Getting On The Right Note - Music In Middle School

I am most proud of my soundbites in my podcast. I felt that I chose good soundbites from my interviews that represented all perspectives on my topic. I also felt that I did a good job with my bridges and transitions. One example that I am most proud of is when I added a bridge in the middle of my soundbite to connect the two ideas my interviewee talked about. 

My biggest challenge with this podcast would have to be putting research (quotes and statistics) into the podcast script. I felt that this was difficult as I had to find the right evidence that flowed with the ideas my interviewees talked about instead of evidence that was off track and would just make listeners confused. 

Something I wish I had more time to fine tune would be my research. There is always room for improvement and I feel that I could’ve worked on phrasing my research in a more efficient way that leaves less room for confusion. I feel that my evidence is already quite good, but I feel that if I had to fine tune something, it would be the way I phrased my evidence.

One piece of unintended learning I discovered during this unit was that you should always check your recordings before you leave the recording studio. This was because a couple of my recordings were started too late and I had to re-record using my computer microphone, which is very different in terms of sound quality compared to the microphone at the Note Pad.

My interviews went pretty well as I was able to get the sound bites I needed to represent the different perspectives the community had on my issue. I built rapport by asking them about background information on their musical history. For example, with Brian, I asked him if he plays a musical instrument (3:36 in the interview clip). This helps build rapport as this was a question that helped me get to know Brian better and it was also related to my topic, so it didn’t bring the interview off track.

I think I did a good job with my interviews, but something that I could improve on would be my follow up questions. Overall, I felt that I did a good job with my follow-up questions, but there is always room for growth. During Brian’s interview, I asked him, “If I am not mistaken, you play a musical instrument right? And what is that instrument? Why will you keep on playing and learning that instrument?” He told me he played the clarinet and the french horn and he likes the challenges that come with learning the instrument. Learning that Brian has been learning musical instruments for a long time and being a musician myself, I wanted to know his views on his ability to play the french horn impacting him. So I then asked three more follow-up questions: When did you start playing the french horn? And has the ability to play the french horn, does affect your feelings or emotions? How about stress levels. Do you think that a musical instrument helps with the amount of stress someone feels?

SMART Goal

Who: Myself

What: Getting my max push-ups in a minute to 40

When: By the end of the third quarter

Which: Using my routine I've created of slowly increasing the number of push-ups I do every day.

Why: To improve my upper body strength for sports.

Goal: I want to get my max push-ups in a minute to 40 by the end of the third quarter by using my routine I've made of slowly increasing the number of push-ups I do per day to improve my upper body strenght.

Fitness Plan

                DECIDE: My FITNESS Plan

D Define the Problem	Select the FITNESS COMPONENT or SKILL COMPONENT you’d most like to improve this year. (Fitness: Cardio, Muscular Strength, Muscular endurance, Flexibility, Body Composition.core strength) (Skill: Balance, Agility, Coordination, Power, Speed,  Reaction Time) Explain why you chose this component. Muscular Strength. I need to work on my muscular strength so that I can shoot and pass better in basketball and in other sports. Muscular strength also helps your ability to play sports for extended periods of time. Create and link a short video (10-15 seconds) that illustrates your chosen component. (using your laptop, iPad, iPhone, or other device). Upload to youtube and paste youtube link here: https://youtu.be/DlHESM-5OSs
E Explore the Alternatives	List 3 other Fitness/Skill Components that you could also improve and explain how they will benefit your overall fitness: 1. Endurance - Having a better endurance means that I can play sports and move around for longer periods of time. This also can help me run a quicker mile. 2. Reaction Time - Having a better reaction time can allow me to make decisions quickly and helps me with my reflexes. 3. Speed - This can help me play sports, especially sports where you have to evade defenders, that require sudden bursts of speed or are played in small areas.
C Consider the Consequences	Identify 2 positive and 2 negative possible outcomes as a result of your choice: (Ask yourself … how risky is each alternative? What are the chances of success? How would it affect my short term fitness? How would it affect my fitness long term?) Positive 1. Being stronger can help me play sports for extended periods of time because I won’t burn out as easily. For example, if you are a quarterback in football, if you are stronger, you can keep on passing the ball during the fourth quarter because you still have the energy and strength to do so. If you aren’t as strong, then you wouldn’t be able to throw the ball during the fourth quarter because you wouldn’t have enough strength due to fatigue and lack of strength.      2. Being stronger can also make you less prone to injuries because you wouldn’t be that fragile. You wouldn’t strain your muscles because they would be able to last longer due to their strength. If you weren’t as strong, you could get injured or strain your muscles if an activity requires you to exert a lot of energy. With that, you can play more sports for longer periods of time. Negative      1. Too much exercise can result in injuries, especially if you push yourself too much. I’m not saying that pushing yourself is bad, it’s what makes us better, what I’m saying is that you have to listen to your body and know when to call it a day when you exercise.     2. Also, muscular endurance can cause soreness. Sometimes when I go run during training, I feel sore when I finish. That is another thing that you can prevent from listening to your body.
I Identify Values	This decision is important to me because I want to become stronger so that I can play sports for extended periods of time and I can be less injury-prone. Also, exercise is important because it gives you so many benefits. In a way, it is your body’s natural medicine.
D Decide and Act	Create an action plan for improvement.  Outline a plan for a week of fitness activity that will improve your chosen component.  Create short video links  (10-15 seconds) of your chosen activities to help illustrate your plan. My plan to improve my muscular strength is to do simple, but effective exercises. Examples of such exercises are push-ups, sit-ups, and lunges. I will do these exercises daily.
E Evaluate the results	My goal was to improve a specific fitness component.  I will know that my decision and action plan has been effective when......... My goal is to improve my push-ups and sit-ups. I will start out by doing 15 push-ups and sit-ups and then increase the number by 2 each day. I will be able to track my progress by the number of push-ups and sit-ups I can do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkvuuJJwn5o

Application Essay Unit Reflection

Dear Mrs. Windust and Mr. Arleth,

During this unit, I learned so much about the interesting blend of narrative and reflective writing and the process of writing an application essay. I have learned so much that I can’t fit all of the learning in this one letter. From the high schoolers, I’ve learned that you should write the essay so that it reflects how you think, your personality, and how you communicate. At first, I tried adding all of this vocabulary in my essay which I later then found out was a bad idea because the essay started to not sound like me anymore.

On top of that, I also learned about the transitions and the basic structure of an application essay from you guys. There should be both reflection and narrative writing in the piece. In my opinion, the long hours of revising and editing my piece was all worth it, but If I could go back and do something differently, I would cut more fat, add more reflection, and get feedback from you in the mornings or after school.

Looking back at my On-Demand, I noticed how my On-Demand didn’t have much reflection while my application essay did. That was something I was really proud of. As I revised my essay, it watched it transform from a very narrative dominant voice to a mix that sounded more like Armpit Hair. The moment I took a step back and realized the difference between my first draft and my final essay was the best part about this unit for me.

Overall, this essay taught me so much about reflective writing and I am very thankful that I got to learn more about this new style of writing.

Your Dedicated RLA Student,

Johan Chua

_________________________________________________________________________

Here is an excerpt that comes from the middle of my essay:

"That day, it was finally time I accepted the fact that there are no shortcut around waiting and patience. It is inevitable that one would experience delays and the need to wait. You just have to learn to deal with it.

Climbing Reflection

One thing I thought I did well during my climb was that I used both my arms and legs to climb up the wall instead of only pulling myself up with my arm strength. However, I could improve my technique by using more leg power to get up the wall by pushing myself up with my legs and then reach higher with my arms. I felt that I kept my body close to the wall most of the time until the wall became steeper and I started hanging, which caused my arms to get strained. I could also work on saving my energy for the harder parts of the wall - the part where the wall gets really steep and I start to hang - so that I could get higher up the wall instead of falling quite low in the wall due to fatigue.

Overall, I feel that my climbing has improved in the short three days we've been in the climbing gym, and that it has significantly become better since the first time I've been in the gym in sixth grade. In sixth grade I only could climb up to the red line, now I can go way higher. This improvement is one thing I'm very proud of.

MS Fitness Card

Ellis Island Reflection

How do you think people felt upon their arrival to Ellis Island? 
I think that people felt excited and happy as they made it to the land of USA and completed the long journey from wherever they came from. For me, completing the journey is like being halfway to where you want to go; and the other half is getting through immigration. However, I also think that they felt fear and nervous as they could get deported at any time. One wrong action can get you deported and that is life-changing for someone.

What do you think the immigration hall screening was like? 
I think the immigration hall screening was stressful for everyone which created a stressful atmosphere and made others feel even more pressured. I also think that it was a scary place to be knowing that one mistake could end your hope. If I were in a stressful, scary environment and I had to answer an official's questions knowing that if I don't act in a calm manner, I can get deported, I would be scared to death.

How did you feel when you arrived at the classroom and learned about your fate?
I felt relieved and very thankful as I ended up getting US citizenship. I felt thankful because I knew I wouldn't have to go through all the trouble other people - people who got deported - would face. I felt safe knowing I was out of danger and trouble of getting deported and denied US citizenship.

Wellness Prezi