Google 20%Project

For my Google 20% project, I'm going to be researching my family history. Here is the Animoto video  I'm going to look into my recent family history, as recent as great grandparents, and also look back to my ancestors from as far back as the 17th century. 
For this project, it's going to be difficult to get information. So, I'm going to need family records directly from my grandparents. They have many books and documents containing information, so I've asked them to send them to me and they agreed. Most of my research will come from those documents.
A roadblock for me is how hard it is to get the information I need. I'm going to have only a few sources since there's not much to find on the Internet.
The only people I can talk to are my older family members. There isn't really any professional historians that could help without paying them. 

Is Chris Langan successful?

After seeing Chris Langan on 1 vs. 100 and reading about him in The Outliers, I can say that he is successful. 
Success in my own words is when someone is happy with their lives, not nessecarily rich or famous. As long as a person is content with what they have and don't want much more, to me it is considered success. 
To me, my meaning of success applies to Chris Langan. He has a simple life with his wife, farm, and easy job, and that's enough to be successful. Even though he's not getting into jobs that he can use his high IQ in, it's okay because there are plenty of other people out there that can do those jobs; no one needs to depend on Chris. 
So, in my opinion, Chris Langan is a successful man. 

The Kindergarten Debate

There is a debate over whether kids should start kindergarten at the normal time or wait a year so they will be emotionally ready. Sometimes, being held back has its advantages; it insures a child is ready to learn. However, in the article Delay Kindergarten at your Child's Peril, the authors state that starting kindergarten late can be "less motivated and perform less well". They said that late starters can even have a lower IQ! 
In Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, Malcolm says that late starters have an advantage, being older therefore more developed. He relates this to sports, such as hockey. If you are one of the oldest in hockey, you are more developed, appearing bigger(better) than younger players. 
In my opinion, I think a parent should put their child into kindergarten when they think the child is ready. If the child is 5 years old but still haven't really developed mentally enough, the parent could hold them back another year. If a child is 4 and has shown extreme ability, a parent could send them in at that young age. So, I don't really agree with "accumulative advantage" because it's no advantage if a child's at the same mental capability as others; age doesn't really count in school in my opinion.

 This is kind of unrelated, but here's my personal experience:
I started kindergarten at 4, and I think it was actually a little better. I did feel out of place though, since I was always the smallest. Now, being the oldest in my grade, I feel out of place sometimes, too. It is difficult with an August/September birthday, so I think that is a place where parents struggle the most.
Also, I noticed in schools in central U.S and England, the cutoff date is generally August(the oldest kids are in August, a few young kids are in here too). However, on the east coast, the youngest kids are in October and even November, way younger than other places. Maybe it's an east coast thing?

Ups and Downs of Being Gifted

Being gifted has its ups and downs. Even though being gifted is a very good thing, students like this do have problems, too. Also, there are many myths and truths about gifted children. In this post, I'll explain these factors, but also add in some of my personal experiences.
Ups

• Gifted students are looked at a higher level and praised more
• Gifted students normally do better in school with grades
• Since gifted students have something they enjoy (a hobby), it can be easier for them to decide what they are doing in life with their career 

Being gifted can have it's downsides, too.

Downs

• Sometimes gifted students are bullied and considered "nerds"
• School is sometimes too easy, causing grades to go down from boredom
• Some students have asynchronous development , where they might be smart, but are different physically and emotionally, which is difficult

So, there are definitely many things that gifted children go through, both good and bad. However, sometimes people don't understand these things, and this is something that leads to problems. 

Myths & Truths

• myth: gifted students don't need help, they're fine on their own.
• truth: even though gifted students might be smart, it doesn't mean they won't ever need help. Would you send a star athlete to train for the Olympics without a coach? Not everyone is perfect, so not everyone will understand something the first time, no matter what level of skill they are at.

• myth: gifted students are a role-model for everyone else in the classroom
• truth: most of the time, that is the opposite. Many low-achieving students actually look at smarter students as "nerds" and try not to achieve as much as them. 

• myth: that student can't be gifted; they're getting poor grades
• truth: not every gifted student is academically gifted. Many children excel best at things such as art and music, and not so much math and english. So, not every gifted student will get good grades. Also, some gifted students will do poorly in school because they are bored of the easy work given to them.

So, gifted students do have advantages, but they do have struggles too. I have struggled with teachers expecting a lot out of me just because I'm in the G&T class. Even though I do maintain high grades, I do still struggle with many topics in school. Sometimes I wonder if I just get lucky on some of my tests. Overall, it has been fine for me. I get stressed very easily, and having a little easier school work helps me out a bit! 

Being gifted is a great advantage most of the time, but it also has its downsides too.

First Blog Post

Hi! My name's Emma and I'm a freshman! Things I like include playing guitar, singing, playing volleyball, eating, hanging out with friends, sleeping, reading, swimming, traveling, and shopping!
I don't like doing homework, waking up early, elevators, sharks, clowns, and anything that has to do with math/mechanics..
The highlight of my summer has got to be..the whole thing! I had so much fun visiting my grandparents and other family, and I also had fun hanging out with friends. If I had to choose my favorite part of the summer though, it's got to be learning how to drive !
The Rogate unit I'm looking forward to this year is debates. I normally wouldn't pick this, but it sounds very interesting and it will probably help with my decision making skills. 
:)

Kickstarter

The website Kickstarter is a website where people can share their product ideas and others can pledge money to fund their manufacturing. After the product is fully funded, people can get things in return, depending on how much they spent. This site is a great example of crowdsourcing, and benefits the buyers and the sellers. There are many good ideas here, but I have found a few that stand out. If I had $500 to spend on Kickstarter, I would spend it on these items.


The first one is HAND stylus. This product is a stylus that you can use on your iPad, iPhone, or any touch screen device. This would be great for me since sometimes my touch screen devices can be difficult to handle. Many people I know struggle with typing and drawing on their phones and iPads, so this product would be good for them because of the control and precision. I also like how they have many varieties of colors and is small and easy to use. Overall, I think this is a good idea and I would pledge $180 for it. 
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hand/hand-stylus?ref=live


The second product I would fund is quik-keyz. Quik-keyz are iPhone covers that have small bumps where the keyboard is. This product is helpful to type, since touch screens are hard to type on. A lot of people I know say they don't like typing on touch screens because it is hard to tell where certain letters are, so this would really help with using the keyboard. If I were to fund this idea, I would pay $80, to get three; one for me and the other two would go to my friends who have the problem with typing. 
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1934392683/qwik-keyztm-keyboard-touchguide-for-the-iphone?ref=card


The next product is Remee. Remee is a mask that allows you to lucid dream. A lucid dream is a dream that you can basically control. The mask can detect when you are in the REM stage of sleep(when you are dreaming) and sends off light to make yourself aware you are sleeping. This causes lucid dreaming. I think this is an amazing idea that would be really fun to try out! I would pay them $220 because it comes with one normal dream mask and one customized mask. The custom mask has settings you can change, like how long it takes before it starts giving off light.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bitbangerlabs/remee-the-rem-enhancing-lucid-dreaming-mask?ref=live


The final thing I would fund is Scanbox. This is a simple invention, but seems to work effectively. The Scanbox allows an iPhone to be a scanner, by taking a photo of whatever is needed. The only difference is that it makes to perfect dimensions every time, so it looks just like it was scanned. It is portable, easy, and I think it would be very useful. I would pay $15 for this.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/limemouse/scanbox-turn-your-smartphone-into-a-portable-scann?ref=popular

Crowd sourcing

An example of crowd sourcing is the site DesignCrowd. This graphic design company is also part of another site called BrandCrowd. DesignCrowd has custom designs for people to buy and BrandCrowd includes ready-made logos. It is similar to 99Designs, and many people compare the two sites since both of them include people giving out ideas and designers sending the actual design back.

This first link explains BrandStack, which is what BrandCrowd was until the company was bought by DesignCrowd:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandstack


This second link is a blog that explains more about what crowdsourcing is and how it relates to DesignCrowd.
http://designcrowdreviews.blogspot.com/

Google 20% Project Progress

So far, on my Google 20% project, all we've done is researched all about dreams. I am starting to try to remember my dreams and record them to determine what they mean.

Day 5 Photo: Texture

Google's 20% in School

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-von-jan/unstructured-classroom_b_1024404.html?view=print&comm_ref=false

The article posted above is about Google's 20% project and why it should be in schools. What happens in this project is that Google employees get 20% of their work time each day to work on a separate project that pursues their passions. The writer of this article, Katherine von Jan, thinks that they should use this method in school. That means that every day in school, kids would be able to spend 20% of each day to do something that they want to do. In my opinion, this is a very good idea. The project would give student a chance at what they want to do. They would be able to be themselves, and figure out what they really love. Also, it would give them an idea of what type of career they would want to do one day. It could really help with stress too, since it would be away from hard work, tests, and quizzes. No one could tell you what to do because it would be your own passion. If the Google 20% project was used in schools, it would in my opinion really help kids and help the future too with bringing new, original ideas.

Waste Land Review

The documentary film "Waste Land" is a true story about the famous artist Vik Muniz who goes to the worlds largest landfill in Jardim Gramacho, Brazil and makes art out of garbage based on people who pick for recyclable materials. I think it was a very moving film with a special meaning behind it. These people were very unfortunate in their lives with their job and their home life, too. However, some people were happy with it, and others were upset. That's only the stories behind it, though. The main story is that Vik Muniz went to the landfill and took pictures of the people. Then, projected the pictures down onto a floor, put garbage over the lines, then took a picture, and it all went to museums. In the end, some things didn't change from bad to good, but things did definitely change. At the beginning of this movie, I didn't like it because it was boring and seemed to have no meaning but in the end, I really realized how bad those people have it and that I'm lucky.
 Vk Muniz helped the people of Jardim Gramacho. He helped them find hope and togetherness, and also earned them some money from the art for whatever they wanted to do in life other than pick garbage. He also got their stories discovered, which could help their lives get improved. Vik managed to use a year supplies of garbage for art, too. Him coming to their town was probably the best thing that could happen to them.
 I agree that it's better to have an "honest" job at a landfill than a "dishonest" job. I agree because it is better to have dignity in youself than do something you'll regret later. Also, you should be happy with your job, no matter what other people think. Howver, having a job that society considers degrading can be very tough to deal with. No one should make you do what you don't want to do, though.
 This film made me think about how much garbage I produce. Everyday people all over the world throw out way too much trash, and people like these pickers have to go through it. It is sad how much garbage is produced. After watching this film, I'm going to try to reduce the amount of trash I make. I think I'm also going to be more careful with recycling. I'll also urge people I know to do this too, so there won't be as much garabage for our area.
 Other areas of society that could be highlighted in Vik's artistic way could be from places all over. The U.S. for example could be used because to me, it looks like we make the most trash in the world, so there would be enough to create art and have a meaning. Also, in places in the Middle East, there is a lot of trash that doesn't have anywhere to go but piled up in the streets, so that could be a good place to do art out of garbage, too. The message could be that it's so poor there that they can't even afford a landfill.

Day 4 photo: "Looking In"

Day 3 photo: "Colors"

Day 2 photo: "Underneath"

Day 1 photo: "cold"

My Favorite Photo Essay

My favorite photo essay is the Lunar Eclipse of December 10th 2011. Here is a link to the essay. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/12/lunar_eclipse_of_december_10_2.html
 This one's my favorite because the pictures are very beautiful. I love how they are taken at different locations where the moon looks different. It gives other people's perspectives. I also like how photos of the people watching it were added too. 
 Comparing this one to other photo essays about eclipses, I learned that eclipses occur around the same areas of the world and about the same times of the year. I also learned many people in other countries are amazed about a lunar eclipse. This essay makes me want to have seen it myself, so I hope I can see the next one!

Life in a Day

The movie Life in a Day is a documentary film where people all around the world submitted videos of their life on a single day: July 24th 2010. They were uploaded to Youtube, then clips were put together to make one full length movie showing all of the submitted videos. There was 4,500 hours of footage from all the videos submitted from 192 countries. Life in a Day is free to stream on Youtube, too. It is funny at some parts, sad at others, but overall it is a really great film.
 There were a few scenes that were most memorable to me. A few parts is when they showed clips really fast together that had to do with eachother, like the sunrise and breakfast getting ready. Also, I remember the really pretty clips of nature like bubbles on the water. I remember the sad stories too about poor people in deprived countries, like a little boy who had to work despite how young he was. The last one I remember was a reoccurring person; the man who rides his bike around the world.
 Scenes with positive emotions were scenes where people were smiling and singing and looking like they enjoyed life, like the African women making food. Some negative emotions though were videos where people looked upset and also videos where people were dealing with a lot of bad things in their life, and other bad situations, like the event in Germany where there was a lot of violence.
 Patterns of humanity I noticed were that many people from the poorer parts of the world, no matter how hard there life was, still appreciated their life and were happy about the small things they had. Even people from richer countries said things like that too, even though they have more than poorer people. So, it means that almost everyone in the videos enjoy life, no matter what.
 There were many juxtapositions where it showed a poor country to a rich country, or a sad story to a happy story, but I only remember one. In this one, a family in Africa were searching for food and making their own shelter. One woman was even drinking water out of a leaf! The scene right after that showed a sprinkler. It shows that some people need water, and others have a lot to spare.
 I liked this film because it really made me think about what life is like outside the U.S. and other richer countries. This also all happened in one day, which is amazing. The only thing i didn't like about it was that it was sort of boring at some parts. It also jumped to different scenes at others. It even could be too much to handle for some people. Overall though, it was a very good movie and I would recommend it to a friend because it was fun to watch and has a very deep meaning to it. 
 

3 Influential People of 2011

On Time Magazine online, there is a list of the 100 most influentual people of 2011. All of them were great, but I chose three that stuck out to me.
The first person is Takeshi Kanno. He is a 31 year old doctor in Japan. The thing that he did was he helped patients at his hospital stay safe during the horrible earthquake and tsunami that happened last spring. When helicopters came to rescue him and the patients, he refused to leave until all the patients were out. I chose him because of his selflessness and his bravery in helping all those sick and injured people out of a deadly disaster.
 The next person is Nathan Wolfe. Wolfe, who is 40 years old, is the CEO, founder, and director of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative. That basically means it is a team that tracks infectious diseases all over the world. He made it to try to reduce the amount of life- threatening illnesses in the world by catching them in early stages. I chose him because his actions could save so many people all over the planet from dying from infectious diseases.
 Finally, the last person I chose was Gabrielle Giffords. I remember hearing on the news about how she got shot in the head in Tuscon. Giffords, 40, refused to give up. She still fights everyday to recover from her severe brain injuries, even though she is doing a lot better. I chose her because she is so brave and hardworking in trying to recover after the tragic massacre.
 So, there were so many people who made big impacts on the world in 2011, but these three really stood out to me with their bravery, determination, and kindness to others.


Here are the links to the people I chose:
Takeshi Kanno: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066367_2066369_2066313,00.html


Nathan Wolfe: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066367_2066369_2066265,00.html


Gabrielle Giffords: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2066367_2066369_2066454,00.html