Saturday, March 13, 2010

Tunes: Goodbye Love - RENT
Mood: Meh : |

So, I tested my hypothesis from my last post . . . but something got in the way, that I'd forgotten about.

I had two appointments that week. One with my psychologist on Wednesday, and an Orthodontist appointment on Friday.

On a completely A.D.D. note, I really want to watch Phantom of the Opera now.

Back to what I was saying. I honestly can't remember if I got my assignment in on Wednesday or what -- but otherwise, I got every assignment in -- and I told myself on Monday, that if I got my assignments in Monday through Friday -- I'd get myself a sundae.

I actually never got my sundae -- heh. I'm a bit too lazy to walk to Dairy Queen (which is less than a block away . . .). Except that's exactly what I did for supper on Friday. Oh well. Good enough. Wait -- my reward, as of right now, was . . .

umm . . . .

Watching Phantom of the Opera? Like, right now?

Sure! Yes.

On another completely A.D.D. note, I had knowledge bowl practice recently because we have a meet on Monday. But that's not it. I was doing a fake test that Ms. Stevens (my knowledge bowl coach and english teacher) had given me.

That's also not it -- nor is it very exciting. No, the thing was one of the last questions . . .

In which I had to decipher Cockney.

I can't even remember what it said (I'll make sure to post that later. I have it in my Science binder) but . . . I honestly did not know what it meant in english. Does anyone else expect something like that in knowledge bowl? Normally we have to say . . . like, who the inventor of . . . like . . . the Sharpie was. No. We do not on a regular basis have to decipher Cockney. I was laughing and trying to say it out loud and sounding like an idiot. It was definitely worth it. Except I just guessed on the question (and got it right to boot).

Also on an A.D.D. note: I noticed that when I sweat in my rainbow socks, they'll make the insides of my converse rainbow! (this has only been observed in the Blue high tops as of far)

Also, I have a new purse. The Roomba found it under my bed, along with some clear nail polish, my sister's scholarship certificate, and a bunch of other random crap.

Yes, this little circular robot that is totally not sentient and can only establish barriers by bumping into things . . . found a purse and brought it out to me.

Kinda. It moreso dragged it out from under the bed. And I laughed at it because I hadn't seen that purse (which is technically my sister's) for ages. Also, I determined the Roomba to be a Hufflepuff, for Hufflepuffs are good finders, indeed.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Going a bit psychological on y'all here . . .

So, I just read an article on www.cracked.com about video game addiction. At one point, they talked about how video games fill a void you get from being dissatisfied with your job or life. They said to be satisfied with you job (or life, for the unemployed or minors out there) you need three things:

"1. Autonomy (having a say in what you do in your day-to-day routine)
2. Complexity (so it's not just mind-numbing repetition)
3. Connection between effort and reward (i.e. you actually see the awesome results of your hard work)"

And this got me thinking about how satisfied I am with school. Let's see how school measures up to these three requirements for satisfaction of life:

Autonomy? No. We do what the teacher tells us to do. We have almost no say in what we do.
Complexity? Sometimes. Math? I'm finding X and Y day . . . after day . . . after day . . . after day . . . there's nothing new there. I'm still finding X and Y. Gym? Sometimes. It'll be different and interesting here and there.
Here's the big Kahuna -- Connection between effort and reward. When I turned my math assignments in, there wasn't really much of a reward. When I didn't turn them in? No reward. It stayed the same. Some would say that the reward is a good grade -- but what does that mean to me? It's a letter on a piece of paper. That's no reward.

And all that got me thinking . . . well, what would the reward be for the effort? And I thought about math. OK, so if you turn your assignments in monday-friday, you get some kind of reward on friday. It makes sense. In fact, that's what they do for little kids in schools. If you do your work and get it signed at home or whatever, you get a gold star or something towards some type of greater reward. And these little kids strive for these stars or whatever to get that larger reward -- so they do their work.

So, I think we have something here.

I observed, noted, and came up with a hypothesis. And I'll be darned if I don't test it, observe the results, and prove it wrong or right. And if I prove it right . . . I guess I'll publish it. On here, in the paper, on the school's website, et cetera, wherever I can get it out. And if I'm wrong, I'll go back and try a new hypothesis.

Which class will I try it in?
Let's go through my schedule to see which classes would work best:

English: Hmm. We don't have many assignments in here. I don't think it'll work.
German: We really only have one big assignment. And it's due on the day of the test -- still plenty of time to procrastinate.
Economics: We don't have many assignments in this class either. And when we do have a project or something, we do it in class.
Band/Choir: . . . this just isn't gonna work.
Gym: . . . neither will this one.
Science: Too laid back, and everything is due on the day of the test.
Math: Daily assignments, the classroom is generally not laid-back but not too uptight . . . I think we have a winner!

So, I'll have to talk to Mr. O about this, maybe we can start it next week, or maybe fourth quarter . . . yeah -- that'll be optimal.

So, we'll have to do a clean run week, and record the percentage of people who turn in all of their work, half their work, or none of their work. And then, over the fourth quarter, we'll have . . . like, assignments monday-friday, and everyone who turns them in gets a reward. Then we'll just see if percentages one goes up, three goes down, and how percentage number two changes in any way.

I'm pretty excited about this. : )