First Semester Reflection

This first semester I have learned so much. I believe that I have learned new skills and have also gotten better at skills I already had. All of the things we’ve done this year have played a part in my over all learning this semester and I really think that my classmates and I will learn even more in the second semester.
Writing is something I’ve always had a problem with. I would either procrastinate or I would just write a really bad paper. This year, I’ve already been able to get better at writing. I think that I truly have gotten better at essays, blogs, etc. I’ve learned about the format of papers and I’ve learned how to take a position when I’m writing. I’ve learned how an article may be confusing and that people may only be able to see the tip of the iceberg. They might not be able to understand what is truly being said. I had that problem at the beginning of the year, but now I am learning how to make sense of things and to make sense of how to write my own papers.
I also think that all the reading we’ve done has helped me learn a lot too. I am probably the slowest reader on the face of the earth, but I can tell them I’m, getting better at making sense of things and being able to read a paper and understand what’s going on. Whether it’s a whole book, a short story, or an article from the news, I’m learning to be able to get through a piece of reading and not fall asleep or just give up and not even work towards understanding the meaning. Before this first semester, I had no idea what it meant to understand a piece of reading. That sounds like it doesn’t make sense but I would just read through things and wouldn’t even think about whether I understood the meaning or not. This first semester I’ve learned a lot about regular language arts class subjects like reading and writing, but I’ve also learned a lot about history.
So far, history and culture have played a huge part in my learning this year. I’ve known about diversity and the problems that other places have gone through but I was not aware of what other countries like Australia, South Africa, or Rwanda has gone through. I’ve learned about what hard times they’ve gone through and what has happened to their cultures over time. Learning about these kinds of things really helps me to understand the world around me more. The thing that has helped me most this year has probably been a mixture of writing and learning about history and cultures. When I’m asked to write about the Rwandan Genocide or Aborogines of Australia, it usually is hard at the beginning but I’ve really learned how to put two and two together. Writing about these kinds of things really helps me gain skill in writing and helps me understand the world more.
Learning about grammar, usage, and mechanics was really helpful. I had obviously already known where to put periods and question marks, but it really helped my writing especially to know more about grammar and punctuation. I can easily tell which letters need to be capitalized and where apostrophes need to be. I can write and use grammar appropriately more easily now than I could before this first semester.
Listening to stories also was a good thing to learn about this year. When we listened to “Man in the Well” I think I developed more skill in being able to listen to a story and being able to imagine what’s going on and how to understand it when I’m not reading it or writing it. It helped enable me to hear a description of something and be able to see it in my head.
Watching videos like Rabbit Proof Fence and The Power of One helped me understand more about colonization and the troubles of other countries. Although I didn’t see most of The Power of One, I did see a few important parts and it showed me the struggles that the native people went through. Watching Rabbit Proof Fence showed me how bad some people had it and it helped me learn and understand things like that and how truly awful they are.
This first semester, I’ve learned so much. Not just these things, but all of the others things too, have really helped me this year. So far, I think the class and I have been learning really good techniques and we’ve got a pretty good perspective about different topics now. I’m really happy with what we’ve learned and I hope that the second semester is just as good.

Colonization

The best place to live during colonization would be South Africa.
The reason South Africa would be the best place to live because all of the other colonies had a big problem that occurred some time or another. For the American natives, it was moving west. For the Australians it was domestication of aborigine. And for Rwanda it was the genocide. South Africa did have it pretty rough, I’m not saying they didn’t, but I am saying that I think they had it the least bad out of the other colonies and native people. South Africa was the fairest colony in my opinion. They were free people that were pretty much allowed to keep their own culture and go on doing their own thing. There were a few wars between the two different cultures but South Africa had strong fighters which made them capable of keeping their land.
Another reason why South Africa would have been the best place to live in during these times was the fact that they did not have slaves. Other colonies had slaves or servants that were treated badly. South Africa’s people were not treated as well as they should have been treated, but they still were not enslaved. They were free people who worked for what they had. The other colonies would take people into slavery or take children and try to domesticate them and train them to serve white families. Colonies would take natives and try to Christianize and Americanize them. South Africa had it rough, but they didn’t have to go through these kinds of things. South Africa was the safest place to be a native because they were able to maintain freedom, they weren’t forced to change their religion or culture, and they were basically able to stay in their own land.

Winter Break

This break I didn’t really do anything special. Other than the fact that it was Christmas, it was pretty boring. What I liked best about this break is that I got to sleep in everyday except for Sundays. The only problem was that I got used to staying up rather late and it became a pattern that was hard to break once school started again. This always happens over summer vacation too. I get used to staying up really late. I start going to sleep at around 4 in the morning every night and waking up at 2 in the afternoon. But since summer vacations a lot longer, it’s even harder to get back in the swing of things.
Christmas was the most fun thing that happened over break. All my sisters and their husbands came over. They brought their kids and presents for my family. Usually we go to my dad’s sister’s house (which me and my sisters dread every year). They’re a little weird and they aren’t very friendly so we always try to tell my mom that one of has a stomach ache or that we have a head ache. She usually tries to give us some Advil she carries around with her after so our excuses don’t work. This year we decided to just have Christmas with my immediate family at our house. It was quite a nice change.
The most exciting thing that happened was that my sister, who is 9 months pregnant, thought she was having her baby on the last day of break. It was a false alarm and she still hasn’t had it, which isn’t surprising because her due date is exactly ten days away (she insists it’s going to be early). Someone must have told the baby how cold it is out here. The only thing I’m worried about is if the baby is born on my birthday. I don’t particularly want to share a birthday and I really don’t want people to forget about mine either. Other than that, my break was pretty mellow. All I did was hang out with my friend Bridget a lot. And even then, all we did was eat and play a Harry Potter video game. I’m a little disappointed breaks over, only because I have to wake up so early again now. But I’m still glad to be back at school so I have human contact with people other than Bridget.