PLN #20

For my twentieth and final PLN I read an article titled "I'm a Slave to My Keyboard" on Cornils'21C blog where it talks mainly about how teachers need to find new and improved ways to teach their students, as well as about how everyone needs to learn how to manage their time in a better way

My Comment:
Dear Cornils,
You make some very interesting points in your blog and I definitely agree with a lot of what you say. It's very interesting that teachers are always trying to get one step ahead which does make sense, if teachers were to teach the same things over and over every year the same way it wouldn't be nearly as effective as using new and creative things would be. As a high school student myself I don't really see what teachers have to go through in order to come up with a creative way to teach their students something. You also talk about managing your time in a well fashioned matter. I think that everyone needs to manage their time in an efficient way as to not spend so much time on one thing that you don't finish another thing.

PLN #19

For my nineteenth PLN I read an article titled "Reflections" that I found on Mrs. Moritz's blog mainly talking about how when she hands back papers or assignments to her students instead of reading the content and comments she gave them to improve on they immediately flipped to their grade and then threw the paper away. She talks about why she thinks students do this and possible ways to improve on it.

My Comment:
Mrs. Moritz I think you made some very interesting points in your blog and I think most of the things you say are probably true. As a high school student myself, I can openly admit that I do indeed flip straight to the grade whenever I get a paper or assignment back. It’s not that I don’t care about the content and the teacher’s comments but to me the grade is much more important than the content. Even though looking at the content and what teachers have to say will most likely improve our writing, for some reason we seem not to care and kind of just assume that we’ll do better next time instead of sitting down, reading the comments and trying to improve our work. I can’t answer why it is most students do that, but a possible way to make them read the content you could offer points back or extra credit to kids if they re-write the paper making the corrections you pointed out for them. I can’t think of any other possible way to make students actually read the comments you give them. Another possibility would be to require students to come in and see you privately to talk about what they did wrong and reward them with ten points or so for doing that.

PLN #18

For my eighteenth PLN I decided to read an article titled "Beginnings..." on Cheryl's blog. I found the article very interesting as Cheryl talked about how she teacher sophomores and having a sophomore sun she sees the stress they go through and decides to cut down on homework, trying to create a balance between school and regular life.

My Comment:

You make some very interesting points in your blog and I think you have some very good ideas on how to improve the productivity of your students and not make their life so stressful, but have them learning at the same time. As a high school student myself I know that it can indeed be a very stress filled life with all of the homework given along with after school activities. I think that it is a fantastic idea to give your students no homework over the weekend, allowing them to refresh and come back on Monday rested and rearing to go and learn. Giving your students no homework over the weekend also allows them to concentrate more in class and will most likely absorb and learn what you’re teaching a lot better. I think that it is also a very good idea to assign your students a certain number of minutes they have to read each night, that way they don’t wait until the last minute to read it and then rush through it and don’t even understand the book.

PLN #18

For my eighteenth PLN I read an article titled "I'm taking a stand!" by LGaffney on her personal blog. Her post mainly talks about how when she assignees reading assignments to her class some of her students struggle on the quizzes even though they read the book.

My Comment:
Some pretty interesting stuff you bring up in your blog. I definitely agree with some of the things you noticed and talked about in your post. First off I want to start by saying that I myself am a high school student and although I do usually read the chapters that we are assigned in class I do still struggle to answer all of the questions on the quiz correctly. There always seems to be that one or two questions that just slip my mind when we are taking the quiz over each chapter, or sometimes I just do not pick something up that the quiz is asking. I think maybe instead of giving quizzes to each individual person maybe give a partner quiz or a group quiz. Or instead of giving a quiz at all teachers could give a group project, that way you can tell if they read the book as well as add some creativity to their work and the students that did in fact read the book won’t be punished or have their grade lowered just because they forgot a question.

For my seventeenth PLN I read an article titled "Retakes" that I found on Roger's personal blog. The article mostly talks about how a teacher is now offering all of his students to make up any of their tests or quizzes that they took in class for partial credit.

My Comment:
Hey Roger I think you definitely make some very interesting comments and suggestions to your students and on how they can improve their test grades. I think it’s a good idea to allow students to re-take their tests and quizzes because then it motivates them to actually come in and figure out what they did wrong instead of just accepting the grade they got and never learning anything from their mistakes. I honestly can’t see why a student wouldn’t want to make up a test that you’re willing to give them credit on especially if they got a bad grade on it. It’s definitely a good idea to allow students to make up tests and quizzes and I’m sure your students are learning more than they would if your didn’t allow them to make them up.

PLN #16

For my sixteenth PLN I read an article called "Quiet Student" that I found on Kristen's blog. The article mainly talked about how and English teacher doesn't really know how to handle students that are quiet during her Socratic seminars. This is what I had to say about it.

My Comment:

I think you make some very interesting points about both sides of the situation, and being a high school student myself I understand what it is like to participate in a Socratic seminar in class. Whenever my teacher’s do decide to hold a Socratic seminar I usually try to participate and contribute to the conversation as much as I can. There are however, as you mentioned always some students that for whatever reason choose not to participate. I don’t think it’s because they’re bad students or don’t have an opinion on the subject. It is more likely that they’re just shy or timid about sharing their opinions. I think what you are doing right now is probably the right thing to do and the easiest way to make sure your students are understanding what you’re talking about in class without having to force them to participate or embarrass them. I would however maybe talk to them privately or before class about why they’re not participating and set a goal for them to maybe talk two or three times in order to break them out of their shyness because in most jobs they’ll eventually have to speak up publicly and speak in front of other people and what better place to practice it but in front of their classmates in high school.

PLN reflection #2

I definitely think I did much better on my second PLN presentation than I did on my first one. I made much better eye contact than before and I was a lot more prepared on what I was going to say. I practiced before giving my presentation and went over what I needed to say in my head.

PLN #15

Today for my fifteenth PLN I read an article titled "Becoming a Better Teacher" by Drape, basically telling about how teachers can become better teachers by using creativity and knew methods of teaching.


This is what I had to say:

As being a student my self I definitely agree with just about every single point that is on that list. It is the student’s job to come into the classroom everyday expecting to learn, be taught, take notes, and study for quizzes and be the best overall student that they can be. It is the teacher’s job to come into the classroom everyday and be prepared with something to teach the students about and create a learning environment for their students. It is also the teacher’s job to help their students in most ways possible and to make sure and assist them in maintaining the information that they will need for next year and to move on in life. As a student I most likely do not understand what it is like being a teacher but I can imagine that it wouldn’t be very easy to teach thirty to forty students five or six different times a day. Not only do they have to do that but they also have to do it in such a way as to make it creative and interesting for the students. I think it is a good thing that most teachers are open to new ideas on how to teach things as to not bore their students as well as most likely themselves. It is also good because as the times change, teaching changes. We don’t still talk about the same stuff in school as we did fifty years ago, or even when my parents were still in school. Now, my parents don’t even understand any of the stuff I’m doing in math but they can do the same problem in a different way but their way is much harder. Why is the way I’m learning now so much easier? Because teachers have adapted to new, more efficient and creative ways of teaching.

PLN #14

For my fourteenth PLN I read and commented on The Fischbowl blog on an article titled "Another Shift?". It talked about some very interesting things about how America can improve on cutting down on gasoline prices. It also stated that other countries have already started to use these means of cutting down on oil prices such as: electric cars that charge over night and windmills.


My Comment:
You make some very interesting points in this post. I definitely agree with you that the United States needs to start thinking about what we are going to do about rising gas prices now. Why wait? What is America waiting for? Sooner or later the gasoline supply is in fact going to run out, and where will we be when it happens? How prepared will we be? Where will we stand economically? The things you mention above are fantastic ideas and I think we should begin using them immediately. As you also mention some of the other countries in the world have already begin to use those great ideas. The United States needs to get with the program and begin to use these ideas in order to pull away from the "rest of the crowd" like we do in so many other areas.

PLN #13

For my thirteenth PLN I read an article called "Phoning it in" from T Sale's blog. I found this article extremely interesting and some of the things he had to say made me really think about how technology and students could easily be combined to make learning a simpler, faster, and easier process.

My Comment:
Wow, it’s really amazing what some of the students in high school are doing today. I myself am a high school student and I find this extremely interesting. Usually when I see phones out or other electronic devices they are being used to fool around or not being used properly. It’s very intriguing that this particular student decided to use his iPhone in order to help him with his school work instead of using it the wrong way. In my opinion I think just about every teacher is afraid or lenient on letting their students use technology like this because they think students are going to be distracted or not use the technology in order to improve their school work. I think this little incident shows that not all students use technology in a bad way, and if instructed most students would use it the right way. Why not give students a chance with it? If successful this would most likely speed up the learning process of most students and would eliminate teachers from having to answer questions that would take a simple trip to Google.

PLN #12

Today I read an article called "Boulder Police Arrest 3 Students in Drug Case" by Annette Espinoza of The Denver Post. The article basically told about how Boulder policemen recently arrested three juveniles on April fourth after receiving some complaints from officials at Nevin Platte Middle school. It was reported that the students had brought proscriptive drugs to school to share and swap with other students. The drugs that were used were called Strattera and Concerta that are used to treat and order called ADHD. One of the girls who took one of the pills went home sick after trying it. Two of the students have been charged with distribution and possession of a schedule II controlled substance and unlawful acts while the third was charged with possession of a controlled substance and unlawful act. It was rather shocking that these harsh of measures were taken, but it is definitely a good thing and will hopefully teach these students a lesson. The girl who had taken the pill was later taken to the hospital and released by her grandparents.

What Matters: I think what matters from this article is the fact that these students would want to do this to themselves and put themselves in this sort of situation. Instead of taking such harsh disciplinary action why not sit down and have a serious talk with these kids about why they did what they did? I personally think that would be much more effective than punishing them.

How this Affects Me: I think this affects me as well as the rest of the teenager population, it's things like this that ruin kid's lives. While I do support some kind of discipline to be handed out I do not think that that's nearly as effective as sending the kid to a counselor or someone like that. I also think that these school should be doing more than they are currently doing to cut back on things like this.

PLN #11

I recently decided to read an article titled "Carmelo Anthony: I'm Going to Man up for my Mistake" by Rocky Mountain News for my eleventh PLN. The Denver Nuggets basketball star was recently arrested on Monday morning under suspicion of driving under the influence. Anthony recently stated in a press conference "It's kind of bad timing right now due to the playoffs for this to happen. It's totally unacceptable. I'm going to man up for my mistake". Anthony stated that he was very sorry to his family, the fans, and most of all his teammates and for the distraition he brought to the franchise especially since the playoffs are coming up.

What Matters: I think what matters from this article is all of the stuck up athletes that we have in professional sports today. If you think about it, it is kind of ridiculous how athletes act not only in public, but also on the court. They seem very humble and respectful until they sign or get drafted to a professional team and start making seven number salaries. Then it seems that they are on top of the world and seem to become oblivious to how they act or what they do.

How this Affects Me: I think this affects me as well as every young, inspiring athlete. When the athletes we look up to and admire do something like this, what are we supposed to think? Do the athletes even care what they are putting into the minds of their young fans? It is definitely a bad situation for Carmelo but hopefully he can bounce back and redeem himself, the right way.

PLN #10

For my tenth PLN I read a very interesting article titled "College Students Lobby to Carry guns" by The Denver Post basically telling about how collage students want to be able to carry arms on campus in order to protect themselves. Collage students who feel that they are powerless against against attacks involving guns are attempting to push legislators as well as school administrators to allow them to arm themselves. A thirty year old senior at the University of Denver and a member of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus stated that students at CU-Colorado Springs and CU-Boulder will join in a national demonstration on April 22 through the 25th wearing empty gun holsters. Students hope that this will show that students are defenseless at school.

What Matters: I think what matters from this article is that these students are not thinking this whole situation through. It is very easy to see why these students would want to be armed with all of the recent school shootings, it would probably give most a sense of security. But to me allowing thousands of kids to carry around a weapon is just plain crazy. Students get into fights all of the time, and if they have an armed weapon close by, what is to stop them from using it? Allowing students to carry around weapons would most likely create more havoc and distress than it would take away.

How this Affects Me: This definitely affects me, as well as the rest of the high school and collage students especially since I live in the state of Colorado. If this is somehow passed and allowed I can honestly say I would feel unsafe attending one of those universities. I can not imagine every student on campus walking around with an armed weapon. It would almost encourage destruction and killings. What happens when two or more students get into a heated argument and the guns get pulled out?

PLN presentation reflection

I think I did a fairly good job with my presentation. I think I did some things well, and I think I did some things that I could improve on next time. Some things I think I did well were: being prepared with note cards, summarizing my articles, and coming up with a good question. Some things I think I could have done better were making more eye contact and not relying on my note cards as much. I will definitely try to improve on these areas of flaws on my next PLN presentation.

PLN #9

For my 9th PLN I decided to read an article called "Ritter Signs Cheap Textbook Bill" by The Associated Press telling about how collage students can now buy their books for much cheaper. The Senate Bill 73 now requires publishers to tell teachers the prices that the students will have to pay for their textbooks. Also, if professors ask for textbooks including CD-ROMs they can now be bought in bundles. Publishers must also now tell teachers if the newer version of their book has any new, important information in them that the students will need, opening up more opportunity for students to buy used textbooks. Senator Ron Tupa a democratic Representative stated that this will now save collage students hundreds of dollars each and every year.

What Matters: I think what matters is the fact that our government is making positive steps to help out our collage students that are already making sacrifices and paying large amounts of money to attend their collage. These kids are going to be the next generation of America and going to run the world some day so why not encourage them to continue collage and help them out a little bit? In fact, there should be more bills passed like this and soon. It could be a simple bill like this that can help students attend collage and get a good,and proper education.

How this Affects Me: I think this bill and article relate to me, as well as every other high school student in the United States. With collage only a couple years away it is important to start thinking about it now and help the up and coming collage students.

PLN #8

For my eighth PLN I read an articled titled "Sharpie Boy, 8, Suspended" telling how an eight year old boy continuously sniffed the fumes of a sharpie marker. The principal of Harris Park Elementary school originally gave a three day suspension but was recently lowered to one after re-assessing the situation. The principal, Chris Benisch said the suspension was given because the eight year old boy repeatedly kept sniffing the sharpie marker. John Harris, the boys father said school officials assumed the boy has huffing or inhaling fumes from the marker during a writing class. Deb Haviland, a school district spokesmen stated that the marker was "enormous" and that after this incident the district may have to re-think their current guidelines concerning the kinds of writing utensils allowed to students.

What Matters: I think what matters from this article is that a student like this could be so stupid to think it is O.K. to inhale or smell the very dangerous fumes of a large sharpie marker and then for his father to stand up for him. To me, that makes no sense and if it were my kid he would be getting punished. In my opinion the school was just trying to protect the kid and teach him a lesson, as well as teaching the rest of the students a lesson. It was also just a one day suspension, bid deal. All in all I think the suspension helped the kid as well as the rest of the children attending the school.

How this Affects Me: I think situations like this affect me as well as the entire kid population. It is little situations like this that define how kids are going to react to being offered drugs in the future so why not take a great opportunity like this and set an example to all of the kids attending the elementary school? If I were in the same shoes as the principal I would have done the exact same thing, if not given a harsher punishment.

PLN #7

I recently read an article called "Teacher OK'd Beating of Tardy Student" by Associated Press mainly telling about how a high school English teacher allowed students to beat up on a kid that was late to his class. The teacher, named Brian Havel is twenty-two years of age now faces charges of child abuse which occurred on March 14th. Police began investigation after the student (who is about 15 or 16) complained to his parents about the abuse. Students reported that Havel demanded that tardy students do a certain amount of sit-ups and push-ups in a certain amount of time when late for class. Students also said that a student said they should be allowed to hit him if he didn't complete the exercise in the set time, and Havel allowed it. Fortunately the student received no injuries and the case is now being handled by the Delta District Tourney's office.

What Matters: I think what matters from this article is that a teacher is stupid enough to allow his students to hit a student and on top of it force him to perform physical tasks instead of giving a simple detention. I can not seem to see what was running through this teachers head when he OK'd students to hit another one. Did he honestly think that he would not get in trouble? Because to me, that is amazingly stupid.

How This Affects Me: I think this article affects me as well as every other student in the United States. I personally have never had a teacher do something like this to me, or any of my classmates but you never really know. Maybe the teacher was having a bad day that influenced his decisions or a personal problem, you never really know. Even if he was having problems that definitely does not give him permission to allow the things that he did.

PLN #6

For my sixth PLN I decided to read an article titled " Snowboarders Finally get Welcome at Taos Ski Resort" by Jason Belvis. This article mainly told about how Tao's, a fifty-three year old resort just ended their probation preventing snowboarders from snowboarding on their resort. Thousands of snowboarders came to celebrate the dismiss of the prevention that is now only valid in Utah's Deer Valley as well as in Vermont's Mad River Glen. The Blake family who owns the resort has owned it since 1995 when Ernie Blake invited skiers to visit the resort. Now, three generations later the resort has opened their mountain to snowboarders in hopes to boost visits to their resort.



What Matters: I think what matters from this article is the simple fact that this is sort of prejudice. In my opinion I think that it is wrong for a ski resort to deny certain people just because they ski down the mountain differently. I think that it is just plain wrong for people to deny people admission to a place just because of a bad experience they've had or heard about snowboarders.

How This Affects Me: This affects me as well as the rest of the snowboarding and skiing population. I myself ski and even I, a skier thinks this is wrong and not right. It is good that the ski resort finally decided to open their doors to the snowboarding population but why so long? I mean thirty years? To me, that is ridiculous and it should have been opened long ago.

PLN #5

I just finished reading an article titled "Ground Broken for Ethanol Plant" by The Associated Press mainly telling about the construction of a new ethanol plant to help with the surging gas prices. Just this week the construction for the United States sixth ethanol plant has begun to find opportunities to the always increasing prices of gasoline that are at nearly $110 per barrel. "I truly believe that the way Prowers County thinks about renewable energy is not just the future of the state but so much the future of the country," said Liquidmaze one of the small and few companies that manages small-scale ethanol. The plant will cost roughly twenty-four million dollars and will be Liquidmaize's first plant in the state of Colorado.

What Matters: I think what matters from this piece of writing is the simple fact that we can not rely on gas forever. It is eventually going to run out and what is the United States going to do then? It is great that we are coming up with solutions but I believe that we need to step up the anty and produce more effort to find a good solution for fossil fuels. Ethanol is great, but we only have six plants in the entire United States compared to gasoline plants six is absolutely pathetic.

How This Affects Me: Running out of gas not only affects me, but the entire rest of the population as well. When we run out, we run out. There is nothing we can do to produce more fossil fuels when it is all gone. We need to step up to the plate and deliver more support to ethanol providing company's. Maybe we could start a bunch of ethanol providing company's all over the U.S. and/or require car company's to sell so many ethanol running cars. I know running out of gas is not our main concern but why wait? What do we have to lose by begging to use them now? If anything, it will help to start using them now, we can see what flaws there are in using them.

PLN #4

For my fourth PLN I decided to read an article called "Absentee Students Get a Surprise Visit" by Annette Espinoza basically telling how North High School parents, teachers, and staff have started doing "Neighborhood walk campaigns" where they go into a certain neighborhood and go door-to-door encouraging drop outs to return to school. Since performing the campaigns the overall absence rate has increased by twenty-one percent. This campaign was the second one held this month as the North High principal has realized the urgency to get these kids back in school. "We want these kids to know that North cares" said Marvis Cain, one of the school's counselors. North High has recently started a program called Credit Recovery where students can stay after school to make up or finish assignments.

What Matters: I think what matters from this article is that not just kids at North High are dropping out and quitting school but all over the country kids are dropping out. The government needs a take extreme action and get these kids back into school as soon as possible. There should be a new and improved requiring kids to complete high school. Twenty to thirty years ago it was rare for kids to go to collage so high school wasn't really thought of as normal to complete either but now almost all kids go to collage so I think that all kids should at least complete high school.

How This Affects Me: I think this continues drop out rate is affecting me as well as the rest of the kids in America. The less number of kids that go to high school, the less number of kids go to collage. If less kids in America are getting a collage education then it will be easier for those that do to get into a good collage but it is also causing many companies to move over seas leaving less jobs for those that do make it through collage. So it is sort of like an on going circle causing more and more companies to move their work over seas leaving less jobs for us. So in order to stop this never ending circle kids need to acquire more support to stay in school or they need to be forced to stay in school.

PLN #3 (2nd SM)

For my third PLN I decided to read an article titled "A little chew for thought" by Susan Greene mainly telling how about school across the state are providing minty fresh gum for their kids during CSAP week. Karen Quanbeck, the principal at Golden's Ralston Elementary school spent fifty-two dollars on hopes of boosting student test scores on standardized tests. Some educators say that according to studies chewing gum enhances brain activity and raises concentration during test-taking. J.R. Dunn an eight grade English teacher at Evergreen Middle School said "Gum makes kids happy, and happy kids usually do well on tests." Tim Adams, a Denver pediatrician and dentists says there is no dental downside to chewing gum and sees no health issues with it.

What Matters: I think what matters from this article is two things. One is if this is possibly a way to sort of "cheat"? Two is if this really does help boost students thinking ability should they make it mandatory for students to chew gum during standardized tests? Or maybe even during all tests. I think they should diffidently look into this a lot more and truly find out if this does or doesn't help. If it does help then I think either everyone should use it or no-one should use it because since these tests are supposed to be as fair as possible chewing gum could diffidently be an easy advantage thus making it unfair.

How This Affects Me: I think this affects me as well as every other kid that takes these standardized tests in the country. If a kid at another school is provided with gum and it is helping him and boosting his test score this is extremely wrong because collages are starting to look at CSAP scores and basing kids entries on those as well as grades. So, if me and another student have the same grades but he gets accepted because he has higher CSAP scores because he chews gum then that's wrong and unfair.

I found Poem

I found Poem



Pack your six senses for a wonderful journey,
The advantage is undeniable
You’ll need motivation
You’ll need split decision making
Know that the bar has been raised,
So reserve some respect

You’ll be doing amazing things
And enjoying the thrill
Remember not all treasures are hidden

You’ll endure extreme vulgarity and taunting
But this is a chance to redeem yourself
People don’t decide to become extraordinary,
They decide to accomplish extraordinary things

Call for help without saying a word
It’s very hard to win
Dispel some hurt and pain
Without any creativity and funniness
Can you endure?
I can breath now
In timeless traditions

PLN #2

I recently read an article titled "Traffic breaks for hybrid cars aren't too far down the road" by Jeffery Leib from The Denver Post. The article basically tells about how owners of hybrid cars can apply as early as May 1 to get a sticker allowing them to drive with no passenger in high-occupancy vehicle and high-occupancy toll lanes at no cost in the state of Colorado. The state of Colorado will only allow a total of 2,000 stickers given out of 17,000 hybrid owners. Current rules only allow hybrid cars on interstate 25, U.S. 36, and South Santa Fe Drive in Metro Denver and Colorado 82 between Aspen and Glenwood Springs.

What Matters: I think what matters from this article is that Colorado as well as the entire United States are taking small, but steady steps to getting rid of oil running machines to more efficient hybrid machines. Obviously using fossil fuels isn't good for the environment or the atmosphere and ozone layer. So why continue using them when we have a perfect and clear solution? America and Colorado should continue on their path to using more and more hybrid cars. It's very pleasing and reassuring to see that our government cares about the future and what's going to happen when we run out of fossil fuels.

How this Affects Me: This diffidently affects me but it also affects the rest of America and even the entire world. If we continue to use fossil fuels it will not only hurt and diminish the atmosphere and ozone layer but it will leave us with nothing to use to run cars and other various machines. So, I think we should start using as many hybrid cars as we can and as many non-fuel machines as we can. It would not only help our environment but help us test it more to see problems and things to fix before it's too late and we're out of fossil fuels.

PLN #1 (2nd semester)

Today I read an article titled "Skier killed after she hit tree at Mary Jane" by Kirk Mitchell basically telling about how a thirty nine year old women was killed after hitting a tree at Winter Park. It was reported that the women went unconscious at 9:02a.m. Ski patrols acted almost immediately giving the women CPR while transporting her to Seven Mile Clinic which was located at the base of the ski resort. Later, at roughly 9:30 the women was pronounced dead. An investigation of the cause of death is underway. This women was the tenth skier killed on Colorado slopes just this year and half of those by trees.

What Matters: What matters from this particular article is that people are dying and getting killed for a stupid reason. What is it going to take to tighten up the safety and security of innocent skiers? I think a realistic goal should be set and small steps taken to increase the safety of skiers and snowboarders. Maybe all skiers should be ordered to wear a helmet of put a wall of safety pads along heavily treed areas. I'm not quite sure of what needs to be done but I am sure that something does need to be done, and fast.

How this Affects Me: This not only affects me but many other people as well. I ski a lot during ski season and after reading this article I am diffidently going to be cautious and aware of my surroundings next time I go skiing. It is silly to think that something as stupid as a tree can kill a person but after reading this article I can see now that a lot of things can kill you while skiing and not just trees. Even just hitting another person or a small rock can send you tumbling down a mountain to your death. The safety level should be increased big time. When I go skiing I just about never see any ski patrol around so how are they supposed to know if someone is injured? Unless someone skis all the way down to tell them there's pretty much no way for them to know. What happens when you're skiing alone on a run with very few people on it? So, as you can clearly see the safety level for skiers and snowboarders needs to be greatly increased as to not have anymore deaths or accidents on the mountains.

Goals for 2nd semester

My main goal for this semester is to get an A in the class, and to do that I need to work on many things.One thing I definitely want to do better on is PLN's. 1st semester I started off not doing so well on them and it showed on my grade, but later in the semester I began doing better so I think starting off doing them well this semester will help. Another goal I have this semester is to work on my thesis statements as well as my conclusions on long writing pieces. Doing constant CSAP practice helped last semester and continuing doing those will help this semester. A third goal I have for this semester is to just really improve my writing overall, and get a better feel for using more description and paint a picture in the readers mind.