First Annotation

"The Red Hot Jazz Archive." Bessie Smith 1. 17 Oct 2008 .

This website gives alot of information on Bessie Smith's personality. According to the website, she was a rough, crude, violent women. She was talented. She had a strong voice and she was famous and popular to both blacks and whites. Eventually people grew tired of her but she was still very popular in the south.
This website also talks about the kind of music Bessie Smith made. She was really popular in the 1920's. Some of her famous songs include "a good man is hard to find", "any woman's blues", and "baby doll".

Topic Selection NHD 2oo9

I chose Bessie Smith for my NHD project because i am interested in the popularity of African Americans during segregation time periods.Bessie Smith was one of the biggest African-American stars of the 1920s and was popular with both Whites and blacks. Bessie Smith was important to history because she inspired people to follow their dreams and not to let any obstacle stand in their way. Bessie Smith became a famous blues singer even though she was a afican american female during the segregation time period. Times were very rough for blacks and for women and I admire her because of the one important aspect that she followed her dream in harded error of times. i think Bessie Smith was a role model for everyone because i believe that if it wasnt for her women wouldnt know the true meaning of courage.

Final Service Learning

I think i did well in service learning. I'm an average student at a high school, but i have very high expectations for myself. I think that joining the Darfur group was a major step up. I like helping people and with all the studies about Africa in Brasof's class helped me realized that there are more needy people than us. I also realized that us kid's can be ungrateful for what we have and we always look at the negatives instead of the positives. This is one of the ways service learning impacted me. I now tend to look at the good things not the bad and I'm grateful for what i have, and I'm not focusing on what i don't have because there are people who would love to have the things i have. When i heard about the situation in Darfur i immediately knew i wanted to help them because they are in terrible need of various things, such as natural resources and help to fight against refugees. If i was in charge of the service learning group, i have been sent out money and flip flops. I think that this is where i separate from everyone else. I wanted to send help the first day, but everyone seems to take it as a joke by not doing what they were supposed to do like people awareness and brochures and stuff. Even though this genocide has been going on a few years and the citizens haven't had any help for years, this is an open wide opportunity for people to make a difference in someone else's life and i don't feel as though we are taking advantage of it. I think that other and more people could get involved in saving Darfur and understand and contribute to what we are trying to do will make a huge difference for them as well as us.

Independant Service Hours

My independant service hours were hell!!! I did babysitting, i washed dishes, i did chores, and the whole nine yards.It was very tiring. I learned it is not easy running a household, like watching out for the kiddies, cleaning, and cooking. It's alot of hard work. In the future i will not choose house chores for other people as service learning!

Serevice Learning Rubric

If i had give myself a service learning grade, i would give myself a perfect score because i feel as though i cooperate, i listen, i help others, i stay on task, i research, and i am prepared for every session. Dont you think i deserve a perfect score?

Service Learning 5-15-08

This session was not very informational. basically all we did was discuss ideas of how to get things over to Africa. here are our Ideas:
• Flip flop drive
1. Bring flip flops to wear flip flops
2. Flip flop party
3. Testing out how to get people to bring in flip flops
4. Ideas of other people by having them fill out a survey.
• Watched a movie on Darfur
• Discussed different ideas of how to get people involved.
One achievement we accomplished is people awareness. I am glad we were able to began awaring people and we are beginning to gain support from our peers.

Service learning 5-9-08

this session for service learning was very formal. the only major thing we discussed was how we are going to start people awareness. we are going to do that by doing brochures and passing them out to people, also by speaking vocally. I hope we really get through to people because the conditions in darfur are bad and they are worsening.

This Week For Service Learning....

This week for service learning i hope to began the process of awaring people about the situation in Darfur and hopefully we can get at least 1-2 Darfur sponsors this week. This is all i expect to get started for this week. So i hope we can accomplish this step so we can enter phase 2 and come closer in making a difference in the lives for the citizens over in Darfur.

Africa Video Blog

Extra Credit

In my opinion Lincoln & Obama to me are very alike. They both have views similar to equal rights and are willing to state them. Obama has came out and openly talked about the civil rights movement of the 1950's - 1960's. To contrast their two speeches I would have to say that lincoln's speech about the Dred Scott case was a big turning point. Lincoln used to the Constitution as his evidence to back up his claims and interpret our founding fathers. Obama also a lawyer for the Harvard law review used to the Constitution as his evidence too. i belive if Lincoln could win through all the convestries going on the Obama has a chance .

Service Learning # 3

Last weeks service learning went really well. we talked about alot things such as:

Agenda

• Fundraising
• Website Ideas
• Walk-a-Thon Ideas
• Research(extra info)
• Creating a Forum

Ideas

• Create a website
• T shirts
• Raise money for walk a thon
• Advisory give out papers and sponsers
• People awareness
• Money to refugee camps
• Have information section at School District of Philadelphia start up darfur community group
• Make awareness posters
• Benefit dinner(possibly)
• Wear rist bands
• Go to other school and give presentations about Darfur
• Read to younger kids about darfur
• Get sponsers.
• Do an open house and sell things related to darfur
• Get mayor nutter involved
• Get former refugees of darfur here to speak about their experiences at the camps
• Combine with others from different areas that are working on the same topic
• Write letters to get get people tp sponser us
• Wirte letters to our school partners
• Donations
• Advertise for certain needs and let them know what we are trying to do

Discussions

• Fundraising(Ideas)
• Grants
• Introduced Darfur Related Website
• Getting People invovolved
• Find out needs
• We already have people who want to help

Reminders

• Throughly read website: www.savedarfur.org
• find a book to presentation
• try to participate in walk a thon
• must be committed to working on project
• research programs already trying to help darfur
• Georgia and Lakisha: Writing letter for sponserers
• Sahrde, Terrence, and John: documentary on awareness
• Chyann and Kate: Make brochure about Darfur.
  
• Stephen and Bart: Find contacts for people to help us.
  

Questions

• are we going to make our own t-shirts?
• how are we going to get our money to Darfur's refugees?
• Can we connect with people in darfur?

Next for service learning i would like to start the people awareness process of the project.

Today for Service Learning.......

Today for service learning i plan to organize everyone's ideas and come to the conclusion of how we are going to help Darfur so we can begin the process. I just think the first step is to aware people about the situation. I will begin doing that today.

Ideas For Thursday

I have only a few ideas for Thursday's service learning session. I Think that our main focus should be to make people aware of what is going on over there and try to convince them to help by fundraising money.

Lasts Week Service Learning

Last Week during Service Learning we learned new facts and discussed new things like:
Facts about Darfur
• It began in 2003
• In 2004 there were 50,000(15 months after the genocide started)
• Over 400,000 people were killed since 2003
• Caused 2.5 million refugees
• 100 plus people killed a day/5,000 people killed a month
• Death toll is 50% of their population
• The government helped Janjaeed rape and kill people in Darfur
• Government purposely stooped supporting Darfur
• U.S pressed the president of the U.N peacekeeper step in because 7,000 African union troops are not able to provide adequate security.
• The government is trying to demolish Darfur’s entire population because they feel as though they are ethnically different

Discussions
• Brainstormed fundraising ideas.
• Watched a video on Darfur.
• Talked about how people ignore the past and how something needs to be done.
• Organization of programs.

Roaming Questions
• Why is the government trying to wipe these people out?

Reminders
Bring in Something To Share.

The facts about Darfur were very useful. How we are going to help was very unsuccessful. It is kind of difficult to choose one area when the whole country needs help. For the up coming weeks we need to work on how we are going to help Darfur. In the group i am the minute taker.

Reflection

In yesterday's 2nd service learning session we had a big debate over what was more important helping people in Darfur or getting Africans get a better education. We came to the conclusion to help the genocide in Darfur because "we can not help people get education if there is no people to teach." We also talked about how it was going to be a longer process but we can achieve it. One concern we had is we don't know what our money is going to......

Service Learning

(www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol14no2/educat.htm)
I researched schools in Africa and I am beginning to gain more knowledge of the kind of education they get. This helps me with my project because it expands my knowledge of want they need and how soon they need it. Every time i read something else about the schools it inspires me to help them. It also helps me because now I really see how fortunate we are today. They have very few supplies and need more; we have tons of supplies and we destroy and write on them. They are shoved together with almost 100 kids to each class and they all sit down and keep quiet while the teacher is teaching; we have a minimum of 15 students to a class and our teacher is interrupted every 5 seconds over nonsense. Africans have o be taught in the worst weather conditions; we have heat and air and we always complain about being hot or cold. Africans have to go to school hungry several days in a row; we get offered breakfast and lunch and complain about how nasty it is. All these differences help me understand how much help they need and this is the least of their problems and they still have a whole positive attitude about things in life. They really value their education but i also want to help resolve some of the other problems in Africa. Africa are the poorest continent but i can't everyone in Africa. I wish I could.

Friday Serivce Learning

In Fridays service learning session, we talked about various ways to help Africa. we tried to identify their biggest problems such as food, living conditions, medical conditions, schooling, and everyday resources. We came to the conclusion that we were going to fund raise money going towards school supplies. It has to be pretty hard to learn with 100 students in one class. I think we all came to this decision because we all realize how much Africans value their education. I liked how everyone had a chance to speak their opinion. I also liked how we eliminated the topics that didn't make much since and I love how we are getting a chance to help others. I disliked how all my ideas got eliminated!! Everything else i pretty much agreed with. In final analysis, we plan to help Africans reached their goal of getting the same and equal education as we do.

Service Learning

I would really like to help to either homeless or elderly people. I will be working with Lashay, Kameko, and Shaquetta at Shaquetta’s mother’s job. It is a nursing home located at 1526 Lombard st. The phone number is 215 546 5960. We will be working during our spring break on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. I am really looking forward to it.

National History Day Reflection

For my NHD project i worked with Reshay Johnson. It was pretty impossible because she really likes to socialize with everybody. So when i was trying to do the project she was elsewhere talking to everyone. I learned the process of doing a documentary. It is not very easy. The most challenging part was time management and the annotated bibliography. At the end we came to the conclusion of a good project.
It all started December 11th when my social studies teacher Marc Brasof took our 6&7 period class across the street street to the Atwater Kent Museum to get our class thinking about the topics for NHD . That’s when we discover out topic for our NHD project . When we toured the second floor we saw a wampum belt and it said that this wampum belt was given to William Penn as a gift from the Leni Lenape tribe after signing The Great Peace Treaty. Then that’s when we decide we wanted to do our project on William Penn signing a treaty with the Native American Leni Lenape tribe.
Prior to our research we knew a little bit about our topic due to pass projects we did on Philadelphia. We knew various information on our topic before we researched, for example we knew William Penn was given this land by King Charles 2 but, we did not know why so much land was given to him we also knew William Penn was a Quaker and a men of peaceful means.
My partner and I conducted our research by going to several museums, interviewing, and talking to different historians about our topic for example my partner and I went to the Atwater Kent Museum and talked to historians there,The Historical Society Of Philadelphia, The Penn Treaty Park, and The National Archives of Philadelphia and we talked to different historians who worked there. All the museums , archives and historical land marks we visited and historians we talked to provided us with a variety of important information we could us for our NHD project. We also gained both primary and secondary resources from the experience. We also went to the library and found books on our topic.
The most important resources in our NHD project was the primary sources because they showed pictures and actual treaties that were signed. The secondary resources was just as important as the primary resources because they contained information out of textbooks and the information was very useful. Throughout our NHD project we use a variety of both primary and secondary sources, for example we took pictures of actual treaties signed .We face one challenge which was pulling our project together with limited time, we over came this by putting more time and effort in to our project.
We choose to create a documentary because we felt that it would be self explanatory.
The steps we took in creating this project was making Video story boards, making goals and , outlining the major facts etc.
The Creation of Peace: William Penn & Leni Lanpe is our topic for this years contest.
Our topic relates to this years NHD theme conflict and compromise because Europeans and Leni Lenape tribe had conflict over who owned the land etc. They also made a compromise which was the treaty. This improved relations between Europeans and The Leni Lenape.

Rita Dove was born in Akron, Ohio on August 28, 1952. When she was a young girl, she never thought that she would become a writer. Though she loved to read and write as a child, the thought of making a living writing did not occur to her until she was a senior in high school. Though as a child, Dove did not see herself as a writer , she loved learning about language and would use her weekly assigned spelling words to create prose work she titled "Chaos". In forth grade dove wrote poem "the Rabbit With the Droopy Ear". In both cases Rita let the words shape the event of her work, she used this trait throughout her career.

Rita was a book worm, she loved reading and writing. Dove wanted to be a doctor's or a lawyer's wife, but due to the expectations adults surrounded her with, she realized she could obtain a much higher profession. Rita was constantly changing her major as a freshman, but she started her sophomore year as a English major. She was inspired by her writing instructor to become a writer. By her junior year Rita decided that she wanted to become a poet, so she continued to study English and language arts. he began publishing her work in mid-1970's.

Rita Dove's On the Bus with Rosa Parks collection examines the personal, inner feelings of the self and connects those feelings to universal experience. One of Dove's most profound attributes is her willingness to get a history that is not told. She is a controversial writer because she shows both the positive and negative characteristics of human nature, whether they are African America or White American.

Rita Dove inspires me because for one she is an African American Female Writer and she tell both sides to the story not just good or bad.

i Know i need a A

Dear, Mr. Romero,

Who is your favorite student? Who completes all their work and hands it in on time? Who calls you "Mr. Ro"? Who deserves an “A”?
I know I deserve an “A” in English class because I do all my work, I improved my behavior, and I’m just simply me.
Now Mr. Romero there's no even denying that I don’t do ma work. Every assignment you handed out, I did . I may have complained a little bit, but I still got it done. And you know how much I despised Huckleberry Finn. Who was one of the few who handed the in assignment completed and on time? I was.
A while ago when I was sitting at the table with all my friends, I back talked you and I didn’t listen to you. As of today, I listen to what you say and I hardly back talk you. Additionally, I take out my headphones when you tell me to. If that’s not improved behavior I don’t know what is.
Last but not least, im just me. “Georgia Mink”. So up front with everything, loving, and so smart. You know you're going to miss me so you might as well go ahead and give that “A” and let me leave a good memory of your class. You would give me a “A+” if you really care!!
In conclusion I deserve an “A+” because I complete all my work, I improved my behavior, and you love me!! Come on be serious, why wouldn’t you give me an “A”?

Should Parents Be Allowed to Hit Their Kids?

Should parents be allowed to hit their kids? I believe so because it’s a form a discipline, you will be able to keep your child in their place, and it helps you get your point across.
Don’t you know those kids who just don’t listen? Talking doesn’t work. So 96% of the time if your child doesn’t listen and is constantly disobeying you, your next instinct is to start swinging. When you hit your children you let them know whose boss. A quick smack will say “now stop” without you having to say a word.
Sometimes the youth get out of hand. Like for example in the supermarket. You tell them they cannot have something. They begin to act out. What do you do? Give them what they want and show that when they want something all they have to do is act out to get it? Or smack them upside the head and show them who has the upper hand? Other times your youngsters back talk you when you’re in the wrong mood. Back hand them and they will think twice before those smart remarks slip out through their lips.
Hitting your child is a form of punishment. That doesn’t mean abuse your authority. Huck’s dad abused him. He hit him for simple things and locked him up when he wasn’t home. That’s not civil. Be realistic. Kids will be kids but sometimes they act too grown and they need to stay in their place. Don’t let the force take advantage of you.
In conclusion, parents should be able to hit their kids because you get your point across quicker, it’s a form of discipline, and you will be able to keep your child in their place. Why shouldn’t parents hit their kids?