Post 29, May 16, 2011.

• Ok, provide a list of at least six places that you want to go during your lifetime and why.

1. Italy: everybody talks about how they love it and I'm just very curious to go there. Also because one of my favorite movies called Letters to Juliet is set in Verona, where there is a statue of Juliet and if you rub her right breast you will have good luck! I looked so romantic in the movie! :D
2. France: I have always wanted to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower and see all Paris at night. Also because it is one of the world's fashion capitals!!!
3. African countries: I have always wanted to go on those safaris you see in movies across the African savannas and take a lot of pictures of wild animals there. It looks very cool. Maybe Madagascar... I watched a TV show that they talked about Madagascar and how 80% of the animal and plant species are unique and found nowhere else in the world... I want to see that...
4. Japan: I absolutely looovvveee sushi, it is my favorite food, so why not go to the place it was originated and where there is tons of it?! I want to go to Tokyo because it draws my attention very much.
5. Greece: I love Greek mythology, it is very interesting and it I would like to learn more about it; all the gods and goddesses and their stories... It is awesome.
6. Australia: I want to see the Sydney Opera House and go to the beaches. I also love the accent people have over there... It's funny...
7. Hawaii: I would love to go to Hawaii to swim in their famous beaches and learn how to surf and dance hula-hula. :D

My favorite country of all is Venezuela, even though I already visited it... ;)

Post 28, May 5, 2011.

• The end of the year is approaching fast. Comment about your math skills and explain to me why you are ready to move on to the next school year!

Well... My goal this year was to like math more to get better at it, but I don't think I really accomplished it... I think I'm not that bad in math, but I just don't like it and it makes me not want to do it and do bad at it. I have always struggled with this subject and it has not changed and I don't think it will either, but I do and will do my best to get better at it. Next year, since I'm moving to another school, they have a different math program, so I don't know how it is going to be. Also, the 10th grade students over there do Geometry and the 9th grade students do Algebra 2, the opposite of this school, so I will be doing Algebra 2 with the 9th grade students of next year. It might be a little bit easier because I would be more advanced than the rest of the students because of the level, but I am ready to take down and overcome every challenge that comes in my way.

Post 27, May 2, 2011.

• Google the Internet to find an explanation of the Pythagorean theorem. Using that explanation, explain it to me in your own words and be sure to have an example.

The Pythagorean Theorem states that in all right triangles, the length of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the length of the other two legs of the triangle. The formula is: a^2+b^2=c^2. This theorem was originated by a Greek mathematician called Pythagoras. Pythagoras of Samos (c.580 B.C.-c.500 B.C.) was a Greek philosopher that proved the theory that the Babylonians had developed 1000 years earlier. Apart from mathematics, he also made great developments in astronomy and the theory of music. There is a legend that says that Pythagoras wanted to see the tyrant ruler of Samos, Polycrates, and in the halls of his palace he kept staring at the squared tiles on the floor. He noticed that if a tile were to have a diagonal line across it, it would divide the square in half and make two right triangles. He began to discover other things about it. The square on the hypotenuse, the longest side of the triangle, was the size of the sum of the other two squares that are on the other sides of the triangles.

For example, if the lengths of the sides are 3, 4, and 5, what is the formula?

The formula would be: 3^2+4^2=5^2

So 3^2 is 9, 4^2 is 16 and 5^2 is 25... 9+16=25.

Post 26, April 11, 2011.

• Calculate your GPA by hand and explain if you are happy or not with the quarter three results you obtained.
  
• 7 is 4.0
• 6 is 3.7
• 5 is 3.0
• 4 is 2.0
• 3 is 1.0
• 2 is 0.0
• 1 is 0.0

The GPA I got was 3.85, which resulted from 4 6's and 4 7's. I am very happy with the GPA I had because it is pretty high, even though I always strive to do better. I am satisfied with the grades I got, but I think that I could have done much better in some of the classes. I am proud that I did not get any 5's or bellow because I hate to get bad grades and for me a 5 is already bad. I did improve in some of the classes, for example, in my French class I started in Quarter 1 with a 5, and then I improved to a 6 in Quarter 2 and then to a 7 in Quarter 3. In Geometry class, however, my grade is constant, a 6, but I think this is kind of good because I am not that bad at it, though I would always like to improve and do my best to do so. :)

Post 25, April 4, 2011.

• Tell me where the final four teams for the NCAA mens basketball tournament are from. Also add an interesting fact about each school.

The four final teams for the NCAA are:

1. Virginia Commonwealth University, located in Richmond, Virginia. Did you know that.... in 2006, VCU became the most populated university in Virginia and the first one to have 30,000 students.
2. University of Connecticut, located in Storrs, Connecticut. Did you know that... the UConn was first founded in 1881 and its name was the Storrs Agricultural School and was named after the Storrs brothers who had donated the land for the purpose of creating a school.
3. Butler University, located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Did you know that... the 1919 the athletic teams of Butler were called the "Christians", but after a series of losses in games and tournaments, people started disliking the name, and so they changed it to Bulldogs. This is the name they have now.
4. Kentucky University, located in Lexington, Kentucky. Did you know that... in 2009, UK was the first university to reach 2000 won games and that 2000th game was won against the Drexel University Dragons 88-44.

Post 24, March 7, 2011.

• February only has 28 days this year. When does it have 29 days? Why? Is this a good method ir should we do something about it?

February has 29 days every 4 years and when it happens, it is called a Leap Year. In the Gregorian calendear there are common years and there are leap years. Common years have 365 days while leap years have 366. "A leap year occurs every four years to help synchronize the claendar year with the solar year, or the length of time it takes the earth to complete its orbit about the sun, which is about 365 1/4 days," ( http://infoplease.com/spot/leapyear1.html ).

I think that this method is not good because what about the people who are born on 29th of February...? Would they only get to celebrate their birthday every four years?! That is not fair... I think that leap years can cause discrimination or be in favor for the people who are born on this day because, for example, a person who is born on this day gets to celebrate their birthday before or after their actual birthday... They are not born yet... They are supposed to be born 4 years later... There are some laws in the USA that state that people who are born the 29th of February are considered to be born actually on the 1st of March... This is not fair because they are saying that they are older than they actually are. If for example, a 17th year-old born this day, the day before their birthday, the 28th, they can commit a crime and still be judged as minors and if they commit it on the 28th, they would still be judged as minors... I think that leap years should just be eliminated forever...

Post 23, February 28, 2011.

• Please read through your project for this quarter. Leave me some feedback in your journal this week. We will work on them in and outside of class. They are due by March 18th. If you get them to me ahead of time, I will correct them and give you feedback to improve your grade!!

I think this project will be very interesting, but interesting in the way that I am anxious to see what turns out. I think it will also be fun but what I don't understand is how we are going to use quadrilaterals, circles, and geometric transformations to write the clues and do the project. I guess we will know in class... I wonder if we are really going to do the real treasure in the city we pick... ;) Though it would be fun and pretty cool.

Post 22, February 21, 2011.

• What do you love? How do you love it? Count the ways for me......

I love my friends and family with lost of love.
I love my dogs because they bring me joy.
I love playing the saxophone because it makes me feel relaxed and happy.
I love playing sports (some) because I excercise and have fun.
I love going to the beach with my family because I spend time with them.
I love the sea because I like the sound the waves make.
I love pulling my hair when I'm stressed because it relaxes me.
I love takiing a shower because I feel clean.
I love going to the bathroom because it makes me feel relieved.
I love sleeping because I dream.

Post 21, February 14, 2011.

• Did you watch the Superbowl?? It was great. Pittsburgh was down at the beginning, but came back to make it a very exciting game. In the end, they could not continue the drive to score, but great game! Have you ever watched a great game? Tell me about it. If not, then I guess you are not a sports fan.....so why not :)

I, personally, don't understand anything about American Football so I was not very interested in watching the Superbowl. I guess I'm not a very big fan of sports. The only one I actually like to watch is soccer, specially during the FIFA World Cup where all the teams from countries all over the world compete to see which country has the best team. My team is Argentina and I think it's the best! Every game I watch them play is awesome, exciting, and entertaining. The only game I was extremely disappointed was their very last game of the World Cup (which I missed since I was sleeping), which they lost against Germany 4-0... I was more disappointed that they had lost than the fact I had missed it, but oh well... NEXT TIME!!!

Post 20, February 7, 2011.

• Principled.....I like what Mr. L said in the assembly. "Doing the right thing when no one is looking". What does that mean to you? We all love to get credit and recognition from act that we do, but are we so eager to do them when no one is watching? How do you apply it to the math class? When you walk down the hallway, do you pick up trash you see? Do you turn off the faucet in the bathroom even if you didn't turn it on? I think these simple acts are what make us different and give us a chance to feel good about ourselves. Try it out and see how it feels to be principled!

To me, being principled is doing something that is appropriate, proper, correct, honest, and fair without having to think about the rewards that you could get afterwards, but because you feel that it is the right thing to do according to your values and morals. We can apply being principled in math class when we do the squares game and a person chooses the square from the box and they do it without looking, that is an example of being principled; if the person looks, that is not being principled. When I am walking around the school and see a wrapper on the floor, I (generally) pick it up the floor (if it looks too gross to pick up, I tell someone to pick it up with a broom, which is easier so that I don't have to touch it...). What I really hate about some people is that they don't care about letting the water from the faucet run and they just don't turn it off, so I do turn it off when I see that it is on and no one is washing their hands or using that water for something.

Post 19, January 27, 2011.

• What do you do after school?

After school ends, I go to my locker to get my books and homeworks for the next day. Every day I have an activity after school except Fridays; on Monday I have basketball practice, Tuesday I have soccer, Wednesday I have band, Thursday I have Spanish drama. After these activities are over I go home and turn on my computer to do my homework. I do it until dinner is ready and I go eat when it is. When I'm finished eating I shower and continue doing my homework until I finish it or until it is too late at night and I'm too tired to continue. Then I go to sleep and the routine starts again.

Post 18, January 24, 2011.

• This week, we have professional development on Friday. Professional development is a way to improve yourself in your "career". Last year, I obtained a Principal certificate by taking on line courses with Johns Hopkins University, passing a PRAXIS exam (kind of like an SAT), and then filing some papers with the state of Ohio. This help me to learn new strategies, be a better teacher and help maintain my "edge". This week at the VANAS conference, I will also be presenting PD to other teachers. You are professional students. What kids of professional development do you do to keep you "edge" as excellent students? "In other words... How am I a good student?

I'm a good student because, first of all, not to brag or anything (:P), I'm smart, but also because I'm a very dedicated student and don't get satisfied with the bad grades I get (if I get any ;) hehe), I study hard, and do things with a motivation and inspiration; for example, when I'm writing an essay I look at pictures related to the topic to get inspired and listen to music while writing it. Sometimes listening to music can distract me, but I just can't work without music... I just can't... I also get motivated by my brother, since he is such a good student and going to a great university, I want to be like him. :)

Post 17, January 13, 2011.

• Write down at least five resolutions for this new year and explain a little as to why you chose them or how you plan to make them happen!

1. I would like to get better at math in general and start liking it since I have always been pretty bad at it and hated it... Also because this is the subject that I'm worst at and it lowers my whole GPA... :/
2. I want to get excellent grades in all my subjects. Well, this has no much explanation, but only that I want to keep up with my good grades and do even better. :D
3. I want to win every Jeopardy match I play in math class! Getting better at math will help me accomplish this goal.
4. I would like to see my family all together more often because we are all separated around the globe and I don't get to see them for long periods of time...
5. I would like to see my friends more often out of school because friends like Laura that have left the school, but are still in the country I don't see them very often and miss them very much.