D.A.R.E.

D.A.R.E., it stands for D, drug, A, abuse, R, resistant, E, education. The whole point of the D.A.R.E class we have one time each week is to teach kids to JUST SAY NO! I believe the D.A.R.E program has helped everyone that has been involved in it. It shows kids how to handle a situation if approached for drugs and how to avoid the situation in the first place.

I think that the one of the main reasons D.A.R.E. helps so much is because our D.A.R.E. teacher deputy Thomas always shows us how bad the drugs and the consequences are rather than the good things people say about them. For example he showed us a puppet girl called “Smoking Susy.” The point of this was to show us how much tar builds up over time and just sits in your body. He also showed us Mr. Dip Lip and when he did this it showed us how gross it can make your mouth. It showed us how it makes your teeth really yellow and how it gives you bad sores.

Another thing about drugs is deputy Thomas told us about ninety percent of high school boys and girls prefer to date people that don’t do drugs. I thought that was very believable because I know I would not want to date anybody that did drugs. Also in middle school and high school I will always want to play sports and I know if the school ever finds out that I am doing or have done drugs that they will not let me play any sports.

Another thing I want to accomplish in middle school and high school is getting good grades and always getting on the honor-role. Deputy Thomas also showed us what it was like look through the eyes of a drunk or D.U.I.  goggles. We had to put the goggles on and then we had to walk in a straight line, next we had to catch a tennis ball. This was all a lot harder to do with the D.U.I. goggles and I know if I did drugs it would be a lot harder to achieve getting good grades.

We also get D.A.R.E. books in D.A.R.E. class. If you just look in these books, it will tell you and show you some serious consequences. Like tobacco for example, over 400,000 people die each year. Tobacco is also the number one cause of lung cancer and it holds over 200 poisons. I know that if I ever do drugs their will be serious consequences and I will never be able to achieve the things  I want to. This is why I pledge to stay drug free no matter what.

6th Grade Camp!!!

Wow!  My whole group just had a blast at camp Oty’Okwa.  I will admit, when Tim, our councelor, first said who was in our group, nobody was all that happy.  Nobody was with their true best friends.  I think all the groups were somewhat disappointed,  and we all wished that we got to pick our own groups, including me. How would we get through camp?  Well, as we progressed through camp, we all came together and became friends.  This may have taken some time, but I think it paid off in the end. The following explains how our time at camp went.

By the end of our first class, I think our group started to have second thoughts. I don’t think the whole group was completely happy, but I think the first class definitely started to change things.  In that class, everybody started to come together a little more. I think more friends were made, but also some people still were not very comfortable with the rest of the group.  By the way, our first class was a challenge where the group had to work together to find things by using a compass and different hints that were given to us.  Having this as our first activity, instead of Stream Study, was an advantage for our group because this activity was a good way for us to get to know each other better.  It also helped us all to become closer friends sooner.  Don’t get me wrong, the Stream Study activity was very fun, but in that activity each person kind of just worked alone, rather than working together as a group.  So, that is why I think we were lucky to get the Compass activity first and the Stream Study towards the end of camp.

By the end of lunch on the first day, most people were pretty comfortable with one another, and everybody was starting to get more social.  On the other hand, I still believe that, although our group was starting to become more open with one another, most  people, including me, were at least slightly uncomfortable.

In our evening activity, we had Pioneering and Native village. In this activity, we had to go through the forest and we found boxes along the way.  At each box, we had to answer questions.  We kept finding boxes and answering questions until we got to Native Village.  Answering the questions and walking to Native Village did not really help our group come together as much as lunch and the morning activity did, but we all decided it was better than nothing.  Once we got to Native Village, everybody was excited because we got to see a whole bunch of artifacts from a long time ago. Also, it showed what the village looked like and how the buildings were made.  Another thing we did in the Native Village was make a sac-like thing that the natives used to carry medicine. This item was called a “Medicine  Pouch.”

Directly after leaving Native Village, we went to our Pioneering class.  This helped us all become even better friends, and it helped us all to be as comfortable as possible with each other. I think this because we did a group activity where we went into a house/store, and we had two-hundred dollars, that we had saved up for many years, that we used to buy supplies we needed to travel west. We had to spend every penny of the money, and we could not leave anything behind.  This helped because we had to make decisions as a group, and we all shared our opinions.  Talking out to the group and saying what we felt helped a lot because we were not just sitting back and being shy.  Instead, we were talking out and expressing ourselves.  As a group, we agreed that this activity was a huge step in coming together as friends.

By dinner, we were all very comfortable. I think this is because everybody was smiling and talking to everybody. Also, nobody was afraid to say what they thought because it felt like we were all friends from the beginning. Nobody was afraid to make jokes, and nobody was afraid to be themselves. Actually, I bet from a teachers standpoint, if they did not know anything about what we were doing and they only knew we were at sixth grade camp and had groups, that they would think we picked our own groups because we were all getting along so well.

After our first dinner at camp Oty’Okwa, we had skit practice. Basically, we just stayed in our trail groups, and we started by deciding, as a group, what skit we wanted to do. I think that this activity was the nail in the coffin. As a group, we agreed that this activity  was another fun activity where you could just be yourself. That is why I say it was the nail in the coffin. If you do not know what that means, it means it was like the final piece of us coming together as a group.

After skit practice, day one was basically over. All we did after that was have about fifteen minutes of free time, and then we went back to the dinning hall to have a snack with our trail groups. At snack the first day, everybody was all excited about the skits. That was the main subject that people talked about up until we went to bed.  Anyways, we were all talking about how funny acting out the skits would be, trying to guess what other groups skits were, and talking about how to improve our own skit.

After snack, we did one of the most fun activities of  our whole stay at camp. As a group, we agreed that the sing along after snack was a BLAST!!! Yes, there was a ton of fun things going on at camp, but we thought the sing along was so fun because everybody was just willing to sing, jump around, and be themselves. That is why we thought the sing along was so fun.

After sing along, day one of our great stay at camp was over. We had to go back to our bunk houses, where we could get showers if we wanted, but then it was lights out for the night.

We decided, as a group, that day two was hands down the most fun.  All of us thought this because by then we were all like best freinds.  It seemed like we were best friends from the begining, and that just made it so much easier to have fun. On day two, we got up, and then we ate breakfast.  Then, our morning activity, which was stream study, was kind of miserable because of how cold and wet it was.  Aside from the cold and wet, we still found ways to have a lot of fun. After the stream study activity, we had about fifteen minutes of free time, and then we ate lunch.  It was the same as day one after lunch.  We did our evining activity, went to dinner, practiced doing our skits, and then went to the snack.  We all had so much fun joking around and learning new things at camp.  After snack, we did something a little different.  We had a nice little assembly about snakes.  Everybody thought it was so cool because their were some really big snakes and we learned a lot of new information. Well, that was pretty much it for day two because it was time for everyone to go back to the bunk house for lights out.

Day three was our last half day of camp.  We did our morning activity, which was really fun.  There was a rock wall, and we had initiatives to reach as a team. For the first hour and a half, we did the rock wall. One person would start to climb, and he or she would have a balley team to hold them up and make sure the person climbing did not fall.  This was a very encourageing and team building exersise. We were all cheering one another on and giving a lot of support. Well, initiatives was really fun too.  At first, we had to sign a contract, with a bunch of rules, that stated we would work as a team and not complain. The best part of this was when we got to play tank commander. In this activity, the person who was the tank had to put a blindfold on, and the other person had to try to tell them where to throw little balls so that he or she could hit the other tanks.

Okay, this is our last lunch at camp. We really made the most of it, and as a group we thought they saved the best meal for last. PIZZA!  It was really good, and we were all just eating, having fun, and making jokes. Now, this is the very last part of camp.  We had to go up to the activity center where we got a lot of free time.  Then, the teachers handed out some last prizes, and they made sure that we all won sometinng. Well, then it was time to go back home.  Most of us were tired, so we said our last thank yous, and then we left.  That is how sixth grade camp went, and how we all came together as friends while we were there.

NBA Playoffs

First of all my personal belief is that the Las Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant will win the world championship for the third time in a row. I think the only other team that could beat them right now is the Chicago Bulls and Derek Rose.

This reason I think this is that Kobe always seems to find a way to win a best of seven series. I think that Kobe just has to big of a will and desire to win and he is so good. I think he is the second most intense player when it comes to the playoffs behind Kevin Garnett aka KG.

I think the Lakers team around Kobe is also good but honestly the Boston Celtics are the best team period. I think when you mix 4 players like Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnet, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen that they should be unstoppable.  I think this because all four of them fit together and play together so well even though they might not be the best team they play the best as a team.

Although I still think what I said about the Celtics is  true I don’t think they will beat the Bulls in the eastern conference mainly because of Derek Rose. I think that they Bulls play great as a team but not as great as the Celtics. With that being said  I still think that Derek Rose is like Kobe where he can put the team on his back and somehow find a way to win. I think he is up towards the top five players in the league and also has a great will and desire to win. Also even if the Celtics do manage to beat the Bulls, they will more than likely have to play the Lakers and beat two great teams in a row  in a best of seven series.

I still think the Lakers are going to win it all and I told you why. But now I want to tell who I think will make the top 6 teams. OK obviously I think lakers get first and bulls get second. I think that the in the eastern conference the Celtics will get beat and take third or fourth. In the western Conference the Lakers will beat the Grizzlies in  the semi-finals and that the Grizzlies will take third or fourth. I think in the west that the Dallas Mavericks will take fifth or sixth and in the east the Atlanta Hawks will take fifth or sixth.

OK now thanks for reading my take on the NBA playoffs.

What Would Perfect Be?

In my opinion I don’t think I would want to be perfect. You would not get any privacy from public and you couldn’t ever just have a normal life. Not that any being could ever be perfect no matter how hard he or she tried. I am just saying I think being perfect has is over rated and that it has good and bad but the bad would out weigh the good.

If I was perfect at first I would be the happiest person alive. I think this because I could play in the NBA, go to any college, have all kinds of friends and just get everything right. But after a little while I think it would get old, getting every thing that you could ever want.

All I am trying to say is I like myself, other people, and the world just how it is. I just think if the world was perfect their would be no excitement in the world at all. Also people should be thankful with what they have and look at what they do have rather than what they don’t.

What Is Next?

Currently in The Reading Workshop we are reading a book called Freak The Mighty.  It is a book written by Rodman Philbrick and I think this book really keeps you on the edge of your seat. You will never want to stop reading and the whole time you will be making predictions.  Here  are some  of mine.

I think that Killer Kane actually didn’t kill anybody.  I think this because I thought  he was very convincing when he was talking to max.  Also  he put one hand down on the bible and his other hand across  his heart.  After that he swore and I was also convinced by that and by the way the book is going I think that the book wants you to think he killed his wife so it can trick you.

I have a feeling that Grim (the grandpa) had something to do with Killer Kane’s wifes death. I feel this way because earlier in the book Max heard them talking. Heard the grandma say “you shouldn’t buy a gun you probably don’t even no how to use it.”  Also the grandma said “you wouldn’t want to hurt your self or anybody else by accident with it.”  So from that I think that there had been previous events when he messed up with a gun and hurt someone by accident. But also the grim said that he had been in the army and he could handle the gun just fine. So I am kind of torn about this book.

This is definitely a good book in my opinion. I would recommend this book to people who like mystery books and or adventure books. Once again I think that if people read this book they would really like it and would recommend it to others. I think the author of this book (Rodman Philbrick) is a great author.

Predictions

I am reading a book called: Lawn Boy Returns by Gary Paulsen.  I think this is a very good book and a very good series. I think the Lawn Boy series just makes you never want to stop reading. I think that the second book will end up being better than the first book because of how much more action there is in the second book.

One prediction I have is that rock is actually the bad guy and not Zed. I think this because the book makes it seem like rock changed his ways ant that Zed is the bad guy. I think the book is just trying to trick you. Also from past events when Rock went against Joey and the Lawn Boy. I think he is going to try to get back at them.

I am also predicting since the bad guys were threatening to do something to the Lawn Boy’s grandma that they will eventually get her. But I think that Joey and the Lawn Boy’s crew will get her back and prove that Rock is the bad guy and Zed is the good guy.

This is a book I would recommend to people who like adventure books. I think they would love this book and the whole series.  If anyone needs a book to read I would hope they pick this book and series.

Ability Grouping

I don’t think Max will benefit off of being in the higher level class. I think this because he probably end up having freak or some other smart kids do his work for him. I also think he won’t understand anything and will fail his hard work unless he has some else do his work for him. I think he will really struggle. Now if he was placed in a group with the lower level kids, I think he could really benefit and make progress. He would be able to understand better and work at his own, slow pace.

I am all for ability grouping, if you are placed in your right group that you should be in. I think it benefits for the lower level kids or slower kids because they can get more help and work at their own pace. I think they would understand the class better and end up a lot better off. I think it would benefit the higher level kids or the faster kids. I say that because usually they get done faster and end up waiting on the slower kids. Sometimes I feel that the higher level kids are not challenged enough either. Thats why I think ability grouping is a good idea.