Masterpiece Presentation Notes

06/03/2015

Eric, Lukas, Miles, & Emilio:
- "Inglorious Greetings"
- film made to be easy to relate to + humor
- continue film making throughout summer
- parody and satire

Jisu & Naiomi:
- Jisu > always had music in her life, plays piano, clarinet
- Naiomi > to get out of her comfort zone, stop being so reserved
- Korean & Indian culture showcased in two different music videos
- focused on the feelings the music and the accompanying video gave off

06/04/2015

Megan:
- journaling > future major/job
- "every day write about something new"
- biggest lesson = CREDIBILITY
- follow your passion
- interview video of a friend > formatted like the "60 minutes" show > never give up, triumpth over every challenge

06/05/2015

Chase:
- The Search For Stoke
- interview video; people's stoke
- love + passion = stoke

Terry:
- love for nature and connecting it his life
- focus on sustainability & independence

My Masterpiece

Prezi Presentation

RHS Class of 2015 BLOG > http://rhsclassof2015.blogspot.com

Masterpiece Presentation Notes

06/01/2015

Sophia:
- gender roles
- rape, focused on the male perspective & statistics, geared to show that it happens to men more often than we think
- double standards concerning gender

Yesenia:
- embracing diversity YET finding the common theme that intertwines humanity
- human learning process > lived experiences
- wisdom through living

Millie:
- family tree & NBA history
- correlations
- mixing two things she loves

06/02/2015

Chrystal & Tia:
- education system, students opinions on school, the environment, and the teachers
- talking about disrespectful students in a classroom environment
- * also provided teacher's perspective
- formulated solutions to the problems students mentioned

Jhaicelle:
- woman leadership
- survival kit
- team building and leadership game

Masterpiece Presentation Notes

5/20/2015

Taylor:
- Internship at aquarium
- learned about animals on our coast, will be able to compare them with Hawaiian animals
- has to do with her major
- developed new intern program for younger students, Taylor was the first

5/21/2015

Laike:
- art & expressive media
- all works have different messages, different thought processes, themes, etc.

5/26/2015

Tyler:
- concept > collective input
- combination of music, photography, photo shop/editing, and clothing
- connected his first theme to our generation, the 1st to always and constantly have computers in our life > led to it being called "WINDOWS"

Jeff:
- coded a game > process over four weeks
- "Donuts & Dragons" > able to play in class

5/28/2015

Connor:
- 3.0 > overall a business theme
- company connection to school > be above average, above 3.0
- trail runs > RHS athletic shirts
- mentor through Preston > lean start up (polls)
- was able to get 3.0 company a booth in One Way
- social media + personalized hashtag
- got a sense for the business and start up

Yun Soo:
- culture & lifestyle of Korea
- trip to Korea moved to the summer
- adjust his culture to the American culture

Val:
-history lesson
- connected to his passion and future major

Masterpiece Progress.

Currently looking for people willing to help with interviewing this year's senior class. Harder/longer process than I expected.

So far people have been extremely honest, and  I have learned multiple new things about even my best/closest friends. This process has shown me that questions are very important, even if your asking them to people you thought you knew everything about. I hope this project does give a little bit of insight to the lives of others. And that people realize that we have different backgrounds, different primary languages, different skin color, yet we face similar struggles, we face similar situations. But we must also realize that people react differently to similar situations. This is an eye opening experience, and it really drives home the message of appearance vs reality.

If anyone wishes to help out, email me at l25pliego@gmail.com (lowecase L, not a one), or leave a comment with your email and I will add you to the "RHS Seniors" BLOG.

WHAT ABOUT MY MASTERPIECE?

My progress is slow but I have begun to interview people. I currently have taken down the blog until I have a good number of posts. The blog will go back up when I feel it has enough content, and once it includes people from diverse backgrounds and stories. Progress is slow with this project because the people who said they would help me and I have busy schedules. Classes, extracurricular activities, AP prep, has taken up a grand portion of our time. I'm hoping to knock out multiple interviews this week though. Gotta speed up this process, yet have quality and personable work.

If anyone is interested in this project and wants to help, please let me know. (:

RHS Class of 2015: Masterpiece Blog

This is the first of my masterpiece ideas that I have actually started to work on. I have only accomplished the first three to four steps but that is more than I can say for any of my other ideas. The first thing I did was obtain the list of seniors, the second develop some questions, the third get some helpers (still need some if anyone is interested), and the final thing I have done is actually make the blog where my masterpiece will be showcased.

The only thing I regret was not starting this sooner, there are over 450 seniors in our class. It will be a huge task to actually get through all of them by the time masterpiece presentations start, but my group of friends and I will do our best.

The link to my masterpiece blog (currently post-less, but soon to get going): http://rhsclassof2015.blogspot.com/

Be sure to check it out and get to know the people you are graduating with, there are parts of each other we do not know about. This project is meant to serve that purpose, because at most we each only really know about 15-30 people of our graduating class.

Progress: The Masterpiece & passions

I got the list of seniors and I am currently developing questions. If anyone has any question suggestions please comment down below, THANKS! The thing I have received is help from the heavens. I have had multiple students be interested in my project, Edgar offered his aid in any way, as well as Yesenia and my best friend, and many of my classmates have offered good suggestions concerning questions and ways of organizing this.

I haven't necessarily found any one thing I am passionate about, in a sense I am passionate about trying many different things, having new experiences, and just going out and conquering the world. Simply in my lifetime I want to be a nurse with minors in psychology and education, a cosmetologist, a teacher, and I have always wanted to be in the Marines. Another goal of mine is to travel, live in different places, experience different areas and cultures, etc. I just want to accomplish as much as I can in this life time. And I want to help as many people as I can in this life.

SEEKING MENTOR

My expert mentor would have to teach me how to approach people, how to be welcoming, how to make people feel comfortable, and ultimately how to get people to open up. I would also probably need help with the interrogation portion of my masterpiece, such as staying on topic, jumping from topic to topic or change of topic, etc. I would also need a mentor that is straight up and tells me when I am wrong or right, that lets me know when I need to work harder, and that pushes me when I do not push myself. My mentor would also have to teach me how to keep a schedule that works around other people's schedules, yet still get my work completed on time.

Questions to choose a mentor:

1. What is your personal experience with projects like this?
2. What is your interest in these projects?
3. Have you completed the entire process by yourself?
4. Did you have a mentor? How prepared do you think you are to be a mentor?
5. What would you describe your "people-skills" as?
6. Would you describe yourself as "authentic, empathetic, creative and honest?"
7. To what capability do you think you can aid me?
8. In what way(s) do you plan on mentoring me?

Questions to ask a mentor:

1. How must one approach a stranger that one knows nothing about?
2. What sort of questions would make people think and give a genuine response?
3. What does one do if the student responds negatively or disagreeably?
4. What do I do if the student is not taking me or my project seriously? (This is an inclusive project so I don't want to exclude anyone for being rude/childish.)
5. Should all the questions be the same for all people? Should questions be different based on the person? Or would different questions throughout make it more interesting?

Masterpiece - Change of Plans

Dr. Preston may not know this, YET, but I did plan on changing my masterpiece one last time. I didn't feel my last project was realistic, or that it would in any way keep going if I were to leave it, so I panicked and gave up on it. I now feel that I have no time to start that last project so let's just leave it in the past. My new masterpiece idea may still be somewhat book related in it's final form. The idea is to document a small part of every senior, to write down a small portion of their story, to actually get to know who I am graduating with. This entire idea came about when I was walking to class with my friend, Brandi Anderson. I always ask her the randomest questions, as I do with many people, which is why I did NOT believe when Preston said that on average people only ask 5 questions a day or something like that. But anyway, that day I commented on how we pass so many people daily in the school hallways, and how I don't know half the people on campus, and how they could be facing so many difficulties or moments of grandeur and we wouldn't even know it! Crazy, right?! So I asked her if she knew most of the kids we were graduating with, the answer was no, not very well. But Brandi, being the ridiculously awesome person she is said, "Wouldn't it be cool if we could meet every senior?" *Or something along those lines, my memory tends to betray me. But that is how the idea came about, now it is just up to me to make it a reality.

Some steps Brandi & Yesi helped me come up with in the past few days: 

1. Get a list of all the students in the Class of 2015 
2. Think of some good & thoughtful questions
3. Begin talking to people in my classes
4. Begin to talk to friends of friends of friends, etc. etc

*Must get at least 5-7 kids per day 

 

Some issues: 

• If the final format is meant to be a book, how will others see it if they are interested? 
• Where would I get the money for printing this book? 
• Should all the stories be posted on a blog instead? Maybe both

 

For the third Literary Analysis assignment I decided to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, as it has a lot to do with traveling the "uncharted territory of high school," which could tie into my masterpiece, and it has also been on my bucket list for awhile. 

Masterpiece: The Next Step

Describe your topic.
My topic is reading. Any and all types of reading. It also includes getting others interested in reading. In a way I want to link my previous ideas to this one. Communication: all reading materials attempt to communicate a message, and idea, a story. Learning about animal cruelty: get my hands on articles, understand the concepts thoroughly, get involved somehow.  

Explain how you came to be interested in your topic and why you care about it so much.

Reading has always been something immense in my life. As a child, my mom would always read me a bed time story, I basically asked and forced her to read to me until I could do it on my own. Reading was literally my life. (Past tense because I no longer have the liberty to read as much as I would like.) I could read a Harry Potter book in one sitting, I sped through that series, and eagerly searched for others like it, getting a hold of texts such as The Series of Unfortunate Events, or the Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath series, and the list goes on and on, and continues to grow. Reading has always been an interest, hindered only by the "free" time I have available.
My other two sub-topics came about because I have always had an interest in helping. Communication, mostly an interest in sign language came about when I was unable to understand a woman asking me and my friend bus times. My mind searched for a way to understand but I couldn't , but my inability led me to my first attempt to learn ASL. As mentioned in a previous post, I have failed multiple times, second and third attempts being sparked by the TV show "Switched at Birth." The fourth attempt was sparked by this class, although I have failed again. I care because I want to be able to understand, I want to be able to help, and in some way I want to make it up to that woman who probably missed the bus that day.
My second sub-topic is learning about animal cruelty and finding a way to help, I care about this because of the fact that I had an odd pet at age 11. At this age I was given the responsibility of caring for a Dorking chicken that I named Katalina. (I have no idea why I chose this name.) I don't exactly remember what I was searching for online, but I came across undercover, factory farming, animal cruelty videos. Well, my love for my chicken led me to keep searching, but my love for one animal soon turned to a love for all animals that are simply meant to be eaten, or that are used for some other product.

Predict how learning about this topic will enrich your life and provide value for learners and others in your community who read/see what you do.
How doesn't reading enrich my life? It builds vocabulary, it allows the reader to exercise the brain, it aids the reader in reading and comprehending faster. Not reading hinders the brain and its capacities. Reading has already enriched my life, it aided my learning of a second language, English, and it continued to help me in learning. I honestly don't know what my project completely is, all I know is that I want to read. And I also know that one of my goals has always been to start a reading program at my local library, getting kids into reading at a young age, encouraging them to read more difficult, larger, and more intellectual books.
My other two topics would show the value about learning or reading up on something. If I continue to attempt to learn sign language, I could possibly show its value through work that I do. Sign language would allow us to tear down another barrier. Doing research and posting information about animal cruelty will aid in educating my fellow classmates and others in what really occurs in farms, even the so-called free range farms. But the information I post is not to force or gross people out into being vegetarian or even vegan, rather for them to truly look at the company they purchase their meat, eggs, etc. from.

List the academic disciplines and/or skills the topic requires (for example, game development requires an understanding of psychology, math, coding, literature, music, history/social studies, and many others).
Skills required: Reading does not require any skills except for the desire to read and the ability to understand and follow a story line. All other knowledge and skills will only come in useful, for example, music (rhythm for poetry), historical/social studies (historical allusions, also valuable when reading articles), psychology (understanding character thoughts/actions).


Map out how you will begin learning about your topic (it's OK if you don't have a formal plan yet-- in fact, learning how to make a plan in this area may well be your first step).
I wanted to start off with a book that Dr. Preston recommended, being unable to get ahold of the book I began to simply read - so far I have only read three books, The Fault in Our Stars, and Water for Elephants, and Angela's Ashes. Regarding the second part of my masterpiece, I hope to speak to the librarian at my local library to see whether I could start a Saturday reading program or something similar. Maybe throughout this process a book club could be started. Maybe this will include writing as well or tutoring small children (I kind of just want to aid my community in educating our children and younger generations.)
Regarding my other two topics: Communication (sign language) - pick up where I left off and continue to learn, try to get my friend or someone to learn with me.
Learning about animal cruelty (meat, poultry, food items) - Look for recent news, articles, videos on the topic, cover the entire topic, post on it.
*find a way to combine and bring all this together in one presentation type of thing


Describe the resources you will need (wave the magic wand I just handed you and imagine for a moment that time, money and access are not obstacles. Who do you want to meet?  What materials do you need?  What types of experiences will you seek?).
Materials that I need are books, articles, poems, reading material meant to be intellectual, materials meant to entertain, materials meant to stir one emotion from the reader, I need a variety of reading materials. But for that I have the public library and other such resources. The experience I seek the most is just being able to immerse myself in the world of reading as I once did as a kid. I want to create those same experiences for other children, show them the wonders of a novel and the messages hidden in a poem..
I will attempt to seek only positive experiences, but I would also like to experience anything negative that comes along with any of my topics. In example, if I could, I would convey my own research or undercover investigation regarding animals, which would not be a pleasant experience.
Who I want to meet - anyone related to any of my topics, ex: anti-animal cruelty spokesman, authors (I met four authors once, not any I knew, but I met them at an "Author Go Round"), sign language teachers (contact the ones at Righetti and others not from Righetti), etc.

Consider which tools you will use to tell your story.  Will you continue posting on your course blog?  Will you start a new blog, and if you do, will it be on Blogger, or WordPress, or Tumblr, or another platform?  Will you use other media and collaborative tools to curate, remix, and share your learning?  Do you have ideas about what would be cool but you're not sure what's out there? 
Course blog. It seems like the most sensible choice. I don't really know how I will present what I am doing, but I am going to be reading a lot, hopefully, and it will be knowledge I want to share with my classmates without having them look somewhere other than the blog I already have. It seems easier to continue on my current blog and keep a tab (like I already do) for my masterpiece work. Although I do hope that I can create a remix of some sort, I will figure out a way to include images, videos, etc. to show my thoughts and share my story with reading.
It is also much simpler to post my findings and information on animal cruelty and such on my course blog.
For the sub-topic of communication + sign language, I hope to post videos of my progress onto this here same course blog. Videos of songs in sign language, videos of me giving lessons, videos of SIGN LANGUAGE.


I kind of rambled on these questions and seemed to go off-topic a lot, but I expressed my thoughts and ideas, and that was the point, right?

A final idea?

After Thursday's buffet and questioning by Dr. Preston, I have come to realize that in its entirety classroom 608 is not just a small gathering of people with nearly nothing in common, but a small family. All of my classmates coincide. We all want to see diversity, individuality, a spread of culture, and overall acceptance and peace.

And so when I shared my simple idea of (learning about) animal cruelty and/or communication stuff as a masterpiece out loud, I was already quite unsure. After everything was said and done, I realized that this isn't a separate project, it isn't something I have to see as a burden or an extra activity. Dr. Preston keeps saying "It's something you've always wanted to learn about, something you've always wanted to do in a classroom," and such other similar comments. So then I thought "What's the only thing I love to do, the thing I have always loved?" Well that's an easy question, READING.
The one thing I have always disliked about school is that it takes away any free time that used to be available. Especially this year I have found myself with a lack of free time, with AP classes, college apps, weekly (or twice a week) church reunions, and attempting to maintain a slight social life and human interaction. However, especially this year, I have tried extra hard to create "free" time for reading.

I'll just end this post and say that reading is my top choice for a masterpiece. Reading and not books because that limits my scope, reading includes articles, novels (of all genres), poems, journals, etc. etc.

If you are reading this Preston, I rather much like when you speak to us, and not necessarily at us.

MY MASTERPIECE 1 1/2

My Masterpiece idea keeps changing, which isn't necessarily bad, but I want to focus on something already, and I think I have found it! I now want to do a project on something I have always had interest in, the food industry. However, not exactly the food industry but how our food is treated while it is still alive. I hope to focus mainly on poultry, beef, and pork. I've always openly showed frustration for the cruelty of animals, and although I have failed at going vegetarian (my parents won't allow me to, they guilt me into eating chicken by saying they feel like they are under feeding or/and literally almost forcing it down my throat) I have attempted it multiple times. My idea is not to make people stop eating meat or eggs or any animal product, rather to make people understand that just because the animals are going to be eaten, doesn't mean they don't deserve some quality of life. If you have never seen a factory farm video here is a link to multiple articles and videos, but warning you, some of these videos are very graphic and disturbing.
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/factory-farming/

And yes, I understand that these are all videos on factory farming, where animals are kept in small cages and some, like pigs, never get to feel grass or even turn around because of cage size, but "free-range" farmers are also succumbing and not keeping up to standards, often times distributing the same cruelty. The "USDA which defines free-range and free-roaming for labeling purposes, relies “upon producer testimonials to support the accuracy of these claims.” Translating to 'Farmers can do whatever they want as long as they do the bare minimum and say they are doing what they are supposed to do.' Here is the link to an article on "free range" farming: http://www.bornfreeusa.org/articles.php?more=1&p=377

Also, I would like to go into the fact that multiple states are now taking the "Ag-gag" laws into consideration, a law which condemns and criminalizes all undercover investigators, for filming and broadcasting cruelty, it penalizes those who are only attempting to assist the animals. Here is an article that simply explains the Ag-gag laws and the flawed reasoning behind it: http://animalrights.about.com/od/animallaw/a/What-Are-Ag-Gag-Laws-And-Why-Are-They-Dangerous.htm

If you guys have any interest in this topic, we should work together! If you have any comments/input please leave a comment. If you think this is a good idea and possibly better than my others, please let me know. Again, any and all input is welcome.
 

MY MASTERPIECE 1

Re-iterating my 'Big Questions,' I hope to concentrate on something having to do with communication. So far I have two ideas, and I am hoping to do both to some extent. My first idea is to master sign language, hoping to tear down a barrier with the deaf/mute people of this world. My second idea is to document a long distance relationship, how it works, how communication plays a vital role, etc. With my second idea, I will be documenting my own relationship, plus I am hoping to contact some of my friends who are also going through long distance relationships and documenting their experiences. I guess my second idea would take the form of a kind of extended survey, maybe even containing videos, pictures, and certain quotes from the couples.

A separate idea I have for my masterpiece is something book-related. This idea would be concerning why the interest in literature has drastically been decreasing, especially with teens and children. I feel like this idea would also take the form of a survey, maybe including a video where some of my classmates will answer questions on why they think interest is low. I think I would also attempt to contact authors, librarians, any and all people relating to books and get their opinion on this topic.

If anybody is slightly interested in communication/books/relationships, maybe we can work together! If you have any advice for me, or suggestions, don't hesitate to comment. Any and all input is welcome! (:

MASTERPIECE IN PROGRESS

I have been thinking on focusing my masterpiece on one of two things. The first being American sign language. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have tried to learn multiple times and have failed miserably. I always seem to learn a couple words, some phrases, but I soon forget because of lack of practice. I also always seem to skip learning the alphabet, which I now have down! Technically, if I decide to make this learning experience my masterpiece, although I am going to learn ASL either way, I have already begun. So far I have learned short common phrases that can be used in every day conversation, such as: How are you?, What's your name?, My name is ..., Where is the bathroom? (definitely something important to know!), etc. If possible, I would really like to focus on ASL, as I have always wanted to learn. I also believe that a masterpiece on ASL could easily be presented to the class. One idea I had was recording myself presenting/signing a song and show it in class, following up with a short in-person presentation.

Or maybe I will just go with a book-related masterpiece.. I'm not sure yet.

But these are all ideas, susceptible to change, it is a start though!