Tuesday, December 2nd

What are you doing for Thanksgiving? Do you have any traditions? Go in to detail about your plans for the 5 day weekend.

For thanksgiving, went to Hays, Kansas, out west. We have no traditions besides the ones that everyone shares, such as eating turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. This year we didn't have cranberry sauce or anything like that. Its a four hour drive from Overland park to Hays, and the entire time I was either sleeping, or listening to music. Once my mom, my sister and me got there, we met with our step- dad's family including his parents, and his sister and her husband. The seven of us spent two and a half days there, eating dinner and watching K-state games.

Monday, November 17th

Tell me about your weekend.

My weekend was uneventful once again. Except for two things. I went out to IHop with my friends and ordered a bunch of coffee. We were so hyper that we started to annoy the other people, until two guys even more annoying than us came along, at which point we decided to leave. I also went to go see Fury with my dad. Fury is a war movie about a tank crew in WWII. Needless to say, at the end, everyone except the main character dies. This seems to be a reoccurring theme in war movies. Lone survivor is also an example, and Saving Private Ryan if you switch Tom hanks with Matt Damon. Everyone around him dies, including the people hes met. Its sad, but i guess its a part of the movie's realism. 

Friday, November 14th

Tell me about your experience with taking your stop-motion photos. What problems did you run in to? What did you find difficult about the process? What would you go back and change about HOW you took the photos? Explain yourself.

I had no experience with stop motion photos before this project. I was familiar with time-lapse, however, which is basically stop-motion photos, except over a long period of time. One of the problems i ran into while making my stop-motion video was the lack of M&M's that I had. I needed to go out and buy more if I wanted to complete the video. One of the things I would go back and change is the stillness of the camera that I used because i felt like it kept moving as i was taking pictures.

Monday, November 10th

What is stop motion animation? If you don't know, look it up! Explain.

Stop motion animation is when you move an inanimate object by small increments, taking a picture for every increment. This gives the viewer the impression of the object moving on its own. I always thought it was cool to look at, but realized how much time it would take to make a movie like Wallace and Gromit, and how much time you would need to have the movie be two hours. I remember how hilarious Wallace and Gromit, Curse of The Were-rabbit or something like that, was, but I couldn't imagine making something like that where you have to remake the character's face, and then take a single camera picture for a full 2 hour movie.

Monday, November 3rd

Tell me about your weekend - details please!

I was planning to take part in "Senior skip day" on Friday, but my parents didn't want to call me in sick. Although this normally wouldn't faze me, Iv'e already had some detentions because of the school I missed, and an ISS was probably next. Come Friday, I decided that I would skip anyways, and the whole day off I played video games.  On Sunday, I went to see John Wick with my dad. We both thought the movie was fantastic. The sound and size of the I-max was great and worked so well with the loud and deep engine of his car. The bullets and bullet wounds were so realistic they almost reminded me of Lone Survivor, although the casting of Lone survivor made the movie just good overall.

Wednesday, October 29

What do you know about photography and/or photo editing? Do you take photos? How do you take photos? Do you edit photos before posting them on social media? How do you edit them? Explain any background or knowledge you have about photography and photo editing. Do you like it? Do you have any interest?

I know nothing about photography or photo editing. The only experience I have is with photo shop and i only used that once outside of school. I don't have any background knowledge about photography except for the fact that you press a button to take the photo. I don't necessarily dislike it, but i have no interest in it either. I thought about taking a photography class with Mr. Mosier after I finished pre-drafting, but I ended up not doing it

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Monday, October 20th

Tell me about your weekend. Share pics!

My weekend was extremely uneventful again. Spent 90% of my free time playing video games including sleep and homework. For most people looking at my weekend activities, it might seem boring and a dull weekend, but for me, having a weekend where I do nothing but play video games is perfect. My dream weekend would be me sitting down with my laptop or 48 hours straight being brought food on a silver platter. So, it was an amazing weekend. 

Tuesday, October 14th

I think her article about the strict clothing rules was kind of short-sighted. I honestly don't know why they don't just wear different clothes, and Iv'e never understood it. Surely you can find SOME clothes that are "cute" but meet the school's regulations. As far as I see it, its much easier than fighting a battle against the school. I get the adults making comments and I have seen it happen in the hallway. The girl got pulled off to the side by a teacher, the teacher then asked her if she had anything longer to put on.

Monday, October 13th

The perfect curriculum would be teaching the students something that is actually relevant to our lives. In my opinion, this quote can't be further from the truth. I want to meet the person that said this so I can make sure he's an idiot. We learn for college, which is school. If we learn for our lives, how come there aren't any classes that are about religion or morals? The two most important things in our lives are completely absent from our curriculum.  Not even a driving class, something we'll be doing the rest of our lives and is extremely important. Class time in a school that prepared you for life would be having you separate into different religions, and finding what is most important to you, and what will guide you later on in life.

Tuesday, October 7th

The following article was in the September issue of The Tiger Print. Read the article (even if you already have) and respond to it below. What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Consider all perspectives of the article while you respond.

Well, I am a guy and I don't have trouble concentrating because of what the girls wear in class. If we want to concentrate on the lesson, we will. When we want to look at a girl we like, we will. It doesn't have anything to do with what their wearing, and I've seen the staff talk to a female student about what they were wearing, and it was embarrassing for them. This article is obviously written from an angry and frustrated point of view. Some of the anger seems to be directed as us guys, or maybe she sees the thumb rule as part of our causing. I can't speak for all guys, but most of us don't see this as a distraction at all. 

Monday, October 6th

Tell me about your weekend! If you don't have anything fun to share, tell me about the city you live in. What do you love about Kansas City? Do you have a favorite place in the city? Favorite team? :) Favorite event? Explain.

This weekend I hung out with three of my friends as we went around town finding places to eat or deciding what to do with our time. Then, on Saturday, my dad and i re-landscaped the mulch that was previously around our plants, and replaced it with rock. My dad bought 7 tons of small pond rocks to spread around the area. 14,000 pounds of rock took all day and we still didn't get done. Besides that, it was a very boring weekend. I don't like anything in particular about Kansas City. The teams, or the places to go. A lot of over people that visited here that iv'e met have said Oklahoma Joe's was their favorite spot, though.






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Tuesday, September 30

What is an infographic? If you don't know, go look it up. Read about it and then in your own words tell me what an infographic is. What do infographics do? How do they work? What makes a really good infographic?

An infographic is a picture meant to represent data or statistics. In my own words, its an image or some kind of graph that helps the viewer comprehend the information, or put it into perspective. To make an infographic, you gather data, and pile it up and compare it to the other data you have found on the same subject, then a graph can be made to compare it all. A very good infographic would be labeled, easy to read and understand, while still containing a bunch of information. It would have different colors to separate the different statistics, and have an overall proffesional look to it, while having some creativity.

Image from: http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/08/infographic-of-the-day-who-came-to-the-us-in-2008.html

Monday, September 9th

Tell me about your Homecoming weekend! If you didn't participate in the Homecoming festivities, what did you do? Share pics!


I didn't go to homecoming this year, or any year before because I have always thought of it as a waste of time to be completely honest. This weekend I helped my dad work on painting the house. I got up at around 9:00 a.m., and worked until 5:00 pm. It sucked. Although he was paying me for my time, I would have rather played video games - which is what I did for the rest of the weekend. Peaceful time to myself playing video games is my favorite thing to do.

Image From: http://www.mrhappyhouse.com/house-painting-contractor.html

Wednesday, September 24

Imagine Mr. Bacon has asked you to suggest one way of improving Blue Valley High School to make it a better place for students. Think about the changes that are needed at your school. Pick one change you feel would really make a difference and explain what it is and why you'd make the change.

If I could change one thing about the school to make it a better place for students, I'd change the parking lot. The narrow parking spaces and streets that you have to drive down are crazy. The parking lot is tiny, but that's not that big of a problem. The biggest problem is the fact that all of the drivers there are inexperienced and young. Add that on top of the tiny parking spaces, and you have some danger there.

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Tuesday, September 23rd

What are your favorite apps on your phone or tablet? Why?

By far my favorite app on my iPhone is the YouTube app. The YouTube app isn't my favorite because it's just a very quality version of YouTube, in fact, I would rather go into safari, then on YouTube. The reason this app is so fantastic is because it gets around the school wifi somehow. No longer am i held back by the walls upon walls of blocked sites. No longer will I sit and wait for the bell to ring. Entertainment has not yet been exterminated by Satan's grasp on Blue Valley's internet. The only thing I do when I finish an assignment or test in calls is go on YouTube. That's why I love the app so much.

Image From: http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/crowded-apps.jpg?w=400

Monday, September 22

What is email? When do you use email in your own personal life? List reasons and ways that people use email. What do you know about "email etiquette"?

I'm pretty sure e-mail means electronic mail, but i never use it in my own personal life. I can't even remember the last time i used any of my emails personally, besides signing up for websites. Many reason could be mentioned for using e-mail. Any professional message to a person in particular should be used in a e-mail rather than over the phone or text. This is because the next time they are on their computer, they will read it instead of their phone immediately ringing inconveniently. I dont know much about e-mail etiquette. I just assume it should be the same as writing a letter sent through the mail.

Image from: http://siliconangle.com/files/2013/05/email-logo.jpg

Friday, September 19

Now that you've been in Emerging Technology for several weeks... what do you think? Do you think the web tools (Drive, Evernote, Bubbl, etc.) are helpful to you? Do you think they will be helpful throughout high school or even college? Explain.

I like Emerging Tech. There a bunch of Freshman in the class, so our pace is really slow. Each day I don't have to get much done.The web tools are all very helpful, Drive especially. Google Drive is a must for group projects, and since I started using it last year, it has been very helpful. I can see myself using this all throughout college and maybe even later on. Bubbl is also very helpful, it lets me organize my outlines for papers very well, and its extremely user-friendly. I will probably use this program in college as well. Evernote, although isn't as helpful, is useful in its own way. I don't have to keep track of the pages I've visited, and I can see all of the information I've gathered in one place, all organized perfectly. I can see myself using this in college, but not as much as the other two.

Image from: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2402397,00.asp

Wednesday, September 17

Do you enjoy writing? When do you enjoy it? What kind of writing do you enjoy? Why do you think the ability to write is so important no matter what kind of writing it is? Give an example that you enjoyed writing or hated writing. Why?

I do not enjoy writing on paper, I never have, and I know for a fact that I never will. I don't mind writing a paper electronically, as long as the topic is something interesting. The only time I've actually like writing was typing an essay in middle school over what video games I played and why, because that's the only time Iv'e written about something I like. The ability to write is so important for your education and even later on. It applies when you apply for a job, essays you have to write in college and high school, and if you don't have the skill to write a decent paper, it will affect all previous mentions.

Image from: http://wp.lps.org/kmorrow2/files/2012/06/writing.jpg

Tuesday, September 16

Reflect on this quote. Give an example of a time in your life that this might have been the case.

In other words, this quote is saying without preparation or practice, it will be much harder to be successful at whatever you didn't prepare for. In my life, This quote is a perfect example of all the tests I've ever taken in my life. If you don't study for the test, you are basically making yourself get a lower grade on it. This quote is very well thought-out and makes me think.

Friday, September 12th

What is the importance of research? Why do you need to know how to research? What have you learned in high school about researching topics and finding quality resources? Have you had a helpful teacher that has taught you to research? Explain.

Research is important because the skill to research is crucial when it comes to having a professional career or before you go into college. If someone doesn't know how to research, they can't be truly informed on a topic. In high school, we have learned how to cite sources, which sites/sources are reliable, and where to start our search on a broad topic. In college, the research process will be very important to getting a good grade in the class.All of my helpful teachers have all said the same thing: Wikipedia is unreliable. I know the truth, however. They want us to search harder to find the information because otherwise, we wouldn't have learned anything. Its all a giant conspiracy.

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