In this unit in PE we learned about target games, which are games where there is a target that has to be aimed for. We did sports and games such as frisbee, throwing, and catching. We spent time outside working with groups and partners in games involving letting something into a specific hole or area, or also letting it not fall into there. I think I did okay on this unit, but It wasn’t too good.
I used to think before that having mental health conditions were bad and my thoughts were very stigmatized. I thought they were just problems that are unnecessary, and I haven’t really learned or looked into these types of conditions. I had a lot of assumptions/misconceptions such as that they are burdens, and had a lot of stereotypes about the disorders, as to things including which people go through them and why.
But now I think they are normal, and emotions or actions that people go through are normal. I now know that mental health happens in everyone and they are very diverse. People go though all sorts of them, with different severities. Some examples include that I learned how there are variations of main mental health disorders and not just this one thing that happens to everyone. Causes, factors, and how to seek treatment is different. For a specific one, ptsd can be caused by war, but also abuse, neglect, prolonged conflict. My perspective has shifted a lot after learning about this because it allows me to realize the truest scientific information instead of random stigmatized videos I might see online without proof of anything on there. I now know how important it is to learn about this because a lot of people around me and possibly interact with me could have these disorders or mental health, and it is very important to help and make people feel belonged and well.
This unit in Pe was track and field. This unit was more difficult for me than a lot of the other units. It involves more skill in parts I am less good at and has activities such as running, javelin, shot put, long jump and high jump. I think I can do okay in long jump, but I do need to improve in everything overall.
In science, we learned many new topics and skills.
Evidence of Organization: My science notebook is organized, with the table of contents and every page labeled and written with important things that I can navigate and find easily with.
Evidence of Active Learner Habits: My goal was to work better in group projects and maintain a good grade. I think I have worked on that pretty well and I did l was flexible when we worked with a group during the animal research project. I worked towards starts and end class well too, and I am always on time or early to class. I also worked a little on reflecting. I have thought about it myself, but I still didn’t really write out about it.
Three skills I have improved on are model creating, obtaining, evaluating, and Communicating Information, and engaging in CERs. I still need to work on Active Learner because I did not do all of the 3 for 3 quizzes correct. I think that I did well on creating models and showing my work in a more presentative or fun matter, and writing CERs along with how to differentiate the information in it. I still don’t get all of my questions correct in 3/3s and active learning aspects in these small tests.
Evidence of Understanding of Key Concepts:
For each section of the year, I got one of the quizzes not a full score. Mostly, I am more stable with this, but sometimes I just think that the questions are a bit difficult, though I look back and improve on what I have.
Evidence of Growth in Science Skills:
- 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
Standard 3 – CERS.
(these are not available on schoology, its on paper) I have improved on CERs, as before I got a 2.5 but now I got a 3. This shows how I have learned and grown as a learner. I understood the structures of CERs and what to add or not to add.
(I don’t have images of those but I have another CER I’ve written. Grades are not out yet though)
I showed effective use of time in class and home by spending more than 1 hour each day on either planning. I worked hard and did a lot by drawing and searching for things to create when making flaps for the scrapbook. I wanted it to be interactive and fun. I also spent time in class mainly preparing and mapping out what I want first to outline. The story must be well done and carefully made with precision so that everything fits well. Something I could improve on is also time management because I feel like I spend too much time and I fix too many small details, taking away the rest of my time for some other parts.
The hardest process of developing the product was organizing it. I mean this in a lot of ways. I need to first plan out everything I do and backup plans for in case things don’t work. I also need to draw everything first before printing to not waste a lot of paper. This was difficult, but I worked through it thinking of all situations and things that might happen. I then wrote down all the scripts on separate documents.
I did not use A.I.
My product effectively communicates my thinking as I show my creative skills in my product as well as what I learned, with key facts and correct evidence. I liked that it showed the perspectives of the interviewee along with other specific information. If I changed something, I would add more. I want to make it even more creative and also make the product less fragile. The pieces are pretty fragile and thin, and even though I already spent a long time working on it, it would take less than seconds to destroy or break apart with the wrong touch.
In the pickleball unit of PE we did this net game with a plastic ball and a larger paddle. In this unit, I think that I improved since last time and got better at finding strategies to get to the ball and hit in a good direction. I used to be not good at this, and it used to be a part I need to work on. I still need to work on hitting it at a right angle and finding ways to make the opponent not get the hit.
In this unit, we learned about the brain and effective goal setting, which are the WOOP goals we did. In the brain, for an example, is the amygdala. This area helps us process emotions and it will trigger FFF, fight, flight, freeze. The prefrontal cortex is the part that makes decisions for us according to what the amygdala and hippocampus (memory) processes. In this project, we made WOOP goals for ourselves, which include a wish, outcome, obstacle, and plan. I created a goal to help me not procrastinate and do my work and practice to an amount of time everyday and track my progress to get good grades at school so I can prepare for high school.
Active Learner Habits
One strength I bring to math class is that I participate and do all of the work I am supposed to do. Another strength I bring is trying my best and working very hard. I have a lot of notes and artifacts in my notebook. A third strength I bring is asking for help whenever I need to and find things outside of class time to further on to study and improve math. One habit I want to improve this semester is to keep my notebook tidier. My notebook is slightly messy and I have a lot of crunched and ripped papers. This is an area of growth for me because I want to look more tidy and clean. This will also make it easier to take my things and find pages when doing math. I will work on this habit by making it look more aesthetically pleasing in format. One specific action I will take is labeling my homework and each lesson in clearer writing and separate my notes from my practices with color coding.
Math Notation and Communication
My math has improved because I wrote more clear and detailed notes with well labels and through good processing of work. My handwriting is small and one page can fit many information, which reduces the amount of paper used, but improves the amount of better note-taking.
Understanding Key Concepts
This example shows that I understand how to calculate slopes, equations, and explaining them clearly with well words and thinking. One strength in this work is I correctly identify things and accurately create models and show the comparison of them. This work shows growth because I got better at expressing my own mathematical thinking and how I learned more on showing work and organizing.
Final Reflection
Overall, my work shows that I can do good at math with critical thinking and improve quickly with feedback and out of class help. My examples show growth in my ability to express thinking through words and organization of my notebook to make things more clear.
In the PE unit, we learned badminton. We focused on serves, including backhand and forehand and many techniques on how to play. I think that I am still working on it, and I have many improvements to make. Sometimes I can’t catch the thing and it flies over my racket. I also think that I need to work on my holds too.
In the last unit of art in the first semester, we create a mixed media self portrait using hand crafted materials and procreate, a digital drawing tool to make art. At first, we chose a canvas to work on and spray painted it. In the process of our portrait, we traced a picture of ourselves, finding the different shades and values to draw. These shades creates harmony between each other so that when put together, they can show the image of the original selfie. We then printed the image and collaged it into the canvas with other parts to create our final piece.
In my planning, I decided to add elements to create identity into my piece. I added music notes to express my appreciation for music, as It has been with me every since I was a child, and I think that it was something very important that has affected me in many ways. I also added stationery, to also show things that are important to me, which is art. Art is something that means peace and calmness to me, and is something I really enjoy. My cat, a family member who reminds me of care and love, is something I added too. Then there are other parts like the bows, heart, cross, and blood. These are more about my aesthetic choices and how I perceive beauty and visually pleasing. This is more about me and how I like things. My artwork is showing a lot about me personally and a lot of elements I liked.
The colors I used were mainly red, black, white, pink, and purple. This is a pretty dark portrait, as I think that It can express my dark feelings and emotions that I usually feel. I am not that optimistic. Details were also added. Most of the elements like the lotus flowers, the dripping black design, and the purple strip were from my favorite anime character, Douma, from Demon Slayer, and I really like him. I used the knife to show the dark vibes and I had a small bear on the top of my head. That bear was drawn by my best friend Jane, and I wanted to put our friendship in this portrait, I think she is very important to me and I feel very happy with her. Things that were difficult was to find the write way to organize and align the small parts. I had a lot of elements, and I didn’t know how to put them together. At the end, I decided to do it this way in my image above, and have most of the small things organized that way. My artwork expresses a lot about me, even with small details. It shows me, and everything that is meaningful to me.