Ignore this Title

Most of us have video on our iPods. Most of us see movies in the theater. Most of us are mature enough to comprehend the things we see in modern day America. We see a lot of images every day. Except now, they are censoring video sites at school. Isn’t it possible that a first grader, as well as an eighth grader, can go home and watch videos that are banned at school? Why did they block

Yes, language arts isn’t a time to surf the web, and some of the videos out there aren’t appropriate. But you have to put it into context. Not many students would try to play an inappropriate video with a teacher wandering around.

People may not use Google Video very much, but they don’t have to block it. Some of the things out there illustrate good points that help augment our learning, like the Dove video on beauty.  Google Video also benefits people who are visual as well as auditory learners.

I don’t know if there is a way to petition this, but now they have cut off all the video sites at school.  They added a lot to our blogs, and now they are gone.  There has to be a way to stop them from blocking Google Video.

Think about eating lunch at school. You probably have your own table, and your own group of friends that you sit and talk with. You have your own designated area. Most people do.

But have you ever tried to breach the boundaries?

A few years ago, some friends and I attempted this social experiment to see what would happen. Instead of taking our usually seats, we decided to sit with the popular people.* We positioned ourselves at the very end of the table and waited.

*This reference shouldn’t be stereotypical. Not all people exhibit the behavior that these girls did.

I couldn’t believe what I heard.  They greeted each other with some sort of profranity. It got worse when the other girls sat down. They tried to ignore our presence by SHOVING US OFF THE BENCH. They couldn’t fit in the rest of their posse, so they had to get rid of us. Eventually it got to the point where we had to call one of the lunch aides (the people that dismissed you) over. She pointed out that since we had arrived their first, we were allowed to sit there. They relocated.

The next time we came to lunch, they presided over a different table. I was surprised. My conclusion was this: People like the hierarchy they have. Try to mess with it, and things could get ugly.

We never went over there again. We didn’t need to, and personally, I didn’t really like being in their company. I wasn’t fond of competing in their popularity contest again.

How will you prove to your parents that you learned something?

It’s true; there’s nothing tangible to see, like a test or a piece of paper with 19/20 on it. But there is this blog.  I’m sure most classes don’t blog every Tuesday, or talk about “-isms”, or start class each day with a question that makes you have to really think.  Here I will try to explain how I will prove to my parents.

Even though they weren’t there during discussions, I will talk to my parents about the topics I am learning about, like Romanticism or Transcendentalism.  I think if I can explain the topics to them, they will know that I understand what they are.

I have also learned about different words, like loquacious or monolithic.  I will demonstrate my knowledge of sesquipedalian words, by going to pseudictionary and displaying what I created.

I will also show my parents my posts.  I am going to show them my most descriptive posts and also the ones that I had fun with.  I have learned how to write in different ways, varying from first person to dialogue.

Even though I don’t have any test scores to prove it, I hope they believe me.  Blogging is a weekly assignment, and it isn’t always easy to find an idea on a regular basis.  It’s also hard to analyze different 19th century concepts.  But it all pays off when you finally learn and understand.