Today in Class... Total Fertility Rate. 9/29/16

Today in class we discussed finding the total fertility rate or TFR. The TFR is the average number of children born per woman. The populations stability is based off of this. In order for the population to stay the same, the TFR needs to be 2.1. There needs to be that point one to even out the deaths of babies who are born, but die very shortly afterwards. If the TFR is above 2.1, then the population will increase, but if it is below 2.1, then the population will decrease. The world TFR is 2.42, therefore the earths population is continuing to increase over time. In Nigeria their TFR is 6.89! They are a developing country and developing countries tend to have higher TFRs. On the other hand there are places like Japan which is a developed nation and is aging who's TFR is well below the average at 1.4. It all really depends on the country you are looking at and if they are really developed or not.

Today in Class... I was Ms.Miller! 9/28/26

Today in class I was teacher for like 15 minutes! So basically Mr. Schick told me he was going to involuntarily volunteer me and told me to raise my hand so I did. Once I did he "called" on me and then told me I was going to reteach the lesson from yesterday because we had a transfer who needed the notes. It was a little weird and he said I did a good job but all I did was read off the slide then call on other people to explain it. After that we went over more about population and how we measure migration. I would explain that more but I am wayyyyy to tired, my eyes are about to fall out of my head, and we have a tough game tomorrow against McDonough.

Today in Class... New Unit 9/27/16

Today in class we started our new unit. It is called Population and Settlement. Today there are more people on earth then there have ever been... EVER! There are more than 7 BILLION PEOPLE on earth as we speak, or at least as I type haha. The population increases by about 73 million people each year and 90% of this population increase happens in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. We also learned about life expectancy and the US is number 42! I really wasn't expecting that. The last thing we discussed how population is measured but we didn't get to talk about it that much.

Today in Class... We Got Our Test Back!!!! 9/26/16

Today in class we got our tests back! Mr. Schick explained to us how he hands out his tests before he started to distribute them. He explained to us how he calls us up one by one to receive our tests and if he rings the bell then you have received an A. If you don't hear a bell it doesn't mean that you did bad it just means you have anywhere from an 89-0. If he rings the bell twice an calls your name then you have received 100%. I got a little panicky when the pile of tests in his hands because he kept stepping further and further away from the bell but then when he saw my paper he walked backwards toward it and rang it! I was actually so relieved because I wanted to get an A so badly. I'm very happy with my grade and cant wait for the next chapter!

A Few Days Ago in Class #2... Video 9/19/16

In class we watched a video called Did You Know 2016 that had a bunch of random facts and also what I consider predictions for the future. One of the facts that caught the attention of our class was the one about how in the year 2020 there will be more than 10 million self driving cars on the road. That is the year I graduate. To think that it might be 'the norm' to have a self driving car is a little weird and scary at the same time. Weird because I only know of one company that makes self driving cars and ive only seen one my whole life plus they are really expensive so I don't know how they are going to make the cars cheaper. Scary because if it is a self driving car then it has a computer system and gps system that is linked up with some major big data base somewhere. All of these things can be hacked into. If a terror group finds a way to hack into that system and they get all of our cars to crash into each other or lead us to one big mass bomb massacre then we would be screwed. Unless of course they can come up with a manual override that can ignore the hack then that would be awesome.


Late

A Few Days Ago in Class... Test. 9/15/16

In class we had taken our first Human Geography test on our first unit. I am really hoping I did well especially on the written parts since those were worth a lot more points. If I do really well that makes my parents happy which makes me happy! If I have anything below an A, that makes my parents upset which makes me upset.... When they are upset it makes my life a lot more miserable than it has to be and I also need to bring up my grade in class right now anyways so crossing my fingers I did really well!

Late

Today in Class... Shadows! 9/21/16

Today in class we had two students with shadows. in the beginning of the class they introduced themselves and told us on fact about themselves/. Once that was all finished we had a discussion about the video we watched last class. We discussed self-driving cars, over population, and whether or not our country should help others in need or just focus on our country and what our 'issues' are.

Today in Class... Debate or Study Hall? 9/16/16

Today in class we had the choice to either have another debate on a topic we would decide on or we could have a study hall and do some homework so that we wouldn't have to do it this weekend. After various ideas and opinions were thrown out, we had already lost like half class time. We had then finally taken a vote and majority ruled on study hall which I was very happy about because I had a test next period in Intro to Bible. Good news! I aced it! Therefore the study hall was very much worth it.

Today in Class... Debate on Kaepernick Protest 9/14/16

Today in class we had another debate! This time the debate was on Colin Kaepernick and his protest on police brutality. Colin Kaepernck took a kneel during the National Anthem in one of his NFL games and has continued to do it every game since. Some people in class agreed with what he was doing and when/where he was doing it. Others disagreed with what he was doing and when/where he was doing it. Then there were the odd balls that agreed with what he was doing just not when/where he was doing it. I agreed with what he was doing and when/where he was doing it. He was simply using his freedom of speech in a way of which he really didn't speak, he just kneeled. Someone in class said that there are people fighting for our country so that we can have freedom of speech and we sholdnt "disrespect it or abuse it." I completely disagree with that statement. They are out there fighting for us so that we can use our freedom of speech. If we don't use it then they are out there fighting for nothing and that's what I consider abusing it. If we have people out there fighting for us and men out on the line dying everyday for us, why wouldn't we use it. Why wouldn't we let their fighting have a purpose and mean something...?


P.S. I could go on for forever but my brain is about to explode from everything that is running through my head on this topic.

Today in Class... More About Socrates. 9/13/16

Today in class we continued the discussion, PowerPoint, and note taking on Socrates. The PowerPoint talked more about what he did, who he was, and why he was tried. Socrates was a Greek philosopher who lived and taught in Athens. Athens was a place of gathering for many people from many places. Everyone would meet in Athens to trade and share idea, knowledge, and new findings. Socrates wouldn't teach his students new ideas or what he thought was right or wrong, he would just get them to question why they thought a certain way and to explain what their reasoning was. This didn't really settle well with some of the citizens in Athens. They accused Socrates of corrupting the youth, and impiety (not beliving in the gods). During the trial Socrates defended himself and he told them that he actually should be receiving free dinners for life because he believed that what he was doing was such a good thing. He was found guilty and was sentenced to death by hemlock poison. He had the opportunity to escape but he belived in the Athenian democracy so much that he decided to stay and take his punishment.

One thing that Socrates said was, "the unexamined life is not worth living." Its a quote that really gets you thinking.

Today in Class 9/9/16

Today in class, we didn't really do much. Mr. Schick just wanted check our Bloggers to make sure that they we set up correctly. He called every one up to his desk one by one and checked their accounts. When I was called up, he told me he liked how I was doing things on here and then showed me how to delete the extra blogs I had made. Then for the rest of class everyone just basically talked to each other and got to know one another better. Towards the very end of class, everyone on my side of the room took pictures with photo booth on a Mac including Mr. Schick.

Today in Class..Debate! 9/7/16

Today in class we took notes and talked more about A Letter to Garcia and ancient Greece. In the slide show that Mr. Schick was showing us, it talked about how Letter to Garcia became a book, movie, and a term that people used to use. The book essay sold over 40 million copies. It became a movie twice, once in 1916 and again in 1936. The book it turned into stretched from three pages to 37 pages. In class we also had a mini debate on LGBT marriage. It was interesting because there were only two people (who were brave enough anyways) that were against it. Mr. Schick picked on two people one who was for and one who was against, and listened to both over their opinions on the topic. He then used the Socratic Method to have them think about why they thought what they thought and to see if they could support their opinions. I found it interesting because sometimes they didn't really know how to answer his questions and it really got them thinking about why they were on the side they were on.

Today in Class 9/6/16

Today in class we talked and did multiple things. First Mr. Schick made sure that we had all sent him the correct link to our Blogger accounts and it turns out only seven people did it right. After that we went over the essay, “Letter to Garcia,” and talked about how that applied to our lives. We as students must be efficient and persistent about our work, and to just do it. (By the way, just remember that it took place during the Spanish-American War… TEST QUESTION!) We shouldn’t ask questions about why we are doing a task but we should just do it. We also talked about Socrates in Ancient Greece. He was a philosopher who eventually died from a forced suicide. He was put on trial for corrupting the youth of the city-state and not acknowledging the gods. He chose not to have anyone represent him, but he represented himself. He eventually was tried guilty and the punishment was the forced suicide. They put poison in a drink and made him drink it. (Today was also my birthday:) )

How to be Successful This Year

How I Am Going to be Successful This Year

1. Be proactive in every aspect. Always stay on top of your school work and turn it on time.

2. Stay in communication with your teachers. Let them know if you will be out one day or why you couldn't complete an assignment, etc.

3. Ask for help. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it and also if you want to have someone study with you.

4. Always ask questions about what you are learning. If you ask questions, it will help you to understand want you are learning a lot more.

5. Keep an open mind. In high school people come from many different back rounds so it is important to say open to other people's views and opinions.

Message to Garcia Thoughts

Today in class, we read the short story, Message to Garcia, by Elbert Hubbard, and discussed how it still relates to our lives as students in modern day, even though it was published in 1899. This story relates to our lives because, with being in high school now, and a lot of us being involved in afterschool activities, we have a lot on our plate. We constantly have to stay on top of our work alongside having practice or some other activity right after school. It is up to us and nobody else to keep up our grades and excel in our extracurricular activities. For instance, if one of us has a game and we need to leave school early, it is up to us to let teachers know that we will be missing their class and to get our makeup work. If we fail to do that there are no excuse and the blame falls on us, and no one else but us. As students we need to be responsible and we need to stay on top of everything that is expected of us.