TEAM BANNER PROJECT
This was the project that kick-started our year. When we started this project, we were barely beginning to know each other and were a bit more comfortable, but we still did not feel like a team yet. Meaning that this project's main purpose was to build up a strong relationship with our peers and teachers by all having a big piece to build to complete the banner. We learned how to work collaboratively and effectively with team members that were assigned rather than chosen. Our banner design was inspired by the show "Sons of Anarchy" because they are a biker gang and we wanted our team to represent the same unity.
Personal Reflection
I personally feel like this project was a very good way to start the school year because it was very well structured. Our groups were assigned by who we sat with at our table on the day they announced the project. Everyone had happened to sit with their friends, so we were all happy with the people that were in our group. I feel like we all worked well together because we were all comfortable enough with each other to speak up about what needed to get done. If someone was off task or slacking off on their work, as a group we would "put each other in check" by reminding each other how close we are to being done. Our group was the first group to complete their portion of the banner; I think that happened because we knew how to manage our time together while still having fun.
DIA DE LOS MUERTOS CELEBRATION SLAM
On the humanities side of this project, we wrote a spoken word poem as a group that was dedicated to "Our Promise To Life". We explored different types of poetry and spoken word to see which direction we would like to be lead in when creating our own group poems. This caused everyone to step out of their comfort zone in a positive way and exposed us all o something none of us had ever done. Everyone really got into this project because they were written on topics we could all relate to and because they expressed who we are as writers and people.
Reflection Part 1
When I first heard what our group structure was going to be I was nervous about who I get in my group because they were completely randomly assigned, but then I realized it was going to be the most fair for everyone. When I found out who was going to be in my group, I automatically had an instinct to think I was going to get stuck doing a large amount of work when everyone agreed I should be project manager. I also felt a little uncomfortable because nobody was really talking or willing to collaborate with our new group members. But then over time, we became more comfortable with sharing thoughts and contributing new ideas to the group.
Reflection Part 2 :Habits of Heart & Mind I Used
Habit #1 : Compassion
I know that I am a very compassionate person, so when we started this project it really showed. At first I was being nice just because they were my new group so we hadn't gotten the chance to know each other yet. But then I stared to feel like I was getting taken advantage of so I stared being less willing to help people do their work. It was unfair for me to "help" others but then get stuck doing their work.
Habit #2 : Mindfulness
Since I was project manager, I really started to understand how important it is to have every group member focused and on task during the whole process. I knew how it felt to have my group members get distracted by other people so I tried my best to keep my whole group on task because it would be taking away from my groups and others.
Habit #3 : Perseverance
There are many times when we all would get irritated and felt like giving up. But we kept the image in our minds that people were going to enjoy our piece. Keeping this constantly in our pushed us to continue working. Another thing was that we wanted to feel proud of our work we were producing.
Reflection Part 3
My favorite moment in this whole project was when Lawrence and I spoke our last lines in our poem then everyone started clapping and cheering for us. This was so memorable for me because it was like a big weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. All of the hard work we put into this performance finally paid off and it felt amazing. I heard people snapping and reacting to our lines and it felt really encouraging to continue on. Especially since we had all performed these poems millions of times, it felt good to know the words impacted a new audience for the first time in such a big way.
Reflection Part 4
A challenge we faced that was difficult to work with was when we were trying to decide a beat that our whole group liked; however, not everyone in the group could play the beat we were trying to create for our performance. At first, we understood that it was a little difficult so we kept repeatedly playing the beat so our group mate would catch on. But then after a whole period of teaching and practicing, the was no change or progress. Our group was bummed out that we wouldn't be able to use that beat for our group, but our performance would look incomplete without that one group member not speaking or play the drums. We decided to create a new beat that our entire group would be able to do and our performance was great!
Reflection Part 5
I would change the level of interest in the project from my other group mates because I feel like they weren't really interested in the project. As the group manager, I saw how everyone would work and it felt like they were just trying to complete the job / assignment rather than really connecting to the project. I feel like that would have made the whole group more excited seeing our other group members actually enjoying and looking forward to their final product.
When I first heard what our group structure was going to be I was nervous about who I get in my group because they were completely randomly assigned, but then I realized it was going to be the most fair for everyone. When I found out who was going to be in my group, I automatically had an instinct to think I was going to get stuck doing a large amount of work when everyone agreed I should be project manager. I also felt a little uncomfortable because nobody was really talking or willing to collaborate with our new group members. But then over time, we became more comfortable with sharing thoughts and contributing new ideas to the group.
Reflection Part 2 :Habits of Heart & Mind I Used
Habit #1 : Compassion
I know that I am a very compassionate person, so when we started this project it really showed. At first I was being nice just because they were my new group so we hadn't gotten the chance to know each other yet. But then I stared to feel like I was getting taken advantage of so I stared being less willing to help people do their work. It was unfair for me to "help" others but then get stuck doing their work.
Habit #2 : Mindfulness
Since I was project manager, I really started to understand how important it is to have every group member focused and on task during the whole process. I knew how it felt to have my group members get distracted by other people so I tried my best to keep my whole group on task because it would be taking away from my groups and others.
Habit #3 : Perseverance
There are many times when we all would get irritated and felt like giving up. But we kept the image in our minds that people were going to enjoy our piece. Keeping this constantly in our pushed us to continue working. Another thing was that we wanted to feel proud of our work we were producing.
Reflection Part 3
My favorite moment in this whole project was when Lawrence and I spoke our last lines in our poem then everyone started clapping and cheering for us. This was so memorable for me because it was like a big weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. All of the hard work we put into this performance finally paid off and it felt amazing. I heard people snapping and reacting to our lines and it felt really encouraging to continue on. Especially since we had all performed these poems millions of times, it felt good to know the words impacted a new audience for the first time in such a big way.
Reflection Part 4
A challenge we faced that was difficult to work with was when we were trying to decide a beat that our whole group liked; however, not everyone in the group could play the beat we were trying to create for our performance. At first, we understood that it was a little difficult so we kept repeatedly playing the beat so our group mate would catch on. But then after a whole period of teaching and practicing, the was no change or progress. Our group was bummed out that we wouldn't be able to use that beat for our group, but our performance would look incomplete without that one group member not speaking or play the drums. We decided to create a new beat that our entire group would be able to do and our performance was great!
Reflection Part 5
I would change the level of interest in the project from my other group mates because I feel like they weren't really interested in the project. As the group manager, I saw how everyone would work and it felt like they were just trying to complete the job / assignment rather than really connecting to the project. I feel like that would have made the whole group more excited seeing our other group members actually enjoying and looking forward to their final product.
HAPPINESS PROJECT
Project Description
We began the Happiness Project right when we got back from Winter break. The project was spread out to be three months long which led us up to Festival del Sol to exhibit. During the month of January, we spent time learning about different types of languages and communications along with the ways they varied between different societies and culture. We then started learning about the different ways people interpret certain things by analyzing song lyrics. After we started analyzing music, we got to choose a song we wanted to analyze individually and wrote a three point thesis about the song's message to society. As a class we had about three rounds of peer critique writing workshops before finally turning it in for Ms. Britt to read. In this process we learned a lot about how to structure writing to make your piece as strong as it can possibly be; this included transitions, research, evidence, formatting, and commentary. We also learned about the sexually dimorphics between men and women, along with how their upbringing has a lot to do with the roles they play when they are adults.
Project Artifacts
Art Therapy Notes Presentation
During the Happiness Project, we were put into groups based on different ways find their happiness and clear their mind. I was apart of the Art Therapy group and we explored different art mothods people use as therapy. Down below is the link to the presentation our group presented to the class to inform them about what Art Therapy, check it out:
Art Therapy Presentation
Art Therapy Presentation
Happiness Project Reflection
Reflection Part 1
My favorite moment in this project was when we were creating our mask to show a personal experience. This was my favorite because as I would ask my classmates about what their mask represented, I started to see sides to peers I would have never thought were there based on the person I know them to be. When I was making my mask, I realized that I could turn situations from the past in a positive light to see how they have helped me grow as a person.
Reflection Part 2
It was very hard for me to write my essay about the inspirational song because I struggle with finding resources to help me prove my point. I also struggle with following the structure of how it was supposed to be written and what exactly was supposed to be in each paragraph.
Reflection Part 3-The Habits Of Heart & Mind that I Used During the Project
1st Habit: Perspective
This project helped change my perspective on many topics, but I felt myself really change when we went to the Deer Park Monastery. It really amazed my that people are perfectly happy with living a lifestyle so "different" from my own, which is their "normal".
2nd Habit: Compassion
There were times throughout this project when I felt sympathetic for certain classmates because they were not understanding everything we were learning about as well of the rest of the class. I would try to help reexplain things to help them gain a better understanding because if I were in their position, I would hope someone would help me if they saw I was struggling.
3rd Habit: Perseverance
Through this project, there were times when I felt lost because I wasn't sure how our group was going to pull of presenting during exhibition. We all practiced to get everyone prepared and it worked out well (with the few people that came to our station), but I think as a class we could have put more thought into the stations and how we presented the projects to make it more interactive / engaging for guests. As a class we still put our best effort into presenting that night which showed how we can persevere.
My favorite moment in this project was when we were creating our mask to show a personal experience. This was my favorite because as I would ask my classmates about what their mask represented, I started to see sides to peers I would have never thought were there based on the person I know them to be. When I was making my mask, I realized that I could turn situations from the past in a positive light to see how they have helped me grow as a person.
Reflection Part 2
It was very hard for me to write my essay about the inspirational song because I struggle with finding resources to help me prove my point. I also struggle with following the structure of how it was supposed to be written and what exactly was supposed to be in each paragraph.
Reflection Part 3-The Habits Of Heart & Mind that I Used During the Project
1st Habit: Perspective
This project helped change my perspective on many topics, but I felt myself really change when we went to the Deer Park Monastery. It really amazed my that people are perfectly happy with living a lifestyle so "different" from my own, which is their "normal".
2nd Habit: Compassion
There were times throughout this project when I felt sympathetic for certain classmates because they were not understanding everything we were learning about as well of the rest of the class. I would try to help reexplain things to help them gain a better understanding because if I were in their position, I would hope someone would help me if they saw I was struggling.
3rd Habit: Perseverance
Through this project, there were times when I felt lost because I wasn't sure how our group was going to pull of presenting during exhibition. We all practiced to get everyone prepared and it worked out well (with the few people that came to our station), but I think as a class we could have put more thought into the stations and how we presented the projects to make it more interactive / engaging for guests. As a class we still put our best effort into presenting that night which showed how we can persevere.
ROMEO & JULIET HAT
Project Description
Before we started reading the play Romeo & Juliet, we were given a brief overview of each of the characters we would be meeting throughout the entire play. We chose a partner to work with and together we created a hat that would represent a character's personality. These hats help us understand which characters are speaking to give us a better understanding for what is happening in each scene.
Reflection
After hearing the characters, my partner and I chose the character Benvolio Montague who is Romeo's cousin, who is very intelligent and trustful so he helps guide Romeo in the right direction. Benvolio's personality is similar to an angel so our hat represents that all of his character traits make him seem like an angel. We created our entire hat out of cardboard, hot glue, and staples. To decorate it and give it an "angelic" affect, we used cotton balls, white and gold paint, and gold buttons for the headband that looks like a halo when someone is wearing it.
Snapshot Comic StripThis was apart of the four independent reading assignments. In this assignment we were supposed to choose our favorite scene from the book and draw the scene frame-by-frame. We then wrote a writing piece to go along with the snapshot comic strip and explains what is happening in the scene along with why it is important.
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I enjoyed completing this reading assignment because I was able to write as if I was explaining what was going on to someone who has never read the book. This pushed me to write very descriptively because if I was not clear enough, whoever was reading my piece would not understand why this scene was significant.
Character Portrait
Reflection
I really enjoyed drawing a character named Isaac from The Fault in our Stars because of the fact he is a fictional character, there were not any limits. I was able to create the type of appearance for him that I felt like best represented the personality and character traits I created for him.
Movie Poster
DescriptionThe writing aspect of this assignment was to create a poster that would give a demonstration of what the movie would be about featuring a tagline and the name of the of the author to state that is is based on a book.
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ReflectionI enjoyed this because I was able to demonstrate my vision of what the movie poster for my book would look like. I was able to get creative with the poster because I used the main point of the book to create a poster that wasn't very similar to the book cover, but still made it visible what the movie would be about.
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