A Day in the Life

A Friday in the life of Amanda starts dark and early. Beep! Beep! Beep! Snooze. I lift off the covers and feel the cold air seeping through my skin, I turn over and stare at the clock. 4:45 am. I jump out of bed, brush my teeth and grab a t-shirt and some nikes. I slowly walk to the kitchen and fill my water bottle and grab a towel. I ask my mom what the weather is outside and if it is below 40, I grab some gloves and slip some leggings on. I sit waiting on our couch till two cars pull up  our driveway around 5:15. I'm out the door to run with my mom's friends. We run about 5 miles around the neighborhood  then grab our waters. We take a quick cool down by walking down the block, then I grab the newspaper and go back inside. It is around 6- 6:15. I throw the newspaper on the counter and turn on the griddle.  I take two thin slices of bacon out of the refrigerator, pull of the noticeable fat and slice them into small tiny pieces. I grab a plastic measuring cup from the top cabinet and pour 1/3 cup of egg whites in the cup. I pour the cup on the griddle and sprinkle the bacon on top. After the omelet is done, I eat it at the table.  I run to my room to take a shower, brush my teeth and get dressed before school. 7:15, Hurry up, Erin! I throw my school things in the trunk and climb into the passenger's seat of my sisters silver lexus. Then I go to school for about 8 hours and leave the hill around 3:30. 

After school, my mom rushes me to my voice lesson, which is at 4. We never make it on time. After the 30 minute lesson a run to the car. I check google maps to see the best route to precision. I power change in the car into my cheer clothes and I'm dropped of at Precision around 4:55. The class starts at 5:00. We run 4 laps around the gym and warm- up. Then we stretch do two back- bends then take a quick water break. After the water break we start drills which usually include, handstands, back handsprings down the mat and etc. After we take another break and start running and standing tumbling, and then we have a 5 minute cool down. After Precision, my mom takes me home and I take another shower. Around 7 we have dinner and every other week my grandparents come over and eat with us. When they are gone, I lay out on the couch and watch all the shows I missed, like Modern Family, Glee, The Middle, Awkward, and more. Around 10 or 11 I turn off the TV and lights in the living room, brush my teeth and go to bed.
     

The Writing Center

Once I walked into the writing center the teacher told me to take a seat anywhere. I sat down and waited until my fellow had arrived. My writing fellow told me to read my paper out loud and make any changes I wanted to make. Reading out loud forced me to see some mistakes that I missed previously. While I was reading, my fellow took notes about what I could improve on my paper. Then we discussed my paper and I was left to edit my paper. 

The writing center was a good experience that really helped improve my literacy analysis. I learned that I had a problem with connecting my quotations directly to the thesis. I ended up adding explanations on how the quotations related to my thesis, and it made my paper flow evenly.  The writing center also helped improve my grammar errors by forcing me to read out loud. The writing center is a positive experience that helped enhance my paper. I would definitely go again and recommend it to my friends.

Reading Log


Allegiant By Veronica Roth: (pages 96-526)

12/03 - 120 min
12/05- 180 min
12/06 - 120 min

Lord of the Flies By William Golding: (pages 155-202)

12/04 - 120 min

Total - 540 min

Reading Log 12/2

Allegiant By Veronica Roth: (pages 1-96)

11/28- 30 min
11/29- 30 min
12/1- 60 min

Lord of the Flies By William Golding: (pages 124-155)

11/27- 120 min

Total: 240 min.

Reading Log 11/18/13

Lord of the Flies

11/12- 60 min.

11/13- 60 min.

Pages 32-57

Lord of the Flies Journal

11/15- 15 min.

Short Story Final

11/17- 30 min.

Total: 165 min.

Write Your Own Blog Post Prompt: Portal

Prompt: You are digging holes to plant flowers in your backyard, when a portal appears. You walk through the portal. Where are you? What do you see? What happens? How do you react?

       I stepped in the blue and white swirled portal. All around the room started spinning, and when it stopped I found my self standing inside a resturant. Where was I? The place looked familiar like I had been there once when I was younger.  I took a quick glance around. A group of high schoolers walked into the door. Where had I seen these people before? The guys were wearing all black with slick leather jackets on top and the girls each a pink jacket on. They looked so familiar. Wait a second, Pink Ladies! I knew were I was; I was inside the movie Grease. That wasn't good, I had to figure out how to get back.

        Pause! Who was that? The girl in the middle of the group looked exactly like my best friend. I'm pretty sure it was her! What in the world was going on! I couldn't think. Our eyes met and we stared at each other. She acted like she didn't know who I was. Well I had to get back, whether she was coming or not. I started working on building a portal back, when I saw Sandy. She was happy to help and we finished the portal before the end of the day. I returned safely to my backyard, but when I walked out the front door I saw a girl that looked exactly like Sandy chatting with my BFF.  Beep, Beep, Beep! Something suddenly interrupted my thoughts. What in the world is that? Oh its just my alarm. 

The Weekend: Free Post

The whole week everyone always looks forward to Friday's for the weekend. Truth to be told the weekend brings more stress and work for me. I always say that I'm going to get ahead on some subject and cram all of my homework on Sunday night. I always start out the weekend having spirit to finish all my homework Friday night, but I end out watch in Awkward all night long. Then on Saturday I will take out my computer and start working on some big paper due on Monday. After about 10 minutes I start online shopping and waste my whole day looking at things I will most likely not be buying. 

This weekend I had a lot of homework, especially in World History. Most of the work was my fault because Mrs. Harper had given the assignments about 4 weeks earlier and I was waiting the weekend before to complete them. Anyway I had about 6 assignments due the week before Thanksgiving in World History and also had to study for biology. This weekend was an exception from the rest because I didn't have as much time to complete my homework. Sunday afternoon, I spent 3 hours at school working on my geometry house and at dance rehearsal. So on Saturday, I had to finish at least half of my homework and complete the rest on Sunday morning. I ended up completing everything thankfully, except for studying for Biology. Even though everyone thinks the weekend is fun and they can't wait for it; the weekend is basically torture because you always have stress due to the fat you have to go back to school on Monday. 

Looking Forward to Next Week! (Free Post)

I can't wait for next week, because I get to see Hunter Hays in concert and Thanksgiving is coming around the corner. Over the summer, I bought tickets to Hunter Hays the minute they went on sale and ended up with 5th row seats. The excitement is piling up, and yesterday I got a big poster of him in the mail. I guess it came with the tickets. Anyway the concert is on next Thursday, in Lafayette. The only bad thing is I think all my teachers may try to give us a bunch of quizzes and test before Thanksgiving, and I definitely need the time to study.

The craziest thing this holiday season is that the stores and 96.1 are already playing Christmas songs, and it's not even Thanksgiving yet. Thanksgiving is going to be so much fun, and I need the break to catch up on my work. My family is going to drive up to Houston to hang with all my cousins. The thing I am most looking forward to is Black Friday shopping, it is going to be so much fun. Hopefully they will have good sales this year; they weren't spectacular last time. I did get two pairs of boots though. This year I really want to do midnight shopping, because my mom wouldn't take me that early last year.

Stuck on a Deserted Island and Reading Log 11/11

On Friday we began an adventure to explore into our new novel, Lord of the Flies. We traveled to a world where the world war started. Our class was trapped on a plane. The plane crashed on a deserted island,among the forest. Luckily no one was injured, but we were stuck with a group of first graders. All the grownups had died in the crash. Thankfully the island had the basic necessities for life, because all we had were the clothes we were wearing.

 Our class decided to have a meeting to discuss our plan for survival. We came up with the idea to split up into small groups that were each assigned a special job, for example daycare, hunting, gathering, or building shelter. Each group would accomplish their assigned task, and then we would scope out the highest point of the island and try contact someone to come and save us. In real life we all probably would of died from nature, or a big war we had between each other. We might have a slim chance of surviving, but the weak would eventually die along the way. My class did a good job of making sure the first graders were taken care of and splitting up responsibilities. Some of the people could decide they didn't want to do their responsibility and rebel. I thought the plan was logical, and it could potentially be a good option for survival. 

Literary Analysis-
11/5- 30 min.
11/6- 60 min.
11/7- 60 min.

Lord of the Flies-
pp 7- 31
11/8- 45 min.
11/10- 60 min.


Total- 255 min.

Reading Log 11/4

Peer Review
10/29- 90 min

Detailed Outline
11/2- 120 min

Total - 210 min.

Reading Log and Response 10/28

A Worn Path 
By Eudora Welty
p 133- 140
10/27- 45 min
Sucker 
By Carson McCullers
p 67- 79
10/26- 90 min
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
By Ambrose Bierce
p13-19
10/25- 60 min

Total: 195 min

In my opinion my favorite short story I read last week was Sucker. The wording was straight forward and didn't confuse me. The narrator would make life action conclusions based on his personal experiences. For example on p 68, "If a person admires you a lot you despise him and don't care- and it is the person who doesn't notice you that you are apt to admire." The narrator is at first referring to his relationship with Sucker and how Sucker would do believe anything  the narrator told him. In the second part of his conclusion the narrator is talking about his crush on Maybelle.

The narrator was always mean to Sucker, telling him to be quiet and to hush. One day the two connected and bonded in a brotherly way. I disliked how the narrator would say how awful he felt when Maybelle told him one thing then he would do the same action to Sucker. Maybelle told the narrator that she was third of him and didn't care about him. Later the narrator took his angry with Maybelle and channeled it into his conversation with Sucker, when he says, "nobody cares anything about you! And just because I felt sorry for you sometimes and tried to act decent don't think I give a damn about a dumb-bunny like you!" The ending of the story was sad and depressing, but at least the narrator was sorry.

Freshman Retreat: Free Post

My first reaction to figuring out that we had a freshman retreat and that we would be working all day was not a good one. How were we supposed to bond if we were planting trees and plants the entire day. When I should up to school on Friday it was freezing. At least I was prepared I wore my sweatpants over my nikes and brought a light jacket. To be honest I wasn't extremely thrilled with the fact we would be with our advisories the entire day; since we were going to be stuck with our advisories the next four years of high school anyway. The bus ride to Greenwood Park was not pleasant, there weren't enough seats on the bus so we had to triple. It was a good thing I wasn't on the aisle otherwise I would be halfway on the seat and gripping on tightly so I wouldn't slide off.

When we got to park my advisory joined with other advisories and we got started on making our own nature trail. We had to cut down small trees, trim excess branches, and rake the pathway. It was actually kind of fun, but I think I probably did a lot more talking than work. Surprisingly I wasn't a fan of the activity most people enjoyed...canoeing. Our job in the canoe was to paddle to the banks of the lake and pick up the trash. No one in our canoe was that experience and we really didn't know where we were headed. Well for starters we couldn't see that much trash, but after about 15 minutes I spotted a beer can floating in the lake. The can was stuck behind some big branches and we didn't want to risk getting stuck, so we moved on. While paddling we were headed toward this weird mushroom- like floating plant, and I thought it was a turtle so a screamed stop we're going to run over a turtle. Of course it wasn't a turtle just a piece of floating algae. Then, we realized we should come back to shore with at least on piece of trash so we turned around, but someone had already retrieved our can. So we paddled until I saw another can. As we were paddling to approach the can we ran straight into the tree branches and they flew towards my face. I wanted to lean out of the way, but that risked flipping over, so i resisted. As Alissa reached for the Sprite can with her alligator clippers a flying fish jumped out of the water. Alissa and I totally freaked and screamed. Everyone near us gave us strange looks. One guy was like it is a lake there are going to be fish. The can of Sprite bobbed up and down in the water. Alissa attempted again to retrieve the can but failed as she was lifting it out of the water. The can dropped down and we had lost the can. Annie was like come on guys we're not going to find it; but I said we had to come back with at least one piece of trash. Well we never found the can and once we reached the shore we sprinted to the trash can so no one could tell we didn't have any trash. Long story short, the retreat was definitely not what I expected.

Reading Log and Personal Questions

The Return By Ngugi Wa Thiong'o 
10/8- 45 min

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
pp. 73 - 136
10/9- 30 min
10/11- 60 min
10/13- 30 min

Total- 165 min

Personal Questions:
What genres do I enjoy most and why?
What makes me want to read a book?
How do authors create relationships?
What is the difference between love and friendship?

Reading Log: 9/30 - 10/6

And of Clay We Are Created By Isabel Allende, translated by Margaret Sayers Peden
pp. 1-12
9/30- 40 min

The Girls in Their Summer Dresses By Irwin Shaw
pp. 93- 101
10/1- 45 min

Waltz of The Fat Man By Alberto Alvaro Rios
pp. 85 -91
10/2- 50 min

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
pp. 38-72
10/3- 90 min

Total 225 min

Blog Comments

Reading Log and Short Story Response

Pauldagingar

on 10/2/13

 Reading Log and Short Story Response

Omar

on 10/1/13

 Literacy Narrative Ebook

Bria T.

on 9/18/13

 Literacy Narrative Ebook

Brooke

on 9/18/13

Literacy Narrative Response and Weekly Log 9/3-9/8

Brooke

on 9/11/13

Literacy Narrative: Rebel Music

Alexandra D

on 9/4/13

n Literacy Narrative: Rebel Music

Chanler T

on 9/4/13

 Commitment and Improvement

Katie C.

on 8/26/13

Reading Response: Insurgent

Omar

on 8/23/13

Commitment and Improvement

Martine Morial

on 8/22/13

Short Story Plot

A Tragic Miracle

Reading Log and Short Story Response

I like how we have been working on short stories in class. Most of the stories are interesting, but some points in the story are hard to comprehend. My favorite short story was "To Da- Duh, in Memoriam", because the author did a good job depicting the characters. I enjoyed how I could imagine the characters physical and emotional pictures, in my head. My least favorite story was "Dry September", because it was about segregation and I didn't like the terminology used. 

I thought class discussions on the short stories was very productive. You could compare your annotations with someone else and pick up on details you missed. Also other classmates could have different interpretations of the writing and meaning of the story. Class discussions helped me fully understand the story and answered questions about parts in the story I didn't understand. Annotating with a different literary element focus each night help develop my understanding of the elements. Overall working with short stories has been enjoyable. 


A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
9/24 45 min
pp. 53-56

Dry September 
9/26- 60 min
pp. 21-32

Picture Perfect by D. Anne Love
9/27- 60 min
pp 1-94

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
9/28- 90 min
pp. 3-37

Total- 255 min

Reading Log and Response 9/17- 9/23: Sphinx's Queen

Sphinx's Queen by Esther Frieser is an interesting way of describing the unknown childhood of Queen Nefertiti. Sphinx's Queen is the second book after Sphinx's Princess in the series. I enjoy how Frieser is able to convert a boring historical topic into an action packed historical fiction book. She has a other series that refer to famous women's childhoods like Helen of Sparta in Nobody's Princess. I like how she is able to be creative in expanding on historical life and make the book seem like a fiction novel. Sphinx's Queen is an excellent read for people that like books with little twist, that keep them up all night reading.

Nefertiti is portrayed as brave, very beautiful, and slightly sensitive.  Throughout the book Nefertiti challenges and attacks on others in battles that she is unsure she can win. Many people call her pretty, want to marry her for her beauty or are jealous of her beauty. She is sensitive to Thutmose when he tries to starve himself to death; even though he tried to kill her. She also loves to help others in need. Nefertiti is committed to her friends and even sets them free. Nefertiti has a fear of being alone and her aunt tells everyone not to speak with her.  Read Sphinx's Queen to take a journey into Egypt and explore Nefertiti's world and surroundings.


Sphinx's Queen
9/17- 120 min., 9/18- 60 min., 9/19- 120 min. 9/20- 30 min.
pp. 1-347

Harrison Bergeron
9/17- 30 min.
pp.124-

Da-duh in Memoriam 
9/19- 45 min.
pp.57-65

A&P
9/21- 25 min.
pp.119-123

Total: 430 min.

Olivia Claire's Thoughts and Dreams

Calm down...I have to get some rest. Mom is stressing me out, she can be a huge pain sometimes. "I'm putting you on a strict diet, and locking you in your bedroom till you're 18." Just piece of toast and 10 cups of water today, no more... She been bothering me with her junk ever since dad left. She won't cook or clean...our house is like a hoarder's nest.

And Ryan with his gold swept hair and blue eyes, begging for my forgiveness. I mean what kind of girl gives a cheater a second chance. I saw you with Vanessa at the mall! Did you really think the mall was the BEST place? I'm there 24/7 practically! Vanessa? Out of all people! My arch enemy! How I remember, Vanessa in her Jimmy Choo Pumps with a smirk big enough to swallow the whole town! How ecstatic she was to announce that she was hanging with my boyfriend! Humiliation... Vanessa 1, Olivia 0!

Rejection again, it's like the 100th time. Every audition is never returned with a call. Hollywood with my name in big letters, its like a dream come true. All I want is to walk down the red carpet or see my face on the TV...

"Action!"a voice yelled.

"What?" I asked confused. My eyes slowly fluttered open. Where am I? Hello? Whose voice is that?

"Cut! Mrs. Rose, get into character!" a man with a megaphone with white block letters screaming director. "Just take it from the top, people!"he added.

"Olivia Claire Rose come here." my mom gritted through her teeth. She grabbed the collar of my designer blouse, and dragged me off the set. "You better pull it together! Do you know how much I sacrificed for you? Get back on set! You better remember all your lines, or else!" She slapped me across the face.

"Yes ma'am..." I mumbled sarcastically.

"Young lady, don't speak to me in that tone!" she screamed.

"How's this? I hate you! And You ruin my life!" I shrieked. Running as fast as I can to my car, tears streaming down my face. I hit the gas and drive. I can sense the familiarity, like I know what's going to happen next.

"Olivia, get out of bed or I'll whip you!" my mother yelled from downstairs, interrupting my thoughts.

Literacy Narrative Ebook

I might have to change the name of some the people I mentioned in my literacy narrative, just in case. Also Another round of proofreading assistance is a good idea in order to ensure my paper is grammatical correct. I'm thankful that the ebook is only semi-public, because putting the ebook on the front page of the website seems like a lot of pressure. If our class ebook was on the front page it would stress me out, because tons of people would see it. 

I like the idea of adding images to enhance my writing. Some of the pictures that you can see through the writing could have small pictures on the side to support the feelings. Adding pictures will make the writing more alive, because it gives a visual sense. Some examples in my paper would be a peppermint, piece of paper, or thesaurus, because I wrote about eating a peppermint, the edges of paper hitting the side of the desk and flipping through the thesaurus. 

Having different fonts and formats throughout the ebook is a good idea, because it gives each piece uniqueness, makes the book casual, and gives the writers freedom.  The cover could be a huge Wordle with an significant word from each of our papers. I'm not sure about the title, but someone suggested the title, "We are Number 4" and I was intrigued by it. The design/ layout should be casual, but organized; something exciting. The ebook could have different songs to connect with each paper. Overall the ebook sounds like an enjoyable experience and I look forward to be working on it.

Reading Log and Response 9/9- 9/16: The Elite

The Elite by Kiera Cass was intriguing and kept me wanting more. The Elite is the sequel to The Selection about teenager America and her love relationships. Prince Maxon narrowed the Selection down to the top six. America is confused with her experience with Maxon; he tells her secrets and tells her that he loves her, but then she catches him kissing her arch- enemy.  The author surprised  me throughout the book, allowing the characters to do the unexpected. When rebels come to invade the palace, and find America instead of hurting her they curtsy to her.

I think that the ending of The Elite was a little stretched. America always talks about how she wants to leave the palace, but when she gets the opportunity she stays. I feel that next book would be more compelling to readers, if America would have left the palace. If America knew the king hated her and she was losing Maxon, why did she bother staying?  In the next book the plot should've been about America's and Maxon's life without each other and a significant event reunites them. It would be interesting to see what would happen if America chose Aspen and lost Maxon.

The Elite, Kiera Cass

9/9 60 min., 9/10- 120 min., 9/11- 120 min.

Literacy Narrative:

9/10-40 min., 9/12- 20min, 9/14- 60min 

Total-  420 min., pp.1- 323

Literacy Narrative Response and Weekly Log 9/3-9/8

      This week in English class we have been working on literacy narratives. A literacy narrative requires more deep thinking than other pieces of writing because describes a story about reading or writing. I'm excited about getting feedback from my peers in order to help improve my writing. The things that I have been struggling the most is creating vivid details that draw images in the minds of others. I'm also dealing with lot of grammatical errors, particularly related to comma usage.  

     I'm extremely nervous now, after completing my first day of peer review. One of the girls at our table had an exceptional paper; I'm not even sure if my narrative can even compare. While I wrote my literacy narrative I personally thought it was easier to write the introduction than the conclusion. The words and details in my introduction flowed together really nicely. Though in my conclusion the words seemed forced out of my mouth, kind of like writing a social studies essay. I hope the members of my peer review group give me valuable feedback to help expand and develop my writing, and show me where I can enrich my details to give the writing more feeling. I will try to resist the urge to apologize for my work when I read it tommorrow to my group. It just feels extremely awkward for me to read my work outloud. 


Weekly Log: 9/3-9/9

Burn for Burn, Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

9/3-60 min., 9/4- 120 min., 9/5- 60 min., 9/6- 45 min.

Literacy Narrative:

9/3-20 min., 9/4- 20min, 9/7- 60min 

Total-  385 min., pp.1-358

Dialogue

Secret Relationship Issues:

     Claire and James have been been secretly dating for the past six months. The pair has been sneaking around to save their public reputations. James finds out that he is being sent off to military school and is breaking the news to Claire. Claire is waiting for James in the janitor's closet until the door knob turns ever so slightly and a crack of light fills the room. A shadow appears in the doorway.

     "Who's there?" Claire shouted terrified. 

     James replies, "It just me,sweetheart." 

     "Happy Anniversary!" Claire exclaimed.

     "Back at you, darling!" James replied with a wink.

     "Shhhh",  whispered Claire playfully lightly punching him in the arm.  She adds, "We don't want anyone to catch us."

     James asked, "How much longer are we going to have to keep this up?"

     Claire whined, "No idea, I can't  risk losing my reputation."

     James questions, "so I'm not worth the suffering?" 

    "I don't know; we are from two different cliques. Aren't you worried of other people's opinions?" Claire said devastated.

    "Don't you love me?" James asked hurt.

    "It is better for both of us to keep our distances." Claire stated concerned.

    James said, "We can't sneak around forever."

   "I guess you're right." agreed Claire, snuggling in closer with James.  

   "It would pain me to lose you." sniffed James.

    Claire asked compassionately,"What do you mean? What's the matter?"

   "My parents are sending my off to military school!" James choked through tears.

   Claire whisper-shouts, "Your leaving me, after all I've risked!"

   James whispers wholeheartly, "Always rememeber that no matter what happens I will always love you", he adds "Good night, my love."

   Claire gave James a light peck on the cheek. "Good-bye!", she whispered dissapointed as she ran off bawling  into the distance. 

Literacy Narrative: Rebel Music

    Rebel Music by Daniel Felsenfeld is about a guy that finds his passion in classical music. The author's word choice helps you imagine the scene, like him listening the "real" music for the first time. The sentences flow together and aren't choppy. The words the author uses depends on the age he was in the writing later on when he writes about college his wording is more sophisticated than when he was referring to his childhood.

     Personally I found the piece of writing strangely interesting since when the guy was younger he played classical music on the piano, but never really sought much interest within the pieces. Later on in his life, he describes the first time listening the Beethoven, the Most Beautiful Thing he ever heard. I thought it was really intriguing how something that the author once hated; he later found deep passion for. I thought it was an powerful literacy narrative but didn't have the same feel that the literacy narrative about cats brought. The narrative about Miriam's journal writing about cats made you feel her emotions bursting out of you. As for Rebel Music personally you have to relate in some sort of unique way to actually understand some of the feelings he brings on throughout the narrative.

Reading Log and Response: The Selection

The Selection by Kiera Cass is an amazing book, it is full of surprises and is uniquely interesting. I thought the choice of setting was a extremely creative dystopian type society since the book is set in the future after America is taken over and changed to the country Illea. Illea is a monarchy with a caste system ranging from 8, the homeless, to 1, the royals. America the main character is a five that is chosen to be in the Selection, a contest to become the prince's bride, but she doesn't want to be in a part of it. She goes anyway because her secret boyfriend Aspen and her family convince her.

America is able to stay herself through her miraculous journey. All the other contestants changed their look and personalities to appeal to Prince Maxon; but America believed that she would rather be herself and be kicked out than to be fake and stay. America would always tell Maxon the truth whether he believed her or not; which is why Maxon liked America the best. America has a hard time figuring out what she wants with Maxon. In the beginning all she wants is to be friends, but later on she knows that they have something bigger than friendship that hasn't been uncover yet.

Reading Log 8/27- 9/2:

The Selection, Kiera Cass

8/27-60 min., 8/28- 65 min., 8/29- 60 min., 8/30- 45 min.

Literacy Narratives:
8/27-20 min.

Total-  250 min., pp.1-327

8/24 Reading Log and Reading Response: That's What's Up!

I wasn't really a fan of  the book  That's What's Up!, because some of the characters were just crazy and and did stupid things. That's What's Up! is a realistic fiction book that is about this cheer competition that everyone in the whole entire school is going to during spring break. Mina is a cheerleader that agrees a truce with her arch-rival Jessica to satisfy Jessica's twin sister, Sara, one of Mina's friends. Jessica invites Mina to this a-list hangout and takes a picture of Craig, Mina's ex-boyfriend, kissing Mina. Mina shouldn't of trusted Jessica because Jessica later sends the photo out to everyone including Mina's boyfriend, Bryan.

Mina is part of a so called "Clique", and the girls in her clique do some crazy things. Cinny gets hit by her ex-boyfriend that she has been hooking up with and gives him a second chance. Kelly reunites with Angel when she finds out that he gave up selling drugs to be with her, later they get stopped by the police and Angel forces Kelly to hold the drugs for him. Also Lizzie, Cinny, and Kelly all sneak off with the boys to go to the cheer competition, which gives them "Upper" credit. The girls in That's What's Up!, don't follow their first instincts or logic and find themselves in sticky situations. Other characters in the book might think they are brave and daring but they are really just not thinking of the consequences waiting to happen. The girls think that their spring break is ruined because they couldn't go to the competition; when their lives would have turned out better if they stayed home. Well there is always room for second changes...

That's What's Up!, Paula Chase
8/20-25 min., 8/21- 30 min., 8/22- 60 min., 8/23- 45 min.
Total- 160 min., pp.1-230

Baton Rouge Cotillion

Last Saturday was my first high school cotillion dance. For starters things were not looking good, one of my mom's friends decide that she wasn't available to chaperone the dance so she called my mom to see if she could; well of course my mom had to say yes. That was the beginning of the nightmare, my mom was totally going to embarrass me! We had to leave a whole hour and a half earlier to pick up Annie and be there early to setup. I had to take my curlers out in the car because I didn't have enough time to get ready. Once we got downtown, we parked and started walking to the dance. While we were walking we heard the sound of a car backfiring; Annie and I completely freaked, we thought it was the sound of someone shooting a gun! When we figured out it was just a car we relaxed a little and kept walking.

After walking for awhile we arrived at the dance. The dance was Great Gatspy theme so we had on boas and the feathers were falling out everywhere. Arriving at the dance was extremely awkward, because we had no idea what to do to we just stood there and talked, till people started to show up. My mom ended up at drink stand so at least she wasn't one of the parents walking through the crowd seeing if anyone was inappropriately dancing, drinking, or taking drugs, that would of been extremely humiliating. Once we found our friends and other familiar faces we started to dance and have fun.

Commitment and Improvement

  Being one hundred percent committed to something is complicated; it involves working hard and striving to be the best you can be. Practice is the key to any thing that you want to become successful in. Without practice you are learning things that get pushed to the back of your mind. When you practice you are developing those skills to speed up the process to learning or mastering something new. If you want to improve you have to be committed and actually try in the beginning you might improve slightly but after awhile if you don't practice there gets to be a point when your skills freeze or go downhill. If you don't enjoy something I wouldn't spend the time trying to commit to it, because it wouldn't be any fun.

  One thing that I am above all committed to is tumbling. Tumbling is super exciting and energy packed it gives you thrill when you land something correctly. Even if you make mistakes you have to be able to take constructive criticism otherwise you will never improve. Certain people won't attend a class because they think that the instructor is strict or mean, but usually you learn the best from the strict instructors because they a pressuring you out of your comfort zone. The easiest way to improve is to fully commit and practice, if you can't accomplish that it will take a lot longer to reach your goals.

Reading Response: Insurgent

Over the summer, I read the book Insurgent. I really enjoyed the book because it was fast paced and thrilling. Insurgent is set in a dystopian society, but has a unique feel to where it doesn't seem like you've read anything like it before. The book explores the concept of adventure, because Tris, the main character has to go on a journey to find out a secret that their world has been hiding. Tris always has her mine set on doing dangerous things to save others,that potentially put her in danger.

One thing that really surprised me was that Tris's enemy, Peter, actually saves her life. Peter's theory is that he has to be even with a person, Tris pushed him out of the way of a bullet and he saved her by freeing her. Also during the book, Tris does some crazy things that make her fall into traps. She knows in her mind not to do something but she thinks that by risking her life she can save so many more lives. Other characters will tell Tris not to do something because it is dangerous, but she do it anyway for the thrill of it. Tris is a unique character that most people can relate to in some certain way. If anyone is looking for a intriguing, thrilling book to read I recommend Insurgent.

Weekly Reading Log

8/11 Mini-Zine- 35 min
8/15 Notes on Book Chat- 45 min
8/17-8/19 Book Chat Preparation for Presentation- 45 min