CPM to Reality

The CPM (College Preparatory Mathematics) program started its use in our school three years ago. Ever since then, students have ceased to actually learn any math. Teachers also ceased teaching. The program expects students to figure out complex formulas themselves by proving them without even being told what they're proving. When you finally do prove it the program basically says, "Here's the formula, use it," when you don't even know what to use the formula for. In addition, every single test/quiz is open note.

Once students enter Honors Trigonometry/Precalculus, they return to normal teaching methods. Those who have studied under CPM wind up completely and utterly confused and at a loss for what to do. The school district has screwed them over. The head of the high school math department herself has advised against using CPM but has been ignored. Other teachers seem to think that CPM is the way of the future and is true "progress" in teaching. Although having a textbook tell teachers how to teach doesn't seem much like progress to me...

School

Well, the first week of school went pretty well. I didn't have any problems in any of my classes. And most of my classes seem pretty interesting. Hopefully it stays that way...

End of Summer Blues

Well, Summer vacation is finally over and school starts tomorrow. I'm going to have a total of three computer programming courses within the first semester, which should be a lot of fun. I'm also going to take American Civilization I at York College starting on Thursday. My schedule is going to be packed. So much for school being boring, LOL.

Today I met my new TSS, John. He seems really cool. He even reads some of the same books that I do, namely science fiction novels. This school year should go really well. Wish me luck!

Harry Potter Finished

I finished the last Harry Potter book yesterday, and it was awesome! Assuming that you've read all the other books in the series, there really isn't anything I can say about this book without revealing too much; the publisher of the book seemed to share my opinion, as there was no blurb to be found on the cover jacket or inside the book. If you haven't read the other ones... Well, you should definitely read them first.

BTW, my dad was so eager to read the book that he finished it yesterday too, even before I did. So much for Mom saying he had to wait until vacation to read it... LOL.

Youth Group

Well, last night our church had its second ever youth group meeting. It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, there aren't any youth my age in the group. Oh well... I still had a good time. For whatever reason, none of our youth leaders were able to attend so our pastor (my dad) had to lead it instead.

I'm supposed to create the website for the youth group. I recently got some great web-design software and will be learning more about how to use it soon. In fact, the first semester of the this school year I will be taking HTML II, so by the time that's completed, I should have a good idea of what I'm going to be doing. It's likely that my teacher would let me use our youth website for my final project for the class. I know other students created sites advertising condominiums or apartments that their parents were renting out, so this shouldn't be a problem either.

After youth group, the other youth and I played some games, including DDR, in which I got my butt whooped. It was great. We also got to eat Oreos and chips and dip. Hopefully our next meeting will have a bigger turnout, though. Including my brother and I, only four youth were there.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows

I got the new Harry Potter book the day it came out, and it's absolutely amazing. I'm about halfway through it now. I can't really say anything more than that about it though since it would give away too much. Guess you'll just have to read it yourself! ;p

Wii Frenzy

The Nintendo Wii is amazing! The game that came with it, Wii Sports, is actually a great multiplayer game. Everyone can pick up the controller and play with no prior experience. Also, it's one of the only multiplayer games I've ever heard of that allows multiplayer with a single controller. It makes sense, considering that competing golfers and bowlers don't generally play at the same exact time, so you can take turns.

About a week ago I got the game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Wii. It's really cool. Right now I'm working on beating the third dungeon, an underwater temple created by a race of sentient amphibians. I love the controls. I mean, how much more realistic can you get than actually swinging the controller to slash enemies with your sword? The storyline is also pretty cool, and you get to transform into a sacred wolf at certain points and bite enemies to death instead of hacking them to death. Cool, no?

Wii Controller Battery Issues

For whatever reason, I can't seem to get 1.2 volt rechargeable batteries to work in my Nintendo Wii controller. I read online that those are the only kind of rechargeable batteries made. That leaves me stuck with 1.5 volt batteries, either lithium-ion or alkaline. Lithium-ion batteries are quite long-lasting, so the smart choice would be to buy them. Unfortunately, according to what I've read online, the reason some devices reject 1.2 volt batteries is because they don't lose voltage at a predictable rate like alkaline batteries do, making it more difficult to determine the amount of battery power left; lithium-ion batteries may encounter this same problem, although I must undergo further research before determining this fact.

Thus, I can't use USBCell rechargeable batteries. These batteries are environmentally friendly because of their lack of toxic chemicals. In addition, their ability to charge via USB port makes them perfect for gaming consoles which use wireless controllers. One set can be simply plugged into a console's USB ports and charged while you're gaming with the other set.

Note: there are also the possibilities that my rechargeable batteries simply can't be charged with my dad's battery charger, my dad had the charger set to the wrong battery type, or my rechargeable batteries are simply duds and need replaced. Again, further research is required before a definitive answer to this problem is reached.

Computer Science Club IS Dead!

Well, the computer science I've been hooked up with has had its VPN disappear off the face of the net. For whatever reason, it appears that there will be no more VPN-sponsored LAN parties, at least until the start of the new school year. Bummer...

On a lighter note, our church's youth group, at the suggestion of my Uncle Mark and I, are considering having a LAN party of our own. Yay! Somehow I can't picture the size of the gamer turnout being comparable to that at VPN-sponsored ones though.

Computer Science Club Dead?

Last night I talked to one of the vice presidents of the computer science club, and he had no idea what was going on with the next LAN party or the downed VPN. What's more, the last time he talked to the prez, the prez didn't mention anything about it! Somehow I get the feeling that the CS club is dead, at least for the summer... :(

First Youth Group Meeting

Yesterday our church's youth group had its planning meeting. It was a lot of fun. My brother had invited his friend Larry and he showed up. Jeff and Jessica, the youth leaders, were there along with my uncle Mark. The other youth who were supposed to be there, including my friends Brandon and (possibly) Keith, weren't able to make it. Hopefully next time we'll have more people. Still, Jessica made great brownies, and the small amount of people meant more for me. Yay! ;p