Last Class of 2014

Today was the last class before exams and of 2014.  Karson brought in cookies.  They were amazing! Mr. Schick brought in pound cake.  That was really good too.   We were all on a little sugar high and we were all crazy.  We reviewed another test that we got the other day.  I answered a lot because, unlike the test we reviewed yesterday, I got a lot more right.  I was really excited.

While we were reviewing for the test, Mr. Schick was trying to come up with nicknames for everyone (except for me.  I don't know why).  He mad the nickname Rosie for Rosemary, which is my dog's name.  I said that Rosie was my dog's name, and he started treating everyone like dogs (except for me.  Still don't know why).

Toward the end of class, I mentioned that my test grade brought me down 16 points (I did the math wrong though.  It was actually 12), and he remembered the remake.  He said that if you got below a 70, you can retake the test, and he'll give you a seventy.  Better than a 42.

Test Review

Today we got two tests back and reviewed them for the exam.  I got a lot wrong, so I had to pay attention a lot.  On the first test, I only got 14 right out of 33.  One of the questions I got right, so I asked if I could do it.  Mr. Schick let me, and when the person who was supposed to go asked why it wasn't his turn, Mr. Schick said I needed self esteem.
On the second test, I didn't do as bad, but I still got a bad score.  At least I past the second quiz.  (I got a 73%.)
I'm really happy that we reviewed, and I hope I do well on the exam.  It's kind of important.  Its 20% of our grade.

Test

We had a test today.  Some of it was a little hard for me because I wasn't here when we went over some of it.  The rest of it wasn't very hard.  I might have gotten Buddhism and Hinduism mixed up on one part of the test.  Most of the questions were pretty easy.   The easiest part was the Slumdog Millionaire questions.  I'm pretty sure I got all of those right.  I tried my best on this test, and I hope I did well on it.  Right now I have an 84 in this class, so I hope this test brings my grade up.

Our average was a 75.  I got a 42.  This is not going to turn out well.

Test Review

Today in class, we reviewed for the test for tomorrow.

        = on test

• Buddhism
• Name of adherents: 500 million to 1.5 billion (estimates vary quite a bit)
• Call them: Buddhists
• Geographical Location: southeast Asia, China, Nepal, Japan (there are 1.2 million Buddhists in the United States)
• Denominations: Tibetan, Zen, Theravada, Amidist
• Founder: Siddhartha Gautama
• Four Noble Truths: (only know which religion these belong too)
• There is suffering
• Attachment to desire is the origin of suffering
• There is a cessation of suffering
• The Eightfold Path will lead to the cessation of suffering
• The Eightfold Path:
• Right View
• Right Intention
• Right Speech
• Right Action
• Right Livelihood
• Right Effort
• Right Mindfulness
• Right Dedication
• Judaism
• Number of adherents: 14-18 million (ninth)
• Call them: Jews
• Geographic Location: Israel
• Founder: Abraham(?)
• Holy book:
• Talmud
• Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament)
• Genesis
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy
• Beliefs:
• ethical monotheism - God is one, and concerned with the actions of humankind
• Ten Commandments
• 13 Principles of Faith

Religions

Today in class, we looked at a PowerPoint about religion:

• Political Alliances
1. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
2. Commonwealth of Nations
3. Organization of American States (OAS)

• Christianity
• Number of adherents: around 2.2 billion
• Call them: Christians
• Geographic Location: Europe, the Americas, southern Africa
• Denominations: Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Protestants (Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, Anglicans, Presbyterian, Episcopalians, etc.)
• Founder: Jesus Christ (it's Abrahamic in origin)
• Holy book: The Bible, especially the New Testament
• Beliefs: Jesus is both human and divine - the Son of God; he led a virtuous life; he was crucified, died, buried, and resurrected; he ascended into heaven where he reigns with God the Father
• Clergy: the Pope is head of the Church, priests are local authorities
• Islam
• Number of adherents: 1.5 billion (second largest)
• Call them: Muslims
• Geographic location: Indonesia, Middle East, north Africa
• Denominations: Sunnis (75-90%), Shiites (10-20%)
• Founder: Muhammad (570-632)
• Holy book: Qur'an
• Beliefs: monotheistic, Abrahamic Five Pillars (testimony, prayer, alms-giving, fasting, pilgrimage).  Muslims see their purpose in life as serving and submitting to Allah (God), and observing Islamic law
• Hinduism
• Number of adherents: 1.1 billion (third largest)
• Call them: Hindus
• Geographic location: India, Nepal
• Holy book: the Vedas - eternal truths revealed to ancient sages; composed in verse form (meant to be sung and easily memorized)
• Founder:  no distinct founder - it is a series of intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, strict set of beliefs - probably the oldest religion, although Hinduism is less a religion than a way of life, or a faith.
• Example: "As a person puts on new clothes and discards old and torn clothes, similarly an embodied soul enters new material bodies, leaving the old bodies"
• In other words… reincarnation

Blog for December 4

Today in class we looked at the PowerPoint a little more and we took more notes about religion and spatial divisions.

• Jews, Christians, and Muslims all claim Jerusalem as their religious holy site.  They are constantly fighting over the land
• Spatial divisions are how we divide the livable space found on the earth by establishing social, economic, and political control.
• You can be a member of more than one spatial group.
• Spatial divisions can also cause conflicts or cooperation.
• Spatial Divisions Examples:
• Countries
• Economic Alliance
1. European Union (EU)
2. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

After that, we reviewed about Slumdog Millionaire, because a few things that are going to be on the quiz is from the movie Slumdog Millionaire.  Mr. Schick wrote a rap about it.  It was great.  Can you put that on your blog too, if you haven't already?

Blog for December 3

I forgot to blog yesterday, so I'm going to blog now.  

Yesterday in class, we took a few notes about Cultural Geography, mostly about religion.

• 5 types of Religion:
1. Buddhism
2. Judaism
3. Christianity
4. Islam
5. Hinduism
• Religion can also be dividing forces around the world
• Hindus and Muslims fight in India
• There are conflicts between Catholics and Protestants )two forms of Christianity) in Northern Ireland

Unfortunately for me, since I was sick, I didn't see half of the PowerPoint.  If you see this, Mr. Schick, can you put the PowerPoint on your blog if you don't already have it?

While we were talking about the PowerPoint, Mr. Schick had a very big conversation about religion.  He told us that fifteen years ago, her would've considered himself a Buddhist.  He got really into Buddhism.

Blog for December 2

I was absent on December 1, but I didn't know I had to blog.  I was absent because I was sick.  Every time I stood up, I had a huge headache and I almost passed out.  I also threw up about five times.  It was not a very good few days.  I'm better now, though, so you don't have to worry about me.