All about being gifted (and a little talented)

       I guess I'm gifted. I get pretty good grades and big parts in plays. I take g+t. Which is a big perk. Stuff has always been easy. I can do a paper that would take some people days in a couple of hours. I only have to study in history and sometimes science. I can discover patterns really easily and continue them. It's just natural.
        Being gifted isn't all that great though. Some people who don't know me see me as just smart or a good actress or whatever. This really isn't true. I'm shy around strangers but if I have a friend with me I'm loud and fun and maybe considered obnoxious in some people's minds. Also, people (and parents) tend to have very high expectations for me (or people related to me) and when I can't achieve something they become disappointed ( or angry). There's also that little bit about being alienated from the rest of  society by an invisible brick wall ( don't worry you just need an invisible sledgehammer) that they leave out in the brochure.
      Now a lot of people have some assumptions about gifted people that are completely and utterly, flat out wrong. So it's myth buster time. All these myths are from this website. Ha ha just kidding They are from the National Association for Gifted Children's website.
     My first myth is that if a child doesn't get all A's they aren't gifted. First of all, I get B's all the time and I'm sure many other gifted students also do. Secondly, being gifted isn't all about academics. It's also about other talents you may have and being a well-rounded, creative person who can make a difference in the world.
My second myth is that gifted children are stereotypical nerds, complete with a dry personality and pocket protectors. Though I hate to admit that these do exist and that I've met some, I am happy to report that none are in our g+t. In fact, the one stereotypical nerd I know didn't pass the test to get into Rogate or g+t. I believe this was because he was too academically focused to get the creative answers needed for the patterns test.
      My final myth is that AP courses are the same as g+t. This is the most incorrect myth in this blog post and probably the most incorrect myth on the NAGC website, if not the whole Internet. AP or Honors courses are advanced, difficult courses that many gifted students are in, but it is comepletly different from g+t. Gifted and Talented focuses more on the individual student and their own unique accomplishments.
     So there you have it, a lot of important stuff you need to know about being gifted.
(p.s. does anyone else find it ironic that the blogspot spellchecker doesn't recognize "blog" as a real word?)

First Post

My name is Sam and I'm in 9th grade. This isn't really my first post but it is my first post for the school year. My 10 favorite things are my dog, my friends, my oil pastels, my television, the internet, theatre, this class, random stuff, and doing nothing. My 10 least favorite things are rules, work, homework, haters, other people in general, when the spellcheck is wrong, gym class, when they don't understand what "I'm having an asthma attack" means in gym class (and no I can't keep running), uncomfortable chairs, and peanut butter. The highlight of my summer was my trip to Canada. I am looking forward to the 20% project, of course and learning more about the iPads.

Last blog post of the school year

Rogate was probably the most fun class I have ever taken. My favorite part of the class was the 20% project. I got to raise butterflies for this, which was really cool. My favorite lesson was the one we did kitschy art, which I found very interesting. My favorite unit was the one on civics. I found it really informative. My favorite project was the kitschy art project. In this class we could have used the blogs more effectively. We could have done journal posts and for fun posts. I Am taking gifted and talented next year which I am excited again. The thing I will miss most about middle school is air conditioning. I will also miss being the oldest grade in the school. I am worried about how much time we will have to get across the school to the other buildings. Also I want more information on how much homework I will have. Over the summer I plan to go to summer camp, Canada, and Kiersten's house. Well Good Bye for the summer.

Kickstart!

Kickstart is an extremely cool website. If you have an awesome idea and you need money to produce it. You can sign up and people will give money to you. If I had $500 on that site I would give my money to a few different projects. I would give $300 to a project that really interests me. That would be the Trackl3t bracelet. This bracelet is a bracelet that you pass on from person to person. It has a website that you go on and record your adventures with the bracelet. Then people who have it in the future can see where it's been. I would give $150 to Remee. Remee is a mask that allows you to have lucid dreams. I would give to Remee because I had a lucid dream once and it was really cool. I wish I could do it again because when I had it I didn't know what it was so I didn't do anything cool. I would pledge $50 to Makey Makey, which looks so super cool, but it already has enough money. Basically, you can turn anything into computer controls. So you could have an alphabet soup keyboard. That would be fun.

Crowrdsourcing through Cleverbot

Crowdsourcing is the act of taking information from a large group of people. Instead of doing it yourself. A prime example of this is Cleverbot! Cleverbot is an online robot. You can log on to Cleverbot and have a conversation with it. Cleverbot saves the information you tell it and uses it in future conversations. To learn more click here. This is an example of crowdsourcing because it uses information you give it to have conversations.

Google 20%

The Google 20% project is a brilliant idea. It is when we just pick a project and go. We can explore our interests and figure out what we like and dislike. Here is an article explaining the 20% project

Wastelands

Wastelands is one of the coolest documentaries I've ever watched. It's about the pickers at Jardim Garmacho, a landfill in Rio de Janeiro. In the beginning of the film it was interesting and while the interest remained the film slowly got sadder and sadder.
   The main focus of the film was a man named Vik Muniz who made portraits of many of the pickers out of garbage to raise money for them. He auctioned off one piece in London for $50,000 US dollars. Vik also gave them a new sense of what they can accomplish and what they can do with their lives.
   Many of the people interviewed said they were proud to work at the landfill. It was easy for them to get sucked up in robbery, drug dealing, prostitution, or some other dishonest job. They felt working in the landfill, even though it was frowned upon by society, was a much more responsible choice. This is good choice. They can work their way out of a landfill but once you start one of those jobs you can’t get out easily.
   I realized after watching this film that I produce a lot of garbage. I might recycle less though. These people make money on taking the recyclables out of the garbage. I’ll give them more business.
   Vik Muniz could do this for almost any area in the world. He could do Iraq or Afghanistan. Or just an American Ghetto