How to prepare for a test

        There are a lot of ways to prepare for a test, good and bad ways. First, obviously, study. But if you really want to remember the stuff you studied, study it right before you go to bed. When you sleep, your brain develops, so if you cram in some knowledge right before it does, you remember things much better. Second, don't study all at once. Divide and conquer. Study different parts each night, then the night before the test review the whole thing. And finally, get some sleep! If you are tired the day of the test, your mind will be foggy and you may do worse. Follow these tips, and you'll do fine.

Endings and Beginnings, Future Goal

Today I will be writing about my goal for the end of the school year and the beginning of summer, which are pretty much the same thing. By the end of the school year, one goal I have is to finally prepare myself for my transition to high school-I've been pretty worried about it. I will familiarize myself with the high school. I wanted to do a summer school class this summer for advanced biology prep, which will prepare me for that class (will probably be one of the hardest) and will help me learn my way around the school. So basically, before school ends I'll will mentally prepare, then during summer I'll physically prepare. That is my only goal that I'm currently devoted to, because I'm going into all the honors classes, it's going to be a lot more work than I'm used to.

Holocaust Museum Post

        Last Thursday, my class and I went on a field trip to the Holocaust Museum. While it was kind of depressing, it was also very interesting. When we walked in, we were introduced to our guide who would be taking us around the museum. The museum was organized in a way that made it seem like you were in the Holocaust, it showed all of the parts of a Jew's life in the Holocaust in the order they undertook it. For example, some things we did were going inside a freight car and a model Ghetto. We also learned about the rise of Hitler, the altruistic citizens of the Holocaust that saved Jews, the Nazi Olympics, Kristallnacht, and much more. One of the things that we learned that most would not believe, is that the allies were oblivious to the fact that the Nazis were killing Jews in concentration camps. I learned a lot at the Holocaust Museum, and I hope others do too.

Diary Blog Post

March 12, 2015

Dear Diary,

        At 9:30 in the morning, my dad woke me up to help him do something. I didn't know what we were going to do until I got into the car. My dad needed help moving/building desks, moving/building chairs, and cleaning up his new half of his office building. At first I thought it would be easy and quick, but it turned out to take 6 hours.      

        First, we had to go rent a uHaul truck to move all the stuff from our shed where it was delivered. We rented a pretty big truck, so it only took two trips. Loading the truck took forever though, so transporting everything to the office took about 3 hours. Second, we started with the desks. I would drill in the screws and he would plug all the pieces together, then we would finish it by putting the actual desktop on top. Third, I built chairs. While my dad was throwing out all the boxes from the desks and other furniture, I was putting together chairs for the desks. I could build one about every 10 minutes, and I only had to build 6. The chairs were the quickest part. Then we finally had to clean the place, which only took 20 minutes.

        And this is a normal weekend for me.

Who Chose Love in My Life

In Daniel’s Story, Erika said the following to Daniel and Rosa:

“We must live, and when this is all over, we must work to make the world a better place.  And if we die, we will die knowing that it was not our fault, that we did our best, and we can go to our deaths in dignity… I want you both to live…And to remember...You must choose love.  Always choose love.”  

(from Daniel’s Story by Carol Matas, page 70)

   We were assigned to talk about someone in our lives who chose love, so here it is. 

    Someone who I knew who chose love was my mom. She took care of my sister, brothers, and I. There's not one specific time when she chose love, it was our entire childhood, and will be again in the future.  She raised us great, she always payed attention to us and loved us. She always kept us happy, excited and healthy. My mom was ALWAYS there for us. This is one person in my life who chose love.

    

    

Next Leap Year

        Leap year comes every four years, and I'm going to write about myself next leap year in 2020. Leap year just came, and I'm graduating Middle School in 8th grade, so next leap year I'll be on my final year of high school and on my way to college. I'm not sure what I want to do yet, but it will probably be in the fields of computer science and engineering. In four years I see myself in high classes and excited for college. In 2020, I'll be about to become an adult and ready for life. I can't wait for next new year!

Picture Story Assignment

The Dare

        Today is my first day at my new school, I'm excited and anxious. I'm in 4th grade now, so I'm really close to moving to middle school. My mom is a lot more excited than I am. She drove me up right by the school door.  It's time for me to get out.

        "Have a good day at school, Jacob!' my mom yelled. 

        "Ok, mom" I responded dreadfully. When I made my way to my classroom, I found that everyone was already there and I was late. 

        "Oh there you are!" yelled my teacher, "Class, everyone say hi to our new student, Jacob!" The class then groaned something that didn't even remotely sound like my name. 

         "Well, uh... Take a seat Jacob, any that are open!  I listened to the teacher and took a seat next to a scrawny little boy.  It was the worst decision I've made so far in my life. 

         "Hey, Jacob, hey, did you know that you're late?"

         "I'm aware"

         "Not a good way to start the year y'know"

         "Yes, I know" 

         "Being late isn't good"

         "YES I KNOW" I yelled, getting me a confused stare from my class and teacher. He kept on saying random things throughout the whole class. Then, at the end of class, he said something weird to me.

         "Hey Jacob, I dare you to stick your head through your chair" Why would he say something like that, it's not like I'd ever do it.

         "Why would I ever do that?"

         "Exactly, you're a wuss"

         "I'm not a wuss"

         "Someone who isn't a wuss would do it"

         How should I even respond to that, he will never give up on it. It only takes a class with him to figure out how he is.

         "Fine, but you do it first" I said, "Prove you're not a wuss"

         "Ok" he responded, and he stuck his head in the back of his chair with ease, then pulled it back out.

         "Your turn big guy" He taunted, and with that I went for it, my head barely fit in. I had to push really hard to get it in.

         "Now take it back out" He said, on the verge of laughter. When I pulled, my head didn't even budge.  He started laughing hysterically, and ran out of the classroom.

         "You little-" I tugged and tugged, but my head would not come loose. I sat there for around five minutes, feeling like an idiot. But then, he brought someone back, It looked like the janitor and a few other teachers, and the janitor was holding a saw.

         "Oh no" I said horrified.