Studying- It Pays Off!

In math class, we have had three quizzes.  The first one, I had a decent performance.  On the second one, I was unhappy with my final grade.  On the most recent one, I got a grade that I was very happy with.  I owe my good grade to something that I have always dreaded.  Studying.
The weekend before the quiz, my mom asked me how I was doing in this unit.  I told her that I was doing fine, which was the truth.  She nodded, but told me that I should study.  Grudgingly, I walked to my room and grabbed my studying untensils and brought them out to the kitchen table, where I found my dad working on his computor.  He volunteered to help me study and I willingly took his offer.  First, we made a list of things that I needed to study by looking on Veracross.  Then, my dad organized the topics with time.  For example, study mean for ten minutes, median for ten and so on.  And so, for the next hour of so, I studied.  Every so often, I asked my dad questions for clarification and he would check my answers.  The next day, I was prepared and confident going into the quiz.

When we got the results, I was overjoyed with my grade.  I looked at my mistakes with my tutor and corrected them.  I realized that both of my mistakes were really things that I just had to look over my quiz again.  So, for my next quiz, I will definitly study hard-  it pays off!

How Long Can You Expect to Live And Why?

In geography, we have been making infographics on a website called Piktochart.  We had to select 3 countries, research their life expectancies and then turn it into an infographic.  My three countries are Belgium, French Guiana, and Panama.  Their life expectencies are the following:
Belgium:  Male:  76.76  Female:  83.22
French Guiana:  Male:  78.55  Female:  84.91
Panama:  Male:  75.51  Female:  81.22
After researching and creating our infographic, Mr. J has challenged us with the following question- "Why do your countries have different live expectancies?"

Well, the health care rankings in my countries are rated completely differently.  France is rated first, Belgium 21st, and Panama 95th.  (According to WHO, or the World Health Organization.)  This means that the French have medical attention whenever needed and have proper vaccines, medicines and doctors know how to perform surgury if needed.  In Belgium, the healthcare is also very good, but it may not be as organized or they might not have certain vaccines.  Being rated 95th in world healthcare, Panama may not have very good emergency health care services or maybe surgeons are not availible or are not trained that well.  Therefore, Panama's people might live with injuries shortening their life.  Crime may be another factor as well.  According to OSAC, in France and Belgium, the crimes are generally non-violent, consisting of pick-pocketing and burglary.  Obviously, people's live's are in less risk.  In Panama, however, "crime rates are higher than one would encounter in most of the United States," writes OSAC.  In 2009, 800 murders were recorded. This cuts people's lives short, therefore lessening their life expectancies.  

I think that this topic is extremly interesting and this question is one in which I enjoyed answering very much!

Norse Myths and Greek Myths- The Differences And Similarities

In humanities, we have been learning about Greek gods and goddesses.  We had a chart where we collected information about all the myths.  We had to notate character traits, morals, and we had to observe the civilization through GRAPES.  (Geography, religion, achievements, economics, and social structures.)  Then, Mr. J had us each choose a god or goddess.  I chose Selene, minor goddess of the moon.  We then were given a small card in which we had to write information about the god, for example-

• Who are they related to?
• Why are they worshipped?
• Quotes by god or about god
• Moral of the story

Then, we were assigned to read three non Greek myths.  I read three myths, two Norse, the other Brazilian.  The Brazilian one that I read was called The Creation of Night.  I found Norse myths to be extremely interesting, so I read two, one entitled Twilight of The Gods and the other The Creation of Thor's Hammer.  In both, the main character in the mischiveous Loki.  My favorite was The Creation of Thor's Hammer.

In the Greek myth, Selene is the protagonist.  She is gentle and kind and worshipped.  She is the goddess of the moon, thus the sister of Helios, the Sun.  On one of her nightly rounds, her gaze falls upon the sleeping Endymion.  She wishes eternal sleep to him so that she can always watch him.  Loki, however uses his time for things other than love.  He enjoys causing trouble for the other gods.  They are different because where Selene is looking for love, Loki is looking to cause some mischef.  For example, in The Creation of Thor's Hammer, Loki decided to cut off Sif, Thor's wife's hair.  Or, when Selene pleads Zeus for eternal sleep for her love, Loki bets his head on the fact that the two expert metal-workers Brokkr and Sindri cannot fashion creations as good as Ivaldi's sons had fashioned.

I think that these two myths were both written for entertainment and so that you can learn something at the end of it.  I think that both of the myths were entertaining, I did not find them boring.  I also think that we were meant to learn a lesson.  For example, what I got out of Selene's myth was that you should always think your decisions through.  With Loki's myth of the other hand, I thought that the moral was to know when enough is enough.  

I have been enjoying this unit so much because I had never thought to look at the under currents of myths.  It has given me a new perspective on stories.
Student Led Conference Reflection

This is my card of Selene

Looking Back to The Three Gorges Dam Essay

1) What is your artifact?

This artifact is my Three Gorges Dam Essay.  

2)  What is The Three Gorges Dam?  Why is it controversial?

The Three Gorges Dam is a dam located in Southern China on the Yangtze river.  It was made because the Yangtze was growing extremely wild and would many times

flood, taking lives.  The dam now provides one-ninth of the nation’s energy and keeps the river from flooding.  The dam did not come alone.  Worldwide controversy rapidly spread after the building of the dam. There were many valid arguments, for or against the dam. The dam is controversial because there are so many pros and cons about the dam.  Some people for the dam argue that it generates a lot of energy, prevents flooding and transportation is safe.  Those against the dam may argue about the 1.13 million who were displaced, the money spent and the relocation programs that were inefficient to those who needed it.   

3)  What is an argumentative essay?

An argumentative essay is an essay that argues a claim with 3 fact-based arguments that support your claim.  Your goal in writing an argumentative essay is to argue against people who disagree with your claim.

4)  What is your essay’s claim?

My essay’s claim was that the Three Gorges Dam should not have been built.  

5)  What process did you go through to complete your essay?
Well, first of all, we looked at videos and read articles about the Three Gorges Dam.  Then, we chose what side we would take on the issue.  (For or against the dam)  Then, based on the information, you would choose your arguments and find evidence that would support that your argument.  Then, you would piece together the puzzle by writing the essay.  Finally, we would do our introduction and our conclusion and proof-read.

6)  What was one specific area where you demonstrated success?

I was particularly proud in getting a 4 in “Central claim is well-supported by textual evidence.  Use of relevant evidence is sustained throughout the entire analysis.

The core reasoning follows from evidence.”  It was one of my original struggles that I was able to overcome.

7)  What was one challenge of writing the argumentative essay?

I was challenged by making all of my paragraphs melt together, to become one.  Originally, all of my paragraphs were stacked together like bricks, but once I found the cement to put between them, the essay fit together.

8)  If you could rewrite this essay, what would you do differently?

I would try to make my conclusion more detailed.  During revisions and edits, I could not think of a particularly “good” ending, but then, after we looked at the essay again, the ending just clicked in my mind.

9)  Comparing your argumentative essay for the common writing assessment last quarter to this one, where are some areas where you see growth?

In fifth grade, to finish fourth quarter, we did our persuasive essays, and I implied everything I had basically learned from there into the first argumentative essay, not realizing that the two were different, but there are quite a few differences.  

10)  What core values does this relate to and why?

I think that the core values that this essay relates to would be:

• Critical Thinker because you had to think about the dam from two different perspectives before your could choose what side you would take.
• Curious because you needed to try and find information that had not been used in class so that your essay stood out.
• Communicator because you had to communicate your ideas into your essay in a way that made sense.
• Persevering because you had to find evidence that supported your claim, you had to proofread, edit when something was wrong.  It was a long process.
• Risk Taker because you had to think of new evidence that supported your claim, that made sense, even if nobody else was using it.  

My Essay 

Our debate in preparation for the essay.  

...Until You Get it Right

An elective I do is band, and I play the trombone.  I really enjoy this instrument because it has taught me to persevere through things.  I have been struggling with SmartMusic assignemnts, but I practice the song assigned and I am able to do it.  I have learned that I need to persevere through things that I would normally have trouble with and give up on.   

I have attatched a MP3 of me playing an assignment that I had trouble with.  I had done a few takes until I got a score that I was proud of.  There were many things that I am happy with.  For example, the slurs, that I usually have trouble with, and reading the notes nd playing them correctly.  I hope that you enjoy this video as much as me!

Man on The Flying Trapeze 

Core Values

1)  Considering these artifacts, in which of the core values have you shown the most success?

I think that I have been the most successful in being a communicator, because I have been better and conveying my ideas into projects and essays in a coherent way.   

2) Thinking back to our first Student Led Conference, in which of the core values have you demonstrated the most progress or growth?  Why?

I remember last Student Led Conference I wanted to be much more of a communicator, and now, I have realized I am much more of one.  I have always explained my thinking in a way that others can understand it.  I know that I have also become more of a communicator when I am talking.  I always used to studder and say nevermind, and now I do not as often.

3)  Which core value is most challenging for you?  Why?

I have found that risk taking is an ongoing challenge for me.  I want to think of an attack plan for fourth quarter and seventh grade that will help me become more of a risk taker.   

4)  How has your thinking / performance changed since first semester?

I have persevered through many more things this semester.  In the first semester, my mindset was saying “I can’t, I am blocking this out, I can’t do it..”  But now, I have improved and I understand how to make myself know that “this is what I have to do, and this is what I will do.”  I try think everyday “I can, I will, and that is it.”  

Metacogntion Project Reflection

In math, we have been working on our iPads to complete a project about metacognition.  Metacognition is thinking about your thinking and listening to the voice inside of you that asks "Why am I doing this?'  I have found it very interesting because we were always aware of the fact that there were voices in my head that I had never really thought about or noticed.  My inner voice usually says asks me why I am doing what I am doing.  I think that reflecting on my thinking helped me as a mathematician because I was able to speak out loud and before I did something.  As a mathematician, I have learned that I need to talk to myself when I am solving a problem.  I have also become more aware during other subjects.  For example, when I am writing, I now think "what is the pupose of this sentence?" or "will this help improve my writing peice later on?"  I really enjoyed this entire process because I feel I have become a better mathematician.

Lendas

Na aula de português, nós tinhamos uma projeto de lendas.  Nós escolhermos uma lenda na Lower School Library.  Depois, tivemos que contar e ouvir lendas diferentes dos nossos colegas.  Quando nós ouvimos todos deles, você tinha que escolher a sua lenda preferida que você quer usar para o projeto.  Depois, tivemos que estudar sobre nossa historia e sobre a estrutura de uma lenda.  Quando terminamos a primeira versão do nosso texto, tivemos que revisar coisas como masculino/feminino, conjugaçāo, e ortografia.  Após esta etapa, nós colocamos a versão final na apresentação.  Tivemos que escolher ou desenhar uma imagem para colocar no seu slide, personalisar o seu slide com cores que combinassem com a sua lenda. Eu gostei desse projeto porque você tinha que ser muito criativo durante o processo e eu gostaria de fazer mais uma vez.   

Lendas e Contos Tradicionais 2014 turma 1

Publish at Calameo or read more publications.

Answered Questions- Science Fair Reflection

After all the hard work of bringing in materials and making our poster board, we finally presented it on the day of the science fair!  I would like to reflect and share how my group's project went.  Our project was the reaction between coke and mentos.  Our independent variable was the coke.  Our dependant were the different flavors of mentos.  Our constants were the meter sticks, the coke and the mentos.
The only thing that I knew about my topic before we started researching was what actually happened in the experiment.  These are the things that I wanted to find out-

• What caused the reaction?
• What ingredients are in mentos that cause the explosion?
• How high can the explosions really go?

Throughout the resarch process, I learned so many cool things about our project.  For example, suprisingly enough, the reaction is actually a physical reaction, not a chemical.  Also, to answer one of my earlier questions, it is not an ingredient in mentos, it is actually the tiny pores in the mentos that make the carbon dioxide go in them and make the coke flow more easily out of the bottle.  So, during my research all of my questions were answered.  A new question I have the I did not research is if the type of soda/fizzy drink affects the explosion.  My plan for my future science expirement is to work alone.  I think that I will work alone because I might be less distracted and more focused on only my project.  One of my favorite parts of this expiriment, not counting the fair, was probably preparing the board and doing the actual expirement.  I feel like one of my core value strengths are being innovative and being innovatine while making this posterboard was really important.  Doing the actual experiment was actually really cool too, because we where able to see that coke and mentos could really go up 3 meters!  One of the more frusturating things in my group was disagreeing about certain things.  We had problems sometimes with having an odd number of people because it sometimes felt like there was an odd one out.  If I could change anything, I might have changed the script lines, because sometimes in certain presentations, there was someone who had less lines than others.  During the science fair, I tried to project my voice as much as possible, because I know that that is one of the things I struggle with. I know that our collaboration was as big a challenge as anything else because there was an odd number of us, and we had to evenly divide and conquer.  We also ran into quite a few disagreements as a group, but were aable to overcome them by calmly talking them out.  In the end, I was kind of half satisfied, half not satisfire with my topic.  I liked it because it was intersting and there was a lot to learn about, but I disliked it because there were a lot of different groups doing it, so it was not really origional.  When we were about to present, I felt kind of nervous, but then I realized that I knew all the information.   I liked the QR code system because it was really organized and it was not handwritten, although there were some irrevivent comments, not really focusing on the project as much.
Overall, this was a great experience and I am so excited for next year!

My Science Fair group- Claudia (Right) Rosanne (Middle) Me (Left)

Theatre 6 Quarter Reflecion

Throughout this past quarter, I have learned so many different things in Theatre.  During the Greek drama, I learned how to encorperate research into an interesting play.  At first, it was hard to include all of this important information, but I overcame this obstacle through dialouge.  When we did tableaux, I learned how important body language is.  My group at first struggled with conveying facial expressions to show part of a story, but we were able to resolve this by using critique in a positve way.  When we did pantomimes, we could not talk, and we really stuggled with making our characters have certain characteristics, without talking, but we then chose personalities that could be shown through body language.   During "Theif!," I learned how to work with a large group of people and how important other peoples' say is.  That was something we struggled with, because it was hard to organize how to say things when everyone was talking at once.  When we organized, however, the outcome was really good.  Our group stuggled with the pair scenes.  We were in a rush to get it done,  so we went with whatever idea came up.  Once we finally came up with something we could add a story to, we got feedback from Ms. Moraes to make it richer and it turned out nicely.
My goals for the rest of this quarter are to be able to speak up during perfomances and try to be more focused.  For this final assesment, I will try to be more prepared and memorize my lines, not rely on improv.

Digging Deep With Doon

       Doon Harrow is caring and selfless.  Right after everyone chose their jobs on Assignment day, Doon felt did not want to be messenger, and he explains the reasoning behind it and he taps Lina on the shoulder and says; 
"Will you trade with me? he asked.  
"Trade?"
"Trade jobs.  I don't want to waste my time being a messenger.  I want to help save the city, not run around carrying gossip."  (Page 15)  This shows that Doon is selfless because he wants to help save the city.  He knows about what could be coming, and wants to help protect people from it.  Further into the book Doon makes a selfless act that shows he is a good person.  It says;  Now he could see only two courses of action: he could give up and do nothing, or he could start to work on a different movable light. Doon didn't want to give up, so on his day off one Thursday, he went to the Ember Library to look up fire.  (Page 117)  This idnicates that Doon wants to help the city so that nothing bad happens.  It also proves that he is selfless because on his day off, he did not spend it relaxing at home.  He spent it looking for a solution for the city.  Lastly, on page 82, we learn how other people really think of him. it says:  "Lucky for you Doon Harrow was around," said Nammy Proggs, who'd been watching them with her sideways glare.  "He's a good-hearted boy.  Anything breaks at my house, he fixes it."  This lets me realize that Doon is always there and happy to help.  Nammy Proggs is elderly and she probably can't do as much now, but Doon helps her fix things.
Source

General Reflections

I have shown the most success in being innovative.  I think that since I am more of a visual thinker, being innovative is something that is easier for me. One artifact that our Lab Safety Video for science.  We were innovative because in our video, we named the tools and then we had an act out of how and why you would use certain tools, but we added humor so it would be fun to watch and easy to understand.
I think that I have become more of a critical thinker because I have had more opportunities to show my thinking in subjects like science, math and humanities.  I think that this core value will continue being a core value I succeed in.  I think so because, for example, in humanities in book clubs, when we ask/answer a question, we need to use textual evidence and pull out the important parts. I think that the literature circle homework forms best showed my growth as a critical thinker.  I think so because it shows that I was able to find deep questions and support them.
I think that being a risk-taker is challenging because sometimes I have trouble communicating my ideas so that I take it to the next level and make my assignment exceed expectations. I think that my apostila from Sao Luiz do Paraitinga best shows that.  I think so because it shows that I covered what was easy for me, but what was hard was just on the surface. My goals are to try and exceed what the expectations were, so that I can find out my strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to projects.

Science: Quarter Reflection

I think that my lab safety video reflected on my learning in science because it showed that we our group were reflective learners because we were constantly looking back on our previous work. It also demonstrated the core value innovative because we went into deep thinking and then made an original and creative video. We did not just show random elements when we were putting our video together, but we showed step by step the tools and explained their uses.
A success this quarter was our lab safety video.  It was a success because we were able to demonstrate the core values innovative, reflective and inclusive.  Our group worked together to make the timing work and make the audio stay at one tone.  Our video was good quality and not choppy.
In second quarter I would like to improve on being a risk taker.  I want to because I sometimes do not want to take many chances because I am scared to be wrong. I also want to improve on being a critical thinker because sometimes I leave out important details because I am not very strong in this core value.  I will work on being a risk taker by thinking outside the box. I will also work on being a risk taker by raising my hand more often and also using evidence to support my thinking.  

Portugues

Core Value: Innovative, Inclusive
In portuguese class, we were paired up to create a short skit that had to do with our unit about health.  My partner and I created a script about someone going to the pharmacist.  We were innovative when we created our script and tried to make in different from any other script.  I think that we also demonstrated being communicators because we were able to write the important parts, not waste time on small details, but in order to do that my partner and I communicated regularly.  I also think that we were able to improve in terms of being inclusive because we each tried to have equal amounts of lines.  Next time quarter, I would like to be more of a risk taker in order to be able to more more easily take on different roles and ideas.  I would also like to be more balanced so I can also incorporate things that I learn from other topics into one subject.  Overall, this has been a good experience in portuguese, because now I can improve and learn in different activities in class and also I have more vocabulary.

Blog Post Artifact

In humanities, we were assigned to do a blog post about our Literature Circle book "Bringing the Boy Home."   I think that my blog post was clear, easy to read and did not have frequent errors in terms of grammar.  I think my response to the claim was were clear and supported my claim with evidence and then explained why I chose that evidence.  My blog post was completed one time, as did I use the rubric.  One thing I could do to improve my blog post is use more textual evidence and also write in more for my explanation.

First Quarter Reflection-Math

Statement: Mathematical thinking is not the same as doing math.
I disagree because math involves multiple types of thinking-- pushing yourself to think in another way, that you would not normally do to solve one thing.  I also think that math is a different way of thinking because it involves thinking critically.  Math makes you stretch your mind to solve a question but you also have to think creatively so that you can break down a problem or put a problem into context.   Math is not just solving a problem on a piece of paper, but also putting "problems" into a realistic context and incorporating it into the world around you.

Characteristics of a Good Mathematician

• Critical Thinkers
• Asking themselves "Why"
• Visualizing
• Putting Questions into Contexts 
• Recognizing Patterns
• Learning from Mistakes
• Re-reading instructions
• Highlight key words
• Being responsible 
• Balanced
• Curious
• Reflective

I think that one of my strengths as a mathematician is that I am an innovative learner so, when I have trouble with math, I draw pictures or put the question into context.  I've noticed that for me personally I need to always look over my thinking because I've realized that some of my mistakes are not very hard to find.  I have found myself improving in math because the more strategies and self corrections I make, the more I can prepare for units in the future.  I think that I have to try and be more of a risk taker in terms of trying different methods that I am not used to.  I also need to work on being reflective because sometimes when I do not go over my thinking I find myself making obvious mistakes.  For the future, I hope to grow more confident in myself, especially when taking tests.

Documenters for a Week

My group was given the topic about the flood rescuers. I think this topic was very interesting because we got to learn about how people had to be risk takers and maintain the quality of perseverance. We learned about what they had to do and how they were constantly doing things that they struggled with. We also were able to learn about how they had to swim underwater a lot in order to get into buildings. They rescued cats and dogs that were scratching them with sharp nails, but they never let go of them because they knew that the animals could drown.  I think our group demonstrated the core value innovative when we showed various pictures that were high quality and were strong. We were also curious when we looked at different ways to show our video. I think we needed to work on showing, not telling. We also needed to work on pacing our audio. Otherwise, our video was high quality and a lot of thought was put into it.  We were being risk takers when we asked people that we did not know about their experiences during the flood.  We were challenged by  misunderstanding what people said.  I think that next time, in order to improve, we will split up the time that we have.  For example, we will find all our pictures one day, make a script, storyboard and then record the next day.