Saturday, October 4, 2008

End-Of- Book- Reflection Questions (The Revealers)


 1.     Ms. Hogeboom told Russell that everyone was reading the Revealer and that the atmosphere of the school was changing…”It was like a small revolution” (175). Explain what she means about the school culture and their affect on it.

I think that Ms. Hogeboom means by “a small revolution” that things were changing in the school. That people had a different perspective on things and that people were thinking differently on bullying. The atmosphere between individuals was now with more respect. People simply started to act nicer to each other and this serenely changed the culture of the school. Before the “culture” was as if there were different ranks on people. The losers ( the victims), the cool people (bullies) and the normal (bystanders). Now those rankings had sort of disappeared so the atmosphere was much nicer.


2.       Describe why The Revealers project was so successful with students and judges alike.

The Revealers was such a successful project because not only kids got to know other kids real stories but also the adults (on page 196 in the book They got to know what was really going on in the hallways behind all those smiles they got as they passed by. The Real stories! The judges also liked it because it wasn’t one story. There were many. That made it very clear that the school had lots of bullying going on. I think that the whole idea of the revelers was a great idea, because sometimes when you are sad (bullied) you sometimes need to share this with someone who you can trust so you don’t have to feel like you are the only one in the worlds who feels this way. The only one on the PLANET! It was a way for people who were bullied to tell the true stories,(first time on page 69: Catalina’s story) . The things that had made their life miserable, and now was willing to share them!


3.     Russell, Elliot, and Catalina's hypothesis for their science fair project was "if bullying and harassment incidents were brought to light among the whole student body in a school then there will be a reduction in these incidents as well as them being less severe in nature"(194). Did the three main characters prove their hypothesis? Discuss. What is one way you could use technology to improve the school at AISD?

I think that Russell, Catalina and Elliot proved that their hypothesis was right. After they had sent out the reveler, people started to be more aware. When more people got aware of the situations that they hadn’t noticed before, were now noticed. After a while everyone new and I think that that is why Richie got a little bit nicer to him after the bully lab/ revelers came out. Because in the beginning he punched him in the face (page 44) but after reading it he even stood up for him when the jot rots came up to him after school, (page 97). Things haven’t only change for Russell; I think that it has changed a lot for everyone who sent out their stories.

I think that we can use technology at our school to improve it by showing more great things from the school on the Shamashar or the school website. As an example: on the news like CNN or BBC, The news is almost always bad. “Bomb on a bus in blablabla”. “Children starving in Africa”. And so on. If we show some achievements and show improvements, I think that we would have a different and more positive perspective on things. Being positive is sooooooooo important.  By being positive we can have a better school environment. (I already think that we have a great and positive school environment, but it wouldn’t hurt to have an excellent school environment!)

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

The Revealers Roll Reversal

Blog Question: After the Bully Lab was renamed, the Revealers, and the stories of the three Darkland students were released and well received by the student body, Elliot wanted to publish Russell’s narrative about Richie punching Russell in the face.

1) Why was Russell so opposed to the idea (pg. 110)? Explain. (4 pts)
He was afraid that Richie would read it and get mad. He probably didn't really think that it would actually work like it worked for his friends. Richie was a bigger problem in his mind and that even if his classmates believed him, it wouldn't make Richie stop. Richie was bigger than him and Russell had a lot of respect for him. He thought that it might end up with him getting beat up again if he writes his own story.

2) What is happening to the relationship between Russell and Richie. (3 pts)
Things have changed around in many ways. Lately Richie has been sort of nice to Russel. He doesn't really bother him that much anymore. He even stood up for him when the Jock Rots were pushing him around(page 114). Before it was the total opposite. Richie was the person who Russel was afraid of because Richie bullied him and ones he punched him in the face (page 84). I think this change is a good change for Russel.

3) Two Peer Comments (4 pts each)

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Hello everyone!!

Welcome to my new blog! I hope that you will find something interesting to read here. My name is Astrid and I come from Sweden. I live in Bangladesh and I have lived here for 3 and a half years. I have blue eyes and brown hair. And enjoy sports like swimming and enjoy music.