Category Archives: Core Competencies

Diffusion Lab Self Assessment

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Critical and Reflective Thinking:

Photo of a page from my Diffusion Lab.

Critical thinking was my main core competency used in this lab. Biology is a hard course for me, so I had to take more time and ask myself more questions to make sure I fully understood what was happening and could answer the questions. To do this, tools that helped me were looking at our note package about the Cell Membrane, and also looking through the textbook a little bit to gather more information.

I analyzed evidence to come to conclusions, by looking at the qualitative changes that occurred during our lab, as well as the quantitative ones. An example of a qualitative change that led me to believe diffusion had occurred, was the change in color of the tubing contents inside (a dark blue). An example of a quantitative change was the increase in mass of the tubing after one night. The mass increased, meaning diffusion into the tubing had definitely occurred.

COMMUNICATING:

I expressed communication through figuring out how to explain my understanding in words for the written portion of the lab. I tried to use as many scientific terms from the unit as I could to best represent what I knew. I looked back at the note package several times as my source for the terms I used in my lab.

For me to communicate my understanding, I need to really understand what I am writing about otherwise it makes it really difficult to explain what you don’t know. Even though this lab was a bit hard for me, I believe I answered the questions well in the end, and to the best of my ability and knowledge I had at the time. I learned that instead of trying to answer from the top of my head from what I knew at that moment, my answers were a lot better when I consulted the textbook/note package to back up my information.

Communicating was also a very important tool in talking with my partner and other two partners about what was happening during and after the experiment so that we could learn from and help one another out. This is really helpful for me as I learn best auditory and visually, so by talking to my partners, and seeing the chemical changes occur in our tube, it made it a lot easier for me to understand what was happening.

Ceramics 12 Core Competency Reflection

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Below is an image of my chosen ceramics piece for this assignment.

“Positive Personal and Cultural Identity” Core Competency.

My upbringing largely contributes to who I am as a person. I was born in Brazil, but have lived in multiple different places, having attended a total of 9 schools in my life so far. This has made me a very adaptable person who loves to see new places, explore, and experience new things. The mountains, night sky, tree and airplane in my ceramics tile represents this about me.

Culturally, in Brazil we had a farm like many other families. This growing up, made me turn pescetarian because I began to feel like a hypocrite when I would go spend time with the animals and give them love, but then still eat meat. So, the leaves at the top left of my tile represent how I eat mainly plant based now, with only seafood staying in my diet.

Now for the big ‘A’ in the tile. The reason I chose a typewriter style of font for my first initial, is because of my love for older art. My dad raised me with mainly older music (40’s-90’s) playing in the household and would introduce me to some of the best movies of the 70’s-90’s. In Brazil, rock music and movies from the 80’s are classic things that everybody in each generation is exposed to, and most of the population enjoys.

The yin yang symbol is to represent my focus on finding the good in bad things, and of always aiming to achieve balance in my life. My morals are very important to me.

Lastly, the climbing hold on the left of my tile, and the figure-8 knot to the right. Both represent my favorite activity, Rock climbing (mainly bouldering). I was exposed to climbing in February of this year, but only began going frequently in September when I finally gave in and got a membership. I am absolutely obsessed with it and have made so many new friends already at the gym. It’s cool to look back at my dad’s old climbing pictures from when he was younger, because go figure, he used to climb as well!

My tile is very personal to me and represents my identity in a very accurate manner. I am very happy with how it turned out. (I just wish the figure-8 knot would’ve turned out less orange.)

PHE 10 AH Reflection

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My Feeling

Today I feel very overwhelmed. I have many assignments to complete and studying to do because of the last week of school which consists of many tests. I have a headache because of lack of sleep due to stress, and my personal life is very hectic right now as well. I am excited for this week to be over so I can start my Summer Break with a clean slate.

Personal Health and Awareness Reflection

  1. When I need to boost my mood or re-focus I usually like to; go for a walk listening to some good music or a podcast, take a cool shower to literally re-fresh, and/or cleaning my space. All of these things make me feel accomplished and give me a sense of having a fresh start once I complete them.

2. Some of my preferred strategies for maintaining a healthy, balanced lifestyle include;

  • Keeping a planner so that I’m on top of everything I have to do in the week so I eliminate some of my stress
  • I’ve been focusing on drinking one liter of water everyday which is a big change for me
  • I try to move my body in some way every single day whether it’s light exercising like walking or yoga, or more intense like weight lifting and long hikes.
  • Eating whole foods and avoiding processed foods in my daily diet. I rarely have fried things which is a pro but I can definitely work on eating less sweets

Core Competency Reflection

how project and presentation helped me develop and demonstrate core competencies

  • I understand that learning is continuous and my identity will continue to evolve. I know what my strengths and weaknesses are and I can feel proud of myself for the things I can already achieve and be firm with myself on what I still need to improve on.
  • I use strategies to help me find peace and I sustain a healthy and balanced life. These strategies often include cleaning up the environment I’m in so that my brain as a result, feels cleaner as well. Also, making sure my physical health is in check with what I’m consuming and with how much I’m exercising plays a huge role in how well my mental health is at the moment.
  • I can reflect on my thinking. I have had a therapist for years now and as a result, I have matured more because of how in tune with my emotions I am. I am constantly reflecting on my own feelings and thoughts and this is a really healthy (but sometimes unhealthy if I don’t keep myself in control and start overthinking for example) thing that allows me to communicate my feelings with others easier and in a more well-structured way. I can vocalize my thinking.
  • I find it easy to be part of a group. I am a very social person and thoroughly enjoy being around others, so working in groups is never a problem for me. I like talking to others and hearing other people’s perspectives on various topics in life. It give me insight on how different all our lives and experiences are.

The core competency goal I am going to work on is; I can understand and share information about a topic of interest in a clear, organized way. I’m not a bad writer but I can definitely work on sticking to the point. Because my brain works so fast and I’m always thinking and connecting different ideas, it sometimes show in my writing because I will go off topic. To achieve this goal I will work on creating main ideas in my writing and sticking to them so I don’t trail off. Also, making sure to write drafts when I am able to, to make sure my final product is as good as it can be.

‘The Simpsons’

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My Analysis

Creating and Communication

  • This unit helped me learn about comedic devices by seeing them being used in action. Humour is best learned when you are experiencing it in the moment rather than learning about the structure of a joke. Seeing satire, allusions, irony and sarcasm being used on screen and seeing concrete examples of each device was helpful in teaching me how to identify the differences between them.
  • I expressed my ideas and used concrete evidence when we wrote our in-class paragraph on why ‘The Simpsons’ was such a successful show. By putting my knowledge and thoughts in words, it really helped me solidify my understanding.
  • I really focused on the “less is more” principle to make sure everything I said was significant and I wasn’t using wasted words. I also tried to give concrete examples of scenes I remembered that used certain comedic devices.

Core Competency Reflection

how it helped me develop and demonstrate core competencies

  • I can describe how satire, irony and/or allusion relates to shows like ‘The Office’ and/or in real life. These comedic devices are everywhere, but before this unit I couldn’t identify any besides sarcasm. Now I can understand why certain jokes I hear are funny because I understand the root of where it’s coming from. It makes hearing jokes more enjoyable.
  • I remain open minded as I explore viable options or alternative approaches, like when I thought of connecting ‘The Simpsons’ success to the play of Romeo and Juliet that we read beforehand. I tried to identify how different aspects we’ve learned in class connect to each other. What I learned, is that comedic devices are everywhere if we pay attention to them, even amidst tragedies. Which makes them that much more meaningful and heartfelt whether it’s in real life or in movies. That’s an important lesson for everyone to learn and I think that is probably one of the most important things I will be taking from this class.
  • I can contribute to and work with criteria to improve my own work; evidence of that is how much I’ve focused on not using wasted words in my writing. I can definitely get better at it, especially If I get time to write a draft beforehand. But, I’ve worked on being more precise with where I want my sentences to go in the sense of accuracy and getting to the point faster than in the beginning of the semester. Something that was hard to let go of that we learned with Mr. Cook is to not use things like “in my opinion” or “I believe” in our writing. It feels very unnatural not prefacing my writing with these sentence starters but It truly makes my writing feel more formal and professional. I really enjoy seeing my writing get more refined through the years through practice.