Final Reflection

The three most important things I've learned this year from this class is to learn time management, be open with your writing, and to just think creatively.

I think I will definitely remember those speeches we had done for the rest of my life. It was the greatest part of this class. Everyone had trust in everyone to share something close to their hearts. They shared their beliefs. That is what a class family looked like, being able to be so comfortable that we shared a little part of our memory.

The nicest thing someone in our class did for me was simply help me with what I was confused on. It may be small or big, but they helped me get a good grade. Without those people who've helped me, I would probably be struggling with my grades at the moment.

I'm not sure I taught my teacher or my classmates anything this year. I want to believe that I taught them that everything does get better. I want to believe that I taught them to just care for one another even if we don't know them that well.

The area that I feel I made the biggest improvement would have to be putting my thoughts really into my writing. I'm sure my writing has progressed with my words and actual thoughts without tweaking it. I'm proud of that mostly.

The most challenging part was to write about something without including with my own opinions.

The best piece of writing I've done all year was my speech. It's the best because it was real. All my writing were real, but my speech was full of emotions and what I went through. To me and possibly others, my speech was sometinhg special. It was the best because it had a moral to it. It had something that people should remember. My classmates and my teachers now knows what I've been through and see how I am now. It truly does get better. I got better.

My favorite I've read was probably Mockingbird (mok'ing-bûrd) because I related to it. This little girl, Caitlin, had lost her older brother to a school shooter. She's a ten year old with Asperger syndrome (AD). Caitlin wants to help herself and her father but she can't do that if she doesn't know what to do. After the shooting, she now has therapy to help her talk about it. Well, to help her talk at all. It doesn't work though. She wants to help herself, she just wants guidance. Later on, she finds her answer and helps her father also. Her answer was closure.

The advice I would give to the students that are coming next year would be to just be yourself and do not lie Mrs. Larson. Also, to just do your best. It is the last year of middle school, don't give up on it. You'll end up regretting it.

This I Believe

“Everything will be okay”
By Kiana Perez

I believe that obstacles in our life help us grow into better people. The obstacles that seem impossible to overcome are the most important, I would think. They're the ones that help you grow especially.

One summer ago, I had a very bad time with my depression. I’ve had depression ever since I was about eight years old. I’ve had traumatic experiences with my family and then my own issues. They may not seem severe to most people but to me, it was as if it was never going to end. When I got into middle school, it had gotten worse, I’m not sure why. It had gotten to the point where I wouldn’t eat, I would harm myself, I would do all these things that caused harm to me, mentally and physically. I didn’t make it noticeable though. No one knew what was going on with me, not even my family because it didn't affect my schoolwork. That was everyone’s excuse as to why they didn’t realize. Although, I’m sure they were lying. Reason as to why I didn’t show it was because I didn’t want to be more of a disappointment. To me, in my eyes, I wasn't good at anything. I always felt as if no one loved me. I always felt as if no one cared about me. At that time, I had learned to hate myself because there was no way someone could help me. I hated myself because I felt that I wasn't worth anything to get help.

That was before coming to school here started. Ever since I came to a realization, I learned that I needed to be independent. I had to do things on my own. I had to be there that for myself. If no one was going to help me, I had to do it for myself. I still have trouble doing that but I'm trying. It changed me quite a lot. My mindset has grown to the point where someone can tell me anything and I'll be able to adapt to it. All I want to do is to help others because I don't want them to feel the way I do. I wouldn't want my family, friends, even strangers to feel that way because that's the worst feeling possible.

I am grateful that I went through that otherwise I wouldn't be who I am today. We go through things everyday. Some small, some big, we learn and grow from it. Everything will be okay at the end. It always is.

Literature Circles/Nonfiction Article Blog

My essential question: Will Jeffery change if he were to become closer with Lindsey?

In After Ever After, the beginning, Jeffrey had cancer. After his cancer, he sought out to have a normal eighth grade life but with still side effects of no more cancer. He wasn't doing good in school. He was barely even focusing on himself. He would space out a lot. Then, Jeffrey met Lindsey. They hit it off, began dating, but she was just another distraction to his schoolwork. He wasn’t concentrating, he would skip studying just to see her, he wasn’t doing the things he needed in order to pass eighth grade. He was focused on Lindsey, and Tad. He was focused on the important things in life but not the important things that’ll actually help him create another life.

In the article, “More children than thought got cancer from Fukushima disaster, study says”, it talks about how radiation is in the air due to a large wave and all these children are becoming infected with the thyroid cancer. This connects with After Ever After by kids rarely having chronic myeloid cancer (CML); that’s what Tad had gotten. Thyroid cancer and CML is rare in children. In the article it says, “The Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan was destroyed by a large wave in 2011. Radioactive material was released into the air and soil.” This is the only reason as to why so many kids have thyroid cancer in the article while in the book, my group does not know how Tad had gotten CML or cancer again in general. Thyroid and Myeloid is basically the same thing. CML is a slowly progressing and uncommon type of blood cells that start at the bone marrow. Thyroid is when cells grow abnormally in the thyroid gland. They both include cells somewhere that causes damage.
In my book, Tad has cancer again, CML. It is rare in kids and mostly rare in kids who've survived cancer. It is only cured with a bone marrow transplant and Gleevec - he may possibly take it for his entire treatment and/or after. Also, radiation from his past treatments may have caused it or him being inactive with his health. In the article it says, “Thyroid cancer among children is definitely linked to radiation, the study said. If treated, thyroid cancer is rarely deadly. However, patients have to take medicine for the rest of their lives.” - just like Tad. But now, he's gone.

The way they both, article and book, transfer the same information is how they talk about a specific cancer caused by radiation. They include separate ways because in the article it is caused by wave. In the book, cancer has been brought back due to whatever had happened to Tad. It is almost the same information just said differently.

"More children than thought got cancer from Fukushima disaster, study says." Newsela | More children than thought got cancer from Fukushima disaster, study says. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2017.

Sonnenblick, Jordan, and Marijka Kostiw. After ever after. New York: Scholastic, 2014. Print.

After Ever After

After Ever After is about an 8th grader, Jeffrey, that had cancer. Tad, his best friend also had cancer. They both are in 8th grade, getting used to things. They’re both trying to be normal. Jeffrey then meets the new girl, Lindsey, and he turns out to like her. Jeffrey’s 8th grade year for him is both good and bad. Due to the cancer, he fidgets and spaces out a lot. His brother, Steven, has gone to Africa. His parents don't believe he’ll pass 8th grade because of his grades - although it isn't his fault. All of that changes when Jeffrey actually wants to try so he could go to highschool with Lindsey. He begins to be tutored by Tad, he begins to work out with Tad, and he begins to be open with Lindsey.

After reading, I wonder what will Jeffrey do next. I wonder how he’ll feel when a specific thing happens to him, his family, and his friends. I wonder what will happen if he were to leave Tad for Lindsey. I wonder if Steven will contact him or even to go see Jeffrey. I always wonder how Jeffrey will end up when he becomes so used to this “normal” routine. Although, I really only worry about his and Tads friendship because I would feel so bad not only because they're their only friends but because how can they just forget about each other? I truly believe that this book will make me cry just a little bit.

This book is so realistic, which is why I enjoy it. Anyone can actually relate to it somehow. It's about an 8th grader who has a crush and cancer but everyone has to know someone who's had cancer or has read about it somewhere. Anyone can look back to 8th grade and their crush, it's simple and it's just like life. It's explains many things - family, friends, self, and school.  It's all very complicated and simple.

I commented on Dena's