My second WOOP goal was focused around the dimension of healthy relationships, more specifically about values. The statement was “My friends and I share the same values”. My interpretation of this statement was that it’s not meant to be completely true, my friends don’t have to have the same statements as I do, but that I understand their values and their values don’t come at the cost of mine.
At the end of this WOOP goal, I seeked to have a better understanding of my relationship with others, healthy or not. I chose this because it wasn’t something I really thought of. There are friends who I know I have similar values with me, and there are friends I know have distinct values.
The important part was for me to consider these values and how it affects me. One example, a conversation I remember explicitly over the others, was with a friend I knew didn’t always have the same values as me. I asked her on the airplane, “Do assignments really stress you out, I mean I’m always SUPER STRESSED when a due date is coming up and I don’t have much done”. She told me her values; that she CARED about school, but she just couldn’t focus until the last second. I went home and reflected on her values, and it helped me better understand her as a person. How she recognized certain flaws in her character and was trying to change.
One obstacle was I wasn’t always comfortable with talking about the values. It wasn’t a struggle when I actually got started, but it was hard to start the conversation. I didn’t know if my friends wanted to talk about, but I found certain settings really easy to talk in. For example, lunch time, between volleyball classes, and especially on the plane. It wasn’t the first resort to talk about, but I knew it was helpful.
In the end, I recognized that it’s impossible to have friends of the same value. But I learnt 2 things. First, I learnt about the friends who had similar goals and values with me, in academics but also in friendship. For others, who didn’t have similar values, I was able to better pinpoint their value and reflect on its impact on me.
I used to think that these three topics are all seperate, and have nothing in common. Now, I understand that a lot of the psychology and brain function we used it applicable for many topics. One of the main things we learned at the start of the year was how our teenage brain functioned, and we looked at aspects such as the amygdala and the pre-frontal cortex. We also used it in this unit, when analyzing why we can’t stop scrolling, but also when considering why our teenage brains could be so vulnerable to media, affecting our mental health. We discussed the hot and cold systems that affect our executive functioning.
Influence of Technology
When exploring how technology can influence us, we each spent a minimum of 7 days using an app that would help a goal we wanted to achieve. My WOOP goal was on the dimension of “organization”, I wanted to improve on this aspect by having my bag organized before I went to bed each night so I wouldn’t rush it.
These are the specifics as to how I developed my WOOP goal.
The main thing I tookaway from the technology part of this unit was 2 things.
Through this unit, I recognized the importance of intentionally making a habit and pushing yourself NOT to go for instant gratification, and instead, allow your executive functioning to take responsibility. This knowledge was especially important in my situation because I wanted to develop on organization, and that was something I really needed to practice my executive functioning on.
Here is a graphic I found really useful, it came from Lesson 15. I found it useful because it showed clearly how instant gratification works AND in understandable descriptions.
2. I learnt how technology CAN possibly contribute to our positive habits. I developed by WOOP goal through an APP called Flora. Below, I’ve included a link if you would like to access the full portfolios, but here is a snapshots of what I did with it.
(i’m not sure why its pulled so long.)
In this section, I analyzed how successful FLORA was, while also giving advice.
In the end, I learnt that technology was not ALL distracting, you just have to find the right ones.
Impact of the Media
In this part of the unit, we learnt about not just about what messages the media sends, but also about how that affects our understanding of ourselves. The 2 main takeaways I had were
Social media often perpetrates negative environments, for example, body shaming. Constantly seeing other people’s body shape that is unrealistic for you, yet often portrayed as the standard of “beauty” is very hard to get rid-off. So we learnt a few ways to reaffirm yourself, given the situation in social media. One that resonated with me the most was to comment based on non-appearance based qualities, instead of praising people for things such as weight loss. I worked along with my table partner to create a social media post that promoted a healthy space.
2. Although I previously knew somewhat that social media usage has grown drastically alongside other devices, we were shown a graph and that really demonstrated how serious it is.
A graph from lesson 20.
We also learnt about the 4 impacts social media can have on our overall mental health. One thing I really appreciated was the recognition that with this tiny device, its very hard to control yourself. So the important part is to try our best. We learnt that social media can lead to sleep deprivation, social deprivation, attention fragmentation, and addiction.
Mental Health Conditions
In this aspect of the unit, we discussed and explored different mental health conditions, and specifically delved deep into stigma against them. I will talk about my two main takeaways on the general level, and then on the specific level of the condition I researched, the bipolar disorder.
On the general level, we discussed how media often portrays these conditions. One thing that really resonated with me from one of the presentations is that people with these conditions can be villainized and distorted in movies or books, but often times they are the victims.
It is true that much of our understanding of people with mental health conditions come from movies, which often involve heavy stereotypcs. It was surprising to see how this reaches into our daily lives, because our teacher showed us that in one of the language arts projects we did, there was stigma or stereotype involved.
2. I used to not really know what the bipolar disorder was, my shallow understanding only knew that they may experience mood swings. I believe this understanding is one that often perpetrates stereotypes, whether intentionally or unintentionally. My understanding of bipolar disorder has deepened, one of the examples is how I understand the symptoms, not just as mood swings.
I believe although it is true that mood swings can be a common symptom, there are more to be recognized.
Cats: I have a strong passion for cats and I hope to do more in supporting cats with my passion.
Another is that I am adventurous. I like to discover new things and go to new events
Finally, I have drive. Even when things are challenging, I do my best to continue.
MY GOALS ARE:
Collaborate better with my group in drama
Extend on my learning in math
Procrastinate less at home
I think I’ve been handling these goals pretty well and I can see clear improvement with all 3 goals. All 3 are goals I have to continue working on, but I think the first one needs more improvement.
TRANSDISCIPLINARY TRANSFER GOAL
The TTG I chose to reflect upon throughout the year is Effective Collaborator. The reason I chose this TTG was because in our school year, we have a lot of group projects, and I think it is important to do our best in being a team member in order to work effectively.
I think I worked effectively on the TTG. Experience from multiple group projects has supported my growth. For example: WW1 simulator, language arts scene.
I have a clear understanding of the material taught in class as suggested by my 3 for 3s.
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
Standard 4: Asking questions and defining problems
Standard 5: Using mathematics and computation thinking
Standard 6: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating information.
FOCUSED ON:
Standard 6: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating information.
Claim: Although I have shown consistency in standard 6, I have improved as a learner through the exercises completed and can apply standard 6 to more complicated topics. Evidence of Growth in Science Skills
My notebook was a helpful yet inconsistent tool throughout the year because there were times where my notes were not done fully, but other times where my notes were done well and helpful.
This is my piecewise function graph. I constructed a question on Spondgebob and the krabby patties he made. I think this piecewise function exercise gave me a lot of opportunities to practice writing linear functions and practice my function notation. I thought it was really fun, too, because we were able to construct our own fun question.
This is a sticker design I completed for the transformations unit. I created a skibidi toilet using all forms of transformations. I think this demonstrates my growth in math in a few ways. First, I think it shifted my view of how we can use math. I really enjoyed the process of making such an image, even though it was a lot of work. I also think it really extended my understanding of transformations, especially in dilations that are not on the origin. I had to explain and draw the whole process, and I think being able to understand that and articulate my work was really important.
How useful is my science notebook as a learning tool?
My notebook was a helpful yet inconsistent tool throughout the year because there were times where my notes were not done fully, but other times where my notes were done well and helpful.
This is a presentation I made for Inquiry into Interest at the start of the school year. This demonstrated my knowledge because I had to give a presentation about Philippines politics with very limited information I could read from on the screen. This was also a big factor of challenge for me, because I had to remember and articulate the information. I had quite some time to refine this artifact because knowing this was L4, I completed the L3 relatively quick and was able to already have that knowledge when applying it to the presentation. One feedback I got was the speed, because the audience noticed I spoke quite quickly, so now I focus on my pace which influences how comprehensible my presentation is. I think this artifact was a lot more refined in terms of organization and fluency of knowledge than my L3 because I had to know it more by heart than by writing it down. I learnt that I enjoyed studying history as well as politics. So I chose this artifact in order to represent my effort as well as my change in mindset when approaching presentations.
This is my WW1 final essay, and the topic I chose was “WW1’s Impact on Literature and Poetry in Europe”. I submitted this essay right before winter break, on December 17th. Through this essay, I learnt a lot about WW1 that I previously did not know, for example, why WW1 ended the glorification of war. I think this is also why the artifact demonstrates my knowledge, it not only shows in depth understanding of the topic that I previously did not know, but also the research I put into it. One of the challenges I faced was really on organization, knowing what to focus on and what to research on instead of going down a rabbit hole of unrelevant research. One feedback I recieved was that when I talked about modernism, there was a bigger impact that I didnt research into, and although I didn’t have time to edit it, it brought to my attention that there could be more added and to focus more on time management. I think this showed quite some contrast to my previous essays because I don’t think I’ve done such an in depth essay which is relevant to historical events, so I think this showed me an informative perspective of telling stories and essays that I found interesting. Therefore, I chose this artifact because I think it represents the depth of knowledge I could go into even when approaching essays and history.
CORE SUBJECT: LANGUAGE ART
This is an example of my reading writing passport which we have been working on throughout the whole school year. This piece is a fictional piece I wrote for quarter 3. The purpose of the reading writing passports was to make writing and reading something more common in our daily life and to increase stamina.
This is my essay on the moral dilemma: How Stories Illustrate the Reasons and Consequences of Self Entitlement. I got to choose this based on an experience we could witness in school. I was able to think deeply about dilemmas that I never really thought about before.
This is a letter I wrote in french this year on WWI. This demonstrates my growth because I can start connecting events and settings into writing an actual letter and relatively long paragraphs and sentences. This was something I think I improved at, although I still had grammatical mistakes, because I could use more accurate vocabulary and express more specifically.
Struggles: This time, I had to write a structured letter that aligned with my partner. That meant that there were a lot more criterias and boxes that I had to check. I had to use more specific vocabulary. One sentence I struggled with was “je déteste penser que tu peux aussi être blessé” because this sentence structure was more complicated than what I used to write.
Growth: I think that this was a good practice for me to write more complicated sentences and express my opinions more accurately. For example, I reused vocabulary like j’espere, ou armistice tres vite. This exercise helped me better understand the vocabulary and how to structure sentences as well as letters in french.
This is a conversation that Jadin and I ran last year. It was about health. Although it was scripted, I think this let us improve in our fluency as well as ability to run full conversations. It allowed me to reuse many vocab words related to health, such as casse, tombe, ou conseille. This conversation re-enforced my knowledge of vocabulary for health.
Struggle: One struggle was that most of the sentences were written on our own, and we had to figure out correct grammar as well as have a detailed and interesting response -> it was hard because although we tried to reuse vocabulary we learnt from the lesson, we also had to make complete sentences with words we didn’t know previously.
For example, one sentence was had was “Le première plus importante conseille, ne bouge pas trop ta jambe” but the correct grammar should’ve been “Le premier conseil le plus important”. -> although there still exists mistakes I recognized the mistakes so in the future I could improve.
We also struggled with our pronunciation and had to work on multiple recordings yet still had much room for improvement. I think this was something particular about this dialogue where I not only recorded my french, but an authentic conversation,
Growth: i think the struggle led to my growth, because it made me get a lot more used to constructing long sentences. I also recognized and learnt helpful vocabulary, like douleur ou pression.
One of my breakthroughs in PE was water polo. I’ve never played water polo before, and I wasn’t the best at swimming. I think it was nice that I had a chance to play water polo and give it a try. I think I improved in multiple aspects such as staying up
Teamwork:
I supported my team through working cooperatively, and trying to be a team player in sports even if I didn’t feel completely comfortable or confident with.
This is a portfolio post I made to an app. I demonstrated stamina in using an app for 7 days, and then reflecting on my usage of the app to see if it was effective in supporting my wellness goal. This was helpful in demonstrating for me how I can use technology effectively and use it to support me, additionally, how I can use technology to support me putting down my device.
REFLECTION:
In semester 1, the two strengths I think I demonstrated were:
Flora’s objective is to keep people focused, and believes that it’s not enough to just give a simply timer and a ‘ding’, instead, users would be more motivated when given a reward. You can set a timer, and if you quit the app before the timer goes off, you’ll “kill a plant”. Once you stay focused for the set time, you get a plant which is planted in your chosen setting.
An even more advanced or risky setting is when you save some money in there, and if you don’t finish the assigned time, you lose the money. This provides even more motivation for one to stay focused for the remainder of the time because theres more to lose than a plant you didn’t have previously.
DESIGN
This app is fairly simple, so it doesn’t add particular value yet I think it improves one’s mental health. Time off-screen is important, you need time to be in the moment and to be present, therefore, I believe this app that limits your ability to use your device is helpful. This app DOES NOT use addictive designs that we learnt in class. For example, it doesn’t include a factor of “unexpectable results added with a bit of certainty” which BF Skinner found in the pigeon experiment. I would say it also MINIMIZES your use of the “hot system” because of its calm design, putting your prefrontal cortisol in more power.
This includes ARTIFACTS of 7 days as well as functions. I had to include a link because I could not save the compressed version.
GLOWS: This APP has supported me in completing my WOOP goal, but it still requires self control that the APP doesn’t provide. It’s actually a good requirement for me because I don’t rush my pack up.
GROWS:
Overtime, this app is not especially appealing to use. Although it rewards you with a plant, there’s not much to do with that garden and the features are quite confusing. It doesn’t fulfill psychological pulls, like gratification towards the end
This app, therefore, can include more interesting and rewarding features TO DO with your plant. I also think that the app can include more set reminders, because currently its just a list of to-dos that you access only when you start the focus.
One advice I would give is to include some form of music or sound effect. I think this could have a positive effect because although it is not instant, this implements a better form of gratification towards the end.
Conclusion:
Overall, I believe Flora is a successful app to help people stay in the moment and out of their phones, especially with the urgency of killing a non-existent plant. I think there are edits that can be made to make it more appealing to use again and again, but at the end of the day, fighting addiction must come from within. You should use some of your own logic from the cold system to fight the hot system, and I believe Flora is a good tool to help you on that path.
Stress is a response from your brain when you feel perceived danger. Many parts of your brain, such as the amygdala and the hippocampus make up the limbic system, or the “emotional nervous system”. This is because the parts that make up your limbic systems have to do with your emotions or reactions. For example, the amygdala, which is responsible for handling emotions, or your hippocampus, which is responsible for memory and learning. When working together, these body parts help trigger emotional responses, or goes into FFF (Fight, Flight, Freeze) mode when they think something may cause a danger to you. This is your body’s natural response to danger. When you’re in a state of stress, cortisol is produced. It is your main stress hormone, and is essentially your alarm system. This hormone can affect your mood and reaction.
Your body also goes to FFF mode because you feel that you can’t act rationally, and you allow your emotions to take over. Therefore, your pre-frontal cortex is not in control or activated. Your prefrontal cortex develops as you grow, and when it matures, it supports you in acting and decision making.
There are ways you can gain control in a false FFF situation, though. That is called stress resilience. You build up your ability to fight stress and to be the one leading a stressful situation. First, you should recognize the difference between eustress and distress. Believe it or not, there are types of stress that can be good for you. eustress motivates you and pushes you, while distress worsens your emotions and makes it harder for you to work. When encountering a moment where you know it is distress, you can try mindfulness activities.
One way is to find your breath anchor. Your breath anchor is where you think, deep down, you can feel your breath the strongest. When you take a deep breath in, feel the presence of your breath. For me, my breath anchor is in my lungs and below my chest, that’s where I should reach when I take a deep breath. This activity can help you calm down.
It can also help to recognize thinking traps. These are negative thoughts and feelings that people often jump to under stress and make you feel worse. For example, when you eliminate the positive and say it doesn’t count. Or you fortune-tell before even doing and therefore don’t do it. It is important to recognize these thinking traps so you can gain back control.
In math class, we incorporated our knowledge about ratios and rates into a car race. The goal of the race was to use your estimated rate and get the closest ratio of estimated time to actual time and make it 1:1.
In the car race, we used our knowledge about rates and ratios to find the rate we were traveling at and the rate we should travel at to get the most accurate actual time. We found our rate by seconds per meter for our estimated time, and then tried to travel at that rate in order to get the actual time closer to our estimation. This was able to give us a better idea of how long we should travel at. If we could re-do this, I think we could’ve tested our trials more slowly because that is likely the pace we will be walking since we have to walk around 400 meters, not just the 30 meters we tested at. Therefore, the estimated time will more likely be similar to the time we will actually use because the speed is similar. We added units as seconds per meter. This is able to prevent us from getting confused while calculating and therefore getting an inaccurate prediction and throwing the actual time off.
The African Penguins are currently endangered because people have been stealing their nests. People have started stealing their guano in the mid-1800s because they thought it was a great fertiliser, but the African Penguins needed the guano. The guano was their nest, where they kept themselves and their babies away from the heat. This loss of habitat and nest caused their population to greatly declined, which resulted in African Penguins becoming endangered.
We are designing artificial nests to replace the nests that have been stolen. In order to do so, we had to test out the best insulator and use the knowledge about insulators that we had to make our own artificial nest to keep out heat. Through the cold cup challenge, we learned that thermal energy (heat) moved from hot to cold. This means that the best insulator, which is what we were trying to find, is able to minimize the amount of heat going into the nest because African Penguins need to be protected from the heat in Africa. When we’ve gotten the data of the best insulator, we used that knowledge to build our own artificial nest. The nest we made is able to protect the African Penguins from current heat they are facing, and protect their babies. This is able to increase their population by increasing mortality of their babies, but also keeping the grown African Penguins alive by protecting them from the over exposure of heat.
Through this project, we’ve learnt that because heat transfers from hot to cold, and that the best insulator is able to stop or decrease the amount of heat moving into the nest.
What is this assignment about: This is a performance task for the statistics unit and interpretation of graphs. We had to find graphs that supported the claim that McDonald’s food is quite healthy, and the graph had to be accurate.
What I think I did well on: I think I did well on the interpretation of graph. I think so because I found two graphs that I think would help and explained the reasoning with what the graph shows.
Room for improvement: An improvement I could make is first, analyzing more different types of graph as I just used box plot in this assignment. I think I could also improve on using moreof the design principles for example repetition.
Performance task v.s Test: I prefer the performance task because its quite interesting with some critical thinking, and, we can prove that we understand the skills needed through a real life situation.
CARP design principles: I think I incorporated certain CARP principles. I put my statistical question in red and bold to bring out that question. I also used a bright background for contrast to show my graphs which are on white boxes. I gave some space in between the two graphs so they weren’t almost touching or squished together. Finally. I changed up the alignment of the reasoning and graph so it wouldn’t feel to dull, or like reading a really long paragraph if they are next to each other.
In extended learning, we made a slide using CARP about us and who we are. I incorporated CARP in a few ways. First, I put white as my background with black and purple words on it to bring out the contrast. I also used white and black as the main colors to provide contrast, and used purple to bring out certain words or important icons. I aligned the things that represent me and put the same amount of space around them. I also aligned the introduction about me with my picture and my favorite book series. I used repetition to bring out the importance of each thing. For example, I repeated the microphone and cat to show that it was quite important . I didn’t repeat the debate icon on the bottom left to show that it was really important and different from the others. Finally, I put some space in between each row to add proximity to the different icons.
