Video Discussion 4/23

I believe Robinson makes a good point that our educational system is made for a time that is no longer around. And now, something that could be a wonderful thing could be suppressed for not being part of the norm. Today's education needs to become more diverse in it's teachings and focus on all aspects including the arts as opposed to being centered around mathematics and language. There is also the problem that the education system is teaching children to live in a world that can change within their lifetime, so by the time they are ready to live in a 2010s era, they are living in a 2030s era.

thesis statement 4/23

I wanted the readers to understand how much I was interested in World War Two and how long it has been put of me. I also wanted to show how there is more to learn about the event than meets the eye or what is written in school books.

Paper three final draft

Back when the History channel was about history a person could have learned the events of World War Two and how such a traumatic event changed the world. It can become awe-inspiring to some, how something like a war can effect almost every country in the world at one time. That spark of intrigue can motivate one to learn as much as they could about this global event for many years to come. Much like Mike Rose mentioned in Lives on the Boundary, An experience like this could give someone "a way to feel special by using [their] mind."  While with such a largely detailed subject, it could take quite some time to learn about the war as a whole. Some might have to begin their research at a young age with a broad overview of the war and progressively go into deeper detail over time.  An educational experience such as this could be more important and longer lasting than a formal classroom lesson, because finding something that truly interests you can be more motivating than being told what to learn.

When a child finds something they are interested in, it gives them something to do and gives a constructive outlet for learning. While it can occasionally be difficult to find a learning subject that a child will be interested in or something that the child will pursue to learn in the future. Once the child finds such an outlet it can be difficult to turn the child away from such an interest. While when a child finds their interest at such a young age, the only sources they would be able to learn more about their interest would only be TV and their school teachers, and because war and weapons are not books elementary schools would normally keep in their libraries, the only sources that a student would be able to find would have to be any history book that might mention it in its text. Students that are passionate about this subject would need to run from the school library, to the public library to find the sources that would have enough detailed information to further their knowledge. There are plenty of simple books that a younger aged student can learn from with ease until they are ready for more advanced books.

As the child gets older, they would be able to find new sources of information such as the internet, where they could just type in a battle or significant person to find hundreds of sources of information. One might only type in "The Battle of Stalingrad" and find websites, books, or even diaries of the solders on both sides of the battle. One might search "Normandy landing" and find photos, blueprints of bunkers, and tactical plans of the invasion from the Americans, British and Canadian fleets. Some might even discover new sources information that can be entertaining while still being informative. Such sources could be movies, an older child can see movies that may have been too violent for a younger child and those movies can send them down a new branch of information they would be curious about. Just as The Walt Disney said in 1957, " We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." Some older teens might also find videogames a source of inspiration to find research topics, even when the topic of the game may be ridiculous, there may be a sliver of reality. Even when the game is about something that may seem like a complete work of fiction such as German jets and lasers, one would find that this topic is more than fiction, Germany had jet fighters and plans for such crazy projects as robots, lasers and space stations. While more opportunities may come as a older teenager, there are even more opportunities to come with age.

As an adult a passionate researcher has an almost unlimited amount of freedom to pursue their passion in more ways than before. The greatest freedom one can have to chase their passion would be the ability to travel on one's own. With today's travel methods it is very easy to travel to such important and historical sites of such Pearl Harbor to see the memorial that rests remnants of the sunken U.S.S. Arizona who was sunk during the Japanese attack. One might take a much longer trip to Europe, such a trip could  turn into an entire vacation with one day traveling to the site the Normandy landing and walk on the same sand that so many had died. While another day could be spent in Berlin visiting the Reichstag to see where the final fight of Berlin took place, and view the Russian graffiti left by the invading red army. Cate Huston make a wonderful point when she shares from her blog "It was scary to set off by myself, but I met people everywhere I went." A person traveling so much can meet some many interesting characters along their travels. Someone can meet veterans from all sides of the war, or witnesses of traumatic events such as the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, or Survivors of one of the largest genocides ever committed.

History about something like war can seem so simple on the surface and yet when someone dives deeper into the information, the war can grow into so much more. Just as in this paper finding something that one finds interesting can be long and almost story-worthy journey along one's life. This does not only relate to history, this can relate to other subjects as well as anyone who finds their passion and never lets it go, that they may follow it throughout their life. This is why I believe that an educational experience such as this can be so much more important and longer lasting than a formal classroom lesson.  

Rose, Mike. "I just wanna be average." Lives on the Boundary: A Moving Account of the Struggles and Achievements of America's Educationally Under prepared. New York: MacMillan, 1989. Web. 28 May. 2014

Disney, Walt. The Story of Walt Disney . n.p. 1957. Web. 4 June 2014. 

Huston, Cate. How I Learned to Love Traveling Solo. 2013. Thr. 5 June 2014

Education Paper rough Draft

Back when the History channel was about history I learned about the events of world war two and how it changed the world. I became so amazed how something like war can effect almost every country in the world all at once. And that spark of intrigue that motivated me to learn as much as I could about this global event for the next ten years. I was only ten years old at the time so the only sources I had to learn more was TV and my school teachers, and while war and weapons weren't books elementary schools kept in their libraries I had to find history books that mentioned it in their text. So I was always running from the school library to the public library to find as many books as I could. While over the years as I learned more I had to focus on specific subjects.

For the first few years I focused on the placement and players. With primary players such as Germany, The United States, and the Soviet Union to secondary players such as Canada, Italy and Australia. Then their leaders with Axis Hitler, Himmler, and Mussolini and the Allies Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Churchill. Even the theaters of the conflicts in Europe and Pacific and outer theaters such as China and Africa. Learning more and more through books and maps I would find in libraries. I learned as much as I could about the European theater and its major battles such as the battle over Stalingrad which was Hitler's biggest mistake that cost him the eastern front, and the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany. As well as the Battle of Iwo Jima where the most iconic photo of the war. This was such a pivotal battle because it was the first time in the Pacific when an American flag was placed on Japanese territory. But besides the battles that made it in the news and the history books there were plenty of small battles that still made a large impact on the war's outcome. One of such incidents was the Doolittle Raid on Japan as an American retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor. The raid was a mission of sixteen B-25 medium bombers which took off from American aircraft carriers to attach the main island of Japan, and then land in China. But after a long time of research I needed to redirect my attention to the ways such battles were won or lost.

I decided the best way to learn how the outcome of battles were decided was the tactics and strategies used on all sides of the war. The first I studied was the strategy that Germany used to take almost all of Europe, North Africa, and Eastern Russia. Blitzkrieg, which translates to lightning-war is a very simple and logical use of all parts of the military assets, and is still taught to current forces around the world. It first uses bombers and dive bombers to soften a city's defenses. Then artillery will further soften precise targets with assistance of reconnaissance planes. Finally troops will march into a city with assistance of tanks and light artillery so by the time they put soldiers in the area, it is as safe as can be. With this tactic, large well-defended cities can fall within days. While over in the pacific, The Unites States used a similar strategy to take Japanese controlled islands. The Americans would begin with large artillery from battleships and dive bombers from aircraft carriers, but it is less effective on some islands because the Japanese will dig tunnels so deep they can survive the bombardment. But the most simplistic strategy of the war was used by the Soviet Union on the Eastern front. They would use their immense size and military force and throw it at the Germans so quickly it was hard for the Germans to react in time. But due to this strategy, the Soviet Union suffered twelve million military casualties, little more than a third of all military casualties of the entire war in all theaters. I then decided to go deeper into detail about the tools used by soldiers who fought this war.

 Within only a few months of learning about the weapons, I found that this was where my true passion for learning was. It was almost impossible for me to lose interest in the subject, with every new discovery I would find a new branch to explore. But it wasn’t until I started researching the weapons used by the Germans when I found the most interesting facts I could dream of. I began with the small-arms used by soldiers, the Germans had machine-guns that could fire faster than weapons we have today, and had the world's first assault rifle. And when it comes to vehicles, the Germans had the largest tank of the war; the "Tiger". And what most people don’t know is that they had a functional helicopter called the "Dragon", it was mostly used in the high mountains to bring food and medical supplies to the troops. The Germans even had Jet aircraft that could go more than twice as fast as the fastest allied plane, there is even a story of a German jet fighter pulling up alongside an American plane and as the chase began the American pilot said the plane "Raced out of sight in seconds." But what is truly terrifying is what the Germans wanted to build but didn't have time for. The Germans had designs for a tank that was as long as the Statue of Liberty is tall. Or a long range missile that could carry an atomic bomb to Manhattan. To be honest, I believe the only reason that Germany lost the war was due to Hitler's poor judgment in the wars later years

So finally over the course of almost ten years of research I still believe I have much to learn about this global changing event. I have built up a collection of nineteen books about the war including three memoirs from both sides. I was even asked by my high school history teacher to assist him in his lesson plan for this period of history. I am finally looking forward to testing my knowledge during fall quarter in a class all about World War 2.   

Cubing(2) 4/16

Back when the History channel was about history I learned about the events of world war two and how it changed the world. I became so amazed how something like war can effect almost every country in the world all at once. And that spark of intrigue that motivated me to learn as much as I could about this global event for the next ten years. I was only ten years old at the time so the only sources I had to learn more was TV and my school teachers, and while war and weapons weren't books elementary schools kept in their libraries I had to find history books that mentioned it in their text. So I was always running from the school library to the public library to find as many books as I could. While over the years as I learned more I had to focus on specific subjects.
For the first few years I focused on the placement and players. With primary players such as Germany, The United States, and the Soviet Union to secondary players such as Canada, Italy and Australia. Then their leaders with Axis Hitler, Himmler, and Mussolini and the Allies Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Churchill. Even the theaters of the conflicts in Europe and Pacific and outer theaters such as China and Africa. Learning more and more through books and maps I would find in libraries.

Cell Phone Essay

A cell phone is a best friend, companion, and life saver. this piece of equipment has become one of the most used products on this earth. it is estimated that the average age for a person to get their first cell phone is 8 years old. i never had my first one until i was about 16! cell phones save us from ultimate boredom in dire situations. now a days you can buy and play whatever games you can think of on these things. the most popular is the iPhone. which also happens to be the type of phone i have. you can customize your cell however you would like, you can buy skins for them and cases with all sorts of things on them. you can really make it personal to you. i always have my Oakland raiders case on my phone. when you buy it, you also get to pick the color of the device. now they have came out with the iPhone 5c, where there are a range of colors to choose from. it used to be only between black and white. they are all rectangular with a slightly bigger screen each generation. 

Now take a step back to remember those annoying home phones when your sister would tie up to phone lines, as well as those prank phone calls that some tween who got your number out of a phone book. Though cell phones have made it incredibly difficult to get someones attention, by way of all the apps on then such as but not limited to Facebook, Candy Crush, Flappy/Angry birds. A study publish by BBC has stated that cell phones are making people conversationally inept due to high volume texting which are seen are preplanned non time limited responses, also due to all the one letter words such as u and terms TTYL are slowly making there way into actual speech. It is true that there is no way to turn back the clock I just want to stress the need so seemingly spontaneous conversation not an extension of text type speech.

Some important applications of such a vocabulary damaging devise are basic use as a communication devise, but with the development of the "smart phone", it's uses have greatly increased. Now the cell phone can be used for multiple forms of communication such as voice calls, video calls, text messaging, and e-mail. The uses of the new smart phone are near limitless, with ever-expanding selection of applications such as GPS, and internet connection. It can be expanded further with social media such as Facebook, and YouTube. Also a business aspect with stock tracking, conference calls, and data trackers. The limits of a cell phone have greatly changed from the simple mobile communication devise.

Now we ask ourselves how can something so small, so thin, so breakable can be something we live for and something we rely on to have. In the world we live in today we no longer have house phones we have cell phones. Your cell phone is expected to be on you at ALL times. Its mobile meaning if you're out and about or having family time it is expected to be on you or by you. Your work is supposed to be able to get ahold of you at all times. Your cell phone although so important and handy to have is an obsession.
I do believe having a cell phone at a certain age is so important its what we rely on to get ahold of someone if there is an emergency or if you need something. I call my parents so many times in one day just to say hi or check in. But its when you see children that are constantly playing on their parents phones while in the shopping cart at the store because its the only thing to keep them from throwing a fit. Why not give your child a toy to keep them occupied? There are so many car accidents from texting and driving alone people cant even get from one destination to another without picking up there cell. How much time do you spend on your phone in one day? How many hours in one year do you think your on your phone? I don't even mean actually speaking to someone I mean browsing using Face Book on it and all your other apps such as texting. Now think about what you could have been doing or what you were missing out on because you were to occupied with your phone.

The uses of cellular phones have greatly increased over the past couple years. They have the basic use as a communication devise, but with the development of the "smart phone", it's uses have greatly increased. Now the cell phone can be used for multiple forms of communication such as voice calls, video calls, text messaging, and e-mail. The uses of the new smart phone are near limitless, with ever-expanding selection of applications such as GPS, and internet connection. It can be expanded further with social media such as Facebook, and YouTube. Also a business aspect with stock tracking, conference calls, and data trackers. The limits of a cell phone have greatly changed from the simple mobile communication devise.  

• Narrative paper
• 1000-1200 words
• MLA style
• About a significant educational experience 
• provide detailed examples
• analyze topics with explanations