Exam Sheet

Fridays class was very beneficial. It gave us information we need to know for the Social Studies or Human Geo exam on Thursday next week. Thankfully all my teachers gave me a study guide but I just need the motivation to actually study them. I dont know what to think about the upcoming exams but I'd rather not think about them at all. The power point Mr. Schick made for us to study off of was short but it definitely gave us the proper information to be studying. I just pray for help next week.

Wild Wednesday

First and foremost HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. SCHICK!!!! I wrote that while holding down the shift key! Only because I forgot about caps LOCK. Today was crazy because every student at John Carroll was hoping for no school. It turns out we have school, a 2 hour hour delay. This was helpful because I slept in a little Monday and Tuesday so a 2 hour delay helped get me back on track. Today was fairly a good and it ended even better than it started. We played our big rivals in C. Milton Wright. We ended up beating them by a comfortable margin. This was a very exciting game and i'm very happy we game out with the win. Tomorrow is my best day in terms of scheduling so I'm looking forward to that. We don't have class tomorrow so I will talk to you again on Friday.

Sweater Friday

Today was the first day I wore the long sleeve sweater. I hate it. I really liked wearing the sweater vest but i cannot find it so I had to find an alternative. Also today was not a very good morning for a plethora of reason but I have very many tests today. The Human Geo test today was not very difficult. It was probably the easiest test I'll take today. I am also happy because now I have gotten through 2 of the 3 tests today. I just got my test back and I got a 100%!!! I am happy. It is very hard for me to write a blog about today's class. We are Mr. Schick's smartest section. GO SECTION 07!!

Post Title

Today was a semi productive day. It began with Math then Computer Support and so on. It was a busy morning due to the fact that I had two tests and another after Human Geography class. I am exciting for Earth Science to be over for two reasons. First is it will mean I would have survived my horrible Wednesdays and second because my basketball practice is canceled. It is canceled because my coach goes to Law School in the city and has his exams this week and yesterday we just ran around like chickens with our heads cut off. So smartly it was canceled until he is able make it back to school in time for our 3:30. The class today was semi productive because we went over Mr. Schick's semi complete power point. This caused some ruckus because everyone was complaining but it was fine with me. I am very happy that Duke beat Michigan yesterday!

My 10 Test Questions

1. What type of people are eligible for Kiva loans? 

• individuals that do not have access to banking services and have low incomes.

  2. How can microloans help? 

• It allows small business owners access to insurance. 

  3. What is a mircoloan? 

• A microloan is when a person lends a small amount of money to a developing business. Once the business is running good the lender will receive their money back.

  4. What are 2 common uses for microloans? 

• Starting up new businesses 
• Getting products for your business

  5. Name two problems in developing countries.

• Diseases (malaria)       
• Famine

  6. Define Microfinance. 

• Microfinance is a form of financial services for entrepreneurs and small businesses lacking access to banking and related services.

  7. Is a microloan beneficial to the community?

• Yes

  8. What is Kiva? 

•  We are a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty

  9. What is a main disease in developing countries?

• Malaria 

  10. What continent host the majority or developing countries?

• Africa 

BEAT MICHIGAN

ps. Im a huge Duke fan

Long Monday

Today was once again a slow and long and boring Monday. But what helped was a hilarious 1st mod class. *wink* *wink* Human Geography. I was a half hour late to school because I was feeling sick. Today was also game day. Little did I know that if your late on game day you are not allowed to play. That was interesting. We ended up losing but oh well. I walked into class and the first thing Mr. Schick says to me after asking me why I was late was to go see Mr. Maynard. I wasn't sure why but I went against my will. It turns out I had a shadow. I had no idea but I took him under my wing. We had a pretty good day. What was interesting to me was that he was from Pennsylvania and John Carroll is the only school he is looking at. he lives in a town that I had never heard of but Mr. Schick did. Mr. Schick told a very interesting story today about a homeless man back in Chicago.

Happy Thanksgiving

I was not in class today.

Crazy Day

Today started with the regular chaos that happens on Monday mornings . Tired, Groggy, Slow, Boring. Today had the same issues but today was a very demanding day of a student athlete. It involved having to give your extremely important research paper, worth alot of points, into Mr. Perry. This is a very stressful thing to deal with due to the fact that there is alot of requirements that come with this. Anyhow despite the busy schedule we had another basketball game.We won by the way. In class, it was extremely hectic. We all worked on the same power point or Google Presentation and it was mad chaos. Some people worked diligently but others were just there to make those doing the work furious. HMM dylan HMMM.  It was ugly in the beginning but it picked up towards the end and eventually it was a success. Mr. Schick has been working hard on the Variety Show and so I am going on Wednesday to see this amazing show first hand!

Lovely Leppert

I was so happy to see that Mr. Leppert is our sub for class today. He is really nice and an awesome dude. With Mr. Schick out of class today we continued to work on our Peace Corps Challenge and annoying worksheet. I have done the Peace Corps Challenge game about three times and I try to make different decisions every time time to please Gwafa. I think the fact that they give you a certification paper at the end of the game is just hilarious. This day is a little slow but it is a busy day that I so for have gotten alot of work done in. Like I said I LOVE MR. LEPPERT!!!

               Stay Classy San Diego 

Whopping Wednesday

Today was probably the busiest day of the year so far. My Wednesday consisted of 1 of mod, an extra class, 4 tests and my first ever high school basketball game. I had a great lunch, the extra class was in a hot classroom, my tests...well I don't want to talk about it and we won the basketball 57-28. It was a very stressful Tuesday knowing that I had this Whopping Wednesday to slay the next day. True I made it through the day, it was still a testament of my hard work to succeed. In Human Geography class we participated in  the Peace Corps Challenge. It wasn't the first time we played this "video game" so I had little bit of knowledge on what to do but others seemed confused. I'm interested to see what we do tomorrow.

Test Takeover Tuesday

Today in Class we went over are test that were an awful affair. The average in the class was a 73% and im sure its obvious to you but this is a horrible test average. I was fairly disappointed  that was average because it was an open blog test. What I conclude from this test is that I need to make blogs that are much more informative on the material learned in the class period. Something I found astounding is that my grade dropped 10 points and I passed the test. I was really upset to see this but good thing I built a good cushion and started the test with a 99 percent in his class. But I left the test with a 89 percent in the class. Im Just Saying. Mr. Schick kept on saying this. I was raised to not say im just saying because I was taught that it means " I don't care what you have to say and that im right and your wrong". But it is what it is. I have an extremely busy day tomorrow. It consists of 5 tests and my first high school basketball game. All in all today was not a good day and I don't think I should have lost so many points on the test. Im just sayin.

Monday Mayhem

Today in Human Geography class it was a very hectic first mod. Mr. Schick decided that he should cheat the system and he shaved his amazing go-t in the month of November. The reason he shaved is because he thought it made him look older but here is my look on the situation. If he kept the go-t then he would look younger and not older because old people to usually have facial hair and younger people generally have facial hair. Therefore by shaving to look younger he now looks older. Sorry it was really bugging me. Anyway in class we began a "project" that's topic was Microfinace and Peace Corps. It was on a really fun website that took you into a virtual world and you had to make decisions to keep the town alive and successful. I thought I did fairly well on the first day of this new assignment.
     

                      By the way daa Bears got lucky.

World Leader Lollipop Wensday

So today Mr.Schick gave us lollipops with all of the different world leaders faces on them! Mine was so good, it was the one guy from Mexico. Everyone else got someone different. I feel bad for whoever got Queen Elizabeth II, shes old. Anyway we took a test today on the different world leaders and im not gonna lie, it was hard. I still think I did fairly well. Considering I have a 99 percent in the class so far, I gave myself a little breathing room. Im am proud that I have such a high grade in this class because I really want to be on the stage receiving some sort of honors, first or second. It was a little sad watching the other kids go up on stage and my name be called. I know I can improve and I expect to be on that stage next assembly. Oh and just a little tid bit of information, the first sentences may or may not have been true.

Tie-rrible Day

Today Mr.Schick had a funny tie on. It was really small and skinny. I had to let him know about this rare of occasion of skinny tie-itius. But it was okay because my tie day was alot worse. I wore a bowtie today and I regret it. It was tied so so poorly that I almost untied it and took the detention for no having a tie. It was embarrassing. Anyway we have a Human Geography test tomorrow and I need to continue my studies right after I finish writing this blog. In class today we really just reviewed the world leaders slides and finished up the rest of the power point. The most interesting world leader in my opinion is either Dilma or Queen Elizabeth. Each are influential for different reasons. Well I have a test to ace so ill blog ya later!

Picture Problems

This will is the very first time im blogging during class because we have some extra time. The majority of the class had problems copy and pasting the pictures of the world leaders. I was able to copy and paste pictures with no problem so I kinda of dazed of during to this "expo". Today so far we are talking about updating our blogs. We are also talking about how Mr.Schick gave us 5 bonus points instead of the guaranteed 3 points. I was watching Ellen and a little Chinese girl was on the show. Ellen asked the girl what her favorite thing about America was and she said the sky was really blue. Mr.Schick was talking about how the sky in China is really polluted and disgusting so when I heard this I had an immediate connection with class. People in China eat dogs...ew. Personally I would not eat a dog but I would cow or chicken. I will be studying for the test on Wednesday to boost my grade!

The Day After Thursday

Today we went over the retake test and had some SUPER AWESOME EXCITING STORIES, like every other day. The retake test proved to be a helpful gesture by Mr.Schick because it increased my grade by 20 points! I only got to questions two questions wrong on the test. I thought the answer to the two questions was A Islam and it turns out I thought incorrectly. Mr.Schick admitted that he made a mistake on the test so at the end of the day I only got one wrong. I came out with a 96%! I was very happy with this result. After we went over the correct answers Mr.Schick gave us his rendition of the previous nights blog assignment. The assignment was to find two interesting facts about the 12 world leaders. I found this assignment a little difficult but I was able to do it. Mr.Schick shared his answers and I added to or corrected the facts I had written. I look forward to this JAM packed weekend!!

Country Leader Fun Facts

President Enrique Pena Nieto

-Enrique's mom recalls how she would squeeze lime juice on his hair to keep his now famous hairstyle in place
-As a kid Enrique would tell his teachers he would rule Mexico

President XI Jinping

-His father was involved in the communist government
-He was a part of a "Communist Youth League" in 1971
-

President Pranab Mukherjee

-He was first a teacher at a college in 1963
-He attended the Suri Vidyasagar College
-

President Hamid Karzai

-He speaks many different languages
-His uncle served as a representitive in the UN
-He tries to undermine the Taliban

President Joachim Gauck

-he was elected by the Bundestag as the first Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives, serving from 1990 to 2000
-He is the author and co-author of several books
-

Queen Elizabeth II

-She was born into royalty
-She was the first child of Prince Albert

President Francois Hollade

-He attended Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-la-Salle boarding school
-He graduated from École nationale d'administration in 1980
-Had no previous national government positions

President Dilma Rousseff

-Her father wrote a noble prize wining book
-In 1964 Rousseff transferred to Central State High School, a co-ed public school
-Endured extreme torture and was in prison for 3 years

President Nicolas Maduro Moros

-Maduro was raised as a Roman Catholic
-His first introduction to politics was when he became a member of his high school's student union

King Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud

-1 of 10 sons of a past King
-His mother died when he was six

Supreme Leader Ali Hoseini-Khamenei

-He was 1 of 8 children
-In 1963 he was arrested for being involved in Islamic activities

President Shimon Peres

-His real name is Szymon Perski
-He speaks three languages, English, Hebrew and French

• ^ Ranade, Jayadva (25 October 2010). "China's Next Chairman - Xi Jinping". Centre for Air Power Studies. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
• Corchado, Alfredo (14 July 2012). "Mexico's Enrique Peña Nieto faces challenge of bringing old-style party into new age". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
•  "Shri Pranab Mukherjee". Government of India. Archived from the original on 2011-05-14. 
•  Van Dyck, Jere (21 December 1981). "The Afghan Rulers: Fiercely Traditional Tribes". The New York Times (United States). Retrieved 3 October 2010.
•  "Gauck-Buch: Plädoyer für Freiheit und Menschenrechte". Volksstimme.de. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
•  Bradford, p. 22; Brandreth, p. 103; Marr, p. 76; Pimlott, pp. 2–3; Lacey, pp. 75–76; Roberts, p. 74
• Sponsored by (10 March 2012). "The French elite: Old school ties". The Economist. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
• Sponsored by (10 March 2012). "The French elite: Old school ties". The Economist. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
•  "Perfil | ¿Quién es Nicolás Maduro?" (in Spanish). El Mundo. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
• ^ Mouline, Nabil (April–June 2010). "Power and generational transition in Saudi Arabia". Critique internationale 46: 1–22. Retrieved 24 April 2012
• Historic Personalities of Iran: Seyed Ali Khamenei". Iran Chamber. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2009

 "Shimon Peres". The Knesset's internet site. Retrieved 28 August 2008.Jump up ^ "Shimon Peres". Prime Minister of Israel's internet site. Retrieved 28 August 2008.

Time Consuming Country Classwork Collaboration Colorful Company Cat C Words

Mexico

-Federal Republic
-President Enrique Pena Nieto


China

-Communist State
-President XI Jinping


India

-Federal Republic
-President Pranab Mukherjee



Afghanistan

-Islam Republic
-President Hamid Karzai



Germany

-Federal Republic
-Joachim Gauck



United Kingdom

-constitutional monarchy and Common Wealth realm
-Queen Elizabeth II


France

-Republic
-President Francois Hollande


Brazil

-Federal Republic
-President Dilma Rousseff


Venezuela

-Federal Republic
-
President Nicolas Maduro Moros

Saudi Arabia

-Monarchy
-King and Prime Minister ABDALLAH bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud 



Iran

-Theocratic Republic
-Supreme Leader Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI



Israel

-parliamentary democracy
-President Shimon PERES

SWAG OVERLOAD

In case you were wondering why my title of this blog is SWAG OVERLOAD it is only because I couldn't think of any other title. Great reason huh!? We'll today Mr. Schick saved my butt. On the test we took last week I received a grade I was unhappy with and hoped to makeup. As luck would have it Mr. Schick gave us a second chance because he is the almighty ruler of Human Geography class section 07. Plus hes awesome. I took advantage of this great academic opportunity and got a big fat A on the retake. I was really proud I did much better on the retake because it really advanced my grade and am now in better position for first honors. I really do appreciate Mr.Schick kindness this morning. This was just the start of a extremely busy Monday for me.


                                         *Lets pray for Doris Schol and Mr.Schol*

Test/Shadow Day

Today was an interesting day for many many reasons. First thing that varies this day from any other is the fact that today I had a shadow. His name is Antony and I already knew him from basketball camp he at John Carroll. So far we've been having a good day and I think we will continue on this path. Another thing that makes this day interesting is we had mass this morning. Due to the fact that it is All Saints Day we had a All Saints Day mass along with a memorial mass. It was very sad at the end especially since I knew some of the people being remembering or I knew people who were family members with them. Last but not least we took a test today and again I screwed it up. I always seem to shoot myself in the foot early on and the road to recovery is very hard. Anyway I'm disappointed. Have a nice day!

Bootyhism

In today's class we continued to go over the presentations we made on the different religions and Dylan and I did our presentation on Buddhism. I think it is safe to say that we had the best power point. Also the Red Sox are winning 6-0 in the World Series and if they win I may cry. Anyhow the class today was very informative and it was especially informative for the people listening to our presentation on Buddhism. It was funny because Mr.Schick told Dylan and I that the Budda was actually an emaciated person and it is actually offensive that we depict the Budda as a fat person. I was okay with this comment because im not Buddist so I could care less about what he looks like. 6-1 is the score now! Are you joking me! Anyway I will be studying for the test on Friday.

Pop Quiz?

Today was a good day. It all started with Mr.Schick being the Earth Science sub and assigning a brain flex that I need to finish after I finish this blog. It was unusual for me because I am used to a completely different person being the substitute. Now to Human Geography. When we first walked in the door we were handed a quiz paper and everyone started going crazy because we all read his blog and it said nothing about us taking a quiz. Due to my brilliance I calmed the class by reminding them that we were just going over the last quiz. So no pop quiz today. This was good news considering half the class wouldn't have been prepared. Towards the end of class we began presenting are different  religion projects and Dylan and I have yet to go but I hope to go next class. Have a nice day!


P.S.- I needed 2 more words that why I said to have a nice day. I'm not concerned how your day goes...jk

Tricky Schicky

So while I am writing this blog I am watching the Red Sox vs. Cardinals World Series game 5 and the Red Sox are my favorite team. I bet Mr.Schick likes the Cubs or the White Sox. Plus I have a headache so don't expect anything spectacular on this blog. To be honest today's class was actually a fun class. We got into groups and made some trades in order to have people we liked. But like always the internet wasn't working.  We were given a specific religion to create a power point on to present to the class. The 5 religions were Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and Hinduism. and we happen to get stuck with Buddhism. The fat guy the sits criss cross apple sauce. My group consisted of Dylan Kidd and we did more than I thought we would get done so that's a positive! We weren't able to finish but I will add some finishing touches tomorrow.

Test... I mean Quiz Day

Today was the final grade of the first quarter in Human geography class. It was a quiz (not a test) on Cultural Differences and all that nonsense. I think I did fairly well on the test considering it was a 50 point quiz with 20 questions. The hardest thing to blog about is the days that we have a test or quiz because all we do that day is sit and take a test or quiz so there isn't much to talk about. I have a hard time keeping up the blogs to 150 or more words but I always seem to be able to make the cut which is a good thing. I like Human Geography class but it has alot of requirements and pop quizzes that come out of thin air sometimes. Well while writing this blog I got my grade for the test and I am not willing to disclose it. So ill leave on that note, Goodbye!

Shadow

In today’s class we had a special guest. His name was Jack he was St. Margret’s Middle School and was my very first shadow of My Freshman and Sophomore year. I hope he had a good day because we are counted on as the number one campaigners for the 2018 incoming class. I remember my shadow with Robert Hodges and it was a very fun day. In Human Geo class we had a discussion the shadow probably won be forgetting anytime soon. The main topic was marijuana. We talked about how messed up society was for not having very many problems for smoking pot and other drugs in public areas such as Boston Common. We also mentioned about how violent criminals can be and if it was worth putting them in jail and if they would learn their lesson or just do it again. In conclusion today was interesting for many reasons. 

World War Water

Today in class it was a alot of the same of yesterday except with more class participation. We finished going over the new topic of Cultural Differences and we were graced with Dylan's presents and Laura decided that she wasn't going to come in today. This new topic is alot of stuff I already knew such as the fact that wars are fought over things like religion. After we were finished looking at Mr. Schick's beautiful power point on Cultural Differences we watched an awesome video. The video we watched was a snip-it from the hit series The Newsroom. It was funny because Mr. Schick asked us if a bad word here and there was okay and of course it was but it was a funny question to me. The clip gave a real life depiction of Nationalism and how people react or the truth or reality. On top of all this Mr. Schick announced that the next World War will be fought over water. Today was a better class than yesterday.

Note Taking Malfunction

This morning didn't not take off on the right foot. First I had to finish a paper when I woke up this morning that was due for Mr. Perrys class which supposedly needed to be turned in before school. I wasn't able to turn it before school because I was late and had to go to my first class which was Human Geography. Just coming off of a crazy week and a crazy weekend it was hard to get enough sleep to be able to function properly and do the appropriate things such as a soccer game that I scored 2 goals in. I was happy that I scored 2 goals because I knew a lot of the players and wanted to have a good showing. In class today we went over a power point on cultural things such as spacial division conflicts. On top of all of this I forgot my notebook to take notes in class.

Pointless Test

In today'class we took what I and many would call a pointless test. Mr.Schick handed the reigns of his awesome class to Mr.Lawler. We took a test under his command and it was very difficult. In the fine print it said "THIS WILL NOT COUNT TOWARD YOUR GRADE" so what was the point of taking it? I don't know either. On top of that this was a AP Human Geography test and we are in the regular Human Geography. There was a total of 75 questions and I understood about 7 questions so I am happy this test is irrelevant to our final grade. Friday was special because it was our first Pep Rally and honestly I think it was talked up a lot and it talked the talk just didn't walk the walk. The most fun thing was Homecoming itself and I look forward to next years.

First Spirit Day

Today was an exciting day because it was my very first John Carroll Spirit Day. I knew going into today that it wouldn't be that big of shock because I came from a public school where "Couch Potato Day" was daily attire for some. I was happy to be in more comfortable clothing and having loose clothes on. In addition to it being Couch Potato Day we had regular classes such as Human Geo. In this class we were returned are test. I was fairly confident in taking this test but I ended up with an 88% because I meant to write a G but I started it with C and then adding the extra line but unfortunately I forgot that extra line so it was marked incorrect. I will take the high B and run but it hurts to know that I was so close to getting an A. I can only hope to get a 100 percent on are next test or quiz. P.S. I don't like the PSAT.

Open House

Due to the fact that I think Open House is a bigger deal than Fridays Human Geo Class I will blog about Open House instead. I signed up to be a tour guide last week on a Thursday I believe. Being a soccer ref means I had to choose between refereeing or Open House and obviously I choose Open House. I personally think this was a good decision because I didn't really need the ref money and I could use a few extra service hours. Being a tour guide was a little challenging at first because I wasn't quite sure what was crucial to point out and what didn't need so much attention. But as the old saying goes I was able to learn on the job. It was a fun experience to be tour guide and I may consider doing it in the future. In conclusion the Open House on Saturday was a good way to meet perspective students and get service hours.

Population Pyramids

Today's class was not very eventful so it will be hard to make a sufficient blog on today's class. When we first walked into the classroom today Mr.Schick gave his normal comments about how tired or "dead" we always look. Especially Sarah. It is unfortunate that he has this way of thinking of us because I would rather be known as the fun and exciting section. We were handed back are Lost Boys quizzes and I did a lot better than I had thought. There was one question that nobody got right and it was a difficult question but I still find it funny that not a single person was able to get right. The class had an average grade of an 81 which is pretty good considering some class were only 72%. After we reviewed the correct answers for the quiz we looked more at the population pyramids and saw new graphs we had to analyze. Some of the graphs were able to understand why the pattern is so and harder on others. Therefore a pretty boring 10th mod class today.

LOST

Today was the second day of testing as well the introduction to new things such as population pyramids. The quiz today was on the subject of the Lost Boys. The Lost Boys were the people I was writing about in my previous blogs. The quiz was a little difficult only because I wasn't able to retain all the information from the 1 and a half full documentary. But Mr.Schick being the nice person he is, let us use our previous blog posts. This was a very a helpful resource but like I said i didn't retain all the info so in return I didn't blog crucial info.  I don't think I did too bad but I know I didn't get a 100. The population was new to me because it was a different way of analyzing a regions population. The best days are when someone has a birthday. The reason I say this is because everybody benefits from the birthday and today happen to be Dunkin Donuts day. My favorite day I might add. In conclusion I helped the lost munchkins find a home!  Do you pick up what I'm laying down?

Lost Boys Reunite

Today we finished watching the full documentary titled God Grew Tired of Us and explored new websites and pages I had never heard of before. It is unfortunate that it is the end of this documentary because I really enjoyed watching the film. The conclusion of this film was a happy ending for some and not so happy for others. For John Bol Dau and Panther were able to find family and are successful and Daniel is still on jobs corps in Pittsburgh and goes to a community college. The other two went to a University and got the bachelors degree and met up with family. John Bol Dau met with hos mother and sister that he hadn't seen in 17 years. This was an emotional meeting, especially for Mr.Schick. After we finished watching the video we were introduced to a new website called Kiva. This website basically lets you make loans to complete strangers so they can start up or enhance a project. The payback was somewhere around 99% and I think this is a very interesting idea that is very helpful.

God Grew Tired of Us Cont.

In today’s class we continued watching the new and interesting documentary called God Grew Tired of Us. In this segment of the video a lot things happened, good and bad. A good event that happened was all the Lost Boys were able to find jobs in their respective cities. Some were able to get more prestigious jobs than others but never the less they have work and are getting paid. For example one is a worker at McDonalds and the other is a security guard and auto part maker. An example of a bad event would that Panther, one of the Lost Boys, was reported missing but was found a few days later. He was arrested by the police for erratic behavior on a public bus. Then later sent to a mental assistance organization. I wish that John Bau Dol wasn’t such an expensive guest speaker so we could hear his story first hand.

God Grew Tired of Us Cont.

Today in class we continued watch the God Grew Tired of Us movie on YouTube. I really like watching this video because I had no know idea this was an option for the refugees in different parts of the world such as Sudan or Kenya. I have relatives in places where the refugees moved to in New York and Pittsburgh so I wonder if they have ever seen these men and women and had no idea of the story behind them being here. While watching the video I thought of how hard it must have been for the lost brothers to get in the habit of the American way. It was interesting how the simple objects that we used in everyday life created so much interest for the lost boys. For an example a simple light switch made all the grown men wonder in amazement how a simple switch lights up an entire room. It was funny watching the lost boys trying to figure out the American way but it was also very inspirational how these men changed their culture and was able to fit in with the American society. 

God Grew Tired Of Us

Today was an different aspect of life. The time in class today was spent continuing the video. The last class we had was really an introduction to the video and today we saw the next step. Some of the refugees from Sudan were given the opportunity to move and start fresh in the United States of America. A few of them took advantage of this gift. When the refugees first got to the United States they were confused and fascinated at the same time it seemed like. For example Panther and John and Daniel were on a plane and one of them started eating a stick of butter, think about that. Another started eating soap and neither thought anything of it. When they were in the airport they almost fell down the escalator. They had many questions about how things moved and how to operate different objects. In conclusion this was not there everyday life style.

Sudan Refugees Documentary

                  Today we started watching a very informative and interesting video.The video was about refugees that escaped the civil war in Sudan. I was unaware of the horrible conflicts that were happening. The war was in the year 1983, the same year Pope John II named 18 new cardinals. When the war occurred more than 2 million people died.The country of Sudan is a sub-Saharan nation which means its South of the Sahara Desert. When the brutal war broke out over 86,000 refugees from Sudan traveled more than 1,000 miles through bad weather, disease and animal attacks all the way to Kenya. Later on in years to come the United States offered to refugees the opportunity to come the United States and start fresh. A problem would be that some of these refugees have never used electricity before and weren't willing to venture outside there comfort zones in order to have a new life.

CIA Factbook Scavenger Hunt

1. What is the population of the United States?  316,668,567

2. What are the five largest countries in the world, by population? China, India, United States, Indonesia, Brazil

3. What is the population of Pakistan? 193,238,868

4. What kind of government does the United States have? Federal Republic

5. What is the unemployment rate in Zimbabwe? 95%

6. What is the largest country in the world by area? Russia

7. What country has the third greatest number of airports? Mexico

8. What country has the greatest number of exports? China

9. What country exports more oil than any other? Saudi Arabia

10. What country imports more oil than any other? United States

11. What country has the second largest proved reserves of crude oil in the world? Venezuel

12. Can women serve in combat roles in China’s military? Yes

13. What is GDP

         Gross Domestic Product

14. What country has the highest GDP per capita in the world, and how much is it?

          Qatar        103,900

15. Is the US in the top ten for GDP per capita?

          No we are number 14

16. Most of the countries with the highest birth rates can be found in what continent?

          Africa 

17. 11 of the top 12 countries with the highest number of deaths from HIV/AIDS can be found in which continent?  Africa
19. What other country is in the top ten? India                        

21. Where does the US rank in HIV/AIDS deaths? 7th

22. Is the US #1 in number of cellular phones? No, we are 3rd.

23. What percentage of the US is Roman Catholic? Roman Catholic 23.9%,

24. What percentage of Mexico is Roman Catholic? Roman Catholic 82.7%

25. What is Net Migration Rate? The figure for the difference between the number of persons entering and leaving a country during the year per 1,000 persons.

26. Does the US have the highest Net Migration Rate in the world? No, we are ranked 29th

27. According to the Factbook, what is the current population of the entire planet? 7,095,217,980

CIA Fact Book

Today in class we discussed a little of what we went over yesterday plus we looked at country statistics. We explored a website called CIA fact book which gave us detailed descriptions on country and things that would be helpful in a paper such as population, government type an economic status. I think was a very cool and useful website that I could see myself putting to use in the future. Some neat things about this website are that in addition to population and government it gave things like crude birth rate which is the average of children per woman. The top 11 countries in this category were all from Africa. The reason I think this is happening because the health care and life expectancy are so weak that they have so many children in hopes to have a child reach adulthood. In conclusion Mr.Schick introduced to new and helpful resources.

World Population

Today in class we discussed terms and other things we should know for the new and upcoming unit. We had a plethora of new terms that we learned about. For example crude birth rate. I have never heard of this word but I was familiar with some others such as life expectancy. On top of these new terms we watched a power point that Mr.Schick created for the sake of the class. I was interested in this power point because he brought up some cool facts like how the world’s population has grown. Did you know that it took 10,000 plus years for the earth’s population to reach 1 billion and then from then on the number of years it takes for another billion keeps decreasing. It was a very interesting class.

Test Day 1

              Today was our first test of Human Geography class in our High School career. The test consisted of 10 multiple choice questions and 3 essay questions which weren't that difficult. I was pretty sure that I knew the answer to the 10 questions and I was confident on 2 of the 3 essays but that 1 essay gave me some trouble and had me concerned about the outcome due to the fact that the 1 essay was 20 points.The test was extremely boring but i was able to get through it. I dont look forward to another test but i do look forward to this weekend. MIKE..MIKE..MIKE.MIKE guess what day it is?? FRIDAY!

Presentation Day

Today in class we had a few presentation on the Globalization project and we also discussed parts of the test coming up in a week. Mr.Schick had most of the groups present the power points they have been working on diligently. None of the groups had volunteered to go first when Mr.Schick asked I gladly and proudly rose my hand. With this my group presented first. We did a good job from my perspective and we gathered enough information to inform the class on our belief of Globalization. When the other groups went I would take notes on the representation so I could understand where they were coming from. Lastly we talked about his upcoming test and what materials were especially important such as Ancient Greece and other important topics. 

Nike Schmike

Today in class we reviewed and talked about the Nike hate video yesterday. This video was very shocking and informative at the same time. I took a lot away from the video in class but what I found is that people will forget about this later on in the year. It is truly a shame what the Nike executives do to the very poor Indonesian workers. For example the poor as it is workers are paid 4.00 dollars a day, not an hour, a day and the Nike executives want them to cut their pay down to 3.70 a day. When you count all the workers in Indonesia the 30 cent pay cut is only saving this multi-billion dollar company 50,000 dollars. Meanwhile plenty of wealthy endorsers are making millions in endorsement money alone. But you don’t see Nike cutting their contracts down instead it’s the workers that live in poverty. So at the end of the day you have to ask yourself, is it worth it? 

Nike is not Nice

Today in class we explored real life pros and cons. A man named Jim and a woman named Leslie went to a Nike Factory in Indonesia to explore what is was like for the “sweatshop” workers. The reason they felt compelled to do this is because people argued that the conditions and wages they endured were perfect and nothing wrong with it so they tried it out. The two of them could not stand the conditions because it was inhumane . The 1.25 wages were enough for two meals a day in a 15 hour working day. They slept in a 8 by 8 cement room with one window and temperatures reached up to 100 degrees. They actually got sick and discovered many other problems which make the conditions “imperfect”. 

Nightmare on Human Geo Street

             Friday The 13ths class was a productive class for some parts and other parts not so much. But I like that about my Human Geography class, we gets things done and we have fun doing it. We were introduced to Google Documents a few classes ago and we are now really starting to get in the swing of using it. We were assigned groups for a Google Power Point which works like Google Documents. The topic of the Power Point is Globalization. Our group was undecided on a name for the Power Point so I step into the leadership role and said that it should be called That Globalization Life only because it sounded hip, the rest of the group didn't like it. But probably the highlight of my day in Friday’s class was the fact that I got to wear the Happy Birthday hat which was sparkly and rainbow colors.

Silk Birthday Party

                Today in class we talked about a few different topics. Since are class is notorious for getting Mr.Schick distracted we were given the challenge of getting him off topic. We got close but weren't able to succeed. We also discussed more of Globalization and how American industry helps employ native people in foreign countries that are in need of a job. Such as a McDonald's in China will give Chinese people jobs. I think “Americanization is beneficial to everyone economically speaking. Something I found crazy was the examples of globalization thousands of years ago. Such as if you wanted silk which many people did they had to get to get it from the Chinese because they were the only ones who knew how to make real silk. As a result of the Chinese being a major resource for people’s needs the road used to cross into China was named the Silk Road which is an ironic name. On top of this all….it’s my BIRTHDAY TOMORROW!!!

McChange

Today in class we talked about globalization. This is a subject that is pretty general so we needed a definition but the problem is this word has many definitions. Mr.Schick ended up giving us a definition from a website that was sufficient for the sake of the class.  We also talked about “Americanization” which is a made up term that means the same as globalization but this is specific to USA because no other country is as good as the United States at globalization. Japan was famous for eating healthy foods such as rice and sushi and this made Japan a healthy country that had longer life expectancy. Globalization came into play and now there is McDonalds and other unhealthy restaurants in Japan and it is becoming less and less healthy. It is unfortunate that this is happening but this is the way world is becoming and people and countries are just going to have to roll with it.

Google and stuff

Today in class we talked about a new technology. We talked about Google documents. I had never heard of this before or made one so this class was going to be a valuable time. The program was not downloaded on to my computer or anyone else’s in the class so we took some down downloading the program and getting past “forbidden territories”. A lot of students were experiencing blocked signals but I was not getting anything. I thought my computer was going to change screens when I downloaded it but it didn't. I accidentally downloaded the program 7 times. I told Mr.Schick and he knew what to do and the problem was sorted out. After we found out how to get me started on Google documents I was off and running. Dylan and Jon were the other group member I worked with. Jon and I came up with 14 “test questions” and Dylan went to the IT department to get is slow computer fixed. Hopefully the next time we use it he will be on board. 

Did You Know?

                          In Friday’s class we learned a lot of neat stuff. We took a look at a YouTube clip and saw astonishing facts. A few facts that really caught my attention were facts like, China will soon be the number one English speaking country in the world. This one was such a big deal to me because at first I was thinking how China can speak English more than primarily English speaking countries and the reason is they have more than double the  United States population and English is the trading language. Another crazy fact is the top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exists in 2004. I couldn't believe this because I didn't think so many jobs could have changed that drastically. Now let me ask you a question, what do you think are the 3 largest countries? Well if you guessed Facebook as number 3 then you were right. If Facebook were country it would be the 3^rd largest due to the number of members. I would be a member of “Facebook land” because I have an account and so do 800 million other people.

Homosexuality, Horses and more!

                       Today in class we talked about homosexual or same gender marriage and some others things that are hard to describe. Laugh out loud. It all started with Mr.Schick asking what are thoughts about same sex marriage were and then we got off topic. My opinion on homosexual marriage is that I would not vote for it. I think it should not be allowed. The reason I say this is because I am pretty sure that it says in the bible that it is not allowed. Also I find it disturbing when they “interact”. After we discussed this topic for a little bit somebody said “it should be legal because in Texas you can marry your horse” and obviously this caused an uproar. Nobody was quite sure if this was a true statement so everyone went to websites to find the truth. We ended up with answers from grogtheugly4 and other unbelievable names and we are still unsure on the truth of this topic. I look forward to the next interesting conversation are Human Geography has next class.

Review Day

                   Today in class we went over the Greek terms and definitions. I blogged about the terms on Friday and had already knew a little about the terms because of prior knowledge. We went over the importance of each term and why we needed to know it. It was a fun class because Mr.Schick is a good teacher and always keeps the class engaged. If someone looks like there dozing off he makes a noise that is sure to keep to them interested. We weren't able to get through all the terms but we were able to get through most. The only ones we didn't get to were the death of Socrates and his method as well as what the ancient Greeks meant if they called you an idiot. Mr.Schick is one of my favorite teachers and at the end of class he said “Congratulations you made it through another day of high school” this comment brighten my day and I’m thankful he’s my teacher.

Greek terms and definitions

All definitions are in my own words

Agora-The main place where the whole community would meet for social gatherings or events

Arete-Being the best you can be at anything

Polis-A city in Greece where people lived, for example: Sparta

508 BC-Athens established there government

Socrates- A popular Greek philosopher from Athens who is responsible for the Socratic method

The death of Socrates- He was found guilty of 2 crimes and was forced to drink poison which killed him

Socratic Method- Socrates method to problem solving which in order to use the method you would ask multiple questions that when answered would eventually reveal the answer

Ancient Greece Idiot- If you were called an idiot in ancient Athens you were particularly shy or quiet

My Freshman 5 Point Plan

                   Today in class we listened to Mr.Schick read us a passage written about A Message To Garcia. I really liked hearing about the raving author because I feel like I can relate to him in my years at John Carroll. My first point to my plan is to always be on time. If its getting to school on time I know I can take steps to always make it happen and if I'm not on time I will find ways to be on time. Also I will try to turn in all assignments on time. Another point is to pass every class. What I mean by this not to get the bear minimum I will try to get a B or better in every class. The third step would be to make all my sports teams because I am very passionate about sports and i hope to make all my team because I have worked very hard on all of them. A fourth goal I have is to make new friends. I come from a public school and most of the people at John Carroll went to a catholic school. With that being said I would like to meet the people I do not know because i feel its important to know people from different backgrounds. Fifth and final goal is to be able to graduate high school. If I am able to accomplish this extremely important goal I know my life will be better off. This will open up opportunity's for good colleges and down the road maybe a job that i desire. Therefore I hope to accomplish all my goals.    

Rules of class

                       On August 28, 2013 we had Human Geography class with Mr.Schick. It was our first day with him as our teacher. He is very nice, funny and full of energy. We talked about classroom procedures and rules and supplies. We also talked about this very blog, out of the 13 students only 7 did the blog assignment correctly the first time. I was not one of the 7 because I had emailed the wrong url to Mr.Schick. I was proud of my new blog and was disappointed to see I messed something up in the assignment process. Despite forgetting to do something I asked Mr.Schick what I did wrong and he gladly helped me. I hope to see my name on the list of people that completed the assignment next time the list is presented.  I am happy to be in Mr.Schick’s class and I can’t wait for the upcoming year with a great teacher.

                

First Day of School

Nick Rosaschi 

            My first day at The John Carroll School so far has been a great experience. The day started with me getting dropped off at the front door and because I have a doctor’s appointment I have to leave my first day of school early. It wasn't the ideal way to start my high school career but it will have to do. Next I was assigned a group for different lectures I needed to hear. That was good for the most part because I learned about a lot of things I can get involved in, for example SAC which is the school’s student government. I may run for a position in SAC but for the time being I am undecided.  We also took yearbook and lunch card pictures which was fun. After the lectures and pictures we went into the auditorium and listened to a guest speaker from Virginia he was funny and motivational and really helped me get a perspective on the right thing to do. He was a basketball player with a lot of stories to share with the group. When the guest speaker was finished and we received one of his basketball cards we proceeded onto the very first class of high school, none other than Human Geography in room 107 where I am writing this reflection on my day. The day has been good so far and I hope every one of the 179 days left of school are just as good.