Comments on "Disrupting My Comfort Zone" + BIG REFLECTION?

  Brian Grazer, huh? Well, I think that he's a pretty great person for challenging himself and continuing to challenge himself. I think he's overcome some great feats and he definitely speaks some words of wisdom.

 "If you're not growing, you're dying."

   I think his enthusiasm towards "disrupting [his] comfort zone" is really great. It would be pretty awesome to adopt that outlook of his, but things are easier said than done. I do think that I have disrupted my comfort zone, but definitely not a lot. However, I think that not a lot of disruption is acceptable for me. I don't think my project asks that I get out of my comfort zone a lot. Actually, I think it helps me if I stay in my comfort zone. Perhaps in another situation, but the "comfort zone disruption" isn't something I'm aiming towards in this project.... or is that just what I think?

-------------------------------------------------------------

On the board it prompts:

What are...

...3 ways I've stepped out of my comfort zone?

I feel like my decision on actually taking lessons is definitely an example of my stepping out of my comfort zone. This would be... the third piano teacher I've had, and I've had other music instructors for other instruments in the past as well. I don't know why, but I absolutely detest having piano lessons. Somehow or another, I always feel like I would disappoint the teacher and it would make me feel extremely uncomfortable before my lessons. Another way that' I've stepped out of my comfort zone could perhaps include when I played for some friends at school when they came by to visit me in one of the practice rooms.  I was super self-conscious because the friends for which I was playing were all really good at piano. This actually reminds me, I should journal more of my practicing experiences because it shows more "doing". I guess a third way I've stepped out of my comfort zone would be when I asked my middle sister to watch me play piano and point of if I was doing anything wrong because that's what Mrs. Miller had suggested I do before ended lessons. She said that this would help me make sure that I was playing correctly. I was reluctant to do so because it's kinda odd to have a little girl tell you you're doing things wrong... but it's for the best :)

...4 ways my project has changed thus far?

Honestly, I don't think my project has changed a lot. Or perhaps I just haven't noticed it yet? Though, everything's taking a really long time and I've already forgotten the deadlines I've set for myself at the beginning of this period. This reminds me, I should go and read my first entries.  What's with the music and emotions thing? The idea seems really odd to me now... xD 

...3 things I wish I'd done differently in working on my project so far?

I definitely think I should have come with a better plan on the research portion. I have NO research plan. All I do is randomly find things and stick them into a bookmark folder on my browser and that's it. Hm... I also think I should've considered how I would be managing with a teacher and/or working independently a lot earlier. Everything seems messy because I had no idea where to go. Another thing I wish I'd done differently was find a more interesting specific topic to research, a more interesting micro-research focus.

...5 things I've learned about my field of interest, myself, and working with others?

My field of interest? Why, there's a lot of people devoted to it and my sisters really love it. I like piano, but I definitely don't have the same passion as some other students that my teacher has. Myself? I'm a very indecisive person and I let a lot of different things affect me... I guess that means I'm sensitive? Or something... IDK. (There I go again with the 'I don't know' 's). Working with others? Sometimes what others have in mind for me is not exactly the same as my own ideas, even though we may not be having trouble working together. 

Tuesday's In Class

   Ms. Lord was not at school today and Mrs. Gergely came in as a substitute. Mrs. Gergely told us about the funding opportunities that were specifically designed for WISE and also gave us these sheets for making WISE funding proposals. She told us that currently there's about $700 in the WISE fund and that this amount (plus more if we fund raise it) needs to be divided among about fifty WISE students. Some students will need a large chunk of funding while others may not need any funding at all. I'm one of those I think, or at least I feel as if I can cover the costs myself. Anyways, we were and will be brainstorming more ideas of interesting and innovative ways to fund raise.
  Oh and presentations of WISE projects continued after that!

In Class Journal Part 2

Directions: Read the two documents and journal on how they relate to each other as well as to your project.

I read the article on practicing first, and almost instantly I felt as if it were speaking to me. I felt as if the intended audience was supposed to be me since the article uses a musical instrument (guitar) as it's main example. I think I've always avoided thinking about this, but deep down inside I definitely knew he difference between "practicing" and "playing", this article just stated it in plain words for me.
It's really important to practice the things you're not good at to get better, which is what I think this article is trying to tell me. However, the other article seems to be saying that it should be the avocation and vocation that results in your well-roundedness(?)

Overall, both are trying to set WISE students on the right path and to work and practice diligently in order to have the skill that will last a lifetime.

In Class Journal Part 1

   Today in class we shared our projects. Natanya baked chocolate chip cookies for the entire class to show her baking process (they were so yummy!) and Jimmy showed us a bunch of his mixed martial arts. He seems super enthusiastic about his project, which is a very good sign. I liked how he talked about the Brazillian jutsu and such, and although I don't know anything about martial arts, he seems like he's doing pretty well.
   Carrie presented a poem in class. And WOW was I stunned. I loved her emotion and strength, and I sorta wanted to yell "Encore!" except that might've been a bit too awkward. Haha. Slam poetry is her project focus, and what she's doing is presenting poems within 3 minutes. These poems are graded on a scale of 1 to 10.
   Mary showed us her clowning! It was so much fun to watch her juggle and make balloon animals and talk about her adventures at the Camp Good Days Carnival. I love hearing how much people are enjoying their projects because it makes me treasure even more this class and how lucky we are to have this time to do something we enjoy.
  After that, Jordan, Dylan, and Tara all presented. I didn't take any notes here because I had been a little too captivated by Mary's balloon animals slash I got to the bottom of my paper and decided I was done xD BUT Jordan told us all about his success in finally finding a publishing firm for his Star Wars study guide and Dylan showed us his super blue laser. Tara showed the class her oversized sketching journal which she uses to plan out the fashions to be created. It's actually really cool and I found it very interesting how she's actually making clothes and having models.

Class Meeting #2

   Right now I'm in class typing this up on my iPhone 4 (OMG YAY I FINALLY GOT IT). Labeling your blog needs to be in a more organized manner. It's important to make sure that there is a well-rounded balance of research and balance. An important aspect of journaling is to express the details of your "doing". Just saying what was done is extremely boring and will be really hard to come back to. It's easy to remember the exact event, for example, if you read a book or you ran a mile, but how you felt during that reading or running will be difficult to reconstruct a month or two from now. That's the point of journaling, to mark down the details and feelings that won't be remembered.

Wait A Minute... What?

   In response to my previous entry on mentor meeting plans, I've found some answers while some other questions were left blank. With the continuing lessons thing, I've decided to stick with taking lessons for another month and seeing how it goes. Everything else could pretty much be answered with "it really depends on you" (me).

   After my fourth piano class, it was recognized that I still honestly don't know how to read sheet music because I have a lot of trouble recognizing the notes on the staff and knowing what they are. So for this week, that's going to be my focus.

    Another thing is the pedal. I have no idea how to use it, and while Mrs. Miller and I were exploring the pedal on Monday, it was found that I really need practice with it. Since I only have an electric piano at home, I plan to use the school pianos especially for this type of practice. The song "Black Swan" is absolutely perfect on which to practice the pedaling.

In-Class Journal Entry #1

   In class on Tuesday, we watched a video of a past WISE project. Since I was not present in class, I had to borrow the disk to bring home to watch and journal on the video.

--------------

• Austin - building a barn
• "a barn is a lot more than just a structure"
• "everything takes longer than I expected"
• lots of challenges
• picking wood
• trying to get a tractor to start
• WISE in an independent experience, but it's also more than that, because it allows students to spend time reflecting on who they are becoming as a result of the experience.

   Personally, thus far, I have found part of "everything takes longer than ... expected" to be exceedingly true. Although I'm not building a barn, the process of learning how to play piano and learning to read sheet music isn't easy. Somehow, I just can't see where I would end up at the end of the year. I can't really tell if I'll be able to fully read sheet music or I'll still be struggling. It's sorta like I can't plan out anything, because I don't even know how I am doing myself. If I look back to the first day when I started, I can't really put a label on how far I've progressed because I honestly don't know. I  feel like I haven't done much, and that makes me really scared. Am I going somewhere? Am I going at the right pace?

Absence

   Due to personal illness, I was not at school today, so I missed the class get together we had during 7th period. I'll update back here later afterwards (:


   On Friday, I dropped by Ms. Lord's classroom and picked up the folder containing the WISE project of a previous IHS student that is relevant to my current project. The past project was on learning to play the guitar, and although the topic isn't exactly the same as mine, it should be a good reference/model.

"So as you read..."

"...try to read ahead - see the entire measure (or phrase) at a glance - not one note at a time."

   Second lesson today! I was a bit unprepared for it because the first part of the day was kind of rough for me as I had two tests in my two most challenging classes (ap physics c and calculus bc). But anyways, I sight-read some of the pieces I had practiced during the past week for Mrs. Miller, and somehow, all of them turned out horrible, or at least it seemed to have from my perspective... I mean maybe I was just nervous, or maybe that's just how it's supposed to turn out, but I was HORRIBLE. It seemed as if I had never played the pieces before and I was struggling so much to get each of the notes right. I had to keep restarting and I forgot the rhythm and when to play piano or when to play forte. It was actually quite embarrassing, I felt like a turtle on its back. I'm pretty sure Mrs. Miller was disappointed, but... I don't know...
   I got a lot of new suggestions/tips though, like if I'm making mistakes, I'm going too fast, or if I'm having trouble with playing with my hands together, try just the left hand part first.
   A key thing I was told was that I speed up WAY TOO MUCH, and that makes it difficult because I'll get the notes wrong just from being hasty.
   Anyways, this time, instead of just half a page of comments for the day that she recorded in my progress book, I got a whole page. That's probably bad... more work this week I guess, but I definitely need it.