11th Grade

Introduction

This page includes all the work that I wanted to showcase from my junior year. This has no doubt been a rewarding year. I think I've finally figured out how to balance work and fun. Needless to say I’ve learned a lot about myself. That may sound cheese but every kid has a coming of age story, mine just wasn’t as dramatic as the movies. The classes I took this year have taught me a variety of things that I can carry with me through my life whenever I'm faced with a tough obstacle. In Algebra 2 I learned about the studying techniques that work for me. In Technical Reading and Writing taught me how to direct my writing towards specific audiences. Economics taught me how to manage my money. Architecture taught me how to define my own style within the rules. Chemistry taught me to be a more focused and dedicated student. I’ve still got some growing up to do but this year has not only helped me, but forced me to take on more responsibility than ever before. A year from now I’ll be getting ready go off to college and this year has helped prepare for that adjustment. Below you’ll find different reflections that I’ve written for each of my different reflections accompanied by artifacts from learning endeavors.

Algebra 2

My reflection is going to focus on how math class helped me figure out which learning and studying methods work best for me. Math isn’t my best subject so when a test is coming up I am have to work as hard as I can to make sure I know all the important information, one way I do this is by writing detailed notes to help me. Generally I start by creating detailed notes about the different topics that we’ve covered in the latest lesson. Then I go over my notes until I feel comfortable with the material. Physically writing out the information is important because that’s the part that really drills it into my mind. It also helps to practice some example problems so that I can guarantee a good grade on the test.

My first artifact that I think shows my growth is the notes that I took because they show all the work that I put into studying. The second artifact that I think shows my growth is the test because it shows the result of all my work.

During the last unit in math class I learned a lot about some of the different graphs there are, their parent equations, and how to put the equations into graphing form. Parent equations are like the bones of the equation, they are the original form of the equation. You sometimes have to transfer equations into graphing form because it makes it easier to graph the equation and identify important points. The graph is the visual representation of the equation and even the graph alone can provide you with almost all the information you need to know about the equation.

Since math isn’t my best subject I struggled sometimes when I came to a topic that I didn’t totally understand so before writing the notes I would have to read through the textbook and teach myself how to do the problem and then continue writing notes on it. Other times when I was having a lot of trouble with something I would go to a friend or family member for help. I felt successful when I receive a good grade, because it means that I did well and it all confirms that I know the required information. Nothing feels better than getting rewarded for the work you put in with a good grade.

Anchor 1

Technical Reading and Writing

The first project we did in my Technical Reading and Writing and Chemistry classes taught me how to make instructions specific to my targeted audience. It also taught me how to conduct a usability test as a way to gain feedback. Learning this was key in writing simple and specific instructions. This project has helped me prepare for college and my career because it has trained me to direct my writing toward the specific audience and give proper directions to others.

For this project we created a set of instructions for a chemistry lab. We started by learning about how to write and conduct instructions and usability tests. The first thing we talked about in class was the rhetorical situation. The rhetorical situation includes the genre, audience, purpose, scope, and medium and design of your writing. It is important to think about the rhetorical situation whenever you are writing something others will read. For this project one of the most important things was audience. We were writing for an audience of sixth graders so it was going to be somewhat of an adjustment because they aren’t at the same knowledge level as us. We started by going over the requirements and finding ways to meet them. Our instructions needed to include an effective title, safety precautions, required materials, purpose, lab procedures, clean-up instructions, and possibly a diagram. We were given a lab in chemistry to base ours on. Our job was to transfer the information from the lab we were given to one that was sixth grader friendly. When we were writing out the steps of the lab we had to make sure every part was understandable. We changed some of the wording and added definitions. One thing I think helped the sixth graders understand the lab was the diagram of the lab we added. The medium we chose was a poster because it seemed like a fun way to illustrate the lab and instruct the sixth graders on how to carry it out.

This project was the first time I’ve ever had to write instructions like this, so I was presented with a new challenge. I had to imagine how my work would be perceived by others and use my assumptions to construct a set of instructions well suited to their age group. Over the years I’ve gotten used to writing papers for adults, but now I had to do the opposite. One of the main focuses of this project was the audience which is the demographic we were writing our instructions for. Our instructions were targeted at a novice or beginner audience, which meant they had to be detailed and specific without being too wordy or complicated. Since this project was directed to a younger demographic my group and I chose to create a colorful and bright theme for the poster. We constantly had to remind ourselves that this was for younger kids. The formatting part of the project was pretty easy, but the writing was where it got tough. We had to step into the shoes of a sixth grader in order to successfully write for them. The skills I’ve learned during this project are going to help me in college because I’ll be able to write papers for any purpose. I will be able to write essays specific to the type of class I’m taking. Based on what I know of college papers, they require you to write in a variety of different tones. Writing these instructions was great practice because I had to write for a new demographic that I had fairly little experience with.

One artifact that does a good job showcasing my growth is my final poster because it is the culmination of everything I’ve learned about writing for specific demographics over the course of the entire project. It includes all the different information in the kid friendly format we created. The other artifact I would use is the original lab we based our instructions on. I think the comparison between the original lab and our poster illustrates how a change in audience can severely affect the writing and format. The first lab was very dry and minimalistic in explanation. It was clear the reader was expected to have some prior knowledge on the subject whereas ours was clearly for a beginner audience.

During this project we also had to conduct a usability test. A usability test is somewhat similar to a focus group. You get a group of people from the intended audience together and give them the materials they will be testing. Afterwards you watch and see how they use it and what they think of it. There are two main methods used in a usability test: concurrent and retrospective testing. For a concurrent test you collect data while the test is going on, and for a retrospective test you recount what happened or give a quiz after the test. My group used both methods so we could get a clear picture of what was working and what wasn’t. For the concurrent test we filmed them and had them say everything they were thinking while the test was going. For the retrospective test we asked them questions following the experiment and took notes on what their final thoughts were. Through this process I discovered how helpful it can be to see the reaction of people within your target audience before finalizing your product. I also think it’s important to actually test people form the targeted demographic. If you are writing for younger students it doesn’t make sense to have a 17 year old test your instructions because they are speaking from a different point of view. When the sixth graders first began the usability test they had a hard time because it was missing some of the information they needed. They didn’t understand which flasks to use for the different parts of the experiment. After a while they caught on and at the end of it they completed the experiment correctly. The usability test let me know exactly what needed to be added to the instructions. I believe this method of testing out the work on people and then going back to revise it is going to be very helpful to me in the future.

This project has helped me practice writing for others, in the future this may end up being a key part of my job so I’m happy I learned now. One of the things I would really like to do in my life is become a creative director. It has been a dream of mine for a very long time to work for a fashion magazine. In this career field reader perception is very important. I will have to cater to many different audiences at once and make sure it’s pleasing to all of them. I expect feedback will be one of the key points of my career. I’ll need to understand outside opinions to get an idea of what the consumer will think. This wasn’t a simple project at all even though it mays sound that way at first. The work was tedious, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t also rewarding. Sometimes you have to deal with the hard work so you can have the satisfaction of handing in something in that you’re truly proud of. Nothing can compare to the feeling of accomplishment I felt when the sixth graders finally figured out what they needed to do to complete the experiment successfully. Seeing the looks on their faces when things started to click was incredible. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders because I knew my hard work had paid off.

Anchor 2

Economics

In economics we did a budgeting project where we had to plan a trip for one of the teachers at the school. This project taught me a lot about all of the little costs that can add up and it gave me a more realistic view of how easy it is to run out of money. I learned a lot about having a budget and planning accordingly. A budget is basically a limit to how much money you can spend, people use them to make sure that they don’t overspend. Learning these things are important because budgeting is going to be a big part of my life as I get older. This project is going to help me be able to manage money throughout my life which is probably one of the most important skills a person can have.

For this project we met with a teacher from the school and asked them about where they’d like to go on vacation and what kinds of activities they’d be interested in. Our teacher, Mrs. Vasquez, wanted to go to the upcoming world cup in Russia. We had to create a website that included the following pages: home, get to know us, passport, flights, travel itinerary, maps, currency exchange rate, expense, brochure, interesting places, cultural synopsis, phrase book, and a work cited page. Mrs. Vasquez wanted to go on vacation with her husband and son and she wanted to spend no more than $2,500 per person. We began the process by figuring out the itinerary. The itinerary is the schedule for the trip. We made a list of all the places they would go added in a time, date, and price. For the flights we looked online to find the cheapest flights to Russia at that time of year. We also had to remember to schedule sightseeing around the world cup games since that’s why she wanted to go there in the first place. This part of the project taught me a lot about planning because I had to focus a lot on every detail to make sure everything would run smoothly. It also made me realize how much money is spent on traveling. Next we worked on the maps section of the project. This part was a bit tedious because I had to make a map for every day that had the locations of all the places they’d be visiting labeled. They were only staying in Russia for a week but it felt much longer. After the bulk of the planning was completed we moved on to the research part of the project. We web searched things like the exchange rate, common phrases, culture, and fun facts. It was actually interesting to learn things about modern day Russia instead of hearing the same stereotypes repeated. While we were finding all of this information we saved the links of every source we used so that at the end we could create citations for the work cited page. Once all the necessities were on the website, the last step was to make the website presentable. This is my favorite part of every project I do, and not just because it means the end is in sight. I really like making things look nice so that they suit the occasion. My partners and I were successful in putting together a vacation that was under budget. I must say, I was pretty proud of us.

One artifact that showcases my growth is the finished website because it is the culmination of everything I’ve learned about planning a vacation with a budget. It includes all the different information that I learned over the course of this project. The other artifact I would use is the planning notes I typed close to the beginning of the project. I think the comparison between the notes and the website illustrates how much work and thought went into planning this vacation.

Econ class has introduced me to a lot of things, budgeting being a major one. I never thought about the money part of my future. I guess I just always assumed I’d be ok financially, but now I’m beginning to realize that if I don’t plan well and manage my money properly things may not turn out as well as I’d hoped. Budgeting is an essential part of survival in today’s world and if you don’t know how to watch what you spend things aren’t going to be easy. I’m really glad I figured this out now instead of two years from now when I’m in college and living on my own. Obviously this project was no walk in the park, but it was certainly rewarding. I realized that I need to stay woke and pay attention to money because it’s really easy to run out of it. I think this project was an eye opener for me. It not only helped me understand what I may have to go through in the future, but also what my parents are going through right now. I have a new found appreciation for the way they take care of our money so that I can have endless opportunities.

visit site

Anchor 3

Introduction to Architecture

My architecture reflection is going to focus on how this class has helped me learn about perspective drawing. I don’t necessarily want to be an architect but I was excited to take this class because I wanted more drawing practice. I found the drawing techniques in this class very interesting. It was certainly a departure from what I’m used to. In the beginning we learned how to draw building from different perspectives. This means that we had to draw an object with the correct width, height, and design but from a specific view point. Sometimes we looked at things straight on and sometimes we looked at them from a diagonal view.

The artifacts I think show my growth in this area are the drawings I drew when we were taking notes and the drawings that I did for homework. I think that these drawings show what I learned in class and how I applied that to my work at home.

The first thing we learned was a one point perspective drawing. This type of drawing gives the illusion of 3D depth in a 2D form. As an object moves farther away it looks smaller and therefor is drawn smaller. The vanishing point is where the sky and the horizon meet in the drawing. The façade is the front exterior or face of the building. The envelope is the exterior walls of the entire building. One of the most important things to do is to make sure that everything in the drawing is consistent with the vanishing point. If something is off with the drawing it’ll stand out so it is vital that all the lines match each other. I’ve done drawings like this in the past, but they were of small objects not entire buildings. Once I had the rules down I felt pretty confident that I knew what I was doing. A two point perspective is pretty similar to a one point drawing except it’s drawn from a different view point. Instead of drawing a building from the front view, you draw it as if you were looking at the building from one of its corners. These drawings also have to vanishing points, one on either side of the building. These drawings can be tricky because it is slightly harder to keep everything aligned.

I always love learning new things because it often unlocks a new interest for me. I would never have thought that I could enjoy drawing buildings as much as I have. Now when I look at the drawings of professional architects I can’t help but be impressed. Their drawings are so unique to their own style and I would love to have my art style evolve so that you could look at it and know who it belonged to. They often seem to combine general architecture drawings with their own art style and it creates something beautiful. In future I’d like to combine the things I’ve learned in this class with my own personal drawing style.

This class has been challenging because I had to draw in a way that I’m not totally comfortable yet. Architectural drawings can be tedious when you’re just getting started. Even though it was hard at times it was still rewarding because it opened my eyes and made me realize that just because there are rules and requirements for a drawing, doesn’t mean that it can’t be unique and interesting.

Anchor 4

Chemistry

During the first quarter in chemistry we learned a lot about math. At first finding out that math was going to be included in this class was a bit upsetting. You see math and me aren’t the best of friends. Honestly I felt a little bit betrayed. Since childhood I’ve been an avid TV watcher, and from a young age Disney channel taught me that chemistry consisted of explosions and bubbling concoctions. I was under the assumption that I’d be taking a class similar to potions class in Harry Potter. So you can imagine my surprise when after only a few weeks of school my teacher announced that we’d be doing math. Despite my initial shock I soon got used to the idea. Apparently math does in fact have a lot to do with science, especially chemistry. We learned quite a few methods as a way of laying the ground work for the things we’d be doing in class the rest of the year. The one word that kept popping up was “moles”. A mole is a number, similar to a dozen. It’s a very big number though. One mole is equal to 6.02x10^23 of anything. One mole is around the number of grains of sand there are on earth. Moles are generally used for measuring really small things like molecules and atoms. We used moles most often when we were doing dimensional analysis. Which is a method of using conversion factors to see how much of something is equal to something else. For example we might have a question like “How many moles of NO2 are present in 115.0g?” We would find the answer to this by first finding out how many grams are in NO2. After using the periodic table to figure out that there are 46.0055g in NO2. We would multiply 115.0g(1 mole/46.0055g) this formula would give us the answer to our question which is, 2.500 moles of NO2. Dimensional analysis is very important to get a good handle on when you’re learning about chemistry because it is something that you’ll have to apply to a lot of chemistry problems down the road.

I think that this unit helped me grow in my ability to absorb and practice what I’m learning in class. I think that it helped me be a better listener and note taker otherwise I’d miss something and make things even harder for myself. I believe that having to practice dimensional analysis over and over has taught me that practicing something and drilling it into your brain however painful will help you learn in the end. What I’ve learned so far in chemistry class is really going to help me prepare for college because I am getting used to a more intense and form of learning.

Chemistry isn’t the easiest class but as long as I pay attention I’ll be able to do well. Chemistry isn’t the type of class where you can just catch up if you miss a couple days. The work load isn’t too heavy but the info load can really weigh you down sometimes. It feels like we’re covering new topics all the time. I like to think of myself as a fairly smart person and a good student, and though this class has taken some getting used to due to the fast pace I think that in the long run it’ll do me a lot of good. Learning the basics of dimensional analysis was pretty simple but applying it to more complicated situations took a little extra class time. Every now and again I zone out in class, but not in chemistry. If I take a break or my mind drifts I might miss something important. The problem with missing something when it comes to dimensional analysis is that I’ve got to use the methods I learn now and apply them to what I learn for the rest of the year, so if I screw around now I’m going to mess up everything else I do this year. This lesson not only pertains to chemistry but life as a whole. The actions that I take now and the decisions that I make are going to affect the rest of my life. That certainly puts a lot of pressure on the next couple years of my life. After realizing that I needed to really focus on this class I became a more concentrated student. This growth is going to help me in future because I now know that when you have something that you need to do or learn you really have to commit to it 100%. Obviously I’ve heard people say that to me before but I guess sometimes you have to experience something to understand it. Because of chemistry class I’ve become a more focused and committed student. In two years I’ll be head off to college and it’ll be an entirely new challenge. Being able to stay more committed and focused is going to help me do better in all of my classes. The artifact that I think best shows my growth is the notes that I originally took on dimensional analysis. This year I’ve had to focus a lot on listening and putting in extra work to help me fully understand the concepts that I’m learning about in class. Taking notes has had a huge impact on my performance in school. I used to take notes and assume that that was enough. This year I’ve decided to work a lot harder and instead of just taking notes I also make sure that I listen to the teacher, ask questions, and look back at my notes to make sure that I truly understand everything.

This year I’ve also discovered the importance of practice. Because I’m not the best at math I had to practice a lot more to feel comfortable with dimensional analysis. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve probably done about 100 dimensional analysis problems. That’s not including the ones I got wrong. They say that practice makes perfect, well I hope that’s true because I’ve certainly had a lot of practice. I grew because I’ve figured out how that practicing something over and over, and really drilling it into my mind is the method of studying that is going to help me the most. This has helped me grow because I am more than likely to face challenges that I don’t really know how to solve. Before chemistry class this year I had a very different way of facing problems I didn’t know how to solve. Basically I’d give up. But now that I’ve realized that giving up will never solve anything I can move on in life with the knowledge that persistence is the only way to move on from my issues. When I’m an adult and I have a job that requires me to work as hard as I can, I’m not going to be able to just give up instead I’m going to have to push through and try even harder. The artifact that I think shows how hard I worked to understand how to do dimensional analysis problems is the practice problems that I did. I think that this artifact shows my growth because it shows the large amount of work that I’ve put into understanding the things that I’ve been working on in class.

Dimensional analysis hasn’t always been the easiest thing to learn but because it’s something I’m going to have to understand in order to survive the rest of the year in chemistry class. I overcame this problem by asking questions and practicing a lot. There was no quick fix to my problem, I had to hunker down and put my nose to the grindstone. Like I said earlier being in this class has made me a better student out of necessity. Out of fear of missing important information I’ve become a much better listener, and because I had to do problem after problem in order to feel comfortable with dimensional analysis problems I’ve made practicing what I learn in class a new habit of mine.

During my first quarter in chemistry class I’ve become a better listener and a more dedicated student. The changes I’ve made to make myself a better student are really going to help me in future by giving me a better work ethic. I think that chemistry class has made me a more well-rounded student and person. The changes that I’ve chosen to make are going to help me get through problems in my future because instead of giving up I’m going to work hard and push through.

Anchor 5

Conclusion

As you can see I’ve grown a lot this year and it’s all been pretty scattered. Each class has taught me something different and I’m grateful for each and every one of those lesson. I think that this year has taught me more than just academic lessons, it has also taught me a lot about work ethic and how to get through stressful situations. Even though this year has challenged me I’ve done much better this year than any passed year of high school, and honestly I’m very proud of myself for growing as much as I have.