yKermit the Froggers

Conformation

    I am making conformation on Thursday the 30th of April, 2009.  I am very excited because i am going to become a "man" in the catholic religion.  Basically i am accepting the decision of my mother and father, when they had me baptized, to become a participant of the Catholic Church.  It took lots of practice just to make this sacrament.  I been practicing just about my whole life.  Every Sunday i go to mass and then to Sunday school. Church and Sunday school are really boring but inspire me to lead a christian life, which means treating people the way you want to be treated, no lying or cheating and just trying to become the best person I can be.

    I am excited not only for making my conformation but that lots of my family are coming over to celebrate. I am glad i am done with Sunday school but i will continue to go to church and practice my religion.

    

Spring Break

    This Spring Break I went to st martin and had a lot of fun. I went to st martin for a week with my family and did many fun things. I go there with my family every year and its been almost fiveyears and I still enjoy it.  In st martins it is spilt by two governments, one government is from France and the other side of government is from The Nether lands. Both sides of st martin are fun but different because of the heritages of the different countries. That's a little what I did over spring break.

     One thing I did there was go swimming, really I went swimming every day because the waters really nice. I went swimming at beaches, pools, and reefs. At the reefs i would go snorkeling and see many different types of fish which because I don't really now about fish, I don't know which types of fish I saw. At the beach I would swim as far out as I wanted and be completely away from anyone else. Also at the beach I would swim with my brother but he was to scared to go out really far. At the pools it was fun too. I would swim around or see how long I could hold my breath with my brother but I always beat him. Also at the pools I would play catch with a football me and my brother got there.

     Another thing I did in st martin was fish. Im not a huge fan of fishing but it was fun. I went on a boat with a captain, a crew member, my brother, and my dad. We went out for five long hours and luckily caught seven fish. For the first hour it was completely boring because we didn't even get a bite. Then the fish came and we caught three big tuna and four huge barracudas. That's one other thing I did over spring break. Those are only some of the many things I did on the island of st martin.

Definitions from NBTT

Hello, this blog is to show some of the words in the book that were a little too big to comprehend. I will tell you the word, then the sentence it is used in, what I thought the word meant in the sentence, then I'll tell you the definition of that word. First, Facilitate In Chapter 3 in NBTT (Nothing But the Truth), "This will facilitate the movement of students....." Ms. Narwin said. I think she was reffering to the motivation in the class. The definition of this word is to ease in moving, action, or doing. Another is <span style="text-decoration: underline;"Contemporary;In chapter 5 in NBTT, "I am a little out of touch with contemporary teaching...." Ms. Narwin said. I think she was reffering that her teachings are not as modern as it was before so it is not as effective. The definition is current or modern. Next is Entice,In Chapter 5 in NBTT "I want to find new.... ways to entice the young people of today." Ms. Narwin said. I think she was reffering to trying to catch or capture the students attention to learn. The definition is to attrtact or to lure. Onward! To the next word! This word is  "vigilant, In Chapter 10 in NBTT, '' One has to be vigilant and firm." Ms. Narwin said. I think she is referring to always be on your senses, always to be ready for the next thing that's about to happen. The defintion is to always be awake and alert. And finally, the last word of the blog is........ Counterproductive!In Chapter 12 in NBTT, "Suspension might be counterproductive."Ms. Narwin said. I think she is reffering that being suspended from school might come back at you later on in life, trying to apply for a college.The definition for counterproductive is to hinder rather to help. If you don't know what hinder means, I'll tell you,... Hinder is to negate of slow down from a process. Well, that's the end of this blog. I hope you read my other teacher choice blogs on the last marking peroid! The last 10 weeks of school! WHOOPIE!

Home and Careers is Pointless

    Every day at two o'clock I have home ec. I think home and careers is completely useless because it does not facilitate home and career lessons. I starting to feel animosity towards this class because we learn nothing except needs and wants . Needs are things we need to live such as food and water.Wants are things we would enjoy like a car or video games. Theoretically, we should have learned needs and wants in 1st grade if not before that.

    Another problem I have with Home and careers is we seem to be wasting time in class. For instance we wasted at least four days watching a movie entitled 'The Pursuit of Happiness'. There were no beneficiaries  from these classes because we had to do a worksheet and watch the movie at the same time. This caused bedlam and was counterproductive in our ability to learn. By doing two things at once vital concepts were lost.

    Home and careers is also supposed to have cooking but we haven't started it yet. We have had at least a month of classes.  My class is entitled to cook at lest six times and time is running out. I think when we start it will be to short to learn to cook and will be pointless. 

Although I think home and careers is useless and has no point to it the way it is being taught now, with some changes it could be a whole lot better.  First thing would be to start cooking immediately.  This is a skill that we all need to learn.  Not only now, like helping my mother make dinner but when I have my own place, I will be able to cook for myself and on occasions when my friends come over. Another possibility would be careers. We can find out how to choose a career, what school should we go to facilitate our career goals, even create our own resumes and learn about job interviews. These are a few of the things that i feel that would improve our home and careers class and change my opinion that 'Home and Careers is Pointless'.    

 

By: Ross Burke 

    

    

Letter to the Editor

Spring means it's baseball time. We have so many kids playing baseball in New Rochelle that we need more baseball fields and more school teams. We need teams for the elementary school kids too, not just middle school and high school.    

I've been playing baseball since kindergarten. It's interesting that when you watch a baseball game, it seems long and the players look passive.When you play, though, you can not be passive. You have to be active and aggressive in order to facilitate the win. I am pretty good at hitting, pitching and fielding. Fielding is the easiest. It comes naturally to most players. You just know where to run to catch the ball and where to throw it. It's a reflex. Hitting and pitching, on the other hand, are a lot harder.

When you're hitting, all eyes are on you. You have to figure out if the ball is going to be too high or too low coming in to home plate. Then you have to swing your arm around at just the right time and with just the right power to get a good hit. It's a challenge. Luckily, I am the beneficiary of really good eyesight.  My Mom always tells people I can see a little bunny two blocks away. Being patient at the plate is also vital to success. You have to wait for just the right pitch.

In my opinion, pitching is the hardest thing to do in baseball. Again all eyes are on you only now it's for an even longer time. When you pitch, you have to throw the ball hard and fast and close to the strike zone. It you don't do a good job, then the umpire will call a "ball." If you do a good job, you get a strike. But sometimes you do a pretty good job and the hitter manages to get a piece of the ball and send it flying. Then you feel terrible.

I think there is a lot of pressure being a pitcher because the game depends on you more than anyone else. You also have to be vigilant to keep the people on base from stealing bases. On the plus side, when you do a good job at pitching, everyone appreciates it.    

Letter to Whoever Cares: Procrastination

    For all the people who stall, procrastinate, or any other form of the word, you are just like me. This is a terrible habit that I am not very passive about. Whenever I procrastinate, I have a feeling of animosity. You can focus on work and facilitate it by breaking this habit. Breaking this habit is very vital for throughout your life. Whoever overcomes these habits become beneficiaries. To all the people who do procrastinate a lot, here are some tips to help you break this terrible habit. First, whenever you are doing homework on the computer you should turn of Facebook, Aim, and if you can do work without music then ITunes. By doing this you are eliminating distractions therefore eliminating ways to procrastinate by either by new songs on ITunes or talking to your friends. Now another way to help is by not having friends. If you don’t have friends, then whom are you going to talk to? Nobody. Now you really don’t have any distractions. Well…maybe one. If you don’t have one single friend in the whole entire world, you might want to consider changing yourself of getting a therapist. Just Kidding! =] Here’s one more suggestion. If you are stuck on one question or just have done a lot of work, take a small break. A very brief break just so you get relaxed and can start you work again. Now, I ALWAYS get distracted so if you are like me, then you should focus on your work really hard and then relax when your done. I procrastinate a lot but I am trying to work on it so I can stop it completely by high school. If you don’t break this habit, then it will come back and haunt you now so get it done and finished with before high school or else you will regret it.

 

See Ya L8r!

Josh Levine

homework. the most evil invention of all.

Homework. If you have ever done it, you know how evil it is. It takes away time you could be hanging with your friends, watching TV, facebooking, playing sports, whatever. Bottom line is it takes up time. I understand teachers give us homework because they don't have enough time in class, but, we always have little to no homework on days when we are not doing anything, but then, when we are in a rush to do something, we always get a ton of homework! It's so annoying! Teachers need to work out a schedule where 1 teacher gives her crazy amount of homework for that week on a certain day, then another teacher the next day and so on. Sadly, this seems like a great idea, but teachers will never do it because it's extra work for them. But hey teachers, it's extra work for us when we have to do your crazy amount of homework in a short amount of time, so think about this idea.

Some people believe homework is bad for you. I believe that homework is ok, but excessive amounts are not good. They can kill our social lives, which get more important as we get older, and some people say that homework affects creativity. (Are you starting to get it Mrs. Hill?) Homework also puts a lot of pressure on kids, because there is already pressure in school, but then, kids are basically bringing that pressure home through homework, which can sometimes get to the parents, causing a totally messed up family. So, the world would be a lot better without homework because it would save social lives and allow kids to get rid of some of the stress and pressure that school gives them. So come on Mrs. Hill, at least consider the idea, I know it will benefit us all. 

Useless Homework...

    I feel that homework is the most useless thing in the world. I pay attention and class which facilitates me to do well on tests and quizzes. I understand that some people are passive in class, but teachers and counselors should understand that some people (like me) listen attentively in class and should be entitled to no homework on any of the new concepts unless they are struggling.

    To me, making the advanced people who get more homework is just absurd. They are in advanced classes in the first place because they are smart, do what they need to do, and pay attention in class. All the material that we need to learn is covered in class anyway, so if in the advanced class then you are smart enough to pay attention to what we are learning and understand it.

    I understand that homework re-enforces what you have learned in class, but if you have already learned it, then there is no reason to re-enforce it. I feel that I am very responsible and that I know what I need to do well in school and homework is not one of them. Actually homework is something that is counterproductive when I am aiming for a good grade. Homework has lowered my grade on many occasions. Many times I have come up short of an A, by missing a few homework assignments and I have had to settle with a B+. All I am saying, is that many students have not gotten the grade they should have gotten because of useless homework.

    Also many adults want kids to go outside and exercise, but they are stuck inside doing homework. I know that mostly every kid has given up exercise time outside to do homework. I sure can say that I have given up a lot of time outside to do homework.

    Kids in America are more obese than ever for two reasons; 1, kids in America are eating more and more junk food, 2, kids in America are not getting enough exercise. A reason that kids are not getting enough exercise is that they are stuck inside doing homework all the time.    

                   

Vocab Words

Chapter 3-

Facilitate: to make easier or less difficult

 

Chapter 5-

Entitled: to give (a person or thing) a title, right, or claim to something

Concepts: A general idea derived or inferred from specific instances or occurrences.

Strategies: A way to go attempt something or a plan towards something

Vital: Something necessary or important, needed

Contemporary: existing, occurring, or living at the same time; belonging to the same time

Entice: To be excited or lead to be happy

Beneficiaries: a person or group that receives benefits, profits, or advantages.

Theoretical: existing only in theory

 

Chapter 6-

Passive: not participating readily or actively; inactive

Electorate: the body of persons entitled to vote in an election

 

Chapter 10-

Vigilant: Carefully watching to detect danger

Bedlam: A scene or state of wild uproar or confusion

Infractions: The act or an instance of infringing; a violation

 

Chapter 12-

Counterproductive: tending to defeat one's purpose

 

Chapter 15-

Animosity: A feeling of strong dislike

 

Chapter 16-

Misconstrues: Misinterpret; to mistake the meaning of

1.Jessica Hagy is saying that to achieve a goal is much harder than you think it is.          

2.I want to become a fisherman.

3.It will take alot of hard work and I will probably need to get a degree.  I will also need to have a fishing license.  I will also need to try out different lakes and sign up for tournaments. Before I can become a fisherman I will need to purchase a number of supplies.  Some of the supplies I will need will be a boat, different types of fishing rods, different types of lures and hooks and then of course, I will need to purchase fresh bait on a regular basis.  I also will need to make sure that on the boat I have the very necessary important supplies of: a safety kit, a life jacket, certain tools for fishing, certain tools for boat repair, charts and maps, and a fish finder.    After I finish purchasing all of my equipment, I will need to go to a special school and learn about how to power my boat and learn the rules of the waterways.  I will need to get my captain's licence and I will have to learn how to read charts which are maps for the water.  Once I have gotten my captain's licence and have purchased all of boating and fishing supplies, I will need to do a certain amount of research in order to figure out where the best fishing is and how much money I will be able to make as a fisherman.  I will have to figure out my expenses and then choose the best spot to live.  I will also have to figure out what I will do for work during the winter months when the fishing in the northeast is not profitable.  I might have to live in Florida during the winter which means I will have to afford two homes.  All of these are good things to consider for my goal of becoming a fisherman.