For my Capstone I am presenting a book review blog. I wrote posts about once every other week, resulting in 10 different posts. Even though there are only 10 posts, that does not mean there were only 10 books I read. I read a lot so every other week when it came to writing my review, I had several different books I’ve read to pick from. I was able to create unique and constructive reviews because of the options I had. My blog can be viewed here. My annotated bibliography can also be viewed here. 

Creating this add campaign as our benchmark was a really interesting experience. This was something that I never have imagined doing so when it was assigned to us, I wasn’t really sure what we were supposed to do. It was hard for me to get the whole idea of what this project was going to be through my head, so me and my group members just decided to try to dive right into it.

We did well with getting our message across. Although our website only had a small amount of views I feel like we were successful because we worked well together. We intended to create posters, which we did but then we added a QR code that sent people to our website. This was the main way that we got our message out to the public. I believe it was a very useful way to do so because at any point theres about 500 people in SLA at a time, the majority of them having smartphones so if our poster interested someone they could scan our code to get more information on our campaign.

We also added another part to our campaign that we did not originally think of. I asked a handful of people for a statement about how teenage drug abuse has impacted their relationships with others. That is my favorite part of our entire project because I feel like it is a really creative idea to show experiences that people in Philadelphia have had with teenage drug abuse since we could not find statistics on just Philadelphia.

The biggest challenge we came across was the PSA that we created. When we were filming it we believed that it was a brilliant idea! When Jermel started to edit it he started to notice that the length was not what we expected. We wanted it to be one minute at the most but by the time editing was done it was three. This started to cause some anxiety with us. We started to think about how it may be too long for people’s attention span or that theres too much dialog. We ended up trying to take out some parts of the video that were not important to our campaign to get a quality video. 

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12879973/PHYSIIIIIIIICSSSSSSSS.m4v 

I’ve learned that hard work can make you stay up the entire night perfecting something, but when you get results you realize that it was all worth it. I worked so hard on the autobiography and my results weren’t just in a grade, but also I had a result from myself. I used to be afraid to put so much about myself out for someone to judge, but maybe it’s a good thing to put all my emotions out in my writing. From doing that in the paper I got the amazing opportunity to present it at University of Penn, where the adults had nothing but great things to say about mine and my peer’s work. I also got my quote put onto the mural my school did, so now in my work I don’t hold back anything.

We did a podcast project where we interviewed someone in our life and tried to get a story out of them. That was the most stressful project of the whole year because since I interviewed my little brother (10 years old), it was very hard to get a story so I had to edit it to make it into a story. I felt like it was not good enough but then when I got feedback it was all good so I realized that sometimes I am too hard on myself. From that I learned that in my work to take a step back and try to look at my work as if I wasn’t the one that created it.

At Science Leadership Academy we publish a lot of work so we have to take things more seriously because then there becomes no room for mistake. With the help of Leah Stein and her dancers we participated in the Art in the Open Festival.  We were split into six groups and told to find a location four blocks away from the school to prepare a dance. If we were not going to be performing for an audience, I feel like the performances would not of been as strong because then there would to a place for people to be able to make mistakes and play around a little more.

From the year we also wrote journal entries, ending the year with more than 100 combined in our English and History class. From these, they were not as stressful and we didn’t feel like they had to be perfect, until we were told to publish 3 of our favorites. It taught us that even if we don’t want to do something or take it seriously, there is always a reason that we still sound. My entries that are my favorite can be seen here, here, and here. They talk about art, life, and leadership, one of my quotes from them are,“​I learned that groups make decisions by leadership and strength.” (Journal 11).

Overall, this year has taught me a lot academically but also about myself.  I’ve done some great pieces of work that I never thought I could accomplish things and be so proud of my work. I learned about how my writing style is, which is that I like to do fact based papers compared to creative writing. Finally, like I stated above, I learned that going all out on my papers is not a bad thing. I feel like before now I didn’t like writing all that much because I was always holding back things that I wanted to add because I didn’t know if I wanted to take a risk and make things personal. 

Some other pieces of work from my year…

Pipeline Monologue

Descriptive Essay

Lord of the Flies Thesis Paper

Art is powerful though because it can change a person’s life. When someone puts their hearts out enough and are honest about their problems, then something will change. Also books can be an art because they have so many emotions added in

-I’m always seeing the drama that people start because they need attention.

-I’m always seeing people, with smiles or frowns on their face.

-I’m always seeing the good in everything and everyone.

-I’m always seeing life go through its ups and downs.

-I’m always seeing people who struggle though life, just to make it out alive.

-I’m always seeing the bright sun above my head.

-I’m always seeing boys and girls, men and women, people who are short and people who are tall…people who are different. 

Also I tried to focus on photography this quarter because I wanted to see how well I could create things so I also spent a lot of time outside of art class creating and editing photos. Below are my top 5 favorite photos. All of these I played around on Photoshop also and tried to enhance them in anyway that would look appealing. 

To make the ceiling time I did the same things but instead used paints.

-Introduction (In English):

• What was the assignment?  
  We had to write out what our daily routine was and if you wanted, make it into a video. 
  
  
• What did you enjoy about this project?  
  I enjoyed that I could make this my way an be creative with it.

-Reflection (In English): 

• What did you learn about yourself after mapping out your daily routine?  
  I learned that I don't do as much as I thought I did
• What skills did you acquire related to the Spanish language?
  I learned how to describe things more then I did before
• How did you use each of the 5 core values in completing this project?
  We were asked a question. I wrote out what my routine was and found out how to say it in spanish, I worked with my peers to make sure everything was correct. Im presenting this right here now. And this is my reflection.
• If you could do this over for the purpose of improving your final product, how would you change it or what would you add to it?
  Well my camera wouldn't upload videos and I didn't have time so I would use videos instead of photos

For these photos I did a lot of playing around with the levels of photos and the tints on them. I wanted everything to still look realistic but I also wanted it to be different and eye catching. For each photo I tried to do something new. The eye photo I tried to make it look also animated so that it was still the same photo but it didn’t really look like a photo. For the snow one, in the original you couldn’t really see anything so I tinted it blue so you could see the “RF” and understand that it was snow and ice it was carved into. The lipgloss photo I decided looked too boring so I made it so that you couldn’t really see the background and the text on it was blue and green to give some sort of uniqueness. The “MAKE IT RAIN” photo inspired me that since rain is not 2-D then neither should my photo, so I made the colors have more definition and sharpness and a boost of color. I also tinted the background blue because when you think of rain, most people think of blue so to me it just made sense. Lastly with the hand I liked that the nails were chipped and all but I wanted to make it slightly eerie so I added wrinkles and darkened the photo to make it look like something that seems nice and pretty into creepy.

I made a copy of Composition with Large Blue Plane, Red, Back Yellow, and Gray by Piet Mondrian as an assignment for art but I added my own twist to it. All of the colors and shapes you see were photographed.

I went around the school and just took pictures of different colors and patterns so that I would have something unique while coping a master. When I got my pictures I put them into a pages document and starting cropping and shaping everything to look the same. It was frustrating getting everything to match but after hard word and very many edits I am happy with what I created for this copy of Composition with Large Blue Plane, Red, Back Yellow, and Gray.

With this assignment we were talk to create something inspired by something that we see on the internet. At first I had trouble because I couldn’t think of anything that caught my interest and then I don’t know how but I came up with the idea of a laptop cover.

To start off creating it I took the measurements of my computer and added an inch. I cut out a piece of black paper following those measurements, then outlined the apple logo on the comp so that when I painted over it, the apple sign would still be visible. Then I got my paints ready. I mixed together a purple and pink and then red and white so that everything wouldn’t be just one color. I laid my paper out in front of me and started painting. I used different methods, colors, and paint bushes to create texture. I set it out to dry and then finished.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12879973/Rflite.flv

            I make a lot of decisions in this drawing because it’s hard to figure out what you plan to do. When I start this I just jump right into it, I don’t take time to think. Just draw what you see. There is nothing to think about, the whole thing is shading, I just figure out what looks good.

Now, since I enjoy doing this type of drawing I am going to practice more. I think that nothing will be perfect if you don’t practice first. This was my first time doing a clear figure drawing. I believe that I did well but I think that with practice I could do even better. I was challenging my eyes while doing thins because I had to transfer what my eyes see onto a piece of paper, coping as many details as possible.

There are a lot of decisions that I’m making on this drawing. I have to look closely and think about what I want my outcome to look like. When I am ready to draw I look for everyday shapes like lines and circles. I plan out where they would belong and outline everything I am going to draw. When I finish my outline I start to add detail and make it look more like a person.

When I first start this drawing I mess up. For about the first thirty to forty-five minutes of drawing it doesn’t look like anything more than a blob of color. I stress out and am frustrated but then I just keep working about making everything look how I want.

I’ve always believed that home is important because home is where my heart is. Home is where my memories are. Every happy and sad thing that has happened to me is brought back to this place. I’ve lived here almost all of my life. If I ever moved away from this neighborhood and my memories, I would be a disaster. It’s where I can go and I won’t be judged. I can come here after a rough day and be greeted by my family. While everything else in my world is spinning around, this is the one thing that never changes. It’s where I’m safe. 

I can go back to when I first walked into my house when I was 5. I was down the basement and I couldn’t find my way upstairs. My dad was bringing things into the house since our basement door is next to the driveway. It’s easier then dragging things all the way to our front door, which is on the side of our house. When I saw him I ran over and said “Daddy! I can’t find the door! Help me!”  He laughed and then said, “Turn around.” As I turned around I saw the door to walk up into my living room. When I got upstairs there was almost a ton of change in random spots in the rooms. I was so excited; it felt like a treasure hunt, and so I ran around the house collecting any change that I saw.

I love looking back on that memory and thinking about how easy things were. The biggest problem that I had was that I couldn’t find the door out of my basement. Now I have to worry about what people I trust, what my grades are like, not letting things get to me, along with a hundred other things. Nevertheless, every rough time there is, a hundred great memories that come along.

One of my favorite memories in this house took place after a concert my friend and I went to, she came over my house to sleepover. We ended up staying up until 3:30 am, hanging out in my bedroom. Most people don’t like staying in my room for too long. Everything in my room is pink, my bedding, lamp, desk, walls, rug; even my ceiling is painted pink. It is very bright, even sometimes I don’t like being up in my room for too long. There are also a lot of pictures and posters. It was one of the funniest nights I have had though.

                   When we first got home from the concert, we just hung out and talked for a little.  As the night carried on we got extremely hyper, because we were both tired and we each had a can of Mountain Dew. About halfway though the night I brought in my little brother’s Yamaha keyboard. Neither of us know how to play keyboard so when we tried, it ended up sounding like nails on a chalkboard. I felt really happy because it was fun and neither of us has to try to act perfect. Later on, we decided to randomly call people and play the keyboard while on the phone. Every time we would dial a number and listen to the phone buzzing as we waited for them to answer, we would laugh hysterically, thinking about the reaction of the person we were calling. When someone would pick up, we would shout “Hello! Hi! Hey!” in funny voices and then slam random buttons on the keyoboard. People thought we were completely insane, asking, “What is wrong with you? Why are you calling me?” Every person that we called hung up on us within 5 minutes.
                   About an hour before we actually fell asleep, we turned on my old, bulky, silver television that my grandmother gave me. We started watching That 70’s Show, one of our favorite television shows. We were also quoting every line that a character would say and cracking up. After a while we got really tired so as we were still watching That 70’s Show, we both fell asleep.

            That night was just fun and that’s the night that I realized why home is important to me. It is important to me because it’s a stable place in the world. Everything changes, but this place never does. I have grown up in this same house and my bedroom has grown along with me. From my princess room, to just all pink, to how it is now. Now it is exactly how I want it, it has pictures all over my walls; there is just enough space all of my belongings and me. It’s organized perfectly for me, not too neat but at the same time its not too messy, and I know where I want everything to go.

 I remember when I got my room the way it is now. It was a Saturday, 2 years ago; the movers said they would at my house any time between 1-4 pm. It was 3:30pm and I have been staring out of my window for the past 2 hours, impatiently waiting for my new bedroom-set to be delivered. I had my room completely cleared out, except for my television. Other than there was just pink walls and ceiling, both windows with their curtains pulled up, and an open door. I was completely ready for my new bedroom, so over excited that I couldn’t even go 10 minutes without running towards my window to check if the movers have finally arrived. Every time I would hear a car rush by I would run outside and be greeted with disappointment.

            At 3:45 I heard something, it was the pounding of large tires on a road. I looked out the window and screamed downstairs to my mom “THEY’RE HERE!” as I stormed down the flight of stairs that was separating me from her. I stared out of the window as the movers checked their paperwork to make sure it was the right house, slammed the trucks doors, and started walking up to my front steps. When they finally knocked on the door, it was like a symphony. “Hello, we have a bedroom set delivery for the Flite family.” They said when we opened the door.

            When they were upstairs putting the furniture together, it felt like life times were passing by. They finally finished and left the house at 4:10. When they left I raced up my steps into my room to see how it looked. I loved it. It looked so different then before, instead of a cleared out room of nothing, my room now had a queen sized bed, and a matching dresser, They were each a light washed wood color with 2 rows of silver wood panels at the top.

Home is my place. It’s where I am free and happy. My little brother was born three months premature and for about 6 months I had to live at my grandma’s house. It just didn’t feel the same. Her house is nice and it’s big, but it’s not my house. It has a different feel to it. Home gives me a feeling of safety and security. It’s the one thing that never changes, while people and life does. I love my house and I love the feelings that come from it.

A Man in Trouble

Setting: Talking in front of a crowd of people in a town meeting. He’s standing up in front of a table.

Everyone in favor of the pipeline is saying that it will open up more job opportunities, but nobody thinks about how many jobs it could also harm. There are a lot of farmer’s and land workers where this pipeline is going though, and its creating, what? About twenty thousand jobs at the most? When there s-springs a leak, it’s going to wipe out the farms from Canada to Texas. If you take the time to think about it, running this pipeline could lose more jobs then create.

Picks up picture of his baby from the table This is my baby, Charlie. Puts photo onto table. Charlie was born t-two months premature. My wife and I are always going to have to look after Charlie, to make sure he develops properly and is all right. If my farm is ruined how am I going to be able to take care of him? How is a-a-anybody going to be able to take care of their families?  I love my family; they mean the world to me. This pipeline cannot go though, we can’t put hundred of families in danger. I can’t make this decision for you, but I can hope you make the right decision. Th-thank you for your time.

Unemployment can be saved

Setting: Outside the White House talking to protesters, attempting to change their side about the pipeline. She is going to be speaking very professionally and to be proud of what she is saying. Behind her will be the percentage of people unemployed to show why we need extra jobs. Standing in front of a pedestal.

Hello. My name is Betty U. Freeman, and I am an unemployed woman. I live on my own in a one-bedroom apartment in Washington DC, but I can hardy pay the rent. I scramble every month to get the money I need, and I collect pennies as if I’m on a treasure hunt to get a meal. Behind me, is the percentage of people unemployed, I am not alone. Points to the chart behind her. I know one way that I can change this, and that is only if the TransCanada Pipeline gets approved.

If they allow this pipeline then I might have a chance. I could be able to pay my rent and I could be able to have a decent meal every once in a while. There could be more job opportunities, also. There will be twenty thousand jobs open for the United States and the pipeline will create eight billion dollars to the economy. This could help me so much. I’ll move wherever they need me to go. I’ll do whatever they need me to do.

People will say this pipeline isn’t creating enough jobs but it could change not only mines, but also so many other people’s lives. It won’t only help people like me; it will help everybody in the United States by creating energy security. What do we need more of right now, America? We need jobs. We need money. We need to low that unemployed percentage. By creating the TransCanada Pipeline we can. We can have a chance. Please think. Please make the right decision. Thank you for listening and thank you for your time.

Setting: A little girl, Ashley is in her bedroom writing in her diary. While she is writing she is also reading out loud. She is lying down on her bed as she is writing and speaking. She speaks in a scared tone of voice.

Oh diary! Something is going on. Mommy tells me that everything will be okay, but Alexandra is running around, and-and she seems scared. I don’t know much about what is going on. Mommy won’t tell me anything. Alexandra is going behind mommy’s back by telling me things. She hasn’t said much other then the big mean men want to create a Tar Sands Pipeline that will go through our farm and that the men who won Nobel Prizes are writing to Mr. President. I don’t know what a Tar Sand Pipeline or a Nobel Prize is, they both sound fancy.

Alexandra also told me that in the mean men make the pipeline, then-then-then our family is in danger and we might not be able to be together. Crosses out the last sentence, throws diary onto the ground. Tears start to fall because she is so scared. Goes to pick up diary and continues writing and reading what she writes. I-I need to talk to Alexandra. Oh my, I’m so scared. I can’t let the three of us be separated. Mommy, mommy, mommy, these bad guys can’t let this happen to us. They can’t make this pipeline, they can’t risk it to becomes leaky and ruin my life.

We started this project on perspective by sketching a horizontal line and putting in a vanishing point. We then made a box from on top of the point, under the point and connected each vertex to get a view on what perspective is. Then we started working on our rooms making sure everything was connected by the vanishing point and we had to measure everything down to a corresponding size.

The process we used was to make an equal rectangle somewhere in the middle of our paper and in the middle of that we put the vanishing point. From there we counted how many ceiling tiles and for example my wall have 12 so I made my bow length 24in and each time 2in. And drawn the lines every 2ins from the vanishing point. I did the same thing with the floor tiles but I did then every inch and then from the middle of the tiles I put about a 45-degree angle to the end of the tiles and at each intersection I crossed them. I then put the pillars in but making 2 lines, one thicker than the other and made the lines go into the ceiling and floor.

The things that were easy for me where tiles and pillars.

The things that were hard for me were the table, couch, and windows.

I think Michael completed the assignment well.

1. (My) …. perro es lindo.   (Mi)

2. (My) … abuelos se llaman Pedro y Marta.      (Mis)

3. (My) … tía se llama Luisa.      (Mi)

4. (Our) … tarea es fácil.          (Nuestra)

5. (Our) … pupitres son cómodos.    (Nuestros)

6. (Our) … profesor es serio.           (Nuestro)

7. (His) … bicileta es roja.        (Su)

8. (His) … madre está en Los Angeles.           (Su)

9. (Her) … bisabuelos son Mexicanos.          (Sus)

10. (Her) … novio es guapo.            (Su)

Escribe en español:

1. Teresa’s boyfriend (El novio de Teresa)

2. My parents’ house   (La case de pardes)

3. Marta’s friend (girl)        (La amiga de Marta)

4. Rafael’s book                (El libro de Rafael)

   The first slide was my first and I think I probably made a few mistakes. I think there was too much going on and the picture probably should not of been in the middle. I also think I should of not of made the text of my name so big because it takes away from the quote and the picture.

   The second slide was my new slide. I faded my quote into the background and brought my picture to the side so that since I want my picture to be the main part of the slide you can be able to focus more on it and not anything else on the slide.