Ceramics- Core Competency Reflection

Some skills I have developed to make my creative activities better are focusing on a theme, double checking my work before letting it dry, and combining additive and subtractive details. Before glazing my mug, I knew that I wanted it to look clean, and focus on glazing techniques. To make said techniques pop, I painted the whole mug porcelain white. This ensured that at first glance, the focus would be the bright coloured bubbling, splattering, and dripping. Since I knew my glazing would be on the simplistic side, I created most of my detail during the molding stage. Using a rubber tool, I took chunks out of the clay, creating the impression of wrinkles and folds. I then used a needle tool to poke holes into the clay, adding skin texture. I know that my thinking ahead and thorough planning allowed me to be successful on this project.

Textiles Core Competency Self-Assessment

My Artifact:

This is a midi evening dress I made including a zipper and bow.

Explanation:

While creating this project, I used the core competency “critical/reflective thinking.” This is because I had to use problem solving strategies. I knew that the pattern I bought wasn’t going to fit me how I wanted. Because of this, I thought that it would be a good idea to sew in a bow. Wanting it to appear professional, I made sure to sew it into the side seams of the dress. After doing so, the dress fit me perfectly and turned out how I hoped it would. The only thing I would improve on for next time is the bottom hem. I think I could have made it less bulky, which would result in it weighing the dress down less. Otherwise I am extremely happy with the finished product and think it is something I would wear.

Connecting Media and Psychological Disorder Mind Map Reflection

The first competency I used while creating this project was “I can analyze evidence to make judgments.” I had to find a piece of media, my song, then examined it in means of finding a connection to psychological disorders. I then came to the conclusion that the song “Creature Comfort” by Arcade Fire relates to body dysmorphic disorder.

“I get ideas when I use my five senses to explore or when I pursue my interests” was the second competency I demonstrated. I remember listening to this song on the radio frequently when I was younger. The lyrics interested me because I understood the story the artist was telling.

The final competency I used was “I deliberately learn about things that interest me, and new ideas pop into my head.” I knew that I wanted to focus on OCD and body dysmorphic disorder for my mind map, so I made sure to choose a media that correlated with those. As I was educating myself on said disorders, I began to develop knew ideas as to why I chose my media and how it conveyed certain messages.

Literary Studies 12 – “Music Monday” Reflection

  1. The songs “Wreck Beach/Totem Park” and “Caribou Ghosts and Untold Stories” make our world and community better. They illustrate taking a stand against another’s forced beliefs through the lyrics “I’ll sit on the beach till they put me in cuffs” and “rebellion is on our way. This betters our world because it creates freedom. Instead of being obligated to practice a religion or speak a certain language, this uprising allows for a diverse community. The lyrics “actions call others to action” help make a positive change because when someone sees another taking the initiative to improve a society’s thinking or actions, it gives others the courage to do so. Seeing someone else doing these actions allows others to register that said acts are possible.
  2. These songs represent that “something” is unfair when they state phrases such as, “Cemеtery city the truth about where I grew up,” “A virgin place, the cleanest slate and all the whitest lies,” “We had our reservations, yeah we knew something wasn’t right,” “We don’t have to plan for the win, we always lose anyway,” and “Catharsis is still elusive, we’ll save that for another day.” The word “something” represents equality and rights. These songs depict how Indigenous people are/have been treated, and the injustice that continues to occur.
  3. These songs make me feel unsettled, distressed, and scared. In the first song, “Wreck Beach/Totem Park” by The Zolas, I had more feelings of regret and despair, whereas when listening to “Caribou Ghosts and Untold Stories” by Leanne Simpson, I felt heartbroken and mournful. I think the first song is more compelling because it makes me want to understand the meaning of every word. I want to know what the writers experienced to make them produce this song.
  4. In the Zolas’ song, “[sitting] on the beach till they put [them] in cuffs” is their highest value. Essentially, fighting for their way/rights, until they are forced not to. As for the Simpson song, sticking together and not losing their culture is most important to them. This is evident through the lyrics “Caribou ghosts and untold stories.”
  5. After analyzing these songs, it is obvious that music conveys different perspectives. For example, the lyrics “I’ll sit on the beach till they put me in cuffs” and “Meet me at the underpass, rebellion is on our way” illustrate differences. Although both phrases are representing fighting against power, one group has more risk when standing up. The Zolas “[sitting] on the beach” until they are put “in cuffs” shows a form of protest. Because their song is from the white perspective, they have less consequences when standing up against people of higher authority. As for the Simpson song, “rebellion is on our way” illustrates danger and risk. This is because as a minority group, fighting for themselves is not made easy by individuals such as law enforcement, or in this case, white settlers.

Textiles Core Competency Self-Assessment

Thinking: Critical/Reflective Thinking

My Artifact: Three Tiered Cotton Skirt

While completing this project I used the core competency Thinking, specifically critical/reflective thinking. When creating my pattern on my fabric, I realized that I didn’t have enough material to properly follow the YouTube pattern I was using. To fix this, I used problem solving strategies by making the longest tier a few inches shorter. This only affected the amount of ruffle/gathering created. Because I worked on this project independently, the only feedback I received was to use a different thread. My previous thread was over 50 years old, meaning it wasn’t strong enough, would break when you pulled at it, and wasn’t staying threaded in my machine. Instead, I used the school’s thread After finding the YouTube video that I used for this piece, I watched it over a few times and looked at the description to see what supplies would be needed. As I got my materials from the fabric store, I made sure to double check with the workers that I was grabbing the correct fabric. The only aspect I would improve on for next time would be to distribute my gathering more evenly. I think what would help would be to divide the basting stitch into quadrants, so that there isn’t as much fabric to work with.

Research Assignment Reflection

I can ask and respond to questions to be an active, supportive listener.

While completing my research assignment, I feel that I used the core competency “I can ask and respond to questions to be an active, supportive listener” because I had to take other’s views into consideration. To support my hypothesis that eating breakfast results in better grades, I had to create a questionnaire asking peers about specific details in their lives. Next, I observed the answers given, essentially listening to my respondent’s perspectives. Finally, I took each answer and applied it to my experiment through mean, median/mode, standard deviation, and a scatter plot. Through those statistics, I concluded that eating and/or not eating breakfast does not affect your marks.

Pre-Calculus 11 Core Competency Self-Assessment

Core Competency Reflection

Working collaboratively with others:

After almost completing this course, I feel that I have grown tremendously in my ability to collaborate and work with others. At the start of this class, I felt extremely incapable of working with classmates which I don’t know. I was timid and didn’t feel as though I could voice my thoughts and opinions. However, after getting more comfortable with a few of my peers, I persevered and pushed myself out of my comfort zone. It took a couple of months for me to fully feel confident expressing my points of view, but I found that when I did, it improved my understanding of the math unit tremendously. For example, when we had to work with random groups at the beginning of the course, I wouldn’t be fully focused on the questions we were answering because I was so worried about getting my question correct. Because of this, it lead me to miss certain steps in the unit, affecting my understanding negatively. Although when we were allowed to choose our groups I felt that I was more involved in the solving process. This is because we were all working collectively and trying to understand the assigned questions, rather than just focusing on answering one or two specific ones. I think that moving forward if I were to have to work with individuals whom I don’t know, I would encourage myself to step outside of my safe place and be a part of the group.

Treating myself and others with respect/Dealing with my challenges:

I feel that I can grow excessively in treating myself with respect, as well as dealing with my challenges, especially when it comes to grades. I notice a reoccurring theme within myself to always be perfect. However, this uncontrollable habit does not help my learning. At times it can lead me to push myself and achieve certain goals, although most of the time it causes me to be discouraged, thus landing me in a deeper pit. For example, I could be studying for a test and getting almost every question right, but then stumble across a section that I struggle with. I fail to complete this question so then I use the answer key to help me find the answer. I then assume I understand how to solve this equation because I relied too heavily on these resources and don’t want to face the fact that I might not do perfect on this test. I complete said test and realize that maybe I didn’t know what I was doing and I actually need help. However, instead of asking for help, I’ll blame the fact that I didn’t do well on something else, continuing to let my discouragement get the best of me. This was an ongoing cycle for me throughout this whole course which I am finally beginning to understand and take action on. From now on I am trying my best to understand that as long as I put in the work and try my hardest, all I can do is my best. I am also pushing myself to ask more questions and rely on my answer keys less to ensure my understanding.

Advice for Future Students…

My advice for future students is to do your best to complete the questions on your own. If you find yourself always flipping to the answers before you have actually completed the question, understand that that will not set you up for success. Another piece of advice I have is don’t be afraid to ask questions. This is what the teacher is there for, and it is okay if you don’t understand the lesson. Lastly, don’t be too hard on yourself. Math isn’t for everyone and it is okay if you don’t do as well in the class as you think you will as long as you try your best.

My Parabola

Parent Function:

My Parabola Equation:

Parent Parabola:

My Parabola:

Analysis…

In my parabola, the ‘-4’ is the x in the vertex, and the ‘+2’ is the y; this means that the vertex is (4,2) instead of (0,0) like the parent function. The ‘-4’ makes the x shift 4 places to the right (the negative and positive signs are always opposite in the equation). As for the ‘+2’, that means that the y point will shift up 2 from zero. The ‘2’ value means that the parabola will be directed upwards, similarly to how the parent parabola has a ‘1’ value, meaning it also goes upwards.

Self-Assessment…

  1. I represented the same mathematical ideas in separate ways by comparing two different parabola equations, as well as the parabolas themselves. Doing this showed my understanding of the mathematical concept and demonstrated it with two differing examples.
  2. An example of me using mathematical vocabulary in this assignment was when I explained the vertex, as well as the values in the two equations.
  3. I illustrated neat and organized formatting by labeling each photo as well as writing aspect. Another area that I did this in was by cropping and zooming into the photos pasted, so that they could appear uncluttered.