Tips for Math in 6th Grade

Below is a video I made with some friends in math class that explains some tips for Math class in 6th grade. Enjoy!

Modeling Subtraction and Multiplication

Here is a presentation Kayla and I made in Math class to explain how to model multiplication and subtraction equations that involve negative and/or positive integers, and how to solve them.

Health & Wellness Reflection

What does wellness mean to you? Wellness is overall health, and doing what's right for your body. For example, when you are consistently eating foods from different food groups, you are practicing proper wellness. Wellness can be the right eating, the right physical fitness, or the right amount of sleep. It's really how well you treat your body.

Which habit of 54321+8 is your strength? Why? (Review your earlier blog post) Looking back at my presentation and my blog post, I think my best habit is the +8 sleep. I know I get at least 8 hours of sleep per night, because I go to sleep at 8:30 or 9pm on school nights, and wake up at 6am. This gives me a minimum of 9 hours of sleep per night. One thing I didn't get a lot of at the start of the year that I do now is 5 fruits and veggies per day. After learning about the positive effects of fruit and vegetables, I was more mindful about adding those to my meals. For example, my breakfast is normally just a grain, protein, and milk, but now I try to throw grapes, blueberries, or strawberries in.

Which habit do you need to continue to improve on? I have been trying to drink more water, but I think I need to keep that a consistent. On some days, I'm really thoughtful about how much water I drink, but on others, I don't have as much water as I should. One thing I got from making my 54321+8 presentation is drinking healthy flavored water, to be able to drink more. I tried this, and really liked it, so that is something I can continue doing to build this into a real habit. Flavored water I made at home! Another thing I have been doing to work to this goal is taking my water bottle to my classes, so I can keep taking sips of water. Bringing my water bottle to class! So, for me, this goal is about keeping it consistent and making it a habit.

How physically active have you been this year on a weekly basis? Share as many things that you can remember. As the year has gone on, I have gotten more and more physically active. In the first trimester, I didn't have a whole lot physical activity. I was doing the basketball intramural once a week, and had tennis lessons once a week, but most other days only had miscellaneous activities. In the second season, I got into the basketball team, which took up 4/5 school days, and I also continued with my tennis lessons on the weekends. Finally, I really got into the track season, by training 3/5 or 4/5 school days a week for that. In addition to that season, I also started running at home much more often. For example, on Saturdays I would run 5 kilometers with my dad. At this point, I normally exercise on both days of the weekend by running, biking, playing tennis, or going to the gym with a parent. On weekdays, I play basketball with friends or run with them. Where I am right now with my physical fitness is really a result of what I've done all year, because I have made so many friends while playing sports, whom I can still play with in an unstructured way. I can also take the workouts I have learned while playing on a team, and apply those to my own time. I went back to my Daily Physical Activity Doc, and saw that in November, I was only getting 60 minutes of physical activity 3/7 days a week. Now, I get that on almost all days of the week.

What is your strongest area of physical fitness? (strength, flexibility, cardio respiratory endurance) Which are do you need to work on? For the whole year, cardio respiratory endurance has been my strength. I have always had strong KM times. I think the track season really helped me as a runner, especially with my running form and mental strength. I have been trying to improve my core strength all year for the push-ups test. With the track season, I learned about how core is important for running. This is why I have got into the habit of practicing with the plank exercise at least once a week. So my physical activities have really helped me with my fitness tests.

Why do you think being physically active is important? After getting and increasing amount of physical activity this year, I have seen that it has helped my body's strength and wellness. Being physically active gives you fresh air, which is really good for your wellness. It helps your body stay strong, which helps with daily life.

How well do you eat ‘MyPlate’ 3 meals a day? My dinner definitely meets the 'MyPlate' meal, because it always has foods from all food groups. My breakfast normally has every food group, except for vegetables, which can be hard to incorporate into breakfast. My lunch normally has 3/5 food groups, or 4/5. So I have at least one meal that meets 'MyPlate,' but my other meals are almost there.

What is your food goal? (Review your earlier blog post) Did you achieve your “food goal” or do you need to continue to work on it? My food goal was to incorporate more fruits into my meals, which I think I have achieved. Now, I have fruit with my breakfast, and after my dinner. It is quick and easy for me to throw these into my breakfast and dinner.

How stressed have you been this semester? On a scale from 1 to 10, I have been at a maximum of 6.5. Sometimes, I get really stressed about homework and school projects. But unlike the last semester, I have learned how to deal with stress better.

What two strategies work best for you to reduce stress? I am a thinker, so I like to think through things to reduce stress. So, sometimes, I think through or plan through something that I'm stressed about. For example, if I'm stressed about homework, I use the 'Reminders' app to help stay organized. Using 'Reminders' to stay organized. Another thing I do is talk to one of my parents. My mom is always great help with staying organized with homework. For example, if I am worried about a project, I may ask my mom what she thinks, so I get solutions, and stay calm.

What do you do on a daily basis to promote wellness? If I am ever talking with a friend about wellness, I will bring up my ways to do it. For example, in Math class the other day, I was sharing 'Reminders' with some of my classmates, so they can reduce stress as well. Sharing 'Reminders' with friends

May 2015 Band Concert Reflection

Concert Reflection for May 12, 2015

1. Did you feel well prepared for this performance, why or why not? (ie: Did you do what was expected of you leading up to the concert?)

I felt really well prepared for this concert, because I put in more effort at home than I had for the previous concert. For this concert, I really tried to focus on things that I knew I needed work on in general. For example, I knew I would occasionally have rhythm issues, so I made sure to count through my part at home. I also worked more on 'chunking' or playing only the parts I need to work on. I think I did do what was expected of me on stage and in the audience.

2. What was the strongest part of our performance, and why?

I think our band as a whole performed African Folk Trilogy the strongest. We already had quite a bit of experience with this song because we played the first section for our previous concert. Also, this was probably the least challenging piece out of all of our pieces for this concert. The notes, but mostly rhythms were much more simple than the rhythms and notes in our pieces for this concert. For this reason, everyone was able to play this piece the best.
In general though, I think everyone blended their sound really well. For most of the time, we played together at the same time.

3.  What was the weakest part of our performance, and why? What can we (and you) do to improve for next time?

One thing we should've worked more on is our dynamics. I did try to make an effort to accurately follow the dynamics. But, the entire band and I could have put more work into doing this. I think this part was weakest because we started off with the right dynamics, but they faded out. Also, it can be difficult when someone next to you is playing loud when you aren't supposed to, and you want to be heard as well. When this happens, it seems to be about self control with the volume. But overall, we should've been more consistent with the dynamics.

4. On a scale from 1 to 5, (5 being the best) how would you rate the overall band students’ behavior as audience members for this concert?  Why? (no names please)

I would give the band students' audience behavior a 4/5. We were respectful to the musicians on stage, but there was some talking here and there. Our behavior was better than last concert, but it wasn't perfect.

5. What was your favorite piece and why?
My favorite piece was The Lost Tomb, because I thought it sounded the best. I really liked how the music was low, which gave a mysterious effect. Also, I liked how the melody and the harmony sounded together. This piece was also a challenge, which made it fun. I had more things to work on this concert than the last concert, and I felt that this piece was more at my level. The work behind it and the sound of the piece are what made The Lost Tomb my favorite piece.

Electromagnet Fishing Pole

In Science, as a part of our electricity unit, we have been making electromagnets. Our mission is to make an electromagnet fishing pole (paperclips and brass fasteners being the fish). The fishing pole also had to have a switch, that turned off the electromagnetism. Here are all the plans I've had, leading up to final design.

We were given a 50cm wooden pole, two AA batteries, and there were other miscellaneous items available to us

First Design:

For this design, things were quite simple. We simply had the battery pack on the wooden pole, and the battery's wires were connected to a steel nail, which had a wire coil coiled around it. We already knew that coiling wire around the nail was required to have an electromagnet. There were two problems with this design: 1. The electromagnetic force wasn't powerful enough. 2. It didn't have a switch. Although these were the obvious issues with this design, we did run into other issues.

Second Design:

We had the same set up as the previous design, but a problem we didn't think we would encounter is having the battery pack mess us up. We tested our fishing rod with and without the battery pack, and the strength of the electromagnet was much higher without the battery pack. The video below explains this. The picture to the left shows two nails together. The thing is, we didn't have enough strength to pick up a large paperclip, so we tried having two nails to get more strength. That didn't make a difference, but the type of nail did. In the previous design, we used a steel nail. Here, we used an iron nail because we learned that iron conducts electricity better than steel. So our second design had two iron nails, no battery pack, and still no switch.



Third (Final) Design:

Our third and final design was our best design. We decided to include the battery pack, because it helps keep the batteries together. What we decided to do was make sure we have a battery pack that doesn't mess things up, by testing multiple battery packs. Since two nails didn't make a difference, we just used one iron nail. For our switch, we used a brass fastener. We had one battery pack wire connected to one side of the wire coil- this was a permanent connection. For the other, we put the battery wire under the brass fastener (that was taped to the wooden pole) and put the wire coil wire under the other flap of the brass fastener. We thought of using a thumb tack or paper clip for this same switch idea, but brass fasteners seemed to conduct electricity the best. So technically, the electromagnetism was going through the brad. That was our final design!

Here is a video of us explaining how our last and final design worked (taken right before the derby):

Informed Argument Essay

For the past four weeks in RLA, we have been writing our informed argument essays (as you can tell by the title). For this essay, we worked on making it based on fact, not personal experience. We spent some time doing research and finding dependable sources. Another thing we spent a lot of time on was the organization and flow of the essay. To do this, we focused on adding in transitions and subordinating conjunctions (AAAWWUBBIS). In addition, we worked on having strong language and voice, to suit the tone we want to have. This also connects to emotional appeal to the essay.
I spent time on my voice, and adding humor to my essay; since I normally try to write a sophisticated essay. I also spent time keeping my essay focused, because my writing normally has things it doesn't need in it.
Here's the essay:

Competitive Sports in Schools

by Kavya N.

We have always thought of sports for children as play time, fresh air, or time for them to have fun. Recently though, youth sports have developed into something much larger. Competitive sports. Now, children have the opportunity to turn play time into so much more. Unquestionably, students obtain more than just athletic skills from playing on a team sport. Determination, collaboration skills, leadership, social skills, exposure. And there isn’t any better place they can get these skills from. They turn what was once their free time into learning so many important lessons. But lately, schools have been questioning the benefits of competitive sports, and have been going against them. As a result, there is a shortfall of these essential capabilities in kids. You see, competitive sports have effects on children that we never knew of. Competitive sports keep them healthy, but more importantly teach them life lessons and teach important skills; that they can apply to many other places. 

First off, competitive sports keep kids healthy- both in the mind, and body. Team sports give kids an overall healthy state of mind and body. Being a part of a school sports team is a great way for this to happen, because they regularly get to play something. Doing this teaches them about lifelong fitness, which sticks with them forever. Exercise and fitness gets more important as you get older, so kids starting young is a great idea. As a matter of fact, the Foundation for Global Sports Development say that “young people generally get less physical activity the older they get, but if they stay involved in sports programs, they’re more likely to reap the physical benefits they otherwise would not receive.” In other words, it’s really important that kids are exposed to sports at a young age. The thing is, when they participate in a sports team, they are easily able to get into the practice of a healthy lifestyle. Although it’s quite obvious that sports keep kids healthy, the difference between regular sports and competitive sports keeping you healthy is that competitive sports require more from the kid, and more than that give them a healthier state of mind. Charles Bush-Joseph, the team physician for the Chicago White Sox and Chicago bulls says, “sports help build a healthy mind, body, and spirit.” As kids learn about teamwork, determination, and other crucial lessons, they build a healthy mind, and spirit. Playing regularly on a team and required solid training easily builds a healthy body. Not only do sports keep children physically healthy, but they impact kids’ lifelong health and wellness, and teach them good health habits. The Datalys Center- Sports Injury Research and Prevention says that kids involved in youth sports are seen to “consume more fruits and vegetables; watch less television; and be more satisfied with their weight” than kids who do not participate in competitive or team sports. Thus, students obtain mental and physical health benefits from playing competitive sports.
These are competitive sports we’re talking about. They obviously teach kids lessons, and give them some hardcore soft skills. It teaches them to be determined, because they push to win. It teaches them about teamwork, which happens simply through playing on a team. As a matter of fact, the National Federation of State High School Activity Associations say that competitive sport promotes “participation and sportsmanship...” Also, it teaches kids to be independent. While many people say that kids get injured easily while playing sports, learning to deal with these injuries enforces independence in the kid. It also teaches them to learn from mistakes, so they don’t get that injury again. In addition to enforcing important skills in the kid, competitive sports teach kids life long lessons, that will stick with them. They teach kids about winning, and more importantly loosing. This is an important lesson to learn, because everyone faces failures throughout their lifetime. All of these happen through experience. Experience that children can’t get in classrooms.  "It offers a beginning to see the world outside his or her community and socio-economic class. With travel, children can see the world, and, in turn, grow and develop," says Bruce Kidd, Dean, Faculty of Physical Education and Health at the University of Toronto.  While students who just play sports for fun will only think about sports as fun, students who play competitive sports get this real experience. Playing with other schools, having your ex-bestie on your team, scoring a goal for your team, working on that one move your coach wants you to get down. These are the experiences that enforce persistence, sportsmanship, and collaboration, only in kids who play competitive sports. It also gives kids great goal-setting skills, when there is a sport-related skill they want to achieve. This also leads to determination– pushing to win, or to achieve a personal goal. On top of these breathtaking skills an athletic child has, team sports can help students with time management. While sports keep young athletes so busy and tired, they must work hard to stay organized with school work and sports. Kirk Mango, author of Becoming a True Champion: Achieving Athletic Excellence from the Inside Out, says, “thrust into circumstances where balancing one’s time becomes a necessity, competitive sports forces athletes into situations where they must acquire solid time-management skills or suffer the consequences.” Once again, playing sports for fun doesn’t have this effect on kids. But when they are part of a competitive sport team, the fixed practices, and the effort students must put in brings in the time management factor. Wow. Stupendous skills and thrilling teachings. All it takes are competitive sports to make you fabulous– and we still have another reason to go.
As a result of learning these lessons, kids can apply what they learn in school sports to so many other places. They learn all-round skills, that they can’t get anywhere else. Of course, they can apply the skills they learn to school. In fact, Lauren Bradley, 16, junior at Assumption High School, in a discussion with school sport officials about having competitive school sports said, “During lacrosse, I never watch TV. My grades are my best when I am playing a sport.” When students are put into environments where will power, collaboration, success, and strategy are in the air, there’s no doubt that they will academic successes as a result. Daniel Gould, from ISYS (Institute for Study of Youth Sports) wrote, “a multi-year study conducted in Michigan has shown that children who participate in sport have increased educational aspirations, closer ties to school and increased occupational aspirations in youth.” As well as helping students academically, competitive sports help students in their social lives. Team sports show kids how to work with others, and participate with them. TrueSport, a “community based movement that champions the positive values and life lessons learned through sport,” says that, “There is a growing body of research focused on the association between school-based physical activity, including physical education, and academic performance among school-aged youth” suggesting that such activity “may have an impact on academic performance through a variety of direct and indirect physiological, cognitive, emotional, and learning mechanisms” According to TrueSport, multiple studies of kids who participate in competitive sports, in comparison to kids who don’t, exhibit “higher grades, expectations, and attainment; stronger peer relationships; and greater family attachment and more frequent interactions with parents.” They can also use these skills in future jobs, as well as adulthood in general. As adults, having a degree isn’t the only thing that will land kids a job. It’s the soft skills they obtain as child athletes. Professors from the Ivy League institution Cornell University did a study about how youth sports affects students through adulthood. The study used students’ biodata to show how men who participated in varsity sports affected them an average of 60 years later. The results? Former student athletes exhibited “higher levels of leadership and enjoyed higher-status careers,” as well as showing more soft skills than non-athletes. It was found that the high school athletes volunteered more frequently, and donated to charity. This not only proves that students can use their skills in adulthood, but also shows that youth sports have a lasting effect. The teamwork and sportsmanship required in competitive sports help them work with other people. Independence and determination are both skills that help children in the real world itself. So really, competitive sports give kids they can use anywhere. What a package!
Now, although we’ve cleared that children benefit hugely through competitive sports, some argue that getting involved in competitive sports at a young age can give them fatal injuries. And for this reason, they oppose having these sports. But, if students are afraid and constrained from playing sports at a young age because of injuries, they may have that fear for the rest of their life. Consequently, they won’t be able to try something new; and more importantly, will live with a fear for their whole life. Imagine that. Never getting to try what you saw other kids do, and being afraid of it. On top of that, missing out on all of the great benefits.
In the past, we didn’t think about competitive sports this way. We didn’t see them as an opportunity for kids to gain lifelong skills. Today, we understand these great outcomes in kids, but schools have began to oppose them. In the near future, it is possible that team sports could get completely wiped out. In simpler terms, so do these skills in children. And just imagine the world of tomorrow– with none of these mind-boggling skills. Where would the children of tomorrow end up then?

Gr. 6 Height Data Response

Today in Math, we looked at the heights of Math 6+ students to find measures of center for the data, and compare our height to it. Below is my response to the data.

Compared to the average, median, and mode of 6th graders’ heights, I am just below middle height. The average is 60.9577465 inches, which can be rounded to 61, being less than a tenth away. The median is exactly 61 inches; and the mode is also 61 inches. Calculating multiple measures of center is helpful in this case because we have so much data, and each measure of center shows a different part of the middle height. All measures of center are just around 61, which proves that this is the ultimate ‘middle’ height. The mean shows us what exactly each student’s height should even out to. The median shows us what height is right in the middle. The mode shows us what is the most popular height. Another reason why it is important to find multiple measures of center is to check the others. For example, if the median was 52 inches, but the average was 65 inches, you would consider a calculation error, or some major outliers.
Another thing I want to bring up is the range. The range is 20 inches; the greatest height being 72 inches (6 feet exactly) and the minimum height being 52. This is quite a surprising range, because it tells us that there is a sixth grader who is 20 inches (1”8) taller than another sixth grader. To put this in perspective, that is almost 2 heads taller. When you have such a large range, having multiple measures of center can be helpful.
When I first looked at this data, I saw a lot of clusters, which made me think there was low variability. But, when you have 142 students, having clusters of at least 8 students does not necessarily show much variability. The range of 20 has made me decide that the sixth grade Math 6+ students’ heights have a higher variability than lower. There is some low variability to consider, because the data starts like this: 52, 52, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 56, 56, 56… In this case, there aren’t many outliers. You can think of 52 as an outlier, but if you were to visualize this on a line plot, you would see that they are still all in one line. However, there are not clusters here either. Here is how the data ends: … 67, 67, 67, 68, 68, 69, 70, 72, 72. I wouldn’t call 72 an outlier, but again, if this were on a line plot there would be more of a line than a tall bunch. This points to high variability. But once again, the way the mean, median, and mode match up point to low variability. Quartile 1 is 58, which isn’t very close to how the data starts off. Quartile 3 is 63, which isn’t that close to the end either. So altogether, I’m going to have to say that there is low variability, even though the range is 20 inches.
To compare my height to all of this: my height is 58 inches, which is about 3 inches shorter than the middle height.

Blobz Electricity Quiz

Tech6- Post 3

As you may or may not know, in Tech I have been working on my Choice or Passion Project. For this, we may build something related to our choice or passion. I am building a foldable chair that saves space. Below are some questions we were asked to answer.


Please share with us your successes, and failures with your project thus far in the lab. 
Making the basic outline and/or plan was definitely a success. At this point, I have a plan that I am happy with, and will help me throughout this project. I haven't had any failures, but I feel that I am not getting enough things done in one class period. I want to spend more time working and getting things done, so I get the project done in time.

What have you learned about yourself so far in the building process in the lab?
I learned that I am a person who really thinks over plans, and takes my time with them. Just two or three classes ago, I finished my plan; which isn't being extremely efficient on the planning. I think I acted this way because I have had previous experiences where I have a bad plan for a project, and that messes up the whole thing. I was really excited to get started with this, and see my end product, which is why I didn't want to mess it up. What I need to do is get the right balance, and be efficient yet thorough with my planning. Like I said, I don't want one small planning mistake to ruin my whole project, but what I am beginning to learn is that there are a lot of solutions to small problems that occur.

Do you feel you have enough resources available to you in the lab to build your project? If not, what recommendations do you have for the teacher in this area?

Frankly, I was quite surprised to see and use all the equipment we have in the lab. I haven't used more than half of them before, and what we have definitely meets the needs for my project. I really liked how we got a chance to try some of them out, whether we needed them for our project or not. On top of all the materials and equipment we have, Mr. Diebley always has ideas and solutions to small problems we have. This way, we can try out new things on our own, without having the teacher do the work for us.

To the left is a picture of my cutting setup. This is how things look when I am ready to cut. I have learned a lot about using a hand-held jigsaw over the past few weeks. For example, if you don't want the cardboard to vibrate a lot, you should keep the plate that is around the blade low. As of April 20, I have finished cutting my base. Now I only need to attach the base, cut the layers, and attach the layers.  

Health Germ Poster

In Health, we learned about how having good hygiene is important. We had to choose an activity to do that showed our learning about good hygiene. My partner and I chose to make a poster that teaches people how many germs can be in their hands, and in other places they may not have known about.

Water Project Conclusion

We finished our water project well, because we had a successful class presentation (we went first) and started donating.
We made a total of $257, and handed out over 250 flyers.

Freya and I decided to split the money to donate so both of us have a chance to donate on the website.

The website says $95.15 because it is in USD (Charity: Water is a US based organization), which is half of our amount.
Finally, I shared the video we made with my family, and it passed our goal of 60 views.

All in all, we enjoyed doing the water project, and it deepened our understanding of a lot of things. The one thing we would do if we had a similar project is plan the expenditures and the profit.  

Water Project: Week 4 (Post 2)

We wrapped up our entire Water Project pretty well.
The 5th grade presentation went smoothly, and we ended up earning over $50 in just that day. We had some left over cookies, so we sold them among 6th graders at lunch. this contributed to the $50 at the end of that day.

Above: Freya and I presenting to Ms. Smith's class. 

The poster is for April 8th (the Water Project Celebration day), and the slide show and presentation is for class tomorrow. So we are doing pretty well on time because we just need to finish the poster by next Wednesday.

Water Project Presentations

Today, we are presenting our water projects to our science class. Below is my feedback to all the groups who presented.

Adam- 
One well done: I really liked how you described your project realistically, and said what you did even if you had a problem.
One I wish: I wish you could have talked smoother, so that we could hear exactly what you were saying consistently.
One take away to help you in your presentation: Our group made a video too, so I would definitely play at least a section of my video like you did.

Jason-
One well done: I liked how you were really honest about your project, which is good because everyone can learn from that.
One I wish: I wish I could've seen pictures of you doing the project, like the tournament going on.
One take away to help you in your presentation: I would want to be as honest as you were in my presentation, and share more of my failures as well as successes.

Parker-
One well done: It was great how you gave so much detail about the Walk for Water, like showing us the map for it. This helped me get a better idea of what you were doing.
One I wish: I wished you had more pictures in your presentation instead of having just words.
One take away to help you in your presentation: I would want to track each week like you did, to be specific.

Rahini and Zara- 
One well done: I liked how you guys had a lot of photos to give us evidence for everything you did.
One I wish: I wish you kept your presentation concise, so we got the information we needed, and you didn't go on about one idea.
One take away to help you in your presentation: I would've liked to go through the whole process and show each roadblock we had on the way.

Claire- 
One well done: You had a really logical sequence of parts to talk about. I liked how you had your purpose, everything you did, then finally the difference you made.
One I wish: I wished you had a better start or lead to your presentation, so we get some background about your project and what you did.
One take away to help you in your presentation: I thought it was good how you thoroughly went through everything you did for your project, and I should have done that.

Kyndall- 
One well done: It was good how you talked about each week in sequence.
One I wish: I wish you had less words on your slides, and more pictures.
One take away to help you in your presentation: I sent emails for my project too, so I would've wanted to include screenshots of those in my presentation.

Arjun-
One well done: Nice job on sharing each thing you did along with why it was successful or not.
One I wish: I wish you had more photos of you doing the project, rather than mostly text.
One take away to help you in your presentation: I wish I was as honest as you were in your presentation about how not everything worked out well.

Erika & Zoe- 
One well done: I really like how you guys were honest about your project, and connected that to the overall difference you made.
One I wish: I wish you guys concluded your presentation better so the audience had a better idea of what you did in all.
One take away to help you in your presentation: I would want to talk more about the video I made like you did. You guys talked about the views, and showed us that, which was great!

Mia- 
One well done: You are a great presenter, because you changed your tone and volume according to what you were saying.
One I wish: I wish you chose a better sequence to put the parts of your presentation in, because you first stated what impact your product made, then told us what you product was after a few other slides.

Robin, Sophie, and Lilly-
One well done: You guys presented well, and also had a logical order of your slides. I could hear you guys well, and you changed your voice at the right time.
One I wish: I wish you guys talked more about the Dirty Water Challenge in your presentation, because it seemed like a really big part of the project, and I didn't learn much about it.

Seung Min-
One well done: I liked how you had a variety of photos of what you did for your project.
One I wish: I wish you had less text on every slide, and relied on your oral presentation more.

Sophia- 
One well done: I liked how you explained everything you did in detail.
One I wish: I wish you had more photos, and also a sample of your t-shirt.

Isabella- 
One well done: It was great how you were really really enthusiastic! Your lead, especially really got the audience hooked in, and the sequence you put each slide/section in led to great meaning.
One I wish: I wish you had more photos, so we know exactly what you did and we can see it.

Rohan- 
One well done: It was good how you shared what you and your partner liked about the water project, so we got to hear your opinion.
One I wish: I wish you were more enthusiastic and seemed more passionate about what you were saying, rather than looking bored with it.

Ethan-
One well done: I liked how you seemed comfortable with the audience, and made it feel like you were having a conversation, rather than acting nervous.
One I wish: I wish you had more pictures so the audience had a better understanding of what you did.

Tech6- Project Sketches

In Tech, we have began to make our Choice or Passion projects. The idea is to build something unique that is our choice or passion. Below are my answers to some questions our tech teacher wanted us to answer.

What is it that you plan to make?
I plan to make a chair with multiple parts, that can collapse. The idea is to have a chair that doesn't take up as much space as a regular chair would, because it can be broken or folded down to a smaller size.
How did you come up with the idea for your project? Is it an original idea or a modification of something you have seen on DIY site or other?
I got the idea from both the DIY website and Mr. Diebley. The DIY website has a lot of projects done with cardboard, and my chair will be made out of cardboard. Mr. Diebley always talks about how he likes compact furniture, and new things made from discarded things. But the idea itself was my own.
Please share with your viewers the initial sketches you have created by taking a picture with your laptop and adding it to your blog. It could be a video if you choose.
These are the sketches I made for the different ideas I was trying to choose from. I had more than one sketch because I wanted to 'solve a problem with an invention,' but I didn't know what my problem should be.

What excites you most about building this project?

I was really excited that we got the chance to be creative with this project, and do whatever we possibly can. I am most excited, though, to see the final product and be able to share it with others. 

Water Project: Week 4 (Post 1)

There are four things I really need to focus on for this week. First, making the poster. Freya and I are planning to have a description of each week on the poster with a conclusion about if our project was successful or not. We will type it up, and get the pictures we have and print them out. The poster is due on Thursday, so I definitely need to get started on that now.
Second, presenting to a 5th grade classroom. I just organized a presentation in a 5th grade class for Tuesday. I will make a short presentation, and hand out some flyers. Freya is bringing in cookies to sell and the wristbands. We are planning to sell the wristbands for $3 because we have a lot left and we need to sell them so we don't have a lot left. I realized that it is better to sell them even if we don't make profit, rather than have a bunch left over.
The third thing is preparing my presentation for science class. I need to decide if I am going to use a slide show or anything else. I need to have this ready by Thursday.
The fourth thing is sending the donations in to Charity: Water. We don't have a deadline for this, but we would want to do this as soon as possible. We are planning to give the money to our parents, and they donate by credit card, because it is easiest to donate that way.
I also think that the video I made is a great way of spreading awareness, and it is easy for most people because it is a short video accessible on YouTube. The video currently has 38 views. It is my goal to get it to 60 views by the Water Project Celebration on April 8th.

Water Project Week 3

This week I achieved quite a lot for my Water Project.
On Wednesday night, my mom brought home 160 copies of the flyers to put in people's mail boxes. It took us a while to cut and fold all of the flyers. But here is a picture of all the flyers we made on Wednesday.

It doesn't look like much, but that is 160 flyers. After that, I put them into people's mail boxes. But, there were a few mailboxes left, so on Thursday night, my mom brought some more flyers home. Here is a picture of me handing out the brochures.

By Thursday night, every mail box in my condo had a flyer in it.
I would've liked to pass them out earlier because most people only check their mail boxes once or twice a week, so a lot of people might not have seen the flyers in time for my event. But, the flyers do have information for donations, so some people might email one of us for donations. We had some extra flyers with us, so we were handing them out to anyone near the function room or anyone who came.

This week we held our even in my condo's function room. For the most part, it was successful. The brownies that Freya made sold out in the first few hours, but we were still left with some cookies. The wristbands also sold better than I thought they would. We ended up handing out a whole lot of flyers, which I was really proud of, because the flyers really inform people. They are also something that people can keep, and they spread awareness. I imagined that a lot of people would collect in the function room to watch my presentation and Freya's demonstration for the kids, but it was mostly people coming and going. What we started to do is walk up to people, show them the flyer, and ask them if they want to buy cookies, brownies, or wristbands. This attracted quite a few people. We had some customers that bought in bulk. For example, one man had a dinner party, so he bought eight brownies and three cookies.

Above and to the right is a picture of how we set up our sale. I had prepared a short presentation on the Water Crisis, but I never really gave it. There were a few groups of people who were interested, so I walked them through the flyer, and explained everything in detail, because I had a lot of knowledge about that.

The picture above is slightly blurry, but it is of Freya and I with our first customers. We drew them in by telling them we were selling baked goods for charity.

We didn't want the water filter demonstration to go to waste, since no one was doing it. I realized that no one was doing it because we didn't tell them about it. So there was one lady who's kids really liked our baked goods and kept coming back for them. So we asked her if her kids would like to see a short demonstration, and she was really happy about that.

Another thing we did to draw people in is I made a poster, and put up printouts of the flyers on the window of the function room. Here are pictures of that.

Finally, I finished my movie for our project and uploaded it to YouTube.  Here it is. 

At the end, we made around $200 in total. I learned that you really need to think about how you are going to draw people in. I could've delivered the flyers earlier; asked my mom to inform people she knows in our condo; and maybe even walked around the condo talking to people about it. I expected people to collect in the function room, rather than having groups of people come and go. I didn't think about what other people would come for.

Also, even though we earned $200, we spent a lot of money. We spend $3.30 on each wrist band, and we started by selling at $5, but not many people were buying them, so we dropped the price to $4. The function room costs $40 to book. At first, I was thinking that I would have to earn enough money to pay my mom back for the function room money, but she said that she was like a sponsor for our cause, so we didn't need to pay her back. We are not sure if we are going to pay Freya's parents back for the wristbands.

One thing I would want to change about this week is to divide the work up better. I felt that I was doing most of the work, and my partner wasn't doing as much. What I could've done about this is assigned my partner some of the work I was doing. I felt this because at certain points, I was getting really stressed about it, and my partner didn't have that much to be stressed about at all.

At first I thought bake sales were really generic and not very professional, so I didn't really want to do them. But then I realized that most people really like bake sales, so they are a good idea if you are trying to draw people in.

I will definitely remember interacting with the customers this week. One memorable one was a man who bought things with his family at first. His four year old son came back about 10 minutes later and handed be a handful of change. His dad said it was all of his savings.

To end our Water Project, we were thinking of going to present to a fifth grade class. We could present and sell baked goods there, so we earn more money. If we do make this decision, I think we should act on it quickly because in the past weeks we have been slow at doing things.

Water Project: Week 2 (Post 2)

This week we accomplished a few things, but more than that, we got a better sense of what we are doing. In other words, we formed a better plan. The biggest thing I did this week was complete our flyers. The flyers are extremely important because they advertise our cause, which will get people to support it. Below are pictures of the flyer.

Since we are planning an event in my condo, we plan to put a flyer in every resident's mail box. Because the flyers also have information in general, we want to hand them out to as many people as we can. 

In terms of planning, as I said, we achieved a lot. This week, we are going to ask the American Club for permission to set up a station in the hallway where we can hand out flyers and have a donation box. We are also planning an activity for kids at the event in my condo. Freya is planning to teach them how to make water filters. We also want to try to make a poster with information for my condo to draw people in to the event. Finally, we are planning to sell baked goods at my condo. 

The wristbands might not end up working out because the sellers are not replying. This is ok, because we are finding other things to sell now. 

One thing I didn't do this week that I really want to do next week is get down to doing things. This week I sort of took it easily, and went with the flow, but on the weekend I really realized that I needed to get things done. This is especially important since we have a lot to do this coming week. 

Greek Activities Reflection 2015

For the past month or so, we have been having our Greek Activities. We signed up for them, and had them twice a week. I participated in Greek Ball Games. 

Working Co-operatively- Meets

I gave myself a meets expectations for this because in Greek Ball Games, I think I worked with my team members well. I did this by participating with the planning for Greek Warfare. I also contributed to my team.

Critical Thinking- Exemplary

I think I thought out and planned my strategies really well for every ball game. For example, during Pila, I strategized to get back towards the person I am defending. In Greek Warfare, I strategized with my team to send the cavalry over only after multiple people are out. In Trigon, I planned my strategy well, and won for my team. 

Character- Meets

I think I met expectations for character because I was honest about getting out in the games, even if my team was loosing; especially in Greek Warfare. In Expulsum Ludere, I was honest about where the ball landed. 

Communication- Meets

I communicated with my team members in Greek Warfare especially when we were planning. In Episkyros, I communicated with the fellow defenders on when the ball was coming, and who we were defending. 

Responsible Team Member- Exemplary

I honestly and thoroughly did my part for the team. In Greek Warfare, I played the role I was supposed to, and was honest about the roles I have had. I also contributed and participated in our team's planning. 

Health- My Plate Meals

In Health, we have been learning about eating foods from all food groups (grain, fruits, vegetables, dairy, protein). We made a presentation to show our meals, then reflected on them at the end. Here it is:

Band: Concert Reflection March 2015

March 11, 2015 Concert Reflection

What is expected of me as a performer:  

1. What do I need to do leading up to the performance in terms of my own practicing?
Whenever we have a concert coming up, it is important to practice the pieces you are playing for the concert; especially the parts that you need more work on.

2. What is my responsibility on stage during a performance?
To be quiet, and remember the rest positions (instrument straight on your lap when conductor is off of podium; instrument on right knee when conductor is on podium).

3. What will I do differently in preparing for the next concert?
I want to practice only the parts that I need more work on, and my stamina. I also want to practice more often, and for short periods of time, rather than not often, and for long periods of time.

What is expected of me as an audience member:

1. What do I need to be doing while someone is performing?
It's important to be quiet, because it shows appreciation for the hard work. Sometimes long concerts can get repetitive, and possibly dull; but it is important to give them our attention.

2. What do I need to do after someone has performed?
Clap (also to show appreciation), but if the piece has multiple movements,  then make sure to clap only after all movements. You can use the program to tell how many movements have gone by; or if you are really unsure, then you can wait until the rest of the audience starts clapping.

3. What should I do if people around me are not being good audience members?
Give them the "shhh" sign, so you don't start talking either.

4. What will I do differently as an audience member for next concert?
Make sure to clap at the right time, and clap for longer; because I felt that I didn't do it enough.

I am most proud of... how i played accurately, and made the best sound possible.