Naturally a Leader Would...

There are many qualities that a leader should have to positively inspire a group, tribe, family etc. Personality of a person can greatly influence characteristics of a leader; some might say you are born a leader. Leaders know all the different perspectives of his followers and understands what they need to function.

In some situations leaders need to stay calm so his/her followers don’t also panic, such as in the pilot episode of LOST, Jack restrains himself from panicking. An example of leadership where it’s not a matter of life and death would be a leader of a stringed quartet. The leader must demonstrate three qualities, reverence, zeal, and punctuality. This type of leadership is more organized. I believe these three qualities are extremely important to having a successful music group. Reverence is the passion, and the attitude of playing the instrument. If a leader shows this, players also follow the lead. Zeal is the work ethic of the group. Once again if the leader pushes his followers to repeat their dynamics, they can perfectly function and tackle ay piece written. Punctuality is mostly playing the instrument without flaw, leaders must show skill. I can relate to the followers in the musical perspective more than the survival situation. I think I have some characteristics of a leader, but I rather stray from telling people what to do. Naturally, I’m a follower.

Childhood

Some of my fondest memories when I was a young lad was snuggling in bed and having my mom read me stories. There were a variety of books an enjoyed, but the most memorable books were "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis. Short story books were great and all, as my mother said, she much rather read an adventurous meaningful chapter book that would last longer than a ten-page book. I think my mom was afraid to read the same book every night to me as a regular routine.

I loved listening to my moms voice tell the story, any other person even attempting to read a story wasn’t as satisfying as her significant ability. Its not that the story itself made me think, it was the words she was saying. Words I didn’t understand she would explain to me in a way id understand. She’d say the word and id answer back. She would use the word in a sentence and I would understand it maybe a little bit but I felt as though I was growing up. Learning how grown adults talked. That’s what I remember the most about childhood stories. Often time I wish she would still read to me the way she used to.

-Technological-

Oh technology, what would we ever do with out it. Life would seem to drag on longer without all the quick shortcuts my young generation is capable of discovering. After hearing many stories from my parents and grandparents it is clear that research and learning is more accessible thanks to computers and other communication devices. I cannot think of going through middle school or high school with out quickly "googling" my questions. Not having the ability to surf the word wide Internet, or chat with my friends would be a missing chunk of my everyday life.

As the years go by almost every thing we ever do is based around new ideas and efficiency, the search to making life easier. Even though we can benefit from the positive, we are loosing touch with the three dimensional world. People walk down the street totally immersed and unaware of everything around them. Most kids can’t stay in one spot and look at the natural environment and appreciate the beauty. Those who cannot are living with there eyes glued to the screens. I feel as though this will negatively affect us humans, and slowly cut the face to face communication.

Final Blog! I Didn't Forget it! Woo!

Wow, when Mrs. Gilman suggested that we would be writing on an online blog, i wasn't to excited. After this long year, i think i finally see the point and meaning of these blogs. To share our writing with our classmates as well as reflecting on our learning styles in class on specific things. While reading all of my blogs i realize that some blogs i put a lot of effort in them, and some not so much. Easily my favorite types of blogs were the ones that didn't have to be super long on some random topic. Such as the first post we ever wrote. I feel as though my ideas on locations for reading a book have not changed. I still need complete silence to soak the book up and completely understand it. Yet, if your crunched for time, going back isn't always the best method of approach. Annotations help better than going back. The first book i annotated this year was Treasure Island. It was an epic book. I loved it! As Mara would say, "Its in-fricken-sane!". Well, it wasn't that good. While Treasure Island was one of the better books i have read this year, i cannot say it was 100% perfect. While you'd be reading it you always had to look up words they'd say because you have no clue what the pirates mean. I know it sounds whiney but its the truth. While reading my past blogs i laughed the most at this post, "Memory Lane". I can still imagine the house boating trip in my mind 11 years ago. My skin just hurts thinking about it. I absolutely hate sun burns. My mom taught me a very valuable lesson in a some what mean way. "Madison, hold still dammit!" Oh mom, Love you. My favorite blog was the best friend blog post. Of course i wrote about the best topic, Parker Newman, what a character. The day after the blog was posted i just decided to follow him around after second period and follow him around to what he'd do. Im such a genius! Best blog. Another blog about life lessons was a memorable blog. I feel like such an idiot that i was a gossip queen when i was little. The next post was the first blog primarily looking at motif. This was an important blog because it helped me, and probably other student understand the importance of motif. Now i can identify motif with ease. Even though it can be hard. I don't really like it. i can do it though, no worries! To Kill a Mocking Bird was a great book to teach motif because it was so obvious. Then along came poetry out loud. One of my favorite things in english. I love reciting it because its fun! We were given the opportunity to watch some videos of kids preforming the poems. It was amazing how talented some the kids were. One girl did a poem that was as long as a short story. i can't believe how good she was. She cried mid poem. That really shows you that she was effected by it. My jaw dropped, but it also gave me the confidence to achieve on my own poetry out loud reciting. The next post was my Animal Farm project, an epic poem. I obviously panicked about the project because i hadn't started it on time and rushed through the whole thing. Not a good way of doing a final project kids! I'm ashamed of the poem. Please don't shun me Mrs. Gilman, i tried. 2o10 blog, new year resolution. I feel as though my excitement for reading has probably decreased since that time. I'm very tired of all the work in my classes and would like a break. Reading a book right now would be suicide, but i'm forced to read one now and its short. So i think i am fine with that. I'm sure this summer i'll get excited about reading again! In a quiet place of course. I think the victorian age project was a good preview to our final this year. It's seems like the blog post could help me think about the questions and attitude i should have for my upcoming final. Glad we had that one! The group essay blog was not fun. On top of all the essay writing we had to do, we had a blog. It wasn't the best, but i endured it. Yet another blog reflecting our writing abilities. Next came Great Expectations. I'd like to take a second of your time reading this and award GE the most boring book in history. The blogs where other students answer were helpful blogs i think. Getting input from other piers is sometimes better then the teacher. Then we got to do skits on the most boring book in history! Woo, Mara's skit was the best thing id ever seen, she pretended to be on fire. I loved it. The blog was all about finding the best scenes to preform, i said the scene when Mrs. Havisham catches fire, go mara! Its fair to say i have the best second period of anyone! Another post we had was a reflection on our year,i only have good things to say about my class. At the end of that post i whine about motif some more. After we had been reading Romeo and Juliet a while we had to find some modern day arts referencing the book. I found a song by the Killers called "Romeo and Juliet". The most fun R+J blog was writing about your zodiac sign and telling how Romeo relies on the stars to know what to do. I enjoyed this blog because i got to find things about myself that i never knew. The last two blogs this year were about our summer reading list and a reflection on how we have increased our essay writing abilities. I feel as thought i can write a kick ass essay. Mrs. Gilman you have made an influence on me, thankyou! Your an awesome teacher! As my Dad always says, "the tassel is worth the hassle!" Honors rocks!

Essay Anyone?

This year i feel as though my essay writing skills have increased rapidly. In honors english we have learned many techniques to writing a good essay. It has been a lot of hard work, but it has been worth the knowledge learned. I think literary techniques such as symbolism is beneficial when it comes to understanding novels and or plays.

My essay could use some work. My conclusion is not "beefy" enough and needs a stronger ending. This weekend i"m mostly going to be focussing on my conclusion. My paper right now is a "B" grade, but after this weekend, it'll be a big fat "A"!

Books Anyone?

There are several books i am excited to read this summer. Two to be exact, The Shack by William young. My dad recommended this book to me because he said id enjoy this book way more than any other book i have ever read. The other book was recommended from my cousin mark, Keeper by Mal Peet. This book is about a young boy growing up in poverty who struggles on society, but he becomes one of the greatest goalies in the world. Im reading this book first!

Pisces. Fate. Epic.

My birthday was March second, 1995.

My zodiac sign is called "Pisces", witch look like to fish.

The astrology on my birthday is to suggest that "a Pisces born on March 2 has a perception that borders on genius. Although they may seem to clear everything through intellectual channels, they are really exercising psychic sensitivity. Most major life decisions are made this way. They are gentle souls who may lack self-confidence. This is unfortunate because they have many talents." I don't fully agree with all of that, but if the stars say read it, then it must be correct. I would not say I'm a genius but i am fairly intelligent when it comes to common sense. I do have many talents, and i hope to gain more as my life progresses. As a freshman in high school i feel as though i have a lot of self confidence. Astrology has also suggested that i have nervous ailments which deprive me of sleep. I can relate to that for sure. If something is bothering me, or i'm nervous for something coming up, i loose sleep.

No matter what the stars say, or how much Romeo relies on the stars and fate to interpret his fate, i believe that my zodiac sign relates to me and that i am who i am, and its not going to change.