GLO invitation

Hey there! Mom or Dad.. or both!

Hahaha.. Well this year, just flew by like a black dog running from a filipino.. Haha Just Joking!! D: sorry! ahaha. Really though.. With all the projects and the exciting events, time just passed by too quickly. I'm proud of myself and I hope you will be too. I put a lot of time, effort, and hours of sleep into my work so they could be exemplary. I wanna thank you, for being there and supporting me with my work. The projects and homework seemed endless but I had you guys and my friends to help me through it. And it all turned out great with us winning a couple of our competitions!

SOOO, heres another portfolio..

Please comment after our conference.

1. What did you like best about my portfolio and portfolio conference? What would you like to see me improve on in my portfolio?
   
2. From your point of view, which of my attainments of the 6 general learner outcomes is of most value? Please explain why you feel it is important and what about my documentation of it impresses you.
   
3. Which of the GLOs would you like me to focus on in the coming year(s)?

"The Necessities of A Science Fiction"

To everyone, science fiction is basically just another type of made up story. Why? Because that’s what fiction is all about. What they don’t realize is that science fiction (sci-fi) is a much more intelligent and refined version of a fiction. We don’t even realize that most of the new technology now might’ve been a sci-fi back then. These things we have, a cell phone, a laptop, an ipad, etc. might have been just a dream that seemed impossible back then. Sci-fi movies and stories take these impossibilities and use it to show the world that it is possible but with it comes good and bad results. So now a question remains, what is science fiction? It is a fantasy that involves how science would affect society. A good science fiction should make you speculate and imagine, it should have a good story to it, and it should have the breakthrough because these are what makes the people interested and these allow them to be informed.

Science fiction should arouse the audience’s sense of wonder. It should get them to explore the possibilities in their mind, to make up their own solutions and make up their own scenarios. A good science fiction would make the audience imagine themselves in that type of situations. Arousing their sense of wonder means to make them think ahead of the story, make them question things about the story. For example, in the movie “matrix”, in the beginning Neo learns that he is “the one” but throughout the whole movie, he wonders what it means to be “the one”. While watching this movie, I couldn’t help but wonder myself, “what does it mean?” I also wondered what it would be like to live in a fake world, a programmed world. A way to know if a science fiction is really good is when the story bugs you, or provokes you into thinking “how would my life be if that really happened?” If a science fiction makes you ask these types of questions, then it has captured you and woke up your sense of wonder.

Science fiction needs what every story needs, a good plot. A good plot is the same as a good storyline. A good plot means that it would make sense to whoever would read or watch it. It leaves them wondering throughout the whole story and it makes them want to keep reading or watching. But a good plot would also leave them pondering after the story. Being suspenseful in a sci-fi is a must. It allows everything to build up and be surprising and be satisfying in the end. An example of a good plot is in the movie “Wall-e”; it starts off with a normal day as the robot named Wall-e. It shows how the earth looks like and what the little robot; left by itself is doing on the empty planet. The story starts to build up when another robot named “Eve” comes to the planet, obviously in search for something. Being a curious person, around this time of the movie, you’d be asking “where did she come from, what is she?” This is a good thing to have in a plot because to get people to keep watching, the story needs to make them get interested. In Wall-e the story starts to build up as the Wall-e finds himself in a ship in outer space, where the “Eve” came from. And the story continues on by showing what the ship is for, what Eve’s purpose was for going to earth. As the story builds up, it answers a few of the viewer’s questions but it would also make them ask even more questions until they find themselves getting to end and having their wonders be satisfied. A good sci-fi story builds up and adds twists and makes the viewer make their own conclusions.

Lastly, a science fiction’s main requirement is a breakthrough. A scientific breakthrough that is possible and the breakthrough that has its upsides and of course, its downsides. The breakthrough should take the story in unexpected and interesting directions. Science fiction takes a type of technology and advances it out of this world. A technology that seems impossible. In the movie “Minority Report” they have a technology that allows them to see who the killer is and who the victim is before it happens, it also allows them to see where and when this would happen. This is a big breakthrough that would save a lot of people’s lives. Not only will it save them, it will also put criminals in jail for even thinking about harming another. Although this breakthrough has good upsides, a good sci-fi would show all of the major possible consequences. The negative consequences in the “Minority Report” was that they would arrest the criminal minutes or even seconds before it happens, not knowing that criminal’s could change their mind right at the last minute. So they could be putting innocent people in jail. In this movie, they had some minor breakthroughs, like how their computer works, it runs on a big screen and you can use it just with the touch of your fingers, not only is this an easier technology, it is also helpful. A good sci-fi needs to have a big breakthrough that would affect the whole story.

Making the story questionable, having a good plot, and having a possible and important breakthrough are elements of what a good science fiction is. Why do we have sci-fi? It is mainly to educate about the world, to be didactic. Science fiction is about discovering the mechanics of the world. Finding out what the different possibilities are for the future. Science Fiction stories are created to inform and convince the audience that it is possible but with it are consequences. The stories are created to warn, to instruct that if we want that kind of technology, we would have to be careful.

Picture Analysis

Verb: Running, Barking, Laughing, Leaping, Biting, Holding

Sensory Details:
Hear: Thudding of the dog's paws against the ground, Snarling as the dog holds on to the ball
Smell: The soft wet grass, the dog's fur, the wet sticky ball
Taste: (none, but since im filipino... hahaha just kidding)--for the dog, the rubber of the ball
See: The high leaps of the dog, bright sunny day, soft green grass, bright green rubber ball, black and white fluffy fur
Feel: The pointy grass, the wet rubber ball, the soft fur, the heat of the sun, the cool breeze

Poetry Website Invitation

HEY THERE!

Hi! I just said hi.. in a different form.. Anyways... Whenever you can, you, yes i mean YOU can come and visit my poetry website. Whats that? Its a website that I created that includes 4, yes FOUR of poems of my interest and, wait for it........ My OWN poem. Yes, i wrote it myself. My metaphor poem! Hahaha, and when you're done, PLEASE leave a comment to this post.

That picture on the left is a sneak peek

An example of one of my pages :D

So, go to this website http://www2.k12.hi.us/~rmorales/poems.html

if you missed that, here it is again!: http://www2.k12.hi.us/~rmorales/poems.html

-Rebekah

Please and Thank you!

Revised Metaphor Poem

I sleep, I eat, I cry
For you attention is all I need
I'm here for you
To comfort you
To be there when you cry
To bring you that smile you long
Since you do the same for me
I claw, I protect
For you are my friend
I may be difficult to care for
But its worth it in the end
I clean,
Im independent
I learn on my own,
do things on my own
I am a cat

metaphor project reflection

Hi there. grawr (grr&rawr).. its late and for some reason.. im doing homework and oy.. its odd.

Well here goes..

Creating the poem wasn't easy for me. Actually, making up a poem or a video is never easy for me. It's tough for my to create a poem for something that general.. In a way, this project was. We had to create a metaphor for ourselves, at first thinking of a metaphor for myself wasn't easy at all. There were many possibilities, some odd and some were just, completely random and made no sense at all. Of course, while thinking of the different metaphors, i was with my cat and that how i realized what my metaphor would be. The next hard step? Making the poem. Making poems aren't my specialty. I like to read them but make me write one and you won't get a response from me for awhile. To make it, i just thought of the different elements there are in a poem. I thought of making rhymes and i also thought of making similes. After about an hour of thinking, i finished. But, i wasn't done yet. I still had a video to make. Since my poem was mainly about cats, i thought it was pretty easy to make the storyboard for this. And it was, all needed was to show the personality of my cats that related to me.

I learned many things during this project. For one, never have a lazy and mean cat as your actor. They will walk away from the camera and hide from you until you put it away. I also learn about the different angles i could use. The angles made my video more interesting to watch while at the same time, it informed them about myself. I also learned about turning poems into videos. It may be alot of work but it's always fun to do. Some things in poem could be used literally. For example, in my poem "i claw, i protect", I didn't actually mean that i would fist fight with someone for my friends but i also meant that i would protect them from words that could hurt for a long time. But in my video, i used in a literal way by using the audio of my cats. As for myself, i learned that i don't quit easy. I may think that i want to but i won't and my poem helped with this because it wasn't easy making my poem.

Poems.. list..

My poem- "A companion" (not sure of this title)
Fire and Ice- Robert Frost (doesnt this sound familiar?)
The lockless door- Robert Frost
Life's too short- Michael Charles Messineo
Dreams Deffered- Langston Hughes
Hope is the thing- Emily Dickinson
A dream Within a dream- Edgar Allan Poe

Im sure of the first four in the list.. im trying to decide between the last 3..

Metaphor Poem

I wish for 20 hours of sleep(rough title)

I sleep, I eat, I cry

For your care is all I need

Im here for you

To comfort you in your sleep

To be there when you cry

To bring you that smile you long

Since you do the same for me

I claw, I protect

For you are my master

I may be difficult to care for

But its worth it in the end

I am a cat

That will always be there for you

Journal #25-"my vocabulary history"

Assess your own vocabulary. What are your strong points; what are your weak points when it comes to the trait of Word Choice in your writing and reading?

My strong points are coming up with the right words that click in the sentences. The words that are synonyms so no words would be repetitive. My weak points are when I read, it takes me awhile to figure out what some words mean, so I would have to read the sentence again. Also, when i write, it takes awhile for me to make sure that the words I use, makes sense and that the sentence it's in defines the word.

Describe how you have studied vocabulary in the past. What kinds of class activities and assignments have you experienced to work on your word choice?

I have had vocabulary tests in class. In the beginning of the week, our class would be given a set of words and each person picks a word. Then they would have to make a sentence with the word and draw a picture that describes the word. Another is an assignment that we had, where we were given a set of words and we had to use those words in a fictional story.

Describe how you, personally, learn new words. Give a specific example of how you have learned a new word recently.

I learned new words from my family and friends. I also learn from the books I read. I always like to have a book or a series that I am reading, so recently, I've been learning new words from the college level book I'm reading.

What are your specific vocabulary/word choice goals? How many new words would you like to learn this semester? What will be your evidence that you “own them” and can use them in your speaking and writing?

My goal is to learn more new words and use them daily. I would like to learn as much as I can. My evidence to show that I "own them", is to use them while talking to my friends and my family. I would also use it as I speak to my teachers and use it in my essays.

Explosion of the beginning

Anticipating and waiting, the words of how I spent my last few minutes of the 09'. As my cousin and I sat outside watching the little kids giggle over a few morning glories, i heard my uncle say that our biggest show this year is their neighbor lighting up over a dozen of aerials. I looked at him in shock, I've never seen the aerials right up close and now i was going to get to see it right above my head. As the 2010 crept closer, their neighbor decided to wake up everyone with a countdown blast from their blow horn. With each piercing blow came big cheers from the surrounding houses. When it was 10 seconds from the new year, they held it until everyone yelled "Happy New Year!" and they lit up all their aerials. My world was now, bright rainbows lights above me along with hugs and smiles all around me. I was glad to share this new year with my family and my friends.

Portfolio

First semester went by too fast. I learned a lot of new things. From making a good video, using photoshop to express a message, using traits to create a good essay, and now, making web pages to show everyone what I’ve done this semester. Working with these htmls are not easy but they are fun to do.

Hola mom and/or dad!

When I have finished presenting to you my portfolio, I would like you to comment about it (down there). Also please include your answer to these questions in your comments.

-What did you like best about my portfolio and portfolio conference? What would you like to see me improve on in my portfolio?

-From your point of view, which of my attainments of the 4 traits of writing is of most value? Please explain why you feel it is important and what about my documentation of it impresses you.

-Which of the traits of writing would you like me to focus on in the coming semester?

-THANK YOU!

Interdependence-draft

Interdependence, it happens every day and all the time. We don’t even notice it. It mostly happens with our family. Every single day, we depend our parents to put a roof over our head, give us food to eat, and clothes to wear. We depend on our brothers and sisters to help us when our parent’s can’t. And they depend on us to help them, by cleaning up around the house, cooking when they can’t, and doing our schoolwork to show that we are trying.

There are other times like during main events. Once was during a birthday party- my sister’s and I- and we were hosting it at our pool. As much as I love to party, I hated setting up for it. My family can get frustrated easily and most of the times, at each other.

“Huff, huff” I was running out our door, to the garage, and into the hot sun. As the car pulled away, I waved my arms and yelled “wait, WAAIT!” The car stopped with me right in front of it. I was jumping up and down since the ground was burning up.

“What?” my sister yelled out the window as I walked over.

“Mom said to start the grill at the pool” I told her, still jumping up and down.

“OK” My sister said as she pulled away.

My job, as usual was to send messages from one person to the other. It was a tiring job; having to run after people to tell them (did I mention it was hot?).And since no one bothered to keep their phone anymore, it made my job harder. I also had to gather all the things they say to grab and either put it in the car or walk to the pool with it. My mom was at the pool, telling us what we need to bring. My dad was at our house, cooking and bringing out things we need. My brother and sister were taking turns with the car (if one is driving, the other is at one location, helping). I was in both locations, taking messages. Most of the time, my job would get harder because we were tired and no one would listen to the messages I’m trying to relay to them.

The madness was near to its end. Everything was ready at the pool, a couple of guests have arrived, and only a couple more things to get from the house. I walked slowly to the pool, carrying a bagful of cooking utensils and another bag with condiments. My cousin was passing by me and he slowed down and waited for me to catch up.

“Need a ride?” He asked

“Ok thanks” I answered as I got into his car.

When we got to the pool, food was laid out on the tabletop and everyone was around it, grabbing food and chatting happily. Not wanting the food to run out before I got there, I quickly put the utensils and condiments by the sink and grabbed the paper plate. My auntie was in front of me and started chatting with me. I kept nodding my head, only paying attention to the tasty food set in front of me. When I finished grabbing my food, I took a seat next to my sisters. We chatted, talking about which food was delicious and which food was unpleasant. There was a lot of agreement and disagreement, causing a short argument between two of my sisters. I stood up and took in the moment. Each table was filled with a group of family chattering and laughing. Then I heard something I didn’t expect.

“BEK! Go back to the house and grab the radio!” My mom yelled across the pavilion.

I gave her an exhausted look. I turned to face my sister, she read my expression and grabbed the car keys and stood up.

Bibliography

Just in case you wanna know where my info is from :D

http://www.livescience.com/environment/080815-bts-hawaii-petrels.html

http://www.sciencecases.org/hawaii/hawaii.pdf

http://www.hawaiiconservation.org/_library/documents/hispecialprotectionneeds.pdf

http://www.state.hi.us/dlnr/Alien_Species.html

http://www.explorebiodiversity.com/Hawaii/Pages/conservation.htm

http://forest.mtu.edu/classes/fw3020/diverse.htm

http://www.natureserve.org/consIssues/tenReasons.jsp

KC3 thesis

yes, i know its late. im sorry
topic: Alien Invasive Species
subtopic: Biodiversity and its threats


my thesis: Invasive species in Hawaii are a threat to Hawaii's rich biodiversity.

KC3- draft

Hawaii, a beautiful place to live with lots of beautiful plants and animals. But are they all from Hawaii? Hawaii is rich with an endemic biodiversity. Endemic means that it originated in Hawaii and was not a type of introduced specie. Biodiversity is the number and variety of species in one area. Species brought to Hawaii are part of its biodiversity but can also ruin the greatness of it. Invasive alien species in Hawaii are a threat to Hawaii’s rich biodiversity.

Hawaii’s biodiversity has many unique and well adapted species. Most of them aren’t even found anywhere else but in Hawaii. Invasive species came here by themselves or were brought here. The early settles brought as food, so they had something to eat. The Hawaiians brought “32 species of plants, geckos, pigs, and rats. In less than 2 millennia Hawaiians had forced 17 flightless birds to go extinct.”(http://www.explorebiodiversity.com/Hawaii/Pages/conservation.htm). Birds such as the flightless goose to the Hawaiian ‘O’o has gone extinct because of alien invasive species. These birds were here from 1000-1300 years ago. Then another reason why they were brought here is to solve problems from species that were already ruining the biodiversity. But once the problem is gone, the species that were brought here would multiply and become a larger population.

Another invasive species that is a threat to Hawaii’s biodiversity are humans. Humans harm the native animals by capturing them and altering the natural habitats, these areas that the native species would need to survive. Once they alter it, the habitats for the native species would get eliminated and the native species would not be able to survive anymore. Due to Hawaii’s small animals that were not adapted to compete, Hawaii became vulnerable to its threats. If these native species become extinct, the stunning array of plants and animals will quickly disappear. If they disappear, Hawaii’s biodiversity wouldn’t be rich in its unique and large variety of animals.

Due to the Invasive species, Hawaii’s biodiversity has suffered for it. Hawaii’s biodiversity is as rich as it is now because of the native species. Its native species have well adapted to its environment and are about to live and reproduce easily. But because of Invasive alien species, they are becoming extinct. When they become extinct, Hawaii’s biodiversity wouldn’t be good anymore because it would have a small amount of species in this area. A type of native specie that is now becoming extinct because of its threats are the Silversword, it was still recovering from its depletion from collectors but is now having a hard time about Argentine Ants that attack its pollinators. Another is the Oahu tree snails. They are rapidly disappearing from Oahu’s forests from people collecting it’s shell. The biodiversity mostly depends on its variety of different animals. And if the native species continue to become extinct, there wouldn’t be much of a variety except the invasive species that came to Hawaii.

The invasive species are affecting Hawaii’s biodiversity. They only thrive on a specific habitat and when they do, the native species living in that habitat would become extinct. They would limit the sources that are needed by the native species that were already in that habitat. When its sources are limited, they are forced to compete and since they were adapted to compete, they won’t be able to survive. They would also mess with the interaction of the native species, interaction that they need to survive and multiply. Invasive alien species would also prey on native species, give them diseases, and hybridize. Having all these threats that affect the native species, would affect the way that Hawaii’s biodiversity was.

Hawaii’s biodiversity is important. We need the native plants and animals. They recycle nutrients, produce oxygen, pollinated plants and these plants are used for crops, fibers, and medicine. The biodiversity is good for human health, economy, ethical, and aesthetic reasons. They perform needed ecological roles in our biosphere.

Hawaii has 30 vertebrates, 102 invertebrates, and 515 plants that are considered “critically imperiled globally”. This means those 1–5 occurrences and/or fewer than 1,000 individuals remaining. All these animals and plants played an important role in Hawaii’s biodiversity and played ecological roles. Every year, Hawaii receives and excess of 20 new species. All of which could destroy and eliminate the native species by creating a competition that the native species are vulnerable to.

Response to teacher-commentary

Hi Ms. Sueoka,
thanks for the comment on my pre-assessment. I do realize that i needed more details. My only problem is thinking of it and thinking of it on the spot. Plus, sometimes i think that i put way too much details and take out the important details that I should've kept. Also, I have a problem with the wording on my details, I usually get stuck on one word and i would keep repeating that word. I think with your help, I can learn how to make my essays come alive and let the reader experience what i was experiencing.
once again, thank you. Its good to know what I need to work on.

Querencia essay draft

I walked up the soft, brown stairs, my legs heavy and my arms sagging down from my shoulder. I had a long and crazy day at school. All I could think of was going into my room and sleeping but I knew I couldn’t sleep yet. I had homework to do and I had chores to do. When I walked in, there on the floor, was already a piece of mess I had left behind from the morning. I shook my head and picked it up and threw it somewhere inside the room. I was in no mood to clean up.
My room always felt different from the rest of the world. It’s a feeling that lets me show my true personality. When I’m outside my room, I’m usually a different person. Once the door closes, I let myself run loose and run free. When I’m happy, I’m listening to music and dancing. When I’m mad, I pace around the room, thinking about how I can let it out without hurting anyone. When I’m sad, I’m lying on my bed, face down, letting the pillow absorb the tears that are escaping my eyes.
Every emotion I’ve had has been captured by this room. When I’m tired, there’s the scattered pillows and blanket to show. The socks, t-shirts, shorts, and jeans all over the floor is from when I’m rushing to leave the house in the morning. I wouldn’t have time to even put my clothes back to how neatly folded it was before. Then there is the mess of papers and books next to my desk, some probably from my middle school days or even my elementary. I would be a school “nerd”, just sitting on my desk and doing my home work. When I finish, it would be too late into the night to grab my books and put it away neatly. The way my desk is arranged shows a time that I was “OCD” because everything is straight and my books are set is from biggest to smallest. There are the pictures on the wall that have some of my best memories.
This isn’t only my room; it’s my older sister’s too. Actually, it was once owned by 3 of my sisters. Yes, it’s amazing to fit so much people, yet alone, so much bed in one room. And it wasn’t a big room either. Then once the oldest one moved out for college, it was just for two people. Then the next oldest left and finally, I was allowed to move in. I was happy, even though it wasn’t my own. I had my own place. A place to call “my room”, my sister wasn’t that happy I was moving in but she dealt with it and later found that it’s actually interesting to share a room with me. Mostly because, outside of our room, we constantly fight but once were inside, we share everything with each other, our secrets and our problems. She helps me with my problems and I do the same with her. We both keep each other’s secrets from anyone else, especially our parents.
The fact that so much of us have used this room, I feel that this room has many secrets and many memories, happy, sad, and even mad memories. A lot of things happened in here and all of us know what it is. Every mess, every scratch, every object, and every filth means something in this room. And now, it means a lot to me, they all indicate a feeling I’ve had.

Journal #5: Menemac student

A menemac student is a student that has creativity and is comfortable with working in groups. Having creativity allows the student to picture good videos and make the videos look better with effects. Also, it allows the student to create good stories for videos. Creativity, also helps with photoshop projects. A menemac student should also be comfortable with working in groups because to create a video, you would have to work with others and not have problems with it. If there is, then they should be able to solve the problem and be able to produce a quality work.
A menemac student should also be a student that likes to learn new things. In technology, there are always new things coming up and the student needs to learn about it to be able to use technology easily. Also, in learning new things, good stuff will come out of it. A menemac student is also a student that can learn and understand. To understand things, means that they can do it and they can teach it to others. So if they understand a certain program, it means they can use it effectively and they can show others or teach others how to use that.

Journal #9

My novel is Wild Meat and Bully Burgers.
This book is about Lovey's life as she tries to find her identity. She has a Japanese-American family. I think this book relates to cultural/ethnic roots because of how the book was written from Lovey's view. The way that her and friends talk is part of their culture in Hawaii. Where she works is also part of the culture and ethnic roots because, in Hawaii, the Japanese were one of the plantation workers.
"Japanee girls all want haole last names like Smith or Cole"
Lovey is a japanese girl that wants to marry a haole. She wants to be a haole. She isnt very fond of her Japanese culture. In the book, She and her family cannot speak proper english. Her teacher, Mr. Harvey tells her to learn how to speak proper english and learn how to use it all the time.

Journal #8

My safe places or my favorite place:
1. Our backyard. Its quiet and entertaining. As I sit down on the brown, homemade swing, my dog runs around, playing with himself. I can lay back and stare into the sky and just think.

2. My uncle's backyard.In their backyard, there is a hill and my uncle is in the middle of constructing a house-like area but at the top, he finished and there is chairs up there. Everytime, i go to their house, everyone knew that, that was the place that id be at. I have the shade of the big mango tree, the beautiful view of this side of the island. As the night comes, i can see the city lights coming on, one by one. When i sit up there, i can think clearly and i know who i am and what i want. No one else matters, just me..

3. The park by my house. Soft, thick, and green grass. The small hills i can lie on. When I dont want to be around anyone else and im not at my uncle's house, i go to this place. It allows me to remember all the good times (because this park has nothing but good memories). It relaxes me and calms me down. I can easily make the decision of what my next step will be.

And I choose...... My Uncle's backyard!!