iMovie Grading

For Humanities, we had to grade our classmates and our own iMovies. Each were about a different pharaoh. The five different pharaohs are Hatshepsut, Tutankhamun, Cleopatra, Khufu, and Ramesese II.

Here is the link to my iMovie Rubric:

https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AbNPFxNmlX-sZDd3czJxcl8zM2d4dzgyeHhn&hl=en&authkey=CIaEoNsG

Hatshepsut Imovie

Above is my group's imovie about Hatshepsut, the first female pharaoh. Enjoy!

City Connection Reflection

A few weeks ago, we were learning about what makes countries successful or not. There was a simple answer to this which is geography. Where a country is in the world plays a big role in their economy and warfare. Our project was to research about a country which you have lived in and create and present a presentation on why your country is geographically lucky. I did mine on Singapore, a country with no natural resources but is still successful.

What do you believe that you did well on the project?

I think that I did well on the appearance of my presentation. I chose a background which was not distracting for the audience, a font that was easy to read, and a font color that was readable against the background. The background you choose is very important because asides from making the presentation look more appealing, it can also distract the audience. For example, if you have a colorful background with lots of animation and pictures, the audience is most likely to pay attention to the background instead of listening to you speak. This is bad because there is no point in presenting if no one is going to listen and learn something from you. Choosing a font that is easy to read and a readable font color are also important because the information that you put on a slide are the key points in your presentation. They are the facts that you would want your audience to remember. Also, if the audience doesn't understand something you said, they might look at the slides, which will be no use to them if they cannot read it. I thought that I did a good job on picking a reasonable background, font, and font color for y presentation.

What would you do to improve for future presentations/projects?

One thing that I thought I didn't do very well was presenting. When it was my turn to present, I was a little nervous so I think that I talked too quietly and too quickly. This is bad because it makes it harder for others to hear what I was trying to say. The next time I present something, I need to speak with a clear, loud voice so that everyone can hear and understand. During my presentation, I also think that I might have left out a few details about Singapore. This was because I was rushing because I wanted my presentation to be over. This is a mistake that I will need to fix next time because the details that I missed could have been important. The next time I have to present something, I will learn from my mistakes and speak loudly, clearly, and not rush.

What did you learn from your preparation (for your presentation) in addition to the presentations of others?

I learned a lot of new and interesting facts about Singapore while I was preparing for my presentation. One of the things that I learnt was that a long time ago, Singapore had a few natural resources. Though Singapore had very little, they still had a few small crops and wild animals to survive on. Another thing that I learned from preparing for my presentation was that the Singapore port was one of the busiest ports in the world. This means that Singapore gets a lot of profit from it. One thing that I learned from watching my peers' presentations was to have a note card with important facts on it while presenting. Some people in the class did not have a note card and forgot what to say. This was embarrassing for them and made the audience lose interest in the presentation. When I compared the presentations of students with note card and the one without, I realized that even though the note card looked small and not useful, it made a huge difference.

What is your analysis of your performance?

I think that I did a fairly good job on my presentation. I think this because I thought that I had interesting facts that supported the reasons why Singapore was geographically lucky. When my presentation was done, I also checked the rubric to make sure that I didn't miss out on anything. I thought that I did an okay job in presenting, only having a few mistakes of pronunciation and speaking a little to softly. I thought that I did well in explaining what Singapore does to make it a successful nation. Though my presentation may have a few mistakes, I think that I did a fairly good job.

Link to My Presentation:

https://docs.google.com/a/iskl.edu.my/present/edit?id=0AbNPFxNmlX-sZDd3czJxcl84Zzl4MnM0aG4&hl=en&authkey=CLDjzZQC

Graphic Citations:

http://images.clipartof.com/small/218855-Royalty-Free-RF-Clipart-Illustration-Of-A-Happy-Globe-Character-Waving.jpg

http://www.clipartof.com/gallery/clipart/megaphone.html

My Learning Profile

     On the 12th of January we learned about learning profiles. We learned that everyone has not only a dominent brain but also a dominent eye, ear, hand, and foot. People with a dominant right brain are gestalt and people with a dominant left brain are logical. As I thought, I was left brain dominant. Everything else is right dominant which makes me profile A. This means that when I am stressed, my eye, ear, hand and foot still all work. It also means that I have difficulty seeing the big picture and that I focus on the details.

     Being a profile A means that I should sit on the left side of the room so that I can access my right ear easily. I know that I am right ear dominant because we did a test in class. For me, when I pick up the phone, I would usually bring it up to my right ear. Another test we did was that imagine that someone is talking on the other side of the door. You want to know what they are saying so you go up to the door and put your ear on it. When I acted that out, I put my right ear on the door confirming that I am right ear dominant. It is important that I can access my right ear easily because it means that I can hear the teacher better. I also learn best when I focus on the details. I process by analysis, verbalization and writing. Being a profile A also means that I like and have the ability to follow step-by-step visual and auditory instructions. I learn best from oral and written communication. This means that I am not very creative or emotional. I think that is very true because I like to follow instructions. I also like it when there is only one correct answer. Because I am a visual and auditory learner, this can mean that I might find it hard to excel at physical education. 

     I should be encouraged to understand information from a whole perspective. I should also allow time for my ideas to generate. I need to learn how to not always ignore and dismiss my ideas to quickly. This happens to me very frequently especially in humanities. When we are have to write a story but not told what to write about, I get ideas but most of them I would ignore. This would make what I write about less creative and in other words, more boring. I also need to trust my instincts more. Sometimes, my movements would be planned. This means that I don't like to improvise because I would have to trust my instincts. To help me trust my instincts, I could try to draw blindfolded because I would not be able to see what I was drawing in result forcing me to follow my instincts.

Strategies that would help me learn include trying freeform painting and writing poems that don't rhyme. Freeform painting would help me because it would help me to trust my instincts and to use my imagination. In freeform painting, there are no rules and your results can never be wrong. Freeform painting also allows me to show my emotion through the artwork. For example, if I was sad then I might paint using black, grey, and brown but if I was happy, I would use bright colors like yellow and green. Freeform painting will help me be more creative and show my emotions more and this would help me to write better stories in humanities. Writing poems that don't rhyme can also help me a lot. It will help me to be more imaginative and it will improve my writing. It will help me to be more imaginative because there are no rules and I could write about anything. Even if it doesn't make sense to others, it is okay. This means that I can use a lot of imagination. By writing poems, I am also improving my writing because I am practicing my writing skills and practice make perfect.

     I would like my teachers to know that though I am suppose to try to use my imagination more, I do not like to be imaginative or creative. I like it when I have specific instructions to follow. Though I like to have instructions, the thing that I dislike the most is when teachers give instructions that are not clear. It is annoying because you know that they want you to do something in a specific way but you don't exactly understand what they want you to do. Another thing that I would like teachers, especially Mr. Smith and Ms. Thomson to know is that I don't like to perform what to the class. I don't like to because I am always not sure if what I was doing correct or not. I also don't like it because I think it is embarrassing when you make a mistake.

Graphic Citation:

http://qwickstep.com/search/learning-brain.html

http://www.sacredheartsns.net/poetry/

My Resolutions and Winter Break

To start 2011, I have made two resolutions. Resolutions are like goals. It is important to have resolutions or goals because:

- It gives you direction to life

- It motivates you to do something good for yourself and others

- It helps you get what you want from life

- It saves time

- It reduces stress

- It gives you a sense of accomplishment when you achieve your goal

My resolutions:

My first resolution is to always try to do my best in everything. This is a really important resolution because by trying my best for everything, I can improve my grades. Grades are very important because it can influence what you do. Your grade not only affects your future but also your self-esteem. If you always get failing grades, you might keep thinking that you are stupid and dumb. When you think negative thoughts, negative things are most likely to happen to you. If I always try to do my best, I can avoid having little self-esteem and be proud of myself. By trying to do my best in everything also allows me to be a happier person. It will make me a happier person because I will have nothing to regret if I fail to do something. I believe that it is always the effort that counts, not the success.

My second resolution is to try to have a better attitude towards everything. This is an important resolution because it will help me to have more friends, be happier, and more successful. My dad always tells me that what you do is only one half of success. The other half is your attitude. No one likes a grumpy or mean person. If I have to good attitude towards everything, it will also help me to think positively. When you think positively, it means that you are thinking on the bright side. It is important to think on the bright side because it will help you to accept new things easier. It will also help you to be an easy-going person. Being an easy-going person makes others like you more.

My two resolutions for 2011 will help me to become a better person to others and myself.

The most exiting part of my winter break would be when my family and I had a party on the 24th until the 26th. This party was special because it was not only to celebrate Christmas but also my sister's birthday (which is on Christmas day). To celebrate, my parents rented a chalet and invited all of our five aunts, five uncles, and fourteen cousins to come and stay over for three days and two nights. The first few hours of the party were not very fun because all we did was unpack and talk. During the night, we had a barbecue. There was tons of food and everyone was happy. Towards the end of the barbecue, my parents brought a cake for my sister. We sang Happy Birthday and then came the fun part. We toke the whip cream of our pieces of cake and smeared it all over my sister's face! Later, my sisters and I went back into the chalet where my cousins, Justina and Felicia, taught us how to play a fun card game based on strategy. The card game was called DEAL and it was made to be like Monopoly. It is really popular in Singapore right now. My cousins, sisters, and I played that game until one in the morning.

On the next day after we ate breakfast, we all went to play bowling. We played two separate games, one for the good players and one for the okay players. Everyone played two games in total. One was just a trial and the other was a competition but you don't win anything. I played with the okay group and for the first game, my sister, Melissa, won. But on the second game, Flora and I tied for first place. In the night, we had a barbecue again. This time, some people had left so it was not as crowded as it was the last night. When nearly everyone was in the chalet, Melissa and I came out to help with the barbecue. My parents let us tend the fire. When we got tired, we went back into the chalet and played a few rounds of DEAL with our cousins. When I woke up next morning, I found that all of my relatives were gone. They had all waken up early to go to church. My family and I packed up, checked out of the chalet, and drove back to Malaysia.

Graphic Citation:

http://ebuzz24.blogspot.com/2010/12/happy-new-year-2011-clip-art.html

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/clip/winter-break-color.html

http://thewondersofdoing.blogspot.com/2010_04_04_archive.html

http://www.sherv.net/newyear-emoticons.html