Metacognition: My Original Poem

Out of all the tasks I've had to undertake in English so far, none has been more involving than the process of writing my original poem.  It was an arduous task requiring a multi-step process.

The first step required me to think of at least three great moments and five widowed images (images that stick in your head because you don't understand them) in order to supply creative material for my poem.  Some of these ideas came easily, while others were hard.  I definitely found the widowed images portion of the first step challenging, because the images were not always at the top of my conscious.  Out of the many ideas I came up with, I ended up choosing to write about waking up on the weekends.

The second step was to create the first draft of the poem. This draft was a small, barebones version of the final poem.  Only a couple stanzas, this poem was nothing compared to my final poem.  When I wrote the poem, I thought it was pretty good, but upon looking back at it, I now realize it was not enough.

The third step was very big for me.  It required me to completely overhaul the poem that I had created for the second step.  My poem ended up growing from one page to almost two whole pages.  My small poem about the weekend turned into a narrative telling about the crummy week of an anonymous narrator and how he desires for the weekend to come.  This was a large change, and I discovered that it added new dimension to my poem.  In my opinion, this was the most important step of all.

The fourth and final step required me to "hold on a moment" and focus on some of the more important moments in my poem.  There were some important areas where it was easy to hold on a moment and make my poem better.  I never realized how many great moments there were in my poem.  Sometimes you don't really know everything about your own creations; you sometimes create things unconsciously.

With such an expansive multi-step process, it's no surprise that writing my poem was such an involving process, and my poem wouldn't be so good without it.

Metacognition: Get Organized

I love my Macbook. I go on it every day. So obviously I would want to treat it nicely and organize all of the files, e-mails, and applications on it.  I took up this grueling task, beginning by organizing my Word documents into folders and deleting any useless files.  I then cleaned up my desktop by removing unwanted icons from my dock, which made it a lot simpler and easier to navigate. I finished up by browsing through my e-mail inbox and deleting all of the useless e-mails I accumulated over the years.

I will admit that I was a little unenthusiastic when I knew I had to organize my computer. Perusing the abysmal lists of files and e-mails was a daunting task. But as soon as I got more into the organization, I began to feel more and more productive, like I was doing something that matters.  By the time I was finished, I felt pretty pleased with myself for completing this undertaking.

After completing this project, my mind felt a lot more organized.  I am generally not a neatly organized person, instead relying on a system of untidy organization to get by.  This is probably one of the first times that I have neatly organized something in my life, so it's easy to understand the sense of confidence that I felt after finishing.

Before organizing my computer, I really did not have much idea of the variation of documents stored on my computer.  While looking through all of my files, I found some that I had forgot about or had not looked at in a while.  I found some plans for my Academy Epic (that's something on which I would be happy to elaborate some other time) and some of my English projects from last year.  It was pretty interesting to see how much my writing had progressed during my freshman year.

Now that my computer is organized, I will be able to work more efficiently with less distractions and a better system in place.  I definitely plan to organize my computer again in the future because the time will come again when my current layout becomes outdated and needs to be changed again (and also because I like how nice my desktop looks with so few icons).

15 icons total. Anyone with a Mac should know how few icons this is.

Metacognition: Orlando Essay

When I wrote my Orlando essay for Academy English, my process of thinking tended to follow a certain pattern. When it came to finding the subject of my writing, I generally followed all of the standard processes, trying to think of some good ideas. I am the kind of person who usually goes for the minimum and not the maximum, but this something I would like to change. For example, I will admit that I tried to write as few explorations as possible for the "Exploration" stage of the Orlando essay.

As for the blood and guts of my paper, however, I typed it all out and went back once, twice, maybe three times to edit and revise it. I felt like I was doing the right amount of editing, but I probably needed to do a little more revision. This was evident in the fact that, when I received my essay grade, I received perfect scores in spelling and grammar, but lost points in areas that needed better revision.

I am surprised that my method of thinking is not as effective as I perceive it to be. I generally feel pretty content with my essays after editing and revising them, but I have seen obvious reasons for why I should be second-guessing my feelings of content.

I like how my thinking tends to follow a pattern. I feel as if someone follows the same pattern for doing something, they are likely to get the same result each time they do it. If someone's thinking is too frantic and messy, it causes the results of their thinking to vary largely. 

When it comes to improving my thinking, I would like to increase the cycles of the different steps of the pattern I follow. I definitely need to increase my amounts of brainstorming and revision, but I would not want this to change my patterns too much.  I would also like to find ways to make what I am doing engaging, because this would greatly improve my thinking. If I can make my thinking involve something I like, it makes me a LOT more involved in what I am doing.

In a way, metacognition is similar to critical thinking which, according to my seventh and eighth grade English teacher, is "thinking about your thinking while you're thinking in order to make your thinking better". I've got the "thinking about thinking" part down. Now it's time to make my thinking better.

Blogging Around

My first comment is from Sebastian's blog. His blog post was entitled "An Inconvenient Truth: Longer School Days". The post posed the question of whether students should have a say in their education and offered innovative ideas for improving learning.

"This blog post really makes me think about how kids should have more of a say when it comes to deciding how their education goes. If students are complaining about a bad teacher, adults should listen. I have heard people complain about their teachers so many times, and it really makes me think that something should be done. I think that there should be periodic examinations for teachers where students submit reviews saying how a teacher is doing. If a majority of the students are happy with the teacher, he or she is safe until the next examination. If a majority of students is unhappy, however, then the teacher is apprehended in some way, ranging from minor penalizations to even being fired. I can tell from experience that if a student likes their teacher, they are way more likely to learn from the class. If there was more quality control on teachers, students would not need a longer school day."

My second comment is from Eliana's blog. Her blog post was entitled "iMedia: High School Never Ends". Her media of choice was a Bowling For Soup song entitled, of course, "High School Never Ends". What follows is a sobering analysis of the adult world and how, in reality, high school never really ends.

"Before reading this post, I never really thought of the idea that high school never ends. Now, I really agree with this post. However, the part of high school that never ends is the part that nobody wants. The part that everybody wants to last is the fun times you have with your friends. High school encourages you to meet new people, and I have met a lot of new people. In fact, I don't really hang out with anybody from my middle school. I've had so many fun times so far, and I bet I'll have many more fun times with the people I have met.  Unfortunately, they only last until I graduate. Luckily, one part of these times will exist forever: the memories. I think that both of these parts of high school are worth considering, but when it comes to the part that you talk about, this song nails it spot-on."

iMedia: Gangnam Style

(I know that there is an almost limitless amount of choices I could have made for the subject of this blog, but this was begging to be done.)

Upon its release, "Gangnam Style" took the world by storm. Its addictive beat, nonsensical video and cheesy dancing hooked everyone who watched it. I personally enjoy it because it is a huge nonsense-fest and it is extremely fun to dance to the song. When the DJ played "Gangnam Style" at the GBN homecoming dance, it was probably some of the most fun I had all night, and I was not the only one who thought this. Everyone around me began to do the dance that everyone has associated with the song.  The song was even played on the loudspeakers at a few football games.

Northbrook is not the only place that caught Gangnam-fever, however. People around the country and around the world got in on the craze. Many different groups around the world made parody videos, such as a group of lifeguards, a mother and son duo, and even a group of soldiers from the U.S. Navy. The parodies even went political with videos such as "Mitt Romney Style". 

With almost 500 million views on YouTube, it's not a surprise that pretty much everybody knows what "Gangnam Style" is.  During Spanish, we were able to ask a group of exchange students from Spain some questions, and when I asked if they had heard of the song, they said that they had.  If people from multiple countries know what "Gangnam Style" is, it must be big.  

I believe that this song matters to the world because it triggers joy in pretty much any person who watches it.  How does a person not smile when watching a man wearing a suit and shades dancing around in pretty much every place he can? How does a person not laugh when dancing around like they're riding a horse?  I watched two videos of reactions to "Gangnam Style", one of reactions from teens and one of reactions from old men and women.  Both groups reacted positively to the video, saying that they loved the video. Some of the old people were more enthusiastic about the video than the teens. The bottom line is, however, that if "Gangnam Style" makes people of different age groups happy, it must be powerful.

In today's world, happiness is one concept that is rather lacking.  With debt and war and healthcare issues, it's pretty hard to find joy in the world for some people.  Considering the joyous appeal of "Gangnam Style", it's not surprising how popular the song is.

An Inconvenient Truth: Bigotry Will Never Disappear

One truth about the world that really bothers me is the fact that racism and other forms of bigotry will never be completely gone. I am the kind of person who stands against the discrimination caused by such bigots, and this truth does not sit well with me.

There are many reasons why this truth bothers me. I would say the biggest reason is that I generally ignore race, gender, and other characteristics that people use to divide others. This is one of the reasons that I am against organized religion. This organization does not unite people. It actually divides them. By telling people that only the group they are part of is right, it makes them look down on the rest of the population; however, with personal spirituality a person's beliefs only apply to themselves and are not force-fed down people's throats.

Another reason that this truth bothers me is that in some cases, bigots may ignore or distort facts because they believe that only their opinion is right. This bothers me because I only believe something if it is backed up by cold, hard, pure facts. This is one reason I personally hate creationists. They either try to disprove evolution by ignoring fact or blatantly twisting it beyond recognition. The truth really should not be thrown out the door just because your opinion does not match it.

I believe that I can come to terms with this truth by realizing that not everybody can have a large worldview. Many people live in small towns and are not very concerned with what happens outside where they live. Another way that I can accept this truth is by remembering that people have the right to their own opinions, and that I can feel good about my own opinions. Bigotry may never leave the face of the Earth, but that doesn't mean that I have to let it ruin my day.

Best of Week: Gender vs. Sex

It was one of the most divisive discussions we have ever had. Earlier this week, we had a discussion about the book Orlando. Mr. Allen prompted us by asking about a certain passage (pp. 102-103) and the lesson that comes from it. Little did he know the welter that would result from this prompt. As soon as we started, someone argued the point that gender and sex had two different meanings. This idea was immediately met with claims that gender and sex are interchangeable words. The discussion rattled on, even continuing on the bus ride from Glenbrook South to Glenbrook North (and possibly between the Titans who remained at South).  This idea made me think about LGBT rights in the USA, and how some opinions have been delaying their evolution.  If sex and gender were generally considered to be two different ideas, then the idea of a more feminine man or a more masculine woman would not seem so odd to the public.

When I think about sex vs. gender, I believe that they are two different entities. Sex simply refers to whether a person is biologically a man or a woman, but gender refers to how a person's mannerisms and personality can be considered within general social guidelines. Basically, I believe that a person can be a man but have a more feminine gender, and that the same goes for women. If somebody has a problem with this, then they need to open their mind and consider what it would be like to be in the shoes of an LGBT person.

I see myself using this idea to advocate LGBT rights because even though big accomplishments have been made, such as six states legalizing gay marriage, there is still a long way to go. In the Constitution, it is stated that "All men are created equal." Over the years, this phrase has evolved to include women and people of color, and not just white men. If this phrase has been able to evolve in the past, why can't it evolve now? The fact that gay marriage is not legal delivers the message that the LGBT community is not equal to the rest of the United States. Sure, some people have more money than others, but that is a result of choice. A person's sexual preference is not their choice. It is how they are created and we must respect this fact, or else we, as a population, will be abandoning our Constitution*.


*I understand that this is a very powerful statement. However, this is simply what I believe, and I do not wish to force this idea on anybody who does not want to believe it.

Captured Thought: My Own Symphony

Music is a beautiful thing. The way it flows, the language it speaks, the stories it tells. All of these enchant the senses. And what a wonderful thing it would be to create my own music. For a while now I've thought of writing my own orchestral piece. It would have a variety of emotions, starting out jovial, turning more serious, and ending triumphant. Luckily for me, an opportunity to write such a piece may be coming later this school year. Tri-M, the GBN music honors society hosts a composition contest, where the winner gets to have their piece recorded by a group of students. To think that I can have my own symphony, played by a real orchestra! I do have a synthesizer at home, which will be quintessential in composing such a piece, but it can never deliver the emotion that a real group of musicians can. Now that I think of it, I should get started. After all, the piece is not going to write itself! ~Rich