Reflection on the course

I think that this course really helped my development on the way I think about things and it also challenged me to go in depth in subjects. I’m happy that I chose to learn Italian for my inquiry project because I find that research projects get really boring, really fast because the hands on projects keep me engaged in a topic.

I think that I learned a lot about the process of learning a language and it definitely didn’t hurt to have French as a background. I do still honestly believe that you’ll never truly understand something until you experience it so ill have to get to Italy one of these days.

I definitely think that our project reflected what we’ve learned because while we didn’t get so far in Rosetta Stone, we really learned the basis of Italian; or at least enough to make a presentation that was interesting. I think that Emma and I had both hoped for a little more time to progress through the lessons because we might’ve been able to have a longer presentation with more material but I’m happy with what we accomplished.

Im definitely going to continue with this study because the way I see it, the more knowledge and cultural understanding I have of the world and in my lifetime, the easier I believe my future will be.

All in all, my time was definitely well spent during this class.

Inquiry Entry (3)

I happy to say that things are moving quite quickly with the Rosetta Stone program. I thought it would’ve taken much longer to complete the activities but the longest one I’ve done so far was 10 minutes. This is really convenient for me because I can complete these between tasks at home or in any spare time that is available to me 🙂

At first I didn’t know what to expect with the Rosetta Stone but after testing it out for a while I was really happy to find that you get immersed in the languages rather than just doing verb worksheets and things. That means that you are always listening to someone speak the language while doing the exercises so you have a continuous flow of pronunciation to help you when you’re stuck.

As you suggested, Emma and I are going to present together but at this point we aren’t exactly sure as to what we will present. Were thinking of making some Italian Food which would probably be pizza, pasta (everyone likes those) and then a traditional dish. We will probably do a small lesson with colours, numbers and other interesting things but we’ll see once we have more of the base of Italian.

Inquiry Entry (2)

Lets try this again…3rd time (2 of these same posts have been deleted in the past 10 minutes)

I’m happy to say that things are progressing quite quickly with the Rosetta stone Program. I was expecting tons of technical difficulties and set backs but it was actually quite a simple process.  The computers that we are working on in the OP room (i think that’s what its called) had to have a system check performed but nothing was unusual and we started the exercises right away.

I like the way the Rosetta Stone is set up because all the activities withing the units are reasonably short time periods of work. There are 5 units with 5 levels within the units and about 25 interactive activities within the levels  The longest activity that I’ve had to do was 10 minutes. The short time is convenient for me because i can work on these units whenever i have a bit of free time at home.

Entry One- Inquiry Documentation

For my inquiry, I don’t exactly have a question yet as I have simply chosen to learn Italian. I have a great interest in Italy and Italian and would some day like to be fluent in it; making me multilingual (English, French and hopefully Italian).

At this point in the inquiry I’ve managed to sign up for the Rosetta Stone and complete the first assignment. I had some trouble signing up because the submission forms were slightly unclear but eventually we figured it out and everything has gone smoothly from there. 

I have yet to learn anything of the language due to the fact that the first assignment was mostly just surfing the internet to look for websites to add to my “language toolbox”. 

Hopefully things will continue without any issues.

Personality Test

              To begin, this was a big personality test and require lots of reflection so bear with me 🙂

Extrovert- 11% Agreed. Although I would like to think that my intro/extroversion varies depending on who I’m around.

Intuitive- 25% Agreed. I tend to be oblivious to my surroundings therefore it makes sense for me to trust my intuition more than my senses.

Thinking-50% Agreed! I’ve never been one to go with my heart when I could go with my brain.

Perceiving- 11% Agreed. For example, I don’t like to judge anyone or anything until I have a strong understanding of them.

           I was actually very happy to find out that I was an ENTP and I think that it is an extremely accurate perception of my personality. In fact, in the very first paragraph of the information about my personality type, it explains that the two best ways to describe my personality are a professor who juggles numerous papers and ideas, and a stand up comedian whos jokes are both funny and incisively accurate. I think both of those descriptions fit me perfectly because while aspiring to do well in school, I also like to keep everyone laughing and happy without making myself seem less intelligent then I am.

             I also agree with the idea that while ENTP’s are optimists, minor set backs and inconveniences really bear down on us. This reflects me completely because ever since I can remember, and this is just one example, if I didn’t receive the mark that I hoped for on a test, it would be all I thought about for weeks. I’m starting to focus less and less on these minor set backs because I’ve realized that you have to focus more on the bigger picture because most of the things holding me back didn’t have any impact on the rest of my life anyways. Thankfully, later in the paragraph it explains that none of that applies to major setbacks and that us ENTP’s tackle these challenges with determination!!

                 One thing that I don’t agree with is the idea that I enjoy arguing and “cutting corners” when it comes to rules because I find myself to be very much the opposite of that. It states that ENTP’s are both verbally and cerebrally quick which I’ve never seen in myself. Or, perhaps it’s been there the whole time, but the introvert percentage of me is keeping me from using those skills. I’ve always preferred to think things out before I say things rather than blurt out what I’m thinking; clever or not.

       Overall, this was definitely an accurate, well done personality assessment. Other than my careers, the people who are also ENTP’s, my types traits and my percentages made quite a lot of sense.

P.S. I would just like to note that a famous ENTP, James A. Garfield, could write with his right hand in Greek and his left hand in Latin simultaneously. I think that’s something to be proud of 🙂

Other famous ENTP’s :

U.S. Presidents:John Adams, 2nd US president.   [Adams appears to have been competing with  

Thomas Jefferson to see who would live the   longest. (“Jefferson surv…”)]

James A. Garfield (who could reportedly write Latin   with one hand and Greek with the other, simultaneously)

Rutherford B. Hayes

Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

Thomas Edison

Lewis Carrol, author (Alice in Wonderland)

Julia Child

Suzanne Pleshette

George Carlin

Valerie Harper

John Candy

John Sununu

Dr. Bill Bass, forensic anthropologist (coincidently, that is one of my possible career choices)

Weird Al Yankovick

Marilyn Vos Savant

Alfred Hitchcock

Tom Hanks

David Spade
Céline Dion

Matthew Perry,

Chandler (“Friends”)

Rachel Ray Rodney Dangerfield

 

If I Should Have a Daughter- Sarah Kay

If I Should Have a Daughter- Sarah Kay

Here is my prezi. Due to the deleted work, it is slightly late. For that, I apologize. 

Thanks 

Vail

Learning Styles

During my learning styles evaluation on both tests I learned that I am a kinaesthetic learning scoring eleven points on the first evaluation and nine points on the second. At first I was slightly surprised to have received this method of learning as my own because I’ve always found that I enjoy lessons more when I see them presented visually to me. Then, after some thought and reflection of my past experiences, i realized that while being the visual learner that I am, I also like to take the time to practice or repeat the lessons on my own afterwards so these results made more sense.

I find also that while studying for tests or exams and things like that, the best way for me to memorize something is to put an action to a word or a picture to a word. So, when I study, if I’m not rewriting my notes numerous times as to put a mental picture in my head for later on, I am thinking of a song or song and dance that i can mentally sing in my head during my test. Therefore, i conclude that being a kinaesthetic learner makes perfect sense and that both tests were relatively accurate.

Adding to that, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I am Piglet (whole brain dominance favoring the right) on the final quiz. I’ve always found myself to be a logical person in life but its nice to know that i have more intuition than i thought prior. I think that  will that come in handy with important, emotional life decisions. As well, it’s nice to know that  I have an almost equal balance between both halves of my brain  and that it will hopefully keep me feeling stable when it comes to non-intuitive, business like decision making.

Getting to Know Me

Five words to describe me are…

1. Shy

2.Creative

3.Passionate

4.Awkward

5.Energetic

Things I like to do with my friends are…

When I’m with my friends, for the majority of the time, we just like to laugh and hang out. When we’re not crying from laughter or trying to catch our breath, sometimes we like to see a movie at the theatre or walk around on the busy streets down town. We’re all very busy people so when we get a chance to see each other, we just like to catch up and relax.

My favorite activities when I’m with my family…

To begin, my brother and father live in Victoria as my brother was chosen from many to compete with a high performance soccer league. So, when we all get a chance to see each other after two or three months, we like to do something fun like go up the mountain skiing or, during the summer, go mini golfing or camping.

I’m very interested in or good at…

At school, I’m very interested in drawing technical, but also creative sketches of architecture. Mostly, I’m good at drawing very structured buildings while incorporating popular styles of architecture that exist today. Out side of school, i would consider myself good at volleyball and spend a lot of time training with my team here in the Comox Valley.

Things I’d like you to know about me (or need to know about me…)

For most of the time, I think that you’ll find that I am a pretty open book. I hope you’ll see that i try my best work hard at things to get them done on time but sometimes life gets ahead of me and I lose track of things. My life is busy and complicated as I live on Denman Island while also attending French Immersion here at Isfeld and juggling extra curricular activities. I get tired a lot so i might seem absent minded sometimes but I promise that ill try to stay as focused as I can during this course.

My hopes and dreams for myself are…

For the near future, I hope to continue french immersion and graduate with a good education and my double dogwood. As for a post secondary , I think i’d like to move to a big city somewhere in the world to experience something different then the little town of Comox I’ve come to dislike due to lack of busyness. If I ever found an affordable place to live in that city, I think i would study design and/or architecture. If either of those failed me, i would turn to science and study forensics or forensic anthropology. Both of those career categories interest me equally for different reasons. As much as I’d like to live a stable, structured life, I’d also like to travel and experience lots of other places in the world.

The easiest ways for me to show what i know are…

The easiest ways for me to show you what I know are by discussing it after first planning what I would like to say. I like to plan everything before going ahead with presentations because improvisation without knowing exactly what i plan to do causing me to get stressed out.

One thing I would like to get better at in school this year…

During my gr. 9 year, there are a number of things i would like to get better at. The one thing that has been difficult for me to do for a number of years is public speaking. I always seem to get nervous right before a presentation so i end up speaking really fast and missing important parts of my speech. This year, i’d like to be able to speak publicly smoothly at a normal pace that makes it easy for an audience to understand me.