Thursday, January 7, 2010

Semester Academic Goals (HUMANITIES)


1st goal:

I want to use the habit Of Mind OWNERSHIP "is this my best work?" because i know i can do better in all my work so therefore every time I'm doing any type of work, (homework, projects etc.) i will keep in mind before i turn it in to check my work and see if it meets my expectations or if it does not.

2nd goal:

I want to come to office hours when i don't understand something related to my humanities work. I need to make an effort to come because part of why i did bad at this class is that i don't ask for help as much and i just leave the problem for the last minute until it's too late so whenever i need help i'm going to come to office hours

3rd goal:

My final goal for this semester is to use the habit of mind MINDFULNESS. I will remember it especially when I'm doing group work so i will finish my work and i wont end up affecting my group members.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Semester Academic Goals (MATH)


Goal: I want to go to office hours when i don't understand a math concept

step #1: not understanding a math concept
step #2: after school going to Mele during her office hours and ask her for help.

Goal: I want to take neat notes on my brain book so when i need to review the material, i wont have a hard time reading my own handwriting

Step #1: when writing notes on brain book, write slower so my notes wont be messy.

Goal: I want to have an organized binder so when looking for my work, i wont go crazy looking for it.

Step #1 put all papers in the section of the bender that they are supposed to go, not on the side pockets where everything falls off.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Time Traveler's Reflection (HUMANITIES)

Project description

The time traveler's project was project where we had to make an object that would benefit a civilization that we were assigned to. The objects that were available to build and send were: Trebuchet, Sailboat & Irrigation System.

Process

For my research paper, first i had to study my civilization and the specific pillar i was studying about it which in my case was government. then i had to gather all my information and put them in 7 paragraphs which were: introduction, general overview, strengths, weaknesses, comparing civilizations, success or failure & conclusion. finally i had to make sure my paragraphs were following T.E.A. transition rules which means that the first part of the paragraph was a Topic, the second part was an analysis, and the final part of the paragraph was a conclusion.

Reflection

I learned how to use T.E.A. transition rules and how to make a strong introduction paragraph using subordinatiors

I had challenges finding information on the Aztec government outside Wikipedia and i didn't' want to get all my information from one resource. I also had challenges using T.E.A. transitions because sometimes i couldn't fit an analysis at the end of my paragraphs.

Something i would do differently for this project is to get help when I need help because i know that if i would have asked for help for the research paper, i could have gotten a better grade in it. Something I would do the same is to write a strong introductory paragraph.

This assignment/project will help me later so when I have to write another research paper, I will have enough experience to make a good and better paper.

Monday, November 9, 2009

A Hero In My Eyes Reflection



1.How does a hero become a hero?

I believe that a hero becomes a hero when he/she is publicly named or titled a hero. Also a hero becomes a REAL hero when he/she saves a life or does good for mankind.

2. What was the Hero In My Eyes Project?

The Hero In My Eyes Project was when a project were you had to take someone in your family, friend, or anyone you know that is still alive. You had to interview them and learn about something Heroic they did and write a story about their heroic moment.

3. What steps were taken to get to the final product?

First of all, I had to get with my grandmother to interview her. That was very simple because i interviewed her the same day i interviewed her about my grandfather for Spanish class, Then i had to write the hero sketch, witch it didn't came out well so i had to redo it. Thankfully i was given 1 day extra to complete it and got it in on time.

4. What did you learn? What challenges did you encounter? What would you do the same or different? How will this help you later?

I learned to use dialogue correctly and also the proper way to write it on the paper (the spacing). The biggest challenge i encountered was adding emotion to my paper. I don't know exactly how to add emotion and i still have trouble adding emotion.
Something i would have done differently would be revising my final paper. I have to admit i was in a hurry to finish my final paper and i didn't revise it. This project will help me later when im writing papers, i will know how to properly use dialouge.

5. Pick one of the six Habits of Mind and describe how you used it in this project.

Mindfulness: Will my actions affect others? Maybe in this project it wouldn't affect anyone but more like how would my actions affect myself. I used it in the beginning getting my interview and pictures on time but sadly, i didin't use it at the end.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

The Origin Of Zero

What strikes me about the article is that they know when zero arrived. According to the article, it arrived in the West circa 1200 which was suposed to be delivered by the Italian mathematician Fibonacci.Also it strikes me how it started at just a meere symbol rather as the zero we know today


in the article, it doesn't explain who really discovered zero. It says in the article that zero was used as a "placeholder" to tell a way to tell 1 from 10 from 100, to give an example using Arabic numerals. But the second article says that the Mayans invented it, then India, and china, so maybe all of the ancient civilizations invented it in their own way, so therefore it has no creator.

Each civilization created and invented zero on their own, in the article, What is the origin of zero? How did we indicate nothingness before zero? says that the first recorded zero appeared in Mesopotamia around 3 B.C. The Mayans invented it independently circa 4 A.D. It was later devised in India in the mid-fifth century, spread to Cambodia near the end of the seventh century, and into China and the Islamic countries at the end of the eighth. Zero reached western Europe in the 12th century. so therfore all civilizations created it on their own.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

A Running Soul


“A mi me a gustado correr toda mi vida.”
My grandmother said as our interview began. Her name is Maria De Jesus and she has loved to run all her life. She had a happy nut somehow serious face, and when I realized that, I knew this was going to be a long interview.

I asked her how she began to run in important Tijuana competitions and she began to think very deeply, she is currently 79 years old and sometimes its quite hard for her to think back. She told me about a friend she met in the park meanwhile she got her daily morning dose of exercise. Her name is Isabela De La Shee. She was what primarily encouraged her most about running in competitions. When I asked her about how she felt winning her first place in her first race, she became very excited she kept touching her orange hair and repeating
“Yo me sentí muy orgullosa de mi misma.”
To make sure i wrote that down. Some of the important races she participated in were Mujeres en accion 1997, #39 Carrera Por Alicia Norma Grande 1998, and the Primera Carrera Nocturna in 1998. She was 65 years old when she began to run and because of this, she got lots of public attention , people in the street would say, “
“te vi en la tele corriendo abuela or siga corriendo abuela”. All this attention made Maria feel very happy
“Me senti como si ya estubiera en el cielo”, she said, but her expresión was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. She had this “shine” in her eyes that made her look like a champion and made me feel inspired, but when I asked her how she retired, her smile disappeared in a blink of an eye.

She was hit by a car in the year 2001 and broke her knee. The pain in her knee made her running impossible so she was forced to retire. Maria Said she felt betrayed by God,
“A mi no se me hace justo que dios me haya quitado lo que me gustaba mas”
also with her husband’s death already weighting down on her, she went into a depression. She refused to leave her house, wouldn’t eat for days, but luckily though she felt betrayed by God, she never lost fate in him and within 3 weeks, she was back in her normal mood.
When she said this, her serious face slowly turned into a smile, as if being released from a burden that has weighted her down since her accident.

A the end of our interview she said,
“ Mi unico deseo es que todas las futuras generaciones de corredores le echen ganas correr es algo muy bonito, y es mas bonito ganar”.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Literary Device


Catching the signal from one of her friends, Angela brushed her skirt, took a deep breath and walked towards where he was sitting. Her best friend Jesus had just seen his friend murdered before his eyes and Angela didn't know what to say to him, but she knew what she had to do. She had to make things better for him, she had to be someone he could talk to the same way he did to her when they were 7. Angela grabbing his shoulder to let him know she was there, realized he was as cold as ice, almost as if death itself surrounded him. He kept repeating, i did it, i did it it was all my fault i told those men were his house is, i knew they weren't related to him but i still did it, i killed my only friend. Angela said, It's not your fault we all do mistakes in our life, faith is what controls our actions and things just happened. Angela hugged him and her friend left them alone in the cold dark night thinking what would happen next.