Category Archives: ADL

While I was Away: The Movie

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Plot, Character, Setting and Mood

・Explain how you figured out what your avatar would look like:

I looked for descriptions of the character in the story, (Things like eye colour, face shape…) And patched them together and thought up a face that would match all of the descriptions. Another thing that helped to confirm afterwards was an actual photo the author of this book of when she was 12, when the story took place.

・How did you choose the plot points?

There were many points in the story that were significant to change the way the story changed direction, but I chose the ones that stood out to me the most, and were the most important.

・Explain how you figured out the settings in your story. Why is the setting significant to the story?

I picked up clues from the events happening in the story, and when they took place. (For example, the characters in the story talked about the Olympics in the story, and the last time the Olympics happened in the country they were in and also made sense for the other events to have happened..) The setting, (Japan in the 1980’s) is important because the story is about Waka being torn between her American and Japanese self and being confused in a place new and strange to her. The time that the story took place is significant because the way she is treated and some things that they thought to be right are exclusive to that time (and the story makes more sense when you know these things.)

・Explain what the words mood means and how/why you picked the song you picked?

I chose the song because it felt a little bit cold and melancholic, like how Waka felt when she was looking back on her memories of when she was in Japan. The song also was not too loud or disturbing, so it was the better choice for the presentation

Core Competency reflection

・I appreciate feedback on… and prefer when it comes in the form of…

I appreciate feedback on my work, and I prefer when they do not just tell me what they think is bad about it; I want them to tell me where they think I could grow or what I could change next time to make it better. I also want to be told which parts are good and should be kept, and why they think so. I do want to know how other people see my work, because if it is just me looking at my work, it is only my way of thinking, and a narrow field of vision.

・When I need to boost my mood or re-focus: 

I usually take a break and do something that makes me feel happy. Some of these things include drawing, reading and listening to music. Those things help me because when I’m doing those things and focusing only on those things, my mind is filled with that, and gets rid of the space for worries or stress. I also find listening to music when doing work (Usually fast music.) It helps me type and work faster. I usually make the music 1.25 times faster; it makes me finish my work faster and helps me be motivated. I also watch videos that make me laugh when I am tired. After laughing, I feel lighter and can start off my work again feeling better.  

・The ways I communicate at school differ from how I communicate at ____ (home and online) in these ways:  

When I am at home, I communicate with my mom and sister in Japanese, and it helps me keep up my Japanese skills. (I speak English when talking to my Father) I have to try to talk properly in Japanese to get my family to understand (without using English.) It is sometimes hard for me, but it helps me keep my Japanese speaking skills alive. When I am online and chatting with people, I try to remember that they (the person I am talking to) is not able to tell how I am feeling or wanting to convey my message by the tone of my voice, so I am careful to use emojis or Ellipses, and other punctuation for them to be able to tell my mood when talking so no unneeded misunderstandings happen. I also take note to explain things more thoroughly and check my grammar, because really bad misunderstandings and fights can start from a simple spelling mistake. 

ADL- Collaboration and Solutions for Financial Literacy

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~Data and Solutions~ 

3 Year GIC  

I am missing $40,000 till my goal, and my goal was to save till I have the amount of $120,000  

To get to this amount, place the $80,000 you already have into the GIC that is for 3 years, with a 4.2% return then you will get what it says in the equations below 

Year 1: 80,000 x 1.042 = 83,200 

Year 2: 83,200 x 1.042 = 86,694  

Year 3 86,694 x 1.042 = 90,335 (.148)  

And add the 30,000 saved from the 3 years  

90,335.148 + 30,000 = 120,335.148  

(This did not seem correct so I re-calculated)  

80,000 x 1.042 x 1.042 x 1.042 + 30,000 = 120,509.28704  ($)

(Final answer) 

I don’t know but when I used websites to check my answers, they all gave me different answers and just confused me even more… 

~Visual Representations~ 

Compound Interest Calculator | Investor.gov 

~Justification~

I chose the 3 year GIC and thought it was a better suited solution for me than stocks; the reason for this is because I do not like talking risks. While stocks may be a better choice if you really want to make it to your goal quickly, that option has a notable demerit, which is that you might lose all the money you had in the first place if you were not lucky. What I do not like about it is that it really is an go up really high or fall down very low thing, and the trends in the ups and downs change so much, and there is no stability. One year you could get so much back, but the next you may lose half of what you earned. I do not like the thought of all the work (money) going to waste by that happening, so I like the lesser at a time but steady amount of money every year (GIC) choice better.

~Collaboration and contributions~

(Questions from the assignment sheet)

How did you find working with your group?

I was really sick and at home for 2 of the days of the financial literacy class, the part where you would talk with the groups, and on the day I went to school, it was the last day of working in groups then. I really did not understand much about what the teacher was talking about on that day, and did not even know we were doing something in groups? A person came over to me and told me that I was in their group so I went to go sit with them. They asked me to contribute, but I did not even have the worksheet so I asked about it, but only 1 of the people would talk to me, and they only gave me a brief explanation and said they did not really understand the assignment either, I think the group was kind of each trying to do things on their own and was not very cooperative overall.

How did you contribute to the group? And how did others in the group contribute to your learning?

I know this is not academical, but some of my group members did not even have the proper supplies to do work, and took my pencil and eraser to use. (I guess this does count as a contribution) I helped think of a solution to get to the goal too, I used my phone calculator to find the answer with the group watching. I think I did help think, and write things down to some extent as well, I did not fully understand what we were trying to do and what goal we were to get to for our assignment. (The next day I read the instructions many times as well as ask one of my parents to explain to me the assignment and it made a little bit more sense to me) Others in the group contributed, by when I asked they showed me the paper that they had taken notes on the days before, and they also wrote down my answers onto the paper.

Did you use any other the solutions proposed by your group? Why or why not?

The group had more than one solutions, we had one solution that used stocks to grow the money (which was a solution that they had done when I was absent) and when I was there, we worked on a solution which used a 3 year GIC as well, we used that question as our final answer (the safest one I thought, that’s why I liked that answer more than placing the money in stocks hoping for it to grow. (though the average return rate is decent, you just could lose all that money that you worked hard to earn/save) There also was another solution that we thought of which was “A 1 year GIC + 2 year stock, but we did not have enough time to actually test that one out, so our final answer stays at the 3 year GIC (+ the 30,000 that had accumulated over the 3 years, 10,000 per year to get the answer.)

How would you rate your ability to collaborate with others in your group on a scale of 1-4 (1 not good; 4- excellent)

My ability to collaborate with others in my group this time might not have been very good, maybe a 2. I did not fully understand the objective of the assignment and what we were trying to learn. I did try to help out as best as I could, though. The group itself did not really talk things out, and they just did what they thought was right, and nobody objected to that. I probably should of spoken up more, but it just made almost no sense to me, I really should be more careful not to get sick and miss classes. It was not very easy for me to grasp the concept.

~Core Competency Reflection~

I can recognize different points of view and can disagree respectfully.

I know that people, when spending money and thinking about how to use it think very differently. I do not think that if you gave 10 people a sum of money, they would put it to use in it the same way. I understand that people think in diverse ways, and can understand and accept that fact, and take ideas from people and thinking for myself. When I was in y group too, everyone wanted a different solution, so we just tried all of them to see which worked, and we all agreed on which one was the best suited for out situation.

I can recognize my emotions and use strategies to manage them.

I got a little frustrated when working on this project, (Being there when the explanation is happening would probably have made this assignment much easier. I tried so many different things to complete this assignment and made mistakes lots of times, it was hard for me. This assignment was also a lot of work and was due very soon. I personally am not much of a person who is good with analyzing data and looking at graphs, so it was stressful. I did not even know what a stock was till a day ago. (When I started researching and working on my project) When I was feeling a little edgy, I took a break and listened to some calmer music, to make me feel okay again and refocus so I could get my assignment finished in time.

An example of where I built upon someone else’s ideas is…

An example is when the group contributed ideas and wrote it down, and collectively we created solutions. After looking at that pile of information that made the equation, I started to understand. And from that I was able to start thinking on my own, (Building up from what other people know/told me) and creating new ideas and graphs, solutions that work for me.

I remain open minded as I explore viable options or alternative approaches, like when I…

I always try to keep my mind open to new solutions, as the first one you think of might not be the correct one all the time. I try my best not to be stubborn and be teachable, though that sometimes is easier said than done. The ability to listen honestly to people evaluating your work and telling you where they think you need something different or changed can be a good thing, and help you grow better from the advice and criticism.

This assignment took me a while to understand and is probably not a very good example of what knowledge should be displayed, but it is my best. Thank you for looking through my work.