Classroom Post 19

Wednesday, November 28th, 2012

In class yesterday, we studied the Scott v. Sandford case of 1857. Dred Scott was a slave who sued his owner for freedom, as other slaves had done at the time. Scott had a family and had been brought to a free state to live and work as a slave, then brought back to a slave state. He was suing his owner for "false imprisonment" and battery, mainly arguing that because slavery was prohibited in free states, he had become free when his owner moved there. When he was taken back into slavery states, he argued that it was against his will. As the case traveled up through the courts, the main debate became as follows: are slaves people, and therefore would be affected by such laws, or were they property, in which case their owners could take them wherever they wanted without a problem. Unfortunately for Scott, the supreme court ruled that slaves counted as property, and he was deprived of his freedom. This was a result of the political climate after "bloody Kansas" and other violent incidents leading to the civil war.
In class today, we watched a movie clip of the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, two candidates for the Illinois senate position in 1858. Douglas wanted to be President someday, so his way of getting votes and pleasing everyone while still addressing the slavery issue was to never voice his own opinion on slavery, but to answer every question concerning views on slavery with something along the lines of "I believe the people should decide." He even says at one point that the best way to be a country would be if every state did it's own thing and left the others alone. Lincoln, on the other hand, was clearly against slavery, although not for black rights. He believed that the Declaration, which said that all men are a created equal, entitled the blacks to their natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It was cool to watch the debate reenactments, and I was actually engaged in what was being said and the climate around the debate. I think we should do more of that, if it's available.

30-Day Challenge!

Tuesday, Day 22: "And one day, Buttercup realized that whenever Westley said 'as you wish,' he was really saying 'I love you.'" - Princess Bride

Wednesday, Day 23: "I can see that we will share all that love implies. We will be the perfect pair, rather like my thighs!" - Gaston, Beauty and the Beast on Broadway

30-Day Challenge!

And what you've all been waiting patiently for, this amazingly large updates post for the 30-day Challenge! I have passed the half-way mark and am well on my way to the finish! Here are the quotes I collected this long weekend!

Tuesday, Day 15: "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..." - Finding Nemo

Wednesday, Day 16: "You know what this apple tastes like?"
"What?"
"An apple."

Thursday, Day 17: "Pitiful creature of darkness, what kind of life have you known? God give me courage to show you you are not alone!" - The Phantom of the Opera

Friday, Day 18: "What's this? What's this?! There's color everywhere! What's this? There's white things in the air! What's this? I can't believe my eyes, I must be dreaming; wake up, Jack, this isn't fair! What's this!?!" -The Nightmare Before Christmas

Saturday, Day 19: "I AM NOT LOSING TO A CPU!!!!" - Me

Sunday, Day 20: "Someone around here has a beautiful voice!"
"Oh, you're probably hearing Christine or Julia."
"What?"
"A lady likes your voice."
"What?
"We're giving you a compliment!"
"What?"
"We're talking about how ugly you are!!!!" - Santa Parade, Newburyport

Monday, Day 21: "I like your freckles."
"You like my freckles?!"
"I like you're freckles!" -Drama class

Classroom Post 18

Monday, November 19th, 2012

In class on Friday we received a large excerpt of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. I excerpt came from chapter 8 in which the slave owner approaches two slaves hunters an an attempt to retrieve his runaway slave, who was female. The main message of this excerpt comes from the three men's views on female slaves and the inhumanity with which they view them. They debate whether or not to send the dogs after her, but conclude that it isn't worth the risk, because the dogs were likely to just maul her. Although this wouldn't be a problem with other slaves, she is valued only for her looks and ability to produce more slaves, which means that she is only owned in order to get pregnant and pump out more children to be forced into slavery. Not only is the fact that she is owned disgusting, but that her only purpose is to give birth to child after child and watch them get sold into terrible lives for as long as she is able to get pregnant. The book itself is meant to raise awareness about the horrors of slavery, and it serves it's purpose.
In class today,we had a brief discussion pertaining to the reading we did on Friday. After that, we received and excerpt from the fugitive save act of 1850, from section 7. The purpose of that entire section is to prohibit any Northern or abolitionist from aiding a fugitive slave in any way, shape or form without severe fines and confinement. No only does this law confine slaves, but it condemns anyone with a heart good enough to help the slaves out of their tortured lives, almost condemning those who have good hearts and punishing them for it. This law not only encourages slavery, but discriminates against those who oppose it. We also received part of a speech by Frederick Douglass, one which described a slave's view of the Fourth of July celebrations. It was an interesting perspective, as I had never thought about what a celebration of our equality, freedom, and tolerance would look like to a slave who suffers torture every day at those who claim to uphold and exercise those right they earned in the war.

30-Day Challenge!

Monday, Day 14: "Nothing can bring you peace but yourself." -Ralph Wald Emerson

30-Day Challenge!

It's time for another one of those posts, people, only this one is one day later than usual. Oh well. I have a life sometimes. So, these three quotes come from a variety of sources. Friday's quote comes from a song we are preparing for the winter concert this year, which is quite jazzy and hilarious. Saturday's quote comes from the Phantom of the Opera, a great movie and even better stage show. I was watching it again that night while working on a present for a friend. And today's quote comes from Maddie Schmuch, a good friend of mine whom I love dearly.

Friday, Day 11: "That's what happens when you listen to advice given by three witches and your wife!"- The Tragedy of Macbeth
Saturday, Day 12: "Keep your hand at the level of your eyes!" -The Phantom of the Opera
Sunday, Day 13: "Just ignore me. Not completely, nod and smile, but ignore me." - Maddie Schmuch

Classroom Post 17

Thursday, November 14, 2012

In class yesterday, we went over the answers for the Internet things we did on Friday. The interesting part of the conversation was that half the class had different answers for the first question, which asked which half of the country was more populated, the north or the south. Half responded with North, and half with South. After some discussion, we discovered the problem. Slaves did not count as people, instead only counting as 3/5 of a person. Although we had learned about it before, I forgot. It just shows how whites viewed blacks at the time. No one deserves to be considered less than a person. After that, we read three different descriptions of the Mexican war. One was from 1911, one from 1995, and one from 2005. The description from the newest book was the most informative, which was strange. You'd think that the description made closer to the actual event would be the most descriptive, but that was not the case.
In class today, we watched a quick video describing the Mexican war. We had to take notes while watching, which was a new experience, and it was hard to get dates and names. After we finished the video, we took a small video quiz. It was pretty easy, just some true or false questions. After that, we discussed the compromises made in an attempt to unit the country after the Mexican war. This was presented in five separate bills, which allowed California to be admitted to the U.S. as a free state, allowed slavery to continue in Washington DC, enforced a tougher fugitive slave law, allowed New Mexico and Utah to decide of they wanted to be free states or not, and shrunk Texas and expanded New Mexico. Interestingly enough, even though the bills were technically supposed to be voted on, they asked those who are opposed to simply not vote. This was supposed to bring he country together again, but we know how that turned out.

30-Day Challenge!!!

Wednesday, Day 9: "I can't believe Jesus called me a dick!"
Thursday, Day 10: "Da-who Dores, da-who Dores welcome Christmas Christmas Day!"

Harriet Tubman VoiceThread

Here it is! My Harriet Tubman VoiceThread, narrated by yours truly. Feel free to leave a comment! (Hahaha as if you have a choice.)

30-Day Challenge!

And it's time for another two days of quotes! On Monday, I had the pleasure of watching Wreck-It Ralph in theaters, which was quite the adorable little movie. It apparently referenced a lot of retro video-games, but my brother and I only recognized a few. Our parents, on the other hand, recognized a lot from their childhoods. And today's quote comes from English class, where we were sharing what it was about the holiday season that we liked.

Monday, Day 7: "I'm bad, and that's good. I'll never be good, and that's not bad. There is no one I'd rather be but me." - Ralph

Tuesday, Day 8: "I like the sound of winter. It's like impending doom without the doom." - Jess Macey

30-Day Challenge!

Hello, people! And here are two more quotes for the 30-day challenge, for today and yesterday. If you think you've missed some, look at my classroom blogs to find more of my quotes. These quotes include one from a new TV show I watched today, and a video game I have played through quite a few times. The first quote is from Portal 2, a great puzzle game with some pretty hilarious dialogue. The second is from an anime called Hetalia: Axis Powers, which takes every country in the world and creates characters out of them, and then depicts World War 2 in highly amusing yet educational way.

Saturday, Day 5: "Asta la pasta!" -Italy, Hetalia: Axis Powers

Sunday, Day 6: "All right, I've been thinking, when life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade! Make  life take the lemons back! I don't want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these?!" -Cave Johnson, Portal 2

Classroom Post 16

Friday, November 9, 2012

In class yesterday, we completed copying down our partners information about important people in the fight for and against slavery. After that was completed, we took a lot of notes and talked about slave conditions and how they escaped from slavery, which brought us to the Underground Railroad. I remember that I was always super confused about what the Underground Railroad was, considering it's name is very misleading. After years of actually learning in elementary school and the ten repetitive readings we did on it yesterday, I can safely say I will never not know what it exactly is again. (My grammar is fantastic, I know.) We took ten paragraphs about the Underground Railroad, each one taken from a different text book, and then answered questions about the similarities and differences in each. After that, we had to write our own definitions. I didn't realize how much information varied between textbooks. I knew it did, but some textbooks had definitions that from a completely different aspect on the entire situation.
In class today, we went to the computer lab and answered question using an interactive map showing the North and South statistics from 1820-1821. It involved an obscene amount of math, and I didn;t see how the first sheet was super important to have. The second sheet, which regarded the country's political aspect and the results of Missouri Compromise, seemed much more relevant. Although I suppose the first sheet provided good information for inference.

30-Day Challenge:

Day 4, Friday- "I spy with my little eye something beginning with C."
"Let me guess... Is it... corpse?"
"It was cloud, actually."
"Oh darn, close but no ciggar."
"There aren't even any corpses in here."
"Give it time."

Classroom Post 15

Thursday, November 8, 2012

On Tuesday in class, continued to fill out our sheets on those who opposed and supported slavery. After completing those, we started to examine the Constitution and whether or not it supported slavery. So far, I've found that although the Constitution does not come outright saying either, it has certain loopholes that allow for slavery, and the possession of human beings as property. From these first few looks at it, I think that it isn't pro-slavery per say, but tolerant of it. If you tried hard enough, you could bend the argument in the favor of the other side, but just seeing how obvious the loopholes allowing for slavery are, it's hard to believe that the founding fathers, or a majority of them, didn't believe in slavery.
On Wednesday, we took some initial notes on slavery regarding the states that had slavery, the people for or against slavery, and the treatment of slaves in general. We learned about the cotton gin, designed to say the slaves from labor and eliminate the need for slaves, but all it served to do was free up slaves to work in the field. We looked at how the industrial revolution treated them as well. The pieces for a slave went up during that time, as did the work for those living on cotton farm in the south, as cotton was in high demand. After that, we read through a sheet either for or against slavery, and then answered questions on the back. we shared our answers with a partner so that we both ogt the information, but some of us didn't finish.

30-Day Challenge:

Wednesday, Day 2: "It's dangerous to go alone. Take this." -Legend of Zelda

Thursday, Day 3: "You can take control of my mind and body, but there is one thing a Saiyan always  keeps... his PRIDE!" -Vegeta, Dragon Ball Z

30 Day Challenge!

I am going to try a thirty-day challenge talked about on Ted Talks, which includes adding or subtracting a habit into your routine for thirty days. Since every year I participate in lent at my church, which means no meat for 40 days, I decided to add a fun habit that correlates to something I like to do and will hopefully amuse me.

For my thirty day challenge, I will find one new quote per day, whether it be inspirational, funny, or just something I really like. As I find new quotes, I'll add them to my already existing quote book. Hopefully I'll be able to maintain the habit of adding more quotes everyday once the challenge is done.

So, my quote for Day 1:

"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not whither, deep roots are not reached by the frost." - Lord of The Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring

Classroom Post 14

Monday, November 5th, 2012

This is the first time I'm making one of these posts in a while, seeing as how last week was spent working on our integrated assignments, which you can see the final result of posted below.
 In class on Friday, we started the introduction into our new unit, the civil war, and consequently, slavery. We broke up into different groups of three and read different stories about slavery written by those who had experienced it. In one of the narratives, it talks about how the village the narrator lived in did have slaves, although they were treated almost as equals save for extra work and the usual social limitations that would have followed seniority anyway. I thought it was an interesting comparison, the slaves of the African tribes versus the slaves of the west. Both are in fact slave, but the western slaves are treated worse. Although how his tribe treated the slaves could have been and exaggeration on his part. The second reading was about a girl who was born a slave and thought her life was good for the most part, but looking back realized how ignorant she was. We made storyboards about each of the stories, which was a little confusing seeing as we had no idea what was relevant to what we were supposed to be writing down.
In class today, we shared our storyboards and copied down the information into Venn Diagrams, comparing the two stories and finding similarities between the situations as well as the different outlooks of someone who was born into slavery and someone who was forced into slavery. After that, we broke for lunch and were greeted with worksheets upon our return. The sheets had information about an important political figure, and my group had Abraham Lincoln. We didn't have time to read through the sheet, so we skimmed quickly in search of the information needed. We filled out our portion of a diagram sheet, and then broke up into different groups to get information about the people others had studied. We didn't finish, though, so I'm missing two of the five people.