Rivercity and Grades...,,

Welcome back. I hope you enjoyed your second "snow day" of the week. Anyway, since it's semester grade time here in West Valley, I thought I'd ask you a question about grades. Currently at RLA, we only grant "pass" and "fail" grades for your projects, seminars, and classes. In your opinion, would it be better to continue along this path or switch to some kind of "letter grade" system like more traditional schools? If we were to switch to "letter grades," how would you suggest we go about doing this? How would you like to be graded? And if you'd like to stick with the "pass/fail" system we have now, what's you reason?

On-Line Courses Address

http://www.apexvs.com/ApexUI/default.aspx

Humanity's Downfall

Hey lazy ramen-eaters,

So you can all see the poll. Cthulhu will end the world, or if he's late--you know Cthulhu. Heavy sleeper--it'll be Ancient Forgotten EViLS. So, why do you all think that the forgotten is so much more like to bite us than new developing technology or vice-versa? I know Trogdor's opinion--Robots, people-- and I'd like to hear some validation.

-L

Choices...

Not to take the edge off this beautiful snow day or anything, but I want all of you to know that we're going to have to make it up at some point later on down the road. With that in mind, here's my question to any of you who might cruise by the blog on this unexpected day off: would you rather have the day off, knowing you're going to have to give one up later in the year, or tough it out and go to school, preserving the few scheduled days off we have left?

-Ned-

Little White Lies

Should we take the 'Leadership' part out of our school name, Rivercity Leadership Academy? The whole thing seems like a misnomer to me--By the way, if you don't know it, look up misnomer. It'll make you happy.-- seeing as there is little excellence and no leadership at Rivercity.
Our name portrays us as these hard-working students who probably eat healthy meals and work out on a daily basis. As anybody attending the school knows, we are absolutely none of these things.
Maybe we should be 'Rivercity Skool for Lazy Bums,' misspelling intended.

-L

Next Great Documentary?

Hey thieves,

After watching a decent amount of riveting documentaries lately, I have decided that I'd like to give it a go. What do Rivercity kids think is an important issue in the US or the world today? Please give me reasons not concerning soup, as that will negate anything you previously said.

-L

King Corn

Well, that was interesting. Now that you've had some time to think, what lessons have learned from King Corn?

Specifically, I'd like you to answer the following three questions:

1. How did the government's agricultural policies in the 70's lead to the King Corn we see today?

2. What are some of the negative consequences, both for the American farmer and our own health, of the rise of King Corn?

3. If you've got a problem with situation in America today as it relates to the issues raised in King Corn, what can you as a consumer do about it?

CTHULHU SALUTES YOU!!!

CTHULHU HAS RISEN!!!

Seminar?

I would comment on what happened in the seminar, but I was sick. If someone would kindly let me know what happened I will more than willing talk about it.

Civil Rights Seminar....

Yo,

When you get the chance, please post your thoughts on the Civil Rights seminar from Wednesday morning.
Your teacher, McCall Hanson, and I would like to know - specifically - what you learned from the two hour class.

Please tell us in a clearly written and well organized paragraph.

-Ned-

MLK Jr. vs. Hip Hop

It's Tuesday.

It's not Monday anymore.

Woo-hoo!

Anyway, we're a week away from Marting Luther King Day and two weeks deep into our unit on civic engagement. One of the most important exercises in civic thinking is the discussion over what we'd like our community's values to be and how to ensure those values become a reality.

Fortunately for us, there's a free event at the Garland Theater tonight from 6 - 8 on this very topic. Specifically, tonight's event pits the progressive vision of Dr. King against the exploitative and often times demeaning culture of modern Hip - Hop. To learn more about this debate and the event going on tonight, please read this article and post your thoughts below.

A paragraph should be plenty.

See you at the Garland,

-Ned-

Mr. Personality -- Your Robotic Buddy
Boasting a color LCD screen for a face, WowWee's Mr. Personality robot is designed for laughs. It tells jokes, plays games, and you can even update or revamp its personality traits by downloading your selection and loading the changes into Mr. Personality with a USB connection. Priced at $250, Mr. Personality is scheduled to be available this summer.


This is the robot for those people with no friends and they need some one to talk to. they need to get some real friends and get out of there mothers basement!!!!!!

Hillary? Really?

To the surprise of the great majority of Americans, Hillary Clinton defeated Barack Obama in New Hampshire last night.

What's your explanation of this? What happened?

Robot Uprising

The robot uprising is going to happen eventually, so be ready. This website, (www.robotuprising.com) can provide more information.

Extra if you would like Civics

RLA civics students. I would like you to answer this for me. you can if you would like or you can just ignore it.

What do you think our president should be like.


What qualities should he have and what should he worry about the most?

Like said before it is not required but i would love to hear what you think thanks.

Angela

trogdor

Well trogdor so you know scientist have not been able to prove the truth of tomorrow or yesterday except in the fact that every thing is on the line of time. all that over and message back

Today I will attempt time travel.

2008: Year of The Outsider?

Was it just me, or did yesterday seem to drag along slower than most Mondays?

And on another note altogether, John McCain can be one creepy looking dude. I realize that the man spent years being tortured and abused inside a Vietnamese prison, but come on. That's just eerie.

Anyway, for today's blog response, I'd like you to read this article from Slate.com on the unlikely similarities between John McCain and Barack Obama. After reading the article, please answer the following question in the form of a response to this blog. As always, each answer should be at least a paragraph in length.

1. According to the author, Jacob Weisberg, how are McCain and Obama alike?

2. Do you agree with him?

That is all. Have a productive morning,

-Ned-

I have succeeded.

Education = Civics?

Happy Monday,

As we discussed last week, American political thought has always been tied to the idea of "positive liberty."

In cast you forgot, "positive liberty" deals with the freedom and imperative to "do something for the good of the community," as opposed to "negative liberty," which deals only with "freedom FROM" the rules and regulations of the community.

Many famous political thinkers have thus believed that it is the primary role of public education to provide students with a civic education. Do you agree?

For today's blog, please respond to the following questions. One paragraph for each question should do the trick.

1. Do you believe that the first priority of public schools should be to educate their students in the political
and civic duties of American citizens?

2. Do you believe that RLA, or any other school you've attended, has made this their first priority?

3. Do you think American high school students receive a civic education that prepares them for the
responsibility of "positive liberty" in the United States?

Have fun,

-Ned-

Dudes and Duets of RLA

DUDES/DUETS I'M SORRY FOR BEING A TOTAL JERK TO YOU GUYS AND I'M SORRY FOR TRYING TO TAKE OVER THE BLOG AND BEING STUPID IN MATH. I GESS I WAS BEING THE OPPOSITE OF AWESOME....BUMMER.



ALL WELL...GO DUDE AND DUETS OF RLA AND HAVE A (late) RADICAL NEW YEAR

RLA = Iowa?

Looks like you guys got it right: Obama wins big for the Democrats and Huckabee carries the Republicans.

Good Work.

For today's blog, I'd like you to assume the role of a political columnist and write two paragraphs. The first should be about why Mike Huckabee will never win the presidential election and the second should be about why Obama has no chance. In other words, what is it about each of these two candidates that may make them unelectable in a national election?

Your opinions on the last topic were great. Keep it up!

Iowa Caucus

Welcome back to RLA everybody....

We're going to spend the next month focused on Civics. To kick that off, we're going to be engaging in a little presidential politics. As you may or may not know, the fine folks of Iowa will caucus today in order to vote for their favorite candidates. The Iowa Caucus is the first of many state-level primary elections that will ultimately determine the official Democratic and Republican candidates for president. Whoever wins in Iowa will be carrying a great deal of momentum into the other states, which makes Iowa an important state for the candidates. In fact, Republican Candidate Mitt Romney has already spent in excess of $8.5 million dollars campaigning in Iowa.

With all of that in mind, I would like you to go to CNN's Political Site, read about Romney, Huckabee, Clinton, Obama, Edwards and Clinton, vote in the poll on our blog, and submit an error free full-paragraph post on who you chose and why. Be specific about your reasons. Read about the issues. It's time Americans stopped voting for the candidate with the best haircut.

Your post is due by lunch.