REFLECTION ON THE 5K RACE FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS...

In one of my previous posts, I explained about the 5k race for public schools: it was last weekend... For me it was rewarding because I beat my running time from last year (when I ran it ) by 10 seconds. I stopped a few times though... Something I find very curious about stopping after you've been running hard core is that you get a very, very hot heat rush (if anyone knows why please tell me by commenting).
 It was a pretty nice day for running, yet it was a little bit to hot to be absolutely perfect. After the race my friend Lucia, some others from our school, and I  dumped water over each other, and some over ourselves! After that, Lucia and I went to a diner near the park, and lastly shoe shopping with my mom... Overall I had a great time at the 5k race.

My Audience

For me, having a blog has been a great experience. I feel very acknowledged when I get another page view, because it means that one more person in the world has heard my opinion(s). I still have trouble wrapping my mind around the concept that my blog has a global audience! I have 513 page views in total, and 8 people have commented on my blog so far.  I advertise my blog to friends, family, and fellow classmates, and most people (that I know personally) either find my blog when I give them the direct address, or go to the P.S. 10 website and click on the link to my blog. Mr. Casal, my computer teacher, sometimes tweets about it…

I feel very honored and proud that my words are being shared with the world. In the future, a few topics that my audience can look forward to are : more figure skating (as always), reflection on the 5k run for public schools, and summer vacation…

5K RUN FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next weekend is the run for public schools! I am so excited to run it again because I did it last year and it was a lot of fun! Last year I completed the race in 30 min. and 45 seconds, while doing about a 9:55 pace. The fastest runner of the kids did the race in 19 min. and 30 sec. Isn't that fast?! My strategy is to start out a little bit slower than you would like to go, than slowly increase the speed, and slow down if you feel really exhausted, yet at the finish line I always sprint as fast as I can. I love to run the race because it's overall fun, but at the same time I'm doing it for a good cause, which helps to motivate me near the end of the race when it gets hard. This year my former fourth grade teacher will be running it too, so that will be fun. Overall, I'm looking forward to it very much!

Spring Break 2014

My spring break was okay, though a little bit chaotic at points. Here's what happened.

First, I had to babysit my Aunt's dog for two days. Not to bad right? True, though I have a cat, which complicates things. The first night my aunt's dog chased my cat up the stairs and frightened him (the cat) into hiding in the closet. This happened after the complete disaster where my cat puffed up his tail, fur standing on end, and hissed at my Aunt's dog (which motivated the dog into chasing my cat up the stairs). Then, on the weekend before spring break ended, me, my mom, and my dad, went two places to visit friends, one a five hour drive, and then from there to the other, it was a two hour drive. The rest of the break I mostly relaxed and did homework.

In my opinion, the PS 10 Tech homework was pretty fun. Who need you could create so many things without technology, such as a human kaleidoscope !

Overall, my spring break was relatively fun.

LINKS- I HAVE PROOF (EVIL LAUGH) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi, these links below are to watch KimYuna's Sochi Olympic performance, and to watch Adelina Sotnikova's Sochi Olympic performance. Once you watch them, you will see proof of my statement in "How Unfair", one of my recent posts.

CLICK HERE to see KimYuna's Sochi Olympic performance

CLICK HERE to watch Adelina Sotnikova's Sochi Olympic performance

P.S. Did you notice Adelina Sotnikova's trip? Also, notice how the announcer/person who comments says at the end where Adelina Sotnikova recieves her score, " I'm not sure I agree with that".  :-)

Reflection on the ELA Test

As we all know, last week was the ELA State Test . For me, ELA test was pretty easy, and on a scale of one to ten (ten being unbelievably easy, and one being horribly hard) I would rate the tests a 7. 5.
 I think the tests were overall very fair and didn't include any subject areas that were not studied in class. The passages were interesting enough for them not to be boring, and all of the questions were relevant to the passage and at least two pieces of supporting evidence could be found to back up your claim in the short responses. I felt like I had just enough time for Day One and Day Two, but for Day Three, I only had one minute left when I finished, therefore I think that the Day Three time could be extended from the original time by maybe ten minutes.
 After taking the tests I felt like they were accurate assessments of what was learned this year (and other years) in class. The essay question on Day Two was a little bit difficult for me because I could only find a few pieces of supporting evidence to support my statement. Surprisingly, Day One was the hardest day for me, Day Two the second most difficult, and Day Three the easiest, which is unusual in my case because short responses are my weaknesses.
Overall, the ELA state test (for me) was okay and I found it to be decent and reasonable.

The Season of Testing is Upon Us

As we all know, tomorrow is the ELA State Test first day. I have many varying thoughts about the State Tests.
Personally, I believe that the state tests are not necessary,  however there is no doubt that they are a good system for finding out if a student / students are eligible for the next grade. A way that could be used for the same purpose is : asking a student to create a portfolio of some of their best work (a few pieces of work for each subject), and asking the student to hand it into their teacher. The teacher can send it to the state graders, who will decide (based on the student's work) whether they can pass to the next grade or not.
My opinion on the number of days that the tests go on for ( three) is that the test should not take up that number of days. The test is taking up a majority of the school week, and if the third and first test were combined into one test, the test would only take up a minority of the school week.
I think that other subject areas should be included in the test. Social Studies/ History should be included because these subjects are needed in life. We should know when America gained independence, where our natural resources come from, who the first indigenous people were, and all of our knowledge of these subjects should be tested in the exams. Why shouldn't we include these subjects?
My overall thoughts about the test as a student is that the tests are okay, and I think we should keep them, yet maybe we should modify them so that they include Social Studies/History and we should reduce the number of days that they occupy.

CHANGING MY BACKGROUND- AGAIN!!!!!!

I know I only changed my background to the 4 leaf clovers minutes ago, but I'm changing it again! I'm doing this because the color of the background really clashes with my pink title bars.

MY NEW BACKGROUND!!!!!

As you may have noticed, I have changed my background yet again ! (I can't stand to have the same background for more than a week)! This time, my background is of 4 leaf clovers, in honor of St. Patricks Day!

CHANGING MY BACKGROUND!!!!!!!!!

I am changing my background!!!!!!! If you visit my blogpost titled "MY NEW BACKGROUND+ CATCHING FIRE" please be notified that the background that is currently up is not the one I was talking about in that post.

CATCHING FIRE + DIVERGENT!!!!!!!!!!

On Friday, I watched Catching Fire on Amazon. It was great, though I have to say I liked the first movie better.
On the other hand, I am looking forward to seeing the movie Divergent, coming out on March 21st.  I've read it, and am on the second book, Insurgent.

PRESENTATION ABOUT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a presentation that I created in computer class. I hope you like it !

MY NEW BACKGROUND, AND WHY + EXCITEMENT ABOUT CATCHING FIRE (MOVIE)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I am writing about my new background. As you may have noticed, it's of a train (you might not see the train). I chose this background because one, it's going so fast it's unbelievable, and 2, it reminds me of the train in the Hunger Games.
More about the Hunger Games: the new release, Catching Fire is coming out on Amazon on Friday, and I can not wait to see it! For me, my favorite part in both the books and movie(s) is when they're preparing for the Games: the interviews, seeing Cinna...

RASPBERRY TARTS ARE DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I have discovered my new found interest ( in the category of foods/desserts) : raspberry tarts. I've never liked them much before, that is before I ate one at Le Pain Quotidien, a restaurant that I went to before heading to the dentist, where I am sitting now. Anyway, the next time I go back to Le Pain Quotidian, I know what I'll be ordering!

PLEASE COMMENT IF YOU LIKE RASBERRY TARTS :-)

CAROLINA KOSTNER : 2014 SOCHI BRONZE MEDALIST FOR LADIES' FIGURE SKATING

Carolina Kostner won the Olympic Bronze medal for Ladies' Figure Skating this year. Her 2 last Olympics had been disastrous, so I'm happy that she finally won a medal. As I did with Adelina Sotnikova, I will list 5 facts about Carolina Kostner of Italy.

5 interesting and impressive facts about Carolina Kostner:

• Known for her speed across the ice
• Lands triple-triple combinations
• Won gold at the 2012 Nice World Championships
• Won gold at the 2011-2012 Grand Prix Final
• 5 time European champion

:-)

(SIGH) I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING POSITIVE...

My last post was about how unfair the ladies' figure skating Olympics in Sochi were... unfortunately, I guess I should say something positive about Adelina Sotnikova. So here goes...


5 interesting and impressive facts about Adelina Sotnikova:

•  She won gold at the Junior Grand Prix 2010- 2011 in Beijing
• Known for her high and big jumps
• 1st Russian woman to win gold in the ladies' single Olympic event
• Her total score in the Sochi Olympics: 224.59
• She said after winning, " This is the happiest day of my life"

:-)

HOW UNFAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This year's ladies figure skating at the Olympics in Sochi was COMPLETELY UNFAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kim Yuna, my inspiration and the 2010 Olympic gold medalist for ladies figure skating came in second to Adelina Sotnikova of Russia, who won gold. One reason this is COMPLETELY UNFAIR is because one, the judges gave Adelina a higher score because she was Russian. In fact, all of the Russian competitors got a higher score than they deserved! For example: Yulia Lipnitskaya, the Russian 15 year old who was predicted to win gold (she didn't even place in the top 3 though) came in 5th after falling 2 times in each of her 2 performances! Ashley Wagner, an American, came in 7th, though making no mistakes! It's also unfair because two, Adelina tripped once in each of her 2 performances. Kim Yuna made no mistakes, though she attempted slightly less technically difficult jumps, such as the triple salchow. This is what caused her a lower score, but at the same time, the jumps were still very technically difficult, and the whole situation was so outrageous it had about 3 separate articles in the New York Times.






PLEASE COMMENT TO TELL YOUR OPINION ON THIS SITUATION :-)

WINTER OLMPICS TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow is the Winter Olympics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The figure skating will be intense, according to the last Olympics when Kim Yuna beat Mao Asada. I wonder if Mao Asada will try again at the competition? Will Kim Yuna? Also, there's pair skating to look forward to!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait for tomorrow!!!!!!!!!  

MARK TWAIN AUDITION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday is my Mark Twain audition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am auditioning for vocals and creative writing/journalism. The creative writing test is fine, but what I'm really not looking forward to is the vocals test. The part of the vocals that I'm scared about is the part where you have to sing in front of over ten other kids. I wish that we could sing in a different room with just the judges. Plus, all of my friends went the previous weekend, so I won't know anyone there.
Though I am dreading singing, my friend who had gone before told me they provide snacks and treats, so at least there's one thing to look forward to. :-)