Peter Pan

For my second elective term, I am taking Stage Chemistry. This is a STEAM course and teaches students about stage production and learning how to build a theater. The first unit is called Behind. During this unit we learned about measurements, proportions, and models which serve for everyone in the production. The purpose of the first Action Project was to create a blueprint of a theater I make up. I had to pick a space and transform that space into a theater. This project was heavy with measurements which isn’t my favorite. I struggled with my measurements of my space, I overcame that by guidance from my teacher and a few classmates. It was challenge for me but I am proud of how my project turned out. My favorite part was coloring my 6 micro drawings and making them look nice and colorful. Overall I enjoyed the first AP, and can’t wait to do the next one.

Starting the project was a challenge for me because I didn’t know what space I was going to use. I didn’t want to pick too many rooms because that would be more work measuring out the space, and drawing it on my blueprint. In total I picked three spaces in my school. I picked two main rooms, one is called the OC, and the other is the Cafe. The OC is a big open space that we use for events, gathering within the school, and we also use that space as a classroom. The reasoning I chose the OC is because it’s very big and roomy. The OC has a dry erase board on the wall and my stage will go against that. I’m going to put Christmas lights behind the board to create a lighting effect. My play is Peter Pan so my theme is a forest. My stage is a proscenium stage. The theme of my stage is a tree, the base of the stage is a tree trunk, and on the sides there are leaves going up. My stage is also elevated. For my seating I decided to create pods, the reasoning for that is because I wanted something different and still going with my theme. The pods also have leaves on them. I’m using the Cafe as a snack area. The audience will be able to buy snacks before the play and during the play. There is also an intermission which will allow the people to buy more snacks and also use the washrooms. I also used the hallway that leads to the OC, I put my coat check there and my ticket stand is there too. This project was challenging and it stressed me out a lot. I like the challenge it gave me, and that made me want to do even better on it. Again it was nice that I was able to have help during the making of it. Overall I enjoyed this project and I hope you enjoy it.

"OC" Photo Taken By JV. 2017

Goodman Comparisons

Bathrooms	Me	8	Goodman	25	32%
Tickets	Me	$10	Goodman	$60	17%
Exits	Me	2	Goodman	10	20%
Levels	Me	1	Goodman	2	50%
Stage	Me	96.39ft	Goodman	4000ft	2.4%

Clase de Español

My last unit in my STEAM course in System and Models is called Organization. During this unit I learned how to identify the synergy between individuals, groups, and organizations. This unit required big picture research about I-O Psych covering its history, fundamental psychological relevance, systems dynamics, and an organization's ability to attract and serve its employees symbiotically. The purpose for the last Action Project was to come up with an idea that can be improved in my school. We each had to pick a topic, I picked my third period class which is Spanish. For this project we also had to interview two students and two staff members in the school. The purpose for is to point out the flaws in the class and see what can be improved. What I struggled with was time, how I overcame that problem was sitting down and worked on what needed to be done. I enjoyed taking this course it was interesting and I can’t wait to take my last STEAM course. 

                            “Clase de español.”dfiles.me. 2014

In September I was excited to start my first ever Spanish class at GCE. GCE is known for having outrageous classes. The Spanish class was suppose to incorporated food, Spanish culture, and connection to Spanish-language parts of Chicago. The class was introduced and everyone was pretty pumped up about it; but the teacher wasn’t the perfect fit. I interviewed two of my classmates that took the class with me and two staff members. I wanted to get some feedback from my two classmates about what they thought from taking the class. I also wanted to know what worked for them and what didn’t. A student DNR said “The first Spanish class lacked guidance and instruction with lessons, students were wild and disrespectful. Just belligerent, I think the teacher should have been more prepared mentally and physically.” A student MF said “The big thing for me that didn't work was the fact that we were told the class was going to be a culture class and we were given a class where we just had to write sentence after sentence everyday with new verbs. I just felt like it was a waste of my time. I asked my Dean some questions about what happened behind the scenes during this time. She said, “I provided ongoing and specific feedback to the instructor who was struggling. He decided that it wasn't a fit and chose to leave rather than put into place specific suggestions we had for his teaching.” It was clear that this class was a failed mission.

Since the teacher wasn’t fully prepared students would be disrespectful and wouldn’t want to learn. Some would be on their phones and computers listening to music. It was a very depressing class for me and other students. Student MF also said “The teacher in the beginning was very difficult to deal with. He wasn't used to teaching anyone but college students which I think caused the disconnect. He would always tell us that he was shocked we weren't acting like "college students" which I think caused a lot of anger.” The first Spanish teacher quit on a day he was suppose to teach his class. The weakness in the first Spanish class was the teacher, student connection, and student behavior. 

I-O psychology is characterized by the scientific study of human behavior in organizations and the workplace. That specialty focuses on deriving principles of individual, group and organizational behavior and applying this knowledge to the solution of problems at work. We needed to apply I-O psychology to the Spanish class, and by doing that we ended up getting a new teacher and some things got better. The second Spanish class made some progress student DNR response to the new Spanish class and teacher was; “I think the teacher should have controlled his class a little more, lessons were short, and in the second Spanish class, students were a little too free, but slightly less disrespectful.” My opinion on the second Spanish class was the teacher saw how the students weren’t motivated and didn’t learn anything from the first Spanish class, so he just let us do whatever we wanted. He would sit down and read. From time to time he would teach a small lesson but that was it. The strengths we had in his class was learning Spanish a little bit more, and the opportunities we had was being able to learn Spanish online. Some students would use Duo-lingo and they enjoyed it.

I-O psychology fundamental assumption is that the people in organizations and the goals of organizations are best served when there is a good it between the two. Neither the students nor the teacher were benefiting from that situation, there needed to be a change again. GCE does follow Maslow’s hierarchy which is: Physiological, Safety, Love/Belonging, Esteem, and Self-Actualization. But there was a treat that was happening, some students decided not to take a language class at GCE, and went off to find a different way to learn the language. Some students take online classes or do dual-enrollment at community colleges. The second Spanish teacher left us and we ended up getting a new one. But this time it was different. The Spanish class was actually working. We got a teacher who cared about us, and a teacher who controlled the class. It was satisfying. The behavior in students changed and we started learning Spanish. I asked my Spanish teacher some questions about the steps she takes to run the class/lessons she said, “I try to bring in the basics of the language I want everyone to walk away knowing and work around those basic concepts to create projects and learning that is flexible and challenging for each student.”

But there is still a problem. We all share the same space in the class. Every Monday and Tuesday the class is told to read a book in Spanish. Some students are more advanced in Spanish than others. Students should be able to have Autonomy, which is one of the pillars at GCE. In order to learn a new language you have to start with the basics, but some students in that class are already bilingual. Instead of pushing the student to thrive more into that language it’s pushing them back. My suggestion to fix this problem is having multiple language level classes to benefit each student. I asked my Spanish teacher and my classmate if they could create a language class how would it work? DNR said “My language class would be a rewarding class. That's the easiest way to learn, right? Through competition and reward! I would also try to relate my language to their language because familiarity helps with remembering things.” My Spanish teacher said, “I think that second language acquisition is an important part of any education, especially at a school that prides itself on fostering the growth of global citizens. I would like to see more integration of language acquisition into core classes as well as language acquisition becoming a core subject of its own. Personally would like to have fully immersive classes that are separated by ability level so that each student can get the most challenging and rewarding learning experience.” I hope one day GCE can have language classes that benefit every student level.


Citations:

“America’s 20 Fastest Growing Jobs.” Farnham, Alan. abcnews.go.com. ABC News - Business. Feb 5, 2014. Web. Feb 6, 2017.

I-O Psychology Theories. Psychology.iresearchnet.com. N.P. N.D. Web. Feb 25, 2017.

YEAR 2117

The last unit in my Humanities course is called Herstory. In this unit I learned about issues that are in race, gender and, class. We predicted the future and what it might look for equality. I really enjoyed taking this course, it opened my eyes about gender, race, and, equality all around the world. I hope the future has better people leading countries and, people will live in happiness and don’t have to worry about what gender they are and, what skin color they are. The purpose of this Action Project is to imagine what our society will look like in the future. I had to create a time capsule filled with a series of elements that foretell what the struggle for equality might look like 100 years from now. This Action Project was tough because it was hard and scary thinking about what the future might look like. I wish I could live to see how it would be. Overall this course way by far my favorite, I can’t wait to take my next Humanities course. Down below is me opening my time capsule.  

                               

CHICAGO TRIBUNE JULY, 16 2117

DIFFERENT AMERICA

Hispanics are the fastest growing race in America. They are the largest majority beating Whites and African Americans. Spanish is the leading language in America; immigrants aren’t looked down on anymore. The President of the United States is a Latina. Her name is Luciana Zelaya; she is creating new laws which benefits everyone no matter race, gender, or class. There are more jobs in the United States because of President Zelaya. People aren’t in poverty anymore; everyone came together, and they made a change in America. Women get equal pay. Zelaya wants to show everyone that anything is possible as long as they put their mind to it; America is thriving. President Zelaya believes that everyone is equal and should be treated fairly.

President Zelaya’s great-grandparents were immigrants and struggled living in America. They were considered aliens; they couldn’t get good paying jobs, health care, or good housing. Many immigrants struggled and some races and religions were even banned from the country. They worked hard, and now, their great-grandchild is the President of the United States. The country has come a long way and it has definitely improved.

President Zelaya wants America to keep growing and improving, she knows she wouldn’t be where she is now if it were not for the past, her family, and the people of the United States. President Zelaya loves hearing what the people has to say, she wants to provide everything she can and stay true to her word. Zelaya listened to her people and she doesn’t want anyone to struggle when it come to money and providing food for families. She has recently passed a new law. Benefiting every household in the country making sure everyone has the right needs in order to fully live the “American Dream.”
           
Down below are two interviews of citizens; one voted for President Zelaya and, the other one is against President Zelaya.

Dear Editor,
I am beyond happy that I voted for President Zelaya, I had so much faith in her. I believed in her and knew she will be a great President. I never thought I will see the day that a Latina will be a president. I am a young woman and my great-grandparents were immigrants, so many will say, “You only voted for her because she is Latina.” Well, that is not true President Zelaya qualified to be the president we all needed. Since President Zelaya passed a the new law unemployment rate is much lower. People aren’t in poverty anymore, and are doing much better and many Americans are happy. President Zayala is doing an amazing job being the first Latina President of the United States. There are people that are mad about a Hispanic being president and on top of it’s a woman. Some are even protesting holding signs that say “Women can’t run this country.” I think it’s rude and uncalled for, they need to realize that America has changed and it’s going to keep changing. America has many people with different nationalities and religions it is important to embrace that as a country. 

Dear Editor, 
I do not accept that a women is leading our country. This country was founded by men and it should stay that way. I think the reason why she won was because only women voted for her. The law she passed is great but a man should be President. Hopefully she only last one term. 

                                     First Latina President Barbie Doll of 2117

      

This is Barbie President Luciana Zelaya she is 36 years old, and was born and raised is from Chicago, IL. Barbie President Luciana Zelaya teaches girls that they can be whatever they want. They can change the World and bring acceptance to all girls. She helped people out of poverty and continues to change the United States.

No Pet vs With Pet

Systems and Models is a STEAM course which studies people and how they behave, the second unit was called Group. In that unit I learned about how behaviors change in people and how others can view that change. We worked a lot in groups and did different activities. The purpose of this Action Project is to conduct a research study. I did this project solo studying two people and people surrounding them. This project was hard for me, I had trouble managing time and staying on track. I solved that problem by sitting down and focusing on what needed to be done. I enjoy completing this project and I hope you enjoy. 

Chapter 108

My humanities class is called Equality. In this class, we focus on Equality for women and people of color. We have discussions in class on how people can view the world differently and how we can make the world a better place. Our purpose is to change the norm of stereotypes and how people are viewed based on their gender and race. The first unit was called History, and in that unit we learned about historical background of race, gender and class to gain a greater understanding of the current context of these issues. The purpose of this Action Project was to recount a historical event through, and make it into a chapter that is in a textbook. The historical event I chose was when the Cubs won the 2016 World Series. I chose this event because it is very special to me and my family. This event relates to gender and race, Chicago is known for being one of the most violent cities in the United States. When the Cubs won the World Series, nobody was paying attention to race or gender. The city came together as one to celebrate the big victory. I had to interview someone that was there during the event. I chose to interview my boyfriend because he was with me when the Cubs won the World Series. We went to Wrigley Field the night the Cubs won. It was so crowded and so much fun. Everybody was screaming and running. There was so many people that the police came and had to gate and guard certain areas. I will never forget that night, I was apart of history. That Friday we attempted to go to the rally but there was just too many people. I enjoyed doing this project it was nice reminiscing on such a big event that took place in my city.

Bloom

Systems and Models is a STEAM course talking about Psychology and studies people from the outside in and from the inside out. The first unit was called Individual; I learned about personality assessments, and took a few of them to better understand myself. The purpose of this Action Project was to understand all the information I learned about myself and create that into a self portrait. I enjoyed this project very much; I learned more about myself. Creating myself portrait was my favorite part. I didn’t have any troubles; it came out nicely and went smoothly I’m proud of my artwork. I hope you enjoy.

Bloom. Created by JV, 2016.

Creating my artwork was relaxing and I felt calm. I used to paint a lot when I was younger, but since then I haven’t really had time. I used watercolor paint, watercolor paper, glitter, and construction paper. My portrait is 8 ½ in by 11 in. I’m all throughout my portrait; I show myself through the flowers, petals, branches, and every detail represents me and has a meaning behind it. For my portrait, I chose a Cherry Blossom tree because its my favorite plant. I also chose this tree because it starts blossoming in Okinawa, Japan, during January which is my birthday month. The branch starts at the left end of the painting and the flowers are dark representing my past, showing the old me. There are petals falling that shows how I avoid situations and how I like to be by myself. It also shows how I give up sometimes, but I can also pick myself back up and grow a new flower: a new me. Naturally, I am private and solitary. I like to be invisible until I’m ready to reveal myself. I see myself as intense, unexpected, original and different from others. To show that, I added different shapes of cherry blossom flowers. I prefer to play the role of detached observer and investigator. As the branches grow and new flowers start blooming, new colors appear showing how I change a lot, showing my different moods and actions. The brighter flowers show how I'm growing and becoming a woman; I added glitter on some flowers to represent the girly side of me. The small branches and small flowers that haven’t bloomed yet shows the new up coming paths in my life. The branch doesn’t have an ending because I’m still living and learning. I have so much time and so much more to experience ahead of me. I want my portrait to show how delicate I am, but also how strong I am too. I don’t give up. 

I interviewed my art teacher to know how important an artist statement is. One of my questions that I asked her was; How important is an artist statement? Her response was “I believe an artist statement is very important for a number of reasons. I think it is important to have insight into the artist’s background in order to connect with and understand their work. I think sharing the artist’s intentions allows the viewer to see something in the work that they didn’t initially see.” I agree with my teacher; I want my artwork to provoke individualism, and calmness.

I took many personality and psychological tests, but the two that explained me well was the DISC personality model and the Enneagram personality test. For the Enneagram test, I got type 5 which is; which is the Observer, Investigator, Thinker, Sage or Voyeur. One of my strong suits is attention. I like observing the world, hiding or withholding to protect myself and gathering information for the purpose of knowing and understanding. I am studious and scholarly; I develop expertise in any area that is of interest to me. I believe that knowledge is power. I believe all of that shows through my art work nicely. On the Enneagram test result I got; “You are private and introspective, although others may think of you as anti-social, secretive, remote, and eccentric.” It’s scary how a test you take on your computer can tell you so much about yourself. Growing up I was always made fun of because of how quiet I am. I like being by myself and in my own head, I like how this test explained me so well. For the DISC personality test my main four factors are dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance. “Dominance: describes the way you deal with problems, assert yourself and control situations.” That is hands down the truth. I like being in control. In my portrait, I have bold colors that shows my dominance. My favorite personality test was the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality inventory, one of the most popular assessments around the world. This test explained me the best, I had goose bumps when I was reading my results. My personality type is INTP; which is the Logician. “Logicians are known for their brilliant theories and unrelenting logic – in fact, they are considered the most logically precise of all the personality types. People with the Logician personality type tend to share thoughts that are not fully developed, using others as a sounding board for ideas and theories in a debate against themselves rather than as actual conversation partners.” Logicians love patterns; in my portrait the flowers are my patterns.

I know I can relate to many people in this world with the type of personality I have. One of my classmates was also a type 5 and so was my teacher. I think it’s interesting how the 3 of us got the same behavior type, but we are all very different. Albert Einstein was also a type 5; he was one of the greatest scientists of all time. He came up with the theory of relativity he was a true genius and changed the world. Albert Einstein found his passion and I hope I can find my, to one day. I enjoy pushing myself to keep changing and growing. I learned about the Marshmallow test, it teaches kids how to have self control. I have a lot of self control, I am willing to work hard, and wait for a bigger reward in the future.


Citations:

"16 Personalities."16personalities.com. Isabel Briggs Myers. 2011. Web. Jan 13, 2017.

"Personality Test." enneagram.net. Katherine Chernick Fauvre and David W. Fauvre. 1997. Web. Jan 13, 2017.

"DISC Personality Test." 123test.com. N.D. 2017. Web. Jan 13, 2017.

Japanese Cherry Blossom

The last unit in my Radio-rithmetic class I learned about pitch, how sound travels, and then looked into how sound can be put together with other sounds. I also learned about frequency and different kinds of effects. My personal favorite effect is the Delay. That effect's name is exactly how it sounds, it delays the original sound making sound similar to an echo. On one of the Field Experiences we went to Chicago Recording Company. They showed us some cool equipment they had, and gave us some information and advice when it came to recording and editing music. For the last Action Project we were asked to take the basics of sound and recordings and make that into music. What I struggled with was making my original piece of sound because that was kinda difficult. How I overcame that struggle was looking at my surroundings. I ended up tapping glass with my fingertips, to create my original sound. What I am proud of is how my song came out. I enjoyed taking this class, I learned a lot about music, and I enjoyed the Field Experiences we went on, they were some of the best so far this school year. My song, images, and explanation are down below; hope you enjoy. 

To start this project off I spent some time thinking about the music I like. The songs I mixed together are a few of my favorite songs. I enjoy listening to indie pop music because of how calm it makes me, and also gives me good vibes. I wanted my song to be an indie version and also upbeat. The program I used to edit my song is called Soundtrap. This was my first time using this program, and it was super easy and helped me breeze through my editing. My song has a lot going on, there are many effects and fade ins and outs. The two effects I used were Chorus and Delay. I used Chorus on my first track to add some more sounds, since Chorus sounds like multiple instruments playing at once. I used delay because it gives that echoey sound.

Once I uploaded the basic tracks I made a beat using Soundtrap's beat kit:

 Beat Notation (JV) 2016

For the interval I played F# and A on a piano. That interval is a major third. I added a fade in and out so that way the sound blends in well with the rest of the song:

Interval (JV) 2016 

Down below is my sound file labeled. It shows what effects I used in each track. In the beginning and middle of the song there's tension, the sound goes up and there are many mixes and effects. It slowly starts fading down and releases towards the end. I love how my song came out, it had a beat drop and fades out smoothly.

                                               Sound File (JV) 2016. 

Citations:

ODESZA. BLOOM. Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 11 Sept 2014. Web. 11 Dec 2016.

ODESZA. Say My Name . Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube 18 August 2014. Web. 11 Dec 2016.

Flume. Never Be Like You.feat Kia. Online video. Youtube. Youtube 15 Jan 2016. Web 11 Dec 2016.