Research and Paper

1. When confronted with exhibition two topics came to mind, art and pirates. I knew that an essential question related to art history would be interesting because I love art but pirates stuck out in my mind more. I had always had a fascination with pirates and was already reading about them before the exhibition. I wanted to dig deep into the history of pirates and understand their culture. When it came to forming my essential question I struggled for some time. Trying to think of a question that was interesting to me and one that meet requirements was a little challenging. When I began looking at pirates in are culture my essential question developed. The image that pirates have in the media is almost completely wrong. I wanted to find out why people tend to distort the truth with pirates. Locating information was not that difficult. I owned five books already and I knew that there was not going to be a shortage of books. Finding books about pirate history and their lives was easy, but when I tried to find ship documents it was impossible. It was frustrating but I made do with the materials I had.

2. The only helpful resources were my teachers, inside and outside expert. I felt that they knew what I needed and they understood the goal of my paper. Looking at other exhibitions from the year before help as well. By seeing other exhibitions I understood more about what to do and what not to do. The past exhibitions are also a good example of how a exhibition should look like. Going to the library was a horrendous help too, as the library I felt I could work at my own pace and I had almost an unlimited amount of resources. The biggest frustration to me was the peer editing. I felt that the people reading my paper didn't really care and were not concerned with helping me, just getting the work in for a grade. I felt like it was wasted time, time I could have spent working on my paper.

3. Gathering information was not a challenge with my topic, but keeping track of all my books was. Finding books that were useful was hard too. Most pirate books were ether for children or picture books. But in the long run many books were helpful, it was just a matter of finding an author that was reliable. David Cordingly is a well known pirate historian and his books were the most helpful. The researching process I felt very rushed and not given enough time. I know that if there were more tip's to the library I would have felt much more comfortable with my research. I think that taking the students to the library early on in the research would be more helpful and made them more orientated with their topics. Overcoming my problems with the way that the class was organized was doing a lot more work outside of class than what was necessary. I felt that I was one of the only students that was doing a large amount of work outside of class.
   
   

4. When it comes to research and me, I know I need a lot of time and to understand the big picture. My weaknesses could be that I need time, and that I have to have my thoughts organized. In order for me to begin my research I have to have a clear picture of what my goal is and what requirements I have to meet. My main point of strength is that I am a very organized person. If something is not organized then I'll lose my mind. Because the exhibition is so much work and such a long project, it would only make sense to have things in order.

5. Something different I know would be helpful is more time and a clear picture of our goal. I didn't feel that the exhibition was explained to its fullest. I felt like things were just thrown at me at random times. With the actual research something I would have done differently would be to spend less time looking at web cite. I knew that there wasn't a very good selection of cite but because of the assignment to fond fifteen sources without a trip the library I had no other choice but to look at web cite.

6. The outside expert requirement was a problem for me. I didn't think there was going to be a pirate expert within the Portland area and there wasn't. I didn't want to find someone to just fill the assignment because that would be a waist of both our time. I had absolutely no idea where to look for someone let alone what type of person I was looking for. My mom works at Lewis and Clarke College and I asked her for some help, but that was just a dead end. Then as I looked at my paper and its essential question and after talking to my teachers we found that a sociologies would fit the part. But once again where to look, I was recommended to look at the PSU web cite and look at the teachers. After reading through many pages I found Randy Blazake. I copped down the phone number and tried to contact him at numerousness times. After about a week of calls I finally got a call back and we began to talk. When I had my interview with Mr. Blazake I was extremely excited to ask the questions that I was having trouble finding answers to. He was a large contribution to just how pirates image has been distorted and why. The interview made me look at my paper in a different dimension and I started to make connections. Mr. Blazake was a huge help and I enjoyed having him as my outside expert.

7. On a scale of 1-10 I would have to rate the quality of my research at 9. I worked very hard in gathering information and the actual research. The quality of my research was very extensive and I had lots of information. I know I keep my note cards organized and always had them in on time. The quality of my research was very extensive and I feel I did a good job, so I would give myself a 9.

8. When I begin writing my paper I felt overwhelmed with information and didn't know where to start. So I just jumped in, I knew the research and had an idea of where I wanted my paper to go. With my first draft I wanted to get all of the information in, all the facts and dates. By putting a 110% into my first draft really made a large benefit in latter drafts. I got the harder things out of the way and now I was ready to work on the spelling and other things I needed to work on. There was a large amount of gamer problems and also I needed to make my paper less of a report. When I had my interview with Mr. Blazake he helped me with putting the connections into my paper. I had a lot of problems understanding what was wrong with my paper at times. It was hard to understand when there was not reason explained. I felt like I was pushed in three different directions form my two teachers and inside expert. It was impossible to satisfy three different people when they all were asking for different things. With my drafts before my final, I just corrected spelling and made things more clear. When it came to my final, I corrected the rest of what Mrs. Cass recommended and read over it many times and was finished.

9. Mrs. Cass helped beyond words I can say. She had the biggest effect on making my paper better and meet expectations. Her feedback was helpful because I understood what her reasoning was. Her ideas to add to my paper made me feel like she was actually putting effort into making my paper better. I felt that the other teachers helping me were not making any kind of helpful feedback. I felt that they were just trying to go off their own ideas rather than working with what my paper is and my goal within my paper. If felt like they were just pointing out what was wrong and that was it, hardly any explanation or reason. I struggled with spelling and clarity in my paper. Mrs. Cass helped with both of those to the fullest. In my first and second draft, she explained to me that there needed to be clarity throughout my whole paper. I don't think my paper would have turned into what it is without her help.

10. The major roadblock that I encountered with my paper was mainly not understanding the what I was doing wrong. With the help from Mrs. Cass it made it smoother but in the begging I struggled with not grasping what was wrong with my paper. When I read my paper it made sense to me, but to other readers it didn't. I don't know how to explain it, but when reading there seemed to be missing sentences that made the subject clear, like there were holes. With the exception of Mrs. Cass, no one was giving me helpful feedback to better my paper.

11. I learned that writing a major paper is a lot of work. It wasn't so much the act of research and writing, it was meeting the high expectations. Once again I felt like things were just thrown at me and the “help” that people were giving me was not meaningfully, I felt that it was just done for the sake of doing it. I learned how important it is to keep track of my sources and keeping things organized. I'm an organized person to begin with but now I understand how it is an essential element of success with a major paper.

12. For my Jr. exhibition I did my topic on pirates and I liked to read about pirates in my free time. I already had a pretty good idea about pirates. The major thing I learned was about how and why people distort pirates. Why the media changes their image into almost a cartoon appearance. That was what bound my paper together and that was a new area of study for me.

13. The strength of my paper is the research and the connections I made with the media. I was very successful with making the connections and tying things together. My weakness was the spelling and grammar. I struggle with spelling in my everyday life and I knew it was going to be a problem, but with the help of Mrs. Cass and hard work I felt I did a good job.

14. Personally I didn't really use the scoring guide in my writing process. With the assignments in class and looking over it a few times I felt I understood what the scoring was. I don't feel that my paper was not the best it could have been because I didn't use the scoring guide all the time, it was simply that my paper is 37 pages long and after reading over it again and again, its hard to not see what was wrong. Also to me things looked right and I may have thought that things followed the scoring guide but once again to the reader it may not have been as clear. I didn't really use the scoring guide as an aide, it was just something there to follow.

15. When I write my next major paper I will make sure to spend more time understanding the full assignment. My problem with the exhibition is that I felt like the teachers expected use to already know what it was and what to do. Maybe it was just me who didn't understand, but I really felt like I was just thrown into doing my project. I felt rushed a lot of the time and kinda bossed around. So therefore in my next major paper I will make sure to understand the assignment to the fullest.

16. I would rate the quality of my effort in writing the exhibition a 10. I worked so hard on my paper. I don't think may people thing so, but I spend a lot of time writing and researching. To me I felt that my paper is longer than most, very thorough in background and making the connections. I really feel like I spent more time on my paper than some students. I understand that because of my learning disability writing a major paper would be a challenge, and I overcame it and still worked hard to get a good paper.

17. There are a few things I would like to emphasize on. I felt like the teachers rushed me. The process of making an essential question had to be done in a short amount of time. With me latter on in my project Mr. Palma decided that he didn't like my essential question and wanted me to change it completely, this upset me very much. If there was a problem with my question why didn't a teacher point it out in the begging of the year? Its very important to make sure to set the students up for success rather than confusion.

 Exhibition Fair

1. In my display I used the movie Pirates of the Caribbean to attract people to my booth and then for the activity I had a raffle for The Goonies on DVD. When people approached me, I would asked them what was the first thing that popped up into there minds when they thought about pirates. I felt that my display was very well done, there was not an over amount of text, there were pictures to show a clear difference in pirates and also the categories were organized by color. I also had lots of decorations; I had a lot of pirate toys and stuff like that. I liked using them to make my booth stand out and also to show just how many things there were out there that were a false image of pirates.

2. When I started thinking about how I was going to make my poster, I wanted it to be mostly visual and not so much text. I wanted it to be easy to read and follow. I also wanted to have my booth very decorated with pirate stuff. I was struggling for what to do for an interactive activity but the raffle seemed to be a good idea. People seemed generally interested in my topic to begin with so it was just a matter of showing them more about pirates and their image. When it came to putting together my poster I took my time and decided not to type the text because I felt that if it was handwritten then it would be more welcoming. Maybe that’s just me but I like the way handwritten things look rather than typed. Gathering the decorations for my booth was simple because I already owned all of it. I have to go out and buy the movie and book for the raffles thought. I feel as though I put a lot of effort into my booth to make it appealing to all different types of people.

3. The best interactions I had, was with the adults. The adults seemed more interested and also seemed like they wanted to learn. A lot of the adults had a general idea of historical pirates. I found with the high school students, that all they cared about was watching my movie, entering the raffle, not being in class, and just filling out their sheet. I didn’t really feel like most of the students wanted to know anything about my topic. Even when I turned the movie’s volume off, people still came and watched it. Although I didn’t feel like the movie was a total waste because I did get some students to come up and ask me questions.

4. For my performance at the fair I would have to give myself a pretty good review for what my situation was. The day before the fair I got a nasty sinuses infection along with tow swollen tonsils and a 100 degree temp. So I was not at my best when it came time to do the fair. I was incredibly sick and was not suppose to be out of bed. But because I had no choice, I had to go to the fair. So I was there and I tried to talk and be energetic but it was very difficult. So given my statues of health during the fair the fact that I even got up enough power to get out of bed and get dressed was a shock to me. I feel that my performance was good. I know that if I was not in a state of bad health I would have done my best and been much more energetic and talkative but it was pretty much physically impossible at that time

5. I feel that the exhibition fair had done little to nothing to prepare me for my presentation. I feel as though the fair was just a way so that the other students could get out of class, I didn’t really feel like any of the students really wanted to hear what I had to say about pirates. Talking to people about my topic didn’t prepare me because I felt that the fair was a way to allow people to know what we were working on, I didn’t look at it as a way to get ready for my power point presentation. I felt that the fair was fun and good to let people know about what we had worked on but I didn’t feel like it helped me for my power point.

6. I don’t think I would change much about my display. The problem with the fair was my location. I felt that because of where my booth was, not a lot of people came to it. Most of the other students with that were in the same area, in the library where the computers were, didn’t get many students either. I didn’t want to be there because I knew that not that many people would come over there. The location was just bad, and I worked very hard on my display and I feel as though I got pushed to the side and because of my location not many people came to my booth. So if I could change something it would have been my location, I didn’t feel as though there was anything wrong with my booth. The poster was easy to read, there was a movie to attract people, and it was decorated to bring it to people’s attention.

7. My overall impression of the exhibition fair was that it was fun and is a way to show off what we all had worked on. I had worked hard the whole year on my topic and I looked at the fair as a way to show everyone what I had been working on. I remember when the past two years when I went to the fairs I felt that it was a good use of time. With some student it is very clear to see how much work they put into there topic just from there display and how they talked about it. I’m very passionate about my topic and therefor I was happy to share the information I learned with other people. Even though I am very passionate about my topic some students were not, and some underclassmen were not excited to be there. I honestly felt that a large amount of students looked at the fair as a way to get out of going to class. I heard two students talking about it just for the record. I feel that the fair gave the seniors a break, the preparations for the fair were a little crazy but the fair itself was a time to just talk about what we had worked on for so long. The same goes for the school, Riverdale seems to hold the exhibition as a very strong point in their curriculum and the fair is a way for the school to represent its students and visa versa.

8. I would just like to emphasize just one more time on how sick I was during the fair. Had I not been in such an ill state I would have been myself and much more enthusiastic about pirates.

Service Learning Records

Hours Completed

Date Project Number of Hours

November Stationary for elderly 9

December Zoo Lights 9

April Stationary for elderly 8.45

Total Hours

26hrs, 45 min.

Confrontation Names

Sara Lursen (503) 525-4273, Zoo lights

Erthella Stark

Service Learnting

1. I worked on two different types of service learning; I volunteered at the Oregon Zoo and made cards for the elderly. I wanted to mix up the hours so I felt like I was giving to more than just one organization. I volunteered at the Oregon Zoo in December for a total of 9 hours. The first 6 hours I was greeter elf at the fount gate during Zoo lights. The other 3 hours I was an animal, I dressed up in a big tiger outfit and waved to and hugged little kids. There were two different times I made cards for the elderly. My first set was in November, and the second was in April, each took about 8 or 9 hours. In November and April I made about 240 cards.

2. When I was at the Zoo, I didn’t know anyone and there were a lot of other volunteers there. Before Zoo lights started, the Zoo would provide all the volunteers with dinner and that gave me time to get to know other people that were there. It was difficult to get dressed up in a funny outfit and then stand in the cold for 3 hours. When making the cards, I felt very comfortable. I was at home and I could start and finish when I wanted to. I had control over what the cards would look like and such. I really enjoyed the time I spent making the cards because I could go at my own pace and show how much I care about the person that would be receiving my cards.

3. At the Zoo I learned that it’s good to be out going and talk to new people. When eating dinner it was hard at first to start up conversation but it became easer as time went by. When working as a greeter elf, I was a greeter and even though it was cold and raining I still put on a bright face for people entering the Zoo. When working on the cards I learned a new way of making stationary. I learned a new way to make something that will make others happy.

4. Working at the Zoo, the benefit for me was that I felt I was giving back to an organization that was important to me and the community. I was always a fan of the Zoo and always thought it would be a valuable use of my time to volunteer there. I got to see what the Zoo does for its volunteers and also the back areas to the Zoo, witch I thought was kind of cool. When working on the cards, I felt that the benefit to me was that I could spend my free time doing something I enjoyed, being creative. I knew that cards were going to a good cause and that itself is a benefit, but I really enjoyed my time and effort I put into the cards because it was something arty that I could give to people.

5. At the Zoo the benefit I felt was really to the employees at the Zoo. By me being there volunteering I felt it made their job easer. I was given my job and I fulfilled it. It seems that most of the events put on by the Zoo couldn’t be run without volunteers. When I turned my first set of cards into Mrs. Stark, a few weeks later she told me something about the cards that I gave. She told me about a woman whose husband just died and she need cards to write her family, she went to the front desk to ask if there were any cards and they gave her some of mine. The woman was so overwhelmed with them that she cried. So I think that is a large benefit to others.

6. I never really thought about how my ethics played a part in with my community services. Like I said before the reason I chose the Zoo was because I wanted to give back to something I feel is an important element to the community. I remember the Zoo when I was a kid and those children that I greeted will remember there time spent at the Zoo. The cards felt like something I could truly enjoy doing and not have the feeling of being rushed or pushed when doing them. I could work at my own pace and spend as much time as needed to make the cards.

7. At the Zoo I would give myself a 9, I always showed up on time and followed directions given by the leaders. I followed the rules set by the Zoo; I was also very nice and welcoming to the visitors at the Zoo. The quality of my experience was probably 6, although the people were nice and the job was simple. I felt that my job as a greeter was really boring; I didn’t have much fun because half the time people weren’t even coming through the gates. So maybe on a much more busy and warm night I would have had enjoyed myself more. When making the cards I would give myself a 10, I went all out for these cards. I went to a very nice store called packaging specialties, which has a large selection of tissue paper and ribbons. I selected all the tissue paper and ribbons to match and work together as a set of 5 cards. I would rate the quality of my work a 10 as well. I spent an extensive amount of time on these cards to make them just right. I wanted these cards to look nice, not tacky. I am proud of the cards that I made and I only hope that the people that receive them are as happy as I am.

Interim Presentation Reflection

1. When preparing for my panel presentation I wanted to make sure that I had all of the items that were required, the outline, the bibliography and the power point outline. I also put some finishing touches on my power point. I made note cards and read over my paper to make sure I had all my information covered and written into my presentation. I guess I spent so much time on getting all of my work together I somewhat forgot to practice my presentation. Its seems I forgot to factor in how horrified I am to speak in public.

2. To me there was no easy part of presenting, maybe the part where I lodged onto the computer. My work was prepared but I was not ready to speak. The hardest part for me was keeping my cool. I really do have a horrible fear of speaking publicly and it was the hardest thing to get up there. I know I know my information and I know what I want to say it just seems that when I get up to speak to a audience it all just turns into mush.

3. I feel that I was prepared in the way of my work, like I said I had all of my work finished and under control but I as a person was not prepared. I spent so much time on getting the required items finished that i just didn't have time to practice. So I feel that it would have been better if I put more time toward practicing.

4. My panel said that my strong points were that I have lots of good information. I had a nice power point and I had a very good amount of information that covered most points in my paper.

5. My panel told me my weaknesses with my presentation was that I didn't make enough eye contact, my interactive was missing, there were typos in my power point, I didn't speak loud enough, and I need to be more enthusiastic.

6. As I have said it seems that my presentation is not the problem, the presenting is the problem. I need to take more time to practice, weather it be in my room to my stuffed animals or to my parents. I need to become more comfortable with the idea of being in the spot light. I need to improve myself as a public speaker and to do that I suppose I will have to make sure to practice every day.

Interim Presentation Reflection

1. When preparing for my panel presentation I wanted to make sure that I had all of the items that were required, the outline, the bibliography and the power point outline. I also put some finishing touches on my power point. I made note cards and read over my paper to make sure I had all my information covered and written into my presentation. I guess I spent so much time on getting all of my work together I somewhat forgot to practice my presentation. Its seems I forgot to factor in how horrified I am to speak in public.

2. To me there was no easy part of presenting, maybe the part where I loged onto the computer. My work was prepared but I was not ready to speak. The hardest part for me was keeping my cool. I really do have a horrible fear of speaking publicly and it was the hardest thing to get up there. I know I know my information and I know what I want to say it just seems that when I get up to speak to a audience it all just turns into mush.

3. I feel that I was prepared in the way of my work, like I said I had all of my work finished and under control but I as a person was not prepared. I spent so much time on getting the required items finished that i just didn't have time to practice. So I feel that it would have been better if I put more time toward practicing.

4. My panel said that my strong points were that I have lots of good information. I had a nice power point and I had a very good amount of information that covered most points in my paper.

5. My panel told me my weaknesses with my presentation was that I didn't make enough eye contact, my interactive was missing, there were typos in my power point, I didn't speak loud enough, and I need to be more enthusiastic.

6. As I have said it seems that my presentation is not the problem, the presenting is the problem. I need to take more time to practice, weather it be in my room to my stuffed animals or to my parents. I need to become more comfortable with the idea of being in the spotlight. I need to improve myself as a public speaker and to do that I suppose I will have to make sure to practice every day.
   

Final Reflection

Use of time/ Course Design

1.)The class time given to me I used well, I remember always coming to class and getting work done that I needed to get done. I will admit that at times I was distracted but it was when I was on top of things and I'm only human so taking a break is needed at times. In a percentage matter I was was on task 90% of the time. I enjoy getting things done because it helps me stay relaxed and not get stressed out, so I have motivation to get my work done and so if I needed to make changes I would have enough time.

2.)Starting with the first trimester, I felt very overwhelmed with the amount work I had to do. I had to take care of my college applications and art portfolio and I don't think that the school gave the seniors enough time to work that out because to me in some way it was a priority. When it came to working on my exhibition at that time it was hard because of the main idea of getting back into the rythem of school and the fact that we just jumped straight into working on our exhibition took a little getting use to. Moving into the second trimester, from what I remember it was a little crazy. I had to do a lot of editing on my paper and I felt very brunt out because I had been working on pirates stuff form day one. I felt like I was being pushed around by the teachers and that in some way my work was never good enough. The second trimester was very stressful but the feeling of finally getting my paper in was amazing. Then to the last trimester, a tad hard to stayed focused because school is almost out but I feel I still worked hard to get my work finished and to reach a good grade. I think giving use the flex time made the whole proses a lot easer. I felt overwhelmed with the idea of all the reflections, the power point, my speech, my web cite... it was hard to get under control. But the flex time allowed me to move at my own pace and made me feel responsible and not like I was being baby sat. I think he most challenging trimester was a combination of first and second, the challenge with managing my time between college and school and then the feeling of being bossed around and just the pressure and stress was hard to manage.

3.)Its hard to look back and remember everything what worked and what didn't work. I do remember being very frustrated at the start of the year. It was hard to understand why a “college prep” school like Riverdale, hardly spend enough time on college things. I know that we did do a small amount but at the same time it seemed like the only reason it was being done was because it had to be, it still went back to being all about the exhibition. I became very mad at the school for in a way given me the idea that they would help me through finding a college, filling out applications, making my portfolio, etc. and I felt that I had to turn to my father most of the time for help. I find it irritating that in some way I was lied to, so if this school clams to be a “college prep” school maybe they should try standing up to their own goals. Getting back to the exhibition, I remember feeling that some things caught me off guard. I didn't feel that everything was laid out on the table and it was really frustrating. I felt that a lot of the assignments we did were pointless and had no purpose, just busy work. A recommendation I can make toward next year, is to not treat seniors like freshman. When I as a senior was given the flex time I felt special and that I was finally being treated like a senior. I think that seniors deserve a little bit more room and privileges. Based off of the flex time I finally felt I was in a state of not ext ream amounts of stress.

Overall Reflections

1.)

research:9

paper:10

web cite:8

fair:8

power point:8

presentation:10

work time: 10

I feel that I put the effort into all my topics as much as I could. Its difficult to stay focused when one is stressed out or frustrated with the elements of this school. I fell that there was a lot of pressure put on me and I worked hard and worked harder and sometimes its just difficult to continue when if feels like your in the same place. I feel like some students got away with a lot of things sometimes, I felt that teachers had special expectations for me that were higher than other students. But overall I stayed focused and continued to work hard and do the best I could.

2.)Working with seniors and juniors felt like a wast of my time, I really didn't walk away with anything to improve my paper, the juniors more than the seniors. I have to say you really should take out the juniors helping the seniors next year, don't waist there time. Working with teachers was helpful for the most part, some more helpful than others. I felt that Ms. Palma was more interested in changing my topic to his liking that giving me helpful feed back. Mrs. Cass, my inside expert was very helpful, actually I could not have done it with out her. She was the one person who helped me through the whole writing proses. My outside expert was helpful, he opened up my topic to a deeper stage and I think that my interview really helped my paper stay together.

3.)My responsibility's to other students? I was unaware that we had responsibility's for the lower clansmen in relation to the exhibition. My responsibility's to other seniors is clear, to give them helpful feed back, be respectful of them during there presentation and also aside from the exhibition to just be civil with the class and to make sure to be friendly. Recommendations to teachers relating to the exhibition is to try to work with students and not work against them. Also to make sure to always be helpful. I think its important for teachers to build a friendship with most students, I think it makes for a better environment and students may be more comfortable around their teachers.

4.)Well first off I have gained the knowledge of my topic. I know much more about pirates than most people. I have also picked up what exactly an exhibition is, in the idea of analyzing and getting deeper into the topic. It wasn't untell I started digging into my topic and analyzing that I enjoyed it more. I also gained the experience of what its like to work on a project for a year. To understand how to take the right and sometimes wrong steps to get to a successful area. I have also seen how fare I can push myself, seeing what happens when you truly work for what you want. The amount of time I spent practicing my power point really did pay off and made a difference.

5.)Do not procrastinate.

Make sure to ask questions and things are always clear to you.

Stay organized.