Thank you Cody Davey, Aydan Carver, and Grant Solis for allowing me to use your posts to reflect on modern genocides and gather information on them.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Modern Genocide Review
Throughout the many posts I have read on the subject of genocides, it is evident that no matter the length of the genocide, the countries or groups of people that partake in the genocide, or the end result of it all, they all have to do with the same thing; power. Through separation among a population, groups of people have been discriminating and committing acts of violence on each other, all to determine who will have the power over that nation. Whether it be through the ruling of an iron fist, the rebelling against the government, or the constant grievances on who to put in power, genocides happen because one group of people is upset with another group of people and the logical solution to them is to discriminate against them and start an all out display of aggressive violence. Who has governmental power in a nation can lead to uproar of violence because everybody wants to have their say in who is in control. If countries do not get a hold of control on who is in power, genocides will continue to happen. The constant willingness to kill a majority of a country's population just to get your beliefs in the government, is exactly what is causing these genocides. Unfortunately, genocides do not look like they will stop any time soon, due to the power hungry savages living in these countries all over the world.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Blogpost: Modern Genocides
One of the smallest countries in Central Africa, Rwanda is home to a population of 7 million people. Of these 7 million people, the population of Rwanda is broken up into two main ethnic groups; the Hutu and the Tutsi. The Hutu accounted for 90% of the population. The Hutu came to power after gaining their independence from Belgium in 1962 and asserted their dominance through discrimination and acts of violence. Over 200,000 Tutsis fled Rwanda to nearby countries in order to gain safety and formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a rebel guerrilla army. In 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front invaded Rwanda and forced the Hutu President, Juvenal Habyalimana to grant an equal share of power between the Hutus and the Tutsis.
Tension grew between the two groups in 1993 when the then President of the Hutu group, Melchior Ndadaye, was assassinated. The United Nations sent multinational soldiers to Rwanda to maintain order between the Hutu government and the Tutsi rebels. The Hutus wanted nothing to do with the Tutsis and were opposed to the idea of any shared power with the group. To go from bad to worse, in April of 1994, a plain that was carrying the President of Rwanda, Habyalimana and the President of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, was shot down.Immediately, Rwanda erupted into political violence with the Hutu extremists targeting Tutsi leaders and even moderate Hutu politicians.
Carrying machetes, clubs, guns and grenades the Hutu militia was on the look out to kill anybody of Tutsi ethnicity. Everybody in Rwanda carried identification cards, which before just specified their background, but now it meant the difference of whether or not they would survive or not. This became such a horrific display of violence that the United Nations were forced to evacuate the soldiers that were sent to protect and keep peace. The Rwandan radio station, controlled by Hutu extremists, further encouraged the killings by broadcasting non-stop hate propaganda and even addressed the locations of the Tutsis that were in hiding. The Hutu extremists consisted of everybody, from doctors and educators, to those just looking to take the Tutsi's land.
Between April and June of 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the span of 100 days. Such a violent and horrific display of actions is nothing short of a political outrage between two groups of people in a country. The differences that the Hutus and the Tutsis had regarding who would have power in the country ultimately led to a disturbance of peace all together, and resulted in an entire group of people suffering, laying defeated and dead at the feet of their victors. Genocides still exist today, and due to the vast differences in opinions and views the world has, they are likely to continue for years to come.
Tension grew between the two groups in 1993 when the then President of the Hutu group, Melchior Ndadaye, was assassinated. The United Nations sent multinational soldiers to Rwanda to maintain order between the Hutu government and the Tutsi rebels. The Hutus wanted nothing to do with the Tutsis and were opposed to the idea of any shared power with the group. To go from bad to worse, in April of 1994, a plain that was carrying the President of Rwanda, Habyalimana and the President of Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, was shot down.Immediately, Rwanda erupted into political violence with the Hutu extremists targeting Tutsi leaders and even moderate Hutu politicians.
Carrying machetes, clubs, guns and grenades the Hutu militia was on the look out to kill anybody of Tutsi ethnicity. Everybody in Rwanda carried identification cards, which before just specified their background, but now it meant the difference of whether or not they would survive or not. This became such a horrific display of violence that the United Nations were forced to evacuate the soldiers that were sent to protect and keep peace. The Rwandan radio station, controlled by Hutu extremists, further encouraged the killings by broadcasting non-stop hate propaganda and even addressed the locations of the Tutsis that were in hiding. The Hutu extremists consisted of everybody, from doctors and educators, to those just looking to take the Tutsi's land.
Between April and June of 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the span of 100 days. Such a violent and horrific display of actions is nothing short of a political outrage between two groups of people in a country. The differences that the Hutus and the Tutsis had regarding who would have power in the country ultimately led to a disturbance of peace all together, and resulted in an entire group of people suffering, laying defeated and dead at the feet of their victors. Genocides still exist today, and due to the vast differences in opinions and views the world has, they are likely to continue for years to come.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Mentor Text-English Story
For my next mentor text, I decided to use the episode of SpongeBob titled "Boating School". In this episode SpongeBob is set to take his boating exam once again, however, as usual he does not know what he is doing. Terrified of failing his test yet again, he is forced to cheat. By using his friend Patrick from afar,
SpongeBob has Patrick give him the answers and tell him what to do during each part of the test.
As does my character Cody in my story, SpongeBob results to cheating instead of just facing reality and accepting the fact that he couldn't pass. I used SpongeBob's decision to cheat as a reference for my story. Although he knows it is the wrong decision, Cody cannot help but cheat in order to receive a passing grade, much like SpongeBob does to pass his boating exam. Filled with guilt and shame, SpongeBob reveals what he has done at the end of his exam because he cannot in all honesty accept a passing grade for the way in which he received it. I recognized the honesty in his decision and used it in my story. Although my character was caught cheating, at the end he came clean and confessed his mistake. I saw a lot of parallelism in my story and the episode of SpongeBob which is why I saw it necessary to use this as my mentor text.
SpongeBob has Patrick give him the answers and tell him what to do during each part of the test.
As does my character Cody in my story, SpongeBob results to cheating instead of just facing reality and accepting the fact that he couldn't pass. I used SpongeBob's decision to cheat as a reference for my story. Although he knows it is the wrong decision, Cody cannot help but cheat in order to receive a passing grade, much like SpongeBob does to pass his boating exam. Filled with guilt and shame, SpongeBob reveals what he has done at the end of his exam because he cannot in all honesty accept a passing grade for the way in which he received it. I recognized the honesty in his decision and used it in my story. Although my character was caught cheating, at the end he came clean and confessed his mistake. I saw a lot of parallelism in my story and the episode of SpongeBob which is why I saw it necessary to use this as my mentor text.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Blog Post Week 11-Interview
The following is an interview by yours truly asking an up and coming author, Cody Davey about his new children's story which can be read here. (If he did it)
Q: How old were you when you first started writing?
A: I first started writing at the prime age of 17.
Q:What influenced your writing?
A: What really influenced my writing was the support of my classmates and the people I had behind me. I could not have done it without them.
Q: Why did you start writing?
A: Well you see, I was given an assignment and I really did not want to fail, so I figured I should do it.
Q: How old were you when you first started writing?
A: I first started writing at the prime age of 17.
- Ahh, such a young, innocent age.
Q:What influenced your writing?
A: What really influenced my writing was the support of my classmates and the people I had behind me. I could not have done it without them.
- Im glad I could help with your creation.
Q: Why did you start writing?
A: Well you see, I was given an assignment and I really did not want to fail, so I figured I should do it.
- Sounds like a good reason to me!
Q: What is your story about?
A: It is about a young rooster who gets called to war, and on his return to life on the farm he has to deal with his normal everyday life again.
Q: How did you come up with this story?
A: I brainstormed a few ideas and once I narrowed it down to this one, snowball effect; I kept rolling with it until it got bigger and better.
Q: What conflicts does your character face?
A: He goes to war, and when he returns home he has to deal with all of the animals not knowing what he went through.
Q: While writing your story, what problems did you encounter?
A: I lacked some motivation to get going and the intelligence to develop the characters well.
- Amen to that!
Q: How did you overcome these problems?
A: Hmm, I haven’t quite done that yet. I’ll get back to you on that one.
- I look forward to hearing it.
Q: What is one symbol of your story?
A: The rooster represents a Vietnam veteran soldier.
Q: Did you use other works to base your story on?
A: Yes, I used Rambo and the story Animal Farm.
Q: Who would you recommend to read your story?
A: Errrbody!
- I like the attitude.
Q: Who is your favorite character?
A: Rooster. He’s a champ!
Q: What is the title of your book?
A: A Rooster’s Call to War
- Makes sense...
Q: Is there foreshadowing?
A: There will be, sure.
Q: What kind of metaphors or similes do you use?
A: The good kinds.
- Those are the best kinds!
Q: How many pages is your story?
A: TBD
Q: Are there a lot of visuals to your story?
A: Yes, it’s a children’s book, duhh.
- Silly me...
Q: Did you enjoy writing this book?
A: Not really. I felt like it was not too much fun and a lot of unnecessary work and pressure.
Q: Were you pressured by the deadlines issued to this assignment?
A: Oh Yeah! There was not enough time to complete my masterpiece.
- Mhm, I heard that.
ME: Well Cody, it was great talking with you about your upcoming children's story and I look forward to speaking with you again in the near future. Goodbye.
CODY: Peace.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Story Rough Draft
Page 1:
In honors calculus a class did take place, with looks of confusion on every student's face. They tried and they studied and notes they did take. But there was always one student who never stayed awake.
Page 2:
He slept, he talked, he doodled all class. So when it came to the test he just couldn't pass. Instead of paying attention and doing his work, he just sat and complained and drove everyone bizzurk. His name was Cody; Cody the Turtle. And passing calculus would sure be a hurdle.
Page3:
Test day would come and when he sat in his seat, he could nearly feel his heart quickly skip a beat. He had no clue what could be on this test. For he was always too busy being a pest. Problem number one, find the answer for X. He would read the question and onto the next.
Page 4:
One day in class, the teacher exclaimed, "Test tomorrow on range and domain! Also, there will be continuity questions, instantaneous rate of change, and line progressions!"
Page 5:
Cody stared in disbelief, full of awe and shock. Class was almost over so he looked up at the clock. Half past two and school was almost done. He gathered up his books and quickly started to run. He ran all the way home and didn't look back and unloaded his books from his stuffed backpack.
Page 6:
It was three o'clock when he opened his book and was not going to stop no matter how long it took. He was determined to study to ensure he would pass because he was sick and tired of doing horrible in the class. An hour passed by, but not so much luck. Every problem he read he kept on getting stuck.
Page 7:
Things were going no where, so he decided to close his eyes. Before he knew it he was waking up to the sunrise. "I must have just napped", he said to himself. Then he looked at the clock that was sitting on his shelf. "Seven o'clock, hmm that's not too bad!" Then he sprung out of bed with all the energy he had. "Seven in the morning!", he nervously screamed. "All of that studying must have been what I dreamed!"
Page 8:
Math came around and he began to perspire. Then he noticed next to him the girl he admired. Tori the Turtle; the smartest in the class. Then Cody thought of an easy way he could pass. He sneaked a peek at her paper to check for the answer.
I had two more pages but they got deleted and I cannot remember what was written. More is soon to come. Enjoy.
In honors calculus a class did take place, with looks of confusion on every student's face. They tried and they studied and notes they did take. But there was always one student who never stayed awake.
Page 2:
He slept, he talked, he doodled all class. So when it came to the test he just couldn't pass. Instead of paying attention and doing his work, he just sat and complained and drove everyone bizzurk. His name was Cody; Cody the Turtle. And passing calculus would sure be a hurdle.
Page3:
Test day would come and when he sat in his seat, he could nearly feel his heart quickly skip a beat. He had no clue what could be on this test. For he was always too busy being a pest. Problem number one, find the answer for X. He would read the question and onto the next.
Page 4:
One day in class, the teacher exclaimed, "Test tomorrow on range and domain! Also, there will be continuity questions, instantaneous rate of change, and line progressions!"
Page 5:
Cody stared in disbelief, full of awe and shock. Class was almost over so he looked up at the clock. Half past two and school was almost done. He gathered up his books and quickly started to run. He ran all the way home and didn't look back and unloaded his books from his stuffed backpack.
Page 6:
It was three o'clock when he opened his book and was not going to stop no matter how long it took. He was determined to study to ensure he would pass because he was sick and tired of doing horrible in the class. An hour passed by, but not so much luck. Every problem he read he kept on getting stuck.
Page 7:
Things were going no where, so he decided to close his eyes. Before he knew it he was waking up to the sunrise. "I must have just napped", he said to himself. Then he looked at the clock that was sitting on his shelf. "Seven o'clock, hmm that's not too bad!" Then he sprung out of bed with all the energy he had. "Seven in the morning!", he nervously screamed. "All of that studying must have been what I dreamed!"
Page 8:
Math came around and he began to perspire. Then he noticed next to him the girl he admired. Tori the Turtle; the smartest in the class. Then Cody thought of an easy way he could pass. He sneaked a peek at her paper to check for the answer.
I had two more pages but they got deleted and I cannot remember what was written. More is soon to come. Enjoy.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
What Makes a Good Teacher
What makes a good teacher? One may think it is a teacher that has a great deal to offer. Another may may feel that it is someone that leaves an everlasting impact on their life. Regardless of the definition, everyone has sat through a class for a period a day with that one teacher that they consider remarkable. For me to consider a teacher truly great, a few things have to happen. A few characteristics a teacher must contain for me to consider them a good teacher are that they enjoy what they do, they leave an everlasting impact, and that they have fun.
One must have pride in their work to truly enjoy what they are doing. For a teacher, pride and admiration for their job is arguably the most important trait to have because it is a job that comes with such great stress and and determination. With admiration, a job can only become quicker and easier than that of a someone who does not enjoy their job. If a teacher detests her job with a great passion, then it is only going to cause them stress and force stress and hatred upon the students.
We all have those few people in life that leave an impact that we will never forget. A teacher that leaves an impact of such immense proportions is rare to find, but when they arrive, the impact they leave is just as important, if not more important, than any other. One may be impacted by a teacher through their words of wisdom, or the education is which they bring upon the students. For me, what makes a teacher so impacting is one who can relate to their students and understand what they are going through as maturing young adults. They have been in our shoes long ago and they understand the stress and hard work that come along with being a responsible student. For a teacher to connect with their students and offer advice and help to them, remembering that they were once in their position, is of much importance because it shows that teacher truly cares about the students. Also, what makes a teacher impacting is one who offers inspirational and wise points of views to their students. One who inspires helps to aspire. With inspiration from the teacher, comes aspiration from the students to go after their goal and believe that they can do anything.
Lastly, what makes a good teacher is one who can have fun while doing their job at the same time. What makes a boring, dull teacher is one who stuffs notes down the students' throats and hand out the assignment, with no hope of ever having a decent time in class. However, a teacher that takes the lesson, flips it, and turns it into an activity that teaches the students, but also gets them involved and allows them to have fun, helps to make a good teacher. It is always important to find the most amount of fun out of something that can be so boring at times, therefore a teacher that incorporates the lesson plan into a fun activity makes them a teacher of importance and good quality.
Among these characteristics, there are several more that help to make a good teacher. What makes a good teacher is different from student to student, depending on the way that student learns and how they like to incorporate their knowledge. If a teacher does not contain these characteristics or other positive characteristics in their job, then that person should consider taking a different path. It is only going to make their life, and the lives of those students easier if that teacher does not teach. It is avoiding a bad situation that can only get worse and for the students to do well and succeed in the class, they need a teacher that can offer them something that no other can. As students, we look to teachers for advice, knowledge, and encouragement, and if a teacher cannot offer that to their students, then they have no business in the occupation of teaching. Learn we must, succeed we try, and positive influences we need.
One must have pride in their work to truly enjoy what they are doing. For a teacher, pride and admiration for their job is arguably the most important trait to have because it is a job that comes with such great stress and and determination. With admiration, a job can only become quicker and easier than that of a someone who does not enjoy their job. If a teacher detests her job with a great passion, then it is only going to cause them stress and force stress and hatred upon the students.
We all have those few people in life that leave an impact that we will never forget. A teacher that leaves an impact of such immense proportions is rare to find, but when they arrive, the impact they leave is just as important, if not more important, than any other. One may be impacted by a teacher through their words of wisdom, or the education is which they bring upon the students. For me, what makes a teacher so impacting is one who can relate to their students and understand what they are going through as maturing young adults. They have been in our shoes long ago and they understand the stress and hard work that come along with being a responsible student. For a teacher to connect with their students and offer advice and help to them, remembering that they were once in their position, is of much importance because it shows that teacher truly cares about the students. Also, what makes a teacher impacting is one who offers inspirational and wise points of views to their students. One who inspires helps to aspire. With inspiration from the teacher, comes aspiration from the students to go after their goal and believe that they can do anything.
Lastly, what makes a good teacher is one who can have fun while doing their job at the same time. What makes a boring, dull teacher is one who stuffs notes down the students' throats and hand out the assignment, with no hope of ever having a decent time in class. However, a teacher that takes the lesson, flips it, and turns it into an activity that teaches the students, but also gets them involved and allows them to have fun, helps to make a good teacher. It is always important to find the most amount of fun out of something that can be so boring at times, therefore a teacher that incorporates the lesson plan into a fun activity makes them a teacher of importance and good quality.
Among these characteristics, there are several more that help to make a good teacher. What makes a good teacher is different from student to student, depending on the way that student learns and how they like to incorporate their knowledge. If a teacher does not contain these characteristics or other positive characteristics in their job, then that person should consider taking a different path. It is only going to make their life, and the lives of those students easier if that teacher does not teach. It is avoiding a bad situation that can only get worse and for the students to do well and succeed in the class, they need a teacher that can offer them something that no other can. As students, we look to teachers for advice, knowledge, and encouragement, and if a teacher cannot offer that to their students, then they have no business in the occupation of teaching. Learn we must, succeed we try, and positive influences we need.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Comments for week 7
http://sydneycochran7.blogspot.com/2011/10/we-were-given-right-to-freedom-of.html?showComment=1320025261526#c4843571098790232753
http://nathanefuller.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/mentor-text-2-to-sir-with-love/#comment-39
http://codydaveyenglish.blogspot.com/2011/10/first-blood-vs-call-to-war.html?showComment=1320025639469#c5299659833089032756
http://freelandjesse.blogspot.com/2011/10/walking-dead-season-2.html?showComment=1320025767617#c1590299678623423904
http://nathanefuller.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/mentor-text-2-to-sir-with-love/#comment-39
http://codydaveyenglish.blogspot.com/2011/10/first-blood-vs-call-to-war.html?showComment=1320025639469#c5299659833089032756
http://freelandjesse.blogspot.com/2011/10/walking-dead-season-2.html?showComment=1320025767617#c1590299678623423904
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