How to Survive 8th Grade

Well, it's that time of year.

SUMMER! As excited as I am, I'll miss seeing my classmates every day. This year has been a roller coaster ride, figuratively and literally.

In order to make your life easier in 8th grade (or in school), here's some tips to make the school year more enjoyable:

1) Stay organized
Without organization, you can loose assignments. You'll get bad grades in binder checks which some teachers can judge hard

2) Be on time
If your late for things, you can miss out. Being late a certain amount of times can also lead to a detention and teachers will throw shade on you which is bad

3) If you have science class with Mr. Moore, be nice
Mr. Moore is a tough teacher that has high expectations. Try to be extra nice to him. He could take away a point or two if you're being naughty.

4) Take breaks
School can be hard. I usually have sudden bursts of energy so its nice to take a 5 minute break here and there

5) Stay on track
It's important to take breaks, but not too many. There's been many times that I take a break and I loose track of time. 45 minutes later, I'm behind on the work.

6) Do what you want
Don't do something because your friends are. If there's a big group of people hanging out, don't feel unpopular. Do what you want at your own pace.

7) Don't stress
If you're really worried about something, don't freak out too much. It's only 8th grade. Colleges probably won't be looking at your grades when you apply.

8) Have fun
The year can be hard but enjoy it.  Hang out with your friends when your work is done and don't worry about every single thing.

Welp, that's all folks!

The last blog post! Thank you all so much for reading this for the year! :)

Transforming the World for Better

Night. Glory Field. To Kill a Mockingbird. These books each have different characters that make their world a better place. Shlomo, Elie's father, tries to care for him as much as he can during the harsh situations of the Holocaust. Through the action and adventure of To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus cares for his children and looks out for them as much as they try to ignore it. Saran from The Glory Field cares for the children of the farm even though they aren't hers. These books wouldn't be the same without these very important characters. As seen through Shlomo, Atticus, and Saran's stories, they each love and care for the main characters in these three stories.



Hopefully you will be able to read these books because they are great ones.
I'll see you next time!

Past and Present Innovations

Hi readers!

Today I have a very broad question that can be answered in many different ways.

What innovation has transformed the world most and why?

This could be in technology or when people immigrated to the US. To be honest, there's more than one answer I have. In 200 years, our lives could be full of technology and we could say "we wouldn't be here today without the invention of the iPhone" but nowadays we could say "we wouldn't be here today without the invention of fire."

However, the invention that I think was the most innovative was electricity.

Without electricity, we wouldn't have half of the things we have today. You couldn't charge iPhones, have light, charge computers, construct buildings, perform medical miracles, the list is endless.

Electricity started an era of transformation that makes our world what it is today.

Thanks so much for reading this and I'll see you next time :)

The Progressive Era

Welcome back readers! Sorry I haven't posted anything lately, but let's get right into it.

The question I have been asked is "out of all the issues muckrakers focused on during The Progressive Era, what three issues do you believe still exist today?"

In no specific order, here are the three issues that I believe are the most pressing:


The first issue that I believe still exists today is farming monopolies. Large companies continue to buy smaller ones. The small farms grow so large where they end up using machines to do all of the work for them. The small farms don't make much money while the monopolies are getting almost all of it.

Another issue that I believe still exists today is oil monopolies. Although this issues has gotten better, it still exists. Like farm monopolies, the oil industry is controlled by only a few companies which are in charge of many small companies. Since only a couple companies control the industry, they can choose to raise or lower the prices at any time they want, and nobody can do a thing about it.

The final issues that I believe still exists is environmental protection. This can be answered in many different ways. Pollution and destruction are just two examples of this. Through the other issues I have talked about, they both include some sort of destruction or pollution to the environment. This happens much more than you think, and something needs to happen about it. Things have changed since this issue started, although it still continues to be a problem.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!

Transforming our World

Hello readers!

This week I've been asked to answer a tough question:

what is it YOU hope to transform in this world?

This is a tough question to answer. I'm really not sure what exactly it is I want to do. One thing I know for sure is that I want to make a difference in someones life. It doesn't have to be big, just something. 

One thing I thought about was helping people in third world countries. Whether it be giving food, water, housing, or a small donation, I want to do something with that. 

One thing I did with my temple was we helped raise the funds to make a preschool for children in Rwanda. 

Over one year, we raised the money. The minute we had reached our goal, we sent some people from our temple over to help with the building and to see how it was coming along.

 We've seen many pictures and the man in charge of came and visited a couple of times. It felt really good to know I helped make a difference, and I hope to do that a lot more in the future.

And that's what I'll leave you with until next week!
Thanks for reading!

Courage

The question I've been asked is who is the most courageous person I know and why?


Mrs. Alldredge is my English and history teacher. I learn a lot while not being totally stressed out. The classes are entertaining and it's not my one of my least favorite classes. She has so many classes to teach and she does a good job doing it while managing her time well.

While learning all about US History to learning all about idioms and adjectives, its been an interesting year.

Over the year, I've learned a lot and I will continue to learn more things throughout the year with Mrs. Alldredge as my English and history teacher.

RAFT Writing: Civil War

For this week, I've been given a selection of things to write involving the Civil War. I have chosen to write my thoughts on the Civil War from a Black Union Soldier's perspective writing to his family.

I hope you enjoy!

My dear family,

I haven't much time, so I'll write as quick as I can. Life's been rough in the war. Many have perished. The state is working us hard, more than the whites. We fight all day and get a short amount of sleep. I can't stop thinking of going home, but my fear is I'll never be back. I think of you all the time. Although its rough on me, I'm very happy that you aren't here. It's bloody, it's gruesome, heck, they aren't even being human!

The people who have been hit go to a hospital which is run by women. Most people have to have limbs amputated, and don't make it. The nurses say it's because the wound was too deep, but I have my thoughts.

Like I mentioned before, I don't have much time. They're calling me back. Tell everyone I love them.

Yours truly,
Jebidiah


I hope that you enjoyed this blog post! I'll see you next week!

Justice

The question I have been asked today is what two factors aid justice and what two factors impede justice. Basically, what helps justice grow, and what gets in the way of justice.

In our English class, we are currently reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. 

Justice is when someone has rights. For example, a black man in the book is being accused for something he didn't do (yes, I did just spoil a portion of the book). This is a perfect example of something not being just.

However, another character in the book, Atticus, stands up and says that he'll help the man get through the case. Although the entire town is telling Atticus' family that he is a disgrace to the town, he continues with the case. This is a perfect example of something related to justice. 

A picture from the movie To Kill a Mockingbird

Anyways, what I'm trying to say is, justice is when you do the right thing; and the way justice is in our world today, is by people like you, the reader.

Being a Witness

Recently, our class visited the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles to learn about the Holocaust. During the Holocaust, many people watched these terrible things happen and did nothing about it. The question I've been asked this week is what does it mean to be a witness.

To me, a witness is somebody who watches something happen. They don't do anything about it no matter what the situation is. If somebody you know is being bullied and you don't do anything about it, that would make you a witness. It's up to you on what to do.

Another question I've been asked is how I've been transformed after visiting the museum. 

The museum was a fascinating experience that I would definitely visit again. We went through an exciting visual experience which included viewing Nazi uniforms, what the Jews wore, going into a fake gas chamber, and much more.

Since I'm Jewish, I already knew a lot about the Holocaust, however I hadn't done anything like this. It gave me a new appreciation for the people who had to go through this.

I couldn't imagine going through this.

I'll leave you with that to ponder with.

I hope all you readers enjoyed this article, and I'll see you next time!

Time Capsules

For this week I've been asked a tough question:

if you could only pick four things to represent your family, heritage, accomplishments and put them in a time capsule, what would they be?

Tough question, but here's my answer.

Family/ Childhood
I've lived my whole life in California, so I would have to include the California flag.

To represent my family, there isn't much that I can do, so I would probably make a small family with my grandparents, parents, and myself. I would also include a family photo with that

Culture/ Heritage
To represent my culture/heritage, I would put a Jewish star or a Jewish flag. It's a big part of my life. I'm not sure what where I would be without it

Accomplishments/ Achievements
To talk about the accomplishments and achievements in my life, the first thing that pops into my head was my Bar Mitzvah. It took a little over a year to prepare for it, and it was totally worth it.

Legacy

Since I'm still young, I'm not sure what legacy I want to be left behind. But I do know I want to be remembered by my friends and family

Until next time! Let me know what you think!

What would you put in a time capsule?

Identity and Symbols

This week the question I have been asked to answer one motif that I can relate to in "The Glory Field. A motif is a repeating concept, term, item, symbol, or allusion that deepens the message of the story.

In this story, the family gets together to have large family reunions and eat. I can relate to this because when I have a very big family gathering, we always have a large meal.

Nobody leaves with an empty stomach. This might not be the same situations with the characters in this book, but one motif in my life can definitely be food.

Until next time!