This video proves how much fun I had in my first 2 trimesters I am so lucky to have such great friends and teachers and go to a amazing school. Thank you all of you who my this experience amazing.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Learning Profiles - How Do I Learn Best?
Yesterday in class Mr.Whiting taught us how to figure out what profile we are and what hemisphere of the brain e are more dominant on. I got profile "J" and my "Gestalt" hemisphere is more dominant. A few questions I will be answering are: I learn best when......, I need to ....., The strategies that would help me in my learning...., and I would like my teachers to know this about me..... These are very important questions and they affect my daily life. Some of the information my profile said is that when I am under stress I don't think straight and I and when I am under stress I feel overwhelmed. I look for similarities and I prefer drawing and manipulation.
I learn best when I have something to hold because I like to move my hands while I learn because it helps me concentrate. I also learn best if I focus on the whole picture and don't really go into little details because they will confuse me. To learn I must hear the feeling of the person or information. For language I interpret language from its tone, pitch and rhythm. I usually remember the whole concept of image. This is very important while I learn. It is better for me to sit at the back of the classroom or the middle because I can distract other people on their work unless I am very focused. When I learn I work best by not following step-by-step instructions. For me learning is important and I think that I learn when I can have something to hold but at the same time I am not distracted by it. I think I am a good learner and I think that some of the information about my profile does not match me but a lot does.
I need to be able to have something to hold so I can squish it or touch it because it helps me concentrate and I think I do not distract a lot of people around me. Being able to hold something makes me feel good. My profile says I need to work on accessing the pieces of information and be able to put them together in a logical manner, I do not agree with this statement. It also says that I might have difficulties communicating when I am under stress, this statement is true sometimes but usually I'm okay. I think that my profile fits to me in some ways but in some ways it doesn't. I need to able to have my own space and be able to do things easy-going.
The strategies that would help me in my learning are communicating the detail linear aspects of life and learning. Blinking while tracking with the eyes, Cross-lateral hand and foot exercise and martial arts like Tai Chi. Theses activities will help me focus and not be distracted. I think activities are always great when you want to improve on something and they are not boring. Activities and strategies are almost the same except that activities are more of a group thing and more of a fun thing.Strategies are very important for my profile so I can also learn how to use the other side of my brain which is the logical side.I think that some of these strategies will work and will make me use my other side of the brain but some of these strategies are not going to help me which is fine.
I would like my teachers to know this about me because I think that teaching for them would be much easier and they would have a better grasp of how I listen the best and were to place me in a classroom so that I don't get distracted and neither will my peers. I would like my teachers to know this so they can make my lesson more fun and they know specifically what I need to do to learn best. Teachers can effect my daily life and life they do not know how I learn then I will be distracted in class and I will not learn anything. I think that I would like my teachers to know this about me so they can learn who I am not only in the classroom but also outside of the classroom. I think Profiles are very interesting and you and your teacher learn more about yourself. Profile "J" shows me that I can be independent and a group type of person so that helps my teacher because they can know that I work well with both group and independent activities. Profiles show your inner personality that maybe you never let go in class and only when your around your friends and that's another reason why I think this is important for a teacher to know the real you.
Over all I am really glad and happy that we could find out what our profiles are and compare our profiles and see if we agree that they reflect on you.
I learn best when I have something to hold because I like to move my hands while I learn because it helps me concentrate. I also learn best if I focus on the whole picture and don't really go into little details because they will confuse me. To learn I must hear the feeling of the person or information. For language I interpret language from its tone, pitch and rhythm. I usually remember the whole concept of image. This is very important while I learn. It is better for me to sit at the back of the classroom or the middle because I can distract other people on their work unless I am very focused. When I learn I work best by not following step-by-step instructions. For me learning is important and I think that I learn when I can have something to hold but at the same time I am not distracted by it. I think I am a good learner and I think that some of the information about my profile does not match me but a lot does.
I need to be able to have something to hold so I can squish it or touch it because it helps me concentrate and I think I do not distract a lot of people around me. Being able to hold something makes me feel good. My profile says I need to work on accessing the pieces of information and be able to put them together in a logical manner, I do not agree with this statement. It also says that I might have difficulties communicating when I am under stress, this statement is true sometimes but usually I'm okay. I think that my profile fits to me in some ways but in some ways it doesn't. I need to able to have my own space and be able to do things easy-going.
The strategies that would help me in my learning are communicating the detail linear aspects of life and learning. Blinking while tracking with the eyes, Cross-lateral hand and foot exercise and martial arts like Tai Chi. Theses activities will help me focus and not be distracted. I think activities are always great when you want to improve on something and they are not boring. Activities and strategies are almost the same except that activities are more of a group thing and more of a fun thing.Strategies are very important for my profile so I can also learn how to use the other side of my brain which is the logical side.I think that some of these strategies will work and will make me use my other side of the brain but some of these strategies are not going to help me which is fine.
I would like my teachers to know this about me because I think that teaching for them would be much easier and they would have a better grasp of how I listen the best and were to place me in a classroom so that I don't get distracted and neither will my peers. I would like my teachers to know this so they can make my lesson more fun and they know specifically what I need to do to learn best. Teachers can effect my daily life and life they do not know how I learn then I will be distracted in class and I will not learn anything. I think that I would like my teachers to know this about me so they can learn who I am not only in the classroom but also outside of the classroom. I think Profiles are very interesting and you and your teacher learn more about yourself. Profile "J" shows me that I can be independent and a group type of person so that helps my teacher because they can know that I work well with both group and independent activities. Profiles show your inner personality that maybe you never let go in class and only when your around your friends and that's another reason why I think this is important for a teacher to know the real you.
Over all I am really glad and happy that we could find out what our profiles are and compare our profiles and see if we agree that they reflect on you.
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| This is my "Dummy Profile" :) |
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Collaborative Literature Circles
Why is it good to work with a partner on our literature circles? I have partnered up with Sunskruthi, we are reading "The True Confessions Of Charlotte Doyle" and we have to write literature circles to it. Here are a few reasons why I think it was good to work with a partner, challenges/obstacles that I overcame and new understandings that I gained about the novel.
1. It is good to work with a partner on our literature circles because, lately I have been struggling on my literature circles and since I had Sunskruthi as a partner I could use her as a role model since she has not been struggling with her literature circles. I have now learnt a lot of new strategies and structures to layout my literature circle. Working with Sunskruthi really improved my skill and my questions. When I did my first literature circle my questions and important passages did not have a lot of examples and evidence. Now having Sunskruthi as a partner she has taught me how to give evidence and that I should put, what page number the evidence was and which book it was. Overall it was a pleasure to work with Sunskruthi and I have learnt a lot from her.
2. I have overcome a lot challenges and obstacles. I usually had no idea what to write when it came up to the question and the answer, so I asked Sunskruthi if she could help me get a idea so we went on moodle and we found a sheet that was titled "Question Stems" , so we clicked on it and a bunch of ideas for questions came up and so we collaborated together and we each helped each other find a question. One of my obstacles that really stood out was that my important passages did not have enough information and they were just some information that was not organized. Also my content was not strong enough. I have overcome a lot of obstacles and challenges from Sunskruthi and improving my habits.
3. I have new understandings that I gained from the novel. One of them is that I learnt how to find clues in simple text. Working with Sunskruthi really helped me focus on the true meaning and the hindsight of the book. On my other literature circles I would never really look at the true meaning of the book and the clues. This is really important because now I can have much more richer context and organized context. I truly believe that this is the key to a better literature circle. I have really improved on my literature circle because of this one skill. But trust me it was not easy to learn.
I think overall my literature circle has really improved and I could not have done it without Sunskruthi.
1. It is good to work with a partner on our literature circles because, lately I have been struggling on my literature circles and since I had Sunskruthi as a partner I could use her as a role model since she has not been struggling with her literature circles. I have now learnt a lot of new strategies and structures to layout my literature circle. Working with Sunskruthi really improved my skill and my questions. When I did my first literature circle my questions and important passages did not have a lot of examples and evidence. Now having Sunskruthi as a partner she has taught me how to give evidence and that I should put, what page number the evidence was and which book it was. Overall it was a pleasure to work with Sunskruthi and I have learnt a lot from her.
2. I have overcome a lot challenges and obstacles. I usually had no idea what to write when it came up to the question and the answer, so I asked Sunskruthi if she could help me get a idea so we went on moodle and we found a sheet that was titled "Question Stems" , so we clicked on it and a bunch of ideas for questions came up and so we collaborated together and we each helped each other find a question. One of my obstacles that really stood out was that my important passages did not have enough information and they were just some information that was not organized. Also my content was not strong enough. I have overcome a lot of obstacles and challenges from Sunskruthi and improving my habits.
3. I have new understandings that I gained from the novel. One of them is that I learnt how to find clues in simple text. Working with Sunskruthi really helped me focus on the true meaning and the hindsight of the book. On my other literature circles I would never really look at the true meaning of the book and the clues. This is really important because now I can have much more richer context and organized context. I truly believe that this is the key to a better literature circle. I have really improved on my literature circle because of this one skill. But trust me it was not easy to learn.
I think overall my literature circle has really improved and I could not have done it without Sunskruthi.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Literature Circle Blogpost #1- The True Confessions Of Charlotte Doyle
My groups discussion has helped me a lot by making sure that I stay focused on the book and share my feelings about the book. For example I do not understand some parts of the book since English is my second language. Also I have some difficulties with understanding grammer so if I talk to my group about it and then they can explain it. Sometimes in my literature circles I like to ask questions that foreshadow the story. Group discussions help me understand the book because I get to share my feelings and my inner comments about the book. I sometimes have millions of ideas coming to my mind and I know that I can tell my group and they will not think it is weird or crazy.
In my group we have some connections and we don't. Sometimes what happens is that someone says a comment or asks a question and then everyone agrees with them. For example in our discussion a few days ago I had a few questions on the first few chapters of the book and then everyone agreed with me and they also had the same questions. The important passages are usually the same in our group since they are most noticed to everyone and everyone can tell that those are the most important passages. Vocabulary has a wide range in it so most of the time nobody has the same vocabulary words. All in all my group and I have a lot of connections.
There are a lot of things that I predict for the next chapters. One of them is that I think that Captain Jaggery is evil and he wants to do something to or with Charlotte. I thought that Zachariah was weird or bad since he gave Charlotte the knife but actually he is good and he gave her the knife to protect herself from Captain Jaggery and other bad people on the boat since he has worked on the boat for a long time. Another event I predict to happen in the future is that Captain Jaggery gets defeated by the crew and Charlotte(since they work to get revenge on Captain Jaggery) and that because he got defeated he will accuse Charlotte to have murdered someone. Those are a few predictions I have for the future of "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle".
In my group we have some connections and we don't. Sometimes what happens is that someone says a comment or asks a question and then everyone agrees with them. For example in our discussion a few days ago I had a few questions on the first few chapters of the book and then everyone agreed with me and they also had the same questions. The important passages are usually the same in our group since they are most noticed to everyone and everyone can tell that those are the most important passages. Vocabulary has a wide range in it so most of the time nobody has the same vocabulary words. All in all my group and I have a lot of connections.
There are a lot of things that I predict for the next chapters. One of them is that I think that Captain Jaggery is evil and he wants to do something to or with Charlotte. I thought that Zachariah was weird or bad since he gave Charlotte the knife but actually he is good and he gave her the knife to protect herself from Captain Jaggery and other bad people on the boat since he has worked on the boat for a long time. Another event I predict to happen in the future is that Captain Jaggery gets defeated by the crew and Charlotte(since they work to get revenge on Captain Jaggery) and that because he got defeated he will accuse Charlotte to have murdered someone. Those are a few predictions I have for the future of "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle".
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Guns,Germs and Steel
Even though Papua New Guinea is located in the same region as Australia and New Zealand, why is it that Australia and New Zealand became technologically advanced and wealthy? One of the reasons is because Australia and New Zealand had settlers coming in from Europe and at that time Europe was technologically advanced so they bought everything with them. Another reason is, if you look at a map you can see that Australia and New Zealand were located in an easy place were ships could come and trade with them. One last reason is because Papua New Guinea only have hunters/gatherers because they lived in the jungle and they were busy everyday making sure they had food so they never had the actual time to discover new technology unlike the Australians which started farming and growing crops.
One of the reasons is because Australia and New Zealand had setters coming in from Europe and at that time Europe was technologically advanced so they bought everything with them. The first settlers that came to New Zealand were the Dutch in 1642, and the first settlers that came to Australia were actually the Dutch but they failed in settling so the British came in 1688. The English were already occupying other countries and they had a lot of criminals in the other countries so they decided to make Australia a "Prison Island" were all of the English criminals were sent to. When the Dutch came to New Zealand other European countries started to follow the Dutch and they bought with them the newest type of technology. Also the setters found very rich natural resources from Australia and New Zealand so a lot of them came to buy from them. Now moving on to trade and geography.
Another reason is, if you look at a map you can see that Australia and New Zealand were located in an easy place were ships could come and trade with them. If a country is located as a island and is perfect to be able to sail around, then a lot of people will trade with that country. Foreigners wanted to sail to New Zealand and Australia so they could trade and Papua New Guinea were not able to have foreigners come to them since there would not be enough space and the foreigners mostly cared about Australia and New Zealand since they were bigger and there were setters already there. New Zealand and Australia were close so it was handy for the foreigners because they could go from one country to the other and trade with them. Papua New Guinea didn't get much technology since all of the foreign countries were going to New Zealand and Australia. Now on to farming and jungles.
One of the reasons is because Australia and New Zealand had setters coming in from Europe and at that time Europe was technologically advanced so they bought everything with them. The first settlers that came to New Zealand were the Dutch in 1642, and the first settlers that came to Australia were actually the Dutch but they failed in settling so the British came in 1688. The English were already occupying other countries and they had a lot of criminals in the other countries so they decided to make Australia a "Prison Island" were all of the English criminals were sent to. When the Dutch came to New Zealand other European countries started to follow the Dutch and they bought with them the newest type of technology. Also the setters found very rich natural resources from Australia and New Zealand so a lot of them came to buy from them. Now moving on to trade and geography.
Another reason is, if you look at a map you can see that Australia and New Zealand were located in an easy place were ships could come and trade with them. If a country is located as a island and is perfect to be able to sail around, then a lot of people will trade with that country. Foreigners wanted to sail to New Zealand and Australia so they could trade and Papua New Guinea were not able to have foreigners come to them since there would not be enough space and the foreigners mostly cared about Australia and New Zealand since they were bigger and there were setters already there. New Zealand and Australia were close so it was handy for the foreigners because they could go from one country to the other and trade with them. Papua New Guinea didn't get much technology since all of the foreign countries were going to New Zealand and Australia. Now on to farming and jungles.
One last reason is because Papua New Guinea only had hunters/gatherers because they live in the jungle and they were busy everyday making sure they had food so they never had the actual time to discover new technology unlike the Australians and New Zealander's which started farming and growing crops. In Papua New Guinea their is only jungle, so there are no cows or goats that can survive in the jungle and that means that they didn't have animals that could give more then just one thing. For example cows and goats can give milk and meat but boars (which live in the jungle) can only give meat. When the Australians started farming then they lived healthier since they could domesticate animals and get more than one food source. Those were three reasons to why, even though Papua New Guinea is located in the same region as Australia and New Zealand, why is it that Australia and New Zealand became technologically advanced and wealthy?
Papua New Guinea and Australia/New Zealand are three very different countries. New Zealand and Australia are more of tourists sites and attractions to foreigners and on the other side Papua New Guinea is more of a jungle,tribal type of place. Even though two countries are technologically advanced doesn't mean people should treat Papua New Guineans differently.
Sources:www.wikipedia.com
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Mud skipper's Adventure
It was a nice sunny day, and I was doing the normal routine of a mud skipper. Skipping around the mud having feasts with other mud skippers and enjoying some family time. Now you see I have a very big family. Six children! Of course they need to eat something. My family and I live deep down in the mangrove forest. So the only tasty crabs are far away by the mangrove planting areas. Those are the areas were big giants stomp their feet around and help the environment. So I always have to be careful and make sure none of them stomp on me! But the giants do not come often. So basically what I do each day is go out and fetch crabs for my family and I to eat. The skip from my house to the mangrove planting area is about and hour. Which means I have a very hard job to do. Being a mud skipper is not so bad actually unless you get smashed and hurt. That's not fun.
So I was on my way to the mangrove planting area when I stopped for a rest and started hearing strange voices. Not like my language but like a totally different language. I was thinking what it could be because this morning was high tide and I wouldn't think that any giants would be coming now. But I just continued hearing them from all over. Shrieks and screams. As I got closer to the area there were more and more coming. they wouldn't stop. I was very close now and I really wanted to know what these weird voices were. I was hiding behind a mangrove tree curiously looking out to the area. I few of my friends joined me because they didn't know either what these voices were. We were not at the front of the area but more in the back. We were waiting and waiting.
I decided to take a risk and cross to the other side. I bolted of. I was about half way through, when a big black boot stepped right in front of my eyes. Another scream came from the boot. I turned around and started running to the right. Then another boot stopped me. I looked back at my friends which looked undecided. I panicked and started running in circles. My ears were bursting. Screams everywhere. Finally I had the guts to look up. And there I saw a beautiful face of a giant. I knew it was the giants! But these giants were friendly they didn't try to smash me or destroy me. I Just sat there speechless looking around at all the muddy smelly giants. There were about forty of them! But they were all smaller then I expected, except for maybe three or four of them. I was thinking what I should do next but then my thinking got interrupted by my friend telling me that these giants were a class which were planting saplings. Now I was understanding everything. I peacefully walked out of the area and on the way got a few crabs and went home. When I reached home I told my family about my adventure today and about the big group of giants, and they were all very interested.
Sources: www.bountyfishing.com/blog/2007/...fishing/
So I was on my way to the mangrove planting area when I stopped for a rest and started hearing strange voices. Not like my language but like a totally different language. I was thinking what it could be because this morning was high tide and I wouldn't think that any giants would be coming now. But I just continued hearing them from all over. Shrieks and screams. As I got closer to the area there were more and more coming. they wouldn't stop. I was very close now and I really wanted to know what these weird voices were. I was hiding behind a mangrove tree curiously looking out to the area. I few of my friends joined me because they didn't know either what these voices were. We were not at the front of the area but more in the back. We were waiting and waiting.
I decided to take a risk and cross to the other side. I bolted of. I was about half way through, when a big black boot stepped right in front of my eyes. Another scream came from the boot. I turned around and started running to the right. Then another boot stopped me. I looked back at my friends which looked undecided. I panicked and started running in circles. My ears were bursting. Screams everywhere. Finally I had the guts to look up. And there I saw a beautiful face of a giant. I knew it was the giants! But these giants were friendly they didn't try to smash me or destroy me. I Just sat there speechless looking around at all the muddy smelly giants. There were about forty of them! But they were all smaller then I expected, except for maybe three or four of them. I was thinking what I should do next but then my thinking got interrupted by my friend telling me that these giants were a class which were planting saplings. Now I was understanding everything. I peacefully walked out of the area and on the way got a few crabs and went home. When I reached home I told my family about my adventure today and about the big group of giants, and they were all very interested.
Sources: www.bountyfishing.com/blog/2007/...fishing/
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Courage Connections
I walked down the empty hallway. I wanted to get my text book from my locker. I was at my locker, and everyone was in class. I was just about to open my locker when I heard something. First it was a faint cry. Then a louder grunt. My stomach flipped. I knew there was someone getting bullied. I walked around the corner and I saw a bunch of high school kids crowded around a helpless middle schooler. For a split second I recognized his face, but he turned around. Then I saw his face, wide and clear. It was Tom my friend from seventh grade. The high school kids looked terrifying. They were dragging him around. I saw his helpless face. I was thinking "Go Ashley go and help him." But I was frozen I couldn't move. Tom looked at me like he was expecting me to help him. I tried again. I was speechless. I could not look at what they were doing to him. I was about to turn around, when I heard a small, tiny, soft, warm voice.
"Please help me!" he cried. I could not move it was like I was stuck in a box. My mouth opened I wanted to say something but again nothing came out. They were pulling him around. Pushing him. Shoving him. The words the high school kids used, hit me like a big truck. Tom just let himself get dragged around. My head was on fire. I wanted to do something about what was happening. But I couldn't. This was making me so mad! I just wanted to scream at the high school kids. My blood was rushing to my head. I was about to cry. I knew I could not face the big high school kids. They would have beaten me up too. I feel so bad. I see his face being smashed. "Ashley think of something to do," I told myself but after ten minutes, I just stood there like an old lady. "I have to go now I will get in trouble if I do not get to class" I thought. I slowly turned around. I felt so bad. I looked around one last time, the last thing I saw was Toms face, crying for help.
Two goals I would like to achieve this year are: If I see bullying happening I want to stop it and stand up for the person, and make sure they are okay and not hurt. Another goal I would like to achieve this year is make sure I tell a teacher or the counselor if I get bullied or if I see someone getting bullied (of course I will try to help them first.) Those are two of my goals I would like to achieve this year.
When I look back at the situation I would have done a lot of things differently. One of them is that I would stand up for the person and make sure they feel confident if that happens to them again, and I would handle the situation much differently now, and I would help the person, and not give up on the person.
http://www.articles.member.mibba.com/People/1304/Bullying-Kills
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