Community Service Field Trip.

Recently, our grade went to do different community service field trips. I went to the blind school. First, when we got there, we were given a short introduction. Then, the blind students-and yes, they WERE blind- played an amazing Thai instrumental for us! I found that amazing because I would never be able to play those instruments, especially without eyesight. Then, we played a game where we had to memorize at least 5 names of some of the blind students. It was difficult for me because I speak minimum Thai! However, it was very fun to try learning everyone's name.


Soon after that, we played another game where we had to find partners. That was also a little difficult for me because we had to speak Thai to understand what was going on, but it was still very entertaining! 


Then, we went to another building to play a game- it was kind of like handball, but there were 3 people on every team. You had to keep the ball from getting into your goal.
Here was the catch- everyone was blindfolded! So it was very difficult for people that weren't used to not being able to see.
The last thing we did was that we went downstairs to tour around a bit. There were also some smaller children there, and it was fun to play with them. We had lots of fun there, and it was really educating to learn about how these people lived! 

Boston Tea Party- Terrorists or patriots?

The other day in Social Studies, we did a Socratic Seminar on the people that did the Boston Tea Party. Near the end, we had to decide whether the people involved in dumping the tea were terrorists or patriots.


I personally think that they are a bit of both. For example, if you look at it in the sense that the colonists were protesting for their freedom, they look like patriots. This is because it clearly shows that they were fighting for their rights. However, if you look at them in a way that shows how much they could've hurt the British economy, then they are seen as terrorists because they attacked without warning. So, it actually all depends on your personal views to decipher whether they are terrorists, patriots, both, or neither.


A current event I can connect this to is the SOPA/PIPA/ACTA bill. I can connect these events because the bills have two sides to relate to. The 'patriot' side would be saying that censoring the internet is good because it helps protect copyright claims, but the 'terrorist' side would argue. They would say that this violates rights of freedom of speech.