My best method of learning is through listening. If I can listen to what others have to say then I can learn from them more than I can learn from myself. I don’t learn quite as well from lectures though as much from discussions. I expect my 9th grade English teacher to include a lot of discussions in their class and to really let the students take over when a discussion begins. I also expect that when a discussion or debate starts to slow down and run dry, that they will pick it back up with a well thought out question. I do learn a little bit from my own writing, but it must be prompted with something that interests me. I expect my teacher to use a lot of classic literature because I think that we can and should learn from the past and one of the best ways is through old writings. Finally, I learn from technology. Even though it is not my favorite thing to use, I believe it is a useful classroom tool and it allows us to reach beyond the boundries of the classroom walls. My teacher should integrate it into the class in as many ways as possible but without making it boring or less effective than more traditional ways. If my teacher can use even some of these methods to teach me, then I am certain to learn something in the year to come.

Is a digital legacy really a good thing? I mean do we really want to be remembered by technolgy only. If I were to spend my entire life working on something on the interenet, and then find that no one has read it or looked at it or even heard of it. Why would someone take such a risk with their lives to find that their life was wasted? And even if people did at some point encounter this legacy, what difference would it make? I personally don't want my legacy to be connected with the interenet in any way. I would want my legacy to directly influence people and their lives right when I do it, and I want it to pass from them to others. I want to make sure I make a difference rather than just hoping for it.

    Television is probably one of the best and worst things in society. Before, world news, events, and affairs took months to reach people. Now there is news on every channel at 5, 6:30, 7, 9, and 10 o'clock and if anything important should happen, the world will know about it in minutes. I guess this can be viewed as good or bad because the media will do whatever it takes to get a good story, even twist one to the limits of truth, but we hear the news nonetheless. Another good/bad aspect of television is that it offers entertainment. Over time, however, people have lost interest in that which was actually entertaining to watching people gamble on game shows (rather than play them) and watching people stab each other in the back with reality T.V. The nastier the show is, the higher the ratings and the more money there is to be made. Shows that offered the good, clean entertainment are slowly being taken off the air or moved to obscure channels that are only obtainable through expensive cable or satellite packages. Not that there aren't good shows on anymore, but many of them have gone downhill from where they started. Television is good at times and bad at times, but how long can that last? 

Chivalry is courtesy towards women according to dictionary.com. That usually included holding a door for a lady, letting her go first in everything that did not require a man to go first, offering her a seat when no others were availible, and gracefully accepting chivalrous acts. These were things that men were taught when they were boys and girls were taught how to accept these courtesies and that they should expect this. As time has continued on, women have begun to be unthankful for the things men would do for them. Men have stopped acting chivalrous to an extent. You always hear people complain that men think their better than women, but they brought it upon themselves by not accepting such chivalrous acts. I was told that it is the woman's duty as much as the man's to take part in chivalry. It is neither gender's fault in particular that chivalry is dying, but if neither takes action, it will be dead forever.

Expectations for people have faded. Over time, we've come to expect the least from people and are surprised when they do what they are supposed to do. I've seen people ask for rewards for doing what they are told to do, what they are expected to do, but the expectations mean nothing. Mediocre has become exceptional and awful has become average. An example of people's expectations for, say teenagers, are that they do their homework and don't argue with or disobey their parents more than thrice a week. Long ago, if a child didn't meet their parents expectations, they were either thrown out or kept but as a disgrace. I guess we got tired of trying to meet our own expectations for ourselves and the expectations of others for us. We got lazy and decided enough to get by was enough for us. We need to raise our expectations before they lower themselves into nonexistance.

Guitar Hero or Dance-Dance, which is better? Well of course it’s Guitar Hero. It doesn’t tire you out like DDR, and it’s just as easy to play if not easier. It’s songs are much more well known and are sung by the original singers rather than the famousish songs on DDR that are sung by people you’ve never heard of or care about. Guitar Hero is much easier to learn to play on the harder levels and the game relates to the music much more. Dance Dance does have more games and songs to choose from, but a lot of the songs are too difficult or too easy and some don’t even interest the dancer. Although this also applies to Guitar Hero, it’s on a much smaller scale and doesn’t affect the player as much. When people choose to play one of these video games, Guitar Hero should always be the first choice.

Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.  

                                                                                     Proverbs 17:28 
People are too outspoken. They rarely think about what they are going to say or what it could mean to those they say it to. Things are thrown out into the open where they are neither needed nor wanted and once they are out they won’t be allowed back in. The ”verbal diarrhea” of the world is at an all time high. Friendships and relationships can be destroyed by a simple phrase or sentence that was not meant. Another part of the world’s lack of discernment when speaking is gossip and rumours. We talk about others and make up lies to satisfy our own needs for attention. Then things get spread around and eventually hurt the person involved whether the rumour be true or false. Secrets are rarely kept and trust is very non-existant in a world that encourages the degrading of other people through the use of celebrity tabloids and media. Words are very powerful things and shouldn’t be taken as lightly as they are now. Watch your words for they have consequences.

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.” Frank Outlaw

Knowledge and wisdom are sometimes confused with each other. They’re sometimes thought to be the same thing or coinciding things. By definition, knowledge is the fact or state of knowing. Wisdom is knowing what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action. In simpler terms, knowledge is knowing the facts and wisdom is knowing what is right and what is wrong. They may not seem different when you look at them, but when you ask people who pursue one of them, they will tell you the difference in clear detail. I guess some people don’t know the difference because they don’t care about either. If neither matters to you, then you probably won’t or don’t have a very happy life. Knowledge and wisdom are some of the most important things a person can have, pursue them.

You prove to your parents that you’ve learned something through actions. If you’ve talked about nonconformity in your class and it affected you, then your parents should notice a change in your behavior from conformist to nonconformist. If you talk about feminism in the past and women demanding respect and rights, you may have a change in attitude towards females. You can’t prove you’ve learned something through talking because when you talk you can lie and just repeat what was discussed in class. In order to prove that you’ve learned something, your parents have to have an open mind. You may have gotten nothing out of the class that you were meant to learn, but you may have learned a ton of things through thinking things in the class. Proving you’ve learned something takes work on both sides, but it can be done.

There are 10 varieties of saxophone, but in my mind, there’s only 4. The 10 are contrabass, bass, baritone (my saxophone), tenor, C tenor, alto, F mezzo-soprano, soprano, C soprano, and sopranino. I prefer the former 4 because I love bass sounds and big instruments. The bari sax, which is what I play because it’s the biggest saxophone I can get my hands on, is about 3-4 feet tall and can go down much lower than the regularly played alto of my level or even the tenor which is the most common saxophone. I want to play the contrabass someday because of my previously listed reasons and because it goes an entire octave below the bari sax. I hope to pursue my skills in the field of saxophones, especially contrabass.