Punishments in High School

There are many forms of punishment in high school and none of them are very effective at deterring bad behavior. The first punishment is the detention. Being held after class for a couple hours is actually pretty bad but, it only lasts as long as you're held. As soon as you are released there is no lasting effect on behavior. The next punishment is the suspension (which in my opinion is a total joke). Telling a kid to sleep in and play video games all day sounds more like vacation than punishment. I've actually seen kids get suspended on purpose so they can stay home for a few days and not have to deal with school. I feel like the only possible way to stop bad behavior is to create a punishment that lasts multiple days. For instance if you vandalize something you should have to fix it and then have longer detentions for more than one day.

30 goal challenge

One of the goals was to change your profile so I decided to update my education information on facebook.

Osama

Yesterday we all heard news that Osama was dead. He was killed by a team of Navy Seals and CIA at his hideout in Pakistan. His body was buried at sea within twenty-four hours to comply with Muslim tradition. They used DNA evidence to identify him as well as facial recognition methods. I feel as though his death lifted a lot of weight off of my mind. I understand that there are many more terrorists out there and there could be some sort of retaliation but we should not be afraid.

Flipboard

Yesterday I downloaded an app called Flipboard. It is a neat little app that changes up websites like facebook and twitter. The app itself has no way to produce anything new. It is merely wrapping other websites in new packaging. If you are bored with the current facebook layout or tired of the bland twitter screen just download this free app for a fresh experience.

Ipad

A lot of people are talking about ipad and how they are or aren't useful in school. I saw one app that seemed really useful. It is called Evernote and it is free. With Evernote you will never lose your notes because its on your ipad instead of that collection of paper thrown about your room. Hopefully you won't lose your ipad or else your out a lot of money as well as all your notes.

School Schedules

My high school is working on revising the class schedule. The current schedule is very rigid. The only thing that changes is the each day a different class get an extra thirty minutes. This slight change is more of a punishment than a pleasant change of pace. Most people I have talked to despise the schedule because it makes the day so monotonous. I think the schedule needs a total overhaul.
I recommend that we use a rotating schedule. So for the first day the schedule would look like 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and then the next day would be 7,1,2,3,4,5,6. This rotation would continue over a seven day period then it would repeat. There should be no long period because that class is simply the class to skip for most students.

Twitter

I like twitter and I think it can be a great tool to use for learning. Recently however, I tweeted asking a question about an issue I am having with my car. I was surprised to see that after 24 hours nobody had responded. Maybe no one knew the answer to my question. Or maybe it is because I only have seven or so followers. I did post it with the cars hashtag though so I believe many people should have seen it. All in all this was pretty discouraging. I still think twitter is a usefull tool but, not for every question.

Raw Power

A terrible earthquake devastated Japan last week. Waves thirty feet high crashed very far into the main land. The waves wiped out everything in their path. It also triggered problem at a nuclear power plant. Aside from this being a horrible tragedy, it does give you a sort of respect toward the power of mother nature. The only things that were still standing after the water receded were the trees. Why is it that mother nature can destroy a building but leave a tree in the same place? Here is a before and after photo of Japan. As you can see, the trees were the only things that did not get swept away.

Tools for School

I believe google docs is the best tool for students. It allows you to view your work and make alterations from any computer. All you need is a google account. In the age we live in having a google account just makes everything easier. You can create templates presentations as well as papers of any length you want. Google docs is especially good for group projects. This is because multiple people can have access to your doc. The creator of the doc gets to decide who can see it and who can edit it. I like this because it keeps your work safe. Google also automatically saves your work regularelly to make sure you do not lose anything if something were to go wrong.

Here is a helpfull website for people who are new to google docs.

iPad 2

The iPad 2 is coming out soon and people are already raving about it. Yes, it is obviously an amazing piece of technology and it does make many upgrades to the original but, I believe people are going to be mad about its release. Imagine if you just bought a $500 iPad and then a year later the next generation comes out that is better in every way and has new features that the old version does not even have the option of upgrading to because of hardware issues. I think Apple should offer people who have the first generation of iPads the chance to turn in their iPad and get the new version at a discounted price. That seems more fair to me.

Here is the commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9tXJ5UqXsg

Google Disappointed Me

When typing "Martin Luther King Jr." into the Google search bar something unexpected happens. The second link that pops up brings you to a white supremist site. I find this to be unacceptable. Google should block this site. It is both racist and just plain wrong. I actually laughed at how absurd some of the things on the site were. The worst part is that students who have projects on him may not realize that none of this is true and that it is run by such bad people.

Tattoo Thoughts

Recently I have begun talking to my father about getting a tattoo. He and I have very different views on the subject. He seems to think that getting a tattoo is a terrible idea. My father is a bit on the old fashioned side so he sees tattoo as somewhat taboo. I have tried explaining to him that the tattoo I will be getting is not offensive in any way and that it is meaningful. No matter how much convincing I do he simply does not see the good side of getting a tattoo.
I see tattoos as the single best way to express yourself. There is no better way to show your appreciation for something than to get it permanately imprinted on your body. I think the permanence of tattoos is the reason many people do not like them. It is hard to find something you like enough to commemorate a piece of your body to but, when you do, you will know it.
I can see the negative side too. Some people make really poor decision when it comes to getting a tattoo. For instance, my friend works with a man who got a picture of a South Park character named Cartman tattooed on his arm. I find this absolutely ridiculous. It is tattoos like that that give tattoos a bad name. If you are mature and responsible about picking your ink then there is no downside to me.

Cell Phones Banned from Schools?

The district attorney is making motions to remove cell phones from school grounds. This idea is absolutely absurd as well as impossible to enforce. Are they planning on using metal detectors? I use to go to a school in Malden and the metal detectors they had did not work at all. People came in with far worse things than phones. I think they should worry about bigger issues than kids with cell phones.

Abe says...

Snowday Payback

I have recently heard a terrifying rumor. The school system might April vacation. This is due to the incredibly high amount of snow days. First of all they should not be allowed to do this because it's just salt in the wound to have us go extra days plus have to move all this snow. I did not ask for the snow, I should not be punished with extra school for it. I heard this rumor in school but this site reminded me of it.

      The speaker in this video was very insightful. The study on the divergent thinking was intriguing. The fact that 98% of kindergartners were considered to be genius's of divergent thinking is astonishing to me. It makes me want to take the test now to see if I am smarter than a kindergartner.