Parent Response/ Portfolio Reflection

My portfolio is all about "Santa's Things To Do." Each trait relates to what I think Santa does during the Christmas season. I feel that I picked the right examples to each trait well because of what I thought matched.

1. What I liked best about Samara's portfolio was how she gave good examples for each of her traits. I understood why she chose those examples for the traits. What I would like to see her improve on in her portfolio, other then a better layout, is to give more reason and better description on her examples. I feel that she could do a better job on make her portfolio and giving more description for her examples.

2. From my point of view, the trait that Samara attainments is "voice." I can hear what she is saying. She speaks out what she is thinking, but the promblem she has with writing out her voice is putting it together on paper. She is always repeating herself, but overall, her "voice" is her strongest trait.

3. The trait I would like for Samara to focus on mainly is her word choice. I believe that Samara needs to chose better words when writing her paper. She doesn't quit explain herself. Also, she has a tendency of writing like an 8th grader. I think if she is able to get better at these traits, she will become a better writer.

Angry Letter

Dear Department of Education,

I am a sophomore at Moanalua High School. I have been living in Oahu, Hawai'i for 15 years, my whole life, and what I would like to say is that i love it here! There is nothing that would make me change my mind. Although to my understanding, the school year has become longer by cutting down the breaks that we have between each quarter and semester. And now, with furlough Fridays, the school year has become shorter again.

After doing some research, I came across that Hawai'i is ranked 46th in the nation in academics. To me, that is a horrible thing. I would like for Hawai'i to at least be ranked in the top 20, but that will not happen if students are not able to enhance all the materials that teachers are giving us. I my self, is having a hard time with my education. Before I was at least getting a GPA of 3.0 or higher, but yet this school year I haven't been able to get to a 3.0. This year as become harder for me, not just because of all the sports I play, but also how furloughs have taken an effect on school days.

With shorter school weeks, I realized that I have to have a better time managing schedule. This past quarter, my school only had four days of school for the whole quarter. This made it harder this quarter to maintain my grades. I feel that everything is being rushed and that I need to catch up with everything. This may help me in the future when entering into the real world, where everything is all business, but for now, I am asking that if furlough Fridays could be ended so that Hawai'i's students are able to understand what they are learning. Also, maybe Hawai'i would be able to rank higher in academics.

Sincerely,

Samara Hoe

Journal#18 (Angry Letter)

For my angry letter I planning on talking about how Obama agrees to abortion and is letting it pass where women can have abortions. I think its not fair for the baby being born. Yes the baby isn't born, a baby has life the minute the sperm and egg come together. As a Christian, I believe that it isn't right for women to have abortions. It is a life that they are killing.

But yet, I'm not sure if this could be a good topic to do any agree letter on.

Journal #16

Teens with eating disorders should attend organizations to get an understanding and the importance of having a healthy body and a level weight. The organizations can help the teen with what they are going through. Some teens start having eating disorders because they are things going through their mind that makes them think that they have to starve themselves, keep eating because it is a way to get things off their mind, or their body has to be this certain size. Organizations can help teens with their problems. It is said that only 1 in 10 people receive treatment. If more teens attend treatment, there will be a great amount that more will recover greatly.

These organizations may cost a big amount of money, but it's worth sending children with eating disorders to the organizations. Parents should just send their child to the organization to get treatment because the worse the child gets, the worse they will become. Also, parents should get involve with the organization. The more the parents understand with is going on with their child, the more they can help. If parents know the symptoms of the different types of eating disorders (Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating/Compulsive Overeating), then they can help the child.

A study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reported that 5-10% of anorexics die within 10 years after contracting the disease; 18-20% of anorexics will be dead after 20 years and only 30-40% who attend treatment will ever fully recover. Also, 20% of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications, including suicide and heart problems. The study also says that the mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate of all causes of death for females 15-24 years old.

Statistics show that an estimated about of 8 million Americans have an eating disorder- 7 million women and 1 million men. With all of these statistics, I say that people should start attending treatment. They are able to get help and live a longer and healthier life. Teens with eating disorders should attend organizations to get an understanding and the importance of having a healthy body and a level weight.

Journal #15

Thesis: Teens with eating disorders should attend organizations to help them realize that they need to eat because their body is perfect the way it is.

Cons: Teens should go to eating disorder organizations, but they are expensive to pay for. Also, what if the teen does not want to attend the organizations.

Pros: Yes it is expensive to send teens to eating disorder organizations, but it will help the teen with their eating habbits. The organizations will help teens realize that what they see in a mirror, is not what people see. Teens should go to the organizations. These organizations will help teens find a better way to still have a weight they would like, but still be able to eat. Even though it is expensive, parents should get involved with what is happening with their childern and care for them.

Pros: The organizations will teach parents the signs and effects of knowing how their child could be having problems with eating. Once the parents know the signs, they can stop their child from continuing on with their eating problems so the parents don't have to pay for treatment and it won't cost as much.

websites:http://www.castlewoodtc.com/eating_disorder_org.html

http://www.casapalmera.com/treatments/eating-disorders.php?cpao=111&cpca=EatingDisorder&cpag=Eating_Disorder_Treatment&kw=treatment_of_eating_disorders&_kk=15512347-929b-4c8c-92ec-3a03767d5ffa&_kt=1999484477&gclid=COPvlPSGgZ4CFQgtawodDQUUqQ

http://www.bulimia.com/client/client_pages/links_helpful.cfm

Journal #1

Hi Mrs. S,

Im sorry that this is really late. I just have not been able to blog this journal for a while.

Anyways, I am reffering to your comment on my writing pre-assessment. I need to start working better on my organization and voice structure when writing. At times I do get confused on what you ask for us to do with the papers that you give us. I think I might need some help with them. So I'll come to you and ask you for help when I don't understand what you are askng for.

College Application Essay (Journal#10)

*Boston University-Any topic I want to talk about

(Topic: Special Moment in Life, may change later on has life goes by)

Everyone has a special moment in their life that happend to them. Either first love, being able to surf for the first time, or when a woman has her first child. For me, my special moment was in Feburary 2009. It was the Oahu Interscolatic Association (OIA) Junior Varsity Girl's Basketball Championship.

I was on the Moanalua Na Menehunes Girl's Basketball team. It had been a long a stressful season. Our record was 11-1, eleven wins, one lost. That one lost was a put down in the our season, but went looked pasted it and ended up becoming the OIA East Champions, by flipping a coin since we weren't the only team with a record of 11-1. They were the Farrington Governors. The one team that was the hardest to beat. Now, we were going to face them again. This time, for the top, to become the champions of the OIA Junior Varsity Girl's Basketball Teams.

It was Feburary 9, 2009, 7:00 pm. The game was held at Moanalua High School, so we had a home court advantage. The crowd was the biggest crowd we ever had all season, with family and students coming out and supporting us, it was all up beating. Hearts pounding, nerves shaking, and getting to the point of becoming champions. As the game was ready to begin, my teammates and I were ready to defeat the Governors and so were they. This was the game that showed who was at the top. Since both teams lost to each other, it was now the tie breaker.

With three mintunes left in the fourth quarter and our team losing by 8 points, we knew that it was time to push our selves. Our coach called a timeout. He told us that if we really wanted this, we had to show it because no one was just going to give it to us. With those words in our head, we told each other, we have to push, and that is exactly what we did. With three mintunes running down, we were able to get 11 points on the board. Once it came down to the finally mintune, we knew that we had to keep the lead. No mistakes, no bad passes, no fouls, nothing. Just keep the ball in play and let the clock run down.

The last ten seconds was the longest seconds I have ever been in. With the ball keep going out of bounce and timeouts being called, it took forever to run down. With Farrington having the ball and down by three points, all they needed was a three pointer and they would win. What we had to do was keep them from scoring. We did all that we could, keeping our hands up to not cause any fouls. Now clock running down to three seconds Farrington having the play worked, the last shot being at the three point line, as the shot go up, all we could hope was that it misses. You hearing the crowd counting down, three, two ,one. When the buzzer hits zero, and the shot was missed, we knew at that moment we won! We where the 2009 OIA Junior Varisty Girl's Basketball Champions! With the crowd running onto the court shouting and cheeering. This has been the greatest moment in my life, for me. Even till this day I can remember every detail that happend that game.

Journal #8 (College Choices)

I would like to go to a college that gives a course where I would be able to learn more about film editing and graphic design. Also a college where they have a good athlectic department. Here are some of my choices.

PLATT College: http://www.platt.edu/
Shillington College: http://www.shillingtoncollege.com.au/
PJ College of Arts & Design: http://www.pjcad.edu.my/
Boston Unversity:http://www.bu.edu/cfa/visual-arts/prospective/undergraduate/design/

Journal # 9 (Perks of being a wallflower)

This novel is a "coming of age" story because the writer of the letters, Charlie, talks about how he is growing up and his life in high school. Hanging out with his friends, Patrick and Sam, going to parties and football games, doing drugs and smoking, and having fun. Normally in high school is when teens get into a lot of pressure. Charlie is also starts to have feelings for his friend Sam who is older then him and having dreams about her that he doesn't want to have. Towards end of the story, Charlie has changed since the beginning of the story. He starts off in the beginning as a goody good boy into a teen that does drinking and drugs and a lot of other things that is bad, but something that teens would do in high school.

Comging of Age Poster (Draft)

(Journal#6)

How I came up with the design of my poster was by showing some main things of me growing up. For example, I have my middle school logo as my background with Moanalua, high school, logo in front of it. It shows that I've grown up by going into high school, which means a new school for me. Also, I have my middle school basketball team and high school basketball team because it shows that I had get used to not being at the top of the team, since my middle school didn't have such a great team. Then, I have my eight grade class picture and a meneMAC picture showing how I had to make new friends since I wasn't going to the same school as them. Lastly, I have the biggest that shows how I have to grow up is responsibilities. Now that I am older, I have bigger responsibilities and helping out more around the house.

"Last Day as an Eight Grader"

Waking up to the sound of the radio going off, I realize what today is. It's the day of reflection, it's the day of remembrance, it's a day to move on, it's my Last Day as an Eight Grader. Which also meant, Eight Grade Graduation. May 30, 2008, 7:50 am, is when it will all start.

As I am getting ready to head to school, I imagine what it's going to be like. All family, friends, and old classmates gathered to watch a class recivce their dipolmas and graduate. As I arrive at school, I look in the hall, where we all gather before heading to our classes, and realize, it's only one more week from this day that I am going to be graduating from my Elementary and Middle School that I have been at for nine years. Thinking to myself, how am I going to be able to handle this? Graduating, heading off to high school, leaving all my friends. My whole life has been at this school and no other.

Now as we head up to our classes, I walk through the hallways remembering all of the memories. Passing by the classes that I have been in, learning, having fun, throwing surprise parties for my teachers, everything that has happen in those classes. Already, I am starting to tear up, but as I look up, I'm not alone. I see my friend, Kimberly Eder, my number one friend, the one that has been with me all my years at this school, crying. Crying tears that I have never seen her cry before. As I look at her, I can tell that these aren't normal tears. They are tears of joy and sad. The one thing I remember her saying that I will never forget, "Are we going to be best friends forever?" When she said that, I looked at her, straight face with tears coming down,"Always!," was all I could say. When we walked into the classroom, I looked around, seeing everyone having fun, laughing, and all I could think of is, "I hope we will be friends forever."

When I saw that clock read 7:50 am, I knew it was time. As the school all gathered for assembly, tears started to form again. Thinking to my self, this is my last school assembly, my last time I am going to be standing in this hall, with the whole school. When flag was done, our principal, Ms. Kauhane, asked the school to be seated and for the eight grade class to come up to the stage. As we approached the stage, Ms. Kauhane explained to the school that today was the last day for the eight graders. When we were lined up on the stage, our social studies and religion teacher, Mr.Pa'ekakui, started to play his guitar. We started to sing our class song,"Love is Patience." This song has been with our class since the sixth grade.

As we were singing, I looked out and saw all the faces that I have seen for a year and some, more. The one face that stood out for me, was my friend Pomai. She has been like my little sister ever since she first came she to Cathedral, she was in kindergarten and I was in first grade. Once I saw her face, seeing her cry, I started to cry even more. She has been my little sister, for eight years. How am I suppose to leave her? She has always made me happy whenever I was down. She was my little cheerer upper. She was the one I could count on to always be there for me.

Once we were done singing, Ms. Kauhane came up to the mic again. This time she was talking about our class and how this class was different from all the others. Thinking back to all the other classes, I realized, we where a different class. Our class, was very out there. We were friends with all the classes, helped out everyone, and we always helped out with First Friday Masses. When Ms. Kauhane started talking about our class theme, which was "Swim", the six grade class came out with floaties for the whole class, now that put a smile on my face.

When everything was done, the speech, the ceremony, Ms. Kauhane said the final words that just made me cry. "Now let's all say good bye to the Class of 2008." Now I knew I wasn't ready to leave this Elementary/Middle School that I have been at for nine years. As everything is all done, we start saying our good byes to everyone and more tears are formed every second. As I say good bye to everyone, I knew that even though I didn't want to leave, I still had no choice and it was time to move on. Like everyone says, " You can't stay young forever. even though you want to."

As I leave the school, I look back at the school, memories and tears appear on my face. My whole life has been at this school, no other. Now going to Moanalua High School was a big change in my life, something I was not ready for, but with God on my side, I knew that everything would be alright.

Writing Experiences and Goals

My writing experiences haven't been all that great. I never did like to write, but I loved to come up with stories. When I first started high school, I realized that writing is going to be my main problem. My mom says that I have a problem with not staying on track with what I am trying to say. I believe she is right. I see it when I re-read my papers and how I'm either going off track, repeating myself, or just going back and forth. Now that freshmen year is over, I have realized that my writing has become better. With the basic structure of writing, my writing has improved. Another thing that I have to focus on in my writing, is applying my self. I need to put myself into my writing and maybe also read from an audiences understanding. My favorite piece that I did in freshmen year was my querencia. I believe that was the one piece that I put myself into that writing.

This year, my goal as a writer, is be overcome my problems. I would like to improve my writing in a way where I do not repeat myself, go off track, and go back and forth. I would also like to improve in the basic structure. I believe I need to work on organization and voice. These two areas are my weakest points in writing. So I would like to overcome that by the end of this school year.