t have to explain old concepts.

       

Crawley, Philip. What Shanghai Can Teach Us About Teaching Math. The Globe and Mail, 17 Feb. 2012. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/what-shanghai-can-teach-us-about-teaching-math/article17835021/?page=all.

Wei, Kan. What Makes Chinese Math Lessons So Good?. The Globe and Mail, 9 June 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2014. http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-makes-chinese-maths-lessons-so-good-24380.

Face To Face

         Listening to the testimonies from the victims of the backlash of 9/11 and Pearl Harbor opened my eyes about what they had to go through. Many of them felt like they had lost their citizenship overnight and that they had to redeem themselves even though they hadn't done anything. I believe that the experience with Pearl Harbor was worse for those affected because it was the first large scale attack on America and the government was in on the propaganda alongside citizens by arresting Japanese Americans and placing them in concentration camps. When 9/11 happened, although there was a large about of racism toward Muslims, the government didn't go to the lengths that they did with Pearl Harbor.

         With both groups being effected in such a negative way, it would seem to be easy for them to hate being in America and what it no longer has to offer them because of something that they didn't do, however, the opposite is true. Many of the interviewees were optimistic about the future and what it has in store for them. They were excited for the opportunities that they had been given after the fact to regain their citizenship. For myself, having this outlook on life after being harasses by the government and normal people on the street would be extremely difficult and I can't help but think that the entire experience would leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

Plagerism - A Book Response #5

            I didn’t enjoy reading this article, mainly because how the author talked about the subject matter. The subject matter, plagiarism, isn’t all that bad. The subject could even be interesting, if the author(s) aren’t librarians that are tired of students copying and pasting their way through school. With the author having a negative outtake on what they're writing about, the article quickly becomes a slew of negativeness and is too repetitive to actually care about. They have taken the view of other biased people about plagiarism and they also have the same view, mainly because the interviewees consist of other librarians and English teachers that are also tired of plagiarism in their classroom. This wouldn't be bothersome to me if the article talked about students that don't plagiarize their papers and that do their work, but instead it's all about students that make the wrong decision otherwise known as the easy way out.

There are some interesting and intelligent parts in this article. The sections when the authors talk about how society has changed with the influx of new technology. It goes over how before students used computers to type papers and they would always cite their sources that they used. According to the article, many students don’t see a problem with copying a pasting things off the internet due to the fact that anyone can find it and to them, it’s considered common knowledge.


“This generation has always existed in a world where media and intellectual property don’t have the same gravity,”

                Overall, I managed to get through this article but that was about it. I honestly didn’t gain much from reading it, perhaps it’s because I don’t plagiarize. I don’t see plagiarism as a way to pass a class, especially in high school because most of the promps are very detailed and specific and trying to find a paper that matches the criteria would take longer than typing up the paper myself.


Some women that were involved in this article that complain
 about plagiarism in a learning environment

Dave Berry Article - A Book Response #4

This is how I picture Dave Barry in College

            Dave Barry’s article (?) basically talks about how pointless college is and that you really don’t use much of what you learn while you’re there. It’s also about what you should and shouldn’t study while in college. If you want to pass and get a degree, you should probably major in something that doesn’t have any actual facts involved with it instead of math and chemistry which are based entirely on factual information. Making up random garbage is usually the best way to pass these non-factual classes because if you turn in something that would be considered normal, you will most likely fail the class where on the other hand if you turn in something extremely off-the-wall, you’re teacher will think that you’re the smartest one in the class and pass you with flying colors.


"Here is a very important piece of advice: be sure to choose a major that does not involve Known 

Facts and Right Answers"

            Overall, I enjoyed reading this short-story-esk writing and found it to be humorous, especially because I’m currently applying to colleges and I want to major in one of the four subjects that actually involves factual information: chemistry. I hope to read more from Dave Barry where he writes like he did in this passage.

                                                           

Revive - A Book Response #3 (Pages 89 - 103)

   

        When the family arrives in Kansas City, Daisy reiterates how much she despises Wade. Mason insists that even though she doesn't like being in his company, she still needs to be considerate to the rest of the Zimmerman family. Wades mom makes him invite Daisy to hang out with his girlfriend and a few other friends. They start out driving to the local soccer field and they hang out there while taking turns filling up their cups with alcohol from a thermos that Wades girlfriend brought. His girlfriend then decides that they should go to a party.

A keg from the party

        Daisy doesn't remember the trip to the party nor what has taken place for the past couple of hours. She wakes up in a room that is lit with a red tint with a sharp pain in her stomach and a headache. She is simultaneously freezing and sweating. After a while, her memory starts to come back to her. She remembers running around the soccer field with Brittany and doing a keg stand because one of Wades friends dared her to. She remembers singing karaoke with another friend and cornering Wade about the Revive program, slurring her way through each sentence.
        A guy walks into the room that Daisy is laying in and barely notices her before escorting his newly found keg back to the party. He asks is she's okay and she blurts out that she already called Audrey, except she doesn't remember doing so. She lays down and quickly passes out again. She is woken up by someone carrying her outside and into a car, however she can't fight back because her limbs have fallen numb. She has no choice but to face her fate when she can finally move again.
         Daisy wakes up to a comforting site the next morning, Matt. She hears Mason through the door and Matt tells her to answer his call. After Mason asks if she wants to go to the Zimmerman's today, Matt quickly insists that Daisy should ask if she can stay her today. After Mason leaves in aggreance


A non-diet soda

with Daisy's request, she asks Matt how he had known to come help her.He explains that she had drunk texted him and that he had called her and she wanted him to save her from a gay guy named Wade. Matt had had trouble translating Daisy's location because she said that she was at "Freckler with the moose" in stead of Specter Hall where she had seen ornamental reindeer and mistook one of them for a moose.
         After their conversation, Matt order them food and remembering that Daisy didn't order a diet soda at the movie, he orders her a regular. Daisy decides that she doesn't want to hide her feelings for Matt anymore and decides that saving her from a drunken mistake and ordering food from memory means that he has feelings for her as well.


Universal cancer symbol

         While they are watching a movie and chowing down on lunch, Daisy asks Matt if he things that Audrey could be mad at her, seeing as she hasn't replied to any e-mails or texts for almost three days. Matt brushes her off with a simple "I don't think so.." but Daisy can tell that he knows something. She presses on 15 minutes later and continues to ask what's wrong after she sees the sad look on Matts face. She explains that he can tell her anything and to trust her and her tells her that her new best friend has cancer and has been in the hospital since she left.

    


                    Deciphered quote from the text to be added later

Revive - A Book Response (Pages 0-49)

              Revive is a book that many people, varying in age, can connect too even though it involves an extreme case of sci-fi. The book starts off with the protagonist, who was previously deceased, being brought back to life the night after she passed away. The couple who bring her back to life, one large physically fit man and the other a slim attractive woman, seem to be the main caretakers of the young girl. Both are apart of a secret agency that has created the drug and the protagonist is the main test subject.
              Throughout the first 20 or so pages, the book leads you to believe that the main character is the only one of her kind and that her position is very unique in that way, however, after the very beginning of the book you realize she is apart of a group called the Buses. Each of the 14 or so children were involved in an horrific crash and the 14 that are apart of the revive program were the people that were selected to be brought back to life at the crash. This leads you to assume that the incident was a bus crash during a school event but you don't know why the bus crashed or how it did so.
                The only friend the young girl has ever had is a girl by the name of Megan, whom was also involved in the original accident and they still keep in contact with each other. This is due to the fact that because Daisy is relocated many times every time she dies, using the time and effort to make friends isn't really worth it.
                When she moves into the town of Omaha, remembering a past encounter of missing out on a possible friend, Daisy accepts a lunch invitation from a girl that she believes to be one of the most popular girls in her school. This is quite unusual for her and when she tells Megan about the newly acquired friend, she is exceptionally skeptical , for good reason.



Cover of the book