Capstone – pt 2 – Interview

As part of our capstone project, we have to do an interview for our presentation. I am doing the law and the courtroom for my project, and I just so happened to have an older cousin who worked as a defense attorney for criminal cases. I wanted to interview someone I could trust for this, and I found the perfect person! But before I could do the interview, I had to write the questions for it. I spent hours working on the perfect questions, but I didn’t have to. After I finished, I realized that the questions weren’t as hard as I thought, and I shouldn’t have been too hard on myself. So I put my best foot forward, and did my interview.

And I did great! (In my humble opinion) Mike, my interviewee (Public Defense Attorney of Criminal Law) was as excited as I was for the interview. He answered my questions with a lot of thought and detail and I believe I did a pretty good job taking notes, even with the unbearable spelling errors. In this post I thank Mike for the interview and all the good information he gave me.

I hope you all are well.

Capstone – pt 1 – The Beginning

The end of fifth grade is here! Which means, at home or not, CAPSTONE! I chose law and the courtroom for my topic, because I have a older cousin who is an attorney, and I have always loved the idea of the courtroom. We did some preparing, but we didn’t really start the unit until this week. We did some organizers and picked our topics, but this week really kicked it off. So I dived right in with the questions. We have to do a main inquiry question and five sub inquiry questions for our Capstone presentation. Once we got the questions down, we searched for reliable resources to get our information from. This, (I can’t lie) was a grueling process, to find something reliable, recent, and not some crazy random website that you have never heard of. Thankfully, in a short time (well, not that short) I found reliable resources. And now, I am collecting notes for my questions. Overall, the start was a bit slow, but I am looking forward to the end product.

Exercise at home – Quarantine self-help pt 7

When we are stuck at home, we don’t exercise. And that is a problem. Here are some exercise ideas for people stuck at home:

Apps: This is simple, but is a nice way to get exercise. Download an app that allows you to work out with trainers and/or set goals for yourself. In my family we do this and I recommend it for people who like to get things done quickly.

Stairs: Warning: not as easy as it looks. If you are in an apartment building or a two-story house, walk (or run) up and down the stairs for twenty times. You might be like, “Oh, easy,” but this actually pretty hard (for me) and it is a great way to work your legs and get your heart rate up.

Walk: If you live in the suburbs, this is my biggest recommendation to you. Take a walk (two miles at least for 10+) in your town and enjoy the fresh air while getting your exercise in for the day. The best time to take a walk is 10:00 AM or 3:00 PM. Make sure to distance yourself from other people though, and try to stay on quieter roads.

Run: If you live in an apartment, this is my biggest recommendation to you. Run around your kitchen or dining room or whatever room you would like. Even though it isn’t as good as taking a run at the track, it is a safe way to run around. But try not to knock things over, I don’t want to be the reason that your parents coffee is now on the white couch.

This is the last of the Quarantine self-help posts, but now you have a week of things to help you stay active during this crazy time. I hope you all are well.

 

Connect with your friends – Quarantine self-help pt 6

If you aren’t connecting with your friends, things can get depressing. Even if you hate socializing (like me) it is a good thing to connect with peeps, because thats what humans are meant to do. Here’s ways you can connect with people:

Zoom: Zoom can work with any email, and is good for large groups. Download it on your computer or phone and create a meeting. I wouldn’t recommend this for on the spot video chats, because on this you have to schedule a meeting, you can’t just click and start a chat, and you can’t actual message the people.

Texts and Messaging: You probably all know what this is, so I am not going to explain it, but there is one thing you should know. You need a phone number to do it, so email doesn’t make the cut on this one. But this is easy two taps for face-time and call do this is a good option for people with phones.

Google hangouts: This is the google form of texting that only needs an email (certain types) to work. You can download the app on your phone or find it in your google apps and in your gmail on your computer. This is the communicating app I use and I recommend it for you and your friends.

House party: House party requires a phone number, but it is a great way to connect with people. Unlike any of these apps, House Party has built in games that you can play, and they are really fun. This is the best way to connect for kids who have phones.

I hope you all are well.

Sample Schedule – Quarantine self-help pt 5

Hello! Here is a sample schedule for the best way to organize your work (and to make your parents happy):

9:00 – Start your day and review work (See pt 3)

9:20 – Exercise. This can be running up and down the stairs, playing basketball or really anything that gives you exercise

9:40 – Other work, as in playing an instrument, and doing things for specials at school, or work for tutors and other teachers.

10:10 – School work. (See pt 3) Get the school work done for the day.

11:30 – Reading. (If you haven’t finished your work you can take this out of your schedule)

12:00 – Lunch and break! Yum!

12:45 – More schoolwork or chores (If you don’t have any do some stuff see pt 2 and pt 4)

1:30 – Community. Reach out to friends and family!

2:00 – Free time. Although this is free, try to refrain from video games and give yourself a break.

3:00 – Take a walk

4:00 – Have a snack and check on your schoolwork

4:30 – Reading or writing

5:00 – FREE

I hope you all are well.

Rainy day activities – Quarantine self-help pt 4

Today was a rainy day, and I am sure people around the world are stuck at home with nothing to do. Can’t go outside, can’t go anywhere, it is not going to be a good day. Here are some things to do on rainy days:

Daily story: I have already mentioned this in one of these posts, but doing a one page story a day can give you something to do and spark your imagination to do something bigger, even on a rainy day. I find this helpful to do when you are stuck inside, literally.

Drawing: Drawing can help relax you and clear your mind to get you ready for E-learning, or going on a zoom, or really anything stressful. On a rainy day, I would draw the scene outside to connect with nature and take advantage of the rain to make a nice piece of artwork.

Cook or bake: It feels good to eat warm homemade food on a rainy day. So why not have it? Bake or cook by yourself or with family to have a nice big stew or a beautiful cake on to perk up your mood on a dreary rainy day.

These are just some of the activities you can do on a rainy day. I hope you all are well.

Dealing with E-learning – Quarantine self-help pt 3

Quarantine isn’t a free-for all eat candy and sit on the couch kind of thing if you are a kid. When you are a kid, you do E-learning. Here are five simple steps to solving the mystery of how to deal with this work.

  1. Review your work. This is the most important step and the one that can help you the most. If your work comes in weekly, review and plan out your work over the week on Monday. If your work comes daily, every morning check your assignments and plan your day out.
  2. Print things out. I find it WAY easier to print things out when I start working. Checklists, Math work, almost anything that you need. (Don’t print out things you need to hand in in google classroom or docs) This can help if you aren’t used to doing everything on the computer, or even if you are, it is a good way to get organized and be ready for the work coming your way.
  3. Organize your work. Things can get cluttered if you don’t know what to do next. Get yourself a To-Do list every day so you can easily complete your work without any extra stress. Also, checking off things on lists can help you add something that can make you feel important each day.
  4. Do your work. The simplest step, but the most annoying. But with the last three steps, completing your work is more like real school, where everything has a time and place to do things, and less like the crazy list of stuff you have to do by the end of the day.
  5. Review your work. This is very important, but we all want to skip it (even I do) Review the work you have done when you finish, whether that is at the end of the week, or end of the day. Make sure you have done everything you need to do.

I hope you are all well

Locked in the house projects – Quarantine self-help pt 2

Hello Everybody! Today I am going to be going through some projects that you can do when you are stuck at home. Here they are.

Daily story: I know all the kids reading this are going to be like, “NOOOOOO!” because you guys don’t want to write essays and weird personal narratives. This isn’t that (I would never make you do that). Every day, ask someone to give you a theme to write a one page story about. I find this really relaxing and it helps me calm down. Do this in your spare time, because I don’t want to be the reason you are not doing your work. And besides, your parents are going to be happy that your creative juices are flowing. This is probably my favorite thing to do on this list.

Leaf pressing: Being stuck at home can be boring. Very boring. But if you love nature, you will find this activity to be really fun. Go outside and collect some leaves from your backyard and press them in a book or a leaf presser. This is the leaf presser I used. Then, after 1-2 weeks, collect the leaves and put them into a scrap book. It can be a picture scrapbook or a special one for leaf pressing, it really doesn’t matter. This can be a fun activity for the nature-loving kids out there.

Collecting: One of the most simple projects on this list, this is very, very broad. You can collect anything, from marbles in your basement corner to little toys you get in those eggs. I collect certain seeds every time my family goes on a walk. This can give each day a sense of purpose besides getting your work done on time.

Bird Wreath: Online you can find these wreaths made of seeds that the birds like to eat. Hang it up in your backyard and in a few days it will be pecked clean. I find this a fun idea because you can hang it up near your window and watch pretty birds eat. It is a nice activity to bring wildlife to your home while you are stuck inside.

Cook Off! Like to cook? Try this. Do a at home Chopped competition! This is really fun for people who like to cook (or just people), because: 1, they get to cook, 2, it is a competition, and 3 it is a nice way to do something fun. Do it every week or every day if you want too, because you always want to have something to look forward to each day.

I hope you find these activities fun and I hope you all are safe.

Stuck at home? READ THIS! Quarantine self-help pt 1

Being stuck at home is the WORST. Whether you live in Nevada or Canada, it REALLY STINKS. Especially when you are a kid, well, I think. Because when you get that itchy feeling, when you start to spin around in your chair, when your eyes start to close, YOU ARE BECOMING OVERLY BORED

I want to help you cope with that

What you need a schedule. I know you don’t want to be pushed around all day like normal life, but would you rather become overly bored? I don’t think so. What I like to do is get my homework (or work if you are an adult) done in the morning, wether it is math or reading or writing letters to your teacher because a website doesn’t work. Get it done so you don’t procrastinate, which can lead to fatigue and other nasty things. Make yourself a to-do list to get on top of your work. Also, do chores or anything you don’t want to do in the morning, so you don’t stay up till 10:30 trying to get all your work done. After doing all the hard work, I like to go and exercise. This could mean running around your hallway 100 times, punching a punching bag, or taking a walk. Then I believe you should relax, eat lunch, and take a break. But lunch break can’t be the rest of the day (sorry). Go back to being productive, whatever that is. But don’t do that for too long, because then I start to panic about the work. Take some breaks in the day, but schedule them, so you don’t end up having breaks for six hours. Take a walk mid-day, so you get the best wether and get some fresh air. Around 5:00 I like to be able to do whatever I want. This kind of schedule helped me and I hope it will help you. This is just my advice, and you don’t have to follow. I hope you are all well.

🙂

Immigration Unit

Another unit has come and gone! In social studies, we have been learning about immigration. We have been doing this for about a month and a half. But to end this unit, we have interviewed someone that has immigrated to America, and do an Adobe Spark presentation about it. Through the weeks, we have gathered information about immigrating, and put it to use in detailed questions to ask our interviewees. After creating the questions, we used our skills from our Journalism unit to correctly conduct an interview. After completing the interview, we used our information and put it into an Adobe spark slideshow. We had to use good pictures, icons, and wording to support our immigrates story in the best way we can, because we have to have a story that is clear, not some random pile of information. Overall, the unit was fun and I had a good time creating the presentation.

Below you will find the video. I hope everyone is well during this crisis.

1 2 3 4 5 7