Joanna's Blog

My Goodbye to Lincoln Students

I had a lot of fun getting to talk to you all on the internet through blogs. It was really great to get to know you all and get to spend time talking to you. I encourage you all to follow your dreams and keep working hard at what you want to do in your life and keep doing well in school. School is so important and i know all of you guys can do well you just have to put your minds to it. Good luck with everything and i hope you have a good Winter break and have a good holiday and that you have a good life. Keep working hard and good luck! It's been so fun and i will miss talking to you guys!!
~Joanna~

My response to Travona

Hey good to hear from you again! i hope you had a good Thanksgiving. What did you do for the Holiday? I had family over at my house and i went over to my boyfriends Aunt's house also so i got to eat a lot of turkey that day! So yes, i have a boyfriend and we have been going out for three years!! Do you date anyone? I get to see my family whenever i want because i live just 25 minutes away from the campus which is really nice. Are you excited for winter break? Do you like the snow? I love the snow and i think that it is really pretty when it snows outside! I hope you have a really good week at school and keep doing good and i hope to hear from you soon!!
~Joanna~

My response to La'Tonya

Hey how are you doing? i hope you are doing good. I don't think i have any Hood Rats in my school, if i do i don't really care and i don't really pay attention to it all. College is a lot different than middle or high school and even especially elementary school. There isn't a lot of gossip or drama involved and you have the freedom to do what you want, most of the time, and be your own person. People can do what they want and no one really cares that much about what you do or what you wear or anything like that. I'm sorry you don't really like your school. Is there any other reason why you don't like it? or is it just because of the peopel that go to your school? If you could go to any other school where would it be? and if you could be in any grade level what would you want to be in and why? Also, i am just curious to know what you like to do for fun? Well, write back and i hope you have a good rest of the week! I hope to talk to you soon!
~Joanna~

My response to Travona and Semaria

I like to go out and hang out with friends a lot when i get free time. I also really like to go shopping and exercise at our rec. center where you can use the equipment to work out. I like having my classes because they aren't too hard for me and i get to choose what classes i want to take. I shouldn't have taken classes as early in the morning as i did because it is hard to get up at 7:00 a.m. when i could choose to go to classes later in the day. I think that my best subjects are my Law class and my Multicultural Relations class. Thank you both for responding to me. Semaria, that is really cool that you want to do good in school and go on to college, keep up the good work. I hope you two both respond to me so i can talk to you soon!
Travona, you said last time that your neighborhood wasn't nosiy but you made it that way, what did you mean by that?
Do you two see crimes happen in your neighborhood?
Do you feel pressured to do certain things?
I hope to hear from you soon!
~Joanna~

My response to Travona

I'm glad that you want to do to college to get an education. An education is very important and thats really cool that you want to do that. I really like living on my own because i get to do what i want, for the most part. It lets me be myself and i feel more independant. My classes are okay, sometimes i feel that they are too easy because i took a lot of honors classes in high school. Although, some classes give out a lot of homework. I write a lot of papers and my longest one has been fifteen pages long!! I started school in the Fall of this year so it was quite a big change for me. I have some questions for you as well.
1. What is your neighborhood like?
2. Do students get along with the teachers at your school?
3. Do you feel that you are getting a good education at your school?
Hope to hear from you soon!

Lincoln students

1. Hi, my name is Joanna. I'm 18 years old and i am currently attending the University of Minnesota. I attended Champlin Park High School which is in Champlin, Minnesota about 20-25 mins away. I'm attending the U because i really wanted to get a better education and learn more about nutrition, which interests me alot. On the weekends, i like to go out and walk around with friends and go to parties. I also love to go shopping and play sports. I really like to meet new people and i've made a lot of friends since i started living at the U.

2. What do you feel about your school? for example do you feel like you are getting the education you need?
Do you feel safe when you go to school?
Is is hard to focus in school sometimes? and why?

Revision Groups

I really like working in revision groups for two main reason. Well of course my number one reason is class is shorter and there is more one-on-one time with the teacher if you need it. Also it makes the room feel more comfortable and more relaxed with not everyone in there. Second, i really like working in groups becasue i think feedback from your peers is the best you can get because you can relate to one another and understand what they are talking about. They aren't afraid to be honest to you and give you really good suggestions for making your paper better.
The only thing i don't like about the revision groups is how some people post them after the time they are due and you still be obliagted to correct it for them. I also don't really like when people don't show up because its not fair to the others who work hard on their paper and don't get what they need out of the feedback.

My interesting weekend

I was looking foward to a nice relaxing weekend with my family where i could sit on the couch and watch TV for a while, do my laundry, then come back to myh dorm and go to a party with my roomate. Little did i know, i was stuck in a whirwind of events that were going to happen. My younger sister, Rachel is fourteen and has had stomach problems for about a year now. She was sick earlier last week with the flu, then she took a turn for the worst. I arrived at home Thursday evening and could see my sister in pain because her stomach was hurting her. I felt so bad for her and first thing Friday morning my dad and I took her a clinic. She got many x-rays and could see how uncomfortable she was and how much pain she was going through. Friday night she ended up in the hospital. My mom was out of town and we have a 2 year old puppy at the house. I knew given all of those facts it was going to be a tough weekend. I ran back and forth bewtween the hospital and my house. Taking care of my sister while my dad went home and he took care of her when i went home. It was the hardest thing i have ever been through. Looking at your younger sibling and watching them get needles poked in them and watch them cry and suffer in so much pain. Not only was i physically drained but also emotionally. We finally found out that my sister got Ecoli posioning and were greatful that we didn't have to do any surgery's. She is still in the hospital and won't be out until Thursday. With Ecoli, there is nothing you can do but wait until it is out of your system and get medicine for the pain. My sister continues to get better and better and is eating solid food for the first time since last Thursday.

Comparing Lincoln to my school

A difference between my school and Lincoln that i believe it the most significant is how they have a lot of teachers with good education but yet the students have very low grades.
63% of the teachers have a masters degree according to the state report card. And 58% of them have more than ten years in experience. In my elementary school, Riverview Elementary, the percentage of teachers with a masters degree is 45% and only 37% have more than ten years experience. If Lincoln has more experienced teachers that have a higher education and have been working in the field longer than why does Lincoln have low tests scores that are consistant year after year?
On the school report card website i compared Lincoln MCA acievement to the achievement of Riverview Elementary. Lincoln had 39% of students achieve level one wheras Riverview had only 9%. The majority of students at Lincoln got a one or a two but the majority at Riverview recieved a level four.
This is important because the teachers are so much more qualified at Lincoln but the tests aren't showing that. The student are lacking knowlege and aren't doing as well as other schools who have less qualified teachers. I think that knowing that your teachers are more qualified than most and knowing that you still are getting some of the lowest test scores impacts how they view life and school work and makes them want to quit.

What i like about class

I really like how we are learning about North Minneapolis and comparing it to our own towns and where we come from. I really take interest in learning about this subjects of poverty, race, and class. I think it is interesting to watch and see people's reactions when they hear all of these facts about North Minneapolis. So many people are oblivious and i believe it is important to know what goes on around you because it makes you aware. I liked watching the school video but it was hard at the same time. I felt more privledged about my education and it made me want to make a difference because those schools are in terrible conditions and lack the money to make them better. I really think learning about this topic in class creates more of an interest and gives you some ease about writing this paper. You are learning things you never thought you would right now in this class and i think it is great how we are writing a paper and comparing Lincoln to our own school.