Category: prep note Page 23 of 24

Prep Note 9/5/23

On September 3, 2023

While reading through “Portfolio Keeping,” I was reminded of when I had to make a research portfolio for my AP Research class last year. This class requires you to do a year-long research project, which all culminates into a 20-minute oral presentation and a 5000-word research paper. This was one of the most academically intensive classes I had ever taken in high school because the whole process of doing a research project was new to me. But once I had submitted all of my finished work to College Board, I was told to make a portfolio of the research process. Luckily, I had stayed very organized throughout the year and labeled every document I had ever made for the project and kept them in a folder labeled “AP Research.” Therefore, it was easy to gather any straggling materials and officially put my portfolio together.

At the beginning of the year, my teacher suggested we keep a journal and take a few minutes after every class to write about our progress. Since I regularly keep a diary, I found that this would be a great way for me to keep track of my progress and to rant about anything stress-inducing (which was pretty much all of it). This journal ended up being my best resource when putting together my final portfolio. I made this journal the central hub of my portfolio and I could refer to it any time I needed to know what I did on a specific date (I labeled each entry with a date). It also served as a reference for my portfolio evaluator (in this case, my teacher) because whenever I mentioned working on a specific document, my teacher could go back into my folder and view it as needed.

All in all, I enjoyed the process of making this portfolio and even viewing it after I’ve finished the whole project. I had never done a project like this before, so this organized documentation makes me feel proud of all I accomplished in AP Research. I hope that whatever portfolio we create for this class will be just as exciting to me. I do know that I can refer back to my prior experience of making a portfolio when creating a new one in the future.

Prep Note – 9/05/2023

By Mitchell Parker

On September 3, 2023

In Mitch, prep note

I hadn’t ever considered composing a portfolio before taking this class; prior to this blog I wasn’t really sure what a portfolio even was. In my opinion, portfolio keeping seems like such a formal analysis of worth in contrast to works of art, but I know there’s a point to it. I see art as a thoughtful form of self expression rather than any sort of competition or measurable metric where one can be ‘better’ than another at making art. However, I’m not in a position to be able to judge portfolios as a concept, mostly because I’ve never composed one myself, so I’ll stick to writing about what I could possibly gain out of making one.

I’m not much of a writer, so I don’t have an extensive bank of content with which to make a writing portfolio, but I can see myself making a portfolio as a musician. I’d be more inclined to put together a presentation portfolio rather than a process portfolio because I tend to look down on my older works and favor ones I’ve made having had more experience. Although, reflecting on my production workflow is something I’ve seldom considered and may do me some good, since my creative process can be described as inspiration-fueled bursts of chaotic energy. This isn’t to say that any form of workflow is objectively more correct, but some yield more content than others (heuristics over perfectionism, for example).

I was at first opposed to the idea of a portfolio because I want art forms (namely music) to be a creative outlet, not something that can be intruded upon by optimization and performance maximization. For this same reason, I didn’t want to transform my hobby of music into a career in which I would have to cater to the wants of the majority in order to make a living. Despite all this, I still believe some good can come out of making a portfolio, albeit less professionally and more so to self-analyze.

Prep Note 9/5/23

By William Sheets

On September 2, 2023

In prep note, Will S

After reading the two articles about the connections between storytelling and memory, I believe that memory has a huge impact on our identities and the people that we are. Which means that storytelling does too. By telling stories about our past and forcing ourselves to recollect important moments of our lives, we learn more about ourselves. It makes sense to me that by then telling other people about our memories in the form of a story will only solidify the lessons we’ve learned for our memories.

This could even go beyond personal examination as, like the Los Angeles Times article suggests, listening and telling stories can teach us about the people around us and the culture we inhabit. By thinking about which memories and stories stand out to us, we can evaluate what events, ideas, people, and places are the most important to us, or whoever else is telling a story.

In reading these two articles, I was forced to think about how essential memory is to the person I am. My memories of time with my family and friends can tell me about why I enjoy certain activities or pastimes. Memories of bad experiences can tell me about why I don’t like specific things or ideas. My memories are much more important to the person I am than I thought they were, and by telling other people about them in the form of a story, I, in tandem with the listener, can begin to understand more about the person I am.

Prep Note, 8/31

By William Sheets

On August 31, 2023

In prep note, Will S

When I was younger, I spent my summers at a nature camp, hiking in the woods, playing in streams, and having fun outside. I had a great time, but the point of the camp was to educate, not just entertain, so there were times when my fellow campers and I had some sort of task to accomplish or mission to complete.

One such mission was given to me when I was about ten years old. Some of my friends and I were playing in the woods per usual, when our counselor called us over and told us that he wanted us to make a fire. That usually wouldn’t have been too hard of a task, as we all had been doing similar things at that camp for years. However, the night before, it had rained pretty heavily, so most the sticks we collected were wet.

It took us about twenty minutes, but eventually we found enough material to start the fire. There was some debate about the type of fire structure we should build, but in the end we figured out what would work best with the materials we had and got the fire going.

Linquata – Prep Note 8/31/23

By William Linquata

On August 31, 2023

In prep note, Will L

Last year, as a senior, in my Native American Spirituality course our teacher organized us into groups and assigned us different indigenous groups to research and present about. My group was able to be successful because we delegated out different areas of research to each person in the group and then swapped to fact check each other before putting it all together into a slideshow and presenting our original area of the project.

Prep Note – 8/31/2023

By Mitchell Parker

On August 31, 2023

In Mitch, prep note

About two months ago, I flew up to Boston with my mom and dad to be a part of the Berklee College of Music (In Boston, not California) EDM Production summer program. Me and my parents spend a few days hitting tourist spots around the city before they dropped me off at check-in for the actual program.

Fast forward a few days, after I moved into a sketchy off-campus dorm and got the gist of what I was supposed to be doing with my time there, me and all 60-something others in the program were divided into groups of six and given a group mentor responsible for keeping us from burning a studio we’d be working in to the ground. Each group had the same task; collaborate to produce one track to be played at the end of the week. To anyone that doesn’t make music, having six people and more than five days to work with sounds like more than enough to make just one song, right? Try agreeing on what kind of story to collaboratively write in a room with five other people.

Over the course of the next five days, me and the other four group members (one of them stopped showing up after the first two days, we never figured out what happened to them) threw around ideas and blended multiple genres into the same track. The key to collaborative success, in our case and most others, is compromise. Instead of blending all of our individual styles into one continuous piece, we decided to have separate sections in the track for each of our particular strong points and often working off of what another one of us had made; I produced the drums, someone else put down a synth over it, someone else would add another layer, and so on.

The final product was an incoherent chaotic mess with jarring transitions between genres, but it was something we were all proud of. Every group had a similar experience, having several people each different musical backgrounds. It was an incredible experience and I’m glad I got to go and be a part of it.

Prep Note – 8/31/2023

By Nicholas Gunn

On August 31, 2023

In Nick G, prep note

The experience that comes to mind when I think about creating something successful as a group is when my friends and I founded the PopDarts club at my high school. Everyday before our AP Calc began, my friends and I would all play this game called PopDarts. The game is played by placing the orange target dart anywhere in the room, whether it be on the floor, on the whiteboard, on a desk, etc. Along with the orange dart, there are three blue and three purple darts that each player gets and the goal is to shoot your blue or purple dart and land it as close to the orange dart as possible. Whoever lands their dart the closest wins. It was a simple game, but we all loved it and played every single day, without fail. One day we were playing and I suggested we create a PopDarts club. My friends all agreed and we began talking with the administration to help us start our club. Eventually, the club was official and we received some funding to purchase more sets of PopDarts. We all worked together to promote the club, increase the number of members, and organize some small events like tournaments. Now, the club has been passed down to the junior class and it is still up and running.

Prep Note for August 31st

By Kaylee Wyrick

On August 30, 2023

In Kaylee, prep note

Whether it’s in a classroom or in an extracurricular setting, working with others is a great way to get things done. There have been many times when I’ve successfully created something with a group. For example, during my senior year, I did a lot of work with the members of a club I was in. I joined the TAFE club during my freshmen year, and by my senior year I was the president. I had known some of the members all four years of high school and we became very close. We all had similar interests, and it just so happened that Halloween was one of everyone’s favorite holidays. Every year in October my high school did a trunk-or-treat party where all of the clubs get to decide on decorations for a car and passed out candy. In previous years, our club would often just buy little skull decorations and stick them on a car or do something similar. Although our car always got a good turnout, last year we wanted to do something a little different. We decided that we wanted to pick a theme and decorate it with handmade decorations. We landed on “Monster House” and got to work. Everyone in the club had a different role. Whether it was drawing, painting, or coloring, everyone did their share of the work. By the time we were done, it looked great, and our car was a hit at the party. It was amazing to step back and see how well it turned out, and how well everyone’s pieces fit together. Our group worked so well together because we respected and trusted each other. We were respectful of everyone’s ideas and what they wanted to bring to the table. We trusted each other with doing things and making sure it was done the correct way. It was wonderful being able to bond with the members of my club, and I’m still extremely proud of how well our project went.

Prep Note 8/31/23

By Julia Dalmanieras

On August 30, 2023

In Julia, prep note

I dreamed of my senior night on the softball team since I was in the seventh grade. I had watched the seniors during my first year on the team get flowers, gifts, and recognition for all of their hard work and dedication to the team and to the school. When my senior night finally rolled around last May, our team was in unfortunate standing. In order to make it to the State tournament, every team needs at least ten wins and ten losses. On my senior night, we had nine wins and ten losses. This game would make or break our chances. I remember our coach sitting us down and attempting to give us a pep talk, but honestly, it didn’t help. It was her first year coaching us and while she did a good job, I didn’t find myself particularly motivated by her speech. However, two of my best friends were the team captains, and I am still convinced they were the only two who actually cared if we won this game. As we got closer to the start of the game, fans started crowding the bleachers at our local city field. I have never seen so many people genuinely excited to watch a softball game after all of my years of playing. The game was a nail-biter. Our defense was stronger than ever, but so was theirs. We played five and a half innings and the score was still zero-zero. I was about to go up to bat when my best friend/captain approached me and said “This could be your last time ever hitting.” Somehow, that really resonated with me. I approached the plate and prepared myself for whatever would happen. The crowd was silent as I swung the bat and launched the ball into center field, driving in three runs. Finally, the score was three to zero, and everyone was so excited about what had happened, that our team gained this unreal energy that fueled us to a win. But if we hadn’t worked as a group and supported each other in that game, or even during the season, I cannot say that that game would have had the same outcome.

Prep Note 8/31/23

By Kristine Nguyen

On August 30, 2023

In kristine, prep note

I was at a Girl Scout camping trip and my group had to make our camp gate out of poles and ropes. This was an activity that required teamwork to be successful. What made it work was assigning roles to specific people so that everyone knew what they were supposed to do. If there were no roles, then either everyone would try to jump in with a specific job, or nobody would jump in. As an example, someone could hold the poles together, while another person lashed the poles together with rope. It was necessary to have at least one person stabilizing the poles otherwise the lashings would become very difficult and could end up loose. So even if holding the poles together seemed like an easy job, it was still an essential one. Although it may seem peculiar, one of the jobs was to tighten the rope every time the lasher wrapped it around the poles. This was to ensure that the lashing was at its absolute tightest. We could also take turns lashing and stabilizing the poles so that different people could have the opportunity to try different jobs. When it came to that time, someone could drive a stake into the ground and tie the rope to it to add extra stability. All while several other people were supporting the gate by its foundations, of course. By giving everyone a specific job, we were able to get the work done efficiently and successfully.