Livin It Up Without Wifi

    Overall this week has definitely been the most interesting. For the past 2 days me and my family have been staying at a house right next to the slopes of Wisp. We have to walk a few yards to get to the slope, but I've really enjoyed being here. The house is great its just the wifi. It just so happens this house doesn't have wifi of its own and for all you MACA highschoolers out there we know this is a severe problem. Especially when I have two days worth of work in every class:P however I have discovered that while standing in certain parts of the house I can using the neighbors free wifi that's not pass word protected. So in order to do my homework this week I've been spending 3-4 hours in the highest part of this house (the loft), standing next to the window holding up my iPad whispering 'be strong😩'. I currently only have the dot in the wifi signal but that seems to be enough! It's definitely been an interesting couple of days. But we didn't escape the snow up here in deep creek MD. My family left Wednesday evening right before the storm and now here I would say there's a good two feet on the ground. Needless to say that lead to the ski slopes being all choppy and terrible but otherwise I didn't mind it.

     Challenges faced this week would be getting background pictures on the webpages. It was really frustrating at first because I couldn't figure out why the picture wasn't showing up but eventually I got it to work and now our home page has a really cool background. Another challenge faced was the valentines day flowers. Apparently we had 700 or so flowers to tie names to, sort into classes and hand out. It was rough and personally I didn't think we'd be done in time but surprisingly we finished before the end of 2nd period! Also I faced the challenge of skiing this weekend. As I said before the slopes yesterday were terrible, I ended up falling down and now my neck muscles are all tight:/ the last challenge was getting wifi. It's been rough walking around the house waiting for the right spot but I've been determined to get all this work done so we can stay an extra day.

     Successes this week would include getting to Wisp before the huge snow storm hit. Also getting backgrounds on all of our site pages. Another success was beating my brother once down the slope😉 Also successfully getting my hw turned in off stolen wifi! Lastly completing my groups know dip job application.

     My plans for the upcoming week are to continue using the neighbors wifi and skiing with the fam. I also plan to get the extremely difficult English project done:P I am also planning to get together with my group and film the commercial (that is if I can get ahold of them! Ahem.) lastly I'm planning to teach my little cuz how to ski.

     Anyway yesterday I finished putting together my 20 time schedule. I decided to do my project on the Bahamas. Gotta luv the beach:) I feel like this could be a really good project. I mean its definitely not going to top my last one of the guitar but I think it's promising. 

     And there's no verse so I guess that's it:)

Week 23

     Overall I think I enjoyed last week the most out of the entire school year. Having those 2 days off in the middle of the week were so helpful since I had a lab report due a test another test and a quiz all on the same day. It was awesome having two extra days to study😛

     Overall last week was pretty awesome, only two days of school! Like I said in my last blog I think the week before last was our first full week of school this entire year. Anyways I learned alot last week mostly about geometry and biology which were the two tests I was studying so hard for. Other than that, between snow days there wasn't much to learn. However out team website is going well, my attempts to make a slideshow for the homepage failed. None of the people on my team are very good with HTMl including myself:/ but I think we're doing pretty well considering the circumstances.

     Challenges faced over the past week would include coming back on Friday to all those test and quizzes, it was definitely a bit rough since I had two quizzes and tests. Another challenge for my group was getting phase 5 done, were still working on the details but we did it. The last challenge for the week is getting all my hw done so I can leave to go skiing Wednesday night. I swear every teacher in the school is having their hw or test or project on the Tuesday we get back😩

     Successes for last week would be my team getting our phase 5 turned in. Another success is finally deciding on my 20 time project topics. It took me a while but I think the two I have are solid ideas for a good 4th quarter project.

     My plans for the upcoming week are to go skiing Thursday thru Friday but with the hw I'm not sure if one of those days won't have to be committed to hw:P. I'm also planning to get together with my team an work on our commercial, I won't be back in town till Monday evening so were gonna be stretching it to the limit:/

     So far on my 20 time all I have is the topic but I'm really excited to start working on the PLN and the presentation.

     The verse this week is basically saying we shouldn't just be reading the bible, we should be actively doing what it says. Stationary Christians never to anything amazing for God. We need to stand up and witness to everyone around us instead of fading into the background.

Week 22

     So last week definitely felt longer than it actually was. I think that's the first full week of school we've had since last year? Anyway overall last week was pretty okay despite the fact that I loathed class everyday. The week seemed to never end. Overall though I really like how they did our chapel last week. Having a small group discussion within our home rooms was really interesting. I liked discussing it all as a class much better than in really small groups.

 

     Challenges faced last week would include surviving a whole 5 days of school. It felt like it dragged on forever. Another challenge faced was giving the rest of my 20 time presentation. The last challenge would be the horse show this past weekend. MACAs first equestrian team ever headed off to their first competition this weekend. I was really nervous until it was all over mainly due to the fact that you never know what kind to horse your going to get. I ended up getting a really lazy horse that wouldn't canter the first time I asked but we didn't do too bad, Ill take 6th place😛 overall our team did really well for being the first ones, I think we're shaping up to win some big stuff.

     Successes would be my team doing really well at the competition last weekend, so proud of you all:). Another success would be the snow day today. Not saying that I made it happen but I feel somewhat responsible. The last success would be getting my passport this weekend with my family. Yup were headed to the Bahamas in August soo excited!! 

     My plans for the upcoming week are to get a head start on everything. I seriously can't afford to get crammed with work this week. I'm going to have to work ahead on everything since I'm missing two days of school next week. I'm also planning to help my team on our website. We're kinda behind on stuff since all the coding is really confusing. I'm currently trying to figure out how to put a slideshow on our home page. Three attempts and no success:P

 

     As for 20 time I'm still trying to figure out what exactly I want to do for fourth quarter. I have a few ideas but I'm still trying to put together how they would look in a presentation.

     This weeks verse is basically saying that since we know we have been made new through the crucifixion of Christ we should no longer act like we are slaves to sin. We are made new in Christ and we should be joyful and spreading the word to all unbelievers we meet.  

Week 21

     So the greatest thing just happened. I typed out this entire blog and then accidentally hit the undo button ON THE KEYBOARD. I didn't know there was an undo button on the keyboard? So forgive me if this blog is a bit short, I literally had two huge paragraphs and they disappeared and I've got other work to do so this is gonna be brisk sort of.

     Overall I learned alot this week from the chapels. I really like the theme of getting out of your box. I think it explains what MACAs main problem is. We need to learn to get out of our Christian circles and be open to spreading the gospel of Christ to unbelievers. I also learned this week to get out of my box. I ended up being part of the LAST pair to go to the ball pit. Originally I really resented the idea but after actually doing it my opinion changed. I was teamed up with Tori Bradley and actually I really enjoyed talking to her(: Overall I think the ball pit was a good idea. A stepping stone to getting us to be friends with people who aren't our best friends.

   

     Challenges faced this week would be giving my 20 time presentation. At first I thought it would be bland and boring but after giving it, it ended up not being that bad. The other challenge was the ball pit. I was kinda nervous at first, I don't like the element of surprise if you know what I mean. But as I mentioned earlier I ended up really enjoying it:) Another challenge was starting a new elective. I decided to do worship team this year instead of lit class and I'm really happy with my decision. I really enjoyed my first day with the worship team today;)

     Successes for this week would be giving a good 20 time presentation. I'm really happy with how my project turned out and really hoping it will make up for my rough midterm grade. The other success would be keeping strait As for one whole week :D! Yup that won't last long but I figure enjoy it as long as you can.

     My plans for the upcoming week are to work on some guitar chords for worship team that I don't have down to well just yet. I'm also planning to turn in some projects early for extra credit and try to keep the straight As for possible 2 more week but who know maybe not. 

     Overall I'm really happy with how my 20 time project for quarter 2 turned out. I feel like it was much better than my 20 time project from first quarter. Overall I haven't quite decided what I want my topic to be for quarter 4 but I have a few ideas.

 

     This verse is basically saying that God wants us to trust him. He wants us to remember that everything is under his control and that we need to have faith in what he allows to happen. I think it is important however not to take this verse out of context. God isn't specifically saying this verse to us, he saying it in a story in the bible. You should read the story and then apply the verse.

20timeFinalReflection

     Overall I would have to say that my 20 time project this quarter was very smooth. I didn't feel like it was hard to make the presentation and my project was very solid:) It was a bit frustrating at first because I couldn't get any PLN but in the end I did get one person to respond. In all I like to this project better than my last one and I definitely had a lot of fun learning to play guitar. 

     What could I have done better? Hmmm honestly I can't think of much but I guess I probably could have tweeted 40 people instead of only 20 and maybe gotten a second response. I also could have included more of the history behind the guitar. I didn't include much of it but trust me the guitar has a long history.

     What could I have done better to help you? I would say maybe recommending other ways to get PLN or looking over our approaches and giving advice to what we could have done better. Otherwise I think we all did fine.

     Looking back I feel like I could have done a lot more PLN in December. I kinda did like nothing in December because of Christmas and everything but really I think I would have gotten more responses for PLN if I had continued to contact people not only through November but through December as well.

     As for potential topics for quarter 4 I would have to say maybe long boarding, the Bahamas (since I'm going there this summer) or something on 1920's gala decorations since I'm in charge of that this year.

     Having been through 20 time projects twice I intend to change my approach by actually keeping up and working on the project throughout the quarter. I also intend to get more PLN and maybe include more videos in my next presentation to make it more interesting.

     I used the guidelines on iste.nets by being creative with my projects and communicating with PLN through email and twitter. Also I used the Internet to research my topic and used critical thinking and decision making to craft my project into perfection. I also used digital citizenship when talking to PLN and lastly I have come to understand technology operations and concepts.

     Overall I feel like I greatly improved my 20 Time project in comparison to the one in did in Q1. I plan to improve the next one as well. 

Week 19

      So, midterms are coming up, this should be an interesting week... It's definitely going to be a hard one. Overall I'd have to say homecoming last week was amazing! It was kinda weird that we only had three spirit days instead of 5 but it was still a good week. Overall last week I learned how to finish projectS, it's was definitely a rough week since I had a book presentation on Monday and a paper due the next Monday. I also learned a lot about pedigrees and dominant/recessive traits in bio. And we have to do a project on eugenics for our midterm.

     Challenges faced would be putting our site together in computer. Me and my group are pretty much lost all the time, and our site looks pretty bad. Hopefully we can figure this out soon cause were still, well, lost. Another challenge I am going to face is all the midterms this week. Yay that's great, half days all around, but honestly I'd rather have a full day and skip the midterms all together. The last challenge I faced would have been all the projects I've had to turn in since last week and all the test/quizzes/and hw. I'm still forgetting to turn stuff in. I'm not used to teachers have stuff due literally on your weekend like sundAy night instead of Monday 8:15.

     Successes of this past week would be the small amount of progress my group has made on the site. It's still looks terrible but at least we've got something. Another success would be passing all the tests and quizzes I took last week! It's pretty rare that I didn't fail ANY of them. The last success would be my babysitting job this weekend, I earned alot of money that I needed😜

     My plans for the upcoming week are: studying, studying, and more studyinig! Were in for a thriller of a week! Other plans include going to a wedding this weekend for some random family member I've never met. Should be fun.

     My 20 time project is coming along pretty well. I still have a lot of work to do on it but I've got the general plan down for what I want to do. I'm definitely doing it in explain everything so I can include music clips but I'm not sure how I'm going to fit them into everything else.

     The verse this week is basically saying that if God is for us who can be against us? I think it's definitely important for people to remember that God is never against us, he just wants the best for us.

Week 18

      Wow it's hard to believe we're already on week 18?! I feel like I'm writing a journal or something...anyway last week was definitely my favorite week. Only one day of school! The weekend was a bit rough since I had a project and a test to study for but I survived. As for what I learned I don't remember much from that one day last week but this Monday I learned quite a bit. I learned that have an english paper due Friday morning that I haven't started. I learned about what Abe Lincoln did the few hours before he was killed. And I learned about pedigrees in bio. My team computers is working hard. We've picked out t shirts for our shop and started designing what we want the site to look like. 

     Challenges face would be keeping up with all the hw. I keep forgetting stuff and then getting a renweb 'oh look another thing I forgot!'. It's frustrating. Another challenge is my PLN so far I only have one who answered me back out of the twenty people I tweeted so I'm kinda frustrated. 

     Successes would be my team getting progress on our site. We have alot of cool ideas so I'm excited to see what the final thing is gonna look like. Another success is my English project, I got the timing spot on! Which is pretty rare for me

     My plans for the upcoming week are to get more PLN and continue to work with my team to make our website more amazing than 50 SOC😜

    The bible verse this week basically says that we need to follow Gods example..we need to live in truth, not be greedy or selfish and learn to love others as our self. I definitely need to work on living out this verse.