Second Blog Update

After reflecting back on the past two Passion Project weeks, I have gotten a good amount of work done. I haven't gotten as much done compared to the very first few weeks, but I am making good headway. I have finished research with Elian Gonzalez, and am finishing up finding information for the 13 de Marzo Tugboat Massacre. I want to continue my research on the history of Cuba, specifically the types of government it has been run under, as this research was interrupted by the other 2 topics. I also want to incorporate personal stories from my family, and perhaps try to interview a member that has lived many years in the country; my grandmother would be my first option. However, I also have a large amount of family living in Miami that I could also contact. Even though I have already researched much information, there still is much work that needs to be done!

First Passion Project Update

In my opinion, these past two Passion Project Fridays have been very productive. This topic is very meaningful to me and I have found myself becoming very engaged with my research. I dedicated the first Passion Project Friday to researching the history and background of Cuba and how the country came to be, especially around the time period when Communism was in effect. I gathered several notes on this information in a document, however, I am considering using a notebook to record my information for the following Friday as I work better with paper and pencil. For the second Passion Project Friday I dove deep into the international affair of Elián González. I am fascinated by this story, and I definitely know that I will be including this important affair in the final product. My first two Passion Project Fridays this year have been very successful, and I hope that they continue to be so for the rest of the year!

Passion Project Reflection

We have now almost reached the halfway mark of our 20% projects. So far I am very proud of how far I have come. For the previous 20% project I completed most of it at home, and even though I learned the same amount as I would have in class, I would prefer to do the majority in class. I have researched as many techniques as I can possibly find for both Watercolor and Oil paintings. I also am about halfway with the ink drawing. I am not sure yet if I am going to do a fourth piece if artwork; I most likely will not as I do not have much time left. Once I have gathered all of the techniques I will then proceed to make paint or draw each of these pieces that I have learned about, practicing and using as many techniques that I have learned. The painting will be done at home but I still have to finish gathering all of the techniques, which should not take too long. I plan on finishing this project early. I am making good progress, and working more efficiently than I did with my previous Passion Project. I am so excited to see how my artwork and the rest of this project turns out!

I have not hit any major roadblocks yet, other than the fact that it was a bit difficult finding oil painting techniques; the Watercolor were very easy to find. However, that didn't last for long as I eventually find some good methods to use. I most likely will not make a PowerPoint slide for each of my pieces of artwork as I want to stray away a bit from PowerPoint for this project, and explain about the paintings verbally and with perhaps another visual aid. This project is going great so far and I can't wait for next Friday to work on it more!

20% Project Reflection

In Rogate, every year we complete a project known as our Passion Project, or our 20% Project. This year, rather than just do one, we are creating two passion projects for each half of the school year. Now is the halfway mark of our projects, mine being the inhuman treatment of orcas in captivity. This is a very hot topic now in today's news and social media, and I personally feel that it is a major issue to be analyzed and discussed. Currently, I have collected much information and research over the eight days that I have been working on this project. I have studied the opinions of many animal experts and scientists, and have read many articles. I have watched the new film that just recently came out: Blackfish, which is everything and more that my topic is about. More specifically I have gathered much data on the incident at SeaWorld in which an orca trainer was killed by the now- famous Tilikum.

My research and work so far has been going pretty smoothly, other than just a few obstacles. At first, I wasn't able to find many opinions of any experts online and it was difficult getting some fresh thoughts on the topic. However, when I watched Blackfish, there were a few firsthand opinions I was able to get from experts that spoke. It also was difficult deciding where I wanted to go with my project, and what I wanted to do with all of the information I was collecting and learning. It also took some time to decide which topics I really wanted to focus on and emphasize, and which ones were the most important to me. As I got further into my project, I soon sorted all of these thoughts out.

Now that I have all of my information, over the next eight days that we have to work on this project and some time at home too, I am going to work on putting together all of my research into a very interactive presentation. The next steps to finalizing my project will be:
- Come up with some interactive activities to incorporate into my project
- Create questions for the class that will require thought and will give me some opinions on what others think
- Possibly come up with some sort of debate for the class
- Finally, I will stay tuned for any current news that may occur on my topic!

I should be able to finish my project by mid - January if I work hard. If I don't happen to finish it in class, I will finish up anything else at home. I am really looking forward to this project and presenting it, and I am very excited about my topic!

       ~Marissa

Who Blew the Whistle?

At 11:30 am local time in Washington DC on October 26, 2013, the rally against mass surveillance began. At this time, over thousands of people marched the streets of the National Mall, protesting against the NSA's national surveillance programs. The NSA's Domestic Spying Program was first put into effect by President George W. Bush, weeks after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. There are several aspects of these programs, however the basic idea is that with the help of prime telecommunications carriers such as AT&T, the government has become involved in a massive illegal surveillance of the communication between millions of American citizens daily. This has been in action since 2001, as millions of domestic communication records (calls, emails, texts, etc.) have been intercepted and documented to then be analyzed by the US government. The database will be fully operational by September of 2013, when a massive data center is constructed in Utah, to store all of the records it has been collecting since the past decade. "Flowing through its servers and routers and stored in near-bottomless databases," Bamford wrote, "will be all forms of communication, including the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails—parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital 'pocket litter.'"  James Bamford national security author). Numerous Americans would not and will not stand for this.

 

The Stop Watching Us organization is made up of over 100 public advocacy groups, who started the "rally against mass surveillance". All of these groups came together to protest against the NSA's national surveillance programs, and to demand a complete investigation of these spying activities. About 575,000 signatures were collected on a petition, and sent to Representative Justin Amash. Along with the full investigation of the NSA's programs, the letter asked Congress members to repeal Section 215 of the Patriot Act. The letter also asked for whichever officials were responsible for this "unconstitutional surveillance", to face consequences for their actions.

 

Video made by the Stop Watching Us organization: http://occupywallst.org/article/stop-watching-us-now/

 

Quote from the petition: “First, we are asking for a congressional investigation so we can shed light on exactly what the National Security Agency is doing. Secondly, we ask for reform of federal surveillance law, specifically Section 215 of the Patriot Act, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and the state secrets privilege."

Articles:
http://rt.com/usa/nsa-rally-mass-surveillance-786/
https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying/how-it-works

Grades, Grades, Grades!

Grades...when you think of that one word, what comes to mind? Yesterday when we walked into Rogate, there was one word up on the board on a PowerPoint slide: Grades. There was an immediate reaction from all of us when we saw that word, as we all began to discuss our current grades, tests we were worried about, assignments that we hadn't done well on, etc.  Those first five minutes of class showed how obsessed all of us have grown over grades.  I personally feel that my entire life revolves around my grades, and that my whole future depends on them.  They are so important to me, and they always come first before everything else that I do (sports, friends, etc.).  We have grown up being taught to constantly stress and worry about grades.  We have become so accustomed to focusing on not the concepts and ideas that we are being taught, but instead the numbers that we are being given. 

  

In my eyes, grades serve several different purposes.  Grades are a way for teachers, parents, and the whole school overall to be able to easily track and monitor the progress of a student's learning.  Grades are represented with numbers, and even letters.  The numbers are out of a 100 point scale, while the letters are used from A-F.  They act as a shortcut for teachers, allowing them to only having to quickly glance over a student's grades, and see their overall "achievement" in that class.  Grades can also act as a motivation for students.  If teachers motivate their students by saying they will receive good grades if they study and prepare for a test, then that could result in many more students studying for the assessment, leading to higher scores.  Overall, grades allow teachers, parents, etc. to be able to quickly decide whether a student is advanced proficient, proficient, or below proficient in a certain subject.  We have used this system of grading for many, many years, and now the question is rising after several studies being done on this topic: how accurate does this system truly represent learning and knowledge?

Why is this system of grading so commonly used in basically every school throughout the world? You might say that it is because the system is easy and simple for teachers to use.  Numbers can be easily averaged together to find an overall grade, and can be easily calculated.  Numbers can be used for several different reasons, and are incredibly important in today's world.  Nonetheless, when it comes to describing and showing the progress and achievement of someone's learning, I personally believe that words always outweigh numbers.  Every year I look forward to the teachers comments that are posted on PowerSchool.  Even though it is only two sentences the most that is written, I still really enjoy reading through the comments.  I don't think that a lot of teachers realize how important and meaningful these comments are to me, and to most likely many other students too.  Those few words and possibly sentences are one of the only times that teachers can express their students' learning and achievement in words rather than numbers.  I personally would rather have words used to place me somewhere or classify me, rather than numbers, or just one letter. 

Even though in all systems of grading there are always numbers involved somehow, I feel that our current system of grading is not a fair or accurate way to measure learning and knowledge. In the traditional system of grading, instead of students being evaluated on how well they truly understand a specific concept or skill, they are graded on how well they understand the entire topic.  This is how it is with every subject.  There is absolutely no way to tell, with just a two digit number, what specific concepts of that one topic the student has mastered, and which ones they still have trouble with. Last year in English, I once received a low grade on a very difficult quiz that we took.  This brought my grade down to a 90%, almost a B.  I worked so hard to bring my grade up so that it would not sink down to a B, and I eventually did bring it up.  That shows how just because of that one quiz, my entire grade could have been brought down one letter.  For some students that could be the difference between a B and a C, or a C and a D.  

 

Standards-based grading system...when most people hear this they think of the childish system of grading used for little kids back in elementary school.  Well, things are now beginning to change.  This system of grading is becoming more and more common in schools all across the country.  Rather than ranking you on your overall understanding of a certain subject (Science, English, etc.)the standards-based grading system breaks down each individual topic into all of the concepts that make it up.  It separates the subject into all of the skills that the students need to master by the end of the year.  Once that topic is broken down, the students are given a rating from 0-4 on their understanding of each specific concept.  Your overall grade is not effected by the skills that you still need help with, as it is based off of the number that appears the most among all of the concepts.  This is much more accurate than the traditional system because rather than teachers, parents, etc. measuring the knowledge and progress of students with just one number grade, there are several different grades that allow you to see which specific skills the student has mastered, and which ones they continue to have trouble with. 

 

I personally believe that the best system to use would be the standards-based grading system.  The standards-based grading system is accurate and fair.  Teachers who are monitoring your progress can clearly see which specific concepts you still need help understanding, and how well you truly understand a subject.  They can easily see which skills you have mastered, and in what areas you are advanced proficient, or proficient in.  The standards-based grading system allows you to maintain a high grade, that is not effected by the low scores on the concepts you don't understand.  This system of grading is an accurate and efficient way to measure knowledge, achievement, and learning. 

 

I truly hope that the standards-based grading system is something that we are all going to be seeing around more often in the future.  We have used the traditional grading system for many, many years, and it is time for a change; not just for the nation, but for the entire world as well.

 

~Marissa

 

 

My Eighth Grade Year!

Well, I am already in eighth grade, my last year here in the middle school!  I know that I should probably be feeling excited that I am going to be going into high school next year, but instead I am not really looking forward to having to grow up even more.  Seventh grade was amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.  The year went by so incredibly fast, and I still find myself remembering days from it as if they were yesterday.  Many people say that they don't enjoy eighth grade, and wish that they were back in seventh grade.  I personally however, am actually truly enjoying eighth grade.  It still is only October, but I still am having a great year!  The work load can be very overwhelming many nights, but the grades and the reward I receive in the end is worth every second of it.  I really like all of my teachers and classes, and I am already learning so much with only about two months into the school year.  This year I am on Team Achieve!  (Each grade level in the school is broken up into three teams.) Last year I was on Dreamcatchers which is the upstairs team, and this year I am once again on the upstairs team.  I personally really enjoy the upstairs hallways, and find that I enjoy them much more than the downstairs hallways.  Overall, my eighth grade year has gone great so far, and I am really looking forward to what the rest of the year will bring! The majority of kids that come to school do not appreciate this wonderful opportunity that they have to receive an education.  School and getting my education is one of the most important things to me, next to my family.  I am so thankful for this amazing opportunity that I have, and I never go a day without being grateful for it. 
 

~Marissa