ITN Reflection and Goal Setting 2014

ITN Reflection and Goal Setting

"Anya,  Thanks for sharing about an interesting topic that I didn’t know about.  You really were an expert, and this allowed your classmates to clearly understand all of the complexities surrounding this interesting man.  I especially likes how you showed both the positive and negative aspects of Narendra Modi’s career so far.  It makes him human and provides us with a fuller picture of who he is.  A few suggestions for next time:  1)  Include maps that clearly show the parts of the world impacted, and 2)  Continue to work on controlled movement.  Very well done!" My comment written by Mr. Derksen.

A good ITN presentation includes being an expert in the topic so that you’ll be able to teach the class well and answer the question that you will be asked. You should also have every slide in your presentation showing the “show don’t tell method”, with no more than one sentence per slide. Lastly, you should have lots of evidence to back up your talking points and have reasoned perspectives that make sense.  

I really liked my presentation and think that I did well in it. One thing that I did well in was that I shared about a topic that not many people knew about, so I was able to teach them something new. I also really knew my topic well acting as an expert, which helped my classmates to clearly understand everything that I was teaching them. I had a big topic so I had a lot of teaching points and a lot to talk about. My topic also had its good and bad sides which made it more interesting and and fun to hear about. Narendra Modi, like everyone else, had a good and bad side, which made him more human and relatable to. I also presented my slides using the method “show don’t tell” with lots of pictures on each page. I also had lots of supporting evidence and details to backup my talking point and my perspectives. My perspectives were clear, understandable, and not surprising, basically, they made sense. Lastly, my class really learnt a lot from this because as were able to answer all the questions right.

But, there are also a couple of things that I would like to improve on. One thing that I made a mistake on was including detailed and real maps that clearly show the parts of the world impacted. What I did was put a picture of India with Narendra Modi’s picture in inside the country, I should’ve found a map of india that shows every place there.

Another thing I need to improve on is my controlled movement. Sometimes in my presentation I would sway or fidget my my clothes, which can sometimes be distracting to your audience.

During my next ITN I would like to improve in putting real and detailed pictures of the parts of the world impacted, not an animated or undetailed ones. This goal will be easy to achieve as all I have to do is remember to put the right pictures in my presentation and if I forget I will go over the rubric carefully making sure that I have all the criteria in my presentation.

I would also like to improve on controlling my movement. I will do this by practicing my presentation over and over again to my parents, friends, and family. They will critique me if I’m fidgeting about, by the time this is over I will be about to control my movement better when I present. Therefore, this goal is achievable as long as I practice, because practice makes perfect!

Wet Market Field Trip

Today my class and I went on a field trip to a wet market near our school. We saw many types of fruits, spices, and flowers, but by the time we reached the wet market the vegetable shop was closed.

The first thing that I learnt about was a fruit called dragon fruit. Dragon fruits come in three colors: yellow, purple, and white. The dragon fruits are called dragon fruits because they have scales that look like "dragon" scales. Dragon fruits have lots and lots of seeds. Dragon fruit, also known as Pitaya fruit, is among the most nutritious and wonderful exotic fruits. It features a light sweet taste and other vital minerals with varied nutritional ingredients. Recent findings show that if an obese person eats a Pitaya fruit it naturally reduces the weight considerably. The Pitaya fruit  is the fruit of several cactus species and only blooms at night. The seed dispersal of dragon fruits happen with the relationship of animals. The dragon fruit has spiky scales that keep away certain predators, but it also is quite attractive in color which attracts animals. Animals eat from this fruit and then they move about to new place far away from the place where they first ate the dragon fruit and poo out the dragon fruit seeds.

I also learnt a lot about the spice called star anise or also known as illicium verum. This spice is the seed pod of an evergreen tree grown in northeast southwestern China. The star-shaped fruit is picked just before ripening. Star anise is about one inch high and is a dark brown rust color. Star anise has a licorice taste, smell nice, shaped like a star, and has spiky edges. Star anise can be used in cooking and medical uses. Because the edges one the star anise are spiky they have good seed dispersal. The spiky edges of the anise get stuck to the fur of animals and then the seeds are placed into a new environment where they can get lots of sunlight. This will only happen when an animal shakes of the seed or the seed just falls off.

The last fruit I learnt about is called jackfruit. Jackfruit is the largest tree-borne fruit reaching as much as 80 pounds in weight, 36 inches in length, and 30 inches in diameter. You can also see hexagon based thorns on the skin of a jackfruit, and the thorns become smoother when the fruits ripen. Jackfruits can be made into canned fruits and cooked as vegetable when unripe. There are two types of jackfruit- the yellowish/golden one and the green one. The yellowish/golden jackfruit tastes sweet, tender, and refreshing. This type of jackfruit is liked the most. Because jackfruits are very spiky it protects its self from unwanted predators. The jackfruit is too big and heavy to stick onto an animals fur. Once an animal eats the jackfruit it goes somewhere else and disposes of the seeds by pooping them out. The animal poops out these jackfruit seeds in a totally different place from before.


There are many reasons why there are so many different types of fruits, vegetables, and spices on Earth. I think that one of the reasons is that all animals, like people, have different tastes buds and likes and dislikes. Therefore, if there was only one fruit or vegetable on earth some animals might not like this fruit or vegetable and the seed dispersal won't work that well, and soon the fruit or vegetable might become extinct. Another way that the fruit or vegetable would become distinct is if the animal that helps reproduce this type of fruit or vegetable became extinct. This would mean that there would be no third wheel helping the plant reproduce. Furthermore, it is good that mother nature has made a variety of fruits, vegetables, and spices.

Researched Based Persuasive Essay Reflection

In class we had to write a researched based persuasive essay on whatever we feel passionate about. I chose to write about child beauty pageants. My claim was that these child pageants are bad and should be banned for young kids below the age of 18 years. 

I got a pretty good grade in my research based persuasive essay, but there are a couple components of my essay that stood out to me. Firstly, I did well in writing detailed and paragraphs containing with lots of evidence. These facts made my essay more persuasive and believable. But, I still kept a balance between the ethos, pathos, and logos, because without emotion my essay would just be boring. Not to mention, I also did a good job in constructing my paragraphs in different ways, not just the normal quote sandwich every time, like a robot. Usually you would right a paragraph containing a quote in the format- who, quote, warrant, interpretation. The ethos and logos would come in the "who and quote" and the pathos would come in the "interpretation". What I discovered is that you could start of with a warrant if you wanted or an interpretation, you just need to be creative and step outside of the box. Lastly, I also wrote a strong counterargument. My counterargument had an equal amount of evidence for both the pros and cons of child pageantry. After stating the pros of child pageantry I did a good job rejecting my counterargument using lots of evidence. 

During the period of time that I got to write my essay I learnt tons of new things in class. Moreover, I learnt what a warrant is. A warrant is basically a general rule. Warrants can be used before interpreting a quote or an place in the "quote sandwich". A warrant states a general rule that applies to the quote, this rule can put emphasis on the quote or have your audience to persuaded towards a certain direction. Secondly, I also learnt how to use effective and proper transitional words throughout my researched based persuasive essay. Before learning this I knew the normal transitional words like: firstly, secondly, thirdly, adding on to that, furthermore, moreover, etc. But I learnt new and more complex transitional words that make you sound smarter and more persuasive. Correspondingly, I learnt how to structure my writing differently and not to use the same format over and over again like a robot. Before learning this the majority of paragraphs in my essay followed this format: who said it, quote, warrant, and then interpretation. Every paragraph went like this and after a while it just got boring. That's when I learnt to sometimes put the warrant or interpretation first, or to end with the quote. Furthermore, I learnt that having evidence is very good but having too much evidence is bad. I tend to write A LOT usually and this time I had lots and lots of evidence and barely any pathos (emotion). So, I went back into my work and found the most important evidence that needed to be in my essay and deleted the evidence that was just taking up space. This made my piece more interesting and less boring.

I might've turned out with a wonderful essay that I'm very proud of, but there were bumps in the road. The main thing that I really messed up on with this essay was my timing. Towards the end of semester 1 I had lots of tests and projects due and I was up everyday of the last week till like midnight or later to try to finish everything. The night before my essay was due I science rock project was also due. I worked on my rock project for more than six hours straight. After working on my rock project I started to work on my editing my essay. By the time I finished everything it must've been 3 o'clock in the morning.