Double entry journal

Reading "Perfect Chemistry", I found a couple of main themes. One is loyalty. Brittany has to be loyal to her sister. Her parents want to send Shelly (the sister) away, but she desides to step in and take care of her as much as possible. She has to be loyal to her parents and friends and stay perfect. She can't loose her perfect image because it will damage her friends and family, at least that's what she thinks.

Alex on the other hand has to be loyal to his family, and in order to protect them, he has to become a gang member. He has to do whatever he's asked to. But he has one friend in the gang named Paco, these two boys are as close as you can get. But what happens when Alex has to be loyal to both Paco, the gang and not to mention Brittany?

I have written a double entry journal with two of the topics: conflicts and self realization.

2 Conflicts "Everyone knows I'm perfect. My life is perfect. My clothes are perfect. Even my family is perfect. And although it's a complete lie, I've worked my butt off to keep up the appearance that I have it all. The truth, if it were to come out, would destroy my entire picture-perfect image."

These are the first sentences in the book. Immediately, we see Brittany as the popular, perfect - yet not so perfect girl who struggles a bit more then she lets on. The thing I like about this part is that we see Brittany for who she really is, and not for the snobby act that she puts on. I chose this quote because even though it's not the "main" conflict in the book, it's a hidden part of the book. Brittany needs to find herself, and meeting Alex first made things ten times more difficult, but as soon as she settles with the fact that she has fallen for a gang-member, she starts to find the true Brittany. The one that can stand up for what she believes in, and that doesn't need to prove herself to others.

4 Self realization "Alex," she interrupts. "Yeah." "Assure me nothing's going to happen to you." I can't. "Just dance," I say quietly as i guide her arms around me and we dance. Looking over Brittany, I see Hector and my mother in an intense conversation. I wonder what they're talking about. She starts walking away from him, until he grabs her arm and pulls her back and says something in her ear."

This is Alex writing/thinking. Alex has invited Brittany to his cousins wedding, and they are dancing. But as Brittany surrounds herself with Alex’s family, she realizes what the gang life is really about. She's scared, worried. Alex on the other hand, doesn't want Brittany to be scared. Hector is the gang leader. He's the one who gives orders to Alex, but when he sees Brittany trouble comes along. Alex can't stay loyal to his gang and Brittany at the same time. Hector is talking to his mother, and this worries him a lot. The reason he is a gang member is to protect his mother and brothers from Hector, and suddenly he shows up at this wedding. Something’s up, and Alex knows it. This is when he realizes he can't live like this forever. This part of the book is a big turning point. Alex wants to protect his family from Hector, he wants to have Brittany for himself, and he wants out of the gang. This is where everything starts falling apart.

PERFECT CHEMISTRY

I have decided to change the book I'm reading. To Kill a Mockingbird was a bit to slow to read I think. I will probably read it at another occasion, maybe in the summer. The book I've decided to read is called Perfect chemistry. The writer is Simone Elkeles. The story is about a 17 year old girl named Brittany. She's from a rich neighborhood, and seems to be very confident. In fact, the first sentence in the book is: "Everyone knows I'm perfect". But behind the perfect image is a vulnerable girl. Her older sister Shelly is sick. She can't take care of herself, and constantly needs someone to feed her, wash her etc. The last year in high school, Brittany is paired up with the ultimate gangster boy Alex in chemistry class. He's from Mexico and is a member of a gang. He has two little brothers, and is working hard to keep them out of the gang. When he was a young boy, he saw his father being shot when he was dealing drugs, but the murderer was never caught. This has affected him a lot.

Alex and Brittany have an assignment and they need to work together the entire year. They hate each other so Alex decides to make a bet with his friends. He says that he can lure Brittany into his life, but the friends say he can't. The game is on. They come from two different sides of the community, they have different friends, different situations, but the more they work together the more they realize that despite all the cultural differences they are quite similar. They both struggle at home, and they start to find the support they need and have looked for their entire lives in each other. But it's not supposed to be easy. Brittany’s parents are strongly against the Mexican gang member, and Alex's mom is not too happy about seeing a white rich girl at their house. On top of that, there is the bet situation, so what happens? The gang life is dangerous, and this love affair results in someones death…

This book was amazing! It's one of my favorite books, and I finished reading it in 3 days. It was easy to read the book because of the clear structure. Everything is explained very well, and the reason I could follow the plot so easily is that every other chapter is Alex and Brittany's thoughts. When one thing happened, you could read both sides of the story, and this was an interesting twist on the book. Later I will post a double entry journal on the book where I will elaborate on the themes and conflicts in the book.

Sources:

http://onceuponabookcase.blogspot.com/2010/03/review-perfect-chemistry-by-simone.html

Making a difference

Today in class we had a visitor from Lesotho, one of the poorest countries in the world. Her name is Moliehi Sekese, a teacher who resently won the Microsoft educators choice competition. She teaches maths, science and English. When she came to our class, she started telling us about how she teaches at the Mamoeketski primary school and it was am amazing how dedicated her learners are. In this text I will write a little about the situation at the Mamoeketski primary school and in Leshoto and about the differences that one person can make in the world.

The Mamoeketski primary school has approximately 700 students, and two computers. Even though the curriculum says that one teacher should have 56 students, in Moliehi’s case things are different. Her classroom is filled with 100 learners, everyone from different backgrounds. Some children come to school with an empty stomach, others don't have enough clothes to stay warm in the classroom. Still they show up because they know that the only way they can create a better future for themselves and their children is by getting an education. Because the school didn't have electricity until last year, Moliehi Sekese used to take the computers home and charge them, then bring them to school to teach. She believes that technology can make the learning-process better and more effective. In fact, she had a project with her class: "Indigenous plants". The learners were given a task to find Indigenous plants and then text her with a picture. This created an enormous enthusiasm in schoolwork. Moliehi told us in the class that she even received SMS from students at midnight because they were so excited.

I can't imagine what a challenge it must be to have so many students in one classroom. The classroom is not very big, and there isn't enough chairs, desks and textbooks for 100 learners. They have to use each other’s backs to write on, and walk on the desk to get from one side of the classroom to another side. I was thinking about how the motivation affects the result of our studying. In Lesotho, students are so motivated even though they don't have everything they need to get an education. I guess when things are harder to get, you want it even more. That's when you do whatever you can to get it. Despite the cold in the winter, and the empty stomachs, the students show up to school. In Norway we are wealthy. Everyone has a right to get an education, every student has a right to get a laptop, we have internet connection etc, and yet we're not so motivated. Moliehi Sekese told us about how her school is very proud of having two computers. Even though they are so many students, they manage to share them . "You have no reason to say: I don't want an education" she said to us. And she's so right. We have everything we need and more. When we want to learn something, we can ask our teachers, do research on the internet or look in our textbooks. When Moliehi's students learn, they only have their teacher and the books she brings with her. Which is what brings me to the theme that I wanted to focus on: how one person can make a difference.

In a way, I feel like making a difference is the theme we've had the entire year. Starting with Erin Brochovich, later Gran Torino, the Kite Runner and Narnia. All of these movies are about how one person or a group of people can change something, or make a difference. Moliehi Sekese makes a difference. Her being so enthusiastic and her being willing to travel around the world has brought attention from all over the world regarding the learning situation in Lesotho. People have started gathering money and "itslearning" has offered to give 4 computers to her school. Everyone wants to pitch in to make a difference because we all know that education is the beginning of the change that needs to comein Lesotho. So having Moliehi Sekese at our school and her traveling around the world is making a difference that desperately needs to be made, and it's amazing what she has accomplished…

Sources:

http://www.ozteacher.com.au/html/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=17&Itemid=116

http://www.itslearning.no/moliehi-sekese

http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesotho

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/lt.html

http://www.theguide.org.za/lesotho.htm