Blog Post #2

For the first lesson of this unit, Power Searching with Google, I learned a good deal that has helped me with some of my classes, particularly history. The first thing that has helped me is filtering image results. Often times, I need to find a primary source image for my history classes. These are usually paintings or old news paper headlines. It can be difficult to find these. However, if I filter my images by color for black and white only or by type, it makes it much easier. My results will be narrowed down to mostly old pictures and newspaper headlines from that time period.
The next thing I learned in the first class was how to find text in a web page. Many history documents are long and wordy. If I press control or command F to search the page, I can find my results much faster. It will help me spend less time looking at a document that I don't need and more time looking at and analyzing the important documents.

In the second lesson, Interpreting Results, I learned that you can click on related subjects on the panel to the right of the page to learn more about different parts of the topic or things relating to the topic. This is helpful for English because it will allow me to easily research the author of a book that I looked up.
I also learned that different types of media might be more helpful for different topics. For example, if I'm looking for how to do something and instructions I could look at videos. This could help me if I'm researching a math topic that I didn't understand in class. I could also use this if I want to look up how an atom for chemistry is organized; I could look at pictures rather than just a web search.

The third lesson about Advanced Techniques in searching helped me learn how to narrow my results down to more reliable sources. I can do this by adding an operator for sites into my search. During history class, I often need to find primary resources and pictures for projects.By adding site:.gov to my search, I will most likely be brought to national park websites. I know that these websites are reliable and full of primary resources, not simply clip art and essays.
The second useful thing that I learned how to do is search for intext. By doing this, I can make sure that the results I'm getting will answer my more specific questions about a topic. Often, if I'm searching for a specific kind of molecule and what it does in chemistry, my results will tell me what its chemical formula is and how it's used in science experiments. However, it will not tell me why the molecule works the way it does. By using intext in my search, I can make sure my question is sufficiently answered.

Blog Post #1

Next year, I will be entering 11th grade. It is around that time when people start taking the PSAT and the SAT and thinking more seriously about college. This is both an exciting and nerve-wracking time for everyone. Recently, this has been weighing on my mind a great deal. I suppose it could be because course selection sheets were sent out this week. I need to start asking myself questions about what I want to do in college. Which electives will show that I have an interest in specific majors? Which subjects should I focus on and, which ones can I drop down in to make more room for other challenging courses? I also must ask myself, what is it that I want to do with my four years after high school?

My brother is a bit further along in his college hunt than I am, seeing as he is a year older. His experience has made it easier for me to answer some of the questions I listed above. After explore several colleges and options for majors with him over the summer, I have discovered that I'm most interested in either a major in psychology or journalism. I'm interested in smaller, community based colleges that offer opportunities outside the classroom and off campus. However, there are so many more things to think about. A major factor when it comes to picking colleges is money. College in ridiculously expensive. The good new is, you can get a great education just about anywhere. You might not have a big college name backing your degree, but what matters is that it is hard for anyone to get a job no matter where you went to school. If you get your degree and work hard enough, opportunities will present themselves.