C4K October Summaries

C4K #3
In Ms. Dunlop's fourth grade class, Kate wrote about her trip to New York in her blog. She said that they went on a train to get to New York. When they got there, they went upstairs on a glass elevator. You could see everything. That night, they went to a play called Mary Poppins. The next day, her family took her to the American Girl Doll Store. She said it was three stories high. When they got back to the hotel, it was time to go home. Going to New York was her birthday present and she really enjoyed it.

I told Kate that I had never been to New York, but wanted to go someday soon. I said that Mary Poppins was one of my favorite stories, and that when I was younger, I also collected dolls. I told her that I was glad she had fun on her trip and wished her a happy belated birthday!

C4K #4
This post is a critique on politics done by a girl taking a fully online 10th-12th grade Global Issues Course at the Online School for Girls in Oregon. In the beginning of the post, two people meet who seem to have a lot in common. They enjoy the same things and it becomes clear that they are a good match. As the conversation continues on to socially heavier matters, there's a bump in the road. They have opposing views and both begin to wonder if they could really live with someone whom they felt was wrong.

In today's society, people let their political differences get in the way of their respect for each other. We allow our political views to dictate our opinion of a person's morality and intelligence. We become so focused on the differences that we forget what we are trying to do. This is a problem called blind partisianship. It turns politics into an endless competition and generates a win/lose mentality that does not allow for compromise. This is a big issue because most of today's problems require compromise. It's not a matter of who is right and who is wrong, but how can we fix the problem? The goal of politics is to find a solution. But because of differing views, a solution is never found. Maybe if people would stop associating their beliefs with truth, then more controversial issues could be resolved. We have to realize that there is more than one way to look at a problem and look beyond the differences in our values and beliefs. If we do this, we might see that we have more in common than what we thought and are able to find a solution that everyone can live with.
The two people that met in the beginning learned to tolerate their differences and celebrate their commonalities. They have been happily married for over 23 years and are living proof that blind partisianship can be overcome.

I commented and told her that I completely agreed with her. My dad is very opinionated and speaks his mind, especially about politics. Therefore, I grew up to be very opinionated as well. I said that I do think that in people's political views, we focus too much on the differences and who we think is right and what is wrong. That is why nothing gets done, and problems are never solved. Our country is still in tons of debt, many people are still unemployed, taxes are still high, and the rich are still getting richer while the poor sink into poverty. If we took a step back to look at the big picture of needing a solution and what can we do to fix this, things might be resolved.

C4K #5
Daniel is in the fifth grade and lives in Chicago. He did a blog post on the Eiffel Tower. It was built in 1889, and held in celebration of The French Revolution in 1789. It stands 300 meters tall, which is taller than a 90 story building. It was the tallest structure in the world until it was beat by the Chrysler building built in 1930. Gustave Eiffel is the man that came up with the Eiffel Tower and also constructed the Statue of Liberty's framework. It was made from wrought iron only and weighs 10,100 tons. Daniel included a link in his post to the site where he found his information from.

I told Daniel that the Eiffel Tower is definitely one of my favorite landmarks in the world. It's always been a dream of mine to one day go to Paris and see the Eiffel Tower. I told Daniel that his blog post was very informative the link was helpful. I didn't know that the man who came up with the Eiffel Tower also constructed the Statue of Liberty. I learned something new. I told Daniel that he did a great job on his blog post, and that I really enjoyed reading it.

C4K #6
Elizabeth lives in Canada and wrote a blog post about Alberta. She lives in Alberta,Canada in the Rocky Mountains. She said people like to do winter sports there like hockey skiing and snowboarding. She said that she loves to do gymnastics and enjoys reading. Elizabeth doesn't have any brothers or sisters.

I introduced myself to Elizabeth. I gave her my name, age, where I was from, where I went to school and what I was in school for. I told her that it hardly ever snows here. It's hot here all the time, so I've never had the chance to go skiing or snowboarding. I've never done gymnastics before, but I have always wanted to. I asked Elizabeth if it was hard to learn. I told her that I really enjoyed going to the beach and warm weather and that's why I could never live in the mountains with snow. I love shopping and spending time with my family and friends. I have one brother and his name is Jeff. My two sisters are Heather and Linda. I told Elizabeth that my sister Heather is my best friend. We are the closest, but probably because we are so close in age. I gave her the address to my blog and told her to come visit it.