Metacognition: Cleaning Out My Closet

At my dad's house my closet is an absolute mess. It's the one place I do not clean and organize as much as all the other things in my life. The clothes are all mixed up on the shelves, and all over the floor along with other random things and garbage. I don't care that much about it because its not my real "room" and I don't really keep the clothes I wear in it when I'm at my dad's. So I let it get messy and just never clean it, but now I have a good excuse to. I can make it look really pretty and then just never touch it so it stays that way. Before I started, I was just like, ughhhh I do NOT want to do this. But if I just put myself in the right attitude I can kind of enjoy it. So I plugged in my ipod, and just ripped all of the clothes off the shelves and out of the closet. I categorized all of the different types of clothes into piles, then neatly folded them and put them in stacks onto the shelves. Then I finished off with straightening up the shoes and throwing away trash, all of those finishing touches. I really felt like I was getting a lot done, and it was fun because I usually enjoy these types of things. Just only if I have nothing else to do. Afterward I got that amazing feeling of accomplishment. It is seriously my favorite feeling to know you got something done and its just past you. It made me feel really relaxed and also more tired so I could get a great night sleep. My mind went from being more clustered and having to think, like where does everything go?....to being completely clear and free of worries. I wish my mind could always be like that. Also cleaning out things and going through all my stuff really surprises me sometimes because I never know how much clothes I have until I clean out my drawers or closet. And there are so many articles of clothing I've never even seen before! Everytime I clean something, I find something new I didn't know I had.

Carry It Forward: Maya Lin Documentary

In class last week we watched the documentary of Maya Lin and her design of the Vietnam Memorial. She designed it as just a long black wall with all the names just listed in chronological order. This was very simple, but yet very complex. You just get the memory and the intensity of that moment just by standing by and staring at tall of the names in awe of how heroic they were and how MANY names there are.But that was surely her intention. So she liked to use the idea of simplicity but also how simple can be complex, and that gives great meaning to a work of art. There was nothing crazy about the memorial, just plain black background, names written in white normal font. But it still gave off the same feelings and intensity that it needed to. Just that simple design made a huge impact. Thats the idea I plan to use for our 21st century human project. We focus on the idea, and the message were trying to send. Not the display and the colors and how "pretty" it has to look. So make the art as simple as it can be, but with a deeper more intense meaning. Less is more, and simple is complex. That is a very easy idea to follow in this project and I see myself using it.

Best of Today: Cigarette Addiction

Today we had a very interesting conversation about Cigarettes and how the addiction is a really sad thing. Im surprised it took up just about the whole class period, but it's serious matter and such a big topic, that there is a lot to say about it. A majority of the class could relate to it, and we got to hear the stories of some kids who have been through it or grown up with addiction around them. I really got to see how some people were affected by this, and its really unfortuante. I mean for me, my parents NEVER smoked, no body in my family smokes, so I was never around it as a kid. I guess it was just a friend influence or a rebelious stage when I started. But the best part of the conversation was when Mr. Allen said that if he had one wish, it would be to get rid of addiction. That is a very thoughful idea, knowing that it would make so many lives better. He also talked about how basic logic and reason should be enough to stop an addiction, or atleast get people to not start. It really gets me thinking. Like why not? Why cant all people just think the way that we do? Why can't they just understand how terribly gross and life-threatening it is, and have that be enough to stop it?! It just upsets me, and it is really sad, because that is something that will never be achieved. Except it will work for some, like I said, it worked for me and I hope it works for others too.

Best of Today: Two stories making connections

Today, we were talking about Sophie's World in depth. It was described to us how there are two stories going on at once in this book. We have the story of Sophie, just a regular student, living with her mother and who's father is always away at work. Than we have this other story about philosophy and how she is learning this course from a complete stranger, and is really fascinated with it. We also talked about how this connected with Shadow Catcher. There was the one story about Marianne Wiggins and her father and all of that, then there was the Edward and Clara story. These also are similar because both stories in both books did or are going to make a connection to eachother in the end. I thought this was interesting because I like how the books we read have these connections and similarities. It really makes me think that it was planned, and thats why were reading these books. I'm sure that the following books we read will also connect to these books somehow. This really examplifies peoples ways of thinking and knowledge, because I feel everyone is always trying to make connections, or similarites to help us understand things better. That is definately something that will help me if im trying to understand one thing, I'll see where that idea has came up before.

iMedia: A Unified American

This image, is kind of insulting in a way. Its like whoever created it, is mocking Americans. It displays that obesity is a big problem in our society and that we really have no uniqueness when it comes to delicasies or really nice food. We just have huge trademarks like McDonalds and Burger King, like places with really horrible, unhealty food. It just shows that everything in America is simple and quick. There is no flavor or variety, everything is just expected, and predicted. This photo struck me as pretty funny, cause it is true. Some peoples concerns are all just for food, and it cam be an obsession. But they prove this point by using a traditional Landmark, like the Statue of Liberty. Everybody knows about it, and they see it as a symbol for the American. Shows our freedom and our pride. But when they show it like this, that sends a message saying we Americans definately need some changing going on, and a way to stop people from over eating. This definately gives me, and I hope others, the idea that this food is gross and will make you look like that! And I dont think anybody wants to look like that, but they just cant help it. But thats just how we Americans are, we want everything to be cheap and quick, so we all run to places like McDonalds..etc. Burgers and soda are the demons of all fast foods.

Best of Week: Born Into Brothels

Over the past couple of days we watched the documentary, Born Into Brothels. It was basically about these very young children who live in brothels inside Calcutta, India. This was a very sad thing to watch, because these kids didn't have any guidance or protection. They all say they don't want to end up like their mothers, but they all know they can't really do anything about it. But they are later reported on by a woman who tries to help them. She gives them all cameras, so they can take pictures and somehow try to make their lives better. All of the kids really enjoy photography, and they turn out to take some really nice photos. I was glad to finally see the kids happy because it was a really sad beginning! I'm sure the reason we watched this, was because it kind of had a connection to the novel, The Shadow Catcher. Edward Curtis was a big photographer, and so was Clara's father. Photography played a big part in this book, so now we got to see it in a different, more casual way. I think it is a very good documentary, and I can see myself helping the less fortunate someday when I join the peace core!

Metacognition: QE Essay

The QE essays were a very long and difficult process. I really had to think critically, and arrange my words in the best, and most engaging way possible. My thinking process for this paper was pretty sraight forward. I knew my question, I had the other essays we went over in class to refer to, I knew how I was going to answer it, it was just very time consuming. I had to think over what were the obstacles to creativity and how we can overcome them. It helped out that some of these essays described that they also face obstacles and gave advice on how to overcome them. It changed my knowledge a lot, because I got to use some of that advice. I knew that creativity wasn't easy for all, but I didnt know that all of these things can stand in our way. It really surprised me how precise one has to be to capture creativity, and writing this essay, kind of made me one step closer. For me though, it was very hard to not be general, and that is something I hate about my thinking. I am just so used to being cute, and writing what I "think" the teacher wants to hear, or how a student is supposed to sound in their papers. I would really like to work on being more entertaining, and different. I want to say things that readers have never heard before, but that is going to be very hard for me to switch my habits.

Blogging Around

 The first blog I read was by Klaudia, and she focused on one of our students mindbook entrys and how it was so complex, and how she loved the way her mind worked. Here's what I said to her:
"Klaudia, the way you described this was absolutely perfect! And i know exactly whose mindbook entry your talking about, and i completely agree with everything you said. i love the way you capture the idea, of the thoughts we cant express, and those questions really got me thinking too! Its awesome when we understand other peoples minds ya know? Like she has this one idea, and this one simple picture, but than it just expands out to this one big idea that has so much meaning. I loved her painting as well, and i think its so cool that you devoted a whole blog post to her one mindbook entry cause you really can say a lot about it. Just dont be afraid to let all those ideas out cause i know you have an awesome, complex, creative mind too!"

 The other blog I read was by Marina. She was talking about how she had to write these college essays and that it was hard for her when they told her to create her own topic. Thousands of ideas rushed to her mind and how its a lot harder than to write a paper on something educational, like what we learned in class or something. I completely think differently than her though, and thats why I said this:
Marina, dude, on this blog we think like COMPLETE opposites. When they give u a topic thats personal, thats like the easiest thing! Cause only YOU know how it really went, and the admission people cant tell you that your wrong. There your own words and you can use them however you want to and they have to believe it! Like when you have to write something about what you just learned, theres a right or wrong answer so you gotta worry about that too and then there like, blah blah blah you did this this and this wrong nag nag nag ya know? thats why your crazy girl! haha yeah when they say "create your own topic" your brain just streettchess and you could pick anyyy topic in the world which kinda makes it harder but you can just pick anything you want and they cant judge on that. But good luck!!

Metacognition: The Things They Carried Essay

I read The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien last year in English class. This book was a lot different then any of the other books I've read, because it required a whole new level of thinking. We did many worksheets and interpretations of this book, and it was really hard because this book was really hard to understand. But the more we talked about it, and the more I read, it became more clear. When I wrote the final essay on the book, I had a lot of knowledge and I could kind of think differently, which really surprised me, because I usually don't understand things like that because my mind isn't very complex at all. I had to think about story truth and happening truth which occurred a lot in his book. But I feel like my usual way of thinking is very general and common. This might have changed my thinking for one particular assignment, but not forever. I don't really like my own mind, because Its so un-unique. Like the creative side, creative ideas and observations don't really come to me that easily, and that is something I'd really like to fix.

Best of Week: Living Writer's Lives.

Last week, we discussed an essay called Sea of Information, which is a good title because it did have a lot of information! But in that whole essay, someone found one excellent idea that was a huge part of the discussion because it was so important. This was the idea that reading gives us access to lives we haven't lived, and will probably never live. This really makes me think about how differently each person's life can play out. And also when we talked about how most people believe that when you share a story like that, there is absolutely no body who has had the "exact same" experience as you, and that is really special to have a moment like that. I believe that nobody can tell a story better than the person who lived it, and then when its shared, everybody listening can feel like they were there and "live someone elses life" for a moment. That is something really cool about reading stories like that, because you just get a change for a while, and we can make-believe that were experiencing something new that we may never actually get to experience. But thats the joy of reading I guess, and maybe I can apply that to my thinking next time I read a book I think is bad, or boring. I'll just put myself in that person's shoes and pretend that its my life, and I'm telling the story.

Connection: Philo T. Farnsworth and Charles Darwin

When I read the this article about Philo Farnsworth, I couldn't help but feel really bad for him. I mean, he had this amazing idea thats is one of the most popular things nowadays to own. But he just didnt know how to go about it the right way, so he failed. People stole his idea and made it bigger, and he wouldn't even take what he can get. He turned down the money and was never going to give up. Then I was sad to hear it didn't workout and he went into deep depression and alcoholism. I cant exactly think of a person who had this same exact experience, but I know that this kind of closely relates to Charles Darwin's story and how Alfred Wallace came up his same theory of natural selection right about at the same time too! I mean thats kind of annoying, now he has to share the credit and everything, but its not as bad as Farnsworth. If he had just thought it maybe a little sooner, it would have been 100% his, and he would be way more successful. This really is good advice for me and probably everybody! Now I know if i have a complex invention, maybe get some help with it so I dont lose it to smarter people. That would make me really mad, so I would do whatever to get a share somehow. And if its a simpler idea, than try to come up with it as fast as possible and have no hesitations when it comes to publishing. We can learn a lot from these philosophers, that may help us go farther with what we believe in. But most importantly, dont let anyone else get in on your idea!

Change of Mind: Wall-E

Last year, in English class, we watched the movie Wall-E as part of our transcendentalism unit. I never really knew what that movie was about, I kind of just thought it was about a bunch of robots just running around and stuff. I guess thats why I never really rushed to see it. I had no idea that the movie would be about our economy and that its kind of mocking us. I know our economy is bad, but I didn't really understand the dangers until I saw this movie. I was really ignorant to the fact that this was actually not a kids movie, and it teaches everyone a very good lesson on how pollution and all the craziness is gonna wipe out the whole planet one day. So after seeing this movie, I really saw the world in an amazing new way. That our Earth is brittle. And its slowly falling apart, and the movie tells us that we all have to work together to make it last. That means we will have a manifest function, and that is a good thing! So I'm really glad this movie was brought to my attention, and I would suggest everyone to see it. It will really show you whats wrong with this world, and give you a new perspective on life and how fragile it is. It happened to me and I'm sure it will give everyone a change of mind!