Semester 1 Reflection

Towards the end of semester 1, our class was divided into 5 groups. Each group learnt about a different U.S. government topic. The topic that my group and I explored was U.S territory. I learnt mostly about Puerto Rico and its battle with the U.S. Currently Puerto Rico is debating on either becoming a state or staying as a commonwealth. I also learnt about the many referendums that Puerto Rico has had and how it has been fighting to become a state for a long time now. In addition, I learnt about the advantages and disadvantages Puerto Rico has. The advantages involve maintaining cultural heritage and having easy access to the U.S. However, the disadvantages involve having very little governmental power and having a $77 billion debt to the U.S. Some questions that I still have are, when will the next referendum take place? As well as, why doesn't the U.S want Puerto Rico to become a state? My goal for next semester is to use MLA more often and to remember to use MLA whenever I cite my sources.

Nutrition Presentation

U.S Gov't

What have you learnt about American government? 
I have learnt about the three branches of the government: Judicial, legislative, executive. I have also learnt that Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. I also discovered how a bill becomes a law. In addition, I learnt about the laws and the various things that the state and federal government share, as well as the things they don't share(reserved, concurrent, delegated).

What questions do you still have about U.S government? 
I am still a bit unclear on the separate roles of the judicial, legislative, and executive branches, and the differences between them. I'm also wondering about the courts, and the roles juries have to play as well as how the court system works.

Enter the Murderous Mansion of Mr. Uno to Enter a World of Comedy and Astonishment!

Performance Title: The Murderous Mansion of Mr. Uno

Theater Name/Location: SAS Drama Theater

Day Reviewed: November 22, 2017

Written By: Tavishi Baidwan

Directed By: Ethan Curnett

Number of Stars(1 to 5): 5

The Murderous Mansion of Mr. Uno was a show not be missed. It is was a student-led play, but was done so well that it felt professional! The play took place in a mansion which belonged to a man named Mr. Uno. In this mansion, we start off with a lovely dinner with 6 different characters being introduced. It starts off happy enough, but when each character receives a different letter from Mr. Uno, things start to go downhill. Soon, the play progresses to a series of murders that take place in the mansion, and the incredible part about this production is that the audience votes on the murderer! It is full of suspense and accusation on who the murderer is, and is filled with drama and comedy that is sure to leave you in fits of laughter! In my opinion, this show was undoubtedly a success, not just because of the emotional acting, but also because of the lighting skills. 

Although this play was completely student-led, the acting felt so professional that I was completely engrossed in the story. Every character had its own flaws and personalities, and because every character had a different attitude, the play was immensely interesting. For example, a character named Mrs. Tarragon was a little crazy and had a frantic loud attitude. On the other hand, General Spragmorton was a strict military soldier with a leadership attitude. These two character's personalities and attitudes contrasted with each other to create comedy. The acting and the words that they said to each other and everyone else, seemed extremely realistic. The tone of their words fitted their personalities perfectly and I thought that everything executed was magnificent. Another example of great acting was Madame Isis. She was acting as a classy person and acted it really well. Her words had a sarcastic edge to them and an undertone of "I don't care" attitude beneath them. I thought that her acting was especially good, but everyone's acting was superb and everyone's attitude was also funny and intriguing, but most importantly, every character brought the play to life!

The second brilliant work of this play was the lighting. Sometimes, the lighting of a production is underrated and only the acting is spoken about. Well, I can assure you that this play wouldn't have been half as good without this incredible lighting. In the beginning, the whole stage was covered with light. As the characters were dining, everything was lit up, showcasing the gorgeous set. Then, only half of the stage was lit - the half that the characters were standing in. When the characters received their ominous letters from Mr. Uno, only the half of the stage with characters was lit. This was done so that the tension was directed completely at the characters opening the letters so that the audience wouldn't be distracted by the other set pieces. Next, the characters all moved to the other side of the stage and only that half was lit up so that all eyes were once again directed to the other side. But, that wasn't all, another technique used was the dimming of lights. For instance, in a scene in which someone gets murdered, all lights are off and it is pitch black, so you can't see anything and can only hear screams. When the lights came up, there was a dead body. This lighting technique was used to create confusion for the audience. Lastly, the classic spotlight was used. This was usually used to create comedy like when the beam was on General Spragmorton boasting about how he knew who the murderer was. In all, the lighting techniques were used expertly and brought this play up to the next level! 

The Murderous Mansion of Mr. Uno was a great production which I thoroughly enjoyed. The play is suitable for middle schoolers, who will enjoy the great acting and suspenseful lighting, as well as find great comedy! For younger children, some of the comedy may not be clear enough, and for older kids, they could find this play a bit too melodramatic. Overall, it was a fantastic performance and a definite must-see! 

Nutrition Poster

PHYSICAL WELLNESS DECIDE MODEL

D Define The Problem	How am I going to continue to improve and protect my physical wellness in order to have the best quality of life for my lifetime? I am going to improve my stamina and cardiorespiratory endurance through running the mile every two weeks.
E Explore The Alternatives	I could also swim to improve my stamina as well as play tennis since I have to have the strong cardiorespiratory endurance to do both of these things well.
C Consider Possible Outcomes	If I run the mile, swim, or play tennis, my risk of chronic diseases will decrease and my heart rate will be faster. Specifically, if I go swimming, I will improve myself for long distance swims as well as swim sprints, but I will not be just focused on stamina and cardiorespiratory endurance but will be focused on upper body strength for the arm movements in swimming as well. If I do tennis, then I will be improving my pacing throughout the game but will again also be training my arm muscles and not just my stamina. I also won’t be training as hard in running as I will be hitting the ball and focusing on my arm technique more often than not. However, if I run the mile, I will be training mainly my cardiorespiratory endurance with the exception of some technical changes but it is mostly my stamina. Running the mile will also help me in both swimming and tennis since I need stamina in both games.
I Identify your Values	If I swim, I am showing grit because I will be swimming a certain distance, but am also showing cowardice for not wanting to run the mile, and would rather be not just focusing on the improving my stamina which is tough, and would be averting the goal by focusing on an easier movement - upper body strength. If I play tennis, I am showing compassion for the sport as I want to improve it. But, I am also showing laziness for wanting to focus more on technique and the actual game than improving my stamina - similar to swimming. If I run the mile, I am showing determination to achieve my goal, because I am solely focused on improving my cardiorespiratory endurance and are not clouded by thoughts of technique.
D Decide and Act in agreement with your Values	Running the mile is the best option because I am following through on my goal while at the same time not getting distracted with other techniques and muscle groups. I am also showing the most compassion and determination towards my goal by trying to achieve it, not averting it with other easier techniques to focus on.
E Evaluate Your Plan	I will set up a time in the evening every other Friday or Saturday to meet up with a friend with the same goal. We will meet at someone’s house and will go outside or on the treadmill for a jog, where we will run the mile. After running the mile, we will go to the gym to cycle or just stretch and cool down. We will go back to our separate houses.

Resources for Achieving my Goal

Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug-4NXGVEco 

This is a reliable online resource because it is by Shredded Sports Science, a youtube channel that has over 8k subscribers and talks about health and wellbeing.

From this site, I learnt that the left ventricle of your heart is the part of your heart that pumps oxygenated tissues around the body, and that this part of the heart increases in size as you improve your cardio endurance. So, the amount of blood your heart pumps per minute increases a lot, causing your resting heart rate to decrease. This will help me achieve my goal because now I know what exactly I am improving which gives my goal more meaning.

Reliable Website:
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/PhysicalActivity/FitnessBasics/Endurance-Exercise-Aerobic_UCM_464004_Article.jsp#.Wf-7OROCxE4 

This is a reliable online resource because firstly, it ends with org, meaning that it is not used for commercial purposes and is used for educating instead. Secondly, it doesn't have any advertisements, reinforcing that it is used for education, not to make money. Lastly, it is an organization that is called American Heart Association and has tabs stating where it has found it's reliable research and the educators.

From this site, I already knew that improving endurance helps your heart and lungs but I didn't know that it helped your circulatory system as well. I also didn't know that adults are recommended to have around 2 1/2 hours of vigorous exercise per week so I can infer that kids need around 3 to 4 hours of vigorous exercise per week. This will help me because I know how much exercise I need at least every week - at the very least 2 1/2 hours but preferably around 3 to 4 hours, so I can exercise for periods of time-based off that, including running the mile as a part of my exercise.

Study:
http://www.medicaldaily.com/diabetes-and-exercise-cardio-fitness-type-2-diabetes-386326

This is a reliable online resource because I could easily find the author and found that he focused on health and is a journalist for many articles. The sources were also linked and the study was done by a reliable university - University of Minnesota.

From this site, I learnt about a 20-year study which 4,273 people participated in. In this study, for the first, seventh, and 20th year, the participants focused on treadmill exercises - cardiovascular exercises. They assessed diabetes development and found a lower risk among those with a higher level fitness - the group doing more higher level cardiovascular exercises. This will help me reach my goal because I run using higher level cardiovascular exercises - running a mile - instead of doing, for instance, a sprint, so this study put in perspective why I should be achieving my goal since the outcome of lowered diabetes was much lower for most people who did cardiovascular exercise. Now, I know what benefits I will achieve from doing this goal.

Shakespearean Insults Reflection

For this assignment, we were assigned partners and were given a long list of Shakespearean Insults. Out of these insults, we each had to say 3 to 5 insults where were fighting over something. We also had to remember to establish setting, the relationship between us, and what were fighting over.

I believe that I did a pretty good job on this performance. For the introduction script, we established the relationship(best friends), the setting(restaurant), and the conflict(fighting over a boy) clearly from the very beginning through our script, our body language(waving to waiter), and our set(table and chairs). From our introduction script, we slowly progressed into our Shakespear script, where we would start the real anger and build on that. I think that our anger seemed genuine since our plot was relatable to our audience(teens), there was an obvious reason for why we should be angry. I also believe that the intensity of my anger increased a lot. From the first line, being sassier, to the second line starting to get to the anger, and for the third line being full out angry. However, I think that the anger for my third line and the fourth line was very similar in intensity, so the intensity didn't really build for the last line. So far, I have written a lot about the script and voice, but what about the physical aspects? Well, the fighting was planned as we knew that we would push each other, I would be the first person to stand up from my chair, and she would point at my heart directly for one of her lines. In the middle, some pulls were improvised, but our ending was completely planned as we wanted to end with me in a very weak choking stance. Lastly, now that I've watched my video, I would add even more facial expression to myself. As my goal was to add more facial expression which I did for the sassiness in the beginning and fear at the end, but while being angry I didn't frown or show much anger in my facial expression, so that would be the part that I would change. 

2 Line Horror Story

For this performance, we were each assigned a 2 line story. We had 24 hours to prepare this performance by adding the production elements of a background and music, as well as preparing our actions, pauses and coming up with the right emotions for our voice. Enjoy!

MS Fitness Card

Top 10: The Star of the Show

The polished wooden stage is swept with luscious velvet curtains. The teeming crowd is practically jumping out of their cushioned seats in excitement. They have been waiting for this production for a long time. Everything is dark, like the night, you can't even see your own hand in front of you. Anxiety weaves through each person, as wonder fills the cold air. Who will be the star of the show? A shrieking clap of thunder races across the room, as a blinding yellow light, appears in a large circle at the centre of the stage. The audience is scrambling for a glimpse at the actors, but the spotlight is beamed directly on only one person. Where are the rest of the actors?

You see, the rest of the actors and actresses hide in the shadows, bouncing on their toes with butterflies fluttering in their stomachs. All costumed in their thoughts for this performance, the artists wait for their turn in the glorious spotlight. The performers wait. And wait. And wait. But, their turn to present their stunning act will never come, because of one person, one cruel attention freak.

Yes, I am a performer. I am hiding in the shadows of one human being, just as most of you are. My thoughts remain in an abyss, all ideas to be forgotten, never to be spoken out loud. Every theory, all opinions, even my minuscule suggestions, are all banished to myself because I am forbidden to utter a single word. Why? Because the attention freak has struck, again. The attention freak snatches all of the attention towards him, and won't let anyone else speak at all. The being glues our mouths shut with not tape, but with his mind so that none of our thoughts can be shared with anyone. Magnificent words bubble out of the attention freak's mouth like a waterfall, the words cease to stop pouring out until they have drowned out everyone's voice but his. Wave after wave, his words turn into sentences, and his sentences to turn into paragraphs, and even his paragraphs turn into essays, as the waterfall of words never stops. This is why the performers will always be waiting because the attention freak will never lend the spotlight to anyone else.

We are all meant to be stars of this show. We all want to dance and twirl in front of the crowd, we all want our ideas to shine under the spotlight. But, we are not able to, because the attention freak has stolen the spotlight yet again. He has shut out our thoughts and spoken only his out loud. Enough, I say, enough. We have waited far too long to throw the attention freak off the stage. The time has come for him to step into the shadows. The time has come for us to become the stars of the show.

Blocking the Ugly Princess Assignment

In our drama class, we performed a melodramatic performance. This performance was based on the fairy tale Rapunzel but had twists and turns in the script to make this performance much more funny and interesting! Our class was divided into two groups, one group performed on a thrust stage(a stage with an additional runway platform in the front), and our group performed on a theatre-in-the-round stage(the audience is seated on all 4 sides of the stage). Both groups performed in front of 2nd graders, who later voted for their favourite performance! Below are two videos, one shows the practice performance(in front of our class) and one video shows the live performance(in front of a real audience) for our group. I will be writing a critique comparing our rough version to our final version below. Enjoy!

Live Performance
  

Practice Performance



Our rough version had space for a ton of improvement, both for our group and myself. First, I'm going to critique what I did wrong in my rough performance and what I did to change it. Then, I will be critiquing my group's rough performance. Lastly, I will be critiquing the live performance!

First, of, I did a few things wrong. For my rough performance, when I entered onto the stage, I entered in a playful lively fashion which gave some personality to my character, so everything went very smoothly. I walked around the stage and talked to the second graders smoothly as well, but then when I started getting angry at Rapunzel for keeping the chocolate, I didn't seem very mad at all. And when I was threatening her about how her father had called on a terrible witch to be her guardian, the emotions didn't seem exaggerated enough. Those were the issues I had before returning back to the stage. When the stepfather and I returned to the stage later on in the performance, everything ran perfectly - I looked shocked at the disappearance of Rapunzel who had run off with the prince - but when the witch threatened us for letting Rapunzel escape, I didn't seem frightened at all, in comparison to the stepfather, I barely seemed scared. Therefore my main critique on myself for the rough performance is that I didn't exaggerate my emotions enough.

For our group, there was a bit of critique to be given. Firstly, the whole librarian narrator gig didn't work out at all and muddled up the story, which the blame was on the whole group for not realising the issue with this idea. Secondly, our group hadn't realised that we were not allowed any black-outs during the scene so it was very awkward to place the tower in the middle of the stage during our performance. Lastly, another critique for our group is that we kept on changing our lines around which ended up making a 4-minute performance, 8 minutes long! However, we did nothing to change this for the live performance as we hadn't realised how overtime we had gone.

Our live performance was drastically better than our rough performance. I improved my own performance specifically by seeming quite angry at Rapunzel for keeping the chocolate and used a threatening dangerous voice for when I threatened her about the witch locking her up. I also improved my performance by seeming exaggeratedly scared of the witch. Our group collaboratively enhanced our performance by keeping the witch as the narrator and changing the lines of the narrator we had used in the rough version to fit the witch's personality. We also improved our performance by leaving the tower in the middle of the stage the entire performance and utilizing it for storing props and hiding behind. However, there are still a few things that I would improve on for our final performance. For example, when I said my first line, I hadn't planned the joke correctly. You see, the stepfather was talking about how Rapunzel was extremely ugly, so when it was my turn to speak, I made a joke about how Rapunzel still looked better than the step-father, but the joke was not clear as I didn't give many contexts to it. So, this was one of my mistakes. I also would've improved my acting through looking shocked at the appearance of Rapunzel in the very beginning of the performance. When the step-father stated that Rapunzel was eavesdropping on us, I didn't seem surprised and looked neutral about the fact that Rapunzel had been listening to us the whole time, when I should've been shocked that she was eavesdropping.

This is my critique on myself and my group for both the rough version and live performance.

Open Letter

To all those people who don't do work in group projects,

Please know that you are the cause of my suffering.

You couldn't do your part of the project yesterday? Oh, it was because your dog ate your homework, that totally makes sense! And you can't-do your assignment today either because your cat will eat your homework. Nor, will you do your work tomorrow because somehow your sofa will eat your homework! Wow, should I just play along with your lies? There are so many, I'd have to be a professional actress to keep up!

Did you read those twenty emails I sent you last night? As well as the reminders I set on your phone? Did you check your texts? Because despite all of my reminders, you seem to have not done your project. Again. Thank you so much for making me do all of the work! But that's just the sweet person you are at home. Let's not forget the kindness you constantly show in class. You are generous enough to talk to your friends instead of helping me. You are so kind, you want me to do our group project alone so that I can excel as a student and get all the practice I can get! Thank you!

Have I thanked you for signing my work with your name yet? Well, it's highly appreciated. Making me sleep at midnight, sleep deprived, must really make you happy since you do it so often. I just love being grumpy the whole day while you flaunt around happily. The teacher loves you now, I mean who wouldn't with your grades being suddenly perfect? I must've been hallucinating because while I was working in class, it almost seemed like you didn't do any work, I seriously thought that you were slacking off!

Well, that's all for now slackers. I just want to thank you again for causing me to suffer by not doing any work whatsoever. See you again next class!

From,
Everyone you've ever worked with in a group project.

Application Essay

28K

The sloppy muck clings onto my shoes like cement. My hands flail in front of me, grasping onto any branches within my reach. Each step is agony, the brown substance as sticky as glue, suctioning my neon orange sneakers to the ground. Soon the murky mud is splattered all over my shirt and shorts, the splotches reminders of my useless attempts to escape the treacherous grounds. Despair washes over me as my shoe becomes loose from my foot and sinks into the muck. My feet freeze as the cool liquid seeps through my socks and wedges in between my toes. The earthy wet scent wafts up my nose, trampling any dandelion thoughts I have. The sludge squeals, protesting against my movements as I cast my eyes forward and glimpse the vague outlines of my fellow walkers ahead, all of them successfully out of the mud and well on their way completing the 28k walk.

Images cloud my mind. I imagine the children in Cambodia as they hobble to get water from the wells. The realization almost seems laughable; that I am only aware of my privileged life shin deep in muck. I allow my feet to fall still and let my arms flop down beside to me. Taking a deep breath in, I let my mind wander.

Children in Cambodia have to trudge through muck and gritty grass in the scorching heat just to get water. And here I am, sauntering with civilization at my doorstep. The looming silver skyscrapers tower over me, the red and white flag of Singapore waves relentlessly, and I can even make out the medics with their first aid kits strolling ahead. I have already powered through 27 kilometers, I will continue. I motivate myself with thoughts of young children who walk 28 kilometers in Cambodia every day. I drive myself forward, propelling my mind to see the positivity in this walk rather than the negative thoughts that are holding me back. I channel that positive energy into my movements, now seeing the muck has a mere obstacle in the path of a hero's journey.

With renewed energy, I force my aching legs out of the mire. My terror subsides and all I feel is adrenaline, pumping through my blood, urging me to get out of this muck and to continue the walk. I wrench my legs out of the mud and back in, one step at a time, yanking them with increasing enthusiasm with every step. Finally, my soaked sneakers reach the hard, oh so beautiful ground. I stumble forward and begin sprinting towards my fellow walkers, attempting to catch up to them.

My knees are jelly and my feet are swollen, fat like a pumpkin, yet I run like a tornado, swirling past multicolored people and flowing past my friends. I run further and further away from everyone until I have finally made it to the front of the crowd.

160 people are behind me. 10 people are in front of me. 50 more meters till I finish the Walk for Water.

40m. 30m. 20m. 10m. 5m. 1m.

I bolt through the torn finish line, coming in 5th place. Confetti streams from the clouds, dancing over us. The sea of parents screams encouraging words over the shrieking upbeat pop music. My father presents me with a fresh Starbucks iced mocha, my favorite. The sugary chocolate mixed with the frothy milk melts on my tongue, the caffeine much welcomed in my exhausted body. So this is what victory tastes like. Pride swells inside me, warming every single bone in my body. I did it.

Life is tough. It will drag me down. Neglected problems will come back to haunt me and will pummel me till I drop. No matter where I go, there will always be issues I want to escape. There will always be puddles of malicious muck obstructing my path. That will never change. But, I will battle through the mud, just as I did a year ago. My mind will banish thoughts of negativity, driving only ideas of positivity, and my body will be strong enough to push me past my doubts until I have surpassed the obstacle. But, it is my heart that will pull me through. Just as I thought about the penniless children in Cambodia as I endeavored through the mire, I will think about those I can aid as I plow through my obstacles. I will always stride forward, I will wrestle through the choking muck, to my pride.

Note to the Reader

This writing was a stressful piece of work. Beneath this neat tidy work, there were weeks of mess and struggle. From thinking about a small moment, to actually writing, to finally editing it. There were a lot of things that needed to be done. Coming up with an enticing lead was the easy part, but finishing with a memorable ending? That part was definitely the most challenging. How do you end with a non-cliched, meaningful ending? That was the question that I kept asking myself, and sometimes I still do, but in the end, I think that I did a pretty good job patching up a meaningful ending. That was the hard part but the part that I loved was writing with sensory language. I am detailed writer already, so adding sensory language was the easy bit. I loved cooking up similes, metaphors and just writing with tons of details!

I want my reader to be able to see what I experienced. I tried to write as descriptively as I could so that my reader could imagine the emotions I felt and could understand the background I was in. To me, understanding and being able to see your character’s position is extremely important.  However, the message, of course, is the most essential part of the essay. I hope that my reader could understand how I grew as a person. How I learnt that the body, heart and mind have to work together to surpass an obstacle. How I understood that I have to battle through my problems. This is the message I want my reader to notice and my writing to convey.

Science Reflection of Learning #1 - DSLO

Throughout this unit in science class, we have been developing our scientific investigation skills, with particular emphasis on identifying sources of error, designing and setting up experiments, and analyzing data. Here at Singapore American School, we have Desired Student Learning Outcomes(DSLO), which are basically outcomes that we are expected to have in our classes. Below, I have written about how these DSLO's have connected to our science class.

One of the Desired Student Learning Outcome's that was addressed during this first unit in Science was Collaboration. Collaboration played a key role this unit as most of our projects were done with a partner. This partner was not a partner by choice, Mr Wilcox had chosen us specific partners that we were forced to work with.  An example of one of the group projects we had to do was the "Flame Out Lab" In this, even though we didn't write the explanation and make the graph together, the whole experiment was done by my partner and me.

Working with a person I didn't know, helped me understand how to work with people I wouldn't normally work with. I had to cope with this by collaborating my ideas and making sure that my partner and I both contributed equally. We had to also collaborate efficiently so that we were both doing something at all times to use our time productively. We had to assign jobs and help each other when needed. In addition, we had to trust our partner and that our partner would do the experiment right through collaborating and ensuring that our partner was doing fine and didn't need help.

Another Desire Student Learning Outcome that we focused on during Science was Critical Thinking.
We had to critically think specifically in the assignment, "Hot Water Problem". In this assignment, we had to do an experiment, gather data, but then had to write a claim, evidence and our reasoning, as well as our errors. This made me critically think because I had to connect my evidence to my claim through strong reasoning. I also had to think critically because I had to write down my errors, I had to reflect on my work and find out what I could've done better.

In addition to the writing aspect, we also had to critically think about other things. On the lab sheet, "Hot Water Lab.", we used our critical thinking to decide how our data should be shown, where and how the experiment should be run, as well as finding out the independent variable, dependent variable, and inferring an educated hypothesis.
This all required critical thinking as if we messed these up, our whole experiment could be thrown into jeopardy.  Therefore, critical thinking is not only used in reflecting but also in the whole process of doing the experiment.

In conclusion, I believe that the two most important Desired Student Learning Outcomes that we addressed in Science were Collaboration and Critical Thinking, as we used these too outcomes in the majority of our assignments. I believe that these two outcomes are extremely important no matter what age we are so I think that it is great that we are using them right now!

Ambiguous Scripts

In this assignment, our class was given an assortment of scripts. From these scripts, our partner and ourselves had to choose a certain short script which we would act out. Above, is the video of my partner's and my performance. 

From this assignment, I have learnt how to establish relationship and setting. This means that I have learnt how to interpret a script and make it my own through understanding who the characters should be and where they should be. I improved as an actress as I learnt how to use the tone of my voice to convey emotion. Conveying emotion is very important as the script didn't state any specific character or setting so your emotion would help show what character you are. Conveying emotion is also important otherwise as in other scripts and plays it is essential so showing exaggerated emotion was an important skill I learnt. I have also improved as an actress in pacing my work so that I finish work in a certain amount of time. We only had 10 minutes to identify the character relationship and setting, which was a great practice for me because sometimes I won't have much time to prepare so it is important for me to understand how to pace my work accordingly. In addition, I learnt that you only need simple props to convey a story. We only needed a gun to make our story clear, so sometimes the simplest props work the best. 

Based on my video, I think that I clarified the relationship and setting clearly. My first line was "I don't think I can", while my partners first line was, "Of course you can." which conveyed the relationship that she was my partner or boss, someone of higher authority. Both of us holding guns and me being unable to shoot showed the setting, that we were at some sort of war zone, us ducking behind the bench also helped convey the setting. The lines, "No really!" which was said by me and "Just try" said by my partner also helped show our relationship, and helped set the character to show that I was unwilling to shoot someone. The next line was "Now?" said by me and "Yes, now." said by my partner which added to my meek character that I was still unable to comprehend that I was about to shoot someone and reinforced her authority over me. Lastly, the lines, "Can you help me." and "Of course." showed our relationship once again and how I needed help from the higher authority. 

I think that I deserve an exemplary because I conveyed emotion with exaggeration and projected my voice. I also cheated open and looked at my audience most of the time. My dialogue made sense for my story and was clear throughout. I also used facial expression and the tone of my voice to establish character. In addition, I acted timidly and asked for help which established relationship, as my partner was of higher authority. In addition, I used the prop well and made use of everything on stage(the bench), and there were no unnecessary things on stage. However, if I were to set a goal, it would be to come up with a unique storyline, as our storyline was clear but ordinary and not very original. I would also work on cheating open more as sometimes I looked directly at Sarina, other than that though I think that everything went well. 

Physical Wellness SMART Goal

My fitness goal is that I can run the mile at 8:10 by the end of 8th grade by playing tennis 3 times a week and going to the gym once every two weeks with my friend, so that my tennis is better as I can endure playing for longer periods of time and can run faster.

Ellis Island Reflection

1. How do you think people felt upon their arrival at Ellis Island?
I think that the people felt overjoyed upon their arrival at Ellis Island because they had made it past immigration and were now ready start a fresh new life at Ellis Island. I also think that they were curious to see this new island and were wondering whether this island was worth all of their struggles.

2. What do you think the screening process was like in immigration hall?
I think that the screening process in the immigration hall was extremely stressful and scary because this process would decide your fate - whether or not you would make it to Ellis Island. I also think that the screening process must have been short but thorough and must've caused a lot of anxiety for the people.

3. How did you feel when you arrived at the classroom and learned about your fate?
I felt a little disappointed because I hadn't arrived at Ellis Island and wasn't a U.S citizen. I also felt unprepared as I didn't know the answers to some of the questions asked by the officer, therefore I was seen as mentally ill which was proven by a black X on my hand.

Getting Techie with IT

This assignment's purpose was to teach us the production aspects of a performance. One person controlled the lights, sound, and projected picture, while the other person said a 4-8 line poem. This was a group project. 

The most challenging aspects of this assignment were choosing certain lights that were unique but still connected to the poem. We also found it tough to find face light for some of the lights but in the end, we overcame these struggles. I was most proud of our lighting choices, especially the light where I was in a big circle looking into a smaller one. I am proud of these lights because I thought that they were quite interesting and out of the ordinary. However, if I could change something it would be adding more face light to some of the lights but moreover, I would make sure that some lights were not too bright, especially light 9 since that made me glow far too bright. I would also wait for the light to come on and then move to the light, instead of moving to the part of the stage that is going to be lit beforehand. A few things that I learnt, was that when using apple tv to play music on the computer, the music must be at full volume on the computer, but not on the soundboard, otherwise, the speakers will blow. The soundboard is used to control the levels of volume. I also learnt that the music should fade out instead of just stopping abruptly. As I mentioned earlier, I learnt that not only light 9, must not be on full brightness, but 10 and 11 as well, so I should use face light instead. Lastly, I learnt that the actors should be lit not the stage. 

DECIDE

Define the Problem by Tavishi Baidwan

Drama Art School Enrollment Slide Show

Letter to Bartolomé de las Casas

Dear Bartolomé,

You have been my best friend for the past few years, and I miss going to school with you. The Spanish treat me like garbage. We, the Tainos, have to work for hours on end in the hot sweltering heat doing work for your people. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand are letting me write one last letter to you since your father is one of their good friends. Please help me! The encomienda system is wrong and goes against everything humane about us! You are a priest and believe that God made humans be equal, so out of everyone I expect you to understand that this is unjust! We, Tainos, are just as human as you are and deserve better! Hasn't me spending time with you made you realize how similar we are! Sure our skin colour is different and so are our traditions, but we both feel pain, we both like studying, and we both are somehow best friends despite me being a Taino! Help me please Bartolomé!

Your best friend,
Juanico

In the News

12 dead as Typhoon Hato lashes Macau, Southern China

The Typhoon is nearing the frightened family.

The family is trying to protect themselves from the Typhoon.

The damage has been done; the baby is dead.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/23/asia/typhoon-hato-hong-kong-macau/index.html

Fixing Tomorrow

43,200. That's the number of times that Karla was raped.

One day, Karla was at the Subway with some of her friends, when she was lured by a man with kind words and a fast car. It didn't take much for the man to convince Karla to go live with him, coming from a dysfunctional family and already having been mistreated by relatives, Karla was more than ready to leave her home.

After 3 months of living with him, four years of hell came. Karla was only 12 years old when she was first forced to work as a prostitute. She was taken to one of Mexico's largest cities: Guadalajara. She started work at 10 am and ended at midnight, seeing 30 men per day. Soon she was taken to motels, streets, brothels and even houses across different countries.

Then came the beatings. Karla was attacked by her trafficker; the man who brought her into this. The man beat her with a chain all over her body, he punched her with his fists, kicked her, pulled her hair, spat in her face, and he even burnt her with an iron. Karla told the trafficker she wanted to leave, but she was accused of falling in love with another man and was forced to stay.

That wasn't the worst part though, that was just the beginning. At 15 years old, Karla gave birth. This baby was fathered by a pimp who would threaten to kill or harm the baby if Karla didn't fulfil his wishes. A month after the baby girl was born, she was taken away from Karla. Karla wasn't allowed to see her baby until the baby was over a year old. One year old.

This ordeal lasted 4 long harsh years for Karla. Finally, in 2008, she was rescued by an anti-trafficking operation in Mexico City, just by a stroke of luck.

A stroke of luck. There are thousands of girls around the world who aren't lucky enough to be rescued. There are hundreds of babies born that aren't allowed to see their mother. Can you believe this? How outrageous is trafficking? How is it possible that minors, some being only 10 years old, can face something so horrifying and traumatic that we can't even begin to imagine what they've been through? But you know what the worst part is? It's that we don't do anything about it. We don't give money to shelters that help girls cope with these life-changing experiences. We don't spend a cent on any operations that save these minors from being trafficked. And I bet that nobody has tried raising awareness about human trafficking to anyone.

WAKE UP, PEOPLE! Human trafficking is real and is happening in our world today. Karla is just one girl, we could just as easily be trafficked. What if you were Karla? It's hard to think about but tons of girls don't need to imagine what Karla's been through, they're living it. They're facing the same things she faced and are feeling the same desperate emotions that she felt. Imagine the world with no more trafficked minors. Imagine the world with no traumatized children. Imagine the world with no babies wondering why their mother has disappeared. Well, this world is just a dream right now, but we can make it a reality. We can change our world. We can fix it. We can fix tomorrow.

Space Jump Reflection

This reflection was meant to be based on our space jump game in front of the class, but my group couldn't find our video so my reflection is on the space jump game in front of the live audience! So, I only have 2 offers, because the time limit was much shorter and we weren't focusing very much on our offers.

My offers were: 

1. Honey, this is a counseling office, we only deal with serious patients, okay?

2. Oh, my god, we're gonna get engaged tomorrow!

In my first offer, I showed relationship by showing that I was a counselor speaking to a patient. I also showed setting by saying that we were in a counseling office. In the second offer, I showed relationship because I implied that we were a couple, but I didn't show setting because I didn't name the location. 

I I think that I characterized well because I gave emotion and changed character based on the offer. For committing and selling it, I think that I did quite well because I played my character convincingly and changed my voice based on the character I played. I also believe that I listened to my partner well because I piggybacked off what they said. I think that I got pretty physical as I stood up and sat down, but I could've gotten more physical by moving across the stage more or making more physical contact.

For my second offer, I move to the front of the stage but then I look back. My back is never facing the audience though. I project loud enough for the audience to here and keep my body open. But, I am at the back of the stage for the majority of the performance which shows that I wasn't really aware of the audience.

Improvisation Performance

 Yesterday, our drama class had our improvisation performance! This performance was a summative grade but didn't feel like a test at all. Our class was divided into three groups. We had been practicing in our individual groups the games we were going to play and the skits we would be performing. Over 100 students came to watch us perform our games! We played the games: Repetition of Comments, Space Jump, Emotional Taxi, Freeze Tableau and for our tie-breaker, Lost in Translation! The top that off, in the very beginning we even had our very own skits that told the audience our group name! Our group name was, "5 Reasons Why". These tiny performances were super fun and made the audience laugh a lot! Each group got a certain color, and every person in the audience got three popsicle sticks, all different colors for the different groups. After every group played each game, the audience would vote on their favorite group by raising a popsicle stick! The costumes were a bit uncomfortable and very hot, but made the performance much funnier and much more interesting! Performing live, was initially a very scary thought. I was extremely nervous before the performance even though I knew the games. While I was performing though, I got much more comfortable and actually enjoyed it A LOT! Even though our group was losing in the start, we still all found it fun. As we began to get more comfortable, we won more points and actually won!

Improvisation will help me in my life a lot! When I give presentations, I now have the skill to come up with something on the spot when I forget a line. It has also helped me with my collaboration skills because, in improv, you have to learn how to work with your teammates to win. In improv, you also have to work with your team to come up with offers and have different emotions so you have to collaborate with each other. Which will help me in life when collaborating with others, so that I will learn to split up jobs evenly when doing projects, just like how we had to divide the emotions evenly! Overall, this performance was super fun and I can't wait for the next one!

Design a Spinner

1. How did your experimental probability compare to the theoretical probability?
In the experimental probability, the probability of blue occurring was the same in the experiment and in theoretical probability, but the red occured 10% more than expected and the yellow 10% less than expected in the experiment probability than the theoretical probability.

2. What could you do to make your experimental probability more accurate?
Do more trials because more trials will make the experiment more accurate.

Improvisation Workshop

Serena and I chose the game: Enter and Exit, because we thought that it was a game that was suitable for the level of improv. we are at. We also chose this game because it focused on a lot of skills which we worked on during class such as justifying entrances and exits and committing and selling your part. This game was played with 4 people so we thought that it was entertaining and could involve a lot of the class. After listening to the video, I found that the instructions were quite clear but we didn't really make it clear that you are supposed to tell the other's your word(we only remembered to say that once someone asked us). We also weren't very clear on justifying your entrance or exit and didn't put enough emphasis on that because when most people entered, they didn't justify their character. Overall, the game worked the way we wanted it to. People were laughing and found it funny, and it was at the right level. Next time though, I would join in the demonstration because I didn't realize until after, that Serena and I were supposed to demonstrate as well instead of just helping them and guiding them through the game as they played. I also would've had everyone just use one word and keep the word the whole time instead of changing the word when they got offstage, as that made it a bit confusing. But, in the end, I think that the game was a success! 

Feature Article

KEPE Investigation Question

How does the height of the can before release affect the time it takes for both cans to stop?

Artist In Residence

Some of my most memorable moments from today's workshop by Hannah Northcott, was discovering how you could create a story through very small exercises. I didn't realise that through just creating a tiny routine with very little practice and through waiting, you could create an interesting story. I also didn't realise that you could create so many position through just one prop, the chair. My favourite part was the end, when we combined both the routines, but I also loved the pulling game because it was aggressive and was in teams.

Final Mime Solo Performance

I think that my background fit with my theme because there was water in which I was swimming and paddling in as well as a platform which I was walking on. There was also a tower in the background which I rang a bell in. The music also gave the affect that something was wrong, I might of been able to choose some music that's a little more adventurous but I felt like it still fit the theme. My costume was just regular clothes so next time I could instead wear completely black clothes to show that something dark is lurking and it's not a regular day. My editing is probably something that I would change the most because I had to perform twice. The first time, I hadn't put the music in imovie so iTunes only gave me a preview of the music, therefore I got cut off and didn't have time to perform one of my illusions. Luckily, I performed again where the music worked perfectly as well as the background and I didn't get cut off at all.

My performance basically started out with me begging for mercy because someone was threatening me. I noticed a lake and decided to jump in it and swim away to get to safety, away from the threat. I swam until I reached a boat which I climbed onto. I kayaked to shore where I walked in place, looking around in awe at a new world which was unknown to me. After walking in place for a while, I heard something that sounded like the person who might of been threatening me in the beginning. So, I looked around helplessly till I saw a ladder leading up a tower. I climbed up the ladder where at the top of the ladder on the tower, I shouted for help. I rang the bell to attract attention to any friends who could help me but no one came. The people threatening me heard the bell and came to the platform I was standing on. Therefore, I kneeled and begged for mercy, ending my scene with me crouching on the ground begging, in a similar manner to how I started my scene. Hence, the five illusions I used were swimming, kayaking, walking in place, climbing a ladder and ringing a bell.

I think that this showcased a pretty good level of my mime skills but there are definitely some things that I would change if I redid this performance. Firstly, for the things that I did well, I think that I had good focus throughout this performance as I didn't look at the camera or audience and looked at my illusions as I performed. I also think that I had a good fixed point because I my hands mostly kept the illusions like when I was kayaking or climbing the ladder, my hands were in the same place and my hands were curved like I was holding a round object(rungs and paddles). As for my size, the size of my objects didn't really change throughout my performance but when I was reaching the top of the ladder to enter the platform, the top rung became lower as my foot went over the rung the second time. Therefore, showing that the size of the ladder has decreased because the height of the ladder has become lower. I could have done a better job with my clic by doing my clic at a slower speed to actually symbolise that there is an object there and not just jump into the action. I could've also made my clic firmer to show the weight and size of the object. Out of all of the criteria of the performance, I would've changed two things the most. First, I would fix my illusions as I broke some of them. When I was entering the boat, my foot went through the boat same goes for when I was reaching the platform at the top of the ladder. Second, I would fix my weight. I didn't show much and barely any weight in this performance. I only showed some weight with ringing the bell as I lifted my feet off the ground showing how light it was. I didn't show any heavy weight like paddling or any exertion when climbing the ladder which I could've used to make the story more interesting. 

Fitness Blast Reflection Quarter 3

Quarter THREE

1. Which area of fitness seems to be your biggest strength?

Flexibility ___   Strength and Endurance ____  Balance ____           

Core  _☺_  Coordination ___   Agility____   Speed and Power_____

2. Which area would you most like to improve in?

Flexibility _☺_   Strength and Endurance ____  Balance ____           

Core  ____  Coordination ___   Agility____   Speed and Power_____

3. Which area would you most like to improve in?

List 3 activities you can use to improve that area of fitness.

1) Bend down as far as I can go with my legs together straight.

2) Bend down and reach as far as I can go with my legs separated from each other.

3)Do the butterfly stretch

Solving Climate Change

Picking a Handphone Plan

Assignment:

You are a representative for a handphone company and it is your job to promote different phone plans to your customers.

• Plan A costs a basic fee of $29.95 per month and 10 cents per text message

• Plan B costs a basic fee of $90.20 per month and has unlimited text messages

• Plan C costs a basic fee of $49.95 per month and 5 cents per text message
  
• All plans offer unlimited calling
• Calling on nights and weekends are free
• Long distance calls are included
  

1. Write an equation to represent each the cost of each plan, C, based on the number of text messages, n.

2. Determine the cost of each plan if you send 500 text messages in one month.  Show your supporting work.
   
3. Your boss asks you to visually display three plans and compare them so you can point out the advantages of each plan to your customers.
• Create and post a visual image/display...graph, table, etc
  
4. A new customer wants to know how to decide which plan will be the best deal. Determine which plan has the lowest cost given the number of text messages a customer is likely to send. Explain your process and reasoning to support your decision-making process. Use math calculations to show your process and words to describe your reasoning.

Answers:

A)

Plan A: c=29.95 + 0.10n

Plan B: c=90.20 + 0n

Plan C: c=49.95 + 0.05n

B)

Plan A: c=29.95 + 0.10n

c=29.95 + 0.10(500)

c=29.95 + 50

c=79.95

It would cost 79.95 dollars if you sent 500 text messages in 1 month and used plan A.

Plan B: c=90.20

c=90.20 + 0(500)

c=90.20

There is an unlimited amount of text messages so it would cost 90.20 dollars no matter how many text messages you sent in a month(even if you sent 500 messages, the price would remain the same), if you used plan B.

Plan C: c=49.95 + 0.05n

c=49.95 + 0.05(500)

c=49.95 + 25

c=74.95

It would cost 74.95 dollars if you sent 500 text messages in 1 month and used plan C.

C)

Purple: Plan A

Blue: Plan C

Red: Plan B

D)

Avg. number of texts sent in a month: 600 messages

Plan A: c=29.95 + 0.10n

c=29.95 + 0.10(600)

c=29.95 + 60

c=89.95

Plan B:

c=90.20 + 0n

c=90.20 + 0(600)

c=90.20

Plan C: c=49.95 + 0.05n

c=49.95 + 0.05(600)

c=49.95 + 30

c=79.95

The average number of texts sent in a day is around 20 text messages and since there is approximately 30 days in a month, 20 multiplied by 30 equals to 600, meaning that a person is most likely to send around 600 messages in one month.

Using equations I found out that Plan C was the best deal. For plan A, the equation is c=29.95 + 0.10n which means that you start with paying 29.95 dollars plus an additional 10 cents for every message sent. If you send 600 messages, 29.95 added to 600 times 0.10 equals to 89.95 which means that the customer will have to pay 89.95 dollars if they were to send 600 messages in a month using Plan A. For Plan B, you have an unlimited amount of messages you can send and the cost will still be the same. The equation for this is c=90.20+0n, therefore, if you send 600 messages but pay a starter fee of 90.20 dollars, your final cost will be 90.20 dollars. So, we already know that Plan B is worst than Plan A and is therefore not the best deal. Lastly, for Plan C, the equation is c=49.95 + 0.50n because you have to pay a starter fee of 49.95 plus ad additional 50 cents for every text message. Thus, if you pay 49.95 plus 0.05 times 600, you will pay 79.95 dollars. If you message 600 texts in one month and use Plan A, the cost will be 89.95 dollars, if you use Plan B, the cost will be 90.20 dollars, and if you use Plan C, the cost will be 79.95 dollars, concluding that Plan C is the best deal.

I also used a graph to support my reasoning and make sure that Plan C was the best deal. You can look at the graph above, but below is the same graph but a zoomed in version so that we can clearly see which plan was the best deal. From the graph below, we can see that at 600 text messages(is circled), the blue line has the best deal because it is lowest, meaning that the price is lower. The blue line represents plan C, you can check the pricing and colouring from the graph above as well. We, then see that the purple line is the second best deal which is Plan A. Lastly, we can see that the plan that is the highest and has the highest cost, is Plan B which is the worst deal. Therefore, Plan C has the best deal. (To see better, the red dots represent the point the line is at when 600 text messages have been sent. The 600 represents the messages because messages is independent variable and cost is dependant, so messages is on x-axis and cost is on the y-axis).

Zoomed in version of graph: