Reflection #9

This week on Thanksgiving I played "Someone Like You" for my family. They were pretty impressed with it since now I am able to play it a little faster, without messing up too much. On Saturday, I had my friend help me with learning the new song "If I Die Young" since she can't play it very well. She helped me learn some of the first page, only because I had plans for the afternoon. Next week will hopefully be a little less busy since there are no holidays so i hope that I will have more time to practice this song. I am hoping to learn this song by Christmas break, so that I can start a new one during the break.

Reflection 9

This week I continued on my way to dunking a basketball. This week I did not get as much work done towards my goal due to Thanksgiving. I was not home for two days, which made me unable to practice my palming drills. However, I did get a couple decent leg workouts in. I had a soccer tournament on the weekend so unfortunately I could not find the time to video myself attempting to dunk. Hopefully I can resume to my normal workout ways next week and improve upon what I did this week.

Reflection 9

In terms of running, this week was unproductive due to the Holiday season. It was a pretty hectic week with guests at the house and Thanksgiving so I was unable to go on my runs. I didn't fall off my diet although I did have a few cups of coffee. I continued with my squats, calf raises and planks though. I also did a few sets of pull ups. For this upcoming week, I want to focus on getting back into my runs and doing ab workouts for a stronger core. I also need to do some weight training. I need to transition into warmer attire now due to the weather change so I think I need to invest in some water resistant and heat-retaining gloves. I don't want all my hard work to go to waste during the holiday season so I need to maintain a strict enough diet over the next couple of weeks as well (I don't want to splurge on sweets too much because of being too strict though so I will try to follow good meal plans I find online).

Reflection 9

This week for my 20% time I made progress with my demo. in class i couldnt do much since we had only 20 minutes and I was on a chromebook. I wanted to work on my fountain idea for some time now, but i had more important parts of the project to do first. Im taking a break from the core and just doing something fun. I researched some water shaders and I already saved a tutorial on how to make a fountain so I went on the engine and began to work on it. I’m almost complete with it but the water looks a bit to clear, i might fix it. After I’m done with that i'll go back to the core parts and continue from there.

Reflection 9

This week, my 9th week learning Italian, initially started off pretty good. I got through a couple of lessons on duolingo, and then followed up by repeating them to strengthen my skills. I even got a new app on my phone to review Italian vocab wherever and whenever I want. I also discovered a new website, Live Mocha, where native Italian speakers make lessons and review your work.
However, I regret to inform that I slacked off during the long weekend that we had. I hope to get off to a good start this week, though, by doing a lesson tonight.

Reflection 9

This week, I finlly have found a sense of direction with where I am giong. I have decided to commit myself to finish the javascript beginners course. Due to the extra time, I was able to complete my first part of the class. I am about 15% through the course and plan to utilizemy time to complete it and have a foundation for javascript. Good week!

Reflection 9

This week I helped my mom make a Haitian penne and cheese pasta casserole. The first thing you do is take a pot filled with water and put it over medium high heat. Then, when it begins to boil, add desired amount of oil and salt, before taking two packages full of penne pasta and put it in the pot. Stir so that is fully immersed into the water. Drain the macaroni and place back on the stove. Afterwards, add in 3/4 cup of milk and 4 spoonful's of mayonnaise, then stir until evenly distributed. Then add in an cup of a variety of cheeses and stir. Take a rectangular roasting pan, butter up all the sides with your hands, and pour in the macaroni. Put it in the oven under 350 degree heat and continuously watch until cooked.
This was a really messy dish to make and requires a lot of hands on work, which was not something I'm used to. When I was trying to butter the pan, i almost broke it because I was using a knife because I didn't want to get my hands dirty.I need to get over this for future cooking ventures because a lot of cooking as to do with hands on activities.

Reflection 9

This week, I was supposed to go running two times.  I was only able to get in a 3 mile jog that took 35 minutes.  I went without my knee brace but I still need some more strengthening to do. I have turned to yoga and stretching even more as a substitute. I am using techniques from my "Flow" yoga class. It incorporates yoga poses and breathing exercises at a faster pace. During my 20% time, I clarified how my form should be so I can make sure I am not harming myself. My teacher Ms. Roy was a great help and showed me the correct form for Warrior 1 and 2. I am very happy to know that I can go to my teacher to ask questions about yoga. I found a website that is all about yoga ("yoga.com"). It is a website I can look through before my yoga classes to make sure I have my form correct. Next week I am going to run everyday after school. I hope to meet this goal and discipline myself. I hope to make a dinner with tofu for my family. I am going to find recipes to make the tofu as tasty as possible.

Reflection 9

My HTML journey has been progressing very nicely. Due to the extra time I had this week, I was able to get a lot done. To begin with, I reviewed all I have done so far by looking at lines of code I've already written and making sure I know what they do. After reviewing what I've done, along with continuing to work on my social networking profile, I have moved on to the Third part of HTML basics on the tutorial I am taking at www.codeacademy.com which includes learning more about <table>s, <div>s, and <span>s. All of these have an affect on the overall layout of a webpage in a more complex way. The next thing I hope to do is finish both my Social networking profile and part 3 of the HTML Basics so I can move onto some more CSS styling for my webpage.

Reflection (9th)

Continuing off of the theme of blending and reflections, I sketched the pot shown below. It was a difficult sketch because there was so much shading involved. I practiced hatching in the center in a diagonal direction, and cross-hatching near the sides. The opening of the vase is where I practiced the contour-hatching. It was particularly challenging because there was not equal shading and my pencil struggled making some parts darker; although, the different hatchings helped to create a more distinct appearance of contrast. Blending made the lines duller and the shaded effect was simply conveyed and easily identified. The reflection of the image was my next step and it was small and not very detailed. The shape overall for the pot was not difficult to sketch, and the oval at the top was surprisingly easy to recreate and easier being compared with the basic structure. Sketching the image, I practiced using basic and essential strategies which can point me to the direction of success and progression. To continue, practicing these methods again to improve would be beneficial.

Reflection 9

This week was the ninth in my quest for improved strength.  Over the course of this week, I continued to work with my new partner.  We tried out a new bench press routine.  It has worked wonders already, my max has already jumped, even though it has been just a week.  I am confident that it will continue to work.  I stuck to the usual for the other muscle groups, as those have been consistently successful.  There is no reason to alter the program if it is working.  As long as I keep at it, my time in the gym will be worthwhile.

Reflection 8

This week was super busy, and I did not get as much downtime as I would've wanted to. Usually that is when I would practice and just relax but so many things took the forefront. Much of the progress made during this week was on account of my 20% time during our humanities class. I continued to watch JustinGuitar's videos, and am pretty far into his beginners videos playlist. This week I was hoping to really learn how to strum the song that my mother is teaching me (continuously) but much of my family time was spent going other places. I tried to practice the song independently on the weekend for an hour, and it was a bit fruitless, as it's really helpful to have my mom there to guide me  through chord progressions. I've employed the metronome, which can be found online, and it has helped me keep rhythm for a solid amount of time during my playing. I hope to make up for some lost time by next week's reflection.

Reflection 8

This week was once again a successful one on my way to dunking a basketball. I continued my workouts at home, which have shifted more to increasing the strength of my fingers, which is not easy. When I tried dunking this week I was as close as ever, it is just the fact that I cannot yet palm a basketball that is holding me back. Hopefully I can fix this issue and reach my goal in the coming weeks. Basketball season starts tomorrow, which will get me back in shape and get my lower body stronger from daily practices, which will add up. Overall, everything is going well, and it continues to be a lot of fun.

Reflection (8th)

http://willkempartschool.com/how-to-paint-an-acrylic-still-life-painting/absolute-beginners-drawing-course/
I attempted to recreate this cup which had me try techniques that I hadn't previously tried. These include making reflections on the cup and handle and shading it all in using lines. Although, the padded part of my finger blended in the lines. It was a simple practice, and gave an effect of having light in the scene. I tried it lightly and darkly and the result was pleasing. The picture could be shaded to make any lighting. Blending is something I would use in any project for its simplicity. It is a useful tool in sketching and worked for the cup sketch which I would anticipate on using. 

Reflection 8

This week, because my mom is doing most of the cooking, I was only allowed to make rice for my family. Wash and rinse the rice really well, until the water is clear. Place in a saucepan with double the amount of water and a little salt and stir once. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat all the way down and cover the pan tightly with a lid. Cook on the lowest heat possible for 10-15 mins without uncovering the pan. The thing that I learned is to make sure that you watch the heat settings so that you don't burn the food or under cook it.

Reflection 8

This week I continued to work on my social networking profile. In addition to continuing the course at codeacademy.com, I continued to read in my HTML & CSS book and began to learn the concept behind making forms and how they work. This involves using a <form> element which carries the action attribute and usually has a id tribute. It wasn't a too productive week but I should have a lot o time to work on my coding skills over Thanksgiving break.

Reflection #8

This week I searched for a new song. I went on a youtube account that had tons of video tutorials for playing songs on the piano. I spent pretty much the entire 20% time in class looking for a new song that would be easier to play, but I didn't find one that was really convincing. I practiced "Someone Like You" a few times and also played some beginner songs. I decided to reach out to a friend who plays piano (very well) for some recommendations for easier songs to play. She recommended "When I Die Young" because it was fairly simple but it had more parts to it than "Someone Like You". Today I practiced the first page (out of five) and I really enjoyed it, so my plan is to have played the entire song through by next week.

Reflection 8

This week I was unable to go on my runs as often as I wish, but I continued with other fitness routines. I have proceeded to do the squat challenge and I have noticed the difference in the strength and muscle tone in my legs. I have also done my calf raises (100 every day). I have tried new diets as well. I went to Juice Press, which is a cool place to get healthy soups, juices, and smoothies. I had their Fountain of Youth smoothie which was amazing and I felt energized after. I have noticed how much stronger I have gotten since doing my exercises and I was able to do pull ups without assistance for the first time ever so I am very proud of my improvements. I have also been able to hold a plank for 2 minutes. These factors have allowed me to feel confident in my running abilities because I am becoming stronger, leaner, and improving my times when running. This week I am aiming for 3 and 1/2 to 4 miles runs so we'll see how progressive I will be.

Reflection 8

Overall, this week went well. In class i looked at how to create water in unreal engine and have saved that website for when it comes time to do it.  Nothing too exciting happened in my work just the usual tutorial and more changes and implementations. I did get some more inspiration from my friend. I told the what i'm doing and they can't wait to see the finished product so i can't let them down. Next week i'm going to focus all of my efforts on building the demo and stop the tutorials completely. I will only go to them if i need to.

Reflection 8

This week is the eighth in my strength training journey.  As the days go by, my journey becomes more and more worth while.  This week was a big one.  I started working out with my friend, he is going to be my partner throughout the rest of this journey. This is really beneficial, having a friend alongside me will provide me with motivation throughout the grueling weeks.  This week we tried out some new accessory tricep and chest exercise.  They worked out really well and I plan on incorporating the into my usually routine.  Other than that it was a pretty standard week.

Reflection 8

This week marks my 8th week learning Italian. In the past week, I finished going over my past lessons and started another. Some of the words do seem to make more sense now that I learned them again.
This past weekend I also went over my grandparent's house and I talked quite a bit with them in Italian. I did not say anything fancy, most of what I said were rather simple phrases, but you have to start somewhere, right? Also, my pronunciation of Italian words is getting noticeably better. I hope to use the upcoming long weekend to continue learning.

Reflection 8

On monday I went for a run after school and I was able to run 6 gravel laps at my town high school. I recorded the time for the first five laps which took me 35 minutes. Here are the times per lap:
Lap 1- 6:58 min. ; Lap 2- 7:00 min. ; Lap 3- 7:10 min. ; Lap 4- 7:02 min. ; Lap 5- 7:24 min.
Then, I ran the sixth lap at a steady pace without recording the time. It was not windy while I was running which might account for the difference in time with this run and the run last week. The wind is good challenge even though it is difficult weather to run in. Tuesday night, I made a meal out of tofu, whole grain brown rice, peppers, and onions. It was based on the recipes I found online last week.
My second run during the week was a total of 7 laps and here are my recorded times:
Lap 1- 6:45 min; Lap 2- 7:11 min; Lap 3- 7:21 min; Lap 4- 7:24 min; Lap 5- 7:27 min; Lap 6- 7:08 min. I ran a seventh lap as a cool down and although I ran it at slow pace it challenges my endurance. I hope to be able to run ten gravel laps, during one run, by the next three weeks. My plan is to add a lap at every run. My times are not going to determine my ability to reach my goal. I hope to first have better endurance in order to decrease the time it takes to run my goal of five laps.

Next week I will continue running and use what I am learning in my yoga class to practice my form/ poses at home. I will cook another meal using tofu as a protein source. I am proud of myself for finding time to run and cook! These actions will soon turn into great habits.

Reflection 8

This week, I was able to make some more progress for Javascript. I learned how to set true or false statements basedon the console.log command. When you print a variable that is true, the system recognizes that and by putting in the console.log command, it can display text based on if the statement is true or false. If you want to display something for if the statement is false as well, use the else statement to notify the system that if the variable is not true, to display another type of text. I am much more satisfied with this week's progress. I hope to continue on.

Reflection 7

This week was my seventh in my strength training journey, and it was quite successful.  I went to the gym five times, which is  more than I have ever done during the school year.  My shoulder is completely healed, and I experienced no discomfort.  I felt really good throughout my exercises, and it seems as if the hard work is paying off.  If I remain consistent in my training, and keep working hard, I am positive that this whole experience will be a succss

Reflection 7

This week I continued on my journey to learning the guitar. My mom had off this weekend so I had about an hour to continue working with her on learning the song. Im starting to get the idea, and putting pieces together, but it's not a very coherent piece when I play it. It's mostly because I find it very hard to change chords quickly and continue strumming. JustinGuitar has an amazing tutorial on YouTube about how to get through it, and I will continue watching that to get used to quicker chord change. As of right now, it seems as if I'll strum but then stop and take a second to switch and then strum again, which doesn't really make it good to listen to. Hopefully by the next reflection I'll be able to play the song in a quicker pace. This will be my goal this week.

Reflection 7

This week I made some good steps forwards to my goal of dunking. I continued working at home on increasing my leg strength, and with winter soccer starting up and basketball I may be able to increase my leg strength simply by actively playing a lot of sports. Anyways, this weekend I tested my dunking ability at the local park and I was painfully close to dunking. I have a feeling achievement of my goal is right around the corner. This week the focus also shifted a little from leg workouts to strengthening my fingers, so I can be able to palm a basketball. I'm still learning what excersizes work and which ones don't, so hopefully I can get that down soon. All in all, it was a very successful week yet again.

Reflection 7

Sadly, little progress was made this week in my 20% time. I only completed one chapter in the C# tutorial. The Unreal Engine Demo had no work put into it. I was extremely busy this week studying for big tests I have some ideas to put in the demo. A fountain with a water simulation, grass maybe swaying trees. I can potentially do so many interesting things with this engine and c#. This week I will try to do as much as I can to make up for last week. I hope I can start working on the demo soon.

Reflection (7th)

Using the picture shown below, I practiced drawing with structure. The cars were highly difficult for me to draw because of the angles and pieces within it. Still, it let me practice using structure in an image. I am gradually becoming more comfortable using the pencil and freehand techniques. My lines are getting straighter. Doing this miniature assignment gave a clear way for me to see how my abilities are being developed. In practice, my abilities can become stronger and that is how I am continuing my processes. I am going to attempt another sketch and use these techniques and what I learn. I am learning a lot by simply doing it and researching techniques.

Reflection 7

I have continued running at a 3 mile pace this past week for five days. On Saturday, I took my hour and fifteen minute cycling class and I felt better equipped for it. I have continued doing the squat challenge and I have noticed the difference in strength and tone of my legs. I have also been doing 100 to 200 calf raises per day and 2 minute planks for my core. I cheated on my diet a little this morning for breakfast (Cappuccino and sugary French Toast) but for the most part I have been sticking to healthy foods/snacks and black tea.

I have continued research on Runners World and I've found very interesting articles about how runner's injuries are genetic and different exercises for strengthening legs, especially calves. I just bought new running gear to prepare for the cold and new running sneakers (based on the advice from Runners World). I have yet to break them in, but they have been comfortable to walk in so far. Hopefully I will be able to better my running time this week or try to cover more mileage.

Reflection #7

This week did not go as planned at all. I realized that learning this song was going to take much more time that anticipated, also I was growing kind of tired of it. I practiced a lot more than I did last week but the song didn't sound the way I wanted it to on the piano, so I spent my free time today looking for new songs that I liked, and were a lot shorter. According to the video tutorials "When I Was Your Man" had about 5 parts to it. I want to learn at least three entire songs, and this one was a bit too time consuming, so next week the plan is to move on to another song.

Reflection

This week I finished building my home studio that is going to make it very easy for me to record.  I will be able to stay home to record and I will have the perfect acoustic environment that Is tuned to the sounds that I want to make.  It is going to be nice to have this because I will be able to rent it out and that will give me more money for the business.  I also constructed a portable studio that I will be able yo carry with me and record and produce in a high quality on the go.

Reflection 7

This week, I continued to follow the exercises posted on codecademy. I have decided on perhaps presenting on the commands of ruby, JavaScript, and html and their relationships. All of the coding languages are connected together. They all share a relationship. With limited time in 20%, I was not able to do much in class. I hope to find more time this week to make some significant progress. I am overall happy.

Reflection 7

This week wasn't as productive as it should have been. I had other priorities to take care of and learning Italian just kind of got pushed to the back. I hope to put this week behind of me and continue, full strength, on my journey. I think that I will start today by reviewing the things that I had previously learned.

Reflection 7

This week, I decided to make myself a bacon and avocado grilled cheese sandwich. I started off by taking 2 slices of bacon and frying them in a pan of olive oil until thoroughly cooked. As the bacon cooks, put 2 slices of bread in a toaster oven and let toast until it turns golden brown then flip both slices to the other side, adding on one slice of cheese on one of the slices of bread. When the cheese has melted on the one slice and the other slice is golden brown, take out of the oven and place on a plate. Take the cooked bacon and cut it into 4 pieces and place it on the bread slices. Then take a medium sized avocado and cut 3 (or more, your preference) slices while also peeling off the skin and placing it on your sandwich. Cover it with the other bread slice and enjoy.

Reflection 7

During my 7th week of learning how to code HTML & CSS, I started to use what I've learned in the previous 6 weeks to help me start creating a Social Networking Profile. Below is an example of what I've began to do and the lines of code that go along with it.

I continue to make progress every week and I can't wait to begin putting my newly learned skills to use.

Reflection 6

During my 6th week of learning how to code HTML & CSS, I finished part 1 of the codeacademy.com tutorial I am taking. I basically got to review what I've learned over the past 6 weeks and made sure I didn't forget how to do anything. The progress I've made is a little slower than I expected but I'm satisfied nonetheless. I'm only 22% through with the course so there's still a lot to go!

Reflection 7

This Saturday morning, I met my goal of running five laps at my home town high school's gravel. I have posted my times for each lap which is useful because I can compare them to the first time I ran the gravel. Total time was: 35:35 minutes.
Lap 1: 6:54 min; Lap 2: 6:45 min; Lap 3: 7:29 min; Lap 4: 7:53 min; Lap 5: 6:35 min.
This run took longer than the first run I have recorded. It was very windy and made it hard to breathe. I struggle during the third and fourth lap but was able to finish strong. I plan to go on at least 2 of these runs during the week and record my times.
During my 20% time in class I printed out recipes from a very convenient website: http://www.runnerskitchen.com/recipes/
This website includes breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes with options for those on a vegetarian diet. I do eat poultry and meats but it is good to know how to get sources of protein from plant based products such as tofu and vegetables. This week I am going to attempt to cook vegetables, cous cous and tofu as one meal! I hope to share it with my family and go on two 30 minute runs this week.

Saverio Week Seven Reflection

This week was spent crocheting. The two days off from school helped me to create as many projects as I could. That was an important block of time, as it helped me to greatly increase my skill. I look forward to spending the next week further increasing my skill.

-Saverio

Reflection 6

This week on my way to dunking a basketball I made some good steps forward. My workouts have been going well, and now that my soccer season is over I can focus more on pushing myself. My vertical seems to be steadily improving, even though its hard to see. Basketball season is coming up, so hopefully I can get on the court more often and practice my jumping. All in all, it was a good week and Im making good progress

Reflection 6

I didn't make much progress this week because I was away on a mini vacation with my mother, so I was not able to cook anything. But, i did manage to watch a couple of cooking videos on possible dishes I could attempt in the near future. I am still attempting to enhance my knife skills and be able to know how to cook a dish thoroughly and deliciously.

Reflection 6

Throughout this week, I've been continuing my journey of learning how to play the guitar. After dedicating a week to learning how to read sheet music, I can say that my abilities have improved a lot. I am able to understand what the song should sound like in my head, but it's been a bit difficult to translate that information on the guitar. This is due to the fact that there's a lot of little impulses in the natural movements of my fingers that you kind of have to fight when placing your fingers on the frets. I have attempted to play a really easy song that my mom was teaching me, which was sort of a deviation from learning sheet music, but it seems like something that will help me in the long run. She said that it's actually an original piece made by my grandpa that he used to strum and hum to when she was a child, so I think it's important that I learn it. Overall, this week I have made good progress.

Reflection 6

My runs have been consistent this week of 3 miles per run. I plan on continuing this mileage for another week and then I will begin running 3 1/2 miles the following week. My ankle is still in recovery so I want to tread lightly this upcoming week. I hurt it again while taking my spin class yesterday morning and I don't want it to affect my running schedule so I have been icing it. I started doing the "squat challenge" which will help increase the strength of my legs. Every day is a different amount of squats which increases by about 15-20 squats a day. I have also been doing 100 calf raises a day and I have definitely felt the improvement (and SORE). I have started to stretch more because it is necessary for my muscles and helps with the soreness. I have also continued with weight training, pull ups, planks, and Ab workouts. I have been trying new diets and anti-oxidant drinks like Bai 5 and Vita Coco. I've been eating more vegetables and I've taken in more protein. I want to continue this healthy lifestyle because I know it will help with the improvement of my runs.

Reflection (6th)

The following endeavor was to use these techniques in a sketch and produce a complete image with shades and perspective. The picture below was the focus. I identified a vanishing point - the train - and the horizon - the line of the ground and the mountains, which impacts the train track. I realized the tracks needed to shrink nearing the train. I darkened the outlines of their wooden materials. For a more distant appearance, tracks were added as they got closer to the train. The pebbles lying in between the tracks were stippled as they got closer to the vanishing point. The ground was cross-hatched and the mountains shaded in, contrasting with the unshaded lightness around the train tracks. These details are observable in any images and give a realism to sketching creating an accurate depiction. My difficulty was making the lines. The angle was a challenge freehand. Although, I am going to try to get better as I reattempt next week using a different sketching focus.

Reflection 6

This week great progress was made because I completed all of the basic tutorials for Unreal Engine and started some intermediate. I made a very basic platformer with my c++/C# knowledge. I'm glad I used Unreal Engine over Unity because I found a lot more documentation and tutorials for it and Unreal feels better to use. I'm having fun with this project and I become really good at this I can get a nice job when I'm older. Next week I'm planning on finishing the intermediate and maybe start to put together my demo/simulation. I probably won't need to look at the advanced tutorials because they are very specific and might not be for what I’m doing.

Reflection #6

I haven't made much progress at all this weekend. I spent my entire 4 day weekend at an Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, which is in the middle of nowhere. So I didn't really have time to practice it since I usually practice on Fridays and Saturdays. I did have some time on Tuesday to practice my songs but I didn't have any time to learn more of "When I Was Your Man". I did try to learn the notes for the Chorus by watching tutorials on YouTube so I have the notes for the next part, but I have to translate it to the piano. 

Reflection 6

This week was definitely a struggle. Without 20 percent time in class, and a lot of homework assignments over the long weekend, I had a challenge with finding time to continue my process. However, I was able to resume a little progress with JavaScript. With a tough school week looming ahead, I hope to use as much free time as possible to continue coding. Next week, I will look forward to learning more JavaScript and maybe some Ruby on Rails. Although pressed for time, I hope to maintain a positive attitude and march on.

Reflection 6

This week in my journey to learning Italian, I started to learn about the present tense, such as: I am eating or I am sitting. Also, this week I went back and did a quick review of all the lessons that I have previously completed. This proved to be a beneficial idea as it jogged my memory, and I feel that it did, indeed, help my a little. Sometimes to learn something hard, you need to go back to the basics to make sure you are thinking about it logically, and that you are not over thinking a very simple thing.

Reflection 6

This week was the sixth in my fitness journey.  My shoulder is feeling much better so things can only go up from here.  The pain is still there, but it does not prevent me from doing exercises.  I tried a new workout this week and I am feeling pretty good about it.  I have a feeling this one will work much better than the previous, and will give me better results.  I just need to keep working the way I have been, and I am positive I will get the results I want.

Reflection 6

It is the beginning of November, my favorite season is here. This weather is good for a long run in the morning. I went for a 30 minute walk this morning and it is nice to see the change in the weather. It is cold in the morning which is good weather to run in because your body adjusts to the temperature as you start sweating. Running in the cold is a good way to clear your lungs and work on your breathing. It is going to be winter soon so I thought this would contribute to getting ready for the harsh winter running sessions I plan to do. I have practiced one exercise from the Emory Healthcare website. It is called the "Schlopy Mini Jumps", I did these in 3 sets of 25 repetitions for the last 3 days. It is a simple strengthening exercise that requires you to jump forward in a squatting position, then jump back and squat to about a 90 degree angle. I have noticed that it challenges my balance and works out my thighs. My weight is forced onto my toes when jumping but when I squat down I equal out the weight onto my heels. I focus on my posture during the first set, making sure I am not straining myself by not having the right form during the exercise. This is important because if I am not watching my form I could possibly stress a muscle. Next week, I will do 5 laps at my high school and record my time. Lets see my progress and what I need to work on.

Saverio Weeks 4 and 5 Reflection

The fourth and fifth week of my adventure into the world of crocheting have been about as normal as the others. I have learned to block my crocheting, this allows you to make very flat projects. That's very important for making things like blankets and potholders. This will allow me to give my crafts a more professional look. I look forward to the next couple weeks of my adventure. That is when I will start making blocked projects. My crafts will start to look much more processional. I plan to soon start posting pictures with my blog posts. I can't wait.

-Saverio

Reflection 5

This week I continued running 3 miles a day for 5 days. I have also continued with weight training. I have done chest, concentrated and hammer curls, leg curls and extensions, and ab workouts. The weight training has definitely helped to strengthen my body and it shows in my runs. I run more at ease because I am building a strong core. I've read more articles about training and I am looking for 10k races to sign up for. My diet fell off a little this week because of Halloween and candy. Starting this month, I am going on a "sugar strike." This is going to help me to stop depending on sugars. It is said to be difficult at first, but eventually it helps to stop the lethargic feeling you get after consuming sugar and is a healthier lifestyle. I am starting to look for new recipes as well for my diet. I am also researching what foods help give an energy boost before runs. This week, I want to increase my mileage to 3 and a quarter miles and do a more intense workout.

Reflection #5

This week I learned to play the intro of When I Was Your Man on my keyboard, and I started learning the verse. I hope to finish this song by next week so that I will have two songs ready. I was hoping to accomplish a lot more than I actually did this week, but I got the stomach virus and missed a few days of school and got absolutely nothing done. By next week I hope that I can finish this song so that I can move to another song with an even higher difficulty level. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to leave it in the comments below.

Reflection 5

This week, I made good progress. I decided to begin learning how to read sheet music because, per Alexa's advice, as it really helped her on playing songs and was one of the first steps she took in learning to play guitar. I learned about terms such as the staff, the treble clef, the bass clef, etc. This was through online resources such as music notes.com, essential-music-theory.com, and online YouTube videos. I continued on with JustinGuitar's videos and am currently on 22 but I am not dedicating myself to just his videos. I've been focusing more on learning sheet music for a bit, and hopefully by the next two weeks I'll be able to strum a simple song.

Reflection 5

My fifth week in learning how to code was a rather intense one. I had previously learned to insert images to a webpage but this week I learned everything I need to know about images like the types of images (vector images and bitmap images for example), image resolution, image size and dimensions, and image formats. I also began to learn how to format the images exactly how i wanted with HTML and CSS. I say it was an intense week because the formatting of pictures comes with long lines of code, which could be difficult to remember and learn if I don't practice enough. For example, if I wanted to align an the first line of text with the top of an image, I would use the code
<p><img src = "images/bird.gif" alt="Bird" width="100" height="100" align="top" /> Example line of text </p>
   Although this seems rather simple, the text that would be displayed would be hard to read so I would have to add a gap between the text and images. This is just one example of how complex a simple idea can become. All in all I am very happy with my progress.

Reflection 5

This week was another productive week as I completed some of the more advanced tutorials on Unreal Engine. I think I am picking this up quite easily. I learned some more c++ commands and more of the intermediate parts of the coding language. The beginner stuff was very simple as i already did c# coding and they are very similar. now for the next few weeks i'm going to finish up the intermediate and get through some of the advanced topics in c++. Also I'm going to plan how my tech demo/game will look and play. I'm still having trouble accessing what I need at school but i have more than enough time to make up for it at home.

Reflection 5

This week, I started to look into ideas for a final product to showcase what I have learned. I was looking into building a simple website that demonstrates everything that I have learned. Now, here was the though area. Html is used to make the actual website, but javascript is used for interactive elements. There was also Ruby on Rails, another website making tool. With so many choices, picking one is pretty difficult. However, I have decided to put extra work into taking a javascript and html program over this week and the long weekend in order to make a website.

Reflection 5

The fifth week in my project to dunk a basketball has definitely been my most successful. I continued with my workouts, of which I did three on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Playing soccer every day of the week has kept my legs very tired, but I am still able to get a good workout in at home. As for the actual dunking, I went to the park today and tested my standing jump and dunking ability. My standing vertical seemed much improved. I'm not sure if it was my legs feeling less sore than prior weeks or my leg strength getting better, or both. I was able to solidly grab onto the rim from a standing jump. When I attempted to dunk, though, I got really good elevation but I was not able to palm the ball, something that I need to improve in order to complete my goal.

Reflection 5

This week was the fifth in my strength training journey.  I was only able to get to the gym three times, as I had a lot of school work to do.  However, this week was certainly a positive one.  My shoulder is feeling much better, so I was able to get back to regular workout routine.  Previously, I was unable to workout my chest or shoulders because of the injury, yet now I can.  I am confident that my path will be much smoother now, and hopefully there will not be any more of these roadblocks.   

Reflection (5th)

 In my research, I discovered various types of lines. Using (http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/drawing-geometric-perspective.html), I found the definitions, and learned concepts - horizon line, perspective lines, angular lines, and vanishing point. A horizon line is known as eye level when you are seeing straight ahead. Perspective lines are drawn at an angle from the objects’ edges, straight, and meet at the vanishing point. The vanishing point - a point on the horizon - is where the angular perspective lines continue going beyond this point, visually, eventually converging. The angular lines are the lines not parallel to or perpendicular to the horizon and therefore on angle.

The point on top is the vanishing point. It lies on the horizon and links all the lines going out of the edges of these cubes. The left image would put the viewer’s eyes upward following downward. On the right, the opposite.

Having geometric perspective makes a drawing appear lifelike. The images nearer the vanishing point are smaller; for instance the railing is gradually shrinking. The vanishing point is off of the paper. Paying attention to vanishing points creates a more accurate scene. Researching proved to be a success and with proceeding, I am going to work with the concept in my sketches.

Reflection 5

This week I decided to make rice with broccoli and copped carrots. The first thing you do is fill a saucepan with water and let it boil on medium low heat. Add in about 2 capfuls of water and some salt. When the water begins to boil, add in desired amount of rice into the pan then stir so that all the rice is  submerged into the water. Cover the pan so that the rice can cook and begin to cook your vegetables.  Before cooking the vegetables, make sure to properly wash them. (Cooking the carrot is optional, so i decided against cooking it). Peel the carrot then cook into big pieces. Trim off the tops where the stem is and cut the carrot into 2 to 4 big pieces. Peel the carrot then cut a slice starting from one end to the other to create a sort of flat "bottom". Then cut the length of the carrot into smaller, thinner slices. Stack all the slices on top of each other, and cut through to create these"matchsticks".  Put a medium sized pot filled with water on the stove over medium high heat and allow to boil. Then add about 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt to the water. Place broccoli into the water and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove the broccoli form that water and place into another pot filled cold water for 30 seconds . Drain the water completely, and serve with the rice.

Reflection 5

I think I'm going to bore people again, but really nothing has changed. Really, the only thing that I could say is that I am learning current-tense right now. Also, I called my grandparents and I spoke to them a little in Italian. Mostly basic phrases but, hey, it's something, right? I like the duolingo system because it makes you recall information from earlier lessons, which makes me retain words and phrases that I might have learned a while ago. In the upcoming weeks, I think I will try to do more lessons more consistently, because there are some nights that I only do 1 or 2 while other nights I might do 6 or 7.