Calculus 12 really allowed me to appreciate the collaborative environment presented by a flipped classroom model. I felt that I tried to contribute whatever I had learned from a previous lesson to try to figure out an in-class board problem. For this reason, I feel that profile 3 of “I contribute during group activities with peers and share roles and responsibilities to achieve goals” best fits my current level. The problem above was a very challenging optimization problem during our applications of derivatives unit. By working with our class peer tutor at the time, my classmates and I saw how we could break down each part of the questions using diagrams (shapes in this case). We could then collaborate and communicate ways that we could input the information from diagrams into the formulas we had learned from the lesson. This allowed us to have a better understanding of the concept as a whole. In terms of an area of collaboration I would like to develop, I would say that this would be profile 5 of “I can facilitate group processes and encourage collective responsibility for our progress”. I feel that I can always improve on my leadership skills to facilitate progress in problems that I will encounter in future post-secondary classes.
I’m happy that I was able to spend a lot of time volunteering with various organizations this year. I have spent a good amount of my time doing volunteer foot patrols with the Coquitlam RCMP. It was awesome to be active in serving my local community.
It was an honour to be a Gold Scholar graduate this year. It is always a great feeling to have your hard work acknowledged.
I am grateful to be accepted into my top choice for university. It is a competitive program that I honestly thought I would not get into, but I was able to make it. I look forward to being more independent as I move to another province to continue my studies.
Although the football season did not go as planned, I really appreciate the fact that I got to experience my senior season. I will miss all the memorable moments that I had while playing football for the past four years here at Centennial.
Areas To Improve
Goals
Action Plans
Read more books and use social media less
I will read at least a page of an interesting book everyday from now on into the summer. Hopefully I will continue with this habit instead of wasting time scrolling through social media.
Lift heavier weights at the gym
I will train consistently and effectively every day throughout the summer months to achieve prs in my bench press, squat, and deadlift.
Buy a yacht
I will work so hard that I will be wealthy enough to buy a yacht. This will likely happen after I graduate university and have established my own company. I will be a multi-millionaire before I am 30. Once I buy my yacht, I will sail for a few months on the Mediterranean coastline just living life.
Fetal Pig before we dissected it.Trying to figure out parts of the heart.
Collaborating (Communication CC)
Both the piggy lab and the heart lab were dissections that allowed me to collaborate with a partner when observing the internal organs of a living organism. This was interesting because I got to actually see what these various organ parts looked like internally, and this was helpful because I am a visual learner. In terms of my roles and responsibilities in these labs, I completed one part of the dissections while my partner completed the next part. This split our work evenly and ensured that we both understood what we were observing. Sometimes we would confuse one part of an organ with another similar looking part, so this forced us to review our notes/diagrams to make sure we knew the differences. I think that the quiz that we had to do for both labs solidified our knowledge of the organ parts and was helpful to do before writing the tests. If there was a part/function that my partner did not quite get, I would try my best to explain it or we looked it up and agreed on whatever made the most sense. Sharing this information helped us both do well on the lab assignments. I think that effectively collaborating with peers is crucial in this course because it helps students realize the gaps in their understanding and ensures that work can be completed accurately. As for what I could improve on, I would say that I should pay better attention to the initial lab demonstration by our teacher. This is because I had a difficult time doing the dissection just by looking at the diagrams afterward and this was especially challenging if my partner also did not pay much attention. In the end, the dissections still turned out fine regardless.
Creative Thinking (Thinking CC)
In the pig dissection lab, it was sometimes difficult to see organs that were covered by another organ or leaking fluid. This enabled me to use my notes and calculate where the unidentified organ was located roughly. I drew my conclusions based on the vicinity of the other organs I was pretty sure about. My partner suggested that we look up pictures of a completed pig dissection and compare our dissection with it. This was a good idea because even though our dissection was not as pretty, we had a better idea of where the organs were and it helped us on the quiz. I think that trying to brainstorm solutions before continuing on with the lab made sure that we avoided any errors. It is always a good strategy to check over your work a few times before moving on. As for what we could improve on, I would say we could have taken a little more time in making better incisions. We rushed some of the incisions which caused fluid to leak on some organs, blocking our view at times.
Positive Personal Identity (Personal/Social CC)
In both labs, my partner was away during the last parts of each lab. This included when we had to unravel the intestines in the pig lab and identify the last few parts of the heart lab. Instead of waiting for my partner on another day, I just decided to finish up after school or during flex. I feel I am strong in taking initiative to complete work on my own. This is connected to my identity because I feel that I can figure things out with or without extra help. It doesn’t matter to me. Even though it took some time out of my day, I was fine with wrapping up both labs and giving my partner the data after. My partner was grateful for this and I am usually happy to help most of the time. Making this decision helped me move on to the next task which was studying for the test. As for what I could improve on, I would probably try to work with other peers in the lab who were using flex to finish up as well. This would have saved time in the process of trying to unravel the intestine because it was hard to find where to cut.
Explain how you chose your writing goal and how you focused on it to improve your writing of the Get Out literary paragraph.
I chose this writing goal because there were a few times in my previous paragraphs where I did not reconnect the examples I provided back to the overall theme. In this paragraph, I made sure to focus on including additional sentences that further explained my examples. This would include the times were I pinpointed how certain scenes were related to the filmmaker’s theme of cultural appropriation within society. The feedback I received on my draft helped me to see the areas of my paragraphs that needed more detail. I felt that this made my paragraph a more understandable piece altogether.
Core Competency Self-Assessment
How did you act on the feedback from your first and second paragraphs in writing this one?
I acted on the feedback I received from the first two paragraphs by reconnecting my examples to the theme and by making a greater effort to prune my paragraph. I was able to prune by cutting down phrases into words that had an equivalent meaning. This was followed by including details on how my examples reconnected to the theme of combatting racism that I observed in the film. All I had to do was check if I was using proper grammar to make my paragraph structurally sound. The feedback allowed my paragraph to flow better in the end, while still maintaining what I was trying to say with each example.
a. During this session on CPR, I learned that life-threatening situations could happen anywhere at any time. There is always a possibility that someone may be in need of CPR, and I can play a crucial part in saving this person’s life. In addition, I also relearned the importance of cooperating with others in the scene who are also trying to save the person. Making sure that we do not create any panic as we assess what we need to do to successfully conduct CPR is definitely necessary. Furthermore, I learned that doing something is always better than doing nothing. Trying my best to keep a person alive is the most that can ever be expected of me in such difficult situations. Putting the person in a better state before they are eventually treated by healthcare professionals should be everyones ultimate goal.
b. This session has an impact on my life because I realize that situations where I would need to do CPR could definitely happen in the future. I understand this may be needed to help a family member or friend. If I can learn how to effectively save someone using CPR, I know that I can help them get through the darkest moment in their life. I think that everyone should know the steps in performing CPR because of the impact it could have on another person. I know of family friends who have lost their lives in a public setting because no one did anything on the scene where an AED was available. I would hope that if I were ever in a place where I would need CPR someone would at least try to help me.
Critical and Reflective Thinking Competency Reflection
Prompt: I can analyze evidence to make judgements.
This relates to me as I can use what I have seen/learned and apply it to action. I use the evidence that I have gained to make decisions that further improve my positive traits. I feel that this is something that has helped me do well in my courses overall.
When I need to work collaboratively with people I don’t know well, I…
I feel that I tend to work best when I am working on an assignment by myself. However, I understand that many of my current classes will require me to increase my effort in collaborating with others. While working with people I don’t know well, I will introduce myself and try to get to know them better. Throughout our collaboration, I will be kind and maintain an open-mindedness to their ideas. I would hope that everyone I am working with will feel comfortable enough to contribute their thoughts as we progress towards completing our assignment. In doing so, I can work on my communication skills that should ultimately help everyone to become more productive.
My support network is helpful to me because they…
There are numerous days were things do not necessarily go my way. This could include a bad test mark or making mistakes at football practice. Having a support system that includes my parents and my friends makes all the difference for me. Whenever I might feel down, they remind me of the good that I could see in every situation I encounter. It is important for me to not only maintain a healthy support system, but to also be a part of someone else’s support system throughout this year. We really never know what someone is going through, and I feel that I should always be able to do something that can positively impact another person.
Some of the intentional actions or decisions I take to make my community better include…
I look to be someone who others can find inspiration from through my actions. As a student-athlete, I want others who have similar aspirations as me to feel motivated by my hard-work. The actions I will intentionally make this year include being a more patient peer tutor and staying dedicated to improving in the classroom/on a sports field. These fit my goal of making my community better throughout my senior year. I hope that younger peers will see me as someone who is resilient even when things get busy or difficult. I want to be that person that others can rely on to provide that extra reminder to keep on going towards their dreams.
A dissected earthworm in the internal earthworm dissection lab.
Dissected squid in the cephalopoda lab
Dissecting a shrimp in the crustacea lab.
Curricular Response:
The various dissections that I was able to do in this class allowed me to learn about the complex body systems of certain animals. This was interesting because I got to improve at identifying structures that may be different or similar to that of other organisms I had dissected. I feel that I learn best when I am actually implementing what I am taught. Doing the dissections helped in making important observations that were needed in completing and doing well in the lab assignments. Moreover, these observations were connected to studying the many adaptations that helped these animals survive in their habitats. Becoming aware of the changes that these organisms had to undergo while dissecting them definitely aided my understanding of the evolutionary process. The dissections performed created a more engaging and fun way to be able to create a detailed picture of the concepts I learned. These dissections that were done for this class were far more beneficial than just staring at a diagram in a textbook. Therefore, I feel that dissecting various animals expanded my overall knowledge of each organism’s individual body systems and how they evolved into what they are today.
Core Competency Self Assessment:
Which dissection lab are you the most proudest of and why?
I am most proudest of the dissection performed in the Cephalopoda lab. In this lab, I was able to open up the squid and observe its internal structures. I was surprised that I was able to keep many of the structures that I removed completely intact. This made it easy to compare what I had found to that of the squid diagram. It was cool to see all the adaptations the squid had to survive in the ocean while I was dissecting it. This lab made me appreciate the complexities that the animal contains. Furthermore, the fact that the class got to eat the squid we dissected as calamari was also somewhat fun and strange. Overall, I really enjoyed doing this lab and I am proud that I did it well.
What challenges did you face during these investigations?
I did not face many challenges during these dissection labs. However, I would say the most difficult part of them would be in carefully removing the various body structures in each organism for observation. This was because they were quite small and fragile. Another problem was probably the obvious gross smell that the organisms gave off. Sometimes the smell would be so strong it was sometimes distracting. Additionally, sometimes the internal organs were difficult to observe in organisms like the earthworm. This was because the blood and fluid that the organisms secreted would block the view of these structures. Besides these small challenges, my investigations went pretty well.
What strategies did you use to overcome those challenges?
The first issue of dissecting the various body structures was usually solved by cutting slowly or by getting a second organism just in case I made a mistake. If I felt that I butchered an important body structure during removal, I would just try to remove the same part from my backup organism. For the most part, I was able to cut the various body structures cleanly. As for the smell that came from the organisms, I just tried my best to ignore it and continue to work. I think that it definitely helped that I kept my mask on during most of the dissections though. In the organisms that produced a lot of fluid that made it difficult to work on, I just tried to use a paper towel to remove the excess fluids. This helped quite a bit, but it was still somewhat difficult to see the internal organs at times. With this in mind, I just tried to estimate where these structure might be by comparing it with the diagram. In the end, these problems were quite minimal and I was able to complete the labs.
A poem I created about an inanimate object: a pillow.
Curricular Competencies Reflection
The main purpose of this poem was to describe an inanimate object in my life. I decided to write about a pillow as I feel that it is an unacknowledged object that most people have. My intended target audience was towards anyone who can relate to the comfort of having a pillow to rest their head on. This helped make the figurative language I imbedded into the poem much more relatable to a reader. The elements of this poem that are personal to me would be the fact that I need a pillow to sleep at night. I would simply be unable to sleep at night without one and I often forget this fact. I planned for this poem to be engaging as I chose an item that most people own. Then, I developed this idea to become relatable by using poetic devices that could slowly hint at the identity of the object. This would help make the tone of the poem to be more intriguing to a reader. I made this poem engaging because I feel I brought greater awareness to an item that most people ignore. In my opinion, the most interesting poems can make someone think about an idea that they did not have before. I finally used imagery by using the specific time of the day (nighttime) that this item is most available to someone and used this as the foundation of my poem. Furthermore, I used figurative language to show how this object feels like (ex. A cozy warm hug).
Creative Thinking Core Competency Reflection
During the process of choosing a topic for the poem, I wanted to use an object that other people would probably not write about. I ended up deciding to write about a pillow because I felt there was a lot of aspects about it that I could use descriptive vocabulary on. I formed and developed my own original ideas by coming up with poetic devices that would help provide imagery to the poem. I found inspiration by describing this object as if I were describing a person to make it original. The biggest strategy that stimulated my imagination to complete this poem was to find words that were closely related to my topic and I made them rhyme. Doing this added flow to the poem and made it seem more professionally written. My poem is innovative because it has a metaphoric meaning behind it. The way I wrote about a pillow is representative of people in my life that are not appreciated for the work they do. Using this connection made my poem more authentic. In terms of what I could improve on for next time, I would probably make my poem longer. I felt that my ideas were sufficient, but I know I could have definitely added more.
I demonstrated the curricular competency of ranking the strength of the acids and indicators during this lab. After obtaining accurate data from the experiment, I organized the relative strengths of the acids and indicators on the table of the lab report sheet. I decided whether each acid was stronger or weaker than a corresponding indicator. This process took some time, but it was helpful for me to use the acid-base indicators chart to determine relative strength. I needed to find the identity of each indicator and use their pH ranges to determine their relative strength. The colours that were found after I tested each acid and indicator were then used to see if the colour could be found on either the left or the right of the pH range of a specific indicator. Therefore, a colour that was found on the left of the pH range of an indicator would prove that the acid is stronger than the indicator used and a colour that was on the right of the pH range of a specific indicator would prove that the acid is weaker than the indicator. I repeated this until the entire table was full. At this point, I had to now figure out the order of strength for each acid and indicator. Since all the indicators were weaker than HCl (the strongest acid), but stronger than NaOH (the weakest acid), I could use this information to construct the order of the strength of each acid/indicator. The strongest acids/indicators would have the most greater than symbols (>) and the less symbols they had, the weaker the acids/indicators became. Using this method I was to order the acids/indicators from strongest to weakest and write the dissociation for each. In terms of a core competency I exhibited, I would say I used the communication core competency most effectively. This is because I had to collaborate with other peers to come up with strong ideas in deciphering the information we had. Initially, I tried to organize the acids/indicators based on whether their colour was more acidic or basic. However, I was not making much progress. After this, I worked with some peers who recommended that it might be easier to organize the acids/indicators after finding the correct identity of each indicator. This made the whole process of organizing the acids/indicators much easier. Once I was finished organizing, I shared the information I had gathered with peers to see the similarities and differences in our work. We noticed a pattern as each acid was followed by an indicator as the substances got weaker in the ordered list. This was useful in checking over the previous data to see if the order that I placed each acid/indicator matched the initial table. If there is anything I would improve, I would brainstorm with peers much earlier than I did. Doing this would have saved me more time.
I demonstrated the Core Competency of Thinking after testing the effect of temperature on the test tubes to determine the Ksp of varying concentrations of Lead (II) Iodide. Using my observations in this lab and what I had learned throughout this unit, I could come up with a strategy to find the Ksp of Lead (II) Iodide. The strategy I considered was to observe which test tube formed a solid precipitate after mixing varying concentrations of solutions that contained lead and iodine ions. My group could observe which test tubes contained a precipitate, even a slight one, to then investigate for the next part of the experiment. The test tubes were placed inside a beaker over a hotplate, which allowed my group to further observe which temperatures would fully dissolve the precipitate in each test tube. The evidence collected allowed me to find a range of values for the experimental Ksp of Lead (II) Iodide. These values were originally found by using the calculated concentrations to produce a TIP, which would then be converted to Ksp only at the found temperature of dissolution for each test tube. Using the range of Ksp values that were found was the right decision because there was a trend that showed that as the temperature increased, the Ksp of the Lead (II) Iodide would also increase. If there is anything I would want to investigate further for this activity, I would likely check if the trend of solubility seen in this lab would continue by finding the Ksp of Lead (II) Iodide at room temperature. By using qualitative analysis to determine this, I could see if the data gathered from the experiment was accurate.
