No Red Pill No Blue Pill

Can you succeed without motivation? Or is it a challenge because we have all this technology around us that you just can't seem to concentrate on what is being said and taught. The only way you can succeed is by taking a little push of motivation. There is No Red Pill No Blue Pill. There are no shortcuts, but their are traps and steep hills you must face when going on a journey to motivation.
Every one has a motivation, wither its a goal to achieve something your not good at or making your dreams into reality; everyone has a different motivation. But what about school? Are you motivated at school or do you need motivation to get work done?
Well in this very well written article by Ana Cristina Pratas, it discusses no matter how hard learning its up to you to decide your learning motivation, and no matter how many times you blame your teachers for your learning you should actually be blaming yourself. You have to give yourself a goal or a dream to follow and the only way by doing it is by finishing high school successfully, prideful and proud, without any doubts. You need motivation to look at new experiences and take new chances. Ana is saying that you are responsible for your learning and motivation is how you can succeed.
You always hear kids at school say "i have such a bad teacher thats why i failed my test" but really maybe it was you that didnt pay attention in class; like i said your responsible for your own motivation your teacher is trying to help you to get where you need to go or where you have to be. So what if teachers give us homework and projects, they are trying to lead you to the right direction to success not to ruin your weekend with your friends, but to see if you have what it takes to complete your work because you have the motivation to do so.
Even though motivation may be hard at time you  may fall here or there, but as soon as you do get back up and try again; you will learn from your mistakes and if you know what you did wrong the better your motivation will be. Students and teachers both work together to help eachother to continue the cycle of learning for a lifetime. After reading this article, its true, your learning is based on your motivation to success and how you want to achieve it; just like how teachers were once in the learning process they had a motivation to be where they are today because its something their passionate about and they feel proud for educating students and see their progress develop throughout the course.
I think that this article really connects to english class and the whole school because most of the time students are on facebook or playing games on their phones and that shows a lack of motivation to learn be grateful to learn something new. We are very fortunate that we can go to school while kids in other countries can barely leave home or have to work to support their family at such young ages.
In my opinion this article had ideas that were very well expressed, and yes, we dont always have the good motivation and  attitude, but is it because of the technology around us thats tempting most of us to ignore our duties as students? Just thinking about life a couple years ago, kids were much more motivated than they are now, but everyone is different when it comes to learning and how serious you are. We just have to give ourselves an extra push , passion, hardwork, ideas, improvement, and persistance to find the true motivation hidden deep inside us.  We just need to find it and strive for the best.

No Red Pill, No Blue Pill - Response

How can you succeed without motivation? A question asked by many, especially teachers, coaches, really anyone that is trying to motivate someone to succeed. One really only succeeds if the motivation is there pushing you along the way. There is no easy way. No red pill, no blue pill.

   No Red Pill, No Blue Pill by Ana Cristina Pratas is an extraordinary article, it discusses how learning is difficult, tough, and really up to you for it is you who needs to summon your motivation to learn to truly absorb all the knowledge being thrown at you in school. It speaks out about how learning is a tough road, and as much as you want to blame your failures on your teacher you really shouldn’t. Learning is a two way road, a shared experience you may call it, because your teacher provides you with the information but it is up to you to motivate yourself, and pay attention.

  Walking around the school hallway and conversing with friends you tend to hear things like “oh man, I only failed because that teacher sucked!” or “I didn’t learn anything from that class, it was so boring I wasn’t even paying attention.” I know as students it is hard to get the thought through your head that teachers are human beings too; they feel emotions and do normal things like go shopping. What I believe Ana is expressing is that blaming your teachers on your failure of succession is like blaming your siblings for something that you did. It’s what we call the easy way out. Teachers dish out information and give us homework and projects and I understand that you want to just go home and relax after a long day of school, but what they’re giving us is what is going to lead us to success. Learning is a tough and difficult process, and motivation and attitude are essential, you need to be 100 percent willing to take hold of the knowledge being given to you, practice it and apply it to everyday life.

  Reading this article as a student, I believe that Ana is targeting students but also targeting teachers in a way. After reading this article, you really realize how much of your learning depends on how motivated you are, and how determined you are. If you are not in the right mind set then of course failure will succumb. Looking at this through a teacher’s perspective, they have to realize that yes the students are doing their job to motivate themselves as learners but as educators you need to be willing to help motivate the students. It’s like a partnership; you can’t leave your partner hanging. Both the students and the teachers have to step up and help each other, it will not only benefit the student but teachers will feel a sense of accomplishment.

  I definitely feel that this article connects to our English class, but is not limited to only this one class. I believe her message about motivation within us can be applied to school in general. Looking around in my classes I can always find one or two kids on their phones, chatting instead of doing work, and there are almost always a handful of people who don’t do their homework and study for tests, the lack of motivation at its finest.

In my opinion I agree on her ideas expressed within this article, it is true that many of us are not as motivated as we were before, the question is why? Could it be because of technology? The way we live compared to back in the day? Of course the answer is inside of you, because it differs with everyone. There is no set answer in my opinion, we just have to dig deep within ourselves and look for the motivation buried deep within.

This was a very intriguing, thought-provoking article, and I think everyone should take a look at it. 

No Red Pill, No Blue Pill

After reading No Red Pill, No Blue Pill I was once again reminded of how life works: try now, enjoy after; enjoy now, suffer later.
The word try versus the word suffer has great difference. This is all because of the difference of time management and the work and sacrifice being made. In every cases you will never get any free items falling from the sky; everything has a price. You have to study first with all your might for the few 5-10 years of your youth then the few years of determination will decide the rest of your life. But many consider this order to be foolish, they believe that youth is only momentary which they are right, but they choose to spend their youth in playing and things that will never last as knowledge does. Knowledge is power. The younger you are, the easier it is to consume the never ending knowledge, thus consume power and build it up for future uses. Even you if you are a genius, you will need to work very hard to put your inherited intelligence to work. Without work nothing will happen. When something is lost, something is also born.
You may have heard that life isn't fair, but time is. In my opinion this is completely the other way around. Time will not wait for you, but it gave us a chance to use 10 years of hard work in exchange of a lifetime of glory and success. 5-10 years vs the right of your life...TOTALLY WORTH IT! Life is very fair because just as I have wrote before, one must lose in order to gain.
Just as the post said there is no red or blue pill for a person to skip to the paradise without swimming across the thousand miles of dangerous water. I wish everyone understands this way of life and put their life and time into good use thus not wasting their precious youth time for something ignorant and unworthy.

Speech - Revised!

 What’s delicious, rich, and creamy, derived from cacao beans, and is utter perfection? The answer is simple, it’s chocolate. We all know what it is, we've all tasted its sweet and creamy flavour before, but here’s a twist. Did you know that chocolate is in fact considered a super food?! 
   Good morning Ms. Lees and fellow classmates. Yes, you heard right, I did indeed say that chocolate is a super food, no it does not give you superpowers but it does have amazing health benefits that aid you in staying in tip top shape.

   Is it possible? This sweet, sugary treat full of calories is in fact good for you?! Yes, recent scientific studies have proven it to be packed full of good stuff..The secret behind chocolate being a super food is the one and only cacao bean. That minuscule bean is a disease-killer, the only problem is on its own it tastes bitter, chalky and just plain nasty.

  Now enter milk, butter and a ton of sugar and it’s suddenly more pleasurable to taste, but the extra ingredients dilute the power of the cacao bean. The less ingredients you add to the chocolate the more powerful and beneficial the bean is,which is why dark chocolate is a popular choice because of its high content of the bean compared to its lighter colored sibling.
    Study after studies prove that dark chocolate – rich, sweet, and delicious is in fact good for more than just curing a broken heart. A long term study in Germany this year found out that eating about a square of dark chocolate a day lowered blood pressure, and reduced the risk of a heart attack or stroke by 39 percent! Most of the credit goes to something called flavonoids. Flavonoids are an antioxidant compound that increases the flexibility of veins and arteries.

  As if improving cardiovascular health wasn't enough, dark chocolate can also aid in weight loss. Ironic isn't it? Something that you think would help you gain pounds actually makes you lose them. Researchers from Copenhagen discovered that dark chocolate is far more filling that any other type of chocolate. It lessens your cravings for sweet, salty, fatty foods helping to avoid unnecessary snacking. So ladies, don’t be scared to indulge in a little bit of dark chocolate even if you are trying to get ready for bikini season! 
 Ever been hassled by your parents to stop eating sweets for the sake of the dentist? here's a valid argument to defend against your sweet tooth. Dark chocolate contains theobromine, which has been shown to harden tooth enamel. That means that dark chocolate, unlike most other sweets, lowers your risk of getting cavities if you practice proper dental hygiene.
Chocolate isn't only good for physical health, it also aids in mental health. 

For all you people out there that want to boost your intelligence, have I got good news for you. A University of Nottingham researcher found that drinking cocoa rich in flavanols boosts blood flow to key parts of the brain for 2 to 3 hours, which could improve performance and alertness in the short term. Other researchers from Oxford University and Norway looked at chocolate's long-term effects on the brain by studying the diets of more than 2,000 people. They found that those who consumed chocolate scored significantly higher on cognitive tests.
  Besides boosting your intelligence, it also contains many chemicals that can affect our moods.These natural chemicals raise serotonin and endorphins levels. Which are the natural hormones that make us feel good or have a calming effect on the brain, because of this chocolate is used as a natural defense against depression. When stressed it is proven that many people dig in to their chocolate stash more than they usually would, and this is because chocolate contains anandamide, also known as the “bliss chemical” It works towards binding some specific receptors inside the brain to promote relaxation. Next time you’re stressed or had a bad day, grab a bit of chocolate, trust me it’ll do wonders.

    With its ability to help you physically and mentally combined with its sweet taste, it’s no surprise that it’s one of the world’s most enjoyable foods. As Charles M Shulz once said “They say all you need is love, but a little chocolate now and then wouldn't hurt. “

Envy Essay Final

Anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness, disgust, disappointment, shame… Have you ever felt any one of those emotions running through you like a stream of hot lava? Think about it, if you had, then you have committed one of the seven deadly sins: Envy. Envy has been, is, and always shall be, the destruction of many. But will it be the destruction or the downfall of you? Will you be able to stop yourself from committing any more sins?

First we need to understand envy? Now I have to clearly state to you in case you think of the “jealousy.” "Envy" and "jealousy" are often used interchangeably in common usage, but strictly speaking, the words stand for two distinct emotions. Jealousy is the result or fear of losing someone or something that one is attached to or possesses to another person. For example in the last book of the Harry Potter series, Ron was jealous of Harry’s fame and powers because it might be the reason Hermione leaving him for his best friend Harry. Envy on the other hand is the resentment caused by another person having something that one does not have, but desires for oneself. For example, in Romeo's speech in Act II, Sc. 2 of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo says, "See how she leans her cheek against her hand, o the I were a glove upon that hand that I might touch that cheek." Here, Romeo is envious of the glove that Juliet was wearing because that glove got to touch her cheeks while Romeo cannot.

It is agreed that envy involves an envier: the subject; and a party who is envied: the rival. Like an employer and an employee relationship. The rival may be a person, a group of people, some possession, capacity or trait that the subject supposes the rival to have: the good. The good might be something that only one party could possibly possess (the crown jewels, or being the world's best go player), or it might be something easily duplicated. It is sometimes held that the good may even be utility, happiness, or some psychological state that Subject, the envier, could attribute to Rival, the one who is being envied by, even if there were no material difference in their possessions or capacities.  Most people in the world, including you, you and everyone else, have been in both of those two positions at least once in their life. I can sure tell you that I have been in both of these positions. But trust me; it isn’t fun at either ends of the stick.

So why isn’t it fun to envy others? If you are the envier, desiring to possess something another person, object, or animal have, you are being controlled by your own desires; and when you are being controlled by your desires for whatever you may want, you will be blinded from the reality, and the sense of moral and good. For when the envy is strong, you will want to fulfill it so you feel satisfaction for possessing something you wanted. Being envious indicates that the you are not satisfied with what life has given to you, and not satisfied that life gave you a chance to live. Focusing on provoking and envying others may only lose the valuable that you already have. Why? Because you fed the envious part of you so much that you couldn’t care for the precious things you already have.

You not be the person that I have just made an example of, but it is very easy to stray into becoming envious and ungrateful. Now you may want to know how to not be envious and live a happy and filling life. That is simple. Just be thankful. You may have heard Albus Dumbledore saying to the mirror of Erised, other known as the mirror of desires: “the happiest man alive would look in the mirror and see himself exactly as he is.” Remember that each and every one of us is very lucky, and each and every one of us has something special and unique that no one else. Look at those children in Africa. They do not have the luxury of clean water that we have easy access to. Look at the pollution in other countries; they do not have the luxury to breath in the fresh pinecone scented air that we bathe every single second. Look at those orphans in the systems; they do not have the luxury to cuddle with their parents as we can because they do not have the option while we do.

It can be said that not envy someone or something else is impossible for we are all humans. But you should know that it is because we are humans, we strive for perfection and better. So I ask you today, to find out what or who, and why you are feeling envious, after, remember to thank and be grateful. That is the solution of not committing one of the seven deadly sins: Envy.

What If students were to design their own school? My thoughts and Reflections.

Stereotypically when you think of a student designing their own school you think of breaks every 5 minutes that last 5 times the amount you are usually given, long slides instead of stairs and maybe even a roller coaster or two. If those are your thoughts on a student’s credibility for designing their own education program then you might want to find information to back up this hypothesis.

In 2011 eight students from Monument Mountain Regional High School joined together to form their own education system. This new “school” was run by the students and a few select teachers who acted as guides. The pilot took place over the span of one semester and redefined what we thought was the “smart” way to learn.

Having students run the way they learn and work independently from adults can be a very daunting idea for both the authority figure and the participant. Skepticism was the obvious reaction and would still most likely be among most people. But for some this proved an opportunity to learn the way the way they wanted to. By giving the student’s free reign (some restrictions and guidelines were followed) they learnt how to expand their creativity and truly work as a team.

To me the idea of a school run by the students is an empowering and exciting idea. Being able to design my own system of learning and design my studies around what I do best would in some aspects motivate me to work harder. I would enjoy what I am doing but at the same time complete the work needed for me to pass or graduate. If such a program were to open at our school I do not doubt that there would be many others like me who would sign up. This would prove the perfect learning opportunity, whether you have trouble learning in the classroom or even if you just want to push yourself.

A school designed by the students for the students is something that I think is starting to make it is way across North America. It is part of the “education reformation” and should be contemplated by all schools and educators. Who knows, this could possibly be the biggest learning breakthrough for years to come.

Students designing their own school?

Click the link below....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RElUmGI5gLc

Students designing their own school? Yes, as crazy as it may seems a public school in Massachusetts have started this program called 'The Independent Project.' The opening statement of this video was, “it’s crazy that in a system that is meant to teach and help the youth there is no voice from the youth at all," says Charles Tsai. The Monument Mountain Regional High School has started this program with eight students in different grades, and the students create their own learning environment on their own; while teachers and coaches were mentors to the students during their own learning experience. 
In my opinion after watching this video (on the link above) I really don't think this is a type of program i would like to do because first of all when i hear the word "school" i learn whatever i need to accomplish to get a high school diploma and start university. I personally don't think i could teach myself anything because i can barely teach myself to factor polynomials in math or know the nitrogen cycle in science! Not only this, but sometimes theirs days when you don't feel like doing anything but you manage to get some work done, and in this program teaching yourself doesn't seem like a very good idea. I think the people that are willing to do this program have to be independent and committed to do this type of program. Maybe if the program could be changed a little differently by letting teachers teach us, but we could get to choose our own courses that we need for university or college could be better than trying to teach ourselves. 
All in all i think everyone learns differently and at a different pace so i think that their should be a choice to do this program or continue on with regular school. Some of us may not be as capable than others to teach ourselves something new everyday. Even though this program may sound like a good idea it should be a personal decision we should make ourselves as students.