Daily Goals - March 30, 2011

Today I am going to be working on my other PBL project that needs to be finished. I plan on getting the effects of the chemicals all written in the Prezi. I also want to work on my paper today and see if I can find any materials for the sculpture.

I am very excited for this new project! I think it is going to be very fun not having to do a lot of research about  our topic and just use our creativity. I am very happy so far with the project!

Water for Elephans - Chapters 17-25 (Personal Connection)

Water for Elephants is a historical fiction novel, so there are many connections to the world. The author, Sara Gruen, did a lot of extensive research on traveling circuses during the 1920s and 30s. Many events that happened in the book were actual events that occurred in American circuses.
Jacob and Marlena, the main characters in Water for Elephants, both deeply cared for the animals in the circus and would do almost anything to keep them safe. I feel like I made a personal connection to Jacob and Marlena, because I would have made some of the same decisions concerning the animals in the circus. Animals in circuses were repeatedly mistreated and abused by their trainers and being an animal lover I could not believe some of the things the trainers did to their animals.
Water for Elephants is a beautifully written book that pays tribute to a very extraordinary topic, American traveling circuses.

Reflections - March 28, 2011

For the last project of the year Joanna and I are going to be constructing a sculpture of Salvador Dali's elephant out of recycled materials. Since almost everybody agreed to do the last project on, creativity our essential question is "What is Creativity?" During the day Joanna and I brainstormed ideas on what our sculpture will be and once we decided in the elephant we started to think about what recycled products will be used in the sculpture. On Wednesday Joanna and I will start to gather the different materials that will be used and start to assemble them to make the sculpture.

Project Ideas - March 28, 2011

Some project ideas that I am interested in are:
dreams
recycled scupture
destroy objects using a blender

Water for Elephants - Chapters 9-16 (Summary Response)

Setting:
Water for Elephants has two main settings. One is set in present day in a nursing home. The other is set during the Great Depression on the Benzini Brothers traveling circus, either in the circus tents or on the train.

Main Characters:

• Jacob Jankowski: He is the main protagonist. Jacob is a "ninety or ninety-three" year old man who lives in a nursing home. During the book he reminisces about his life during the Great Depression as a veterinarian on the Benzini Brothers traveling circus.

• Marlena: Marlena is the star of the equestrian act in the circus. She is married to August, but is Jacob's main love interest.

• August: He is Marlena's husband and head animal trainer for the circus. He is a very charming man, but he has a very wide mean streak. Later in the book it is discovered that he is Paranoid Schizophrenic.

• Uncle Al: He is cruel, brutal and the violent owner of the Benzini Brothers traveling circus.

• Walter/Kinko: He is Jacob's roommate on the train. Only Walter's closest friends call him Walter, everybody else must call him Kinko.When Jacob and Walter first met they had a rough start, but eventually they become very close friends. Walter is a performer in the circus with his Jack Russell Terrier Queenie.

• Rosie: She is the elephant that brings together Jacob and Marlena. When Uncle Al buys her she is supposed to be the savior of the show, but is thought to be useless and stupid until Jacob discovers that she only understands Polish.

• Camel: He is one of the first people that Jacob met when he hopped the circus train. He plays a major role in getting Jacob a job on the circus. Towards the end of the book Camel gets sick with "Jake Leg" after drinking poisoned Jamaican Ginger. So Camel is not thrown off the train Jacob and Walter hide him in their cabin and take care of him since he is paralyzed from the Jamaican Ginger.

• Rosemary: She is Jacob's nurse at the nursing home. She is very sweet to Jacob and he becomes very fond of her.

Conflict and Conflict Resolution:
The main conflict in Water for Elephants is that Jacob has fallen in love with Marlena who is married to August. Marlena has also fallen in love with Jacob. The situation becomes very dangerous since August is schizophrenic.
The conflict is resolved when Rosie, who has been the subject of August's violent beatings, gets her revenge on August by killing him. Since August no longer posts a threat to Jacob and Marlena they happily run away from the Benzini Brothers Circus with their beloved animals in tow.

Daily Goals Reflection - March 16, 2011

Work Habit Rating:

Blog:
I feel like I am between meets expectations and exceeds expectations for the blog section because I do my daily goals every PBL day and explain how I plan to meet my goals, but I do not think I go above and beyond what is asked for the end of the day blog entry.

Check-ins:
I feel like I exceed expectations on check-ins. I send my work to Amy and Randy before the check-ins and I feel like I am prepared for the check-ins that I have had so far.

Pace:
I feel like I exceed expectations with my pace because I have turned my work in on time and I have not needed any reminders for this project so far.


I have met my goals for today, but I am going to keep working on my project at home so I do not get behind pace. My next steps are to continue working on putting my information into the Prezi. I still have to put in the effects of each chemical, what companies do to cover up certain chemicals and what are some safe non-toxic products to use. After all of the information that I can gather from the internet is put into the Prezi I will email the FDA and Ava Anderson on what their opinions are. The information that the FDA and Ava Anderson will give me will be put into the Prezi and then I will send my project to my experts.

Daily Goals - March 16, 2011

My goal for today is to complete about half of my Prezi. I plan to do this by working through each section of my outline individually so I can focus on one thing at a time.

Daily Goals Reflection - March 14, 2011

I finished all of my goals for today. Since I finished my goals I do not need to do any work at home. My next steps are to keep putting more information in my Prezi.

Water for Elephants - Chapters 1-8 (Introduction Response)

I am reading Water for elephants by Sara Gruen for this literary analysis. The genre of Water for Elephants is a historical romance novel. The book is set at the beginning of the great depression on the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth's circus train. Water for Elephants follows the story of Jacob Jankowski, presently a ninety something year old man, who in his twenties found himself on a circus train as their vet. While on the circus train Jacob meets Marlena, the star of the equestrian act who is married to the charming but cruel circus boss, August. The theme of this book is independence and self worth.

Daily Goals - March 14, 2011

My goals for today are to plan what is going to be included in my project. I also want to complete my outline and if I still have time start putting information into the Prezi.

My plan for getting work done is to take things one step at a time and focus on what task is in front of my now so I do not get overwhelmed.

Daily Goals - March 8, 2011

My goals for today are to revise my paper, finish taking the OHpedia lessons, and finish the project planning form.

Daily Goals Reflection - March 7, 2011

Today I picked what my project topic and it is how everyday products effect human health. I am really excited to start the new project and I am glad that it is going to be designed solely with my interests. I did not all of my goals today, but I did decide on a topic to do my new project on and I started the project planning form. I worked on my paper and the OHpedia lessons but I did not finish them. I tried to work very hard to get what I needed done today because I am very far behind, but I think I am getting back on pace.

Daily Goals - March 7, 2011

Today my goals are to finish writing my paper, finish taking the OHpedia lessons, figure out what my new project topic is, and start working on project planning form.


Ideas for Project:
History of fashion
Everyday products and health

OHpedia Reflection

OHpedia was a very interesting experience that many ups and downs. OHpedia was not my most favorite project that we have done, but it was the most effective in completing the rest of our benchmarks which I feel is very important. The OHpedia experience as a whole was very stressful. I always tend to sent my expectations very high and I normally reach them, but for this project I feel like it was not my best work and I am not very proud of it. I had to sent my expectations lower so I could actually motivate myself to do more. I was satisfied most with the different tools that I learned how to use and how professional they made my project look. OHpedia made very persistent as the weeks progressed. The project was taking a very long time and so I decided to things in my own hands and push through and finish the project. This project really did not match my learning style that much other than the use of new tools. I really like learning how to make my project even better than it already is with the use of technology. The thing that I will remember the most about OHpedia is that I had to be very persistent to finish this project.

Reflections - March 2, 2011

Today I worked on the end-of-standard exam and helped other people work out some kinks in the quizzes. I also put directions on the lesson page on how to complete the lessons.