Joshua's Portfolio

Badminton Unit Reflection

January 15, 2026 /

What did I do?

I did low underhand forehand and backhand serves. I also smashed the shuttlecock successfully.

What did I learn?

I learned to do an underhand forehand serve and a low underhand backhand serve. I also learned how to smash the shuttlecock and control it so that I can easily make it go far or close to the net.

What worked?

Doing the low underhand backhand serve sometimes helped win a few points against the opponent and smashing also helped me win points. I also did a backhand smash.

What did not work?

Sometimes the opponent smashed the shuttlecock and I could not save it. Sometimes the opponent also rallied with me and after a few rallies, I could not get the shuttle.

Personal Relevance

This is related to my life because playing badminton requires fast reflexes, and fast reflexes can be useful in life.

Unit 4 Dystopian Fiction Reflection

December 17, 2025 /

What did I learn about dystopian fiction?

I learned that dystopian fiction has seven types of control, totalitarianism, social control, conformity, constant surveillance, dehumanization, control of nature, and illusion of utopia. The first type, totalitarianism, is where the government controls everything through fear. The second type, social control, is where people in society pressures individuals to conform. The third type, conformity, is where everybody acts the same and differences are suspicious and feared. The fourth type, constant surveillance, is where people are being watched and do not have any privacy. The fifth type, dehumanization, is where people have fewer or no human rights, and important human experiences are forbidden. The sixth type, control of nature, is where there is advanced technology but nature is either unknown or feared. The seventh type, illusion of utopia, is where either the reader thinks the society is perfect or the characters think that their society is perfect.

How does dystopian fiction invite me to think about real life?

Dystopian fiction invites me to think about how weird it is compared to real life. For example, in the Giver society, people release/kill underweight babies who do not sleep well at night, but in the real world, that is just crazy. Also, people in the society of The Giver do not have colors and they think that everything is perfect, the people are perfect, the jobs are perfect, nobody is different, but actually, even though there is no war, no hunger, no poverty, there are also no feelings, no difference, no change. So, in a way, the Giver society is even more messed up than in the real world.

I enjoyed/did not enjoy The Giver

I enjoyed The Giver because the book has lots of twists and surprises, especially when Jonas learns about color, memories, warfare, and release.

How have I improved my ability to write academic paragraphs?

I have improved my ability to write academic paragraphs by doing the CommonLit assignments, since every assignment requires me to write an academic paragraph. I can now write a proper topic sentence that is short and has a main idea. I can also now write a good conclusion by paraphrasing the topic sentence.

How am I better now interacting with others in literature discussions?

I am better at interacting with others in literature discussions because I know how to validate others before speaking. I’ve improved on putting ideas on the table.

Roller Coaster L4 Lab and Model

December 8, 2025 /

I made a roller coaster model out of foam tubes and tape. I tested it with a marble to see if the marble would finish the track and successfully go into the cup placed at the end of the roller coaster

The IV was the height the marble starts

The DV was the success rate

My hypothesis was if the marble starts out higher, then the marble will finish the track faster. This means that I think that the marble will finish the track faster if it is higher.

The marble finished the track every time. For the height the marble starts out, when it is high, medium, and low, the success rate was all 100%. This means that even with low, the marble still has enough potential energy to turn into kinetic energy, which means that the marble will successfully finish the track and get into the cup.

My video:

Roller Coaster Movie.mp4

Orchestra Chamber Music Reflection #1

December 3, 2025 /

Orchestra Chamber Music Reflection #1

What was challenging about forming the groups?

Forming the groups was challenging because many groups I wanted to join were full and Leo was about to join the other cellos but then he decided to join me instead.

What is/was challenging about choosing music?

Choosing music is kind of challenging because I have to find an interesting but not so hard piece of music, but then Leo chose a song called Step Dance.

What music did you choose and why?

Leo and I chose Step Dance because it looked very joyful and it did not look hard.

What are anticipated challenges for this music?

It could be hard to play together and it might to be hard to cooperate and get everything perfect with my partner.

What are you looking forward to when learning this music?

I am looking forward to working together with my partner and I am also looking forward to finishing the song

Orchestra Chamber Music Reflection #2

What did you accomplish today?

I played half of the song Step Dance and I also played Step Dance together with Leo

What was challenging about playing together?

Playing together is challenging because it requires correct timing and it requires collaboration and cooperation with my partner.

What will you work on next time?

I will work on the last half of Step Dance next time and hopefully I will also get to work on the dynamics and finish the song with my partner


Orchestra Chamber Music Reflection #3

How was your performance in the previous class?

My performance was okay and I did well at the beginning and the end but then in the middle I forgot to repeat and also I paused a bit when I saw Ms. Ziegler coming over.

What feedback did you acquire?

I was told that I did not cooperate enough with my partner and that I did well in the beginning and at the end but then we paused a bit in the middle.

What was the goal you prioritized from your feedback?

The goal I prioritized from my feedback is to know that I will repeat with my partner and collaborating better with my partner

What did you do in rehearsal today?

I did not practice in rehearsal since I was sick and so I did not do anything.

Are you ready for your performance on Monday?

I am not ready because I did not practice and I am a bit anxious and worried about the performance on Monday.

Orchestra Chamber Music Reflection #4

How did your performance go today? Were you prepared?

My performance went okay today and I nearly messed up just at the start and so I started late because my fingers fumbled a bit and got on the wrong string, but everything else was okay. I was not prepared since I was sick last class.

If you were not prepared, what would’ve helped you become prepared?

I think that something that would’ve helped me get prepared is if I practice at home and master the piece and so then I would have some muscle memory which would help me when i am playing the piece.

Do you feel the feedback from peers was helpful? Why or why not?

I do not think that the peer feedback was very helpful because the feedback was about how I need to cooperate more with my partner and how I should play the piece smoother, and I could do this when I am practicing my piece.

How did you grow and how do you know?

I think that I will get better at cooperating with somebody else when playing a piece and I think that I will get better at collaborating with my partner. This is because that playing together onstage with my partner will help me to cooperate with other people and even just saying 1, 2, 3, and then play the piece counts as cooperating well and getting a good timing for the beginning of my piece.

Unit 2 Ötzi Unit Portfolio Reflection 

December 1, 2025 /
  1. What did I work on? 
  1. During this unit, ‘Why should we care about the past?’, I worked on  
  1. Making observations, inferences and wonderings 
  1. Using photos and articles as evidence 
  1. Writing a CER paragraph 
  1. Asking and answering open and closed questions 
  1. Taking part in the Otzi Mock Trial, my role was to be an expert witness. 
  1. What did I learn? Why should we care about the past? 
  1. We should care about the past because we can learn how Neolithic people lived. They were very resourceful: hunting for food, creating clothes, tools, and medicine from nature. They started to grow crops. They were the same as us because of conflict, diseases, and they were very innovative and resourceful. 
  1. What worked well? 
  1. I am proud of the following work: my CER paragraph, my role as an expert witness and analyzing evidence about Ötzi the Iceman. 
  1. I am proud of the work above because writing the CER paragraph was quite challenging because I had to write down evidence and what I think of the evidence and what I think happened. My role as an expert witness was hard since I had to research a lot about the trauma and injuries of Ötzi the Iceman, but there was a lot of missing information about Ötzi the Iceman since the case was 5,300 years old. Analyzing evidence about Ötzi was also difficult because the case is quite old and so there were a lot of missing facts. 
  1. What did not work well? 
  1. I found some of this work challenging: writing the CER paragraph, being an expert witness, and analyzing evidence. 
  1. I found the work above challenging because writing the CER paragraph requires a lot of evidence and reasoning, being an expert witness requires a lot of researching, and analyzing evidence requires a lot of brainstorming and there isn’t a lot of evidence, so it is hard to piece the evidence together. 
  1. Personal Relevance 
  1. Collaboration and communications skills are important in my future because I will have to learn to work with people and I will have to learn to cooperate with people. This is because people will have to interact and work together in jobs, schools, and other stuff. 
  1. This is a photo of my work about the CER paragraphs 
  1. Insert photo here 

Bake Sale

November 26, 2025 /

What did I do?

I made cookies and sold them in a bake sale during math class. I also learned to collaborate and also I made some chocolate chip cookies. I also bought food and desserts from my classmates.

What did I learn?

I learned to collaborate with my partner and have fun. I also learned to do some math for cooking and me and my partner were very collaborative and we had a lot of fun.

What worked?

It was very fun to work with my partner and cook with him.

What did not work?

Our cookies were burnt, so we failed in cooking. Selling the cookies was also hard because our cookies tasted bad.

Personal Relevance

This will teach me in the future to collaborate and have fun with people

Soccer Reflection

November 19, 2025 /

What did I learn?

I learned to move faster and think quickly when on the field and I learned ways of defending against strong attackers. I also learned tactics to use when on the field and how to move the ball in a good position to shoot.

What worked?

Everything worked and I scored some goals and I defended against a lot of attacks from the opposing team.

What is something you are proud of?

I am proud of doing drills and scoring during practice matches. I am also proud of defending against any attackers.

What is something you can work on?

I can work on using more agility and more speed while dribbling and I can work on better defense against any possible attackers.

Egg Car

November 11, 2025 /

What did I do?

I built an egg car and built a crumple zone to soften the blow when it hits the concrete block. I also built a seatbelt in the back so the egg would not fly out when it hits the block.

What did I learn?

I learned that cars with crumple zones are safer than cars without a crumple zone. When a car hits something and stops, the person will keep moving and damage their head, but if there is a crumple zone, then that will soften the blow instead of stopping immediately, so the person has a better chance of surviving.

What worked?

The egg survived the car crash and the egg did not fly out. The egg car did not get disqualified, so my egg car was successful.

What did not work?

Everything worked, but our egg car did not look good. I could improve the looks of the car and keep the same safety features.

Personal Relevance

Before, I used to think that there was a flaw in cars because whenever I passed a car that got into a crash, it was deformed. I used to think that if people reinforce their car, then the car will not be wrecked. Now, I know that a car with a crumple zone is way safer than a car without one.

Science Balloon Car

November 3, 2025 /

What did I do?

I used balloon cars to understand and test with Newton’s Laws. Newton’s First Law says that an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted on by another force; an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted on by another force. Newton’s Second Law says that an object with more mass will need more force to move it than an object with less mass. Newton’s Third Law says that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

What did I learn?

I learned about Newton’s Second Law with the balloon cars. Newton’s Second Law states that an object with more mass will need more force to move than a object with less mass. We put weights on balloon cars and measured the distance they go. We figured out that the less weights on the balloon car, the more distance it travels.

What worked?

My observations with my partner worked well because I learned a lot about the Newton’s Laws of Motion with the balloon car. For example, we learned that a balloon car with more weights does not go as fast and far as a balloon car with no weights.

What did not work?

Sometimes the balloon car did not go far even when there were no weights on it. I think this is because there was not enough air in the balloon, so there is less air coming out and so, there is less force acting on the car. I think that a problem with this experiment is that we cannot control the force of the balloon car, so we cannot measure exactly how much distance the balloon car goes with weights.

Personal Relevance

This can help me understand the laws of physics. This way, I can understand the basics of science and physics and this will help me when I go to other schools.

Personal Identity Reflection

October 29, 2025 /

What am I doing?

Language Arts – personal narrative, identity wheel

Advisory – personality test, Venn diagram, Thursday morning collaborative challenges

What am I learning?

We are starting to focus on the personality traits that make us who we are. We are trying to understand ourselves better.

What’s working?

Everything is going smoothly in language arts class and we are writing our personal narrative. We finished the first draft of the personal narrative.

What’s not working?

Everything is going pretty well in Language Arts class.

Personal Relevance

I think that this will help me in the future because I might have to write a personal narrative someday.

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