10 de junio de 2010

Net Speed, Accuracy and Gross Speed




My reflection on this year is that my typing scores actually DID improve! I am so glad, and this was probably because I actually got a lot into facebook, started doing these blog posts, and of course, did Typing Master, although I would NOT consider myself a "typing master". Yet. Now, I don't feel like I am a slow typer, or that I should type any faster. Since all of the class improved in typing, and most of us already do sufficient typing at home in facebook or other websites I do not think it is a good idea at all to include Typing Master, especially taking account that most of us already reached our higher potential.


8 de junio de 2010

MAP Progress

The very prestigious American School of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, is having their excellent students perform MAP tests. (As you may be aware of). Please see bellow to see how students progress and how these three charts help/opposite of help display the information accurately.
This is the first chart that I used, and I think that it is actually a very good chart to show your scores and progress over time since the dates are visible and you get a clear idea of how the student has risen and fallen over time.

This is not a good chart to display MAP scores. It does not tell when the tests were made so the person will not know over how much time the progress was made. I think that this would be better replaced by a line graph, like to one bellow.

This is a very good chart for displaying MAP scores. It has everything you need to know in a simple manner: the dates, the progress, the skipped tests, and it pinpoints each exact score. I think this is why this is also the best chart.


6 de junio de 2010

Oil Overboard!

There has recently been a terrible oil spill in Mexico. Oil spills are awful happenings since they contribute to serious environmental issues like pollution, habitat damage and health damage of organisms in general. This oil came on big-time in the news and most people didn't know what to make of it since many different sources blamed multiple reasons. After the tremendous research I have outaken, I have come to the conclusion that the cause for the oil spill were flaws in a cement encasement intended to seal the now very infamous brand, Beyond petroleum. Exactly which flaws and where were not determined, but our loyal source,
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2519294/posts clearly explained that that's the legal cause.

The cause is important, but now we all know: every cause has an effect. The effect for this oil spill may be worse than what you think, but for now nothing is 100% sure. Some people think that the effort for the oil collection will actually work, which is the most hopeful projection. For now this has affected many places that surround the central spill place and places all over the coast with pollution and harm to organisms like the lovely pelicans from Louisiana. The cleanup crews, which have been working since a few days ago, will be trying their best to get most of the oil. I think they will actually help because the company BP is the one who's sponsoring them in order to clean their name. I think that even though it's directly the company's fault it really is humanity's fault for having such a big need of petroleum and i think that we should all become even more environmentally conscious because we take resources like this for granted; it's not fair. In the end of the day however, it's every individual's choice if they want to save the planet. Do you?

1 de junio de 2010

Moti-testion!


What is your motivation for test-taking? We have recently taken the MAP tests {URL: http://www.nwea.org/ } which I guess are a lamer version of the original American SAT's, and even though I'm not a fan, I can make my try. Taking a test, for me, usually feels stressful because I put a lot of pressure into myself, however; I was very relaxed. There is something about not being graded that makes me just get into the test in a calm way. When the scores for English and language came, I was happy but I think that I could've done better in the math test. To improve the math score I could review that material in math class, but It was weird because nothing of what we're currently studying came up on the test. The fact that we get one free spirit day if we surpass our goals actually motivated me, but not as much as I motivate myself.


IMAGE TAKEN FROM: http://hilary.lookingatstars.com/pics/Relaxed-thumb.jpg

20 de mayo de 2010

Presentation Complications?

Today we did our presentations. When I did mine, I had a lot of fun. I loved picking out the fonts and choosing the color scheme. I think that decoration is very me. I enjoyed looking up air pollution, for it is real and scary. However, since I was so overflowing with information I forgot something very important. Keeping the audience entertained. I believe that I could've done a shorter powerpoint like all my classmates. But at least when they finished listening they were very well informed. I hope that Pedro Liked it a lot. I hope that someday, my presentations willbe better. I guess we're lucky we'll have computers again.

6 de mayo de 2010

Power Point No-No's

There are a bunch of Power Point No-No's. We have all seen them.
The worst one is the "Font all over the slide" No-No.

People think
"Hey! I can memorize this easier now."
What they should think is
"Hey! I can't even remember what I want to say by looking at the important bullet points because my brain is already overflowing with junk information. I should practice and make a presentation with nice, easy-to-read bullet points."

In the 5th & 6th grade my class had book talks. These were presentations usually aided with Power Point. Of course, the average fifth grader's brain has zero capacity of memorizing the plot of a book they supposedly read so I, in total, saw about one hundred Power Points filled with words over the course of two school years. I am not kidding. It was exhausting.
So please, DON'T LOSE YOUR AUDIENCE.

Words and words will scare them away. Put them to sleep.Have some common sense! YOU ARE CAPABLE OF MAKING A GOOD, INTERESTING POWERPOINT! :) Take my advice and get good reviews.

XOXO

29 de abril de 2010

25 Things



Okay! Facebook. Is. Officially. Ridiculous.
Well, more like this computer class is. I hate to be the whiny girl but when I write I can't stop myself and I have to let it all out. And these computer class assignments are, I'm truly sorry to say, not getting any funner. We saw a video on YOUTUBE about the 25 things a kid hates about facebook. Now He has asked us to to write a blog post on, not only the 25 hings we hate, but also on the 25 things we love! YAY!

Here is the list of the 25 things I hate:
1. In-boxes from people who're not your facebook friends saying "What's your name? We should meet" Creeps!
2. A massive amount of Farmville gift requests, especially after I announced that I quit Farmville.
3. Farmville and all other useless games that suck time out of you faster than a black hole.
4. Friend requests from "nacos". Especially unknown "nacos".
5. Chain In-boxes! GOD!
6. Comments that say the Shadow lady died in 1998 and is coming to get you if you don't post this in at least five other places.
7. People who ALWAYS have new statuses that say stuff like "hahaha".
8. Group invitations. If I was -that willing to join a certain group I'd be capable of searching for it in the browser. And what makes you think I play an instrument?
9. Tags in bad pictures.
10. The fact that if I comment of something, Facebook notifications will haunt me forever. Especially about whoever person comments something EXACTLY the same after I commented.
11. Wall posts where people want me to "take a test and compare results!"
12. Ads. If I wanted it, I'd be perfectly capable of getting it myself and No, Thankyou, I don't want to meet foreign beauties.
13. Facebook Chat. It can be so stressing.
14. The new homepage. It has everything but it's overwhelming.
15. Fan pages of "OMG CHECK THIS OUT!"
16. Gifts! umm.. thanks?
17. Relationships. We don't care if it's complicated, and instead of wasting time in Facebook get out there and fix it!
18. Facebook cash and things like that. I don't wanna be a e-billionaire.
19. POKES! WHAT THE...?
20. Cheap Writing
21. Impersonators. OMG! Justin Beiber wants to befriend me. Is this really happening? :O
22. Jesus' profile and other religious stuff. I love God but really?
23. The color blue of facebook. It's ugly.
24. Myspace posts.
25. Metroflog people in facebook.


25 things I LOVE!

1. Friends
2. Siblings
3. Pictures
4. Walls
5. True Inboxes
6. Happy Birthday comments
7. Cool Statuses
8. Random Videos
9. Chatting with people I heart
10. Connecting with long lost but loved friends
12. Liking stuff and not Hating
13. Jokes
14. Actually funny groups
15. Groups you can relate to like "Mom, you don't answer the phone and I could be dying!"
16. It's entertaining
17. Tetris
19. There's always something new
18. You're never really alone, even if you're trapped on rain in a boring place.
20. It reminds you birthdays
21. You can see who else is attending an event
22. Notifications on who sees YOUR stuff
23. You can tag your friends on cool pictures
24. You can see what your favorite celebrity is up to.
25. Nice comments on bad days.

27 de abril de 2010

HAIL THE EARTH!

Recently, our eight grade class had a little "fun project". I dreaded the days we had to work on our eco-friendly video. Mine encourages you to see the reality: good & evil earth. Pollution and flowers with people flashing smiles! How nice! I wouldn't change a thing, though. It has the true message of everything that is made up by earth. Here it is:


SO, I also had to grade other people's work. I think they suck.. poor images and barely-there narrations. Audio, whatever but un-original! And they weren't fulfilling in the sense to make me open my heart for Earth Day. I learned that my job is excelent, and it has a LOT of potential compared to the others. I love my video! Woho... I hope to get a ten. Keep your fingers crossed for me and I'll send you air-hugs! I know you are BORED with this OLD topic! But if one thing was funny was (he said it himself) my computer teacher's Spanish...
If you're good I'll even post a narration...
XOXO
Feris

22 de abril de 2010

DOOM IN EARTH

Hey dudes! Happy earth day... I'm just skipping to the informational part of this blog... Our planet is, officially, pathetic. Not the planet itself, but us humans, who treat it in such a terrible manner and still have the guts to call it our home. Sure we are all "conscious" but we haven't stopped buying spray deodorant or stopped farting. Seriously, the so-called scientists that say "our earth is endangered" but still throw chemicals into a river make me want to gag. And there's not only water pollution but there's also air pollution. Which is worse? They're both terrible and they cause many other problems; they are the roots to the murdering tree, and the most serious environmental problem facing Earth today.

First of all, what is Pollution? Here's the specific definition: Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem. (From wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution ). Pollution is the poison that stops the earth from breathing and doing natural processes such as have the trees photosynthesizing, the fish from living in a good environment and us from respiring properly. As you can tell, pollution is a huge problem. Now, let's go into even deeper and more shocking details.

Pollution has huge impact on any animal's health,and if that is not enough, it also damages human health tremendously. It is the number one reason for premature deaths due to breathing issues in large cities like L.A. and New York. In India itself, air pollution is believed to cause 527,700 fatalities a year. Water pollution can mean inducing dangerous oils into the water. Oil spills can cause skin irritations and rashes. Smog, acid rain, and carbon dioxide can make some serious impact like acidness in an ocean or stop the trees and plants from growing. Both types of pollution are terrible. But which is worse?

Air pollution is terrible. It not only is many types of how the precious air we breathe gets intoxicated but also holds one of the biggest phenomenons to damage air. It's called The.Greenhouse.Effect. and it's terrible! It is the one monstrous thing that is threatening to destroy our planet. Life as we know it is potentially expiring. The temperatures will go up, oxygen will disappear and all land will be flooded with melting Antarctica and other big Glaciers. This earth will be gone, and all that our Dear God has worked for will be hijacked by farting cows. Are we really going to allow that?

In conclusion, the worst is Air pollution, of course. The reasons are clearly stated above. I honestly expect you to agree with me since this is a VERY direct problem to the earth. This is why I encourage you all to take a conscious act! Don't litter as much. Try not to use plastic bottles (burning them pollutes the air). Have meat-less Mondays. Fart less. Be happy knowing you are protecting the environment. Plant a tree... anywhere's ok. You'll see nice results in your life if you start giving. After all, the earth is our home. We want to keep it that way.


'NOUNCEMENT!

WELL... TO ALL MY LITTLE, PRECIOUS READERS OUT THERE PEEL YOUR EYES BECAUSE THE MOST MAGNIFICENTLY BORING BLOG POST IS COMING YOUR WAY THANKS TO MY MONSTER. WE WILL MAKE A PERSUASIVE ESSAY ON EARTH DAY AND IT'S PROBLEMS... BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. NOW, DON'T GET ME WRONG BUT EVEN THOUGH THE EARTH IS OUR GORGEOUS HOME AND I LOVE IT, I AM NOT INTERESTED IN WRITING ABOUT THE ISSUES.
I WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THEM.
AND YOU, MY LITTLE FELLAH, SHOULD FOLLOW MY EXAMPLE. TAKE OUT THE TRASH, DON'T LITTER THE STREETS, RECYCLE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, USE LED BULB LIGHTS, TAKE QUICK SHOWERS AND GET A BIKE... THEN ACTUALLY USE IT. I AM SURE MORE THINGS CAN OCCUR TO YOU BUT FOR NOW THAT'LL DO... UNTIL NEXT EARTH DAY... I'M KIDDING!
LOVE YOU!

20 de abril de 2010

Music Selection

For our music selection we (Laura and I) wanted to go for something soft and melodic that wouldn't necessarily overshadow our -yes, beautiful- voices. I loved the one that we chose. It's called Bella's Lullaby. I finally decided on that one becqause other then being from my favorite movie it had all the requirements. I love the soft melody- It's enjoyable for all. Here is the link to my video, I hope whoever you are, you get a chance to see it :).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut-K83y02yc

15 de abril de 2010

Spring Break







My spring break was simply ah-mazing. For the first few days I had the complete mistfortune of total boredom. Luckily, that lasted only 2 days and I got the rest I would later need. In my white-with-pink-touches bedroom I rested, read and surfed Facebook. Every few seconds I hit refresh to find the devastating truth: there was nothing new! Everyone else was at the beach, having fun with the sun while it kissed their not-so porcelain skins. But on day three of my glorious vacay (tion), the household got a new member: a Puppy! He's a big cocker retriever with beautiful golden hair and a smile the size of America. He was given to us with the name of Simon but I believe his truthful name is Marley.

The first night, Chuchito (that's one of the dog's three name/nicknames: Chucho/Chuchito, Simon or Sitka) slept in my sister's room, and so did I. He was supposedly trained and he caused nothing but love and excitement in the household. The only surprise we got was his automatic self-positioning to become my mother's 24/7 shadow. If she went into the bathroom, he would cry and scrathc the door. On his second night, he slept in her room, in her bed. It seemed weird that my mother wouldn't mind. I have my guesses (which have been indirectly prooven) that she only allowed it because the next day we left the town and went...
SKIING!

Yes, we took a plane from Vallarta to Salt Lake City and eventually hit the sloped in a resort called Park City and also in Deer Valley. It was even more exciting because there was fifteen of us. My two uncles and three aunts along with my six cousins. Make that eleven plus the four of us (dad, mom, sister and I) and you have fifteen incredible Mexican/Americans/Skiers/Animals. Yup. You could even call us that at times. We were loud, fun and proud. My small family of four stayed at the Marriot Summit Watch: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/slcvi-marriotts-summit-watch/ (See link.) The others stayed at the Marriott Mountainside. They were both nearby, they were both beautiful and they both had ski lifts to a short walking distance.
In the whole trip we dined in great restaurants and had a lot of laughter. We made snowmans, skied and went into Nastar. I even won the Platinum medal. Honestly, we are all good skiers. We also ate fondue and walked through the Christmas-like lit streets of Deer Valley's and Par City's snow covered towns. It was all an amazing experience and my family is so blessed to have these people to share it with. I am really thankful to the Lord, too, and in Mexico he's the reason Spring Break exists. So amen.