Reading times 2/24/14

Monday: 30 minutes annotating poems (study hall) 

Tuesday: 40 minutes reading Gimme A Call

Wednesday: 20 minutes revising research paper 

Thursday: 30 minutes studying vocabulary 

Friday: 10 minutes reading Gimme A Call

TOTAL: 130 minutes 

Reading Times 2/17/14

2/10: 10 minutes in class (Gimme A Call), and 30 minutes after school
2/11: 10 minutes in class (Gimme A Call)
2/12: 10 minutes in class (Gimme A Call)
2/13: 10 minutes in class (Gimme A Call), and 25 minutes after school
2/17: 25 minutes annotating Free to be me (song)

Total amount of time spent reading: 120 minutes

The start of my summer...

It starts off with a blast of happiness

The steps to the car can't be that 

Far. The excitement rushing through my body

is unexplainable;

I am free from the distraction of school 

School. 

The word brings back memories of work which makes 

me sad. 

I wake up the next morning to the sun creeping

through the windows of my brothers room along with 

my friends already ready to take a swim. 

The first dive of the summer. 

The sun was sparkling like a gem on the rim of gleaming 

clear blue warm waters. 

Tanning and just thinking about what this summer will bring, 

memories that I will cherish forever and ever. 

Ready for summertime to begin. 

Free to be me by Francesca Battistelli

   Free to be me by Francesca Battistelli is a song expressing how Francesca feels about people being who they are without worrying what other people think. She uses her words in a way that is fun to listen to, and will actually get peoples attention. "A wars already waged for my destiny" is a line in her song. I feel like this line is very strong and stood out to me because she is saying that she can't figure out who she wants to be until she sees one particular person that helps her through everything and influences her when figuring out who she wants to be in the world. This is a poetic song because it has a meaning and certain sound patterns throughout the lyrics. http://www.metrolyrics.com/free-to-be-me-lyrics-francesca-battistelli.html

   This song is sort of like a poem. The speaker in Free to be me is obviously the artist that wrote the song, Francesca Battistelli. Also, the occasion is a time where Francesca is feeling like she dosent know who she is, and just needs a little boost to help her keep going. The audience is anyone around her age that needs inspiration on how to be themselves without worrying what other people think. The purpose is to reach out to the world and make them realize that some people will accept you for who you are, and you need to find those people that make you happy. The subject is acceptance, and the tone is happy and upbeat. In the song, I have noticed assonance in the chorus like; "rips in my jeans" and "pieces together" which are next to each other in the song. I also notice a pattern of Euphony. 

Reading Times for 2/10

Monday: 10 minutes in class ATD (finished!) + 45 minutes finalizing draft-
Tuesday: 10 minutes in class Gimme A Call Sarah Mlynowski + 40 minutes outside of class 
Wednesday: 2 hours on all 4 ATD posts and 3 comments 
Thursday: 10 minutes Gimme A Call in class
Friday: 10 minutes Gimme A Call in class

Total: 245 minutes 

Research Paper Feedback Post: 2/2/14

   I feel like my research paper is going to be very well thought out and detailed in the final. I have all these ideas in my head ready to put down on a paper. I have put down most of them, but I feel like when I am writing my paper I sometimes go a little overboard with ideas and then just get lost in my head with a bunch of jumbled words. Other than that, I feel like my introduction paragraph is very strong, and I have very reliable and detailed sources that contribute to my paper a lot. Getting started was very difficult for me. Learning how I should start my paper, watching videos on drafting, and reading other example papers was definitely a weakness for me because I took most of my time just learning how I should even start.
   One thing that I am unsure about is how I should end my paper. The conclusion paragraph always seems to be the most difficult because you have already said and stated everything about your topic, so there isn't much left to explain. I would like help on citing correctly in my paragraphs. I understand the concept but I feel like I am missing something. Also, I would like help with my sentence structure. Again, I get lost in my head of bunched up words, and sometimes my sentences don't make sense. You will notice this when reading my paper. You will also notice that my quoting structure may be a little off. When reading and looking over my paper, you should focus on the tone and sound of my paper. I want my paper to be interesting, but I feel like it isn't the correct tone.

Documented Work Time 2/2/14

During the three snow days that we had I spent a totally of (3 hours) preparing and working on my research paper. For the rest of the 240 minutes required I read (1 hour) of The Absolutley True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

Snow Day Free Post! 2/2/14

   During the period of time we had off for the so called "snow days" I was not very productive to be honest. I made sure to log in to whipple hill and check into all of my classes, but I was not very responsible with my work. I got everything done, but not until last minute so it was very stressful. What made it worse was that it didn't really snow where I was in Prairieville, it was more sleet and ice everywhere. The first day I was with all of my friends at Claudia's house, so obviously we were not very productive, but the second day I was with Claudia and Ellie and they really pushed me to do my schoolwork because they are always on track with schoolwork so it motivated me to get everything done. Thursday was the most stressful day because I wanted to have school being that I hadn't been in a week, so I really needed hands on help from my teachers.

   Other than the stressful homework and the struggle for being on time, I actually had a great time bonding with my friends. We baked food, watched movies, and did our nails. It was all somewhat relaxing to have those days off before we go into a straight week again of school. Also, Claudia, Ellie and I put on warm clothes and tried to make snowballs to throw at each other, but it was all icy so we ended up throwing chunks of ice at each other and singing songs from the new movie Frozen that we all love. We were immature during the snow days, and we had a blast. I am glad I got to spend those few days with my best friends.