The Book That Will Change Women's Lives Forever

Recently, my good friend recommended I read a novel which is known to inform the reader on everything there is to know about males in general. Me, being the average teenage girl I am, have my fair share of troubles with the opposite sex, so I thought I'd give it a try. This novel (which I see as more of a bible on boys) is called "He's Just Not That into You." The title might be deceiving, and I wasn't jumping up and down when I first picked up the novel that will tell me the guys Im seeing just "aren't that into me" but this book is truly life changing.

I'm sure most people have heard of the incredibly popular film "He's Just Not That Into You" but many have not read or even heard of the book. This book basically explains all the behaviors of a typical male, and really shows how much women can over think everything in a relationship. It's written by a woman and a male, so you see both sides and realize how much women make up excuses for men's actions (not calling, being distant, saying something uncalled for etc.) What's in this book gives you a new perspective on dating and liking people, and truly motivates women to choose the right guy over the wrong ones.

I believe this book is written mainly for confused straight women, but the tips given in this book are useful to everyone out there. Some of the information is hard to read and digest, because when you thought he didn't call because he was busy or his phone was off or he was sleeping isn't the actual reason for him not calling, it's because he really isn't that into you. I recommend this book to anyone with relationship problems, or even single people searching for their next partner.

21st Century Communication by Ariel Bishop Payne

Cell phones, social media websites and the internet have taken socializing with other humans to a whole new level, with some of us spending several hours every day in front of computers and on our phones texting, messaging and tweeting friends/family instead of talking to them in person or phoning them. Some people believe the absurd amount of communication over electronic devices is a great thing because shy people are more willing to communicate and it's believed to be much easier and quicker then socializing in person, but in reality it's making us lazier and preventing us from developing social skills. Communicating over electronics is ruining our social skills and ability to have meaningful relationships because talking online or over social media websites can potray false information on a person and people are much more brave with what they say vs. what they say in real life.

First of all, talking online or over cellphones is very different that talking in person. When you need to reach some one, the first option people generally choose is to contact them by messaging or texting them via cell phone or social media website. Messaging some one over FaceBook, Tweeting or texting is very different than a phone call or a conversation face-to-face. Looking at a screen while comminicating with some one is nothing compared to looking into someone's eyes while tlaking. Emotions can't be shown or portrayed well over text, and messages can be taken the wrong way and start fights and drama over a simple miscommunication. Also, people (especially teenagers) are becoming so addicted to technology that it has become their number one form of communication. Instead of telephoning or visiting the person they're trying to reach (just like they used to do before the internet and cell phone were invented), people simply go on facebook, text or tweet the person. Communicating over electronic devices has become much easier and quicker than communicating face-to-face or even over the phone. Thirdly, The more we communicate online or on cell phones, the worse our social skills will get. Starting conversations in person becomes much harder when you're used to using abbreviations amd texting in as little words as possible.Talking over electronic devices is very different and much less meaningful than looking into someone's eyes and speaking to one another. This is why talking online is extremely different than having a nice conversation in person, but this is not the only reason communicating so much over electronic devices is unhealthy.

It's horrifying how easy it is to say anything you want about yourself and other people on the internet, and it's becoming more and more apparent that social media websites can potray false information on a person. People can literally say anything they want about themselves over the internet, and don't seem to realize that immense consequences can come from this. Social media websites generally ask for a lot of the user's personal information, and the user can decide how much they want to share about themself (to a certain extent.) The reoccuring problem with this is anyone can say anything about themselves or other people, whether it be true or false information. Another issue with social media websites is that people can make fake profiles, and pretened to be some one they're not. Fake profiles are the very dangerous side to social media websites, and you can unknowingly be talking to some one who claims to be a friend of yours in class but really is a complete stranger. The internet has made it much easier for sexual  predators and kidnappers to find easy targets, and that's why parents/guardians are always telling kids to be very safe on the internet. Thirdly, online dating websites are becoming more and more popular every year. These websites (e.g- eHarmony) are designed for adults to view other people's profiles and set up dates with the people who had the best profile in their opinion. This is another example of how people can pretend to be some one they're not, and how people now rely on websites to find people to date. The more aware people are of fake profiles online, the safer it will be.

Cyber Bullying is becoming a much more serious issue as communicating online/over cell phones becomes more popular. This is occuring because people are much more brave with what they say and post online vs. in real life. When you're communicating over a social media website or cell phone, you feel much more comfortable saying things that you'd be too afraid to say to the person's face. Talking face-to-face results in immediate reactions to what you're saying from the other person, and generally keeps  you from saying anything before really thinking about it in fear of them reacting a certain way. When communicating online, not seeing people's immediate reaction and rebuttle makes it much easier to say hurtful things. Secondly, people can take messages you say send them in a different way then you meant; communicating oover electronic devices leaves a lot of mystery to what the person's trying  to say. There's more to communicating in person then just using your mouth and vocal cords. People watch your body language, facial expressions and listen to your tone of voice to understand what you're really saying. Even with all the emotions, it is very difficult to completely understand what the person you're talking to means (whether it be sarcastic, truthful etc.) over texting and online-messaging. Thirdly, people being much braver when talking online has resulted in a substantial amount of cyber bullying. In the past ten years, as more social media websites grew in popularity, so did cyber bullying. This has lead to serious depression and even suicide within teenagers and even adults. People aren't afraid to slander others online because they feel secure behind their cell phone or computer screen. They believe that since it's online, no one will know about it and there will be no consequences, and unfortunately in many cases people do get away with it. We need to bring more awareness to the horrible things people are saying online, and put a stop to cyber bullying once and for all.

Technology has really improved our quality of life and there are many positive attributes to cell phonesm social media websites and the internet. Unfortunately, humans are over using the internet and electronic devices to communicate. Human's social skills are slowly deteriorating, and all communication is becoming in front of a screen instead of in person. This is beginning to ruin human's ability to grow healthy, strong relationships with other people because talking online or over social media websites is very different than in person, social media websites can potray false information on a person and people are much more brave with what they say online vs. what they say in real life. Humans need to put down the cell phone, log off facebook, close the laptop screen and go out into the real world and talk to people in person.

A New Perspective on Education: Hackschooling TEDtalk

This was a very interesting video to watch. I have always heard of only three educational paths you can take, the first being the typical public school, private school then home schooling. I believed that all three had very similar teaching routines and techniques, and no matter which system you were in, you would grow up getting very similar educations. This video put a new perspective on education and how people can grow up in a very different system compared to what most consider the traditional form of education: Public School.

Generally when I think of homeschooling, I think the student is taught basic lessons from their parents or tutors, and it was always very confusing to me on why parents would choose to put their children in homeschooling. This video showed me that there are what some people consider serious problems with how lessons are being taught at public and even private schools, which I had never even thought about because I thought there was only one way to be taught for school. I believe that Logan LaPlante made great points on why the public education system is flawed on what they teach students, and he made valid points on why being in nature, relaxing, working on the computer, doing activities with friends and learning math, sciences and writing is better than the typical education system, and a part of me agrees with him but I believe the public and even private school system offers you social skills that home schooling just can't.

The main purpose for schooling is to learn the standard academics, but also to learn social skills from being in a school environment with tons of other students and be apart of extra curriculars. When you're home schooled, there's no classroom environment where you're surrounded by other students your age, and working with other students not only increases your understanding on the subject but also teaches you extremely valuable social skills that you carry with you for the rest of your life. There are definetely pros and cons to public schools and homeschooling.

I am really enjoying the Future Forums class, and I really enjoy how the English and Civics and Careers courses are back to back and mainly online. I have already learnt so much about communicating ideas and comments on certain topics with others and how helpful and educational that can be. It's been very interesting so far, and I hope it continues on this good path. If anything, I'd like to communicate and discuss popular topics with other schools more than we currently are, but other than that I believe it's a great program.

Another interesting article on Logan LaPlante: http://iowatransformed.com/2013/02/20/logan-laplantes-education-is-hackschool/

Feb 13- TEDtalk Response

Peter Diamandis's video really gave me a new perspective on the future of this planet. Instead of focusing on the negative like the new's and global media always do, he contradicted that with very positive news. The way the earth's well being is portrayed is twisted through media and focuses only on the horrible things, making it seem like our planet is spiralling out of control. I do agree with what Peter Diamandis is stating, but I do believe he is glorifying the whole situation. All he talks about is the positive things happening in the world, which is great for people to hear but is also unrealistic. I believe that people should have an equal view and understanding of both the good and the bad, so they keep a level head about it all. If humans think the world is completely fine and going in the right direction, nothing will be done to end the wars and global crises happening that the news only focus on. For humans to be in a healthy state of mind, everyone should know about the good to have hope for society and the planet, but should also be very aware of the bad so we can all make a change for the better. What Peter Diamandis had to say was very inspiring and changes the way you view the world, and there for I agree with everything he had to say, even though it seemed almost too positive.

The giant group discussion after watching the video was very interesting. I myself went on Todays Meet, and mostly just watched what other people had to say. I didn't have much to say on the topic at the time, so I remained pretty quiet, but after reading many student's opinions/ comments, I started to have more to say and commented more. I really enjoyed the whole thing, and I love how we can communicate with a wide range of students from other schools all with different opinions. I really enjoyed Todays Meet and look forward to doing it again.

Link to this TEDtalk video: http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_diamandis_abundance_is_our_future.html

My Interests, Abilities and Goals

Being a teenager in todays society results in me being interested in many different things. My main interests are school, sports, family and friends. In more specific terms, I'm very interested in hair and make up, aswell as nature and animals. I also love taking and editing pictures and videos, and am very interested in technology. In school, my favourite subjects are English, Math, French and any Healthy Active Living courses. My weakest subject is Science, mainly because I don't really enjoy it (except for Biology.) I love going shopping, and believe that retail therapy is great once in a while. I also love spending time with my friends or family whether we're doing something simple like watching movies or something more extravagant like vacationing to different places around the world. I love travelling, even though I haven't been to too many places.

My over all abilities are decent, I'm relatively good and have a basic understanding of most sports, my favourite being Volleyball. I was on the Raiders Basketball and Volleyball teams in both grade 9 and 10. I believe if I work hard enough at something and have a true passion for it, I will eventually get good at it. I used to have a strong passion for hair and make up, and got pretty good at different techniques and hairstyles, but that passion has died down over the past year. I am really interested in nature and spiritual stuff mainly because my parents have opened me up to more of that recently. I can hike for miles along with build a fire and set up a tent. I am also very social when I want to be, and making friends has never really been an issue for me.

My goals for the future are mainly to be happy doing something I love. I want a job where it impacts society/helps people in some way or form. I would love to own a charity foundation or a humane society. I think I want kids, no more then two, and want to be in a steady relationship with some one who makes me happy (not neccesarily married.) I don't believe in marrying for money, nor staying in a relationship for financial aid. I do believe financial stuff is important, but happiness should come before anything, and I don't believe money buys happiness. My main goal is to be able to provide for myself. I would like to have good, supportive people around me and live in a safe neighbourhood.