Sunday, December 28, 2008

Thing That Will Make My School Better (Final)

I just moved to a new school district with a very good reputation. In my opinion, it is even better than the district I used to live in. Although I attend a good school, there are many things that could be ameliorated. Some of them are: the lunch trays should be cleaner, there should be more time to get to class, and the school should improve its communication system.

First of all, at lunchtime students should have cleaner lunch trays. The school has reusable lunch trays, and everyday after lunch, all the cafeteria workers do is rinse the trays. This disgusts me because I know that I'm eating on a lunch tray that has also been used by other people. I would prefer for my school to use plastic throw-away lunch trays, so that students are using fresh clean lunch trays, rather than dirty ones. The food at my school is pretty good, but anyone could lose their appetite if it's on some dirty tray with stains and puddles. This has happened to me and probably happened for many others.

Another problem is that there should be more time between classes. The school is very large and students should have longer to get to class. The school policy of giving detention for being late to class is harsh, and they should at least make longer periods to get to class, if the school enforces the rule. Every 7th period, the 7th graders have to get to the cafeteria. My 7th period class, 221, is right next to the cafeteria. I have to make my way through all the 7th graders to hopefully arrive in time for my 8th period class in 118. Some problems occur where people rush and crash into each other.

The final problem is the school communication. Whenever the office needs to send a message, they annoyingly announce them loudly. This annoys many people, like my English and Reading teacher. One day, my Reading Teacher was analyzing the plot for a story, when the office makes a broadcast to send a student to the Nurse. Another time, my English teacher was talking about important information to study for a quiz, when the office orders a janitor to fix a locker jam. The office should have an efficient system for communicating, and should make all announcements in homeroom. They should only make other announcements for emergencies, like if there's a lock-down drill or the staff need a teacher badly.

My school is still very enjoyable. I enjoy the gym classes and after-school activities like Wind Ensemble and Computer Club. The environment is safe and friendly. Learning new things from school is fun and entertaining. Although my school is excellent, it still has some things to improve: the lunch trays should be stainless, there should be more time for students to get to class, and the school communication could be more efficient. With these improvements, going to school would be a totally pleasant experience, just like visiting a utopia.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Which is More Important: Participating in Sports or Winning? (Draft)

Goal! The Blue Team wins! "Darn!" Red Team grumbles. Have you ever been in the situation of the Red Team before? In sports, people question whether participating in sports or winning a game is more important. Some people think that sports are great if you try and have fun. Others hate to lose and and their only ambition is to win. Losing teams have always complained about being beaten, while their coach tries to persuade them that it doesn't matter who wins or loses, unless everyone has fun. Participating in sports is obviously much more important. Players can learn from their mistakes. Coaches can know if a player is actually trying. And winning too much can get to your head.

First, players can learn from mistakes they make if they lose. Studies show that people learn much more from mistakes than just getting it right the first time. This applies for sports too. If you learn from your mistakes, you'll get better and better. Take this scenario. A goalie in soccer isn't that good. He always lets the ball in. After losing ten straight games in a row, he finally understands the proper way to prevent the ball from coming in. He leads his team to victory. While winning teams do learn how to overcome an opponent, a losing team is learning as much as the winning team is. Losing teams could apply their mistakes and the victorious team's strategy to possibly win next time.

Secondly, the coach can make sure that all the players are trying. For teams that always win, there might be a few slack-offs who don't do anything at all and some players who do all the work. In a team where having fun and participating is important, everyone is contributing to the game and exercising. Participating also promotes teamwrok with other players, to throw a ball to each other or to support someone when he is blocked by the goalie. Take this situation. There's a basketball team that always wins. However, the only reason is because there is one exceptionally good player. The other players always relax and do nothing. However, a different team loses most of the time. But, the team is made up of players who love to play basketball and have fun. Everyone helps score points. Which team do you think is better? In real life, it's true that most teams have some players who never do anything. If participating was held important instead of winning, all the players would contribute to the game.

Finally, winning can get to a player's heads. Some people believe that they'll always win and there's no need to even practice and try. Winning too much could even turn a whole team arrogant. Teams who lose resolve to try better next time and practice more and get better. Winning too much could make a whole team go downhill. Look at this story. A baseball team, let's say team A, is always winning. All the players get cocky and don't even try anymore. Another team, team B, loses several times. Nevertheless, B makes into the finals. They find out that they're versing A. B lost to A before and are determined to try their best. On the big day, A loses the game: 0 to 7. Though this only happens sometimes, it can affect anyone. So, sometimes even losing can help you.

Winning always feels nice. It gives a team satisfaction and proves to them that they're better than the other team. Everyone loves to win. However, participating is much more important than winning. Players learn from mistakes, participate more, and prevents them from getting too egoistical. Think about it. What's really more important: participating and trying your best or winning repeatedly. Next time you attend a sports game, don't think about winning but having fun and doing your part in helping the team.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Should or Should Not Students Wear School Uniforms (Final)

There is a conflict that many kids argue about on whether school uniforms are necessary. While normal schools are lenient on the students, private schools are strict and force students to wear uniforms. I for one support school uniforms for many reasons. By requiring school uniforms, no one can make fun of your clothes. Getting uniforms for a school ensures that students to look the same. Enforcing school uniforms also eliminates any inappropriate clothes and the dress code.
First, giving school uniforms to the students takes away the chance that anybody would be made fun of for their clothes. Normally, some teasing involves students being made fun of for having "uncool" clothes, like clothes that are old or have dull colors. Requiring school uniforms allows everyone to have the same clothes and eliminates teasing. With everyone wearing the same garment, no one else has to ever worry about whether they'll get bullied for what they wear.
Enforcing a school uniform rule not only eliminates teasing, but also allows students to all look the same. This allows students not to be judged by how they look, but by their knowledge, personality, and their character. It would also change the way people look at how "popular" someone is.
Finally, giving students uniforms avoids the chance of students coming to school in inappropriate clothes. Uniforms also removes the dress code, a school rule that lists what you can wear and what you can't wear. By choosing uniforms for every student, the school will no longer have to worry about whether kids will break the dress code.
Therefore, I think it's important that schools insist on student uniforms. Dressing everyone the same eliminates bullies. It allows everyone to be judged from the inside. At the same time it makes the tedious dress code unnecessary. Every school should have school uniforms.

What is Better: A City or a Suburb? (Draft)

When someone is moving, they ponder: should I move to a city or a suburb? Well first of all, you may be wondering what cities and suburbs are. According to dictionary. com, cities are major metropolitan centers of regions; while suburbs are districts lying immediately outside a city or town, especially a smaller residential community. When you compare them with each other, they have many differences.
Then comes whether city or a suburb is a better place to live in. A suburb is a much better place to live in. There are many reasons why, including that the air in suburbs is cleaner, suburbs are less crowded, and it's safer in suburbs.
First, suburbs have cleaner air. In cities, the air is polluted from factories excreting greenhouse gases and cars ejecting waste, and there's hardly any trees to let out oxygen. Most suburbs are abundant with trees, with almost no factories and harmful gas from cars. If you stay outside a whole day in a city and a suburb smelling the air, you'll sense a large difference. Suburbs are a lot cleaner.
The next reason is suburbs aren't crowded. Many people, including me, are claustrophobic, meaning that we're afraid of being in enclosed and narrow places. Cities are heavily populated, so it's very easy to get lost. In the suburbs, everything is spread out and moving around is a lot easier and safer. You'll have a lot more privacy. This also reduces the chance of somehow losing your way.
Finally, there's more safety in suburbs. In cities, many robberies and kidnappings take place. A city's high population makes it more likely to have crimes than a suburb. If you don't believe this statement, take a look at the news. People who live in a city and are scared of being robbed or kidnapped, should definitely consider moving to a suburb.
A suburb is a much better place to be. Although a city isn't too bad, suburbs are the right choice. Suburbs are nice and clean, not so crowded, and are a lot safer than cities. If you ever come in contact with a choice between moving to a city or a suburb, you know the right thing to do.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Things That Will Make My School Better (Draft)

I just moved to a new school district with a very good reputation. In my opinion, it is even better than the district I used to live in. Although I attend a good school, there are many things that could be ameliorated.
Some of them are, the lunch trays should be cleaner, there should be more time to get to class, and the school should improve its communication system.
First of all, at lunchtime students should have better lunch trays. The school has reusuable lunch trays. Everyday after lunch, all the cafeteria workers do is rinse the trays. This disgusts me because I know that I'm eating on a lunch tray that has also been used by other people. I would prefer for my school to use plastic throw-away lunch trays, so that students are using fresh clean lunch trays, rather than dirty ones.
Another problem is that there should be more time between classes. The school is very large and students should have a longer limit to get to class. The school policy of giving anyone a detention for being late to class is harsh, and if the school enforces the rule, they should at least make longer periods to get to class.
The final problem is the school communication. Whenever the office needs to make a message, they announce loud broadcasts. This annoys many people, like my English and Reading teacher. I believe the office should have an efficient system for communicating and should make all announcements in homeroom and only make other announcements for emergencies, like if there's a lock-down drill or the staff need a teacher badly.
In conclusion, although my school is excellent, it still has some things to improve: the lunch trays should be less dirty, there should be more time for students to get to class, and the school communication could be more efficient. If these issues are improved, the school would be a lot better.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Are Computers Good or Bad for Society? (Final)

Each day, millions of people use computers for many reasons. Adults use them in work; kids use them to play. The computer is a favorite for many people around the world, including me. However, there's controversy about computers. Are they good or bad for our society? This depends, as computers are good and bad for the society for many reasons.
First, computers can be good for researching anything you want to know. There are many powerful search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Wikipedia. The internet also boasts fast dictionaries, thesauruses, and encyclopedias. People often search for movie and book plots, reference items, and random things that they want to know if they're curious. I go on the computer to search up information all the time. Personally, when I don't know something, I immediately look it up on the internet. Therefore, the computer can be extremely valuable to our society.
However, computers can also be bad as you can become addicted to them. Many games such as RPGs (Role Playing Games), like Runescape and Adventure Quest, are created to hypnotize you to play them all the time. Becoming addicted to the computer can be very bad as it will make you want to stay on the computer forever. The game time is fun, but it can also be a waste of precious time you can use to read a book or study for a test and divert your attention away from what you're supposed to be doing. Glaring at the computer may, like a rumor said, damage your eyes. I believe the rumor is true and I think that one shouldn't play too much on the computer.
Therefore, computers are beneficial and harmful to you. Computers can be used to research many things, but it can also drag you into your own spell of playing and never let you out. Overall, computers are still good for society. In order to have a good and unharmful time on the computer, you should research wisely and have a limited playing time. Following these rules, you'll have a great time on computer.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Should or Should Not Students Wear School Uniforms?(Draft)

There's a conflict that many kids argue about. It's a controversy on whether school uniforms are necessary. While regular schools are more lenient on the students, private schools are more strict and force the students to wear uniforms. I for one support school uniforms for many reasons. By using school uniforms, no one can make fun of your clothes. This allows everyone to be the same. Enforcing school uniforms also eliminates any inappropriate clothes and the dress code.
Firstly, giving school uniforms to the students takes away the chance that anybody would be made fun of for their clothes. Normally, some teasing involves someone making fun of someone else for having "uncool" clothes. Giving school uniforms allows everyone to have the same clothes and therefore eliminates the teasing.
Enforcing a school uniform rule not only eliminates teasing, but also allows students to all be the same. This could eliminate bullying in many schools. The rule could also take away the controversy of who's "popular" and who's "unpopular". Giving students uniforms also lets teachers order students up more easily.
Finally, giving students uniforms takes away the chance of students coming to school in inappropriate clothes. Uniforms also removes the dress code from the school rules. By choosing uniforms for every student, the school will no longer have to worry about whether kids will break the dress code.
Therefore, I think it's important that schools give uniforms to their students. By dressing everyone the same, it eliminates bullies. At the same time it makes the tedious dress code unnecessary. In conclusion, every school should use school uniforms.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Are Computers Good or Bad for Society? (Draft)

Everyday, millions of people use computers for many reasons. Adults use it in work, kids use it to play. The computer is a favorite for many people around the world, including me. However, there's controversy about computers. Are they good or bad for society? This depends, as computers are good and bad for society in many reasons.
Firstly, computers can be good for researching anything you want to know. There are many important search sites like Google, Yahoo, and Wikipedia. The computer also contains a fast dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedia. Things people mostly look up are movie and book plots, reference items (word definition, thesaurus meanings, items in the encyclopedia) and random things that people want to if they're curious. I go on the computer to search up information all the time, as well as some other people. Personally, when I don't know something, I immediately look it up on the computer. Therefore, the computer the computer can be extremely important to the society.
However, computers can also be bad as they can make you get addicted to them. Many games such as RPGs (Role Playing Games), like Runescape and Adventure Quest, are created to make you want to play them all the time and many players soon get addicted to them. Getting addicted to the computer can be very bad as it'll make you want to play all the time. The game time is fun, but also a waste of precious time you have to read a book or study for a test and it diverts your attention away from what you're supposed to be doing. Getting addicted also gets you involved in the common rumor that computers damage your eyes. I believe it's true and I think that one shouldn't play too much computer.
Therefore, computers are beneficial and harmful to you. Although computers can be used to research many things, but it can also drag you into your own spell of playing and never let you out. Overall, computers are still good for society. In order to have a good and unharmful time on the computer, you should research wisely and have a limited time playing. Following these rules, you'll have a great time on computer.

Abraham Lincoln Reborn in the 21st Century (Final)

What would happened if Abraham Lincoln suddenly woke up one day in 2008, about 150 years after his assassination? What would he do when he sees all the new things around him and wonders about the strange, new world he woke up to? When he wakes up, his first reaction is probably to try to get to the White House as it's his priority to get there, as he thinks he's still president. However, there are some things that will distract him...
When Abraham Lincoln wakes up, he'll immediately think about reporting for duty. However, he'll soon give up that thought when he realizes that he's buried in a coffin and that he's stiff. Assuming he does escape his coffin with several layers of concrete, he'll be musing about where he is. By walking around, he'll realize that he's in his tomb and that he rose from the dead. He'll probably be excited that he's back in the living world. He'll soon step out into the world and be very surprised.
Lincoln will see a world using electricity and more advanced than the ancient period he lived in. Lincoln will have many reactions. First, Lincoln will be extremely surprised by modern technology. He might start playing with a remote, turn lights on and off, and play with plugs. He'll run around, surprised at the new modern world. After that excitement, he would eventually get used to electronics. Some will have their doubts about Lincoln, while others will be asking him for his autograph. After he gets over the strange, new world, he'll be rushing over to the White House to see what happened to his presidential position.
Soon, the word will go out and newspapers and TV reporters will swarm to Washington D.C. to see what happened and ask all sorts of questions like "What's death like?" Abraham Lincoln will soon go to the White House and demand entrance. The guards will probably refuse, so he'll just ask for a ticket with old American money and dash off, before the attendant says anything. He'll soon run to the Oval Office and see a stranger, George Bush, doing his job. He'll go and ask Bush what happened, but will probably be taken away by security. However, if the government does bother to take DNA tests, it will prove that Lincoln is who he claims he is.
Finally, when Lincoln settles down, he'll watch TV and stumble upon the Democratic Campaign and see Barrack Obama, a black man, as the nominee. Remembering everything he did in his past life for equality and to stop slavery, he'll cheer and party and try to meet Barrack Obama in person to endorse him. Lincoln will later find out many other things while he's watching TV. He'll find out about the Iraq War and try to stop it. He'll also be concerned about Global Warming and do his part in saving the planet. But, most of his excitement will be focused on the 2008 election. He'll finally know that everyone treats everyone else equally and there's no more slavery.
After that, he'll be accepted into the world and given money. He'll also be given lectures about what happened during his death. When all that confusion is over, he'll wonder about his friends and family and how he came alive. The press will probably flock into his house, he'll be made into a celebrity, and will be given bodyguards to protect him from future assassins. He'll soon be instantly made to a senator. However, while Lincoln is alive, he'll probably never be considered normal and will get many tourists visiting him. In the future however, he'll die like normal people, but for a second time.
This is probably what would happen once Lincoln came back to life. He would be surprised by the modern world around him. He would see that the world was equal from watching Barrack Obama being the Democratic nominee. Lincoln would be confused, pleased, and happy. Nothing is impossible and this might actually be happening right now.

Abraham Lincoln Emerges in the 21st Century (Draft)

What happened if Abraham Lincoln suddenly woke up one day in 2008, about 150 years after his assassination? What would he do when he sees all the new things around him and wonder about the strange, new world he woke up from his death? When he wakes up, his first reaction is probably trying to get to the White House as it's his priority to get there, as he thinks he's still president. However, there's a few things that will distract him...
When Abraham Lincoln wakes up, he'll immediately think about reporting for his duty. However, he'll soon forget that when he sees that he's buried in a coffin and that he's stiff. Assuming he does escape his coffin with several layers of concrete, he'll be wondering where he is. By walking around, he'll realize that he's in his tomb and that he rose from the dead. He'll probably be excited that he's back in the world. He'll soon step out into the world and be in a big surprise.
Soon, he'll realize that the ancient period he lived in has transformed into a highly populated world using electricity. He'll soon be curious on what happened and goes around asking people what happened during his death. Soon, people near the cemetery will notice that the tomb is open and a stranger who resembles Lincoln is near the cemetery asking about things anyone living in the 21st century should know. Some will have their doubts, while others will be asking Lincoln for his autograph. After he gets over the strange, new world, he'll be rushing over to the White House to see what happened to his presidential position.
Soon, the word will go out and newspapers and TV reporters will swarm to Washington D.C. to see what happened and ask all sorts of questions like "What's death like?" Abraham Lincoln will soon go to the White House and demand entrance. The guards will probably refuse, so he'll just simply buy a ticket with old American money and dash off, before the attendant says anything. He'll soon dash to the Oval Office and see a stranger, George Bush, doing his job. He'll go and ask Bush what happened, but will probably be taken away by security. However, if the government does bother to take DNA tests. It will prove that Lincoln is who he says he is.
After that, he'll be accepted into the world and given money and information about what happened during his death. When all that confusion is over, he'll wonder about his friends and family and how he came alive. The press will probably flock into his house, he'll be made into a celebrity, and will be given bodyguards to protect him from future assassins. He'll soon be made instantly to a senator. However, while Lincoln is alive, he'll probably never be considered normal and will get many tourists visiting him. In the future however, he'll die like normal people, but twice.
Lincoln will later find out many things while he's watching TV. He'll find out about the Iraq War and urge to stop it. He'll also be concerned about Global Warming and do his part in saving the planet. Most of his excitement will be focused on the 2008 election, when he finds out that Barrack Obama was elected as the Democratic candidate for the election. He'll finally know that everyone treats everyone else equally.
This is probably what will happen once Lincoln comes back alive. He'll mostly be curious about what happened and then be made into a star. Nothing's impossible and this might actually be happening right now.