The Way I Spent My Weekend

Hello Monday people! First of all, I just wanted to say Happy Memorial Day!

Now to tell you guys my story. If you guys have read Adrielys’s blog from Friday, she mentioned us going to the beach together. I am here to tell you about our adventures 🙂

So on Friday when we arrived at the Seabreeze Resort in Daytona, our parents went out to buy some snacks so we had the room to ourselves! But we didn’t stay in the room. We decided to explore the hotel and go out to the beach. When they returned, we went out to dinner. The place we decided to eat was called Ponce Inlet, a famous restaurant in Daytona.

 

And after that, we drove around Daytona Beach. The car ride was funny but also painful. Since we only took one car, we had to fit seven people in one car. So I ended up having to sit on Adrielys.
The next morning, we woke up early to get an early start on the beach. All day we relaxed at the beach. I played with my baby cousin, tanned with Adrielys, and went running. I even saw dolphins in the water and a dead shark in the sand. I must say, I got some color!

That night we went out to eat again. However, this time we didn’t know where to go and eat. So we drove around for about an hour just looking for a place to eat. This time though, the car was even more packed due to the fact that my older cousin stayed with us that night so we had to fit eight people into a car.

Sunday morning was our day to leave 😦 We packed up our bags and we were on our way. For breakfast we decided to go eat at IHOP. Yum! Then it was on the road again to head back home.

So for today, my family is hosting a barbecue for Memorial Day. My sister is coming from college 🙂 and my aunt, uncle, two cousins, and Adrielys and her family is coming over. We are going to have lots of food and a good time!

 

 

Summer is Almost Here!

Hi Guys! 

I am so excited for summer! Aren’t you all?

Summer is an amazing break from school and IB! However, we have to do our summer assignments for next year! Summer assignments are not fun. So I decided to volunteer because volunteer is fun and you get to help other people. The places I picked are extraordinary. Extraordinary because when you volunteer at these programs you have an excellent chance of communicating with our community (and not playing games, or social networking). I picked Florida Hospital Kissimmee and Give Kids The World!

Give Kids The World is an amazing place where children with life-threatening illnesses and their families are provided with memorable, magical, and cost-free experiences. I intend to volunteer here because I like the way we,  the volunteers, get to communicate, laugh and have fun with the children and their families. Give Kids The World includes world-famous theme parks. Doesn’t it sound fun? You should try it too.

Florida Hospital Kissimmee volunteer program is also going to be a great experience for you to communicate. When you volunteer at Florida Hospital, you get to talk to patients and you help them with what they need. Sometimes you can also talk to them to keep them comfortable in an hospital environment. To volunteer at Florida Hospital Kissimmee, you have to attend an orientation and then schedule your interviews. Volunteer at Florida Hospital!

Volunteer and have a great summer fellow classmates!

Daytona, here we come!!!

Well, I’ve got my bags packed- bathing suits, outfits, dark tanning oil, sunglasses, book- I think I’m ready for the beach!! I’ve been waiting for this weekend since like… Forever ago! I cant wait. In just an hour and a half I will be at the Seabreeze Resort on Daytona Beach with my best friend in the entire world! (Analiese :3)
We’ve left school early, gotten all our things ready and now we’re off! Sitting squeezed in the back of her truck driving to a place I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else! Its gonna be so fun! I’ve never been to Daytona beach so this weekend I hope is going to be one to remember!! The weather is going to be nice, no clouds or rain! Perfect for tanning ;)… So I hope Daytona is ready for us… Cause we are on out way!

Somebody Has to Say It – The Growing Anxiety

Along with the growing pressure from students with finals coming up that determines a portion of their overall grades, the stress and anxiety of teachers can also be shown in many different perspectives.
With the year almost coming to an end, I see a similar resemblance of behavior to all the teachers in Kohl berg’s conventional stage of moral development where one must obey rules and meet society’s standards.
which includes the fear of a dean walking in…While watching a movie…kind of like the classic “boss walks in while you aren’t working”

Today a teacher(no names) explained that the demands of society’s views and expectations from deans includes sending them daily lesson plans in order for the government/state(seriously? i have no idea) to keep track of whats going on in classrooms.
To be honest, from a student’s point of view I never even look at the board for learning goals or benchmarks (except chemistry cause we’re expected to copy them down every day). Most of my homework comes from verbal reminders from teachers.
I can’t see a future where my kids will be in a classroom that is filled with future technologies with daily reminders of lesson plans written all over their faces.
Whoever came up with the idea of lesson plans were obviously looking at education from an elementary-middle school point of view. In today’s AP and IB classes such as World history or Psychology…Well lets just say if you didn’t know what you’re learning then you shouldn’t be in that class in the first place.

I heard rumors of many teachers quitting, saying its not worth it anymore. Although I’m not a teacher or anything, I know that it takes even more time grading tests and making detailed lesson plans regardless of how long they’ve been teaching compared to maybe 15min-1hour homework from each class every day.
Many of my teachers emphasize it takes forever to meet state standards for every subject. This is even considering that some teachers teach MULTIPLE subjects and require lesson plans for each. Totally Unfair.

Therefore, in my view I believe that we should get rid of requirements to TURNING IN lesson plans however must KEEP making lesson plans… Does it help students? Who knows…but it surely doesn’t help ME
As hard as lesson planning is, most teachers wouldn’t want to teach without them. The plans take the pressure off when they are standing in front of the classroom. It also helps the teachers teach the subject better. But forcing them to write it down clearly and ENGAGING for the higher ups is seriously wrong.
Every teacher should have their own instructions for the lesson whether physical or mental. It helps them when they teach the class. The rest is random gibberish that are formal with deans telling you that they need evidence that you know what you are teaching.

-I believe teachers should have free time at home considering time that should be spent with the family rather than guides and standards.
I think lesson plans should be for the benefit of the teachers for them to teach, but I guess in today’s society it’s hard to say there isn’t a bad teacher around… therefore why they’re enforcing lesson plans.
Something is obviously wrong with the education system if lesson planning and turning it in takes longer then Schinleber CHARTS.

Some funny signs I’m aware of..Lesson planning can’t be written throughout the school day. If they do, most teachers are distracted by all the worries of the day, writing them more for their boss than the students themselves, making the lesson plans virtually useless.
Even sometimes as students, we get absolutely free days where we do absolutely nothing in class except work from other classes as teachers are trying to catch up with their lesson plan schedules and due dates.
Yes, I understand lesson plans are required to help teachers teach
Yes, It’s supposedly used to help both the student and teacher.
And Yes, we don’t like lesson plans either.

This blog is not meant to offend any teacher but is my personal view of how the education system simply forces unnecessary work for a paycheck.

It’s sad to know that some teachers LOVE teaching but HATE planning.

Fruits versus Vipers

Fruits versus vipers like sweets versus snipers. It’s currently late at night and your feeling weak, the serpent’s tail rattles as its dreadful tongue speaks. Fruits help one grow strong and survive very, very long; snipers shoot you when you’re weak and you’re tongue too dumb to speak.

Snake: Oh, you seem very tired, you should really get to bed. Just remember that woman you saw today that had you going nuts in your head. She glanced at you and smiles as her sugar lips glowed red. Too bad you let her go because she looked really attractive. There are other methods that can make you feel happier than you are now.

Me: I’m feeling kind of tired so I think I’ll go to bed…

Snake: You know you want to see it. A little vice can give you joy. Just a few minutes will do no harm.

Me: Well it sounds nice, but what if I go more than twice. I don’t want to get caught in an addiction.

Snake: You’ll be fine, just take a little peek. No need for her when the internet has a lot more women. You’ll have fun, just trust me on this. There is no need to be a coward, the intemperance can leave quicker, just pop onto the internet and enjoy what you see.

Me: Well I guess just for a few minutes. Nothing too long because it may just get serious.

Snake: Yes my friend just surf the internet for a few more minutes, you’re not weak for seeing these lovelies, but you’re weak to follow the light.

Me: *About to indulge in destructive vices*

(Enters my conscience)

Conscience: Do you really want to stop this low to satisfy a temporary feeling that’s here now, gone tomorrow, Dan?

Me: Well not really, but what else can I do, I feel hopeless?

Conscience: Make the right choice and wait to satisfy any desires you have during marriage. Don’t make the wrong choice and watch those falsely modified images.

Snake: Oh Dan you weakling, don’t listen to your “guide,” just being less strict won’t harm your marriage life.

Conscience: Be stronger than temptation because the wicked will see their end. You just have to wait patiently for your blessing that lies up ahead.

Snake: No you wretched human! Have a little more pleasure not fruits that take so long to savor.

Me: That’s enough you wicked beast, leave me alone to live in peace. As I go to sleep another night I thank my God for having shown me His graceful light.

Happiness

I love photos. No matter how bad or good you look, I love them. They can capture a moment, before it’s gone in an instant. I love memories. I think memories remind us that we’re human, with a habit of keeping the things that make us happy in our heads. So I decided to create this collage of things that make me happy. I mean, who doesn’t like to display things that make them laugh or smile? I don’t think I have ever met a person like that, nor do I ever want to. But, I digress.

I created this collage at the back of my door about three years ago. In my old home, I had the same thing but it was on a wall in my room.  You see, when you step into my room, it’s like you entered a portion of Paris and you immediately think “Why is this room so pink?” Actually, I wanted the walls of my room to be blue but my mother had other plans. She decided that if I wanted my room to have a Paris theme, the walls had to be pink. But the color of the walls is this weird remake of Beptobismal. Oh, and the pink color is divided up by lines that make it more Paris-y. On the left side of my room, there’s this huge poster of the Eiffel Tower that’s framed, and it sits above my bed. On the wall that holds the window, my bookcase had also made it’s home there. And on the right side of my room, is my wide dresser and the door that carries the things that make me happy on it’s surface.

Now that I have given you a tour of my room, sorry that I did so forcefully, I will give you a complete story of each beautiful picture on my door. All the way at the top, is this huge poster of One Direction. And if you don’t like One Direction, then I feel sorry for you. Anyway, beside my One Direction poster, are photos of Anne Hathaway in her photoshoot for Glamour magazine, the cast of Pretty Little Liars, my favorite artist Taylor Swift, Emma Stone when she went to the Met Gala two years ago, and this Starbucks holder that I stole when I bought my Caramel Frappacino. In the middle section of my collage there are photos of Adele at the Grammy’s, yet another photo of Taylor Swift, the hilarious Jennifer Lawrence at the premier of The Hunger Games, my concert ticket when I went to go see Taylor Swift for my fourteenth birthday, the Jonas Brothers at a photoshoot, and a fortune cookie that says “Opportunity always knocks at the least opportune moment.” In the next section of this collage sits photos of Zac Efron filming a movie, my favorite Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, another photo of Taylor Swift, the fabulous Emma Watson, Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfriend at the premiere of Les Miserables, and my absolute favorite actresses of all time, Meryl Steep and Octavia Spencer. There are also a couple of fortune cookies that I taped in various places. One says “Smile! A smile will make you young forever.” and another one says “There will be many surprises: unexpected gains are likely.” I also have movie tickets that I saved, like 21 and Over, Beautiful Creatures, Avengers, the Hunger Games, and Pitch Perfect. At the bottom of my collage, there are photos of AnnaSophia Robb playing Carrie Bradshaw in the Carrie Diaries, a review of the Hunger Games movie, another picture of Taylor Swift, a poster of Nick Jonas, lyrics from songs that I love, and a funny moment between Octavia Spencer and Emma Stone at the Golden Globes when Octavia won for The Help. 

In case you’re wondering, I obviously didn’t take any of these pictures because that would consider to be stalking. And that’s just plain weird. I have cut out each and every single photo from magazines and spent hours taping them on the door. But I loved every single minute of it because it made me happy to do something that would make me smile every time I would come across it. I think that thought goes into the steps that makes happiness. Step 1: Smile, Step 2: Do something that makes you happy, and Step 3: love.

For me, there are may things that make me happy. Writing makes me happy. Reading makes me happy. Movies make me happy. My family makes me happy. My friends make me happy. Play volleyball makes me happy. God makes me happy. Love makes me happy. Mostly everything makes me happy, except for sadistic things that try to bring you down. Oh, that should be Step 4. Step 4:Don’t let things bring you down.

So, the gist of this post is to be happy. If playing sports makes you happy, then I better see you in some field or on the court. If playing an instrument makes you happy, then keep rocking out. If writing makes you happy, then I better see your novel in the New York Times Bestselling Author list. Basically, do or be anything that makes you happy. And if you do then you have a shot at a silverlining.

Did you get that line from the movie, Silver Lining’s Playbook? If not, then I’m really disappointed at you right now.

Love, Karla

 

Bowling Banquet! (Christine Chan)

Today is May 16th, the day after AP world history exam which our class had been worked hard all year on. More likely, we’ve worked more hard in these weeks, just right before the AP exam. But everyone seems pretty confidence and did well on it, and that is enough to show what we had done all year and actually learned something. And the following day, which is today, everyone was expecting less and easy work to celebrate our success and victory, but it did not actually happened. We got more projects and essays we have to do in the remaining two weeks. But at least we had gone through it really well and get one big thing done before summer.

Setting apart from talking about these school works, I attended a really meaningful event today. Tonight, we had our banquet for our bowling team. I joined the bowling team in fall this school year and it is the first year I’d ever play sport in school.I was proud to be part of the team. I joined the team from a really average player to making lots of improvements and even scored a really high score when we were at the districts. And tonight, we celebrated our success although we did not make through the districts. We also thanked our coach and all the people that helped our team to get better. I received an award but I knew without them, my teammates and my parents, I couldn’t make it. I am thankful to have them to teach me in bowling techniques and encouraged me during the bowling season. There are also some really good players who even received scholarship for bowling for college and I would really miss them a lot next year. Joining the bowling team was a really fun experience and I also developed my interest in it. It also took away all my stress for a few hours of each day with lots of school works as part of IB. I really enjoyed it and I would never give up this opportunity and will continue to join and develop better skills in bowling.

Easy Day

May 15. What does that mean to me? Oh right, the ap world history exam. I don’t know about everyone else but, this day meant that I don’t have to learn anything at all. Go take a test, come out, go home. For once I won’t have to worry about homework or cram for a test the next day. Today was the day when I can relax on a school day. But of course I would have to go through the test first.

After studying for hours each day to prep for the exam I felt fairly confident to pass. For the first time ever I didn’t stress over taking a test. Usually I would freak out in my head and end up failing. After finishing I felt that it was doable and I got 3 at least.

When I got home I slept for the rest of the day. I mean what else is there to do, right?

The Big Day!

When I woke up on Saturday morning (5/10/14), I realized that something big is happening that day. The World Martial Arts Championship. This was the day that I’ve been waiting for months. I’ve been preparing for this for months. That was the day I had to show all my skills for the judges. I was pretty nervious when I entered the huge auditorium. Then I saw thousands of people going all around to their places. It was quite a mess. I signed up in the championship and waited in line for my badge. After a while, I went up to the room where my team and I had to perform the Demo Team for the judges. My team came 2nd place. I was still happy that we came 2nd place. This was actually an honor to get into 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in the tournament! Then came sparring, where I had to fight my opponent. I was quite nervous since my opponent was pretty big for my size. But now worries! I have some tricks up my sleeves. I would use my tricky fly-hook kick when he in the right position. So, that worked and I got 2 points out of 5 for a head kick. I could see my opponent’s face. He was angry and furious. He came like a raging bull towards me! I couldn’t do anything! He was too big to do anything else. So I had to do what I had to do. Take that hit from him. BOOM! he him hard on the chest, making me go 5 feet away from where I was standing. 1 point for him. I was still leading with 1 more point than him. So now, he did the same thing. Now I knew what he was going to do. when he came toward me again, I did my tornado kick to his head making him almost get a knock out! 4 points! 1 more point to go till I go to semi finals! He was kind of fainting so this was my chance again. I went towards his running and going under his legs and grabbing his head making him go down. 5 points! I won the round!!! I was so excited. But then came the semifinals. Now my opponent was 3 more degrees ahead of me. I was 2nd degree and my opponent was 5th degree. No hope for me! I lost! I’m not going to tell what happened because it was pretty embarrassing! Well, at least this was a pretty nice experience in the world tournament! I still enjoyed it even though I lost. Success comes from mistake.

Universal Language

Music is such a beautiful thing. It is amazing to think that we, humans, have created such a wonderful thing. We resort to music when we’re under any circumstance. Each song can express our mood. We listen to music when we’re happy, sad, angry, in love, or just trying to have some fun. We listen to music when we’re studying, showering, or even sleeping. Not only can we make music with our fingers, but we can also make music through our vocals. Each note, each beat means so much. I love music because it’s a way for me to express myself. Each song represents a tiny part of who I am, and what I enjoy. Music is also a way for us to connect with other people. When you share a song with someone, you are basically share a part of yourself with them. It gives us so much joy when you tell somebody to hear a song and they hear it and like it. Not only to humans have the ability to make music, but so does nature. The crickets chirping, the birds tweeting, or the waves crashing against one another is another form of music; It is the way mother nature expresses herself. Music comes from the bottom of the heart. Even if a song is in a language you don’t understand, the music can make your heart melt and that’s what I think is beautiful. Music requires no words, no actions, just a pair of ears and a warm heart and that’s why music is the absolute universal language.

** This was inspired by the chorus concert that I attended today, good job to whoever was a part of it. 🙂