My Fear of Heights

Ever since I was young I had a fear of heights. As a child, I would not go near ledges or cliffs, I would not ride on roller coasters, and I did not participate in any activities that were off the ground. When I was sixteen, I went to the Bahamas for a family/friend vacation. On the beach, there was parasailing. Everyone I was with was enthusiastic about going parasailing and I was terrified. At first, I thought that I would just sit it out and wait until they came back, but that day I was feeling adventurous and decided that I would try it. The anticipation of waiting to go in the air was the worse part. I still see myself huddled against my dad shaking and crying. Once I was in the air, I calmed down. I was taking in the beautiful scenery and the cool breeze. I remember looking out at the ocean that was such a vibrant blue. After I came down, I realized it was not that bad and I had a pleasant time. After this experience, I started to participate in activities that involved heights. I started to go on roller coasters, skiing, mountain climbing etc. I have realized the part I struggle with is waiting. I get myself so worked up just thinking about it, but when I am actually doing it, I realize it is not that bad. I can’t promise you that this fear of heights won’t ever stop me from skydiving or zip-lining in a tropical forest, but I assure you that from now on I’ll always try. I’ll try and I’ll fight if I feel like the experience is worth. I still struggle today with conquering my fear of heights, but I am learning how to cope with it.  

Vocabulary

Fear (noun) – an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that something is dangerous

Parasailing (verb)- glide through the air wearing an open parachute while being towed by a boat.

Enthusiastic (adjective) – showing intense enjoyment/ interest

Terrified (verb)- caused to feel extreme fear

Adventurous (noun)- willing to take risks

Anticipation (noun)- expectation/ predictions

Huddled (verb)- crowd together

Scenery (noun)- the natural features of a landscape

Vibrant (adjective)- bright and striking

Cope (verb)- dealing with something difficult

Vocabulary Activity

Use the vocabulary words above to fill in the sentence. 

1. When we got to the top of the mountain, we paused to look at the ___________.

 2. I do not like to go to the zoo because I have a __________ of the bears.

3. When I was on a beach, my cousin and I went ___________. We were really high off the ground.

4. The hot pink icing on the cupcake was so _______.

5. It was very cold outside so we ________ around the fire.

6. My family and I love Miney and Mickey Mouse. We were all ________ about going to Disney.

7. I was _____________ during the test that I was going to fail.

8. My sister is very_________________. She loves to travel around the world.

9. I had to _______ with the pain when my fish died.

10. The ____________ before this big test is killing me!

Grammar point:

Pronouns

Pronouns are used to replace nouns within sentences, making them less repetitive.

For example: “Mary didn’t go to school because Mary was sick” doesn’t sound very good. Instead, if you say “Mary didn’t go to school because she was sick” it will make the sentence flow better.

Some pronouns: I, me, he, she, herself, you, it, that, they, each, few, many, who, whoever, whose, someone, everybody, etc.

How many pronouns are in the paragraph above?

Grammar activity:
Fill in the blanks with pronouns.

1. John's birthday is tomorrow so _______ wants a cake.

2. Jade wants crayons so _______ can color with her friends.

3. The class went to the park so _______ can look at the different types of birds. 

MATH!

At an early age, I knew I wanted to pursue a career as a math teacher. I have always been a student that loves math. I have had outstanding math teachers that influenced my decision in becoming a teacher. One of the main reasons I wanted to become a teacher was to know that I am going to make a difference in someone’s education. Teaching mathematics is not an easy job, especially in high school. Math has always been perceived as one of the hardest subjects in school.   Math makes you think abstractly about ideas in a totally different way. I hear a lot of times that "I will never use this in the real world once I graduate" but honestly everyone uses math in his or her daily tasks. Without math we would not be able to add how much our grocery bill is each week, how much our bills will be per month, or how much a shirt is discounted for at the clothing store. I want to show students math can be fun. I want to get away from the stereotype that math is hard and show each student that they can succeed in math just like any other subject.

Vocabulary

Pursue (verb)- proceed along a path

Career (noun)- occupation/ job

Outstanding (adjective)- exceptionally good

Influenced (noun)- having an effect on the behavior of someone

Perceived (verb)- come to realize/ understand

Abstractly (adverb)- concepts that need to be visualized (imagined)

Honestly (adverb)- truthful

Discounted (verb)- deducted an amount from the original price

Stereotype (noun)- idea of a particular type of person or thing

Vocabulary Activity

Grammar Point

Indent: 

In a composition, indentation is the blank space between a margin and the beginning of a line of text. Verb: indent.

As you can see in the paragraph above, it is indented because it is the beginning of a paragraph. Every time you start a new paragraph you indent it.   

Grammar Activity:
True or False

1. True or false? You must use an indent before each sentence.

2. True or false? You must use an indent before each paragraph.

3. True or false? You can not use an indent when starting a story. 

Next Stop… Real Life

I graduated Marist College in May 2016. I attended Marist for 4 years and I received a Bachelor of the Arts degree. I have nothing but positive things to say about Marist. The past four years have been better than I ever could have imagined they would be when I entered freshmen year. It hasn’t been easy, and there certainly have been some low points, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. In college, you have to be dedicated and motivated to study hard and long hours. I want to thank Marist for a Mathematics degree, incredible friends, and endless memories! Marist will always be my second home.

Vocabulary

Graduated (verb)- successfully complete an academic degree

Attended (Verb)- be present at

Positive (noun)- good quality or attribute 

Imagined (verb)- form of a mental image

Dedicated (adjective)- devoted to a task or purpose

Motivated (verb)- a drive to do something

Incredible (adjective)- extraordinary 

Endless (adjective)- having or seeming to have no end

   

Vocabulary Activity

Grammar Point

What is an ellipsis?

An ellipsis is a punctuation mark consisting of three dots.

It can express hesitation, changes of mood, suspense, or thoughts. An ellipsis may also indicate a short pause in a sentence.

For example:

I wasn’t really . . . well, what I mean . . . see, the thing is . . . I didn’t mean it.

Can you find the ellipsis in this blog?

Grammar Activity:

State if the sentence needs an ellipsis or not. 

1. Well... I wanted it to be a suprise.

2. I started my homework earlier because my favorite... tv show is on tonight. 

3. The teacher told the students... to write down the homework.

26 Pounds of Fur

I have a 26-pound cat named Crystal. We nicknamed her Moose because of her vast size. There is an abundance of people that like dogs better than cats but moose is very friendly. Even though my cat cannot speak, she is constantly trying to find ways to communicate with me. Whether my cat is meowing because she wants food or banging into my legs because she wants attention, she lets me know what she is thinking. Moose has a unique personality. She loves to run around the house playing with her toys. She needs to sleep at night with a blanket on her and wakes my mom up every morning at 5:30 am.  Whenever someone meets moose the common statement is “OH WOW, She’s huge!” Moose does love to eat but I do not believe she will get substantially bigger.

Vocabulary

Vast (adjective) – very great extent/ large

Abundance (noun)- very large quality of something

Friendly (adjective)- kind and pleasant  

Constantly (adverb)- continuously over a period of time/ always

Unique (adjective)- unlike anything else

Common (adjective)- often done

Substantially (adverb)- for the most part/ essentially

Vocabulary exercise  

 

Grammar Point

What is an adverb?

An adverb is a word that tells us more about a verb.

It is easy to see how adverbs describe, or modify, verbs, since they simply explain most about the action.

John speaks loudly. (How does John speak?)

More examples:

•    He quickly runs

•    She slowly walks

•    He happily chatters

Grammar Activity: