You Can't Fly Into Flying

“He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche.

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Flying, soaring, growing, and thriving, all things that teachers, parents, and principals talk about these days. Flying, something that isn’t that easy to achieve and something that not everyone will achieve. “You can’t fly into flying”, is what really stood out to me in  Friedrich’s quote, and made me ruminate. Thinking about the quote showed above, what do you think? Is flying and soaring all that is easy? Or can you only fly once you’ve tried and worked towards it? If you never have the patience, persistence, or perseverance to do something then how will you fly?

Friedrich Nietzsche, German poet, philologist, and philosopher, is right. If you haven’t walked. If you haven’t ran. Or if you haven’t danced. You haven’t flown.  

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When I was little I remember the time in Africa when I was 6 and wanted to soar through the sky. The only problem was that I was scared of heights. So before I could ascend into the sky like a baby bird taking it’s first flight, I knew that I needed to push myself. So I decided to climb one of the big oakwood trees in Cape Town, South Africa. I started walking slowly, then my pace picked up, running towards the tree. Finally a small 6 year old girl faced the big, bad, bulky oakwood tree. My feet carried me up the tree climbing higher and higher, further and further away from the ground. As I got closer and closer to the top of the tree I was even more terrified with every movement, but I knew that if I wanted to fly I would have to face this. Finally, I reached the top of the tree, so proud of myself, I stood up and declared myself the queen of Cape Town. Then wanting to pursue my dream of flying, I jumped off the thick branch and flew for only a couple of seconds before I reached the comforting arms of my dad.

While flying for those couple of seconds I felt free and wild. I knew that I could do ANYTHING that I set my mind to. I knew that if I wanted to be someone who people looked up to, who people could trust, and who had lots of integrity, I could. I knew that if I wanted to be smart, perform well on stage, and make the right choices, I could. It all can happen if you never give up and be patient.

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Overall, after climbing that tree in South Africa I learned that greatness isn’t achieved by sitting at home and thinking about all the things you could do. Greatness is achieved by stepping outside your comfort zone and working hard towards your goal. You should never be too cocky to think that you can do anything without practice or determination. The best chess players play everyday, the best soccer players practice everyday, and the best dancers dance everyday. The unbeatable, unexcelled, and unexampled people started off like you and me, with a dream and passion that carried them to greatness, letting them fly.

TWMM Reflection 1

1. You can represent a relationship between variables with a table, a graph, a description in words, or an equation.

a) How can you decide whether a relationship is linear by studying the pattern in a data table?
You can tell if there is a constant rate of change (the variables increase constantly for both x and y). For example, if there is a table about people and dogs. There is one person with one dog, then 2 people with a total of 2 dogs, then 3 people with a total of 3 dogs. The rate of change increases by people +1 and by dogs +1 constantly (for every person there is another dog).

b. How can you decide whether a relationship is linear by studying the pattern in a graph?
You can tell when the line in the graph is completely straight and isn't curved, whether it may be a negative or positive linear equation. You can also check on the slop making sure that it is consistent (remember rise over run!)

c. How can you decide whether a relationship is linear by studying the words used to describe the variables?
Words used when describing a relationship that is linear include: constant, for every, for each, you need, etc.

d. How can you decide whether a relationship is linear by studying the equation that expresses the relationship in symbolic form?
You can look for the equation y= mx+b which will get you a straight line. Sometimes in this equation there is no be (y intercept), which means that the line would go through the origin. For example y=5x is linear as in this case b is 0, having it pass through the origin. You can tell if the line is negative or positive by looking at variable m. For example y= -x+9, this would pass through positive 9 in the y intercept and would decrease by 1.

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each representation in finding patterns and making predictions?

Table:
Pros-- Good for very mathematical people, who can see by the data is the line is linear and if the rate of change is constant. It's also good to compare the x and y values.
Cons-- Some people are more visual and can't really tell straight away by the data if the line is linear or not. Also there could be lots of big numbers in the data which makes the work even more time consuming and difficult.

Graph:
Pros-- It's good for visual people, you are easily able to tell if the line is straight or not. It also might be easier and quicker for some people to see if the rate of change is constant or not.
Cons-- It may be tricky to see if the line is completely straight or if it is curved slightly to the left or right. So then one would have to calculate the slope of every point to make sure that the line was straight.

Words:
Pros-- The keywords helps you understand the information quickly, because you don't have to make a table or a graph as you are able to understand if the relationship is linear or not by reading the question.
Cons-- Sometimes it's hard to tell if a relationship is linear just by looking at words if the question/problem isn't precise or clear enough or isn't on a graph or table.

Equation:
Pros-- You can plug in any number into the given equation (y=mx+b) and it gives the answer quickly with calculations.
Cons-- Sometimes you might be using big numbers taking you a long time to figure out the equation, also you might not have all the numbers needed to put into the equation, making you solve for each variable with your given data. 

Past the Middle and Reaching For the Stars

On a scale of one to ten, I would be a 7.5 because I really do love drama but I still can get a little shy in front of big audiences. Since I was little I've always loved performing. My first performance was in kindergarten, I still remember, it was a musical and I was dressed in a green shirt with sparkly grapes decorated diagonally across the shirt. I remember the thrill that being on stage and the smile that I had on my face was huge. The next couple of years I participated in many other plays, shows, skits, and chances when I got to be on stage. From the USA to Taiwan to Hong Kong to Singapore, I never lost my enthusiasm for being on stage and performing. In Taiwan I had a teacher named Mrs. Carter, she was one of my favorite teachers and she was the one teacher that really brought me out of my shell. She helped build my self confidence and made me a better person. Thanks to her I was the lead in all the class plays, skits, and performances and I loved it. When I moved to Singapore I went to a place called Center Stage which is an acting class. I went there quite frequently and took part in a play there about a Greek legend where I was one of the main characters.


Besides, acting, I also love performing on stage when dancing. I took ballet when I was younger in the US and I love the feeling and energy that I got from it (the pink tutus were also very cool!) In 5th grade I was part of the IS variety show in SAS and I loved getting to dance and be part of a show, at the end of every performance I wished I could do it again and again. I also have been part of all the MS dance shows since 6th grade for both semesters. I have experience in the genres of hip hop, jazz, contemporary, ballet, and tap dancing. I also have taken dance and drama each year as electives in middle school. Every year my friends in my building and I come up with 3-4 choreographed dances to perform at our building Diwali party at Holiday Inn. I also go to a dance class outside of school called Jazz Cats where I learn jazz and hip hop mainly. Singing wise, I don't have much background, but I have taken choir in 6th grade as an elective and I used to go to singing class for 2 years. Overall, I love being on stage and getting to perform in front of an audience. I took drama to help grow my confidence and self esteem. I also took it to help me become less shy and more open to stepping outside of my comfort zone and into a state of mind where I know that it's okay to make mistakes as long as you try and risk sometimes getting something wrong.

Coming Soon! My First Grade Post

End Of Year Song

RLA Grammar Video

SS Globalization Project Reflection- Earth Hour

How has it transformed our world?
Earth Hour has greatly transformed our world. Nowadays on March 28th from 8:30-9:30pm earth hour is celebrated around the world. From 8:30-9:30 people and families all around the world turn off all their electricity and participate in earth hour. In our poster that we made to teach our peers about earth hour, we showed that in every continent, even Antarctica, people celebrate earth hour. This year 5251 cities and towns, 135 countries, and 1.8 billion people celebrate earth hour. Also, since earth hour is celebrated around the world, many people know about the organization. With the publicity that this organization has, people know about it and know that they can donate money. Earth hour supports many organizations that helps many impoverished countries in need of help and electricity. Some organizations that earth hour supports are: red cross, flame called hope, lights 4 stripes, bancas for the Philippines, stoves to protect pandas, and light up a village.

What is some cool/interesting you found out?
Something cool about earth hour is that the icon/super hero/role model is spider man. So on the hour of earth hour spider man came to marina bay sands to celebrate with the people. Mostly all the lights were shut off and there were many candles. Also earth hour first started in Sydney and then slowly countries around the world started to copy Sydney. The first country that copied Sydney was San Francisco, this was the first part of globalization for earth hour.