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My English Essay (Final Exam)

June 6th, 2007 by annnee

Creative Compilation

Over this past semester, I have grown a lot in the ESLRs. So, you know what this means. It’s time for a journal reflection! I know you’ve read over 43 journal reflections but please, for the sake of my grade, don’t fall asleep. I know I’m not the best writer in this batch of 8th graders but bear with be.

This semester, I felt that I have been an Academic Achiever. I have continually assessed, evaluated and adjusted my work to maintain high standards. I drafted my poems to keep it the best quality I could have offered and continually added a few pictures to my poetry book and edit any spelling and grammatical errors. All that hard work has paid off because I got a 97% (That’s an A+). Not to mention, I have demonstrated the ability to work both independently and collaboratively. I worked exceptionally well together with my teen life group mates on the teen life project to create a well explained page about animal cruelty and animal rights and rather well with together with my fellow classmates to create am exquisite and interesting podcast of act 1 scene 2 of “The Tempest”. Last but not least, I demonstrated technological literacy by using Photoshop Adobe to edit a few images for my poetry book, add them to my book, and figured out how to print double side in 45 minutes. I also used the program Garage Band to create the podcast I mentioned just now.

Next on the list, I had a strong feeling that I became an Effective Communicator because I asked you questions about the Poetry Night, Poetry Book, the third quarter journal reflection, and I listened respectfully when you answered my questions. I have also asked you questions related to our class discussions like the mercy versus revenge discussion we had recently. Not to mention, I used technology as a tool for a communication by talking to my teen life group mates via e-mail and the wikispace. I also demonstrated awareness of the role of audience by thinking about who was going to read my 3rd quarter journal reflection and who’s going to read this paper.

Last but not least, I became a Self-Directed Learner. A lot of people think that organization and time management is the key to working very effectively on projects. Well, organization and time management is the key to working efficiently because without that, I would have never finish making my Poetry Book. I was organized by keeping all my poems in one folder in the computer and I managed my time well by working on the poetry book every day for two hours or so. I have also monitored, adjusted and documented my Poetry Book and the podcast when both of them were in progress. Since I have the program Garage Band at home, I would continually edit the podcast, making sure the tracks aren’t out of order and adding music and sound effects. I don’t need to mention any more details about my Poetry Book because it’ll soon be repetitive. And finally, I know for sure that I became a responsible learner. I showed that I was a responsible learner by knowing when to come to you for help on anything we have discussed and done in class.

In conclusion, I have grown well in the three of the five ESLRs considering that all of this school’s ESLRs are brand new to me but the ESLRs are easy to understand and analyze. Now if you didn’t fall asleep, I shall hug you and give you a box of chocolate and a bouquet of flowers.

Posted in English | | | 0 Comments

Seeing Through a Different Lens

May 8th, 2007 by annnee

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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)

 

 

I’m a 13 year-old girl and I personally think that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the greatest Play Station 2 game ever made. I know many girls would think this is violent and has plenty of foul language but I’m not your typical girly-girl who likes pink lipstick and pink handbags. GTA: SA is a great game because it has very challenging but fun missions and a nice selection of weapons (Ak 47, M4, SMG, RPG, Desert Eagle and many more!). I like spending hours and hours shooting down anyone I see with an M4 or beating them up with a baseball bat. Or there’s always causing havoc to try and get 6 wanted stars (highest police attention level). Although this game is entertaining, it can give bad messages to diferrent types of people. I think the message that this video game gives to females is that women become prostitutes because of their education, family wealth, and/or choice of life.

Seeing it through a male’s lens would still be rather similar. Most guys would think that this game is pretty awesome considering guys like shooting games and mostly anything to do with violence. Also, they’ll think that this game is very entertaining because of the selection of lethal weapons, shooting people, playing the story, and the tanks that you can get to use if you attain 6 wanted stars (highest police attention level), if you are able to jack it. The message that this video game gives to males is that you can become a violent man if you are forced to, choose to, or influenced by something such as drugs.

 

If I were to look at this game through a poor person’s lens, I would think that this game is violent and quite graphic. I would not buy this because I wouldn’t be able to afford the Play Station 2 and the game itself and I do not want my children to be influenced by this game. This also makes me wonder why people would pay such a high price for an awful, violent, and graphic game. I think the message that this video game gives to poor peole is that they can get rich if they kill people who are carrying money with them. This is not a good message because it might encourage poor people to steal and kill just to get money.

If I was seeing the game through an American’s lens, I would state that Mexicans and African-Americans are dangerous people although this is not true because in the game, there were African-American and Mexican gangsters. This game might give the wrong message to the Americans even though they might find this game entertaining, just like some people would.

 

Posted in English | | | 2 Comments

The Tempest Discussion Post

April 26th, 2007 by annnee

2 Questions Regarding Plot
1. Will Prospero ever free Caliban?
2. When will all the characters meet each other?

2 lines I translated!! Oh yeah

1. “I thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated to closeness and the bettering of my mind” which means: Since I was ignoring my people and spending a lot of time in my studies.
2. “With that which, but by being so retired, o’erprized all popular rate, in my false brother” which means: Because of that, I lost my popularity and my brother became more popular.

2 lines That I Totally Don’t Understand

1. “This King of Naples, being an enemy which was that he, in lieu o’ th’ premises of homage and I know not how much tribute, should presently extirpate me and mine out of the dukedom, and confer fair Milan, with all the honors, on my brother; whereon, a treacherous army levied, one midnight fated to th’ purpose did Antonio open the gates of Milan, and i’ th’ dead of darkness the ministers for th’ purpose hurried thence me and thy crying self.”

2. “The direful spectacle of the wrack, which touched the very virtue of compassion in thee, I have with such provision in mine art so safely ordered that there is no soul- no, not so much perdition as an hair, betid to any creature in the vessel which thou heard’st cry, which thou saw’st sink.”

Posted in Uncategorized | | | 0 Comments

Journal Reflection

April 26th, 2007 by annnee

Ann Nee Lau
My Journal Entry

After three months of doing the poetry unit, a lot of information was soaked into my brain like sponge absorbing water. Now, it’s time to write a reflective journal about the ESLRs we used that helped us write our poetry books, participate in the Poetry Night, and complete part of the Teen Life Project.

The ESLRs (Expected School wide Learning Results) that I used help me write my poetry book, participate in the Poetry Night, and complete part of the Teen Life Project are Academic Achiever, Effective Communicator, and Self-Directed Learner. Academic Achievers are people who make improvements in curricular activities and able to gather information from a variety of sources. They continue to double check their work to meet or exceed high standards. Furthermore, they express and show physically the ability to work independently and collaboratively, meaning to work effectively with other people. Lastly, they show technological literacy and using technology as a tool for the efficient, creative, and successful completion of a project. Effective Communicators can express ideas in a creative way. They listen respectfully and ask questions to understand things they don’t understand. In addition to that, they’ll show you that they can work well together and lastly, they group together with other people in appropriate learning situations to achieve group goals. Self-Directed Learners accept the responsibility for their own learning, indentify their requirements and apply a few appropriate learning strategies, and the master at goal setting, time management, and organizational skills. In addition, Self-Directed Learners check their work in progress.

All of the ESLRs are different and unique although some of the ESLRs might be a bit similar. The difference between the ESLRs I used which are Academic Achiever, Effective Communicator, and Self-Directed Learner are the following descriptions: Academic Achievers are people who like to double check their work such as homework, projects, and essays just to meet high standards. As a result of that precocious technique, they begin or already are progressing in curricular activities. They also have the ability to gather required information from many different sources such as books, internet, dictionaries, encyclopedias and many more other sources. Plus, they can work both independently and together in a group successfully. Not only that, they can also express and show physically the ability to work independently or with other people effectively. Also, they demonstrate technological literacy and the use of technology as a tool for the efficient and creative completion of a project. Effective Communicators are people that have creative mentalities to express ideas. They listen respectfully when given constructive criticism (in other words disapproving or criticizing one’s work in a positive way) and ask questions when necessary and also to understand that area of problem easier. In addition to that, they display the abilities of effective teamwork and also, they group together with other people in appropriate learning situations to achieve group goals. Self-Directed Learners are people who accept the responsibility for their own learning and not relying on other people to remind them to make up for the work they missed. They also indentify their requirements and apply a few appropriate learning strategies and show the capability in goal setting, time management when not in school, and organizational skills. Not only that, Self-Directed Learners monitor, adjust, and document work in progress. That is something like a scientist recording down observations every single day of his lab rat experiment.

I used the following ESLRs to help me write my poetry book, participate in the Poetry Night, and complete a fraction of the Teen Life Project: Academic Achiever, Effective Communicator, and Self-Directed Learner. I became an Academic Achiever to help me write my poetry book (which to my surprise achieved a very high score) by continually checking my book to see if it is a high quality work during when I was in the process of creating it. Not only that, I used technology (Microsoft Publisher was the application I used to help me create my poetry book) as a tool to help me complete my poetry book in a creative way. I became an Academic Achiever also to complete my part in the Teen Life Project. I edited that photograph of a stray puppy I took with my cell phone and I made major retouches as it was required for homework and I tried to edit the page as often as possible to get rid of possible spelling and grammar errors. I became an Effective Communicator to help me write my poetry book. I asked other people, including Mr. Raisdana, what they thought of my poems. I listen respectfully when I was given constructive criticism and ask appropriate questions. I became an Effective Communicator to also help me participate in the Poetry Night. At first, I didn’t want to go to the Poetry Night because I wasn’t sure of the details. But then I asked Mr. Raisdana and some other people the details of the Poetry Night and so I was clarified and I went to the Poetry Night. I became a Self-Directed Learner to help me write my book by managing my time usage on editing the photographs, typing up the book on Microsoft Publisher (I used text boxes), drawing the pictures and scanning it to the computer, printing out the poetry book, and then getting it ring bound. Plus, I also showed organization skills by keeping all my poems in a binder. One more thing, I had to quit soccer tryouts and not having my usual afternoon tea in order to cram all the work in the meager amount of time which was 4 days because I started working on my book on Sunday. Sometimes, you have to make a few sacrifices.

While I wrote the first four paragraphs, I began to notice some of the ESLRs had the same characteristic as another ESLR. A fine example would be that Academic Achiever and Effective Communicator. They both share the characteristic, “able to work well together with other people”. When I was working on the Teen Life Project, I noticed that I worked rather well with my teammates from the Teen Life Project; Mitchell (Malaysia), Mayi (Cartagena), Susie (Cartagena), Elaine (Canada), and Kate (Canada). At first, I thought I was only being an Academic Achiever when I worked well with other people, but then when I read the definitions of Effective Communicator, I realized that I was both an Academic Achiever and Effective Communicator.

Although my poetry received a high grade, there were some things I wanted to change after seeing other people’s poetry book. One, I shouldn’t have done everything on computer and print it out because I personally think my poetry book sort of lacked originality. Two, I should have gotten those scrap book necessities and stick them to my book. And three, I should’ve made more improvements on some of the poems I wrote. For the Poetry Night, the only thing I would change is the poem I read out loud to my fellow 8th graders. And for the Teen Life Project, I should have communicated more with them.

I think the ESLR I used that helped me the most is Self-Directed Learner because the most important factor that helped me finish the poetry book and the Teen Life Project is time management and organization skills. The reason is because if you manage your time very well and you keep all your poems in a binder or folder, then you can complete the book and the Teen Life Project faster than a person who lacks in organization skills and time management. Time management and organization skills are like blueprints or plans. They sketch out what you have to do and how to do it correctly.

Posted in Uncategorized | | | 0 Comments

Maya Angelou

March 6th, 2007 by annnee

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Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928 and grew up in Arkansas. She is known for being a poet, author, songwriter, playwright, historian, dancer, stage and screen producer, director, singer, performer, and civil rights protestor. Although she was known for doing many things, she is best known for her autobiographical books. Some of her books were nominated for the National Book Award. She also wrote and published many volumes of poetry and apparently, some of her poetry volume was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

In 1959, Maya Angelou became the northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference because it was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s request. From 1961 to 1962, she became the associate editor of The Arab Observer in Egypt which was the only news weekly written in English in the Middle East at the time. From 1964 to 1966, she spent some of her time in Africa and was the feature editor of the African Review in Ghana.

After some time in foreign lands, she returned to the U.S. in 1974. Gerald Ford picked her to be at the Bicentennial Commission (a celebration of a government agency) and later by Jimmy Carter to the Commission (celebration) for International Woman of the Year. In 1981, she accepted a job as a Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. In 1993, President Bill Clinton requested Maya Angelou to write a poem for him at his inauguration. She did what he had requested and wrote a poem called “On The Pulse of the Morning”.

Maya Angelou is the first African-American woman director to be in Hollywood. She has written, produced, directed, and acted in numerous plays, movies, and television. In 1971, she wrote the original screenplay/script and musical score for the film Georgia, Georgia. In addition, she wrote several documentaries, and a few of them won prizes. She was also nominated twice for the Tony award for her wonderful acting in her Broadway debut in 1973 and her play in 1977. She is now 79 years old (as of 2007) and living a peaceful life.

Alone

Written by Maya Angelou

Lying, thinking

Last night

How to find my soul a home

Where water is not thirsty

And bread loaf is not stone

I came up with one thing

And I don’t believe I’m wrong

That nobody,

But nobody

Can make it out here alone.

   

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

   

There are some millionaires

With money they can’t use

Their wives run round like banshees

Their children sing the blues

They’ve got expensive doctors

To cure their hearts of stone.

But nobody

No, nobody

Can make it out here alone.

   

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

   

Now if you listen closely

I’ll tell you what I know

Storm clouds are gathering

The wind is gonna blow

The race of man is suffering

And I can hear the moan,

‘Cause nobody,

But nobody

Can make it out here alone.

   

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Discussion 

I like this poem because it tells us about reality and how these words are true. I can see the message and it is powerful. Indeed millionaires can have loads of money but they don’t know how to use it wisely. I liked how she used some alliteration in this poem. I especially like the lines, “Where water is not thirsty” and “And bread loaf is not stone”. What I didn’t like though is that she used a lot of repeats and  it’s a tad bit short. A few questions about this is that why did she choose to write about reality? Why couldn’t she have made this longer? Why did she assume millionaires have stone hearts? Overall, this poem is good.

Posted in Poetry | | | 0 Comments

Nigeria Still Living in Poverty Despite Oil Exports

February 21st, 2007 by annnee

February 19, 2007. Maraba, Nigeria is still living in poverty despite of their high oil prices. The government earned $40 billion last year by exporting oil but still, 9 out of 10 of 140 million Nigerians earn less than $2 a day according to the estimates of the United Nations. That is such a pity since the country made a lot of money from oil exports.

 ”The politicians have stolen all the money. They have their children schooling overseas. I never went to school because I had to work in the farm with my father,” said 25 year old Aminu Ladan, who now lives his live polishing shoes to make around $1 a day.

 President Olusegun Obasanjo has been trying to help Nigeria in many ways by launching developments that stabilize the government spending, reducing poverty, improving efficiency of the ministries that had been weakened, and upgrading private projects. 

I think this event might effect the world because it tells us that a few countries are still living in poverty because of how the politicians used their country’s money for their own needs or other reasons. If these countries are not helped, who knows, some of them might be so poor that they can’t afford almost anything. Then the world won’t be the same as it is.

For the original article, click here

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Posted in Social Studies | | | 2 Comments

Teen Life

January 21st, 2007 by annnee

My name is Ann Nee. I’m 13 years old and I will be turning 14 in November. I am currently living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia . I’m Chinese-Malaysian. I moved to the Philippines and lived there for four and a half years when I was eight years old. Philippines is a very hot country. I studied in an international school in the Philippines. The people there are very friendly and you can easily make friends. I had a wonderful time living in the Philippines. The longer you live in a country, the more you dont want to leave the country. When it was time to leave and return to my home country, Malaysia, my best friend whom I met in the Philippines, Rika, was joking that I should pack her in a box so that I can be with her where ever I go.

My hobbies are; Collecting and reading Garfield comics and Full Metal Alchemist manga, playing cards (gambling with no-valued chips but with real money during Chinese New Year), playing soccer, badminton, basketball, and softball, playing PSP, PS2, computer games, watching the television, surfing the net, cycling, roller blading, and running/walking with my dogs. My favorite color is yellow.

My favorite bands/singers are:

My favorite television shows are:

I am a short but skinny person, love to eat, making new friends, and my favorite subjects are Physical Education, Band, and Drama Exploratory. As you can see, my favorite subjects aren’t the seriously educational ones which mean I don’t really like studying. I can play the flute and that’s why I love Band class. I have two dogs named Chubby and Chester. Chubby is a Shih-Tzu while Chester is an American cocker spaniel. I have two siblings; One older sister and one older brother. My sister is 15 years old and my brother is 17 years old. My sister and I go to the same school while my brother studies overseas.

The issue I’m concered about is animal poaching. Every single animal in the entire world needs respect. No matter how significant or insignificant they play in the environment. I don’t think there are a lot of poachers in Malaysia but I know that elephants and sharks are being killed for their tusks (elephants) and fins (sharks). This is very cruel. Some poachers kill elephants for their tusks simply to get ivory and sell it to make money. Some other poachers kill sharks for their fins and just dump it back in the ocean. Reality check, sharks can’t swim (turn left/right) without fins. When they have no fins, they simply sink down to the bottom of the ocean and die of starvation. Sharks’ fins are like the rudders of a speedboat or any kind of boat. Who knows shark fin soup? Well, quite a lot of people do. And quite a lot of people eat shark fin soup. The all the sharks’ life are in danger if the demand for shark fin soup goes up. If people continue doing this, who knows, all the sharks might be extinct and the food chain will be unbalanced.

That’s the only issue I’m concerned about for the time being. Please keep checking back for updates. Thanks for reading this! Goodbye.

Posted in Teen Life Project | | | 5 Comments

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