Testing on Apostrophes!

Apostrophes, what are they? the are the little line that goes by the "s" right? Yeah, thats it! I learned about this a few years back, actually, a lot of years back! But, re-learning something always helps you get smarter right? You add nouns to this and it sounds complicated but if you think about it, a noun is only a person, place, or thing. That noun is possesing something. That's all you need to know really... 

When do you use apostrophes? Before or After the "s"?

-Well, it depends. If the subject is already plural, like workers, then you add the apostrophe AFTER. If the subject isn't plural already, like worker, then you add the apostrophe BEFORE the "s".

I took a quiz about apostrophes, here is the link:

http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/ViewObject.aspx?ID=WCN6502

I got 7 out of 10 questions right on the quiz. Two of the questions I didn't get right were because of a misunderstanding about how I had to write it. Instead of writing "All the teachers' desks", I wrote "Teachers' desks". So that wasn't a big deal.

If you are a writer and you need a little advice on using nouns, read this:

-Nouns, like I said before, are basically known as just a Person, Place, or Thing. They aren't anything special so don't stress out when people say something to you about them. A noun in a sentence is just the subject of the sentence. THAT IS IT!

Plural and possessive nouns fit into my blogosphere because I am always talking about something or someone.

FAIL! :)

Is Blogging Narcissistic?

In Class, we learned about how blogging became more famous. Mena Trott was one of the main people who made blogging available for anyone! She was very interesting and I really liked her speech.  She involved what she thought, the facts, her experience, and media. Media is such a big part of the world, ecspecially in blogging because it is all over the internet! This is her speech link:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/mena_trott_tours_her_blog_world.html

Anyway, This is my opinion on Mena Trott n' stuff:

Why should we know who Mena Trott is?

-We shouldn't. I didn't and nobody in my class did either. Yeah, she is kind of famous for something huge in the world wide web but I don't think the history of blogging is very important. That is just my opinion, don't take it personally.

Why does Mena believe blogging is important?

-This is a part of her speech: "You know, I have this record, this -- this 1910 census of another Grabowski --I mean, that's my maiden name, and there's a Theodore, because there's always a Theodore. This is all I have. I have a couple of facts about somebody. I have their date of birth, and their age, and what they did in their household, if they spoke English. And that's it. That's all I know of these people. And it's pretty sad, because how -- I only go back five generations, and then it's it. I don't even know what happens on my mom's side, because she's from Cuba and I don't have that many things."   She talks about her ancestors and how she thinks it is sad because she doesn't know much about her family.

- "So this -- you have -- you have these people aging, and now this is them today, or last year, and that's a powerful thing to have, to be able to track this. I wish that I would have this of my family. I know that one day my children will be wondering -- or my grandchildren, or my great-grandchildren, if I ever have children -- what I am going to -- who I was, and so I do something that's very narcissistic." In that part, she talks about how in the future generations, if they exist, she wants them to know who she is/was.

Run On and On an On and On... and Fragments, OH MY!

In my last class, we learned about Run Ons and Fragments in sentences. We were told to take a quiz about Fragments and run ons and tell you all how we did!

This is how I did:

I took this quiz
-Grammar Bytes - Chomp Chomp Quiz on Sentence Fragments:

    http://www.chompchomp.com/frag01/frag01.htm
 
How did you do?
-I did okay, but not the best. I only took the first Section and I did pretty good. There was about 5 questions or so that I looked at, read and couldn't figure out what the hell the answer was! So, I guessed!

What do writers need to remember when writing sentences?
-Remember to put the correct puncuation!

How do run-ons and fragments fit in your blogosphere?
-I use run-ons and fragments sometimes when I am writing, but I am definitely working on it!

Can you share an example of a run-on sentence?
-My Example:
-This Friday I am going to go smimming and to school and to a football game and go bowling and see my friends and I am really excited and I'm not sure if I will ever stop talking because I love to talk and I hate using punctuation. muahahahaha, I WIN! (:

Can you share an example of a fragment?
-My Example:
-A story with deep thoughts and details.

Self-Directed vs. Independent

What does it mean to be Self-Directed?
-To be Self-Directed means you have the ability to pull yourself away from your social life and finish your work (direct yourself) without being told, once or multipul times.

How is that different from being Independent?
-being independent is having the ability to be by yourself and not get bored. You also are not influenced by the media and socialization around you, you are yourself. Your independent self.

What are some examples of self-direction?
-I, personally, am not the most self-directed. I need to be told to do my homwork because I forget about it. A lot of the time, it is late too.
-I can be self-directed though, and one of the times was on what at my school we call Walkabout days. Walkabout days are days without classes and meetings get scheduled to propose or wrap projects we do. On a few walkabout days, I get distracted and don't do work. But, there are definitely days that I do all of my work. I have meetings the I scheduled, that my Triad scheduled and that my friends want me to go to. One day, I had gone to about 3-4 meetings, got homework done AND wrote either a proposal or wrap up for a project i had, and researched it!

How can you connect blogging to self-direction?
-Blogging is definitely a self-directed because we are supposed to do our homework at home, or at school. and online. since it is online, we have to make sure we dont get distracted in the process of writing our blog (by facebook and such).

20 Reasons Why Students Should Blog

First of all, I am really new at this.
Second, I dont know where to start!
Third, This is why I think Students should Blog(:

http://murcha.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/20-reasons-why-students-should-blog/

I went to that website and read the article about why students should Blog. some of the reasons I did not agree with but most of them I did. I don't agree with at least 3 of them:

1. Reason Number 3- Learning and Writing should suit all learning styles. Nobody should be left out! Not even if you are gifted ed, visual students, or ‘normal‘ students. EVERYBODY should have the same learning at their own levels and own learning strategies!
2. Reason Number 15- The computer can, yes, keep your projects and school work safe...BUT, it can also delete it just as easily.
3. Reason Number 19- "Students are happy to share"....Well, not all of the time. you should still get their 'permission' to share their writings if that is what you want to share. Kids may still want to have their "Student-Teacher Privacy".

I also have at least three reasons why I agree with it..The ones I agree with strongly are:

1. Reason Number 1- Most kids and teenagers LOVE the internet and to be able to get their work done and be on the internet at the same time seems more fun than sitting at a desk, handwriting everything.
2. Reason Number 5- I, personally, like reading fun things more than research papers. To learn stuff from their peers' blogs, would make them super happy!
3. Reason Number 21- Yes! We get to make our own decisions?! Yeah, you do now! Kids can be creative and have fun writing about whatever they want!

Those are just the main ones that I either agree or disagree with. I had to give an argument so I dont just say "I think we should blog...". I needed a reason to fight over blogging, with myself

-CrystalBooBear(: