6 Places and 6 Reasons...

I would love to visit France, Paris to be exact..... I've never being there and its the first one on the list of best places in the world to visit.
New York city is another one of them.... I went a couple of weeks ago and I just can't wait to go back. I love it there, the different people walking on the streets, the different air, I am to be the person who goes into every starbuck in NYC I love coffee.
3rd in my list is Puerto Rico..... I've never been to Puerto Rico but there is so much history there, I would love to visit it.
4th comes Aruba...... another place that I would love to visit, I love beaches and so I am sure I would love Aruba, especially on New Year party, I've heard of the awesome parties they have there.
5th is Los Angeles..... I want to go there so bad. TO see some celebrities, to be able to go on a limousine which is one of my dreams and to just have fun. I think its a great place to visit.
6th and last in my list is Las Vegas, but I am pretty sure I will like it better when I'm older... but why not? I mean I love lights, when I went to NYC I thought it was like Las Vegas without being in Las Vegas. So I would like to visit it very much.

Ready to move on

I think that I have improved immensely this year when working with Mr. Davis. I feel ready to move on to 9th grade and I know I have improved. Last year in math class, I didn't understand things easily as I did this year. I am ready to move on and learn more about geometry. Mr. Davis you taught me algebra. Something that I thought would be impossible for me to learn. I remember at the begging of the school year I knew only algebra basics and now here I am solving equations, factoring etc. I see my grades improving, compared to last year's math and that made me confident and now I feel like I could do anything. And I strongly believe that I am ready to move on next year in math. And I will work even harder next year and try to be better at everything.

What is the Pythagorean Theory?

Simple "a squared+ b squared= c squared". That means that the 2 shortest sides of a triangle, when squared and then added together should equal the longest side, or the hypotenuse.

My stepfather tried to explain it to me so the example is that: there is a triangle with side lengths 7, 9, 10 so because we know that c has the be the longest side we set it up 7^2+9^2=10^2 or 7x7+9x9=10x10 the equation simplifies to = 49+81=100, 49 + 81=130 not 100 so the triangle is not right.

Quarter Three GPA

I've been working very hard to be the entire year in honor or high honor role. Which makes me really happy. I have a GPA between 3.30-60. Which was the highest I got. This quarter, I was a little disappointed because I didn't make it to the high honor role. My GPA was really low, only 3.33 this quarter which is a 5. I am more than happy because last year, I wasn't in honor role and by GPA was lower than 3.30. I've been working hard to get my grades up this year including in math. I am happy to know that now, I am an average person and my challenge for next year is to be in as many high honor roles possible.

NCAA's Final Four 2011

The universities that won the final four where: Butler-Louisiana, Connecticut University, Kentucky and VCU Virginia. An interesting fact about the Butler university is that it was founded in 1855 by attorney and abolitionist Ovid Butler. Another thing is that it occupies 290 acres Indianapolis. The University has this liberal arts-based education and their goal of teaching is to make students better at communication, appreciation of beauty, community service and global awareness, a lot like CIC. The Kentucky university is a little different, for the first time in 13 years, the University of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team is back in the Final Four after defeating the University of North Carolina Tarheels with the score of 76-69 in the NCAA Tournament East Region Championship game. The VCU university is called Virginia Commonwealth University, it is a "computer school." Very few people who attend it live on campus. And they have a huge part time student community. Lots of people go back to the VCU for masters. And last but not least there is the Connecticut university, this university is located in one of the best places in Connecticut it has this beautiful view and they also have a crystal thing that is really beautiful. I hope the University of Kentucky wins because they haven't won anything since 1998 and they rock!

29th of February..

Ive being researching and I found out that in the Gregorian calendar, the current standard calendar in most of the world, most years that are evenly divisible by 4 are leap years. In each leap year, the month of February has 29 days instead of 28. Adding an extra day to the calendar every four years compensates for the fact that a period of 365 days is shorter than a solar year by almost 6 hours. So that would have 29 days even though its February. So the next February 29th would be in 2012. In 2008, there was an 29th of February. Since a leap year consists of 366 days, whereas other years, called common years, have 365 days. Thats why February would have an extra day added up into it. And we would see a 29th of February every 4 years.

Algebra Project

I think that this is going to be a good project. I think that the idea of finding and knowing the distance between planets is a very good topic. Its also great that my school will be joining in the celebration this coming year and we will investigate space and technology for the entire day. I really liked the idea of making a design and display about the planets in our solar system. Its good because we get to learn about science too. So, I liked the project.

What do you love? How do you love it?

I love many things... I love my family and friends. In many ways, the way they always help me when I need something, when they always comfort me, I love them because I get to hang out and talk when I fell said and I do the same thing for them. I love my family. And its sad to know that friend s come and go like stars even though sometimes you dont see them, they are always there. They come and go but you are always going to to love them just the way they are. Thats what I love.

Have you ever watched a great game?

I didn't watch the Superbowl... I forgot about it but a lot of people told me it was a great game. I am not the best sport fan ever but sometimes I like to watch games. I prefer watching games that are alive like, a school game or a club games etc. Except for the World cup of soccer... That one I can't miss. I have watched great games. There was a basketball games one week ago that was really amazing. The score was very close from beginning to end. It was awesome. It was CIC against ECA. CIC was down at the beginning but then came back to it and made a very exciting game. Although we lost(by one point) it was the best game I've ever watched in my life. Amazing!

Principled..

For me, principled is to be and act with responsibility. "Acting in accordance with morality and showing recognition of right and wrong" - English dictionary

We all love to get recognition from the things that we do, and it is important to do that when no one is watching. Like now, I am doing my homework without my mom telling me to. WE apply this in every class including math. When we have homework, we have to be principled to do them. Mr. Lettinga gave the best example. principled is to do the right thing, when no one is watching. Honestly, when I walk down the hallway, I do pick the trash I see. Not all the trash but, it is on the floor, right next to me, I would defenently pick it up. I do principled things like: helping my brother with his homework, and by that I kind of you know, set a good example through my actions. So he can do the same thing when he gets older. I also am principled by turning the lights off when I live a room etc. I have to admit that I do unprincipled things sometimes.. like chewing gum in class and sometimes saying bad words event though I dont even notice when I say them. I think that I have some things that I have to work on to be a more principled person.

What do you do after school?

Well, I at 3 o'clock, after the bell ranged I go directly to my locker to take the things that I need for the next day and I usually wait for my friends to do the same so we can go together downstairs. When we get there, I always buy a bottle of water and go or to after school activities that are: Soccer, Band, Choir and Spanish Drama. When I have after school activities I stay until 5 o'clock at school and live by bus. When I get home I go to my room and take a shower sometimes I stay there until 8:00 watching TV and sometimes I run upstairs to do my homework. My mom starts to cook dinner at 7:00 to 7:30 so she is always finished at 8:00. Then we have dinner and after dinner I go on my facebook for a little. At 10:00 I am usually getting ready to bed I brushing my teeth, washing my hands and putting on my Pj. And go to bed. That's what I do after school.

What kids of professional development do you do to keep you "edge" as excellent students?

I think that what keeps me an "edge" excellent student is really simple, what I do is doing my homework once I get home; reading books also helps me. I also study the day before any exam. I think that just by doing those things, it makes me a good student. Also, I have good behavior in class, and to be responsible. That’s what I do or try to do to be an excellent student we have to be responsible.

Resolutions for this new year

I dont know why some people make new year resolution if they just stick to them for a month or two into the New Year. I am not one of those people. I can make resolutions in the middle of the year, if I know I will stick with them and really do it, so instead of just bringing up a lot of resolutions knowing that I will not do them I will pick up 5 and do them for the rest of the year. My resolutions are: to spend more time with my family because I think that I stay to much time in front of the TV in my room. And I know that I woulnt live with them for more than 5 year so.. its better to do it now. My second resolution is to live a healthier life style and by doing that,lose 10 pounds because its better for me and I have to admit that I am eating way to much candy. I got to stop doing that.. my forth resolution is to save money so I can buy something I want to, I mean its always good to save money. And my last resolution for this new year is to help my brother with his homework and do mine a little better. Him because I know he is struggling and me because I know I can do a lot better than what I am doing right now and that I can get better grades than the ones I get now. Well, happy New Year!!! Let's make 2011 better than 2010!!!

What are your plans and how do you spend the holidays?

My plan for the holidays is staying here in Caracas with my family. We were planning t go to Brazil and having my entire family together but everyone has plans this year. So, we decided to stay here and celebrate Christmas together. I remember, when I was younger, once we had this party at my aunts and everybody came and everyone was there, it was really fun. The way I spend my holidays is usually like that. With everybody just there, with you celebrating. Every year we do a Secret Santa in the family. And we are always together. I don’t really know why everyone just decided to travel; we never did that before but... Every Christmas, someone of my family, usually a funny chubby uncle dresses up as Santa Claus and pretends he is Santa for my little cousins. We always have so much fun. That happens in Christmas Eve. In the next day, we always go have lunch in my gran grandmother's house. Christmas is one of my favorites Holiday.

Please write a reflection on the process of your work for the project which is due today!!

Well, if I would reflect on my project I would say that the hardest part of the project was the part where I had to explain exactly what the Pythagoras theory is. I think that I did a good job on processing my work. First I did almost 1 page talking about the Babylonians. And then I did the same thing with the Pythagoreans. I discovered the word meaning of radical expressions and squares roots. And I discovered really cool things about the origin of these words. I didn’t know a lot of things about the Babylonians and Pythagoras now I know, it’s funny how its called Babylonians because if sounds babyish. When the easiest part of the project for me I think was on finding information. Because there is so many sites talking about this so, it wasn’t that hard. I think I did a good job in this project and I think that I putted a lot into it and that my information and organization were very good.

With Thanksgiving this week, what are you thankful for?

I am thankful for so many things. So many great things happened in my life in this couple of years. I am thankful for my health, good furtune, friends, family, karma etc. And I am also thankful for my mom and my stepfather, who I consider my father for everything he has done to us. I study in a great school, I have so many awesome friends and I just have to be thankful for everything that happened in my life. Yesterday I lived in Brazil, didn’t speak Spanish or English and didn’t have any idea about what its like to be out of your country and accept new ideas. Today I have new ideas, I know a different culture I am more open-minded and I am just so happy to have this. I know that that will help me so much in my life. I am thankful to my family and to god. Thank you so much for this opportunity in life.

Talk to me about how your project is going...which is due December 6th!

My projet is going fine. I am almost finishing my research, which is about radical expressions and triangles. I already picked a topic to my project on, I fond two people who contributed to the study of this topic. And that is Pythagoras, who was a Greek mathematician that helped the research of this topic and Decartes, who was the first one to use and present the first version of the symbol for radical expressions. I learned that no one really "invented" the sign - it developed over the years. Which is really cool since the first person who invented it died. I Wrote the contributions that these two people made to the topic you have chosen.and all I need to do know is to display one problem that one of your chosen people proposed or solved. And the conclusion. So, I am doing fine in my project and I will have it ready for December 6th.

ps. This picture does not show how I am doing my project

Explain ways you have used math recently in your life

I have used a lot of math lately in math. We use math every day, sometimes we use math and we don't even notice that. for example: we use a lot of math when we go to grocery stores or malls. We have to count and figure out how much money we have to pay. We also use a lot of percentage of change for example when we calculate taxes and sales when we are buying something. I also use a lot of math when it comes to dates. I am always counting how many days its left for mine or my friends birthday. And also in science. We use a lot of math in science. like when we are doing an experiment, we have to know how much water, and things to put in the experiment and count how much we put it so the experiment will work. So, we can see that we can use math in a lot of ways in our lives.

What has been the most difficult topic so far this year? Why? Do you understand it now?

The most difficult topic for me this year for me so far would be the topic on probality, the part on finding the odds. It wasn’t that hard I think that I didn’t understand it very well because I wasn’t paying attention to the explanation and it took me a while to understand it. And I think it’s also because I don’t like fractions that much. For me that was the most difficult one but, it’s not difficult anymore.

What is the best way you learn in the math class and why?

The best way I learn math is by understanding it. There is a lot of ways to learn math. You can learn math by just reading the steps of a book and memorazing them. You can also ask your teacher to tell you what you have to do and you pratice it. You can just start doing something without even knowing what to do. But the best way I learm math is by looking at the book, my math teacher explaining to me what the book is talking about. and then I do some exercises to show that I understand it and that I know what I am doing. So, it is a little bit of all the ways of learning math together.