Eddie's Rainbow of Thoughts

Farewell to Everyone

                  Well as you know my blogging time is up in elementary school and it is time for me to go to middle school. I hate saying good buy but the time has come. When I first started blogging I was so exited. It felt like I was going on a journey. It made me a better writer,reader,and thinker. I shall use that knowledge that I gathered in blogging and put it in my suitcase called life that will help me stay strong in my academic field. I have made new friends from different countries some even older than I. It has taught me how to stay safe and be responsible while on the Internet. Some advice that I would give an elementary student is to stay off of inappropriate sites and DO NOT!! give out any of your personal information. I will miss many people from our blogging class especially Mrs.A and Mrs.C because if it hadn't been for them we might not be blogging this year. They have bought us a long way during blogging and I appreciate what they have done. If you are reading this Mrs.C I just would like to say thank you for the support and that little push you gave me to lead me closer to my dreams. I hope everyone in our class succeeds in life. By the way I will have another blog and I hope that you check it out.

   How do you feel about blogging and how has it helped you?

To My 6th Grade Teacher

             My time in elementary school is up and I have to put away these childish things and get ready for alot of change in middle school. I have to get ready to do harder work in middle school. I keep hearing myths about middle school from my older brother Jason. Like getting into alot of fights or getting shoved into the lockers. The teachers keep saying that the middle school teachers will eat us alive. Some other students say that it is easier and that it will be like a breeze. I hope that I don't have alot of trouble with middle school.

Mr.Kuropatwa's class

Today we've called Mr.Kuropatwa's class on the gizmo and we have asked some thought provoking questions. One question that we asked was what is some advice that you would give to an elementary student to stay safe on the Internet. Chris replied you should not give out any of your personal information to anyone on the Internet because some people can hurt you. There is a program on the Internet that is called my space and it is a chat room and it has inappropriate things on it.

             Chris answered Eddie's question-What is some advice that you would give a elementary student to stay safe on the Internet?

             Vincent answered Eddie's questions-What are some tips that you could share that would help us to be responsible while blogging?

                   Danny answered Emmy’s question-We love the Flickr pictures but we can't just go browse. Any suggestions for younger kids to have access to good graphics      

                   Chris answered M.V.’s first question-What does Pre-BOBulus mean?

Teen Safety

As you see on the news many teens lives are taken away because driving under the in influence. Most cases are from being under the influence. Some people get distracted and accidentally lose control. Teens plus teens equal disaster. I have lost someone that was very dear to me. When we received the news my family was shocked. It was my uncle. So I caution you to drive safe and not under the influence. Here are some tips that I would use. 1.  To be a successful teacher, you need to understand a few things about motivating a student during driving sessions...

• Check frequently to ensure that your teen understands
• Keep things moving by giving your instructions in real time
• Point things out as they happen
• Act more as the co-pilot than taskmaster
• Keep an eye on the road ahead of you at all times

2. Other teens in the car is one of the greatest risks...

Friends lead to excitement, distractions and peer pressure

Fatal crashes with teen drivers are more likely to involve passengers

Teens are less likely to wear seat belts when driving with other teens

3. There are all kinds of distractions that can take our eyes off the road. Here's a way to help maintain your attention:

Keep both hands on the wheel while driving

Don't talk on the phone without a hands-free accessory

Wait 'til the next stoplight to change that CD

Don't drive with passengers until you are more experienced

Parent's Tip: Don't remind your teen of all the possible distractions. Instead, enforce keeping your hands on the wheel and you'll avoid most of the distractions that cause serious crashes.

3.To help your teen understand, take the time to review the issues and responsibilities associated with driving and consider making a Parent-Teen Driving Agreement using the outline below as a guide...

• Issue - Curfew
• Responsibility/Rule - Weekday evening curfew of 10 pm and a weekend evening curfew of midnight
• Agreement - Coming home after the curfew will result in the curfew being set one hour earlier for one week

Parent's Tip: Treat your teen with the same respect by allowing them some control over the rules of driving.

4. Driving requires commitment and discipline - from both the student and the coach. The best way to demonstrate these traits is to establish a practice schedule and stick to it.

• Commit to the 100 hours of supervised instruction (100 hours is only 2 hours/week for a year, or 4 hours/week for 6 months)
• Make it routine--set aside a specific day and time for driving practice (Put it in your day-planner if you have to; this is an appointment for safety)
• Go with the flow--when the lessons require driving at night or in bad weather, make adjustments

Don't cancel, reschedule--when you have to work late or something else unexpected comes up, don't cancel your driving date, reschedule it.

Parent's Tip: Demonstrate to your child that you are making this a firm commitment to their safety

5. If your teen can spend 10 hours getting hand-cramps from the latest video game, he or she can spend ten sessions meandering through your local countryside or back roads, to develop driving hand-eye coordination. Anytime visibility decreases, have your teen:

• Slow down
• Access the situation
• If visibility is only 100 feet ahead, you should be doing no more than 35 MPH. If it's at 50 feet, it's 25 MPH, and so on.

Parent's Tip: Build up to an hour or more per session. It will help your teens mind and body become more accustomed to driving and build more confidence.

Just remember that person might be you behind the wheel. So take the safety percussions

The End of My Blogging Year

          My 5th grade year of blogging is almost over but the greatest thing about it is that I get to go to 6th grade. This is my only year in blogging and it has been the best year ever since I’ve been in elementary school. Mrs. C has bought us a long way. I’ve become a better reader and writer. My vocabulary skills have excelled since I’ve been in blogging. Blogging is a fun way to learn. It is better than writing on a piece of paper where the teacher only sees it. I want everyone to see how well my classmates and I have done.

          I have made new friends outside of school because of blogging. I have had teacher form other states and countries comment to my blog. I had a teacher from Winnipeg, Canada named Mr.Kuropatwa comment on my blog. He teaches senior math and the children in his class were overwhelmed because of what I knew. He even showed his class my blog and they made a podcast and sent it to me. I have also had a person named Lani comment to my blog and she is from Chardon, Ohio. She’s always trying to encourage me to write better. She always gives me tips and strategies on how to read and write better.

         I have plenty of posts that I’m proud of but the post that I am mostly proud of is a post influenced by Mr. Kuropatwa it is titled “The Language of Math.” Here is what it said. 

              Math is one of the most the most complex languages in the world although it doesn't seem like a language. Believe it or not we use math everyday. How do you think the things around you are made!?! Everyone uses math in the world even other cultures. Instead of telling you about math I'm going to tell you what I learned in math.

              The things I have learned in math are about geometry(shapes). Some of the things I learned about were lines, 4 dimensional figures, rays, plains, and line segments. What it means to me is that I can share my knowledge with my children if I ever have any. It kind of changed me in a way. It was kind of like a project in learning. It taught me how to listen better and how to use it in the future. I also appreciate math because some children don't even get education.

               Can you write about something you learned in school?

                Here is his response to my post.

               

        Hi Eddie!

Thanks again for dropping by my blog and leaving me such a warm comment. I've just been reading through some of the posts on your blog. If you hadn't told me I never would have known you were a grade 5 student. You're so articulate. (You express yourself so well.)

I was drawn to this post as the one to leave my comments because, as you know, I teach senior math at a high school in Winnipeg, Canada.

It's true what you and the other folks that have left you comments say about math -- it's everywhere. Even in our own bodies.

There are some very special numbers in math that you'll learn about in high school. They're so special that we give them special names because we can't write the whole number on any one piece of paper. Pi (pie) is one of them. Maybe you've heard about it when you learned about circles. 3.1415926.... and on and on it goes. There's another special number called "e" and another one called phi (like "fly" without the "l").

Phi is approximately 1.618 which seems weird I know, but it gets weirder. If you measure your height and then the distance from the ground to your belly button, then divide your height by the belly button distance it's going to be pretty close to 1.618.

Measure the length of your arm (shoulder to finger tips), then measure from your elbow to your finger tips. Divide the long length by the short one ... you'll get 1.618 (Phi) again.

This is even true about your fingers! Take the length of any finger and divide by the length to the second knuckle from your finger tip you'll get phi ... again! Do this again with the two smaller lengths of the same finger and you get phi again!

There's a building in Greece called the Parthenon. When they built it 2500 years ago, they made all the doors and windows so that the length divided by the width equals 1.618. Some folks call this number The Golden Ratio ... a very pretty name for a very special number. We don't know why this is, but when things are made so that their length divided by their width is phi they just look pretty to us.

So, why am I telling you this? Well, two reasons:

(1) It's another example of how math is everywhere ... even in places you wouldn't think to look.

(2) You can get better marks without your teacher even knowing why she's giving you more marks. The next time you do a project, it might be on paper or it might be on presentation board, cut it just so ... so that the length divided by the width is 1.618. It'll just "look prettier" to your teacher and he/she won't even realize it ... and you'll get a better mark. ;-)

Keep studying your math Eddie. There's a lot to learn and sometimes it's really hard, but if you get through some of the hard (and boring) stuff there's a whole lot of really cool stuff you'll be able to learn as well. Don't even get me started about the Fibonacci sequence. ;-)

PS: There are special symbols that we use for Pi and Phi but your blog won't let me write them. I'll bet you can find them if you search on Google. ;-)

     This is something that I have done in blogging and I am proud of it. This is the end of the year in blogging and this has been a year to remember.

My Favorite Comment

          What is your favorite comment that you've gotten? Well my favorite comment that was on my blog came from Mr.Kuropatwa. I know that his n ame sounds funny but it sounds like Care-o-patch-wha. He is a teacher from Winipeg, Canada and he teaches senior math and he and his class were blown away because my writing and vocabulary skills.

          Here is what Mr.Kurowpatwa's comment said.

Hi Eddie!

Thanks again for dropping by my blog and leaving me such a warm comment. I've just been reading through some of the posts on your blog. If you hadn't told me I never would have known you were a grade 5 student. You're so articulate. (You express yourself so well.)

I was drawn to this post as the one to leave my comments because, as you know, I teach senior math at a high school in Winnipeg, Canada.

It's true what you and the other folks that have left you comments say about math -- it's everywhere. Even in our own bodies.

There are some very special numbers in math that you'll learn about in high school. They're so special that we give them special names because we can't write the whole number on any one piece of paper. Pi (pie) is one of them. Maybe you've heard about it when you learned about circles. 3.1415926.... and on and on it goes. There's another special number called "e" and another one called phi (like "fly" without the "l").

Phi is approximately 1.618 which seems weird I know, but it gets weirder. If you measure your height and then the distance from the ground to your belly button, then divide your height by the belly button distance it's going to be pretty close to 1.618.

Measure the length of your arm (shoulder to finger tips), then measure from your elbow to your finger tips. Divide the long length by the short one ... you'll get 1.618 (Phi) again.

This is even true about your fingers! Take the length of any finger and divide by the length to the second knuckle from your finger tip you'll get phi ... again! Do this again with the two smaller lengths of the same finger and you get phi again!

There's a building in Greece called the Parthenon. When they built it 2500 years ago, they made all the doors and windows so that the length divided by the width equals 1.618. Some folks call this number The Golden Ratio ... a very pretty name for a very special number. We don't know why this is, but when things are made so that their length divided by their width is phi they just look pretty to us.

So, why am I telling you this. Well, two reasons:

(1) It's another example of how math is everywhere ... even in places you wouldn't think to look.

(2) You can get better marks without your teacher even knowing why she's giving you more marks. The next time you do a project, it might be on paper or it might be on presentation board, cut it just so ... so that the length divided by the width is 1.618. It'll just "look prettier" to your teacher and he/she won't even realize it ... and you'll get a better mark. ;-)

Keep studying your math Eddie. There's a lot to learn and sometimes it's really hard, but if you get through some of the hard (and boring) stuff there's a whole lot of really cool stuff you'll be able to learn as well. Don't even get me started about the Fibonacci Sequence. ;-)

PS: There are special symbols that we use for Pi and Phi but your blog won't let me write them. I'll bet you can find them if you search on Google. ;-)

        The comment that he sent me inspired me to be a better blogger. When I read his comment (even though it was long) it made me feel excited. It inspired me to become a better writer. I was even eager to try the activities that he told me to try. I wouldn't have even thougt that a senior math teacher from Canada would look at  a 5th grade student's blog. This is what I felt when I read Mr. Kuropatwa's comment.