Marina Myself

For Science class we made a poster explaining what Asteroid Mining is and what the benefits and the issues of Asteroid Mining are. Here is a picture of the actual poster I made:

I think I did well on analyzing the main points of the benefits and the issues.  I think I identified them very clearly with good examples. Also, I think I made good points on the issues and why people might oppose to Asteroid Mining. Finally, I think I supported my ideas by writing a thoughtful conclusion. I used a good range of sources that I included in my planning sheet. If I could do this project again, I think I could write my reasons more specifically and connect it with more examples.

Finally, I think this project was a success and I got good grades for it.

In the music class we had, we also listened to another song called Rokudan performed with all three instruments: the Koto, the Shamisen and the Shakuhachi.

Here is a video of Rokudan on the Koto:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiwWGt7dERQ

Here is a video of the techniques of the left hand:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbPUGNxYa0g

Here is a picture of the music “Rokudan”

What made Rokudan sound Japanese? I think the tuning “Hirajyoshi” made the music Rokudan sound Japanese since it is one of the most basic tunings of the Koto. Also, the techniques made it sound Japanese. In this piece, there were techniques such as “shans”, the presses like Ato-oshi, hane-oshi, Tsukiiro, and the hiki-iro where it means to pull the string (look at the 2nd video for more other techniques). In addition, I personally think the tempo sounds Japanese since many Japanese songs have slow tempo, and the piece sounds peaceful.

Here are some goals for my fitness and what I want to achieve:

First of all, I think I would like to improve my flexibility. If I improve my flexibility and become more flexible, it would be harder for me to break a bone or sprain an ankle or pull a muscle. I think I could at least be more flexible in my lower body so I won’t have to suffer from muscle aches after running a long way/time.

Also, I think I would like achieve my cardiovascular endurance since I joined MS girls basketball this year (and I plan to for next year too) and in basketball, you need speed and endurance to run around the court.

On Thursday, April 11th, we had a special music lesson introducing our new unit (3rd unit). The unit question is ”What makes music sound like it belongs to a particular part of the world?”. During that lesson we learned about Japanese instruments and listened to a few Japanese music using those instruments.  The instruments we listened to were the shamisen, the koto and the shakuhachi.

Which of the instruments did you like the best? Why? Did something surprise you? - I liked the shamisen the best because I never seen it before although I’ve heard the name before. I thought it was very interesting that you need to play it with a big pick that is not like the ones for playing guitars. I liked where you could change the sound by sliding down the neck of the shamiesen. What surprised me was that there were no frets on the shamisen and you had to know in advance how to get the note.

Which piece of music did you like the best? How did it make you feel? What did you like about it? What made the music sound “Japanese?”  – I liked the piece “Kaze no uta” which means the song of the wind. This music was played by the koto and the shakuhachi. I liked how the shakuhachi was played because it sounded like wind was blowing and it matched the song. In addition, I liked how the koto was tuned and how the teacher played it. It was also played like the wind was blowing, but the rhythm and the tuning matched well with the shakuhachi. I think the instruments used made the music sound “Japanese” because if the teachers preformed it using a different instrument (that is not a japanese instrument), I think the song would be very different from how it was preformed at the lesson. Also, I think the tune of the koto and the shamisen made it sound “Japanese” too.

Overall, I think this was a good experience and I am looking forward to our next unit.

For the past 10 – 12 weeks, we (the 7th graders in YIS) have been studying about Line Drawings in art class. The title of this unit was “Make your Mark – Line drawings”, and the unit question was “How can we communicate visually?”. Our significant concept was “Line can be used to convey shape, texture and tone”. (check here!!) For our final project, our assignment was to draw a line drawing about anything (like what you want to draw), and I have decided to draw a view from a boat  in the ocean in a sunset.

Before we drew the actual line drawing, we studied many of things. First of all, we studied what line drawings basically are and practiced drawing many different lines, such as Cross-hatching, Hatching, Stippling, etc. We also reviewed the basic things about drawing: the rule of thirds, which a 3 by 3 grid that we can use as guide lines. The 4 intersecting points in the grid are called the “focus” and  it is best to have your main focus (the thing you are mainly drawing) on one of the focuses. In addition we reviewed what the three “grounds” are in any drawing: Foreground, Mid ground and Background. After that, we drew (copied) some of Van Gogh’s line drawings to practice. When we studied Van Gogh’s drawings, we especially looked at tone and value. We noticed that as the objects get further away, the lines become thinner, and if it was closer it would be thick. Also, we looked at two line drawings that are drawn by Van Gogh and Albrecht Dürer, and write a essay about comparing and contrasting the line drawings. Before we drew our final drawing, we planned it by making a composite picture to guide us by collecting pictures that are relevant to what you are planning to draw (ex. if you are planning to draw mountains, you find a picture of mountains to put in your composite picture). We also cut some places out from the picture so you can create a whole new picture out of pictures. Also, we drew four thumbnails in our art books to give us an idea about how the final drawing is going to look like. Here is my 1st drawing and my final drawing:

For my 1st drawing, I think I did very well because I studied the line techniques very well and also studied the drawing itself too (I don’t know what the drawing is called…..). I especially paid attention to the trees and the lines in the tree trunk, since it was very difficult to draw and I was not used to doing it. In addition, I found it hard to draw the small bushes because of their shape. Also, I think I could have drawn the lines of the cliff more cleaner and look at the tone of the shadows.

But I think I did very well, and improved a lot in my final drawing because I included most of the required techniques such as tone/value, texture, variety of line techniques, etc. In my final drawing, I think I did very well because I used many line techniques on the roof of the houses in the background to show each are different and they give more reality to the picture. Also for the waves in the ocean, I used stippling (when you use tiny dots to show value and tone) to show how the waves are moving, and I think I did very well at it. I stippled closer to each other in the waves and not so close in other places of the ocean. Also, I think I used good tone in the boat because I made it look 3D by drawing lines to show shadows for the fence and the floating tube. I think it was a good idea that I included the bricks on the walls in the mid ground. I think I made good shadows because I didn’t change the direction of the shadows in the whole drawing. I think I could have tried harder to make sure I made my lines thinner, especially for the houses that are further away from the person’s point of view. Also I didn’t plan out my drawing properly. Before we started drawing in pen, we made a layout with pencil. I put a lot of effort in the fence of the boat and the floating tube  in it because it was very hard to draw, but I didn’t really much attention – in fact, I payed hardly any attention to the bricks and the houses in the background. Next time, I think I could improve on showing the distance between things and I have plan out my layout more properly so I don’t regret after I start drawing in pen.

Overall, I think this project was a success to me and I really enjoyed doing it. I learned a lot about line drawings because before this unit, I thought line drawings were the same as regular drawings, except with many lines (??). But now I know line drawings are very interesting and that there are many ways to show tone and value, especially in shadows either than drawing diagonal lines “//////”. In addition, line drawings can express very small things in a picture such as how the waves move (like I drew in my line drawing) and even small shadows of small objects.

In drama class, we did 2 speeches. The 1st one about our passion and we had to speak for 1 – 2 minutes. The 2nd one was about a given topic and we had a choice from: My Neighbourhood, The Best Day of My Life, Fashion, Holidays or Celebrities. We had to speak for 2 – 3 minutes for this speech.

This is my 1st speech about my passion:

In my 1st speech about Manga, I was able to  introduce the topic without saying “today, I am going to talk about……” and in a interesting way. First, I talked about the basic facts about Manga such as what it basically is. Then, I briefly talked about the history and the beginning of Manga. Finally, I ended my speech by saying my personal opinions about it and why I it is my passion. I think my speech went well because I spoke with good pacing and pauses. But because I was very nervous, I didn’t have facial expressions and I never did hand gestures during the speech (I was most nervous in all speeches I did in my life).

This is my 2nd speech about Holidays:

7B Drama: Given Topic Speeches from YIS Arts on Vimeo.

In my 2nd speech about Holidays, I was able to start the speech with a rhetorical question and get the audience listen to my speech. I have decided to talk about 3 holidays in the USA, Christmas, New Years and Thanksgiving. I had structured my speech by time and talked from New Years, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think my 2nd speech about a given topic (holidays) went better than my 1st speech. In this speech, we were allowed to use palm cards, so I felt more confident. I think I had good volume and projection for the whole time. I spoke clearly with good pacing and pauses. In addition, I stood up straight during the whole speech and didn’t stare at my palm cards for most of the time. But I still didn’t have much facial expressions and I looked down at my palm cards many times.

I think my best speech was my 2nd speech about holidays. I had more confidence and I didn’t feel as nervous as my 1st speech. I had better projection and spoke with good pacing and pauses. In addition, I think I had better information about holidays than the speech about Manga because I gave some good examples about how people celebrate it and what the history was. I think I should improve on facial expressions and gestures because if I had more feelings in the speech, the audience would be interested in my speech and listen to it for the whole time. In addition, I could at least have more tone in my voice, especially when I introduce another holiday and when there is a interesting fact. In fact, I should practice more times so I know much more about my speech so I don’t have to look down at my palm cards a lot of times. Basically, it is like saying I have to practice a lot before speeches so I could feel more confident about my speech (Therefore, I am not very good with speeches.).

7B Drama: Given Topic Speeches from YIS Arts on Vimeo.

This is my friend, Julia’s speech about holidays. Although we spoke about the same topic, there were many differences between my speech and her speech. In her speech, she had facial expressions and tone in her voice. Also, she had good structure in her speech and had good facts about how Germany and Japan celebrate the same holiday. She didn’t look at her palm cards much (as much as I did) and looked at the camera for almost the whole time.

In drama class, we did a 1 – 2 minute speech about a topic we had chosen. I chose Manga as my topic and made a short speech about it. Here is the video:

7B Drama: 1 Min Speeches from YIS Arts on Vimeo.

REFLECTION (what did I do well, what can I improve on??)

I think I did a good job on my pauses and pace during the whole speech because I didn’t speak very fast and I think I paused equally while I was speaking. Still, I was nervous and my voice was a little bit shaking. I think I could improve on my projection because that can show I am very confident about my speech and I know what I am going to say. In addition, I could improve on emphasis and I think I could keep the audience’s attention for the whole speech.

In science class, we did were learning about elements and our task was to make a poster on a element. I chose Calcium and here is my poster:

What are you proud of in your poster?- I think I did good on my layout and I added good pictures on calcium. Also, I added a lot of information in the benefits section and the problem section which are the main parts of this poster.

What would you do differently if you did this again? – I think I would research further more about calcium and how it is used outside of our bodies. (This was also written in my assessment notes.)

In spanish class, we had a task to write about our family. Here is my family tree and my paragraph:

Mi familia

Hola! Me llamo Marina y tengo doce años. Yo soy de Japon y me gusta dibujar. Voy a una escuela internacional de Yokohama. En mi familia, hay 3 personas. Mis padres son muy simpaticos. Mi madre se llama Mitsuko y tiene 45 años. Ella es muy trabajadora. Tambien ella es baja, pero yo soy mas alta que mi madre. Mi padre se llama Mike y tiene 48 años. El es de Japon. Mi padre es muy alto y muy inteligente. No tengo hermanos.

Mis abuelos en la familia de mi madre se llaman Takaharu y Yasuko. Mi abuelo Takaharu tiene 76 años. El es bajo y lleva gafas. Mi abuela Yasuko tiene 76 años y tiene pelo castaña. Ella es muy simpatica y siempre prepara la cena. Sus 3 hijos son Harumi, Keiko y mi madre.

En la familia de mi madre, tengo 2 primos. Mi tia Harumi tiene 49 años y es muy alta. Su tiene 2 hijos, Yuto y Sayaka. Yuto es mi primo mayor y tiene 21 años. El es inteligente tanto como mi padre. La hermana menor de Yuto se llama Sayaka y tiene 17 años. Ella es muy artistica y inteligente, pero Sayaka menos inteligente que Yuto. Tambien, ellos tienen un perro y se llama Letty. Letty es muy atletica.

Mi tia Keiko tiene 48 años y tiene pelo castaña. Ella es bonita y delgada y tiene pelo castaña. Su marido se llama Robert y el tiene 43 años. El es de Canada y el es muy comico. Tiene los ojos azules y pelo rubio. El es la profesor de ingles en la escuela internacional de Columbia, en Japon. No tienen hijos, pero tienen 2 gatos, Chloe y Daisy. Chloe es athletico tanto como Letty. Daisy es muy bonita, pero es muy timida.

Mis abuelos en la familia de mi padre se llaman Masako y Joseph. Mi abuela Masako tiene 76 años es muy simpatica y siempre prepara la comida. Mi abuelo Joseph tiene 84 años y el es Español. Mi abuelo es simpatico tanto como mi abuela. Mis abuelos tienen 2 hijos, Jimmy y mi padre.

En la familia de mi padre, tengo tambien 2 primos. El hermano mayor de mi padre se llama Jimmy y tiene 50 años. Jimmy es muy alto, pero no es tan alto como mi padre. Tambien el es muy inteligente tanto como mi padre. Su esta casado con Hatsumi. Ella tiene 48 años y tiene pelo castaña. Sus tienen 2 hijos. El primo mayor se llama Masahide y tiene 17 años. El es muy alto y tiene pelo negro. El es inteligente porque le gusta estudiar, y el llevas gafas. La hermano menor de Masahide se llama Masanori y tiene 14 años. Tiene pelo castaño y ojos marrones. El es menos alto que Masahide.

In tutor class, we discussed about bullying, and the forms and the ways to cope with it.

• What is bullying?

I think bullying is when somebody (or you) forces somebody else to do something that he/she wants. To say it easier, it is similar to being mean, but with more violence. There are all sorts of bullying that hurt people’s feelings such as cyber bullying, that can happen online on social network such as Facebook.

• What are the forms of bullying?

Some of the forms of bullying are:

• Physical bullying involves violence to a person’s body such as punching and kicking. Stealing and taking people’s belongings can also go into Physical bullying. 
• Verbal bullying that involve talking about a person in an unkind or hurtful way such as rumors. 
• Sexual bullying that leaves a person out because of their gender and the bully demonstrates an unwelcome behavior.
• Emotional bullying involves excluding or embarrassing somebody.
• Racial bullying which includes calling names.

• What strategies do you have to cope with bullying?

Here are the website links I looked at for the questions:

What is bullying? (Dictionary)

What are the forms of bullying?

What strategies do you have to cope with bullying?