Is Google Making More People Want to use the Internet

Google has been coming out with many new applications. Today during class I was introduced to Google music beta. This is an application that allows you to upload music from your iTunes or other device so that you can access it on the Internet. There are many more applications that take things that usually can only be accessed from one device, to be accessed from anywhere where you can get Internet. Examples of this are google documents and google presentation where you can share word documents or PowerPoint presentaions to anyone with gmail, and you can access it anywhere also. So instead of having to carry a computer around or a USB drives you can just go on google docs and download an essay or project very easily. I believe that all of these advances are attracting more and more people everyday.

Google Fast Flip

"Google Fast Flip is a web application that lets users discover and share news articles. It combines qualities of print and the Web, with the ability to "flip" through pages online as quickly as flipping through a magazine. It also enables users to follow friends and topics, discover new content and create their own custom magazines around searches" (Google News). Fast Flip is a great application to use. If you want to view any article from anywhere all you have to do is type in a topic in the search box at the top of the page. This website organises the online pages into different sections such as: popular, sections, topics, sources. I recommend this website to anyone who is interested into recent news stories and news and information from different sources from around the world.

BHS Acceptable Use Policy

I think this policy is very reasonable. It only restricts us from doing things that should not be done anyway during school so I think it is a good policy. I do not think that the punishments for not following the policy should be listed though. Certain people could break the policy in different levels of severity so the punishment levels should be adjusted depending on what you did. For example if someone broke one policy and one person broke several, they should have different punishments, therefore I do not think the punishments should be listed. I be live a policy that focuses more on education and awareness instead of strict penalties to stop students from misuse of technology is a better option. I think this because if people are just given strict penalties then would be afraid of the possible punishments that could occur, so their learning would lessen. On the other hand, I think a policy that sets the guidelines for using technology only for education would be very affective. People would focus more on their education and it would benefit their learning greatly.

Google Cars

Google has been working on a project that does not involve the internet. They have made a car that can drive itself in traffic. Most of this project is a secret, but we do  know that the car can drive itself due to some rare demos that have been released. This car uses artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and mimic the decisions made by a human driver. This is a great and useful advancement in cars created by google. This creation is made in order to find safer ways for driving, because the software engineer who heads the project has a personal childhood experience of a close friend who died from unsafe driving. This car could potentially save many lives because of its amazing ability to avoid crashes with its intelligence. There has been videos released of examples of this cars driving skills. This video is an example of it in action.

Cafeteria Food

Cafeteria food might not be what you think it is. Most people just think that is regular food that is cooked and served. Well in most cases you are wrong. The food served at lunch in most school is processed food that contains processed meet with preservatives and other ingredients that are bad for you. These ingredients are used so meat and other foods can be frozen for long periods of time and then cooked for later use.

This video shows Jamie Oliver investigating the foods served at cafeterias. He asked the lunch ladies that cook and serve the food if they know what they are actually serving. They just think that it is regular food that there is nothing wrong with. He tries to convince them that they are very wrong, which they are, but they will just not except the fact the food they serve in their cafeteria is all processed and it is the cause of obesity for many, many kids across the nation.

Goal 6: Invite Them In

To complete this goal I have to brainstorm ways to invite a teacher, parent, or administrator to see the learning taking place in your classroom. Since I am not a teacher and I do not have a classroom of my own. I am going to brainstorm ways for other people to see what I and others learn in my classroom.

• Create a blog
• To share the ideas of students I could create a blog, and on this blog I could post some assignments, essays, projects, etc. that students have completed.
• Create a school website
• To share every one's idea to anyone with the link, I could make a school website that has links to each individual classroom blog.
• Make a newspaper
• If you make a newspaper you could put updates of what students are working on in different class rooms, and give this newspaper to anyone you wanted to invite into your learning experience.
• Invite them into your classroom
• If you wanted to show a teacher or an administrator what you are working on, let them actually join your classroom for a day so they can see what your classroom environment is like and what you are working on.

Goal 5: Reflect, Step Back, Act

To complete this goal I am suppose to reflect on my best and worst lesson this week or last semester then share this reflection.

So far this week I have only had one full day so far because it is Tuesday, so I will be reflecting on Monday. Yesterday my best lesson would have to be in biology. I think this because we learned the most out of any classes I had that day. We are learning about how ecosystems work. Yesterday we learned specifically about food chains and the carbon cycle. We learned how carbon cycles throughout the world and through living and nonliving environments. Also we learned how nutrients cycled throughout organisms in a food web. This lecture was very educational and I gained much information from this class. On the other hand, my worst lesson or least productive class yesterday was my history class. My period had long block yesterday so it was an hour and fifteen minute class. For the first half hour we took a quiz, which was quite easy. Then after that we did nothing. We were suppose to read over the next chapter but no one did, and our teacher did not enforce us to do so in any way. During this class I learned nothing more then I knew before I entered the classroom.

Goal 4: Leave it Behind

For this goal I am suppose to make a list of ways you can leave your stress behind and not carry it with you into the classroom. Some stress relieving techniques are...

• Take deep breaths and try to calm down
• If you just chill out for a little and you take deep breathes you will find that this calms you down, and if you are calm you most likely will relieve your stress.
• Exercise
• If you are stressed, a good way of getting rid of it is exercising. If you go for a run or if you play a sport you will find this as a good method of leaving your stress behind.
• Release your stress physically
• For some people stress eventually turns into anger. The best way to release anger for some people is by punching something, such as a pillow or something that wont break or hurt you, or by screaming out loud.
• Take a break
• By just taking a break from all your work, or whatever causes you stress, this will actually help you leave some of your stress behind, and this might help you focus better in the future.
• Hang out with friends
• If you are stressed and you want to get rid of it, hanging out with your friends is a great way to do so. If you are with your friends you usually do not think of whatever you are stressed about. This will take your mind off of the subject you are stressed about, and it will most likely leave some of that stress behind also.

These are some great stress relieving ideas, and if you don't want to carry your stress into the classroom, then you should try these.

Goal 3: What Do You Believe About Learning?

For this goal I am suppose to make a bullet list of what you believe regarding how you and others learn. I believe that every person learns a different way. Some people like learning things over and over again. Some need someone else to show them how to do something, like a tutor. Just because you learn a different way it does not mean you are going to do better or worse than someone else who studies or learns another way. Here is a list of some ways people learn...

• Flash Cards
• Verbally (repeating what they need to learn out loud to themselves)
• Reading (reading strait from a textbook or other source)
• Tutors
• Interactive learning (such as games to help you learn
• In the classroom (a teacher teaching you the information is the best way of learning)
• re-writing (re-write what you are trying to learn many times)

Goal 1: Be a Beam

For this challenge I am suppose to help another student that might be stressed out or struggling in another subject. In my geometry class I help other students. I am pretty good at math and I get good grades in it, so if anyone needs help or does not understand something that I know good, I help them. For example if we are working on a worksheet in class and I finished and someone does not understand something, I will help show them how to do it if they ask me for help.

30 Day Challenge

I am participating in the 30 day challenge. Everyday I will be completing at least one of these 30 goals until I finish.

Osama bin Laden's Death

On Sunday, May 1 2011, president Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden. Osama was the most wanted man in the world because of his association with 9/11 and the fall of the twin towers. Celebrations started everywhere in the United States when news of his death spread. He was killed by American forces in Pakistan. Osama was killed in a raid by Navy Seals in Abbotabad, a scenic military town just 100 miles away from the capital Islamabad. Many may have though he was living in a cave somewhere in Pakistan, but it turned out he was living in a million dollar mansion. The United States is not a happier place with the news of this mans death.