France Interwar Period

Interwar Period on Prezi

Prezi Reflection

I honestly think that Prezi is an awesome tool for making advanced presentations. The fact that you are able to freely interact with it during a presentation is really cool. PowerPoint does not have this feature, and it really surpasses it just by this. It also has many entertaining tools that keep you interested in what your doing, even rotating a word can be fun. All of this is really good stuff, but just like everything else, it also has some flaws. I love the zooming in tool, but it has a not very big limit, and it kind of shortens your capacity to make a completely professional presentation. It also moves slowly when you're zoomed in, and that kind of makes it frustrating at times. Even if it has some errors that could be fixed, I totally prefer Prezi over PowerPoint.

Prezi wasn't that hard for me because I watched the whole step-by-step video on the main page. Here's a link to this tutorial: http://prezi.com/learn/getting-started/ I didn't find anything that hard since I saw this video and we mostly used the basic tools. Although I did find it a little difficult to master the zoom tool, since it was kind of laggy. I would totally choose Prezi over PowerPoint if I had to do another presentation. This is because both the maker (me) and whoever is watching get entertained by Prezi. You can interact with Prezi presentations while they are playing, and that just makes it way more interesting. I hope that we can continue using it, it is really innovating and new, that is always good for learning stuff.

Prezi (Next 5 Years of my Life)

Next 5 Years of my Life on Prezi

PSA Reflection

I think that my PSA commercial was fairly good. The camera wasn't so sketchy as others and it had good quality. The story is also entertaining to watch and I really enjoyed doing it. It was kind of hard to think about the idea for the video at first, but it all worked out. We also had some problems with the camera and uploading the video, but fortunately we solved everything. I hope you enjoy watching it just as much as we enjoyed doing it. Eduardo thought it was annoying, but he just doesn't know how to appreciate life.

If I could change it I would just make a couple of improvements. I would increase the volume of Eduardo's voice because you can barely hear him at times. I would also make the end look a bit more realistic and not that acted. Other than that, I think that the rest was fairly well made. The second scene is the most clear one and the best recorded one I think. The lines don't have any spelling or grammar mistakes so no worries there. I'm pretty happy with what we created.

The best video in my opinion was Raul's and Mahonry's. I know that Raul is really into filming and video editing and he always puts an extra effort to accomplish a good job. I have always supported him and I honestly love his work. Mahonry didn't do much to be honest, but Raul did a really great job. He put different songs and recorded from different angles. He also added some effects in certain parts, it was quite professional compared to other of the class's videos. I think he deserves the first place because of this, it was a really great PSA project.

Commercial Reviews

My three favorite SuperBowl commercials were the Volkswagen 2011, Chevy Camaro 2011 and the Budweiser Middle West add. The Volkswagen 2011 is really cute with the kid trying to be Darth Vader, and funny at the end when the dad fools him into thinking he actually has powers. The Chevy Camaro 2011 was hilarious in my opinion, it just starts fitting the scene to the car, which looks awesome when driven by the redhead girl which turns out to be a teacher. It's all funny, I really liked it at it was the best one in my opinion. The Budweiser one is cool because it's spontaneous, the guy in the video starts all serious and rude, but when they give him the beer they all make a celebration and it's pretty entertaining.

I would improve the S.B commercial that promotes flowers. I mean, the commercial is not bad, but it's meant to be funny and it just doesn't work. Maybe if they lightened up the scene or the mood of the sequency it would be better, it's all so dark for a flower commercial. I'm not saying it was like painful to watch, but it's just not entertaining.

The best video from the class was Jorge's. It was cool because he did some nice editing and actually did an effort to have a good commercial, unlike others. It's quite funny at the end when he says ''When I do sports, I drink coke'' because he kind of laughs at the end. It was very cool and I liked it even better than my own commercial.

Bran Frut Commercial

Commercials

Paragraph 1:

I liked all of the commercials, but some more than others. The one that most stuck out in my head was the Pepsi one. It uses humor to promote their drink, and that is really entertaining and it hooks the audience. It is like a mini movie, and it does give you a good laugh at the end. It might not say that much about the drink, but it does make you want to drink a Pepsi.

Pepsi Add Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40DykbPa4Lc

The smoking add commercial was also good. At first I didn't get it because the guy got a ride with a pretty girl because of smoking. At the end though, I got that it was because the guy was impotent and the girl felt safe with him. It was a pretty good commercial for me, but maybe not that much for the people who don't want to have kids. That would just mean they get rides from attractive girls.

Paragraph 2:

I'm going to use humor in my commercial. The Pepsi commercial style really got my attention and I would like to make my own out of that essence. I think that dramatic commercials do work, but they don't really leave you truly wanting a product. They kind of make you feel obligated to buy a product because they make you feel bad. With happy commercials, you feel good with yourself and with the commercial, plus it makes you think about the product the way you want to think about it. Even if it doesn't make you want the product that much, you remain with a good memory, and perhaps just because of that, you will buy it.

I'm expecting to have some challenges with my ideas for the commercial. Though I don't think I'll be really troubled, I do want to make it a good commercial. I hope people like it, since that's the most important think. Although I want to feel comfortable with it too.




Anti Smoking Add Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hySFt8O11A

Comic Life Self-Reflection

Working with Comic Life was certainly something new, but it wasn't that hard. I liked that everything was visible and easy to manage. Talking boxes and different styles of font and backgrounds took almost no time to locate. The system is very nice, but the overall experience was not exactly my favorite. For someone that is a fan of this type of stuff, editing and taking time in creativity, Comic Life is great. For someone like me, that likes to almost only write and do nothing more, it can get quite boring. Specially when exporting Photo Shop images. It takes a couple of full-time classes only to edit the images and import them to Comic Life. I think that our project is worthy of being showed to other people. We took some serious time on our details and the information is clear. Using Comic Life was something new and easy, but it takes creative types of people for it to flourish.

I believe that comics can be useful to learn serious literature. They are obviously not the most serious resource to learn about a subject, but they work. I agree that some comics are mainly made to entertain. Although I also think some comics are made for easy understanding about serious subjects. I've seen some of my classmates comics about Romeo and Juliet and they do show the characteristics of the play. They use original language, and modern language when appropriate or when not talking about something very important. Overall, I think that comics are a useful and easy approach to understand literary subjects.

Bay in a Day

Day on Earth Rodrigo from mistermark on Vimeo.

My video is about a day in my life, and a couple of the things I like to do. At the end, it shows pictures of my friends, which tell how much I appreciate them. If I could choose another theme I would've chosen the beach. I was actually going to do a video about beaches in Vallarta, but it seemed to be fairly complicated. Plus, I live a little far from the beaches here in Puerto Vallarta. The process took a fair amount of time, even if it looks so easy to make. I did edit some parts to make it look better, it took me about two hours to make the first two minutes of the video. The other half took about a class and a half to complete, it was easier since I didn't have to make too many changes to the stills. I still tried to make it more smooth when going along with the song, but you can't be perfect always. Sometimes if you fix something, another thing goes wrong, and it goes on and on. I think that my project is good, I think that people will like it, the song is really soothing and the video is relaxing.

One day on Earth video

I really liked the video because of everything it shows. It tells us that the world is something beautiful that is worth recording. The purpose of the video was to inspire us to do the same. They want us to record a day in our personal world. I think that this is going to be a very fun activity to make. We'll get to know each other better, and we are going to get to express ourselves individually. I can't wait to see how my classmates come out on their projects.

I think that the parts with war and ugly scenes are weak because they don't really inspire you. They let you see the bad things in Earth and then you don't really feel like making your own video. The parts with nature and the little girl at the beginning are really nice. These things remind you of innocence and purity. The world must be seen that way in order to truly appreciate it, and I enjoy to think that way. The video in general was very pleasing, but there were some parts that were kind of ugly. I'm planning on making mine very beautiful and unique.

Fuel efficiency

In the last days of computer class, I have learned to measure how much fuel different vehicles use, and how much time I need to make it to school each year. I learned that there are several cars, such as hybrid ones, that use a lot less fuel than a normal car. Riding a bicycle is by far the most fuel efficient method of transportation, as well as walking. I plan on getting a fuel efficient car when I'm 16, I also want a cool car, but I'll think about fuel efficiency when browsing for one. I think that this was a very useful project, these are things I will probably find handy in the future. I wish we can do something similar soon, I find it to be a very interesting subject. Also, we should learn to use less fuel, even if we are lucky to live the way we do. For now, let's move onto another assignment, see you later!

Cars and Fuel

Actual Car: I have Ford Explorer 2009, and it uses 41
0.1154 liters of fuel per year. It is actually a lot, but I need to come to school so it's necessary.



Dream Car: My dream car is the Aston Martin Vanquish, it uses 472.8082 liters per year, so it would be worse for the environment, but it is still my dream car.

Efficient Car #1 (Mini Cooper S 2011): The Mini Cooper uses 84.8965 liters of fuel per year. It's the most efficient car of all four I've listed and it is actually a cool car. I might buy a Mini Cooper when I turn sixteen, I'm seriously thinking about it.

Efficient Car #2 (Toyota Camry Hybrid 2010): The Toyota Hybrid uses 90.1209 liters per year which is actually really great. It wastes a lot more less fuel than my previous cars.

Google Earth Tours

I'm going to talk about the Google Earth projects that the class just did. Some did really well and some did horrible. Adriana's project was good, she had the necessary places and good timing when moving from one place to another. It would be better if it had a little more effects though. Marifer's was really bad. She just moved around the place and did not zoom in into anything, it lasted 25 seconds. Plus, she only had two places, I have nothing positive to say about this one. Courtney's just zoomed into her house and stayed focused on that place for like a whole minute and then ended. I can give her a positive on the good start, but the rest of it is boring and bad. My tour had smooth and good, timed movement in my opinion, the zooms where also smooth. I had five stops, which were more than necessary, so that's another positive attribute. The only thing I would change would be inserting voice explanation. I actually tried to do this, and I even tried with a mic, but I just didn't understand how it worked. It was a very exciting project and I hope we use Google Earth again someday.

JOY

J
In first period, we didn't have a teacher so we just were like listening to our iPods and chatting with each other and it was quite relaxing. I feel more comfortable starting the day now because I feel more calm. I don't really know why Mr. Whitten didn't come, but he didn't show up to class. Miss Schalla substituted him yesterday I guess she was busy with another class or something else because no one ever came. We just did our own stuff for 45 minutes and waited for the bell to ring, then we moved on to this class. Moving on to a different subject, I ate an apple this morning, which is good because I never have breakfast. It actually works, I don't feel like I'm about to sleep. I hope this will be a good day to learn at school.

O
I would like to travel the world alone. I would also like to go with my family another time, but I would love to go by myself at least once. Enjoy a good dinner in front of the Eiffel Tower and just relax with the view. Drinking a German ice cream by the pool and watching the sunset at a nice cafe. Even taking a walk down the roads of Rome would be amazing. It's those little things in life that make it so great, you don't need to do big stuff to enjoy yourself. I would really love to do that someday, maybe I will when I work and live on my own. I feel like it's something you got to do before you leave this world.

Y
A part of me that makes me very special is my charisma. I don't ever treat people badly or at least I try my best not to. I do not judge people by their looks or by how much money they have. I judge people according to their personality, if they treat me well, I treat them well. I'm actually friends with everyone, I don't really know people with whom I don't talk or don't get along well with them. I like all types of sports too and I'm open minded, ready to learn and experience new stuff. I'm also good when talking to people, I don't really feel awkward with silence or anything, I just feel that talking is talking, and it doesn't have to be weird. If you get to know me I'm sure we'll get along, and remember, treat people the way you wish to be treated!

Typing Graphs and Discussion

I have improved a lot over the course of the year in typing. I was already kind of fast when I started, but my scores totally went up significantly. The best thing is that they grew, even if we now had a much harder test. I think it's important to write faster, I may need it in college or even when I work. You can do your works faster than everyone else, and you cut off homework time. I think that typing should be included in all grades of high school. Students need that skill, it's not just something new to learn, it's something that will help them work and study. I was really happy with my improvement, I wish to do better over time, maybe get 65 or 70 in net speed by the end of next year, I'm my own limit breaker!

MAP Testing Graphs

This is my reading graph, it is a good graph when representing my scores. It shows slight changes over time, half and half that show progress or descent of my scores. It's easy to read, or better said, to identify the changing of the graph over different points, I think this graph is nice.

This is my math graph, this was one of my best graphs since it only shows one descending point, the rest of them showing progress. we can see a significant growth on the beginning bars, and then on the last four, maintaining kind of a steady pace. This graph was great, it shows my best scores

Finally, we can see my language graph. This is actually very similar to my math graph, we can see a big progress on the beginning points, one descending point, and a steady pace on the last four, the last two being the same, just like in the math graph. I think this is even better because I think you can see it more clearly, it's easier to identify the slopes. This was my personal favorite graph.

The two best graphs were the math and language ones, since they represent the same descending and ascending points in my tests, not the same scores, but the same progress. It has to sum up to only one, and I have chosen my language graph as the graph that most clearly represents my MAP scores. Yes, it may be the same as my math one, or very similar, but the language one is easier to identify. The points are put clearly in their place, and you can see without difficulty where the points are placed, or better said, more accurately. I'm very satisfied with my scores, I hope next year they will be even better, thank you!

Oil Spill

I think that the oil spill was an accident, the company wouldn't do that on purpose. There are many things that we can consider to know what caused the oil spill. I personally think that because of the high tide, a big and strong wave hit one of the main towers. Then it broke down and caused the breaking down of the main system. The oil began to come out, and since it holds tons of oil, it became something massive. The oil spill is bigger than Vallarta, and bigger than small countries. We have to be aware of the consequences this is causing to our environment and to the wildlife that lives in that environment. It's something that will take a long time to fix.

Despite the severeness of the situation, we can repair the damage that as I write, is flowing through the ocean. It will take time of course, because of the size, but it won't be impossible. First we need to make sure everyone knows about this, and make everyone aware that this is damaging everybody. Then the company has to listen to us, listen to the people and hope that they will do as we hope. They can get help so they can fully clean the water contaminated by the oil. We could rescue animals that still had a chance to live, and keep them in a safe place until the oil spill is controlled. It will take some time and lots of patience, but together we can make it happen.

MAP Testing Week

Take a moment and revisit that post. Have your feelings changed? Take a moment and reflect on another testing week. How did it feel? What would you change about the process? Were you happy with your scores?

Going back in time and thinking about my previous MAP testing scores, I think that I did improve over the year. I totally got better at math and reading, I was always good at language, but those two subjects definitely got better this time. It felt good to be testing again, my mind felt refreshed and I did learn some new stuff. Those tests are actually kind of easy, you just have to read the question well, they don't show any impossible stuff, it's just different stuff from what we see in a daily basis here at school. I actually felt refreshed from doing those MAP tests. What I would change about the process of the MAP testing week is that some kids engage with the performance of other kid's tests. Some people change the answers of others and click enter just to enjoy themselves, and that's just wrong. Despite all of these things, I was really pleased with my scores and I hope it will be better next time. Thank you for your time and I hope you learned something while reading this text!

Environmental Power Points (Air Pollution)

After looking at some of my classmates presentations, I realized I missed something. I had too much information, yes it was good information, but I think it lacked creativity. It just had four opening images but no more in the middle of my presentation. When I saw other peoples pictures throughout their Power Points, I thought it looked cool. My favorite presentation was Eduardo's, it was catchy to the eye and had good information. My Power Point was also really good, it was just missing some artwork, some more images or graphics. It was exciting to see how everyone tries to save the world, and they have some interesting ideas. I now know what to do for next time, see ya!

Power Point Presentation

One day in Spanish class, we had this project that required a Power Point presentation, and it was horrible. I couldn't read it because of the font, it was manuscript and it was like font 10. It had an orange background and light red letter, it was just impossible to read. It had tons of animations that got boring over time. The spelling was okay, but it had confusing bullet points that didn't tell anything really. It had too many slides with a lot of garbage talk, only a couple of the sentences the person used were necessary. It was really bad, everyone talked about it in lunch, but of course, no ones perfect, and we don't have that much practice using Power Point. I hope this helps to understand bad Power Point presentations.

Thanks!