English Social Studies

Dear first year students!

2009-05-26T03:46:00.000-07:00

So, a little advice to you about how to study when you have a laptop in front of you at all times. I'm not going to tell you not to use facebook or msn in class. I mean, we all used it and I guess we have turned out OK =) So the best advice I can give you is to check facebook, VG and so on first thing each morning, then you're done when the teacher is actually ready to start the class. Having your own laptop at school is pretty great! The opportunities are endless. I would especially advise you to use the program OneNote! It's great for organizing your notes and will help you a lot when you take your exam. It certainly helped me!
So just use your head and do the things you are expected to do, and things will be great! Good luck at Sandvika VGS and enjoy yout time here;)

American Gangsters

2009-04-21T01:10:00.000-07:00

Sitting in class, reading the factual text "Gangland, USA" about the extensiveness of gangs in the US, one thing made me think. The Medias way of portraying gangsters and their life is in fact quite special. From being a group with a bad reputation and violent members, the gangsters in the US have become extremely popular. If you turn on MTV at any time during the day you will in most cases, within the time lap of about 10 minutes, see a music video portraying the glamorous life of a gangster. And sure, this affects youth.

There is no secret that many children in the US, and other places in the world for that matter, don’t have the life they deserve. They are living with problems at home, have the wrong friends, the school system is failing them. These children are left to fight their own battle and become open for new ways of living. The solution for many is turning to drugs and gangs. Here they find a family who cares and have their backs. The fact that it’s illegal and dangerous I don't really think matters to these young people. Many of them have been neglected since they were born and don't really know any other way of making a life for themselves.

So in what way do the media help encourage young people to get involved with this type of lifestyle? Well, as mentioned, music videos are an important factor. We all know that mixing sound and image is one of the strongest ways of convincing. For children, finding themselves to be quite easy influenced, the media has a lot of control. The way of talking, dressing, walking and so on in music videos is being picked up by the young children and they are taking it out on the streets in their hometowns. The superstars on MTV maybe with this, helping to increase the ratio of gangsters in the US. They make it look great to live the gangster lifestyle with fast cars, beautiful women and a lot of "bling". But it's important to remember that not all famous people help sell the gangster lifestyle to kids. In the video clip below you see a clip from the group "The Game"s single "House of Pain. Here we get to see a different side of the gangster life that show the true colors of being a gangster.

The Edublogger's Student Competition.

2009-04-05T07:49:00.000-07:00

"What difference has blogging made to your life at school and home e.g. how has it changed how you learn, the challenges of blogging and how teachers might make the process easier"

Well, I have to admit I was a bit skeptical to start blogging at school. I really couldn't see the leaning benefit and got a bit cranky. So I went in to this whole thing kind of halfhearted and not really enthusiastic. Now on the other hand, I have another opinion. Blogging is good to get variety during the school day. Especially at my school were we only have one subject each day. So during five hours of English, it's good to have different things do to! When it comes to the learning benefit I can actually see it now;) Posting things on our blogs where other people actually can read it, makes you want to do it well and look over your grammar once more. Of course it's hard to always find out what to write, I mean all topics aren't that exiting, but I guess that's just school, with or without blogging! Our teacher is pretty good at commenting on our blogs and that makes it more fun to post new things because we know she actually reads it!

I don't think blogging has made a difference in my life at home. I don't blog about other things than schoolwork, but maybe in the future I will make a personal blog, blogging about things I really care about.

Parliaments in Britain

2009-04-05T07:11:00.001-07:00

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. Is alone has parliamentary sovereignty, conferring it ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. At its head is the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth ІІ.

The parliament is bicameral, which means that they have two houses. An upper house – the House of Lords, and a lower house – the House of Commons. The Queen is the third component of Parliament. The House of Lords includes three different types of members: the Lords Spiritual (the senior bishops of the Church of England), the Lords Temporal (members of the Peerage, a part of the British honor system) and Law Lords (judges that carry out the House of Lords’ judicial responsibilities). All members of the House of Lords are not elected by the population at large, but are appointed by the Queen on advice of the Prime Minister. The members of the House of Lords are often called Peers and there are now 750 Peers in the House of Lords.

The House of Commons is a democratically elected chamber. The people in the UK elect Members of Parliament (MPs) to represent their interests and proposing new laws. There are 646 Members of Parliament (MPs). Almost all belong to one of the ten political parties represented in Parliament. The three biggest parties at present, in order of size, are Labor, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The leader of the party with the largest number of MPs is the Prime Minister who selects Members for their party to form Her Majesty’s Government. MPs split their time between working in Parliament itself, working in the constituency that elected them, and working for their political party. Some MPs from the ruling party become government ministers with specific responsibilities in certain areas, such as Health or Defense. The UK is divided into 646 areas called constituencies. During an election everyone eligible to cast a vote in a constituency (constituents) selects one candidate to be their MP. The candidate who gets the most votes becomes the MP for that area until the next election.

The Houses of Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster, is in the centre of London. As well as the home of the UK Parliament, it is also a royal palace and former residence of great kings. The Palace comprises many famous sites including the green-colored House of Commons Chamber and the red-colored House of Lords Chamber where political decisions are made to this day. It also includes the famous Clock Tower, popularly known as Big Ben.

Northern Ireland

2009-04-05T06:11:00.000-07:00

In 1170 Ireland became the first English colony and during Henry VIIIs reign (1507-1547) all of Ireland was controlled by England. In 1610 Scottish Protestants began settling in Northern Ireland. In 1916 the Easter Rising found place, where the Irish republicans wanted home rule, and this marked the beginning of the Irish War of Independence. The war of independence in Ireland ended with a truce on 11 July 1921. The conflict had reached a stalemate. In 1922 the Island was divided into an Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. The Irish Free State was not completely independent though, the British crown still had power. In 1937 the Irish Free State became totally independent and was now a republic; Republic of Ireland.

The Irish Civil War started in June 1922 and lasted until May 1923. The War was a direct consequence of the creation of the Irish Free State. That's because the Irish Free State Army supported the agreement that divided Ireland. The IRA was opposed to the agreement. The war was in the end won by the Free State Army. For a long time there have been problems between the Catholics and the Protestants. The Irish were Catholics, but the English and Scottish who settled in Northern Ireland were Protestants. Here the Irish Catholics were poor and suppressed by the Protestants.

Today there are 60% Protestants in the Northern Ireland, most of who feel they belong to the UK. Of the 40% Catholics most feel they should be independent from the UK/ be part of the Republic of Ireland.

Ken Robinson

2009-03-25T14:40:00.000-07:00

Ken Robinson really surprised me. I have to admit, I didn't really have high hopes to his presentation. How fun can really school as a topic be for someone who just can't wait to finish. But I actually found his presentation quite interesting. That he uses humor to underline what he's saying is of course helping! So, what did he say? Well, people are creative. This is probably best shown by children who are not afraid to be wrong. Ken says "you have to be prepared to be wrong to come up with something original". And I think his right. School systems around the world teach children that being wrong is one of the worst things you can be. They stigmatize mistakes.

The fact that no school system teaches creative subjects such as dance on a daily or weekly basis makes the kids learn from the head up. In a few years more people than ever will be graduating university, the problem is that degrees won't be worth much. We'll get academic inflation. The thing is, everything he says is trough. Mathematics and literacy have always been valued more than drawing or other creative subjects at school. And the higher up you get in the school system, the more it focuses on you head. Well, one thing that I'm pretty sure he's got right is the fact that creativity is becoming more and more important. Companies, big businesses and most important, the world, need people who can produce original ideas that are worth something. Simply, the school systems have to start valuing these kinds of abilities because it's these thoughts we need in the future if we want to keep moving forward.

This is England

2009-03-24T03:47:00.000-07:00

In 2006 the film "This is England" hit the movieteathers. We meet 12 year old Shaun living in England in 1983. Shaun lost his father in the Falklands War, and feeling sad on the way home from school one day, he meets a group of skinheads. Shaun eventually gets accepted as a member of the group. When the group splits in two, one racist group and one non-political group, Shaun decides to stay with the racist group. Shaun becomes a member under the leadership of Combo, an exprisoner, who wants to promote white nationalist views. Like many skinheads, Combo has been recruited by the National Front, an openly racist right-wing political party, and soon the gang begins to fracture, with Combo taking one faction toward violence and petty crime against blacks, Indians, and Pakistanis, while Woody, the leader of the other group, and his friends follow a more benign path. As Combo's gang harass the local ethnic minorities, the course is set for a rite of passage that will hurl Shaun from innocence to experience.

The Falklands War started on 2 April 1982 with the Argentine invasion and occupation of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, and ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982. The conflikt was the result of a protracted diplomatic confrontation regarding the sovereignty of the islands. Neither state officially declared war and the fighting was largely limited to the territories under dispute and the South Atlantic. The initial invasion was considered by Argentine as the re-occupation of its own territory, and by the UK as an invasion of a British overseas territory.

Britain launched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Argentine Air Force, and retake the islands by amphibious assault. After combat resulting in 258 British and 649 Argentine deaths, the British eventually prevailed and at the end of combat operation on 14 June the islands remained under British control.

OneNote :)

2009-03-24T03:03:00.000-07:00

Here is just another post about OneNote. I really can't say that there's much new to announce. The program still works perfectly and is really great for use in the classroom. It's great to have all the notes at one place, and the fact that you can implement the teachers power point presentations and write your own notes at the same place is great! It's also an amazing tool to use at group projects because all the people in the group can collaborate on the same notes. I really enjoy using OneNote:)

Martin Luther King Jr.

2009-03-24T02:50:00.000-07:00

October 14th 1964 the Nobel Peace prize was awarded to Martin Luther King Jr. At only 35 years old, the civil rights leader was the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peace prize to this point. The prize honors acts "for the furtherance of brotherhood among men and to the abolishment or reduction of standing armies and for the extension of these purposes."

The prize meant that King would be given about $54,000 that would be given to the civil rights movement. King said that he, with this prize, felt that the rest of the world were concerned about the problems in America and was glad. Also the American Ambassador in Oslo at the time, Miss Margaret Joy Tibbetts expressed joy and gratitude that one of her fellow countrymen had won the prize.

Here we go again :)

2009-03-16T13:20:00.001-07:00

To be straight forward, Guantanamo is too difficult for me. I don’t have enough time to learn all I have to so I can write this paper. The topic is just too big for a paper this size. So I have instead decided to focus on this goal from the curriculum: "tolke minst ett større skjønnlitterært verk og en film og et utvalg av annen engelskspråklig litteratur fra 1900-tallet og fram til i dag". With this as my guide line I have chosen to read the non-fiction novel “The Price of Love” by Nikola T James. The story is about Nikola herself and her life living with abuse. This brings up social issues and relations that are also mention in the curriculum.

2009-03-12T02:08:00.000-07:00

OK, so I have tried to narrow down the topic for my in-depth project. I have done some research on the internet, just trying to get some basic information about Guantanamo Bay and Camp Delta. Most of what I found had to do with facts concerning the facilities, but I also came across some articles about how the detainees are treated. I find this quite interesting and I have therefore decided to focus on whether or not the War on Terror can justify the conditions at Guantanamo Bay detention camp. If I have enough space and time I will also try to write a little about the newest changes - like the fact that Obama has decided to close down the detention camp.

In-depth

2009-02-25T09:21:00.001-08:00

So, I’m trying to figure out what to do for my in-depth project. Looking through the curriculum for ideas it hit me; Guantanamo Bay. I have always wanted to learn more about this place and I see this is a great opportunity to do just that! There are a lot of question I can find an answer to, or at least try to answer. For instance “Who are the people being held captives here?” “What happens at Guantanamo Bay?” “Who works at Guantanamo?”

All these questions involve politics, social matters and conflicts, both within the US but also in relation to rest of the world. It might also be interesting to fallow Obamas demand to close Guantanamo Bay. Well, I know I haven’t figured out all the details yet, but I think it will be a lot easier to narrow down what I actually want to find out when I have read and done a little research on the topic!

Now we're talking!

2009-02-07T02:50:00.000-08:00

I just installed Microsoft office on my computer, and I opened One Note. And OMG what an amazing tool! With time to learn all the functions and used actively in class, I may actually be able to use some of my notes during the exam. Luckily for me, winter break is coming up in just a week, so then I'll have time to become a master in One Note!

What Students Want?

2009-02-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

So, listening at Professor Michael Weschs lecture definitely made me want to say something. I find it quite interesting that he bases a lot of what he says (at least it appears that way) on a short survey he gave his class. So what he found out was that over half of his class does not like school but everyone likes to learn. The first thing that hit me was; I do like school. I belong to the minority who likes school. And guess what, I feel provoked. Professor Wesch is talking about how to engage students and keeping up with the media and technology in our world. He says; “Hey, let’s make facebook more available to the students!” (Let me add, he admitted at the end of the lecture that he had seen that facebook being so available wasn’t the best idea!).

Well, he’s not completely of track. I have to admit, listening to the rest of his lecture he made a decent handful of good points. Yes, the media is an important part of our world and an extremely important place to find and share information. But is the media all? Does it mean that we should forget what’s in the textbooks? Maybe it’s just me that’s old fashioned. I like my textbook. I like my pen and paper. I like sitting taking notes from a teacher that’s engaged and exited about whatever he or she might be talking about.

Professor Wesch gives an impressing presentation about how he uses Web 2.0 in his classes and how the students work hard and share their work and notes. For me, this sounds nice in theory, but I’m not so sure this will work in every class. I might even call it a bit naïve. From own experience I have learned that in most cases where collaboration is involved, a few people do all the work. And how fair is that really? We live in a world where competition means everything, knowledge is power and competence will get you the job. Why would the smarter students want to share? I know this might sound selfish and stupid. It’s not like the smarter students can’t learn anything new or valuable. But I still think it’s the weaker students who have most to gain, especially if they don’t do any of the work. So why shouldn’t it be allowed to be a bit selfish? We live by “every man for himself”.

I do think that Weschs ideas about how to use the media in classrooms are a good place to start. But it needs more that good ideas. It needs the right, easy, simple tools to use. Not a hundred different once that in fact do the exact same thing. It’s important that these right tools are used at the right time and not as an easy escape for a teacher who’s not in the mood to teach. But the two most important factors to make a project like this work are that the students want it. They have to want to do the work and share their work. And the teachers have to have the competence that’s necessary. It can’t be an option to do this half way. And it’s certainly not ok to turn the back on the “old school” methods of teaching and learning before the new media era is good enough to give the students the competence they need to “create this world”.

My Home Town<3

2009-01-27T03:08:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Asker! A place outside Oslo, Norway's capitol. Here, there live around 53 000 people. And I can easily call my home town a multicultural place with inhabitants from all over the world. I live near the centre of the town which is pretty great since I go to school in Bærum (which you can read more about on several of my schoolmates blogs) and have to use public transport everyday (have to think about the environment and let the car stay at home, you know!).
In Asker you will also find Norway's crown prince and his family, living just a 10 minute walk from my place. I can imagine you might think it sounds a bit strange that royalty can live “amongst” the people, but in my home town they can! You see, Asker is a pretty quite place to live in, with a lot of great nature and all kinds of opportunities for the community. The only thing not so great about Asker becomes clear during the weekends. There are no places to go if you're not over 20. That's because the age limit for drinking booze is 20 years. Luckily Oslo is only a 25 minute train ride away with many beer-serving places for the 18-year olds=) So as you see, Asker is kind of unique. It's not too small and not too big. And what you can't find down town, what you need is never far away!

2009-01-18T11:56:00.001-08:00

2009-01-06T12:14:00.000-08:00

Here is just a little glogsterwork I have done for the book "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer. It's a special book about a special boy. In a weird way Chris moved something in me. At times it was almost as if I could feel what I imagine he must have felt. At one point doing well at school, keeping a well paid job and having a social life, doesn't feel fulfilling anymore. Other people’s admiration doesn't make you feel good about yourself. And the time spent alone is the best time. I guess I would never go to the same extreme measures as Chris did, but I can still dream about having and adventure on my own, maybe not in the Alaskan wilderness, but somewhere else, not so dangerous. The thing Chris McCandless said about the fact that "happiness is only real when shared" is true, at least in the long run.

In the Valley of Elah

2008-10-21T02:04:00.000-07:00

In the movie "In the Valley of Elah" we meet Hank Deerfield. While trying to contact his son who's just returned home from serving in Iraq, his told that his son has become Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL). Hank drives to the military base to search for the truth about his son's disappearance. When neither the military or the civilian police seem very interested in the case Hank has to take the matter in to his own hands, being a retired warrior himself. He eventually gets help from Emily Sanders, a fairly new detective. Together they explore, piece by piece, the events leading up to the young mans disappearance.

The film clearly portrays young soldiers being affected by their time in Iraq. They have to make decisions it can be hard to face when coming back to “the real world”. Many of the soldiers try to find a way to “escape” the feelings and memories from Iraq. Some of they are maybe even trying to escape from themselves and who they have become. They turn to drugs, sex and violence. “In the Valley of Elah” takes up all these elements in the course of the film. The most important one is of course violence. Some of the soldiers have gone through tough times and seen and done things the everyday man on the street can not even begin to imagine. But the hard reality is that these men and women are young and easily affected. In the film we get to see how some soldiers takes the violence to far. They are not able to separate the live they have to live in Iraq and the life they are supposed to live back home.

The film is based on an article the director Paul Haggis read in a magazine about a young soldier being killed by one of his own. So this is not just a “filmproblem” but a problem we see in our own real world. It's quite clear that the film has a very strong antiwar undertone, and with a good reason if you ask me. We don't see any sign of the soldiers getting help or counseling when returning from a war zone. This might be the first step in making sure that things like we see in the film doesn't happen.

Only fools enlist for military service.

2008-10-07T01:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true. I said it. They are fools. Nothing more nothing less. Well, this might be a narrow and small minded statement, but so be it. So guess what, I don't support the war on terror. No kidding you say? Well I just wanted to make it clear to you.

Maybe I now should explain why I say what I say. Actually, is it really necessary.. I hope you've seen the news on TV or picked up the paper during the last 7 years. If not, we don't have much to talk about. But if you have been following the news I have to say that I'm shocked if don't agree with me. I can understand and also kind of relate to the support given to the war on terror 7 years ago, but not anymore. Look at the progress in the war? Or should I say the lack of progress?

What have happend? In the big picture what ordinary people are left with are the pain and hurt, shock and nausea over the 100 000 innocent sivilians and military officers being killed and injured during the war. I'm not saying that the military are doing everything wrong, but more harm than good are executed.

Maybe myfeelings are unreasonable, but I still stand for them. Am I wrong for not wanting more innocent people to die? Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting to pull all forces out all at once, but gradually. The point is not to send more soldiers.