Quarter 3 Narrative

Izzy Poulson

Progress towards Proficiency

Perseverance: How do I handle obstacles?

This quarter I didnt run into as many obstacles as before, I am starting three new projects and
like the first quarter last year, this quarter is about developing skill and gathering information. In
my social studies study I ran into an obstacle, I was planning on reading books from three points
in history and connecting them to the current events going on at that time and I started in the
WW2 era. The best selling book was The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck, it was a short book
about a small Norwegian town and an invading army looking for oil. The army forced the
citizens to help extract the oil, but unbenounced to them the small town was a democracy and the
soldiers in the invading force had no say in their own mini government. I could see the clashing
of the different types of government and the whole confusion about war thing but as I was
writing a summary of this book in my journal I stopped and wrote this is boring. It was true I
really had no interest in this subject and that was why it took me forever to read the book even
though it was about 150 pages, it was boring. So like any person with a brain I changed my study
I honestly didnt was to suffer through this era and 9/11, it is all too depressing. I skipped to the
present and the books I have to read look more promising. Another obstacle was that I wanted to
keep to the theme of syrian refugees so I was planning on making a connection to syrian refugees
through the theme of acceptance from all the books. I dont know why I didnt see the flaw in
that plan but as I started reading The Girl On The Train it hit me that I cant make a connection
appear out of thin air, it wouldnt be genuine. It would be harder to write a paper on a faulty
connection than to just let go of the syrian refugee idea and just read the books and see what
comes along. Yet another obstacle was that because I was doing a lot of things I didnt like I was
ignoring the things that interested me like science for about two weeks, I was not doing a lot of
work with it because I was putting the boring things first. For some reason I found the boring
things more important than the things I actually find fun, I guess because fun things arent
deemed as important as boring things is the world. Recognizing the problem is half the job done
right. I think for perseverance I deserve a 3.

Inquiry: How do I generate ideas and questions to pursue?

I dont have a complex plan or routine for generating ideas, they just come to me, like with my
paintings I honestly dont know where they come from they just are constantly in my mind.
Inspiration comes in many forms, and to add onto that I am naturally curious person, you can ask
my dad and he will tell you that he sometimes gets tired of all my questions. This doesnt have to
do with my studies this year but I am already thinking of a few things I could do next year
including, tattooing, learning russian, studying the math that goes with astrophysics, continuing
painting, learning how to play the clarinet and piano, possibly studying love in different cultures,
working with the chronicle and writing poetry and short stories. For inquiry I think I deserve a 3.

Time Management: How do I plan ahead and budget my time?

For time management I have kept a journal where I put my daily checklists of things to do I
make them long so I always have something I can do. In this journal I also keep appointments,
and notes from projects.Below are pictures of my journal and the daly lists, even with these I feel
like I am slacking off a bit. I havent used my blog as much this quarter, and I felt that the blog
held me accountable for things so for next quarter I am vowing to myself to use my blog more
often. The I need to do everything right this second feeling has worn off a little bit but it still
comes around every so often. For time management I think I deserve a 2 because I procrastinate
a lot.
 (all of these pictures are on my blog
http://izzyspilot.blogspot.com/)

Accountability: How do I follow through with appointments, errands, tasks, etc.?

When it comes to accountability I think I am doing alright, I always make it too my weekly
meetings with my advisor Amy, and whenever I have a meeting with a subject advisor I either
schedule in person or send them an email. Meetings with my mentor Meg is a little different
scheduling a meeting with her is always interesting and always depends on if I need help or if I
am painting and this quarter I really havent been painting that much. My meetings with Kristin
for some reason fall on all the days that something else is happening on either a snow day or
vacation. In my last exhibition I got advice from a few people to look at other artists and I did
that was what this quarter was mainly about for art, researching and tweaking my paintings.
There was this one time where Kim the outreach person wanted to connect me with a lady who
worked in Turkey by the Syrian border, we got acquainted over email and tried to schedule a
time to talk on the phone. I scheduled for sunday around two but I forgot I had planned to go to
Laures service so I had to reschedule, we cleared the air and she said after 8 except for
Tuesdays. At this time my schedule was really tight because I was doing this elearning for my
scuba diving licence so I never got around to contacting her. For accountability I think I deserve
a 2.

Demonstration: How can I show my learning?

For my more academic studies like science and social studies I write reflections, take notes or I
take pictures of the whiteboard when I am trying to work through something. For my less
academic studies like art and PE I take pictures of notes on artists techniques like use of light and
color, or I take pictures of myself after a workout, I also have a small card saying that I am
officially certified as an open water scuba diver. I can improve upon this by making more
reflections because I forget to do them there is no way of telling if I read something or did
something. I think regular reflections would be a nice thing to do once a week about each of my
studies. For demonstration I would give myself a 2.5.
 Self Advocacy: How do I seek out help when I need it?
When I need help I will ask my advisors, mentors and subject area advisors for help in person, I
find that sometimes with email it is harder to communicate clearly with, like with my mentor
Meg we always have trouble finding times that are free, and while working with art it is hard to
communicate what you want through some text. The help that I have needed this semester has
not been extremely urgent, I dont have many emails where I am asking for help I usually just
wait for my weekly meetings. I think I deserve a 3 for self advocacy.
Project summary:

Artistic Expression: earning .5 credit

Standard 1, 2 and 3: Developing Craft, Performing, Presenting and Producing,
Connecting
Project:
This quarter for art I have been looking at other artists to improve my skill and understanding of
concepts like light, space, skin tones, and proportions. The paintings I have been working on are
for a gallery I am holding next year as a fundraiser for syrian refugees but I havent been
working on many paintings this quarter. I have been tweaking and retouching the paintings that I
already have done and I have been sketching my friend a tattoo of an owl and a rose. Also
starting recently I have been mentoring a middle schooler named Nora and getting her familiar
with concepts like vanishing points and the importance of color in certain situations. I am also
reading a book on creativity.

Literacy: earning .5 credit

Standard 1 and 4: Reading, Expository Research Writing
Project:
This quarter I am reading best seller books and finding connections to events and things going
on currently. I was going to start in WW2 but then I realized I didnt want to so I switched to
today, and I am reading The Girl On the Train which I have already finished, Me Before You,
The Whistler, and The Shack.
 Scientific Inquiry and Content Knowledge: earning .5 credit
Standard 2 and 6 : Matter and Energy, Design, Conduct, and Analyze Scientific
Investigations
Project:
I am collecting information about time warpage and black holes to write an article, I will not
write it until I can wrap my head around it. I am learning about gravitation, cycles of stars and a
little bit of quantum mechanics.

Global Citizenship: earning .5 credit

Standard 4: History
Project:
I am Reading books, best sellers of this year and last year and finding connections to major
events/how people are feeling about those events. I think I am going to just get a Humanities
credit instead of 1 english and one social studies.

PE: earning .5 elective credit

Project:
For this study I am working out, boxing, biking, standard exercises. I got my scuba diving
licence that took a very long time to study for. I am also reading a book on mindfulness.

Progresses of my studies:

Art:
1. Looked at the following artists:
a. Maxfield Parrish
b. Benjamin West
c. Albrecht Durer
d. Carrovagio
e. John Singleton Copley
f. Kehinde Wiley
g. Michelangelo
2. Paintings I looked at (honestly too many to count but here are the ones I like):
a. Mary Mary Maxfield P
b. Crucifixion of St. Peter
c. The four Apostles
d. Calling of St. Matthew
3. Mentoring a middle schooler named Nora she is really sweet, I am talking to her
about the importance of color, light, vanishing points, etc. We meet every thursday.
4. Designing my friends tattoo
5. Tweaking paintings, almost finished with all of them.
6. Looked at a lot of mexican murals, lots of emphasis on movement
 7. Designed 14 paintings
English:
1. Read The girl on the Train
2. Read three chapters of really dense material from Black holes and time warps
3. Reading the black hole war
4. Read part of A Brief History of time
5. Read the moon is down by John Steinbeck
Science:
1. Read three chapters of really dense material from Black holes and time warps
2. Reading the black hole war
3. Read part of A Brief History of time
Social studies:
1. Read The girl on the Train
2. Read the moon is down by John Steinbeck
3. Changed my study because I realized I was really bored
PE
1. I completed 6 online lessons to prepare for my scuba diving course
2. I went on four open water dives
3. I went on three pool dives to go over ascending, descending, emergency
procedures, retrieving oxygen from scuba diving buddy, gearing up in the water, and
communication
4. Workout four times a week since I have started this study.

Challenges
Art:
1. Skin tones
2. Light

English:
1. Finding time to read
2. Making connections to events and feelings
Social Studies:
1. Ending the WW2 study
2. Finding time to read
Science:
1. Understanding time warpage
2. Understanding how black holes form and the quantum mechanics that have to do
with it
3. Infinite redshift and not infinite gravitational shift like what
4. Finding credible sources

What I have learned:

Art:
1. People are usually shaded with warm colors (red, yellow, orange, yellow green)
because our skin is transparent and you can see flesh through it.
2. Movement is important if you want to get a point across
3. Disproportion is ok sometimes
4. It is hard to paint realistically because even real things dont look real sometimes
5. How to paint transparent liquids
6. How to paint metal
7. Doesnt always have to be a smooth transition between colors
English/social studies:
1. Plot of Girl on the train
2. Reading is time consuming
3. Connections to media in the girl on the train
4. I dont want to learn about WW2 on my own time
5. The moons is down had obvious connections to the times, conflict of different
types of government, resistance to invading force, cliffhanger ending correlated with the
clouded vision of the war ahead.
6. The world is heavily influenced by media.
Science:
1. A thought experiment to prove that spacetime is curved
2. History of discovery and rejection of black holes
3. How white dwarfs can turn into a black hole
4. Reference frames
5. Why a black hole is dark
6. The whole your space is a mixture of my space and my time and the other way
around
PE:
1. I really like boxing
2. Emergency procedure for scuba diving
3. How to scuba dive

Time with mentors

I havent spent a lot of time with my mentor, Meg but the time I have spent with her I
really appreciate her brutal honesty. The time spent with my Dad has been great, but I think I
could talk to someone else for information just because he is my dad.

Evolution/ where I stand with my studies

Art:
This quarter has been in a way a repeat of last semester where I got the skills then I started
painting. This quarter besides doing research, where I stand with my work has changed, in the
way that I want to portray something besides pain. Ever since I saw my Mom in January I have
been thinking about love and not in the super cheesy and only romantic way but the way a
mother loves a child, and the way friends love friends, just a completely platonic connection to
another person or concept. I started experiencing this over emotional connection but I could not
tell where it was coming from or what it was directed towards and when I was in the Dominican
Republic I found out what it was towards. I was on the beach at the resort we were staying at, I
don't remember the time all I remember was that the sky was pink and orange, it was a little
windy and waves were crashing on the sand. I was making a face in the sand which was very
therapeutic because I had to run my hand across the face to get it smooth and I had to remake the
features many times to get them right. When I was finished creating this being in the sand I
looked down and felt that all the time and energy I put into that face was staring back at me, I
could feel its presence and I realized that I loved what I had created and that I love all things that
I create. I wanted to portray that feeling of care and deep emotional connection that humans can
have through my work.

Social studies/ English:

I started this quarter off with the idea that I would read bestselling books from three different
points in time and compare them to the mood of the nation, or what was affecting people in the
U.S. Seemed like a solid plan but once I started on the WW2 section it crashed and burned. I was
reading The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck because it was the best seller in 1942, simple
book only about 150 pages but it took me three weeks to read because I was so bored with it. As
I was writing a summary of it after the fact I realized I really didnt want to do this and if I
continued doing it I would just not do anymore work, so I changed my study. I am now just
focusing on the best selling books of this year and last year, The Girl On The Train, Me Before
You, The Whistler, and The Shack.

Science:
At the beginning of this quarter I was really unsure of what I would be writing an article about so
I did research on what I originally wanted to work on and that it black holes. I did a lot of
research in the Black Holes and Time Warps book, the book is very dense just about every
sentence is important so it has taken me awhile to get through about three chapters. the second
chapter talks about the warping of space and time, the third was the process of discovering the
black hole, and the fourth was about white dwarfs and the quantum mechanics that keeps them
alive, and how they could become black holes. I use the whiteboard to clear up my understanding
of the concepts, and I have had lessons with my dad talking about gravity and space warping and
how gravity is spacetime warping. I figured out that I want to write about time warpage and
black hole?

PE:
I didnt figure out that I wanted to do another PE study until halfway through this quarter, at first
I wanted to go to a dance class but I backed out because I am shy, and I like punching the crap
out of a bag better.

A New Mindset

So far this quarter I have realized that when I force myself to do work that I find boring the only
thing that does for me is bring me down and drain out all my motivation and creativity. Another
thing that I have noticed is that a lot of the projects I have done have been suggested to me and I
know that was partially due to the face that I was new to pilot but I want to get away from that
and be creative for myself.

Bibliography:

Thorne, Kip S., and S. W. Hawking. Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's
Outrageous Legacy. London: Papermac, 1995. Print.

Susskind, Leonard. Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the
World Safe for Quantum Mechanics. New York, NY: Back Bay, 2009. Print.

Nave, R. "HyperPhysics." HyperPhysics. University of Georgia, n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

HAWKINS, PAULA. GIRL ON THE TRAIN. S.l.: RIVERHEAD, 2017. Print.

Steinbeck, John. The Moon Is down. London: Penguin, 2014. Print.

"The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 2016." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation,
03 Mar. 2017. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

Grebe, Anje, and Ross King. The Vatican: All the Paintings. New York: Black Dog &
Leventhal, 2013. Print.

Cutler, Laurence S., Maxfield Parrish, and Judy Goffman. Cutler. Maxfield Parrish: A
Retrospective. San Francisco: Pomegranate Art, 1995. Print.
Ludwig, Coy L., and Maxfield Parrish. Maxfield Parrish. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub., 1993.
Print.

Froud, Brian, and Wendy Froud. Brian Froud's Faeries' Tales. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Michaelangelo. "Michelangelo: The Complete Sculpture, Painting, Architecture." Barnes

& Noble. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.
Sullivan, Edward J. Latin American Art in the Twentieth Century. London: Phaidon, 2011. Print.

Barnitz, Jacqueline. Twentieth-century Art of Latin America. Austin: U of Texas, 2006. Print.

Burke, Marcus B. Mexican Art Masterpieces. S.l.: Levin, 1998. Print.

Bondil, Nathalie. Cuba Art and History from 1868 to Today. Montreal: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts,
2009. Print.

Gilbert, Elizabeth. Big Magic. N.p.: Penguin USA, 2016. Print.

Black, Anna. The Little Pocket Book of Mindfulness: Don't Dwell on the past or Worry about the
Future: Simply Be in the Present with Mindfulness Meditations. London: CICO, 2015. Print.