Reflection Week 1

              

Chelsie: Scrap-booking

                For this first week of working on the 20% time project, I was able to come up with the overall theme that I was going to follow within my scrapbook. I have come up with, and decorated its' title: "Priorities". I chose this title because I could not decide on who or what I was going to make this scrapbook about. I finally decided to make it about the things and people that mean the most to me at this point in my life. The order of this scrapbook will not be by time, but by what I prioritize the most. God, Family, Education, (Boyfriend) Friends. I have come up with the outline and already began decorating the fist page. So far, I am off to a great start and I cannot wait to see what the final product is going to be like.

Week 1 Reflection

This week, although it was the first week of my 20% project, actually marks the third week that I've been running. The difference is, this week has been extremely cold. I was able to reach 5 miles on Wednesday, but with the rain and cold air throughout the week, my goal was not met for those days. I've been have difficulty with my breathing, as I predicted. I am often discouraged before my run but afterwards, I feel a lot better. I'm excited to keep pushing myself and keep reaching my goals. On the days when we had the storm, I ran on the treadmill and found it was a lot more challenging not being able to adjust my speed as I please, so I think I'll stick to running outside and slowly training my body to adjust to the cold air.

Reflection #1

This week, I tried to out the German speaking app called Mondly. I found very easy to use and it gave me updates on when to practice. I learned introductions and basic conversation starters. I noticed as I was practicing, the words I was saying became easier to remember. It feels easy now but I now in the future it will be harder to recall all of this. For right now I have no one to practice with but I am still looking. It is hard to remember a few words but I will continue to try.

Reflection Week 1

        This week I began my learning process for this project. When I did my initial research, I discovered a set of ASL lessons from a university that seemed very extensive and detailed. I planned on using that but discovered this week that I did not like the way they did their videos so I did some more research on different YouTube channels for learning ASL. Once I found some valid lessons, I started learning and practicing. This week I learned how to introduce myself, question words, and some common words and phrases.
        I did not realize that a huge part of signing is the facial expressions that go with each sign, so that is something I need to work on. I also need to get over the general feeling of self-consciousness when I practice. I knew I would face some challenges with practicing because not many people around me know sign language, but I did not think about how I would feel when practicing in the computer lab. I know that everyone is focused on their own work but I still did feel a bit funny when signing to myself. I know I'll get over it soon; it was just a silly little thing that I did not think about before I started.
        Overall, I am still really excited. This weekend I taught my family what I learned and tried to sign the words I knew when I said them in regular conversation. My sign language knowledge is still incredibly source since it has only been a week but I already feel like this is easier for me to grasp than learning any other language has been, which has me excited to learn more.

Reflection Week 1

This marks week one of my project. So far I went to the gym to work on some leg workouts to get them ready for future workouts to come. I also looked up and learned details of a meal plan for an average long distance runner:

“base the number of calories you eat per day on how much running you do. If you run 30 to 60 minutes a day, aim to eat 16 to 18 calories per pound of body weight, says registered dietitian Brooke Schantz for Loyola Medicine. If you do one to 1.5 hours of activity a day, bump that up to 19 to 21 calories per pound. Up to two hours of running needs 22 to 24 calories per pound, while two to three hours requires 25 to 30 calories per pound, or more.”

http://www.livestrong.com/article/317611-distance-runners-meal-plan/

Some challenges faced were body soreness from lack of exercise. In the future I plan to keep working out on my legs and to keep improving on my mile runs.

Reflection 1: Character Devlopement

This week I worked on the cartoon's characters. Some major guidelines I followed are: simple lines, easy to draw, and reflection of myself. Because I will be drawing these characters over and over again, i need simple details and rounded shapes that would be easy for me to draw. Also, since this is my first cartoon, basing the narrator off of myself would be easier to create the personality. A couple characteristics I drafter are: fun, easygoing, a bit crazy, sarcastic, and friendly.Next week I will be focusing on the story line base off of a personal experience of mine.  To keep the story interesting I will add lots of unexpected scenarios.Stay tune!

The narrator/main character in different situations with different emotions.

Po-Po(Police):A side character.
Stay Tuned for story line.

Reflection 9/28-10/4

Reflection 1

My 20% Time project was focused on staying healthy with things such as workout and keeping a healthy diet. During class, I made myself a schedule of the activities I would be doing all week. On Monday, Friday, and Sunday I did Aerobic Cardio. This meant I would either do a one hour jog outside or I would do a "hit" for thirty minutes as my cardio exercise. Tuesday and Thursday I would do strength training. These are the days that I go to my school gym and workout for my co-curricular period. On Tuesday I worked out my arms, doing things like triceps, biceps, and pectoral muscles. On Thursday I worked out my lower body such as calf's and glutes. Finally, on Wednesday I did flexibility training, with things like stretches and yoga. Saturday was my day off from my schedule. The only problem was my plan to eat healthy. Although I did my best to eliminate as much junk food from my diet as possible, I still couldn't manage to eliminate things like cereal. The rest was fine because my food was homemade.

Reflection 10/4

Kamryn

Intro to Humanities

4 October 2015

Reflection #1

    My project is to learn how to braid hair, install, and style hair. This week I really considered changing my topic because my mother does not like my idea. As of now, I am going to keep my project. This week I searched my house for my hair doll that I had as a child, since actual human hair dolls range from 40-200 dollars. I researched costs of weave, hair dolls, and sewing materials. I also, watched hair tutorials on the basics of braiding. It is important to know the basics of braiding before diving into braiding a full head of hair. In a typical weave, the stylist might braid the hair in a circle of cornrows and I need to learn how to cornrow or at least french braid first. Videos I watched included “Sew in hair step by step” and “How to Braid” on Youtube. I successfully did a french braid in my hair, but I do not know how well I will be able to do multiple cornrows. Next week, I will further my braiding skills by practicing and will continue watching videos.

My Proposal

My 20% Time project is going to be to learn the German language. I do not plan to collaborate with anyone else. If I were to use this in the real world, I would like to use this to talk to someone who speaks it fluently just to see if I were able to hold a conversation. To me, this is worthwhile because I always wanted to learn the German language. I have always been fascinate with the German culture. So speaking the German language is a milestone to me. I expect to learn about an amazing language and learn a little bit about the culture itself. My PRODUCT to present is to be able to introduce myself and to be able to ask and answer simple questions. I plan to learn mainly through a free app called Mondly so I don't expect to spend any money. The equipment I'm going to need is the app plus there is an assortment of information online that I have access to. In class, I plan to use the time research more advanced words and phrases while at home I can practice the basics  and what I recently learned.

Reflection #1 :D

This week, I read through all the "Just Getting Started" pdfs on the Krita website. I found that it was really similar to Adobe Illustrator, which I have learned about in my school's tech class last year. I have a basic understanding of both programs, but I did not use Illustrator enough to know how to draw and upload my drawings, for instance. I will have to download Krita onto my home computer some time this week, but I'm not really sure how that will work because the computer is just about as old as dirt. In the mean time, I will continue reading through pdfs and watching Krita videos. Drawing on Krita looks like it takes a lot of time to learn and master, but I'm definitely looking forward to the end result. For the week ahead, I plan to ask my friend (who is very skilled at using Krita) for advice, and to download the program so that I can fool around with it a bit. Anything that I make I will post here.

Reflection 1

This past week, I mostly did research on playing the guitar and found a free beginner's guitar course online. The website that the course is on is http://www.justinguitar.com. The course provides a video each lesson that I can follow and play along with. Before starting,  I tuned my guitar to my piano, and learned how to read chord boxes and TABs. I also memorized and practiced how to play the chords D, A, and E, and how to alternate between the three. I will continue to practice the chords and try to master them, while also expanding my practice to learning other chords and techniques. I haven't yet found the song that I will want to be able to play by the end of the semester, but I have started to look into it by watching a few Youtube videos. I didn't do too much this week, but I now have a general understanding of what I am going to do the next 15 weeks.

Reflection-Week One

 This week I started to work with Processing 3. I was just playing around with it to get comfortable because I have never used it before. One thing I like about Processing 3 is that it is much more descriptive on errors found in a code. So if I make a mistake, it will be much easier to find, and won't take up a lot of my working time. There are a lot more convenient things on this software that will help me, but that is very important to have. I think I've discovered enough of what I need to know about the software so the next thing I will do is research. I want to research the codes I will need to use and how to use them. Then I will start to make the code.

Reflection 1

This week I decided to research a lot. I wanted to get a good understanding of  knitting before rushing into creating something. I found a lot of helpful videos on Youtube, and they gave me some ideas of how to get started. I decided that by the end of the semester, I would like to knit a scarf that I can actually wear. I told my mom about my plans, and she helped me find a pair of knitting needles and some yarn that we already had around the house. I would like to start knitting sometime next week. I'm going to use the materials we found at home just as practice for now. Once I feel like I know what I'm doing, I'll look for some bigger needles and nicer yarn so that I can get started on my scarf. I'm really looking forward to getting started!

Reflection for Week 1

This week, the journey towards my music producing ambitions started! I got a software program from my friend which will allow me to launch the music. I organized possible keyboard classes with a friend, and am looking forward to getting a rudimentary understanding of playing a basic keyboard, an important tool used alongside music software programs. I focused on learning how to count beats, as beats indicate when yo should mix a beat, add new elements, etc. I also learned other basic music terms, such as phrases, accents, and tempo. Nothing crazy, but a foundation has been laid for larger steps to be made.

Chelsie: 

            I have decided to practice the art of scrap-booking for my 20% time project. Scrap-booking is a hobby that requires a lot of time and dedication. Scrapbooks are very detailed and require many materials but, they are a beautiful form of art. These books are often used to store memories and tell life stories. Memories are precious and it is nice to look back on them from time to time. I myself am very fond of my memories and that is why I chose to make a scrapbook.

            Because of all of the time and detail that scrapbooking requires, this is not a task that I can easily work on in class. Constructing this scrapbook is not something that I want to rush so that is why I have decided to physically work on my scrapbook at home. I will be using my in-class time to research new styles, techniques and ideas that I can incorporate into my scrapbook. This is also the time where I will be planning out my scrapbook pages so that when I get home to work on it, I can easily put them together.

            The easiest part of making this scrapbook is going to be planning out the layout to make sure that everything that I want to incorporate is going to fit on the page properly. The most difficult part of this scrapbook is definitely going to be putting it together; it is a very tedious process. When putting it together, I have to incorporate my own style while using new techniques. Scrap-booking is a hobby that I have always wanted to take part in and I am very excited to finally be able to make a scrapbook of my own, especially as a school project. Let the scrap-booking begin! 

Proposal

Michelle

Ms. Roy

Intro to Humanities

29 September 2015

Proposal

My 20% Time Project is going to be learning and being able to run a Half Marathon. My final goal is 13.1 miles. By the end of the semester I hope to sign up for an actual Half Marathon and run it with a friend. My efforts towards this project will be well-rounded, and encompass all aspects of the activity including diet, exercise and mental health.

To be successful in reaching my goal, a lot of things are required. Firstly, researching and learning about the potential harms of the activity, as well as how to train. There is a multitude of things that play a role in running. For example, runners exert a lot of energy (given that most run over 20 miles a week). That requires a diet that offers a sufficient amount of energy. And it isn’t just more calories--a balance is required. The diet must be include fat to protect vital organs, calcium for bones and vegetables for vitamins. In addition, a good program or schedule for safe running and gradual progress is necessary.

There won’t be too many easy things about this project. The only easy thing that comes to mind will be adjusting to the diet. I go through drastic adjustments in diet all the time.

Running itself is difficult. Just the action requires endurance, strength and stamina--all things that require time to be acquired. Learning how to control my breathing is one of my major concerns. I don’t mind soreness or pushing myself physically, but my breathing is what keeps me from going even further. Also, as it starts to get cold, running outside will become more difficult and I will need to find a place indoors that I can run (not a treadmill).

Most of this project will be outside. In class, I plan on making charts and organizing my data to monitor things like that distance I run and calorie intake. I will also continue to research how to increase stamina and modify my schedule to fit my needs.

Reflection Week 1

Christian

                For the first week in my process to learn photography, I made decent progress. I spoke to my dad about the project and its restrictions. He agreed to help me when I need it and gave me permission to use his camera. My dad has plenty of books that explain photography to a science. I also talked to my friend Robert who goes to David Brearley and is taking the photography class that is offered. He said he’s no expert, but offered his help if it’s needed. I started to toy with the camera around my house. I took a few pictures of my dog just to get a feel for the camera. I plan to make a collection of photos over the course of this project. I plan it to be through PowerPoint or a collection of pictures in a file.

Proposal

My 20 Time Project is going to be coding. I haven’t done much coding before, but I want to challenge myself and make something interesting and fun. My final goal is to have a new skill in coding that will help me in my programming class in school. It will also be helpful for any other school projects that I may be able to improve in quality by doing a code that relates to the project.

For my project to be successful, I will need to do a lot of research. I will need to know which codes to use to have a certain outcome, and how to format these codes. I must make sure that everything is exact, because one typo or mistake could mess up the entire project.

It will be very easy for me to find the resources needed to complete this project. My father does coding for his job, so he knows a lot about this topic. If I get stuck, or need some assistance, he is there. It will be difficult for me to figure out exactly what I want to make though. There are so many different types of coding and so many things that can be made with coding. Deciding what to do specifically, and then figuring out how to do it, will take some time.

This project can be done both in class and out of class. I just need to be able to save my work onto a flash drive and I can work on my project any where. During the class 20 Time, i will just be starting off with research and taking notes on which codes i can use. Then, when I have found what I need, I will start coding.

Proposal

My 20 Time Project is going to be to create a daily workout for myself which includes a workout plan and a diet plan for four out of the seven days of the week. My final product will hopefully be a fixed workout and a fixed healthy diet to keep myself healthy. In terms of knowledge beforehand, I feel this is quite basic in terms of research and the types of exercises I should do and the foods I should eat. The only thing I would need to research is the amount of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and calories. This just gives me some background information on what I need to eat. Also, a basic knowledge of things like cardio, aerobic, and anaerobic exercises would help me work out a plan. The easiest part of this plan is most likely the planning in class and at home. The difficult part however, will be actually finding the time and executing this plan. This will force me to shift some things in my daily planner, but these are all minor adjustments. Doing the workout will either be done at the school gym or at home. This includes things like performing the workouts and making the food in my diet plan. The things I’ll be doing in class are creating the diet plans, the workout plans, and the schedule for the day. This includes finding videos that will help, creating workout steps, and making/finding diet plans.

Proposal

My 20 Time Project is going to be creating a cartoon video incorporating my new knowledge about animation and videography by creating a cartoon with character development and a plot. This will incorporate my creativity and technology side together, which I am very interested in how my project will turn out. After researching several websites, these are the websites that will be most helpful for me who do not have previous animating knowledge.These are the links I will be referring to to learn Character Animation: How to make a cartoon for beginners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX7lW8t4Jxc, http://www.leconcombre.com/board/flashtutorial/us/flashmaniacs0us.html, http://www.jessejayjones.com/how-to-animate-for-beginners, and https://www.bloopanimation.com/animation-for-beginners/. These are the best best free animating software: Blender, Creatoon, and Adobe Flash.

Many trials will happen through this project. The easiest part of this project would be creating the story line and developing characters. Before choosing animations as my 20 time project. Therefore I do have a general direction and creation for the characters and will be a lot of fun to see how many varying plots will take place depending on the setting and characters.

On the other hand, the most difficult part of this project would be to learn the program and transfer from traditional drawing to digital art. I never drew using a tablet and it would be a new experience. Also, animation programs will take time to learn. It might take hours just to do several minutes of the cartoon because of background and character movements.

I plan to split the project half class time and half and at home. I will use all the available class time, but if the project is not completed I would finish it at home. Drawing and sketching the outline can be done in school, but hopefully I spread out time correctly to be completed in school.