lunes, 4 de junio de 2012
Digital Storytelling 3: Part I (Feedback)
What are the obstacles?
The obstacles are a need and want for electives and less time. All long-term electives (i.e. band, language), where people are dedicated, would be hard to take down.
How do you solve them?
By, possibly, giving the option to take these classes while the Lateral Thinking classes are taking place. Obviously, these classes would still be cut short, since some projects would have to take place for the student to get a grade and to learn, but it would be significantly reduced.
What is your evidence?
There is no evidence for actual experimental classes, since this is a relatively new idea and there are few schools that have done this, however there is evidence that
Who will this help?
This will help the students the most, definitely. This will reduce the workload, and increase productivity.
Why will it work?
Simply because there is no way this could harm. After all, how could giving more time to work on homework reduce homework done? The advantage is that the strategy is virtually infallible. The only issue is if it's worth it, and I truly believe, through evidence and logic, that it is.
domingo, 3 de junio de 2012
Digital Storytelling 1.5
History
Many schools already have a free period for the students in higher grades. They have to deal with a lot of homework, and this period of time is VITAL for their success. Meanwhile, the idea of a free period to lower grades is that it will alleviate homework load, and this will enable them to get help from teachers easier. The obstacles are minimal, and ones that could arise with some options (such as the protest in cutting class time or taking away electives) could be solved easily: those that want to take electives, can take them during this free period, however they are not mandatory.
Many schools already have a free period for the students in higher grades. They have to deal with a lot of homework, and this period of time is VITAL for their success. Meanwhile, the idea of a free period to lower grades is that it will alleviate homework load, and this will enable them to get help from teachers easier. The obstacles are minimal, and ones that could arise with some options (such as the protest in cutting class time or taking away electives) could be solved easily: those that want to take electives, can take them during this free period, however they are not mandatory.
Why would people want this?
Students would want this because of reasons that are mostly
obvious. Everyone likes to have free time, and this will give them time to do
work and be productive. It is their choice to do work or not, however many, and
I think most, would take the advantage to do work, or at least talk to
teachers. Something that personally bothers me as a student is that there is
not “Opportunity Day” every day, something which is a reality in some schools.
So, you have to wait some days to go see a teacher after school, and it is
tedious to have to take the bus ride home and arrive home so late for help at
school. I think that an idea like this, a free period, would help reduce the
need to stay after school, and let people arrive home earlier.
The teachers would probably also be motivated by this
because it would help their classes a lot. There wouldn’t be a need to give a
lot of time in class to work on assignments, since this time would already be
there, and virtually the same, with the work being done in school and the
teacher readily available. This would mean, then, that the curriculum would
finish faster and could possibly leave time at the end of the year without
lessons. Or, alternatively, difficult subjects could be covered more thoroughly
and there would be more time to learn the subject and get help before tests and
other assignments.
The administrators, principals, and other staff members that
do not directly teach the student body would have no reason to object. This
would, in fact, make the school seem possibly more revolutionary and
progressive, since although some schools introduce it later on, none would
introduce it from the earliest grades where homework is important (ideally,
this free period would start for the 6th grade onwards).
Parents would probably be happy that the children could have
time to work at school. They would see this as something alleviating for their
children, something that might even help them get better grades. The parents, I
think, would in majority support this.
Survey Results
95% of students would support a free period in the morning (19/20)
5% of students would not support a free period in the morning (1/20)
(The reason was that they thought that teachers would give more homework if they found we had a free period, and there could be even worse problems in homework, especially to those that wanted to take electives.)
Portfolio Outline: Paragraph Per Section
Introduction
What is a portfolio?
A portfolio is a presentation. It is a collection of work from some sort of area. This portfolio is about me, so this will have pieces from my life; which makes up of school and my personal interests. Under each page, there will be some explaining of this class, my best piece from the year, and some things that stand out from this class. It should be noted that by "year", I mean only the third and fourth quarters, since I was not enrolled in the school for the first two. I hope that this portfolio accurately and informatively describes my life.
Personal
My name is Daniel Rodríguez, and I'm 13 years old. I was born in Poole, UK on the 22nd of August, 1998. I moved from the UK when I was less than a year old to Bogotá, Colombia, where I lived until I was 5. During that time, I studied in the Gimnasio Británico. I then moved to The Hague, Netherlands, and lived there for 1 year while studying in the International School of the Hague. Now, at 7 years old, I moved to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where I lived for 6 years, and studied in Saudi Aramco Schools. Here, I made lots of friends and I met great people. I moved back to Colombia in November of 2011, and began studying at my present school, Colegio Nueva Granada, in January 2011.
I have a family of four, with both of my parents and a younger brother. My dad works as a petroleum engineer, and my mum is a systems engineer. My brother, who is 8 years old, is in the 3rd grade in the Montessori British School.
I am blessed with having a very close relationship with my extended family. I frequently talk to and visit my grandparents on both side of the family, and I'm blessed with all of them still being here on Earth. I also share a close relationship with my cousins and my uncles and aunts, who I also see relatively regularly.
Personal Interests
I've always loved music. In the fifth grade, I began to learn to play the clarinet, and I have played ever since. I'm very dedicated to this instrument, and I hope that I can get really good on it. I was in my school band when I was in Saudi Arabia, and I tried out for band competitions a lot. I know some basics on the guitar, since I took a class on it, however, I have neither the skill nor the practice I have on the clarinet. Besides playing, I like listening to music a lot, as well. I like black metal and the DBSM and ambient subgenres. My favorite bands are Burzum, Lifelover, and Peste Noire.
I play a lot of tennis, too, and I have since I was 7. For this, I've entered a lot of tournaments
Espanol
Espanol is "Spanish" class for fluent speakers. Here, we read and write in Spanish, learn grammar, among other things. I have had some difficulty with this class, since before I came to the CNG I had never taken it before, but now I am doing well. This, of course, means that I greatly improved on every single aspect of Spanish, and, with the accompaniment of living in a predominantly Spanish-speaking country, makes my Spanish more fluid and casual.
My best work is the documentary I made for Espanol, which can be found in this link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX5RB5TfRD8. I think real learning happened in this because I got to explore something that I already know about and learn more about it enthusiastically, since I am very interested and I can relate to the subject, and all the research, which I had to do in Spanish, greatly extended my vocabulary.
Math
Math has been a really difficult subject for me. In the last quarter, it was my lowest grade. My goal for this quarter was to improve, and so far, I have. In math, we are learning about algebra and probability. In algebra, we learned isolating variables and solving equations, as well as systems of equations. My best math work of all the year, though, was the Systems of Equations test because, even though I got a very bad grade on it, I think that I learned so much, and I learned from my mistakes, and this helped me get a lot better on it. which is why I think it is real learning.
Social Studies
Social Studies is one of my favourite subjects, because it is very interesting. This year, we're learning about the great civilizations of the ancient world, such as Alexander's Empire, the Roman Empire, the Greeks, the Byzantine Empire, and the Russian Empire. My best work was the grade reflection, and although unfortunately the graph that came with it cannot be posted, I posted the reflection here:
Grade Reflection: 3rd Quarter
In my opinion, in this quarter I did an acceptable work. I got a 3.1, which is average. However, I still believe that I can do much better, if I reflect on what I should correct.
I think what most brought down my grade was all the late work. Although, at the end of the quarter, I got to make up for it by bringing in late work and presenting, I know my grade would have been higher had I put more effort into remembering and doing assignments. I notice that most late assignments were SOAPSTONEs and APPARTSs. I should fix this.
As for individual projects, I found that I got a bad grade for The Roman Empire: Presentations. I suspect that it was because of my lack of role in the presentation, which feeds back to the fact that I did not work much on this. I believe that next time, if such a project arises, I should work on it and make sure that I have a part to say in presentations like this.
In conclusion, I got an okay grade this quarter, but I truly believe that I can do better and will work on this.
I think that no matter how much real learning I had on other works, it would never top this. The reason is that I have reflected on all my grades on the past year, and now I can understand what I need to do to improve. I think this is real learning.
Sociales
Sociales is a course which is taken in Spanish, like Espanol. Here, we learn about Colombian history. This year, we covered the independence movement and the rise and fall of Gran Colombia. My best work, I believe, was my essay on the habitation of the "zona cafetera", a movement known as "La Colonizacion Antioquena. This is it:
LA COLONIZACION ANTIOQUEÑA
La colonización antioqueña es uno de los procesos socio-económicos más importantes de nuestra historia. Se inició al finalizar el siglo XVIII, cuando un gran número de familias antioqueñas, comenzó a emigrar hacia el sur y a colonizar tierras, hasta entonces despobladas, en el occidente del país. La colonización se intensificó al abrirse nuevas fronteras de colonización; este proceso, que se extendió hasta comienzos del siglo XX, es importante puesto que, gracias a él, se inició en Colombia el cultivo del café, que más tarde se convirtió en el principal producto de exportación.
Antioquia fue una de las regiones más aisladas durante el período colonial. Su desarrollo económico y social tuvo muchas diferencias con relación al de otras regiones del país. Puesto que las tierras habitadas no eran aptas para la agricultura, la principal actividad de los antioqueños fue la minería del oro. Por otra parte, las mejores tierras eran propiedad de unas pocas familias que las mantenían sin explotar. A finales del siglo XVIII, se presentó una baja en la producción de oro, al tiempo que las tierras disponibles no eran suficientes para satisfacer las necesidades de la población.
Se inició entonces la migración hacia el sur de la provincia y los primeros asentamientos de colonos.
En esa época fueron fundados las poblaciones de Sonsón (1797), Abejorral (1808) y Aguadas (1814). A partir de la década de 1870, la colonización se intensificó y se extendió hasta el territorio del actual departamento del Quindío, norte del Valle del Cauca y occidente del Tolima. Durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX fueron fundadas por los colonos un gran número de nuevas poblaciones.
Importancia de la colonización antioqueña
El proceso de colonización integró a la economía del país miles de hectáreas de tierra que durante siglos habían permanecido inexplotadas y despobladas.
El café fue el producto preferido por los colonos y su producción llegó a convertirse, en las primeras décadas del siglo XX, en la base de la economía nacional. La forma como fueron colonizados estos territorios no favoreció la formación de la gran propiedad territorial. La colonización era llevada a cabo primordialmente por familias que no tenían la capacidad para pagar mano de obra sino que más bien utilizaban la mano de obra familiar para explotar tierras colonizadas.
Esto dio origen a un nuevo tipo de sociedad en el occidente colombiano: mientras que en el resto del país el latifundio era la característica más importante, en las zonas colonizadas predominaba la mediana propiedad campesina y familiar. Debido al aislamiento geográfico, los pobladores del occidente colombiano permanecieron ajenos a los conflictos armados que sucedieron en Colombia durante todo el siglo XIX. Esto permitió un desarrollo económico estable y continuo, en contraste con otras regiones donde el desarrollo económico se vio seriamente afectado como consecuencia de las guerras civiles. La colonización antioqueña permitió la unificación del occidente colombiano.
Los colonos se preocuparon por comunicar entre sí los nuevos asentamientos y construyeron caminos y ferrocarriles. Gracias a esto se estableció un comercio interno que casi no existía en otras regiones y que estuvo favorecido por la capacidad de compra de la que gozaban los colonos, resultado de una mejor distribución de los ingresos del trabajo.
Todos estos factores hicieron que el occidente colombiano se convirtiera a finales del siglo XIX y a comienzos del siglo XX, en el centro económico más importante del país.
La expansión de la economía cafetera hizo posible que se acumularan los capitales que más tarde fueron invertidos en el desarrollo industrial.
CAUSAS E EFECTOS DE LA COLONIZACIÓN ANTIOQUENNA
CAUSAS
Economía: Con las leyes librecambistas establecidas, Colombia ya estaba lista para integrarse a un mercado internacional, exportando materias primas e importando productos terminados. Durante este periodo radical, la economía se volvió una gran preocupación y tema para los gobiernos, quienes tenían en cuenta y en sus agendas estimular la economía y mejorar las vías de comunicación para poder hacer posible la transportación de bienes.
Durante los años 1860, se enfocó en hacer un buen sistema de carreteras por toda Colombia. En 1872 llegaron los ferrocarriles, y se volvió prioridad construir vías a Cali, Buenaventura, Medellín, Puerto Berrío, Barranquilla, Sabanilla, y otras grandes ciudades.
Esto, obviamente se abrió el comercio, y se empezó a producir mas tabaco, que era lo más exportado durante el periodo radical, con el oro, quina, añil, y el café, entre otros. En términos del café, que ya se cultivaba en el occidente del país, no era un producto exportable. La decisión que se tomaba cuando se decidía exportar un producto se enfocaba en lo internacional, mas no lo local, entonces no había avance económico en el interior.
Político:
La Constitución de Rionegro impuso en el país más federalismo, que dejaba más autonomía para regiones. Mientras tanto, el gobierno nacional (que consiste en lo ejecutivo, judicial, y legislativo del gobierno) perdía poder en estas regiones, tanto en lo político como en lo económico.
EFECTOS
Con esta asolación, el gobierno no tuvo poder de controlar conflictos internos y violencias, haciendo que las guerras civiles se hicieran más comunes. Revueltas y sublevaciones contra gobiernos locales pasaron, y hasta guerra entre dos estados diferentes. No había restricción de armas, haciendo que cualquier político tuviera su propio ejército privado. También, con este poder de estos ejércitos, iban a guerra contra si mismos. Muchas veces, los soldados eran arrendatarios de haciendas o peones que fueron forzados a entrar.
Por la decentralización del país, fue muy difícil recoger impuestos, hasta el punto que casi ningún de los nuevos territorios pagaban impuestos, y los impuestos sí recogidos raramente se dirigían al Tesoro Nacional. Y, subsecuentemente, el gobierno nacional tuvo dificultad manejando sus finanzas, hasta que tuvieron que vender la mayoría de sus edificios públicos, en 1865. El gobierno empezó a ser explotado por particulares, y a veces se tenía que regalar tierras.
I believe this paper was real learning because I learned a lot of new vocabulary and, through my own research, I learned so much about the topic.
Electives
This year, I have taken three different electives: Chinese, Ethics, and Health. Chinese is an all-year elective, in which you study Mandarin Chinese. Currently, I am in the third level, and I hope that when I get my results for the final exam, known as the YCT test, I will be able to pass to the fourth level, the highest available in my school. I have been studying Chinese for five years as a fourth language (along with French as a third language, and my fluency in English and Spanish), and one of the reasons that I chose Colegio Nueva Granada as my school was their Chinese program. In Ethics, we learn about values and work ethic. This class is quite relaxing, however, it is still very useful, since we also learn many skills that we can apply in our own lives. Health, meanwhile, is a class where we learn about drugs and sex, the dangers and risks involved, and how to avoid these risks. I think my best work is a PowerPoint presentation in which I detailed my family, a total of around 30 sentences, which was quite difficult for me, considering I had to write in Chinese (which, by the way, I find typing with a computer close to impossible). In any case, I learned so much vocabulary, to properly describe my family.
English
English, along with Social Studies, is one of the more interesting classes as well. First of all, it is fun because we have time to read at the beginning, and the way that we do projects, with technology tools, is fun as well. I think that the best English project I have done is, also, the best written piece of the year. This is it:
Subject: English
I think a main theme in the book “Uglies” by Scott Westerfield is “Authoritarian style rule is harmful to a society and its inhabitants, especially one that appeals to superficiality”. I’ll give three quotes as examples of this.
“The lie took form as she spoke, pulling on as many strands of truth as it could reach.”
This quote talks about how Tally must lie to Shay, her best friend, or, at least, a friend that she had gotten close to. This reflects the fear that she feels towards this gigantic government, this authoritarian monster, and she feels the need, even, through the threat that they will never turn her into a pretty if she does not rat on The Smoke, the rebel group that refuses to conform to the strict guidelines in this society. I think this quote’s underlying meaning, and the whole situation behind it, is that people’s own personality, values, and emotions become deteriorated in a state that has so much power over the people, a state that, innumerably, harvests and uses this power to great effect.
“This whole game is just designed to make us hate ourselves”
This is another quote from the book, which shows the slow rotting and decrepitude of morals in this plastic, superficial dictatorship. This may be a sideline to the theme, but another thing is, through the allegorical use of the Uglies government as a society where, only figuratively, superficiality and extreme deification of beauty, a model which very well is equal to our own. This betrayal of Tally towards Shay and the rebels is the manifestation of this, one that could be tied to the sacrifices some make towards their persona and image, ones that, if this worship and complete awe of beauty did not exist, would be unthinkable, and contradicting.
“Perhaps the logical conclusion of everyone looking the same is everyone thinking the same.”
I find this to be the most important quote. This ties together the totalitarian qualities of the regime, making a slight reference to the so-called socialist totalitarian and fascist dictatorships which arose in the 20th century, and used commonly the suppression of ideas and criticism, and the mass feed of government propaganda through the seizing and tight censorship of communication. This reflects in the chase for the rebel group in the book, and shows how serious this government, which usually hides in the background throughout the story, is in handling its critics.
In conclusion, I’ll analyze my interpretation of allegory of the story, and how it fits into the theme. Basically, as I have mentioned above, this society is in many ways allegorical to our own. No longer are the times where usefulness and practicality is subverted by aesthetics and the cult of beauty. We literally worship commerciality, since, from young age, we are trained to conform our tastes and standards to the ones preconceived by society. Slowly we may turn into at least a concerning resemblance to this society, with our developing plastic surgery technology, and one day maybe it will be normal for everyone to wish to conform to this standard. Meanwhile, the authoritarian part of the theme may remind some of the increasingly oppressive laws that governments are putting up, especially in the internet, if we look recently. Although they, thanks to many concerned individuals, made the rounds over this leviathan of communication, known as the internet, many felt they did not get the attention they should have. I guess, in summary, I believe that, although aesthetics are, obviously, beautiful, they should not rule over our society, as they did in this book.
Books read
Sean Covey- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Oscar Wilde- The Portrait of Dorian Gray
Stephen Hawking- The Great Design
Richard Dawkins- The God Delusion
Various Authors- The Second World War
Dan Brown- The DaVinci Code
Dan Brown- Angels & Demons
J.K. Rowling- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
J.K. Rowling- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Rick Riordan- The Red Pyramid
Stephen King- The Green Mile
Agatha Christie- Murder In Mesopotamia
Emma Donoghue- Room
Anonymous- Selected Stories from Arabian Nights
Markus Zusak- The Book Thief
James Joyce- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Sharman Apt Russell- Hunger
Scott Westerfeld- Uglies
Mario Santiago Papasquiaro- Jeta de Santo
Gabriel García Márquez- Chronicles of a Death Foretold
Science
Science, this year, has been about physics and chemistry. Although I wasn't here for the chemistry part, I have been through the whole time we have been learning physics. My best piece of science, I think, is my Acceleration and Slope Lab, in which I got a four, and, with the help of my science teacher, Mr. Nechodom, earned a full understanding of the concepts in it, concepts in which I happened to be having trouble with.
Edited Work
Occasionally, there is something that we regret. Something that we think we could have done better. And of course, we shouldn't get hung up or obsessed over mistakes, but rather evaluate and keep in mind what we should do next time, to apply the lessons learned. In this page, I will put out a newer version of an older piece of work, in this case a theme discussion for English. Although I already did quite good on it, I hope to improve it.
Subject: English
I think a main theme in the book “Uglies” by Scott Westerfield is “Excessive superficiality is harmful to a society". I’ll give three quotes as examples of this.
“The lie took form as she spoke, pulling on as many strands of truth as it could reach.”
This quote talks about how Tally must lie to Shay, a girl which has become a very close friend of hers. This reflects the fear that she feels towards this gigantic government, this authoritarian monster, and she feels the need, even, through the threat that they will never turn her into a pretty if she does not rat on The Smoke, the rebel group that refuses to conform to the strict guidelines in this society. I think this quote’s underlying meaning, and the whole situation behind it, is that people’s own personality, values, and emotions become deteriorated in a state that has so much power over the people, a state that, exploits, uses this power to quash any type of subversiveness.
“This whole game is just designed to make us hate ourselves”
This is another quote from the book, which shows the slow rotting and decrepitude of morals in this plastic, superficial dictatorship. This may be a sideline to the theme, but another thing is, through the allegorical use of the Uglies government as a society where, only figuratively, superficiality and extreme deification of beauty, a society which very well is equal to our own. This betrayal of Tally towards Shay and the rebels is the manifestation of this, one that could be tied to the sacrifices some make towards their persona and image, ones that, if this worship and obsession of beauty did not exist, would be unthinkable.
“Perhaps the logical conclusion of everyone looking the same is everyone thinking the same.”
I find this to be the most important quote. This ties together the totalitarian qualities of the regime, making a slight reference to the so-called socialist totalitarian and fascist dictatorships which arose in the 20th century, and used commonly the suppression of ideas and criticism, and the mass feed of government propaganda through the seizing and tight censorship of communication. This reflects in the chase for the rebel group in the book, and shows how serious this government, which usually hides in the background throughout the story, is in handling its critics.
In conclusion, I’ll analyze my interpretation of allegory of the story, and how it fits into the theme. Basically, as I have mentioned above, this society is in many ways allegorical to our own. No longer are the times where usefulness and practicality is held higher than aesthetics and the cult of beauty. We literally worship commerciality, since, from young age, we are trained to conform our tastes and standards to the ones preconceived by society. Slowly we may turn into at least a concerning resemblance to this society, with our developing plastic surgery technology, and one day maybe it will be normal for everyone to wish to conform to this standard. Meanwhile, the authoritarian part of the theme may remind some of the increasingly oppressive laws that governments are putting up, especially in the internet, if we look in recent times. Although they, thanks to many concerned individuals, steered clear of too much control, many felt they did not get the attention they should have. I guess, in summary, I believe that beauty is, obviously, beautiful, and something that should be appreciated to an extent, they should not rule over our society, as they did in this book.
Learning Reflection
This year, I have changed a lot as a learner. I have found new, positive habits, which will help me in the future. Organization skills, which is something that I have always struggled with, are improving. I open myself more easily now to new opinions, while working in groups. I find that my writing is more extended, and my grammar skills are a lot better, however I have extended my knowledge in technology, as well, especially in English. I have learned a lot of vocabulary, especially with the book projects, I have read a lot as well, and this helps with my learning a lot. I have improved in reading analysis, too, and I find that I can inspire myself more easily.
What is a portfolio?
A portfolio is a presentation. It is a collection of work from some sort of area. This portfolio is about me, so this will have pieces from my life; which makes up of school and my personal interests. Under each page, there will be some explaining of this class, my best piece from the year, and some things that stand out from this class. It should be noted that by "year", I mean only the third and fourth quarters, since I was not enrolled in the school for the first two. I hope that this portfolio accurately and informatively describes my life.
Personal
My name is Daniel Rodríguez, and I'm 13 years old. I was born in Poole, UK on the 22nd of August, 1998. I moved from the UK when I was less than a year old to Bogotá, Colombia, where I lived until I was 5. During that time, I studied in the Gimnasio Británico. I then moved to The Hague, Netherlands, and lived there for 1 year while studying in the International School of the Hague. Now, at 7 years old, I moved to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where I lived for 6 years, and studied in Saudi Aramco Schools. Here, I made lots of friends and I met great people. I moved back to Colombia in November of 2011, and began studying at my present school, Colegio Nueva Granada, in January 2011.
I have a family of four, with both of my parents and a younger brother. My dad works as a petroleum engineer, and my mum is a systems engineer. My brother, who is 8 years old, is in the 3rd grade in the Montessori British School.
I am blessed with having a very close relationship with my extended family. I frequently talk to and visit my grandparents on both side of the family, and I'm blessed with all of them still being here on Earth. I also share a close relationship with my cousins and my uncles and aunts, who I also see relatively regularly.
Personal Interests
I've always loved music. In the fifth grade, I began to learn to play the clarinet, and I have played ever since. I'm very dedicated to this instrument, and I hope that I can get really good on it. I was in my school band when I was in Saudi Arabia, and I tried out for band competitions a lot. I know some basics on the guitar, since I took a class on it, however, I have neither the skill nor the practice I have on the clarinet. Besides playing, I like listening to music a lot, as well. I like black metal and the DBSM and ambient subgenres. My favorite bands are Burzum, Lifelover, and Peste Noire.
I play a lot of tennis, too, and I have since I was 7. For this, I've entered a lot of tournaments
Espanol
Espanol is "Spanish" class for fluent speakers. Here, we read and write in Spanish, learn grammar, among other things. I have had some difficulty with this class, since before I came to the CNG I had never taken it before, but now I am doing well. This, of course, means that I greatly improved on every single aspect of Spanish, and, with the accompaniment of living in a predominantly Spanish-speaking country, makes my Spanish more fluid and casual.
My best work is the documentary I made for Espanol, which can be found in this link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX5RB5TfRD8. I think real learning happened in this because I got to explore something that I already know about and learn more about it enthusiastically, since I am very interested and I can relate to the subject, and all the research, which I had to do in Spanish, greatly extended my vocabulary.
Math
Math has been a really difficult subject for me. In the last quarter, it was my lowest grade. My goal for this quarter was to improve, and so far, I have. In math, we are learning about algebra and probability. In algebra, we learned isolating variables and solving equations, as well as systems of equations. My best math work of all the year, though, was the Systems of Equations test because, even though I got a very bad grade on it, I think that I learned so much, and I learned from my mistakes, and this helped me get a lot better on it. which is why I think it is real learning.
Social Studies
Social Studies is one of my favourite subjects, because it is very interesting. This year, we're learning about the great civilizations of the ancient world, such as Alexander's Empire, the Roman Empire, the Greeks, the Byzantine Empire, and the Russian Empire. My best work was the grade reflection, and although unfortunately the graph that came with it cannot be posted, I posted the reflection here:
Grade Reflection: 3rd Quarter
In my opinion, in this quarter I did an acceptable work. I got a 3.1, which is average. However, I still believe that I can do much better, if I reflect on what I should correct.
I think what most brought down my grade was all the late work. Although, at the end of the quarter, I got to make up for it by bringing in late work and presenting, I know my grade would have been higher had I put more effort into remembering and doing assignments. I notice that most late assignments were SOAPSTONEs and APPARTSs. I should fix this.
As for individual projects, I found that I got a bad grade for The Roman Empire: Presentations. I suspect that it was because of my lack of role in the presentation, which feeds back to the fact that I did not work much on this. I believe that next time, if such a project arises, I should work on it and make sure that I have a part to say in presentations like this.
In conclusion, I got an okay grade this quarter, but I truly believe that I can do better and will work on this.
I think that no matter how much real learning I had on other works, it would never top this. The reason is that I have reflected on all my grades on the past year, and now I can understand what I need to do to improve. I think this is real learning.
Sociales
Sociales is a course which is taken in Spanish, like Espanol. Here, we learn about Colombian history. This year, we covered the independence movement and the rise and fall of Gran Colombia. My best work, I believe, was my essay on the habitation of the "zona cafetera", a movement known as "La Colonizacion Antioquena. This is it:
LA COLONIZACION ANTIOQUEÑA
La colonización antioqueña es uno de los procesos socio-económicos más importantes de nuestra historia. Se inició al finalizar el siglo XVIII, cuando un gran número de familias antioqueñas, comenzó a emigrar hacia el sur y a colonizar tierras, hasta entonces despobladas, en el occidente del país. La colonización se intensificó al abrirse nuevas fronteras de colonización; este proceso, que se extendió hasta comienzos del siglo XX, es importante puesto que, gracias a él, se inició en Colombia el cultivo del café, que más tarde se convirtió en el principal producto de exportación.
Antioquia fue una de las regiones más aisladas durante el período colonial. Su desarrollo económico y social tuvo muchas diferencias con relación al de otras regiones del país. Puesto que las tierras habitadas no eran aptas para la agricultura, la principal actividad de los antioqueños fue la minería del oro. Por otra parte, las mejores tierras eran propiedad de unas pocas familias que las mantenían sin explotar. A finales del siglo XVIII, se presentó una baja en la producción de oro, al tiempo que las tierras disponibles no eran suficientes para satisfacer las necesidades de la población.
Se inició entonces la migración hacia el sur de la provincia y los primeros asentamientos de colonos.
En esa época fueron fundados las poblaciones de Sonsón (1797), Abejorral (1808) y Aguadas (1814). A partir de la década de 1870, la colonización se intensificó y se extendió hasta el territorio del actual departamento del Quindío, norte del Valle del Cauca y occidente del Tolima. Durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX fueron fundadas por los colonos un gran número de nuevas poblaciones.
Importancia de la colonización antioqueña
El proceso de colonización integró a la economía del país miles de hectáreas de tierra que durante siglos habían permanecido inexplotadas y despobladas.
El café fue el producto preferido por los colonos y su producción llegó a convertirse, en las primeras décadas del siglo XX, en la base de la economía nacional. La forma como fueron colonizados estos territorios no favoreció la formación de la gran propiedad territorial. La colonización era llevada a cabo primordialmente por familias que no tenían la capacidad para pagar mano de obra sino que más bien utilizaban la mano de obra familiar para explotar tierras colonizadas.
Esto dio origen a un nuevo tipo de sociedad en el occidente colombiano: mientras que en el resto del país el latifundio era la característica más importante, en las zonas colonizadas predominaba la mediana propiedad campesina y familiar. Debido al aislamiento geográfico, los pobladores del occidente colombiano permanecieron ajenos a los conflictos armados que sucedieron en Colombia durante todo el siglo XIX. Esto permitió un desarrollo económico estable y continuo, en contraste con otras regiones donde el desarrollo económico se vio seriamente afectado como consecuencia de las guerras civiles. La colonización antioqueña permitió la unificación del occidente colombiano.
Los colonos se preocuparon por comunicar entre sí los nuevos asentamientos y construyeron caminos y ferrocarriles. Gracias a esto se estableció un comercio interno que casi no existía en otras regiones y que estuvo favorecido por la capacidad de compra de la que gozaban los colonos, resultado de una mejor distribución de los ingresos del trabajo.
Todos estos factores hicieron que el occidente colombiano se convirtiera a finales del siglo XIX y a comienzos del siglo XX, en el centro económico más importante del país.
La expansión de la economía cafetera hizo posible que se acumularan los capitales que más tarde fueron invertidos en el desarrollo industrial.
CAUSAS E EFECTOS DE LA COLONIZACIÓN ANTIOQUENNA
CAUSAS
Economía: Con las leyes librecambistas establecidas, Colombia ya estaba lista para integrarse a un mercado internacional, exportando materias primas e importando productos terminados. Durante este periodo radical, la economía se volvió una gran preocupación y tema para los gobiernos, quienes tenían en cuenta y en sus agendas estimular la economía y mejorar las vías de comunicación para poder hacer posible la transportación de bienes.
Durante los años 1860, se enfocó en hacer un buen sistema de carreteras por toda Colombia. En 1872 llegaron los ferrocarriles, y se volvió prioridad construir vías a Cali, Buenaventura, Medellín, Puerto Berrío, Barranquilla, Sabanilla, y otras grandes ciudades.
Esto, obviamente se abrió el comercio, y se empezó a producir mas tabaco, que era lo más exportado durante el periodo radical, con el oro, quina, añil, y el café, entre otros. En términos del café, que ya se cultivaba en el occidente del país, no era un producto exportable. La decisión que se tomaba cuando se decidía exportar un producto se enfocaba en lo internacional, mas no lo local, entonces no había avance económico en el interior.
Político:
La Constitución de Rionegro impuso en el país más federalismo, que dejaba más autonomía para regiones. Mientras tanto, el gobierno nacional (que consiste en lo ejecutivo, judicial, y legislativo del gobierno) perdía poder en estas regiones, tanto en lo político como en lo económico.
EFECTOS
Con esta asolación, el gobierno no tuvo poder de controlar conflictos internos y violencias, haciendo que las guerras civiles se hicieran más comunes. Revueltas y sublevaciones contra gobiernos locales pasaron, y hasta guerra entre dos estados diferentes. No había restricción de armas, haciendo que cualquier político tuviera su propio ejército privado. También, con este poder de estos ejércitos, iban a guerra contra si mismos. Muchas veces, los soldados eran arrendatarios de haciendas o peones que fueron forzados a entrar.
Por la decentralización del país, fue muy difícil recoger impuestos, hasta el punto que casi ningún de los nuevos territorios pagaban impuestos, y los impuestos sí recogidos raramente se dirigían al Tesoro Nacional. Y, subsecuentemente, el gobierno nacional tuvo dificultad manejando sus finanzas, hasta que tuvieron que vender la mayoría de sus edificios públicos, en 1865. El gobierno empezó a ser explotado por particulares, y a veces se tenía que regalar tierras.
I believe this paper was real learning because I learned a lot of new vocabulary and, through my own research, I learned so much about the topic.
Electives
This year, I have taken three different electives: Chinese, Ethics, and Health. Chinese is an all-year elective, in which you study Mandarin Chinese. Currently, I am in the third level, and I hope that when I get my results for the final exam, known as the YCT test, I will be able to pass to the fourth level, the highest available in my school. I have been studying Chinese for five years as a fourth language (along with French as a third language, and my fluency in English and Spanish), and one of the reasons that I chose Colegio Nueva Granada as my school was their Chinese program. In Ethics, we learn about values and work ethic. This class is quite relaxing, however, it is still very useful, since we also learn many skills that we can apply in our own lives. Health, meanwhile, is a class where we learn about drugs and sex, the dangers and risks involved, and how to avoid these risks. I think my best work is a PowerPoint presentation in which I detailed my family, a total of around 30 sentences, which was quite difficult for me, considering I had to write in Chinese (which, by the way, I find typing with a computer close to impossible). In any case, I learned so much vocabulary, to properly describe my family.
English
English, along with Social Studies, is one of the more interesting classes as well. First of all, it is fun because we have time to read at the beginning, and the way that we do projects, with technology tools, is fun as well. I think that the best English project I have done is, also, the best written piece of the year. This is it:
Subject: English
I think a main theme in the book “Uglies” by Scott Westerfield is “Authoritarian style rule is harmful to a society and its inhabitants, especially one that appeals to superficiality”. I’ll give three quotes as examples of this.
“The lie took form as she spoke, pulling on as many strands of truth as it could reach.”
This quote talks about how Tally must lie to Shay, her best friend, or, at least, a friend that she had gotten close to. This reflects the fear that she feels towards this gigantic government, this authoritarian monster, and she feels the need, even, through the threat that they will never turn her into a pretty if she does not rat on The Smoke, the rebel group that refuses to conform to the strict guidelines in this society. I think this quote’s underlying meaning, and the whole situation behind it, is that people’s own personality, values, and emotions become deteriorated in a state that has so much power over the people, a state that, innumerably, harvests and uses this power to great effect.
“This whole game is just designed to make us hate ourselves”
This is another quote from the book, which shows the slow rotting and decrepitude of morals in this plastic, superficial dictatorship. This may be a sideline to the theme, but another thing is, through the allegorical use of the Uglies government as a society where, only figuratively, superficiality and extreme deification of beauty, a model which very well is equal to our own. This betrayal of Tally towards Shay and the rebels is the manifestation of this, one that could be tied to the sacrifices some make towards their persona and image, ones that, if this worship and complete awe of beauty did not exist, would be unthinkable, and contradicting.
“Perhaps the logical conclusion of everyone looking the same is everyone thinking the same.”
I find this to be the most important quote. This ties together the totalitarian qualities of the regime, making a slight reference to the so-called socialist totalitarian and fascist dictatorships which arose in the 20th century, and used commonly the suppression of ideas and criticism, and the mass feed of government propaganda through the seizing and tight censorship of communication. This reflects in the chase for the rebel group in the book, and shows how serious this government, which usually hides in the background throughout the story, is in handling its critics.
In conclusion, I’ll analyze my interpretation of allegory of the story, and how it fits into the theme. Basically, as I have mentioned above, this society is in many ways allegorical to our own. No longer are the times where usefulness and practicality is subverted by aesthetics and the cult of beauty. We literally worship commerciality, since, from young age, we are trained to conform our tastes and standards to the ones preconceived by society. Slowly we may turn into at least a concerning resemblance to this society, with our developing plastic surgery technology, and one day maybe it will be normal for everyone to wish to conform to this standard. Meanwhile, the authoritarian part of the theme may remind some of the increasingly oppressive laws that governments are putting up, especially in the internet, if we look recently. Although they, thanks to many concerned individuals, made the rounds over this leviathan of communication, known as the internet, many felt they did not get the attention they should have. I guess, in summary, I believe that, although aesthetics are, obviously, beautiful, they should not rule over our society, as they did in this book.
Books read
Sean Covey- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Oscar Wilde- The Portrait of Dorian Gray
Stephen Hawking- The Great Design
Richard Dawkins- The God Delusion
Various Authors- The Second World War
Dan Brown- The DaVinci Code
Dan Brown- Angels & Demons
J.K. Rowling- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
J.K. Rowling- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Rick Riordan- The Red Pyramid
Stephen King- The Green Mile
Agatha Christie- Murder In Mesopotamia
Emma Donoghue- Room
Anonymous- Selected Stories from Arabian Nights
Markus Zusak- The Book Thief
James Joyce- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Sharman Apt Russell- Hunger
Scott Westerfeld- Uglies
Mario Santiago Papasquiaro- Jeta de Santo
Gabriel García Márquez- Chronicles of a Death Foretold
Science
Science, this year, has been about physics and chemistry. Although I wasn't here for the chemistry part, I have been through the whole time we have been learning physics. My best piece of science, I think, is my Acceleration and Slope Lab, in which I got a four, and, with the help of my science teacher, Mr. Nechodom, earned a full understanding of the concepts in it, concepts in which I happened to be having trouble with.
Edited Work
Occasionally, there is something that we regret. Something that we think we could have done better. And of course, we shouldn't get hung up or obsessed over mistakes, but rather evaluate and keep in mind what we should do next time, to apply the lessons learned. In this page, I will put out a newer version of an older piece of work, in this case a theme discussion for English. Although I already did quite good on it, I hope to improve it.
Subject: English
I think a main theme in the book “Uglies” by Scott Westerfield is “Excessive superficiality is harmful to a society". I’ll give three quotes as examples of this.
“The lie took form as she spoke, pulling on as many strands of truth as it could reach.”
This quote talks about how Tally must lie to Shay, a girl which has become a very close friend of hers. This reflects the fear that she feels towards this gigantic government, this authoritarian monster, and she feels the need, even, through the threat that they will never turn her into a pretty if she does not rat on The Smoke, the rebel group that refuses to conform to the strict guidelines in this society. I think this quote’s underlying meaning, and the whole situation behind it, is that people’s own personality, values, and emotions become deteriorated in a state that has so much power over the people, a state that, exploits, uses this power to quash any type of subversiveness.
“This whole game is just designed to make us hate ourselves”
This is another quote from the book, which shows the slow rotting and decrepitude of morals in this plastic, superficial dictatorship. This may be a sideline to the theme, but another thing is, through the allegorical use of the Uglies government as a society where, only figuratively, superficiality and extreme deification of beauty, a society which very well is equal to our own. This betrayal of Tally towards Shay and the rebels is the manifestation of this, one that could be tied to the sacrifices some make towards their persona and image, ones that, if this worship and obsession of beauty did not exist, would be unthinkable.
“Perhaps the logical conclusion of everyone looking the same is everyone thinking the same.”
I find this to be the most important quote. This ties together the totalitarian qualities of the regime, making a slight reference to the so-called socialist totalitarian and fascist dictatorships which arose in the 20th century, and used commonly the suppression of ideas and criticism, and the mass feed of government propaganda through the seizing and tight censorship of communication. This reflects in the chase for the rebel group in the book, and shows how serious this government, which usually hides in the background throughout the story, is in handling its critics.
In conclusion, I’ll analyze my interpretation of allegory of the story, and how it fits into the theme. Basically, as I have mentioned above, this society is in many ways allegorical to our own. No longer are the times where usefulness and practicality is held higher than aesthetics and the cult of beauty. We literally worship commerciality, since, from young age, we are trained to conform our tastes and standards to the ones preconceived by society. Slowly we may turn into at least a concerning resemblance to this society, with our developing plastic surgery technology, and one day maybe it will be normal for everyone to wish to conform to this standard. Meanwhile, the authoritarian part of the theme may remind some of the increasingly oppressive laws that governments are putting up, especially in the internet, if we look in recent times. Although they, thanks to many concerned individuals, steered clear of too much control, many felt they did not get the attention they should have. I guess, in summary, I believe that beauty is, obviously, beautiful, and something that should be appreciated to an extent, they should not rule over our society, as they did in this book.
Learning Reflection
This year, I have changed a lot as a learner. I have found new, positive habits, which will help me in the future. Organization skills, which is something that I have always struggled with, are improving. I open myself more easily now to new opinions, while working in groups. I find that my writing is more extended, and my grammar skills are a lot better, however I have extended my knowledge in technology, as well, especially in English. I have learned a lot of vocabulary, especially with the book projects, I have read a lot as well, and this helps with my learning a lot. I have improved in reading analysis, too, and I find that I can inspire myself more easily.
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