Banking Blog Post

Bank Policy 
In the past few math classes we have been learning about bank accounts. Traditionally, there are two bank accounts: Checking and savings account. There are also other special accounts that bank offer as a 'super saver'. Within these banks there are two different interests, compound and simple. A compounded interest is when the interest rate is constantly being added on to a new amount.  On the other hand, there is simple interest where the interest rate is constantly added onto the original amount.

Compound vs. Simple
In my opinion, I think compounded interest is a lot better, but in some scenarios simple interest can be a bit better. For example, we watched a video where a man who lived for a thousand years wanted to check  on his bank account. He originally had 20 cents, but with an interest of 2.25% it grew to a larger amount. We weren't told of the new amount, and we had to figure it between ourselves. We originally found the simple interest amount which turned out to be $20. We thought this was a bit low, so we then tried the compounded interest. We then calculated the compounded interest and found that amount was around $4,000,000,000 dollars. There is a huge difference between these two and though, we don't leave our money in the bank for thousands of years, I believe it would still make a difference. Furthermore, I believe that if I were to invest in a bank, I would want to have a compounded interest, as well as a high rate. Moreover, I would also like to keep about a thousand dollars in the bank for emergencies and never touch it. As the years go by, it will grow to a larger amount, which will benefit me.

Citations 
Fox in Flats. "Piggy Bank - Fox In Flats." Fox In Flats RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.

Belly Dancing Reflection

From my experience I believe a fusion is a mix of two objects. In this case, it is a mix of two dances that have aspects that work well together. In this case we did a fusion of Hip Hop and Belly Dancing which included facets from both dances. I really liked this dance because it required a lot of hip movement and it was a lot of fun to do. I think because we did the hip movements it did create an Arabic feel to it. I didn't like how there was no hand movements that we practiced. I think if the teacher would have included more of the Mediterranean hand movements it would have made it much better. It would overall look more polished. The part of the song that I didn't like that much was the towards the end when you go down and then put your hands up. I don't think that made it look better at all and I believe there were other things that could've been included there. I really liked the part of the dance where we would turn and immediately put our elbows to our heads because I think that looked very good. It had both a belly dancing and hip hop feel to it and I would love to use it in my own choreography. I found many differences in this dance that were different in our other dances. For example, when we did our Hip Hop unit I think it was a little more depending on the exact steps. In the Belly/Hip fusion it was more dependant on the movement you did with your body rather than just in your feet. Another difference that I found was that in this dance your hands were constantly moving when in the other units (ie. English Ballroom Dancing) where our hands were kept on our sides. Another change that I noticed was the fact that our dance could be portrayed with only one person, when in other dances that we have done, for example the Wizard of Oz, our group dances, were all with multiple people that worked together to create a dance.  Overall, I really liked this fusion of dance and how it worked together and I think it was much different from all of the other dances we have done.

Core Values

I believe this year the core value that I excelled in was responsibility because of multiple things. For example, once I get an assignment I would do it that day, so that I would have time for the next day to do homework. I would never do that last year, and I would always leave things for the next day. I also think I also am doing better in responsibility because I have been studying a lot more for tests and spending my time more on academic things. On the other hand, I believe that this year I really need to improve on critical thinking because I always have trouble with that. I think its because I always memorize the facts but I never think ahead of those facts. Especially in science I need to work in it because on every test there is critical thinking needed in order to receive an A. Also this skill is required for High School, and if I acquire this skill now it will benefit me later. Overall, this year I think I improved on my responsibility, but I still need to work on my critical thinking.

Dance Video Reflections

1. I really liked this dance. It was very unique and very well thought out. I really liked how they would dance to the beat of the song. Once the song got faster, they would dance faster, and once the song slowed down they would dance slower. I really liked the outfits as well. I believe they really matched with the song that played. It was very appealing to see and I didn't want it to end. Also I liked how they were in sync the whole time of the dance. There wasn't one part where they missed a step. I believe we could use this in our dance class. We should learn how to tell a story with our dances.

After watching the video about the dance, I think I understood the story of the dance more. It was about a boy who was helping his sick mother through life. I really liked the dance a whole lot more that I know that there was a personal story behind it. It gave me goosebumps of how the boy was propping his mother up and always has her back.

2. This dance was a bit too creepy for my taste. I didn't really like the style of dance, and I didn't quite like the song either. Though, as the song went on, I liked the dance moves more and more. They were doing a lot of stunts that were in place, and I thought those were cool. There were some parts where they were in separate places all over the stage, and I also thought that was a way we could start using the stage. Also there the some parts that they were something together and in sync. Though it was a little strange, I still liked some of the stunts that they did.

The video before the dance didn't really change my impression, though it made me understand what was going on more. Now that I know that the guy was the bird and the girl was the flower, I now understand what was going on. I didn't like it anymore, though I understand what is going on more.

3. I really liked this dance. It had story to it which I really liked. It was about a women who really loved her husband, but her husband keeps on working. It was very cute and I really liked it. I thought it was very clever because it really went to the beat of the song and it worked well. When it got to the drums only, they followed the drums' beats. Also I really liked how it really showed how the girl loved this man so much, even through dance. It was very slow and romantic, yet it made me want to dance at the same time. I wish the dance could've gone on longer because I really liked it.

The video before the dance, didn't change my impressions. I already understood what was going on in the dance without needing to hear the video before. I still think it was very very good and I really liked it. It was very emotional, yet it had a sense that made you want to dance.

Overall, I think  liked the last one the most. It just gave me goosebumps becuse of the story it told. It had  a lot of passion in it, and I thought that was very good. I also liked how it was very in sync. I think I would like to do more dances with stories like this one because I really liked doing it with my inspiration dance as well. I really liked the whole genre of hip hope ebcause I used to do that type of dance when I was little. I think I would choose the second one as my second favorite because I also really liked the story of the sick mother and the son helping her through life. I also liked how it told a story and it was in fact a personal story. I think my least favorite was the second one. I didn't like it at all because I didn't really like the style of dance because it was dark. I would rather have something that was more passionate and showed a real personal story.

Geography Packets

So far, in geography I have been doing very well in my packets. The packets are basically little worksheets that have to do with the specific place we are studying. For example,  we are learning about Asia and so we would do the packets for Asia. For Asia, there is three packets, which add up to about 56 countries. In no way I have been falling behind. I have always been on top of it, and been moving quickly. Last semester, I did not work this fast, but this semester I have been and I am so proud of my accomplishments. Not only am I technically ahead in the class, but it can give me more time to work on other things such as case studies, or getting ready to teach a class. It has taking away the stress of trying to do my work quickly, and without quality. Now it is not only better, but I have learned more. I feel like now I will always remember the capitals.