Factory Game Day 2 Reflection

On Friday in Humanities, we did Factory Game Day 2. The first thing we had to do was decide which toy that we created on Factory Game Day 1 was the one we liked the best. We all took a blind vote and chose a toy named Chubby Bear. Then was the surprise. We had 45 minutes to churn out as many copies of Chubby Bear as we could- assembly line style. For those who don't know what an assembly line is, it is a line of workers or machines that mass produces a product quickly. The person Mr.Coyle appointed as manager was Shri. The first ten minutes or so were total chaos of people screaming at eachother and arguing over which jobs each person would do. I got put in the coloring section first, then switched to the cutting group, and then switched back to the coloring group. I was pretty confused, but I tried to just not talk and do my job quickly and as neatly as possible. Once Shri started exerting her control over us, things got a little more under control and we were all able to work more efficietnly. Especially after she declared no talking was allowed amongst us workers. However, I kind of think this lesson was a waste of time, because we didn't really learn anything except who in the class could shout the loudest, and who was the absolute worst at cutting out small shapes. In the end, I would say we made about fifty Chubby Bears, but only about twenty of them would have been bought full price! We were definetely not working with cottage industry techniques.

Factory Game Day 1

Today in Humanities we had a Factory Game Day. The whole class got a piece of paper with an assortment of mainly oval shaped objects. There was a very large circle, a smaller circle, about five small oval two tiny ovals and a small triangular piece of paper. The instructions were to cut along the black line only( and don't use the scraps) to create a present for your small brother or sister about the time before the Industrial Revolution. The only other materials allowed were coloring utensils such as crayons or markers, and glue sticks. I chose to make a sort of olden- days Mr.Potato Head with various facial attachments. It's not that great to look at- but I think I should get something for a little originality!

Rollercoaster

Sweat crept slowly down my back as I wait in line on a boiling summer day. As the previous ride came in I felt a sick feeling of excitement mixed with nervouseness in my stomach. Flip flop, flip flop, flip flop, I walk gingerly over to the back carriage- the only available one. The scariest, most bumpy, most terrifying section of the whole rollercoaster! Clang! The metal bar come down just above my knees. Whoosh, the ride pulls away edging slowly along the first bit of track like a snail. The snake of carriages pullls its self up the hill of tracks. I hear ear-splitting screams coming from the front of the line, and before I can realize what's happening, the ground is pulled out from underneath me and I'm FALLING!!! But only for three seconds, before the line of carriages bends violently like a car doing a tight U-turn. My hair is being blown around wildly by the wind, and my cheeks sting from my hair whipping them at every chance. After another few stomach turning drops, and tight turns that made you wish you hadn't had two chocolate bars after lunch, the carriages jolted to a stop, and I had a few seconds to finally catch my breath( and maybe grab a Strepsil from all that screaming!)

Nessecity is the Mother of Invention

“Necessity is the mother of invention.” I think that this quote means that the simple needs of people like us often leads to ideas about how to make something easier for ourselves and then that leads to an invention. For example, the CD. You can’t exactly just call up Chris Brown and ask him to come over for an hour or so, so that you can have some entertainment. So somebody invented a disc that can play music in your own house. Then people didn’t just want to listen to their music sitting around at home, they wanted to be able to listen on the move. So then the Walkman, a circular contraption that you stuck your CD into and you could listen to anywhere was invented. But then the Walkman became inconvenient, because of its size, ability to only play one CD at a time and not too great sound quality. That really opened up a new era of portable music players, the iPod. This square object, about the size of a note card, could hold up to 10,000 songs at maximum capacity, was small enough to tuck away into the smallest bag, and had quality surround sound of a movie theater. So therefore, I think this quote means that one need evolves into an invention that can make life A LOT easier.

Image from http://www.techgadgets.in/images/new-ipods-sept.jpg

Feedback Aug.18

I think that I learn best by watching a slide show kind of thing and listening to someone talk about the slide show. Ms. Tabor did that all the time last year, and I found it very easy to learn stuff and commit it to memory that way. Probably because it's a mix of visual and auditory learning. For example, if you can't remember the pictures you can usually remember the speaking, and if you can't remember the speaking you can remember the pictures. And if you can remember the pictures AND the words your set for any kind of test or quiz you might have on the subject. If I had to choose between them I would say auditory is more effective on it’s own, but if there could be both that’s like the best case scenario. Therefore, I would say I’m both a visual and auditory learner.

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Feedback #1

1.) I think the two highlights of my first week in humanities 8, were describing the people in my gang on my blog and TMTU. I enjoyed being able to think about why the people I called my closest friends were my friends, because I'd never really thought about it before so it was interesting to write it down. And I like TMTU because it's a funny, challenging way to start the class and I like seeing whether I know the answers, or how many countries/ rivers etc. that I can name.

2.) I thought that it wasn't too hard- at least the first week or so. Definetly easier than Ms.Tabors' class last year! But I was pretty surprised when I realized that we were going to read a whole novel in the first week or so of school because in previous humanities classes it has taken us 3-4 weeks to complete a book.

3.) My two goals for this quarter is too get more ticks and always boxes marked on my final socratic seminar than the two previous ones. And my second major goal would probably be to do really well on my Outsider's final project, I mean at least a B+ or A-.

My Gang

The people in my gang are Michaela, Aysha, Alice, Sophia, Morgann, Garrett, Sam G., Travis, Liam, Alex G., and Ruby. Michaela is my best friend in my gang because she really understands me and I can tell her anything and she won't think I'm stupid. Aysha is in it because she is really funny and is always there to help you out. Sam G. is in my gang because he tells me everything and I can ask him for advice. Travis because even though he tries to act cool he's a complete dork but that's the good thing about him. Liam is always there to help you and when you're feeling left out or something he'll always hang out with you. Alex G. because he always made me laugh and I could always talk to him about stuff, and I really miss him. Ruby because she was really confrontational but hilarious, and she makes up the best comebacks. Garrett is in my gang because he always cares about you and is easy to talk to and he's really good at dancing. Morgann because she keeps me from doing really weird stuff. Sophia because she's very entertaining and the fact she's good at Math is a plus! And Alice because she is always there for you and if you have a problem she'll help you. And that's my gang :D