Camear08’s Blog

What is your favoite holiday and what are some traditions you have?

My favorite holiday, and I didn’t even realize it up until this point, is the Fourth of July. This is because I’ve had so many memories from the Fourth of July, and enjoyable times to look back on. Every Fourth of July, up until a few years ago, my sister, my mother, my three cousins, my aunt, uncle, and I would meet up at my grandparent’s house in the Hamptons (Long Island) and spend the weekend there. Every year it was sunny and beautiful. We would swim in the pool and run around basically all day. I remember one year we put on a “play”, and then another year we played a game of kickball. Every year, it was just as much fun as the last, and those are the memories that I will look back fondly on. Now everyone’s older, we don’t get along as much, but I miss these times at the beginnin of summer every Fourth of July.

I feel really guilty for not writing about my family. I love my family, don’t get me wrong, but something I couldn’t live without, and couldn’t imagine my life without is friends, plus I wanted to be original. I’m so fortunate to have a great loving family but, I think my life would be difficult without good friends. Therefore, I’m so fortunate to have good, loving friends that are great influences on me. Not having many friends, or good friends, can make life difficult. Raise your hand if you want to be the social outcast at school! Let’s face it, nobody would raise their hand. Over the years I’ve weeded out the bad friends, until finally I’ve gotten down to the ones that I know I can count on to be there for me. Living across town, or being on different teams and talking to each other twice a week, hasn’t ruined our friendships. I genuinely like my friends, and I know that they genuinely like me. They never betray me, backstab me, or do anything untrustworthy. I can sit down at the computer or on the phone and talk to them for hours, the whole time laughing. I know everybody says they love their friends but sometimes I wonder how truthful they are being. There is a difference between a bestfriend and an aqquaintence, and I think sometimes people get that confused. People sometimes go their whole lives without bestfriends, and just have aqquaintences. I’m so fortunate to have not only one, but a handful of people I can consider true friends. Sure, my friends might not be the coolest, in fact some of them act kind of dorky sometimes, but that’s why I love them.

The best thing about living in my state would have to be the weather, and the fact that we get to experience all four seasons throughout the year. You can’t fully appreciate summer & spring until you’ve been through a long cold winter full of ice and snow. Also, my state has the best of both worlds. You can go to a big city, go to the country, or the suburbs. It’s a pretty calm/pleasent place to live. Also, it’s only a short ride to New York, or Massachusetts.

My school is unique in a few different ways. Firstly, there are a select few teachers that I feel have really influenced me & my whole education. Most of the classes are enjoyable & I have to admit that I’ve learned a lot in my three years here. Also, I really enjoy the oppurtunity to not only have academic classes but also have other classes like wood shop, art, sewing, and cooking. Lastly, There is some freedom of choice. You get to choose what sports you do in gym, etc. There are a lot of different types of kids, and even if somebody isn’t on your team, you still have oppurtunities to see them in school.

In the last month I’ve corresponded with several children in New Zealand. In the last month I’ve received comments on my work from a student in Thailand. In the last month, I’ve watched students from Kansas challenge children in my class to a debate. How else would this all be possible without the technology that the computer has provided my class and I? Easy, it would be impossible. Through my blog and wiki I have learned about other countries and what it is like there. The world seems like such a big and vast place but somehow the computer makes this big and vast place seems slightly smaller. Corresponding with people from around the world has made my schoolwork actually interesting for once, which is a shocker. Suddenly, there is some form of surprise in my day. Who knows if I will sign onto my blog and have a comment from somebody in England, Australia or Asia? There are no words to describe that besides plain old exciting.

The real question is why shouldn’t we use technology in school? The whole world is moving over to computers but yet kids are still sitting in desks writing with pencils and pens in school. When my peers and I go and get jobs what will we be working with? The answer is technology. If school is supposed to prepare us for the future then why are we not using technology in the classroom if technology is the future? School administrators all over the world are too stuck on their old ways. They are unwilling to move over to this new way of thinking because the internet is “scary”. The internet is anything but scary. It is a roadway for new and exciting opportunities if used the correct way.  Administrator’s unwillingness to change will lead to failure in America when children show up for their jobs the first day and don’t know how to click a mouse (okay, maybe not that far but still I hope my point gets across.)

Some days I sit at my computer and think, what is the point of writing a blogs since nobody is reading it anyway? I think that the expectations for writing blogs are too high. Everybody expects a thousand people from around the world to read their blog. I think the more important part of blogging is for your peers and teachers to read your blog. I have read the blogs of kids in my class that I hardly talk to. I have learned things about my peers that I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t read their blog. It seems like students are more willing to open up on their blog and wiki. You can open up and share hard things that you probably wouldn’t be comfortable saying in person. I’ve learned so many interesting things about the people who surround me everyday in the classroom. I’ve learned more about them on a blog then I have in 8 years in a classroom.

Have you ever wondered what people in other countries think of the United States? We all have our own opinion on the American flag but we HAVE been living here all our lives. Perhaps, people in other countries don’t have the same opinion on our flag and country. I have given this question a lot of thought. This week, we were given the oppurtunity to get an answer to this question. I contacted Amanda from Mrs. T’s class in Thailand. Her response to the questions is below.

Hmmmm………
Well I think that the United States flag looks pretty cool
because of the stars and the stripes.
Stars make it look interesting, i wonder to myself that the stars mean “we are one or glory or freedom” somethings like that.
Stripes make it look catchy, catching ur attention to notice it.
Thats my opinion

Amanda^^