I think my second year at West Ridge has been great. A few bumps along the road, but I otherwise I think it’s been amazing. I started out with a good schedule, good teachers, and good friends. At first I thought it would be just like 6th grade, except with a little more difficult work.

After the first week of school, I discovered that I had twice as much homework. I thought there must have been a glitch in the matrix, but it turned out there actually was that much homework! When I got home it was practice my clarinet, complete a 50-problem-long math homework worksheet, complete chapter-long science reading notes, finish my front-and-back spanish worksheet, annotate my English book, work on my Texas history project, and do my part for my team in the Future City competition.

I have learned several things being in school, such as:
-how to work under pressure
-how to keep straight A’s
-STAR WARS
-how to write a post about a 7th grade reflection
-how to get in good shape for track season
-how to finish all of my homework with time left for playing video games (this one took me a while)
-how to code when making a video game
-STAR WARS

Although 7th grade may have been quite a bit harder than 6th grade, I still enjoyed it. I mean, it’s not better than no school, but it wasn’t really that bad. There’s not really anything about it I would want to change. As these last few weeks arrive, I’m hoping that they’re way easier than the other weeks because I’ve almost exploded with all of the learning that I’ve been cramming onto my brain.

I really, REALLY don’t like leaving the house.  I’ve gotta keep playing videogames right?  When relatives come though, they want to go to stores, and restaurants, and stuff, because they don’t have those where they live. I really don’t like to do this, but there is one place I like to go to…

Olive Garden is the best restaurant in Texas ever. A calm place to spend time with your family while enjoying the delicious food. Olive Garden does an amazing job of filling you up, while keeping your entertained. If you’re going to stop in Texas, going to Olive Garden has to be one of the reasons as to why you came.

My dad’s kinda cheap when it comes to eating out, so we usually don’t get any appetizers, but that’s one of the best things about Olive Garden! Flavorful soup, warm breadsticks, and delicious salad is a meal in itself—did I mention that it’s all you can eat appetizers? Then, although it’s an Italian restaurant, the menu appears as if it has everything. I personally enjoy the Parmesan crusted tilapia, but if you don’t like that, just look down about a few inches for another amazing meal!

Another great thing about Olive Garden is that boredom does not exist there. As I said before, the food just keeps coming, but still, there are plenty of other ways to stay entertained rather than getting your phone taken away for having it out at the table. My dad and I have a bit of fun with the drink coasters: we try to see who can flip and catch the most at one time. Then there are the nice patterns of lights, quite sounds, and delicious smells that (I believe) is the secret formula to sparking conversations, to keep the entire family involved.

Olive Garden is one of the only places that doesn’t make me think Icould be playing a video game right now. I can’t resist the endless food, and great memories that come from going to Olive Garden.

Okay, so there’s this thing called the Phantom’s lair, and its supposed to be  really scary and stuff.  I think these ideas are a bunch of baloney.  In Christine’s room- rumor has it that behind the mirror I this trapdoor thing-a-ma-jiggy, and it leads down down down down down down down down down down down down down down into the Phantom’s lair.  Sooooo… behind the mirror is this (obviously) painting of a fake tunnel that leads downwards.  Well, it is amazing artwork, so I’ll take a photo of me leaning  against it to make it look like I’m falling.  Here we go, and- AHHHHHHHHHHHH.  Okay, there’s my picture, now for a more realistic pose… AHHHHHHHHHHH (I’m actually falling this time.)

Deep deep down below the opera house you stumble upon the lair of the Phantom. Only being able to see 2 feet in front myself through the thick veil of fog, I attempted to find a clearing. As the mist begins to fade I jump at the sound of a single drop of water that had managed to escape the grasp of the ceiling to reach the lake below. My feet make a clamping noise from colliding with the ground after the jump… the sound seeming to echo on forever of the vast walls of emptiness.

Through a door I find a small chamber. In it is an organ–rotting away as if nobody had ever given it any care. In the opposite corner stands a frame. Below it– lay fragments of a shattered mirror. Looking closer, in the place of where the mirror should have been, is a skull– drawn out of ashes

About ready to leave, I make your way back to the underground lake. The murky water makes the lake appear to have no bottom.   In the reflection of the water is a torch, the only object providing light to this lair of eternal darkness. The torch is flickering about– a bit like a tongue– in the darkness surrounding. It’s the only torch there, the only one…and its flame goes out…

My first thought– oh-no-bro, this ain’t good.  Unable to see, I’m about to panic when this music starts playing.  Although its a bit creepy, and its not a song, just the sound of an organ as if someone was slamming his hand up and down the keys of the piano. I’m a bit calmer after the music ends, but I’m still trying to find my way out.  Then I feel something slip around my neck. I can’t see anything, is it… a necklace maybe?  You know what, this place might not be so bad after all. I mean, the music was a little creepy, and the necklace may be a bit too tight, but– okay, maybe the necklace is way too tight.  Anyways, as I’m gasping for air because of the constricting force of this tight necklace, but maybe the Phantom isn’t so bad after all…

End of Act III

iPads are great for school. They have infinitely many uses, and they make the lives of students easier and better. iPads Are an efficient tool in helping with education.

One great thing about having iPads for school is that everything you need is compressed into a single screen! This eliminates the need to carry heavy textbooks with you. Furthermore, being able to complete assignments on your iPad get rid of the time spent making sure you’re not forgetting any of your assignments at home. All you have to remember is your iPad, and you’re good to go!

Also, in this world of expanding technology, there are more possibilities for learning. iPads connect us to these new tools of education, and they can promote learning faster and better than without the use of technology. One app I use for school is Flipboard, which gives everyone in the class access to innovative, and informative news articles. Not everyone would be able to see these new forms of learning without the use of iPads.

Technology was made to help people with stuff, and learning is part of this stuff. By utilizing the more advanced technology, you are using the more advanced education system!

Up 24-0? What are they advertising again? Wait, 28-0. Anyways, this year’s Super Bowl didn’t go so well. Commercials, halftime, the game itself–all bad.

The worst thingI’m not really a sports fan, but this is the Super Bowl, supposedly the best game of the year… Well not this time. They had a bad start, but then they went down more… By halftime I had 100% attention on my laptop playing Minecraft. It wasn’t that the Broncos lost that made the game bad, but the fact that the Broncos would have had to have a Super-Bowl-Record comeback to win, by the first quarter if the game. Sports games ames just aren’t interesting if the ending is already easy spoiled with a 30 point lead.

I usually like the commercials better than the game itself, but that didn’t turn out to well either. This year, each advertisement was telling you that you-want-to-fall-asleep, instead of buy-this-this-thing-it’s-awesome! Aside from a few commercials, they were just terrible-nothing interesting, no action, no humor, just plain old logos and narrorators. Unlike last year, when the ball went out of bounds you would go, “YES COMMERCIAL BREAK,” and then you would laugh your head off.

The entire game wasn’t very good. Neither were the breaks in between. I mean, if your going to have everyone watch the biggest game of the year- at least make it so the watchers want to watch for fun. I hope that for the next Super Bowl, it’s not the boredom that puts me to sleep.

I really enjoy the school iPads. They are helpful for school assignments, they teach me about modern technology, and I have to admit, I play plenty of games on there too. A lot of adults don’t like kids like me to be playing too many video games. I agree with the statement of too much gaming, but not for the reason that it “rots your brain.” I think that playing video games allows you to play with friends, learn strategy which stimulates your brain, and my favorite excuse: hand-eye coordination. It’s still not healthy to play video games all day though. Your body needs exercise to stay healthy.

The main thing about iPads that is just sad, is how secretive you can be in class. Before electronics, people could play board games and card games for entertainment. At school, teachers would easily be able to notice if you had a deck of cards out, if you were talking to a friend, or if you were cheating on a test off of a piece of paper. Now teachers can’t tell if everyone is on task, playing games, messaging friends, or searching the internet during an iPad assignment, because switching apps can happen with just a flick of the wrist.

To solve this problem, the school came up with the iPad oath, which states that you’re not permitted to play on your iPad while in class, unless the teacher says otherwise (something like that). This would have worked perfectly, except for the fact that not everyone obeys the iPad oath and they never get caught breaking it. The people who do this think that it’s just playing games, but while that is true, these people have also crossed the line of honesty.

Last year, when the iPad-tech-people came to make sure no one was jail breaking their iPad, they found that all the students had their restrictions on(which was good). As soon as they left, about 1/6 of the class said that they had their restrictions turned off and turned them back on right before the check. They were relieved that there wasn’t a way to check for that and that they didn’t get caught. As we are developing new ways of technology to help with new learning and discoveries that expand our knowledge…

Technology is advancing faster than our systems of discipline can keep up with.