Jamia's Blog

This year has been filled with times when I was proud of myself. I had a few times when I felt like doing the wrong thing but then I thought about it and changed my mind. There was drama all over the school and most of the time I would make a decision to stay out of it. Sometimes it did catch up with me and I found myself in the middle of it though. I had a few proudest moments this year.

 I remember back when my grades were changing. I thought I was doing better than ever at the beginning of the year. I learned that being so cocky and confident wasn’t the smartest thing. I say this because; my grade went from the perfect score down to a low F! I was shocked because I didn’t think it would go down that fast. But I was proud of myself because towards the middle of the year, I picked that grade back up.

I also remember a few times during school when rumors and fights were all over the place. I didn’t want to be in the middle of that crazy environment. I made up my mind and decided to focus of the positive things. I got out of the drama square and got into a better one. I was proud of myself for walking away and doing what I should have done.

 For the end of the school year, my exploratory was gym class. I had problems with gym in the past with my attitude. I don’t know why I get irritated so easily but I guess I just do. I don’t like for people to force me to do things when I am not in the mood to do them. I made a few wrong choices when I decided to test myself, and express my deep emotions. Mr. Luciano and Mrs. Scott had to put up with me and my friends bad attitude and ignorant mouths. Yes, I did feel bad for acing that way but sometimes I didn’t feel well and I didn’t feel like participating in the activities. Down the line, I fixed my attitude out of respect for Mrs. Scott because she was pregnant and she shouldn’t have to deal with things like that.

 I was really proud of myself most of this year. I made some smart descions whether I was going down the right track or not. I didn’t want others to suffer because of my problems. I got my grades up, improved my attitude, and stayed away from the negative problems. I have really improved and once again I am proud of myself.

This school year has been almost crazy. I have had some good times and some bad times. For three years I had to put up with drama and alot of teachers that get on my nerves. I have tried to make the best of things but to be honest, it has been hard. Sixth grade was the begginning , seventh grade was the start, and eigth grade finishes it all.

I came into Mariner as a nervous sixth grader. I hardly knew what I was doing, and it was like starting school for the first time. I had the same friends from elementary and made a few more that I didn’t know. The teachers were all different than what I was use to. The work was more complicated and I felt as if I knew nothing at all. We were all little shrimp in pond full of sharks and whales! Basically, the year consisted of finding new friends and getting used to the new program. I enjoyed my first year, and was confident that everything would go back to normal once I become familiar.

Seventh grade was more of a challenge. Of course the curriculum got a little harder, but here came the drama. I was shocked because I didn’t think drama would build up that easily. People were fighting, friendships were starting to crumble, and reputations were being changed. Alot of people looked for an escape from the negitivity. I didn’t blame them at all. Like seriously, who wants to live their whole seventh grade year involved with drama and arguments? Nobody wanted to look back at their second year in middle school and see that they were in the drama square. But unfortunately, some people actually could look back and see that. To be honest with you, I was one of the people that had to see that their second year was involved with bad memories and drama. Yes, seventh grade was tough with some bad memories. But hey, they are memories no matter good or bad.

Whoa! Eigth grade got a little crazy. Almost every girl and boy were dating, and drama hit the fan ! Everyone had problems with some one else and most of the time those problems resulted in a fight. I believe I was in almost all of the confrontations we had this year. I mean like seriously, theres no need for all of the drama when it’s our last year. I tried so hard to stay out of it all, but somehow it always caught up with me. I lost a few friends over the course of this year, and I also gained some. It’s a shame how rumors and gossip can tear a friendship apart but it does. That’s mostly how I lost a few friends. Most of the time, we became back friends, but other times we didnt. Over all, my eigth grade year was relly good and I enjoyed it.

For three years, I can easily say that it was filled with good times and bad times. I started off as a little fish in a big pond, but became quite familiar with the enviornment. Drama increased as the years went by. Friends were lost, and friends were made. I will never forget the memories I have from these last three years. Yes there were alot of bad moments but you cant forget everything just because of a few problems. My middle school year’s were something I will remember for quite a while !

During the middle of the school year, my social studies grade was going down. I had a 69 average and never thought it would get that low. I was doing what I was supposed to be doing at the beginning of the year but I guess I slacked off. I picked my self up and changed an F average to a good B average.  This was my accomplishment.

The beginning of eighth grade was the easiest part of the school year. I was doing good, focused, and passing with very good grades. I told myself that if I pass this year with a low B or a high C, that was good enough for me. I didn’t want to be one of those kids who fail all year around, and not do anything about it. Actually, I didn’t want to fail at all! I felt like a change was coming along and I wasn’t going to be happy with how it turned out. I quess I was right!

Contemporary Issues was getting harder every marking period. We had newer projects, more worksheets, and more notes to take. I couldn’t believe that I would have to keep up with all of that. Report cards and progress reports were being handed out and mine wasn’t at all what I expected. A 69 was listed under contemporary issues. I couldnt understand why all of a sudden I had a low grade like that. I wasnt focused and had a lot of things on my mind. Everything brings consequences and I relized it fast !

My mind was spinning and I couldnt grasp the concept of why my grade was that low. I kept asking myself over and over again what I need to do to get some help. I went around to Ms. Ducharme and wanted to know if there was any type of extra credit I could do to pick my grade up. Luckily for me, she was giving an extra credit essay for people who wasn’t satisfied with their grades. I finished it and turned it in to get my grade to a B. I was lucky to have good people in my class to motovate me. They told me if I tried I could really get my grade up. To be honest, the advice really worked.

I never really thought my grade would go down so low. I was shocked to find that after being so good, I failed! I didn’t have much hope and faith that my grade would get better. I was dispointed in myself. I picked myself up, got focused, and turned myself around. I went from an F back to a good B.

5-10-10

Schooled

By: Paul Lanqan.

Setting: Bluford High School

Characters: Mom, Lionel, Dad, Jamar, Aunt Mimi, Kendra, Coach, Teachers.

Plot:

The book for this marking period is called Schooled. Schooled focuses on hardships and complications. Lionel is a kid in high school who struggles with reading. In class Lionel’s teacher asks him to read poems and stories but Lionel gets nervous and studders  as he reads. Inside, he struggles with hiding his reading disabilities and problems at home. His only comfort is basketball. He makes a descion to drop out of school or continue. He always hears from his teachers that he should study more but he doesn’t want to hear it. He soon relizes that he needs his education if he wants to play basketball.

 Lionel Sheppard is a student at Bluford High school. He has problems with his reading, and tries to hide it. He lives at home with his family. Lionel’s mother is in the army and has been deployed for longer than she planned to be there. He really wants his mom to be home but she doesn’t come home. His father is never hardly home, always working. In school, his teacher is always nagging him about his reading and grades but Lionel doesn’t care. His teacher asks him to read poems and stories and Lionel gets nervous. His hand start to sweat, his body shakes, and he studders like crazy. He has dreams to just get away from the trouble.

 Lionel has a job at the local carwash with his friend Jamar. Lionel tells his friend about his problems at school and immediately Jamar gives him some advice. “How about you come and live with me and brothers at my apartment? You don’t have to listen to what people say and you can do whatever you want. Just drop out.” Lionel doesn’t know what to say, but he does start to consider the idea. He would love to get away from all the negativity at school, but then again, he doesn’t want to drop out of school because his father would be disappointed. At home, he has other things to worry about. A lady named Denise comes by looking for his father gives them some homemade macaroni, and Lionel doesn’t know what to think. Is his father having an affair with another woman while his mother is in another country? He starts to ask questions. Lionel’s father denies all the accusations, and gets angry that Lionel would even think that. The whole situation leaves Lionel and his father with a whole bunch of negative energy towards each other.

 The next day at school, theres basketball tryouts in the gym. Lionel and his friends go tryout and they put on a very interesting show. Lionel proves to everybody that he is really good and he should be on the team. When he thought everything was going good, his teacher tells the coach that Lionels grades are really low and he will not be able to participate this season. That was the worse news Lionel could have ever heard. He storms out of the gym running all the way home. He grabs his clothes, throws them in a bag, and plans to run away from home. His Aunt Mimi tries to stop him but it doesn’t work. His Sister tries to stop him but that doesn’t work either. He runs away to Jamar’s house. At Jamar’s house, they are having a party and it gets a little crazy. He starts drinking beer after beer and gets to vomiting. He decides he doesn’t want to be there any longer so he starts walking home. On his way home, he gets robbed by a couple guys. His father goes to look for him, and finds him on the sidewalk and takes him to the ER. When Lionel wakes up, he hears from his father that Denise is his college tutor. His father is in college because he had the same problems as Lionel when he was in school. Lionel couldn’t believe it.

 This story was a good lesson on appreciating help. If you have a problem with anything it’s best to just get help from people who offer to help you. It may be hard to keep up , but you will be lucky you had that help. School gets hard sometimes but its good to have that education and success.

Recommendation: I reccomend this book to people who like to read this series. It is a good lesson on appreciating things.

Nikki Giovanni

if i can’t do
what i want to do
then my job is to not
do what i don’t want
to do

it’s not the same thing
but it’s the best i can
do

if i can’t have
what i want . . . then
my job is to want
what i’ve got
and be satisfied
that at least there
is something more to want

since i can’t go
where i need
to go . . . then i must . . . go
where the signs point
through always understanding
parallel movement
isn’t lateral

when i can’t express
what i really feel
i practice feeling
what i can express
and none of it is equal
i know
but that’s why mankind
alone among the animals
learns to cry

Reflection: Nikki was trying to say that sometimes you cant always do what you want. So , you have to go with your second option. You may not like what you dont want to do , but that would be better then doing the wrong thing.

Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice –
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do –
determined to save
the only life you could save.

Reflection: I think Mary was trying to tell us about experiences. She was trying to show how getting out of something is like a Journey. Making choices can become a journey because of the many varieties of choices you  have to make. Think of descions as a pathway you need to follow to get to the next place on your journey.

Haiku

Bright- colored parrot

Singing to me so sweetly

Smiling for the sun.

Limerick

There once was a grumpy giraffe

Who hadn’t laughed since he was a calf.

But one night a bunny

Said a joke quite funny,

So he finally chuckled a good laugh.

Cinquain

Sagebrush

Prickly and green

Hoping for rain to fall

Reaching spiny spikes to the sky

Planted

Free Verse

Hot summer sun

Blistering on the beach

Giving lots of sunburn.

Emily Dickinson.

Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne’er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.

Not one of all the purple host
Who took the flag to-day
Can tell the definition,
So clear, of victory!

As he, defeated, dying,
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear!

Reflection: My opinion of this poem was almost unsure. At first I relized that this poem may be about apprecitating education but then I wasn’t so sure. Alot of people take education and being successful for granted. Being successful is something you should cherish and take seriously. Survival is questioned wether you succeed or go down the wrong path.

Maya Angelou

Woman Work

I’ve got the children to tend
The clothes to mend
The floor to mop
The food to shop
Then the chicken to fry
The baby to dry
I got company to feed
The garden to weed
I’ve got shirts to press
The tots to dress
The can to be cut
I gotta clean up this hut
Then see about the sick
And the cotton to pick.

Shine on me, sunshine
Rain on me, rain
Fall softly, dewdrops
And cool my brow again.

Storm, blow me from here
With your fiercest wind
Let me float across the sky
‘Til I can rest again.

Fall gently, snowflakes
Cover me with white
Cold icy kisses and
Let me rest tonight.

Sun, rain, curving sky
Mountain, oceans, leaf and stone
Star shine, moon glow
You’re all that I can call my own.

Reflection: This poem symbolizes how women have lots of things to do. Maya was trynna say that as a women there are many responsibilities they have to take care of.