PLN #12

Bella Demiranda

“Chains That Set Us Free”

PLN #12

In the article “Chains That Set Us Free” by Jonah Lehrer matters to me because it shows me that by doing different things in life can open our brains to many more thoughts. For example, crossword puzzles. They help you think more and may help you become a better problem solver. I think that we don't really try hard enough to have our brains think about everything. Some problems that we do might take a while to think about, so we just think to just get an answer. If we took more time to think about the question, then it will be a better chance to get the right answer. The article says, "Obstacles also let people consider a greater range of possibilities and ideas." That is very true because when people take risky obstacles, there are many different ways to get through. I realized that we get older we think about how we can multitask and get things done faster and easier. This article matters to me because it makes me think about all the different ways we can make our brains think more.

PLN #11

Bella Demiranda

PLN #11

“My Teacher Is an App”

The article, "My Teacher Is an App" by Stephanie Banchero and Stephanie Simon matters to me because it tells me how much online schooling can effect how I learn and test. High school is the four years that determine what your going to do for a living. Online schooling is very close to the same thing as home-schooling. Either way, kids who are home-schooled or go online for school, aren’t as social as kids who go to traditional school. It’s because when you are at home learning instead of at a traditional school, there are no other kids that you can hang around with. Online school might save some free time, but does it matter more to have more free time or to have better grades? Grades, especially in high school, matters a lot more than “free time.” Kids 3rd-10th grade that go to traditional schools receive better test grades that kids that take online school. Also, when your learning at home you can’t do extracurricular activities, and can’t play sports the same as if you would at a normal school. It is much better to go to a traditional school because you will do better, receive better information, and be more social. I will always participate in tradition schools because I want to go to a good college and get a good job when I am done with high school.

PLN #10

Bella Demiranda

PLN #10

“Moab man embraces simple life living in cave”

The article “Moab man embraces simple life living in cave” by Jason Blevins matters to me because it makes me think how living without money could be. Many people say that money doesn’t buy happiness, but others say that it definitely does. I personally think that I could try living with out money, but it would be really hard. It’s not like I depend on money for my life, I just love change and buying knew things. Daniel Suelo absolutely did not think that money buys happiness so he went a proved that it didn’t by living in a cave for nine years depending on no possessions what so ever. What Daniel did reminds me a lot of what Chris McCandless wanted to do in the book Into the Wild. They both wanted to get away from society and prove that they didn’t need to have possessions to live. Chris partly proved it compared to Daniel. I think that what Daniel did is a very brave and transcendentalist thing to. He has been living for nine years without money or possessions. The article “Moab man embraces simple life living in cave” by Jason Blevins matters to me because it proves to people that money doesn’t buy happiness and you can’t live pretty much the same way if you had money or not.

Beliefs

1. Four beliefs

• Friendship
• Family
• Truthfulness
• Myself

2. How far are you willing to follow these beliefs?

I am willing to follow these four beliefs: friendship, family, truthfulness, and myself, at any extent. If someone were to take away my beliefs in friendship, family, and myself then there would not be any point to my life. So if someone were to take away those three beliefs then they might as well take away my life because without them I would just be a prisoner without anything. On the other hand, if someone were to take away my belief in trust and truthfulness then it would not matter as much. It would still be hard living without truthfulness, but it isn’t as important as friends, family, and myself.

Manifesto

Fourteen years ago on June 6, 1997 I was born. Three to seven years old I wanted to be a vet, eight I wanted to be a dentist, ten I wanted to be a in the medical field or be a dentist, and I’m still trying to make my final decision on what I want to be to this day. “Everything happens for a reason” and “everything is okay in the end, if it’s not okay, then it’s not the end.” These are my favorite two quotes, they keep me moving in bad situations, whether it be about school, family, boys, anything. I will always keep moving and never give up my dream.

PLN #9

Bella Demiranda

PLN #9

“Is This the Future of Punctuation!?”

The article “Is This the Future of Punctuation!?” by Henry Hitchings matters to me because punctuation changes many things in papers, texts, emails, etc. Punctuation can change a simple “hi” to “hi!” The second “hi” with the exclamation point makes it sound much more exciting than just plain “hi.” These days,  texting is so popular punctuation marks make many different expressions. For example, wink-- ;), angry--- ;( or >__<, happy--- :D, :), XD, and many more. There are also the usual punctuations like commas, periods, question marks, semi colons, etc. Those simple punctuation marks are what Henry Hitchings is talking about. He is saying that they will soon just disappear once and for all. I don’t think that will happen. Punctuation is what makes essays, emails, letter, all forms of writing complete. Without them writing will have no meaning, it will just be a bunch of words on a page. Without periods especially.. If the punctuation disappears, and no “new” punctuation comes out, then there will be no point in writing because it the words wont make as much sense as it would with periods and commas. Writing isn’t my favorite thing to do...but without it how would we communicate with people far away other than calling? Texting and emailing without punctuation wouldn’t matter as much as writing at school or at your job because you don’t use it as much unless you put emotions. Life without punctuation wouldn’t be difficult, it would just be confusing. I don’t care that much about not having punctuation, but it would get a little getting used to.

PLN #8

Bella Demiranda

Poetry, Painting to Earn an M.D

PLN #8

The article “Poetry, Painting to Earn an M.D” by Laura Landro matters to me because when I’m older I want to be some kind of doctor, and think it is important for future doctors to know what is the better technique for learning new things. Laura Landro is saying that taking writing classes as an elective in college, if you are studying to be a doctor, is better for your brain so you can express your feelings. Many different doctors and people studying to be a doctor are saying that that is a great idea. As Dr. Wald says, "The act of writing helps you build reflective capacity so you can better understand the patients story and integrate it with everything you know as a doctor to have a more patient-centered-care relationship.” This is very true because when you don’t communicate with someone, then your never going to know their personality or background. When you do communicate with someone, then you will know the real them, their pet peeves, interests, etc. There are many, many things that you can find out about a person by just having a simple conversation. That is important in the medical field because if you don’t know the patient or their story, then how are you going to supposed to help them? I think that you should be able to choose if you want to do writing and/or reading as an elective, but when you apply for a medical job if it shows on your transcript that you have taken reading and/or writing, then you should be payed more. People should not be forced to take certain classes if all they want to focus on is one subject. The article “Poetry, Painting to Earn an M.D” by Laura Landro matters to me because I want to succeed as a doctor when I am older and get payed a well-deserved amount of money.

PLN #7

Bella Demiranda

“Rigor Redefined”

PLN #7

The article “Rigor Redefined” by Tony Wagner matters to me because it is important to know the skills and needs in our century and how to act as a student in that century. This article describes how we need seven survival skills to be able to boom in the new work world. The seven skills survival skills are: Critical thinking and Problem solving, Collaboration and Leadership, Agility and Adaptability, Initiative and Entrepreneurialism, Effective oral and Written communication, Assessing and Analyzing information, and last but not least, Curiosity and Imagination. These skills will make students become smarter and be more productive. Hopefully in the future there will be many people who can solve the biggest issues by problem solving. Critical think and problem solving are two of the most important traits in the business world. People have to use those two traits in businesses everyday because like the senior executive from Dell said, “Yesterday's answers won't solve today's problems.” This is true because people in the workforce have to brainstorm ideas for new products, selling ideas, etc. It is not always as easy as it seems. Problem solving can take a short as 10 minutes, but can also take as long as 10 days. Assessing and Analyzing information can also be more difficult than in seems. It always depends on the person though. Even though these skills can be difficult, to progress as a 21st century learner everyone will have to learn these skills to be successful. When I start working, I want to get a good job, be successful, make money, and have a family. All those things are important because without them it is hard to have a successful living. That is why the article “Rigor Redefined” by Tony Wagner matters to me.

PLN #6

Bella Demiranda

“Machines are Using Us”

PLN #6

The YouTube video “Machines are Using Us” matters to me because the web is changing who we become as well as what the Internet it becoming. When computers didn’t exist and everyone had to write with pen and paper, writing took much more time. You couldn’t correct your errors by backspacing or erasing, you had to either cross it out or start over.  Personally it is very frustrating when I have to start something over and over again. That’s why I think that the generation we live in today is advancing each and everyday. Today almost everything is in digital text and hyperlinks and stuff like that---which is was the video “Machines are Using Us” talks about. Nowadays, a big percentage of the world uses online communication. Like Facebook, myspace, text messaging, emailing, all sorts of different stuff. People control what the texts says, not text controlling what people do. It can in some cases because on the web people cyberbully which is kind of the same thing as saying that the text is controlling what the person acts like. People are changing how the Internet works and how it looks like now. For example, facebook, the most popular social network in the world. When I first joined facebook it just looked like a simple white and blue webpage. It didn’t have any special links, or things you can do with your posts. Now facebook is attractive and you can tag people in posts, join groups, like pages, play games, anything you want to do pretty much. Well, the Internet doesn’t just change on its own, someone else---a human being---has to be the one changing and controlling what it looks like and becomes in the future. In the future the Internet will be much more different and probably more efficient than it is today.

PLN #5

Bella Demiranda

Footprints in the Digital Age

PLN #5

The article “Footprints in the Digital Age” by Will Richardson matters to me because the Internet can have many ups and downs. When I have kids I’m not going to prohibit them from using the Internet because that will be very hard for them in their generation I’m guessing. I will want them to use the Internet, but for educational purposes. On the weekends or when they finish their homework I will let them go on the Internet to have some fun but I will encourage them to go outside and have fun instead. In “Footprints in the Digital Age”, they talk about how searching people on google wont have a very good effect for jobs. I think that that could be true if someone goes on google 24/7 to play games or to simply just chat people on facebook. When someone is trying to hire you for a job and they search you on google, instead of showing good “business related” things, google will most likely show the link to your facebook profile. And that wouldn’t really help you to get the job...This article says a lot about the bad things about google for kids, but there can also be many positive things about google also.

In the article "Footprints in the Digital Age" by Will Richardson ma

PLN #4

Bella Demiranda

“Short Story”

PLN #4

I think that it is morally permissible to kill one person if his/her death would save the lives of others. “A ship has sunk and there are 10 people in a lifeboat. One other survivor is swimming towards the lifeboat and shouting to be let aboard. However, the lifeboat was only designed to hold 10 people. If you save that one person, the whole lifeboat will sink and nobody will survive. If you don’t save that one person, everyone in the boat lives, but the survivor who is left swimming will drown. What do you do?”
What I would do is let the person on the life raft, but I will have someone that is already on the life raft get off and hold on to the side of the raft. That way,  everyone will survive. The person who is in the water holding on to the side of the raft will switch of every 15 minutes so they don’t get hypothermia. This ‘method’ will save everyone because the raft will always be holding 10 people.
If that was not a possible way to save everyone then I would save the 10 people and have the one person die. I would feel terrible about it but I would feel even worse if all 10 people would be dead. So I do think that it is morally permissible to kill one person if their life will save the lives of others.

PLN #3

Bella Demiranda

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

PLN #3

Nicholas Carr's article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" matters to me because if something we are doing is making us think and act differently throughout our lives, like the Internet, we should try to decrease our time on that activity because we will soon get to a point where no one will be able to think the same, and most of the people will have a shorter attention span. I think that this article made a very good point on explaining how the Internet can start shutting down our minds because when people are reading a long blog/article, i.e."Is Google Making Us Stupid?", when we get bored of reading we will most likely stop reading and click on something else. Which is ironic because "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" was a really long article. For example, myself, when I was reading  this article I read around three paragraphs then stopped because I got distracted. Then I came back to it and did the same thing until I finished. Nicholas Carr also had a good point when writing this article because us humans are used to short, and to the point articles. So when we need to read descriptive text we sometimes skim the article, and some people even search what the article is about so they don’t have to read it. Since more and more updates are coming out for electronics, I think that in the future, people born in that generation will have everything they need at their fingertips. Like a larger variety of smart phones and online resources which will lead to more people with ADD and ADHD. Like Nicholas Carr said, “The human brain is almost infinitely malleable. People used to think that our mental meshwork, the dense connections formed among the 100 billion or so neurons inside our skulls, was largely fixed by the time we reached adulthood.” What he means by that is that our brains can always change the way it thinks and works, and by the time we are adults our brain will massively change from the time we were born.  Some people might believe this article is true, others might think that the Internet won’t change the way anyone thinks or acts. I think that it is very possible that it can, but it depends how each individual uses their time on the Internet.

PLN #2

Bella Demiranda

PLN #2

What Matter’s to Me

What matters to me is anything that respects me and treats me how I want and should be treated. Four things that matter to me is my family, my pets, my friends, and my grades. My family matters to me. They matter to me because they are what made me here today. My grandparents are the ones who made my parents here, and my parents are what made me here. My mom’s side of the family live in South America and my dad’s side of the family lives in Florida and Canada. I only see them once a year or every two years. I love my family, but sometimes I can get sick of them (especially someone in my household).

My pets matter to me. I have two cats, one boy and one girl. The boy’s name is Kenny and the girl’s name is Kianny. Kenny is one year old and he is a large furry ball of energy and oops. What I mean by oops is that he is a clutzy kitty. He knocks cups down and enjoys the mess he made :). On the other hand...Kianny is a little spoiled girl. She is eight years old and I have had her since I was six. I got her on the day of my sixth birthday and I have loved her ever since. Sometimes she can be a pain, but compared to Kenny she is one little cat angel. Whenever I’m down Kenny and Kianny always come sit by my side. That is why my pets matter to me.
My friends matter to me. Like Kenny and Kianny whenever I’m down my friends can always make me laugh and cheer up. I have a few friends from my neighborhood and they have always been there for me. I always have so much fun with them. This year I came from a middle school out of district, so I only knew about six people, and we weren't even that close of friends. But now it’s the opposite. The people from my middle school and I are close friends now and I know a lot of people, and I now have a lot of new friends! That is why my friends matter to me.
My grades matter to me. They matter to me because grades are the things that will get you into a good college. I try my best to get good grades so that I can get into a better college. Especially in High School. High school is the most important four years of your life almost because it’s the four years that determine what you will do for the rest of your life. Whether you want to be a doctor or a veterinarian.
Many things matter to me in life, but what most matter’s to me is anything that respects me and treats me how I want and should be treated.

PLN #1

Bella Demiranda

PLN #1

“A Vision of Students Today”

The YouTube video “A Vision of Students Today” matters because it shows how hard life can be with the struggles of school, how technology is a part of us, and how it can change are lives in a matter of seconds. Life can be hard, but it can be harder with the struggles of school. What I mean by this is when you are an adult and your out of school, life can be hard. But when your still in college/university, life can be even harder because you have to focus on homework, tests, studying, and most importantly, graduating. When you go to college of course you have to pay for it, especially if it’s a private school. After you pay for it, it’s obvious that you have to go to school. Some people pay, and never go! It’s incredible how much money people spend every minute ($6 million!) and most people are wasting their money on stuff they don’t need or something their only going to use once or twice. On the other hand some people WANT to go to college but they don’t have the money for it. Over 1 billion people make less than $1 a day. And the people who are going to college are spending more money than they make which puts them in dept. One girl in “A Vision of Students Today” will be $20,000 in dept after graduation! In college everyone uses the computer,  watches television, or sends at one text message per day. In the 21 century, technology is a part of us and can change our lives in a matter of seconds. Technology is a part of us because without technology we wouldn’t have half the things we have today. People spend 3.5 hours online everyday, and send over 10,000 text messages around the world. Every time someone in the world buys a desktop or a laptop, it just changed their life. They will progressively spend more and more time on it each day. People in college are supposed to use laptops for homework and research, but not everyone does. Even in class people have several windows open; one for what their supposed to be doing, another will have email/IM open, and another with Facebook open. Technology alone can save us. By that I mean if we didn’t have cell phones or computers, how would we contact our families in other states or other sides of the world? There are many reasons, good and bad, about technology and money. Money helps us live our life, but it can also make our lives miserable if we don’t have money. Technology can help us live better and learn better, but it can also make us addicted to it. What ever reason it is, technology and money is what makes the world how it is today. The YouTube video “A Vision of Students Today” matters because it shows how hard life can be with the struggles of school, how technology is a part of us, and how it can change are lives in a matter of seconds.