Care for the Body – I determine what is right for me, in terms of weight and appearance, rather than letting my peers or the culture determine that for me
Healthy Relationships – I am able to resolve conflict in a productive way with family and friends. We are able to talk through conflict so that it does not continue
Handling Emotions – I have a solid and healthy sense of confidence in myself
Spirituality – I forgive others and I forgive myself
School and Work – I am confident that my use of social media, the internet, and video games has no negative impact on my school or work performance
Rest and Play – I truly enjoy my recreational involvement in activities at school, at my place of worship, in the community, or with other local organizations
Stress Resilience – When I have a problem, I take charge by creating a realistic plan and working to solve it
Organization – I organize my time and plan ahead to make sure that I allow enough time to get everything done
Throughout this unit, I’ve developed a better understanding of the different mental health conditions and how they can impact one’s life in various ways. My group project focused specifically on PTSD, exploring the symptoms, causes, myths and/or stigma, potential treatments, and the others are shown in the PDF below.
At first, I used to think that these types of mental health problems weren’t as serious as physical problems, as it is easy to cover up. But now I realized that because so many people in society ignore it, there will more detrimental effects in the long term.
When doing research, my group found that 5%-10% of people after trauma gets PTSD, which is a pretty large number when considering the world population. This disorder can also severely change the daily life of patients by influencing their ability to work, handle relationships, and even lead to memory loss.
This learning process also helped me recognize the importance of reaching out for help since it can help people receive treatments as soon as possible. When I listened to other groups’ presentations on the unique mental conditions, I found out that many of them are highly treatable, as long as the professionals/doctors can accurately diagnose the problem. Getting therapy is a crucial step of overcoming an obstacle and improving the overall health.
I also recognized how societal beliefs can impact one’s decision making on receiving treatment. There are a lot of myths or false claims that prevent patients from getting the right support. So, we should also raise awareness and inform others of the consequences to create a safe environment for these individuals.
In recent years, technology has integrated into our daily lives in many ways, shaping how we learn, work, and take care of our well-being. Wellness apps, when designed effectively, can help us build positive habits and stay motivated. The following image is a screenshot of my WOOP goal, which includes personal reflections, a reasonable/realistic goal, and the specific steps I’m taking to overcome challenges.
After reviewing my WOOP goal, I chose MyHomework (an app) to efficiently track my assignments.
MyHomework is a digital planner that helps students stay on top of schoolwork, set due dates, and organize tasks by subject.
Some of the basic/straightforward features are:
Assignment and test tracking
Calendar view for deadlines
Subject organization
Reminders for upcoming tasks
Syncing across multiple devices
Some of the more advanced features are:
Homework widgets for quick access
Class schedule management
Priority settings for tasks
The images below provide a detailed description of where to find key features within the app.
MyHomework supports my WOOP by providing a clear and easy-to-use system for keeping up with tasks, so I don’t waste time manually organizing my workload. This structured approach helps me reduce last-minute stress and gives me a greater sense of control, fostering healthy habits in the long run. Additionally, staying organized allows me to manage my schedule more efficiently, freeing up more time for physical activities.
Unlike addictive social media, MyHomework follows a humane design because it prioritizes productivity rather than capturing users’ attention. It avoids endless scrolling features, excessive notifications, and variable rewards as a “hook”, making it a valuable and trustworthy tool for teens to use to improve self-control and workflow management skills.
To sum up, consistently using MyHomework can help users develop essential skills, reduce stress, and boost productivity, supporting both academic success and overall well-being. Its user-friendly design makes it a reliable organizational system for people of all ages. I plan to continue using this app it to stay on track and achieve my goals.
Our brains shape the way we think, feel, and respond to the world around us. As we grow, different brain regions develop at different rates, influencing our emotions, decision-making, and reactions to stress. Understanding how the brain works can help us take down challenges more effectively, especially as teens when are brains are still maturing. By exploring key concepts related to brain development, emotions, and stress, we can have a better insight into how our thoughts and behaviors are connected.
1) Understanding of the Brain Development
The parts labeled in the image above represent some of the most important regions in the human brain. The amygdala, which reacts to fear, danger, and threats, plays a key role in setting off the FFF (fight, flight, or freeze) response to protect us. Meanwhile, the hippocampus acts as a strong vault of memory and learning, helping to process experiences and manage our responses. As we grow, the pre-frontal cortex, a center responsible for rational decision-making and stress regulation, gradually matures until age 25 (approximately), allowing for better emotional control and thoughtful responses to challenges.
2) Understanding of Emotions
Emotions play a powerful role in shaping our thoughts and behaviors, often being influenced by the limbic system, which includes the amygdala and hippocampus. The mood meter is a useful tool to help us recognize and reflect on our emotions, making it easier to make rational decisions. Staying calm and practicing mindfulness can help us reduce the negative impacts of thinking traps, like always considering the worst-case scenario, and build resilience in everyday events.
3) Understanding of Stress
Stress is a natural response that helps us stay alert and react to challenges when needed. Sometimes it’s beneficial to have a little pressure on oneself since it can improve productivity and quality of the work produced. However, the word “stress” may have a negative connotation, but it is important to realize that it’s only bad if there’s too much stress as it can overwhelm us and trigger responses that impact our well-being.
Of course, there are many coping strategies to deal with stress. A fairly doable one is the breathanchor, a technique that focuses on one’s breath. A lot of Youtube tutorials do a good job leading through these peaceful practices and the effects are pretty obvious. It can gradually lower one’s heart-rate and signals the nervous system to calm down, lowering cortisol levels and reducing distress. It can also improve focus and awareness and promotes physical relaxation.
In conclusion, by understanding how our brain works and how emotions influence our thoughts and behaviors, we can make better decisions and handle stress more effectively. Start applying some techniques to your daily life to build resilience and improve your well-being!
I can develop a model of the Earth, Sun, Moon, system to describe seasons, moon phases, and eclipses.
Guiding question: Why is it colder in Winter than in Summer?
Answer: Seasons occur because of Earth’s tilt and its revolution around the Sun. The northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere have opposite seasons. We are in the northern hemisphere, so in our Summer, the northern part of the Earth is tilted toward the sun. So therefore, we get direct sunlight, which causes warmer temperatures. While in Winter, we get indirect sunlight, which causes colder temperatures because the the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun.
We made ice cream in Science class. We used milk, sugar, vanilla, ice, and salt. We first poured milk, sugar, and vanilla into a small bag. Then we put the ice, salt and the small bag into a bigger bag. Salt makes ice melt faster, so it absorbs heat from the liquid inside. When we shake the bag, it makes ice melt even faster. We know that heat moves from warm to cold, so when ice melts, heat transfer from the liquid to the ice which turns the liquid into ice cream!
Our main ingredient is milk. Before turning it into ice cream, it is a liquid. As we remove thermal energy (heat), the temperature decreased, and the state changed from a liquid to a solid. The particles in it moved slower and the spacing between them where smaller too.
We used rates and ratios for this project by predicting the time it would take us (all 4 teammates) to complete the track. Our goal is to finish the track in our predicted time. If I could re-do this project, I would walk even more slowly because the first person went to fast, and the second person thought that they were going slower but was still very fast. So the fourth person and I have to walk extra slow to make up for the time. We can’t really remember the pace we walked in when we were collecting the data and we don’t have a stop watch to keep track, so it’s pretty hard. We used meters per second as the unit during our time trial. The units are very important because it’s very precise and a little change in the unit can mess up our whole trial. If we didn’t include units, then we would get confused with the data and it would end up in a huge mess.
We are supposed to defend for McDonald’s sandwiches and state that their sandwiches are the healthiest compared to the other sandwiches. We also need to use CARP for our design.
I chose the graphs by appearance, like color and also which one is the most useful for defending the McDonalds. For example, most people want to eat sandwiches that have calories that are lower than most of the other sandwiches, which they think are healthy.
I think I did well at showing the audience where McDonald sandwiches’ calories are on a graph when compared to the other sandwiches, which is pretty low.
I think I can improve on explaining the graphs by using mathematical words like first quartile, third quartile and so on.
I used the Repetition in CARP by repeating the McDonald sign over and over again as a border.
In science, we are learning about endangered animals. We all have to pick an endangered animal to do research on. I chose the Black Rhino, which are critically endangered. They mostly live in Semi-Deserts Savannah, Woodlands, Wetlands, Forests. They are killed because of their horns, which can be used as medicine. We can save them by buying less rhino horn products. And also by putting them in Wildlife centers so poachers won’t be able to kill them. We can protect the environment by using more sustainable resources so they can live in a cleaner and more healthier place.
Creating a portfolio, or blog is a great way to collect all the work you’ve done throughout your academic career. You can include academic, athletic, and personal artifacts or experiences that you want to share with a wider audience. This is a great way to organize all your learning in one place and you can take it with you when you leave SAS. When you make your portfolio, you create posts that are categorized according to your subject. Some categories have already been set up for you, but if you need more categories you can add them as needed. It’s important that your posts have the following:
An engaging title – this should not include the name of the subject since this is referenced in the category. Think of this as the first opportunity to engage and hook your reader!
Body – this is where you share your learning. This should include a combination of text and media in the form of images, graphics, and embedded videos. You should always consider how your post looks to your audience. Is it engaging and organized? Do they want to keep reading?
Category – select one that has been set for you or add a new category. Posts can have more than one category e.g. Humanities and Myself as a Learner
Tags – create tags that can be used as keywords to describe your post. Tags help organize your post a little more! Aim to have 3-5 tags for each post. For example, if you are posting about a novel you wrote, you might want the following tags: #Fiction, #MurderMystery, #Theme, #PlotDiagram
Click on the images below to find a few helpful tips for creating your posts, adding media, and making categories:
