Math Reflection

This year we worked with a system called Acceleration Math. Acceleration Math helped us with our math skills online, at our own pace. If you didn't understand something accelerated math would provide methods and videos that help you. You would complete enough problems to show you understand the objectives and then they are put on a test. You can only print out a test if you have 5 objectives. The test is on paper and you cannot use anything on the internet to complete the tests. You can ask Mr. Swartz for help but you cannot ask the internet. Once you finish the test you scan it and see how much objectives you mastered. The maximum you can get is 5 objectives mastered, but sometimes you only get four.

As you can see I reached the goal of 35 objectives this semester. I am really proud because I finished these objectives in a span of two weeks. Usually its over the span of six, so I was far ahead everyone else. Because I finished acceleration math I understood some lessons before others did as well. I could also work on other subjects without thinking about accelerated math. I actually enjoyed accelerated math because it helped me understand math in a new level. It was also at my pace so it really helped if I wanted a challenge or if I didn't understand something. I actually prefer Acceleration Math over the traditional way because it suits your needs. If you are a better student then the others in class, you can learn more challenging subject, and if you are struggling with some lessons, it will go at the pace you want it.

Argumentative Essay

Week without technology 

Israel and Palestine Essay

This year we have really focused on writing essays, or more specifically, persuasive essays. In the beginning of the year we completed our first writing piece called "A Week without Technology." This was an in class essay, and it wasn't for the grade. We had to write our opinion on having a day without technology, and I chose the side of having this day. We had not learned to write persuasive essays before, but this essay was only for progress and marking where we were. The essay was very difficult for me to write because I didn't know what to do and I had not learned about it. For that essay, I received decent grades. For example I got mostly 4's and some 3's which was decent. 

Then as we progressed with the course, Ms. Lewis began introducing the concept of persuasive and argumentative essays. We began learning about how we can make our essays very convincing and organized at the same time. We learned that we must see both sides of the conflict, which I did not do in my first essay. I only chose one side, so I assumed I only show the positive things about that side. We also learned about word choice, and how we must use strong words in order to have a strong essay. 

We then began writing our other persuasive essay which was about the conflict in Palestine. Israel and Palestine are fighting for land, and we had to choose a side to part with. I parted with the side of Palestine so I had to start researching about Palestine and its history. On the contrary, I didn't need to research for my other essay and I just wrote from my previous knowledge. As I continued researching about Palestine and Israel, I also was completing an outline that was peer checked and was also corrected by Ms. Lewis. We also did not do this with the other essay but rather started working and didn't brainstorm. After I completed the research I began writing my first draft. After the first draft, I got it peer checked and received feedback. I then completed a second draft then my final copy. We previously did not do this either and I didn't even think about doing it before. When I finally received my grade, I was very happy. I got mostly 5's and some 4's and my overall grade was a 91%. I was very happy with this because we were told that the highest grade was a 93% and the fact that I got a 91% was very exciting. I think to get this grade I really worked well with critical thinking because I came up with my own points and thought outside of the box.

Next time, I would like to spend more time with the actual essay. I spent more time with the research than writing the essay. If I had elaborated more on it then it could have been very good. Also I would've liked to schedule an appointment with Ms. Lewis to talk about the essay, so I know exactly what to do. I have done it last year, and it worked very well. We could discuss what she looks for in the essay and what I could change in my essay. It would've really benefitted. 

Overall, I believe I made a lot of progress in my argumentative essays and I hope to do more in the future. 

Science Fair Reflection 2014

1. What was the most enjoyable part of creating your science fair project (not counting the actual fair)?

The most enjoyable part was probably making the poster because I had so much ideas for it. I had a picture of it in my mind, and even though it didn't necessarily turn out like it, I really liked it. I wanted to make it neat yet colorful, and in the end it did turn out that way.  

2. What was the most difficult or frustrating part of your project?

The most difficult part was probably doing the background research because it took us a long time to get everything together. We also needed to research about multiple things because we were doing a project that had multiple aspects. Furthermore, we had put our research in an order that made sense.

3. Pick one project (other than your own) that you found interesting and/or impressive. Describe what you liked about it.

I found Manuela's and Nati's project very interesting; the whole concept of conformity really mesmerizes me. It was very interesting how they did their experimenting and how they thought about the situation they were going to create. It was very original and very well thought out and I hope to do something like that next year.

4. What problems/challenges did you run into this year as you worked on your project? What steps did you take to overcome these challenges?

Some of the difficulties that we ran into was the fact that we didn't know how to begin our conclusion and just the whole conclusion in general. It was very tough to see what we would write about, and how we would explain everything in a logical manner. Also I was trying to be very precise in order to do well.

5. Thinking of your own project, what would you do differently next time? Address only those factors that you have control over (you don’t have control over getting sick or your mom going out of town, for example).

Next time I would probably try to have all our experiments done in one day because it would be much more simpler and organized. For example, Lauren and I finished our experiments on different dates so we didn't know when to start out lab report. Also it would've been better to do it on the same day because we would be doing it together instead of separately.

6. While presenting your project, what do you think you did you do well?

I think I spoke very enthusiastically.You could tell that while my partner and I were speaking the audience was listening attentively. I also believe I did this since I tried to  sound as excited and happy as possible because if you are happy, then your audience is happy. Also I tried to engage the audience in with the speech. For example, before we would start I would ask what grade they are in and what their project is. I liked doing this technique because it made the audience feel a part of something.

7.While presenting your project, what do you think you could have done better?

I could've definitely worked on my eye contact because I knew sometimes I would look too much at my clipboard. I sometimes have a problem with mumbling but when I read something off a page, I don't mumble, so thats why I looked down often. I tried to work hard on looking at the audience but sometimes that made me forget my speech. But, as the presentations went on, I got better and better with this problem and started looking more at the audience.

8. Did you work alone or in a pair?     Would you choose to do that again?  Why or why not?

I worked in a pair with Lauren Householder, and I don't think I would do it again. This is because sometimes I would wait on her to do something, and meanwhile I would be doing nothing or vice versa. Also it caused a lot of stress for me to write a conclusion that fit her idea of what it meant; sometimes our ideas clashed, and we didn't like the opposing thought. Furthermore sometimes we got very distracted and didn't work on the project when we were supposed to. Overall I would work alone next time we do the science fair.

9. Are you happy with the topic you chose?    Would you chose to investigate it again in the future?  Why or why not?

I am very proud of our project and all we have done with it. I would definitely choose it again in the future for multiple reasons. First off, my knowledge would grow larger which would make the project more logical. For example, we didn't take into consideration measuring the mass of the fruits. The mass should've been the same between each of the fruits in order to get accurate results. In the future, I would also study the chemical compositions of each fruit we are measuring to explain why I believe the results came out the way that it did.

10. Do you feel you were prepared enough to present you project to others at the science fair?  Why or why not?  

I think I was prepared to do the presentation because I knew what I was going to say in my head and I remember being very confident before the speech. There could've been more work with my memorization but I think I did a pretty good job. I said every line I was supposed to and it just flowed very well together as a whole. Also I stood up with a good posture which means that I was happy and confident with my work. Furthermore, I feel that I was prepared for my speech.

11.  Did you use the feedback that you were given electronically?  If so, in what ways was it helpful?  If not, why not?

I don't think it was very helpful. This is because everyone gave us high numbers so we didn't really know what to improve on. Also no one gave us personal feedback where they specifically tell us what we need to improve on. I found this very challenging to work with because I didn't know how to improve or grow as an academic learner. Other times I couldn't even access the page of responses and it told me I didn't have access. Also there was one point in our presentation when our QR code didn't even work at all and it told the scanners that it was because of the authors of the QR code. My partner and I hadn't changed anything, but it soon started working again in a few minutes.

12.Self Evaluation

Evaluate yourself in these areas.  (5 is highest, 1 is lowest) Highlight the number that you feel best describes your overall performance.  Feel free to explain your ratings in the space below.

Originality of Topic                         1       2       3       4       5

Knowledge about your topic           1       2       3       4       5

Effort/Hard Work                           1       2       3       4       5

Communicator                                  1       2       3       4       5

(board, speech, etc.)

13. What did this project do to help you become a better learner/better thinker?

I think project really helped me learn the importance of background research. This is because we had done some research about our topic, but once we did the experiment we needed to research more about our topic. This threw off our schedule a little since we couldn't start writing our lab report when we didn't even know what had happened. This experience helped me as a learner because I learned that I need to fully understand the topic to a maximum before I should start experimenting.

14. What do you think your teacher could do differently next year to help future students be more successful?

I think next year the teacher can help us more with writing our conclusions because my partner and I couldn't quite understand the ruric. I would've liked it a lot more if the teacher had done mini lessons on what to have in the conclusion and how to write it and the techniques that she was looking for. Other than this, I think our science teacher helped us a lot with the project and answered all the questions that were asked.

15.  Do you have any other thought about the science fair that you would like to share?

I wish next year there would be a more organized system for bringing people up to our rooms. My room was upstairs, and the only one in its hall so the majority of our time was spent sitting down and talking to each other. I just would have wished that an even amount of people come to each room, or the room arrangements are changed.

16. Here is where you can include pictures and/or video that you took of yourself with your project

Favorite Musical Dance

I chose this video to show because The Sound of Music is my all time favorite musical. I love how all the characters work together, and the whole movie is written very well. I chose this song especially because I just love how all of the kids all of them have their own solos. I also like how there's a "chorus" in the dance as well as the song where they do the same dance over. I believe that this dance is very creative, and I also like how each of the kids look happy. There were some moments that the dance had to be in beat with the song, and it seemed to be very tough, yet the children worked well with it.  For example, when they are "kicking" the child out of the line and to bed they each do something that corresponds to the song. Also each of their dances had to do with something in the song which I thought was incredible. Overall, I think that is very clever and it's very appealing for me to watch. I wish to do something like this in dance class where we do something that has to do with what the song is saying.

Dance Reflection

Dance Link

Personal Reflection -

I believe the strongest part of our dance was when we all come up and I go into the middle, and we do the level dance. I thought it was very strong because we all did very good on it, and we were all on sync. Also, I really liked that part of the dance, because it was very electric, and very high energy. I could feel like the audience was very into that part of the dance, and that they felt the energy too. While doing it, I could feel that all the people in my group, were all happy and smiling, and were very focused on the task. I think the most challenging aspect is when we were doing the “Don't wake me up” part and when we went and transitioned to Alice jumping off our backs. That was very hard for us because first of we needed the pillow in the right place, so Lauren could get it in time.  Secondly, we thought it was challenging because then we had to quickly get into position to when Alice steps on our backs, and we had to do it to the beat of our song. It was very fast, and we had to do it quickly in order for it to turn out like we wanted it to. Personally, I really liked our performance. It was very well thought out and we all contributes own styles of dance. I was also glad we chose Pop danthology because we first couldn't decide the song, and when we found pop danthology, it was the perfect mix of all the songs we liked. Also I liked the beginning part of our dance where we went pop danthology, because it seemed so smooth, and it was on time. It was very well thought out, and very smart. One thing that I still work is the part where we it switches to the song “Lights”  because I always mess up at that part. I kick my front leg instead of my back leg, and it doesn't look completely wrong, but it would be better if I did it right. Our group worked pretty well together. Sometimes, though, there were arguments and disagreements regarding the dances. Sometimes one person in our group would be playing around while we would want to practice, and it would get frustrating. But I think overall we did work good. We incorporated all our strengths, and tried to avoid our weaknesses. We also had a lot of fun together, since we are all friends, and I think it was just a really fun experience! One thing I would change is our transitions. Sometimes we would be standing there looking confused, but we should be looking professional. One thing that I think we did really well, was just our dance overall. We got all the steps correct it seemed very visually appealing, and it overall looked very professional. The most challenging aspect was just learning the dance moves. It was very hard to remember all of them at once, so we tried to break up the song and make it easier for us. Also it was very hard for all three of us to be in sync sometimes, so we’d have to repeat the whole dance to make sure we got it. It was also very challenging when we’d come back two days later (because of block schedule) because sometimes we’d forget parts of the song, and that wouldn't be very good. To overcome the previous challenge, we kept practicing day after day, and we even stayed after school to practice. Every chance we got, we’d tried to really to get the steps down. I think all this hard work paid off, though, because the final performance turned out very good. We did do the aspects of the dance that were asked of us, pretty well. We got everything that was requested from us, and though they were requirements, they did make our dance look much better. It had a more professional look to it, when we did it with the elements. We tried to incorporate everything that was asked, but there were a few challenges. For example, the prop was pretty hard for us to find because we didn't want anything to look too awkward. Also we didn't want to suddenly bring the prop in our dance and making it look very strange. My group wanted something that fit with the song, and finally we came up with the prop, a pillow. It was perfect for the part when the artist said “Don’t wake me up” because we could act like someone was sleeping on the pillow. I think the pillow idea was very good. If I were to change something, I would really change some of our moves, and make it a little smoother. This is because our transitions were a little rough, and sometimes one of us would be just standing there, when everyone should be dancing. It would make the dance look much better if everyone was doing something. It would also look a lot better if we didn't run around like we did sometimes. Like we would be walking, but walking in a dancing way that made the audience think that it was all part of the dance. Overall, I thought it was very good, and I was so proud of how it came out.

Group Reflection

We chose this song and dance because we wanted something upbeat, and fun. We didn’t know which song to choose before, because there were so many, and we finally came across Pop Danthology which had the perfect selections of all the songs we wanted. Also we liked it because we could change the pace of our dance moves from slow to fast in seconds which we could really work with. We also loved working with this song, because we could do so many things with it, and make it a whole story, from finish to end. Also we all agreed to have that song, which made it easier for figuring out the dance moves.

We took turns choosing the dance moves. As a group we tried to incorporate the dance moves with each part of the song. As you read previously our group picked a mashup of many different songs. The dance moves are meant to illustrate and bring emotion into the dance. It took us a little while to work out all the moves. This is because we all had different ideas and were not always able to agree on everything. As far as who made what moves, we all took turn sharing the many different ideas that were mentioned. In the end every move was interpreted my the dancers and changed slightly. Some dance moves that I know for sure were invented by different people are the following. Dana came up with the idea of the ticking clock, Alice came up with most of the arm motions, and Lauren had the idea of Alice stepping on Dana and Lauren like steps and then jumping off.

Overall, we feel that our dance is good for our first time trying to do choreography. We all like the first part of the song because it is strong and moves to the beat with the song. But the second part we do not feel so good about because it seems very unorganized. The group says that we could of worked on it better and made it a bit more professional.

Speech

I believe that my speech didn't go as well as I thought. For example, I wanted to do so much more gestures. I also wanted to change my voice a little more, and I wanted to walk around a lot more. Even though, I did have a few mistakes, I still did a few things that I liked in my speech. For example, there was one part of my speech where I emphasized a word, when I didn't mean to, and it turned out very good. I also had a few moments when I caught eye contact with a few people, and it really made the speech a lot better. 

This speech was about a personal experience that has happened in our life, that has changed us. I talked about the time I moved into my new house, and about how I was so excited about the pool. My intentions for this speech, were not to be about the pool and me riding on it, I meant it to be about how I changed as a person from before to now. For example, how I became more mature, and how I changed to being more optimistic and more happy in my life. I had a lot of challenges when I was writing my speech. For example, I had a lot of trouble figuring out what I was going to talk about, because I never really had an adventurous life. I thought and I thought, and finally I came up with this idea, and I knew it was perfect for this class. Before the speech, I definitely felt very nervous, because I felt like I hadn't practiced it enough, even though I practiced more than I should've. After my speech, I felt a lot better that it was over, and it seemed like it went on forever. I wasn't exactly unhappy about my speech, but I was more disappointed that I didn't do the things that I hoped to. Some of the feedback that I had recieved was that I didn't have enough eye contact, and I agreed with that. When I'm nervous, I try to look down at my paper, more than look at other people, because sometimes it makes me feel uncomfortable, and so I really need to work on that.

I feel that the areas of strength for me s my voice and articulation, because I talk a lot to other people, so most of the time I don't feel uncomfortable. Also, I have taken a few theater classes, so I know how to speak and seem like I'm completely comfortable with my surroundings. The areas that I really need to work on is eye contact, and the swaying that I do when I'm nervous. I'm not sure if anyone notices my "swaying" because most of the time I just tap on my legs, or move my hands in a pattern, but I definitely need to work on it. Also I need to work with eye contact, and feeling more comfortable with myself, and looking at others. 

Overall, I feel like I did a pretty good job, and I feel proud of myself that I had received the award, and I hope the next speech goes as well as this one! 

Case Study Reflection

I learned a lot while doing my case study, about myself. Firstly, I learned that if I work hard on something, I can really succeed. For example, the first time I turned in my case study, I knew I was going to get at least a C. It wasn't good, and it didn't have the things that Mr. Engstrom wanted. Everything was mixed up, and it wasn't organized at all. Mr. Engstrom then gave us another week to do them, and that's when I knew I really had to work hard in the extra week that I had . I asked my dad to help me, and I asked Mr. Engstrom for more feedback so it could be perfect. Each day,  I would work on one part of it, so that I could really ace the case study. I really needed this grade in order to keep my A in the class. I worked hard everyday, and tried my best to succeed. When it was time to turn it in, I was anxious because I didn't know whether I would get an A or not since I had not been emailing Mr. Engstrom. You see, I had been working on my other project and had totally forgotten about the case study. When I did finally email Mr.Engstrom, he said it was too late and that I had to just work on it then turn it in by myself.  In the end, I had received an 100 percent and I was so happy about it. My hard work had really paid off. I also learned that if you leave something to the last minute, it will be harder and you will stress over it. Like I said,  I had forgotten about the case study until about the last 3 weeks. Though I did work hard, and get an a hundred, it won't happen every time and I was just lucky. I should know every date that everything's due and work on it before hand so I can check it with my teacher. Overall, the case study has taught me many things about my learning and completing habits.