Moving On In Life

We are all in positions right now where we are facing possibilities and our lives beyond high school. Our lives are shifting and it can be both exciting but extremely terrifying. Change is frightening, but it is also good. The natural course in our development is to break free and experience our lives through the judgement we have been raised with. Our time is now, whether we are ready or not. How do you feel about your preparedness for next year? Are you excited, scared, a mixture of both? In what ways have you been set up to excel with your future endeavors? How do you feel about making your own decisions? 

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day in my eyes a very important day for moms but also for their family's. I would say I agree it is a very important day for the reasons of we are celebrating the life of our mothers and all they have ever done. I want to hear some of the reasons you feel we have Mother's Day. What makes Mother's Day so important in your life? Everyone has a special something that they remember about their mom when they were younger. What are some memories you have made with your mom? I know with my mom when I had just became old enough to go to kindergarten she would take me and drop me off. I would last only a couple minutes without my mom and I would start crying till I threw up and my teacher sent me home cause she thought I was sick. Then I was able to return to my mom. I was a mommas boy how many of you are mommas boy or girl? What are some important lessons your mom has taught? Has your mom had an impact on your life?

Hardships in Traveling

As we have recently read, the Joads lost their grampa to a stroke and their dog to a car while on the road to California. Travel in previous centuries and decades seems to have been more perilous than it is now. Do we face some of the same hardships on the road, or different ones? What has changed in recent years that helps negate some of the hardships of traveling for us?

Travel

As some of us have traveled to spend the weekend in Seattle, Washington, I thought we might discuss the reasons people travel. There are many reasons people travel, ranging from moving to vacation.  Recently travel has become much more for pleasure as opposed to need. A lot of one's childhood is spent in the back of a car, driving to a relative's home to visit. While it might seem like an eternity to the passengers in that car, it is what we learn about the people that measures the time. Do you think traveling together with your family helps you get to know the better? Why do you think humans travel in their time off? What created this idea? How has American culture benefited, or hindered this? When did the shift from traveling only when necessary to traveling for enjoyment occur?

Tradition

It's prom! All this preparing has gotten me thinking about traditions. "Proms" date all the way back to the 1800's, and originated from formal college dances. But proms were not recorded into high school yearbooks until the 1930's. Obviously, prom has been a thing for quite some time. I think that it is neat that, in this day and age, we still hold traditions. So what exactly is tradition? Why do we keep traditions? What are some traditions that have originated from today's modern culture?

Plays vs Musicals vs Movies

After watching Footloose, I could not help but wonder if a musical or a play does a better job at conveying its message. Which does a more effective job in your experiences? Sometimes I find a musical much easier to remember due to the music. Also do many movies of famous plays and musicals do it justice? Does it cause us to compare a movie to a play and vice versa? I know sometimes I just cannot help but compare them? Should one compare a play or musical to a movie? Does the message of a musical or play get through to the audience better in a movie or live? Do you prefer a live performance of a play or musical or do you prefer a movie version?

Standardized Tests

Since some of us are taking the AP English exam pretty soon, I figured we should discuss standardized testing. We have all taken standardized tests since from a very young age. I remember that the only good thing about the ISATs was that they gave us free gum. Did any of the tests that we took really measure our intelligence? I do not think that these tests accurately measure a persons intelligence since every person does not learn and process information the same way. This is like the quote by Albert Einstein, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Is this the same with the AP English exam or did it find a better way to judge intelligence? Do you think that these tests should have such a large impact on your future?