Grade Reflection Essay

My motivation to get an “A” is like a cheetah’s motivation to catch prey for it’s children. I try hard every day. I always do my best. I deserve an “A” in this class because I have made much progress from the beginning of the year and I do all my assignments.

Some may say I deserve a “B” for doing one blog incorrectly. Think about it, one blog should not sabotage somebody’s grade like that. That kind of mistake should definitely not change somebody’s grade by a whole letter. Just imagine how much progress I have made.

The progress I have made in this class is tremendous. Practicing Greek/Latin Roots every week helped me a great amount on KMAT testing. Also, I did terrible on the practice KMAT, but from all the practice and help, I was able to score high when the actual KMAT came around. At first, Shakespeare was like Batman defeating the Joker, it was hard at first and took many attempts before I could really get it down. After days of practicing, I was able to conquer the task.

Every day I come to class prepared and ready to go. I have not missed one assignment all year. To go all year without missing an assignment takes dedication and great motivation. Many students find it difficult to complete the task that I have done. I also apply myself to your class every day. When questions are asked I do my best to answer them. I share my opinion on gallery walks that we evaluate and I am not afraid of what people may think. While submerged in a class argument I always participate and state my opinion clearly without hesitation.

The grade I deserve is clear 

Its black and white, not grey

I can’t wait ‘till my parents hear

The grade I deserve is an “A”

And remember, cheetah’s never miss their prey.

The Body Video Blog

Villanelle

Someday I wish to play under the lights
Spend the whole time gettin after the ball
The joy of competing on Friday nights

If things get crazy, can I handle the fights
Don't get afraid no matter big nor tall
Someday I wish to play under the lights

I am a man I do not show my frights
Can not wait for the coach to make the call
The joy of competing on Friday nights

My video on the news, my highlights
Can not get passed me, I am a stonewall
 Someday I wish to play under the lights

Game is getting intense, then it ignites
Hope it gets crazy, maybe start a brawl
The joy of competing on Friday nights

We'll go hard till the end, with all our mights
Thirty seconds left, need a little stall
Someday I wish to play under the lights
The joy of competing on Friday nights

Sonnet 1

Who might possibly be my favorite team?
They run fast, go hard, and are quite speedy
They do well no matter how bad they seem
They have great strength no matter how bloody

They have many of the best backs around
The great wide receivers go hard as well
They sneak around you without any sound
The game is football so get up and yell

They are the almighty of the midwest
Broncos, Chargers, and Raiders are their foes
Division AFC, they are the best
Two lines up is something everyone knows

My team is the Chiefs, let's go red and white
Right here is the feeling that feels just right

Outside Reading Blog, 4th Quarter

The Body

Im not sure why the author made one of the characters almost completely blind. He also has his ears all shriveled up and can't here because his dad put his head against a stove top when he was younger. What is was the author point of doing this to a kid? Was there even a purpose?

One consequence of them going to look at a body would be being blamed for its disapearance from society. It would also be dangerous for a bunch of kids to out to the site of a dead body because the person that put it there could still be around. Who knows what the original killer has in mind?

I wonder if the kids parents will find out about the body that they find. How will the parents react if they do? Will anyone call the police about it or will they just leave it there. I wonder if the body ever disapears randomely.

If i were there I would make sure that no one else ever finds out about the body unless everyone agreed upon it. If someone else that wasn't trustworthy found out every kid that knew would be in a lot of trouble. They could get in trouble for not telling the police about a dead body found. Everyone would be in huge trouble.

I realized that the kid that told everyone was careful about it. He made sure that everyone could sleepover before he told them that he found a body. That was smart of him because you would not want a story like that to leak out. There is no room for mistakes for an issue like that.

Concrete Poem

Riddle Poem

I am skinny
I am wet
Rain falls on me,
now that you should get

I love the feeling of the pelt, pelt, pelt
I hate when its dry,
and becomes a drought
Open every time,
there isn't a doubt

When wind comes strong,
and begins to blow,
I fly away and
there I go.

Acrostic Poem

Athlete and from
Lebanon
Excellent movie is
X-Men
Durrtay the call me
Unfair are
Rules
Rollin around hangin with my friends

Letter to Mom and Dad

Alex Durr

March 31, 2011

Mom and Dad

Dear Mom and Dad:

What can 30 minutes do? I don’t understand why you lowered my curfew to 11:30 in the first place? 30 minute doesn’t change much except it makes me more upset with you. I think that my curfew should be changed back to 12:00 because you should be able to trust your own son to be safe and I am usually inside someone’s house and off the roads at night.

            You may say “nothing good happens after 12:00.” That doesn’t make sense with what I am saying because I will be home by 12:00. You may also say that I don’t communicate with you enough, but I am working on it and it wouldn’t hurt to text me first sometimes.

            I am always safe when I am out. I always drive safely when I am with my friends. I don’t speed or swerve on the roads. I also don’t go far away from home. When I go out I don’t get into trouble either. My TPing days are over, so you don’t need to worry about that. For the majority of the time I am not even on the streets.

             I always work hard for school during the week. I get good grades and I try my hardest during school, I think it should be a reward for me to stay out longer on the weekends. When I am hanging out with my friends I go to people’s houses. What could go wrong when I am inside someone’s house?  Many nights we have ping pong tournaments and play XBOX. Most of my friends have curfews of 12:00. That means that I always have to leave early. I always have to leave in the middle a ping pong tournament or a poker game.

            I understand I am your son and you have concerns for me but I think that I am old enough to handle myself and avoid bad situations. There really aren’t a lot of cars out that late and I don’t drive very far. I am willing to pitch in a little more around the house if it means I can stay out longer. I am a responsible teenager now, why would you not let me show it to you?

Sincerely,

Alex Durr

Glogster

Outside Reading Glog

http://abdurr36.glogster.com/catcher-and-the-rye/

Persuasive essay: Julius Caesar

Alex Durr            

Mr. Allam           

English II

11 March 2011             

Caesar Persuasive  Essay

                What is friendship? My fellow Romans, we all have very dear friends to us. Many of which we trust dearly. You will never really know who your true friends are until you see how they act when you are gone. True friends should show honesty and show respect.

                Although Brutus killed me for the good of Rome, He still killed me for power. Good friends would not kill their close friend just to gain power. I have been nothing but good to Brutus and he turns on me at the snap of a finger. You must choose wisely of whom you let get close to you.

                Brutus went behind my back to and was dishonest to me. I said to Brutus “Y tu, Brute”(III.i.84). I said this because I wanted to make sure he knew that I was disappointed in him. To show that I thought he was a true friend before and then he just betrayed me like that. No one should kill anyone, friend or not, just to gain power. To kill someone for pure power is just immoral and wrong. I am telling you this so that you don’t make the same mistake that I did by letting certain people to close to you.

                A real friend will show respect you for who you are. You don’t have to have to power just to gain respect. You need to be confident and caring to your friends. Many people take for granite of their friends. They treat them badly and that may be what turns that person against you. Brutus stated after he killed me “Ambition’s debt is paid”(III.i.90). Was I that ambitious? Did I not refuse crowning? How is this statement true?

                Romans, listen to me now. A true example of a good friend is our very own Antony. He stuck with me even after I was killed. He tried his hardest to convince you of the wrongs Brutus and the conspirators have committed. Please stay true to your friends Romans.

POW#4

Dear Caesar,

            Portia has been constantly bothering me and asking me questions. She says I have been staying up to late and she is worried about my health. She tried to talk to me about it but I quickly turned her down and waved her off. Am I doing the right thing by turning her away like that or should I just keep doing things how I am already? Please right back with advice.

                        Sincerely, Brutus

Dear Brutus,

            Sorry about your troubles, but to tell you the truth I have been having some problems of my own with the mistress. Calphurnia feels strongly about me skipping the crowning and staying home. If I wish to go to the crowning than I should be able to do what I want. If you have any advice please write back.

                        Your friend, Julius

POW#3

Dear Dr. Berry,

                Do you think that adding two extra days of school will really change anything? If more days were added to the end of the year you will have less time to spend with your family and friends. Teachers would likely just give students the extra time to study for finals. We should not have extra days of school because many people have already planned vacations and it would save the district money if we didn’t go to school for extra days.

                Some people might say that there should be extra days of school because of the knowledge we would gain, but in all honesty two days would probably change nothing. Our school district already goes to school longer than the national average. Back in the day would you of really wanted to go to school an extra, unnecessary two days. Many people have already made plans for those extra days of school.

                Many students have already planned vacations right after the school year is supposed to end. Families will have to cancel and change vacations due to this decision. Do you really want to put them through that much just so their child won’t miss their finals? Students are also involved in summer sport programs and camps. Will the district be able to afford to change all of those days and still meet state requirements? Changes in those dates will also conflict with hard earned vacations of students.

                If it is decided to extend school, than the district will end up losing money. A lot of the money lost should have been used for athletic programs and other camps. If that is what happens than you are going to make the athletes have to take time away from practice to raise more money than they already have. Neither students nor parents would be happy about that. You are going to have to pay all paras and custodians in the district extra just because you want to add another couple of days. Teachers get paid either way, so by adding more days that will make them like you less. How often do we have to extend school? It’s really not necessary. 

Think back to when you were a child, think back to all the excitement of summer, how excited you were. Do you want to deprive and delay this feeling form us students? The criteria has been met, and our goals are set, let us be free for summer!

            

Outside Reading #1

The Catcher in the Rye. I have not read much yet but so far I give it ******* out of 10. I'm curious to why the author likes to repeat phrases and sayings throughout the book. Is there a specific reason why the author made the main character a smoker?

POW#2

The days that mom wants to take pictures...

       Every so often my mother likes to take family pictures. She goes to a store and buys all the same shirt or outfit for all of us so we all look the same. The funny thing is that after the pictures she takes the clothes back to the store to return them. She doesn't think that we should "be ourselves" in the picture and let us dress how we want.  My brothers and I have made the argument plenty of times but she always has to have it her way. We tell her "it looks dumb when were all wearing the same thing." She will never budge.
       In the picture I chose, me, my two older brothers, and my younger sister were all posed outside near my brothers college. My brothers and I all had a blank expression on our faces and my sister had a full smile on her face because she knew that she was the only one that wasn't dressed like everyone else. She was the only one who could be herself.
       The reason I chose this picture is because it shows how my family is. My mom try's to hard to make everything perfect when we would be much happier and more cooperative if she would just tell us to dress nicely and we could where what we thought would be appropriate. The pictures actually end up looking worse because we are all upset.

AOW#1

Ms. Byrnes should be readmitted to her school because the picture was to show her family how well she was doing, being expelled could ruin her entire career, and there was no rule against what she did in the code of conduct. The picture was merely to show her family on facebook that she was doing well and actually getting a hands on experience. When she was told to remove the photo she did so immediately without complaint. Being expelled from school at this stage of her life could completely ruin her entire career. This being her last semester she is planning on moving to Virginia with her soon to be husband, and if she cant finish school here she would never be able to find work as a nurse without finishing college. Nobody would want to hire her to work with this kind of obstruction on her resume. In the schools code of conduct there was nothing against what Ms. Byrnes and her fellow students had done. Why should someone be penalized for something that was never made clear? She has admitted her mistake and deserves another chance. Ms. Byrnes took this photo because she was proud of what she is doing. Should she really be kicked out of school for just being too Proud.

POW#1

My parents chose the name Alexander for me because it represents noblity to them. They also named my brothers middle name Alexander and my sisters middle name is Alexis. They have always loved the name and i was lucky enough to have it as my first name. The actual meaning of Alexander is "defender" or "warrior."