12-7-12

Today in Human Geography, I actually dreaded going to Human Geography for the 1^st time this whole entire school year?!?!?! But Human Geography was actually was very nice today. We started to work in Groups for a project. I actually wanted to work by myself instead of working in a group. But I couldn't do anything about that now could I? I worked with some pretty smart people, meaning that I won’t have to do all the work. I can’t wait to start the project because I have a lot of great ideas for it. Usually when I do a project I like to do EVERYTHING as I go. For example I don’t do all the research at once. I usually do some design (the fun part) and then a little research, and then back to design. That way my project looks nice. Right after this blog I am going to start my project. In summary class today was very nice.

12-6-12

Today in class we watched the People Republics of Capitalism. China is trying to become the number one economy. By taking American Job’s it has already decreased the growth of the American economy. Also, it seems that they are trying to instill Chinese manufacturers into the American economy. My opinion of American-Chinese relations has regressed. China is trying to take over the world-wide economy. I don’t trust them. However my opinion doesn’t really matter! LOL I seriously think that Americans should start to invest into other things. Like education or business things. (EX. Hybrid-Car’s). Anyway, I’m really happy that we are watching these videos, because it has really been opening up mind about things that are going on in the world.

The Chinese automobile industry is NOT booming in America. This is because; American standards for cars are very high. The American government expects that a car should not burst into flames when it is hammered by another car. However Chinese cars do not meet these standards at ALL. Chinese cars are very fragile and brittle. A passenger driving in these car’s would die easily.

12-5-12

I was absent from Class today.

12-4-12

Human Geography

Today in class we continued to watch the video “The People’s Republic of capitalism.” This video is VERY interesting. It talks about the economic relations between China and USA. After watching this video I fully understand their relationship. Initially, I didn’t think much of China. I saw their country as “leeches”, a country that sucks off jobs. But now, I have a more open mind about China. Even though our relationship with China is actually beneficial to both countries, I will never fully accept it. In class today we watched the “Bang man”. This is a Chinese worker who takes bags of travelers up and down stairs. He has a very high opinion of America. I wonder why???? Maybe because he is living on American tips??  However I hope that his opinion reflects how the rest of China feels about America. To summarize, this video is a very wonderful video that really opened up my opinion on China.

11/29/12

Today In Human Geography class we continued to watch the video “The People’s Republic of Capitalism”. I continue to have mixed-feelings about the use of China as our manufacturer for almost ALL of our imports. I wonder, “How did we get ourselves into this dilemma?” Many business men view this “interdependence” as a win-win situation. However, I have a feeling that businessmen our just into this thing for themselves. Is America way too dependent on China? I don’t think that any country should be too dependent on another. Why can’t America be like the one that was first created? During the industrial revolution America supported the whole world. If the American economy crashed then the whole entire world’s economy would crash. But now, even though America is still on top, it depends on China in a very significant way. If the Chinese economy was to ever crash, I believe that it would take at number of years before America could get back on its feet. Despite my view on Chinese-America relations, I think that China and America are way too intertwined to do anything about it now. Thankfully, at least American consumers benefit in some type of way.

That is my view on American-Chinese relations.

P.S I don’t know if this is weird but I kind of want to write an essay about this. ;)

11/29/12

Today in Human Geography class we continued to watch the video about China. Previous to watching this video, I didn’t really like the country of China. I thought they were “Stupid” communists who sole purpose as a country was to steal American Job’s and to control all of our trade. I honestly believed that that they were “out to get us”. But after watching this video I was faced with some facts. China has a very large work-force. Most of these people are very, very poor. They are willing to work for any amount of money. There is no such thing as a “union” in China. Americans however work for at LEAST 7.50. And they expect health benefits, good working conditions and reasonable working hours. But in China, workers are paid 1-5 dollars a day. No Benefits, no good working conditions and extreme working conditions. What makes it better for companies is the fact that Chinese workers don’t complain. There is a very large work force. So if one worker complains, just fire them. There are A LOT of people who want their job. That is what I understand about the Country of China. Now I understand why companies outsource our jobs.

That is what was “revealed” to me during class today.

11/28/12

Today in class we watched a video. The video was about the People’s Republic of China. Their name however is actually false.  The country of China is not a republic. The “People” control NOTHING. Their last “president” Hu Jintao recently ended his term. DO you think the people picked their next “president”? Nope. A select group of the Elite in China went into a room, and decided which person would be best to become president. These people are usually the richest, most powerful and influential people in China. That is how there ruler was chosen. Also, the video we were shown talked about how the Chinese have a very large population of poor people. Some of these workers make only 1 – 5$ a day. They barely survive. The reason why these people, even take this horrible payment is because China has over 1 billion people in their country. If one worker decides to not work, or to refuse to do something, they could simply hire someone else. With a 1 billion + work force, they could certainly find someone else to hire. I don’t know what to think about this system. IS this a good way to live???? Morally I don’t think this is right but otherwise I don’t know what to think. We talked about a lot of different Chinese economic differences. There work force Is SO much different than ours. Now , I think I have a better grasp on why China is becoming a stronger force than America.

In summary, we talked about the Chinese economy and what fuels it’s growth. That is what today’s class period was spent on.

November 26, 2012

Today in class Mr. Schick’s passed our test’s back. I was very disappointed because I got an 87% on my test. The worst part is the test was really easy. All the mistakes I made were really stupid and I wished I checked my work on the test. Anyhow, Mr. Schick reviewed the test with us. The next time we have a test I will be very careful with my answers. Also we started a new unit in class. Economic Geography is the name of our new section. So we then watched a video about Chinese and American relations. When I watched the video I was so saddened.  This video reminded me why China is a superpower that is almost more powerful than the United States. Chinese schools teach their students English. This is one of many reasons why China is becoming VERY powerful. But , in summary class today was very wonderful and I can’t wait until tomorrow.

More Political Research....

The United Kingdom has played a leading role in the developing parliamentary democracy. In the 19 century the 19th century the UK stretched over one fourth of the world. 1707 independence-two treaties since then 
what are the four countries in UK_ wales, Scotland, England-great Britain, northern Ireland



Venezuela was one the three countries that came out of the collapse of Gran Columbia in 1830. For the beginning of the 20th century Venezuela was under military rule until Hugo Chavez was elected in 1999.
subjects of Spain

United States

Declared independence on July 4, 1776

From the 1500s through the 1700s, they were settled and colonized by the Spanish, British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, and other European nations.  The original thirteen colonies were held by Great Britain until the Revolutionary War, after which they became the first thirteen states.  There are now 50 states in the United States.  The United States is considered the last true superpower, with the world's largest military and the world's largest economy.

Israel

Israel became an independent state on May 14, 1948

Following World War Two, the newly-formed United Nations drafted a treaty dividing up some of Palestine's land.  They established an independent Arab state and an independent Jewish state.  Many Jews emigrated to the new nation of Israel post WWII.  Creation of this new Jewish state was not universally accepted by Arabs, even though Israel was officially admitted to the UN on May 11, 1949.  There is still controversy surrounding Israel's very existence in the Middle East.

China

China's official date of independence is October 1, 1949.

China is one of the world's oldest civilizations.  As long ago as 221 BC, China was unified as a nation during the Qin dynasty.  They formed a republic on January 1, 1912.  The current Communist government, officially called the People's Republic of China, was formed in 1949.  

Political Research

Afghanistan:
 Studies have shown that Afghanistan had begun civilizing around 3,000 to 2,000 BC. Afghanistan had developed through several wars that make it what it is now. Archaeologists have found areas of proof where Afghanistan had begun that is connects to Central Asia.

Brazil:

Brazil gained independence in 1822. Before Brazil had been invaded by Napoleon and become free, Brazil was a colony of Portugal since 1500. It is now bordering on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and France.  

France:
France does not have a specific day of independence. There are several in its category such as 486, 843, 1789, 1792, and 1958. France is the largest country in Western Europe and the third-largest in Europe. France is a developed country ranking fifth in the world and the second largest economy and the wealthiest nation in Europe. France borders Spain, Italy. Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Andorra, Suriname, and Brazil.

Germany:

Germany has never been under colonial rule. However , in 1871 Germany unified as one country. This is when modem-day Germany formed.


Before Germany was unified , they were the center of the Holy Roman Empire.

At one point in time Germany was controlled by another country.In this case, a group of countries.These people were called "The Allies". After World War II , The Allies controlled Germany for a period of time.



India:

India became an sovereign nation on the 15th of August , 1947.

Prior to India becoming an independent nation , they were part of the British Empire. This means that they were ruled by the British.There were ruled for over 200 years.

Yes , they were ruled by another country "Great Britain".


Iran:
Iran was always a independent nation. How ever there nation has made some radical changes in it's history.

Iran's first dynasty developed around 2800 BC.This is when Iran first formed.

At one point in time Alexander the Great a Greek Ruler invaded and conquered Iran.



Mexico:
Even though some sources say "1810" , Mexico achieved it's independence in 1821.

Before Independence Mexico was called New Spain. As you may has have assumed from the name  , Mexico was controlled by Spain.

Yes they were the subjects of Spain.



Saudi Arabia:
This kingdom was founded Abdul Aziz Abdullah.














j

11/12/12- Birthday!!!

Today was my birthday. I was very excited for Class. Mr. Schick’s class is my favorite class so I was very anxious. When I got into class every one said happy birthday. Today was Alice’s birthday. So I said happy birthday to her. Anyway, the class sung happy birthday to her and I. After that, Mr. Schick gave us happy birthday hats. Then Mr. Schick gave us back our quizzes and I got a 100% on my test. I was very happy. I found out that if I keep getting good grades in Human Geo I will be put in to AP European History!!! I can’t wait.  We also went over the test questions in class. The test really made me think. Initially I had a lot of trouble distinguishing the Iranian president and the Afghanistan president but I eventually got it. Thank God, on the test I didn’t mess that up. That is what we did today in class.

11/9/12

In Human Geography today we had a class. First, we reviewed the test material for 15 minutes. The test was a pop-quiz so I was not 100% ready for it. I memorized all of the world leaders except the Iranian president and the Afghanistan president. So I tried to cram in my mind that Hamid Karzai was the Afghanistan president. Thankfully, when Mr. Schick gave us the test he let us use our blog. I always do my blog HW, so I pretty much had a little cheat-cheat for the test. The test has some pretty tricky questions. It took me 10 minutes to answer 3 questions. Other than that the test was quite easy. But when Mr. Schick was reviewing the test answers I got all the questions right. This is great for me! Other than a trick test, Mr. Schick’s class was pretty great for me. That is how my class went today.

11/8/12

Today was a wonderful day in class. Today we continued to go over the test results. We talked about a lot of different leaders including the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He is a horrible leader in my opinion. He is way to extreme to be an effective leader. For example, he doesn't believe in “Gay Iranians” and “Female Rights”. That’s Crazy! Also, he keeps on pushing his nuclear weapons program. He keeps on telling the world that his Nuclear Program is for “energy” and not for power. But I don’t think that anyone SANE actually believes that. Mr. Schick was talking about the horrible position that America is in right now. They don’t know whether they should bomb Iran or whether they should give Iran the benefit of the doubt. If they do give Iran the benefit of the doubt and they are proven wrong, Iran will bomb Israel their closest ally. However if they bomb Iran, without giving them any doubt, they could potentially start a war with all of the Middle East. That is the dilemma that America is facing at the moment. Very interesting. That is a summary of what we did in class today, and I can wait until next class.

P.S. I was given a great Idea for Speech & Debate by Mr. Schick. 

11/7/2012

Today In class we quickly reviewed the Test for Avery. Avery didn’t come to school yesterday so we did a quick class review with him. After he left, Mr. Schick passed out results for the test. For the first time in his class I didn’t get the highest grade in the class. I got an 84% on my test. So it’s not like I failed or anything, but next time I will make sure I pass my test with a higher grade. After which, Mr. Schick went over the homework assignment. We went over a lot of the world leaders. For example Queen Elizabeth has over 378,000 awards. WOW!!! Mr. Schick joked and said that he has to catch up with the Queen. I didn’t get the chance to talk about the president of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto. He is a very corrupt man in my opinion. His won the election even though he only received 38% of the General Vote. Also, he didn’t even win the majority of the legislative vote. So how did he win the election? Also his party has been charge of Mexico for 71 years. How is that possible? Unless corruption is taking place I don’t think it is possible for one party to dominate for such a long period of time. But other than that class was awesome. Class was awesome , and I can’t wait Until next time.

World Leaders

Dilma Rouseff:

• Dilma is a Economist.She can easily detect economic trends and knows the best way to allow her country to thrive.
• Has Political Experience;worked as Mister of Mines and Energy & Chief of Staff of Brazil.This means that she has great leadership skills.

David Cameron:

• Well Educated ; went to the prestigious Oxford University.
• Political Experience. Also studied Politics in College. This simply means that he knows what he is doing.

Hugo Chavez:

• Supports Socialism in a indirect way. Socialism has  not made ANY successful countries.(in the long run)
• Seems to be doing something right as a leader. Venezuela is showing signs of rapid growth ever since his election.

Pranab Muhkherjee:

• Has a political career spanning over six decades. This means that he has experience.
• Worked as a journalist , for a couple of years. This means that he has a good idea of what the media and the people want.

Francois Hollande:

• Part of the French Socialist Party and as I said before Socialism get's no country anywhere.
• NO prior experience as Prime Minister or Junior Minister.                                                                               

Hamid Karzai: 

• Has a great foreign relations with the UN. Also, the United States supports Hamid.
• Very Well-respected president because of the way his presidency is going.

 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Ak ma dina jad

• Disregards Human Rights
• Very Pro-Islam. Does't believe in Gay Iranians.joiujgAlso doesn't believe in female rights.

Hu Jianto:

• He's a communist. Communists countries have never done well, in the long run. The Soviet union did well for a while.But then their government collapsed. So China is doing well right now , but are they going to continue to do well? I don't think that he will be an effective leader with this mind set.
• China's economy is rapidly growing. They seem to be doing great in the world and are making a name for their people. Hu Jianto Seems to be doing a great job.

Benjamin Netanyahu:

• Has had over 14 different political positions in his career.This means that he has allot of experience.
• Seems to have a blind hatred of Iran. Even though his life experiences may have triggered this hatred. This may cause hastened decisions that may reap horrible consequences.

Angela Merkel:

• Has had several powerful leadership positions in her life.  She is used to making big decisions.
• Has horrible foreign relations. After reading several articles i  have found out that she is disliked by several European citizens.

Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud:

• He is a very rich man. Yet many of his people are suffering. I smell corruption.
• Doesn't have allot of political experience. His previous post was "mayor of mecca"

Enrique Peña Nieto:

• 1 word , Corruption. his party has been in charge ff Mexico for the past 71 years. The only way 1 party can be in-charge for so many years is corruption. Since his party is corrupted , and is supported by is party. He is corruption in the form of a president.

Received only 38% of the popular vote.Also didn't get the legislative majority. How did he win the election? He is not even supported by his people.

Barack Obama:

• Very good speech writer.
• Good at foreign relations .

Venezuela

Venuzeula

Hugo Chavez

Federal presidential Constitution

Brazil

Brazil

Dilma Rousseff

Federal Presidential Constitutional Republic

France

France

Jean-Marc Ayrault

Unitary Semi-presidential constitutional republic

United Kingdom

United Kingdom

David Cameron

Unitary Parliamentary constitutional Monarchy

Germany

Germany

Angella Merkel

Federal Parliamentary constitutional Republic

Israel

Israel

Benjamin Netanyou

Parliamentary democracy

Iran

 

Iran

Seyed Ali Khamenei

Unitary State / Islamic Republic

Afghanastan

 

Afghanastan

Hamid Karzee

Islamic Republic

India

Pranab Muhkherjee

India

Federal parliamentary Constitutional Republic

China

                                                 

   China

   Nominally socialist market economy, single-party state

   Hu Jintao

Mexico

 

Felipe Calderon

     
          Mexico

           Constitution-based Federal Republic

          Felipe Calderon

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz

Unitary Islamic Monarchy

10/24/12

Today in class Mr. Schick was not present. I don’t know where he went because a couple minutes before class started I saw him walking in the hallway. When I went to class we were re-directed to class 321. Then it took over 10 minutes for class to start because the teacher that was coming to our class was taking forever. When class finally started we were told to write 15 “identification” terms that we think will be on the test. As soon as I started I zoomed through the assignment. Mostly because the assignment was really easy. I wrote allot of stuff about the specifics about the 5 religions we went over, mostly their main doctrines. After I was done writing my 15 terms I decided that I was going to write my blog. Why not do it now instead of waiting until I get home. So before I left class my Homework was done which is really a relief. That is all I did in class today and I can’t wait until next class. I wonder why Mr.Schick was gone.

10/22/12

No School On Monday!

Test Questions

1.Where was Hinduism founded?

2.Which country has the most Buddhists?

3.Does Judaism ideology support Jesus Christ as the lord and savior?

4.Is  Christianity a religion or school of thought?

5. What is the world most popular name? ( This name is a male name ,  and this man is a prophet)

10/18/12

Today In class, we continued to go over the top five most influential religions in the world. We reviewed the Islam faith, which was founded in the year 622 AD in the City of Mecca. Despite popular belief within Islamic populations, Muhammad is the globally accepted founder of the Islam religion. Islam is an Abrahamic religion meaning that the ideology that stems from Muslim beliefs comes from “Abraham” just like Christianity and Judaism. There are at least 1 billion Muslims and it is one of the fastest growing religions in the world.

Then we talked about Buddhism, which was founded by Siddhartha Gautama in the year 622AD. Buddhism is a way of life and not a “religion” in the same sense that the “Western” perceives it. Then we talked about Hinduism, which is apparently a religion that is not very understood by Mr. Schick. However, what was funny is that Mr. Schick asked me if I was Hindu. I was like…”NO”. Anyway, I do not think that there are ANY Hindu people in Africa never the less Nigeria. That is a summary of my class period.

10/15/12

In class today Mr. Schick taught us key concepts and ideas for our new unit through a PowerPoint presentation. First, we learned about ethnicity heritage and how that can affect ethnic tensions in a country. For example in Nigeria, before British colonization there were several different mini countries with their own territories in Nigeria. Nevertheless, when the British took over they put all these tribes into one huge country. There was peace until the British left. After they left tension grew between several ethnicities. Eventually the battle boiled down to the Christians in the South and the Muslims in the North who despise each other, yet they are both in the same country! (This is coincidentally the same case with Sudan) 1 country several ethnicities that cause rift between each other. But the case in Nigeria is not as bad as others, in countries like Sudan, The more powerful side completely dominates the less dominate side. This means complete annihilation. In Nigeria, Both Sides are equal so war amounts to nothing, But in others….

10/12/12

Christianity was founded in the Levant region of the Middle East in the mid 1^st century. Christianity was a strange religion when founded because it was the 1^st monotheistic religion. The holy book used in the Christian religion is the Bible. Christianity claims around 2.2 billion followers, which is about a third of the world population. The central figure of Christianity is Jesus Christ whom is believed to be the Son of God. The largest concentration of Christians in the world is in the Western part of the world. There are over 246,799,000 in America. This takes up at least 30% of the Christians in the Western World.Also Jesus Christ is the founder of the Church , or by some accounts spawned 95% of all teaching.That is my summary of the Christian Religion.

Islam was founded in the year 622 AD in the City of Mecca. Although many Muslims believe that Islam was founded before Muhammad, Religious historians believe he is the founder. Islam is a monotheistic religion just like the rest of its fellow Abrahamic religions. The holy book of the Islamic religion is the Koran. There are an estimated 1.2 – 1.57 billion Muslims in the World. The central figure in Islam is their most sacred prophet “Muhammad”. The largest Islam population is in South Asia with majority of Muslims living in Indonesia (204,847,000). That is my summary of the Islamic religion.

Buddhism was founded in 460 B.C in modern day India. Which is strange to me is that Buddhism is not a religion in which “God or Gods” are involved in. “Buddhism chooses to focus upon practical ways of life that can lead to a blissful state of being (enlightenment) that includes compassion for beings.”(http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_Buddhism_monotheistic_or_polytheistic). Therefore, it is neither monotheistic nor polytheistic. In the Buddhist religion there is no one single book that is used. However, a book may help when trying to reach enlightened states of mind. This book is called the “Trip taka” “The Pāli Canon also known as the Tipitaka is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition”(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%81li_Canon)Buddha is the founder of Buddhism. There is an estimate of  489,807,761 Buddhists in the world with almost all of them living in Asia. The largest group of Buddhists in the world is in China (105,748,151-277,588,986). The central figure of the religion “Buddhism” is Buddha .That is my summary of the Buddhist religion.

Hinduism was founded in 1500-500 BC in modern day India. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion. There are many Holy books in the Hinduism faith but the main one is the “Vedas”. The Vedas are the common Holy Scriptures that all Hindus share. There are 950 million Hindus in the world. With most of them residing in Asia, (India). The most central figure In Hinduism is “Brahman”. “Braham is the ultimate essence of material phenomena (including the original identity of the human self) that cannot be seen or heard but whose nature can be known through the development of self-knowledge” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahman). That is my summary of the Hindu religion.

Abraham founded Judaism in 1800 BC in the city of Ur in Babylonia. Judaism is a monotheistic belief. The holy book in Judaism is the Torah. There are currently 13,000,000 Jews in the world. The central figure in Judaism is Abraham. Most Jews in the World live in the United States. That is my summary of The Jewish faith.

10/11/12

In class today, I finished my group’s presentation on Christopher Columbus. The Class was surprised to know that Christopher Columbus is not as big of a hero as every makes him out to be. Chris Christopher Columbus came to America in the year 1492. The first place Christopher Columbus landed was in the Caribbean islands. He landed somewhere near the Bahamas in the Caribbean. He was aiming for India when he ran into the islands and discovered America.  Columbus was unaware that he had landed in America. He died without knowing of his "discovery." He had believed he was in India the whole time. Christopher Columbus did not respect the land of the new world after landing and being accustomed to the area. He started to settle on the land and overthrow the Native Americans
control. Christopher Columbus soon conquered the Natives land by building and settling in the new world. Mr. Schick went over some more information with that and us was went we did in class today.

10/10/12

In class today, we showed the classroom our Presentation on Christopher Columbus. The first presentation that was presented to the classroom was the Native American power point. I learned that Native Americans came to America almost 17,000 years ago. I also learned that slowly migrated to America over a course of several thousand years. They moved mostly because of search for food and other means. Then I watched a presentation about the Vikings. The Vikings came to North America by mistake. They were trying to get to Greenland. However, when they got to America they did not see anything fruitful in North America. A large percentage of the Viking Economy was based on pillaging other countries. Therefore, when they got to Canada it was just a cold place that yielded very little produce with very hostile Native Americans. Then my group and I did our presentation on Christopher Columbus. However, we did not even get to the third slide before class was over. That is what happened today in class.

10/8/12

On Monday, We started a group assignment on Christopher Columbus. However, before that I re-met the new student in our Class “Mike”. Mike is a Nigerian kid who is 6’11.Tall huh? I really like Mike, but sadly everyone keeps on asking me, your Nigerian right, why aren’t you tall? Anyway, when it was time to work in small groups I quickly volunteered to work with Mike. Mike, Alice, Danielle, Maria, Matt, and I started to work on our presentation. Initially we had trouble getting everyone the e-mail but eventually we got it. We started to assign questions and I then started to help mike with his. He did not have a computer yet, so I let him use mine. Mike seems very smart, and got the hang of things quickly. I was going to set up his blog for him but I did not get the chance. When we finally got the chance to really get things going in our group the bell rung. However, I had a great Day. That is how my class went , and I can’t wait until tomorrow.

10/5/12

In Human Geography Class Today we took a test. Prior to the test I was uncomfortable. I didn’t take good notes on The Lost Boys after they moved to America; So I wasn’t sure how I was going to effectively Study. But thankfully, Parker let me look at her notes. When we started the test I realized how easy it was and despite 2 tricky fill in the blank questions I think I aced the test. Also, when Mr. Schick was going over the test answers I think he was reading mine because Of a specific word I used that was recited. The word I used was not a common word, but I could be wrong. Sadly Mr. .Schick said that test was almost 100%, So If it was mine I didn’t get a 100%. And I really want a 100% because that would boost my grade. Right now I have a 99% in Human Geography So if I get 1 more percent , I have a 100% grade , which would do wonders for my GPA.(Every percentage point counts). That is how my class period went.

10/4/12

In Human Geo we went over different links that People Found. I really like the TOMS one, because at least we know it’s legit (I think). But there two that I really liked. One, Maybe we should collect blankets and pillows and teddy bears and donate to these kids. This one and the TOMS are kind of alike but they both have the same drawbacks. For one, Kids are starving and crying about dead parents and you give them shoes to wear. Doesn’t sound like a nice person to me? (I know this is harsh but this is the reality). Another thing I saw was “Project Education Sudan Project

Education South Sudan is a US 501(c)(3) Charitable Organization, a registered NGOwith the Republic of South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, andregistered with the Jong lei State Ministry of Education was created as apartnership of Sudanese and Americans in response to the destruction thatresulted from the twenty-year civil war between northern and South Sudan.” http://www.projecteducationsudan.org/. This organization is another great charity we should donate to. That is what we did this class period.

10/3/12

On Wednesday I found a great organization. This I a brief summary of what they are about “Wadeng Wings of Hope is a Canadian registered charitable society dedicated to raising funds and implementing projects in support of children’s education and wellbeing in South Sudan. We have our charitable tax status with Canada Revenue Agency, and issue tax receipts for all donations. The organization meets regularly, as meetings are called by the chair, and the annual meeting for the election of the Board of Directors as well as the presentation of the previous year’s financial statement takes place early in the New Year.” It’s a great organization that I think should be considered for use in the “Class project that we are doing. In class Schick wanted us to find organizations that could help Sudan, or Sudanese Lost Children. We used an Open-Sourced Document to write out our information. This is just one great organization I found.

10/1/12

Today In class we finished the movie “God Grew Tired of Us”. I was amazed by what these hard-working Sudanese guys accomplished. John Doe got his high school diploma and his Associative degree. He made an organization for Helping Sudanese lost boys and girls. Also, he was reunited with his mother. Panther got his bachelor’s degree and is stilling looking for his mother and father. He moved back to Sudan temporarily so that he could marry his girlfriend. He also plans to build a school in Sudan. The third Sudanese lost boy is still living in the Job Corps.  I don’t think that the Job Corps was a good idea for john. I feel as if all the other Sudanese youth did better than John because they didn’t join the job corp. Anyway I really enjoyed the movie and in summary every one life was better. That is my summary of today’s class.

We watched God grew tired of us.

God Grew Tired of Us

In class today we watched the movie “God Grew Tired of Us”. In the documentary the “Boys” were taken to the United States so they could start a new life. Sadly only a few of the boys were allowed to relocate because of several issues. The relocated to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. When they moved into the apartment everything was so shocking. They were not used to using electricity so when they saw “refrigerators” any ad “lamps” it seemed very amazing. Also they were eating all their food with their hands. Even rice and spaghetti. I find this weird because in Nigeria, there are certain foods that you eat with your hands like “Farina” but you don’t eat everything with your hands like these Sudanese guys do. Anyway after the apartment they went to the grocery store. There were all out of American foods there that they were not accustomed to. But , the grocery clerk explained to them everything and anything about the foods.That was all we all we watched.

September 26th 2012

Today’s class was one of the worst performances we had as a class in whole. Everyone was talking at one point even I. Mr. Schick told us countless times not to talk yet we talked anyway. I hope that we as a class don’t do this again. But anyway we went over the test at the start of class. We took almost all period to go over the test because everyone was talking. Plus there were a thousand “What If?” questions which I think are destructive towards class discussions. After going over the Test we continued to “God grew Tired of US”. The video “God Grew Tired of Us” is an awesome video. In the sense that the Video shows the world something that was hidden from the world for a number of years. I wish that the Sudanese boys get the chance to go back home. Imagine these kids never got the chance to have a proper birthday party or eat until they are full, or just live one day for complete fun. Instead there whole life they had to fight for food or wonder if they will leave until tomorrow. It’s horrible.  In summary today’s class period was not the best one we have had yet, but I still think that Human geo is my favorite class.

9/24/12

Today's class was one of the most of the most memorable class experiences we have had in this school year. First we worked on the test. The test was not hard at all. Prior to the test I thought it would be very hard. But once I started I suddenly grew more confident. After the test we watched a documentary about kids living in Sudan. The kids living in Sudan suffer A LOT. The video really changed my impression about the World. I originally thought that the United States guarded the whole world and that no injustice goes unseen. Even though I still think that U.S is the protector of the world, I do understand that something’s really do go unseen. I really wish that these kids in Sudan get more help from the U.N.  One day I hope that I can indirectly help the children In Sudan. That is what I think about Today’s class.

9/21/12

Presentations

In Human Geography we continued to watch presentations. One presentation that really stood out in my mind was the presentation about Brazil. On the first slide they wrote “Eleanor Butt face". I found this slightly funny but when I saw Mr. Schick’s reaction my face resumed its prior expression. Mr. Schick looked at the presentation like it annoyed him. He then whistled as if something was dropping. But the presenters did not notice what was going on. They kept on laughing. After that slide there were a lot of mistakes they made but overall they did an alright job. All of the other presentation had a lot of mistakes (Grammatically).I don’t like to point out other peoples mistakes but Andy was not hesitant. It was a little funny the little mistakes every one made. Everyone did a good job in summary but you can tell when one person does all the work in one group. When one person does all the work, the project doesn’t look very good and no one gets a good grade. But luckily in my group every one pitched in. Another thing that I noticed was that Mr. Schick used Nigeria in the group assignment. I like that because usually Geography teachers always neglect African countries. But I don’t like the way they present Nigeria. They make it seem like such a horrible country. . In conclusion, Class is very fun and I can’t wait till the next one. :)

9/20/12

Wilfred Ikejiofor

Mr. Schick

 Today in Human Geography, The class presented their Projects. At the start of class Mr. Schick asked the class who would like to go first. Austin and I volunteered to start first. We could not reach an agreement so we played “Rock Papers, Scissors. I won the contest, so I presented with my group. I worked with Ricky, Avery and Maria. The night before when we worked on our presentation we wrote our names on the slides that we worked on. So when it was presentation time every one already knew what slide they were going to do. Maria & Avery did their slides first. When it was my turn to present I saw that the crowd was getting bored so I tried to present with a lot of enthusiasm. While I was presenting I said a joke and the whole class laughed. After I did this I was pretty confident because it is hard to make a large group of people laugh. After I, Ricky presented his portion of the PowerPoint. Personally, I think the audience should know a lot about Germany, after my presentation. A couple other groups went over their presentation with the class after us. Some were a little more organized than others but overall everyone did a great job. Not everyone in the class got a chance to present so tomorrow we will finish up the lesson. In conclusion I had a lot of fun today and I hope Tomorrow gets better.

September 17 ,2012

In class today we watched a PowerPoint with Mr. Schick. The PowerPoint touched on something’s that we will need to learn for this year. First I took some notes on Population and Settlement. According to Mr. Schick there are 7 billion people on earth. The population growth is about 77 million people per year. But strangely enough 90% of the population growth takes place in developing countries that are located mainly in Africa, South East Asia & Latin America. Then we went over life expectancy throughout the world. The highest life expectancy in the world is in Monaco. Monaco is pretty much an island where rich people relax and boss people around. I assume that it is not very stressful in this country, so the life expectancy is 80.57 for men and 87.43 for women. In U.S the life expectancy is 76.05 for men and 81.05 for women. While in undeveloped countries like Chad the life expectancy is 47.65 for men and 49.82 for women. Women are known to live longer than men because men like to take more dangerous jobs. I think it’s a social thing and an economic thing. Men sometimes feel like they have to be the one to carry the burden of the famly.Also, money is very important and sometimes you need a dangerous job to make money. We talked about other things in class, but if I cover everything we talked about I will be typing all day. In conclusion Human Geo is very fun and I look forward to next class. That is my summary of class today.

Did You Know 3.0

September 15, 2012

In class today we went over the Did You Know 3.0 video. 

We talked about “various details that were various students thought were very important or surprising. The first fact we went over was that fact that India has double the amount of honor students then we (U.S) has kids. When I heard this fact, I thought that it meant that Americans are stupid. But, Mr. Schick explained the fact and I found out it that it was supposed the fact that India has a lot of children. Then we talked about Facebook. Apparently if Facebook was a country then it would be the third largest country in the World. That shows that Computers have engrained themselves into Society. We continued to talk about Did You Know 3.0 until 1:30. At 1:30 I had to leave for a Cross Count meet. To go on, JC cross country won almost every single event except one.

 In conclusion I had lots of fun in class, but sadly I had to leave early. 

Did You Know This?? 3.0

There are two very important facts that I came across while watching the short YouTube clip “Did You Know 3.0”.

The first fact that I thought was very important was that “Digital music sales in 2011 outstripped physical sales for the first time.” This fact is a great way to visualize the direction that society is moving. The world if not already is going through the “Digital Age”. Imagine, the average phone can hold 100 times more space than the first computer.  This shows that technology has increased rapidly over the past 10-20 years.  This also shows that Society is keeping up with rapid technology advancements. In conclusion, I like this fact because it represents life today.

The second fact that I thought was quite intriguing was “There are 31 billion searches on Google every month”. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. It is great because Google makes life much easier and the more users on Google the better Google becomes. However, it is also a bad thing. I believe that no one should depend on only one thing. In addition, Google has access to every single Google search you have ever made. This means that Google knows a lot about you, and I think that no one should have that information other than you.

 

In conclusion, technology is growing rapidly every day. Better and better tech is created and society is increasing in intelligence and worldwide awareness. Even though there is a dark side to this , the Pros outweigh the Cons.

September 12 , 2012

Today in Class, we went over the Homework. As we went over the Homework there were A LOT of questions. (I asked like half of them). We took almost 20 minutes to get question 5. But, Mr. Schick gave us a lot of important in, formation. Apparently the economy across the world is way worse than the American economy for example; in Europe gas costs around 7 dollars. Crazy Huh? As we went over the questions, we touched over some very delicate topics. Like in Zimbabwe the unemployment rate is 95%! Also, Mr. Schick told us about the tension surrounding India and Pakistan. Both Countries have or will have nuclear bomb capability. This means that if any country trips up, the other country will be eager to nuke them. While in class I thought About Nukes. Originally I wished nukes didn’t exist, but then I recalled that without nukes World War two wouldn’t have ended. Towards the end of Class we talked about the different countries that our class had been to. 60% of our class had been out of the country. This is very interesting when you think about it. IN conclusion Class, was very nice and I look forward to the next one.

Important question.

I think that the most Important question is " What country consumes more oil than any other? United States 

This shows how green America has to become. America should investigative. into other methods of Oil-Usage.

CIA Questions

1. 
   
2. What is the population of the United States? 313, 847, 465 
3. What are the five largest countries in the world, by population? China, India, United States, Indonesia, Brazil 
4. What is the population of Pakistan? 190,291,129 
5. What kind of government does the United States have? Constitution-based federal republic 
6. What is the unemployment rate in Zimbabwe? 24.9% 
7. What is the largest country in the world by area? Russia 
8. What country has the third greatest number of airports? Mexico 
9. What country has the greatest number of exports? China 
10. What country exports more oil than any other? Saudi Arabia 
11. What country imports more oil than any other? United States 
12. What country consumes more oil than any other? United States 
13. Can women serve in combat roles in China’s military? Yes 
14. What is GDP? Gross domestic product 
15. What country has the highest GDP per capita in the world, and how much is it? Liechtenstein 141,000$ 
16. Is the US in the top ten for GDP per capita? No 
17. Most of the countries with the highest birth rates can be found in what continent? Africa 
18. 11 of the top 12 countries with the highest number of deaths from HIV/AIDS can be found in which continent? Africa 
19. What other country is in the top ten? Asia 
20. Where does the US rank in HIV/AIDS deaths? 18 
21. Is the US #1 in number of cellular phones? No 
22. What percentage of the US is Roman Catholic? 23.9% 
23. What percentage of Mexico is Roman Catholic? 76.6% 
24. What is Net Migration Rate? the difference between total immigrants and emigrants of an area in a period of time 
25. Does the US have the highest Net Migration Rate in the world? no it is 26 
26. What is the current population of the entire planet? 7.039 billion 

September 6th , 2012

Today in Class, Mr. Schick gave us notes on how to write notes. He told us about life in college. In college, teachers give lectures. They usually have more than 100+ students. Teachers don’t have time to answer every question. Then Mr. Schick told us about his birth. Apparently, Mr. Schick is the messiah. Then he told us about Illinois. Illinois has more people than every other state in the Midwest. Then I found out that more than half of the population of Illinois lives near or in Chicago. Also, Illinois is full of plains. Mr. Schick was born in Chicago, In December in a unknown city. Just like Jesus Christ??? Then Mr. Schick gave us time in class to work on our blog. I started to work on my blog but I didn’t get to finish. In Conclusion Human Geography is very, fun and I think it’s my favorite class.

September 5th 2012

Wilfred Ikejiofor

September 5th 2012

Human Geo

Today In Human Geography class we went over how to add gadgets to our blog. I had added a gadget to my blog the night prior. After that Mr. Schick stressed the importance of Wikipedia. Apparently not every random person with an “unknown” agenda can change Wikipedia. That is news to me. Mr. Schick really likes Wikipedia which kind of makes sense. Wiki has a lot of information that other websites don’t have half of. Also Wikipedia is free , which makes it easy to access as long as you have Internet access. That was pretty much how class “went down” today.

August Third , 2012

9/3/12

Essay #1:  Give your original definition of arête, and describe how Socrates and the ancient Greeks demonstrated this quality.

Arête is the highest state of being a human being can achieve physically, spiritually and emotionally. I believe that Socrates demonstrated this behavior by standing up for what he believed in while in court. Socrates was asked to apologize But, Socrates did not apologize because he knew that he was right. I believe that standing up for what you believe his Arête. Arête is excellence of the highest nature, and fighting for what you believe in (when in the right) is excellent.  

However, I think that the Greek’s exhibited on a day to day basis. For example in Spartan Society, Men and Women strove to be the best they could physically. However in Athens men and Women strove to be the best they could be mentally and physically.  Both city-states had an emphasis on Arête in their cultures. This shows that the Greeks showed Arête in important aspects of life.

Essay #2:  Imagine that Elbert Hubbard and Socrates have time-travelled to the present.  Describe what they would think or say about life.

Elbert Hubbard would be disappointed in life nowadays. He would be heartbroken to find out that almost no one in this world strives for arête on a day to day basis. There are no “hard workers” anymore; people just go to work for money and nothing more. He also would be disappointed in the way “America” does things. America is a Capitalist country (Technically half), but Elbert Hubbard believes in Capitalism. In conclusion Mr. Hubbard would be disappointed with life today.

Socrates would be proud of life today. Imagine a country that is democratic, that everyone has their own say and no voice is ignored (Almost). Socrates would be overjoyed, because in Socrates native Greece you could be killed (like he was) for expressing your thoughts but in America, you can say almost everything. In Conclusion, Socrates would be happy with life today.

Essay #3:  Assuming that you think that excellence is a good thing, write out a five-point action plan that  describes how you are going to approach your career at the John Carroll School over the next four years

• 1.      Pay Attention in All my Classes.                                                                                               I am going to pay attention in all my classes so that I understand everything that is going on in the class, at all times. If I can understand what my teacher teaches me , test’s and quizzes will be a breeze.
• 2.      Homework
• I am going to do all my HW this school year. Regardless of the time or amount I am going to do it. Usually HW is a big problem because I like to wait until the last minute. But this year I will try not to do that.
•  
• 3    Not Quit
• I will try my best not to quit anything at John Carroll unless I have to. Giving up will not be something I do this school year.
• 4    Organization
• I am a very messy person when it comes to keeping a binder. This school I’m using a computer instead of a binder, but that can get messy to. I will try to keep all my files in a organized fashion that way I don’t get unorganized.                                                                                Have Fun
• Sometimes if you Work too hard you forget to have fun.  This is the only time of my life that I get to go through High school, so I should just enjoy the ride. That doesn’t mean that I become a bum and not do any of my assignments. It just means that I don’t stress to hard and I have a good time.

That is my 5 point Action Plan to becoming Successful At JC.

10/1/2012

Today In class we finished the movie “God Grew Tired of Us”. I was amazed by what these hard-working Sudanese guys accomplished. John Doe got his high school diploma and his Associative degree. He made an organization for Helping Sudanese lost boys and girls. Also, he was reunited with his mother. Panther got his bachelor’s degree and is stilling looking for his mother and father. He moved back to Sudan temporarily so that he could marry his girlfriend. He also plans to build a school in Sudan. The third Sudanese lost boy is still living in the Job Corps.  I don’t think that the Job Corps was a good idea for john. I feel as if all the other Sudanese youth did better than John because they didn’t join the job corp. Anyway I really enjoyed the movie and in summary every one life was better. That is my summary of today’s class.

Fourth Day Of Class

August 31^st, 2012

As class started we went over Wednesday’s homework. We talked about Greek life, and the start of their 

democracy. I already knew that Greek Philosophers were the founders of Western Civilization, but I didn't 

know about Socrates. Apparently, (According to Mr. Schick) Socrates was an ugly man with many controversial ideas. He questioned mainstream school of thoughts and made his own conclusions about life. He did something that I could never do. I could never go against the world like he did. He was a master debater and teacher. Using his self-titled method, he out-witted common man by allowing them to see contradictions in their argument (I wonder if he instigated a lot of fights).However, I think Socrates is stubborn. When time for his execution he was given a chance to apologize. However he didn’t, because he believed that he was right. That is understandable. But before it was time for him to drink Hemlock, he was given another chance to go in exile, yet he denied it. He was stubborn, he could have escaped with his dignity and life, but he chose the wrong choice. 

But in Conclusion, Socrates was a great philosopher and was one of the minds that developed Western Civilization.               

Third Day Of Class

August 30th, 2012

Today we read an article in class named "A message to Garcia" by Elbert Hubbard. In this story, The Cuban people were having a revolution. The American President, President McKinley asked Rowan to go find General Garcia. Without any complaint, Rowan searched for Garcia with 100% dedication. Rowan did something that I know I couldn’t do without complaint. If I was told to do something like that, I would probably reply like this “the whole Spanish Army is looking for Garcia and they can’t find him, how do you expect me to find him”. But Rowan did his duty, with a smile on his face. Anyway, while we were talking about Rowan in class I didn’t raise my hand a lot, even when I knew the answers. But as soon as a reward was given, my brain was suddenly giving me amazing answers. The attitude that I expressed in class was not the attitude Rowan possessed. He would have worked hard in class 120%.  What I really got from today’s class is that working hard shouldn’t be a sometimes thing, it should be an always thing because that’s what giving “a message to Garcia” is all about.

-Wilfred Ikejiofor