See, Think, Wonder on America and American Culture

Hello, our names are Casey, Enjeune, Hannah, and Morgan. Below we have a See, Think, Wonder:

See: When we see America we see what is commonly known as the 5 American Ideals, these ideals are Opportunity, Liberty, Democracy, Equality, and Rights. This country is full of these ideals throughout our everyday lives. Not only do we such influential values, but we see diversity. No one person is identical to the other in their beliefs, foods they choose eat, or even the classes that we take in Clarkston Schools. Even though we are a small community compared to the vast number of individuals in America, we are all interconnected through various devices. This is evident through social media, which has become a large part of our lives as teenagers. We often see students walk down the hallway, and yet they are communicating with individuals across the world, similar to this blog. It can sometimes seem as though we as a generation in America are drowning in technology. We often see advertisements for the new technologies or items we "must have" and this type of media exposure is clearly evident in our generation's actions. Not only are there copious amounts of technology, but we have become dependent on it. There are students who are required to give their phone to the teacher before class starts because they are incapable of not being on their phone.

Think: We think that though America does have it's flaws of materialism and narcissism. Materialism is the value of material objects over something much deeper, such as happiness or relationships. Narcissism is to be self absorbed, which is common within teenagers here unfortunately. Despite this, America is a place of overall freedom to act and live as you desire. We as American citizens are given opportunities to voice how we feel our country should be run and have control over our personal environment. The ability to control certain aspects of our future is a gift Americans possesses, specifically voting or the choices we are able to make. Just recently, we had chosen our classes for 10th grade, at the high school. The number of classes we can take is immense, and some of them are tailored to our desired future careers to allow us to see what it will be like. These prepare us for the future and the future of our country. For example, Hannah wants to go into the medical field. The classes she is taking now are preparing her for the trying tasks of using medical advances to save people that lay ahead. It seems so small to chose what classes you take in school, but that freedom to do what she wants and be prepared for it is such a blessing. One thing about America, is that things are often taken for granted, but once you take a step back it is evident how fortunate we are.

Wonder: We were discussing our wonderings and one thing that we wondered was how other countries view America? New media here pokes fun at how we as a country are disliked for various reasons, specifically in the new movie coming out Pitch Perfect 2, is this accurate? Another wondering that we had was how does Vietnam compare to America? We described what we see and think about America, is Vietnam similar or different? If so, what are those similarities or differences?

Max Anderson, Nathan Johnson, Micheal Flugel, Trey Roy, Sam Gipe

SEE: In our country we see ourselves as very privileged. We have education, food, water, clothing, all in excess. We see a lot of people submersed in there own personal lives, with their iPhones and electronics. We see people taking advantage of everything that we have. We see obesity all around us, and everyone is always stressed out. People seem tired all the time because of their "stressful" lives. We live close to Detroit, so we also see another side of our culture in poverty.
THINK: We think that technology has begun to rule our lives, and our society has become antisocial. We think that this is a result of the new technological advancements that have been brought to our country including smartphones, social media, games, etc.
WONDER: We wonder how our daily lives compare to yours? We would like to know if you guys use technology as much as we do, and whether you have smartphones and social media accounts? We wonder in what ways you guys communicate as we mostly use social media and do not always have face to face conversations? Finally, we would like to know what your society is like and how you go about your day?

See Think Wonder On America

                                   See Think Wonder

                                                                                                            By: Taylor Leonard
   See: 

• Many people with electronics.
• If you were to drive around in a city in America you would see a lot of restaurants, and buildings.
• Many cars
• A lot of people in the American school system dress similar unless you have a uniform
• Also in the American school systems you will see a lot or groups. Groups of friends and people, a lot of people will only engage with the people in their "group" and sometimes leave other people out.
• On a more positive note you will see a lot of chances to engage with people like after school clubs, and sports teams.
• Sometimes in America you will see a lot of people goofing of and getting in trouble, and if someone makes a really bad decision they would go to jail or prison, which is a place where a lot of people go once they've done something bad, you could be there for days, or years, it all depends on what happens when you go to court.
• In America there are many different places you can go, and each place you go to you will see something different, like if you go to New York you will see a lot of traffic, If you go to California you will see a lot of people walking, skateboarding, surfing, If you go to Michigan in the winter you will see people snowboarding, and skiing. These are just a few examples on the things you will see in America. 

  Think:

• When I see many people on their phones at dinner or with a friend I just think that these people need a break from their electronics, and they need to engage with the people around them.
• When I see the social groups at school it makes me think about how a lot of the kids these days in America are so isolated and care mostly just about there three friends and their phones.
• When I see people in jail I think what did they do to get into that situation? and if they are just going in and out of jail i think what are you doing? You've had the opportunity to correct your wrongs and start your life back up again yet you still choose to do something stupid and get put back in jail.

Wonder:

• I wonder what life would be like if IPhones were never invented?
• I wonder what life would be like if everyone would talk to people they don't know, and just make friends for their personality not their face?
• I wonder if anyone would make a commitment to limit their electronic usage?
• I wonder what life would be like without stereotypes and discrimination?
• I wonder what school would be like if we weren't given so much home work?
• I wonder what life would be like without any clubs or sports teams?

What We Are seeing, What We Are Thinking, And What We Are Wondering.

Kristen Cumming

Chirstie Flood

Kylie Martens

Corrin Gualtieri

See, Think, Wonder

In America We See....

1. Consumerism, EVERYWHERE!
2. Everybody on their phones/tablets.
3. Conformity (No one has their own thoughts/ideas, everybody looks and acts the same).
4. Everybody is consumed with themselves.
5. Cities and Cars.
6. Different types of music.
7. Public and Private education.
8. People Value actors and actresses more then the people that matter such as policemen or firemen.
9. People always looking for an answer.
10. People having conspiracy theories.
11. People watching/playing sports.
12. People reading.
13. A Democracy.
14. People are dedicated to giving money to charities.
15. People say "like" and "um" way to much!

We Think...

1. We think our society could use more face to face interaction (Ex: We don't know our neighbors).
2. We think we are tech savvy.
3. We think if we weren't conformists then our country would be more diverse.
4. We think people in America are dedicated to what they are passionate about.

We Wonder...

1. How would America act differently without social media?
2. How would America operate without a Democracy?
3. How do other countries view America?                                                             

See,Think,Wonder Madison Mychalowych & Jordyn Rumbold

See, Think, Wonder

By: Madison Mychalowych & Jordyn Rumbold

What do we see in our country?

     In our country we see a lot of big cities and opportunities. We see our life after college, and all of the different chances we have. We see some happy and sad families, torn apart. Our country has so many different cultures. Every city is very diverse. Each citizen has their own way of life and way of doing thing. This is the best part of our country. We are always meeting new people and learning new things, even when we aren't in school. We also see lots of suburbs and little towns creating their own lifestyle. People in America are dedicated to working hard and succeeding. 

What do we think about our country?

    We think that our country is very well put together and runs smoothly. We think that we learn more by have such diverse cultures and we are able to experience so many unique things. Even in our LA class we think deeper and try to figure out the true meaning of America. We also think that technology has become much more advanced in and out of the classroom. With all of the new technology we are able to learn faster, and succeed in many more things.

  

What do we wonder about our country?

       We wonder if technology has made us lazier, because it can do everything for us. We also wonder what will happen in the future with our generation. Everyone is so smart, so how will everyone get jobs? We also wonder what it would be like to go to an international school and experience all of the diversity. We also wonder what our country would be like if we did not have any technology. 

We don't see everything, but we see a lot of things.

Max Wiedemann
Jake Spicer

SEE:

• Many people do not look at the world around them, and are too focused on their own lives.
• People have a lot of technology on them at all times, and many will freak out if they do not have their phones.
• We have a very diverse cultural society, especially in big cities such as New York or Chicago. 
• People like to go to fast- we have a fast-paced society.
• We have people in our society which we call hipsters, who bring up new fashion trends, and somewhat reminds us of style from the 70's.
• Americans put a lot of toppings on their foods.

THINK:

• People are too focused on their own lives, due to social media and just America's nature in general. Americans get really happy when people like their post (Tweets, pictures, etc.) and want to keep stimulating this feeling, so keep trying to impress others with their lives.
• People are too dependent on their phones, because of social media, games, social media, the Internet, and social media. Basically, social media is the main culprit. People constantly want to see what going on the world, and cannot do so without their tech.
• We have a very diverse culture, because lots of people immigrate to the United States, especially large cities. This makes certain towns that will be based on one culture, such as Chinatown, Mexican Village, and others. This makes it so we have very diverse restaurants, and stores.
• People like to go fast in our society because there is always somewhere to go and something to see. Americans do not want to live in the past, and are constantly moving to stay in the present.
• Hipsters set trends because they want to be different, or "not follow the mainstream," which is how they prefer to view it. 
• Americans put a lot of toppings on their foods because we are over consumers, and want the most of everything.

WONDER:

• How would our world 
• be different if people focused less on themselves and more on others?
• How much chaos would happen if all Americans personal tech shut down in an instant?
• Will our culture completely diversify?
• Will people ever slow down and live in the moment?
• Do hipsters feel as if they need to prove something?
• Will Americans ever stop putting so many toppings on food? No.

See, Think, Wonder

See, Think, Wonder

See: many different ethnicity all over our country,  Our country has different types of  cultures all around our county and we are very materialistic. If you were to walk outside you would see large buildings, Lots of traffic on the roads. We rely heavily on technology and material goods, but we also greatly value quality time with our family and friends.

Think: Viewing our society we are not very mindful of ourselves and what is really happening in the moment. We would rather think about the new iPhone and our plans for the weekend rather than taking a moment to stop and appreciate our lives. Our lives although fast paced are filled with great memories and we are very fortunate to live in the society we do and have the opportunities that are given to us. We are all so thankful to live the lives we do.

Wonder: This makes us wonder how our lives would differ if we lived in a society where technology wasn't so important to us? This also makes us wonder how our lives would be different it we spent more time being mindful of ourselves and others? How does the overuse of social media impact our opinions on ourselves?

-Chloe, Julia, and Courtney

America from our perspective

          Hey friends it's us again with another blog. We have a roster change this time, with Matt and Connor instead of Jake. So this time we'll be doing a See (What we notice), Think (What we think about what we see), and Wonder (What we wonder about these discoveries). It's going to be about the U.S. as a whole, good and bad.
          See: In the US we see a lot of variety of cultures and people. There are Blacks, Whites, Asians, Native Americans and so on. With these different people there is both equality and unfortunately a little inequality. We are the mixing pot as they say. There are many streets filled with buildings and houses that sometimes look much the same, destroying the nature as they rise. To the adversary there are marvelous buildings and nature of beauty. Our economy runs on capitalism with tons of people competing for your money. There are Countrysides and Mountains, as well as Great Lakes and Plains.
          Think: We think that we live in a very privileged and opportunistic Country where in most cases if you can dream it you can do it. We often forget of the problems of the world and about how lucky we truly are. But at the same times there are many problems that riddle society, such as lack of human interaction due to technology, different sides in government constantly arguing and getting nothing done. Our perception of happiness may be skewed by the attraction towards money. Our assumption for the reason behind these problems is that with every answer for one problem another query arises.
          Wonder: We should wonder where we will be in future as well how different we may be had history altered itself. What if technology didn't steal social interaction to the extent that is does? What if our country was a dictatorship? What if the Cold War had begun? How do other Countries see us? Are we as well off as we think? There are many questions of which you could answer. What kinds of good and bad things do y'all experience, and what's your perspective?

USA in our eyes...

See: We see a diverse culture, no two neighbors are the same. We see everyone with Iphones, you can't look up for a minute,otherwise you'll miss the latest news. We see in each state there is a different way to live your life, 50 states make up the US, there is in total 50 different styles of life. For example: In New York, you've got the tough bunch opposed to Alabama where southern hospitality is something you always strive for. There's also different kinds of attractions to the different states. Like Michigan has the Great Lakes and Arizona has the deserts.

Think: We think that the diverse cultures of each state is what makes America unique to the world. Although we have our downfall with technology, we still have something positive to attribute to the world.

Wonder:  I wonder how we can get people to realize that the whole world doesn't revolve around their phone. I wonder where technology will lead to in the future and whether or not it will make us more productive or less. I wonder how people who have seen the more basic technology and how it has grown are reacting to the changes it brings America.



Sydney VanBuskirk, Liana Smith, Maureen Stewart

Life From the Perspective of an American High School Student

Kylie Kalinowski, Dominic Smith, Samuel Witzke, and Alyssa John

Life From the Perspective of an American High School Student

See... 

For America as a whole, it is very beneficial for us students to be able to experience diversity in our country and in our everyday lives, as we can be able to become a more respectful generation of individuals towards others. However, when it comes to clothing and expression, America usually has the same type of clothing around generations, usually there is a typical dress style that fits the general population. Generally, high school aged students (between 12-17 years old approximately) will dress either relaxed, wearing denim jeans and a hoodie or comfortable tee shirt, some people dress so comfortably, that some people even wear sweat pants or pajamas to their classes! 

Also, to add on to the diversity, geographically, America has many different types of environments. People live anywhere from deserts in Texas to big Forests in Michigan. From high mountain ranges in Colorado to flat sandy beaches in Florida. From even desolate areas of snowy Alaska to the high buildings in New York City. In some states, farmland can reach all over! 

Think...

From perspective of Clarkston, Michigan high school students, we would say that looking back on what we saw, we are very lucky to be living in the privileged, free, richly resourced country that we do today. However, we will go so far as to say that poverty in our country is hard to see at times because good clothing is very accessible. Poverty is definitely becoming less of a problem in America, compared to our country's past, however is still a prevalent problem in our society. 

Wonder...

• What would our country be like without as much cultural diversity?
• What would our society look like without as much technology in our day to day lives?
• How would our country look without our laws of freedom of expression?
• How many people in America actually live in poverty?
• If our country is one of the richest countries in the world, why do we have so much poverty?
• What would happen if our freedoms were taken away from us?
• What would our country be like if we did not have as much geographical diversity?
• How would Americans react to other societies if we were more exposed to them? 
• What do other people in other countries think of America and Americans?

From left to right, we are Karolina, Reilly, Caitlin, and Hannah. We hope to see pictures of you too! :)

Hello Duck Ming, this is a picture of us.

Hello! Here's a picture of some of Mrs. Cleland's students! From left to right we are Kaylee, Emily, Megan, and Meagan! Hopefully this uploads correctly this time, sorry for before! We hope to see pictures of you too!(:

Hey, I'm Victoria. I hate math and everything else related to school. I like eating, listening to music and watch how i met your mother. I don't really use twitter but you can follow me VictoriaN312

Hey Viet. The one to the left is Lila, the one to the right of her is Brett, to his right is Josh, and the one to Josh's right is Hannah. Currently right now Brett and Josh are doing a blanket drive and are working out the details on who to send the blankets to and Hannah and her friend are going to be donating blankets to cancer patients, and Lila is working with a larger group to raise money for a good cause.

Interesting Title Here

Hello mates, I'm Duc Minh (sounds like Duck Ming). I'm as old as you all are. I like banana and coconut. I'm Doto, not League. I learnt English since i was 5 but i still speak like a sick duck. I have more interest in math then literature. My momma's stew pork is probably the best dish in the world for me. People say I'm both Cr4Zy, G33ky and kind but that's non of my business. Hope y'all can accept my writing skill and that's it, im done writing here.

A picture of how i look

No but seriously thou

Tet Holiday

Hi! We are Minh Ngoc, Minh Anh Hoang and Anh Phuong from 9D2.

In Viet Nam we have a tradtional holidy called Tet. We would like to share some facts about it.

First, Tet is the occasion for Vietnamese to express their respect and remembrance for their ancestors as well as welcoming the New Year with their beloved family members. 

In the past, Tet was essential as it provided one of few long breaks during the agricultural year, which was held between the harvesting of the crops and the sowing of the next ones.

Tet is like a combination of Christmas and New Year: every family will get together to have big meals, decorate Tet trees and eat Tet food but to welcome the new year instead of a religious cause.

Tet is celebrated by Cleaning their homes, polishing every utensil, or even repaint and decorate the house with kumquat tree, branches of peach blossom( cherry blossom), and many other colorful flowers.

Children, buy new clothes and shoes to wear on the first days of New Year.

 Gifts are exchanged between family members and friends and relatives, while children receive lucky money kept in red envelope. (people believe color red brings fortune)

Vietnamese also use many kinds of flowers and plants to decorate their house in this special period.

There are 2 kinds of plants in Tet holidays: Blossom flowers, apricot flowers. 

Cherry blossom.

We usually have flowers market before Tet.

We also have many traditional food.

Banh Chung - Chung cake

It is wrapped with a special leave called " Lá Dong". 

It made out of sticky rice, pork, green beans.

"Nem" - Spring roll

You can eat it with a dipping sauce  and rice noodles.

Ingredients: mushroom, carrot, shrimp, chopped meat/seafood and other vegetables.

"Giò" - made with grounded poultry, fish sauce and other ingredients.

Wrapped with "lá chuối" then boiled in water and there are many kinds of "giò".

We hope one day you will have the chance to visit us in Viet Nam and enjoy Tet holiday.

Call us maybe xx

The warmest greeting from the Olympians

Dear beloved friends from Clarkson Junior High School,

We are 9th graders from the Olympia schools. On behalf of all our classmates, we  would like to send you our warmest greeting to you guys.
It is a huge honor for us to experience the connecting classroom blog and have the chance to make new friends.

Here are some photos of our school:

It has been 5 years since our school was established in 2010. Our schools mascot is Griffin, symbolized for knowledge and bravery. Our schools colors are yellow and violet, which represent honor and royalty.

Here is a road to our school:

 Here are some photos around our school:

 In the Olympia schools, we have six core values, which are truth, excellence, respect, honor, sevice and understanding.

 Our playground for primary students to relax and enjoy outside activities

 Here are some photos of our lovely classmates =))

           WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT THE OLYMPIA SCHOOLS !

Video about The Olympia Schools

Welcome everyone in our blog!
My name is Vo Minh Anh. I am 9th grade student from The Olympia Schools. I will post another blog about myself later, but first...

This is the video is the introduction about our school. Hope that you will enjoy it :D

Hello my name is Huy ( it is pronounced like WII but instead of the W try it with the H). I am 14 years old just about your age. I like math, I'm bad at literature. I enjoy playing computer games with my friends, I play MOBA( multiplayer online battle arena) game like dota2 or league of legend. I'm a dog person but I don't dislike cat. That's all about me, have a good day sir.

Hi, my name is Viet , I am 15 years old. My hobbies are playing games , sport and listening music. My favorite sport is basketball  and I play it everyday. Turning to game, I am playing Dota 2 which is a popular MOBA  game in the world. Now I am going to tell you something about Tet or Lunar New Year.  Tet is a popular festival with all Vietnamese people. In the last day of the last year, there  were fireworks everywhere in the country at midnight and they were beautiful. Then in the next day, we went to the country  for all day so as to visit our relatives. They said that Tet is a time for families to gather. The following day, we went to other house in order to happy new year. The most interesting part in Tet is that children like us can get the lucky money from the adults .Also, we have many delicious traditional foods in Tet such as Chung cake, Day cake. However, we must eat them in all meals during Tet holiday.  If we don’t go to other houses, we can stay home and relax all day. That is also a fun part in Tet.Hi, my name is Viet , I am 15 years old. My hobbies are playing games , sport and listening music. My favorite sport is basketball  and I play it everyday. Turning to game, I am playing Dota 2 which is a popular MOBA  game in the world. Now I am going to tell you something about Tet or Lunar New Year.  Tet is a popular festival with all Vietnamese people. In the last day of the last year, there  were fireworks everywhere in the country at midnight and they were beautiful. Then in the next day, we went to the country  for all day so as to visit our relatives. They said that Tet is a time for families to gather. The following day, we went to other house in order to happy new year. The most interesting part in Tet is that children like us can get the lucky money from the adults .Also, we have many delicious traditional foods in Tet such as Chung cake, Day cake. However, we must eat them in all meals during Tet holiday.  If we don’t go to other houses, we can stay home and relax all day. That is also a fun part in Tet.

Hello, dearest Brothers, Sisters, and In-Between/Both-sters of Earth Mother!

I’m Lê Minh Thái, and I want to share with you about the greatest information about myself:

1. I am from Olympia’s school and English is my second language

2. I am born in a family with one older sister and my parent

3. My mom is my best friend and my dad is my best bud

4. I have achieved the 69^th levels of art  .

5. I've lived in Hanoi City in Viet Nam.

7. I am obsessed with superheroes. Both Marvel and DC If you know what that is

8. I am obsessed with Spider Man . In fact yesterday I had a dream where I bite a radioactive spider and become Man-Spider.

9.  I am obsessed with running.

10. I tend to get obsessed with things.

11. I make lists, and lists of lists and then I prioritize my lists.

12. I believe you get what you give

13. I LOVE food. I love it so much my mother get mad all the time when I eat all the food for guest.

14. I was never a sporty dude. So when I play sports I injured my teammate greatly. No actually I play it pretty good.

15. I see my life as a project.

I6. I have goals- all kinds of them- daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and so on. It may be kind of obsessive but I absolutely dislike the sense of drifting and above all I dislike meaningless days.

17. I dislike meaningless days!

18. I have strong opinions but if I’m not asked I will not tell them.

19. Best night: game and pizza.

20. I want to rule the world.

21. I dream a lot! and my dreams tend to be particularly curious. Obama, Kate Hudson, Gael Garcia, the Jolie-Pitts and Anthony Bourdain are some of the people that have been in my dreams.

23. I can be annoyingly enthusiastic.

24. I talk…A LOT!

26. I love colorful nail polish

27. I love to travel.

28. I have a glasses.

29. I have a long history from running a way from dogs, so I hate them

30. A new day is a new beginning.

Mah naim  is Quang. Iam 15 Years ohhhld, Im a student in The Olympia School. I like to play video game and listen to EDM music. My favourite games is Dota 2 and GTA V, if you guys have Steam account. Please add me :) xXx_N0$C0P3_xXx