Final

For my first interview, I interviewed my moms older sister (my aunt) Louis. Click here

For my second interview, I interviewed my grandma on my moms side of the family, this is my step-grandma so my grandma from my grandpa's second marriage. Click here

This is the business letter format e-mail that I e-mailed to my grandpa on my moms side of the family that is still alive for information on my heritage and family. Click here



This is my family prezi over 15 of the family members that I felt were good role models and good examples of successful people that I look up to. It's mostly my moms side of he family an a smaller part on my dads side of the family.

This is the infograph over my immediate family. My two brothers and me and my mom and dad. How we ended up here and more into depth of what we did and how we are.

Here is my 5 frame storyboard depicting my heritage and where I came from. Pictures hand drawn and taken by me. Click here

Monday December 2

Journal - Where are you right now on your "Who Do You Think You Are" project? What did you do over the break for the project? Did you interview anyone? Use the checklist below to figure out what you have finished, what you are still working on and what you still have to do.


I called my grandparents from the other side of the family but I forgot that my grandma went on a cruise so I'm going to try to contact my grandpa tonight sometime. I didn't do much over the break for it though. I already finised my family echo and my 5 frame story photo thing. I'm currently working on my infograph over my immediate family and have kind of not really started my prezi. I still need to collect pictures for the prezi. I think I already know what 15 family member I am going to use or I at least have an idea of it. I finished the e-mail also though.

Stop Motion Animation Critics

1. Zoe Krump. Crayola markers design to end up spelling love. I thought it was creative and unique and it looked very well put together.
2.Grant Keucker.  Two rolling chairs in a hallway racing. I thought it looked almost like a video even, it was so put together and looked good.
3. Ian Whelan. Re-arming a lego battle ship. I thought that it looked really good and it was also a unique idea that's different.

Wednesday November 13

Journal - How did you stop motion animation turn out? If you could give it a grade, what would you give it out of 60 points? What did you learn from creating this video?


I have no finished my stop motion animation. I'm trying so right now I would have a solid zero although I don't like the sound of that but I know that i's my responsibility to make it all up. I have learned that you need to be really creative and dedicated to do things like these but in the long wrong you will have something to be proud of because most of these stop motion animations are really cool looking and fun as well. You also need to have have lots of patience. 

Monday November 11

Journal - How far along are you on your stop motion animation? What did you do over the weekend to work on you stop motion animation? Do you have all your pictures today? Will you have all your pictures by the end of the hour? Give me a detailed updated.



I have not gotten very far at all. Over the weekend I started working on the pictures for taking pictures every ten minutes of the outside but I got really busy and ended up not finishing. Either way it would not have been enough pictures for the project. I do not have all my pictures at all today. I don't think that I will have them all by the end of the hour but I will make sure to have them ASAP.

Friday November 8

Journal - What are you planning on doing for your stop-motion animation video? What story are you going to tell? How will your video be fun and different? Who is taking your photos? When are you taking your photos?

I am planning on either doing a slinky going down some stairs, or the clouds moving. It will be fun because it is a colorful slinky but my cloud idea I don't think would necessarily be different because it is so mainstream. I will take pictures of the sky/clouds in the same position like every ten minutes for about six hours. I will probably be the one taking my pictures. I will hopefully have them taken and everything by sometime Sunday. 

Wednesday November 6

Journal - What story will your storyboard tell? Explain in detail.

My storyboard is going to tell the story of how to get ready for school. My first picture will be one of me sleeping/getting out of bed. Then I will add a picture of m picking out an outfit for school in my closet. After that I go over to my vanity and brush me bed head out. Next I like put my make-up on. The last step would be for me to leave my room and go to the kitchen to make my lunch. A bagel with cheese, turkey, and lettuce. It's simple but fast and kinda fun.

Monday November 4

Journal - What photo editing tool(s) have you used so far on your 5 photos project? Do you like the tool? Is it easy to use? Hard to use? What's good about it? Whats bad about it? Give a detailed review of the tool.


I have used two different tools. One being PIXLR and the other one is Pic Monkey. I like both of the tools, they're pretty easy to use and very self explanatory. That's one of the good things about both of the tools. They are pretty easy to work and self explanatory which makes them even more convenient and makes me like them even more. The bad thing about Pic Monkey is that there are certain features that you really wish you could actually use but the problem is that they are blocked off because you have to me like a member of some sort and you have to pay money for them. PIXLR is probably all around good. I like it and i have Pixlr-o-mic on my phone which is a form of the PIXLR website and I use it to add effects to my pictures to make them look artsier. This was the first time I ever used Pic Monkey but I liked it and it reminded me of Picnik. 

Friday November 1st

Journal - What are the pros and cons to photo editing? What are some examples of when photo editing is fun and appropriate? When can photo editing be inappropriate or too much?

A pro for the person is that they would look better in the picture being edited if it is a person but if it is a graphic of something else not sure whether you would perceive this as pro or con but it decieves your eye of what you are seeing. You're not seeing what is truly there, you are seeing what you are wanted to be seeing. It can make it look worse than what it really is. It can also make people look fake but most of the time I see photo editing being used for people and models and to deceive what they actually look like but if you see them in reality, they aren't as pretty as the same looking at all, it's like looking at a whole different person.

Monday October 28

Journal – What is your favorite web tool that we have used in class so far this year? Why is it your favorite web tool? What do you like about it? How can you use it again in the future?

My favorite web tool that I have used so far in this class is Google Docs. It's my favorite because it is so simple and easy to maneuver. Compared to like prezi per say it is so much more simple and less complicated. I like how basic Google Docs is, technically just like word or PowerPoint with minor adjustments and a couple less features. I also like how easy it is to share things and I guess most other web tools are pretty easy to share, some more than others but Google docs is just my favorite. I don't necessarily have many reasons for it, it's just basic, fast, and simple. Although it's not very cool or exciting as some other web tools like prezi and what not.

Global Issue Prezi

Monday October 21

Journal: What did you do this weekend?

On Friday I went home with Natalie and we dropped Mackenzie off at her house. Then after like two hours Morgan came over to Natalie's until like 6:00 when Austin picked us up and we took Natalie and her little sister to the high school for their cheer game. We then went and picked up Mackenzie and went back to Austins house and chilled until like 11:30 at night with Austin, Alex, and Kellan and then all the girls went home and slept at Morgans house. In the morning Austin picked Morgan Morgan and me up and took us to Lifetime for about an hour and then we went back to Morgans to get her little brother Logan and Austin took us all to Panda Express for lunch. We went back to Morgans and I took a long nap until like 4:45 and then showered so we could go to dinner at six at Jose Peppers for Drews birthday. We got there and then had to go to Sunset Grille instead. After dinner Anne, Matilda, Nicole, Hannah, and I drove around and then went to get ice cream at Banana Island and left after 15 minutes to go to the DeBey's. We were at the DeBey's hanging out with Tanner, Taylor, Alex, and Jake until like 10:30. Anne drove Matilda and I to the high school to get her car and Matilda and I ran to Wal-mart to get something. We saw Aj, Colton, Nathan, and Will and then Matilda drove me home and I slept at home. Sunday I went to Haley Babcocks with Hannah Valentine to do homework and then I got home, ate dinner, and did more homework. Then fell asleep at 11:30.

Thursday October 17th

Journal - What makes a presentation memorable? What makes a presentation stand out and not boring? How are you going to make your presentation better than anyone else? How will you make it unique? Explain.


Be smarter than the slide. My computer apps teacher Mrs. Brown told us that we shouldn't just read straight off of the slide but also have more input into our presentation and be smarter than the slide and share some more facts or background information and go more in depth of the topic or what you are talking about. Color, an exciting voice, other interactions or maybe videos even. I will probably add on a video of going along with the famous people slide. I will make it creative and colorful and work hard on it.

Tuesday October 15

Journal - What did you learn from the Ted Talk yesterday? Did you find it interesting or accurate? Explain.

I thought that the talker was interesting. Like how passionate she was about everything and she looked like she felt really comfortable just up there in front of all of those people talking. I think that the things she said were interesting for sure because they were so deep and over thought but not in a bad way. I kind of thought that it was hard to follow though. Some of the comparisons or analogies or ways that she tried explaining things that made sense maybe in her head didn't necessarily make as much sense to me as they did her. Overall it was good and I think she has some really good points over technology and how it is affecting us now and how it will be affecting us overall.

Monday October 14

Journal - What do you love about the "digital age" that we currently live in? What do you dislike about it? What are positives ways you use technology in your life? What are some things that come along with technology that you don't like? Explain.


I like that there is easy access to things. I feel like social media is one way to connect with other people that aren't necessarily near you and it's just another way of communication  What I don't like is that people are always on their phone and technology. I also feel that social media and technology can start things. It's just another way to be bullied and to start and spread rumors. Most people believe anything that they see on the web especially at first. It feels like nobody can do anything for themselves anymore, there is always a machine that can do everything for you and people with the money can buy that and it's just making our country lazier. I feel like we also use technology in positive ways, first way that pops into my mind is medical things. machines to make sure that you are still breathing or to help you breathe. Also to feed you and just things to keep you alive or help keep you alive until you can get going on your own if you ever reach that point. I feel like people depend on technology too much.

Infographic

Tuesday October 8th

Journal - Tell me about your Homecoming weekend (whether you went to the activities or not!). Tell me about what you did over the weekend.


Friday my friends and I went to the BV game and then left a little before halftime and went to Quiktrip and then sat and laid on a friends trampoline until like nine when we got dropped off at Kenzi's so that my dad could pick us up to go get all of my homecoming stuff to get ready because he was going to be out of town on homecoming night again and then went back to Kenzi's to sleep. Kenzi, Morgan, and I had a sleepover at Kenzi's and Morgan left in the morning. Kenzi, Sam, and I went to get our nails done at eleven for homecoming. After that, we all dropped Sam off and then went to run errands all day for homecoming like buying jewelry and we had lunch at Chili's. Then we got home showered and got ready and I got picked up around 5:45 for pictures at Sams house by Alex. We had pictures then went to dinner at Hereferd House and then went to the dance for maybe twenty minutes. It was awful, we stood around most of the time and people were like raping each other on the dance floor it was kind of disturbing also. We then went to Matilda's for the after party and just chilled until like 1:15 in the morning and then Kenzi and I went back to her house to sleep and then had a fantastic Sunday. Ended up lost and at a pumpkin patch in Gardener. Got hit on by some like 40 year old men smoking out of an SUV and then went home. It was a pretty good weekend.

Wednesday October 1

Journal - What do you know about infographics? What do you know about them? What are their purpose?

I know nothing about infographics and I also have never even heard that word before but I'm going to assume that it is a picture with information in it, like a visual graph like a pie chart or something of that source. Probably their purpose is to give the audience a way of obtaining or looking at the information without it just being words and boring to read. Some people like pictures and visuals more than just reading words and it's easier to pick out the information or statistics.

Friday September 27th

Journal - What are you weekend plans?


Uhm I am not sure at all what my weekend plans are. All I know is that I will be with my friends(Morgan) for most of the weekend as I am all weekend and have so much fun ebcause that's what we do! Then come home Sunday and probably go to the mall with my family so that my step mom can help me find a necklace or maybe some shoes for homecoming. I'm hoping to get my dress tonight or sometime soon so that I can find a proper necklace and everything and finalize all of my homecoming ordeals.

Wednesday September 25th

Journal - Most students view siting work as 'a pain in the butt'. How do you feel about it? Is it necessary? When is it appropriate to cite work? What's the importance of it?

I think that citing work is a very big pain in the butt. I don't think it is necessary either. I'm not saying that it is okay to plagiarize  I am just saying that it is so much extra work and it's what makes me not want to write papers for any classes especially like informative ones. I think that bibliographies aren't that bad when there is just one page at the end of the the paper or what not but every time you quote them I think you should just put quotation marks around it. The importance of it is to make sure that you aren't going around writing things and taking credit for other people's information or writings or facts and to give them credit for what they wrote and how you are using it in your own paper. 

Tuesday September 24th

Journal - What is your favorite book, magazine, or publication? Why?


I will read anything written by Nicholas Sparks. I have read most of his books already. I just think that they're really good and they're cute love stories. There is so much detail and description in them it makes it easier to really understand them and paint the picture in your head. Most of his books are long but it's mostly worth it in the end. One of my favorite ones is probably the Notebook. The book is told in a different perspective than the movie is although it has mostly the same information but told in a different way, it's hard to explain. The book was definitely better though and it was worth the read. His books are one of those books that I just can't put down and it makes me want to keep reading them. 

Monday September 23rd

Journal - Do you enjoy writing? What kind of writing do you enjoy? Why is writing an essential skill in life? How will you use this skill in the future?

No I do not enjoy writing. Writing is an essential skill in life because is our form of communication. Through writing we mass produce and mass communicate our ideas and thoughts to other people. I don't think I will use this skill much. it depends on what I end up doing with my life but probably only write like e-mails and things when I need to do something with other businesses or when I need to communicate something to somebody that isn't of very easy access from where I am location wise.  

Tuesday September 17th

Journal - What is creating an outline for a paper important? Do you think it helps you personally? How would you prefer to outline a paper - pen and paper or an online tool? Is there a different way you know if that would prefer to organize your thoughts?

I personally don't think that making an outline is very helpful to me. Maybe like a graphic organizer but outlines are so complicated and detailed for something that might help you but I don't think or find it necessary to spend so much time on it. I would prefer to do it on paper with a pen or pencil because I would find it much more efficient and on computers it takes a while to learn or get use to whatever software you are using. The other way to organize your thoughts in my opinion is through like some other sort of graphic organizer like a simpler outline. Just written down on a piece of paper or what not.

Monday September 16th

Journal - Tell me about your weekend. Where did you go? What did you do?

This weekend on Friday I first went home and then I showered. I got picked up at like 4:30 and got dropped off at Morgans house and chilled there with her mom for a while while I waited for her to get home from the gym at around 5:30. At like 6:25ish like seven other girls came over and by the end of the night there were eighteenn of us. We all went to Brady's house and chilled for a while. I left to go to Wal-mart to buy needles so that Bella could pierce our ears. Then I got picked up from Wal-mart by Vinny and went to McDonalds with them. He dropped us back off at Brady's and we all left around 10:30. When we got back to Morgans we realized that we had left Natalie and Kenzi so Hannah took us back to go get them and we all went down to Morgans basement after making some snacks. Bella then started trying to pierce Libby's ear and she missed and then we poked a whole new hole. Kenzi, Morgan, and I went for a 3:00 a.m. QT run. We slept then woke up and the next day we just had a very chill day.

PSA

Wednesday September 11th

Journal - Who do you look up to in life? Why? What have they done to help you or guide you?

I look up to my mom. Even though she passed away like six or seven years ago, I still look up to her and think about her all the time. Even though she hasn't physically been there for me, I remember how she was always so happy and positive  She was super social and very smart. I felt like she always knew what to say and she led by example. She was very successful and she set kind of a high standard for what I want to be when I grow up. Not profession wise but she was successful and smart. She was determined so when she wanted something and she wanted it bad then she could push through, persevere to get where she wanted to be. She never let life get the best of her and she showed that she always had something to smile about and to never take any day of your life for granted.

Tuesday September 10th

Journal - What is good email etiquette and why is it essential in the "real" world? How can having good email etiquette put you ahead?


Good e-mail etiquette is like being all formal and professional. Just like when you are writing a letter to somebody there are certain formats that you have to follow. It is essential in the real world because it's different when you are e-mailing to one of your friends but when it is somebody that you are trying to impress or something that the matter is professional then you have to use good e-mail etiquette and good and proper formats for that e-mail. It's just a way that you show how professional you are. If they show that you are serious about business or about a certain matter than it can put you ahead. It shows that you know what you are talking and that the subject is important to you.

Friday September 6th

Journal - If there was one big global issue in the world that you could fix, what would it be? A cure for cancer? Save the rain forest? Stop pollution? Think about it and then write about it. Why would you choose that specific issue?


I would choose to in some way stop teen pregnancies. I would choose this because I think it is absolutely ridiculous how there are so many teenagers that accidentally get pregnant and don't believe in abortion so they go through with the pregnancy which isn't bad at all but then they end up with adoption and the child might think their mom didn't love them? Or the girl ends up throwing away her life to take care of the baby which isn't bad either but she is throwing away her life when she could have waited to give that child the life that they deserved and need. If you aren't of age and don't have the money or can't take care of a baby then you shouldn't have one. Even if it's on accident, they should have taken more precautions before. Many times when a guy gets girl pregnant he walks out on her and leaves her to take that care of that child herself. I mainly just think it's absurd how teenagers don't think enough and never assume that it could happen to them and they get so careless and it's just not needed.

Tuesday September 3rd

Journal - On Friday we discussed Public Service Announcements. In your own words tell me what they are and what their purpose is. If you could create a PSA what would your topic be? Why?


A public service announcement is a non profit public announcement to let the world be aware of something important. There will be no money made from this announcement and these are normally less expensive than something you would be marketing or trying to adveritse for the purpose of getting something sold or bought. Their purpose is soley to let others be aware of something going on in the community/world. If I could create a PSA mine would be over an epidemic that was occuring at the time. Like two or three years ago there was an influenza outbreak and I'm sure there were PSA's everywhere letting people around them be aware and so that they could take the necessary precautions. So for safety reasons pretty much and I think it would be important for the people of the community to be aware and be safe.

Friday August 30th

Journal - What are your hobbies and extra curricular activities? Where do you spend your free time? Tell me three of your favorite things (movies, TV show, magazine, sport, color, etc.)


I don't really have any hobbies. I don't do anything extra curricular either. Something i would consider a hobby is working out. That's where I spend a lot of my free time. I go to the gym after school and then I either go home or go to one of my best friends houses. If I decide not to go to the gym for the day then my friend and I normally just get dropped off at her house and chill until I get picked up or go home around six every day. On the weekends I am always with friends and on Sundays I am forced to hangout with my family. My favorite movie is The Lorax based off the book by Dr. Seuss and people make fun of me for that. My favorite TV Show is either Gossip Girl, Full House, or Criminal Minds. I love Criminal related shows especially Criminal Minds and I really like the cast as well. Law and Order: Special Victims Unit isn't that bad either. Gossip Girl was just great and I'm upset that it ended and same goes for Full House, it's so funny and I still watch re runs of it all the time. My favorite sport is volleyball. I played club volleyball up until seventh grade and then I just did rec for two years and my last year playing was eighth grade. 

Who am I presentation

Me me me[1] from vdcalderacarranza

Wednesday August 28th

Journal - What are some qualities of a good presentation? How can you make a boring presentation interesting? Explain.

If you have a boring and monotone voice then people aren't going to be interested and listening and just want to fall asleep. You have to show enthusiasm and try to get people as pumped as you are or at least make it look like you are excited to talk about your presentation subject. Be loud and proud. Something else that might change your presentation to make it interesting instead of boring is the presentation itself. Add color to it. Not only color but most people don't like to look at a presentation that is all words and it will make it more interesting for them if you add in graphics so that they can see a visual of what you are talking about because some people are also like that, they like to have things right in front of them to see next to words. Color, pictures, any other sort of graphic even if it is an informational presentation it shouldn't be that hard to make like a graph or something to go along that will keep people interested and intrigued. Just be loud, make a fun presentation, be enthusiastic, and have fun!

Monday August 26th

Journal - Tell me if you agree with this statement and then explain why or why not. "Images on the internet are 'free game' - if someone posted I should be able to use it.


I think that this statement is true. If you put it online then it wasn't so people wouldn't see it so obviously people were supposed to see it and that's the point. Now I'm not saying that I think people should be able to claim those pictures as their own and take credit for something that somebody else bluntly did because that's just plain wrong but if I want to use somebody else's picture for a project or a powerpoint, I think that I should be able to without having to cite it. Part of my reasoning for saying yes I do agree is because I think it's such a hassle to have to cite a picture the proper way and get graded for citing any image. 

Friday August 23rd

Journal - What is the importance of online safety and protecting your information? What do you do to protect yourself online? Share an experience you or someone you know has had with online safety.

I think the importance of online safety is just for you to be safe and so that nothing bad or dangerous happens to you because of something that could have been easily preventable. While online to protect yourself just don't share too much information or anything important online. People online can see what you post and anything that you post will never fully be erased, it can somehow always be recovered so you have to be really careful as to what you put up many social media or anything on the internet in general. Everything that you post is visible to everybody in some way. If you put on personal information people that weren't supposed to see it can easily see it and there are online and internet predators out there that are just looking to harm others. Just don't post anything that you wouldn't want your parents or the whole entire world or police to see. Don't share personal information especially stuff about where you live, where you go to school, where you work, your routine after school or your routine in general. People also pretend to be people that they are not and they try to trick you and convince you and that is how people end up getting their identities stolen and bad things happening to them.
When I lived in Washington my dad co workers and me were very close. One of his closest co workers had a friend and her daughter had been sharing stuff online and like online chatting with this guy for a while. He convinced her that he liked her and he pretended to be somebody that he really wasn't and he got her address and personal information and he came to her one night but he wasn't who she expected. I don't remember what ended up happening because this story was from a while ago but I think the daughter ended up safe.

Wednesday August 21st

Journal - Tell me what you know about Web 2.0. List example Web 2.0 sites. Are you on any sites that let you “post” information? What are those sites? How often do you use them? What do you post on them?



I know that they are websites that you can post information to. You also have  a username and a password to this website. It's almost just the same thing as social media but it's on the computer more so. 

• Twitter
• Facebook 
• Instagram
• Vine
• Tumblr
• Pinterest
• Hi 5
• Youtube
• Myspace
• Ask.fm

The only sites that I'm on that I post information to are Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. I use Instagram and Twitter on a daily basis about every two to three hours depending on what I'm doing or how bored I am. I have a Pinterest but I don't go on it that much anymore unless I am really bored or like before I go to bed. Same with Facebook. On Twitter I post some tweets and I retweet and I also post the pictures that aren't like Instagram worthy but they're like funny to me or my friends. On Instagram I'm really picky about what I post but I mostly post things like cute pictures that I take with my friends. I don't post anything on Facebook besides I upload pictures so that I don't have them just sitting on my phone but I never post statuses I just see what other people post. On Pinterest I re pin things mostly outfit ideas that I would actually wear and have the clothes for because I occasionally get stumped on outfits. 

Tuesday August 20th

Journal - After watching the short clip of Ashton Kutcher's acceptance speech what did you take away from his advice? What does this quote mean to you -"Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you, and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use."

I got out of his advice that the sexiest thing is being smart. In AP Euro yesterday we learned that smart isn’t how high your IQ is or how good your grades are but smart is how much background knowledge you have on a subject. If you are competing with somebody that has an IQ of 105 and as opposed to you with an IQ of 83, and are reading about baseball but you with the lower IQ knows more about baseball will be smarter than the person with the high IQ because you understand it better than they do, you understand the process of a double play better than somebody who is book smart. Anybody can be smart and being smart is just as much confidence. You have to be confident in yourself that you know what you are talking about and confidence is also sexy. Smart isn’t just what you read in books and who has a better memory to retain what you read.

                The quote to me means that you can add on to things that other people have discovered or invented. Alexander Bell invented the telephone but somebody else added on to what he had to say about telephones and after a while, cell phones were made. Alexander didn’t invent cellphones but people added on to what he had to say. So you can edit what other people do and make things great. You can also invent or think of something new so that other people use what you built. Other people already invented and built things so now it’s your turn to do your part and add on yourself?