Doris's Portfolio

The key message I want my audience to understand is that you should always be yourself no matter what. Even the parts of you that people might call unserious or silly are worth showing. My mixed media portrait is about self expression and identity, and I want viewers to feel like they have permission to embrace their own unique energy. I communicated this message by filling the portrait with things I genuinely love. My hobbies, which some might not take seriously, are right there on the canvas. I added foods I enjoy and used pink and green paper to represent nature along with compassion and love. That color combination really matches the energy I try to give off to people around me. Around the edge of the canvas, I placed little clovers and music notes to show my lucky and musical side. All of these details work together to say: this is me, unapologetically.

I took some risks while making this piece because I wanted to be honest, not just pretty. Using paper collage instead of traditional paint felt like a risk at first. Pink and green paper can feel soft or crafty, but I decided to lean into that instead of hiding it. I wanted the materials to match the message: self expression doesn’t have to be serious or perfect. I also experimented with where to put the clovers and music notes. Instead of fitting them in neatly, I placed them around the edge in a looser way. It could have looked messy, but I think that messiness actually helps tell the truth about identity. It is not always clean or organized. Another risk was combining things that don’t normally go together, like food symbols and portraits. But that contrast became the whole point. You can be deep and playful at the same time. You can love nature and also love silly things. That is what being yourself really looks like.

In PE we have worked on many different sports. This ranges from swimming to net games and contact games. My personal favorite was volleyball. I would like to show my improvement in my fitness tracker as my item.

I’ve also shown great active learning by constantly trying my best in PE class even when I didn’t particularly enjoy the sport (swimming). In class I always show an upbeat and willing attitude towards what we are doing.

A strength of mine in PE class is being high energy despite not being greatly athletic. Although my abilities aren’t great I still show a positive attitude and try my best. I weakness I have in PE is not remembering to bring my PE uniform so that’s something I can keep working towards.

One of the things we did in ELA that I actually thought was pretty cool was the narrative writing analysis. I read this short story called “Cool for Once,” and for the project, I had to connect it to my own life. I ended up relating it to a real moral dilemma I’ve been in, which was way more interesting than just picking it apart for no reason. It made me realize how stories can actually help you figure out your own stuff, which I wasn’t really expecting.

I showed active learning by always trying my best throughout this assignment. I think my biggest strength is that I have a lot of ideas and I’m good at making personal connections to the story. But my weakness is trying to find a good format to put all those ideas into. I know what I want to say, but I struggle with organizing it in a way that makes sense on paper. I need to work on structuring my thoughts better so my writing is as strong as my ideas.

The first project we did in Art is this Clay Vessel. This was the first clay project we did this year.

I showcased myself as a Creative Learner by generating a novel idea (using Curious George’s head as a pot) and making a personal connection to a character I enjoy, which drove my unique vision. I demonstrated flexibility by adapting that cartoon-inspired shape into a functional ceramic form, following the full investigative process from sketchbook planning to creation.

I was an Active Learner through full participation in group planning and hands-on building. I showed persistence by problem-solving the structural challenges of sculpting a recognizable head shape from clay and reflected on our sketches to organize our approach, ensuring we were prepared to execute our agreed-upon design efficiently.

The sketchbook contributed greatly to our process since it helped us organize ideas and finally come to the conclusion of what we wanted to do. Writing keywords such as the shapes of the pot’s helped us narrow it down to what we all wanted to do as a final project

In VMM Class we explored things such as song mapping, cover song, winter concert, blues, and our quote song composition. As well as working on instruments – (guitar and piano). Originally I wasn’t confident in it but I greatly improved throughout the year and I worked on lots of guitar chords and became able to play simple chords. During the winter concert we showed our skill through a performance.

My strengths in VMM include being able to confidently perform well in front of a group. Something I have been working to improve is my sightreading, I can read notes but I constantly forget about the key signature.

I have been an active learner in VMM by having my music and bringing a good attitude to class, always trying to sing or play the part that I have been assigned to to the best of my ability.

In Chinese we learned various things. A main thing I want to point out is how much I improved in reading and writing skills. While my speaking is definitely the best, this skill is commonly practiced in social environments. My reading and writing practice has all come from class and curiosity towards the Chinese language. In Active Learning I have been consistently turning in work on time which is great for me in Chinese class.

Debate Unit Social Studies

1. What individual feedback did you see consistently? Glow/Grow?

Speak clear but needs more emphasis and needs to slow down. Needs to have more eye contact and has needs more clarity. I think I could have worked on this by making a more through script and practicing speaking with eye contact even more even though I did a lot.

2. What team feedback did you see consistently?

Overall it was pretty much the same but mainly that the reasoning was good and the theme was not super clear. This shows I need to focus on making my main message stand out more.

3. Did the overall feedback match what you expected? Why/why not?

It kind of matched what I expected. I think their feedback was okay but I think I did a bit better than what people said. But I will still take their feedback very happily

3 items and reasons I chose them:

–

–

–

Evidence of Organization

Early work VS Later work

My science notebook is a well-organized, carefully created artifact of my learning in science class this school year.

 Evidence of Active Learner Habits

Conference Guide:

1. Active Learner Guide
2. Check Grades Section
3. Read and reflect on all comments made by your teacher.

I have improved on the skills of ‘keeps materials organized’, ‘works to best ability’ and ‘demonstrates positive attitude.’ Something I still need to work on is stays “dialed in”/focused on task.

Evidence of Understanding of Key Concepts 

1. Check 3 for 3 Grades

My understanding of key concepts is good and has maintained stable throughout the year.

Evidence of Growth in Science Skills 

1. Show growth related to the standards – Before and After
   Examples:
2. Throughout the school year I have been able to improve at doing Lab Reports and being able to differentiate evidence and Reasoning. (Standard 3)

Standard 1: Developing and Using Models

Standard 2: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Standard 3: Engaging in Argument from Evidence (CER)

Standard 4: Asking Questions and Defining Problems

Standard 5: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

Standard 6: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information