Dean's Portfolio

Dystopian Fiction- The Giver

December 17, 2025 /

What did I do?

I learned about dystopian fiction by writing academic paragraphs + discussing topics related to the book: The Giver

What did I learn?

Building Vocabulary Writing academic paragraphs

Using transition words Collaborative discussions

What worked?

Something that worked was doing group discussions because we were able to find good text evidence that supports our claim so that our paragraph would be strong and firm. Additionally, building vocabulary worked well so that we could understand the book better and figure out what the characters were trying to talk about.

What did not work?

This is one of the things that did not work well where I accidentally used a sharpie because I couldn’t find any pencils so the ink bled through my paper which made it more unorganized and harder to find text evidence.

Personal Relevance

The way that this learning will help me achieve my goals in life will be by learning more vocabulary, writing academic paragraphs, using transition words and using collaborative skills in discussions.

Unit 2- Ötzi Unit Reflection 

December 1, 2025 /

What did I work on? 

Some of the things that I worked on were making observations, wonderings, and then finally inferring all the evidence I revived. Another thing I worked on was learning how to write a CER paragraph so that my work is shown very clearly and gives a firm answer. And the last thing I have learned was open and closed questions so that I could ask the lawyers and expert witnesses questions so I can make a newspaper for my evidence that the lawyers gave me. 

What did I learn? 

I learned that we should care about the past because it tells us about how people used to live and the methods they used to survive. The reason why we should care about how people lived long ago is because we can learn different strategies they used to help us in everyday life. It can also help scientists with research to help in some of the cases their working on right now. 

What worked well? 

Something that worked well for me was asking the lawyers questions. The reason why it was easy for me was because I used open and closed questions which helped me get very detailed and specific answers which helped me make a very strong and firm newspaper. Because I had a strong newspaper, it would probably sell more and would be more entertaining for the audience to read the newspaper. 

What did not work? 

Something in this unit that did not work and that I could improve would be making the newspaper so I could fit more evidence from the lawyers in the text so it would be more believable. The way I would fix the newspaper next time would be by making it so I divide the lawyer’s evidence equally so it wouldn’t just be one person for the evidence which would make the newspaper stronger. Another thing that didn’t work would be taking photos of the court case because I didn’t have any good angles of the offense lawyers, so the photos looked messier and not clear enough. 

Personal relevance 

One of the reasons why collaboration and communication skills are important for our future is because you probably will need to ask people for answers for many jobs and it will help you with that. Another reason why collaboration and communication skills are important is because it will help us talk and work together with our peers and teammates to make sure, we can work efficiently and easily.  

Bake Sale

November 27, 2025 /

What did we do?

In this unit we picked groups of three or two people to figure out what baked goods we were going to sell to make some profit. One of the most important steps that we did to figure out how much we were going to sell our goods for was figuring out how many grams and teaspoons we needed for each recipe to make sure it tasted delicious.

What did we learn?

Somethings that we learned in this unit was learning how to find the total cost for the entire recipe and learning how to price our baked goods to make sure that we got enough profit.

What worked?

Something that worked for our group was making the treats because everyone worked together and participated in their own jobs which made the process go twice of efficient. We also did a good job on buying all of the ingredients needed for the recipe.

What didn’t work?

Something that did not work for us were parts 1-4 because we only used one sheet of paper for the entire part but we were all suppose to have our own sheet of paper so it made us fall behind a little bit.

Personal relevance

The way that doing this bake sale activity might help us in our future is that it teaches us about making profit and learning how to make money efficiently so that you can keep on doing this business. Also it helps us with teamwork and sharing ideas because that is a very important step in making a business successful.

Egg Cart Challenge

November 11, 2025 /

What did I do?

A couple ways how I made sure that my egg car was going to be successful was by making a seatbelt with the 4 pieces of paper I had so that the egg didn’t fly forward because of Newtons 1st law.

What did I learn?

I saw Newtons 1st law when the egg tried to keep moving forward when the car hit the brick. I saw Newtons 2nd law when there was a cart with a lot of mass and a really small amount mass on the other egg cart because the cart with the more mass went slower and the cart with the less amount of mass went faster. I saw newtons 3rd law when the egg cart hit the brick wall and the wall pushed back with force.

What worked?

Something that worked well was our wheels because they rolled down the track very smooth which is good because we would not get disqualified. Another thing that worked well was our base because it could hold the egg very good and it didn’t come out at all.

What did not work?

Something that did not work well was our amount of mass because when the cart came down the track it was going way to fast which was a result in our car flipping over. Next time will will make the car heavier so that the car goes slower and that it can impact the force better.

Personal relevance

I know that on every car there is a crash zone which very important because it takes in most of the force so that the passenger in the vehicle is safe. Another way how most cars and trucks keep passengers safe is by wearing a seatbelt so that the passenger does not fly forward.

Creative Writing Reflection

November 4, 2025 /

What are we doing?

Writing a fictional story based on a theme that matters to me.

What are we learning?

Theme (My purpose for writing this story, my message to readers)

Character Development (Creating believable characters with positive & negative traits)

Plot (The sequence of events in my story Western and Eastern approaches to storytelling)

Setting (The world that I create for my story)

Whats working?

One of the story elements that I enjoyed planning was during the lightning storm because I thought it was really cool and that it was a good way to start off my story. One of the elements of my story that I am proud of is explaining the scene because I think I did a good explaining the features of the setting. The way I got my idea for my story was by reading the “Magician’s Nephew” by C.S. Lewis. My favorite phrase from my story was when Tim asked Joe why he picked him to help Joe to defeat the Gem of the Forest. The reason I like this phrase is because I think I showed that Tim was very nervous and very curious.

Areas for growth

Some of the story elements that were hard to write were trying to write the jaguar scene because I had a limited amount of time. I dealt with these challenges by writing the first thing that came to mind and then at the end edit it. My least favorite part of my story is the Jaguar scene because I feel like I could’ve made it a lot better if I had more time.

Personal relevance

Creative writing can help you in real life by making it easier for you to think of creative ideas and helping you figure out character traits for future school. I do enjoy creative writing because there is no write or wrong story and you can write whatever you want. I would like to continue using my imagination to tell stories that matter to me because I think it’s really fun.

Science Balloon Car

November 3, 2025 /

What did I do?

The balloon car was built using toy wheels, a balloon, styrofoam, tape and straws. We used it to learn about Newtons 3 laws, how to problem solve, how to engineer and how to keep on trying when things don’t work.

What did I learn?

Newton’s 1st law says “An object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted on by an unbalanced force.” We see this law in action with the Balloon Car when it is at rest but when we let the air out the car moves because an unbalanced force is acting on it. Newton’s 2nd law says “The more mass an object has the more force it will need to accelerate the object.” We see this law in action with the Balloon Car when there is 2 objects next to each other but one of them has a higher mass so that one will need more force to accelerate it and the one with less mass will need less fore to accelerate it. Newton’s 3rd law says “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” We see this law in action with the Balloon Car when we let the air out of the Balloon Car and see the Balloon Car move forward.

What worked?

Making the car move went well because we could always make it move no matter what. The way we got it as good as it could be was by trying multiple different types of designs so it could go as fast as possible. And because me and my partner tried to find the best type of design we were able to get second place which shows we did a good job designing it.

What did not work?

It was a struggle when we had to figure out how much air to put inside of the balloon. To solve this problem we tested different amounts of air inside of our balloon. Another way we figured out how to solve our problem was by looking at other peoples balloons and seeing how far it would go.

Personal relevance.

The Balloon Cart was like a real car in the real world when I used Newtons first law. I see Newtons 3rd in real life when the air of the balloon came out and the car moved forward. It is important to learn these laws because it helps people to communicate and live easily in the world.

Growth And Development

October 30, 2025 /

Why is it important to understand the changes that occur during puberty?

It is important to understand the changes that occur during puberty so that it doesn’t catch you off-guard, doesn’t scare you and to make sure that you know how to handle all of these changes mentally and physically.

What is the change that you feel most confident about?

The change that I feel most confident about is a growth spurt because I think it would be really cool if I got really tall because I would feel more independent.

What is the change that you feel most concerned about?

The change that I feel most concerned about is starting to have emotional and social breakdowns because I’m worried that I could lose some friends if I overreact over something.

When looking for information online, how can you ensure it is credible and appropriate?

To ensure online information is credible and appropriate, evaluate the source’s authority, accuracy, and purpose, check the currency of the information, and look for relevance to your needs. Also it’s a good Idea to look at everyones point of view so you can make sure it’s not disrespectful or mean to anyone.

What is one aspect of your learning you want to improve on moving forward?

One aspect of my learning that I could improve on would be time management because sometimes I get off task with my friends.

Deans Science Portfolio

October 10, 2025 /

What did I do?

I played with Indi robot cars and Gravitrax to strengthen my critical thinking skills

What did I learn?

I learned how to use my critical thinking skills to help myself problem solve

What worked?

Something that worked for me was when me and my group were able to pass level 10 for the Indi robot cars.

What did not work?

I struggled when me and my group had to make a roller coaster with the Gravitrax because we couldn’t agree on what design to make.

Personal Relevance

Todays learning will help me with problem solving, critical thinking and imagination in the future.

Unit 1- Campaign for the Olympics Reflection 

September 24, 2025 /

What did I work on? 

During the Campaign for the Olympics unit, I worked on finding data for my presentation showing the IOC why my city should host the Olympics. Another thing me and my partner worked on was finding advantages that our city had which would make the Olympics good there.  

What did I learn? 

Global sporting events exist because they bring countries together which will make peace around the world. Another reason why Global sporting events exist is because it is a fun way to compete vs each other which is a good way for the countries to show the people what they are good at. 

What worked? 

Some parts of this Unit that I’m proud of is finding data in different apps because sometimes it can be a little confusing when in a new app for the first time. Additionally, I am proud of presenting with a loud clear voice so the audience can hear me. In conclusion, these are some of the things that I am proud of in this unit. 

What did not work? 

I found working on my presentation was challenging because it was hard to figure out which pictures to add in it. Another thing that was challenging was figuring out with my partner what topics we were going to do because we wanted to do the same ones.  

Personal Relevance 

The reason why the collaboration and communication skills from this unit are important for the future is because in the future we are going to be talking to our partners for projects. Additionally, the skills are going to be important because you might have to figure out a problem in the future and it makes it easier when you can talk to somebody. 

The type of Apps I had to use. 

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