Parent Conference/Portfolio Reflection

My portfolio has more of a relation because of the metaphor and that is tennis. My web pages has all the tratis required: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, and sentence fluency. It also has an introduction and a short conclusion.

Please answer the following questions:

1. What did you like best about my portfolio and portfolio conference? What would you like to see me improve on in my portfolio?

2. from your point of view, which of my attainments of the 4 traits of writing is of most value? Please explain why you feel it its important and what about my documentation of it impresses you.

3. Which of the traits of writing would you like me to focus on in the coming semester?

Angry Letter

Topic: Placing Green Bins in Waipahu

Dear City and County of Honolulu,

Oahu is a beautiful place to live and I've lived here my whole life. This whole island is surrounded with plants and trees that we cherish and take care of dearly, but once in a while we need to cut them before our island will look like a big grassy plant in the middle of the ocean. Right now there are green bins used for green wastes such as yard trimmings, leaves, grass clippings, and Christmas trees but they are only in certain parts of the island.

Over the summer my family and I went to Mililani to visit relatives and noticed they had already had the green bins distributed. I wondered why only this portion of the island has the green bins and nowhere else. Later I also noticed that Hawaii Kai and Kahaluu had the green bins. So why is it that the green bins have to take long to be given out on the Leeward side? It is a fact that we have been making changes to better make our island "go green", but how can we go green if we don't have the materials to make it happen? Whenever my family and I do yard work we tend to just throw away green wastes and we think its better off not to do it but we have no other choice.

If Oahu wants to be more observant with recycling and saving the earth, greens bins should be distributed everywhere at one time and not just one side of the island. It would be better for the bins to come out faster rather than the inconvenience for everyone that doesn't have one.

Sincerely,

Thea Marie Madriaga

Journal #18 Angry Letter Idea(s)

Ideas:
- Green bins not in Waipahu
- Wal-Mart

Journal #16: Risky Business Draft

Topic: Hazing


Thesis: Hazing happens in schools especially to the students. It should be prevented in sports, soririties, and fraternities because of the harm it does to the students.

Hazing has been detected as a humiliating or abusive conduct or method of initiation into any student organization. It has been increasingly problematic for society. Students see hazing as a stronger bond with their brothers, sisters, etc. and a taught lesson about themselves. Hazing doesn't only cause a bond but harm and hurt to the students therefore it should be prevented.

Hazing is generally caused in big groups such as sports and sororities or fraternities. It happens because of the initiation of one in order to be accepted into that organization. Its supporters acclaim the virtues of the practice by focusing on its ability to build character and a strong bond between each other. But behind that initiation the one being hazed has to do deeds that aren't so fun and exciting.

Hazing is any form of subjecting another student to abusive or ridiculous tricks to frighten, scold, beat, or harass him or her or dubject the student to personal embarassment. This is violence directed at specific individuals as part of the initiation process. It is both physical and emotional harassment of prospective members. An example of the most obvious method of hazing is to shave a members hair off.

Overall, hazing instills fear and respect in the hearts of younger members when interacting with their more esteemed and older teammates. Of course its more important to create a bond between teammates and put ahead that fear and awe in opposition. But respect should be earned and not demanded. Also, no one deserves to go through the pain of hazing. It should still be prevented because of the causes it had done to our students and their personalitites.

Journal #15 Risky Busieness Thesis

Topic: Hazing

Subtopic: Hazing in schools.

Thesis Statment: Hazing happens in schools especially to the students. It should be prevented in sports, sororities, and fraternities because of the harm it does to the students.

Con: Hazing issues a sense of unity. It helps you down the line with personal struggles and about life. It teaches the one being hazed about themselves and connects stronger bonds with your brothers, sisters, etc.

Pro #1: School is the #1 place where hazing is detected. They are mostly performed in groups such as sports and sororitities. Its nothing but hatred and ignorance that comes out of situations in the process.

Pro #2: Hazing is a cycle that hurts people and demoralizes people's personalities It's a cycle that must be broken.

Journal #10 College Application Essay Draft

There is a time in life when everyone loses someone they love or know. It's either a parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt uncle, cousin, niece, nephew, or friend. Having to lose someone brings sadness, grief, sorrow, and weeping, because no one and nothing can bring that person back. When you receive the message that some you love passed away, there's nothing you can do but cry. Cry until the tears streaking down your face no longer fall and have puffy, red eyes afterwards. And the number one question is always "why did this have to happen?" There is no real reason why people die; its just the way of life. But what you do know is that you would need to take more responsibilites of your actions and for other people.
I had been through the stages, especially when my auntie passed away. I still remember the night we got the call from the hospital. The lady told us my auntie's condition worsened and so we had to go to the hospital immediately. At that momoent I didn't want to think anything negative but pray she's going to be all right.
The lady made us wait in the waiting room and at that moment I and the rest of my family know something was seriously wrong. The nurse looked at the ground and looked up afterward. She said they did as much as they could but my auntie's heart just stopped. Her next words she said was the same every other doctor/nurse says, "I'm sorry for your loss."
When we walked into the room where my auntie lied, we didn't know what to do but cry, wonder, and be more responsible. My auntie did a lot for us and since she isn't here to do those things we need to make sure those things will be done. She took care of us, here nieces and nephews, her father, sisters, and brother.
I still can't believe she's gone but what I do know is she's always in my heart. If I could be with here one more time I would. But until then I need to do my job and responsibilities like what my auntie had done.

Journal #9: Ophelia Speaks

Ophelia Speaks is a coming of age novel because in each chapter different girls talk about their adolescent stage in different stories. They then learn about their mistakes and make sure no one else will make the same mistake as they did. In the book there are different topics such as pregnancy, parents, siblings, annorexia, media images, etc. The book spoke to me and I think it can speak to other teenage girls so they know that others have an idea of what they're going through.

Journal #8 College Plans

For college I want to go to the mainland, especially on the West Coast, going east coast is just too far from home. I haven't really chose a specific college but I do have options of what colleges interest me listed below.

San Diego State University
http://www.sdsu.edu/

Art Institute of California - San Fransicsco
http://www.sfsu.com/

Art Institute of Las Vegas
http://www.unlv.edu/

University of Calgary
http://www.ucalgary.ca/

Journal #3 Vent

The clock is ticking and time is running out. Tick tock. Tick tock. I still can't believe there is little time left until my brother leaves for the mainland. I still can't believe he chose to go to the air force. I'm not against him for joining, I'll be happy with whatever he wishes to do, its just the thought of someone you love going to the army gives me a frightening vibe.
My brother and I have been through a lot. Its the typical: fights, arguments, disagreements, him being over-protective, etc. Of course some people, especially girls, who have older brothers sometimes wish they had an older sister instead. Others wish they had an older brother so they can know how it feels to have someone watching out and protecting them. There was this one time I wish I had an older sister instead of an older brother because we had a BIG argument and i was soooo pissed off at him. I know that saying that will never come true but I do regret it because he is just looking out for me and making sure I won't do anything stupid of that matter.
There are also fun and stupid times my brother and I had. When I was in volleyball and basketball, he would always practice with me. Like when we're at home doing nothing, we would call up our friends and go to the park so he could help me be a better player. If none of our friends could go then it'd just be me and him or me, him, and my dad. While all of us are playing, he would make jokes and all of faces would have smiles and you would hear laughter coming out of our mouths.
Having my borther there for me through thick and thin is something I can't forget. When the call for him to leave for basic trainig comes, he won't be able to be here to look after me or be over protective about boys or anything. He's going to be miles and miles away for 6-8 months because he joined the air force. I am going to miss him but I know I can't do anything to make him stay and do something else. Until then, I'll make the most of what's left before tome runs out.

Journal #6: COA Poster Draft

My coming of age poster relates to my essay and relates to my growing up. My plan was simply basic put a picture of God as a background and just organize it and be creative with pictures in front of it. I decided to put effects and polaroid them to make each picture stand out and represent their own meaning.
In the poster it shows my retreat, my family, and my friends. They help build and learn more about myself inside and out. They came through with me springing into adolescence and they're going to stay with me til the end.

Coming of Age (draft)

The school bell about to ring in 5 minutes and that meant school was over. It was time for our 8th grade retreat overnighter at Saint Stephens. This field trip was the first, ever, to have an overnighter. “Remember today and tomorrow is going to make your 8th grade year more special”, the teachers’ tell us, “And remember we will also be collecting your cell phones because this field trip requires your focus on God and your friends.” As people are lining up putting their phone’s in a Ziploc bag and writing their names on them, they start saying whether or not they could handle two days and one night without it. Some say yes, others say no, the rest say they will try.

Once we all boarded the bus and sat in our seats we sang songs like our school alma mater just to past the time. We reached St. Stephens in Kaneohe minutes later and walked down a hill going to where we were sleeping. It had an apartment look to it which looked safe enough for me. We were assigned rooms and roommates so that we could get along with each other more. But its not like we weren't getting along, they just wanted us to have a stronger bond before we graduate.

There were a variety of activities that we all did. One that I remembered most was writing down on a piece of paper positive information about that person and place it inside of their paper bag. Reading what people put in my bag made me happier. We also sang along and danced with the band that played at our retreat. They remixed songs so it talks about God and how great he is. Another was the trust walk where we stood in a line and put our hands on the people's shoulders infront of us and close our eyes. That proved I and the rest trusted who was leading us where ever they walked.

When the retreat came to an end, we had an ending prayer that touched me and I knew that this retreat wasn't just any regular retreat but one that made me know more about myself, my friends, and especially more about God. The retreat made me closer to God and made me realize that I was graduating in a few months. We had more of a responsiblity now and since then I look back on those days and realize it changed me from the inside out.

Journal #1: Writing Experiences & Goals

My writing experiences have gone back since elementary school. It has been improved throughout my school years. I have learned a lot of different techniques of writitng, such as the 6 traits. It helps with how I write my paragraphs: introduction, 3 paragraphs as the main body, and lastly the conclusion. Along with techniques of writing, punctuation, grammar, and spelling are also important. I learned that the more you read and write, the more your writing will be improved.

My goals for writing are understanding it more easily and making it flow easily through. I also want to improve parts of my 6 traits such as voice and sentence fluency. I know that once these goals are completed, I won't have much of a struggle with wrting than how I did before.