Do Now 11/30

     I am grateful for all the people that surround me, that have been by my side for a long time, and that will continue to be in my life for many years to come. A few people don't appreciate those that are in their lives but I'm sure to be thankful for them, not only on Thanksgiving, but every day of the year. Even though I may argue with half of the people in my life I know that they have stuck with me through thick and thin, mainly because they have to. What I admire the most about all these people is that most don't have to stay in my life but instead they find a reason to always be with me through anything and everything. The three main people that I'm thankful for are my mother, my step-father, and my best friend.

     The people aforementioned are very important to me because they are the main people in my life. Although my parents and I tend to fight very often, I know that they simply can't get rid of me no matter how hard they try. My step-father has been my father figure for 6 years now and my mom has had to deal with my rudeness and disrespect for 16 years. Both have comforted me in times when I've had problems with my actual father. They supply me with the necessities like shelter, food, and clothes but they also spoil me occasionally. On a side note, I am also very thankful for my best friend because, even though she lives in Arizona, she is always there for me when I need a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes there are some things that you can't share with family members and that's why I thank my friend for always being there for me. 

     To conclude, I've always been told that one should not take those who surround you for granted. Everyone is in your life for a reason and I'm particularly thankful for my mother, step-father, and best friend. It's often hard to find people that'll stick with you throughout the entirety of your lifetime. I don't consider everyone to be my best friend or even my close friend but these three people just so happen to be my best friends. I wouldn't trade these people for the world and I am very thankful for them not only on Thanksgiving but every day of the year. 

W-R Wikipedia Page Findings

Things that should either be changed or removed from the Wood-Ridge High School Wikipedia site are:

• The school name, which should be updated to Wood-Ridge Jr/Sr High School
• Also, on the side box which gives a brief description of the school, the site lists Dr. DeNobile as principal when it's currently Mr. Petrocelli
• The awards, recognition, and ranking should be updated due to the fact that the school's teams have won more awards since this site was last updated.
• The school actually teaches from 7th-12th grade
• The enrollment rate and other rates should be updated because it was last edited in 2012-13 which was about 3 years ago
• The picture is also outdated
• Tennis is no longer a sport offered in Wood-Ridge Jr/Sr High School

Do Now 11/9

     Over the short break, I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. I work at a ballet studio in Hackensack from 5 to 8 on Thursdays and Fridays. Not many students showed up because they thought it was okay to miss class due to the fact they didn't have school both days. The few that showed up, however, were rewarded and were allowed to fool around throughout the duration of the class. The girls enjoyed the fact that they didn't have to continue with their choreography because most of their classmates didn't show up.

     On Saturday, I had to catch up on all the chores I missed Thursday and Friday due to work. I spent all day helping out my mom and step-dad clean the house. We wrapped the day up by going to Olive Garden for dinner. On Sunday, we had planned to take my sister to Chuck E. Cheese because she helped out and did her chores the day before. We only went for an hour because we were expecting family to come over and they did. Since we had people at our house, I had to help my mother cook and tidy up any mess we had created. After everyone ate, I had to do my homework which was understandingly hard to do because I had to read "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe while all my family members chose to play music with very high volume. Although many might think that any sort of break would be relaxing, it was actually very stressful for me.

Do Now: Nov. 2

Educational Technology and Copyright Law

     Throughout the article, I learned many things that I didn't know prior to the reading. For example, I learned that almost everything is copyrighted the minute it's created whether its musical, dramatic, or other creative work. It is legal for someone to use copyrighted material for educational purposes but there are certain cases in which you might need a license in order to use a certain piece of creative material. Also, once something is copyrighted you are automatically given four rights; you have the ability to reproduce the copyrighted work, display the copyrighted work publicly, prepare other works based on that one, or distribute copies of said work for rental, sale, and/or to display the material. Generally, one has a pretty good chance of being able to use images that you find off the internet. If you can't use the image, chances are that you need a license in order to use the image.

Do Now 10/19

     Google Forms can be used as a method of collecting information. It serves as a way to be more organized and if you're a teacher, you can create tests or quizzes for your students. You can also arrange various amounts of information in a more collected manner and plan certain things such as events using Google Forms.

     

Web 2.0: Multimedia Blog Pre-Posting

    One of the most difficult courses I'm taking as a junior is Pre-Calculus Honors taught by Mr. Olsen. We haven't quite learned anything yet because all we've been doing is reviewing material from last year. At the beginning of every week, he always gives us a syllabus that gives details on what we are going to do that week. Occasionally, he can be a strict teacher and he gives us homework almost every day of the week, that includes weekends. We are assigned a different topic almost every week on a website called Khan Academy. He often expects a lot from us being as we are the honors class. We don't really get projects or go on class trips being as you can't really go anywhere to learn about quadratic functions. I expect this class to prepare me for college seeing as to the fact that I'm going to be majoring in business and taking various math courses.
                                                                               

     As aforementioned, we've only really reviewed material that we've learned last year. On the last day of school, we were given a packet with a 100 problems and that was due at the beginning of this year. We spent a week going over the answers and at the end of that week we took a quiz with a few problems from the packet. Afterwards, we reviewed how to graph functions and their inverses. Also, we went over domain, range, and transformations. The work gets seemingly tougher as the year goes by because we start learning things we've never learned before. Furthermore, there are two kinds of technology we use in class; the chromebooks for quizzes, games, and khan academy and our TI-84 graphing calculator which makes our lives much easier throughout the year.

                                                      

     Mr. Olsen's grading policy is often the same for every class. He makes homework 5% of our grade and Khan Academy is another 5% of our grade under the category "Informal Assessments." Under "Formal Assessments" are the quizzes and tests which count as 90% of our grade. Although many people complain about his method of teaching, I find it to be a very productive way of learning. Overall, his class may be one of the hardest but it is undeniable that you leave the class with more knowledge.