Blog #10

I have volunteered several times in my life. I have volunteered in the town of Burlington, working at elementary school carnivals and other such events, along with volunteering at the recreation department and working with special needs adults. The most important event to me that I have participated in is "Relay For Life." This is an overnight walk for cancer. It is a very fun event, and it is going towards a great cause. This event was so important to me because I have personally been effected by cancer, as I have lost many loved ones to it. The ultimate goal is to sure cancer so that no one has to suffer through the terrible disease. Knowing that by participating in this event will help towards raising money towards research is a great feeling. It is awesome to know that I am making a difference.

Blog #9

Do Something is a website geared towards teens that gives many opportunities to help out in your community and make a difference. It gives information about different issues that other teens may face. Topics include a fight for hunger, swabbing your cheek to help save cancer patients, and even athletic scholarships.  There is also a poll of the day along with a project of the day.

I think that this is a great website for a good cause. I think that a lot of teens would like to get involved in volunteering and help others in need, but don't know where to start. This website is the perfect place to get started, as it provides so many options of how you can help out and provides you with all the information that you need. It is very enlightening and very useful to anyone who is thinking about further getting involved in an organization.

#8 Favorite Entertainment App

My favorite entertainment application for the iPad is Pandora. It is a music application. You are able to enter in your favorite band or song, and a playlist is created including different songs by the band or artists, and other songs by bands with the same genre. I think this is great because when I choose one band to play, I usually know/enjoy the other songs that are played afterwards. It is also a great way to discover new music of the same genre. When a new song plays, a biography of the band or singer is given, which can be interesting to learn about. You are able to pause the songs, and skip to a new song. I find this application to be very useful because I do not have any music on my iPad. I have to many songs in my iTunes account, and my iPad does not have enough memory to hold all of my music. I find it annoying to make playlists and to have to constanly update my iPad playlists, so having Pandora is a great way to listen to the music I like on my iPad. A wide variety of music is available to listen to.

#7 Favorite Educational iPad App

My favorite educational application is inClass. It is an agenda/calendar that I use to write down my homework and other class assignments. You are able to write your assignments for each class and can color-coordinate "dividers" for each class. When you post the assignment, you are able to specify whether it is homework, an essay, a project, a test, a mid-term, or a final. You can also set the priority for each assignment, set an alarm for when it is due, and give the time the assignment is due. You are also provided with check-list and can check off an assignment when you finish it. This is convenient because you know what assignments you have already completed and which ones you still need to finish. In the calendar section, it shows which classes have assignments due on which days by posting a colored dot on the calendar (according to which color i each class is designated). The application also has a notes section.

#6 Favorite Website - Part 2

My favorite website, Facebook, can be accessed on the iPad not only by typing the adress into the search engine, but there are also several Facebook applications. My favorite application for Facebook of the many that there are is the "Facebook" application. I find it very easy to use. To the left side of the screen there is an "index" which brings you to different pages such as your profile, your newsfeed, pictures, etc. Althought there is no instant message chat box, you can still instantly receive messages through the "inbox" and respond right away. Although you are not provided with the chat feature, using the inbox is very similar and I can barely tell the difference. When you go to look at a picture, it takes up the whole page and it is hard to find where the exit button is, which i find to be one of the negative about the application.

#5 Favorite Website

My favorite website is facebook. It leans more towards the entertainment side because it is a social-networking website. You are able to create a personal account and connect with your friends. You are able to post pictures, vidoes, and updates by statuses. Facebook in an interactive site. It is a great way to communicate with friends and family as you are given the ability to be able to instant message, "inbox," or even video-chat. It is a great way to stay in touch with people who you might not be able to see on a regular basis. It is also a great way to see what your peers might be up to and get the latest gossip. Facebook is constantly changing and adding great new features. It is my favorite website because it keeps me connected with many of my friends and family. I log onto Facebook several times a day. It is easily accessible on my iPad and cell phone.

#4 Invisible Children

I recently had the experience of being able to watch a documentary which highlighted the lives of Ugandan children, who live in areas where children are being abducted and forced to become soldiers. Joseph Kony, a terrorist who is targetting Uganda and several other countries, is mainly responsible  for this disaster. His group, the LRA is terrorizing many cities and is targetting many innocent individuals and families. I had learned about Joseph Kony and the LRA in my history class last year, but to be able to watch a documentary and see how it has effected several individuals gave me a completely different look on the conflict. The Invisible Children is a group of young adults who are trying to stop the violence that is occuring in Africa. They travel the country to spread the word and make young adults such as myself aware of the tragedy. They raise money to help educate the less-fortunate children whose lives are effected by the LRA. Money also goes towards installing a communication tower so that cities are able to reach eachother and warn one another before an attack. The documentary was very powerful and emotional, and I think it captured the attentions of everyone who was in the audience. To help the cause, I bought a T-shirt and a bracelet from the Invisible Children, and the proceeds will go towards helping the innocent African people.

#3 Blog Review

A blog that I am following is Perez Hilton. This blog provides information about the news and rumors of the celebrities Hollywood.  I believe that the set-up of this blog is very easy to follow: the posts are located to the left, advertisements to the left, and tabs and links are located at the top of the page. There is a pink theme to the log, and the playful text selections seem to match up with the color scheme. I think that Perez Hilton's blog posts can be very entertaining and funny, which draws appeal to the blog, along with the layout. There are pictured provided with nearly all of the blog posts, which is good because people want to be able to visualize what might be happening in the post. I like how there is a "Star Seeker" located at the top of the page. This enables you to be able to find all of the blog posts about a particular celebrity.  Although I like how the blog is constantly being updated, I find it somewhat overwhelming. I am never able to keep up with all of the posts because a new one is being added every few minutes. I also think that the advertisements are too big and plentiful and take up too much of the page.

#2 Self Portrait

To create this picture, I originally took a close-up picture of my face. Then, I held the iPad with the original picture up to my face and took a picture off of another iPad. Then, I took that iPad, and held it up to my face, and took a picture with my own iPad. By doing so, it created a layered look that creates depth. I also made sure that I had a good light source so that my pictures would look vibrant.

#1 The World of BHS

I would describe BHS as being a smaller high school, on its way to becoming more involved in the new technology offered to us. There are many great teachers and great opportunities offered at the school. One of the things that I like out the school is that every student is given an iPad for educational purposes. In many of my classes we have incorporated them into our lessons, and they make learning more interesting and even fun. As each year passes, the world becomes more technologically advanced. I think that it is beneficial for us to use technology in school because it will definitely become a huge part of our future. Another thing that I like about BHS is the variety of classes offered to the students. There are classes for everybody's interests ranging from art to business to music. I also believe that BHS has a great student body. The students at this school tend to be a friendly group of people and are very helpful and supportive to one another.

One thing that I would change about BHS is the amount of school activities we have. I believe that we should have more. They are fun and also bring students together. I would also change the rules about the library. I do not feel that it is necessary to have to get a pass to the library if I want to go during my study. I should have the right to be able to go to the library when I want to. Another thing about BHS that I would change is the homework policy. Sometimes I feel overloaded by the amount of work that I am given, on top of the other activities that I participate in such as sports, clubs, and work. I think that there should be a fifteen to twenty minute time limit for the amount of homework given in class each night.