Just for Fun :)

Ever had tons of homework and absolutely no motivation to do it? Yup, well right now the Olympic Games are on and steak is cooking....and homework is piling. Please comment with your horror homework procrastination stories or something interesting about mid-winter break or about the Winter Olympics! :)

The Pantech Impact

I recently got a new phone, the Pantech Impact. It's pretty new and not a lot of people have it, so here's a basic review. I've had this phone for about a week and it is absolutely an amazing phone. It comes in two colors, blue and pink. The blue one has a black interior keyboard and the pink one has a white keyboard. Now about the phone. The Pantech Impact is a "clammy" phone; it opens up instead of slides. The front is a touch screen for dialing and you can access your address book, messaging, recent calls, and the music player. Once you open the phone, the keys and screen light up. Although the interior is not a touch screen, everything is easy to get to and the keys are really easy to use. The only thing I think could be improved is the camera. It is in an awkward position and your finger tends to cover it when taking a picture. Also, it has two megapixels, which is normal for a phone, but a lot of others have three megapixels. But most of all, it has a really slow camera reaction. Once you press the camera button to take a photograph, you must remain in position for at least two seconds before the camera takes the picture. But other than that, the Pantech Impact is a great phone for avid texters, first-time phone users, and phone pros :).

Finals and Procrastination

Finals strike fear in the hearts of many scholars of our generation. It is an entire week of testing for 6 different classes on what you learned. This week is one not to take lightly. It feels like the fate of all of the school years to come resting upon these bubbled answers or written explainations. For people who have studied hard in the previous weeks and constantly practiced the information learned will not really need to do too much extra studying for these exams. But for the majority of the population of students, procrastination feels too good to be true until a couple of nights before the first final exam. You find yourself cramming information into your brain that takes weeks of repitition to master, and studying for 3 hours each night for each subject. For these procrastinators, here are a few good tips that I followed. Create flashcards for every subject possible. They are usually for key term definitions or for learning a different language. Quickly review these cards twice a day (not in a row) and for short amounts of time. Also be sure to shuffle the cards after every time of use so that you don't memorize them by the order they are in. But most importantly, make a finals study schedule and detail it with the information you need to study that day for each subject. Create this study schedule so it covers the two weeks prior to finals week and the studying needed during finals week. Even though this schedule is hard to follow, try your best and keep it in a visible area so whenever you have spare time you can complete a couple items on the schedule. After you are done reviewing the notes, using flashcards, and other studying, take a nap because your brain processes the information more thoroughly in your sleep. Then, finals will no longer be so intimidating to you. Rather, it will be a week to focus with short days and light studying.

ICS

For many people, International Community School, ICS, is a mystery. The question often is: What's so great about ICS? Well, many often emphasize "focus week," but that is merely one week in the entire school year. True, it is exciting, but what about the rest of the school year? And here begins the battle of RJH vs. ICS. RJH has electives, ICS does not. This point can be argued either way, good or bad. Personally, I don't like having electives because having a class for only half the year usually makes you to learn the information with less depth and repitition. Also, the choice is often difficult and the results sometimes disappointing. ICS is a much smaller school people wise and facility wise; the grades are 7-12, and there are only about 400 people. The building is just a square and two portables, making it virtually impossible to get lost or to be late for class. But most of all, the teachers are ecstatic to introduce people to the ways of ICS and get you comfortable before throwing the big projects out. 7th grade teachers: International Studies - Mr. Elliott - 6 foot 6 inches tall (wow), teaches in the cottage (a portable), and has his policies: If the assignment is late, NO CREDIT. His motto: Participate once a day to keep your grade an A. In this class, pay attention, take notes, complete the homework with some thought, and you will be successful. Science (Biology) - Mr. McFaul - One of the most fun teachers in the school, often the favorite of the sevvies :). He is somewhat notorious for his notes (in cornell format along with all of the rest of the classes) but they are bearable without procrastination. IMPORTANT: Check his portal site often for new assignments; he sometimes doesn't mention them in class. Also remember to always ask for permission and to wash your hands before touching or handling any of the critters in his room. Art - Mr. Rayder - He is my personal favorite. He is a fun teacher, he tells us horror stories about Bob the papercutter and previous students who have enraged him. As long as you clean up after yourself, stay quiet while working on art, pay attention, and stay engaged, you will be on his good side, and that is important. You will most likely find yourself looking forward to his class. Math - Mrs. Henry - Well, some would say she is a fun teacher, but since I'm in CMP 7 against my will, I have different opinions. She occasionally gives us candy, and lets us play math bingo...(a waste of time). She is extremely loud. Also, don't be a showoff in her class. If you know the answers, don't blurt them out because other people could still be thinking. Spanish - Senora Di-Tolla - She is hyper. This is an unusual description of a teacher, but it is quite appropriate for her. You can see her passion for Spanish is great. It's hard to believe she is not a native speaker because of her fluency and perfect Spanish accent, in fact, her grandparents are from France. You MUST participate in class and the tests will be a breeze. Humanities - Ms. Packer - She is a notoriously strict grader and teacher. On the first day of school, she was the only one to give us homework, and she seemed kind of annoyed at us. But now, she cracks jokes, writes interesting sentences, and is very clear about her standards. At first you will get very "low" grades. But then, since Ms. Packer doesn't give As unless the writing is perfect, you will discover how proud one can be to get a B or B+. The 8th graders say she improves dramatically by second semester. If you take good notes, participate in class, and pay attention, then only about 15 minutes of studying on one or two nights prior to the test is necessary. Most importantly, you will learn that it is possible to live without to be, to have, or linking verbs in your writing. ICS is definitely an excellent school and I am looking forward to seeing some views from RJH or undecided people.

Starting my Blog

As my first post, I want to give people an idea about how I started my blog. First of all, I read a post from a friend's blog, Starfire8. I thought it was really cool how she could put a couple of details about her vacation on her blog and it was personalized and well-protected. At first, when she recommended me to create a blog, I was reluctant. I thought that I would just let it sit there blank and empty. Well, today, I finished my chinese homework and I really couldn't think of much to do, so I thought, why not make a blog? Why not today? Why not right now? So I made this one with the guidance of Starfire8 through chatting. So,if you are a follower and I haven't posted anything for a while, please email me or something so I don't forget about my blog! Thank you, Starfire8, and thank you everyone who has read this.