Egyptian pharaohs built monuments so that they would forever be remembered throughout the Egyptian empire. So that every time someone looked at the monument they remembered their great leader.

The Taj Mahal in India relates to the monuments in ancient Egypt because it was built by emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is widely considered as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and stands as a symbol of eternal love and was never thought to be able to be done until they built it. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The construction began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen.

Google docs as a main portal for collaboration helped me with this assignment because I was able to work with my partner at the same time so we could help each other and did not have one of us do our share one night on a word document and the other doing their share on the second night.

While doing this assignment I learned a lot more details on Ramses the second and Egyptian history. I also learned more about how to create an Imovie and navigate through the different sites for information.

What I found most challenging while working on this assignment was working with a partner because we both had different ideas on how to do things. I also needed to remember to work as a team not as an individual.

The ESLers that appeared for me in this assignment were Collaborate Constructively because we had to work as a team, Communicate Effectively because we both had to agree on what to do, and Reason Critically because we had to reason to each other on what to do and what not to do.

My Presentation

I believe that I did a fine job collecting information and drafting my presentation. I knew what I needed to do and went to sites that I knew could help me. I wrote all the information that I needed. I had a tough start but I made it through. Luckily my dad grew up in Los Angeles so he knew almost all I needed to know. I did a good job presenting my slide show on Los Angeles. I had a clear loud voice and knew most of my information as I did not look at my power point.

In the future I would organize my thoughts better, because in my power point I found information put it in my own words then put it on my power point. I also should pay attention to the spelling and the graphics. Because I put a graph and did not pay attention to the heading. So my teacher told me to change it before she graded it.

I learned that Los Angeles is the second biggest city in the United States of America. I learned that every city has many reasons why they are located and have thrived. For example Los Angeles in right on the water, it has great weather, and there is a lot of gold and oil. I also learned that people every where have adapted to many different things and that's why everyone is unique.For example people in Africa have dark skin to avoid getting sun burned.


My analysis of my performance is that I did a decent job. Because I had a clear and loud voice, also I knew my information pretty well. I could have gone slower so everyone knew exactly what I was saying because I was speaking very fast just to get it over and done with. Over all I did a good job and had a great presentation and power point.

Link to power point.
https://docs.google.com/a/iskl.edu.my/present/view?id=dx6zcsh_25hkwrjcx4&revision=_latest&start=0&theme=sparkling&cwj=true

My New Years Resolutions

This is the first year that I will be making a New Years resolution and might have trouble creating things to work on. I expected making a New Years resolution was going to be writing down things that I wanted to work on like being better with my brother or getting more organized but, that is the easy way. I know now I have to write down what I wanted to improve on and why I want to improve it. I have many little ideas but as I said earlier it will be hard for me to come up the big goals that will really help me in life. Before I thought that making a New Years resolution was a waste of time and useless and that I would never do what I wrote down because I was young and small. But now I am older, so here I go.

My first goal is to get organized and stay focused. This is important because I will be able to find things all the time and know what to do and when to do it. I also will be able to get my homework done fast so I can do other things. I believe that if I can accomplish this goal I can manage my life and my time better and more efficiently. If I stay focused then I will get my homework done in a reasonable amount of time and not in five hours.If I get organized than I will not lose anything any more, and will be easier to locate things easier to like homework or toys.

My second goal is to be nicer with my brother. This is important because he could help me later on in life and he could help me now. If I am nicer to my brother then my parents won't yell at me for going in his room or borrowing one of his stuff for one moment. I believe that if I am consistently nice to my brother and we get along all the time my parents will be in a good mood. Being nice to my brother has its benefits like I can borrow things like money and if he gets candy he will let me have some. And being nice to my brother in my opinion will help me be a better person in the world.

After doing this I think this is not so bad and that I could do it again next year but, hopefully better than this one and more goals to work on. I enjoyed doing this and found it very helpful to do so I know what I want to accomplish this year and how it would benefit me. I really hope I accomplish my goals and not just blow them off. I might even have to make a goal saying to make sure I accomplish the goals that I created for myself, plus a goal to learn a spell that will give me more sleep than I actually get or make me not need as much sleep as a normal person. Also I need to hypnotize my teachers to give me no homework or less at least.

FREE CHOICE.

I did not have the best Christmas break because I was stuck in my house the whole time with almost nothing to do( at least that is what it felt like). I had to read and write for an hour. I did not get anything I really wanted, I guess that is because I did not write a wish list. For the last week of winter break I went to Bali. I was hoping to stay in the Hard Rock Hotel but, my family and I went to a quiet hotel called AlamKulKul right next to the beach near Kuta Square. When I was at the beach I got a bad sun burn and did not want to go in the sun anymore. I wanted to go to the water park but my sun burn was still bothering me so I said no. I was forced to go to the land that we own. It was really boring and the car ride was 3 and a half hours. When we came back to K.L. I watch some T.V. and rested. The next day my Dad and I had a Harry Potter marathon. Then I came back to school. That is basically how my winter break went.    

Well this blog is done, stay tuned for my next one, which is on what ever Mrs. Narsiman gives us to write about. Sidney out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPc_A_9GLTo

Sidney Williams  - Profile HH - Logic Dominant - Limited Under Stress: All Modalities

Okay, so what does that mean? There are two hemispheres of our brains.  The gestalt (right) and the logic (left).  My dominant side of my brain is the left side.  HH means that my brain, eyes, ears, hand and foot dominant sides are all left. So what does that mean? Well, that's my learning profile. 

I realize now that I've been very negative since I started Middle School.  I say to myself that I'm stupid that I can't do anything.  Well, these test results may shed some light on all those thoughts and feelings.  Taking this test and getting my test results was a really good thing for me because I realize now that reading and writing can be really hard for me and that I need calm learning environments to be successful at learning. With these results,  I can find out how I can learn better and be more successful at school.  Now I know what the best learning environment is for me to do the best that I can.  Okay, here goes....

I'm told that I learn best when I am in a quiet environment (alone if possible), with as little noise and movement as possible. If there's just the smallest bit of noise or movement, I will get distracted and off-track.  I think the best place for me to sit in class is in the back left corner of the room with no other table near me. This will help me have more quiet when I'm doing my work.  For collaborative work I'm okay shifting over to the table that I'm supposed to be working at with others.  My profile also says that I have to process internally without external sensory stimulation which means that I need to think a lot with out talking and that it's not ideal to have any talking, music or movement around me. Sitting at the back left corner of the class would put me farthest away from speakers and computers so it will be as soft as possible.

Apparently for my learning profile, I need to move, touch, and manually explore to process and organize information. My profile results said that I need to have a relaxing and stress-free environment or I will be very limited in what my brain can process.  This is because when I am feeling stressed, I am at a great disadvantage as I cannot access the dominant side of my brain with any sensory input.

The strategies that my profile suggests I use are to write and draw with my non-dominant hand because it helps relieve stress.  It also suggested that I draw lazy 8's, massage my Mandibular Joint, be allowed to doodle or manipulate clay while learning, as well as practice Thinking Caps from Brain Gym. All of these techniques should help to relieve stress.   It also said that I  need to have a relaxing and stress-free environment or I will be very limited in what I can do.  This is because when I am feeling stressed, I am at a great disadvantage because I cannot access the dominant side of my brain with any sensory input.

This is a amazing assignment because I can actually communicate to my teachers what works best for me to learn in the classroom. Most importantly, that when I am under stress I am at a great disadvantage because I cannot access my dominant hemisphere with any sensory input. However when I am not stressed I can access both sides of my brain easier than any of the other learner profiles. Apparently, my left eye scans from right to left which makes things confusing in my brain with languages that move from left to right like English. Also, at times I might reverse or transpose letters and numbers and for sure I have difficulty with my penmanship". In short, seeing, hearing, or communicating the details can be difficult for me, but I'm able to learn, process and communicate well  when I am relaxed. After reading my profile I'm in favor of an on-campus spa complete with massage and relaxation therapists.  What do you think (Mr. Whiting)?

This week for Lit. circles we had a twist in it. The twist is that we got to work with a partner. Mrs. Narsiman called it "Literature Circles With A Twist." Instead of doing two of each section we only needed to do one of everything. This blog post will answer three questions: "What the benefits of collaborating with a partner?"; "What challenges or obstacles did we overcome (tried to overcome)?"; and "What new understandings about the novel did we gain from our collaboration?"

There are many benefits to collaborating with a classmate on a Literature Circle assignment.  One benefit is that you don't have to do everything yourself.  Sharing makes less work for each partner.  Another benefit is that you have another person to edit your work and share ideas with to make each partner's work better.  A third benefit is that if you don't understand something, your partner can clarify it for you.  But, the most important benefits is that collaborating with a classmate, makes a Literature Circle much more FUN!

We overcame challenges or obstacles when we were having different opinions on what are the best questions. I had ideas to help Jorghi's questions because his were not high level enough. Another challenge we had was when I went on a camp out with the boy scouts. I did not have any time over the weekend to do my Literature circle, and was not able to get my work done as planned.  We had to do everything on Monday night, but got it all done and got an A.

Jorghi helped me understand the book because when he had a question that I did not understand, he helped me understand it. The question was, "Why did Miyax want to get marred to Daniel?" I did not think that Miyax wanted to marry Daniel. So Jorghi explained to me that Miyax wanted to marry Daniel because her father arranged the marriage and she was unhappy living with her Aunt Martha. 

In conclusion, I enjoyed writing our Literature circle with a friend much more that doing one by myself.

Literature Circle review

1. How your groups discussion helped your understanding of the novel.

The discussion in my group was very helpful to me because when I had a question on the book my group helped me clarify it. I was wondering why Miyax tried to talk to the wolves and my group was able to explain it to me. My group helped me realize that because Miyax's father talked to the wolves when he was out hunting to get food, Miyax realized that she too could talk to the wolves to get food and survive. Having a group discussion helped me understand and like the book more. I realize now that when I don't understand something I can become disinterested. 

2. Connections that you made during your discussion

Because my group helped me understand Miyax better, I was more able to connect with her ability to connect with the wolves. In my life, ever since I was young, I've felt a deep love, connection and understanding of dogs. It's through my relationship with my first dog Haven, that I was able to relate to Miyax's growing relationship with the wolves. Haven was a 'guide-dog in training for the blind'. Miyax loved the wolves like I loved haven.

3. Predictions

I think Miyax will stay with the wolves until the sun sets so she can travel to her pen pal in San Francisco. I also predict that Miyax will hunt with the wolves and catch a caribou. I think this because Miyax has started hunting owlets and I believe she will soon grow to hunt bigger animals.I think she will do this by watching the wolves hunt so that she can hunt with them.