Esther's Portfolio

What I used to think:

I used to think that mental health was a serious issue, but that it was not common among people. I assumed that people with these mental health disorders, for example depression, were able to identify it and find help immediately. I also assumed that it wasn’t that big of a deal, and that they were able to sense if they needed help from others. I had very common misconceptions of what various mental illnesses really meant, for example I thought OCD was just always wanting something to be in the correct order or place at all times, or that eating disorders was just a form of excessive dieting.

What I think now:

I now think that, in reality, mental health issues will affect a really widespread amount of people, no matter their age, gender, ethnicity, or other factors I hadn’t put into consideration before. My perspective has shifted because I now feel more sympathetic towards those who are suffering with a type of mental illness as opposed to before where I was taught to turn a blind eye. I also now know how to deal and help communicate with someone who is experiencing a mental illness and how to support them on their healing journey. My thinking has changed because in the process of learning about these types of mental illnesses, I’ve felt less disconnected with these people because it feels more like they’re an actual part of society, rather than some rare genetic mutation that leaded to mental illness.

My Project (evidence):

https://saschina-my.sharepoint.com/personal/miranda01px2030_saschina_org/_layouts/15/stream.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fmiranda01px2030%5Fsaschina%5Forg%2FDocuments%2F8th%20grade%2FHealth%2Feating%20disorder%20sped%20up%2Emov&nav=eyJyZWZlcnJhbEluZm8iOnsicmVmZXJyYWxBcHAiOiJTdHJlYW1XZWJBcHAiLCJyZWZlcnJhbE1vZGUiOiJtaXMiLCJyZWZlcnJhbFZpZXciOiJwb3N0cm9sbC1jb3B5bGluayIsInJlZmVycmFsUGxheWJhY2tTZXNzaW9uSWQiOiJhYjdkNDE0Ni02MGQxLTRmY2QtOTU3ZC0yN2FhNTJlMjUxYTQifX0&referrer=StreamWebApp%2EWeb&referrerScenario=AddressBarCopied%2Eview%2E3be6b305%2Dacdf%2D470d%2Da3c7%2Dc5e0f6277fb9&ct=1762305303121&or=OWA%2DNT%2DMail&cid=adee26d7%2D2de3%2D5cc5%2Df7f9%2D50641ddd1bd4&ga=1&LOF=1&isDarkMode=true

Something I learnt about is the difference between connotation and denotation, and how this might help set the tone sometimes depending on the type of writing you’re doing. I also learnt that communication is more effective when you consciously tell someone to give different examples, as this can help you find out what they still need to learn and what they already know. This shows my growth as a learner as I was able to teach an alien how to write paragraphs that reach the 8th Grade standard in a short amount of time, which displays my grasp of English grammar and my effectiveness in communication to the alien.

Hypothesis:

I think that using the “Smiling Mind” app, I will be more able to better regulate my emotions and have more control, as this app will track your wellbeing and remind you to check in with your emotions, and it also has mental health exercises.

Baseline:

At the start, I am not that well at controlling my emotions at home, and sometimes there will be outbursts or I will bottle up my emotions, and I know both of these are unhealthy and I want to change this.

3 outcomes I wish to find are:

-Better control of emotions

-A more sense of calmness around me

-Be more able to express my emotions more effectively

Multimedia Analysis and Review:

Functionality:

The app has helped me regulate and become more aware of my emotions, as every time you open it the first thing you’ll see is an emotion bar, asking you to tick the box you think describes your overall mood. I used the “quick relief” tab of mental exercises the most, as they helped me take control of my emotions and made me feel more calm and collected, which allowed me to respond to different conflicts in a more orderly manner. Session such as “Pause and Reset” and “SOS Meditation’ were especially more helpful for me. The function I used the least was the “Grow Connections” tab, as I tried it out once but I didn’t think that it helped me take control of my emotions, but it still could be more useful in the future. On it’s description in the App Store, it said that it would “give you a head-start to managing the ups and downs of everyday life”. In my opinion, even though I haven’t used all the features yet, it has helped me manage many things that I wasn’t even aware was an issue. Some of the limitations of the app are that many of the practices and meditations are tailored towards adults and what they might experience, and even though there are a selection of mental exercises for teenagers, the majority are still for adults, and I think that it could work on more sessions for teenagers, as they can also experience many of the things adults experience.

Usefulness:

My Scanned WOOP Goal:

Some changes that I’ve experienced are that I feel more at peace with my surroundings, and that I could respond better to different types of criticism or conflict. I am also getting better at expressing my emotions and communicating them. When re-reading my hypothesis, I feel that it has already proved to be true in a number of ways, such as being better at regulating my emotions and having more control over them, and also allowing me to check in with my emotions every day. Something I didn’t expect from using the app was actively remembering to do some breathing exercises on it when I felt stressed, as I thought all it would do was send me a notification for me to check in with it. I think that the app was quite helpful for me, because it helped start some healthy habits that I will continue. I think that it would be more useful for adults, because the app’s design and recommended meditation exercises were things most teenagers wouldn’t experience.

Design:

The overall design of the app felt very welcoming to new users and it is a free app, and the only subscription I found was an optional donating site. Aside from that, the main color of the app’s icons, beige, made me feel more peaceful in a way, and it didn’t use any colors that would make someone’s eyes hurt, like a bright yellow. It was also incredibly easy to navigate through the different tabs to find what I was looking for each day. As I said before, the app doesn’t have any subscriptions to offer, only a donation tab, but while using it I feel like this didn’t make that much of a difference to the apps functions and appearance compared to other apps I had a brief look at. I really felt that the creators wanted to make a difference and help people maintain a better mental or emotional stability and practice more healthy habits, aside from just making a low-effort cash farm with ads and subscriptions opening up every time you open the app.

Evidence of app usage:

What I learnt about the teen brain:

I learnt that the different parts of the brain, for example the amygdala, and the pre-frontal cortex, work together to achieve different things, rather than doing their own jobs by themselves. I also learnt that the teen brain’s instinct to do risky things had everything to do with how the brain developed, which starts with the amygdala, the part of the brain that triggers FFF response, and end with the pre-frontal cortex. This means that the pre-frontal cortex, the more logical down-to-earth part of the brain, would often get overpowered by the amygdala, the more emotional part of the brain, which would result in less thought through reactions. This can be used as a parallel to the adult brain, which when faced with the same stressors, are more likely to use logic and reasoning as a resolution to the conflict, therefore deescalating the conflict.

How I can apply this information to my life:

I can apply this information to my life as I would first be able to be more aware of myself and my emotions, as well as being able to consciously choose to not go into FFF mode and instead take deep breaths or step away from the situation, and would instead work on trying to find a resolution for the conflict. I would also be able to. incorporate mindfulness to my daily life, such as practicing breathing techniques during my breaks in between homework assignments and taking walks in my compound outside when I feel the need to get away. This would help me as I would be less prone to stressors and I would feel more calm overall and be more able to manage my emotions, which would lead to a better environment for people around me as well as building on to my growth mindset and clearing my own thoughts, and improving myself overall.

Evidence of work:

Above is evidence of my ppt for the Teen Brain Expert Project

Reflection: I think one thing I did well was I had served well and I could return shots with accuracy. Something I could work on is my grip and the way I swing the bat as sometimes instead of going left or right I hit down. I should also concentrate on serving better as I often don’t serve as well and end up having to re-serve many times. Other times, I’ll hit too little distance or too far and that is something I would like to continue to work on in the future.

Why have a digital portfolio at SAS?

Creating a portfolio, or blog is a great way to collect all the work you’ve done throughout your academic career. You can include academic, athletic, and personal artifacts or experiences that you want to share with a wider audience. This is a great way to organize all your learning in one place and you can take it with you when you leave SAS.  When you make your portfolio, you create posts that are categorized according to your subject. Some categories have already been set up for you, but if you need more categories you can add them as needed. It’s important that your posts have the following:

• An engaging title – this should not include the name of the subject since this is referenced in the category. Think of this as the first opportunity to engage and hook your reader!
• Body – this is where you share your learning. This should include a combination of text and media in the form of images, graphics, and embedded videos. You should always consider how your post looks to your audience. Is it engaging and organized? Do they want to keep reading?
• Category – select one that has been set for you or add a new category. Posts can have more than one category e.g. Humanities and Myself as a Learner
• Tags – create tags that can be used as keywords to describe your post. Tags help organize your post a little more! Aim to have 3-5 tags for each post. For example, if you are posting about a novel you wrote, you might want the following tags: #Fiction, #MurderMystery, #Theme, #PlotDiagram

Take a look at the images below to find a few helpful tips for creating your posts and using the block editor:

Getting Familiar with the Block Editor:

Making a New Post: