Blog Posts and the Day I Ran Away By Rebecca Greenberg

So as I'm sitting here looking at my blank screen watching the bold line blink, trying to think about what to write my blog on, an idea came to me. What if I were to write my blog post, about blog posts. I'm sure that many of fellow bloggers on its Literature often get writer's block as do I, so I thought that it would be both fun and helpful to blog about blogging.  

While the term “blog” wasn’t coined until the late 1990’s, people have been writing online about personal experiences, news or just helpful hints for decades.

Blogs are a way that we can unite our classroom and the public virtually and mentally. Many of my fellow bloggers, blog about topics that interest them or they believe deserve special recognition. This not only enables intriguing topics to be made known, but allow for each individual student to express their opinion publicly, which is a pretty cool thing.

Below I listed 20 different ideas to blogs about for the next time anyone has a writer’s block and doesn't know what the blog about.

1. That thing that happened in high school that pretty much changed your life forever

2. The worst movie you ever did see, and why

3. Your favorite recipe, even if you’re the worst cook in the world.

4. The day you left home

5. That one time you told a huge lie and kinda got away with it. Or perhaps you didn’t and that would make an even better blog post!

6. The hardest thing you’ve ever been through

7. 9 things you just can’t handle

8. Your day in photos {take a photo every hour from wake to sleep}

9. Your most excruciatingly embarrassing moment. We’ve all got one.

10. A letter to your 16 year old self. What advice would you give?

11. Your celebrity dinner party. Who would you invite?

12. A how-to post on something you know nothing about

13. Your first crush.

14. The day you started blogging. What were you thinking?

15. The most difficult decision you’ve ever made. Write from the heart.

16. 7 things you learned from being a kid

17. A letter to your future self

18. An anti-bucket list: the things you hope to never do before you die

19. The last thing that made you cry

20. Your earliest childhood memory

I picked number 4 to blog about.

The day I left home was a cool autumn day, dried brown leaves rustling in the wind. I slid on my crusty “work” boots (since mom always made me keep an extra pair), and zipped up my pink north face jacket which had a huge white paint splotch on the back. As I walked downstairs I passed my brothers room and nodded, sealing our fate. I clunked downstairs and opened the hall closet. Standing on my tippy toes I reached for the yellow and black bag that rolled on wheels. As my brother came down the stairs and saw me mustering all my strength trying to  magically growing a few more inches to the reach the bag, he comes up along me and grabbed it placing it right on the floor in front of me. I rolled my eyes, boys. Grabbing the chest set, I shoved it along with two red Italian ices into the bag. While we were walking through the kitchen luckily I remembered the spoons. I looked at my brother, and nodded as he slid the sliding door opened which signaled that are journey was now starting. My backyard is a huge hill, that flattens out at the bottom. Two old rusty swing sets inhabit that land. We walk past our usual playing spot and continued into the acres of woods that lay behind our house. We walk deeper and deeper into the area swarmed with trees which blocks out the sun making some spots eerie looking. My brother would constantly shout out advice like, “Don't step there unless you want your feet to smell like skunk” or something like, “Watch out that skunks cabbage!” As a curious young girl my brother was like this professional navigator that knew the ins and outs of the woods like this was where he retreated to every night. We walked for maybe half of the day and passed some bear caves and other cool features that the woods housed. We then came to a clearing and my brother stopped signaling that this was it. Our place. I looked around making sure I soaked up every detail of this place, so we could return again sometime soon. I looked up and saw what must of been the remnants of a tree house perched up on a tall and narrow tree. There was 2 by 4’s nailed along the trunk, that I used as steps. I being the queen of this place was ushered up the tree. After a few steps my sense of balance went whack and I started to get queasy. However I knew the queen of this place must show no signs of weakness so climbed on until I was at the top of the perch. There was this small platform enough for one person to stand on. Once I was steady I looked up and saw that I could see over the neighboring trees and view my new claimed territory. It was breathtaking. At this point in the story you're wondering how old I must be or that my mother must be worried sick about us. I can assure you, she thinks we are playing down by the swings and I'm merely 8, a great age for a queen might I add. My brother and I stayed in the woods for the majority of the day doing what kids do best; letting our imagination run wild. We of course returned home in time for dinner. I kissed my mom’s cheek, and agreed in how wonderful our day was playing down at the swing set. My brother and I returned to that spot in the woods as often as we could, and to this day that will always be our little place.  

Counting Strides poem- Josie Embleton

Hooves hit the ground in steady rhythm
1,2,3,4, now
Soaring through the air
Land. 1,2,3,4....
Find the next jump
1,2,3,4....
Find a focal point
1,2,3,4....
Use more leg
1,2,3,4....
Push hands forward
1,2,3,4, now
Flying over the jump
Land. 1,2,3,4
Turn to the next jump
1,2,3,4....
Breath with your horses rhythm
1,2,3,4....
Collect the stride
1,2,3,4....
Let go of the horses head
1,2,3,4....
Look to the next jump
1,2,3,4, now
Begin your turn in the air
Land. 1,2,3,4
Continue to turn
1,2,3,4...,
Keep your pace
1,2,3,4, now
Grab mane
Land. 1,2,3,4
Settle your horse
1,2,3,4....
Bring your horse to a walk
1,2,3,4....
Exit the ring.

My Opinions on Student Led Discussions by Natalie Earl

Before starting this I would like to say that in my opinion student led discussions are important to teach the students. I would also like to voice my opinion on how it is difficult for some students to create a strong voice in this situation called a student led discussion. I am one of the students that have some questions to provide the group and some facts that I found interesting on the certain topic being discussed but I just am unable to speak out. I would like to offer some suggestions to help the students that have trouble getting their time in this discussion.
An idea that I thought would help and wouldn't be difficult to do would be having smaller groups when there is discussions so there is a chance for people to speak more. The teacher would have trouble coming around to each group most likely but I thought it would be a good idea to just record each discussion so that everything can be heard by the teacher. Another helpful part to this idea is that the people that are uncomfortable to talk in big groups will be able to pick there group so this makes them feel more comfortable with speaking in front of their group.
I have seen in the student led discussions how the people who finally get a chance to speak are soft spoken so another student might have a louder voice so they speak over them. The process is difficult to discuss a topic without the teacher helping by choosing who gets a turn to speak each time. Student led discussions are helpful for the students to learn how to communicate their ideas but it would be easier on the people that cannot get a chance to speak to have a smaller group. I have also realized that due to the way the students arrange themselves around the room makes it challenging to get a chance to speak. Most of the people that do not speak out are on the outside of the classroom so the conversation will stay in the center in a smaller group. I agree that student led discussions are important but I would like to change how it is organized because I know it should be challenging but it makes me and other students that are soft spoken to fell uncomfortable.

The Early Life of Basketball🏀- Brianna Falco

Since I'm in basketball season now, I was inspired to learn more about how the game originated. Basketball usually circulates through my mind everyday. Often times, I find myself thinking about the next game I have coming up, or what practice will be like this afternoon, more importantly what afternoon snack I'll be having. The game of Basketball as we know it today was created by Dr. James Naismith in December of 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He wanted the young athletes to be conditioned during the winter months. The game consisted of peach baskets and a ball looking like a cross between a soccer ball and a football. Naismith divided his class of eighteen students into two teams of nine. He created an outline, 13 rules the players needed to follow. The objective of the game was to get this soccer-football into the fruit baskets nailed to the lower railing of the gym balcony. I found it very amusing because every time a point was scored the janitor needed a ladder to get the ball down to resume play. After a while, the bottom of the basket was removed to allow the ball the fall through the basket. The first public basketball game was held in Springfield, Massachusetts March 11, 1892.


 The soccer style ball with laces similar to a football.

The Soldier's Melody- a Picture Prompt by Stephanie Downes

         The wind was rustling through the bare trees on the evening that I saw her. Two years, hundreds of lonely nights, and thousands of gunshots it had been since I had last seen my love. On this particular night, I ventured out into the desolate woods to clear my mind. Suddenly something caught my eye. An object of beauty in the darkness and emptiness of the woods. I approached the ethereal instrument, examining the light that shone on it through the branches of the trees. I ran my fingers along the worn out ivory and black keys. Where did this come from? How long has it been sitting here, abandoned, lonely? Almost as an instinct, my fingers began to press down on the keys. I heard a beautiful melody that had not grazed my ears in so long.  It was the melody that my wife and I used to play together. I closed my eyes and let my senses enjoy the moment of nostalgia and beauty. It was only when the last chord was played and the melody was over that I opened my eyes and saw her; my love. She was standing in front of me, like a figment of my imagination- yet I knew she was real. She just had to be. I hesitantly moved towards her. She still looked as beautiful as ever. I heard distant yelling and crunching footsteps approaching rapidly. I began to run. The yelling got louder and the footsteps closer. I reached out my arms, longing to hold her...

*BANG*

Emptiness. 

She appeared once more. This time, she was the one reaching for me. I was enveloped into her warmth, and we flew up into the clouds together. I was safe, and the melody began to play once again.

Would the Head Transplant Work? (William Theilacker)

Recently we discussed the idea of a head transplant that would be performed by Dr. Sergio Canavero. But putting ethics aside for now, would a head transplant really work? Dr. Canavero doesn't really provide any research to support his claim that it's possible. He predicted that the head transplant has a 90% success rate, yet there's only two prior experiments that could support this claim, and neither was a complete success. One of these is experiment was repairing the partially injured spinal cord on a dog, however it was never said how badly the dogs spinal cord was damaged so the evidence of it being fixed and the dog regaining movement is still supportive of Dr. Canavero but it doesn't really prove that a fully severed spinal cord could be repaired. The other experiment a monkey received a head transplant and it was partially successful. The monkeys blood vessels were successfully connected to those in the body that the head was attached to, however the spinal cord was never reattached or repaired in the monkey so it isn't really supportive of a head transplant being successful. And scientifically there is no evidence supporting that a head transplant could ever be done. I asked a biology teacher in the school, Kenneth Scognamiglio, what he thought about the head transplant. Mr. Scognamiglio said that he didn't think it was possible because we haven't even gotten to repairing partially damaged spinal cords in human so that they regain a full range of motion again. Many people who are paralyzed may never move that part of their body again or have very limited movement. There is also the idea of how the brain would respond to an entire body that isn't recognized as self. For just one organ, the recipient has to be on immuno-suppressants for life. We don't know how severely the brain would react to an entire body. Overall there isn't enough experiments or scientific evidence to show that we're anywhere close to performing a head transplant.

Hamilton An American Musical

Hamilton

By: Sophie Venus

As an American it's important to me to know our history and how our government was formed. Something that has triggered my interest in this subject is the Broadway play Hamilton.
If you ask anyone who knows me they will tell you that i'm obsessed. Hamilton is a Broadway play following the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton. The play was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda who also played the leading role as Hamilton. The first song was performed in 2009 at the White House Poetry Jam, everyone laughed when Lin-Manuel said he was writing music about Hamilton using rap. Little did they know 5 years later it would win 11 tony’s, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the Grammy for the best musical theater album.
Although I have never seen the play, as the tickets are extremely expensive, I've listened to the music many times. I have never heard anything like it on Broadway because the music is mostly rap. It has helped me become more interested in history because it is facts surrounding the revolution. I suggest that everyone should at least listen to one song it might change your life.

Here is a link to the first song "Alexander Hamilton": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIl1OIGzuDg

The Ethics of Frankenstein

After working relentlessly for two years on his project, Victor Frankenstein achieved his goal. He created the monster that Mary Shelley depicts in her classic Frankenstein. Victor Frankenstein was an inventor and a visionary. He said, "what glory would attend the discovery if I could banish disease from the human frame and render man invulnerable" (Shelley 26). Like many other men and women in history, Victor Frankenstein had an idea. He had an idea that he though would positively influence the world. However, after creating the monster and turning his vision into reality, he regrets it.

There is a plethora of inventors today who have come to deeply regret their creations.

Albert Einstein worked on the creation of the atomic bombs. Two bombs Einstein helped develop were dropped on populated cities in Japan during the second world war. After hearing the first atomic bomb was dropped, Einstein said, "woe is me". It is estimated 226,000 people were killed by the first two bombs.

Mikhail Kalashnikov was a soldier in the Russian army. He listened to his fellow soldiers complain about how their weapons would jam in combat. He sought out to develop a more reliable rifle for the Soviet army. His rifle, known as the AK-47, is now the most popular and circulated firearm in the world. It accounts for over 25% of the world's firearms and over 75 million are in circulation today.

John Sylvan developed the K-cup and Keurig coffee brewer. He developed the Keurig to waste less coffee by only brewing the amount people needed. As a result, his design has produced tons of waste. Sylvan calls his design "a cigarette for coffee, a single serve delivery mechanism for an addictive substance". The amount of k-cups in landfills today could be wrapped around the earth ten and a half times.

Despite the terrible affects of the above creations, they really don't compare in horror to Victor Frankenstein's monster. Frankenstein gave an inanimate object a mind of it's own. He created a monster that we can't control. Einstein created the bomb, but it is up to humanity how it is used. Kalashnikov developed a rifle, but it is up to humanity whether it is fired or not. Sylvan created the K-cup, and it is up to us whether we brew that cup of coffee or not. However, Frankenstein's monster was on it's own, with it's own actions and intentions. That is why the story is so disturbing.

Thanks for reading
Billy Stoddard

Stolen

A poem by Kasey Senatore,

From Frankenstein's monster to his creator

Unstoppable

Infallible

Insatiable

The perfect man

You made

The strongest

And the coldest

Stolen breaths

Filling stolen lungs

Feeding a stolen heart

Which has already died

You’re using borrowed time

The perfect man you created

Stronger, faster, harder, colder

Isn’t this what you wanted?

Snapping necks under my thumb

Sending chills from a single glance

Shotgun shells useless on my lifeless skin

Isn’t this what you wanted?

When you stole my heart

From an aging grave,

How could you expect me

To feel compassion?

My heart has already died.

You gave me life

And I’m already dead inside.

Here’s your monster, Frankenstein.

Isn’t this what you wanted?

Experiencing a Student Teacher by Amanda Sangalli

Not most classes will get student teachers so not everyone knows what it's like to have one in a class. Luckily our class has been fortunate enough to actually get to see what it's like. At first, it was a little weird to have another person in the classroom, let alone another person teaching. Because it is already January, this whole school year we've been adjusting to Mrs. Kopp's teaching styles/habits and we have just become so used to having her teach us. Of course it was a little unusual to have someone else teaching us and just having Mrs. Kopp sit back and listen just like one of us students, but the experience of having a student teacher has helped a lot. It helps us get a better understanding that not everyone we have as a teacher is going to teach the same ways we're used to. It was nice to see a variety of teaching styles first hand from day to day. Also, most high school students never really have a teacher that's right out of college so we were able to see the difference between a brand new teacher and someone whose been doing this for years. Although it was a little awkward to answer questions or get situated with the change, it helped us learn new things in a different way that we are used to. Thankfully, we had a student teacher that was eager to teach us and passionate about what he was doing and not just someone who doesn't care. Having a student teacher in the classroom was kinda awkward at first, but once we opened up to the idea of it, we were able to realize how much this experience will end up benefiting us

Negative Space

by Nuriel Rozenberg

There is a hole in some amazing works of art
Enhancing the piece
Letting light shine through
Her world was filled with this hole
But it never seemed to let light shine through

The positives of Student Teachers in the classroom By Cameron Riley

For most of my life in school, I haven’t had a student teacher help students and teach us in class with the main teacher. Other classes in elementary and middle school had a student teacher, but I was never put in one of those classes. So I was very interested to learn that there was a student teacher coming into our English class to do their requirements to one day become a teacher. I researched the topic of student teachers and found mostly positives about having these teachers in the classroom for the student and the teacher.

People who go through the student teacher program are trying to receive a Bachelor of Education or Master of Education degree in college. This experience can prepare them for the teaching stage at whatever grade they assist in teaching for a one or two week period. Maria Sweeney a curriculum coordinator in Chicago asked student teachers in her district about what they had gained attribute wise. Attributes such as focusing on their own teaching skills, being aware of communication in the classroom and a better understanding of the role of a teacher.

Students can also benefit from this experience, the student teacher is a student in college and has more knowledge of technology than maybe some other teachers do. Technology is now a modern day tool to try and teach young students by having them get used to modern day technology. Students also can learn what the experience of becoming a teacher is about and have a spark of interest in the job later in life.
Overall, student teachers have a great effect on the classroom and the process is beneficial for both the teacher and student.

The Importance of Musical Theater by Lomaani Ranasinghe

For a majority of my life I’ve been used to hearing Broadway musicals being played in the car. The way the music is expressed and performed is truly special and makes Broadway unique compared to other types of music. Whether it be classical musicals such as Les Miserables, or modern musicals like Hamilton, the way the story is seamlessly portrayed brings light to how important musical theater is and how amazing an entertainment source it is.

From early civilization, plays and theater were always an important part of society. As we learned in class while reading The Iliad, theater was often the only source of entertainment within early civilization. Unfortunately, throughout the rise of new technologies, theater has been of less importance in modern society compared to the movie/tv industries. However, following the opening of Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, modern Broadway shows have made quite a buzz on social media.

There are multiple reasons as to why musical theater is important to not only society but to any individual who decides to indulge in the journey a show will take them. Musicals have the ability to bring light to difficult topics. Many shows also take place in different time periods and can help one to learn and understand different historical events. From personal experience, the amount of times I’ve been able to reference Hamilton during history class is perhaps a bit annoying, but the musical itself has helped me to enjoy (otherwise slightly boring) historical events. From the French Revolution to the Vietnam War, it’s hard to find a era not portrayed in a Broadway musical.

Going to see a live Broadway show is much different to watching a movie. When you watch something on a screen, there’s often a disconnect between the audience and the actors. Seeing actors perform in real time creates a special atmosphere and a bond that cannot be created inside a movie theater. Many are hesitant to go watch a show on Broadway because they may not like the "musical" aspect of it, but Broadways are so much more than musicals. They are stories and characters you can't help but fall in love with. They are time periods you feel like you're reliving, they are moments you experience with the characters. Broadways provide anybody with a great experience. So what are you waiting for? Sit back and enjoy a show. You won't regret it!

New Year's Resolutions | by Samantha Patino

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

Hands shoot up in the air, confetti flies, and noise makers whirl as the world waves goodbye to another year.  Everyone moves towards each other in one fluid motion, and they begin to hug and kiss, celebrating the end of one year, and the beginning of a new one.  As the celebration dies down a thought always seems to come creeping into everyone’s brains; “What do I want gain this year? And, who do I want to become?”  Mainly people condense those two questions down into three words; New Year’s Resolutions.  Resolutions vary from wanting to eat healthier to wanting to think more positively.  And sometimes it takes longer to decide what it is that you want to take out of the new year, while other times you have known what you want for the past two months.  Five days have already flashed by in this new year, and it took up until now to think of a resolution that I want to commit to.  Each year I make my resolutions very vague and I’m never able to follow them through.  They always seem to be forgotten after the first month, and by the end of the year I no longer remember what my resolution was in the first place.  This year, I plan to treat every night like New Year’s Eve, and make a new resolution for myself that I will carry out the next day.  It will force me to reflect on my day and help me decide what I want to take out of the next day.  Eventually, I hope that this resolution will help me evolve into an overall better person.  Although I did waste a couple days thinking of how I wanted my year to go, at least I finally found a resolution that will not wear off until next December 31st.  

Sophia Oelkers- Time

Time

New for one second

And then the next old

It will always be with you

To have and to hold

What is made of it lies within you

And some will be foolish

Take it for granted too

It's abundance is never ending

And it's plethora is great

It's all we've got

It will soon determine all fate

It's your chance to get out there

And open your horizon

There is no time for hasting

After all, time is wasting