Category: Literacy

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Literacy is Everywhere

In the last round of the literacy class, it was a very unique style of learning literacy skills. Our facilitator wants to try out this new way of learning because she believes that whatever project we do in Liger is very connected to the literacy skills. In our round-five class, we were required to be self-awareness to plan our own task every single day. It was I cool experience to be part of the class because these skills are very crucial to our life in the future work. I love this style of learning because it enhances the students to be more independent and prioritize what they want to work on. As a result, I was able to get more stuff done and I hope to continue this unique way of learning literacy.

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The Rent Collector Art Piece Reflection

 In my literacy class, I was assigned to read a book called “The Rent Collector”. The book was very inspiring, it is a true story about a family who lives in the landfill and fights against the obstacles every single time to survive. Their main source of income was from collecting trash but with an opportunity to access to literature, it had changed their life forever. This made me realized that literature is everywhere, with enough determination and persistence the impossible will be possible. 

An inspiring art piece of how I felt after reading “The Rent Collection.”

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World Poetry Day

On Thursday, March 21 it was the World Poetry Day, so my literacy essential class I was performing a short poem to my classmates. I was so proud to be a part of the day and most importantly, it had opened me to a window to express my feeling and reflect myself through the writing about myself in this school year.  I think this was one of my favorite poems so far that I wrote and it was inspired by my action this year to get out and engage more with my world. 

Let Fight to Shine Your Light
by Mengthong Long

This is your world, it belongs to you,
To you, to you, and to you all.
You own it! You were born with it! You commit to it!
This place is the reason why you are here.
So why not, taking responsibility to engage with your world.

Be yourself, believe in yourself, and go with your mind.
Let shine your light out there, show your truthfulness of who you are,
Show of what you capable of.

Let’s go out there to explore your own world.

No pain, no gain
No failures, no success
Actually, there is no such thing as failures
Because true failures is a lesson.

Dip Dip Boom Boom, the heart is beating, the sound of anxious.

We all have fear, we all used to undergo an uncomfortable situation.
But remember this:
Don’t let it build a cage around you.
Don’t let it hold your back
If you stuck, if I stuck and if we all stuck, we all are not growing.
We’re being locked in this boundary, in the darkness full of fear and doubt.

Fear is the mirror to reflect failure.

So let stop the FEAR to define you.
Let break the boundary; Let shine the life that you want to be.

Let shine your light!
Let shine your light!
Let shine your light!

If not here, where? If not now, when? If not you, who?
Have a taste of the flavor now or never.
Bravery is the only key to success!

So let shine your light right now!
Show this world of who you are.

Note: So please repeat these phrases after me.
I’m not scared!
I’m not scared!
We all not scared!

I can do it, we all can do it.
I’m gonna shine my light!
I’m gonna do whatever it takes to be fearless and to be who I am.

 

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College Preparation

My graduation date will be on June 2020, so college isn’t that far from me where I am now. In the literacy class, we had learned about writing a formal email, create our own resume, and doing a college interview. We had written a formal email to a fake company that our teacher made it up, my email was about asking for the internship opportunity in the company. I had a chance to read my classmates writing to learn and giving feedbacks. We moved on to another subject which was writing our own resume and doing a college interview. It was my first resume writing, I got to learn about the structure while also show cast my projects in the writing so that it stands out from others. Lastly, I had a college interview simulation with one of the volunteers here, at Liger. The interview was formal, I needed to dress up nicely and be prepared for the questions from the administration. After experienced all of this, I felt more confident to reach out to people but as well believe in myself to persuade and sale myself during the interview.

Mengthong Long_Resume-Writing

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First Statistic Class

This school year, it was my first class for introductory statistics which sound really complicated to me, as a student who has no idea about this college-level subject. A statistic is nothing connected to algebra, it’s another level of math which requires dot-connecting, analyzing, and comprehension skill to understand and extract the knowledge of new concepts from the statistic books. The correlation coefficient (R) is one of the hardest and exiting unit so far from the past two months of learning in this course. We learned to look at different scatterplots data and a linear regression line to understand how does the explanatory and response variables correlate with each other. Using the correlation formula to calculate the R-value is impossible and it kind of wasting our time. So calculator features come to be really handy to run the the two-variable stats, graph the scatter plot and calculate the linear regression line’s equation. Our group had sent out a survey to ask the students and facilitators for a data sample that we could use to find different the correlation between the two variables. I was involved in finding the correlation between the number of siblings versus the number of friends on Facebook. I really enjoyed learning about the statistic since it isn’t just about a number but it taught me to be a better person to be able to analyze data and make a good usage out from the skill.       

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Literacy Leadership Team

This year my English literacy class was really different and unique from other groups. The other groups they had a unit about America. But for my literacy class, we called The Liger Leadership Team, we took a different approach to learn the advanced literacy skills and as well learn to be independent and be the leader for other students. For the first few weeks, we have been reading some kid books such as Mr. Nosey, Arrow to the Sun, and Rosie Revere, Engineer. I realized that literature and literacy skills can be learned from any kind level of books. Even though the above books were written for kids but I found out that it included some of the advance literacy skills such as repetition, idiom, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and a tremendous amount of new vocabulary.

Beside from that, we were the first literacy group to read the book called The Rent Collector. The Rent Collector was written by a foreign author, Cameron Wright. So The Rent Collector was a 50% story based on a real life of Sang Ly’s family, who live at the landfill at Steung Meanchey that struggle to fight through to survive and find a better life for herself and her son who is always sick. Sang Ly had a dream to learn how to write and read. But at one day, she asked Sopeah who was the “the rent collector”, and who was normally care about herself. But she ended up accept to teach Sang Ly and at last literature play a role in Sang Ly’s life and help her right through the difficulties she had faced.   

As a final product, we had created our own literature event about our book, launch our Lit Studio which is our library, and share our poem about The Rent Collector. The event went so well, everyone enjoys listening to our inspiring speech about The Rent Collector, book summary, students’ testimonials, and spoken word. I had written a few poems and I had an opportunity to share one of them the crowd that was expressing Sang Ly’s feeling when she lived at the dump.

 

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Coming of Age Narrative essay

In the literacy class, we learned in the unit of coming of age so I wrote the essay about my personal story that related to the topic of changing life moment. At the beginning of the essay, I started to form the sketch, since the beginning of the unit I had created the outline for my essay. In addition, in my outline, I just list down everything on top of my head to give me some ideas that I could include in the essay. Furthermore, one of my favorite part of the whole story was to include descriptive language with my writing. I enjoyed using different descriptive phrases and the word to paint the picture that I wanted to deliver to the readers. “It was an early morning, the sun rises up and the clear blue sky appears which illuminated the whole community. The white cloud moved slowly from one direction to another over the rusty clay roof. The birds flew around the old wooden house, around the trees, upon to the sky, it seemed like they were having too much fun with their families and friends. Today, my gramma house was really crowded. Everything was covered by the white and black fabric.”

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Summer reading reflection

START SOMETHING THAT MATTERS

Everyone wants to make a difference to the world and it’s a good thing to do as a human being on this planet. There was a guy who came up with a genius and creative idea to help the kids in Argentina who lived in the poverty situation that lacked shoe, meaning many of them were barefoot at that time. There were many people who tried to solve this problem but there was a big issue, the project realized on donors which lead them to have a lack of control on the supply, especially the correct sizes of the shoe to give out to the kids in need. That was why Blake Mycoskie, now a founder of TOMS came up with the thoughtful idea where he wanted to create a shoe charity sustainable business (TOMS) to help the kids in need. So his formula was that when he sold a pair of shoes then give out a pair of shoes to the kids that were barefoot. But without the effort, all the hard works that his team put into the project, especially the elements and strategies that involved in the business, TOMS won’t exist till today.      

 

In 2006, Blake Mycoskie took some time off from his work to travel to Argentina just to relax and enjoy the culture there. He spent his time learning the national dance, playing the national sport and drinking the national wine. He also noticed that everyone in the cities to farmers and students wear the traditional shoe, the alpargata. In his mind was that maybe there is a market in the US for the traditional shoe but his mission here is not supposed to work so he didn’t care much about it. And here was where the story had begun. One day he met an American woman in the cafe who was a volunteer who gives out shoe to the kids in need. She explained that many kids who lived in the poverty villages were lacked shoe which means many of them were barefoot. Her team realized on the donors which mean they had a lack of control of the shoe supply. Even though, there were large quantities of the shoe but often not the correct sizes. So there are still many kids who were barefoot after the shoe dropped. His first thought was to create his own shoe charity where he would ask his friends, families, and others for money and buy the correct shoe sizes for the kids in need. But this won’t be sustainable, it will work if there a donor but if there aren’t any donors it won’t work. So the only way that it could make the project sustainable was to create a business and his plan was to sell a pair of shoes and give out a pair of shoes. Mycoskie started to work with Alejo, who was a polo teacher. He started with a simple design that similar to the traditional shoe, the Alpargata as a sketched. After they got the design, they traveled and hope to find a shoemaker that could work with them. After a long traveled they found an old shoe factory that agreed to work with them. So they asked the factory to make 250 pair of shoes at the first start. He returned back to Los Angeles with those shoes in the bag. Mycoskie had no idea what will happen next, he returned back with a great product but he had no experience at all with fashion and don’t know how to get people or the local stores pay for the product. Because of he didn’t know any fashion business, he decided to meet his friends and get their advice like the design style, the TOMS idea and the suggested store the interested with the shoe. Just the shoe itself, it was not interesting for the stores or sellers but the story of TOMS where Mycoskie wanted to help the kids it makes the shoe business even more powerful and important for both buyers and sellers. Once he got this rolling everyone started to buy the shoes from more stores and celebrities. Moreover, there was many news of TOMS on the front page which leads more people to buy the shoes until he needed to manufacture more shoes for the customers. Every business, no matter how big or small it is, they always face the fear along the way. But it just about one thing if you want to be successful, Face Your Fear. As an example for TOMS, they have not experienced at all with fashion but they faced their fear, try hard in the team to find the solution, talked to people who have experienced that could help to solve the problem. If you scared the fear you already failed, you haven’t tried it out yet. Even though you didn’t succeed in the first time but that’s not failed, it just a lesson you can learn from it. So failure does not exist unless you do not try your best to face your fear. Blake Mycoskie was a young businessman, he just does what he loves and his passion even though he knew that TOMS just a simple business to help kids in need. So from time to time, TOMS got a few volunteers, who willing to help and work with TOMS to improve the business. I noticed something here form the author that quoted the phrase Be resourceful without resources. As an example for TOMS, Mycoskie used his apartment to run the business, the kitchen was covered by many boxes of shoes and his bedroom used for a meeting with the vendors. It’s sounds a bit silly but it’s something we should appreciated, not only TOMS that started like this but if we look Apple or Facebook they all were started in a small tiny room just like TOMS. As I mentioned earlier sometimes you don’t need the expert to help you with the businesses or projects but it can just simple as your friends or families to help too give you advice. Like just what Mycoskie did with TOMS at the start, he went out with his friends and asked them for advice with his new project. When TOMS becomes a large well known company, Mycoskie didn’t make his company looked fashionable or stylish but instead he tried to reuse the furniture what left in the building from the previous business. The employee’s desk just simple as a wooden desk and everyone stay close together except there was a divider between the desk. It was a smart efficient way to organize the company, it helped the employees to stayed close together so whenever there is a problem it helps the communication efficiency between the employees. Every single person, project or business should be trusted whether it is trusted for customer, partner or just simply as the employee itself. TOMS won’t exist till today if there is no trust between the employees and the customers. If we look at about 10 years ago TOMS was just a small business that founded by a young man, Blake Mycoskie. But now TOMS worth over 625 million dollars and from the past 7 years they gave out shoes for the kids in need around the world for about 10 million pairs of shoes.

 In conclusion, I learned so many things from this book not just how TOMS started but it’s about how Blake Mycoskie deal with all the problems that TOMS faced from the start. Moreover, without the elements that I mentioned above and how Mycoskie get those elements involved with the business, TOMS won’t exist till today. I also love the way that the author organized the book. At first, the author gave a brief introduction of how TOMS started, then the author introduced the readers of the elements that get involved with TOMS with some examples. The author not just give the examples of how TOMS uses the elements but the author also gives many others examples of businesses that had a similar strategy or method. These type of trying can help the readers to get a larger understanding of the elements and it unique from other books. Lastly, I highly recommend everyone to read this book, especially who have an idea to start a charity projects or businesses that will cause a huge drama impact to the world.         

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Climate Change

Mengthong
July 9, 2016
Climate Change

When the Sun rays every planets in our glassy get the sunlight and one of those planets is the Earth. As we know sunlight help to warm our atmosphere. When the Earth go around the Sun all the places in our atmosphere get the sunlight. That supports most life form or survive in this planet especially plants. As the rays enter to our atmosphere most continue down to the Earth’s surface. When the rays hit any substance (soil, water surface, etc) those rays release much of their energy as heat. Some of this heat radiates back into space. So, what actually caused the climate change?

The carbon dioxide is the primary issue that causes the climate change. The fossil fuels that left from the animals and plants in the ancient time. The products from fossil fuels, such as gasoline and diesel fuel that uses for the engine’s power to drive cars, airplanes and ships. Human uses is a large impacts that causes the climate change. When they use those fuels to run a machine it’ll create carbon dioxide then release back to our atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor are the gases that retain heat, so those gases are the part that helps to warm our planet too. The gases do this by absorbing the heat and radiate back to Earth’s surface. Those gases nicknamed is “greenhouse gases”. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have been increased 30 percents from the last 650,000 years to now. Carbon dioxide rise up “is essentially and completely due of burning fuels” Susan Solomon says.

People have further increased the levels of greenhouse gases by changing the landscape. Plants help our atmosphere to have less carbon by take the carbon dioxide to make the food in a process called photosynthesis. But by cutting down trees and forests for farmland and other human uses, more carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere. “We’ve always had some greenhouse gases in the atmosphere” Solomon says. “But because we’ve burned a lot of fossil fuels and deforested, we’ve increased the amount of greenhouse gases and as a result have changed the temperature of the planet.”

Earth is warming and sea levels are rising. There’s more carbon dioxide in the air, so Arctic ice is melting faster than at any time throughout the history. As more people are burning fossil fuels like coal and oil for energy it releases more carbon dioxide in the air. Indeed, more carbon dioxide is enters the more the planet warms. If burning fossil fuels doesn’t slow, the long-term climate impacts and effect could be. During that time the global warming even higher than what the scientists had expect. Snow and ice reflect sunlight back into space but as the snow and ice melt, sunlight can now reach to the water surface and ground. As this surplus heat rises, the air temperature even more higher that causes more and more snow and ice melt. Carbon dioxide is a huge affects to the global warming and this type of rapid impacts is called a “fast feedback”.

We have some sunlight and greenhouse gases that keeps us warm. When people use the fossil fuels to run the machines and burning coal and fuels for the energy. That creates a lot of carbon dioxide and increases the amount of greenhouse gases and causes the climate change. Plant is a part that helps to reduce the carbon dioxide in the air by the process called photosynthesis. But by cutting down trees and forests for farmland and other human uses. We lost a significant help from plants that usually help reducing the carbon dioxide but after deforested it involves more carbon dioxide enters our atmosphere. As a result form now to the future our planet will face a big crisis. The temperature is hot, so the organism or the living things can die and some places on Earth will lack of water.

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Tree is my friend

I see I smell, I taste, I touch, I hear

I taste, I touch

I see, I smell

And I hear

 

I see your face in my eye

I smell your flower that almost die

I taste your fruit under a dark sky

I touch your branch before you say goodbye

Suddenly, BANG, BANG BOOM!  I hear the cutting sound that makes me want to cry  

 

I see, I smell, I taste, I touch, I hear

 

I promise you, I will fight for your destiny

I will fight for what you want to be

Everything is possible as long as human stop being crazy

 

I hear, I touch, I taste, I smell, I see

 

I still want to hear about you

I still want to touch your leave that always new  

I still want to taste your lovely fruit more than two  

I still want to smell your blooming flower with a good view

I still want to see you

 

This is my last word for who always want to destroy you (trees)

And this message will never end it always true  

You can let yourself down

But don’t let your mine drought

The action of cutting the tree

Is the same way of destroying the view that you always want to see

Don’t Kill

Try to feel

And being a shield

Stop cut

And don’t make the forest being shut  

Imagine about the environment in the past  

The place where you can learn and explore outside of class

Organisms like plant and animal is a powerful free source

You can learn from it because it’s a free course

Take out your dirty mind

And give my friends a freedom and kind