iMovie Grading

So basically as a continuation of our reflection, we had to grade ourselves based on the rubric.

Introduction(5) - I think we would get a 5 on the intro because I think we had a pretty accurate description of Queen Nefertiti and we checked half a dozen websites to make sure the time she ruled was correct.

Pharaoh’s accomplishments(5)- From my point of view I think we should get a 5 on this because we probably got all the major factors on this since we tried our hardest to get a lot of facts.

Architectural Achievements(5)-I gave us a 5 on this because there weren’t many facts on this on the Internet about the architectural developments since nobody is actually sure she really ever ruled.

Images(3)- I gave our group a 3 on this because as I was going through mine, I realized that some of the pictures were sort of blurry which gave it bad quality. Another reason why I reduced my score is because towards the start, I noticed that my pictures didn’t necessarily match the narration.

Narration(4) I gave us a 4 on the narration because I know for a fact that we talked WAAAAYYYY to fast. So we definitely wouldn’t get full credit on that.

Transitions and Effects(4) The reason behind why I give ourselves a 4 is because when the pictures appeared they didn't appear fully since I didn’t realize there was a way to make that effect show each picture in different ways.

MLA Formatting(5) I'd give us a 5 on that because Alvin got help from Ms. Nadaraj and actually learned how to and did it.

Introduction~ A description of the pharaoh is relevant, factual and correct. Time he/she ruled is correct.	5	4	3	2	1
Pharaoh’s accomplishments ~ Clearly explains the important contributions the pharaoh made during his/her rule.	5	4	3	2	1
Architectural Achievements ~Clearly describes and explains the important buildings/monuments that were built during this time. Explain how evidence of their religious beliefs is shown in these buildings.	5	4	3	2	1

Skills Rubric
images ~ All images are relevant, interesting and of good quality (saved properly as a jpg). Images match narration throughout.	5	4	3	2	1
Narration ~ Voices are clear, loud and fluent with good intonation. It is obvious you have practiced your part before recording. No background noise.	5	4	3	2	1
Transitions & Effects ~ Subtle transitions between the parts of the presentation are used throughout. Any effects used only enhance the message and are compatible with the image content.	5	4	3	2	1

Along with that, we were supposed to also grade 4 other groups right? So these are the groups I chose to refer to.

The first group I chose to refer to was Megan and Laura's who refered did King Tut. Here is how I graded theirs.

Introduction- I give them a (5) on that because I think they had all the necessary facts wich seemed pretty accurate.

Pharaoh's accomplishments- I wasn't exactly sure what accomplishments were made by him.

Architectural Achievements- They should get a 5 on this because they mentioned that he built a temple in Kawa. So building temples shows evidence that he was religious.

Images- I'd give them a 4 on the pictures because the pictures matched the narration throughout but a couple of pictures here and there weren't of the best quality.

Narration- On this I'd give them a 4 because they obviously practiced and all but towards the end where there was the "Pasha mummy", there was an annoying background noise.

Transitions and Effects- I'd give them a 5 on this considering the fact that their video flowed very smoothly.

MLA Formatting- I'm not sure what I'm supposed to give them if they didn't do something because I don't think it was in MLA format.

The next group I'm going to comment on is

Stephanie and Kennedy on Hatsheput.

Introduction(5) I gave them this score because they correctly said what time period Hatsheput ruled and the dynasty as well.

Pharaohs Accomplishments(5) I gave them that because they mentioned specifically what she accomplished.

Architectural Achievements(5) They deserve a 5 on this because they clearly explained everything she developed got destroyed by Topnosis the 3rd(I think)

Images(3) I gave them this because a couple of the pictures here and there were a bit blurred and sometimes the pics didn't match the narration.

Narration(4) I gave them a 4 because a couple times they sort of stuttered on the words.

Transitions & Effects(5) There were good transitions between their pictures so their video flowed smoothly.

MLA Formatting- I don't know if they used MLA formatting.

The group after that, I reflected on Na Young and John's who did King Khufu.

Introduction(5) They had the introduction and everything about the dates

Pharaoh's accomplishments(5) It explains clearly how his greatest achievement was the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Architectural Achievements (5) The Great Pyramid of Giza also seems to be the greatest Architectural Achievement and that he might have made himself the Sun God "Ra".

Images(4) I gave them a 4 on this because a couple pictures were slightly blurry.

Narration(5) I give them a 5 because their pronunciation was pretty good and MOST of it was easy to understand, the only thing i found annoying was the background music, I'm not sure if it was just part of John's blog, but it kind of distracted me. (Never mind if it was part of his blog)

Transitions & Effects(5) There were good transitions between their pictures so their video flowed smoothly.

MLA Formatting- They didn't cite the sources at the end so I don't know.

The final group I reflected on was Maria and Andrea's who did Ramses II.

Introduction(5) They had the introduction and everything about the dates.

Pharaoh's accomplishments(5) It explains clearly explains this and how the pharaoh made the first peace treaty.

Architectural Achievements (5) They explained how he showed love through the great monuments he constructed.

images(5) I loved the pictures they had because they weren't blurry and it went along perfectly with the narration.

Narration(5) Their voices were very loud and fluent so it was really easy to understand.

MLA Formatting- They didn't cite the sources at the end so I don't know.

imovie Reflection

In humanities we were supposed to work in a partnership and present an imovie on the pharaoh we had selected. Alvin and I chose Queen Nefertiti. I think we did pretty good work on it. We

both tried our best to research the questions. The issue with researching on the websites were that they didn't help much because researchers at this point in time aren't very certain that Queen Nefertiti ever was a pharaoh. So most websites aren't very accurate on describing her. Wich was a little annoying at times. The one thing I know for sure I have to improve for future presentations is, TO SPEAK SLOWER!!! I realized right away that I spoke way tooo fast which reduced the quality of the video.

The one other thing I found a little annoying was that sometimes Alvin wasn't exactly cooperating. He did most of time, but sometimes I felt he could have done a little bit more work. But overall I think we did a pretty good job on our project. Stephanie's book helped us quite a bit with answering some questions.( THANKS FOR BORROWING THAT BOOK STEPHANIE) Along with that, Ms. Nadaraj helped us figure out how the MLA thing worked. At one point in time I got extremely irritated because every time we recorded on imovie it wouldn't play back. Lucky for us Owen figured out what we had done soo stupidly.(We had accidentally put it on record from input rather than microphone or something like that.)

As part of this blog, I'm supposed to reflect on someone else's imovie and I chose Tem and Yu Ern's. I personally thought Tem and Yu Ern did a GREAT job on the imovie itself on King Tut. At first I felt a bit sorry for them because the first day Tem had to leave early and on the second day Yu Ern was absent so Tem didn't know what Yu Ern had and hadn't done, so they got a little behind on that. But they caught up eventually because they got an extra couple of days to complete it. (Lucky them) I think they reached all the main goals of the rubric.

Their pictures were of great quality and went pretty well with the narrations. Their voice was also crystal clear except a couple times similar to what I did, they talked faster than what the human brain could process. They had really good vocal variety in their presentations so it made it all exciting and not boring like it would have been if they spoke in a straight voice... The only thing I think they were missing was the MLA citing. Otherwise I think it was really good.

The one thing wich I found a little funny was when Yu Ern suddenly "shouted" MUMMIFICATION!! I think that wasn't on purpose but must have happened because something surprised her or because she was just getting nerve-racked about time running out causing her to put a little bit extra stress on that word. Tem was mentioning to me how she was really mad when some random 8th grader walked into the room and started talking in front of the screen while they were close to the end of filming. I could kind of connect with her on that annoyance when we ended up recording a lot only to find out that it wouldn't play back. I felt SOOO angry when that kept happening so I can only imagine how torturous it was to them already being behind and all that. This is what I think about their group and my group's iMovie presentations.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.presentationmagazine.com/graphics/Boring%2520Presentation.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.presentationmagazine.com/humour.htm&usg=__REq38AMwbGMfMaBPMPoe8NQJkbM=&h=400&w=400&sz=21&hl=en&start=54&zoom=1&tbnid=5uibefAIJ2Gr-M:&tbnh=166&tbnw=170&ei=ZuNTTaD7NYaecLH5jM4I&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpresentations%2Bcartoons%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26biw%3D756%26bih%3D675%26tbs%3Disch:10,2801&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=307&oei=WONTTbfYFsbNrQfmtc2WCA&esq=7&page=6&ndsp=9&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:54&tx=61&ty=84&biw=756&bih=675

City Connection Reflection...

In humanities we were told to reflect on our City Connections presentation. Here it is:

What would you improve for future presentations/projects?

For future presentations, there are a couple of things, I would improve. One is to know my facts better, so I won’t have to keep referring to my PowerPoint. Some of the reasons for wanting to improve are as follows:

· To be able to look at the audience

· It would project my voice clearer

· It would show the audience that I am confident and know what I am saying.

· It would keep the audience’s attention towards me, rather than getting bored of watching me talk to the board.

Another habit of mine I would like to get over for presentations, is to talk slower to make it clear for the audience. I should conduct more research and understand the topic thoroughly

4) What did you learn from the city presentations of others?

I liked the way some of them went into graphics and experimented with different features of graphic presentation. I learnt about many different cities and many facts which I am learning for the very first time. It was interesting to find out how many civilizations developed. I realized that the more time and effort I put into the research of my presentation, the greater results I would get. Something I figured out was that the people that did their City presentation on where they are from found it easier to get the facts straight because they have learnt quite a lot about it.

5) How did you meet each of the requirements from the rubric?

I tried to meet all the requirements of the rubric by reading the rubric and then collecting the main points, getting the necessary information off the internet. I could have improved my creativity by adding more colorful graphics to the slides.

6) What is your analysis of your performance?

If I were to analyze my performance, I’d say that my facts were pretty good. I had tried to include all the requirements of the rubric .Also; I got good pictures to express each slide, even though there could have been a few more graphics. The downsides of my performance were the way I had organized my thought wasn’t that great and my presentation to the class was not that great either. My thought is that the pictures got clustered on the slides. I could have put the graphics inside the “Notepads” to make it look neat. Maybe even added a few more slides to evenly spread out the text on the slides.

My Learning Profile

During Humanities, we have been learning about our learning profiles. We found out our profile by conducting "tests" to see which is your dominant hemisphere in your brain, eye, ear, hand, and leg. I ended up with Profile "L" which means that I am a Gestalt Dominant Learner.

I learn best when I am relaxed. When I'm stressed I tend to not be able to remember things. Also, when I'm processing new things, I need to be alone in a distraction-free environment. Sometimes listening to my own music helps me to concentrate. Along with that, I need to move around a bit during class.

I need to be able to still listen to what people are saying even when I'm under stress instead of just zoning out into my own world.

The strategies that would help me in my learning include learning to manage my time, forcing myself to finish what I start, doing things rather than just seeing and hearing, and comparing the advantages and disadvantages of a choice.

I would like my teachers to know that when I listen to music of my own choice, I have a tendency to concentrate or do my work with more of an ease. Along with that, I find that when someone makes annoying tapping noises, or opens and closes their pencil case zipper, etc. it's very hard for me to concentrate and I tend to get very annoyed and mad or stressed. Following that, if I am thinking about something and suddenly my train of thought

get intercepted, I tend to forget everything I was thinking about.

New Year Blogpost!!

        For the coming year of 2011 I have 2 New Year's resolutions I would like to share with you. My first New Year's resolution is to try my best in school. This is because even if I don't get the grade I had hoped for, I still feel proud of myself when I remember that I have put all my effort and tried my best on my work. 
        My other New Year's resolution is to improve my tennis. The reason behind this is because I feel proud when I see the drastic changes in how my tennis has improved over the years. Tennis is something I have been playing/learning since I was 6/7 and I love playing it.  
       I didn't do anything special for Christmas but I did spend other parts of my holiday with some old friends and relatives. I got to visit one of my friends who moved from the USA around the same time I did. But the weird part about that, is that my mom and her mom were school friends and now we both are friends. It seems pretty weird when I come to think about it. I also got to play with my 2 year old cousin and spend some time with my grandparents.  
        I think something interesting that not many people know about me is that I like to perform in front of people. I enjoy singing the most though. I enjoy performing but I ALWAYS get nervous at the start of the performance. So this is my first blog of the year of 2011. HAPPY NEW YEAR PEOPLE!!!





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Working With A Partner On Literature Circle Reflection!

The benefits Of Working With A Partner!

There were a few benefits of working with a partner on my Literature Circle. The first advantage was that we got to discuss and improve what we had already worked on and written. (Example) Over the weekend we somehow were on Google Docs at the same time, so we both were writing and fixing errors at the same time and complimenting each other or giving suggestions on ways to improve it. My partner and I had been writing or editing each others passage, responses to the questions, connections, etc. 

The Challenges/Obstacles which you overcame or tried to overcome!

Along the way, we faced a few challenges which we had t overcome in order to have completed a successful Literature Circle for the chapters we were told to read. One of the first issues we (at least I) encountered, was that over the weekend, I had FORGOT MY BOOK! It was a GIANT issue.Though I was lucky that I had remembered my passage and connection. I THINK I personally had a pretty decent passage and connection. The question was... another story. I had to come back to school during and find all the pages during home group. The other major issue I faced was that when I worked on my Lit. Circle, Megan wasn't online, and when Megan worked on it, I had stepped out. It was almost a challenge finding a time in which we both were online to work on it.

  New Understandings That I Gained About The Novel!

Throughout this Lit. Circle that we worked on in a partnership, I hadn't gained much. Working in the partnership didn't make me realize anything that I hadn't realized before. I am just hoping that working with my partner made my partner/I improve our previous Literature Circle grade. 

Literature Circle Reflection!

     During humanities, we have recently restarted Literature Circles. I am reading a novel called "Thunder Cave" by Roland Smith. Our second Lit. Circle group discussion has just finished.
     My group's discussion helped me to understand the novel better because when our group talked about Jake's choice on going to Kenya... I realized that him going to Kenya, maybe wasn't the best choice because of when we discussed with the other members of my group. (Megan, Pavel, Viet) I had first thought, that him going to Kenya was the right choice. But, my group proved me wrong because Jake had to face so many challenges within the f'tirst day. First, his bicycle got stolen, next he got beaten up for his clothes. Other group members of mine said that they would prefer to have stayed with the uncle in Nebraska. I asked them why and they replied that there are a few reasons why. The first reason why is because in Nebraska, they are within the safety of their home. So they don't have to worry about animal attacks or things like that.The next reason why is because if their relatives ask Jake to come to Nebraska, it is because they probably feel bad about him not having a proper guardian to take care of him so they want to take him in. The final reason why is because what is the possibility of a kid finding his father in such a big country like Kenya, when the experts themselves can't find him. Along with that, we don't even know if he is still alive.
     I didn't make any connections throughout the parts of the book we have read as for now. This is because this book is about a kid whose mother is dead, his stepfather doesn't care much about him, and he has no idea about the whereabouts of his father. To get to his father he has to write a fake note to get his visa and passport. He also has to sell some jewelery to get the money for the ticket to Kenya. My life isn't similar to this in any way. I have never come to a point in time where any of this has happened to me.
     While at the point in the book where we are, I came upon a few predictions I thought would happened. In one of my Lit. Circles, I had mentioned a little bit about this. I predict that his grandfather was right that Jake didn't ride his bicycle for the whole journey. This is because I thought that when Jake came face-to-face with the lion, it was because the lion thought that his bicycle was a zebra and attacked it. So it broke and Jake couldn't ride it anymore. The other prediction I made, was that Jake will find his father because most books end with a happy ending and this will probably be the happy ending of this one.
     I hope my Literature Circle Reflection has everything it needs to be a good one.