In this unit we learned about different mental illnesses and the impact technology and media has on them. At the start of this unit, I thought that mental health was a person’s psychological and emotional well-being. I used to think that there were few people that had mental health conditions. I also thought that mental health conditions only affected a person’s thinking and how they feel. I didn’t have a very clear idea of what bipolar disorder and other illnesses were like, and most of the information I got was from online.
Now I know that the chance of having a mental illness is more likely than I thought from the statistical data provided in class and all the graphs. I also learned through another group’s video that depression can cause aching and disrupt sleep, and eating disorder can cause people to throw up what they eat, showing that mental health can also have physical symptoms. I am now more wary of how mental health is portrayed online because I learned that there is a lot of stigma and misinformation in the media. I understand how people with mental disorders feel and moving forward, I will remind others and myself to not use stigmatizing language like “I’m so depressed” to be more respectful to the community. Overall, I have gained new insight about mental health in this unit and have less misconceptions about what mental health is like.
We had a mini unit on pickleball shortly after badminton. We learned the basic rules of pickleball and how the kitchen worked. It was similar to badminton and tennis.
Throughout the unit, I improved on knowing the rules of pickleball and serving to the other side. Something I still need to work on is rallying with others since I’m not used to the ball bouncing so low.
In this unit, I learned about myself and my behaviors by understanding the parts of the brain and how they function together. I set a WOOP goal for myself to make less impulsive decisions. Over 2 weeks, I used meditation techniques on the app Headspace to regulate my emotions. I noticed that I have a flight response most of the time when I am under stress, and my brain gets overwhelmed. My amygdala usually blocks my developing pre-frontal cortex from making good, thoughtful decisions.
We learned several vocabulary terms this unit, especially to do with the brain. The pre-frontal cortex is the least developed part of the brain. It makes all the decisions and allows for creative and analytical thinking. The amygdala triggers our FFF response to protect ourselves and lets us feel our emotions (flight, fight, freeze). It can sometimes interfere with the pre-frontal cortex, leading to negative decisions being made. The hippocampus stores all of our memories. It works with the amygdala and pre-frontal cortex to learn from our past mistakes.
We also worked on a project as a part of our self-care journey. Here is mine below:
This unit we focused on badminton and the different serves, shots, and rules of the game.
Something I think I improved in was the forehand serve. I used to struggle with the timing but I gradually got better, and now I can serve with both serves.
Something I want to work on is adding more power and force to my shots.
Unit 2 Topic A and B Test Reflection (Functions & Statistics)
Evidence of My Best Thinking
I chose Question 3a as evidence of my best thinking because it shows that I can clearly identify and describe the association of a scatter plot in context. It is a good example of me using DOTS.
I chose Question 4b as evidence of my best thinking because it shows I can understand the context of a problem and connect it to functions and slope.
Skills Reflection
Throughout Unit 2, I improved the most at knowing what residual plots are and their components and forms of linear functions.
One skill from this unit that I still need to work on is explaining the difference between correlation and causation in scenarios.
The biggest challenge for me on this assessment was describing whether a linear model is appropriate for a piece of data.
One strategy that helped me on this test was remembering how to write and describe the scatter plots (e.g. using DOTS and remembering to use “predicted”).
Part 2: Goal Reflection & End-of-Semester Check-In
A. Looking Back at Your Last Goal
Last unit, you set this goal: I want to write better explanations with good evidence and reasoning.
How well did you work toward this goal? I think I did a lot better with my goal this unit but there’s definitely room for improvement still.
What helped you make progress toward this goal?
Since there was a lot of correlation/causation and describing in this unit, it really helped me practice my explanations.
What got in the way of this goal (if anything)? Nothing really got in the way of this goal for me.
B. End-of-Semester Self Reflection
List three strengths you have shown last semester: I complete my work on time. I can apply my mathematical understanding to real-world situations. I work well with others.
List three areas you still want to improve: I want to be more organized. I want to make my steps clear when I show my work.
C. New Academic Goal Moving Forward
In the next unit I want to continue my goal of writing good explanations.
What might get in the way of this goal?
Something that might get in the way is that I might not practice a lot.
1. Describe your story and what real-life situation it modeled?
My story was about 2 brothers named Graham Cracker and Ritz Cracker playing the new Brain Rot Simulator 2. The graph modeled the rate they gained pts throughout the hour that Graham was given to play video games.
2. What part of your project are you most proud of? Why?
I’m most proud of being able to make a clear graph showing the story but also the functions. I’m proud of this because it shows that I understand how the scenario connects to the math.
3. What was the hardest part of creating your piecewise function?
The hardest part of creating my piecewise function was probably deciding the pts/min for each interval.
4. If you could revise one part of this project, what would you improve and how?
I would probably use more mathematical language in my explanations to show my understanding of the topic.
5. What did this project help you understand better about piecewise functions?
This project helped me realize how piecewise functions connect to real life scenarios, since a lot of the explanation had to do with explaining the context.
Audience Insight: What key message do you want your audience to understand about you as they view your artwork? How did you communicate this message?
The key message I wanted to express through this art piece was my identity. I wanted to show my values, interests, personality, etc. For example, at the top of my piece, I added a thought bubble with scribble clouds. The scribbles represent my messy thoughts and how I’m indecisive a lot when making decisions. I cut the pieces out of a sky background from a magazine also. It represents how I like to daydream. The plane in the center represents me “soaring through my thoughts”.
2. Risk and Experimentation: During the creation of your artwork, how did you take risks and experiment in order to effectively express your intended message?
I think I took risks with this new medium of art because I’m not very used to working with different values/doing collage. It was a very new experience and I wasn’t really used to it, but I thought it was a unique way to express my identity. However, I’m happy that I experimented with these mediums because it worked well with my art piece. I feel like I can tell that the self-portrait is myself, and the collages piece together parts of my identity very nicely.
