Ricardo's English Blog

    The learning method that I enjoy the most is class discussions. One reason of why I say this is because I enjoy to hear the perspectives of other people when talking about a certain topic. Another reason why I said this is because someone might say something that may open up my mind and make me switch opinions. The last reason why I enjoy class discussions is because they make the work much easier, I am able to hear the opinions of others and then focus on what the question is asking. This is why class discussions are the learning method that I enjoy the most.     Today in class we did independent work, we read a passage and wrote down stereotypes we saw in the passage.      One thing I learned was that stereotypes and myths are completely different. One way that I may use what I learned today in the future is by not using stereotypes to assume something about someone. 

      A time when someone assumed something about me because of a stereotype was in middle school when a student thought I was smoking in the bathroom and told the teacher. The way that this situation happened was that I went to the bathroom near the gym in the middle of class, during this time I was sick so I would begin to cough at times. I had finished using the bathroom but a couple seconds later a kid walked in but at that moment I started coughing, he asked if I was smoking and with the most confused face I said no, he then walked out and told a teacher that was passing by. The teacher was a male and walked into the bathroom asking if it was true that I was smoking, I explained to him that I was just using the bathroom and that I do not smoke. At the end the teacher walked away, the kid apologized to me and explained how he assumed I was smoking since most Hispanic kids do that.     Today in class we watched a video about a girl and the stereotypes she fac...

    One gender expectation in my culture that has been challenging to navigate with is that a man does not show his emotions. An example of this would be that as a kid I would always get yelled at by soccer or boxing coaches and sometimes I would feel like just crying but people in my culture would always say "A man does not cry". This has been a challenge for me because I have always been a sensitive person. Another example of this would be that sometimes as a kid I would also feel nervous or scared about things like going to dark places alone, having to fight in rings, and playing against older kids. This was also a challenge because I would show that I was scared and in my culture is seemed like it made me less of a man.      Today in class we read a story called "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid, after we read the story we answered 7 questions assigned to us.     One thing I learned today was that gender expectations are different for each gender. One way ...

      The inspiration or reason why I decided to talk about being active is because throughout my life I have always worked hard to achieve things, to show that I care, and to be helpful to others, but there has also been people like friends or family members who never see that and just see me as someone who rather be at home sleeping instead of going out or and do activities.       Today in class we read a passage called "I want a wife" by Judy Brady and answered some questions as a class, to finish the period we did 15 examples of what we want in a husband.      I have always been an active person but to many people I'm just lazy. Reading my poem to the whole class made me feel like if I was finally able to express how I truly felt when people called me lazy.

     A time when I did something out of the norm was when I jumped out of a boat during a family trip. There were many reactions that happened at the moment when I did that. My mother was scared, she thought I fell on accident and that I was drowning, after I got back on the boat she yelled at me and said that I was crazy. My Father was just calm about it he started to just stand up from his seat to make sure I was okay, on the boat he just asked why I did that and to be careful next time. My sister started celebrating as if she just won a competition, from the water I could see how she was just laughing. My uncle was really worried and jumped into the water 5 seconds after I jumped to make sure I was okay. The only reason I had jumped in was because I was bored of just sitting down and looking at dolphins.       Today in class we finished the group assignment that we had started on Monday.       One thing I learned today was that o...

     A time when I felt completely lost was in the first year of middle school. I had just switched from elementary to middle school and most of my close friends had moved to another middle school so I was alone. The school building was new to me so I didn't know my way around to my classes. I was also not used to having to switch classes since in elementary we just had one teacher the whole year. Another thing that made me feel completely lost was the use of lockers since it was my first time using one during school time.      Today in class we worked on an assignment as a class and discussed our opinions on the topic being shown.      Something that I learned today in class was that everyone has their own opinions about what gender roles look like. One way that I may use this knowledge is by asking others for their opinions when it comes to gender roles. 

     The way I have adapted to the demands of this course was to pay as much attention in class as possible to be able to explain what I learned and how it impacted me in my blog post. Another way that I adapted was by taking advantage of my time, for example in my fourth period we haven't been doing much this allows me to have enough time to complete my blog by the end of the day. One strength that I anticipated as we progressed is that I am now able to keep track of my own stuff without daily reminders. One challenge that I anticipated was that if I don't try to make time for all the assignments they gather up. This would be a problem because small pieces of work gather which later on form enough work that can take up my whole day.      Today in class we read a poem called "I,too" by Langston Hughes.      One thing that I learned today was that things that people say or the way people treat you should not bother you. This impacted me by let...

    If someone tried to understand me only using my race they would miss a lot about the type of person I am, For example most people would just assumed that I'm careless or always in trouble but in reality I consider myself a really calm person. Another thing they might miss is the type of activities that I enjoy doing besides the ones common in my race. One part of my cultural identity that helps me make me I am is Christian, I say this because it's a religion that has always been with me throughout my life and it gives me a strong thing to believe in. Another part of my cultural identity that makes me who I am is male, I was born a male and will always be a male. The last but not least important part of my cultural identity that makes me who I am is Latin-American, I have two different cultures that I been a part of my whole life and it makes me remember where I come from and what new things I can learn from each one of them.     Today in class we watched three di...

    A part of my identity that has influenced me to be the person I am is being Latin-American. The reason why being Latin-American has influenced the person I am today is because I am able to communicate with people from two different languages and it helps me understand each culture much better. As a Latin-American I am also able to feel proud of who I am by being able to express my Hispanic roots and also my American roots at the same time without feeling ashamed. No, I have never felt pressure to change, hide, or emphasize a part of myself to fit in. I have always felt that one should feel proud of who they are without worrying about the opinions of others.      Today in class we read the poem called "A Korean Dream" by Sharon Lee and we talked as a class about what it meant for her to be "more American".      One thing that I learned today was that having two different cultures can be either a strength or a weakness to some people. The way th...

    One family tradition that is unique to my culture is  quinceañeras. This is a birthday celebration done to girls in Latin-American culture when they become 15. The way that quinceañeras mirror the cultural identity themes of expectations is that it involves age, gender, and Religion. The girls have to be 15 in order to have a quinceañera party, only girls do quinceañeras, and if the family is religious like Catholic they will go to church before the party and pray or feel thankful. The way that this tradition contrasts the cultural identity themes of expectations is that it does not require any type of sexual orientation, language, SES status, or physical/mental ability. It does not matter what language you speak quinceañeras can be done in different languages, the class of SES status does not matter, many people celebrate quinceañeras with more or less stuff then others, and you do not need to be physically or mentally good to have or do a...

 My first goal for this year is to get at least an 85 or above is all my classes. My second goal is to have 5 and less absences in total. I choose these as my first to goals to be able to skip the finals for this semester. My last goal is to get in better physical shape and eat healthier. I choose this as my last goal because I am leaving for the USMC once I graduate and I wanna take advantage of my time.