I arrived at the room at 5:15 waiting to enter inside. When it was time to enter, I turned my cellphone completely off. Then I took out my pens and dictionary. We had to fill out some things before we started the test. When the test was being handed out I felt good and prepared enough. The reading topic was on technology, which I had alot of ideas and examples for my essay. Remember what I learned we had to do, I wrote the summary and used examples and quotes from the reading and then I put my claim in with reasons why that was my claim. While doing the essay, I didnt spend to much time on one thing but also didnt rush through it. After I was finished I read it over twice and then handed it in. I felt like i did a good job on the test.

Blog 4.3

In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, the author talks about how mainly everyone depends on Google for answers.  He explains that although Google is a good source filled with all different kinds of information you need, it also distracts us from actually learning and remembering the information and you’re not really thinking as deep as you could be. Also the faster we skim through words and images that we come across and continue doing that, Google’s making money for everything advertised and viewed. He talks about how Google does not want us to slowly find information because then we view less ads and links which means less money. I believe that Google and other internet sites do not really make us smarter if we are not focused on what we are actually learning because our brain is not fully thinking and wonders off being distracted by other sites and information.

 “If we’re distracted, we understand less, remember less, and learn less.” The quote is from the article and I agree with it. If you are not focused on the information you are learning then it’s useless. Of course you find out the answers you were looking for but you most likely are not actually learning anything from it. Your mind is wondering all over the screen, and you are skimming through images and text to find an answer. Then you continue to do that until you find what you were searching for. Most likely you will get distracted by something else that pops up on Google and then when you go back to what you was looking for and working on, you completely lost your train of thought. 

When you research something on Google, you will come across links and ads on the side or an image would come up. Every time we research something and those ads pop up, Google makes money from it. They do not care that the ads and links will throw us off tract to what we were researching because every time we go back to what we were doing that’s more money for them. Now that you’re hopping from different links and websites you’re really not taking in any of the information you come across.  By tomorrow everything you had researched, you probably will only remember if you had written it down.

“The greater our concentration, the richer our thoughts.”  This quote is also from the article. In order to be focused and concentrated, you should not have the computer on or any other electronic devices around you. Your mind is more clear and thinking better when you have no distractions. You might not have a lot of information researched but at least what you get from your brain, you can have a better understanding because more thought is being put into it. Google is just good for finding the information quicker.

If you want to learn something and “develop your mind” then Google is not the answer. The internet has many distractions that will throw you off track. You are not accomplishing anything but gathering information you read, which has no value because you are not learning and probably don’t fully understand what you have searched.  “You can Google all the facts you want, but you’ll never Google your way to brilliance.”

CAT 5

   In the passage "Rewired", Larry Rosen talks about how teenagers get so caught up and "plugged in" to technology. He also talks about how most of the school work deals with the Internet and technology. This causes the students to switch back and forth to other websites or to communicate with their friends instead of doing the work they should be doing. Even though this is considered multi-tasking, there actually procrastinating which causes them to finish later than they should. Larry Rosen says that kids spend many hours a day involved with these social networks and texting , which is true. However, he does believe that students should use the technology to make their school work more fun but to set guidelines to improve their health. He also says that their social life and the technologies helps them "develop and grow." He believes that the internet and computer have a positive effect when it comes to dealing with homework. I believe that doing homework that involves the Internet or a computer, gets teens caught up because they either procrastinate or their homework takes longer than it should. 

   Like Larry Rosen said, "If school work involves technology then students need to be directed to doing their work for periods of time, followed by other activities, and then back to their studies, and the cycle continues until homework is done."  I agree with this quote because this actually happens to me, and I'm sure it happens to other teens as well. If I am working on an essay or researching something on the Internet, I always seem to get sidetracked and find my self to be on Facebook, texting or listening to music and then completely forget about what I was originally doing. That causes students to not being fully aware and on point of the topic or work there doing, and not fully thinking most likely because they are not interested or tired, so they "take breaks" and proceed with something more entertaining.

  Having poor grades from doing homework on the computer can have a lot to do with procrastinating. Being that your going back and forth with your homework and social network website, your not really focusing and into the work you need to do. This causes you to most likely get a lower grade then you should be getting. Not only are you going to finish later than you should be but also you not being dedicated to you homework . Doing homework on the Internet or having other technology around you is a distraction. 

  In conclusion, homework involving the Internet or computer makes students and teens work slower than they normally would. Also, having the homework take a bit longer being that they can get bored or side tracked from the assignment and go onto doing other things on the Internet.

CAT #4

In the article "Let Them Eat Fat" Greg Crister talks about how fast food restaurants are convenient, for the fact that they are cheap and quick. He also talks about how fast food places are also very unhealthy. "The total caloric content of the meal has been jacked up from 680 calories to more than 1,340 calories." The author is talking about a meal from McDonald's and says how that is more than a teenager's recommended calorie consumption. Another thing he states in the article is that fast food places have grown a lot in poor-inner-city communities.

I believe that fast food places have a major effect on poor communities. "It was the poor, and their increasing need for cheap meals consumed outside the home that fueled the development." I agree with this statement from the article because as we seen on the slides in class, the majority of fast food restaurants are all around poor communities. It is rare and hard to find a grocery store, but every block or two has different kinds of fast food places. That fact that fast food places are affordable are the cause of numerous restaurants in these areas of low income. It makes sense because you would not put an expensive restaurant in a poor community for different reasons. If the people of the community can not afford to eat there, the place would most likely always be dead and make no money. This will eventually cause the restaurant to go out of business. By adding fast food places around the low income areas, the people are being satisfied.

 Firstly, they can afford to eat there. Places like McDonald's and Wendy's for example have menus where things cost only a dollar. It also supplies jobs, a place where young people can work to make ends meet, save some money up or help out to provide for themselves and their families. The article says "one of every four hamburgers sold by the good folks at McDonald's, for example is now purchased by inner city consumers." This quote shows how these places are a good source for a job.Being that it is a fast food place, people can quickly have something to eat, especially if they were working all day and do not have time to cook or too are tired. They can quickly get something from these fast food places. "At my local McDonald's, located in a lower middle income area of Pasadena, California... goes into high gear at above 5 p.m.when the various urban caballeros .. get off work and head for a quick bite." This is probably because its a more convenient way for them to have a meal and its also faster.

Fast food places developed to help poor communities and is still increasing. It all has to mainly do with the economic status of the area. Unfortunately, because these places are also very unhealthy for you but the people in these areas probably do not focus on that, being that it is providing their needs to eat and their content. Low income communities would probably struggle more just to eat and feed their family if it was not for these fast food places. They are easily available every where, and the majority of them being in poor communities. Therefore, the placement of fast food restaurants has a majority effect on the community its in.

Reading blog: Blog 13

Reading blog: Blog 13: "Keith Adu-Boahene Nancy jo of 'how to Do one thing at a time 'explains how our brain can only remember or at it best when thing are done on..."