Catch Up Day

Today we finished labeling maps. I specified were I was from on all three maps since I had not done that last class. I am from the Iberian Peninsula, Scandinavia, Czech Republic, Ireland, and Scotland. Today's class was mainly about making our maps the way that was best for us. I tried to label mine as clearly as possible but I didn't have anything for color-coding which would have probably made it more clear to read. At least, I can read everything because I'm familiar with seeing it that way. We were told to label the equator as well. This made it easier to label the prime meridian and the Tropic of Cancer/ Tropic of Capricorn. Throughout class, we went over the format and consistency of our blogs.

Labeling Maps

Today we labeled maps. I brought up an old project I had to do in which I labeled parts of the map on an orange because it reminded me of what we had to do in this class. We labeled prime meridian, tropic of Cancer, tropic of Capricorn, the 7 continents, 5 oceans, John Carroll, equator, and our origin countries. I wasn't positive what countries I came from but I now I'm interested in researching into it.

World Map History

A man named Eratosthenes created the first map. A lot of places had not been discovered yet so the shape and positioning of things was very odd. There were other maps too. Such as, the map for the tides. It was made out of sticks positioned in an odd way. One map looked like the view in a microscope. This was a little bit more accurate in positioning but not quite. Some older maps would have Australia on the left instead of the right which was strange to see because I'm not used to that. We've been using contemporary mapping for approximately 100 years. It is a tool that is used to communicate complex geographical phenomenon. We also discussed the idea of time zones. One man proposed that it should be the same time everywhere and I think that was a good idea. Some people say it would be odd for one place in the world to be waking up at odd times, but if it had been the same time everywhere, we would not think it was odd. That would have just been the usual for that area. 

Human Geo

We had a sub today and no assigned work. We watched the world map part of the Netflix show, and after that we just worked on whatever we wanted to.

Human Geo

On Thursday we talked about human geography and what it means to study that in John Carroll because a lot of schools don't teach that exact type of course. We went over the goals of the class and what we would be questioning. We also talked about maps and longitude and latitude. I had a confusing question about the shape of the world and gravity that didn't really make sense but Mr. Schick tried his best to understand what I was saying. Some people were really heated about flat earth's and it was funny to listen to them explain why that's not true.

World Map RANT

The original world map that students have been studying for years is incorrect. It's hard to get a flat two dimensional map to be precise but the differences are drastic and misleading. The students of America have been studying the wrong map for years. The closer model is the Peter's World Map. This had a big affect on me because I should have learned this sooner. The biggest thing that struck me about the new map was the size of Russia, Africa, and Greenland. Russia is actually smaller. I have always seen Russia being very large and powerful but it is not as big as I was led to believe. Greenland is also much smaller than Africa. Also, our concept of North, East, South, and West is not what the directions had to be. North does not have to be on top. This hurts your brain to think about but it's a really interesting thought. I just feel betrayed by my previous map. I should have learned about the Peter's World Map before my freshman year in high school. Also, this wasn't even in a specific curriculum, so I could have gone to any other high school and I would still be ignorant about my world map knowledge. I would not have even known that Russia is smaller, Greenland is smaller, and Africa is bigger. One of my questions is why was the original map never updated. I don't understand how this could have been brought to a powerful person's attention and they did absolutely nothing about it. This INCORRECT map is what you see in every American classroom. What kind of geography education are United States students receiving? Obviously not a great one. I even studied the map and had to memorize some countries capitals. I learned from the wrong map and I was focusing on countries' false sizes. Who was the one that decided not to update the world map? Whoever it was does not have the American students' best interest at heart. I feel betrayed, deceived, and offended.

Test

We took a test in this class today.

Missed Class

I missed class today for chorus rehearsal with Mrs. Parrish.

Controversy of Socrates

We learned about the controversy of Socrates' teachings. He encouraged the youth to be free thinkers. He was charged with two crimes:
1. Corruption of youth
2. Disrespecting the city state and gods
His students most likely spoke in favor of him he was found guilty in the eyes of the jury. In Ancient Greece, disrespecting the gods was a very big deal. He was forced to drink hemlock poison and die a slow, agonizing death. His muscles would go rigid and he would be in a lot of pain. His students gave him a chance to escape but he respected the jury's decision. I think he didn't leave when he had the chance because he wouldn't have enjoyed a life in hiding. One of his famous saying was, "An unexamined life is not worth living." How could he examine life and discover new things when no one could know he was alive? Also, having your own thoughts shouldn't be a crime. The Greeks had a great democracy with developed ideas, but this is a step backwards. Of course, this is still the time when women weren't citizens so they obviously weren't extremely developed. Hearing the story of Socrates made me more grateful to live in this century.

Greek Vocab and Socrates

Today in human geo, we defined greek vocabulary. Some main words were agora and polis. Agora is a gathering or assembly place. It was the center of life in Ancient Greece. The polis was a political entity ruled by its body of citizens. The word polis is also the origin of the word politics, metropolitan, and poll. Another main point of discussion today was Socrates. He was a working class stonemason and a war hero. He is famous for being a philosopher. Socrates would ask his students questions to determine their underlying beliefs and the extent of their knowledge. This was named the Socratic Method. We discussed why or why not we thought Socrates, an uneducated man, would be a good leader. Although he was uneducated, I think his views on life would have made him a fine leader. He obviously had fantastic critical thinking skills which is an important quality. His lack of education could have possibly been a issue when governing a large group of people though. Overall, he would have been a great leader and role model. He would have been mostly popular with younger generations due to his speculation of traditional beliefs. His questions challenged mythology and opened people's eyes to a whole new world of possibilities and knowledge.

Excellence Presentation

"A Message to Garcia" was made into a movie twice (once in 1916 and 1936). Saying "take a message to Garcia" became slang for taking initiative and it is still used in the military. The president during the time was William McKinley. He was the 25th president. McKinley was supposed to serve two terms but was assassinated by an anarchist 6 months into his second. The tallest mountain in North America was (re)named for him until 2015. The mountain in now called "Denali". We went over vocab words in class. Perihelion is the point when a planet is closest to the sun and at its brightest. Slipshod means careless and lackadaisical. Imbecility means incapability and feebleness. A stenographer is a person who takes dictation. We saw pictures of what stenography looks like and I found out Caitlin's mom can read it. A Greek word for excellence is arete. It means the act of living to your full potential.

Elbert Hubbard

Today we learned about Elbert Hubbard. He was born June 19, 1856 in Bloomington, Illinois and died May 7, 1915. Elbert and his wife died on the RMS Lusitania when it sunk. He was was an American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher. Elbert was raised in Hudson, Illinois and he succeeded as a traveling salesman for the Larkin Soap Company. He is also known as the founder of the Roycroft artisan community in East Aurora, New York. A lot of his background had to do with the arts. He described himself as anarchist and a socialist. He believed in domestic, political, spiritual, mental, and economic freedom. He is most famous for writing "A Meassage to Garcia". It tells a story during the Spanish-American war about Lieutenant Rowan who was given a job to do and did without question. He was told to deliver a message to Garcia.

I finished reading A Message to Garcia. I agree with the overall theme of the essay, but I had different beliefs than Hubbard on certain topics. Elbert Hubbard writes with the idea that a good, hardworking man should never questions when told to do something, but I believe that asking questions can clarify things and result in doing a better job. Personally, I always try to be as inquisitive as possible so that I can do my best and deliver exactly what the person in charge has asked for. Of course, I do believe in not procrastinating or trying to pin my work on other people, but asking sound questions is always a good idea. I understand that the questions Hubbard is referring to are those that a lazy or non motivated person would ask, but he seems to shame most questions overall. Other than that, I think that Lieutenant Rowan is a good role model because he was motivated and respectful to his commanders. "A Message to Garcia" was a useful essay for freshmen to read because it sets a tone for our year to do the job assigned to us and to do it the best way we possibly can.

First Post!!

September 5 2018
Today was my first day attending John Carroll. I saw all my friends and made some new ones too. I didn't have the code to my locker in the morning so I had to carry most of my books with me. I put my backpack in the advisory across from mine until 10:00 A.M. I took my I.D. pictures during Human Geo. After that, we went over the syllabus and basic class rules. John Carroll was under modified lockdown today due to a bank robbery. The cafeteria was so crowed but, thankfully, I found my friends and ate mozzarella sticks. I wish the Academic Wing was open during lunch because I felt that I needed more time to prepare for my afternoon classes. After school, I had audition for the school show. They went great and I got a callback for tomorrow night at 6:30. Overall, I had an enjoyable first day of freshman year.