SAD NEWS!

I am very sad to announce that I will not be starting the Leos Club after all.  I was advised by a Lions member (who will remain unnamed to all!) that it isn't a good time to start the club and it might not ever be. I know I'm going to dissapoint a lot of people because I'm also dissapointed. I feel as if I wasn't given support even though I was under the impression that everyone wanted the club to happen. As a senior in high school it was hard trying to get a club started on my own, especially an international club. It makes me sad because I wanted to make a difference. One day I will come back and make a difference in this town. That is one of my goals in life. This Life Project overall tought me that you can't rely on every one.

Final Standards

1. RI 1  Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. I can use this standard because when I was writing my senior portfolio for Civics/Economincs because I had to reasearch the career field I was wanting to go into and answer multiple questions that we were given.
2. SL 1c  Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives. I was talking to a Lions member and was given advice to not start the Leos Club. That of course brought up many questions that I wanted answered and they were answered and clarified a lot for me.
3. L 5  Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and naunces in word meaning. People use figurative language every day. Sometimes you dont know if they're being serious or not.
4. WHST 2  Write informative/explanitory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific prosedures/experiments, or technical processes. When I did my standards for economics I had to read a lot out of our book and give information to show that I knew what I was talking about.
5. WHST 4  Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriaate to task, purpose, and audience. I had to write an essay for my seal of biliteracy. I had to explain why I thought bwing bilingual was so important to me.
6. WHST 6  Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.  I use my blog all the time to update everyone on my progress, failures and life goals.

To Do!

There are some things that I need to do in order to get my Leo's Club up and running. I need to finalize the date of which I want our first meeting to happen. It's a little hard because I just have so many things coming up and I put it off for quite a while. I did decide that we will not be having a dinner it will just be a meeting at which we invite the parents along with the members and hand out the application of which the parents and members must fill out and give back to us. I do need to call the man in charge of Lemoore Leos so that I can get some final details that I actually don't have. I then have to decide when the next meeting will be in order to decide fees, officers, fundraisers/events, and our goals as a club together. I am really excited that it's almost all done!

Check in

I know that I have't been blogging in a while, but it's time to start getting back into the swing of things!  I've honestly just been kind of busy.  I have been working on scholarships, job applications, stuff to do with Fresno State, and then personal things.  I've been getting back into reading too, I'm on my sixth book since February and they're all well over 200 pages.  I have also been working on a powerpoint presentation for Econ. Mrs. Cervantes basically has me pick a standard or unit and show her that I understand what the topic that I chose is about.
Since I haven't blogged since before Spring Break maybe I can catch you up on a few of the things that I did. For instance I went to LA with my boyfriend and his mom. We had to go to UCLA so that my boyfriend could see and eye specialist, he has terrible eyesight (because of an eye disease) if you didn't guess!!! I also got a lot of reading done, I think I read like two books. My spring break wasn't very eventful, but what can I say! I'm broke!

English:

• RL 4- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful.
• RL 5- Analyze how an author's choice concerning how to structure specific parts of text contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
• RI 3- Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
• RI 8- (should have been used before) Evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of advocacy.

I can use these standards due to the facts above. I was reading books that were historical fantasy, so they obviously have a different way of talking than we do today. I can't include Shakespeare in the reading standards but in the His Fair Assassin trilogy and in Revolution they were both set in historical times. The last standard that I used I only listed because of the fact that I have done an essay for Mrs. Cervantes last semester and it involved historical texts and laws. I felt like I was capable of applying it even though I'm a semester late, but oh well. 

Weekly Blog Post

Week of March 16-20

This week Mrs. Cervantes had me reading the first chapter in our Economics book, to better understand what Economics is about. While I was reading the first chapter I decided to take cornell notes on the entire chapter so that I wouldn't forget the material that I had just read. When I was done understanding what the basics of Economics are I started a PowerPoint presentation. I included things that I thought were important about Economics. I thought of it in the way that if someone didn't know anything about economics then they could look at my PowerPoint and have a better understanding on what economics is about.

Common Core Standards

• RH 1  Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
• RH 2  Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.

Week of February 16-20

The last few weeks I have been helping with the skate park. I help David with the thinking portion, to make things easier  but still do it right. I also was taking pictures on the progress that they were making by moving the ramp out to the tennis courts.  I have also been very busy working on scholarships, because we all know the wake up call that we get when we go off and have to pay for their college expenses.
I have a lot of things on my to do list! I have to meet with Dr. Audet to talk about when we could have a possible dinner for the Leo's meeting, give him the starter papers, and meet with the Lions Club on talking about starting the club. After we have the date set we have to make flyers and send them out to local schools and also present it to the middle school students in Laton. We also have to discuss when a good time for taking pictures for my web page would be. I also have to work on personal statements, scholarships and get transcripts fro, the office.

Common Core standards

• SL 5-  Making strategic use of digital media in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence to add interest. 
• L 1-  Demonstrate command of the conversations of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. 
• L 6-  Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. 

Weekly Blog Post

January 19-23

I started off my weekend with volunteering at the Laton Lions Club with their first annual Crab Feed.  It honestly wasn't that bad, I enjoyed spending time with one of the other rodeo queen contestants.  I also have been working on my Leos Website most of the week in my English class. I mainly have been trying to come up with ways to direct the website to all audiences and add relevant information where it belongs. I had a meeting with Dr. Audet and we talked about setting deadlines and adding pictures to website.  He also gave me little tips and tricks to use on it to make it easier to read and draw attention to certain areas.  We also talked about certain things that the Life Project class could do at the end of the year to do volunteer work and also have fun while doing it.

Common Core Standards:

• SL 2- Initiate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.

I can tie this standard in with what I'm doing because of when I'm working on my website I have to use different forms of media to answer the questions that I think people may have while looking at the Leos Website.

Weekly Blog Post

January 12-16, 2015
First week back! This week we finally got to meet with the two professors that Dr. Audet has been talking about all of last semester. They were pretty interesting, I'm not going to lie the meeting was extremely boring. Other than the meeting I have basically been working on the website that Dr. Audet has helped me create for the Leos Club. I have to add everything on my own, which involves research so I don't post anything wrong. The website and Facebook page aren't ready yet but when they are I will be posting the link so you will be able to look at it.

English Standards:

• RH 7-  Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media in order to address a question or solve a problem.
• WHST 5-  Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.

I can use these standards mainly form making the website for the Leos Club. I have to research all over the internet for relevant information, so that any questions someone might ask can just look on our website or Facebook page and find the answer to their question. The last standard explains what I'm doing. I'm planning, revising, editing, rewriting, and trying different approaches. I'm trying to make my website for a general audience, obviously talking about the Leos Club.

Update

I was just wanting to update you guys on my process on my project. Dr. Audet has helped a great deal by getting me a website that he is allowing me to personalize on my own to sort of help get the word out about the Laton Leos Club. I have been working as much as I can on my website, which honestly isn't every day, but I do try. I have been putting little facts about Laton, the community, the school, etc.. I am really enjoying working on the website because it is something of my own. We have also been working on a little video with Mr. Paul that kind of shows what we've been doing with the My Life Project. I have mainly been helping the guys film their stuff in shop and helping them with the safety sign for the skate park. I also had regular school work to do. For example I had to write a 5 paragraph essay for Spanish. Not fun at all!

Common Core Standards:

• W 1   Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

I can use this standard because I did write a five paragraph essay for AP Spanish. My argument was that it is not necessary to have both a high school diploma and a college degree. There are honestly many people that have dropped out of college that are very well off in life. Yes, I do think that it's good to go, but it's honestly not necessary at all in my opinion.

And yay! I finally got my 18th English Standard done!!!

Weekly Blog Post

Week of December 1- December 5

This week I have had a couple of meetings with Dr. Audet to discuss creating a webpage for our Leos Club. I am really happy that he was willing to spend time and money, even though he didn't have to. I really think that after break we are really going to start to get the ball rolling on getting the club really started. I also needed to do some more civics standards for Mrs. Cervantes, but they're so hard to tie into my project, so I just have been writing her essays that interest me. Of course they involve the standards though. I just got done researching and typing up an essay about the scope and limits of rights and obligations as demographic citizens, the relationships among them, and how they're secured. I basically wrote about how our rights are protected, how we obey them, and what the naturalization process is.

English Standards:

• RI 2   Determine two or more central ideas of text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text. 
• W 8   Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and over reliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation including footnotes and end notes.

I can use these standards because when doing my essays for my civics standards I have to do research on multiple different sites. While doing my research I make sure to write the information in my own words and to post the link of the website that I used on my work cited page.

Vacation post!

Over Thanksgiving break I started my week off with going on a camping trip with my family and some family friends. We went up to Big Sur, if you've never been there then I highly suggest that you go! Its so amazing. There are beaches, mountains, and natural waterfalls. I always have the best time there. Sadly we had to come home. When I came home we had a basketball game the next day and Saturday. We aren't doing to hot in basketball this year, with only having seven players. Thanksgiving was honestly amazing. We started it off with eating early at my boyfriends sisters house, then went to my cousins house later. Yes, I ate both times! I love spending time with both of our families. They are honestly just so amazing to be around. So, my break wasn't very eventful in my opinion, but that's perfectly fine with me.

Weekly Blog Post

Week of  November 17-21

This week I had a meeting with the Lions Club. I was there for almost two hours. No I didn't have to stay but I wanted to honestly see how they operated. It was very interesting because they just laid out onto the table and talked about things openly. For example, concerns, private matters, club matters, events, finances, etc. The main things that we brought about the Leo's Club is how Dr. Auden is going to join the Lions Club to be the advisor for the Leo's. The other concern was financial. One of the women in the Lions Club was concerned that people wouldn't pay and that we wouldn't have correct bank accounts. I did let them know that we do have to have two separate banking accounts and that since we are under the Lions Club I am pretty sure that it states that they will be helping us with the finances. I am posting this now because I am going camping this weekend and won't be able to post tomorrow. I'm super excited and will have a blog post with what I have done!

English Standards:

SL 3:   Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.
W 8:    Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print an digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; access the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation including footnotes and endnotes.

I can tie in these standards to my week because while at the Lions Club I was listening to all that they were saying and the way that they were saying things and bringing them up really shows how much they love the club and hate how the community isn't vey involves. It hurts them to know that they have many members that they pay for and they never show up to anything, and then when they need the communities backing they never really get it. I can also use the other standard because for Mrs. Cervanes I type up an essay for her which has to do with a certain Civics standard that I feel that I can tie into my project. So, I have been researching a lot on the internet just to write the essays.

Weekly Blog Post

Week of November 10-14

This week we had to start the week off by doing the application and taking the test to get in to West Hills. The test honestly reminded me of a dumbed down version of the ACT. It was honestly really boring in my opinion, but what tests are ever fun. After that I got the flu and Wes leaving school early because I honestly wasn't feeling good at all. I am pleased to find out that Dr. Audet is willing to join the Laton Lions Club to be our Leo's Club advisor because all of the current members have so much on their plate already. Then I also found out that the Lemoore Lioms Member, Mr. Bob Casus, has offered to pay our Leo's starter fees which is probably a a big sigh of relief to the Lions Club because I feel like they are so stressed out because they have so much going on lately.

ENGLISH STANDARDS

• RL6  Analyze a case in which grasping point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text form what is really meant.
• RI6  Determine an authors point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text.
• L3  Apply knowledge to language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning, or style, and to comprehend mere fully when reading or listening.

I can use these standards due to the West Hills test. There were honestly probably more that I didn't notice, but I feel as if these standards are sufficient. The test was difficult, but after taking the ACT this test honestly wasn't all that hard anymore. There was a lot of reading and grammar and tying things together in the entire English portions of the test. 

Weekly Blog Post

Week of October 27.

This week I honestly feel like I didn't accomplish much. I mainly just covered my civics standard by writing an essay and got the Leos starter kit. To get my civics standard I did write an essay because I felt like it was hard to tie in any more standards into my project. I focused on how the media influences politics and how it could influence the Lions Club. I also got the Leos Starter kit on Tuesday but haven't really had a chance to go through and study it. Next week will be more successful because I will be able to go to the Lions meeting since this weeks was cancelled.

English Standards:

• RI 5  Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.
• RI 7  Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
• W 7  Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

I can tie in these standards because while writing my civics paper I did have to do research and understand what the media did to influence politics. I was reading off of the internet and also using what Mrs. Cervantes told me in order to support what I was saying. I gave peoples opinions, how politicians utilized the media and also how the Lions Club could benefit if they told the media about their financial situation.

Fresno State Trip

On Monday we went to Fresno State to pitch our project ideas to a class of future entrepreneurs. Then we split up into groups and they gave us creative and useful ideas on how to further our projects.
My group gave me some ideas that I hadn't really thought of. For example, they told me that I should start off by trying to get someone to sponsor us for food. So, every meeting we have we can feed the Leo's without breaking our bank. They also told me that me and David should team up with each other. Reason being, I would get his support so more people want to join and then when they start building the skate park the Leo's could volunteer their time in constructing it and keeping it clean. Then they told me that I should ask the schools to send out letters to the parents and let them know what I'm doing, because it would get their kids out doing something but they would be staying out o trouble.
Finally they told me that I should reach out to big time members in the community. They said that if I make them aware of my project then they would more than likely be willing to sponsor and support it.

Common core standards:

• SL 6  Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating a command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

I can use this standard because in my opinion I needed to be formal and very direct for people to understand what my project was about. When I was up presenting I was very formal because I felt that it was appropriate,  BUT when I was talking to my group I was a lot more relaxed and natural. I felt as if adapting my speech was very useful that way they understood that I was serious about it, but not just because I'm being graded on what I'm doing. To show them that this club is something that I really do want.

Weekly Blog Post

Week of October 20 to October 24

This week we went to Fresno State to pitch our ideas in front of one of their classes. If you would like to know more about it then you can look into it by clicking my previous blog post. I have also had to write a reflection on what I have achieved so that Ms. Pilcher can have a better idea. The teachers have recently asked us to continue writing reflections just so they have more evidence on what we have been doing with our projects. I have been fairly busy this week with sports, studying for my ACTs and just other every day stuff. So, its obvious that not much was accomplished.

Common Core Standards:

• SL 1d  Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the task.

I can tie in this standard because at Fresno State we split up into groups after we all presented and they gave us different ideas from their perspective of things. They gave me some ideas in which I do think that I should really look into. Such as, finding sponsors for my club, teaming up with David, and different activities I should hold to keep people interested.

Weekly Post

This week I had to write the agenda for the Lions Meeting which happened on Wednesday, October 15. We mainly talked about the amount of people I actually had interested in the program. They were very excited about how well I did with the amount of students I had interested. We also decided that we wouldn't join together with the school. They figured it would end up better if we mainly go community based, because we could expand our reach to other students who don't go to Laton High, but would be beneficial to the group.

English Standards:

• SL 1b.  Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision-making, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed.
• SL 2.  Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.

Weekly Update

This week I finalized my proposal to join the Laton Lions Club with the Laton Unified School District, to start a new club. I have mentioned it before but we are in the process of starting a Leos Club and we are fairly close to actually getting the ball rolling with it actually happening. With finishing up the list of potential Leos and asking if they would be interested in the club is really getting it moving. After the list is done with a rough amount of people interested we will have an open meeting with an application handed out which the Lions members will then select the Leos. I am very excited!


Civic Standards:
12.3.1    Explain how civil society provides opportunities for individuals to associate for social, cultural, religious, economic, and political purposes.
I tied in this standard because when I explained to the potential Leo's what everything in the program was about, I though that this standard would work.

Weekly blog post

This week I did not have much contact with the Lions Club, due to having a volleyball game on the day of the meeting. I will be finishing up the Leos by next week. I did finish my proposal this week because I had nothing better to do. I will let it sit and go back a few times at the beginning and end of next week to finish up anything that I feel like I left out or need to change. I also helped Mathew a little in the shop and do plan on continuing that if he needs my help. I have also been reading the book The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks. It is seriously such an amazing book! I read over 60 pages in one day. Pretty sure I have an obsession with his books.

English Standards:

• RL 3: Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama.
• W 6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.
• W 10: Write routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

I can tie in these standards because I am reading a book on my own time, and I always look into the way an author will say something. Like if it has a lot of impact or ties into something else. I also have been writing my proposal and have been using the internet a lot to find information and rewrite it so it wont be considered as plagiarism. I don't know why I haven't used writing standard 10 before because I write weekly blog posts obviously! 


Civics Standards:

• 12.2.2  Explain how economic rights are secured and their importance to the individual and to society.

I can tie this standard in because the students will have an option to join the Leos club, so I basically compared that on having the righ to join or not join a labor union

My Week

So this week went fairly well for me. I finished up the timeline for last week stating what I needed to do for this week. I also finished my agenda for the Lions Club meeting which also went well. They are extremely interested in creating a Leo's Program, even if the school isn't willing to get involved. I had to do some more research on how to write a better proposal than what I came up with last time. I started writing it, basically just stating my objective and what I think will benifit of the progran. Remember I just started! I also completed my timeline for next week explaining how busy I will be with getting the Leos finalized, to continuing my new proposal and my end of the week blog post.

Common Core standards:

• Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner that anticipates the audience's knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.
• Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
• Come to discussion prepared, having read and researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-reasoned exchange of ideas.

I can tie in all of these standards with my project because through the Leo's program I have to do research and basically give the Lions Club what they want to know. I have to find out exactly and maybe even give them slightly more than what they need. In the meeting I was prepared with an agenda and a print out from lionsclubs.org on the Leo's program so that I was prepared to answer their questions. I can also state that I use a concluding statement, like what I am writing now, to show that I am tying in the standards to what I am actually doing each week.

Civic Standards:

• 12.2.2  Explain how economic rights are secured and their importance to the individual and to society (e.g., the right to acquire, use, transfer, and dispose of property; right to chose one's work; right to join or not join labor unions; copyright and patent).
• 12.2.3  Discuss the individual's legal obligations to obey the law, serve as a juror, and pay taxes.

I can tie in these standards because at the meeting we discussed how when they rent out the hall they legally discuss payment and security measures. I also had to ask them about what they were under as far as taxes. For example they are a 501c4 nonprofit organization and are not charitable. That was all discussed as far as needing the information for a grant.