Today in math class we read the first chapter from the book Letters to a Young Mathematician by Ian Stewart. In this chapter Stewart is talking about how math is everywhere we look. For example, math is in agriculture. People don't really realize it, but it takes math to figure out when the best time to plant is, what the most efficient way to plant is, and when to harvest the crops. Also, with the new way of processing plants, there is a lot of math that goes into it.
Another interesting thing that Stewart mentions is the fact that math is in nature. Math is in rainbows. The way I see a rainbow and the way you see a rainbow are completely different. When I am looking at a rainbow, I see the light reflected in a different way then when you are looking at the same rainbow.
Something that this made me realize is that math is very underrated. It is around us in everything we see and do. Many people hate math, but does this mean that they hate the internet and cell phones too? Because math is very much present in those. I think that people should take another look at math and give it a chance, becuase it deserves some credit.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
An Inconvenient Truth: Driving
Today while I was driving home from school, I got every single red light. It really made me think about stop lights and how much time we waste at them. If I live 2 miles from school and can get there, with no red lights, and without speeding in 5 minutes, when it takes me 15 minutes, there are 10 minutes of my life that I can never get back. I know that we need stop lights to regulate traffic which I'd probably spend more wasted time in. However, I can't help thinking about what it'd be like if there were no stop lights to get stopped at.
Another thing I noticed is how much easier it is to get angry at people while driving. I consider myself to be a very even-tempered person. I don't get mad easily and pretty much never legitimately yell at people. However, when I am driving, some people just make me really angry. I think that part of it could be that I know that the other drivers can't hear me and yelling at them won't really help. For some reason, though, it seems to make things better.
I personally don't really like driving. After having to cart my brother around all year long, I think that I could spend my time doing a lot more productive things with my time. Nonetheless, I will keep driving and thinking about ways I can better use my time while driving.
Another thing I noticed is how much easier it is to get angry at people while driving. I consider myself to be a very even-tempered person. I don't get mad easily and pretty much never legitimately yell at people. However, when I am driving, some people just make me really angry. I think that part of it could be that I know that the other drivers can't hear me and yelling at them won't really help. For some reason, though, it seems to make things better.
I personally don't really like driving. After having to cart my brother around all year long, I think that I could spend my time doing a lot more productive things with my time. Nonetheless, I will keep driving and thinking about ways I can better use my time while driving.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Blogging Around
Hey Hana!
I really loved this video too! I feel like we take a lot of things in nature for granted because we see them all the time. Seeing this video really made me appreciate everything that is out there in nature. It also made me want to go and see some of those amazing sites from the video. I'll be the first person to admit that I'm not a huge fan of nature, but I think that it'd be such an awesome experience to see things from the video like the northern lights.
I was also very excited to see this on the homework page since we didn't get to finish it in class. I think that, like you said, the music that went along with it was perfect. It was a very calming song that didn't distract from the video.
I really loved this video too! I feel like we take a lot of things in nature for granted because we see them all the time. Seeing this video really made me appreciate everything that is out there in nature. It also made me want to go and see some of those amazing sites from the video. I'll be the first person to admit that I'm not a huge fan of nature, but I think that it'd be such an awesome experience to see things from the video like the northern lights.
I was also very excited to see this on the homework page since we didn't get to finish it in class. I think that, like you said, the music that went along with it was perfect. It was a very calming song that didn't distract from the video.
The second post I read was from Spencer's blog. It was about how great it feels to fight off senioritis to get your TED speech done. I replied with this:
Spencer!
I sadly was not there for your presentation, but I agree with everything that you said about getting it done. Before I gave my speech I was majorly suffering from senioritis. My speech really made me focus on something and get it done. Having it done with now, I feel like I can focus and enjoy everyone else's presentations, like you said, because I'm not worrying about mine.
I also really enjoyed the picture you have because sometimes the things people say that no one else hears, are the best things. Like the simple things in everyday pictures that no one notices.
I sadly was not there for your presentation, but I agree with everything that you said about getting it done. Before I gave my speech I was majorly suffering from senioritis. My speech really made me focus on something and get it done. Having it done with now, I feel like I can focus and enjoy everyone else's presentations, like you said, because I'm not worrying about mine.
I also really enjoyed the picture you have because sometimes the things people say that no one else hears, are the best things. Like the simple things in everyday pictures that no one notices.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Best of Week: "Youtubing" Around
Even though this was something that wasn't planned, my favorite thing that we did this week was watching people's favorite YouTube videos. I really like getting to know people and similar to the Do You Mind questions, I feel like doing this helps us get to know one another by what we like to watch on YouTube. Seeing Julia's Andrew Bird and Yo-yo Ma video was really cool and I would have never seen something like that when I was just alone. Also the extreme hotels that we looked were really cool because it was interesting to see how creative people can get when creating something "boring" like a hotel. Overall, this was a fun activity because it opened me up to a world of things I may have never seen if we didn't do this in class.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Best of Week: Do You Mind?
The discussions that we've had this week regarding the do you mind questions have been really great for me. The questions themselves have really made me dig deep inside myself and find the real truth. It is also great to hear what other people have to say about the questions because it makes me see the questions form a different perspective. I might see the question one way, but then someone else shares their answer and they saw it a completely different way. It made me realize that there are multiple views and sides for everything in life. I think that these questions will help me in the future by making me realize that their are different sides to things. It will make me think about the other views people could have before I say that there is one best view for something. They also made me more willing to be open with myself because everyone else is, so I have no reason to be afraid.
Blogging Around
The first post that I read was from Julia Skulstad's blog. In her blog she wrote about how the end of high school brings more than just a graduation from South. I replied to her with this,
Stephanie G. said...
Stephanie G. said...
Julia,
I couldn't agree more with what you've said. Looking around at Turnabout realizing that I didn't know more than half the people there also made me realize that a big change is coming in our lives. Knowing you since Wesley, it's amazing looking back seeing how we've grown and matured into people who are ready to go off to college. If someone had told me at the beginning of freshman year that high school was going to be one of the biggest times of change in my life, I wouldn't have believed them. But looking back now it was. I think that as we graduate, like you said, we are not only becoming high school graduates, we are becoming adults. This chapter in our lives was amazing, but I think the ones to come are going to bring even more change and great times! =]
I couldn't agree more with what you've said. Looking around at Turnabout realizing that I didn't know more than half the people there also made me realize that a big change is coming in our lives. Knowing you since Wesley, it's amazing looking back seeing how we've grown and matured into people who are ready to go off to college. If someone had told me at the beginning of freshman year that high school was going to be one of the biggest times of change in my life, I wouldn't have believed them. But looking back now it was. I think that as we graduate, like you said, we are not only becoming high school graduates, we are becoming adults. This chapter in our lives was amazing, but I think the ones to come are going to bring even more change and great times! =]
The second post that I read was from Elyse's blog. She wrote about how people can psych themselves out when they are singing. I replied to her post with this,
Hey Elyse!
I totally agree with what you are saying. For me, when I'm playing my instrument I sometimes start thinking about what I'm actually doing. I then think about it too much and mess up. I think that what you said can apply to anything that we do in life. If we think too much about something and everything that could go wrong with it, then something probably will go wrong. That is one of the reasons that I think that people should look at what could happen positively in what they are doing. Thanks for making me think! =]
I totally agree with what you are saying. For me, when I'm playing my instrument I sometimes start thinking about what I'm actually doing. I then think about it too much and mess up. I think that what you said can apply to anything that we do in life. If we think too much about something and everything that could go wrong with it, then something probably will go wrong. That is one of the reasons that I think that people should look at what could happen positively in what they are doing. Thanks for making me think! =]
Monday, March 14, 2011
Literature Circles: Final Blog
The lit circle book that I read, The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria, is very similar to the book that Sarah read, The Shallows: What The Internet is Doing to Our Brains.
In her blog, Sarah wrote, "We need not to be followers but artists. Not confused but confident. When given the chance to create do so, and when given the chance to follow your own creation hold no fear, don’t hold back on what is rightfully yours." This idea is very similar to one that omnipresent in my book. Zakaria often wrote about how the United States needs to challenge the status quo of the world in order to keep its superpower status. The US, however, is holding back and sticking to the safe way it's been going for the past 100 years. The US needs to take the first big step forward and start creating new standards for life in the US. People need to start thinking about jobs that aren't just in the manufacturing industry, but in the innovation industry.
Zakaria also writes about how the other countries of the world are catching up to the United States' standards. They are doing this through adjacent possibles like the internet. The rest of the world has seen how the people in the United States are living and they want to live like that too. Sarah also mentions that people tend to follow the maps that are laid out for them. They don't like to stray from those maps. Zakaria talks about how the US is comfortable doing things the way we've always done them, but that won't work forever. Overall, the ideas mentioned in The Shallows are very similar to the ones that Zakaria mentions in The Post-American World.
In her blog, Sarah wrote, "We need not to be followers but artists. Not confused but confident. When given the chance to create do so, and when given the chance to follow your own creation hold no fear, don’t hold back on what is rightfully yours." This idea is very similar to one that omnipresent in my book. Zakaria often wrote about how the United States needs to challenge the status quo of the world in order to keep its superpower status. The US, however, is holding back and sticking to the safe way it's been going for the past 100 years. The US needs to take the first big step forward and start creating new standards for life in the US. People need to start thinking about jobs that aren't just in the manufacturing industry, but in the innovation industry.
Zakaria also writes about how the other countries of the world are catching up to the United States' standards. They are doing this through adjacent possibles like the internet. The rest of the world has seen how the people in the United States are living and they want to live like that too. Sarah also mentions that people tend to follow the maps that are laid out for them. They don't like to stray from those maps. Zakaria talks about how the US is comfortable doing things the way we've always done them, but that won't work forever. Overall, the ideas mentioned in The Shallows are very similar to the ones that Zakaria mentions in The Post-American World.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
The Post-American World
Summary: In this final section of the book, Zakaria focused mainly on America’s strengths and weaknesses. The last chapter was mostly about what America was doing wrong as a super power and what it needed to do to continue its power. Zakaria also talked a lot about how the rest of the world’s view of American’s is not what we think it is.
Major Claim: “The United States should be thinking creatively and asymmetrically” (Zakaria 246).
Response: Through this major claim, Zakaria is saying that the US needs to think “outside the box” in order to really be a great nation. Instead of doing things the way we’ve done them for a hundred years, we need to start being creative in the way we run our country. The things we are doing in our economy may have worked really well a hundred years ago, but they aren’t providing the same affect now that they did then. We also should be running our foreign policy the way we have been because as other nation’s rise up closer to our level, they need us to get involved in their personal affairs less and less. He is saying that the people in Washington need to stop worrying about keeping what has worked for a hundred years and start thinking of new ways to help our country grow to its greatest potential.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Captured Thought: The end is near
During v-show, Mr. Wojcik was giving the pit band a "pep talk" and started talking about how v-show was the beginning of the end for the seniors. I had known for awhile that graduation and the end of high school was coming near. I hadn't, however, realized how soon it actually was.
Coming to Glenbrook South, I thought that high school would take forever. I figured it'd be the best, longest four years of my life. I figured I could take things slowly and not really take advantage of what was going on around me. In the past month I have realized how quickly things went by. It feels like I was just a freshman entering the school on the first day worrying about where my classes were and how the heck I was going to get from class to class in just five minutes. It feels like just yesterday that I was coming to band camp for the first time and going on my first band trip. I never could have imagined that my years in high school would go this fast.
Today, I was taking a tour at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and thinking about the next great chapter in my life. I was taking in all of the information my tour guide was giving me and putting it into a mental folder in my head so that it can help me in choosing which college to attend next year. On the drive home, I realized how similar my visit was to the visit I made to Glenbrook South in eighth grade. I started thinking about all of the great times that I've had in high school and how the end was really so near. This weekend was my last real school dance, I'm going on my last band trip in less than a month, I finished my last high school finals. The question that's lingering in my mind now is, What's next? How can I make the next chapter in my life as great as the one that's ending so soon?
Coming to Glenbrook South, I thought that high school would take forever. I figured it'd be the best, longest four years of my life. I figured I could take things slowly and not really take advantage of what was going on around me. In the past month I have realized how quickly things went by. It feels like I was just a freshman entering the school on the first day worrying about where my classes were and how the heck I was going to get from class to class in just five minutes. It feels like just yesterday that I was coming to band camp for the first time and going on my first band trip. I never could have imagined that my years in high school would go this fast.
Today, I was taking a tour at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and thinking about the next great chapter in my life. I was taking in all of the information my tour guide was giving me and putting it into a mental folder in my head so that it can help me in choosing which college to attend next year. On the drive home, I realized how similar my visit was to the visit I made to Glenbrook South in eighth grade. I started thinking about all of the great times that I've had in high school and how the end was really so near. This weekend was my last real school dance, I'm going on my last band trip in less than a month, I finished my last high school finals. The question that's lingering in my mind now is, What's next? How can I make the next chapter in my life as great as the one that's ending so soon?
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Connection: adjacent possibles and the Internet
In class when we were talking about how the Internet was the adjacent possible that made the protests in Egypt more effective, I started thinking. What kind of adjacent possible is the internet to pretty much every teen in the US? I think that it's the best and the worst one out there. There are many teens that use the Internet in a great way. They use it to learn about other cultures and what is happening outside of where they live. They use it to become less ignorant. There are also the teens who abuse the internet as an adjacent possible. They use it to hurt people and glorify their own lives. I think that the Internet can be the best adjacent possible that there ever was. If there was no Internet I wouldn't be able to do this blog post right now. I wouldn't be able to learn about more things than I can think of. The teens who are growing up in the age of the internet are, in my opinion, the luckiest. We have doors open to us that until now have been closed. I think that we should take advantage of this and use it to better our world in te future.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Metacognition: First Semester
This semester of Humanities was very fun for me. In the past I had never really been in a class that was like humanities. Throughout the first semester I learned many things about the way that I think.
There were a few things that really surprised me about my thinking. I never really noticed before how scatterbrained I could be. After taking this class, I started to look at how I thought about things and realized how I could go from thinking about fruit loops to thinking about psychology and not realize how I got there. In the past, I had thought that my thinking was pretty clear. I could easily understand how I got from topic A to topic B. Now, I realized that sometimes it's really hard to explain my thought process. Another thing that surprised me about my thinking this semester, was the fact that I could think out of the box. I used to be a very "in the box" thinker. I pretty much believed what everyone told me and then formed my own ideas just based off of that. This semester I realized that I could actually think about things that other people hadn't said to me before, that I could think up ideas all by myself. This surprised me because I had never really thought about doing this before.
Also this semester I found a few things that I liked about my thinking. When I discovered how I could get from topic A to topic B without really knowing how I got there, I kind of liked that. I liked the fact that my mind could put together random things to get from one subject to another that weren't really related. I used this to my advantage when I was creating some of my mindbook entries. I thought about something that someone else had said that they might be doing and started thinking about things that were kind of like that and then coming up with an idea that was completely different from theirs that I liked a lot. Another thing that I liked about my thinking was that I could think of connections to what we were doing in class easily. If we were having a discussion in class and someone said something that I knew a little about, something related to that would pop into my head and it would help me understand better. I liked this because it helped me understand some things that I may not have understood before.
Along with the things that I liked about my thinking this semester, there were also some aspects of my thinking that I didn't like and would like to work better. There were times when I was working on my mindbook or reading a book and my mind would shut down. If I was reading, I wouldn't be able to comprehend what I was reading anymore, or if I was working on my mindbook I wouldn't be able to think anymore. This happened because I was tired or frustrated with what I was doing. I would like to be able to work on this so that I can have a more pleasant time reading the books in class. Another thing that I would like to work on is the speed that I can think. There were some days this semester where my brain wouldn't think very fast. This made it difficult for me to comprehend what we were doing. I would like to work on this because when this happened it made me very frustrated.
Overall this semester in humanities has been a lot of fun. I've learned a lot about myself and the way that I think. Hopefully next semester I will learn even more that will help me lead a better life and be a better person.
There were a few things that really surprised me about my thinking. I never really noticed before how scatterbrained I could be. After taking this class, I started to look at how I thought about things and realized how I could go from thinking about fruit loops to thinking about psychology and not realize how I got there. In the past, I had thought that my thinking was pretty clear. I could easily understand how I got from topic A to topic B. Now, I realized that sometimes it's really hard to explain my thought process. Another thing that surprised me about my thinking this semester, was the fact that I could think out of the box. I used to be a very "in the box" thinker. I pretty much believed what everyone told me and then formed my own ideas just based off of that. This semester I realized that I could actually think about things that other people hadn't said to me before, that I could think up ideas all by myself. This surprised me because I had never really thought about doing this before.
Also this semester I found a few things that I liked about my thinking. When I discovered how I could get from topic A to topic B without really knowing how I got there, I kind of liked that. I liked the fact that my mind could put together random things to get from one subject to another that weren't really related. I used this to my advantage when I was creating some of my mindbook entries. I thought about something that someone else had said that they might be doing and started thinking about things that were kind of like that and then coming up with an idea that was completely different from theirs that I liked a lot. Another thing that I liked about my thinking was that I could think of connections to what we were doing in class easily. If we were having a discussion in class and someone said something that I knew a little about, something related to that would pop into my head and it would help me understand better. I liked this because it helped me understand some things that I may not have understood before.
Along with the things that I liked about my thinking this semester, there were also some aspects of my thinking that I didn't like and would like to work better. There were times when I was working on my mindbook or reading a book and my mind would shut down. If I was reading, I wouldn't be able to comprehend what I was reading anymore, or if I was working on my mindbook I wouldn't be able to think anymore. This happened because I was tired or frustrated with what I was doing. I would like to be able to work on this so that I can have a more pleasant time reading the books in class. Another thing that I would like to work on is the speed that I can think. There were some days this semester where my brain wouldn't think very fast. This made it difficult for me to comprehend what we were doing. I would like to work on this because when this happened it made me very frustrated.
Overall this semester in humanities has been a lot of fun. I've learned a lot about myself and the way that I think. Hopefully next semester I will learn even more that will help me lead a better life and be a better person.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)