This unit we learned how to do a forehand and backhand serve with the correct grips, which are the handshake grip and the thumb grip. We also learned how to do a drop shot and a clear shot. The drop shot can be used when the ball is close to the net and the opponent is far away, so you can draw the opponent towards the net and then do a clear shot.
The most difficult part for me is doing a forehand serve. I am more consistent and comfortable with doing a backhand serve because I practiced it more. I can also work on returning low shots because I am already very consistent with my clear shot and drop shot.
I think I improved a lot during this unit because I have a lot more power in my shots now compared to 6th grade. I am also using my wrist more instead of keeping it locked. Overall I enjoyed the unit and I am proud to have won against some good players.
Goal: I want to communicate with my teachers better during class and communicate with the audience more on stage. I also want to be able to communicate in other languages.
Class
What I’ll do
Spanish
I will practice my speaking and listening skills both in class and at home. I hope to be able to speak faster and understand faster audios so I can communicate with natives during World Classroom.
Dance
I’m already very technically skilled in dance, but I don’t have a lot of experience with choreographing. I want to work on that if I get a chance during class , because it’s also a form of communication, just with an audience.
In this unit, I learned a lot about how percentages are useful in the real world and how they can help you make financially smart decisions. I already had background knowledge about taxes, tips, and discounts before the unit, but something I learned was that discounts and tips are applied before tax.
My favorite part of the unit was the summative project. We could choose the format for our project, and I wanted to make a presentation. My project was about buying tangles from TaoBao, Rednote, and Amazon, and figuring out which online store has the best deal. I dug deeper for the L4 by considering a scenario where someone buys bundles with more tangles, which can influence what the better buy is. I ended up receiving the 4, which I am proud of.
The task was to make a project that can demonstrate your understanding of a communication or transportation technology, including the positive impacts, negative impacts, and solutions to its problems. I chose to make a stop motion video about the printing press because I’ve seen some really well filmed stop motions on Youtube, and I wanted to challenge myself to try something new.
I think I did well with the script because it was very informative, concise, and engaging at the same time. I made sure that my voiceover wasn’t too long, because otherwise the audience will get bored and I will have to take many, many pictures for the video. My video wasn’t perfect, but I am proud of it for the little amount of time I had to finish it. Everyone who watched my video and presentation said that I taught them something new about the printing press and that they thought my video was impressive.
Next time, I want to work on my photography skills for my frames because there was still some inconsistency with the position of my cutout drawings. This will make the video smoother and even more satisfying to watch. I also want to work on my facial expressions for.my presentation because I watched a video of myself and realized how serious my face was.
To write my essay, I had to find articles on the internet to print out and annotate so I can come up with a claim and gather evidence. I also filled out a research organizer about my topic which was helpful when referring back to my articles. I used MyBib to cite all of my sources in APA format. Then, I wrote each paragraph separately using the CER format and finally added transitional phrases to make it a full essay.
One thing I did well in my essay was build strong reasoning. For each paragraph, I didn’t just state evidence and move on. I pushed myself to ask “How does this prove my claim?” and “Why is this important?” after each piece of evidence. For example, I didn’t just say books became cheaper, but instead I explained that this shifted the balance of power in society.
One thing I can learn to do is to anticipate and address possible counter arguments to my reasoning. For instance, when I wrote about how censorship controlled people, I could have strengthened my point by acknowledging a different view, like maybe some censorship was meant to maintain order, and then explaining why the negative effects on intellectual freedom were more significant. This would show even deeper critical thinking.
During semester one, I was an engaged and respectful collaborator who actively contributed in all kinds of group settings. During the product branding partner project in Unit 1, I made sure to listen carefully, share my ideas clearly, and do my fair share of the work. Both my partner and I had a good experience. Even when I was at a different table with less familiar people in Unit 2, I still communicated respectfully and we helped each other with our dystopian stories. I tried my best to help create a positive, cooperative environment where everyone felt included. I would rate myself as Exceeding because I consistently helped my groups stay focused and on task.
Another student describes me as reliable, respectful, and helpful. She says that I helped her a lot and didn’t judge when she didn’t know something or didn’t do well on a formative. Moving forward, I plan to build on this by making an extra effort to work better with people I may not really like. My goal is to continue to be an effective collaborator in different situations.
How do you think your summatives compared to your formatives? Overall, there was a huge improvement from my formative to my summative. My formative CERER scores were Approachings and Meetings, which showed I was still developing consistency in my analysis and structure. In contrast, my summative CERER was Exceeding in all but one category. This shows clear growth in my ability to make strong claims, select meaningful evidence, and explain reasoning clearly and persuasively.
What are you proud of? I’m proud of how much I improved in CERER writing in a short period of time and also how well I understand dystopian fiction. I put in a lot of work in my own time and it paid off. I’m also proud of my story outline, which I spent a lot of time on as well. I am happy with the final draft, especially the complexity of the plot. Furthermore, although I didn’t get exceeding for the pitch presentation, many of my classmates told me that my pitch had a lasting impression on them and really grabbed their attention. This was something I was both very proud and surprised to hear.
What were some challenges for you? Early on, I struggled with making my reasoning connect to the evidence, as I have a tendency to make logical arguments that are very meaningful but not directly related to the evidence. My formative feedback pointed out that I needed to explain how my evidence supported my claim. Another challenge was coming up with a story idea for my outline, as most ideas were either too predictable, generic, or not original, making it quite difficult.
How effectively did you use feedback (both from peers and teachers)? I used formative feedback to target my practice on Flint. Teacher comments on the rubric were especially helpful because I knew exactly where I did something wrong and I could fix it right away. On the other hand, peer feedback for my pitch helped with my presentation skills like my hand gestures and facial expressions because I couldn’t see them myself.
If you could redo the summative assessment, what changes would you make? I would change the one CERER category where I got Meeting, the claim, by double-checking minor details. This time it was only one word that costed me the Exceeding so it was definitely preventable. I’d also practice presenting my analysis verbally to improve my pitch presentation score, since explaining ideas out loud is different from writing them.
What advice would you give yourself for Unit 3? Start thinking from the very beginning of the unit, not just at the end. Practice both written and spoken analysis to prepare for presentations. Also, don’t be afraid to ask friends for suggestions and revise based on feedback.
Set one goal for future work. My goal is to consistently be at the Exceeding level in all written analysis tasks, including CERER responses.
In the RC Car unit, we each got a kit with all the materials we will need and we followed the instructions manual to build a wooden, working car. It had batteries, motors and wires so it could move.
I improved the car by using my 3d modeling skills to make a tail fin for it. I had to measure everything correctly in order for the piece to fit. Onshape was a little hard to use at first but my finished product looked pretty good on my car.
The project was really fun because after I was done I could make even more pieces and race with my friends. I also have some ideas of what else I can make with Onshape using the skills I learned.
During the clock unit, we were all assigned a different client and we had to create a clock for them using laser-cutting. I made a working wall clock for Ms. Curry according to her specifications. I had to use my Inkscape and construction skills while documenting my process at the same time.
Initially the project seemed a little intimidating because of all the steps that I needed to complete. Now, I am confident in my skills and proud of my work.If I do this again I would try to work faster to finish Empathize and Define so I have more time to come up with ideas. I would also meet with my client more times.
During the soccer unit we learned how to dribble the ball with control, pass to each other, and shoot into the net. We did many drills in groups to practice our technique and our passing. After a few classes, we also started playing games with about 5-6 people in each team. I mostly played midfield, so I both scored goals and defended. When playing with the other girl team, we could win consistently, but with the boy teams, they played a lot more aggressive which made it hard to get the ball to the other side of the field. Something I can improve on is my dribbling because sometimes the ball is too far from me, and that makes it easy for the other team to steal the ball.
