Party together.

As my title says, today was a day of celebration among the senior class as we turned in our life from the past few days. As I walked into the door, I saw coffee being chugged and rings under eyes. I had worked diligently most of the week and this weekend to complete my paper and I still ended up staying up late working on homework. I learned that we are now forced to collaborate as citizens of America. The world is now part of the competition and Amercia will be left in the dust if we do not find a way to compete. A very important start is to teach the rising generation valuable 21st century skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. There is no longer an option because nations such as India have already become part the competition. I think that the goal at Oakbrook should be to prepare children for the world, not college. If we just prepare the students for college, the students will have trouble later in life when these skills are found more valuable than just a basic education. I think that this is what sets Oakbrook apart for Dorman or other public schools. I am glad the I have gotten an opportunity to look into the vision for the future of our school. Because it is new, people will fear the change. A worse result comes from not changing. Students will be missing a vital part of their education. Are we ready for what our new world has to offer?

The paper is coming, the paper is coming!

I like my topic. I do not have time. I like the books. I do not have time. I am currently at 75 notecards and have written the introductory and some of the second paragraph. It is something that is easier to write about because all the information is solid in my sources. I flip to the pages about collaboration and it seems that there are many things to cite. I have some of my bibliography but I assume I need them written on notecards. To me, that seems a little silly because it will all be transferred to paper anyway. Time is valuable and there is never enough of it. Bye bye long weekend.

getting prepared...

So, I have been accumulating resources from Mr. Hinds. I also told my mentor, Mrs. Myers about my thesis and she liked the idea. I have still not had enough time to start compiling notecards from the books but that will be a project of this weekend. I found it interesting that Ms. Autenzio made the statement today about getting the work done for the research paper and not spending time doing recreation, when I have hardly any time do my school work. This class of seniors is diligent to the fault. We try to be excellent in too many things and it results in unhappiness and frustration. But I digress... I am excited about the prospect of starting the buying and building of the activities. In my timeline for my proposal, I planned to start the building in november. I know it is early but I am still preparing myself. I am much more motivated to think about an exciting project such as a low-ropes course than a research paper that is due too soon. My plans are to seriously research the topic this Saturday and begin to write things down. If I have enough information, I will begin to write an outline of my paper. I believe I am underestimating how much work this will be, but I am willing to be disappointed. Ta ta for now, and a jolly good day to you!

FINALLY!!!, and as a very important man once said, "It is finished..."

Here is a cool new Thesis that I am pretty excited about! I sat down with Mr. Hines today and got some valuable information. Here it is:

Thesis:

 Collaboration is an integral part of the learning process for 21^st Century skills because technology and globalization require it in our changing world.

Sources:

Keen, Andrew. The Cult of the Amateur. First Edition. New York, NY: The Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, 2007. 228. Print.

Friedman, Thomas. The World Is Flat. 2nd rev. and Expanded ed. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. 660. Print.

Wagner, Thomas. The Global Achievement Gap. New York, NY: Perseus Books Group, 2008. 290. Print.

I have to print it out and turn it in tomorrow, but I am pleased what I have finally come up with. I has been a long time coming and past many due dates but I am glad to say that I have come up with something that will be better than if I had rushed trying to finish it for the due dates.