Mikaela's Awesome Blog

Next year, the 5th and 6th graders at my school get MacBook Airs. I’m excited about this because I usually just use PCs, but with the Macs I’ll get to try something new. We will be using applications like Outlook, Haiku, and Microsoft Word. The Macs will definitely affect my learning because the 5th and 6th grades will be typing most of our work instead of writing it which will be a challenge. Also, Macs have different types of applications than PCs do so I will have to get to know them better. I want to become better at using system preferences.

In my opinion, schools should be allowed to search people’s lockers. For instance, kids could be hiding dangerous objects in their lockers. They could have guns, drugs, and alcoholic beverages hidden in their locker, and it would be important for teachers to know about that. Also, kids could have stolen items that they are hiding in their locker. Some of the items could be schoolbooks, pencils, and other school materials, and the students they stole from would want those items back. Finally, the students’ lockers could be messy and could be emitting fumes into the air, distracting other students. For example, they could have things like old food, stale beverages, and dirty clothes. These are only some of the many reasons why schools should be allowed to search people’s lockers.

Some people think that schools should not be allowed to search people’s lockers. One reason is that the person might have private items in their lockers. They could have family photos or secrets in their locker that they want to keep private. Another reason is that the school could disorganize your locker. They could move your books around in your locker where you can’t find them. Finally, there aren’t any rules about what the school can or cannot search. They could search your backpack or journal if those items are in your locker at the time. Even though I can understand why people would disagree, I still think schools should be allowed to search people’s lockers.

This Spring Break I took a trip to Destin, FL. In the resort I stayed in you could rent bikes and golf clubs so my mom, my dad, and I all decided to go bike riding. I hadn’t ridden a bike in over a year so I had almost forgotten how to ride a bike which I thought would ruin the fun. I took me awhile to get myself going, but eventually I did. It felt so good to know that maybe this bike ride wouldn’t be such a disaster after all. Anyway, bike riding is good for your health because its a form of exercise and you can get some fresh air and really get to know nature while you do it. After I had gotten a good pace I saw a pole ahead of me in the middle of the sidewalk. It’s used to prevent golf carts from driving there. I tried to dodge it like my dad so casually did. There were large bushes along the sides of the sidewalk and when I tried to dodge the pole I crashed right into the bushes! I wasn’t even hurt! I fell several more times along the trail which didn’t give me high hopes, but I eventually got a good, steady pace going and didn’t fall at all. When we finished I felt proud of myself for completing the trail and now I have a plan to ride my bike every weekend for exercise!

In my class, we are all reading a book called The Liberation of Gabriel King. This book is takes place in Georgia in 1976 which is just after we integrated. At this time Georgia was very different from how it is today like in the book, two of the main characters, Gabe and Frita, wore different clothes than you would see people wearing today. Gabe normally wears old, dirty overalls while most people’s casual wear are clean jeans and a t-shirt. Also, in the town that these kids lived in, there were only seven buildings while we have too many to count nowadays. As you can see there were a lot of differences and I’d love to hear some of the differences you’ve discovered.

Today I participated in a community service project for the organization Stop Hunger Now. Everyone worked together to achieve a goal of 20,000 meal packages in only 2 hours. There were several stations. One was the station where they put one vitamin packet, a cup of rice, a scoop of vegetables, and a cup of protein/soy into one bag. They would keep going until they filled a plastic bin with the bags. After that they would pass the filled bin to the station I was working at. We would each have a scale that we would put one of the bags on and weigh it to make sure it weighed between 379-384 grams. If it weighed too much, we would scoop some out with a spoon until it was the right amount. If it didn’t weigh enough, we would scoop some out with the spoon. The next person would use a special machine to seal the bags. After that they would be be boxed. For every thousand bags we finished, someone would ring a gong. Everyone would cheer when the gong was rung because we all new we were saving 1,000 more lives. In the end we ended up filling 20,046 bags. It made me feel good to know that the end to world hunger was closer because I helped fight it. If more and more people contribute, the end to world hunger could be just around the corner.

Ode To Television

By: Mikaela

I love how with

one click you turn on.

Your hilarious cartoons

and fast paced action

movies always brings

joy to my heart.

You make me laugh and cry

when I stare at your

32”, flat screen face.

I treasure every  moment

I spend with you.

Without you I would

be living in a world

of boredom.

You can do multiple

things like play wii.

I can play the game

while watching TV

at the same time.

You make like I’m in

an amusement park.

Jess Aarons is an artistic boy who dreams of

being the fastest runner in the 5^th grade until

the brave new girl at school demands to run

and beats them all which crushes Jess’s

dreams. However, the two somehow become

friends and create a kingdom called Terabithia

that they rule together as king and queen. One

day, someone gets caught in a terrible tragedy

that could change Terabithia forever. Read the book to find out!

You know someone is a good friend when they speak kind words to you. You know someone is a good friend when they pick you up when you’re feeling down. You know someone is a good friend if they’re always there for you. You know someone is a good friend if  they aren’t afraid to stand up for you. I know I am a good friend because have all of these qualities. Are you a good friend?

Title: U.N.: World can ‘thrive’ as population reaches 7 billion

Source: CNN News, October 26, 2011, http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/26/world/world-population/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

Who: 7 billion people

What: At the end of October, the Earth will have 7 billion people living in it. This has  Most of the increase of people will come in Africa and Asia. Reaching 7 billion people in this year had been predicted, but people are now preparing by planning the growth of cities and improving education.

When: October 31, 2011

Where: All around the Earth

Why do we care: We care because this isn’t just happening in other countries, it’s also happening in the United States. We want to be prepared because with more people, cities are going to have to grow and those who don’t live in a big city will have to find new places to live because of how many people there are.  

Title: Internet ‘may be changing brains’

Source: BBC News, October 19, 2011, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15353397

Who: The Internet and social networking sites

What: More than 100 university students brains were scanned. Some researchers think that the Internet may be increasing the amount of grey matter in people’s brains. They also think that teens may be making more friends in the virtual world than in the real world.

When: Currently and ongoing.

Where: The students brains who were scanned are from London, but this is happening all over the world.

Why do we care: We care because we want to have a healthy brain. We also want to monitor how long we are on the Internet so these kinds of things won’t happen to us.