Shinwoo's Portfolio

Transdisciplinary Transfer Goal

January 15, 2026 /

For my TTG goal this semester, I want to work on Effective Collaborator in Social Studies and Language Arts. I will work to be an active participant in class who acknowledges, encourages and builds upon others’ ideas without needing to be prompted.

In Social Studies, if we are carrying out tasks like Socratic Seminars, I will try to be the one who starts off the “conversation” instead of waiting nervously for an opportunity. I will also give efforts to include everyone, give them chances to speak and for others to build upon them. In Language Arts, I will work to provide contributions in larger class discussions and be more willing to talk to anyone in the room. I have no problems with working with smaller groups but simply need to work on participation in whole-class conversations.

Vision Board/SMART Goal Reflection

January 15, 2026 /

In the fall, we made a SMART Goal as a plan to improve in an academic area we were lacking in. Then, based on the goal, we created a vision board to help motivate us in our journey. For my goal, I wanted to consistently meet or even exceed expectations in math. To do this, I planned to work to get at least a Meeting on every summative test until the end of the school year, track my progress from the grades on Schoology, and look over my math report card to analyze my performance. I also planned to never miss on the math homework given and to do Afficient every week.

Goal Progress: I think that I am making good progress toward my goal. I always do the math homework given and return it on time and am still doing Afficient at home. I might not get all questions correct on tests, but I never got an Approaching on any of my summatives so far in the school year.

Challenges: I think that for these kind of goals, it’s very easy to lose your motivation after a few weeks or even a few days. There are many elements in our lives that act as factors in distracting us or taking us off track. And while in the middle of our journey, having not-so-ideal results can discourage us and change the way we perceive our accomplishments. For example, in Math, there are many smaller tests in between the Formatives and the Summatives like a CFU (Check for Understanding), Exit Tickets, or simply classwork/homework. Getting a 2 on a CFU or an exit ticket isn’t as bad as getting a 2 on a Summative, but it’s very likely to decrease the faith you have in yourself and the goal. This would also decrease the possibility of you actually succeeding in achieving the goal since motivation and the willingness to go for it is key in striving for an accomplishment.

Accomplishments: One accomplishment since creating my vision board/SMART goal is getting an Exceeding on my last summative, where we needed to create a presentation with calculations, research and comparisons. This was more than I expected, but I spent a lot of effort on it and this result shows how I am steadily improving in Math.

Revised Goal: I don’t think I need to revise my goal too much, I am still working towards the same things. In a few days I will be able to see my report card, and perhaps then I will need to make some alterations. However I’m not sure if I can do Afficient consistently, since recently I have had less time after class.

Support System: One of the key figures in my support system is my mom, who pays for my Afficient and also put me in a Deepblue math class to further develop my skills in mathematics. This impacts my progress largely because Afficient has been crucial for my improvements in math, and Deepblue might have a few challenges but will provide a chance for me to step out of my comfort zone, allowing for more opportunities to grow and become closer to my goal.

Next Steps: I will work to do Afficient as consistently as it is possible for me to, but not putting it above my schoolwork since school is more important. I will make sure to always complete the math homework from class and to review class content if there is something that I don’t understand (which applies to Deepblue as well).

Math Unit 3: Proportionality and Percentages

January 8, 2026 /
  1. Concepts I understand from this unit are the formulas we learned, such as percent change, percent equation and simple interest. For example, the percent change formula is change/original = %/100, and then we cross multiply. The percent equation is a = %b, where a=part and b=whole. The simple interest formula is principle (original amount) x interest x time (years). We also learned about tax and tip as well as solving problems with double number lines or a tape diagram/bar graph.
  2. Most of this unit was relatively new to me, like simple interest and how to calculate percent change or use the percent equation. I also was new to how to use double number lines/tape diagrams to solve problems.
  3. Something that connects to my personal interests is the percent change and taxes part. This is because I like shopping, and with the knowledge of percent change and taxes I can calculate discounts and the sales taxes of my purchases.
  4. Some things that were relatively difficult was using the percent equation in different situations as well as the double number lines/tape diagram. Sometimes the percent equation didn’t make sense to me and it was hard to make calculations and show problems without just using the normal algorithm to solve the math.

My Unit 3 Summary Sheet:

Social Studies Unit 2: Visual Presentation

January 6, 2026 /

For this presentation, we had to choose a form of media to present our research on our type of transportation/communication technology. I chose to make a stopmotion video with my own drawings. I chose to make a stopmotion video because I had missed the first class of the project, thus reducing my time to choose by a large amount. The stopmotion option seemed the simplest at the time and the easiest to present my research with, so I just went with that so I wouldn’t waste too much time deciding on my form of media. However, I did not anticipate how much effort this would require since it was my first time doing a stopmotion video. (I spent a lot of time at home completing it). After finishing our visuals, we presented it to the class.

One thing I think I did well on this project/presentation is that I was very focused and didn’t let things/people distract me from my work. I purposefully put on headphones with calming music to block out the noise of others and help enhance my focus.

One thing I need to work on for next time is managing my time more wisely. After this experience, I have gained more knowledge about making stopmotion videos, so next time I will know how to plan out my time better since this project was the proof that I need to.

screenshot from my stopmotion video:

Social Studies Unit 2: Essay

January 5, 2026 /

For this essay, we first chose a form of transportation/communication to research on. I chose the airplane. Then, we chose one of the three formats of Graphic Organizers to present our research from three articles. We put information from each article on the GO, printed the articles, and annotated them using our own annotation key. After that, we had to pick which points of info we would use in our body paragraphs of our essay. For the body paragraphs, the first was about the positive impacts of our technology, then the negative impacts, and finally the solutions to the negative impacts. After finishing the body paragraphs, we worked on our introduction and conclusion to round up the essay.

One thing I think I did well is my reasoning. I think I was able to thoroughly explain the evidence and how it connected back to my claim in a detailed and insightful way that made the reader think about what I wrote. I elaborated on my points and unraveled numerous impacts that could potentially happen due to one event.

One thing I think I could have improved on is my introduction. It was written based on the model by Mr. Tyner, so it is very similar based on the structure. Next time, I should expand it and make my introduction a little more complex like I did with my conclusion so that it doesn’t look relatively the same.

My essay:

Shin-Woo Zhao – Essay How does technology have an impact on society – 4089972Download

Language Arts: Me as a Collaborator

December 16, 2025 /
  1. When we were placed in new table groups, I don’t think I had an unwelcoming reaction–I don’t really remember our previous seatings, but even with new table groups I was able to settle and adjust to work with different people.
  2. When it was time for the table to decide who would retrieve/put back the folders and notebooks, it was mostly equal. I offered to put it sometimes, and other times, someone else was willing to do it. My contributions were the same as everyone else at the table.
  3. When I was asked to turn and talk with a partner, I always did so and contributed to the conversation–whether it was the “connection” at the start of class or something about the lesson. I was able to interact with dialogue with the other person and get a result out of our conversation.
  4. When I am asked to contribute to a class discussion, I do so, but only at the teacher’s request. When I am not being forced to raise my hand in a class discussion, however, I normally stay silent and listen to other people’s ideas.
  5. When I worked with Abigail on our dystopian story in Unit 2, we worked together in creating an initial idea for the story and listened to each other’s contributions to adapt the plot and make it more interesting. We had many moments of laughter and humor that made it all more fun.
  6. When I worked with (also) Abigail on our product branding in Unit 1, we were able to cooperate and negotiate so that both of our preferences and ideas would be included in one design. We were able to produce a final result without much struggle.

As a collaborator, I would probably rate myself a Meeting in terms of working with others.

Someone else in the class would probably describe my collaboration in class as normally accepting, supportive and willing to adapt to include other people’s ideas, but they would also likely say that I am a little quiet when working with a bigger group of classmates.

Language Arts Unit 2 Summatives Reflection

December 16, 2025 /
  1. I think I did pretty well on my summatives compared to my formatives. For the round/dynamic character formative, I got a 2 because I missed the class on that and forgot to review the slides. Now that I have reviewed them and learned more about the differences, I was able to get a 4 on the outline + assessment summative.
  2. Something that I am proud of is that I was able to improve throughout the unit, as I mentioned in the paragraph above. It shows my progress in my learning and the improvements I made in my knowledge of the unit. I am also proud of the fact that I was able to shorten my CERER a little. In my formative, my CERER was a little long and I had to work on making my reasoning more concise. In the summative, I aimed for precise reasoning that had no paraphrasing and was successful in making it shorter while still maintaining the quality.
  3. When writing my CERER, a challenge I had was writing my reasoning. For every sentence I wrote, I thought a few minutes if it was necessary and could be improved. I erased a lot and rewrote some phrases to make sure it was the best possible. At the end, I put down a few sentences to elaborate on my point–only to realize it was veering off track and I didn’t need any of it at all–so I erased all of it and replaced it with a conclusion to my CERER.
  4. I think I used Ms. Devin’s feedback on my reasoning very effectively, as I have mentioned before; in my summative I kept her feedback in mind and worked to keep my reasoning shorter and concise while sustaining quality.
  5. If I could redo the CERER summative assessment, I would work to change my claim and make it a little smoother + more professional-sounding so that I could get a 4 on the claim as well.
  6. Pieces of advice I would give myself for Unit 3:
  1. Don’t slack on work if you miss class

2. Keep others’ feedback in mind

7. My goal for the future is to study for tests and aim for all 4s in written summatives and to not get any 2s on formatives.

My CERER summative:

Shin-Woo Zhao – L4 – U2 Summative Parts I II – RoundDynamic Character – 4089972Download

Science Unit 2: Cells and Body Systems Reflection

December 15, 2025 /

The essential question that I chose to answer was “How do our body systems work together when playing our favorite sport?”

The knowledge that I gained from this unit helped me in answering this question by providing a base in my research so that I would be able to understand the content that the sources online provided me. For example, for my project I showed how the nervous, muscular, skeletal and circulatory worked together in dance. I already had understandings of the functions of these systems and how they worked with other systems from this unit, so when I researched how they interacted in dance I was able to comprehend the information and tie it all together. This applies to cells as well–for example, I learned about organelles such as the mitochondria, ER and nucleus. This knowledge helped me in my research so I could understand further how these organelles worked together while a person is dancing. This relates to the idea that the body is a system of subsystems made up of groups of cells, since it shows how different body systems interact with each other while the organelles in cells support specific functions to help the overall purpose.

The learning experiences that were most impactful or memorable for me as a learner were the dissections and the group work projects. This is because I learn better with hands-on activities rather than a teacher lesson or stations around the room. The dissections were also a really special activity, so it was really memorable for me and really let me see what the organs of animals looked like. I also quite like working with partner(s) and the non-individual projects in this unit helped me learn a lot about the main content in the unit.

Something that I would improve/change is reviewing for L2 quizzes. L2 assignments, to me, generally seem really easy and not worth my time studying for even though I know I should be studying for all tests. Because of this bad habit, I did not get all questions correct on my L2 quizzes, which is disheartening because I am more of an overachiever/perfectionist person. Next semester, I will work on studying for all of my tests regardless of whether they are L2, L3 or L4.

Art Artivist Piece Reflection

December 15, 2025 /

For this project, I made two stickers that I thought would be impactful for the audience. The first sticker is a Percy Jackson reference showing a warning sign with a ballpoint pen, and underneath a block of text spelling out “inner potential may activate when uncapped.” The second sticker is a circle of blots of purple watercolor with a dancer silhouette in the middle, with calligraphy saying “to dance is to dream.”

For my first sticker, the intended audience is people who have read the Percy Jackson series since if they didn’t, they would not get the inside joke. This audience can range from kids to adults, as long as they have read the PJO books. The message is supposed to be encouraging, telling people that everyone has “inner potential” that is waiting to manifest. It is meant to have a spark of humor that makes the audience laugh, to uplift or inspire them to believe that they have the ability to do what they are worrying about.

For the second sticker, the intended audience is people who have a hobby of dancing, preferably ballet dancers or contemporary/lyrical dancers. This can range from kids to adults as well. The message is meant to be inspiring, poetic and impactful. Anything can happen in dreams, and dreams give out a feeling of the universe and how vast it is as well as being mysterious or mystical. This implies to the audience that they can do anything when dancing and that they can achieve a wide range of accomplishments in their dance journey. This motivates and inspires the audience to continue to try to achieve their dance dreams.

In my artwork, I used design strategies such as visual symbolism, emotional appeals, and repetition and familiarity (catchy sentence/slogan). For visual symbolism, I used the iconic ballpoint pen in Percy Jackson. The fandom knows that this pen turns into a Celestial Bronze sword when uncapped, symbolizing the “inner potential” that “may activate when uncapped.” This taps into a familiar icon that represents a lot in the Percy Jackson world, playing an essential role in impacting audience. This pen also resonates with the audience’s experiences of reading the Percy Jackson series, which pulls on their emotions and causes them to feel amusement at seeing the inside joke. The sentence in my second sticker is also a catchy sentence – “to dance is to dream.” This is easy to remember while also being very symbolic, meaningful and impactful. This can linger in the audience’s mind and make the meaning of the sticker even more clear.

My stickers:

Math Unit 2: Proportionality and Scale Drawings

December 2, 2025 /

In this unit, we learned about the scale factor that takes one figure to another, what makes a figure a scaled copy of another figure, the relationship between scale factor, perimeter and area, scales to units of measure in an image, scale drawings, and similar figures.

We learned the formula of how to find the scale factor between scaled copies: SF= copy/original. In this formula, we use the lengths of corresponding sides in the figures to find the scale factor. The scale factor is also the equivalent of the constant of proportionality, which we learned in Unit 1. We also learned about the relationship between scale factor, perimeter and area: to find the perimeter of a scaled copy, you multiply the original perimeter by the scale factor, and to find the area of a scaled copy, you multiply the original area by the scale factor squared.

For example, if we use the scale factor formula and the length of a scaled copy is 16 while the original is 4, we would put SF=16/4, which leads to SF=4. One example of scale to units of measure is that 1.3 cm on the map represents 100 meters in real life (1.3 = 100). Another example for the relationship between scale factor, perimeter and area is that if the SF is 4, the original perimeter is 12 cm, and the original area is 8 sq. cm, then we multiply 12 by 4 (which leads to 48 cm for scaled perimeter) and we multiply 8 by 4 squared (which is 8 x 16 = 128 sq. cm. for scaled area).

Something that was a little confusing in this unit was the scale to units of measure. It was a little difficult to understand, especially when we were doing the CERs for the maps. Similar figures also were a bit of a struggle, most times in homework, but it was more simple to understand at the end.

Scale factor and scale can also be used in everyday life to solve problems or in professions such as engineering or architecture. Engineers and architects use scale factor to create blueprints of projects, where a measurement on paper represents a much larger measurement in real life (scales to units of measure). This would let the buildings and other structures be built in the correct proportions. Scale factor and scale are also often used in science and biology. Scientists/researchers create models of things that are too large or too small (such as the solar system or cells/bacteria) using a scale factor.

Here is my Unit 2 Summary Sheet:

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