Blackjack

The Last of Middle School Humanities

    In 6th grade, I never imagined that my middle school years would end, but now, the end is right in front of me. I am leaving middle school with all my knowledge and experience gained in humanities. Including thinking, writing, speaking, listening, reading, and my learning habits. This year, I was introduced to Goodreads, Prezi, Posterous and other wonderful sites. I learned how to insert parenthetical citations and paraphrasing information into my own sentences.  I also learned how to listen attentively and how to state my opinions firmly in discussions. In this reflection, I will write how I developed as a learner. I will also write about what I enjoyed and struggled with while learning.

As I look through all my blog posts throughout the year, I can see that I have developed as a writer and thinker. What I think I developed most as a writer is brainstorming. Before, I used to skip the brainstorming part or did it because I was asked to. Now, I realize that brainstorming is a very important step of the writing process. For thinking and writing, what I think I do well and what came easily for me is paraphrasing. Even though it was my first time to actually learn paraphrasing from a teacher, it was easy for me because I used paraphrasing while doing AOW and other projects. If there were parts that came easy for me, there was also challenging parts. For our research paper in human rights, I learned parenthetical citations, paraphrasing and many other things but it wasn’t an enjoyable project for me. I really had trouble in pulling all my information into a paragraph. My writing only consisted of information and the transitions between sentences and paragraphs were awkward. Overall, If I had to choose my favorite piece, it is definitely the Kony 2012 AOW. The topic about Kony was so far the most interesting AOW topic. I was really engaged in this topic and I felt very excited that I could write my opinions about it. As a result, my writing goals for ninth grade are to create better transitions and practice on creating research paper.

This year, I had numerous of reading experiences including novels, social studies, and poetry. I tremendously improved on expanding my vocabulary while reading. Before, I used to just skip the words I didn’t know, but as time passed by, I gradually began to search the words or guess them by reading the sentence over and over again. Also, I improved on writing notes down on places in the book I think it is important to remember or have a question on. When I forget something about the book, I can always flip back and read the sticky notes. Of my reading experiences, what I enjoyed most was reading “My Brother Sam is Dead”. The tension and the flow of the story was really fun and exciting, also it was good to naturally learn about the American Revolution while reading the book. Oppositely, reading the “Give me Liberty or Give me Death” speech was most challenging. It was mostly a challenge for me because there was numerous words I didn’t know, so I couldn’t understand a lot of senteces in the speech. As a result, I need to read more books to expand my vocabulary. I also need to widen my range of book selections because I tend to read only one genre. That way, I can earn the joy of reading in many different genres of books.

Throughout the year, I have had discussions and a variety of presentations and I can say that my speaking skills have improved a lot. I can state my opinions and ideas firmly in AOW discussions and literature circles. Also, the Boston Massacre debate and other presentations helped me gain more confidence in speaking to large groups and to speak more louder and clearer since it gave me more experience. Still, even though I improved my listening skills, I still struggle when presenting to classes because I tend to become nervous and stutter a lot. Making eye contact to the audience is also very hard. Additionally, I have also developed as an active listener during discussions and presentations. During discussions, I always listen attentively to what my group have to say and give them feedback. Similarly in presentations, I do not distract the speaker and I listen to them attentively. I think learning to listen is very important because you can learn new information and perspectives from different people.

Having good learning habits is important for me because when it comes to test taking time, it would be much easier for me. I wouldn’t have so much stress on myself and I would feel better knowing that I have prepared well for my tests. My learning habits improved a lot during the past years. For example, I improved greatly on managing my time wisely by creating study schedules and to-do lists. Also, I improved on working in an undisturbed, quiet environment because before, I usually worked in front of a television. I believe that my improved learning habits will help me a lot in the future.

It is now coming to the end and I am truly going to move on to high school with no regrets. I have greatly improved my writing, thinking, reading, speaking, listening, and learning skills due to all my wonderful humanities and writing teachers. All the AOWs, presentations, novel studies, and discussions would be a great memory and experience for me. Although there were many challenging assignments that I despised, nevertheless, all of them were enjoyable. They all gave a big impact to my learning skills. I will never forget my last year of middle school humanities class with Mr. Appino.

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Women’s Time to Conquer Land

   It’s hard for rural people to survive without land to farm. It’s harder for Vietnamese rural women to survive without land. The most important resource for rural women is land. However, most women in Vietnam do not have any rights to own land. “Women contribute substantially to the agriculture sector: 65 percent of economically active women are engaged in agriculture, comprising 49.5 percent of the entire agricultural labour force and not including rural women’s unpaid work in farm and family economies” (Viet Nam). Women make the majority of the agricultural workforce, but women are still discriminated against men in owning land (Helping Women Achieve). One of the reasons is that their status is weakened within the household and community. In this essay, I’ll focus on why women are discriminated from owning land. I’ll also focus on why women’s land rights matter and how we can solve women from being discriminated.

Women’s land rights matter because it can affect a lot of people in Vietnam.  According to the Gender and Land Rights Database, sixty-five percent of economically active women farm in Vietnam (Viet Nam). In Vietnam, women tend to use their land in a variety of ways that can help improve their overall situation of their families. For example, women use loans obtained from land titles and profits from farming to meet family members’ basic needs (Helping Women Achieve). Without women owning land, most families in the rural couldn’t meet their family’s basic needs. Also, a lot of women can’t earn money without farming. Without land titles women can’t earn loan from banks for their own business and farming. Women have to depend on their own labor. Sometimes women are forced to borrow money, but they are often at the mercy of loan sharks (Vietnams Land Law raises).  Women with land can give a big change to many people’s lives.

Women’s chance of owning land was dark, until the Vietnamese government made a new law involving women’s land rights in 2001. Before 2001, there were two main reasons that women were being discriminated from owning land (Vietnam Land Use Rights). The first reason had something to do with traditional values. Vietnamese people in the rural parts follow traditional values influenced by patriarchal Confucian ethics. In patriarchal Confucian ethics, the men are the head of the household. So in some places in Vietnam, women had to be dependent on men and are not entitled to make decisions about anything. Also, many divorced women couldn’t own land from their parents and their husband’s parents because women have no rights to earn land after divorce (Viet Nam). The second reason was because of land certificates. “Although both men and women can receive Land Use Certificates (LUCs), there are no current standards for maintaining names on the register or for determining whose names will be placed on the LUCs (Viet Nam).” Eventually, land certificates continued to only have the head of the household’s name. Which in most households were men (Viet Nam).

There are many evidence that women are discriminated from owning land, but now, I think it’s important to know how we can solve this problem (Viet Nam). In 2001, The Vietnamese government had already done something to solve this problem as I mentioned before in the essay. “In October 2001, the Vietnamese government passed Decree No. 70 requiring all documents registering family assets and land use rights to include the names of wives as well as husbands (Vietnam Land Use Rights).” According to The World Bank, in 2001, the Vietnamese government made a new law that gave hope to the women in Vietnam. In 2004, the Vietnamese government also passed another land law bill making it mandatory for all certificates to be issued jointly in the name of husband and wife (Vietnams Land Law raises). With the laws, women could finally own land, even after divorce. Despite all these laws passed on, women’s access to land is still difficult. The General Department of Land Administration in Vietnam is responsible for rural land titling. Sadly, it is lacking people to ensure that all provinces in Vietnam comply the law (Vietnam Land Use Rights). Another problem is that some women in Vietnam assume that all property should be owned by men (Viet Nam). So I think it is important to educate women in rural areas. That way, women would know the importance of land and fight for women’s land rights.

Vietnamese women are still discriminated against men in owning land. Land is very important. With land, women can farm, earn loans, and even support her family. Traditional values are blocking women’s chance of owning land. Women can receive land certificates, but women can’t determine whose name will be placed on it (Viet Nam). Even though the Vietnamese government made laws to register family properties and land use rights to women, there are still many places who aren’t complying the law (Vietnam Land Use Rights). There are still harsh roads ahead of women in Vietnam. It’s challenging to change the traditional values people believe. It’s also challenging to let women realize how important land can be. Rural women underwent many troubles until the Vietnamese government finally gave them some hope. Isn’t it about time for women to start conquering land?

Works Cited:

“Helping Women Achieve Equal Treatment in Obtaining Land Rights: Gender in Land
Administration and Land Certification Projects.” The World Bank. The World
Bank, n.d. Web. 21 May 2012. <http://siteresources.worldbank.org/
EXTPREMNET/Resources/Results2011-PREM-SB-new-Gender-LandTitling.pdf>.

“Viet Nam.” Gender and Land Rights Database. Food and Agriculture of the United
Nations, n.d. Web. 21 May 2012. <http://www.fao.org/gender/landrights/
report/en/>.

Vietnams Land Law raises status, income and security for wives .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeRhTzoq9Es. The World Bank, 24 Mar.
2010. Web. 23 May 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeRhTzoq9Es>.

“Vietnam Land Use Rights and Gender Equality Project.” Social Development in
East Asia and Pacific. The World Bank Group, n.d. Web. 22 May 2012.
<http://go.worldbank.org/QDY2SKT0T0>.

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“To Save Some Species, Zoos Must Let Others Die” is an article published by Leslie Kaufman. As it shows on the article title, this article is all about how zoos have to sacrifice animals in order to give better facilities to the chosen ones.  Even though zoos exhibit animals, zoos have to make cold calculations about which animals are the most crucial to save.

While reading this article I could understand the bitter decisions zoo keepers have to make. “To conserve animals effectively, however, zoo officials have concluded that they must winnow species in their care and devote more resources to a chosen few.” As it is stated in the article, zoo officials have to winnow some animals to give better resources to a chosen few. Especially animals who are endangered who are most likely to comeback in the wild. In this article, I couldn’t understand why zoo officials let some species die to save others. Personally, I think it is very unfair that zoos have make calculations about those issues. Can’t the zoos exhibit all the animals? Doesn’t animals have rights too?

“…scientist or government regulatory agency noticed that the animals were disappearing, and had nowhere else to drop them off. Many are not exhibited and are believed to be among the only members of their species left in the world.”

Picture by: Todd Heisler/New York Times

If endangered species are going to be living in a harsh environment, why did the zoos except them? Even if zoos can help animals breed, it’s no use if animals are living in plastic containers found in kitchens.

Someday, many species would be extinct and it will affect us in the future. I’ve only thought of zoos as places where you can see animals, but after reading this article, I learned how important zoos are to species. I hope zoos will make better decisions and be a great part of saving species.

Annotated Link 1, 2, 3

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Picture by: Mathieu Young

Could you sacrifice your life to fight against human rights? Well, 2 weeks ago, a man named Chut Wutty sacrificed his life to save Cambodia’s forest and the natives living there. We read an article read the article “A Cause — and Questions — in Cambodia” by Matt McCann.

I don’t understand a lot of things. Illegal logging is happening and the Cambodian government is actually letting it happen. The government is saying that the forest is off limits, then why are they letting companies start logging operations? Doesn’t the government care about the animals and people? This is a really serious issue. The habitat of the animals are being destroyed. The future of the natives are dark with no hope. If the companies continue to invade this land, what would happen to the natives?

This is breaking a human right. Even though I feel pitiful that Mr. Chut Wutty died, I feel relieved that people are starting to give attention to what’s happening in Cambodia. “This was a fight he was willing to A) die for, and B) and more importantly, this was what he was going to live for,” I wish the United Nations human rights office will find a way to save the natives and animals. That way, I think Mr. Chut Wutty would rest in peace. Mr. Chut Wutty died a glorious death. He is truly a forest hero.

Diigo Link

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By lagohsep

Mutated shrimp, fish with sores and lesions, eyeless crabs. Absolutely horrible. “BP Oil Spill Aftermath: Eyeless Shrimp, Clawless Crabs and Fish with Oozing Sores”. This article written by Casey Chan gives us information about the aftermath of the BP oil spill. As the title says there were mutated shrimp, fish with sores and lesions, eyeless crabs and more sea animals deformed by the BP oil spill that happened in Gulf of Mexico at 2010. What is surprising that this all happened because of one solvent that was used to clean up the spill.

“Specifically, the solvents used to clean up the spill are powerful enough to dissolve oil, grease and rubber. That’s great for cleaning up an oil disaster, but terrible for the environment and worse for humans, not to mention the toll taken on anything that lives in the Gulf. And the thing is, these dispersants have always been known to be mutagenic.”

This solvent is mutagenic and can cause harm to the people and environment, but I don’t understand why they would use it to dissolve oil. People clean oil to save the ocean and animals, but they made the situation worse. The people cleaning oil were stupid to not think of the consequences. Another thing that I don’t understand is that the FDA, EPA and NOAA  all refused to respond to this awful situation. It is obvious that America would be affected because they will have a shortage on seafood, then why aren’t they doing anything to help? What will happen to the sea animals? Or the fishermen who are still pulling out oil in their nets?

I am not familiar with the BP oil spill, but I understand the aftermath of it. If I were involved in this situation, I would immediately go to the Gulf and see the situation myself. I would try my best to do everything I can do clean up all the solvent and save the sea animals. I really hope the government starts becoming involved in this situation. That way, sea animals and fishermen could be saved.

Diigo Annotated Links

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Pictures by: Shaylor clayirving chrisinplymouth Keoki Seu

Dear Poetry,

I’m a klutz. I can do nothing perfectly. Somehow, I always find a way to embarrass myself. I’m not beautiful or intelligent. Shy and quiet, that’s me. I’m always ignored by my pretty classmates. I’m really jealous of them. Once, I was walked towards them at lunch time to become closer to them, but I just had to slip and fall on my back, being the usual klutz me. I want to be admired and popular like them. I want to be perfect. People say practice makes perfect, but not for me. Can you please help me?

-Perfectionist Wannabe

Dear Perfectionist Wannabe,

You are a klutz
You are passive and shy
You consistently embarrass yourself
And can do nothing perfectly
I want to be perfect you say
Well I’m here to tell you something
So open your ears and eyes wide

Look around the world carefully
Can you see anyone
Who has never had a mistake?
Can you see anyone without a complex?

Now listen carefully
Can you hear laughter from those people
With mistakes and complexes?
Do you know why?
Because nobody is perfect

You have your own special charm
You have your own special talent
You can’t earn love by copying someone else
So do not be affected by them

Hold your head up high
Walk confidently
Show your smile
Ignore your peers
Be yourself

Laugh away all your embarrassment
Bury them deep inside your heart
Because nobody is perfect
You’re amazing just the way you are

You do not love a person who is already perfect, but you love by seeing an imperfect person perfectly. Don’t forget, you still have your friends and parents who would never expect you to be perfect. Because they would love you just the way you are. Remember! Nobody is perfect and you’re amazing just the way you are.

Sincerely,

Poetry

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Some rights reserved by: Toban Black

Taking pictures, listening to music, and chatting with your friends in one glasses. How is that possible? Well, Google is going to make that possible. This week, our class read an article about a device Google released a video on. This device is called “Project Glass” and this device has all the functions any smart phone can have.

In the video, it showed the functions what the “Project Glass” might be able to do. “If you see a closed subway stop, the glasses could tell you why it’s closed and give you an alternate route; if you see a book you like, you could get book reviews and (controversially) prices from other retailers…” With only  a few uses shown in the video, the device completely shocked me. With these glasses it made me realize life would be very comfortable. You wouldn’t need to bring a laptop or a phone everywhere. You could just wear these glasses and your whole day would be entertaining and organized, but it also helped me realize that some negative effects might follow it. Technology is improving day by day. As technology is improving, human are becoming detached from the world. If we can talk with our friends using glasses, we wouldn’t have a reason to meet our friends in person. Soon enough, there would be a time when we could do everything without moving an inch. We would be like the people “Wall-E” because there would be a time when robots can do everything for us and we would just let the earth die.

It is natural for us to expect more devices to make our lives more convenient. Even if there’s an iPhone 4 now, we would want something more convenient. An iPhone 5 would appear and then we would expect something more convenient too. Project Glass is a magnificent device, but I hope that people can come back to the days when we could have a comfortable and an entertaining life without a smart phone. Technology is good, but relying your life on technology is bad.

Diigo Link

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My goal for the 4th quarter is to improve my test grades and using my time wisely. How I will improve my test grades is by taking more good notes. I should listen to the teacher more attentively and write everything down. Also, another way I can improve my test grades is to not cram and study everything during the night before the test. If I have a question I don’t know, I should be confident and ask the teacher. How I will use my time more wisely is to do my homework or study in a quiet environment without a television or music. Also, I need to close all social network and games like Facebook and Skype. Usually, when I go on Skype, I spend hours just by chatting. Because I’m going to high school next year, I wish I can achieve my goals. In that way, I can have a more successful school life.

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We only lived inside of our comfort zone
Blind to the ugly truths and arguments
Happening at the other side of the world

Children are being abducted
They are forced to become child soldiers
And forced to work like little ants
But we do not know this
And we do not know the person behind this

These children are suffering
And they are losing hope
They no longer have any reason
To live in this world
They are struggling to become free
But they are chained to their abductor
Like a bird inside a cage

Is it necessary to know this?
Does it matter to us?
Well, do you want to live in a world
With violence and war
Instead of peace and justice?
I know that I do not

It might be natural to be afraid
And avoid being involved
Alone, one may be weak,
But together we are invincible
We will not be like leaves
who rely against branches

Abandoning these children are not a choice
We will go against Kony with our army
We will remonstrate until
We can guide our way to peace

Our time is limited
Life is short,
But we will not stop
Because Kony will never stop
Until we arrest  him

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Unit 7 is about money and market. For Unit 7, we did many projects, presentations and pop quizzes to build our learning. We learned many information about the market in China and the vocabulary related to it. We also learned how to communicate with the shop keeper by bargaining in Chinese. It was fun to learn how to bargain and it was very useful to learn how to write Chinese money. This is the presentation script we did.

欢迎光临!

Tim: 你很饿吗？ 你们来我们的肉店买肉， 然后回家吃一个好饭

Na Young: 我们卖牛肉, moooo~

Hye Rin: 猪肉, oink oink

Tim: 兔肉, (rabbit action)

Unchan: 鸡肉, (chicken action)

Dom: 鸭肉, quack

Nayoung: 一斤牛肉九毛九分

Hye Rin: 一斤猪肉九毛八分

Tim: 一斤兔肉九毛七分

Unchan: 一斤鸡肉九毛六分

Dom : 一斤鸭肉九毛五分

Hyerin: 都肉很便宜！

Nayoung: 也很新鲜

Dom: 也因为我们都是好的人, 你们买一我们送一

Unchan: 我们天天打五折

Everyone: WOOOOOOOOOOAHHHHHHHHHHH

Tim: 真好！

Na Young : 我们的牛肉是澳大利亚牛肉

Hye Rin : 也我们的猪肉是美国猪肉

Unchan : 我们的肉店比那个肉店好！别商他的当！

Tim: OHHHHHHH! 你们怕我的刀子？没关系！我只用我的刀直刀肉

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, hao hao hao!!!

Dom: 所以再来我们的肉店时最好的！

Everybody: 好好好！！你们明天再来吧！

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