Weekly Blog 9

Wednesdays are the worst. You're exhausted, can hardly keep your eyes open, not to mention you're expected to pay attention and take in information for 4 classes. It just isn't reasonable, especially when it comes around to tests, assignments or quizes.

A - "When did we learn this?" (Someone whispers to their neighbour)
B - "Oh last Wednesday"
A - "Oh.. you mean the day when I was a zombie and kept passing out?"

My solution for this is simple. Every Wednesday school should start at 9:20. That gives all students an extra hour of sleep. During this time teachers could have morning meetings, catch up on marking or even sleep in themselves.

The school day on Wednesday wouldn't end later, all classes would just be decreased to 55 minutes. I mean REALLY who wouldn't benefit from that? It would only help our learning and keep us healthy. 

Debate News Report

Shots fired

On Friday March 21, 2014 the second round of three debates took place in Mr. Murray’s grade 11 English class. The topic of the debate was whether or not the witches actually had an impact on Macbeth’s actions. Arguing on the negative side was Matthew Rossi, Brennen Beattie and Thomas Keith. Meanwhile arguing that the witches did indeed control Macbeth’s decisions, you could find Christina, Amy and James.

The debate followed the classic introduction, three argument rounds, free for all and finally a conclusion. The first round began with Christina, she was very well prepared and discussed how Macbeth was used as a puppet. Shots were fired once Christina drew a picture of Thomas Keith’s blog, where it was evident that he agreed with the apposing side. Thomas then stated his argument but was nervous and spoke very quiet. The affirmative side then had to rebuttal, they delivered a solid rebuttal and pointed out major flaws. Matt then strongly rebutted for the negative side and stated that Thomas was simply writing what Mr. Murray wanted to hear, not what his honest opinion was.

The second round then commenced as Amy had long, dragged out argument which took over 5 minutes therefore she was cut off. Brennen Beattie then introduced his argument that Macbeth had his own ambition to become king, and that he would have proceeded with the same actions regardless of the witches’ prophecy. Brennen paced himself through out his speech therefore making it easy to understand. Both rebuttals were evenly matched with numerous examples to back them up.

Then, the free for all horn was blown. Both teams screaming at each other, while the affirmative side whips out witch figures to mock the apposing side. Thomas then states, “What grade are we in? Kindergarten? Focus on the debate rather then making art projects!” The audience then got very involved, trying to project both sides but finally the closing horn was blown. The third round then began with James; he seemed extremely calm during his speech yet very firm. Matthew Rossi then began to talk about how the witches may have just been a myth in Macbeth’s head. Finally, following each side’s rebuttals and conclusions each side continued to throw insults and build upon their arguments.

The judges then left the room for a while to discuss their final results. Mr. Murray then talked to the class, explaining that the debate could go either way due to the fact each side had their strong and weak areas. After the judges finished deliberating, the came to a final decision that the negative side was the winner due to their timing for the arguments, strong rebuttals and valid arguments.  Overall, a well done effort by each side!

Weekly Blog 8

March 22, 2014 

Yes, the caption of that photo is March 22, 2014. 

Just the fact it is snowing this late in the year makes me cringe, not to mention it isn't a sprinkle of snow it's 10-15cm. This has to be the longest winter I have ever experienced and in all honesty I'm completely sick of it.

Anyways, this past week was course selection for next year, therefore physics x2, math x2, biology, english, link and a spare. Math is by far my weakest subject, so why take 4 math classes next year? In grade 12? All university level you may ask? My parents think if I don't do these certain classes I'm closing doors in my future.

I DO NOT WANT TO PERSUE ANYTHING INVOLVING MATH. It's that simple. 

Also- This past week was debate week, therefore it consisted of a lot of screaming and sass. I did not have the best debate experience, as we had to redo our topic the night prior to the debate since we researched the wrong one (Ugh, stupid us). But overall I think we got our point across to the audience, regardless that we did not walk out the "winners". Needless to say, next year for debates I'm walking in with guns blazing. 

Weekly Blog 7

Have you ever been super disappointed with a movie?

I went to see "Unstoppable" on Thursday with a friend. I was so excited to see the film as my favourite actor Liam Neeson stars. Needless to say he was amazing as always, but the movie lacked in certain areas. For example, the fact the whole setting took place on a plane is very limited. They did an okay job at moving to numerous areas in the aircraft but it felt very limited.

A summary of the play is simple, Liam was an air marshal on an international flight. Meanwhile someone on the flight texted him using an air marshal network demanding 150 million dollars in an account, otherwise someone would die every 20 minutes. The account turned out to be Liam's therefore he was being set up.

The whole movie consists of him trying to figure out what passenger is black mailing him. Three passengers were killed prior to the explosion of the person black mailing. It just seemed very dragged out, Liam kept setting his watch and looking at the time decrease all of three times.

In the end a bomb was found, exploded in the back of the plane, they landed it (roughly) with the back end missing, all people survived (except the three killed) and Liam went from being known as a terrorist up in the air due to the set up, to an international hero.

All in all I wish it was better since my hopes were so high to see it. 

Weekly Blog 6

Okay so I currently feel like I am locked in a prison cell as I am in Rockland over March break.

I moved from Moscow, Russia after grade 9. There I attended the Anglo-American school of Moscow which was an international school funded by the American, Canadian and British embassies. While living there I traveled to countless countries off the travel budget provided from the embassy, or I traveled with a sports team to a tournament in another country.

For example in grade 8 I attended a soccer tournament in Bucharest, Romania basketball in Prague, Chez Republic, and softball in Turkey, Istanbul. School break vacations included London, England in October, South Africa in December and finally Thailand in April.

I guess you could say I'm still in shock, or I haven't adapted entirely yet but lets be real living over seas has so many benefits in comparison to North America. For example the numerous cultures you may endure, or the fact all countries in Europe are only a 2-3 plane ride away. Not to mention my dad seemed to like the beer served in Mcdonalds or just about anywhere and it was considered a soft drink.

I'm not trying to pick apart North America for it's flaws, I'm just trying to point out that there is so much more out there and the world is practically at your finger tips...I mean you can be anywhere else in the world if you really wanted to, within 24 hours as long as you take a plane.

Weekly Blog 5

Well.. That was awkward.

There is nothing I hate more than awkward moments, those moments where you feel your face turn red and you're speechless. For example, when I'm working and a costumer catches a hold of my hand as I'm distributing their recipt. That moment when I glance up, we make eye contact and I force my hand away quickly.

Another moment is when you're rushing the the bathroom in class because it's "your time" and a tampon or pad slips out of your sleeve or pocket RIGHT in the middle of the hallway, as a class is walking by. Quickly falling to the ground, snatching the item and speed walking down the hallway, with the feeling of 500000 eyes looking at your back is insanely awkward.

There is even a TV show that recently came out called "Awkward". This show illustrates the awkward moments that occur in a teenage girl's everyday life, from family, to boys, to school. The show is quite funny but very relatable.

I wish there was a way to remove or avoid awkward moments. Like if someone invented a device that beeps or vibrates prior to an awkward moment so you can avoid it. How sweet would that be?