Tech Friday Winners

First of all, let me say how truly impressed I was with your work on Tech Fridays. The intense engagement and drive to finish the task was so much fun to watch. So many groups were collaborative and innovative in their work that it was VERY difficult for me to pick winners. That said, after deliberation and some help from Mrs. Johal, I have narrowed it down to one winner per class, and an honorable mention to some groups who stood out to me for one reason or another.

To the winners: Congratulations! Each of you will receive public recognition in class and a gift from Leadership for your demonstration of collaboration, initiative, innovative results, and most of all your ability to:

The mantra of "Tech Friday"

Here are each class period's winners, with his/her name posted as a hyperlink to his/her blog:

A period- This group immediately impressed me with their collaboration technique of using google docs to share information between computers. They truly embraced their topic and the task every time and ALWAYS "figured it out."
Ryan Dang
Joaquin Taylor
Dan Buschmeyer
Adam Hillaire

1st period- I had a lot of trouble picking a winner for this class, so I had to enlist the help of Mrs. Johal. She found this group's Smore flyer to be the most in-depth and their survey to be the most interesting to an outside audience. These girls also consistently worked diligently and independently.
Ellie Stout
Lauren Torres
Maria Huether
Jessica Kern

2nd period- I also had extreme difficulty picking the winner for this class. Ultimately, Mrs. Johal found this group's survey to be the most interesting. Additionally, they were able to embed the survey, which had proved difficult on the iPads. The fact that they were able to embed it, even when I said they didn't have to, set them apart from other groups.
Madeleine Moore
Richard-Thomas Gliozzi
Nina Doehrman
Chloe French
Sarah Bura

4th period- This group was extremely dedicated to each task. The very first task required embedding the Animoto, and this group did not give up until they were successful. Additionally, one member was able to embed the survey, even though it was not required. I felt that this group really embraced the challenges and their perseverance helped them immensely in the end.
Kenny Malubag
Eva Vindasius
Kiyomi Okano-Foell
Elise Steingraber

5th period- These three girls often battled with a missing member for discussions, but this never slowed them down on Tech Friday. I was especially impressed with their survey because they were able to publish it quickly, garner responses, and post a thorough write-up all within one period. They were the most successful on this task of all of my classes.
Madeleine Patton
Izzy Westerman
Emma Davitz

Honorable Mention
Giuliana Tanner, Christina Valeriote, Nicole Kay, and Jessica Lateur for the way the embraced the concept of F.I.O. and never asked questions without first attempting to do it themselves.
Maya Johnson, Bella Salyer, and Adriana Lange for their perseverance in working through technical difficulties on the Survey Monkey. Extra special shout out to Adriana for completing the Smore Flyer alone when her groupmates were absent.
Jordan Larue, Stephanie Jordan, Ryan Nord, and Tyler Firebaugh for their unwavering enthusiasm.
Kelly Herzog, Lauren Amador, and Samantha Sweazy for their dedication and intense desire to always finish the task, no matter how frustrated they became.

Tech Friday #3 Directions

Task: Create a survey specific to your topic using surveymonkey.com. This is a three part challenge so read the directions carefully.

Step 1 (20 minutes)-Create ONE survey as a group on surveymonkey.com. You will need to create 5 multiple choice questions. Ask questions that have been posed in your discussion group or questions that you feel will entice others to become interested in your topic. Post the survey to your blog. This is your opportunity to see how others feel about specific aspects of your topic. Look at my blog to see an example survey.

Step 2 (10 minutes)- Access the link in my school-loop locker titled Class Blog List and take each group’s survey…including your own group survey.  (Only click on blogs from your period).

Step 3 (rest of class period)-After the class has completed taking surveys, look at your survey results on surveymonkey.com. Write ONE short paragraph as a group explaining the results and post it to all of your blogs.

Tech Friday: Survey

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Tech Friday: Smore Flyer

Tech Friday: Animoto Ad

Clean Eating 2

Lord of the Flies Discussion Question #1

Evaluate Jack’s leadership in Lost and Ralph’s in Lord of the Flies to determine who is a better leader.

Ralph from the 1963 film adaptation of the novel

Jack Shepherd from the TV show Lost

Jack from Lost is a superior leader because he is respectful and cares for the people on the island more than Ralph does with the boys in Lord of the Flies. Jack is older, which means he has more experience with the world, and he has a better understanding of respect. He is also a doctor, so he is constantly responsible for his patients’ well being. Ralph is just a selfish kid who doesn’t yet grasp the concept of responsibility and the aspects of a good leader. All he wants to do is enjoy himself like any other young boy would do. When they first landed on the island, Jack helped the injured plane victims first and then helped himself, risking his own life in the process. If he wanted to, he could have rescued himself and ran away to safety. Ralph differs because he does what is best for himself and disregards the others, especially Piggy. For example, once all the boys have come together, he goes off on his own to explore the island and makes Piggy stay behind. As Ralph is walking off he says, “Better Piggy than Fatty… Now go back, Piggy, and take names. That’s your job. So long” (25). Ralph sends Piggy off without listening to Piggy’s viewpoint. He also makes fun of Piggy and gives him no respect, even though Piggy actually has the best ideas. A good leader takes in account the ideas and viewpoints of the individuals in his group. He gives full respect to everyone, even if he does not like the person or their views. He especially does not mock people. Ralph is simply too immature to handle the responsibilities of leadership, and reverts to childish antics like mockery. Jack, however, is a great leader. He respects everyone’s opinions and he doesn’t mock people. He takes all opinions into account and makes decisions that are best for the group, making him a true leader. Though there are many variables that make a great leader, respect and experience are key in any situation. Jack has these qualities, and Ralph does not, thus making Jack the superior leader.

Tuesday Write Post #1: Reality TV





Is this how your family dresses for a family photo?

Reality television is harmful to American society. Some may argue that it is simply a form of entertainment, but the true reality is that it dumbs down the audience, glorifies bad behavior, and portrays a false reality. In “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” for example, the mother often needs subtitles because her English is so broken that an average person can’t understand her. In fact, people watch this show primarily to make fun of the characters. The audience is inundated with improper grammar and meaningless conversations that demand no intellect; it allows viewers to turn off their brains and let the garbage seep in. We see the same issue in the popular show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” where the “famous” sisters are more concerned with how they look and what they wear than anything else. However, these shows are innocuous compared to the bad behavior exhibited in “The Real Housewives”. These women constantly bicker and argue over petty issues, often while intoxicated, and then spend days ignoring each other and talking behind each other’s backs. Is this the kind of behavior we want to glorify? Children are being raised with these shows in the background and thus subconsciously learn that this behavior is acceptable. Plus, these shows are marketed as “reality” when in truth they are mostly fake. Take “The Bachelor,” for example. Of course contestants fall in love when they are in a tropical paradise. But once the show wraps, the couple inevitably break up when true reality sets in and they realize they weren’t as in love as the show fooled them into believing.

 

 

Transformation

Some may argue that reality TV is simply entertainment that does not harm anyone.  People have a lot of stress in their lives; they want to come home, sit in front of the television, be entertained, and relax. One could even argue that watching other people’s problems play out on TV makes a person feel better about his or her own situation. However, there are other healthy forms of entertainment available to help people deal with stress, such as watching a movie, bowling, etc. Others have pointed out that some reality TV encourages people to improve themselves and achieve their dreams. On “The Biggest Loser,” contestants compete to lose weight. For some, if it wasn’t for the show, they would still be obese. Additionally, everyone has heard of singing stars Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. If it wasn’t for “American Idol,” they might have never been discovered. However, these shows only help a select few, and can also be used to exploit the people involved. While it may be true that a few reality shows encourage people to go after their dreams, this is not enough to outweigh the negative effects. The hard truth is that this genre of television is deceitful, vapid trash that portrays no “reality” with which any sane person can identify. It is an epidemic that will only harm our society in the long run.