Final Test

Today in class we took our final test in the class, i mean i guess so because we have an exam, and thats not a test. I know one question i got wrong because I forgot who a fourth letter was to. I think i got the capital one right but I'm not sure because when i looked up what i got there was a place in Rome, but if i were to change the last few letters around, it was another place in Rome. If i managed to get that one right than that means I would have my first A on a test in this class. Oh well really, because even if i got both of the questions wrong, my overall grade would still be an A in this class. I hope you're proud of me. We here are your best class for grade average. That was funny right there. Emily just said Jesus's religion was christianity. Hahahahahahah. I hope that on our review day we do a quizlet because they're the best, or a jeopardy because those also are pretty dang nice.

Last Slide and Regular Class

I don't have much to say so today I'm just going to blog about some random stuff that has no relevance to this class at all. I have a club lacrosse practice on Wednesday which has me hype even though the regular lacrosse season just ended. JC lacrosse just sorta put me out of it and i dreaded it for most of the end of the season, but club lacrosse is a different story. I like being able to play with my actual friends from middle school. There are only like 5 people in our grade that I went to middle school with because who goes to North Harford, and then ends up going to John Carroll, the exact opposite school with the exact opposite kinds of people. North Harford is the heart of our lacrosse team in case you didn't know. Four of the starters are from NH, and another 5 kids went to North Harford but just don't start.

Last Friday of the School Year

Class today was pretty nice over all because we started off with doughnuts, had a short bit of the powerpoint, and then had some time to do whatever. Im still deciding what I should do in this time but what i do know is that if the letters ough made the sound that it spelled then doughnuts would be pronounced Doug-nuts.  I still have to film today after school which isn't great because i honestly just want to go home and sleep but I can't because we got to film. Me and Abby actually aren't too bad at acting out our scenes because we improvise all the time but Kate and Lily don't really do that. I don't think I've said  a line yet this movie that was word for word with that my actual lines are. Being the main character isn't my thing and that is one thing that I'm able to come out of this project with.

Jesus

Today in class we went a bit more over the life of Jesus and his impact on the world, along with Paul and his impact due to his letters that he spread all through out the area around him. Paul had too many letters and i don't have an easy way to remember it other than to think of the times I've heard people at church say "a letter of Paul to the..." We heard Brett go over his speech from Paul to the Corinthians and it was very well done. It takes a very smart person to be able to fit that much important information in to such a small paragraph. Im not getting confirmed this year but i think I am next year. The funny thing is that my brother, Luke, had his new name be Paul, which i guess is a good choice because of how good of an example Paul is to the catholic religion.

Review test day

Today in class we went over our test and i mean i didn't do too bad but at the same time i haven't gotten an A yet in this class. I forgot to do my blog during the day and luckily i remembered that i have to blog right now. I think its the hardest to remember to blog just because its a new concept to me compared to regular paper homework that i get for other classes, but i'd rather get to type a 150 word blog than have to write a 150 word blog. One question on the test I got wrong that i probably should have but oh well, it probably wouldn't have changed my grade too much, and i think I still have an A in your class. We went over Jesus and what he actually looked like. Its hard to have an idea of what he looked like because of course we have an idea of what most people looked like, but he wasn't brought into life by two regular people. He was put into Mary's womb by God so who knows what he looked like because god could've created him in any way he wanted him to be.

Test Day (sort of)

Today in class we had the students that missed the test last day do the test, while you graded our tests. Once again I didn't get an A, but oh well i still have an A overall in this class. I haven't gotten an A on any of the tests so far this year but the blogs literally are keeping my grade afloat along with the trireme project that did pretty good. It was funny seeing you throw away the trireme but honestly we would've done the same anyway if we didn't burn it first. As we were creating the trireme, Brett Abby and I all decided that we were most likely going to burn it after it was graded and we got it back. It took a while to build but we didn't care because we probably had bigger issues at the time with other classes that have been packing us with homework, non stop for the past month and a half.

Test Day

Today in class we took our unit test on Rome. The test wasn't too bad but there were a couple questions that I wasn't completely positive about. One question asked how many years until the consuls could get reelected and I remember asking you this in class and you said maybe seven or so. What I said on the test was 10 so I don't really know because I don't think I ever learned the right amount of time. I don't think I took down the notes on what each location today was but I knew one of the two because Carthage controlled Spain or something along those lines. I forgot which war only took three years when I was taking the test, but immediately after I placed my test in the turn in spot and sat back down, I remembered what the answer was. Although this is the last class of the day, I still feel like theres another because I have lacrosse practice, which isn't like a bad thing but its at the point in this season where I sort of dread going to practice because its the same thing every time and are still very physically demanding. I guess the one thing I get for doing this is some good exercise so I'm in shape, and some nice sock, helmet, shirt, glove, and elbow pad tan lines.

review and Movie Day

Today in class we did a bit of review for the test and also a little bit of the movie. If you were wondering, i had my computer open when we were reviewing because i was making a quilt with all the stuff you were mentioning.... Smart right? We watched a part of the movie what was very brutal after we were finished studying, it kept me awake which is surprising because of how little sleep I've been getting these past couple weeks. It seems as if there isn't enough time in the day to get everything done that you want to, and its finally hitting me. On top of that, every teacher has been giving a big load of homework which is getting real stressful because i don't get home till 7 and still have to shower and eat before i can even start my homework. Lacrosse is draining all my energy out of me because we have a two hour practice every day except game days.

Julius Caesar Video Day

Today in class we finished our last pre-test video, on Julius Caesar. We started off while his soldiers were rebelling because they were doing too much, like battling, traveling, and using all their time. He told Mark Antony to decimate his army, meaning one out of every of the ten people rebelling would be killed by being beat with a massive mallet. His army reduced in size and he lost his next battle. After that battle, he was on the run and was running out of supplies. The Roman army was planning on waiting for Caesar to beat himself, but the senators got greedy and wanted to beat him as soon as they could because they were using all of their money. The next battle began between the two and Caesar won by a landslide, and eventually took power of Rome after the deaths of most of the opposing powerful people. He was assassinated by some of his opposers including Brutus, Cassius, and some other senators. Octavius Caesar came to power and led Rome to over 200 years of peace.

Movie Day

I don't get why but I'm starting to forget to do my blogs more often and it happened to me agin today. So, yesterday in class we watched the movie some more and its getting real good. Im really forgetful of movies that i watch and can't always repeat what i remember but for what i do remember we were watching Tiberius and his rise to power. I don't believe he ever joined the senate but i don't think he ever wanted to. He wanted to give the people land so that they could farm but one person kept stopping him, so he found a way to remove him from power. Soon after he passed the law and the people got the land back to farm. I think we didn't see too much after this part of the movie. I look forward to being able to watch the end of this movie series and i think its a good way for us to sort of finish off our freshmen school year.

Emperors

Today in class we lightly touched Octavius and then went on to the following emperors. We started with Tiberius who ruled from 14-37 AD. He exiled himself after his sons death which I don't really get why he did that. Caligula ruled for three years from 37-41 AD. He was known for his perversity. He was assassinated by the guards and senators. Next was Claudius who ruled from 41-54 AD. He suffered from what people think was cerebral palsy and was poisoned and killed partially because of that, and his wife wanted her son Nero to rule. Nero ruled from 54-69 AD, and liked the arts a ton. He was ruler during a massive fire and raided some of the temples for money. In class when i looked up the most influential people, I saw that Octavius Caesar was up there at 18th i think. What surprised me the most was that Adolf Hitler was at 36th. I know i guess technically he did influence a lot of people but in the complete wrong way.

Octavius Caesar

Today in class we talked about Julius Caesar's heir, Octavius Caesar. He was a solid leader and formed another triumvirate with Mark Antony and one other powerful person. He forced one into retirement and got in a dispute with the Antony. Antony teamed up with Cleopatra and went to war. Octavius won the war and was in full control. He did well and lead to i think two hundred three years of peace in Rome, called the Pac romana. He died of natural causes unlike most other rulers of the time. We then started talking about movies you were in, and i found that very interesting. I feel like that'd be a fine career with me because I'm not exactly sure if ill get married and have kids like you did, and have that interfere with my career. I had practice right after class and I'm getting tan lines on my face from my chin strap. I don't know why I'm telling you this but its just another struggle of playing lacrosse.

Julius Caesar

Yesterday in class we went over Julius Caesar. We just read Julius Caesar in english so most kids in the class already knew most of his story along with his death from the senators. What I don't get is the fact that they didn't want one person to have too much power, but they killed him because they wanted more power for themselves. He was able to give jobs to the people who didn't have a job, which is much better for the country over all, as well as help them win wars which was massive during that time of importance. I would love to get to watch a movie in class that gives a overview of his life and death. If I'm remembering correct then i think you said we would watch a movie for class after we finish this unit (which is almost over) which would be a great way to finish off the year. Another good thing we could do is study for the first exam for a couple days before we finally take it, and you could answer any questions we have.

End of Punic Wars and Slavery

At the end of the Punic wars, Rome came out with the win in all three of the battles. They burned and destroyed almost all of Carthage, and took the land for themselves to use as farm land. They took 50,000 people as slaves and another 150,000 people that were captured during war. By the end of the second century BCE, there were over 1,000,000 slaves in Italy, which took the spot of all workers on farms. The aristocrats would take the farms and use them for themselves, and because the slaves worked for free, the previous farmers were now jobless. Juvenal the poet stated that Rome "anxiously hopes for two things: bread and circuses." The aristocrats would supply these things to the plebs so that they'd be distracted from the fact that they had no jobs and their life basically is pointless now. Tiberius Gracious recognized that the plebs were fine with that and fought for them, trying to allow them to keep their farms anyway. The plebs only fought in battles for their generals, not for Rome, because the generals would give back some of the spoils to the soldiers.

Rome Rap

Today in class, you did the rome map which is really funny but still pretty good. I am sure everyone in the class enjoyed it and i know that i appreciate that you got someone to call you just so that you could change into your Chi Cago outfit. I dint reeky get how the consuls are a good idea just because what if the two never agree in anything... does that mean that they would go on forever without making crucial decisions about war or anything like that? Also, we talked about how only 2 percent of the population was a rich and  know that today our number is lower then theirs so does that mean that they are wealthier and more successful then? honestly there are just so many questions about these times but since its not like that anymore i guess we can't get all the answers.

Rome

Today in class we began our new unit thing I guess on Rome. We began with who settled Rome. We spent the most time on the Latin's because they were first, but also the Greeks and the Etruscans were on the list. We put a lot of emphasis on their version of the manifest destiny and how they were meant to rule that area; they had the Tiber river, were right in the middle of everything, and had multiple hills for their view. The last topic that we talked about was Tarquin, also known ad Lucius Tarquinias Superbus, who was the 7th and last king of Rome. After Sextus' ordeal, no other kings were allowed in rome and their whole line of family was banished. Sextus blackmailed a fair girl into having sex and she commit suicide and this is what made the people hate the concept of kings, and want to banish that line of family.

Movie Day

Today in class we watched a movie about Alexander the Great. He seems like a great guy I got to say but his blonde hair might be a bit much. His horse is pretty great and makes me wish i could ride a horse if worst comes to worst and i go into a massive battle like that. Battles like those are pretty great and make a bit more sense. Still, drones that drop bombs and snipers that pick people off from a long distance away are also pretty cool. If i ever had to be in the army i would want to be a sniper by a landslide. Thats always been something that I think is cool even though you kill people every day. The movie was pretty good over all though and I hope that we get to finish watching it after break... even though I'm fairly positive we will not.

Final Project Day

Today we had our last group present their project and I'm sorta sad that its the last one. I had a fun time looking at what everyone did and how creative they could be when put to the task. today's last and only group was real good. I found it funny while still being able to learn the facts that they had. It was a very creative idea that I would have never thought about so that might be why i liked it so much. The rest of class we sorta sat and at the moment I'm typing my blog. I don't know why everyone isn't because I don't really want homework this weekend, as if what i had was not already enough. The math project the we looked at was sorta sick and it has me interested. I try and talk to the foreign exchange students and they're actually fairly fun to talk to.

Final Project Day

Today we had our last group present their project and I'm sorta sad that its the last one. I had a fun time looking at what everyone did and how creative they could be when put to the task. today's last and only group was real good. I found it funny while still being able to learn the facts that they had. It was a very creative idea that I would have never thought about so that might be why i liked it so much. The rest of class we sorta sat and at the moment I'm typing my blog. I don't know why everyone isn't because I don't really want homework this weekend, as if what i had was not already enough. The math project the we looked at was sorta sick and it has me interested. I try and talk to the foreign exchange students and they're actually fairly fun to talk to.

Final Project Day

Today we had our last group present their project and I'm sorta sad that its the last one. I had a fun time looking at what everyone did and how creative they could be when put to the task. today's last and only group was real good. I found it funny while still being able to learn the facts that they had. It was a very creative idea that I would have never thought about so that might be why i liked it so much. The rest of class we sorta sat and at the moment I'm typing my blog. I don't know why everyone isn't because I don't really want homework this weekend, as if what i had was not already enough. The math project the we looked at was sorta sick and it has me interested. I try and talk to the foreign exchange students and they're actually fairly fun to talk to.

Project Day

Today in class we went over 3 projects. The one was James's who already went so we already had his grade in, but he just went a bit into detail on his video. Of course as usual you packed on our boat and said a lego one in James's video was the best one you saw. The other projects weren't bad but the board game didn't really include many people. The gummy bears weren't all too great to eat but they sure did look good as a representation for the Romans. Im stating to forget about my blogs for some reason and i don't really know why. I think its just a unique way of homework and I'm not used to doing it. I feel as if the board game took a ton of time to make due to the amount of cards they had but just the way it played out didn't work out too well. If i had a chance to re-do my project id try to do something that would include everyone.

Project Day

Today in class we had two of our groups present their projects. Both projects were great and really set the standards for the rest os us and our ow projects. The first project included food for us which was great and the facts they had were insane. After hearing their project it made me realize that my project needs to be stepped up. The second project, Say yes to the Toga, was real funny. I barely even heard the facts that they stated because I loved they outfits they had. Towards the end I started listening to them more and the facts about the greek gods and goddesses were great so I made the assumption that the facts were great the entire time, I just wasn't aware of what they were. My trireme is a good artistic idea but I'm just worried that we won't have enough facts. Other then that, I think my project is pretty darn good.

Project day

Today in class we worked a bit more on our project. Its hard to get progress when were meant to be building it and we can't. Were all getting together, Me Abby and Brett, this weekend and are going to grind out this trireme. Until we begin to build our project, were just getting some notes. I think I've already put some of my notes in a blog so i won't make your bored just listing facts, instead ill tell you how my day is going. I got no sleep because i had to do two packets, and two worksheets for biology, studied for a math test, as well as a english test that I'm sure i just bombed. My math test didn't go bad but who knows to be honest because i wing every test i take... not exactly sure how i ended up with a 4.295 gap. Your probably thinking what I'm thinking: why didn't they just round that up to a 4.3? Who knows? Not me. Not you probably. Not anyone probably.

Test Review and project work

Today in class we began to go over our test, and working on our project. My grade just fell short of getting the bell rung... once again. Im making myself by the end of the year get at least one A on a test in this class. I blame one of the answers that I got wrong on the movie 300. I said the crop that allowed Greece to become powerful was wheat because that was the only crop I saw the entire movie; another flaw in the movie 300, they should've walked through fields of olives instead of fields of wheat. My project isn't looking bad so far but the construction of the trireme is going to have to be an out of school thing, meaning another thing i have to add to my list of crazy assignments I've gotten all this week. School is becoming very stressful for once considering how much time lacrosse takes up, and the mount of english math Spanish and biology homework I've been getting. I stress over if I've forgotten anything and end up doing extra half the time, making everything even more stressful.

Ancient Greece Test

Todays test went great except for one question. I wasn't here when we went over the Homeric Question so I had no clue what the best answer to the question could be. My answer could work if you are lenient with me. Take mercy and think how my answer could work. Otherwise I think I did well on the Test, my answers seemed right, I knew all the locations I'm pretty sure, and the rivers i think for the most part i did well. I cant get my mind off the Homeric Question and how it could possibly work. I said he wasn't real, which is debatable, so that would completely dismiss if his stories were his or not... because he wasn't even real. I came in to this room not sure if I would do well or not based on how many more notes everyone else had, but it is a massive relief to assume that I did fairly well on the test. My hope is that even if i didn't do well, I can still get a good grade on my project and it will pull my grade up no matter what my score on the test today was.

Greek Review day

Today in class we started to go over all we learned about the Greeks through a video. What I generically know is that the Adriatic Sea was North West, the Aegean Sea was East, and the Ionian Sea was West. Peloponnesus was the bulk in the South, Athens was South East of Greece, Sparta was South of Peloponnesus, Asia was far East and Macedonia was North. Draco in 621 thought all Athenians were equal, debt slavery was ok, and death was a common punishment. Solon was in 594 and outlawed debt slavery. All Athenians could speak at assembly's and any citizen can press charges.  Hippias was a ruler who became harsh after his brother was killed. He worked with Darius I in invading Marathon. Isagorus banished Cleisthenes after becoming ruler. In 508 BCE the average people revolt and throw Isagorus over. Cleisthenes came back into power and included free, male land owners, that were born in Athens in voting. The spartans were warlike and best on land, while Athens had an amazing Navy.

Ancient Greece 3/20/16

Today in class we went over the Persian War. They were much larger then Greece, and had a many times larger army, and amount of resources. The greeks started training for war at a young age, but the Persians had paid mercenaries. Then we went over the three ancient greek famous philosophers. I knew them each a tad bit, but having us learn this tad bit on each of them really helped me refresh my memory. They went in the order from oldest to youngest Socrates, Aristotle, then Plato. Socrates was a famous teacher that taught by essentially asking question, after being put to death, one of his students, Aristotle, took on the role. Plato followed soon after and had two famous books, Republic, and Laws. We went over our project quickly and decided that my partner was Brett. We are probably going to do something along with the famous trireme, probably make an accurate but miniature version of one.

Greek War

Today in class we went over a bit of Greek war. We talked (rather trashed) the movies 300 and how bad it was, along with how most events never happened. We went over the Phalanx, as well as the Trireme. The trireme was a massive ship that had 170 people rowing on three different events. The ship was the fastest at that time, and worked as a battle ram as well. The Phalanx was a group of soldiers that used long spears in almost all directions and was very good at splitting up armies. They were interlocked and had shields to defend them from almost all directions. The Greeks began training for hand to hand combat at the age of seven and were the best at this type of combat. I liked the movie 300 because it had a ton of fighting. I know it wasn't accurate but my favorite types of movies are the ones with lots of massive fights, and gore.

Greek Gods

Today in class we learned a bit more on the Greek gods and goddesses. Of course we started with the basic ones, Zeus and Poseidon: Gods of the sky, thunder, as we'll as the ocean and water. Dionysus is the god of wine, and was the son of Zeus and Semele, a human princess. Aphrodite is the goddess of love and had lovers of both Gods and Men. Athena was the goddess of wisdom skill, warfare, peace, intelligence, battle, and handicrafts. Born from Zeus's head and was the patron of Athens. Apollo was the god of music, arts, knowledge, and healing. his father was Zeus, and his twin sister was Artemis. Demeter was Zeus's sister, and the goddess of grain, harvest, and agriculture. One other fact that will be on the test is that citizens could be included in the votes, but nearly 20% of people were considered citizens. You had to have land, born in Athens, be free, and be an adult male.

Ancient Greece Leaders

Today in class we went over some of the ancient greek rulers and their mistakes, as well as how the government was run, the rich with the most power, and the poor with little to none. In this time, the people who ran everything were the rich and powerful. They would all meet up and have meetings while drinking, listening to poetry, and socializing. The middle class had no chance of moving up to this class, and only the highest in the top class were attending these meetings. The first overthrow of the government occurred in the 5th century BCE. The middle class people came together and overthrew a leader who ruled by scaring the people. This was the first time for that civilization that the ruler/tyrant was overthrown by the average people. Im surprised this didn't happen as often as it did but the fact that it led to the future democracy is crazy.

Ancient Greece

Im going to start putting more notes into my blob because of the most recent test, that i didn't do too bad on anyway because of my notes. Mesopotamia had the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, Egypt had the Nile river, India had the Indus river and China had the Huang He River. Mediterranean means middle earth. The Adriatic sea is NW of Greece, the Aegean sea is E of Greece, the Ionian sea is W of Greece, and the Crete island is very far S of Greece. Peloponnesus is S of Greece and is the massive land. Athens is SE of Greece, Sparta is S of Peloponnesus, Asia Minor is far E of Greece, and Macedonia is N of Greece. Greece was 3/4 mountains and the people were separated into city states that highly despised each other. They were impressive ship builders and sailors, and also weaved, worked with metal, potters, and sailors.

Test Answer Check and Assembly

Today in class we went over the test and gave all the right answers. I did a good bit better then I thought and ended up with an 88, which was close to my goal of getting an A. I know I had one question wrong with the 5th amendment and it actually being the 6th or something. On one written response I got half off because I miss worded it. I knew the answer and while writing it down I just wrote down the wrong answer accidentally. We met in the upper gym to discuss the issue going on with Josh Hammer. I feel real bad for him and his family, but it also makes me think what I've been doing wrong lately and how it I've messed up. As hard as it is to say, and as guilty as it makes me feel, death hasn't always been something that messes with me. I found my grandmother dead by myself and experienced the death of a lot of my family so I hate the fact that it doesn't tamper with me. What goes through my mind is how that family must feel and if it were my brother that got hurt.

Test Review

Today in class we went over all we needed to know for the test that we are having tomorrow. We discussed the expectations that we are wanted to meet when we had President O'Hara in class Thursday. We went over what the test will be like and how it will be different. The test will be mainly fill in the blank, and several multiple choice questions, most on the bill of rights. That works for me because most of my notes, and my best notes were on the Bill of Rights. I feel prepared for the test. This class is challenging but I think its not hard to the level where i can't take it. The only part for the test that might be a little bit hard could be the section on the articles of confederation that i didn't get the best notes on. I think i will have to study a little bit in order to get an A on this test.

The Bill of Rights

Today in class we went over the Bill of Rights. Our President/ principal joined in and watched and it was fairly awkward and weird. James taught the second amendment after we went over the freedoms addressed in the first amendment, freedom of religion, speech, assembly, press, and petition. We began our usual debates on the third and fourth amendments, dealing with the militia and the police. Police are just sick so they should be able to do whatever but that wouldn't make much sense so there are just a bunch of rules when it comes down to it. Cops in order to arrest people would need either probable cause or a warrant, and a person in order to be arrested again would need another reason. We also went over the fun fact that cops can use random peoples cars in a chase if thats really needed. To me that just means cops are 105% savage.

Amendments 4-7

Today in class we went over the the 4th though the 7th amendments. Amendment 4 states that the federal government trumps all the states, meaning that the states law can never overpower the federal law, which is basically the constitution. Next with the states is that only the congress can admit new states, the states don't have the power to add a state. States in all cases will basically have less power that the federal government. In article 5, it basically means that amendments can be rectified with 2/3 of congress. This includes the house of representatives and also the senate. Next is that state judges need to uphold the constitution. All federal and state officers need to swear on an oath to uphold the constitution. I thought the debate on if a christian worker would need to have a gay marriage was interesting and wouldn't mind keeping that debate going.

Article 2 and 3

Today in class we finished up our discussions on article 2 and began article 3. The president can appoint supreme court judges, but can necessarily decide who the judges will be. The president can make treaties only with the senates advice. The president has the power to fill vacancies and this sort of can allow the president to make the decision on supreme court judges if they die all of the sudden. The president has the ability to give the state of the union, basically telling everyone what state were in, and also can be removed from office with impeachment. Next we began article 3, dealing with the Judicial branch. I was surprised today that we didn't have any debates, but i sort of like them anyway. Debates to me are a good way to be able to us your voice, yet also get the opinion of the other classmates. Me personally, some of the debates can get out of hand, but thats only because two good points are coming across.

President Trump

Today in class we began with talking about the election in certain states compared to the election in our school. In our school, if one person that's a trump supporter switched to be a Hillary supporter, then Hillary would win the state of New Hampshire. We went over how this election is one of a kind and is very unique. Trump needs to not get any profit from any of his companies, but at the same time he is still technically related to his company since his sons and daughter are running his companies. Donald isn't exactly paying taxes because his money is spread, and honestly he can spend money on tax smart people, that can help find loopholes in the guidelines. Thats why President Trump was able to just say "Im smart" to Hillary in one of the debates. To me when Trump tweeted that Nordstrom isn't smart to drop his daughters line, it was more of a statement as father, rather then as a president.

Dress Code

During class yes, we ddi more then just talk about the dress code, but thats the part that bothered me the most. I don't think the school can make us pay more money for the new clothes they're enforcing. I feel like as of now we already are somewhat strict on uniforms, and adding more rules would just be too much. Leggings are enough to not make the seat as cold, but still, leggings won't make too much of a difference in a cold room. We should be able to wear all the uniform shorts we have this year, and next year, and so on and so on. Im not sure if this means the rule on socks will become enforced, but that to me is the most pointless rule out there. Thats like saying guys can only wear black and white underwear. Different sock colors shouldn't matter, and neither should undershirt colors.

Religion Debate and the First Amendment

Today in class we basically just debated the whole time. We started off with reviewing the 1st amendment, and stating what each statement in the amendment gives us. We then took it back to the debate on religion and schooling. To me its obvious that since the tax payers give fund to public schooling, and not all tax payers are christian, then public schools should not have any religion thrown into them. The only way that private schools can have religion is because whoever attends them, gives the funds to have the school teach catholically.  The constitution included religion because at that time that was something the country was proud of, letting the people have the religion they want. They did not specify a God, so yes it does fit almost all people, and back in that time, there wasn't many attest people. It can be debated today with the rise of the atheist religion, but we are trying to keep the country the way it has always been, and really i don't think it is even a conflict we need to be concerned about.

Test Review

In class today we went over the test for most of the class, and got the last fifteen minutes to do whatever. The test said I had 4 questions wrong on the bubble in, but I actually got 3 wrong because there was no group of protesters called the Tea Party. I made a super super super stupid mistake when i got the question on the date of Paul Reveres ride right, then i said the wrong date on one of my essays. My grade moved up to an A because of the one question I got right, that said it was wrong on the test. I was surprised to learn that the red underlines on my essays meant a good point, because at first i was scared i got a lot of points off because of my points that i thought were great. I have done all of my blogs so far and I'm fairly proud that i have them all done.

Three Branches

In class today we went over the three branches. The Judicial branch deals with the supreme court. The Legislative branch deals with the senate and congress. Finally the Executive branch deals with the president, the vice president, and some of the other people below them. We then began to talk about church and state and how they should or shouldn't be connected. A lot of debates were brought up on how state should be able to teach what ever religion is needed, but also we brought up the conflicts that could come up with doing that. To me, I'm not sure why there can't be public schools that teach religions and theres only so many of them in an area. That would be much better that having to pay $16,500, just in order to be able to learn religion in school. The debate wen ton for the entire class, so other then the branches, we didn't get too much on what we were meant to be on, but i liked hearing the debate.

American Constitution

The constitution was written by James Madison. The parts were blogging on are the preamble and articles 1-7. The Preamble is written to introduce what the writers are righting for, a better government including tranquility, justice, and liberty. Article one established a Legislative branch to our government (the states and house of representatives). Article two establishes the Executive branch, Which is basically the president and other important roles. This is followed up by article three, which establishes the Judicial branch. The judicial branch, I always remember as the judges. Article four describes how the states will relate to the federal government and article five deals with how to amend the constitution. Article six states that this constitution is supreme law to the country. Finally, article seven lists the requirements for ratifying the constitution. The constitution protects the freedom of the people, and the basic rights that us americans all have.

3/5 compromise

Today in class we went over what we did last class and learned a little bit of new things. We learned that the great compromise what about what states got what votes for certain decisions. We then brought up the topic of the 3/5 compromise that is applied to all slaves. The northern states wanted the slaves to count as nobody in votes and the south wanted the slaves to count as the average white man. Slavery was wrong in general and to some extent I think giving them 3/5 is worse then just zero. The 3/5 just seems like they're acknowledging the fact that they're not white men and it just seems straight wrong. Even though the slaves were getting votes, they really would only vote for what the owner wanted to vote for, making the voting almost useless. I think this is a good time to bring up this because it is in fact black history month and I think we should learn a bit more on black history.

Starting the Nation

Today in class we went over the start of our country. We talked on how Hamilton wanted all states to help if one state has a breakdown and Jefferson wanted each state to deal with their own issues. Jefferson's point i barely can understand because it goes against what the point of being a part of a country.  To me, i support Hamilton because if you are united states, then you need to help one another out, like a family. The state of Virginia is wealthy but i they were poor, I bet they would want other states to help them out. We listened to the rap battle in Hamilton and discussed each side of the debate. Over summer i listened to Hamilton a couple of times, and I'm fairly familiar with his story. I like him a ton even though he had an affair, because it takes a lot of very hard work to get from where he started to where he ended.

Articles of Confederation, Constitution, and Bill of Rights

The Bill of rights  was our first ten rights of the Constitution. These rights were our basic rights that American citizens would all receive (really only white men). These rights included free religion and speech, the right to bear arms, power to the states and the people, the right to be defended in your cases, and other basic rights. The Constitution is an overall summary of American power and ideas. The first three articles define where our power comes from and how it is all split up. Articles four five and six deal with our concept of federalism and our states governments, as well as our state relationship to the government. Article 7 relates to the ability for the states to ratify. The Articles of Confederation was our first constitution and stated our states would be sovereign and independent, and congress would be the deciding factor for the disputes. Congress was given the power to create treaties and declare war, and the states could not decide on these. New laws were formed in 1787 by the constitutional convention

Test Day

Today in class we took our first test. The test was on all events that took place between the French and Indian war, to the Revolutionary War. I prepared more than i needs to and i didn't really need to know the dates as well as I did. The essays I found to be somewhat easy except for a bit of the second one. The essay on Paul Revere was on the easier side because I previously remembered the poem while in elementary school. I feel like we didn't spend as much time on those as we needed in order to give the needed response, but I think I still did fine. I was able to finish the test with a bit of spare time so there was just enough questions on the test. I like the way the test was formatted, and I consider it to be one of the better formed tests I've taken so far throughout my years in school.

Free Choice Day

Today in class we were able to chose what we wanted to do. I chose to get make up work for the days the i missed from the start of Western Civ. I filled in all notes from the units before. Fortunately I leaned most of the information i copied last year. I remember the Ohio river and the fight over it. Whoever had control over that water way had a major advantage. Later on I copied notes to find out what the other acts were and what they caused. I remembered that one of the acts allowed soldiers to take shelter in any house and the owners had to provide the soldier with food, wether they liked them or not. I decided to copy all of these notes for the test on chapter one coming up on Tuesday. I am enjoying the class so far and i very much enjoy the people. Western Civ right now is one too the classes I look forward to in my day.

Declaration of Independence Video

Today In class we learned a bit more on the Declaration of Independence. We learned more in depth behind some of the smaller lines that may seem not as important, but have a major impact. We watched a video of famous actors reading the full declaration and went later into discussion on 9/11. The lines that we went over had to do with rights that all men had (white men). We discussed how when they say men they mean people, but of the people, it only included white men, not women, or black men. We decided what they meant when they referenced God and how it means any type of God, not only the Christian God. Later we discussed the wrong doings of the British and what a government is meant to be. We talked about how as soon as the government is taking the natural given rights of the people away, it is only right to split off and make a new government that will give all people the rights deserved.

Paul Revere

       Today in class we learned about Paul Revere and how he spread the word of the enclosing British. We heard the in depth poem and discussed the small details that had a big meaning such as the moonlight and the spark of the horses hooves. The spark of the hooves on the concrete created the spark on the revolutionary war, since this event was the start. We went in depth on how the moonlight was the only light from the night. Revere woke up the minutemen and the townspeople as he was riding through the important towns and cities. Off of topic we discussed the women right protest and how protests are meant to be. Protests are meant to be peaceful and with peace the point can be understood better. We watched the Andy Griffith show and listened to how he described the ride of Paul Revere and how it started off the revolutionary war.

Declaration of Independence

This edition of the Declaration of independence showed complaints and words I have not yet known were in or revolved around this document. This document contained the complaints from the colonists in a form of "He..." and it made me wonder who the "he" is. "He" could possibly be King George the 3rd who was the ruler of England at the time. I focused on the main part at the end, that focused on what has happened based off their old petitions and what they are laying on the line saying they're going to do. From the words used, I began to really feel what they were feeling as they listed all the things they have tried to do in order to have things not come to what they were. They writer left many lines starting with the word "for" and followed them up with the actions commit that offended or were done unjustly to the colonists and left a good reason behind on why they were saying they wanted and are going to be separated from British power. Through this whole work, my favorite line is the insult on King George the 3rd, where it says "A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people." I believe the decision to split off from the British power was the best possible choice at the time due to the circumstances they were in.

Pre-Revolutionary War

In my first class today I leaned a bit on The Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea party, the First Continental Congress, and the start of the American Revolution. The Boston Masacre was caused due to the rivaling opinions on the Townshend Acts. Five men were killed in the process and most Townshend Acts were repealed.  Tea was still taxed and that led to the Boston Tea Party. Colonists dressed as Native men threw tea crates over board in revolt. The first continental congress met up a while later in Philadelphia in order to make their first declaration of rights. The American revolution had two sides, the colonists, and the British. Out of the colonists, there were patriots, loyalists, and neutralists. The loyalists supported the British, the patriots rebelled against the British, and the neutralists were not picking a side. We left off as the British were on their way to Concord in order to attack and seize the weapon and ammo cache of the colonists.