Video Game Response

The first video game I ever played was with my cousins in Michigan.  They had brought their Gamecube from home and one windy day when it was too rough to go tubing on the lake, they insisted we play.  There were my two older cousins, Sara and Julia, probably both around thirteen at the time. And the ones who had brought the Gamecube, John, my age, and Janine, a year younger.  I was 5, and pretty confused about how this was going to play out. We all sat on a rug around the 12 inch TV perched on a short table. John put the small game disc in and soon enough all the Mario characters were racing around a track.  I had opted not to play this round.
“We’ll show you how it’s done” little Janine had told me.  I rolled over so I was laying on my belly looking up at the screen.  The speakers on the TV didn’t work too well but I could still hear the chimes when one of the players took the lead or got bonus points.  I mean as far as I could tell, it looked pretty easy. There weren’t too many buttons to push and they looked like they were having fun. And if a 4 year old could do it, I could do it,  I told my 5 year old self. When the round was over, I took Julia’s remote. She told me I would be the character “Peach.” I was expecting an actual, round,  edible -looking peach to pop up. When the game started, I looked for it on the screen, but it was nowhere to be found. My little mind thought, “ there’s a red man (Mario), a green man (Luigi), a mushroom (Toad), a Princess. Where was the peach? I let out a sob. “There isn’t a peach” I whined. Sara and Julia laughed.
“Peach is the Princesses name, honey!”
The screen went dark.
“Did she die?” I said.
“No the games over, dumbo” John teased.
The tears came back.  “But I didn’t even get to play!”
I spent the rest of the rounds out, watching them play. My first time ever “playing” a video game wasn’t successful, but at least I figured out that Peach from Mario wasn’t a fruit.

CEJ #2

Alyssa

2/4/13

Jones,Zach

Scholasticclassroom.com

Can the Government Outlaw Your Name?

Recently in Iceland a 15 year old girl finally got fed up with her “name” which wasn’t really her birth name anyway. Born with the name “ Blær” which wasn’t a registered girls name in Iceland, the government outlawed her name illegal. On all of her personal documents, she was given the name “stúlka” which means girl. In Iceland, parents select their baby’s name from a list called the Personal Names Register. They choose from 1,712 names for boys and 1,853 names for girls, and Blær wasn’t one of them. Her and her family

tried to get her name possible to use, but it was rejected because it was too “manly” of a name. After all these years, she became too fed up and decided to sue the government. She won her court case and can now legally use her given name; Blær Bjarkardóttir. Very joyous after the case closed she said, “I’m very happy. I’m glad this is over. Finally, I’ll have the name Blær in my passport.”

    I don’t think the government has any right to say your name is illegal or say that it isn’t allowed unless it’s like profanity or something. If I was Blær, I would have done the exact same thing. Growing up being called “girl” would be a pain. And besides, names can also mean special things that the government shouldn’t have power over. Like my name is Alyssa Ann. I was named Alyssa because my mom’s best friend was Melissa and she loved that name but my parents didn’t want them to be the same, so Alyssa it was.  And Anna was my grandma, but they shortened it to Ann. So my name has a special meaning to it. What if the government had made it illegal and just called me girl? Unfair and against any type of background culture. There was a slight bias, more on Blær’s side, just because the article was about how it wasn’t fair to her. And I totally agree.

CEJ #1

Alyssa

Fordham, Benjamin

Mckinleyville Press

Jan. 30th

Cover

                                   Activists Protest Timber Harvests
Strawberry Rock. Over time, this has become a favorite spot of many Humboldtians and tourists. You can only imagine lovely and magical things from a place named after a fruit, but lately the only reason it has been in the news is because of the new harvesting plans. Green Diamond Resource Company has made a tentative plan to clear cut 84 acres near the sacred rock. Since it has been considered blessed site to the Yurok tribe, the manager of Green Diamond’s Forest Policy, Gary Rynearson, says; “Strawberry Rock will not be disturbed as a result of harvesting, and there are no future plans for any development associated with the rock.” He also stated that no old growth would be harmed in the plan.  EPIC recently said removal of all those trees, in that area, old growth or not,will harm the environment. Clear cutting will have a negative effect on the local watersheds and the habitat. Abe Brower, part of Trinidad’s Friends of the Forest organization, says that cutting the redwoods will only leave dense brush fields which aren’t a sustainable living place for wildlife. Green Diamond is holding a meeting at the Bayside Grange on Wednesday February 13th to determine the outcome of Strawberry Rock.  

This is actually one of the most pointless things I have ever heard of. No more Strawberry Rock? Sure, Green Diamond promises that it won’t be harmed but isn’t one of the best parts about it the amazing view of the redwoods? When I turned 4, my parents rented me a “fairy” for my birthday. Her name was Princess Lavender and she claimed to live on Strawberry Rock. I had obviously believed her, having the young mind that I did. Still to this day, even though the fantasies of fairies are gone, I still think of it as such a magical place. Humboldt has so many gorgeous spots but it is by far one of my favorites. I would literally hate to see the redwoods go, and I really really hope the Rock it stays how it is. I think with all the environmental activists in Humboldt, the trees and Strawberry Rock will be okay.

Ender's Game Questions chap 1-5

Ender Games Questions 1

1.  The adults lie to Ender because if they don’t he’ll want to stay with his family. Valentine is like his best friend and they love eachother a lot. She is protective of him and so are his parents.  They have to lie to get him to feel like its okay to come to battle school.  

2. his parents- His parents were told by the government to have another child and then it became almost a sin to have 3. Ender is a sweet boy but he might be a little bit of burden on them because he is a ‘third’ Knowing that Ender gets picked on by kids for being one, then what kind kind of feedback do the parents of him get?
   his brother, Peter- Peter probably deep inside, loves Ender. But he acts just like any really annoying big brother would. He didn’t pass the test for battle school and maybe he’s jealous of Ender and that’s where a lot of his hate towards him comes from. Being the first child, he might feel even more like he has power over him even after that fact that he’s a third.  
   his sister, Valentine -Valentine and Ender have a really strong bond. She isn’t bothered by the fact that he is a 3rd as far as I can see.  
   his classmates- His classmates made fun of him for it.  They teased him, called him Thirdie, poked and taunted him about it.

3. Peter threatens Valentine and Ender, but he probably only does that because he wants to feel more powerful over them. Being the older brother, he feels like he has to have more dominance or people might see you as weak. When I get in an argument with people, I know that sometimes I say things that I really don’t mean because I’m just worked up. i bet Peter has the same problem.  

4. Peter is mean to Ender at the beginning of the reading because he feels equal with him, if not above him since his monitor got taken out. But when Graff comes back to tell Ender that he has qualified to be in battle school, Peter feels like he might have been too harsh on his little brother before he knew his ability to be there.

5. Ender- I think Ender has a really spunky, vigorous, and dangerously adorable personality. Card made it seem this way by making this little 6 year old a somewhat endangering person to be around. Even though he is young and small, he will do what he has to do to defend himself.
Valentine- She seems almost too sweet. Most sibling don’t get along as well as Ender and Valentine do. But nonetheless, she is a really nice older sister to Ender and she has been  very supportive of him.
Peter- Peter is the kind of brother I would never want. He seems like he would beat me up if he got the chance, get in trouble a lot and act like he was better than everyone else before he even knew them. I think Card made this evident by showing how angry he got with Ender.

6. Even though it isn’t true, Graff means that women are getting more weak every year. They were evolved as the gender to give birth. Women are becoming more scared and don’t want to go in a battle school away for years at a time to fight buggers in a place that would seem like a complete parallel universe to them.  In a sense he’s saying that men are better than women when it comes to this kind of thing.

7. I think Card showed Ender taking Graff's hand to symbolize that he was now under his control, in his power and going with him. His parents watch this and that shows that they see that he is taking a different path and leaving the nest.

8. I think the statement “individual human beings are tools that the others use to help us all survive” basically means people work together to get things done better. When they are against the buggers, they will each contribute their skills. Some people may be better at actual warfare but they don’t have as much of a brain as someone else. But when you put them together, you have a better team that can accomplish more.

9.  “isolate him enough that he remains creative -otherwise he'll adopt the system here and we'll lose him." This obviously applies to Ender. Ender is very very smart and he knows what he’s doing probably a lot more than the rest of the Launchies. Isolating him will separate him from the rest of the group so he can keep his creativity and won’t adopt their “ways.” Graff calls the other Launchies “pinheads” and “scum brained morons” so he doesn’t want Ender to lose his ability to them and adopt the attitude of the other boys.  

10. Ender did not mean to break the boy’s arm. The boy kept punching him in the back of the head and he went to grab his arm to stop another blow but in zero gravity, it was a lot more force. I don’t think Ender actually realizes how powerful he is yet. He has to learn his own strengths. The other question asks is it okay to do crazy things in order to survive. Well in this case it was an accident and Ender wasn’t really in a life threatening situation. But if you’re feeling endangered by someone or something, and your life comes before theirs in your mind, then yeah I think that defending yourself in whatever way necessary is acceptable.

11. In Battle school, crying and whining are considered weaknesses. Ender doesn’t show his feelings because he doesn’t want to look like a sissy.  Letting your emotions out is important because if you don’t then they just get all bottled up. He is just 6 years old, so crying is a normal thing. I think crying is just a natural part of being young.  I don’t keeping it all to himself is a good thing even though crying in front of everyone else would make him seem immature and a baby.

12. Ender played against in Bernard in a video game and won 2/3.  This is a weird way to show who is more “powerful” in some way, but Bernard really felt like her could beat little Ender, only to be proved wrong. Ender proved that even though Bernard was older and had been there for longer, he had more skill in that area. Bernard had told him he was a nobody until he got his first kill and Ender challenged him. I think this is a good way to settle their problems so no one gets hurt.  

13. Ender shows many ways he deals with stress and pressure. He uses his counting method where he basically counts squares until he gets lost and forgets what he was worrying about. This is a good one because he can blow off steam without affecting anyone else.  He also just sometimes ignores the thing that’s bugging him until he can’t take it anymore.He broke a kids arm the last time he tried to do that and ignoring everything will look like you don’t mind it and it could just keep going on. Ender waits until he’s in bed to cry and a good cry can really get a lot out and make you feel more calm.  This is good because no one will see him crying and he can let everything off his chest through tears.

Ender Games Anticipation

Lying is justifiable if it's for the greater good. 
I ranked this a 3 because sometimes lying to someone can benefit them. When you are young and your parents want to protect you from something and ensure that you are going to be okay, then hiding something and twisting the truth is fair. But when you are asked a question or are in a situation where the truth must me told, then lying is unacceptable. 

Sometimes violence is the only way to solve a problem
I disagree with this pretty strongly because words can do a lot. Talking things out and finding a solution that way is a lot easier. Sure, violence may get the job done quicker but in the end, a bunch of fighting and yelling isn't going to make a solution. When you are in danger then I can see a place for violence. 


It is okay to kill someone in self-defense.
If there is ever someone threatening your life, fighting back, maybe even to the death, may be necessary.  If the person is acting like they will kill you or hurt you, and defending your own life comes before anything, then yes,  killing someone to save yourself seems like the right thing to do. However, if there is nothing life threatening going on then there is really no reason for taking someones life.

Words are stronger than fists.  
 I rated this a 4 because getting physically hurt and beat up is bad. But wounds heal on the outside with the right care. Sometimes getting hurt mentally and inside is way worse. No cream or medicine can erase mental scars. I agree that fists can be very damaging and screw you up pretty badly, but I've never experienced getting "beat up" but there are somethings that I will never forget that have been said  to me.


Bullies hurt others because they have low self esteem.

 I strongly agree with this because I've seen kids become bullied, and it's always from the kids that have something to be insecure about. Having a rough life at home and having your family degrade you or have other kids say things that you don't like behind your back  can affect the way you think about yourself. The bully may think that being mean to someone else can make them feel better, but really in the long run, it won't.

Only the best and brightest students should receive the best education to become a nation's leaders.  
I strongly disagree with this. Given an opportunity, even people with disabilities can empower other people. Sure, people that apply themselves more and get a really good education might have a better chance to be a "nations leader" But sometimes, the kids that  don't know how to do school subjects as well as other kids have gone through a lot more and actually know what to do in real-life situations. I think having a 4.0 might be nice for everyone, but having people skills and working with other people I think will help you WAY more in the long one. Grades mean close to nothing to me when I think of someone's personality. 

Revenge is never justified. 
Revenge is one of those things that can be really really funny but also really backstabbing.I rated this a 3 because I'm in the middle and am unsure about what ki8nd of revenge they are talking about. I like a little revenge, makes everything just a little more interesting.

Crying is evidence of weakness.  
 I strongly disagree with this. I think crying is just one of those things that is really natural for everyone. Being sad isn't being weak, its having emotion. Getting hurt isn't being weak, its a feeling and a pain. Justifying "weakness" is something that I can't do.

Any action is acceptable in war.  
People  will do crazy things in times of war and fighting. I gave this a 4 because war can make people lose their minds, and forget what's really important. A lot of things done in war aren't necessarily on purpose.
Teenagers need discipline and rules because they can't control themselves.  
I really don't agree with this. Teenagers are very capable of making their own choices, they just might not make the right ones. Parents and guardians supply guidance and help for kids that need it. I think having some small rules for the kids that get into a lot of trouble might be needed but not too much. Being young and making mistakes and learning from them is sometimes the best way to learn things. That's why I gave it a 2.

Only through personal sacrifice can someone create positive change.   
Sacrifice is something you have to lose or change about your life to benefit something else. This is not always true. Doing good things like raising money for a charity aren't sacrifice and they are benefiting something. Some kinds of sacrifice like getting a dog from the pound, might be a little sacrifice with money but in the long run, the dog will give you happiness. I gave this a 2. 

Generating compassion for your enemies is the only way to create peace.  
Bullies and enemies like it when they get what they want to hear. But turning it around on them and acting nice, is a way to get to them and bug them.   It might make them think that no matter how mean they are to you, you aren't going to be bugged by what they try to do.  This isn't the only way to make good with your enemies though, so I gave it a 3. 

My learning Style

I am a Bodily-Kinesthetic Learner

       
Your mantra: Movement is fun-damental.
       
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence means you think in movements. The fundamental ability to use movements for either self-expression or precision to achieve a goal is crucial for surgeons, athletes, mimes, choreographers, and directors.
The best way for you to retain information is to associate it with an activity. Dance, acting, and sports are easy for you to master. Relate what you are trying to learn to one of these activities, and you will retain information and gain understanding.

I took acting from when I was 5 to when I was 11. I did learn a lot. Having fun incorporated into my work  is one of the things that basically  helps me learn. Sitting in a classroom is boring and I just get tired and don't retain as much information as I could. I think this describes me pretty well because moving around and doing things helps me learn the concepts better.

I am a Naturalistic Learner

            
Your mantra: Let's investigate the natural world.
       
Naturalistic learners often understand the patterns of living things, and they apply scientific reasoning to the world. You recognize (and can classify) different types of plants or animals. You also empathize with animals. Some well-known careers for those with naturalistic intelligence are farmer, naturalist, animal behaviorist, and scientist.

I love being out in nature, but I really don't think I  "understand the patterns" of the natural world. I like going outside and going to the beach and all that but I don’t think I really learn THAT much from being outside. I go outside to have fun and just relax...not really to learn anything.
        

I Am an Interpersonal Learner

Interpersonal learners thrive on social interaction. Friends often ask you for advice because you are understanding and in tune with the people around you and their motives, emotions, perspectives, and moods.
Your ability to manage relationships helps you understand situations and take a leadership role when necessary. You enjoy teaching and sharing your thoughts.
Careers that require insight and the ability to read what someone else is thinking or feeling -- such as teaching, psychology, or sales -- would be a great match for those with interpersonal intelligence.    

For me, being social and being around people is basically the biggest and most important part of my life. You can learn so much from other people through their successes, their mistakes and things you do together. My friends and family seriously mean everything to me. Without them, I couldn’t get through anything.  I also really love working with little kids and I think that it’s something that I want to have a career in, which the paragraph is right about. I think that this is the learning style that is most like me because interacting with other people is the way that i learn. Reading straight from a book doesn’t work, At all. There is something way different about trying to learn something on our own and working with others to get it done.

The Epileptic Event

Alyssa

12/4/12

The Epileptic Event

Hearing the halftime whistle blow during a sports game can be a true relief.  But one Saturday in September, one girl didn’t come off the field. Halftime had been called and there was something that we didn’t realize.

                  “Kay girls, bring it in,” our coach Larry said as he high-fived all of us coming in for our water break.  It wasn’t sunny but the air was so cold that day that it was burning our lungs.  The fog hung low in the air and clusters of crows dotted the field. The grass was so damp it had soaked through our grass packed cleats. We were exhausted and it was only halftime. The score was 4-2 and we were in the lead.

 “Where’s Ayla?” Larry said. Ayla was one of the more soft spoken girls on our team so maybe she was just behind someone. We all looked around and saw her on the field looking down at the grass. She probably lost a hair tie or something, we all thought to ourselves. But it was only a few seconds later that we started to doubt our predictions.  She started stumbling backwards like there was someone pushing her from the front.  She fell down flat on her back and her hands were spasming like crazy.

“Oh god!” Larry exclaimed.  He dropped his clipboard and ran straight for Ayla. Her parents got up from their chairs on the sidelines and ran over, with Ayla’s baby twin siblings in hand. The twins, a boy and a girl, began to cry and scream. Their parents gave them a quiet but assertive hush as they kept sprinting across the field.  They had a look on their faces that told us they knew what was going on.  As they got closer to her, her hands stopped moving.

The other teams coach had a concerned yet perturbed look on his face as he came over to our team. He had on a black sports jacket and a bright red baseball cap. His face was scrunched up like he was trying to see something.

“What’s going on here?” He said shrugging his shoulders glancing at our team and then looking back at the field.
“We know as much as you do right now.” I said passing a worried look around with my teammates.
         At that point Ayla was laying there completely still with a blank stare on her face.  Her skin had already been a fair tone but now she was pasty and clammy looking.  We weren’t even that close to her but we could still see her face. She was a pretty small girl and so seeing her small motionless figure laying in the middle of the field was really scary. To be honest, for a minute or two, I think our whole team thought she was possibly dead.

“Ayla,” we heard her mom say. “Wake up, come on hunny, we're gonna go home.” Her mom’s messy bun sat at the nape of her neck and her jeans peaked from under her baggy sweatpants as she bent over.  Soon enough, Ayla’s  head raised from the grass but her mom laid it back down on the ground.  

“You just take it easy.”

Alya closed her eyes.

Her parents looked at each other. Her dad took of the hood of his jacket and pushed his hair back. He took a deep breath and then looked back down at Ayla.

“ I’m gonna sit you up now but I want you to let me know if you feel dizzy, okay?”  he said.

Ayla’s eyelids quivered as she forced herself to open them. It looked like she was trying to say something but her words just wouldn’t come out. She turned her head a little. I guess her Dad took that as a yes.
He  tilted her back forward.

“Does that feel okay?” he asked.

She nodded weakly. She pushed her dark brown hair out of her face and let her dad carry her off the field. Relief washed over our whole team. We were hugging and just still standing there in disbelief.
Once on the other side, her parents wrapped her in a Mexican blanket. She looked back at us and managed a feeble smile.
When Larry came back over from helping Ayla’s family, the team was buzzing with questions.

“Is she gonna be okay? Where’s she going? What happened to her? Why did she fall over? Is she hurt?”

        
We later learned that Ayla had been diagnosed with epilepsy when she was little. She had had a seizure on the field.  She recovered quickly and was back playing with our team at the next practice.  In following weeks, she had recurrent seizures at school and at practices she would get bloody noses. She had gotten new medications that really weren’t helping her and they thinned her blood out a little too much which caused her to bleed really easily.  
“One time, when I was little,” she told us, “my aunt held me by my feet to try to stop my bloody nose. It didn’t work. Don’t try that at home.”  We all laughed at her stories because it seemed like she wanted us to. She was so open about the fact that her epilepsy was a part of her life, and it was one of those things that she couldn’t do anything about.  We all learned a lot from Ayla about how when something is in your way, you can’t spend all your time trying to make it better. Ayla also taught us to accept the things that we didn’t like about ourselves.  She didn’t like having seizures but it was something that she had to live with.   She scared us all on that one day but in the long run it taught us a lot about living life to the fullest even with the things that try to stand in our way.