★Grace's Portfolio★

Swiss Burgers

Art: Mixed Media Self-Portrait

May 15, 2026 /

Audience Insight: I want my audience to understand that I am creative and like a lot of different media. I want to communicate that I like art as my hobby, and I showed this by including the palette, showing that I like to paint. I communicated the message about my interest in marine animals through the goldfish and whale. Furthermore, the goldfish represent wealth, good fortune, and abundance because of their fluid, graceful movements and historical ties to eastern mythology. I communicated my taste in music as I showed the cover of The Neighborhood, which explores themes of melancholy and the anxiety of modern life. I communicated my personality of calmness through the piano feature and the music notes, as music helps me calm down.

Risk and Experimentation: I took risks and experimented with different media such as yarn, newspaper, and metallic paint. I want to show The Neighborhood as an ‘old’ type of memory, and the crumpled newspaper conveys the feeling of ‘old’ and nostalgic. The metallic paint was really risky as it could either ruin or enhance my portrait, as it couldn’t be erased or washed off. I used it to enhance parts of the portrait that needed attention, and it was successful.

Science: Evidence of Active Learner Habits

March 3, 2026 /

3 learner skills I have improved on this semester are collaborating effectively with peers, writing a CER that meets all requirements, and modeling important assignments. One learner skill that continues to be an area of growth, based on Schoology, is that I need to work on scaling in modeling timelines.

PE: Net and Wall Games

February 26, 2026 /

In this unit, we learned how to play net and wall games, such as badminton and pickleball. A skill I improved on in this unit was improving my serving skills in pickleball. The serve is very essential in a pickleball game, especially staying in the ‘kitchen’ and knowing where to stand in a typical court. I also learnt how to change the trajectory of the ball to make it harder for the opponent to hit the ball back. All the skills in this unit were centered around controlling the ball, and they were very useful in games.

Band: Semester 1 Reflection

February 11, 2026 /

This artifact is from the December concert. I chose this picture because it is very clear and high quality, which shows my growth over the years to being able to perform and collaborate with my classmates for a concert.

My strengths this year are being able to sight-read effortlessly and to apply correct fingerings without a fingering chart. Another strength I have is being able to have a wide range of note capability with clear tone quality.

I chose this artifact because it is also one of my strengths. This artifact shows the S/D/T project, which is a group project for performing a music piece in front of an audience. This shows my strengths as it shows that I can be an effective collaborator, and is able to find practicing strategies and getting over my fear of public performances.

Some areas of growth in band are working on slurring and tonguing the appropriate notes, as many of my semester 1 comments are about my struggles with them. Furthermore, some areas I need to grow are to be able to hold longer notes–preferably more than two measures.

To address the stamina issue, I will practice holding out long notes for more than two measures before each class as warm up. To tackle the tonguing and slurring issue, I will use more of my time to practice different exercises in the green book.

I extended my learning by taking ABRSM tests outside of school which also helped my sightreading skills in which I took many theory exams.

Art: Group Clay Vessel Reflection

February 5, 2026 /

I showcased my abilities as a Creative and Active Learner during this project by working in a group clay vessel with two other teammates. First, we individually came up with novel ideas of trying to come up with an original, unique vessel design. After being flexible and connecting our ideas, we made a cute bear piggy bank. Since this took a long time, all three of us participated in making the vessel, showcasing active learners. My teammates and I were struggling as the clay kept getting dry and solidifying, but we managed to be persistent as we embraced failure with a growth mindset. We redid the clay texture, pushing through our conflicts and finally completing the product.

A sketchbook is the main foundation of an artist’s creative process, as sketchbooks are a place where artists can put their ideas on paper and help develop the ideas further. From our group’s experience, sketching the thumbnail sketches really helped our process, as we had many designs that showed the journey to get to the point where we are at right now. For example, my partner had the idea of making a piggy bank, and I thought of making that into a cute bear, which both of my parters liked the idea. Sketching really helped, letting us be more creative. If we didn’t have a sketchbook, I personally would get stuck, as brainstorming would be a lot harder.

    SLC: Math

    January 21, 2026 /

    -One strength I bring to math class is an optimistic mindset to learn new things.

    -Another strength I bring is discipline, as I usually make sure my tablemates and the people around me are being respectful and listening to the teacher.

    -A third strength I bring is engagement in class discussion, as I often answer the teacher’s questions and make sure to raise my hand when I need to.

    -One habit I want to improve this semester is being prepared for class with all of the materials I need.

    -This is an area of growth for me because I often forget to bring pencils and erasers, needing to borrow from the classroom. It would be better for me to always have my own materials without needing to depend on what the classroom has to offer.

    – I will work on this habit by always keeping a spare pencil or pen inside my backpack just in case I forget that day.

    – One specific action I will take is every morning, making sure to prepare my backpack before I go.

     

    2. Math Notation and Communication

    Early Example

    Later Example

    • My math work has improved because I now make sure to write notes so I can look back and understand what I have learned. This helps me remember what I learned, so I don’t forget anything for an upcoming test.
    • Over time, my math notebook shows that I like to organize my information and write sentences instead of writing only formulas.
    • My math organization improved as I write neatly, and I made sure to include the date and lesson title on each section.

    3. Evidence of Understanding of Key Concepts

    Early in the year:

    Later on:

    These two pictures show my growth in reading graphs, along with making sense of the graphs. From early on, I did well on listing out my progress and explaining, I did not read the question well, and I couldn’t understand how to make a proper graph at that time. The second example shows that I understand not only how to read maps, but also the relationship between the two subjects that are being graphed. This shows my growth over time ,as before, I couldn’t understand how to read the graph in a way to create on myself, and now I am able to put the graph into context without any problem.

    Overall, my work shows that I can describe the relationship between any y and x axis, being able to graph and translate any point, and being able to show my work clearly to show my full understanding.

    Band: Project Reflection

    January 21, 2026 /

    Our group surfed the internet for music, and we came across a site called ‘Musescore’. Musescore had tons of songs, and we found one that we recognized, Merry Go Round of Life. We immediately noticed that we know this song as it is from the famous movie ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’. We wanted to pick this song because it has a fast rhythm yet has a soothing melody. From picking music, we learned that some songs might sound different from the way we play them, so we tried many different songs, and none of them sounded as close to the one we picked.

    I learned that I like playing line 1 in duets more after completing this project because I found having a melody a better challenge for me. Some skills I gained were to listen to my partner just in case I got out of tempo, so I could quickly jump back in without the song sounding empty. I feel more confident in performing in front of people, as this was a great exercise for performing in front of a group, and it even enhanced my confidence in standing up in public in general.

    A challenge that I experienced from this activity was playing one of the high parts. I didn’t know the fingering of High A, so I did some individual learning and this helped me resolve this setback, and even gained some new information for playing my flute.

     A factor that contributed to my success was practicing with my partner. We practiced a lot in class and outside of class so that we both know our parts very well. This helped our success as even if we mess up, we know where to meet up again without the song sounding bad.

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