Week 15

Break is finally here, so I am very excited. I finally get some time to rest and get myself back to speed. It's also a time to celebrate the holidays. Christmas has already passed, and was is great! One of the reasons why it was so good was because it felt so reserved for me...like it was well deserved. I really worked for those grades, and the rewards were sweet. One of the rewards is the reason why I am typing this blog not on my PC, but on a shiny new mobile device, which I am still getting used to so don't expect impeccable spelling and/or grammer because I'm still getting used to this tiny keyboard.

Concerning the class itself, I really had some negative opninions on the senseless soap project. I don't mean to bash on anyone, but I really thought it was a stupid idea. It's interesting, but not very immersing. It felt more like a chore to do this. Once again the busy work that I've done many times before. Yes, I think I would prefer just to do in-class work, because atleast that actually helps me learn the material better. I don't know if anyone noticed that I worked alone, but I did. I know that this class (or any other science class) stresses teamwork, but after a recent upset in another class involving a group project, I faithfully decided to go singleplayer in this. To my expectations, the entire process was smooth. No clutter, no liability. Like they say, "if you want something done right, you got to do it yourself." I couldn't agree more.

Almost Xmas...

It's so close but so far away. I kept wondering how much longer I would have to wait to unwrap some of the gifts that I have already ordered and have been delivered by UPS. This has already happened with my "primary" gift. I know exactly where it is, and I have held the package, but I've never opened. It is extremely tempting, but I know it's best to wait.

Meanwhile, in Chemistry, things have been going steady. I've been glad to see that my recent assessment was practically all fours, nbd. That reminds me, I still have reassessing to do on material that I'm starting to forget. It's starting to concern me, and IK really hope I can find some time to do this. Oh, but wait...I have reassessing to do still in AP Physics, and I have research to do outside of school, which is a whole other subject, by the way.

It's been stressing to have all of these activities, and I know it will only get worse if I continue to hold it off. So with that in mind, I am really hoping that I will be a little more free this week to come up with time to study and actually get these reassessments done. So far I don't really have any problems with the soap project; it's easier than most projects, but my only concern is just that I'm working with myself. That means that the whole load of work is for me alone. Then again, that removes potential errors by not having irresponsible group members that will 'help' me.

Week 13

Another week...

...another week goes by, but I don't say that with penitence. The weeks have been treating me well. However, I am finding myself in a similar situation. I am starting to become overwhelmed by all sorts of activities, which has somewhat left me lost in some classes. This one, is not so much as severe as the others, but I am feeling some weak effect. I am still getting the material in, and it's all making sense. What we are learning now isn't taking much effort to learn, which is great. I am mostly happy with my recent assessments, but I still need to re-assess. Unfortunately, the recent weeks haven't allowed that, for either party. Maybe this week I can fit it in, because I'd hate to find out at the last minute that the second quarter is already over and I am stuck with my sketchy grades.

Concerning the future, I'm not concerned with the mid-term. I don't know why people freak out so much about it. Just study, study, and study. It's not that hard. Of course you will be falling apart and crying if you only spend five minutes a day looking at your study material. It's your own fault. I usually don't spend a lot of time anyways, because they allow cards for some classes, which in my own opinion isn't that good of an idea because they probably won't let you use a card in college classes anyways. That always worries me, so I recently I have attempted to learn more and not rely so heavily on the card. I actually pulled this in my math class last year. I remember getting an A without looking at the card one time (well, once just because the test was too easy, I had to make sure I wasn't doing anything wrong...). Maybe I can do the same thing again?? I don't know, because some material is pretty difficult and I think I might have to let some slide.

It's too bad I missed the last lab; I bet it was pretty cool. But no, I decided to skip school for a field trip in Toledo. I was so bored that I think that lab would have paid off the whole day. From what I heard, the lab involved heating copper to glow? That's cool! But however I also heard it was very hectic, and rushed. I would hate to be the one to get in the way, so maybe it was better to have less people there. I was there for the results, and even that was pretty cool, seeing how everyone computed a fairly-close constant for the copper. Maybe there will be another cool lab for me this year.

Week 12

The year progresses, and now we are in December. It sure doesn't feel like it. The year has been so fast with me, considering how busy I have been lately. Plus, the weather also makes it seem like we are still in the earlier months. I don't mind that at all. If anything I am not so happy that the year has been passing so quickly. Sometimes I feel like every opportunity is passing me just as fast.

Concerning the class, I am getting very comfortable with the class. Everyone seems friendly and generally okay. Difficulty has not been increasing at any point. The material we are studying seems easy, and the mathematical formulas for heat capacity is a simple function. It's been that way for a while I guess. The class overall is easy; I don't really stress assessments. Typically, if  I do end up with unsatisfactory marks, I always have the time to improve (I may even sign up for one this week), and it usually doesn't involve a lot of extra studying to get the material down. Now that I think of it, I think it would have been a better idea to take this class earlier in my High School career, because the similarities of learning and assessing is very similar to Physics, which I found to be a little more challenging than this class. I felt like I was dropped into hot water when I took that class last year, mainly because the system was totally new and I wasn't used to the student-based learning.

Concerning the future, I am feeling confident about the rest of the year, involving pretty much all of my classes (this one included). I've got no problem so far, and we are already more than 1/4 of the way through. Of course, I may feel more confident to announce my opinion of this after 1/2 of the year, but that's just my feeling right now. A continuing problem however are these blogs. I keep making a habit of writing blogs and doing the tweets at the last minute (generally on the weekend, late at night). It's just something I will have to keep improving I guess.

Week 11

Happy Thanksgiving!

This week was short, but I will attempt to produce as much quantity as possible.

Pretty much to sum up the week it was all testing. I mean seriously, we had testing on Monday (didn't go too good), Tuesday, and we (5th hour) didn't even have the class on Wednesday, so that's going to be the subject about this short week.

Making the project was a little irritating. Why it was so vexing can be seen in my previous post. But I did manage to get it done, surprisingly. I wanted to make mine as best as possible, meaning using one of those styrofoam coolers, that metallic-looking insulator, etc, but I didn't have that around. I wasn't willing to spending money on such a trivial assignment, so I went with the things I had around me: Some foam coffee cups, extra packing foam from one of my Dad's recent jobs, tape, and even a mini towel. To my surprise, this thing performed well, keeping a 97.9% retention rate. I hope that's good enough, but I must remember that these standards don't really count for any sort of cogent grade. Oh well, it was good I guess. A better way to pass the time I suppose?

Anyways, I was happy to also see that everyone else was getting into the project. I don't think anyone opted out, which was great (I guess that's just an expectation). I wonder if the sense of competition made them much more immersed. If that were true, is that such a good idea? Yes they are working harder, but they are also working against each other, yes? There are teams, but as a whole maybe this discourages teamwork. I can't be sure, but I believe I saw this attitude in at least a couple people directly. I guess I'll have a better idea with more of the upcoming projects.

untitled

Going into unit three I'm not really 100% about the last unit. I'm still iffy and maybe this is translating to this unit. I don't really know what we are even studying right now (a few classmates agree), and how it will expand into a larger unit. We've gone over the fact that heat is not energy, but it is rather a form. Makes sense to me, and that temperature is very much different in the sense that is simply a measurement of temperature.

Regarding the class I am now a lot more comfortable with the people and it seems like everyone is okay with each other. It's not like a lot of other classes where people can easily turn on each other. Maybe that's because this environment is more constructive? Maybe so. Still, it's good to see the constructiveness of the other students. I am actually a little glad to switch seats every unit. It lets us meet new people and we aren't grouped with the same people for such a long time, vs classes that *may* offer us to switch seas every quarter, or even every semester, or even all year...not cool.

Concerning the recently assigned project, I'm not too happy about the whole thing. Why? I remember last year I did many pointless, time-consuming projects from H Physics that only frustrated me and taught me nothing. I guess they were supposed to make the class 'fun' but I never saw any fun it the activities. The best part is, if it doesn't work, this 'fun' project affects your grade. The previous project was easy, but that doesn't change anything. It was still pretty stupid. It didn't really teach me anything, and it consumed time. This is the same thing. Only this time, it is taking more time, and more work. And now the grading is competitive? The project better be weighted very little, because some people won't be very happy.

Week 9

So the first quarter is over.

I think I already emphasized on how crazy fast it went by, so I won't keep rambling on that subject. Instead I will elaborate on my quarter's success.

It was such a success, because one day I went on pinnacle to find an A+ in this class. Well, that's interesting. I am certainly happy abut it, as anyone would be too. How did this happen? It could be because of the new classroom standard system, and how it allow for better success for every student. If that were the case, is everyone getting a similar grade? I am really curious how this is working for everyone else. But my other thought is, maybe its a mix of the new system and my last-year strategy. My last year's strategy was created while taking H. Physics with Mr. Pata. The strategy is simple. Learn along with the class, but ease of the pressure of assessments. Normally this stresses out people, but it's no problem for me because I know I can always re-assess, and I know exactly what to re-assess. This helps because often times I am stumped on some questions that seem to have a totally different scenario with what we learned in class when taking tests in other classes. With this, I know exactly what to study with good examples provided on the original assessment. But the other half of this strategy is to always re-assess. Even if it's a 3, I typically re-assess to get the best possible grade. If I get a 1 or a two, that's a guaranteed re-assess. No compromises. No matter how long it takes for me to learn, I always do this. That's just a general belief that I have. It's important to realize that effort can typically balance my abilities.

With that, it's a good probability that I will continue the same strategy in the upcoming quarters. My only concern maybe that I tried too hard too early and I am already tired of school. Seeing as my grades are of admirable quality, I fear that this may not be the case when I begin to experience academic fatigue, or aka Senioritis. I kind of did the same last year, where I saw a significant drop in grades the 2nd quarter. Hopefully I can learn from my mistakes and continue this year's success.

The class itself is going alright. For a time I was a little confused about the stuff we were learning about, and those work sheets that we never really got into. Those are gone now, but they still worry me if they ever come back someday. This unit is now over, and for the most part it's all good, but I guess I will see how true that statement is when I am returned Friday's assessment.

Week 8

Done with first quarter. Feels like I won a war, but it's just getting started. Times have been flying. I'm very eager to see how my grades will turn out.

With our class, it's working out well. Nothing has seemed to pick up pace in terms of the concepts and materials to learn. Difficulty remains the same. Last assessment was interesting though. That was a cool way to assess, how everyone pitched in. Looks like a future form of assessment perhaps? Maybe not though because it does not  focus on an individual's understanding. So I guess this will slide this time? Oh well. I hope the science department gets more paper! But besides all that fun, there's something that I've been wanting to discuss but I never had the time to talk about it nor did I have the experience on the topic. I was actually going to write this into the additional comments section on the survey, but it was too long so I put it here:


It seems like technology is very frequently used in this class. Maybe I'm a little slow to technology, but it's crazy to think that just 4 to 5 years ago that if someone had an iphone, they were the coolest person in the class. Now, it's so commonplace. I remember one arrogant student (in another period) asking the question: "Who doesn't have an Iphone?

That really upsets me. All because you and some friends possess something doesn't mean the whole world does! I for one don't have one for some reasons. Mostly because of economic reasons really. For starts the thing is expensive by itself, and not even including the monthly plan. But my parents are losing hours, my Mom's might be laid off, and my Dad now has to work two jobs to get the same income we were getting a few years ago. So with that in mind, it's not the most efficient choice in terms of cost. But the other reason why I don't have one, or any other apple product for that matter, is my own choice. I'm not big on these cliche, sheep devices. I'm not going to shell out big bucks on a product just because everyone has one. My money goes to the best product, or often time the one that will suffice. That's why I spend 1/4 of $1200 for a laptop, 1/3 of $200 for a media player, or 1/10 of $1000 for a phone. Most of the time it's funny to see the costs of these things for silly things like (call me an idiot, I don't care) for the NAME, or an OPERATING SYSTEM. Seriously. I've got no hate towards Apple products; I only disgust the superfluous pricing. 

But, back to the original topic of thought, I am surprised on the amount of tech used in this class. Often I feel left out when everyone in the class is doing work on their devices, and I'm just sitting there...
But hey, maybe that won't be a problem when Christmas comes around?

Week7

I can hardly believe how far we are into the year so far. Almost a quarter away from the year gone. I like the progress, seeing as last year was excruciatingly long in contrast. For whatever reason why this year is going fast, it may be going too fast. Most of my grades are okay, but if there are anymore final assessments for the year (in every class, not just one), I might be in for some trouble later.

Concerning this class I'm not so concerned as usual. The material is still at its typical difficulty. So with that there isn't much to report. However, something notable that I never really thought about was how expansion is measured to find the temperature. In honesty, besides in an actual thermometer, I've never seem liquid expansion before, so when I saw the ethanol vs water demonstration, my alarms went off at the sight. Sure I know expansion, and I've seen it in solids, maybe gas, but never liquid. So as soon as I understood the concept and linked it to a thermometer, boom! It all made sense. Thinking about this more, I realize this can happen with any substance really, as long as you record the distance measurements with their respective temperature. But now I wonder, how does a digital thermometer work? Well, off to howstuffworks.com...

Meanwhile, I got to mention that I am continuously missing these blogs and twitter posts. Partially, it's my own fault for forgetting, but influencing this was my laptop charger which went into panic mode one day and shut off for a week. I was about ready to send it in for a RMA, but suddenly it works. Without my laptop, I would have to use my old and sluggish project PC, which most of the time I neglected use because of its immobility. The laptop's working now, so hopefully I can be consistent with these posts.

Week 6

I can hardly remember anything from last week because of all the stuff over the weekend. That's probably the reason why I forgot to get this post up on the web.

Oh right, we are on states of matter.

It doesn't seem like much news to me that there are these three states of matter that have respective levels of energy. I recall learning about this stuff in 4th grade, so for the time being it's been review. Now we're going into some more complex stuff like adding energy into the system and experiencing expansion. That seems a little new so I've been a little more interested in the new stuff.

I actually don't recall observing liquid expansion (except for thermometers) with the addition of energy. So at first I was a little startled to see this. How is that possible? I kept asking myself that until I learned that this expansion occurs at all states of matter, and I realized that we touched the topic of expansion/contraction in elementary school. It's simple. Energy brought into the system expands the material, and I would speculate energy exiting the system causes the contraction process to the initial state. That's pretty cool, this whole idea once you realize that all of this occurs at the molecular level. It can be difficult to think that the countless amount of particles within a material all pitch-in to the process. Pretty intriguing to me.

Concerning assessments, I'm at a stalemate whether or not to re-assess. I normally do, but I keep forgetting and I'm wondering if it will even help. Other than that there are no new updates on that topic with the exception that I am having some trouble with active-grade.

Week Five

Week 5

First before I begin, I want to thank Mr. Abud for letting me post this late: Thank you!

Alright, well as much as I'd love to start talking about the new things that we've learned, I have to stop and ask, what did we learn this past week? I'm truly at a block about this. Maybe it's because we've been reviewing? If that's true, then obviously I can't provide any commentary about new material as we begin to put a wrap on unit 1.

But now here's some talk about other stuff. Let's start with that density lab. When Mr. Abud first mentioned this, I thought he was joking. I thought this was all some big concept that we would have to plan for as if we would actually go through it. But there it went. It really took off and was a success. The results were really interesting, showing how our densities do contrast in genders, and especially how the densities are very close to that of water. But I guess that part isn't too surprising since they say that our bodies are 90%+ water. Overall I would have to say this was a pretty cool experiment. I've never done anything like this before. I can only imagine how much thought went into this by the teachers, so my applause to them for making it happen. I see that it's that whole experience that we can really learn from rather than simulating an experiment on paper. I think I've covered this before, but this is the best direction to go in; hands-on work and experimentation, which is good especially for people like me that are looking into the research world.

And now we move on to the assessment talk. I can't say that I am disappointed, but I can't say I am satisfied either. What recently doesn't get my approval was how I got to an answer. I remember that the question demanded a slope equation...that part was easy, but then I had to plug something or like that. To get to my answer, I guess I strayed the path a little bit by using some easy elementary fraction-multiplication math to get my answer. It all made sense to me. I knew what the fraction was, what the numbers represented, and how I got to the answer. But apparently we can't do that. I'm not mad about this, but I am a little stumped on how that's not considered a four on the standards based grading. That's my rant (if that was??).

What I can accept responsibility for thoroughly is the extra questions within questions. Often, when I am rushed to other tasks, I speed through, not noticing the embedded questions, like for example if you must find the cm^3 to mL conversion (which is obvious since 1mL=1cm^3), but they twist the track turn and subtract a value real quick. That is my fault though for not looking through this. But I can't help but ponder if it's fair to consider my attempt as a one although I know the material well but I am thrown off by a wild turn in the race.

Week Four

Week Four

Four weeks pass. Things are still going steady. We haven't ran into the super complex stuff, which is great. Like I've said before in recent posts is that I shouldn't expect to see anything major until later...maybe the second quarter for my guess. But this is all good. I'd much rather start off with the basics not just because it's easy, but because I need a foundation for the future material. Since this stuff is been pretty easy so far, there's not much commentary that I can produce about the current subjects.

What I like is the new way of discussing the topics within the class. It's nice to see that we don't need to raise our hands to express our ideas and opinions. That's a good change in the class room setting. I don't think I've seen this in other classes before....I am (and perhaps others are too) so used to waiting for the teacher to control the discussions. I see this as a very vital piece of experience of learning for today's students. We need to be able to discuss topics openly with each other, since in our jobs we won't have some overseer to control us. It's a great way to practice communication and to gain experience for the adult world. While this is all great, I honestly think this is a little too late. How long has this been in effect? In my case, I've been accustomed to waiting for the teacher's instructions. I've never had the will to direct the conversation myself. It's too new and aberrant to my experience. I'm just not used to it. Being schooled for 12+ years with this system, and all of the sudden the chains are released? I think it's too late to preface this concept to most people. This should really begin with the younger students who are just starting their academic careers. That's just something that I've been concerned about, although I do approve this system for everyone.

About assessments, I was really surprised. Experienced with Honors Physics last year, I thought I would get all fours...I knew the material well in my opinion. I couldn't believe the results. I scored just like anyone else, as if I didn't even have the experience. Maybe I was over confident? Not sure about that, but I think my major malfunction was that I wasn't being thorough  enough with my detail. Plus I made a few mis-calculations from mechanical error, which doesn't really mean if I know the material or not. I think that's a little unjust if that's considered below the satisfied grade. Maybe I didn't see something? Maybe I plugged in the wrong value? Could it have been that I misjudged? Well, there are re-assessments which are nice and I am already taking advantage of. Last year, I learned the benefits of using the re-assess. I find that it either takes me more time to really know something, or I make the mechanical errors as described  above. I learned last year that if I always use this option I know that I can get the grades I deserve. Last year in H.Physics I was getting above an A in 3/4 of the year.

Week three

It's hard to believe it, but I;m already at week three of this class. It's needing very little of my effort so far, it seems like everything's just coming to me. I think this is because of the class style. Gone are the days where I would have to cram everything we learned in a short amount of time just to get a good grade. No, it's different now. The hands-on labs are really getting results in to me, you know, stuff that I actually know now. It's incredible. But should I be so quick to make this conclusion? I have seen other people around me, confused and agitated so far. Although I can't compare, could I suggest that they should just pay attention? That's what I've been doing and it seems like it's been working well so far.

But now, about the meat of the class...the material, as I've said before, seems to be elementary, probably just because it's introduction material, and nothing that I would expect to be be mind-boggling. The conservation of mass relates to something  I was studying last year in physics: the conservation of energy if I think that's what it's called...? But anyways, we learned that energy in the system is always translated somewhere else, and you can only lose it to the environment via friction for example. I see this sort of as the same concept. You have a system, and mass (or energy) and within this system it must be preserved. Basic fundamentals. Something I hadn't really thought about was the difference of accuracy and precision. We did discuss this in physics, but I didn't have a good idea because our instructor explained in as if we were shooting at a target. Mr. Abud explained it a bit more realistic to the classroom environment, how observations can be accurate or precise based on the the observer and his or her equipment. I think that's just how it should be explained. Something else that was cool was how the amount of water mL is translated directly into volume. That's just cool.I see why the metric system is so much more superior to our own system. It's based on observations, not random guesses. Like, what is a foot anyhow? What's an inch? I know it's 25.4mm, but what does that mean? Twenty-five point four mm of what?

I know there's something else that I could be missing here in terms of what we've learned, but what is it? But hey, maybe I could suggest that if I can't remember this classroom concept, does this mean it has simply become common knowledge? Just a thought.

Week 2

It's week two of Honors Chemistry.

So far it's been good. I'm becoming a bit more comfortable with the environment, as well as the method. I have found that the a lot of the methods are similar to what I experienced in Honors Physics with Mr. Pata. There's the same standard-based grading, the same assess and re-asses system, and there is no traditional homework.

I got to say, it's a nice change. I never felt the same pressure from when I was taking Honors Biology, compared to Honors Physics. Biology was the opposite as you can imagine. With what I have experienced, it's a fair system that aims more at student success in the end than on the first try...and that's what we really need as a society; getting to actually understand whats happening than being obsessed to find out what to answer on a test...because is that really going to help me when I'm at work? Answer B or Answer C? Certainly not.
While this is all a 'fair' and revolutionary to some, I have to ask how far it will go. To what limit does this work to? Could we use this in mathematics, writing, or other sciences? I have observed this system in just Chemistry and Physics so far, and my hypothesis is that it cannot work in other subjects. Why? I thought back to Biology, and what I learned. How much did I learn? All I can say is that we did a lot. We went through many many concepts and subjects in a short period of time. But even more importantly, we learned about even more in facts and information. So we learned many facts and concepts in Biology. To my experience, it was always in a note-and-lecture style because there was never time to do it in a slow, observation-based curriculum used in our new standards system. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this new system will only work with subjects like Phys and Chem because they are primarily concept-based classes that don't really require the student to restate facts and information. Just a thought.

But so far what I've learned has been interesting. the most memorable was the Volume vs. Water lab. The results were interesting, and it felt almost obvious once I learned that a cm^3 was equal to a mL of water. In another memorable test, we observed the conservation of mass. This was obvious to me. Why? It just seemed logical. How could you add mass withing a system without the induction of more mass? Just seemed silly to me, but that's just an opinion, because maybe someone else actually learned something from this test. So that's great for them.

So far the concepts we've learned seem to be rather rudimentary to me, but that's probably because they are simple introduction labs, so as of now I have no concerns or improvements to be expressed about the content.

Blog 1

Blog 1:

My first week of school was fair, I guess. I get to see the same people that I like, and I do not like. But so far in my first week I have encountered neither in chemistry. Being a senior, I am very unfamiliar with most of the people. But besides my social standing with my peers, the class isn't bad. It seems easy because it is very different from the lecture-based and otherwise black-and-white classes that I've had in the past. This is refreshing to encounter a new teaching style that involves technology, an emphasis on problem solving, and a lowered priority on what the answer is. I agree with the style. Sure the answer is important, but an even more important answer to a question is how we got there in the first place. Why I think that's important is because I always learn a skill, and shortly forget it because I was focusing on getting the answer rather than using the skill. So I think it will be a very good year regarding what I learn and how I will learn it, although I may not be comfortable without being around my friends. 

But why do I feel so uncomfortable? I think it's because I've gotten used to their companionship. I think it's a huge psychological factor that you do better around your friends. You have confidence. I have experienced this many times. Sometimes I recalled raising my hand to answer a question, which is something I seldom do, when I'm around people I know well. I have also seen this in people around me. Last year, a student who always talked was immediately silenced the day two of his closer friends did not attend class. I know that doesn't have much to do with the class, but it's something to consider with some of your students. And just because I don't talk much doesn't mean anything either. If I do get around this, the class will be fun. I know it. I will be able to learn things like I should be; like those who made their first discoveries years ago. Instead of copying their work from a book, I will be going through the same thought process they did. So it will be more of "why does this happen, and how?" rather than simply "what's the answer?"

(Subject to editing?)