Want to help? Got some extra cash?
Kiva.org is an online organization that lends money to hopeful entrepreneuers in Third World Countries. These people start up companies and then pay the loans back. So, if you donate 25 dollars, eventually, you'll get that 25 dollars back either to keep for yourself or to reinvest in another person.
Invest in LIFE!!!!
7 days.
"It is only when we are truly aware of our own mortality that we can live joyfully, fully, and as we were intended to live."
4 more weeks left of school!
Tuesday, April 22 is EARTH DAY!
Practice being green! If you do something each day to make the earth a little bit better, then by the end of the year, you will have done saved the earth 365 times! ;)
Tips:
1. Recycle your plastic bottles in Ms. Dobbs' room 109
2. Turn out the lights when you leave a room.
3. Recycle your paper.
4. Separate out your household trash from things you can recycle like plastic bottles, aluminum, glass and paper. Be sure to take advantage of your neighborhood's recycling program.
5. Don't run the water when you brush your teeth or do the dishes. Only run full loads of laundry and dishes.
6. Don't drink out of plastic water bottles. Get a reusable plastic or glass container for your water or other drink!
7. Don't flush trash down the toilet! That extra flush wastes lots of water.
8. Walk or bike when you can. Try not to drive.
9. Play outside instead of playing video games! Your power bill and your body will thank you!
10. Eat organic or locally grown foods when possible. You support your area economically too!
Want to make a difference? Need a resume builder?
Come to the Harrison High School Community Service Day!
Meet in the bus port of Harrison High School
Saturday, April 26, 2008
8:00 am- 12:00 pm
Wear clothes you can work and play in!
You get:
- A free t-shirt!
- Free breakfast!
- The satisfaction of knowing that you've done your part to make the world a better place..... at least for one day!
- AND... a great resume addition!
You pay:
NOTHING!
Who says you can't get something for nothing! Come out and GIVE, and you'll GET a lot!
You need this permission form to turn in to Mrs. Moulton in room 104, or bring the signed form to the event.
Form:Download file
Spring Break is NEXT WEEK!
It is our failures and our hardships that shape us. Just as glass cannot be molded into a better shape without fire, it is also true that we cannot be shaped and molded into perfection without difficulties. When it seems as though we cannot find a silver lining in our problems, perhaps all we need do is stop and be thankful that even though the world is often a cruel, dangerous, fitful place, each trial acts as a forge in which and through which we test our strength. Even in our brokenness, a fire can reform us into a better piece.
On St. Patty's day, go green by going black!Instead of going to Google.....go to Blackle!
This website: http://www.blackle.com/ is an online search engine that saves energy!
What is Blackle? from http://www.blackle.com/about/
In January 2007 a blog post titled Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year proposed the theory that a black version of the Google search engine would save a fair bit of energy due to the popularity of the search engine. Since then there has been skepticism about the significance of the energy savings that can be achieved and the cost in terms of readability of black web pages.
We believe that there is value in the concept because even if the energy savings are small, they all add up. Secondly we feel that seeing Blackle every time we load our web browser reminds us that we need to keep taking small steps to save energy.
How can you help?
We encourage you to set Blackle as your home page ( set ). This way every time you load your Internet browser you will save a little bit of energy. Remember every bit counts! You will also be reminded about the need to save energy each time you see the Blackle page load.
Help us spread the word about Blackle by telling your friends and family to set it as their home page. If you have a blog then give us a mention. Or put the following text in your email signature: "Blackle.com - Saving energy one search at a time".
KEEP GOING GREEN (or BLACK as the case may be!)
Just when you feel like everything in your life can't be worse, you find a lucky penny.
Be thankful for small miracles.
http://www.cfr.org/publication/13129/ - click here for an interactive website and video explaining what is going on in Darfur
http://manyvoicesdarfur.blogspot.com : Click here to post on a blog and read other bloggers ideas about Darfur
http://weblogg-ed.com/2008/many-voices-for-darfur-project/#comments - Click here for a brief introduction to the Many Voices for Darfur Project
http://stopgenocide.wikispaces.com/ -- THE WIKI FOR POSTING
Henry Ward Beecher
The real man is one who always finds excuses for others, but never excuses himself.
Librivox is a website where you can find many of the works of British Literature that we are reading in class. You can download these songs to Itunes and then listen to the stories on your I-pod or other MP3 player. This might be especially helpful for reading Macbeth for those auditory learners!
Your improvement as a person solely depends on the effort that you put in to that task.
Alfred Tennyson:
I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.
Allan K. Chalmers:
The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
And for the cynical few.....
Anais Nin:
Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings.
Value yourself enough to do your best!
Note: All grades will be given points commensurate with their relative importance. Within one particular category, points of assignments may vary.
Teacher Treats:
I give 5 points of credit on ANY assignment
EXCEPT:
1. Midterm or Final Exams
YOU MAY ONLY USE 3 TEACHER TREATS in ONE SEMESTER.
The points added are out of a percentage of 100. So if you add the teacher treat onto a grade of 40/50 --that percentage is an 80, and you will then be bumped up to an 85%.
Each day I watch students make decisions. Decisions not to cheat. Decisions to do the work. Decisions to skip school. Decisions to defy a teacher, or a parent. Decisions to help a friend. Decisions to recycle. Decisions to steal. Decisions to share.
I do not ask for perfection. NO! Rather, I want to encourage students to shun perfection, which is unreachable, and to embrace excellence instead. Many students are afraid of excellence. Afraid of working hard. Afraid of success. I've watched excellent people settle for becoming pretty good, and I think that is a pretty sad state of life. When I read this poem tonight, I found it very applicable.
"Pretty Good" by Charles Osgood, from the Osgood File, 1986
There once was a pretty good student
Who sat in a pretty good class
And was taught by a pretty good teacher
Who always let pretty good pass.
He wasn't teriffic at reading,
He wasn't a whiz-bang at math,
But for him, education was leading
Straight down a pretty good path.
He didn't find school too exciting,
But he wanted to do pretty well,
And he did have some trouble with writing,
Since nobody taught him to spell.
When doing arithmatic problems,
Pretty good was regarded as fine.
5+5 needen't always add up to be 10;
A pretty good answer was 9.
The pretty good class that he sat in
Was part of a pretty good school,
And the student was not an exception:
On the contrary, he was the rule.
The pretty good school that he went to
Was there in a pretty good town,
And nobody there seemed to notice
He could not tell a verb from a noun.
The pretty good student in fact was
Part of a pretty good mob.
And the first time he knew what he lacked was
When he looked for a pretty good job.
It was then, when he sought a position,
He discovered that life could be tough,
And he soon had a sneaking suspicion
Pretty good might not be good enough.
The pretty good town in our story
Was part of a pretty good state
Which had pretty good asiprations
And prayed for a pretty good fate.
There once was a pretty good nation
Pretty proud of the greatness it had,
Which learned much too late,
If you want to be great,
Pretty good, is, in fact, pretty bad.
Give more than you take, and each day you will change the world.
No one can get inner peace by pouncing on it. ~Harry Emerson Fosdick
Photo from: http://www.hickerphoto.com/data/media/24/niagara_waterfall_T0447.jpg
Thougths on Perseverance
Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves. ~Dale Carnegie
Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain. ~Author Unknown
An excerpt from a poem by Mary Oliver called "Logan International"
In the city called Wait,
also known as the airport,
you might think about your life-
there is not much else to do.
For one thing,
there is too much luggage,
and you're truly lugging it--
you and, it seems, everyone.
What is it, that you need so badly?
Think about this.
DO NOT FEAR FAILURE! ONLY STRIVE THAT MUCH MORE PERSISTENTLY TOWARD YOUR GOALS AND DREAMS!
It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.
Theodore Roosevelt
Half of the failures in life come from pulling one's horse when he is leaping.
Thomas Hood
Go back a little to leap further.
John Clarke
Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.
William Shakespeare
There is no impossibility to him who stands prepared to conquer every hazard.
The fearful are the failing.
Sarah J. Hale
We learn wisdom from failure much more than success. We often discover what we will do, by finding out what we will not do.
Samuel Smiles
I was never afraid of failure, for I would sooner fail than not be among the best.
John Keats
It is foolish to fear what you cannot avoid.
Stultum est timere quod vitare non potes.
Publius Syrus
He that is down needs fear no fall.
John Bunyan
Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.
George Herman "Babe" Ruth
One who fears failure limits his activities.
Failure is only the opportunity to more
intelligently begin again.
Henry Ford
The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one.
Elbert Hubbard
Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortunes; but great minds rise above them.
Washington Irving
Our greatest glory consist not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
Oliver Goldsmith
Wherever we look upon this earth, the opportunities take shape within the problems.
Nelson A. Rockefeller
What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?
Vincent van Gogh
Experience teaches slowly, and at the cost of mistakes.
James A. Froude
It is the want of diligence, rather than the want of means, that causes most failures.
Alfred Mercier
A man's life is interesting primarily when he has failed--I well know.
For it's a sign that he tried to surpass himself.
Georges Clemenceau
He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.
Napoleon Bonaparte
There is no failure except in longer trying.
Elbert Hubbard
There is no impossibility to him who stands prepared to conquer every hazard.
The fearful are the failing.
Sarah J. Hale
Disappointments are to the soul what thunderstorms are to the air.
Johann C. F. von Schiller
Failure teaches success.
Japanese Saying
Week of December 10
Do not procrastinate when studying for FINALS!
Want to save the world.... one grain of rice at a time?
Love addicting computer games?
This website is the site for you!!!!
This will change your life! ;) Ps. I've donated over 2020 grains of rice so far!
-Perhaps the hard times that you go through are merely a preparation so that you can help another in his or her time of need.
- Think RAIN.
As Thanksgiving approaches, we often get caught up in the world-wind of the holidays and forget what we are really celebrating. Driving out of town, we are stuck in traffic with a wailing baby brother or sister in the back seat, a frustrated father or mother at the wheel, and a constant questioning from the back seat of "Are we there yet?" Worse still prove the crowds at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport, when security lines last for four hours, and getting on a train to terminal B requires that you lose three pant sizes and stand next to someone who forgot to shower. For the past year. By the time you reach your destination, your face is redder than the cranberry sauce on the table, and your temper hotter than sweet-potato pie. Awkward family reunions generally don't improve your genial temper, as you struggle to overcome your immediate dislike for the sweather your mom is making you wear because your grandmother made it, or try to figure out how to talk to your grandfather whose hearing aid is perpetually turned off. By the time the actual day of Thanksgiving rolls around, sometimes it is hard to bring to mind anything for which you are thankful. But take a moment to think......
Close your eyes....
Take a deep breath....
And remember. Remember about all the people who care about you. Be thankful for their presence in your life.
Remember your health and the amazing things that your body can do. Be thankful that you are alive and breathing.
Remember your brain and the gift of intellect. Be thankful that you can think critically.
Remember the gifts that you have every day that are often taken for granted. The food on the table. The clothes on your back. A house to keep you warm, dry, and safe.
Remember and realize that everything else is just gravy.
We are lucky lucky people. Remember that.
Follow SAIBY each day:
Do something for:
S- your SOUL
A- ANOTHER
I- your INTELLECT
B- your BODY
Y- YOURSELF
And you will be a happy person! ;)
"No man is an island"- John Donne in Meditation 17
From The Alchemist by Paolo Coelo
"What's the world's greatest lie? It's this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate."
"People learn early in their lives what is their reason for being."
"Abandon All Hope, Ye who enter here"- Dante's Inferno
"He has not learned the lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"What a piece of work is a man, how noble in/ reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and move-/ing how exress and admirable; in action how like/ an angel, in apprehension how like a god: the/ beauty of the world, the paragon of animals--" Hamlet 2.2
Words from a Lost Boy of Darfur.......
"My plans are a jumble for now, but I do know certain things that I will and will not do.... I will reach upward. I will attempt to do better. I will not be a burden on those who have helped me too much already. I will always be grateful for what pleasures I have enjoyed, what joys I have yet to experience. I will take opportunities as they come, but at the same time, I will not trust so easioly. I will look at who is at the door before opening it. I will try to be fierce. I will argue when necessary. I will be willing to fight. I will not smile reflexively at every person I see. I will....not pity myself" (Eggers, 473).
Eggers, Dave. What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng. San Francisco: McSweeney's, 2006.
Thought for the Week: October 1-5
"Dare to delay instant-gratification. This simple act teaches patience and the true difference between what we need and what we want. In a world of immediacy, we become selfish. Time draws us away from ourselves."
-EPD