I feel very confident about the MacBook Airs for the rest of this year and next year. I think it’s going to affect my learning in a positive because I have a Mac at home and learning about Macs at school will improve my knowledge with both Macs. Also it will help by it being much easier to find things in folders and online and with the search pad. I am also excited for them because I am going to try many different on the Macs but one of them is being a more expressive learner in pictures and blogging.

Many people believe in many different things, but I believe in speaking up. I have seen the results of speaking up during class, and have realized the importance of it. For example, once in grammar class the teacher asked “OK is every one clear on verbs?” and no one raised their hand or spoke up. Just before she was about to move on, I shot my hand up. She looked at me and said “OK than, anyone else?” then about everyone else put their hands.

After that I’ve began to speak more freely. When you speak up it can also help other people, plus you will regret it if don’t speak up and not get what they are teaching you and it will pay off in the end.

Asking questions is also just as important as speaking up. Like most of my teachers (and upcoming teachers) have said “the ones that ask questions do better on tests and have a better understanding of our material.” They say that because if you ask the question and clarify-make clear, the information you have been presented, or taught will make more sense. Then it’s out of your head and you will be worry free. But if you don’t ask it right away then you will forget it or dwell on it. Then the day of the test or other important thing will come up and you miss a question all because you didn’t ask your question. Then you will keep going on with that question on your shoulders and it could affect your future. So just ask the question.

In the end, speaking up and asking questions are very important thing to do especially when studying. So go out and start speaking up and asking questions and your life will be easier. Even when you get older, asking questions is still extremely important.

Austin Brown (center) had attended-a dance party called Dayglow where blasts a fluorescent  rained down on crowds in downtown Austin. Black light made them shine. “If you weren’t dancing you where just standing there in paint,” Brown said. “That doesn’t sound like fun.” The hunt for novelty can grow awry when teens try to top each new kick with another, more intense one. It also helps them find their path. A concertgoer since high school, brown now studies lighting design in collage.     –national geographic

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            I have a teenage brother and he always goes out to stuff like that, but he never comes back home looking like that. This picture makes me want to go to a concert like that and party. I wonder why the author did this, maybe they have a teen and they wanted to know what they do outside of the house, I know I would.

          Everyone has wondered which is better, ballet or gymnastics? Well, it depends on what you like better, flips and tricks or turns and jumps. Do you like high-society and tuxedos, or cheering and team sports? I for one think ballet is a better way to show your artistic side.

I have participated in both ballet and gymnastics I like ballet better because it is an artistic, independent, beautiful, strong, focused, and educational dance. Zoe, a current ballet dancer, said, “I like ballet more because it’s focused and I feel like with gymnastics you are just trying to get more flexible, but with ballet you get more talented with it. Also, it’s a little more professional because in gymnastics you can still compete and all, but with ballet you actually learn better techniques.”

Ballet is also safer because even though gymnastics uses mats to make their tricks safer, they still have the bar and the balance beam. Ballet uses the bar to balance and help the dancer have better posture whereas gymnastics uses it to flip and turn.

Some people like gymnastics better because you can become more flexible, “I like gymnastics because you feel free, but it’s a hard sport so you have to be committed to it.” answered Sophie, a level five gymnast. In ballet, you can also become more flexible through dancing in point shoes and doing pirouettes. You also have to stay committed to ballet, which can be hard when the movements become difficult.

Ballet isn’t just a confidence builder for the performer, it’s also exciting for the audience, “I like to watch ballet because I love seeing how graceful they are, and when I see them dance it makes me want to get up and dance” quoted Miss Walker, a teacher at Trinity School and a lover of the arts. Even little kids like watching ballet; they sit and get inspired by the moves and jumps before their eyes.

In conclusion, ballet is a better sport because it’s safer, builds confidence and is entertaining to watch. I have a learned a lot of French vocabulary and dances that I never thought I could accomplish. I have become more confident in myself and more disciplined through all my practices. Ballet can do a lot for a person, which is why I think ballet is better than gymnastics.

At Trinity School in Atlanta, GA, the 4^th Grade students participate in a fun and entertaining study of westward expansion.  They call this Wagon Train.   It starts the last week of February and ends 8 weeks later.  Wagon Train is a great way for 4^th grade to learn about the westward expansion.  Wagon Train has been going on in Trinity School since 1991.  That’s 21 years!

Students at Trinity School who have done Wagon Train years before, still remember the fun they had.  Drew Balser, a fifth grader at Trinity, said, “You have to take on a lot of group participation.”  Drew went on to say how much fun he had and all of the memories he has taken from it such as making the projects and watching the movie of what we had done that unit.

The teachers always look forward to Wagon Train, but it can put stress and extra work on the teachers.   “I have a love/hate relationship with Wagon Train, I love how the kids get excited and how they all cooperate, but hate the extra work and how it piles up and stresses the 4^th grade teachers out” quoted Miss Goebel, who has been a 4^th Grade teacher here at Trinity for 5 years.

All the adults love watching and seeing what the kids learn in the unit.  “It’s an engaging way for kids to get a feel of what happened back then,” included Mrs. Berry, Trinity Schools ULD coordinator.  Mrs. Berry enjoys watching Wagon Train as it progresses through the year.

Wagon Train is an entertaining experience for kids and even for the teachers.  Kids learn about the hardships on the trail and even play a game.  In the game the kids get to act out the role of a person heading westward.  The teachers love watching the kids work together to pass challenges and make tough decisions.  Kids get to decide what way they want to go, what to take with them, and what to do in bad situations.  Kids also run into obstacles where their character could lose his or her life.  The 4^th Graders call these fates.

“My favorite part was how it felt real with all of the fates and activities,” added Sophie McGahan, a current fifth grader at Trinity School, “I was also excited for the Big Extravaganza, which is a performance and celebration at the end of Wagon Train.  I was excited to show my parents.”  The Big Extravaganza is a huge performance put on to show what they have learned and made.  They sing and perform skits to their parents, and even teachers from around the school.

Teachers and parents love hearing from the kids after a day of Wagon Train.  No matter who it is or what they are doing, they always have a great time.  Each day is exhilarating and filled with loads of fun.  Wagon Train will appeal to anyone of all ages.

Eliza and Mary Alston

I think that if you give Koly a little time and patience then she will adapt well to new places and surroundings in a positive way. Koly dose adapt because so far she has had to move to three new homes and still manages to make friends and find homes. In one of the homes she put her dowry on the ceiling to brighten the room up. Also in another home she sewed and told stories and learned how to read. And in the street she laid out with an old lady and fell asleep. She also spent a well amount of time in all of her homes and she is about to go back to the country with Raji and she has thought of her new home a lot so it’s like she already lives there. Plus her first home was in the country and she grew up in the country so I think that she will do just fine in her new home on the country side.

I think some themes in this book are” stay true to your religion” because no matter how much she wanted to run back home she didn’t because she knew that she would shame her family if she did. Another theme is “never think of the past” because every time something bad happened Koly always thought of her future and what might happen instead of dwelling on the past. Another theme is “when one door closes another door opens”(like in Bud Not Buddy) because if those bad things didn’t happen then none of the good things would have happened and she wouldn’t be where she is now in life and she wouldn’t have met Raji, Tanu, Maa kamala, Mala, Mr. Das or Mrs. Devi if sass didn’t leave her there.

Gloria Whelar’s  literary devises in this book were comparing Koly to a caged bird and comparing Chandra’s wedding to Koly’s wedding. Some more literary devises were her comparing sass to Maa Kamala. Another comparison is when she compared columns to a tree trunk and when she compared the bats to small furry pennants. I think that this book is similar to Bud Not Buddy because both of the stories are about a sad kid trying to find their way in life and they both had at least one person close to them leave or dies. Also in both books the main characters live on the street for a good bit of time also both of them lived with a very mean first family, Bud had the Amasses and Koly had the Mehtas also both of them went to a place that they probably shouldn’t have gone to Koly went to Mala’s party and Bud went to the bread line alone.

I think it was really nice how the dad bought Koly how to read, and it was funny when Koly played those pranks. I think it’s sad how every one is still dweling over  Hari’s death. I’m anxious to see what will happen to Koly when Chandra gets married and leaves. It’s also sad how Koly wants to run away so bad. The mother has gotten meaner seance Hari died. Can’t wait for the next chapter!

This chapter, to me was very sad. It was sad because Chandra couldn’t go on the journey, they passed by Koly’s old village and she knew that she probably would never see her parents or brothers again,when they went passed the other very sick people,and when Hari died. The only happy part was when Hari played in the great water.

so far this book to me is pretty good. I think that Hari’s mother is very demanding and controling and i think that they shouldn’t take Hari to the Varanasi because he is ill and weak. I don’t think its fair that they took her for the money . I liked when koly told him about her village before with the quilt. I can’t wait for the next chapter!

For my gift of time I went to a shelter called Painting with the homeless. I went on the first saturday of the break with my neighbors and another girl I went beacause one of the neighbors have to go and I decided to go with them. It was so much fun and we painted a lot I can’t wait to do something like that again!