The Pros and Cons of Computers in the Classroom
By Beck Gozdenovich

As we all know, technology is advancing everyday and we are becoming more and more dependent on it in our everyday lives. The education foundations in Sparta are really trying to push the use of technology into the classroom. At Pope John, it is suggested that each student own an iPad just for school use. Here at Sparta High School, the majority of teachers have converted to Google Classroom completely. It is up for debate whether these changes are for the better or for the worse, and there are very convincing arguments on each side.

Pros

• It makes the classroom more compact and easier to access
• Student to teacher and student to student communications have never been better
• It is easier for students to reach tools such as Google or other educational sites
• There aren't any unorganized and messy binders or notebooks to keep track of
• The environment benefits from the decrease of paper production

Cons

• Students can be easily distracted by the temptation to browse the web
• If a test is done online a student can open a new tab and cheat by searching for answers
• Putting children's information on the internet can attract possible predators
• Corrupted files can ruin a student's entire assignment or project

It is inevitable that technology will soon engulf our entire lives and everything we do will be tech-related and the question is whether or not we should give in and forget our old ways, or resist technology for the value of tradition.

Broken Stereotypes-Brought to us by Neverwhere and the Nightingale (Kate Fontes)

Over the summer, Honors English 10 students were required to choose two of three books for summer reading. The books up for choice included Neverwhere, by Neil Gaimen, The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah, and In The Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.

I chose Neverwhere and The Nightingale, which were both extraordinary books. The Nightingale offered insight to a world at war, while Neverwhere took the audience to a mysterious fantasy underworld where humans could speak rat.

Although both books had an immense number of differences, they also shared similarities. One similarity that stuck out most to me was the authors use of characters to break stereotypes. 

As stated previously, the Nightingale took place in France during World War Two. Hitler´s cruelty was spreading throughout Europe at the time, and Nazi's had control over many parts of the world. Vianne, a main character in the book, is required to billet a Nazi named Captain Beck. Nazi's are known internationally for the immense pain and torture that they caused, so personally, I was shocked when the author chose to characterize Beck as more of a human than a monster. He aided the survival of Vianne and her children during the war, by helping them acquire food and chopping wood for the freezing winters. He also mentions his family frequently throughout the book. These two actions make Beck seem human, and even kind. Therefore, the Nazi stereotype is broken.

Similar to The Nightingale, Neverwhere breaks the ultimate stereotype through the characterization of The Angel Islington. Let's be real-when one hears the word "angel", immediately a pure, loving, and kind image comes to their mind. So, you can imagine my shock when Angel Islington turned out to be a main villain of the novel. Throughout the book, the main characters Door and Richard go on an adventure to avenge Door's dead family. Angel Islington was supposed to be the key in achieving this goal, but I was floored when he turned out to be the mastermind behind the group who killed Door's family. When Door finds this out, Angel Islington smiles viciously, clearly happy at Door's despair. This is sadistic, and far from angel-like. Therefore, another stereotype is broken.

Both authors did an amazing job at breaking stereotypes. I personally was floored when a Nazi was kind, and an angel had the characteristics of a devil. What about you?

Independent Reading by Julia Flake

Every Friday in Mrs. Kopp's classroom, the students get comfy around the room, whether in a hammock or a spider chair, grab a book of their choice, and simply read. A whole period for just reading independently seems like a task from the past, either in elementary school or middle school. However, most people do not realize how effective it is to read independently.

Independent reading has consistently been found to relate to growth in vocabulary, reading comprehension, verbal fluency, and general information. Students who often read on their own time become better readers, score higher on achievement tests, and will gain greater knowledge than people who do not read independently. 

Most students tend to not like to read because the books in school are assigned and they may not be interested in the book. The fact that the students get to pick their own book opens a wide range of choices so any student can be pleased. It gives you a time to be on your own and let your mind go.

Independent reading is very effective and it will help your knowledge in all aspects of school. Keep on reading!

By Julia Flake

Whiteboard Table by Matt Dumbroff

Among the many pieces of unique furniture in our classroom, today a new one was added. This new piece of furniture is a whiteboard table located directly in the middle of the classroom. Immediately the question is whether or not this is a legitimate leaning tool, or rather just a distraction. However, the answer lies somewhere in between. This truly depends on the maturity of the people using this tool rather than the piece of furniture itself. English is all about ideas, and this dry erase table can be an amazing tool for jotting down notes or ideas as they come to integrate into a paper. On the other hand this resource can be very easily abused and used as a distraction rather than a resource for learning. With proper use this is an amazing tool, and a great addition to our classroom!

"Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman // book review by Sarah Dioneda

“I mean, maybe I am crazy. I mean, maybe. But if this is all there is, then I don't want to be sane.”

And how true that may be.

Going into Neverwhere, I honestly had no idea what to expect. All I knew is that I had to read this book for school, and the author made a cameo in Arthur once.

I didn't expect to think that this book was good.

The plot line was easy to follow, the writing was normal (to put it simply) and Richard was an annoying, but ultimately empathetic main character that kind of grows on you like a rash. The book is an interesting story of self-discovery and redemption that just so happens to take place in an alternate universe that moves below our feet. Trust me, it makes it that much more entertaining.

And it isn't just about Richard. You get strong female heroines like Door and Hunter, and an entire journey of self-discovery through the main character. His character development in this novel is impeccable. I would compare it to Vianne's development in the Nightingale. They were weaker, confused, and a bit wet behind the ears in the beginning, but did they grow. Neverwhere is a multi-layered book, and each person (or creature, per se) has a long way to go before they finally become who they were meant to be.

However, I can understand that it is not exactly for everyone. The alternating perspectives of people tend to throw off some readers--including some of my friends who had mentioned this dilemma and added that they thought the novel was pretty slow. Also, based off my own observation, I realized that romance appeals to the female teenage demographic, and when reading this book, there is absolutely none. It turned a lot of my friends off, and I suppose, they found it more unappealing without it.

But even with the alternating perspectives and lack of romance, it's still a great story--a redeeming one, really. Ultimately, it's a rewarding journey to go through if you're up for it, and if you are, I hope you enjoy because I certainly did.

“You've a good heart. Sometimes that's enough to see you safe wherever you go. But mostly, it's not.”

Shadow Divers Book Review By: Joseph Dempsey

For my summer reading book, I chose to read Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. Because I really enjoyed it, I decided to talk about it.


Not many secrets remain about World War II. However, in 1991 Bob Nagle and John Chatterton discover an unknown sunken U-Boat 60-miles off the coast of New Jersey. This book takes you on their and their team's adventure of giving the U-Boat a name. However this was easier said than done for many reasons. One of these is there was no record of a U-Boat sunken there.

I am not going to say anymore because I don't want to ruin anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgjlbQtlT6Q

Above is a video of a dive on the U-Boat. I recommend having the volume off because they say the U-Boat's name.

Summer Book Chat by Briana Cotten

Yesterday, September 23rd, 2016 the high school ran on an activities day schedule. Each student had been previously given the assignment to pick one book, out of a total of 33 options and read that said book over the course of the summer. One did not have to take notes- the point of the task was for the student to enjoy their book and then be able to have a discussion on it when they returned to school. The book chat was an hour long and I took an anonymous survey on the number of students whom thought it was beneficial vs the ones who didn't quite enjoy it as much. The results are shown below~

*Out of 20 students a total of 14 students said they really enjoyed their book and book chat immensely while the other 6 claimed that their book discussions were to a minimum, thus it wasn't as enjoyable*

Jamie Rennie stated, "I loved the book chat for Me Before You because I really enjoyed reading the book and I thought it was a good way to look at the story from other people's perspectives. I liked how it was run by an English teacher because it made the chat flow nicely, and I really enjoyed talking about a book that people actually chose to read rather than were forced to." 

Overall I really enjoyed this book chat myself and believe each teacher did an amazing job to make this not only a fun time, but a good learning experience.  

Why do we explore? By Phil Christodoulou

Today in our book chat we spoke about why people explore anything in this world, or even beyond.
Is it for the curiosity, the riches, or the excitement? These are just a few examples that we went over but everyone explores for their own particular reason. There is no right or wrong answer as to why someone explores. In The book Lost City of Z (Which was our summer book) was about how a man name Fawcett, explores the Amazon while knowing the risks for himself, crew and family, yet something inside him drives him to keep going and searching. Personally half the things I explore i have no clue what I'm looking for, but that, is the best part about it, you never know what might come your way.

Stephen Kings 11/22/63 book review By Mikayla Bivona

If you could go back in time and change a major historical event... would you? 

That is the question that Jake Epping has to ask himself. On November 22nd, 1963 John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Flash forward to the year 2011, Jake goes to Al's Diner known for the famous "cat-burger." When Al becomes intensely sick, he asks Jake to finish a job for him. He needs him to stop the Kennedy assassination. But how will it change the 2011 world? Will it be for better or worse? 

11/22/63 is 864 pages of pure adventure, excitement, and nail-biting situations. If you like history, time travel, and a hint of a love story, this is the book for you. 

The Pedal Desk - Is It Really Effective? By Grace Becker

As we all know, technology is reaching new heights in the classroom. From online textbooks to handing all assignments in online, there are so many ways that things are developing to become more advanced. However, this doesn't just apply to the educational aspect of the classroom. The Pedal Desk is a new, enhanced way of learning while exercising at the same time! Students can pedal away while sitting in an elevated seat and desk to not only keep their body moving, but their brains moving as well. It is a great way to stay active but remain focused while doing work. There are a few down sides to this however. This pedal desk may not be for everyone especially for some students that may find it distracting. Another disadvantage is that the desk may be uncomfortable to sit in for long periods of time, due to the fact the seat is shaped like a typical bike seat. There are still many positive aspects of the pedal desk. This includes the fact that it is good exercise, provides a good source of energy by keeping the body moving, increases attitude, and makes learning fun. What do you think? Is it a waste or can it help increase the positivity AND learning in the classroom? 

Welcome to our Blog! By Mrs. Danielle Kopp

Thank you so much for taking the time to read our blog! This blog is an experiment from a 10th grade Honors British and World Literature class.  My goal is to allow each of my students a chance to produce published work multiple times throughout the year.  Their task is to write about something related to our class or to reading and writing in general.  The students have carte blanche to use their own creativity and have fun with their blog posts.  A new blog post will be added by a different student each day and each student will end up posting about once a month. The students chose the blog name and created the design as a group.

 I hope that you enjoy reading our blog and that you comment on posts that you find interesting or exceptional.  I know that all my students would love and appreciate seeing comments on their posts.  This blog is also a great way for parents, guardians, family members, and friends to stay up to date with the topics we are studying in class. Please feel free to sign up for email notifications so that you will receive an email when a new post is added. 

 My hope is that this blog will be a place for students to thrive as writers and that they'll enjoy the process!  Thanks for stopping by!