20% #1

My first of the two 20% projects that I am doing is going to be about me creating an app. I will need to get some app creating software, but other than that, I will have the needed computer and everything else I need already at my house. A major obstacle I have is that I can only work on this at my house. This will be a slight challenge because it will mean I have to work on it on my own time. The actual software that I need might take 2 weeks or more to find, but other than that I will be good.
I want to learn more about technology with this project, since more and more jobs involve technology. Since todays modern era revolves around technical devices and games, I believe it would be a good idea to get a head start on everyone else and leanr how to make an app now. Also, if I can make some money with this app, it wouldn't hurt. However, the main reason that I chose this topic is because the independent app makers control 60% of the market. That means it is a very good field to get into, since they have taken over the console games in sale cuanity, even though the console developers make more in money, because the games are priced higher. With the app industry booming it is, like I said, good to get a head start. This could very well turn into something that I want to do when I am older.
A few people who can help me are:
My dad
The software manual
Myself
All of these resources are invaluabe because my dad can help me with finding a good program, the manual the comes with it will tell me how to get started, and I can make sure that I work long and hard to get the project done on time. With any luck, my app will turn out great and will become one of the next big things!

Success

Recently, my class watched Chris Langan on the popular game show, 1 vs. 100. He happens to be the smartest man in America. Chris did well, and he even won $250,000! Now I have to determine weather or not Chris is successful. Based on my definition of success (having a roof over your head, decent financial status, food and water, and doing what you enjoy) I would have to say he is.
Mr. Langan does not have a PhD, or even a college degree. He was up for a paid government scholarship, but his mom neglected to fill out his form, and just like that, he couldn't attend any more classes. Even though he turned out to be a farmer, he enjoys it. In his spare time he works on his different theories. He is diffidently in a decent state, especially after winning the $250,000. He has food, and water. Chris is in a good spot to continue to live happily for the rest of his life. How many others can say honestly that they enjoy what they do? I'm not exactly sure the number, but I do know it is too few.

The Kinderdarten Debate

In the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell says that being delayed in your early life and being held back from kindergarten and sports is a good thing. He says it leads to an "accumulative advantage that will allow you to think and physically perform better than other kids in your grade. However, Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt have wrote an article that preaches why holding your kid back is a bad idea. They say that "Red shirting...can lead to less motivation than their peers."However they explain how they are the ones that are solely right, lets look at the arguments. These two pieces of work literally disagree on everything except that being held back helps sports. All that these article say is what they believe. Both articles have statistics to back them. For example, Sam and Sandra's article states that "In a class of 25, the average difference is equivalent to going from 13th place to 11th. This advantage fades by the end of elementary school, though, and disadvantages start to accumulate." However, Malcolm counters by showing that Most hockey players were born in January, February, and March, and January 1 is the cutoff. All of these kids proved to some how "...be bigger, faster, and more responsible than their team-mates."
So who to believe? The only thing I can go on is my personal experience. I know, or have known, several people who started school early. They are smart, but often less mature than their peers. They also have a harder time making friends. I also know that the principals for children who are older seem to be the same. They often are very smart, sometimes too advanced in their maturity level, and have a difficulty making friends. But there are always outliers. Some kids who were held back easily make friends, seem to be slightly less intelligent, and have average maturity. I have come to believe that neither party is wrong, but that success and failure depends on the child.

Gifted Truths

When you think a person is gifted, do you think that means those children can accomplish anything, they have few problems, and they are all smart? Well, if you said yes to any of these, you would be wrong. According to familyeducation.com, and through my personal experiences, I can tell you with certainty that all these statements are myths about gifted children. (I should know, after all, I'm one of the gifted ones!) Now if I told you that gifted kids can sometimes just jump to an answer and not know how they got it, or if I said they can skip directions because they are boring, you would now answer myth, right? Wrong! Both of these facts, which come from the same site, are true facts about gifted kids. I have seen this several times in my time in school, especially in my gifted and talented class. Most of the students often skim over the directions, including myself, and some can also find alternative answers to problems. In math I often find a way to make the work less and less complex. If i see a pattern, I will try to find out how to duplicate the pattern, and never do the long algebraic equation.
When you are a gifted kid, there can be both positives and negatives. The down side to being gifted includes people expecting you to be a role-model, your peers call you a nerd, or some other name, and you always seem to never quite fit in. However, with greayt responsibility, comes great power. You can often finish homework early or comprehend the lesson much quicker than most. And although being gifted can be a burden, it can also be an incredible skill that will allow you to succeed!Being gifted lets you be advanced in a certain subject. Every one in our gifted and talented class has an area that they excell at. For some, its dance, others, computer tech. And it doesn't stop there. Everyone has something their good at, and some people have several. Explore in that subject, and you will learn fasted, do better, and become greater than you ever could have imagined.

New Year

Well I'm back from a wonderful summer. I'm finally back to posting for Rogate! So, for those of you who are new, let me talk about myself... I am Brandan Jennings, and I am now in the 9th grade. Now that I'm a freshman, ill be even busier. I like to play video games, especially Battlefield 3 and Skyrim. I love karate, and have a third degree black belt. I am on the freshman football team, which is fun. I also love tennis, and am trying out for varsity this spring. I love having free time, and I wish I had more. I love technology, however, it can be a huge pain. I like warm, sunny days. I also like the occasional cloudy day. Finally, I like the summer and December is my school year favorite month. However I dislike homework, ice storms, homework, not having enough time to sleep, bad school schedules, homework, not being heard and having a bad day or game in anything. Did I mention that I don't like home work? The highlights of my summer were all at Hershey, being my favorite vacationing spot. I rode the new coaster, Skyrush, and it was awesome. They did not have shoulder restraints so it felt like you were flying out! However, now that I'm back in school, I cant wait to do another twenty percent project. Its gonna be a great year!

Rogate Year End

My favorite part of this great class was the fun projects that we could have so much creativity with (kitschy, 20%, etc.) 
This being said, I really enjoyed all the projects, but the one I loved the most was the 20% because of the limitless control over it. 
The blogs could be more effectively used by making people leave comments on 5 blogs per week.  This will force students to interact with each other and have fun! 
I am taking the gifted and talented course next year, since it was so much fun this year, and I learned so much! 
The thing I will miss the most about the middle school is the lunches I eat with Mr. Pinto (and air conditioning in all the classrooms ha ha!) 
Since I have participated in marching band, and know a lot of people at the high school, I do not really have any questions.
My plans for the summer are:
1. practice with the football team
2. go to Hershey
3. lift weights with the football team
4. do my summer assignments
5. try to get a little rest
6. tennis camp
7. go to the beach
Thank you for being an awesome teacher!

Crowdsourcing

http://www.utest.com/

This sight allows you to post new software on it, and qualified testers will run it for you.  This software can be anything, from apps to a program similar to Microsoft word.