Reflection

Presidential Campaign Speech Reflection

1.  What was your role in the campaign and what did you contribute, besides your own personal speech, to the campaign effort?
I was the president. I wrote my own speech but I helped the other people in my group. We all came up with the slogan together. I help make the slogan and write some of the text.
Response:

2.  Which two propaganda techniques did you use in your speech and why did you select these techniques?
Bandwagon
Glittering Generalities
Plain Folks
Testimonial
Card Stacking
Transfer
Name Calling

Response:

I used these too methods because I thought that they would be best for my speech. I used Glittering Generalities because I thought that it would fit well for my part about taxes. I've seen many other elected officials use this method with the topic of Cutting taxes. I wanted it to seem like I had a great idea and my voters could be excited by the idea, not the actual plan. For the Plain Folks, I used a story to use pathos. I wanted my voters to know that I had a background and I wanted to relate with them.
3.   Which parts of your party platform did you present and why did you select those parts to present?
Cutting Taxes and Increase Military Spending.
Response:
I used those two because I thought that they were very important in America's future. I thought that they were topics that were very controversial but were very important. They also connected well and had a easy transition. They were both connected with money and what to raise and what not to raise. 

4.  Which two Presidential Responsibilities did you emphasize in your speech? How did you support these roles with evidence about your candidate?

Chief of the Executive Branch
Commander in Chief
Head of State
Director of Foreign Policy
Guardian of the Economy
Legislative Leader
Head of Political Party
Chief of Armed Forces 

Response:
For the Guardian of the economy, I talked about cutting taxes because people should be able to choose about what they want. I talked about the republicans point of view on the topic. I said we should lower taxes but didn't go into too much detail because I used the Glittering Generalities. As for the Chief of Armed Forces, I talked about my goal for the country. I told them that I wanted our men back in Iraq by the end of my 1st term. I told them my personal story to appeal to their emotions. 

1 Minute Video Reflection

Multicultural Video Reflection

Immigrants Like Me Essay

In the late 1880s, Japan was experiencing a famine which led almost 200,000 Japanese men to migrate to Hawaii where sugar cane and pineapple plantations needed laborers. The Japanese knew that America was doing quite well by then and Hawaii was part of American territory. The men traveled by boats and arrived in Hawaii a few weeks later. Japanese women didn’t accompany them because the only jobs that were needed required hard labor in the fields.

The Americans didn’t know the difference between the Japanese and the Chinese people. They originally brought the Chinese over to America because they needed cheap labor to build railroads. The Chinese were good workers and Americans believed Japanese would be the same. Therefore, it was easy for the Japanese to come to America because they were following in the Chinese workers' footsteps. (Back then the Chinese were like the Indian foreign workers here in Singapore, doing all of the dirty 

work.)

Once their labor was no longer needed in Hawaii, Japanese men began to settle on the west coast of America and wanted to start families. So in the 1910s Japanese women began to come to America. All Japanese marriages back then were arranged. With the husband to be in America, another man would stand in for him at the altar for the marriage ceremony in Japan. These brides were then given a picture of their husbands and traveled to America by themselves on a ship and to unite with them. That's how they acquired the name “Picture Brides.” Many couples thought that they would stay in America until they made enough money to return to Japan rich. Because of that, the women would send their American-born children back to Japan to go to school and stay with their relatives. 

My great grandmother and grandfather had a different story. They also had an arranged marriage, but my grandmother was not a picture bride. Beginning in 1910, my grandfather would travel back and forth from the US to Japan shipping pottery for his family’s import/export business. In between one of his trips he was introduced to my great grandmother. The families liked each other so the couple married on May 23, (the year is unclear), and about a month later they started their voyage to America. On July 3, they boarded the Osaka-Shosen Line ship. My grandmother’s sister also went on the trip with her little baby. The exact reason why my great grandpa had to go to the US was unclear but I think they went for a new start and more money. Fifteen days later, they arrived in Seattle where they spent the day in immigration. That night they stayed at a hotel. 

On November 26, 1922, they had my grandfather, John. He was the oldest of 14 children. When he was around 7 or 8, he and his two brothers were sent back to Japan to go to school where they stayed with their aunt and uncle. When my grandfather was 13, he was brought back to the United States. His parents wanted him to return because they knew that World War II was beginning and they wanted him with them. So he went to high school there and later fought in World War II on the American side.

Service Learning Project - STAGE 1

Stage 1
Inventory and Investigation (Research)

Using interviewing and other means of social analysis, student:

• catalog the interest, skills, and talents of their peers and partners
• identify a need
• analyze the underlying the problem
• establish a baseline of the need
• begin to accumulate partners

Sources

http://www.research-china.org/orphanages/jiangxi/shangrao.htm

http://crafts.creativebug.com/knit-hat-straight-needles-1195.html

http://www.research-china.org/orphanages/jiangxi/xinzhou.htm


For my service learning project I am going to be knitting hats for a the Blue Sky Healing Home Orphanage in China. My friends, the Paynes, adopted a little boy there. I took interest in this certain project because Allison Wenner did a really fun service learning project back in 2011. She had people come over make blankets an orphanage in china. The orphanage needs supplies to keep the kids warm. So I thought that I would make hats. Allison made over 100 fleece blankets and it really made a difference for the place she sent them too. The kids needed to share the blankets because they really don't have that much supplies.

It really isn't fair for little babies to be cold. Hopefully I will make a little kid more comfortable. The orphanage is in a cold part of China and the building doesn't look that well made. I don't think that there is much heat in the building so I hope that these hats will make a difference. There are many orphanages in China, but this one isn't as well known so I think it is good that I am sending these to a rural place. I don't want these kids to think that they are forgotten and I want to make a little difference in their lives.

Halloween Cookie

Fitness Goal

I want to get in between 8:10-7:55 by the end of the year. Once a week I will run a mile at my condo’s gym and push myself each time a little harder. I want to do this because I have gotten 8:35 and I have always wanted to get in the 7’s but I would be happy with low 8’s.

Wellness #health #wellness #pe

I think wellness being well rounded in different subjects that are important in people lives. Such as mental wellness, spiritual wellness, social wellness, emotional wellness, and physical wellness. Most people have are more stable areas than others. I think that I am particularly well in social wellness, but probably have to work on physical wellness. I think that I am good at social wellness because I enjoy being with a lot of friends and like spending my time with them. I think that I need to work on physical wellness because I don't really enjoy being physical and put it off. But I like being physical in Mr. Clarks class!

Testing Labels

Exploring Mars

For home in science we had to explore Mars using this website. It was really cool to see what it was kind of like. It didn't really look like there was much stuff on Mars. It just looked like a bunch of rocks, and it looked like there was sand. Also the color of it was a sandy-clayish color. It would be really cool if they found clay material on Mars because that would indicate that there was water. It also seems like it is really dry. If there was water before then there is definitely no water now. After looking at the Mars website, I'm glad that I live on Earth and have all of the great resources that it provides.

End of the Year Reflection

I have had a very successful RLA year. I have learned a lot of valuable skills in reading and writing. One of the valuable skills that I have learned this year is how to analyze characters thoughts, actions, and dialogue in a bigger way. For an example, "She blinked her eyes rapidly and against the rhythm until the redness before them cleared and she could see.” (A Wrinkle in Time, Page 227). From this sentence I can analyze, also from past events in the book, that as Meg was blinking against the rhythm it was almost like she was blinking the parts of herself that she didn't like. Also for reading this year I was very proud of my literary essay. I thought that it was very focused and had very strong ideas. It was very fun to write and I think it was a great piece to end the year with. I think that my next step as a reader next year should be to explore more genres like non fiction and historical fiction. I typically enjoy reading realistic and dystopian or utopian books. I really enjoyed reading The Giver and trilogies, The Hunger Games, and Mockingbird from those genres. I haven't had much of a chance to read much of non fiction and historical fiction but hopefully I will like those as well.

This year I have also really enjoyed writing. One of the big skills that have takeaway was "word smithing" or taking a few words and turning them into one more powerful word. For an example, "The house was really really scary" to "The house was haunting". This skill has helped me a lot with my writing this year and helped keep my writing exciting. This year I was especially proud of my realistic fiction piece. I wrote about this girl, Kate, who has a younger sister, Beth, who is autistic. In my piece Beth has to write a story for homework which Kate knows will be a disaster, while all of that is happening Kate struggles with problems with her absent parents. I am really proud of this piece because it is very personal to me. I have two autistic cousins and I think that there isn't enough stories out about being around autistic people. I am also very proud of this piece because it was very challenging. It is much harder to write about autistic 9 year old then writing about a average 8 year old. Every little movement that a autistic person does is crucial to the story to it was a fun challenge trying to capture every one of those moments. I think a good goal for writing next year should be to make sure that I have a good balance between inner thoughts, dialogue, and description. I always tend to focus on dialogue and description, and forget about inner thoughts. I have really enjoyed all of the RLA projects this year and I can't wait to see what projects we get next year!

Literary Essay - The Truth that Lies Beneath the Character

The Truth that Lies Beneath the Character

When put through tough and boundary crossing situations, true characters can strive. Madeleine L'Engle frequently shows this through character traits and conflicts. In the book A Wrinkle in Time, Meg has to save her father who has ended up in a whole other world despite her fears and awkwardness. She goes on a big quest to find him and has to defeat the powerful IT. In Meet the Austins, Vicky has to accept the unsetting change in her family, a 10 year old orphaned girl named Maggy. Maggy shakes up the perfect Austin family and Vicky doesn’t want her to be in it. Madeleine L’Engle believes that putting troubled characters in tough situations can show their true ability.

Madeleine L’engle shows her character’s true inner strengths when they are faced with fear. In A Wrinkle in TIme Meg had to get IT out of Charles Wallace, and she was petrified. IT is a brain that can control minds. It takes minds and tricks it or hypnotises it to think something else or to do something that it wants it to do. IT got control of Charles Wallace’s mind and was attacking him. Meg had to fight against Charles to get to IT out of his mind, but she ended up fighting the battle differently than she expected. “But she, in all her weakness and foolishness and baseness and nothingness, was incapable of loving IT. Perhaps it was not too much to ask of her, but she could not do it. But she could love Charles Wallace. She could stand there and she could love Charles Wallace.” (Page 229) This was the battle that she feared the most, but she knew that she loved her brother more than anything. Even though Meg was terrified and not thinking clearly, she knew that she had to just love Charles Wallace and IT would go away. She showed herself that she can be strong and powerful and not just the awkward and babyish Meg. Sometimes being scared can show people who they really are and what they can do.

Sometimes, Madeleine L’Engle sets up scary situations so that her characters can strive. In Meet the Austins, Vicky has to take charge when Rob goes missing on their summer vacation. She normally was very shy and lets John, her older brother, take charge. Vicky also can become flustered very easy and it can be hard for her to think straight, but when Rob went missing, she knew just how to handle the situation and the untrustworthy Maggy. “John suddenly looked terribly old and grownup. “We’ll have to go to Grandfather,” he said. Then I had an idea. “Maggy, did you play the trick on Rob? Did you go off and leave him for a joke?” Maggy nodded. All the pink went out of Maggy’s cheeks and she went very white and the darks of her eyes seemed to get very big.” (Page 206)This was the moment where Vicky took charge and was able to finally get Maggy to tell the truth. Maggy lies so that she won’t get in trouble, and Vicky just knew that Maggy must know about where he was. This was a true moment of character change because Vicky went from being young and babish Vicky to being the grown up and Vicky is a quiet and sensitive, so having to take charge was a challenge but she showed herself that she is capable of showing who she really is.

After Madeleine L’Engle’s characters conquer these situations, they come out stronger and better people. After Meg conquered IT, in A Wrinkle in Time, she felt like she finally did something that was worth it or something that mattered. When she was using all of her energy to defeat IT, it was like she was defeating her fears, as if she was letting a part of herself go. “She blinked her eyes rapidly and against the rhythm until the redness before them cleared and she could see.” (Page 227) As she blinked against IT she was blinking away the parts of herself that held her back from being who she really is. Also with each blink she was becoming more and more clear of who she really is and what she can accomplish. She showed herself that she really is worth something and is ready to be something better.  

Madeleine L’Engle believes that putting troubled characters in tough situations can show their true ability. Madeleine L’engle shows her character’s true inner bravery and power when they are faced with terror. Also, she sets up frightening situations so that her characters have work to show who they really are. After Madeleine L’Engle’s characters conquer these situations, they come out of the problem to be better and stronger people they really are. Sometimes, the most unexpected, helpless characters can turn out to be the most amazing heroes.

2012-2013 Science Favorites

This year in science we have covered many units. They have been from Earth layers, to flower biology, to primates. I have had so many favorite things that I learned and did. But my favorite unit was the flower biology and germination. When we learned about flowers, we learned how they become pollinated and form new seeds. I thought that this was very interesting because some flowers can self pollinate. I also liked this unit because we got to open up flowers and learn all of the parts. I liked learning about what each part of the plant does and how it works together.

Another unit I enjoyed this year was the primates. Each person learned about one kind of primate and did a project on it. I did my project on the Chimpanzee. I have loved Chimpanzee every since I was 5, so I was very happy when I was able to get that one. I also loved Jane Goodall. I think she is very interesting and made many useful observations. I liked how everyone only learned about their own primate because everyone's projects were different and it wasn't like we were just hearing the same information. Also with the Chimpanzees, I liked learning about what makes them special and makes them different from all of the other primates.

One project that I enjoyed, was the rock cycle project. I liked how the project couldn't just be a poster or a power point. This way all of the projects were more creative and individual. It was more fun making the project and watching the projects. Also it brought out different types of creativity from different people. I made a video of me pretending to teach a class about the rock cycle and I drew a diagram. Other people made books, pretended they were scientists, etc... I wish that there were more projects like that.

My favorite field trip we went on was the zoo. I liked it because we got to be with people that had also studied the same primate and it was fun to compare data. Also, we got to be with another group studying a different primate. I thought it was fun seeing the different primate and learning about it. It was also real[y nice to be at the zoo and get to see animals other than my primate. Even though there wasn't much time to see them, we could see them as we were walking to the primates. And lastly, I liked seeing the baboons. There were so many! It was crazy. There must have been 30+ baboons. There was also this one baboon that kept rocks in its cheek pouches and it looked pretty cool. I have really enjoyed this year's science class and I can't wait until next years!

From Feature Article to Historical Fiction

This feature article unit will benefit my historical fiction writing piece. Next year we will be writing a historical piece. You are probably thinking, how do these two genres connect? Well, when people write historical fiction pieces they write about the past, a time that was before they were born. They normally choose a very specific date or a specific event such as World War 2, the Titanic, Mt. Vesuvius, etc... So in order to know what it was like back then, you have to research. When we wrote this feature articles we had to research a lot about our subject. We all chose subjects that had interested us, and most of us had never researched about them. So basically we had to start from scratch. We had to go on the internet and research our subject. We learned how to find reliable website and different ways to search the same thing. One of the ways that we learned if a website was reliable was if it had .edu, .org, or even .gov. We also learned how to translate someone else's writing and put it in our own. Now, for the historical fiction, I will be able to get very effective research and know if it is very reliable. Also, now I know that I am able to write many genres. This year we have coved many topics such as poetry, realistic fiction, persuasive essay, and feature articles. I have been able to write all of the topics and find each of them fun. Historical fiction will be another genre that I will try. I think having so many writing experiences will help me write the piece. I think this because I have written so many pieces that I am used to trying new writing techniques. I am excited for 8th grade so that I can write this historical fiction and I know that I will be able to write that piece.

SAS Primates at Play

Today during science we went to the Primary School's play grounds. We first went to the kindergarden play ground and were able to study the Kindergarden's movement and behavior. We only got to observe them for a couple of minutes but they had to go. In that time we noticed that there was a lot of calls, grunts, head shaking, staring, foot stamping, charges, raised eyebrows, posturing, grinning, cowering, averted staring, pouting, wrestling, grooming, hitting, huddling, and holding hands. After we watched then, we got to play on the second grade play ground. We were running around and acting like mature 7 year olds. Ms. Thome took a video of us playing. When we got back to the classroom we watched the video and focused on Liam. He was very active and was all over the place. He was running around near the chains, the tunnels, on the bridges, and underneath the tower. He disappeared a  couple of times but he would pop out of where he was. It was one of the funnest science classes ever.

Primate Behaviors

Today in science we learned about primate behaviors. We learned about 3 kinds aggressive behaviors, family relationships, and play behaviors. For agressive behavior I learned that they puff out their hair. That is kind of like when us humans get goose bumps. Also they will start charging at the animal that they are being agressive towards. This is like when we are running around or when a dog barks. They primates will strongly stare at the opponent. This is important because this shows territory and shows status. Normally if a fight is engaged then one of the primates will back down. We learned that primates have similar families to humans. The mother spends a lot of time with the baby. For the first couple of years the primate mother will carry her baby belly to belly or back-pack style. This is like how human mothers spend time with their child for the first couple of months. This is important because it forms a bond for the mother and baby. Also for primates the father sometimes stays around but other times they don't. As for siblings, the primates have a protective instinct. The other sibling will look out for the younger one while the mother is busy doing something. This is like humans because normally the older sibling is also very protective over the younger one. And lastly we learned about play behaviors. One primate will sometimes give another primate a out stretched hand, inviting them to play. The normally "rough house" and wrestle. It normally doesn't get too agressive and they normally don't get hurt. It is like when humans wrestle with their friends or siblings. This is important for primates because it helps them understand more about themselves. For an example, their limits (how much they can take) and others limits. This forms friendships which is really important because primates need friends too.

Studying: Is it Worth the Stress?

I'm really excited to research my topic. My topic is about over studying and the stress that comes with it. The topic matters to me because I can really stress myself out by madly studying or over working on a project. I wanted to know what the effects are on me and other people that stress themselves out even more than me. I know that there are other people who get more nervous about studying than me and I wanted to know what really happens. Whether it is about what happens to the brain and body when you are that stressed out, or what happens to your social life when you are so focus on studying. Does your brain soak in much more information when you intensely study for many hours in a row? Does your social life start to shut down? Can there be a equal balance of a social life and a study life? Also I want to know if studying for too long really pays off on your test and if it is really worth it. For an example, is it better to study for three hours and get a eight hour night sleep before a test, or is it better to study for six hours and get a three hour night sleep. I have never pulled a "all nighter" studying before, I always get a good night sleep before a test and that works pretty well for me. I know lots of who do that and they seem to be happy with that as well, so I'm very interested to find out what is the best way. I am really excited to learn about my topic and I hope that my reader also find it interesting.

DCA

1. Respect and Protect Yourself

• Not putting anything inappropriate online
• Not posting anything that could damage your future
• Not posting things that you wouldn't want someone else to see
• Not posting anything too personal
• Not posting anything that could show your location or put you in danger

2. Respect and Protect Others

• Not posting anything that could hurt anyone else's feelings
• Be the up-stander not the bystander
• Stand up to the bully
• Don't be the bully

3. Respect and Protect Intellectual Property

• Only download things on legal sight such as Itunes, steam, etc..
• Don't download anything else
• Don't download anything illegal

4. Respect and Protect Property

• DON'T DOWNLOAD ANYTHING FROM P2P (peer to peer)
• Don't download anything illegal

5. Why is DCA important? Why do schools have these agreements?

I think that it is important because this keeps people safe. When you download something illegal then a virus could be going into your computer and also I could get into a lot of trouble. Also you don't want to put yourself or others in danger by reveling too much information about yourself. If you don't follow DCA then you could get in more trouble then planned.

Computer Care

One of the many things that I learned during the computer care class was to not have food and drinks near my computer. Drinks are the worst thing to have near your computer because even a couple drops can damage your computer. So now I know to NEVER have drinks near my computer.

Using My Laptop

Realistic Fiction Wordle

Realistic Fiction

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0zv2F6LBFlw

One Step at A Time

I was nestled underneath my lavender quilt with my math homework on my lap and my textbook perched against the wall. I was lying against three pillows stacked high when Beth barged into my room. Beth is nine and is autistic. Dark shadows sat under her eyes and her teeth were chattering, but she wasn’t sick. When Beth is sick her face is ghostly pale, but her face still had those rosy cheeks that I knew so well. Beth hopped onto my lap and forced the blanket over her head. It must have been one of the moments when she needed the dark, hidden away from all of her problems.

I wish I was like Beth. Not having to carry heavy problems, not knowing the pounding consequence of my actions, only making the weight heavier. She doesn’t know the problems that I face, and she doesn’t know the problems that she caused for me. She doesn’t know that my grades are getting worse and worse. That my friends are being really mean and excluding me. That mom and dad don’t care for me, they just expect me to do things on my own. She doesn’t know I lost my best friend because of her. Beth broke Taylor’s arm two years ago, it was all because of a pencil. Taylor had borrowed a pencil from Beth without asking. Taylor must have forgotten that you always have to ask for things when you want something from Beth. Beth got so mad that she pushed a bookcase on Taylor. Taylor tried to move out of the way but her right arm got caught. Now Taylor doesn’t talk to me, and I don’t even think Beth remembers who Taylor is. I also wish that mom and dad would take care of her more. They take great care of her when they are home, but they never are. Dad works from six a.m. to nine p.m. and normally all he does at home is sleep. Mom just got a job at a reception desk at a hospital from four p.m. to two a.m., so normally it’s just Beth and me. Which is fine for the most part, but I miss the days when mom would help me with my homework or dad and I would watch the new episode of Modern Family on Wednesdays. Before, Dad would get home at 7pm, just in time for the 7:30 episode. But the only thing that had been making me happy lately was that my birthday was the next day, I’ll be 13 years old. I’m just nervous that mom and dad will forget. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did.

I looked around my room. My dirty clothes were tossed quickly into a messy pile. My desk had four textbooks stacked on top of each other, one for social studies, one for science, one for RLA, and one for Chinese. I had my navy blue pencil case positioned neatly next to the textbooks. The drawers were white with chunks chipped off which allowed me to see the dark wood that lay beneath. I looked down at my lap. Beth was still curled in her little ball. I lightly tapped on her back with two fingers. She popped up like a bunny jumping out of a rabbit hole.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” I asked softly. I have to talk to Beth peacefully, like she’s a baby for her to answer.

Even though Beth can fluently speak, she just shook her head with tears filling in her eyes.

“Okay sweetie, show me,” I lay out my hand with my palms facing up. Beth looked down at my hands and then slowly ran her warm fingers down them. Lightly tapping them to make a little patter. She looked away. Not at me, not at my hands, just looked at nothing. Then using sign language she said, “school.” Beth learned sign language when she was 3. She was a delayed speaker and they thought that she might never speak, so they taught her sign language. She looked at me. I saw the fear in her little eyes, the eyes that I had known my whole life. Then I looked at her cheek, it had a little smudge of blue marker on it. I took a tissue from my side table that sat next to me, and dipped it into my luke water in the plastic pink cup that was also on the table. Carefully, I wiped the smudge off face, so lightly that it barely touched her.

Not knowing what she was scared of, I told her, “Tell me what wrong.”

She ran out of my room using the door that connects my room to hers. At night we keep the the door open just incase she gets scared. She can run into my room, and I will tuck her back in into bed and sing her favorite lullaby. Her room looks kind of like mine, twin size bed, white desk, a carpet that fills the floor, but her room is more pink than mine and has Toy Story all over the walls.

She came back into my room with her eyes focused on the paper in her hands. She hopped back into my lap. She didn’t hide her head under the covers this time. I rested my head on her shoulder.

“Read it to me.” I directed her.

“You have to write a story a... ab...” she stuttered as she shook her hands quickly.

“About. Go on.”

“About,” she repeated, then blinked. She always blinks when she tries to memorize something.

“A fantasy...” She finished as slow tears ran down her face.

I read the rest aloud to her while holding down one of her shaking hands, feeling kind of stupid. No one is there to hold my hand when I cry, not mom, not dad, not even Taylor. “The story needs to be at least one paragraph long, it needs to have one picture, and dialogue,” I spoke quietly and gently. In the corner of my eye I saw a little note, then my eyes focused on it. It said, “Good luck with this one Kate. If you need help just call, you have my number.” Oh god, I thought. If Ms.Edson thinks that this will be hard then I have a long night ahead of me.

I clicked the top of my Iphone to see the time. Five o’clock. In that time I have to make us dinner by 6:30, give Beth a bath, and get my own homework done, and help her write this story. Great.

I looked at Beth, “Go get your notebook sweetie.”

“Jessie, Buzz, Woody?” She asked me. I nodded my head. She wanted to get her favorite toys.

Beth loves Toy Story. It is her favorite thing in the entire world. When Beth is upset then I let her watch it. She has probably watched each of the movies one hundred times. Her favorite movie is the first one. In the past Beth’s teachers have let her write about Toy Story but this year her teacher thought that was a “good” idea to move onto a different subject. Before this wouldn’t be so hard, Beth would make up stories about Jessie, Buzz, and Woody, nothing else.

Beth ran into my room with the three toys clung tightly to her chest held by one hand, and  the notebook in the other hand.

“Lets go sit on the floor,” I directed Beth as I pointed to my soft, fuzzy light purple rug. Beth loves this rug. I think she likes the feeling of it because I always catch her rubbing her hands across it.  

I sat criss cross on the ground and tied my hair in a bun and repositioned my head band, like I always do when I’m about to take on a big project. Beth looked around the room and grabbed my blue fleece blanket that lay on the end of my bed. She wrapped it tightly around her body as if she was in a cocoon, and sat a couple of feet away from me.

“Please put Jessie, Woody, and Buzz next to you,” I told her. Otherwise she would have been distracted the entire time. “Okay,” I began not knowing where to start, “Do you have any ideas?” I asked, hoping that maybe just this once she would have a idea. But she just looked down and shook her head, like always.

The way to work with Beth is in steps, baby steps. I thought that characters would be a easy place to start. “Okay, let’s think of characters. What are three names that you really like?”

“Woody, Jessie, Buzz,” she said. It’s starting, the never ending battle of trying to move her away from Toy Story.

“Not those names silly, someone already used those names in their story. Come up with different names”

Beth looked around. I guessed that she was trying to get inspiration. Also she had that look. The lost look. The confused look. The look of no expression. She focused her eyes at the window. I was snowing. The type of snow that was just gliding through the air. The type of snow that is silent when it hits the cement pavement. The type of snow that will melt the second it lands on your tongue.

“Winter,” she said and blinked. “Winter.”

“Alright...” I said, happy that she could come up with something acceptable, and it is a fantasy after all.

Her eyes wandered around the room. She looked down and combed her fingers through the soft purple rug.

“Purple,” she said then blinked, again. “Purple.”

“Purple?” I raised an eyebrow. “Okay, just one more name.”

I said hoping that she could manage to come up with one more. Beth stood up and pondered around the room. She worked her way around touching everything she went by. She slowly walked to my bed, running her hands over the quilt, to my white side table that matches my desk and has my glass of water on it, to my window facing our neighbor, then to my desk, then to my window that faces the rest of the street, then she stopped at my white dresser. I have a lot of framed photos there. I have photos of all the people that have meant something to me in my life. Beth picked up one of the photos, I couldn’t see which one it was, but it made her stop.

She looked back at me then said, “Taylor,” then blinked, “Taylor.”

My heart stopped. Does she even know what that name means to me or how it should make her feel? She must have just chosen the picture because Taylor is pretty and everyone loves a pretty girl.

“Okay,” I said strongly, trying to not show any pain. Beth had always freaked out when she sees any signs of a strong emotion. “Now that we have come up with the names, we have to come up with the story plan.”

Beth started shaking her hands quickly. Maybe I made a step too big. “We can come up with something else. It’s okay,” I said changing the subject.

Her face became calm and I began to speak again, “Okay, how about we come up with where they live.”

“My house,” She said and blinked. “My house.”

“Great. Are they your friends? Are they your toys? Your pets?”

“My toys,” she said and blinked. Her face had no expression. I hate it when it’s like that because I don’t know what she thinks. “My toys.”

It is actually a great idea. She could make up her own Toy Story!

“That is a great idea. What if you make it kind of like your own Toy Story? What if you made these your toys as they come to life, and they have an adventure!”

She nodded her head quickly and shook her hands rapidly. That’s how I know if she wants or likes something.

“Okay, can you start writing? I will finish my homework.”

She looked down at her notebook, grabbed her pencil, then started writing.

Maybe this won’t be so bad, I told myself. I walked lazily over to my white desk, I threw my right hand on my math folder, grabbed it, and trudged back onto the carpet. Then started doing some of the equations. I like doing equations but not word problems. I like the idea that there is always one answer and not a lot of confusing assumptions. But then came the word problems. I can not do word problems. They are my defeater. Mom used to do word problems with me. Mom is amazing at math, in high school she got everything correct on her math exam. She even got a award. When mom didn’t work, she would always be there to help me with my homework. But now I was there, by myself, letting the word problems attack me, with no one coming to rescue me.

It was 6 o’clock when gave up on my math. I looked over at Beth. She was staring off into space, probably done thinking about Toy Story.

“Hey Beth, have you gotten a lot done?”

Beth nodded her head. Maybe she actually got something good written because she wrote it without a fit.

“Read it to me.”

“Once upon a time there was a girl named Beth. She had three toys named Winter, Purple, and Taylor. Beth didn’t know that her toys could talk. One day she found out she was surprised. The end,” Beth read happily.

My jaw tensed and my gentle hands suddenly became fists. Really? In an hour that was all she got done?! Why can’t she just write as much as a normal fourth grader could? She wrote more like a first grader than a fourth grader.

I had to calm all the screaming down in my head. I took three slow deep breaths. “Okay, that was good, but we can make it better.” I persisted

She looked at her notebook with confusion. She must have thought it was good, but it was obvious that it needed to be better.

“Here’s what we are going to do. I am going to ask you three questions about the story and you are going to answer them in your writing, okay?”

“No,” Beth said firmly.What does she mean no? She can’t talk back to me like that.

“What do you mean, no?”

“My story is good.” She said strongly, like she was willing to fight with me for the rest of the night about this.

“Your story is good but it can be better.”

“My story is good!” Beth raised her voice.

“Beth Murray, you listen to me, your story is good. But you did NOT write enough! I am going to ask you three questions and you are going to answer them in your writing. Do you hear me? God, why can’t you just be normal?!” My voice got louder and louder. I watched Beth curl into a little ball, then rock in a little ball, hands over her ears, and her eyes squeezed shut, with tears managing to make their way out, screaming at the top of her lungs.

“I’ll do it!” she screamed then in a little voice said, “I will.”

I felt bad that I freaked her out so much. When Beth is terrified she does that.

“I’m sorry Bethy baby. I didn’t mean to yell. Come here.” I spread my arms open just like mom used to hug me. Beth fell into them. She was shaking and trying to get her breathing under control. I stroked her hair and soothingly shushed her.

I don’t know why but I started to cry. It wasn’t a dramatic cry, it was soft, gentle and quiet. It felt right. It wasn’t because I made Beth feel bad (I do that a lot).  I think I was crying because I wanted them. I need them. I needed my parents. At that moment all I wanted was someone else to be in charge of Beth, in charge of me... Even though Beth was in my arms I had never felt so lonely. Maybe it was because I was holding her, trying to sugar coat everything, and no one was holding me, making everything easy for me. Mom used to hold me like that when I was sad, rocking me back and forth until no more tears could fall out and I would just give up on crying.

I wiped my eyes, took a deep long breath, and peered over at my desk to look at the clock, 6:10. Beth’s little sweet face popped up. “What are the three questions?”

I smiled softly at Beth, thinking that maybe there is hope. “Okay, how did Beth find out? What did her toys do when she found out? How old is Beth?”

Beth scribbled the questions down in her notebook.

“Beth, I have to go make dinner. Why don’t you come downstairs and sit at the table and work, while I make us dinner.”

Beth nodded her head. I grabbed her little hand and helped her up. She picked up her notebook and Toy Story toys. We walked down the hallway that didn’t have a single window to guide us safely. We passed her pink room and my purple room on the left, our doors that face the hallway are close together. Our rooms are the exact opposite shapes, if we took out the wall in between our rooms, then it would look the exact same just in different colors and like they were flipped. Mom and dad’s on the right, right across from ours. Their door was closed. Their room is really big, it is the size of Beth and my room combined, and our rooms are pretty big. Their room is painted a light green, not a mint green, but more of a pastel green. They have a white bedspread with green floral pillows. Beth and I went down the dark, creaking wooden stairs. Beth jumped off the last couple of stairs, we turned left and there we were in the kitchen. Even though our house is big, our kitchen is small, but I like it that way.

Beth sat down at the light brown dinner table and opened her notebook. I walked the short distance to the freezer and pulled out the frozen peas. I went to the white cover with the rusty handle. I pulled out the pasta and tomato sauce, placing each in one hand, and placed it onto the counter. I brought the pot to the sink and filled it with water. I put it on the stove and waited for it to boil. The last time I made pasta was with Daddy, that was a month ago. He taught me how to know when pasta is ready to be taken out of the boiling water, you throw a piece on the wall and see if its sticks. When the quiet bubbles arose I dumped the entire container of pasta in and waited to test it.

I sat down next to Beth. “Okay, read me what you have written.”

“Once upon a time there was a girl named Beth. Beth is 9. She had three toys named Winter, Purple, and Taylor. Beth didn’t know that her toys could talk. One night, when Beth was asleep the toys went exploring around her big house. Beth woke up to get water. The toys were in the kitchen and they didn’t hear Beth coming. When Beth got there, she screamed, and so did the toys. They were very surprised. But they told Beth that they always could talk. Beth was really excited that she had toys that could talk because they could all become friends. Beth didn’t have many friends, but the toys liked her and they all became good friends. The End.”

That was the best thing that Beth has ever written! It is so much better than what she originally had. I think she will get an A on it.

“Come over here,” I said proudly and spread my arms open wide so that I could give her a congratulatory hug. “You did such a good job! Tonight you can have ice cream after dinner and watch Toy Story. I’m so proud of you”

Beth released herself from my tight arms and started jumping up and down. I think that she was really proud of her work and she should be, it was better than I had ever expected.

The rest of the night went on without a flaw. After dinner, I gave Beth a bath, which she loves. Then I let her watch 20 minutes of Toy Story, the 3rd one. Then at 7:30 I tucked her into her bed, her eyes had even darker circles underneath them then before.

I walked back down the stairs, sat on the couch, and watched TV. I turned on n Modern Family, without dad. After 10 minutes into the episode, someone unlocked the door. I felt my heart start to race. Neither mom or dad would be home yet, not for another 2 hours. I looked around frantically trying to find something to defend myself. I looked at the fire place and found the poker. I held it with both hands ready to defend myself. The door opened and I heard whispers. I felt a drop of sweat run down my face. A light suddenly turned on and I couldn’t believe what I saw. It was mom and dad wearing party hats and holding a cake.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!” They exclaimed.

“What’s going on?” I ask, relieved but confused, they are supposed to be at work.

“Well tomorrow’s your birthday,” Mom started, “And we wanted to celebrate!” Dad finished.

I felt a sudden happiness spread all over my body. They really do care. I thought that they would forget. I couldn’t believe that they were here.

“What about work?” I asked wondering if they would have leave in 10 minutes.

“We took time off, tonight is all about you!” Mom said.

“Really?” I said, expecting to be disappointed.

“Really,” Dad began, “Now lets eat some cake!” That is something dad would say. He loves anything that has to do with food, but somehow he isn’t fat.

Mom got the candles and matches out from the kitchen drawer. She brought them back into the room and put 13 candles around the rim of the cake. She and dad sang happy birthday to me as if they had never been prouder. It made me feel really happy. I barely get to see them together or get to see them at all. “I’m really glad that you are with me,” I said loving the lingering feeling it left me with. It’s a warmth, an unforgettable warmth.