Eric's Portfolio

My wellness compass statement for my second woop goal states, “I am able to resolve conflicts in a productive way with families and friends.” We are able to talk through conflicts so that it will not continue

My wish is to handle conflicts calmly, leading to peaceful outcomes. I believe this will enhance my communication skills and strengthen my relationships. However, I face obstacles like my anger, poor communication, and negative influence of social media. I chose this goal to strengthen friendships, improve emotional growth, and handle conflicts better in school and family situations.

To achieve my goal, I planned to practice mindfulness daily through meditation and self-reflection. This helped me manage my emotions. Additionally, I planned to engage in open communication, sharing with emotions and thoughts to trusted adults. Over time, this method enhanced my emotional regulation skills and the ability to manage my emotions when faced difficult situations.

In this health unit, our group explored eating disorders. At first, I thought that mental disorders were mostly incurable. However, through our research and various presentations, I learned that many mental health issues, including eating disorders, can be treated effectively. 

Our group focused on eating disorders, discovering that about 9% of the U.S. population. around 30 million Americans will experience one in their lifetime. There are multiple types of eating disorders, but our group decided to focus on three. 

1. Anorexia Nervosa: This involves an intense fear of gaining weight, resulting in avoiding meals 

2. Bulimia Nervosa: This includes eating large amounts of food, followed by puking to avoid weight gain. 

3. Binge Eating Disorder: This is characterized by eating a lot of food quickly, often followed by feelings of guilt and shame. 

I used to believe that eating disorders only affected people physically. However, this project showed me that they can also have serious mental health effects. Many individuals may suffer from depression and even have suicidal thoughts if they do not receive proper treatment. 

By the end of this unit and after seeing all the presentations, I gained a better understanding of how serious mental health disorders are. I can distinguish stigmas and common misunderstandings of the eating disorders. I learned that each disorder has its own unique impact on individuals, highlighting the need for awareness, empathy, and treatment. 

by eric

Throughout this unit, we explored multiple aspects of our brain and how it builds stress resilience. We learned that our amygdala, a part of our brain associated with emotional processes, is triggered when we face danger. The amygdala activates this fight, flight, freeze, response without our initiative. When our brain senses danger, the amygdala takes over our brain and warns us of the danger. Then, the prefrontal- cortex is activated and we give some sort of response to the situation.

Another thing we focused on in health class was building stress resilience, we learned different strategies to handle stress, and our emotions when faced with difficult situations. There are two types of stress, eustress and distress. Eustress, also called positive stress, is a type of stress where we aren’t actually in danger, it’s a type of stress that can have a beneficial effect on the body and mind, an example of that is when we’re on a scary date, or when we’re giving a speech in front of the entire grade. While eustress can be beneficial, it can still lead to stress if perceived as overwhelming. On the other hand, distress is often more severe and is linked to situations where we feel a lack of control and see the stressor as a threat, an example of this could be a divorce, or losing a job. To manage our emotions and build stress resilience, we can do simple things such as practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness is a type of meditation where we focus on this moment and practice breathing strategies to calm down and relax.

In 6th grade, we created a model for our science project. We are answering our guiding question why is it colder in the winter and hotter in the summer? So, earth is tilted at a 23.5 degree. The northern hemisphere is at the top, and the southern hemisphere is at the bottom. When earth is tilted toward the sun,  the northern hemisphere is receiving direct sunlight, so it is summer. On the other hand, the southern hemisphere is receiving indirect sunlight. Since the tilt doesn’t change, when the earth rotates, the seasons also change.

Today in science, we made ice cream. We learned that, when we freeze the milk, we are decreasing the thermal energy, and kinetic energy. Also, when its getting cold, the spacing, and speed for the particles also decrease.

https://www.thinglink.com/card/1669930076931620866

I am proud of my science project.

Why have a digital portfolio at SAS?

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: