Change

Schedule changes are always lurking around the corner if you decide to perhaps do a sport in the middle of the year. Sports are usually 6th period so unless one has already been playing a sport since the beginning of the year, schedules are bound to change. Schedule changes are not too bad. If you get the same teacher and only the periods change then you'll be okay. Granted, it will be a new group of people you would have to learn with but it wouldn't be too major. Yet, when your teachers change around in the middle of the year, problems are sure to arise.

The question is, should schedule changes also change a student's current teachers? Unless it is absolutely necessary, I think that a student should not be switched out of their current class and into one with a different teacher. Even if the course is the same, each class is not the same. Different teachers have different methods for teaching the same information and it always takes time for students to adjust. Often times, teachers teaching the same course will go at different paces than each other and if a students happens to switch, they could possibly be stuck making up a tremendous amount of work.

I think that change will always be a difficult thing to accept. Everyone goes through it, just in different ways and at different times of their live. Why is change so hard? I think it's because humans are just used to being comfortable. We like to feel like everything around us is under control. When it isn't, things become difficult. Although everyone goes through change, how we deal with it will determine if the change is positive or negative.     

Keeping It All Together

With articulation a looming figurehead in our academic lives, students often feel overwhelmed. Choosing classes for the following year is undeniably one of the most difficult aspects of our school careers. As much as I would like to say that we only have two more years of this mayhem, it only grows more tiring in college. A trend I'm seeing with students currently in this time of indecision is that they plan on taking a ton of AP classes. Honors classes are menacing as well.

http://www.chicagoacademic.com/blog/bid/233000/ShouldITakeAPCourses

In the hopes to attain an impressive GPA, we overwork ourselves. We defy the odds and still manage to get through the day with barely enough sleep. Is there any way to prevent this? Will it get worse than it is now?

I think that our study habits need to continue to gradually develop in order for us to keep up with the increasing workloads that the coming years will present. Especially with the numerous AP classes that everyone it taking, we need to improve our study routines.

One of the most talked about topics within our class blogs is procrastination. It is something everyone wants to stay away from, but somehow ends happening in the end. Whether excessive or minuscule, procrastination must be reduced in order for students to keep all of the school work under control.

Often times, I tend to multitask and do a few things at once all while doing my homework. Often times, I'm wasting time by being distracted rather than just focusing and finishing what must be done. With many AP classes likely in next year's schedule, I think its vital to prioritize the homework one gets and decide which one is more important to finish first.

In order to be successful or competitive, sacrifices must be made to accomplish your goals. Whether it is less sleep or less relaxation, sacrifices can be reduced by better study habits.

How Much is Too Much?

With the time to choose the next school year's classes quickly approaching, students are often faced with vital decisions. Questions often surface and the necessity to find answers become dire. What classes should I take? How hard is AP Chemistry? Should I take the honors or AP level of a course? Most the time, choosing your courses for the next year can be a tremendous hassle.

It is incredibly important to formulate the classes one is going to take on their future career. If one wants to become an engineer, it might be helpful to take an engineering course. Yet, what if that engineering course is not weighted? Questions once again become incredibly pressing. As high school students hope to be admitted into good universities, the competition to earn the highest GPA possible becomes a large part of the high school experience. Many people might decide to take course that are weighted simply to have higher GPA's and often times cannot handle the workload. So, should one decide to take as many AP classes as possible and risk lower grades across them, or take enough of them as to be successful in each? The answer often depends on the abilities of a person and the search to find a balance is evident.

If a student can handle taking many high level courses and still do well in all of them, then they probably have a a balanced schedule fit for them. Unfortunately, this "balance" is different for every person. If you are barely getting any sleep at night because of an overload of homework, then they might want to reconsider the current classes being taken. Sleep is vital for your health and one's overall productivity during the day so it important to take classes that allow for a reasonable amount of sleep at night.  

Creating a balanced schedule for yourself is important. I feel that students should only take the AP level of that course if they feel capable of being successful in it. As vital as it is to challenge yourself and reach for the highest GPA possible, it is always nice to remind oneself that they only go to high school once, and if all you do is overwork, then you are not fully "living". If one feels that an AP class might be too much, then then perhaps an honors class is a great way to still challenge oneself as well as getting the weighted credit.  

Does It Catch On?

The media has recently centered around the deaths of the 17 victims killed by a group of Islamic extremists targeting members of Charlie Hebdo, a weekly satirical French magazine. These French cartoonists created satirical images of Muhammad that had unfortunately provoked the violence of these extremists. Following this crisis, the term "Je suis Charlie" has arisen as a slogan meant to be a sentiment for the losses of these victims. The popularity and spread of these phrases have spread across the world and have even been written in their own languages. In English, it would translate to "I am Charlie". Yet, the quick spread of this slogan highlights that it could just be another trend, one in which many do not fully understand the extent of what they are saying.

One of the main topics brought up from this crisis has been the concept of freedom of speech. In saying "Je suis Charlie", one can also be supporting the basic rights to speak freely. The members of Charlie Hebdo had drawn images that were highly offensive against the Islam religion and it upset many Muslims. Despite such displease, these cartoonists were undeniably considerably respected individuals for speaking their mind, not caring about who disagreed.

The other aspect of their drawings was that it actually greatly mocked the Islamic religion by devaluing the image of their religious founder. I understand that they wanted to freely express themselves and those that didn't like it should have simply stayed silent, but there is a fine line between being expressive and indirectly insulting a religion.

Although it is important to be open about your thoughts, there must be a certain amount of moderation with your statements and the audience must be greatly considered. In this case, certain individuals reacted too greatly. The term " Je suis Charlie" supports the acts of Charlie Hebdo and is a great concept to be thinking about. Many will say, but only those that understand what it means may be able to understand the message that it holds.

How Many Languages?

 America has a great diversity of languages, ethnic backgrounds, and cultures. Of course, almost everyone speaks English here. There are also many that grow up speaking their native language along with speaking English. Students these days get to learn another language in school, allowing many to perhaps be able to speak two or three languages. Yet, learning a completely new language is no easy task. There definitely is a sense of accomplishment from being able to speak many languages  and it can be quite useful as well. Amazing as it is to know two, three, or perhaps four languages, it is incredible to know that there are people in this world that know ten or even twenty languages. 

In Africa alone, there are at least hundreds of different, unique languages and it makes me wonder how many there are total in the world. The fact that there are people that are willing to take on the task of learning so many languages is tremendously admirable. After reading the article, Adventures of a Teenage Polyglot, I was surprised to learn about Timothy Doner, a teenager, that at the age of 16 could speak more than 20 languages. It all began when he wanted to learn modern Hebrew for his bar mitzvah and from there, he took an interest in learning Arabic. Then he dived into Russian, Italian, Persian, Swahili, Indonesian, Hindi, Ojibwe, Pashto, and Turkish, just to name a few. He taught himself mostly from grammar books and flash card apps on his phone. He later more formally learned French, Latin, and Mandarin in his sophomore year of high school. 

It is a momentous feat for someone Timothy Doner's age to be able to speak so many different languages. This accomplishment not only requires hard work but also a gifted mind that can retain all of the languages learned. The practicality of knowing so many languages it quite useful. The more languages a person knows, the more diverse communication can be for them. It is also helpful for many jobs too. Although most people don't know the 20 or so languages that Timothy Doner does, learning more languages can be beneficial for yourself in many aspects. 

How Much?

Grades can be overwhelming, stressful, and often incredibly draining. It just goes to show how vital grades can be and the extent that it affects a student's life. Yet, grades definitely don't always represent the person's mastery or intelligence on a certain subject. Grades are comprised of many different assignments, tests, projects, and quizzes and how much they are worth depends on the class. Every class is different and how much each category is worth totally depends on the teacher. With that in mind, what is the ideal ratio or weight of the categories that comprise students' grades?

Always looming over students are tests. In most classes, tests make up a gigantic chunk of our grades and is where much of our stress originates from. Tests and assessments rightfully are worth much more of a grade. However, they should not in any way be worth so much that one's grade reflects on tests alone. 

http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/school/teststress/

In some classes, tests are worth 50% of a grade. This can be both positive and negative for a student. Learning wise, it requires the student to understand the material of the test much more. Some students that slack off on class work but actually comprehend the lessons can benefit from the test saving their grade. The problem with this though, is that it does not advocate great work ethic and may make some students lazy. This greatly contrasts to what they would be facing in the workplace and future. 

Such a high portion of one's grade consisting of a test score can be hazardous to student as well. Often, missing a single question on the test could translate to an entire percentage lost on one's entire grade. Tests don't always represent a student's skill set and can fluctuate by a number of different factors. Even if students prep for tests, sometimes mental errors can lead to costly mistakes that are difficult to make up later on. Perhaps the student studied so much the night before that they are completely drained the morning of the assessment. This spells doom for the student. 

Tests must also not weigh too little, otherwise students would not study. All things considered, what is most essential is a balance to be present in student grades. Test are vital but they shouldn't constitute the entirety of a grade. Some classes run the danger of falling into this and can be dangerous for students many ways.

 

  

Year Round or Traditional School Year Calendar?

Most schools across our country have a traditional school year calendar that constitutes a long summer break with shorter breaks throughout the school year. In a year round calendar, schools instead have a shorter summer vacation with longer winter and spring breaks. According to an article written by Grace Chen on http://www.publicschoolreview.com,  it seems that most schools opt to stay with the traditional school year calendar that was created originally so that students could help their parents grow crops during the summer. Yes, that was a thing of that past that our modern society doesn't need any more. Yet, why do we still stick with this traditional calendar if it doesn't conform to the needs of our world today?

Both the year round calendar and the traditional school year calendar have their advantages and disadvantages. Our high school, MMHS, as well as most others around this area have a traditional calendar that cuts winter break and Thanksgiving break a bit short. I, and most students, would probably favor for our current Thanksgiving break to a bit longer. Yet, if it were to be extended, many students could begin to forget the things that they learned at the beginning of the year prior to break. This could lead to problems at the end of the year when students may need to recall knowledge that could have been lost through a longer break. Although the traditional year has shorter breaks throughout the year, it allows for students to easily readjust and get back into the curriculum at school. The great aspect about this calendar is that summer break is longer, which means more relaxing and other extracurricular activities or volunteering. The main problem with a long summer break is that it may make it more difficult for students to retain knowledge from the prior year that they need for the next.      

In elementary school, I was able to experience a year round school calendar and I actually enjoyed it much more than the traditional year. Although I had less of a summer break, I enjoyed much longer breaks in between the school year. It usually gives students the rest that they need in between the hefty schoolwork throughout the year and allows for more energy to learn more efficiently when they come back. The shorter summer vacation is dreadfully disappointing but it makes it more difficult to forget prior learning. 

When it comes down to it, the decision is based on a trade off of benefits and problems with each.  It eventually leads to a weighing in on which carries the higher ratio of pro to con. Which calendar do you prefer?