Raina's Portfolio
Sonoma Mountain High School
Philosophy of Education
I came into Sonoma Mountain with a very open mind considering I was coming from another alternative education school. Once I was actually apart of Sonoma Mountain High School I felt like I was part of a family almost like everyone in this school is so close with one and another, and always has each other's backs. I loved the no homework idea and how the schools are so much smaller so it's easy to get one on one help with a teacher. I really enjoy being at this school just because I feel comfortable and safe here but at times I do feel like I want to leave but rules are rules and they won't change anywhere else. All in all I really do enjoy being a part of Sonoma Mountain.
I really would like to exceed my career being a sonographer after I finish school. I would like to go to a vocational college to just study this one particular subject of my choice. Although I do have some knowledge on this job, I definitely could use a whole lot more since it's what I want to become in the near future. Considering my uncle is a paramedic and firefighter he has already agreed with me that I could get a ride along with a sonographer and stay with one for a day to see how there day goes on a common daily basis. This would be a very exciting moment for me if I am able to actually do it since being a sonographer is something I am really looking forward to.
I do not agree with society's way of educating people, because for one because although you can become very educated going through at least 12 years of school while also looking at some more years going into college. The reasons I have for not agreeing with this system is because well the smartest man believed to live, Albert Einstein dropped out of school and was clearly able to invent some of the most commonly used items we have today. I also believe that we learn thing on our own outside of school as well, so therefore I feel there are multiple ways of educating ourselves other than school can.
So basically as an all in all I enjoy being here at Sonoma Mountain and how everything works here at this school. I would also like to say that I very much appreciate all the good work and help my teachers give me here. I hope that this school helps me get to where I want to be when I graduate and get my to my goal to become a sonographer, although I do not fully agree with society's teaching system through the full twelve years of high school type of thing. But I will say this school has helped me get lots of things together.
English
Ms. D’s class has been very enthusiastic and I have enjoyed the many times that were shared during her class period. I like how I can get work done and talk at the same time in her class, although it doesn't work out that way sometimes when I get too distracted. I don’t find things hard or very challenging to get finished, I kind of just don't get things finished at times. Even though I had a very hard time focusing on my work while I had a phone in this class because essays haven't always been my thing. I would say that I got most of my work done in class after they took phones away for people on two to three which then really helped me get my work done in here since I have nothing to check on my phone anymore, even though I still find it fairly annoying at times. There really isn't much that I would say Ms. D needs to change or do anything differently in the classroom considering we get our own class time to get work done which is something I really like and enjoy in a classroom. As far as me being a student I could probably focus a lot harder and try better to get things done.
One assignment that we accomplished in Ms. D’s class was our final from our immigration unit, where we had to reconstruct the poem “The New Colossus”. We had to make it to where the poem reflected the nation’s current stance on immigration. It took me a while to figure out how I was going to approach this assignment since it was confusing to me and then I finally figured it out. I started going at it and there would be points where I would get stuck and then have to reread my poem from the beginning and figure some more out. It really was a process but I got through it and came out with a pretty decent poem. I chose to share this assignment because it was our immigration final which I found very interesting to work on.
Another assignment that I enjoyed working on was our Culture Squares. Culture squares was an assignment we completed using google draw that we had to first off, put our name on and then find pictures on the internet that truly describes/represents us best, and the things we enjoy that practically made us who we are now. This assignment did not take very much effort considering we just had to put together an entire little poster all about ourselves. Although it was fairly easy to get done I still had a some problems trying to figure out what I should even put on the page. I chose to share this assignment because I did enjoy doing it and I really like completing assignments on google draw in general. Therefore this was one of the assignments that I really just had a lot of fun with doing and playing with all the different things that Google draw has to offer.
History
What I really enjoy about Mr. Anderson's class is how we usually work on a pretty big assignment and are given a while to get it done. Things in his class such as current events or tables we have to fill out on the subject we are doing research at that moment are a bit challenging at times. I wouldn't say that Mr. Anderson would have to change really anything with his teaching skills because I like how he gives us the instructions and then give us our own time to work on the assignments but is still there to help us out if we need it. I know that as a student I should probably pay some more attention while in class rather than conversing with friends in class, which I will say I have gotten a whole lot better with. Other than that the class pretty much goes well how it is now.
One assignment that was quite fun to accomplish in class was when we had to create our own propaganda poster on the app Paper 53. The point of this project was to sort of show Anderson that we understood the concept of a propaganda poster and how they were advertised back around the time World War 1 was going on. I finished about three or four of these posters till I completed one that I felt was pretty cool to turn in. I feel this was an exciting project to share because I just had a lot of fun with this assignment and although I put good work into it, also didn't really take that much effort. I mean I did put a little effort into it considering we had to draw a whole scenery and make it say something with and without words on just an iPad which got a little annoying since it was so easy to make one single mistake.
We also did lots of research on the Anti-Chinese Legislation Act, where we got to learn all about the things that the Chinese were kept back from doing and the troubles they had from being able to go places, in which we did take a trip to Angel Island where mainly Chinese would go in order to try to get into America through San Francisco. This definitely showed me how greedy and selfish people are to just judge someone by their skin, ethnicity, or even just appearance itself. Learning about this really made me think about how unfair we are for being a “free nation” and how easy it is for someone to judge them so quickly off basically who they are and what they can't change. I would have to say that things are definitely a lot better but racism is still around and will most likely never go away. While I did have fun learning about the subject I wouldn't necessarily agree with it.
Math
In Ms. April’s class I have had many good and bad experiences. Although sometimes things get a little off balance and out of hand with the teacher we also get some good work done in her class period. Things that I have enjoyed about April's class would have to be the alone time she gives us to get things done and the group assignments we work on sometimes.I also very much enjoy how Ms. April gives us snacks like granola bars to eat while we work. Sometimes I find things challenging when we learn a whole new way of doing math which takes me a while to really comprehend and understand the concept. I would think that a mathematician is just a spectacular person in the math field therefore always getting the work done with little to no mistakes. Mathematicians attend to precision means that when solving problems you need to pay close attention to details. I do this when I make corrections on work that i've had problems with in class.
One assignment that I enjoyed working with was the trigonometry assignment where we used a clinometer to find the height of a tree which we were assigned with a partner to calculate. I liked accomplishing this assignment because we were able to get out of the classroom and do something related to math but also sort of interesting at the same time since it had to do with trees. Not much effort really had to be put into this assignment so I would say I didn’t work that hard on it but I did do the best that I could. We were to make a clinometer out of paper,string, and a straw, then had to use a meter stick to then measure the height of the tree by getting the angles from the ground to the top of the tree. I chose to speak about this assignment because it was one that got me out of sitting in the classroom to get some fresh air and also get work done by completing an activity that was quite fun to finish.
Another assignment that I really liked would be when we made the tile posters with groups. This assignment was pretty fun to get done and I also liked learning about how to use the equations with tiles and get everything to make sense. I would have to say that getting this done in groups really does help me out a lot because it's easier for me to get work done that was so that if I end up having a question or misunderstood something that our teacher tells us I can just go to one of my group members to ask them for help. It’s also a lot nicer than working alone so that I can have a little side conversation while getting my work done at the same time. So in general I just really like group work and while getting to learn things with this specific group project on tiles was something I enjoyed to complete.
Science
I really have enjoyed Ms. Dennen’s science very much, I feel like everyones so subtle and friendly while we're inside of her class which makes it ten times better. One assignment that i've really liked doing this semester in science with Ms. Dennen is probably where we took the leaf and rubbed it against a piece of paper then set the paper into a substance that made the color stretch up the paper. I thought that particular assignment was just very cool to watch happen and showed me how different things combined and the effect it has on them. Something that I found challenging would have to be when we had to dissect the flower and measure them, I just couldn't quite figure it all out too well.
One assignment that I enjoyed working would have to be the current events. Although this assignment was not in my best suit, i would try my best to atleast try and get them done because they were a big part of my grade plus it shouldn't have been as hard as I made the look. I’d say I didn’t do my best while accomplishing these assignments, because I know that I could've done a million times better than what I really did. I would give myself maybe a C or so on those assignments because it did take me a while to get them done and i slacked very much when trying to do them. What I remember from having to do current events was having to write about something science related going on around us, hence the project, current event.
I also very much enjoyed testing the water down a the creek. Considering we were able to get out of the classroom for once and take a little walk down to the creek just to test the, oxygen levels, ph, salinity, and temperature. I had lots of fun completing this assignment and also made sure I was paying good attention to what I was doing and got all my work done just like I was supposed to. Although the water was a bit chilly and I felt as if I was going to fall in at times, or maybe just one of my lovely classmates would push me in out the generosity from their hearts. I would give myself a pretty reasonable grade on this project since it didn't really take much effort from myself to get this project done so it was good.