Poetry Cafe
5/12/16
Project Description:
In this project we studied poetry. We read multiple pieces of poetry and tried to understand their messages. Then, we learned about poetic elements such as: meter, personification, metaphors, imagery, etc. Finally we wrote our own poem about a topic we learned this year and preformed them at the all school exhibition.
In this project we studied poetry. We read multiple pieces of poetry and tried to understand their messages. Then, we learned about poetic elements such as: meter, personification, metaphors, imagery, etc. Finally we wrote our own poem about a topic we learned this year and preformed them at the all school exhibition.
My Growth as a Poet:
The perspective communicated in my poem has grown because as I refined my work. I added more elaborate words and phrases. For example, I added “covered in snarly knots of evil,” to the trunk -the worst part of the tree. I think this added more imagery to the line. It also made the tree sound darker. This helped me get my point across; the trunk is the worst part of the tree. Furthermore, I changed the word monotone to filthy. Now my poem says “like a never ending collection of filthy bark and ideas.” When I changed the word to filthy again it made the tree seem more demonic. Monotone was not the right word for this line because it made the bark and ideas sound boring. This did not follow the tone of my poem. I changed this perspective to make the roots and trunk of the tree seem more barbaric. These changes made my poem have more passion.
Colin helped me refine my poem, when I met with him for a conference. One of the most important revisions we made was changing the lines around in the last stanza. I moved the line “away from the media’s chilling oppressive voice whispering hostility,” to beneath the line “stretch--away from these fabricated ideas,” because it made more sense there. The beginning part of this stanza is about spreading and stretching away from what you were socialized to be, so this line fits best there. The media has a huge impact on how you were socialized. Additionally, it adds to the intellectual message of my poem because it sounds more passionate. When I moved this line to the section of the stanza that was talking about stretching away from objective ideas, the media is something that you should expand from. Therefore, it made the most sense there and added more persuasion. This change also impacted the emotional message of the poem because it added more power to the stretching part of the section. When it was in its original place above, “To love’s golden voice singing acceptance into your ears,” it did not give that stanza as much power as it does after I moved it. This change developed the poetic message of my poem because it added more power to the message that you need to spread away from these.
The second most important change I made was I changed the title of my poem. I changed it from “The Socialization Tree to The Nature of Socialization.” This impacted the intellectual message of the poem because it made the poem flow more. It sounded too choppy because my title was “The Socialization Tree” and the first line was “socialization is a tree.” This change impacts the emotional tone of my poem because the reader can focus more on the message and not how choppy the first line sounded. If I did not change it the poem would sound very redundant. I developed poetic elements when I made this change because I used personification. Technically, socializations can not have a nature to it. When I changed the title to have personification it became more relatable. Overall, I think this change improves my poem because it makes it flow more and sound.
The perspective communicated in my poem has grown because as I refined my work. I added more elaborate words and phrases. For example, I added “covered in snarly knots of evil,” to the trunk -the worst part of the tree. I think this added more imagery to the line. It also made the tree sound darker. This helped me get my point across; the trunk is the worst part of the tree. Furthermore, I changed the word monotone to filthy. Now my poem says “like a never ending collection of filthy bark and ideas.” When I changed the word to filthy again it made the tree seem more demonic. Monotone was not the right word for this line because it made the bark and ideas sound boring. This did not follow the tone of my poem. I changed this perspective to make the roots and trunk of the tree seem more barbaric. These changes made my poem have more passion.
Colin helped me refine my poem, when I met with him for a conference. One of the most important revisions we made was changing the lines around in the last stanza. I moved the line “away from the media’s chilling oppressive voice whispering hostility,” to beneath the line “stretch--away from these fabricated ideas,” because it made more sense there. The beginning part of this stanza is about spreading and stretching away from what you were socialized to be, so this line fits best there. The media has a huge impact on how you were socialized. Additionally, it adds to the intellectual message of my poem because it sounds more passionate. When I moved this line to the section of the stanza that was talking about stretching away from objective ideas, the media is something that you should expand from. Therefore, it made the most sense there and added more persuasion. This change also impacted the emotional message of the poem because it added more power to the stretching part of the section. When it was in its original place above, “To love’s golden voice singing acceptance into your ears,” it did not give that stanza as much power as it does after I moved it. This change developed the poetic message of my poem because it added more power to the message that you need to spread away from these.
The second most important change I made was I changed the title of my poem. I changed it from “The Socialization Tree to The Nature of Socialization.” This impacted the intellectual message of the poem because it made the poem flow more. It sounded too choppy because my title was “The Socialization Tree” and the first line was “socialization is a tree.” This change impacts the emotional tone of my poem because the reader can focus more on the message and not how choppy the first line sounded. If I did not change it the poem would sound very redundant. I developed poetic elements when I made this change because I used personification. Technically, socializations can not have a nature to it. When I changed the title to have personification it became more relatable. Overall, I think this change improves my poem because it makes it flow more and sound.
Happiness Project
3/25/16
Project Description
My class and I started the project by reading the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. When we read the book we learned new more adnvanced vocabulary and we were given a test on these words every few chapters. After completing this book we split the class in half and had a Socratic Seminar discussing the book and mostly importantly happiness. In this project we learned background knowledge. Our class learned this background knowledge through watching documentaries such as Happy and we read pieces like Omelas. With the knowledge we learned we them all wrote essays about happiness.
My class and I started the project by reading the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. When we read the book we learned new more adnvanced vocabulary and we were given a test on these words every few chapters. After completing this book we split the class in half and had a Socratic Seminar discussing the book and mostly importantly happiness. In this project we learned background knowledge. Our class learned this background knowledge through watching documentaries such as Happy and we read pieces like Omelas. With the knowledge we learned we them all wrote essays about happiness.
This project has helped me grow as a person because now I feel that I can use the things that I have learned from this unit and apply it to my life. For example, if I am struggling with a project, I can remember that when I am finished I will be proud of my work. In school, I set goals and I am proud when I complete them. School gives me a purpose. I should appreciate that. Over all, after this unit I will understand that school gives me purpose and I should respect it.
This summer I want to use my new understanding that being social makes you happier. Instead of staying inside or being on my computer, I will go outside with my friends. After reading the article, If You Use the Phone a Lot, This Is Why It Could Be Making You Unhappy, I realized I am on my phone a lot and that it takes up much of my time. Furthermore, when I am on my phone it is not making me happy. I decided to set a goal this summer to cut my phone usage in half. I also, will spend time with friends twice a week.
The biggest take away from this project was that materials do not make me happy. Before this project, I would consider myself a huge consumer. I thought that if I bought things it would make me cool and people would like me for that. Now that I learned more about happiness, I realized nothing that I own truly makes me. I reflected back on my best memories and they all were when I was with my friends. Furthermore, in my art piece I showed how friends make me the happiest.
Project Summary
In this project we participated in the Model United Nations. We studied two conflicts, The North Korean Nuclear Crisis and The Israeli-Palestinian Refugee Conflict, and at the end of both these situations we had a conference. I was assigned to represent Israel. For each conflict my class and I had to write a policy paper, resolution statement, and speech following your country’s opinion. After we wrote resolutions, four of the strongest resolutions were picked to be taken to our conference. Then, we had to choose the resolution that best encompassed our country’s beliefs and write a speech on why that resolution will work best. We performed our speeches at the conference. We also, we given the chance to amend resolutions to make them more effective. Lastly, all countries voted on the best resolution to pass.
Project Reflection
I am proud that our class passed a resolution for the Israeli-Palestinians conflict. My class passed Resolution 2B written by the Russian Federation. We worked very hard during unmoderated caucuses to amend the resolutions. For example, we changed the borders from being to equal states as proposed in the resolution, to the two state solution with 1967 borders. This conference also, built consensus because all different countries regardless of their background came together to resolve this almost 100 year conflict. I was representing Israel so it was encouraging to see the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolved, even if it was just in the Model UN.
I connected with the article, The Last Jews of Baghdad by David Van Biema published by Time Magazine. This article talked about the last community of Jewish people in living in Baghdad. I could connect with these Jewish people because I feel like I have a lot of perseverance. These Jews have persevered so much because according to this article, “ the small group is in considerable danger.” Even though they are in danger they want to stay in Baghdad because it is their home. Therefore, I felt a connection to the article.
The most important thing I learned in this project was why Israel and Palestine conflict is continuing. I had heard about this conflict on the news, but I had never really understand what was happening. Now, I understand the key components of this conflict. For example, the US and Israel have a very close allegiance and Israel was created to be a sanctuary for Jewish people after they were displaced in World War II. When, we participated in country research I learned so much about not only my country's opinion, but the opinion of many other countries as well. Additionally, I now feel like I am more of a global citizen because I have a grasped on why there is so much fighting in the Middle East.
Model United Nations Mid-Project Reflection
The most challenging thing I about this project was understanding parliamentary procedure. At the start my first conference I was very confused about the proper way to talk in parliamentary procedure. Luckily, I went home and watched youtube videos about how to speak correctly and applied it to the next day’s conference.
The biggest challenge I overcame was speaking out. I was terrified to speak in front of the conference because I was afraid I would make a mistake. I finally, overcame this by just going for it. After that I was more confident and I spoke more often.
I am most proud at this point that our class passed a resolution with only one opposition. I feel like my class worked really hard to build consensus. I came down to the last minute of a ten minute un-moderated caucus to get the countries for North Korea having nuclear weapons to negotiate a plan for them to support resolution 2D.
“ Complacency is where genius goes to die” - Matt Hughes
This quote means if you just accept what you have you will never change anything in your life. For example, if I just accept a grade I will never be able to make it better. This quote applies to everything in life because you can make any situation better.
The most challenging thing I about this project was understanding parliamentary procedure. At the start my first conference I was very confused about the proper way to talk in parliamentary procedure. Luckily, I went home and watched youtube videos about how to speak correctly and applied it to the next day’s conference.
The biggest challenge I overcame was speaking out. I was terrified to speak in front of the conference because I was afraid I would make a mistake. I finally, overcame this by just going for it. After that I was more confident and I spoke more often.
I am most proud at this point that our class passed a resolution with only one opposition. I feel like my class worked really hard to build consensus. I came down to the last minute of a ten minute un-moderated caucus to get the countries for North Korea having nuclear weapons to negotiate a plan for them to support resolution 2D.
“ Complacency is where genius goes to die” - Matt Hughes
This quote means if you just accept what you have you will never change anything in your life. For example, if I just accept a grade I will never be able to make it better. This quote applies to everything in life because you can make any situation better.
Socialization and Identity Project
10/29/15
In this project we studied Sociology. To build backround knowledge for this project we watched TED talks and read many articles such as the Cycle of Socialization. We made masks that represent the way we were socialized. My class also wrote essay's explaining how each of us were socialized through gender, economic class, race, sexual orientation, ability/disability, and religion.
My Essay:
Reflection:
I am proudest of the symbolism I chose for my masks. On my masks, I collaged images I found from the media, from both the internet and magazines. I made two different masks because I wanted to show who society is telling me to be and who I really am despite it. On my who society is telling me to be mask I am most proud of the Sports Illustrated magazine swimsuit edition covers with women revealing inappropriate amounts of skin. This made some people at the project's exhibition uncomfortable. That was the point, to show just how society perceives the "perfect women". On my who I really am despite what society is telling me to be mask, the aspect I am most proud of was how I put Hillary Clinton to represent how I have been socialized to try to be a strong woman. I hope that one day I will be as monumental as a women like Hillary.
I am very proud of this quote in my socialization essay, "The media and advertising have gone to the extreme of photoshopping people to make them more appealing to the public. How do they think I feel? It is physically impossible to achieve the media's standards?" This quote is very powerful because I ask a question that will make the reader stop and think. Hopefully, this question will make them think not only how it makes me feel but how they feel as well. This quote also was very powerful to me because I, like most individuals, have felt bad about my own body when I see these fake and perfected people.
The biggest takeaway I took from this project was a new understanding on why humans are the way they are.
Since the start of the project I now think "she is doing that because that is how she was socialized to think" instead of thinking "Wow, she is purposefully acting dumb to seek attention from a boy". I think after this project I judge people less because I know it is not that person being weird but society not allowing them to be different. This project has changed my life in an extraordinary way because now I have a new outlook on why humans act the way they act.
Some key concepts I would like to share from this project are even though the feminist movement is becoming more prevalent, men still have struggles too. In my essay and through my mask I talk a lot about being a female in our society and the battle of the media, but men have to deal with it as well. For example, in the TED talk A Call to Men, Tony Porter, describes how men are not supposed to show emotions and never openly cry. When I watched this video it really opened my eyes because I had never really thought about how being a man in our society must feel like. I now realized that both genders are struggling and I propose if we keep teaching kids about socialization then they will be less likely to perpetuate these societal norms.
I am proudest of the symbolism I chose for my masks. On my masks, I collaged images I found from the media, from both the internet and magazines. I made two different masks because I wanted to show who society is telling me to be and who I really am despite it. On my who society is telling me to be mask I am most proud of the Sports Illustrated magazine swimsuit edition covers with women revealing inappropriate amounts of skin. This made some people at the project's exhibition uncomfortable. That was the point, to show just how society perceives the "perfect women". On my who I really am despite what society is telling me to be mask, the aspect I am most proud of was how I put Hillary Clinton to represent how I have been socialized to try to be a strong woman. I hope that one day I will be as monumental as a women like Hillary.
I am very proud of this quote in my socialization essay, "The media and advertising have gone to the extreme of photoshopping people to make them more appealing to the public. How do they think I feel? It is physically impossible to achieve the media's standards?" This quote is very powerful because I ask a question that will make the reader stop and think. Hopefully, this question will make them think not only how it makes me feel but how they feel as well. This quote also was very powerful to me because I, like most individuals, have felt bad about my own body when I see these fake and perfected people.
The biggest takeaway I took from this project was a new understanding on why humans are the way they are.
Since the start of the project I now think "she is doing that because that is how she was socialized to think" instead of thinking "Wow, she is purposefully acting dumb to seek attention from a boy". I think after this project I judge people less because I know it is not that person being weird but society not allowing them to be different. This project has changed my life in an extraordinary way because now I have a new outlook on why humans act the way they act.
Some key concepts I would like to share from this project are even though the feminist movement is becoming more prevalent, men still have struggles too. In my essay and through my mask I talk a lot about being a female in our society and the battle of the media, but men have to deal with it as well. For example, in the TED talk A Call to Men, Tony Porter, describes how men are not supposed to show emotions and never openly cry. When I watched this video it really opened my eyes because I had never really thought about how being a man in our society must feel like. I now realized that both genders are struggling and I propose if we keep teaching kids about socialization then they will be less likely to perpetuate these societal norms.