Introduction For my second WOOP goal, I chose to focus on building stress resilience. This wish stems from my realization that I often adopt a closed mindset, believing that “academics is everything.” While academic success is important, I’ve noticed that relentlessly pushing myself in areas that aren’t my strengths or passions can harm my mental health and divert me from more meaningful pursuits. My goal is to cultivate a more open-minded attitude toward unmet expectations, which I believe will significantly reduce my stress levels.
Examples and Evidence Currently, I struggle with self pressure to excel academically, even when it comes at the expense of my well-being. For instance, I compare myself to peers who prioritize grades above all else, which makes me really anxious. By changing my mindset, I hope that I can accept my weaknesses and focus more on my passions rather than perfection in every area. Achieving this will allow me to feel more confident in my abilities and happier overall.
Obstacles and Challenges One major obstacle is peer pressure. Many of my friends and classmates dedicate immense effort to academics, creating an environment where I feel compelled to meet the same standards. This external pressure often overshadows my internal needs, making it difficult to prioritize balance. To overcome this, I plan to remind myself that success is subjective and that my well-being matters just as much as my grades.
Conclusion Reflecting on this goal, I recognize that my wish to reduce stress connects to my values of happiness and self-acceptance. By acknowledging the challenges, like peer pressure, and taking proactive steps to address them, I can create a healthier relationship with academics. Ultimately, this journey will help me focus on what truly matters, leading to a more fulfilling and balanced life.
In this unit, we explored how technology affects our physical, mental, and social well-being. We discussed important topics like stigma, addiction, and the influence of social media, which helped me understand both the benefits and risks of technology in our lives.
Stigma
One key takeaway was how technology can contribute to stigma, particularly regarding mental health. While social media raises awareness, it can also spread misinformation or judgmental attitudes. For example, people may face cyberbullying or feel ashamed to seek help due to fear of being judged online. Lady Gaga is one of the victims. Stigma also portrays false information or reinforce stereotypes of illness like Bipolar Disorder (portraying them as psychopaths through movies, news, or just false judgements). However, technology also provides support through anonymous forums, mental health apps, and educational resources that reduce stigma by promoting understanding.
Impact
Another important topic we discussed was how social media influencers reinforces harmful stereotypes about body image. Boys and girls face different but equally damaging expectations.
For boys, there’s this constant message that you need to be muscular and go to the gym to be “manly.” You can see this all the time by fitness influencers, video game characters, and even memes make it seem like if you’re not muscular, you’re not good enough. It’s not just about being healthy; it’s about looking a certain way, and that can make guys feel insecure or even lead to dangerous habits like using steroids.
For girls, the pressure is different but just as bad. Social media is full of edited photos, filters, and ads telling girls they need to be skinny and perfect. There are so many posts about diets and “ideal” bodies that it’s easy to start feeling like you’re not pretty enough. Some girls end up skipping meals or feeling bad about themselves because they compare their real lives to fake online images.
Final Project
In our final project, our group was assigned to research an disorder, and we chose PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). We made a presentation about it, exploring different aspects including symptoms and stigma. Throughout the research process, we learned a lot about the myths and stereotypes about this disorder, and learned that what we used to think about PTSD is actually wrong or not representative of this illness. Researching PTSD not only taught me more knowledge of this disorder but also proved that stigma and media is something that is affecting everyday, and you might not even notice.
Overall, this unit taught me that technology is a powerful tool, but we have to use it wisely. It’s important to question what we see online, take breaks from screens, and remember that real life isn’t as “perfect” as social media makes it seem. I’m going to try to be more mindful of my tech habits and focus on being healthy instead of trying to meet unrealistic standards.
I have always been an active learner in science during this semester by always turning in homework on time and never had any conversation with Mr Tafel about homework completion as supported by the document above. This can be also seen through my semester 1 report card grade where I earned an exceeding for active learner in science.
Evidence of Understanding Key Concepts:
This is a screenshot of all the in class short quizzes that we took in class during our first semester called the 3 for 3s. The 3 for 3s are a way to check our understanding of class by giving us three questions of those key concepts. As shown below, I earned a 3 on the 3 for 3 (full score) for each quiz and only a little 2s on these quizzes. Therefore, although I can still improve, I have a solid understanding of what’s going on in class.
Evidence of Growth in Science Skills:
The Six Standards in Grade 8 Science:
Developing Using Models
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Engaging in Argument from Evidence
Asking Questions and Defining Problems
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Language Arts:
In Language Arts, we had 4 units so far: Writing Fictional Stories, Analytical Essays, Public Speaking, and writing and analyzing research papers.
Unit 1:
In this unit, we were split into groups and we have to use AI to generate a long fiction story. Our story, Life on the Edge: The Oxygen Equation, is about Zac lost in a oxygen limited planet, fighting the evil oxygen boss Maxmillian to change people’s life. Our group won the best overall story in both red and gold for the final challenge in our block.
Unit 2:
In unit two, we had to draft our own analytical essay about an ethical dilemma through searching evidence in physical book excerpts.
These are the COLs we took during this school year that I got above meeting on.
Areas of Growth:
Being careful and critical with L4 questions
These are some of the L4 questions that I missed this school year.
Orchestra:
Strengths:
Ensemble (Blending in, sounds good).
Reflective Learner
Composition (Being creative, composing with different instruments).
Orchestra Ensemble Video
“The Magical Forest”, composed by Tiffany Qi in December 2024, is a short composition in the key of C major that captures the serene beauty of a sunrise in a tranquil forest. The piece is structured in six parts and features a diverse ensemble of instruments: flute, glockenspiel, marimba, harp, triangle, and finger snap. fluid and peaceful line that embodies the joyfulness of a new day. As the sun rises higher, the dynamics of the melody gradually increase, reflecting the growing warmth and light of the morning. Accompanying the flute, the glockenspiel adds bright, delicate notes that depict little animals awakening from their dreams. The harp enriches the texture, representing the layered colors of the sunrise, while the triangle’s gentle “cling” evokes the image of flowers blooming one by one. A subtle finger snap punctuates the space between notes, mimicking the sound of water droplets falling in the nearby pond. The piece begins with a slow tempo of Adagio, gradually shifting to Moderato, paralleling the spreading sunlight that awakens the forest.
Areas of Growth:
Playing in tune
Rhythms
Physical Education
I improved a lot in PE this year because I attended more activities outside of school. This year, I joined CISSA table tennis and during the CRE I won first pace for the girls singles. I also attended badminton class outside of school.
Due to these activities, I improved my strength, agility, and my stamina. For example, during the volleyball unit, I earned a meeting + in receiving the ball (which requires strength and flexibility), even though I’ve never played volleyball before.
In addition to the volleyball unit, I’ve also earned a 3.5 in floor hockey and an exceeding in pickle ball.
French
I feel like I have a lot to improve for French especially my grammar. As shown below, I haven’t been earning meetings for writing in my French class due to grammar issues. In addition, I have an approaching on my semester 1 report card for orals (speaking). Therefore, I feel like there are still room for improvement.
Grades on Schoology for French:
However, it doesn’t mean that I haven’t improved from 7th grade. In 8th grade, we learned a lot of new grammar and sentence structures, such as past tense and imperatives (giving commands). These are all structures that I’ve never learned in 7th grade. Through home works and outside tools such as Duolingo, I basically know how those grammar works, it’s just hard for me to remember them when I’m speaking. Moreover, my vocabulary has also improved through Quizlet practices and in class writings. As a result, I have faith in myself that I will not fail French in High school.
Here are some artifacts that earned good grades:
Pronunciation of French Letter in World War 1.
The Letter I wrote from a World War 1 French Soldier’s Perspective.
Design Technology
One of our main project in DT this year is the tissue box project. We have to craft a tissue box using tools such as Inkscape and laser cutter to create our product. Our tissue box’s design is based on an art movement that we’re assigned to, and we have to design it on our own.
The art movement that I got is Modernism, and here are the requirements:
Based on the requirements, I have to design at least three possible design ideas for my tissue box on a graphing paper. Here are all of my designs:
All my designs were approved by Mr. Hatt.
This is my final Deisgn:
In order for me to laser cut, I have to first inkscape my design:
Final Inkscape:
Then, I have to put my box together once it’s laser cut. I’ve attempted twice on the laser cutting, because I failed the first time. My box had pieces broken and pieces that didn’t fit. I fixed the problems by re-inkscaping it. It’s a confusing process.
Here is my final product and its process:
As you may have noticed if you examine carefully, the corners doesn’t touch and I only found out 2 days before the due date, so I had no time to change my measurements and possibly waste more materials, therefore, I just taped my whole box together from the inside. It still turned out pretty neat.
Process photos and evaluation of success:
Although the measurements isn’t correct, I still got a 3 for my final product due to my fantastic design skills and the effort I put in for this project. I just hoped that I could’ve gotten an exceeding, but the measurement mistake made it unreachable.
Here is my final Evaluation of Success:
I am done with my box. My design movement is Modernism, and out of the 10 people I asked, the majority said that it looked like modernism. However, during the process of making the box I experienced some challenges. For example, the first time I tried laser cutting my boxes, I made a mistake in my Inkscape, therefore causing a fail in my laser cutting. However, there are still pieces that I could use from my first try. On the second try of laser cutting, I successfully cutted everything (all the sides), but the top of my box had the wrong dimensions, so I had to re-laser cut my top. After trying to put together my box, I found out another problem: after changing my dimensions of the top of my box, it turned out that it caused all my other sides to not touch each other in a correct way when ensemble together (See Picture one on the next page). Since the sides don’t touch, I can’t use glue to put together the box, so I decided to use tape to assemble the box from the inside (so you can’t spot the tape of the outside). Therefore, although I have a overall good-looking tissue box, it’s not perfect. Despite of those mistakes, my tissue box still functions as a tissue box.
Another unit we did was robotics. We had to code our robots and work through different challenges. However, there wasn’t any recordings of those challenges, but our group still earned a meeting for the challenges.
Here is a photo of our robot:
Here is a photo of our code:
Overall, I think that DT is an interesting course. Although I’m not taking it next year, but I feel like I have improved my designing and coding skills by taking this course. There are still room for improvement in my coding (because my partner did most of the coding), but I think that I’ve improved form last year’s projects.
Health
There are 2 main units in Health that we’ve gone through this semester:
Unit 1 – Psychology and Stress
Unit 2 – Tech, Media, and Mental Health
Unit 1:
In this unit, we’ve been exploring the psychology of stress and learned about various ways to cope with stress.
Stress is triggered when your body responds to potential danger, and these danger can be separated into two groups: FFF and False FFF. FFF is when you actually experience something dangerous, for example, the airplane your on is about to crash, your house is on fire, there’s an earthquake etc…While False FFF is when you are in a safe condition, but you feel stressed due to other factors such as your homework is due tomorrow and you didn’t start yet, public speaking in front of the whole class, going to a new school etc…You’re not actually experiencing something dangerous that could harm your body.
In addition, we learned that there are usually three different ways to react to stress: Freeze, Fight, and Flight. Freeze is when you stop thinking and your whole body stops moving after experiencing from stress. Fight is when you rebut against stress, for example, if your parents are stressing you out about academics, you argue back. Flight is when you run away from stress, for example, if you are about to perform in front of the whole school you run away.
As a result, it is important for us to find ways that helps us to cope with stress. During our unit project, me and my partner Shelley discovered a new way to cope with stress: eating nutritions. A balanced diet can support a healthy immune system and the repair of damaged cells. It provides the extra energy needed to cope with stressful events. Study shows that certain foods including omega-3 fats and vegetables may help to regulate cortisol levels and reduce the amount of stress you experience. We can practice this strategy by making healthy snacks for our body regularly such as sushi rolls and oatmeal with greek yogurt.
Therefore, in our presentation, we bought in sushi rolls for the whole class to practice eating healthy food:
In conclusion, we learned about stress and how to handle it. Stress can come from real dangers or from worrying about things that aren’t dangerous. We react to stress by freezing, fighting, or running away. One great way to cope with stress is by eating healthy foods. Eating nutritious snacks, like sushi rolls and oatmeal, can help our bodies feel better and manage stress. This will help us be happier and healthier overall.
Unit 2:
In this unit, we learned about how technology can impact our mental health. By looking at different experiments from past psychologists, I learned that overuse of technology such as social media can harm our mental health, because it’s addictive.
In addition to researching how technology can harm our mental health, we’ve also explored apps that might help our mental health.
Passion Project is an opportunity for students to explore their passions. My passion project this year combines my passion for art and my passion for anime. During presentation day, I’m going to fill out a drawing base live using characters in either games, anime, or manga provided by other students. I’m also going to display some of the art that I created that relates to anime. The purpose of my project is present my passion to other students and to take a break from academics and spend a day working on my passion.
An example of a drawing base that I’ve filled in before:
Some drawing that I’ve made so far:
A collection of Anime Arts that I’ve done in the past few months
During this unit, we set a goal for us to complete relating to the category of the mindfulness compass that we need to work on the most. We have to then find an app that can support us to achieve that goal.
My Goal: Respond to changes in my life with a positive attitude for building resilience against stress.
My Woop Goal Sheet:
The APP: Daily Bean 🫛
How it helps:
Daily Bean is an app that records little things in our daily life. It can record our emotions, hobbies, what we did everyday, and upload images of our day. Daily bean also has Fortune cookies, where you can click on the icon and open to get a short phrase that will make you happy. Using daily bean can me achieve my goal because I can record my emotions and feelings/respond to changes on daily bean, and it is a great way to let out my stress, therefore, it will help me build an open mindset.
Here is a quick tutorial:
Open Daily Bean:
Click on today’s date:
Record:
Click Save:
Now you have your day recorded!
If you didn’t find a description that describes your day, do the following:
Click on the setting button on the top right corner:
Choose your icon:
Now you have a new description!
Other tools:
The Fortune cookie:
Click on the fortune cookie button on the top right corner of your main menu.
Press it.
Open it.
Today’s fortune: ” Treat yourself as kindly as you treat others.” 😄
Statistics Page:
The Statistics page is the page where it analyzes your mood for the past days and provide some useful statistics of how you feel.
In conclusion, Daily Bean is a healthy app that improves my mental health in different ways. By using Daily Bean, I have a clearer understanding of myself and it made me respond to sudden changes of my life more positively by letting record all my emotions inside. To wrap up, here is some evidence of me using daily bean for the past 7 days:
In this unit, we’ve been exploring the psychology of stress and learned about various ways to cope with stress.
Stress is triggered when your body responds to potential danger, and these danger can be separated into two groups: FFF and False FFF. FFF is when you actually experience something dangerous, for example, the airplane your on is about to crash, your house is on fire, there’s an earthquake etc…While False FFF is when you are in a safe condition, but you feel stressed due to other factors such as your homework is due tomorrow and you didn’t start yet, public speaking in front of the whole class, going to a new school etc…You’re not actually experiencing something dangerous that could harm your body.
In addition, we learned that there are usually three different ways to react to stress: Freeze, Fight, and Flight. Freeze is when you stop thinking and your whole body stops moving after experiencing from stress. Fight is when you rebut against stress, for example, if your parents are stressing you out about academics, you argue back. Flight is when you run away from stress, for example, if you are about to perform in front of the whole school you run away.
As a result, it is important for us to find ways that helps us to cope with stress. During our unit project, me and my partner Shelley discovered a new way to cope with stress: eating nutritions. A balanced diet can support a healthy immune system and the repair of damaged cells. It provides the extra energy needed to cope with stressful events. Study shows that certain foods including omega-3 fats and vegetables may help to regulate cortisol levels and reduce the amount of stress you experience. We can practice this strategy by making healthy snacks for our body regularly such as sushi rolls and oatmeal with greek yogurt.
In conclusion, we learned about stress and how to handle it. Stress can come from real dangers or from worrying about things that aren’t dangerous. We react to stress by freezing, fighting, or running away. One great way to cope with stress is by eating healthy foods. Eating nutritious snacks, like sushi rolls and oatmeal, can help our bodies feel better and manage stress. This will help us be happier and healthier overall.
1. We caculated the ratio of the predicted time to the actual time, and we caculated rates.
2. I will speed up during the time trial because we walked really slow to control the time.
3. We used minutes and seconds. The units is important because if you didn’t add units it could be hours, days, months, so it will be confusing to identify the time we predicted if we didn’t write the units. If any group didn’t include units, they might spend hours on the race.
I think I did well on the design and making the statistical question and claim clear. I think I can improve on making the font better. I can also improve selecting graphs.
Contrast: Because my photo of myself has a darker background so my background of my “About Me” is lighter to create a contrast. I also made the shapes I added lighter than the background to make my text clearer and to see.
Alignment: I made the two text boxes diagonally so it looks better.
Repetition: I repeated colors so that there’s not too much colors, because too much colors will make it look messy and not in one category.
Proximity: I put everything close together so most of the things are grouped together, so it’s easier to see.
