My Journey

This class has been quite the amazing experience. I didn't really know what open source learning was upon entering this class, I had heard from previous students of your class that we had to have our own blog. I thought having our own blogs sounded neat, but I was extremely nervous with this change, as I have never previously done open source learning. I guess you could say I am a person who isn't too fond of change. Once I am used to doing things a certain way, I like them to stay like that. I had also heard from previous students that there was a lot of assignments, and this course requires a lot of independence because you must stay on top of your blog. That was the main reason for the nerves I had before entering the class, the independence, but I figured I was going to be a senior in high school so this would be a great learning experience before college.

Ince the school year began, I quickly adjusted to using the blog, in fact, I began to enjoy using the blog, and learning and exploring the blogs was fun, just as John Savage in Brave New World enjoyed learning and discovering the new world. For someone like me who is constantly busy and not home and usually training in the gymnastics gym, this was perfect because I almost always have my iphone with me, and I was able to post wherever I was, especially during snack breaks at practice. I feel that we definitely earned and deserved the trust you placed upon my colleagues and I with our blogs. We were able to reach out and receive help from one another by using our blogs to communicate. We were able to go and comment and ask questions on each others posts. When I needed help, or had a question I always had someone there to answer me.

This year was my last year/season as a competitive gymnast, mainly due to a knee injury that occurred at the beginning of the school year. I knew it was going to be hard to say goodbye to this sport as gymnastics is in my blood and I can't even describe how much I love the sport, even though I say I "hate" it all the time. When you dedicate so much time to something as I did with gymnastics, you feel like a part of you is ripped out when it suddenly ends. Now I have really discovered through out high school, and especially this year, that I want to study and pursue my other passion which is performing arts. This year I auditioned for the PCPA program, as I have performed for them since I was 12 as a child actor. I auditioned and beat out over a thousand other applicants and made it to the final callbacks which was a group of only 70 people. Only 30 spots were available this year of that 70, and I was unfortunately told that they did not except me this year based on how young I was because I will still be 17 when the program starts and that they had many people apply that already had bachelors degrees, but they would like me to reapply next year. When I found this out my heart was crushed. I was extremely upset and angry at the world all because I did not get in. I soon realized maybe this was for the best, I could get my GE done this year, which is what PCPA prefers, and then reapply next year. Then there was still the heart break of about a month ago when my gymnastics season ended, and it was officially time to say goodbye. As I previously stated, I love this sport with all of my heart, and on my last practice I was an emotional wreck, I couldn't say goodbye to my teammates who are basically my sisters because I was with them in the gym more than my own family. But more good was to come, as my gym owner pulled me aside and offered me a coaching position. I really believe everything happens for a reason, and now this year I will be able to get my GE done and reapply to PCPA and still be involved in the sport that I love just in a little bit of a different way.

I'll never forget when Caroline, Micaela, and I wrote the character study about me being an alien. We were literally laughing so hard we were almost in tears as we were writing the story. My group especially had fun including making fun of me and my Justin Bieber music in the story.

Passion is clearly a theme that was common in many of the presentations in the class. I saw this in Daniel's passion for learning, Maira's passion for helping others, Allyson's passion for biology, Rudy's passion for music, Becky's passion for dance, and Jason's passion for wrestling. I loved watching these presentations because I could clearly see that they were very into what they were speaking about.

I am proud of what I have accomplished on this journey so far. I took the challenge of my masterpiece which I was extremely nervous about at first, but once I took the plunge into the water I realized this was a new adventure. Michaila and I went on to seek a mentor and were successful. After all the dedication Michaila and I put into our masterpiece we were ecstatic with the final result and it showed that all our hard work really paid off.

Thanks Dr. Preston for believing in every single person in our class, and pushing us to do our very best. Yes, it was rough waters at times but I always made it out stronger. I learned so much this year and am so grateful to experience open source learning and become closer with many of my colleagues.

Graduation Is Almost Here!!! Holy Cow!!

Well tonight I received my chords to wear at graduation, which was pretty exciting! But I think it's just now hitting me that we are actually graduating a week from tomorrow. As much as I have said I "hate" high school, I know I'm going to miss it because once we graduate we are all going our separate ways, which makes me pretty sad. On a good note, I can't wait to see what the future has in store, and am ready to begin a new chapter in my life.

Masterpiece Final Thoughts...

So tomorrow is the day Michaila and I will finally present our masterpiece that we've worked very hard on and put a lot of time into. I'm excited to present and show everyone what we've been working on, but I do get pretty nervous speaking in front of the class. I'm hoping everything will go as planned tomorrow. :)

Masterpiece Update

Michaila and I have been doing really well with our masterpiece, it is really coming along!! I have also learned a lot from my masterpiece by getting to speak professionals about physical therapy.

Masterpiece Update

Michaila and I have met with several of the workers from Star Physical Therapy, and they have been very helpful in answering our questions about high school athletes and injuries. It's been fun learning more about physical therapy!

Macbeth Act 5

ACT 5

A dr. observes Lady MacBeth and her nocturnal walking

They think she feels guilt for the murders of Banquo and Duncan

Tyrants are protecting Dunsinane

ten thousand soldiers approaching

men are ready to fight and die

MacBeth makes it knows that he is not afraid of death

Lady MacBeth's illness is within her heart therefor it can not be cured

Soldiers disguise themselves in the woods in other words they hide out

Once told that Lady MacBeth has died MacBeth suddenly fears death once again

Malcolm and his army finally reach the castle

MacBeth is Macduffs only target

Macbeth Act 4

ACT 4

the third apparition says Duncan and Malcolm may be able to harm MacBeth

there were 8 kings

the witches disappear

Macduff abandoned his family and fled to England

a messenger tells Macduffs wife and son to leave because "danger is near"

They don't leave and they are killed

Malcolm doesn't trust Macduff

One dr. can cure patients just by touching them

Ross reports that Macduffs whole family is killed

Malcolm and Macduff are going to fight back

Macbeth Act III

ACT 3

-witches prophecy's come true

-MacBeth doesn't want Fleance to become king

-MacBeth views Banquo as a threat

-Lady MacBeth and MacBeth become King and Queen

-Banquo is killed

-Fleance fled

-MacBeth worries about Fleance revenge

-MacBeth saw Banquo's ghost

-King Edward and Duncan's son are preparing for war against MacBeth

Michael Bublé "It's A Beautiful Day"

This song is a great way to start the day. It is just one of those songs that automatically makes me happy! :)

"A Pep Talk from Kid President to You" This kid is AWESOME

Macbeth Act 2 Notes

Act 2

-MacBeth decided to kill Duncan

-Lady MacBeth drugged the Chaimberlains of kings

-Macduff tells everyone of kings murder

-Donalbalin goes to Ireland and Malcolm goes to England

-MacBeth is ready to be officially crowned king

LOOK AT MY BRAIN

My masterpiece that I am collaborating with Michaila, has really come a long way. We have had to be super creative because we combined two completely separate ideas to form one big masterpiece. I think that is the best part about working on our masterpiece is how much creativity it has shown.

What About My Masterpiece?

Michaila and I have still found time to work on our masterpiece even with all the work we are doing for Macbeth. I love our masterpiece because as we work on it our ideas expand and grow and we have really been developing our masterpiece!

Macbeth Act 1 Notes

Act 1

the 3 witches are introduced

the bloody battle occurs

a wounded captain tells about the battle and of MacBeths bravery

witches are dark and evil

MacBeth asks the witches about his future

his child will be king

the witches say no more and vanish

Duncans oldest son is now in line to be king

Lady MacBeth has planned to kill the king

Lady MacBeth makes her plan obvious

MacBeth is hesitant to follow her plan

My Team

Michaila Bohard and I will be working together on combining together what we both wanted to have our masterpieces based, gymnastics, and physical therapy. I personally thought these two would go great together since I just came out of a knee injury and if it weren't for physical therapy I wouldn't be competing this season. In gymnastics a lot of injuries can actually be prevented by doing different exercises to strengthen specific muscles in the gymnasts body. We are also going to talk with physical therapists on what exercises a gymnast can do to prevent injuries. I am also going to talk about how being safe in the gymnastics gym and taking simple precautions will help prevent injuries as well.

Seeking Mentor

My expert really is an expert! They can really go into detail on what they've seen as far as common injuries with gymnasts, how to prevent them, and how rigorous gymnastics is on the human body.

My Macbeth Resources

I found a great website that is a study guide for Macbeth. It breaks down Macbeth into study guide sections. Ir is a great resource to use!

Resource of the Day

My resource of the day is actually my dad. My dad will becoming to my gymnastics practice to get footage on his professional camera to put towards our video, and he is also going to show me how to use his camera so I can film some of my teammates.

Lit Analysis 3

1. I chose the novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. The story is about an African American man and his adversities that helped him get to the person he is now. The story is in the 1920's in the south. Had a talent with writing and public speaking, the main character gives a speech when he was a teen and got a scholarship for college. When he was at college he was in charge of driving Mr. Norton, who is a wealthy white trustee at the college. One day Mr. Norton overheard someone talking about Jim Trueblood, an uneducated African American man who got one of his daughters pregnant . After he heard that Mr. Norton goes to the bar to get a drink. when the true rumor spreads through the college, the college's president who expels the narrator. The narrator moves to Harlem, gets a job. Things are looking up for the narrator, until he got hurt on the job and looses consciousness. He recovers then joins a group called the Brotherhood, headed by Brother Jack. Again things go bad and the brotherhood begins to question the narrators motives in being part of the organization. In fear the narrator hides from the brotherhood. Finally the narrator returns home to a riot and falls into a hole in the street. Police tries to kill him by surrounding the hole he fell into. The narrator tries to tell them that he lived in that hole for the day. This accident gets the narrator to look back on things and gives him the motivation to what he wants and tell his story of life. Telling his story the he finally gets the strength within himself to come out of the hole because he stayed true to himself.

2. The main theme of the novel is the courage to stay true to who you are. considering he was an African American man living in the south in the 1920's those were bad times and it was tempting for him to take the easy way out of things and accept the poor treatment towards blacks. But it was harder to speak out about the cruelty and make a change. It was a struggle he had to overcome in order to face himself and others.
3. Some people might view his tone as cross or dreary, because of his reflection he has all the time on on the racism issue at the time and his struggles. But I see honesty and thoughtfulness.
“What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?”
“I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything except me.”
“The world is a possibility if only you'll discover it.”
4.Literary Devices:
-symbolism
-setting
-tone
-theme
-figurative language
-allusions
-diction
-imagery
-allegory
-point of view

“What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?”
“I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything except me.”
“The world is a possibility if only you'll discover it.”
“Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.”
“I was never more hated than when I tried to be honest. Or when, even as just now I've tried to articulate exactly what I felt to be the truth. No one was satisfied”
“And my problem was that I always tried to go in everyone's way but my own.”
“Perhaps to lose a sense of where you are implies the danger of losing a sense of who you are.”
“I remember that I'm invisible and walk softly so as not awake the sleeping ones. Sometimes it is best not to awaken them; there are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers.”
“Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination—indeed, everything and anything except me.”
“The truth is the light and the light is the truth.
“Please, a definition: A hibernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action.”
“Power doesn't have to show off. Power is confident, self-assuring, self-starting and self-stopping, self-warming and self-justifying. When you have it, you know it.”
“I'd like to hear five recordings of Louis Armstrong playing and singing "What Did I Do to Be so Black and Blue"-all at the same time. Sometimes now I listen to Louis while I have my favorite dessert of vanilla ice cream and sloe gin. I pour the red liquid over the white mound, watching it glisten and the vapor rising as Louis bends that military instrument into a beam of lyrical sound.”
“I felt that even when they were polite they hardly saw me, that they would have begged the pardon of Jack the Bear, never glancing his way if the bear happened to be walking along minding his business. It was confusing. I did not know if it was desirable or undesirable...”

Characterization
1. The narrator describes his thoughts and actions through the entire story,so he is always using direct characterization.
2.I did not notice much change in the author's tone when discussing characters mainly because the author writes through the main character describing his thoughts and feelings
3. The main character is definitely dynamic because he struggles with being himself and being conformed by the racist outlook, he is also a round character because he has so many qualities.
4. I actually got into the book, it was like i was experiencing it with him.

Resource of the day

Michaila Bohard and I have decided to team up with our ideas for our masterpieces and work together to make one masterpiece. She wants to do hers on physical therapy, and I want to do mine on gymnastics. What better way than to talk about how gymnastics effects the body, what common injuries gymnasts can get, and how physical therapy plays a big role in gymnasts lives.