My Zeitgeist

❅ Learning Profile ❅

     When we did the profile test in humanities, I turned out to be Profile A. Mrs Narsiman also turned out to be a profile A. Here are a few things about me and the profile A! ★


      We had a short test to see which profile we are. I use my logic side of the brain (left side), and my right hand, foot, eye, and ear are the most dominant. Put that all together and I am profile A! Qhen I readwhat profile A was, I could definately believe that it was me.



My results!!!

      I learn best when I'm focusing on the details of something. I produce good work by analysis, verbally speaking, and writing. The profile also says that I usually prefer structured learning style and like information is a specific order. I also am able to follow step-by-step visual and verbal instructions. A profile a person also has language (written and oral) as a very important thing for learning. I find that it's me because I like to be told exactly what to do when working on something. For me, if I'm only told what the final result of something should be but not told how to do it, I usually have big difficulties. Like my profile says, I have trouble seeing the big picture. Usually when I get step-by-step directions, my results come out fine. I also understand that I can visually learn things. This made me think about my more dominant eye. It's the right one and when I look at things through my right eye, everything is much more blurry than my left side. I then realized that was because I used my right eye much more since it’s the dominant one.
  

  

      I need to be encouraged to understand information from a whole perspective and explore emotions and movement. When I am under stress, I have a difficulty seeing the big picture. I need the details and steps to do something. Lucky for me because Mrs. Narsiman likes to have step-by-step directions, so she gives her students those types of directions. So I usually work quite well in Humanities. I also need help to access the gestalt hemisphere. This is because it is said to be my biggest challenge. The gestalt side is the complete opposite from the logic side, which is the side I'm on! The people, who are on the Gestalt side, use emotions to connect to things, but people with profile A have troubles connecting to things emotionally. That's also where I need help and encouragement. Those are some things that I can't really do well.


     Strategies that would help my learning would be to have a balance of art, music, freeform movement and interpersonal/intrapersonal skills combined with effort to make emotional connections. I'm hopefully doing well because I have piano lesson, which would be my music contribution. I also have art classes at school every day as part of my normal school schedule, that's obviously my art section. I also rake dance combos, which I think is my freeform movement. I also try to connect to things emotionally through Literature Circle connections and try to see the big picture in things and still keep the skill of following steps. Hopefully I can become better at things I am not able to do with these strategies!

     Something that I would want my teachers to know about me would be that just because my profile says that I can still read and do stuff when I am stressed doesn’t mean I can do it well. I know that's what my profile says, but sometimes if I am under stress, I feel like I can't do anything right and after that, I actually can't do anything right! I might be able to function my body, but under stress, hardly anyone can do something perfect or at least well.


Profile A!!!

~ Natalie



Collaborative Constructively Literature Circles

What are the benefits of working with a classmate?

     There are many benefits, and one of them is that you have someone who can constantly revise and improve your work. This is good because if you have any errors in your writing, which you have not caught, your partner might see them and could help to fix them right away. For example, when I was reading my partner's work, I found a couple of grammar mistakes and changed them for her and I'm sure she did the same for me. Another benefit from working with a partner is that there are so many more ideas that come to your head. You probably have your prediction and understanding of the book, but your partner might have a totally different idea, and you could start thinking about the story in his/her point of view. An example of why this is good would be when you are stuck and don't know what to write. Maybe your classmate's idea would help you to get through the writing, because she could give you a good and different point of view on the topic. There are many benefits to have a classmate work with you on your Literature Circles, but there are also some challenges.

What challenges or obstacles did you and your partner overcome or tried to overcome?

     My partner and I faced some obstacles along the way just like some other groups. One (The) obstacle we tried to overcome was dealing with starting the assignment itself. My partner and I would constantly check the document and see that there was no work there. We started wondering if the other person would get their work done. So one day we both decided to get started at the same time. As we worked, we constantly chatted to keep each other going. We kept working and working until our Literature Circle was completed. We were very proud of ourselves that we deiced to get started on the Literature Circle and to support each other. In the end we even ended up completing the assignment a couple of days before it was due and we finished it well!

What new understandings did you gain about the novel?

     Something I gained about the novel from collaborative Literature Circles is that often there are many different outlooks on the books, but sometimes there are the same. When I did Literature Circles alone and then discussed it with my group, everyone had different ideas for the most important passages. But when I worked with my partner I remembered that ideas can also be very similar. I had pretty much my part of the Literature Circles planned out and I just needed to write it down properly, but when I checked what my partner had written, I realized that she had some ideas that I had as well. But then she also had some I didn't. I gained additional knowledge about the book by reading what she had to say about it because I hadn't really looked at the story in the same way. But sometimes the book gives such bold clues that it’s quite obvious what going to happen next. That’s when I have to realize I ‘m not the only one with the prediction since it’s so obvious.

     Overall I enjoy Literature Circles with a partner, but I somehow can't compare it to working alone. I like both ways of doing Literature Circles in different ways. But it is fun to see how it feels to work with another person on this type of assignment!

Thanks for reading!

~ Natalie

Literature Circles

          Literature Circles is one of the consistent things we do in Humanities class. The novel I am currently reading for Literature Circle is The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. In Literature Circles we talk about important passages, questions, answers, connections, and new vocabulary.

How did your discussion help your understanding of the novel?
         The discussion helped me to understand the novel because when your group shares ideas, then you start to think about other thoughts. Maybe the ideas your friends have are different than yours but when you think about them, they usually make sense. This could help you understand the book more because you see the story through someone else's eyes. For example, you might have thought a character was cruel and mean, but then someone else explains why they think the character isn't really that mean. You might start to think of the character the same way and the story could possibly be clearer to you that before! Sharing ideas gives you more to think about and a wider outlook on the story.

Connections that I made during my discussions

         My connections were usually about myself, a movie I saw, or a book I read. Some of the connections I made were about how Charlotte (The main character from the book The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle) was scared to be on the ship without any companions and since Charlotte came from such a high society, the rooms were not even close to being up to her usual standards. Charlotte was scared of multiple things and wanted to get off the ship immediately. I was once scared stay a night on the RMS Queen Mary after going on a ghost tour. The other connection had to do with Charlotte being the only woman on the ship. I connected this to a movie called Pirates of the Caribbean. Elizabeth, one of the main characters, was also the only woman on a ship. I tried to look at it in kind of the same way because Elizabeth actually wanted to be on the ship, while Charlotte didn't.

Predictions I have about the book
         After reading the first few chapters, my prediction of what will happen next is that Charlotte will feel very lonely since there is no turning back to Liverpool. There are two months ahead of her and I have a feeling it's going to be a long two months for her. I think that Charlotte will soon be accused of murder and found guilty. My prediction is that this will all happen on board the ship and she will try to escape from the crew and run around the ship hiding. She would not be able to get off the ship without diving into the open sea, so she might have to hide somewhere in the ship and will try not to get caught while sneaking food. That's what I think will happen in the next couple of chapters!

Do I like Literature Circles?
         I think Literature Circles are not my most favorite assignments, but they are definitely not the worst either! The good thing is that they help to develop your writing skills and open your mind to other people's thoughts and opinions. And that will probably be very useful in the future!

 

 

 
 
 

 

Image sources:
mdianeharrison.com
funkysouls.com

harpercollinscatalogs.com

valeriecwang.wordpress.com
7thgradenorthcore.pbworks.com

stacysbigpicture.typepad.com

Even though Papua New Guinea is located in the same region as Australia and New Zealand, why is it that Australia and New Zealand became technologically advanced and wealthy?

        New Zealand and Australia are more wealthy than Papua New Guinea. There are a few reasons why. First let's talk about New Zealand. Then we'll take a look at Australia. And finally we'll see how Papua New Guinea is. Now let's get to it!

New Zealand
        New Zealand's economy was built on a narrow range of primary products. Due to the high demand of these primary products, New Zealand has enjoyed high standards of living. Its economy is based on a market, which is very dependent on international trade, and mainly with Japan, China, the United States, the European Union, as well as Australia. New Zealand’s economy has traditionally been based on exports from productive agriculture systems. It also welcomes and encourages foreign investment openly. A benefit for the people of this country has been that there is a supportive education and health care system. The World Bank even praised New Zealand in 2005 as being the most business-friendly country in the world.



Australia
        The Australian economy is dominated by its service sector. It declared independence from Britain, and is rich in natural resources and a major exporter of agricultural products, particularly wheat and wool, minerals such as iron-ore and gold, and energy in the form of coal and liquid natural gas. From the 1820s onwards the economic growth was based increasingly on the production of fine wool, but while wool was still the main product, a variety of new goods such as wheat, dairy, and other agriculturally products became a big part of the Australian exports. The natural resources attracted foreign investment, and Australia heavily improved on its transportation infrastructure. Property and workers' rights came in place and helped to develop the related business even further.



Papua New Guinea
        Papua New Guinea is the world's 54th largest country, but its geographic location is off the common trade routes and extremely rugged in specific places. The infrastructure is heavily limited as well, because of these geographical challenges, for example high mountains, which makes it difficult for the country to develop a functioning transportation infrastructure. Also its location right on the “Pacific Ring of Fire” is causing the danger of natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis. There are also hundreds of ethnic groups in Papua New Guinea, which are preserving the old ways of living, and which are speaking more than 820 different languages. That limits the education opportunities and causes at the majority of the people are poorly educated. For example there are only six universities in the entire country.



Comparison
        To tie theses countries together, the few main reasons why Australia and New Zealand are more advanced than Papua New Guinea are the education, geographical location, serious law and order problems, property right limitations and the collaboration between the people, because while Australians and the people of New Zealand have enjoyed a high educational standard, Papua New Guineans had to deal with quite a limited education, but education is very important for the technologically development of a country to solve problems and to invent. But with limited knowledge, people don’t know how to solve obstacle which are coming their way. Although New Zealand, Australia, and Papua New Guinea are located around the same area, the countries are very different. In Papua New Guinea they experience earthquakes and tsunamis, but not Australia and New Zealand. Papua New Guinea faces difficulties of building or developing a functioning infrastructure because of its challenging geography. But there is one thing Australia and Papua New Guinea have in common, and that is the natural resources. Australia took advantage of their rich resources and it brought the country more wealth. Papua New Guinea didn't use their rich resources as an advantage to grow more advanced as a country. The last main reason is the collaboration between the people. In New Zealand and Australia, the people have the same backgrounds and goals, and they’re not different tribes that don't associate with each other. That makes it easier to jointly work together and to overcome challenges to build up their country. They all communicate in the same language, but in Papua New Guinea all the different tribes speak more than 820 different languages. So there you have it. These are all reasons why Australia and New Zealand are more advanced than Papua New Guinea.




Papua New Guinea Flag


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sources

png.salvationarmy.org
wikipedia.com

It's Hard To Be a Mud Skipper

        Do you understand how hard it is to be a mud skipper like me? Well I can tell you it's not easy! Time and time again, disasters always find us. Just like the other week. Oh my! That was just plain horrible. After I tell you the story about what happened, you will pity mud skippers and dislike human intruders.

        Just last week, I was having a great time in the mud. It was about late morning and all the mud skippers were skipping around, having a good time. Just the day before, I was told that a group of humans had come and stomped all over our precious mud! Luckily I wasn't there because I was skipping around on the other side of the bridge. But I was told that the invasion was terrible! I had no idea what really happened. At least that was until I heard loud talking come from a group of about forty people. This was when the action began . . .

        I saw those gigantic humans walk up to the mud with eager eyes. I was completely frozen with fear! I was right in the way of their path and just could not move. The first human took a step forward and started heading towards me. Its foot loomed over me and landed centimeters away from my body. Luckily when it lifted its foot, some mud flung up and I was flung along with the mud. Plop! I landed in the safety of a muddy floor right under a tree. I started to relax and calm down a bit. I was safe. Well I thought I was . . .

        "Look!" a short human called as its huge finger pointing straight at me! I was praying that it wouldn't kill me. That dreadful stepped forward and approached me. I decided to skip away as fast as I could and I was moving for my dear life. Finally I zipped out of sight and behind a muddy tree root. I was so happy! I survived! I couldn't believe it. I actually lived! I started skipping around with joy. But then I saw one of my mud skipper friends on the other side. He was frightened and scared half to death. This mud skipper was much younger than me. I needed to help him out before he got trampled on. But what if I got squashed trying to save this mud skipper?

        I headed of at top speed to the other side. But somehow, the little mud skipper didn't see me and so I smashed right into him. I stared at him apologetically. He seemed to be happy that some came over to him. We skipped into under the tree and out of sight from the dreadful humans. Then we continued to just watch the humans fall into the mud. They must be completely brainless to fall into the mud every five seconds! I didn't see one human stay upright the whole time and I just don't understand how these intruders couldn't even keep their balance. They were so dumb. But finally they left and every mud skipper was fine, so we continued our lives just as they were before the humans came along. Hopefully we won't have to see any more scary intruders tomorrow!

Hey look! It's me!

Thanks for reading!
~ Natalie


Picture from . . . bountyfishing.com

BULLYING

        Bullying is never the way to solve anything for any reason! If you have ever witnessed bullying, then do something about it next time. Or at least try because I know it's hard to get up the guts to face a bully. Standing up might be easy for some people, but really hard for others! Just remember to try to stay nice and positive.J

        Once there was a time when I witnessed bullying and didn't do anything about it. There were two girls, let's call them Student 1 and Student 2. The story began when these two girls were sitting in the cafeteria during lunch break. Student 1 would always pack her lunch and sometimes she disliked it. Whenever Student 1 wasn't pleased with her food, she would throw it in the bin and explained to Student 2 that she would tell her mom she ate it all. Do you see where I'm going with this? Student 1 and 2 normally sat together with a couple more friends and since Student 1 no longer had anything to eat, she was starving. So this was where the bullying came in. Student 1 just grabbed food that belonged to someone else. She sometimes asked, but if Student 2 said no, it wouldn't be a pretty scene. She went around telling people not to talk to Student 2 because she said that Student 2 was really mean. That was verbal bullying! But there was more. Student 1 elbowed Student 2 really hard and got some other people to do that too. There was the physical bullying! Sometimes if she sat close to Student 2, she would send her unkind notes over and over again. There was the non-verbal bullying. Last, if Student 1 knew that she couldn't win the fight, she went up to Student 2 and said I FORGIVE you. Not I'm sorry! I considered her a big bully.

        Something I would have done differently to stand up for myself, since I was Student 2, would have been to actually tell her something. I should heve told her that nobody had the right to take the lunch of someone else away just because she disliked her own food. And physical bullying is not the way to settle anything! I would like to tell her all that, but what I actually did was hang around silently and tried to avoid her. After a while, it kept happening and I kind of got used to it. Now, when I look back on all this drama, I don't understand why I didn't say anything to her. I had the words, but they just didn't come out of my mouth! Why? I really don't have a clue...

        I now have two goals for this year, so that the situation would never happen in ISKL! The goals are to never solve something with verbal or physical bullying. This is one goal because I already know that it does not solve a single thing! The other goal is to try to stand up for myself and others. Hopefully I won't have to that because I would prefer that there would be no bullying in the first place! I hope I can contribute to making ISKL a better place!

Thanks for reading my blog! Don't be a bully and stay positive.

~ NatalieJ

Courage

When Did I Show Courage?

        A time I showed courage was when I learned to swim. I chose this specific moment because this was something that impacted my life in many ways. There have been a few other times when I might have shown courage, but this moment stood out in my mind.

What Happened?

When I was about three years old, my mom decided to have someone teach me how to swim. I wasn't as interested in the idea as my mom. Actually, I screamed like there was no tomorrow because I was terrified! Could you blame me? I was a small three years old girl, who had never ever dunked her head into water before. But of course my mom took me anyways and tried to convince me that everything was going to be fine. For a bit, I believed her. But that was before I stepped into that cold baby pool with my swim teacher …

Why didn't I like swimming classes?

        I could sit here and read you a whole list, but I'll just point out a few main facts. One of them is that I disliked my teacher! I don't think she understood how I felt about water and wasn't very encouraging. Sometimes she would yell at me to do things around the end of class and she would also pull me down to sit in the water or blow bubbles. She hardly noticed that I cried throughout half the class! Another reason why I absolutely hated the classes was because I was trying to swim for my very first time and I didn't know how to respond to floating in water. At the end of the day I was completely scared of the cold pool.

How Did I Show Courage?

        I showed courage by continuing with the lessons, which I feared, and not backing out. Maybe there was a bit of tears and wailing along the way, but I managed to make it through each day! For me that took quite a bit of courage. Eventually I got better in swimming and overcame my fear of water. I think I might have also shown courage by facing my teacher each day because I was quite scared of her.

 

How Did It Benefit Me In The End?

        By showing courage and proving to myself I could make it through the classes, I was able to participate in many things! Like swim carnivals, pool parties, a section in P.E., and I even joined one of my school’s swim team! I'm not afraid of water anymore. Not bad for somebody who used to be terrified of pool water. This might not be a huge achievement in some people's eyes, but it's a giant achievement to me and I'm really proud to be able to say: I SWIM WELL!!!

Thanks for reading!

~ Natalie

How Can Understanding The Past, Help Us To Understand Our World?
      

         I think that's a really hard question, but I'll try my best to answer it in a clear way. I think that understanding the past, helps us understand our world in so many ways and they are all different!

        One example would be how they hunted for food. Nowadays we have guns and mechanical traps and all these high-tech tools. But, back in the olden days, they had spears, knives, and nets. If modern people today can understand how they caught their animal meat with spears and knives, then how much easier would it be to catch meat now? With more modernized tools and understanding how prehistoric humans hunted, it's much easier to understand how to hunt in our world today!

        A way we are able to understand the past is through the cave paintings. It's like reading a picture book! With the painting, social scientists are able to hypothesize what had happened in the earlier days and how the prehistoric humans survived. There are no words, but the cave painting had great detail and that helped the social scientists to make more detailed guesses. The scientists can also try to understand how the people felt by the way the prehistoric people expressed themselves through the paintings. Cave painting are one of our connections to the past!

        So as you can see, understanding the past helps us tremendously because if we didn't understand a thing about how the prehistoric humans lived, then today's society would have to go through the same process they did. We wouldn't really be getting anywhere in life. Instead, we would just be going through one process over again since we didn't understand what the prehistoric humans had done. But, with the understanding of the past we were able to go further in civilization and hopefully the future humans will carry it on even further!

Thanks for reading my blog!

- Natalie

www.sciencemuseum.org.uk

Social Scientist Blog


What Did I Choose?

        If I had to choose a dream job out of either an Archaeologist, a Historian, or a Geographer, I would probably have to go with an Archaeologist! There are a few reasons why I chose this type of social scientist. I never really imagined myself as an Archaeologist before...

Why Did I Choose Archaeologist?
        I chose an Archaeologist because I enjoy get down into the dirt and actually doing something instead of other kind of jobs when you sit, study and read all day long. I like reading, but for a job, I'd rather get out there and do things! Another reason why I want to be an Archaeologist is because what they do sound really exciting like how they dig in the dirt and look for bones of various people and creatures. Unlocking some questions we have about the past and possibly make a new discovery for the world to know about! Doesn't that sound great?! Last but not least, I want to be an Archaeologist because after you dig in the mud and probably find something, you most likely have to do some research on whatever it is! To find out what it is that you found and to know the background behind it. So, when I said I didn't want to sit and study facts all day, I also don't want to be digging all day! Now, if I would be an Archaeologist, I would have a little of both. I'd get the best of both worlds! I think I would be good at this job because I can think logically and understand things pretty easily. Some people also say that I'm observant. Another thing is that sometimes all it takes to succeed is to love what your doing! Archaeology covers an really long period of time and a great variety of different subjects!


Why Didn't I Choose Geographer?
        I decided not to choose geographer because I don't enjoy geography very much. For me it's one of those subjects where you just don't like it as much as others. It may also be because I'm not quite good at it and I would definitely say that geography is my worst subject! Do not count on me to become a Geographer.




Why Didn't I Choose a Historian?
        Historian was actually in my top two! After a while I decided on Archaeologist because they go beyond history and see how people or creatures came, while Historians only find out what they did back then. So, Historians depend on facts that have been discovered and Archaeologists deal with the prehistoric past where we don't know any answers yet. Then, the Historians study what the Archaeologists discover and Historians write about it.


And Finally . . .
        So, now you know that I'd rather be an Archaeologist than a Geographer or a Historian. You have also heard the reasons. What would you rather be?

-Natalie

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

http://lastdaysoftheincas.com/

My Humanities Blog

          Hello! My name is Natalie. My mom is from Thailand and my dad is from Germany. That makes me half and half, but I was actually born in Los Angeles. When my family moved to Kuala Lumpur, I was only two months old! So, this is where I call "home"! As you can see, I've lived here almost all my life and I think it's great!

          The last three books I read were great! The first one was Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan. Another book would be A Series of Unfortunate Events - The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket and the most recent one, that I'm still reading, is Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. If anybody has trouble looking for books to check out, I would recommend all three books to them! I also recently watched a movie. I usually prefer action or funny movies instead of movies where people only talk and talk and talk. So, the movie I chose was Clash of the Titans! That had quite some action and was really fun to watch! I hope you've seen it too!

          I have two main goals for sixth grade. One is an academic goal and the other is a social goal. The academic goal is to be an A+ student or at least a straight A student. This is my goal because I know it would really benefit me in the future and in many different, useful ways! I know I'll have to work really hard for it, but I really want to reach this goal! Now, for the social goal, I would really like to make friends with as many sixth graders as I can and to be able to fit in! This would be a big achievement to me because I'm new and don't know many people. So far everything has pretty much been going in the right direction!

          There's also my favorite vacation memory that I would like to share with you! It actually happened recently and this summer. You see, my family and I went to Hawaii for a week or two and we went to Maui for the first time! As everybody knows, Hawaii is known for it's beaches and I can assure that Maui has the absolute best beaches in the world! I just love the sea water and the sand and I definitely love Maui! BEST VACATION EVER!!!

          This is a little more about me. Something you should know is the five adjectives I would describe myself with. they would be . . .

1. Active
2. Shy
3. Friendly
4. Impatient
5. Curious

          Those are the main adjectives I would use to describe myself! Maybe you would describe me differently. But I hope I'm most of the words above!

          This was my first time writing a blog and I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!

          - Natalie