To Act or Not to Act

The biggest difference between Hamlet's speech and Steve's speech is their opposing views of "failure". Hamlet looked at it as a chance to give up when things got a little bit harder, where Steve took those opportunities and used them to better himself with ultimately resulted in huge success for him. Hamlet was not one to stay positive when the times got tough and did not use those tough times as motivation to achieve something greater for himself like Steve always made sure to do. Their outlooks on life in general are extremely different and is displayed very obviously in both of their speeches.

Dear Steve

Some may think that you believe in order to be successful and love what you do, college isn't necessary. I don't believe that's what you're trying to get across though. What i got from your speech is that the most important thing in life is to find something that you love to do and make that your career, whether college is what's going to get you there is completely your choice. Steve made himself a huge success by actually dropping out of college, then becoming one of the wealthiest men alive and he managed to do this while doing what he loved to do the most. It also took him a few times of "failure" to achieve is greatest success. When thinking about your future, instead of thinking of what you HAVE to do to be happy, maybe think of what you WANT to do instead.

THE VALUE OF CHOICE

When reading about the expository composition course in the section assigned to my group, Life After Highschool, there was one idea that really stuck with me as helpful. I believe that it's crucial to focus on the actual point and importance of the writing task at hand rather than the format, such as how many paragraphs or pages are required. When given a require length, focus is taken off of what is important and the assignment suddenly becomes a chore to the student instead of a learning opportunity to better themselves and their reading/writing skills. You get so much more out of an assignment when all of your focus is strictly on the idea or concept. I hope by the end of this course I will have no problem sitting down and writing about an idea or topic without worrying how long I'm going to make it or how much time I have.

Vocabulary; Fall #6

 adroit: expert in the use of hands or body

   She was clearly an adroit when it came to painting.

 amicable: showing good will

   My mom has always been so amicable towards strangers, so helpful and kind.
 averse: strong feeling of opposition

   I was averse in going to the St. Joe's football game but my parents made me.
 belligerent: warlike

   My dad becomes belligerent when the Steelers play the Bears.
 benevolent: expressing good will or kindly behavior

   Her benevolent manner made her such an easy person to talk to.

 cursory: going over something rapidly without noticing detail

   The teacher always went over the reading material with such cursory that no one ever really understood.

ERWC Presentation: Life After Highschool

The Purpose of this writing course is to elaborate on ideas the students have about the next steps in their lives and to prepare them with the reading and writing that will be practiced.

Critical Thinking

• It's important to think critically to move beyond the initial reaction of a text
• Keeping your own opinion while reading supports critical thinking which helps students understand where the author is coming from
• Using the ideas of others to support or extend a discussion about what students want to say is very important to individual learning

Idea Chunks

• Short pieces of writing to help students understand ideas and shape their own thinking while being able to put them down on paper
• captures specific ideas, support for those ideas, and the importance of those ideas
• 1-3 paragraphs long, NOT AN ESSAY
• makes a connection between information and personal experience 

• Students benefit more from open-ended composing decisions to provide opportunity for continued development of focus instead of imposing forms and formats on the writing that must be followed
• features such as how many paragraphs or pages being required should not be which just ends up being unproductive and taking the focus off of the actual writing assignment

Setting

• Students  are able to work more flexibly allowing invention and discovery rather than just surrounding them with notes 

Tips

• Have students sit down after reading and looking over their notes and have them set those aside and write a letter  that they haven't prepared for and see where the student's mind goes
• When they feel like they've written enough about an idea have them move on to the next point, even if it doesn't follow the first point neatly
• Have them write for 20 minutes, the key is write fast, focus on ideas, and produce as many thoughts as possible
• Students should use websites as tools and use the same strategies used on regular texts when working on websites to help with decisions about what is coming next

Freedom of Choice

There are both many pros and cons of being responsible for your own decision making. Most adolescents can not wait to turn 18 to legally be on their own because they're tired of living under their parents' roof always expected to listen to their rules and follow their advice when it comes to making decisions but when you get to that point you realize how helpful they were and how it's a little scarier than you thought being on your own. Making your own decisions is great in the way that it is entirely up to you what happens, your choice is your choice and hopefully you can make the right one. The pros are alot heavier for those who are confident in themselves and naturally independent. I am the most indecisive person and I always need to get a second opinion on something to reassure what I really want. Being responsible for making your own decisions can you teach you many lessons and be a real test of maturity. It gives you the chance to really take the initiative to do what you want in life and not have to listen to anyone else telling you what they think is right for you which ultimately will either work out for you, but if it doesn't it just makes you a wiser person. It definitely would make things a little harder because you would have to worry about everything on your own, but not answering to an adult would be a new experience making life easier in a different aspect. Sometimes the easiest thing is being told what to do by someone else because that eliminates the possibility of you making a wrong decision but will that decision really be whats best for you? No one can ever answer that except yourself.

Vocabulary: Fall #5

Adroit: Clever or skillful in using hands or the mind

• He was an adroit when it came to playing chess, no one could ever catch up.

Amicable: Having a spirit of friendliness

• Her constant amicable attitude was admired by all.

Averse: Having a strong dislike or opposition for something

• She was averse when asked if she wanted to go to Magic Mountain, making it clear that she'd rather go to Universal Studios.

Belligerent: hostile and aggressive

• Please dont be belligerent with me, it wasn't my fault that you got into trouble.

Benevolent: well meaning and kindly

• My mom is the most benevolent person I know, always thinking of others.

Cursory: hasty, not thorough or detailed

• She rushed through her project with such cursory that I'll be surprised if she earns a passing grade.

Duplicity: deceitfulness

• Her Duplicity was not appreciated when she was caught in lie after lie.

Extol: praise enthusiastically

• The way my sister was extolled after her recital made her so excited to continue with dance lessons.

Feasible: possible to do easily, convenient

• With the help from many teachers and the school counselor, college is sounding to be alot more feasible than i was expecting.

Grimace: an ugly, twisted expression on a person's face, typically expressing disgust or pain

• Seeing the grimace on my mom's face when she tried my cookies confirmed the fact that I should not bake.

Holocaust: Destruction or slaughter of a mass scale

• I pray that there will never be a repeat of the Holocaust

Impervious: not allowing fluid to pass through

• My new water proof phone case proved to be impervious when I attempted taking under water pictures.

Impetus: the force or energy with which a body moves

• The intense impetus of the athlete won him first place in the race.

Jeopardy: Danger of loss, harm or failure

• Please remember that if you ever lie to me you are putting our friendship in jeopardy.

Meticulous: showing great attention to detail; careful and precise

• She had been a meticulous student her whole life, always turning in the best work.

Nostalgia: a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typical for a period or place with happy personal associations

• I'm not looking forward to experiencing the nostalgia once I graduate from highschool.

Quintessence: The most perfect or typical example of a quality or class

• She radiated her quintessence while on the stage.

Retrogress: go back to an earlier state, typically a worse one

• I was so disappointed to watch my grandma retrogress with her chemo process.

Scrutinize: examine or inspect thoroughly

• I feel like some teachers scrutinize every assignment I turn in.

Tepid: lukewarm (showing little emotion)

• My sister's reaction was extremely tepid when I told her that i had been asked to homecoming.