Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Reflection and Conclusion of Writing Portfolio


 This semester I have learned many things in Language Arts which helps since it is not my best subject.  I think the most important thing I learned is that when you describe things that you don’t need to use the big and fancy words but the words that best describe it (word choice).  I feel that I had good word choice in my Querencia: My Special Place Essay when I was describing my room.  Another thing I learned is that your essay or writing doesn’t need to be long in order for it to be a good essay, your writing can be short but still be really good, its just a matter of being specific, getting to the point and stay on topic (ideas).  I feel that I was specific and really explained the idea of the essay in my Final Exam Impromptu: Seasons when I was describing a rainy winter day in Hawaii.  


My greatest achievement this semester is being able to write the short impromptu essays for mid-quarter and final assessment and do it with quality work.  I normally take a long time in writing a quality essay but to be given a certain time and a subject and write an essay is hard to do for me.  So I was surprised when I got a good score for the assessments.   My biggest challenge this semester has been the group work.  I have a really hard time of trusting my teammates to do their part and I tend to do it myself.  So instead I want to be able to trust my teammates to do their part and not do the whole thing be myself.  My goal for next semester is to continue to improve on my writing and get all 4 on my writing pieces next semester. As well as extend my vocabulary to work on my word choice to better describe things.

Mom/Dad, please write a reflection of my portfolio presentation.  Please answer these questions as follows:
    • What piece of writing did you like best in my portfolio and why? 
    • What did you like about my portfolio and sharing and what would you like to see me improve on?
    • Which of the writing traits (ideas, organization, voice, word choice) do you feel was most successful for me?
    • Which of the traits of writing would you like me to improve on in the coming semester?





    Q2: Outside Reading Card: The Boyfriend League


    Self Assessment: 4

    I think I deserve a 4 because my card is the right dimensions all the pictures are at a resolution of 300.  My quote tells the whole story about her experience with boys and baseball, which are the main ideas in the story.  My conflict and resolution statement are short and concise but yet it explains the main conflict and resolution in the story.  I thought my Photoshop graphic is super nice it has nice layering and pictures that are important to the story like the baseball in the background to represent baseball, the pitcher on the bottom left because she fell in love with a pitcher (Jason), and a big heart to represent the love.  Also my card has some white space so it is not all cramped together. 

    Friday, November 26, 2010

    Rough Draft: Cause and Effect Essay


    Business Land Use In Hawaii

    Back in the old days of Hawaii, the land was divided into wedge-shaped lands running from the mountain to the sea.  Within the ahupua`a, the land was used to sustain life in Hawaii.  Each ahupua`a contained fertile land used for farming crops like taro and sweet potato and to grow trees and plants like the koa tree.  However all of that changed when the Great Mahele came around and changed how the land was divided and used.
             In 1848, the Great Mahele divided the land into the Crown Land (owned by the king), Government Land, and the land owned by the chiefs and konohiki.  With the Great Mahele came the Kuleana Act of 1850, which then allowed the maka`ainana (commoners) to own land.  After that thousands of acres land went to foreigners.  The land was often sold and leased to foreigners as a payment of debt or for goods and services.  Already foreigners had most of the land and used it for many things like the sugar plantations and pineapple plantations.  After the overthrow, the former Crown Lands went to the government.
             Now days in Hawaii, the land is used much differently from the past.  Businesses use the land for retail factories, which is stores and for office buildings.  Industries use the land the land as well but it depends on the industry the business is apart of.  Most industries use the land for factories to create goods.  Hawaii land is used for agricultural purposes, which is apart of many industries like for growing crops (coffee beans, pineapples, and etc.) and producing food.  For example, Ala Moana is a huge business in Hawaii and takes up a lot of land.  The mall takes up has 2.1 million square feet of retail space and also the parking lot takes up a lot of land as well.  Ala Moana holds about 230 businesses, which include stores and restaurant.
             Lately in Hawaii there has been issues about the land use.  For example, the former Crown Lands that were given to the government after the overthrow known as ceded lands have been debated about how to use the land.  The state feels the right to sell or transfer the ceded lands since it was given to the government.  On Maui and the Big Island, the state has transferred pieces of ceded land to private companies to be used for residential and housing.  However the Office of Hawaiian Affairs took the state to court and won.  The Office of Hawaiian Affairs wanted to protect the ceded land and feel it should be preserved for the Hawaiians and the culture.
             The Great Mahele was made to modernize Hawaii, however it gave land to foreigners.  The foreigners then changed the use of land from farming land to sustain life to making factories and stores to gain money.

    Wednesday, September 29, 2010

    Q1 Outside Reading Card: Snow Country

    This is my Outside Reading Card on the book Snow Country.

    Assessment: 4
    I think I deserve a 4 because I followed all of the requirements, it is a 4 by 6 inches card, I have the photoshop graphic, I put the title and author, conflict. resolution, and significant quote.  Also all of the pictures are at a resolution of 300.  My quote is good because it explains the complications about why Komako and Shimamura can't be together.  Also I put a brief description of the conflict and resolution of what had happened and it is clear and precise.  My graphic shows the important things that happened in the book which were the the hot spring inn and a traveler with a geisha.  I tried to make the card have everything I needed and have space so that it doesn't look cluttered and packed.

    Monday, September 13, 2010

    Draft for Querencia Essay


    When you hate your life, when you are pissed off and miserable, where do you go to blow off steam or just to think and relax after an exhausting day?  For me it is my room, I slam the door and lock it tight then blast the music loud so the whole street can hear “Baby” by Justin Bieber.
                When you first enter my room you don’t see wall you see millions of celebrity posters like Justin Bieber, Taylor Lauthner, Nick Jonas and many more.  All the posters are crazy straight and perfect because I will settle for nothing less.  But in the middle there is a Nike Swoosh in sky blue and ocean blue.  The walls are also painted ocean blue and sky blue but you can’t really see it.  Then you will see this huge pile on the side with a mixture of stuff animals and clothes and everything else.  After you get past the mountain of junk you will see my bed covered with stuff animals and pillows and blankets and people always ask me, “Where do you sleep?  There is no room on your bed.”  I reply, “I have space and I move my body until I am comfortable.”  Next to my bed is my dresser with drawers sticking out and clothes everywhere, some folded in the drawers, some unfolded in the drawer, and some on the ground.  Then on the other side of my bed is my nightstand with all my chargers on it, my phone, my iPod, clock, and radio.  Next to my nightstand is my L- shaped or corner desk and rolly chair.  On my desk, the side against the wall under the big bay window, are all my papers and sometimes you don’t even see desk you just see papers and clothes draped on the side of my chair and desk.  Then on the other side of the L- shaped or corner desk are papers stacked neatly, color coded, and easy to find what I need.  That is where I do all my homework.  Then we walk over to the walk in closet.  All my clothes hung up on one side then on the other side are all my bags are hung up on the shelf.  But if you look down on to the floor of my closet you see shirts, long sleeves, jackets, backpacks and handbags.  Then look up and you see all the junk my parents store in my closet since they say, “I have the biggest room and the corner room.”  I love my room so much.
                When I am mad like when my parents get on me to fold my chores or walk the dog or before when I went to judo I hated to go or when ever they get on me about how I am playing or when my brother gets irritated and I can not stand it n longer like when he hits me or just drones on and on about nothing I stomp my way to my room slam the door and lock it.  But then my mom yells at me for locking the door and open it.  So then I blast the music and think or tear up with such misery.  Then before it is time t go to bed I my mom would come and talk to me about what was wrong and try to work everything out.  Normally I am mad with my mom but lately it has been all good.
                I spend most of my day in my room including when I sleep and that is my own property, it is mine.  I feel that I can just be myself in my room I can throw a tantrum when I want and I can fool around and joke in my room but the one thing that I can do in there that I can not do anywhere else is fart and burp whenever I want.  If I didn’t have my room I think I would die literally.
               
                  

    Sunday, September 5, 2010

    My Special Place

     
    Where do you go to think?  Well I go to my bedroom whenever I need to be alone, when I am mad, need to think, and when I am feeling down.  This is my special place because my room is mine and has all my things and no one without my permission can go in there, it is like my only place that no one can hurt me I an safe there.  It is my place to think and relax especially when I am mad.  I do homework in there, sleep there, and live there (I am in my room most of the time).  So that is my special place wheres yours?

    Wednesday, September 1, 2010

    Rough Draft for Roots and Recipes


                Our family always gets together on holidays even though we are not all the same.  The foods, at the gatherings are always a mixture of Asian cultures, mostly Japanese and Filipino.  As soon as my tata walks through the door, I rush over to him to hug him and of course, to see if he brought my favorite Filipino food, chicharon.
                As my dad stands there patiently waiting for the cold water to raise into a boil.  He tells me that “First you must boil the pork to soften and cook the meat.”  Then all of a sudden the water starts to boil out of the pot and my dad calmly lowers the heat.  After he lowered the heat he gently put the pork into the pot to boil.  The smell of the pork hit me instantly and so did the memories.   
                When I was almost to my dad’s waist and starting preschool, I was eagerly waiting for Santa clause to come out and give us all our presents.  But then all the delicious food came down and I instantly turned to the food thinking yummy.  Waiting for my dad to take me to the dinner line holding all of my relatives.  Hanging on to him like my life depended on it while he is asking me what I want.  Next thing I know he is putting this fluffy crisp piece of meat on my plate and I ask, “Daddy what is that?” He said with a low and sweet voice, “It is chicharon you will like it.”  “Okay, daddy.”  Is what I replied to him in my sweet and high voice.  Then we went back to sit down and eat.  When it came time to eat the food I was closing my eyes trembling with fear.  It was getting closer and closer, ohhh no.  Then when I took a bite of the meat, it flew right out of my mouthI thought this is horrible oh my gosh, I will never ever eat this again. 
                Then a decade later, I waited eagerly to see the people’s faces when they opened my present to them.  My attention immediately shifted to the smell of the food.  I waited until my dad came with me in line.  He is helping me choose what to eat but then he puts this crispy pork thing on my plate.  I ask him what is it and he replies, “Oh you will like it trust me.”  So I am thinking ok this is something new.  I put on the sauce and lift my fork up for the first bite.  Then the flavor of the pork just burst in my mouth so I finished my plate and went back for seconds.  Later on I found out what it was and it was chicharon, the food that I made a pack to never eat again.  From then on I had loved it ever since.
                As we finished boiling it, we went had to wait a long hour for the pork to cool off.  After the long hour was done, we went into the back yard to fry it in the hot oil.  He had a propane tank hooked up on to the burner with a black pan on it to fry.  He tells me to stay away so I don’t get burned.  As soon as the pork hit the oil it immediately started to sizzle and the oil splattered all over the lawn.  There were even explosions of oil popping up every once in a while unexpected.  We had to do three rounds to make sure the meat was cook to perfection. 
                After the explosions of oil were over we again had to wait impatiently for the pork to cool off.  Then we went back outside to fry it a second time to make the skin fluffy and crispy.  When my dad started heating up the propane burner he put it scorching hot and the oil turned charcoal black whereas the first time we fried it was yellowish golden.  But this time instead of an explosion of oil when it met the pork it was calm and small bubbles came up.  Instantly, we had to take it out since it was going to burn and the skin was all ready fluffy and crispy and the meat was golden brown whereas before it was a tan color.  I was jumping out of my skin waiting to take the first bite but we were not done yet.
                We still had to make the sauce.  The sauce was made out of bloody red tomatoes and bleach white onions and a hint of patis or fish sauce.  Mixed all together we had a killer sauce.  As I watched my dad slice through the onion and tomato into small squares all the same size with such precision and swiftness.  While he cut I asked him how he learned to cook,  he told me that at parties the men always used to cook and the women did the desert and he learned from his dad. 
                Now that the sauce was done he cut the chicharon into smaller pieces to eat.  My mouth was watering at the sight and smell of it.  Thinking “Almost done. Almost done.”  Of course I had to taste it and the pork (chicharon) was soft and crispy while the sauce added flavor to the whole thing.  I had to stop myself from eating more.  My dad did a very excellent job on the chicharon.
                As we were cleaning up he said to me, “Making chicharon with you today reminded my of the Philippines when I was a little boy watching my dad make it and always getting scoldings for sneaking back in to eat some more while he is cooking.”  I am glad I got to learn about this special dish and spend time with my dad.
               

    Wednesday, August 25, 2010

    The Interview

    I am going to interview my dad about a Filipino food named chicharon.  He is going to show how to make the mouth watering chicharon.  The interview and demonstration is scheduled on Saturday, August 28 and Sunday, August 29.  For the interview, I am going to ask things like
    • If he has any special memories about or with chicharon?
    • When he was young and living in the Philippines who used to make it?
    • Does he like chicharon?
    • If there are certain occasions when you eat chicharon?
    • If the smell and taste of chicharon reminds him of the Philippines aka home? 
    I can't wait to learn how to make my favorite Filipino food or main dish and learn all about it. 

    Sunday, August 15, 2010

    Roots and Recipes Brainstorm

    A Filipino dish called chicharon is the food I will be describing.  It  is like roast pork but the difference is that roast pork is roasted where as chicharon is deep fried with really hot oil.  Also that the pork skin in the chicharon is fluffy and crispy like pork grinds where as roast pork the skin is not fluffy and crispy.  I eat the chicharon with a sauce that can be store bought but I prefer it homemade with onions, tomatoes and fish sauce.  With that for dinner I eat it until I am full.  You can hear the pork sizzling in the frying pan and the smell of the sauce with onions and tomatoes, it makes my mouth water.  Then when you eat it fresh it is the best.  I chose this dish is because I remember when I was young around 8 years old and I hated it my dad made me try it and I immediately spit it out but now I love it and eat it all the time which is kinda wierd since I didn't like it before.  I chose this dish also because my tata and mama aka grandma and grandpa always bring the chicharon to parties and special occasions like christmas and halloween and I would eat it  up like there is no tomorrow.  For this essay and project I will be interviewing my dad since he is Filipino and he knows how to make chicharon and the sauce.