Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Social awareness Project



My Surroundings
     I’ve been observing my surroundings for a while now and I’ve notices many things, one of the things I’ve noticed is that people can be cruel no matter how old they are. I chose to write about what happens in school because I spend most of my time there. In school I noticed that many of the eighth graders and some of the seventh graders push around sixth graders just because they’re 1 or 2 years older. They either push the sixth graders or make fun of them and I feel that this is wrong because it doesn’t make you any better than the person you’re pushing/making fun of and they might not realize it but this is also considered bullying. I also felt that this was wrong because the eighth graders should know better than this, they’re suppose to be setting an example for the sixth graders but instead they’re making the sixth graders’ year harder than it’s suppose to be.
   I concluded that the cause of this is probably that the eighth graders feel cool or they feel like they’re being funny and it’s effecting the sixth graders because this their first year in middle school with new teachers and new people and they’re probably nervous and the eighth graders are just making it more difficult for them. This is really unfair for the sixth graders because they never actually did anything wrong, all they really did was come to school just like everyone else so the fact that anyone is doing this is just ridiculous. Also the school is always talking about how bullying is wrong and everyone always assumes that they never bullied anyone or did anything wrong but they do all the time. A possible solution to the problem would be for the people bullying the sixth graders to put themselves in the sixth graders shoes and see if they would like it if someone treated them like that. Also if everyone stopped laughing; stopped encouraging them and if someone told them that what they’re doing is wrong then they might stop.



Someone who Changes the World
Someone who I feel that changes the world everyday is Stephanie Ortiz she has been doing a lot of things for the world now and I thought it would be great to let people know that. I’ve recently interviewed her and I found out that she really does care about the planet and the people in it she’s an amazing person. She also talked to me about the fundraisers that she’s going to tell her teacher about in school with some of her friends for the planet. Stephanie believes that to change the planet we should all try to stop polluting the air maybe by not smoking and by not throwing garbage in the oceans or anywhere.
  When I was interviewing Stephanie I asked her what she has done for the planet and she said “I sometimes try to help the planet. For example, when I or someone I’m with has garbage I make sure I or they throw it out in a garbage can. I also recycle as much as I can. I have also helped people in need”. She explained that she feels that what she does to try to help the planet is important because if you litter, you don’t know where the garbage ends up and where it ends up can most likely hurt the planet. “If the garbage goes to the ocean an animal can eat it and die. I find helping people in the planet important too because if I help them then they will also be inspired to help the planet and others inside the planet.”
   During the interview I asked Stephanie how she helped people inside the planet and she told me that she has helped soldiers, animals, and seniors. “I’ve collected cell phones for soldiers, cans for the needy in Thanksgiving, saved animals with a group, sent money to a company that helps the dogs in Puerto Rico, Visited the seniors’ center, and gave gifts to the seniors”. She told me that she and a group called the “leadership team” helped the Soldiers from Afghanistan by sending them calling cards and cell phones for them to keep in touch with their families since they’ve been so far away from their families for such a long time. The leadership team and she also sent the soldiers double A batteries and they made cards to cheer the soldiers up. In her free time Stephanie and her friends collected cans and tried to help people who were affected by Sandy.



Original Literary Piece
The world would be a better place if we all just tried a little bit more,
Maybe we can start by helping out the poor,
We can also recycle bottles, cans and paper,
And we can go pick up the trash in the streets later,
But if you can’t do any of these,
At least try to keep the ocean clean, please?
       The poem that I wrote is basically about keeping the Earth clean and helping people out. I felt this is important because usually everyone just worries a lot about bullying which should also be stopped but some people don’t see that they’re also doing damages to Earth. The damages that they’re doing to Earth are also as bad or maybe worse than what they’re doing to other people and we’re living in this planet for a really long time so we should really keep it clean. If we don’t also worry about the planet then the animals will keep on dying and global warming will become stronger and the whole Earth will just turn into a big dessert.



  

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Reading Response #6: Something like Fate



     I'm currently reading the book Something like Fate by Susane Colasanti, this is a great book about two friends that have done everything together since they were little but then one of them started to like her friend's boyfriend. Lani is the main character and her friend Erin started to date a guy named Jason from their school, ounce Lani met him she felt a "connection" with him that she's never felt with anyone else and after a while of Lani and Jason being friends Lani found out that Jason felt it too. Lani tried to deny it at first because she didn't want to face the truth but then she learned that there was no way around it because it was something like fate.
  
    While I was the reading the book I put a post-it on this page the line that caught my attention was, "I can usually tell when a boy likes me. There have been a few. But the reason I've never had a boyfriend is because they all seemed really immature. I mean, I've gone out with a few different boys, but I've always kept it casual. I just never felt this kind of connection I've always wanted to feel". The reason this is important is because Lani said this line the first day she met Jason and she didn't even know him that well yet. After knowing him for a while, and when Erin left for summer camp Lani and Jason started hanging out together everyday. Lani then realized that she couldn't do this to her bestfriend, Erin, so she tried to avoid him as much as possible but she then realized that it was almost impossible. Jason then broke up with Erin by writing her letter and Lani and Jason started dating but they still didn't tell Erin.

    I think that Lani is a very smart girl so she will be able to figure out what's right and what's wrong. She should also know that what she's doing to her bestfriend is not right because Erin really liked him and even if Erin starts to like somebody else it's not okay for Lani to start dating Jason. I also think that what Jason did was also very wrong because it's not alright to date someone and then date their friend especially their bestfriend and then not tell anyone about it.

     All in all, Something like Fate is a really good book and anyone would be able to understand it and it's a really entertaining book. This book can teach you if you actually know what fate is because Lani was confusing fate with something else because what was happening with her and Jason was definitely not fate.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Reading Response #5: Hurricane Sandy Eyes Coast



    The author of this article is trying to explain to us that Hurricane Sandy should be taken as a big deal because it's bigger than Irene. The article talks about how governors in most states made some people evacuate from their homes because Sandy can easily destroy their house and it could also kill them. The article explained the damages that Sandy did to the Bahamas,Cuba, and Florida. The Hurricane was also compared to Irene and it said that Irene damaged some places and many people were affected by it but Hurricane Sandy was much worse. It brought about 10 inches of rain to coastal areas, it was considered as a category 1 with 75 mile-per-hour winds.
 
    I think that next time people should take this more seriously and then maybe there wouldn't have been so many injuries, and deaths because some people weren't really affected by Irene and they thought that Sandy was going to be the same but Sandy actually did a lot of damage. I really also feel bad for people who lost their houses and belongings due to the powerful winds and rain. When the article explained all the damages Sandy caused in other places I was glad that not a lot happened around where I live and that Sandy didn't really harm anyone that I knew.

   This text changed my thinking about big storms like this, because I usually don't pay attention to what the forecasters say and I always think that nothing will happen but I was proved wrong this time. After reading this article I concluded that you'll never know when something like this will happen so you should always be prepared well enough.