Week 16

This week was the end of the semester for COM classes. I turned in my Nature vs. Nurture paper to my psychology teacher, along with other missing assignments. At body conditioning I turned in a 3 page questionaire about muscles, bones, nutrition, health, and my goals. I am glad this semester's over. I learned a lot in my conditioning class, but I was not fond of the psychology class. Pathways is a good program because it helps you with college and begininng to see what you would like to study, getting an early start instead of staying at San Andreas all the time.My plans for next semester are two dance classes, hip hop and modern, as well as an american sign language class. I'm excited for the semester to start.

Week 15 12/7/12

This week in my body conditioning for dance technique class, I learned about "fuzz" in your body. Like, when you don't stretch after you work out, over time "fuzz" comes to your nerves and ligaments. You need to melt it away by stretching it out or else its going to hurt longer. Muscle fascia is a fibrous connective tissue that is present throughout the entire body and not just the muscles. The main types of fascia are the superficial ones, which are located on the skin; deep fascia which is associated with muscles, bones, nerves, and blood vesels.; and visceral which is inside the internal organs.For example, muscle fascia holds the muscles together to keep it in the correct place. It also seperates the muscles so they can work independently of each other. It provides a lubricated surface so that the muscles can move smoothly against each other. I had my Nutcracker performance this past weekend, and it went well. The class came to see it on the first night, there were a few hiccups but the next shows were good.We are performing Swan Lake in the spring time. For psychology, we have a final paper due on nature vs. nurture. I look forward to psychology ending because the teacher was a ditz.

Week 13 11/16/12

This week in psychology, we reviewed chapter 10 out of the text book, and went over the definitions. A paper due on a clinical psychologist that has made an impact in the psychology world is due on Wednesday next week. I'm doing my paper on Skinner. I havn't got started on my paper, but I'm going to work on it today. I selected him as my topic because theres a lot of information about the work he's done, and his life.

 In my body conditioning for dance technique, we did ab work. Over time, the excersizes that my teacher has given us are getting easier because I'm building the strength. After, I worked a lot on my extension by using the barr to balance myself, and taking my hand to my foot and bringing it up by my head, stretching out my hamstrings front and back and then moved onto my splits. Then, I rehearsed the Waltz of the Flowers and my teacher gave me corrections that I'm going to work on for The Nutcracker performance in two weeks.

Week 12 11/9/12

I went to my psychology class on Monday and turned in the chapter 10, then we went over the material in class on Wednesday. On Tuesday I went to my body conditioning for dance technique class and we started doing ab lifts. We then went on rollers and used weights going through fifth and second arm positions while holding in our stomach. After the set exersizes from the teacher, we did our own thing. I did releves and eleves and practiced my splits.
 I went to the Cedars of Marin and they told me the supervisor, Crystal, doesn,t work anymore. I am starting my first day on thursday. I met my new supervisor Jennifer. She told me that Gerald, the dancer who I'm going to be working with wasn't there so, we are starting on Thursday when he is there.

Week 10 10/26/12

In my psychology class, we are still watching the movie Pleasantville this week. We turned in the questions assigned to us about authoritarianism, ingroups, and outgroups.Authoritarianism is when people obey the person in athority while disregaurding those who are less in control. Ingroups are the groups of people who are secluded, like clubs you have to pay to get into. They have more power and more control. Outgroups are the people on the outside of the ingroup. We have chapter 9 assigned to us for next week.

In body conditioning for dance technique, we used weights while balancing on a body roller.We did ab work and leg lifts. After the class, I practiced en pointe doing releves and eleves. I learned how to properly grand batma. A releve is when you plie while going on full pointe, an eleve is a straight legged lift. A grand batma is when you put all your weight on your standing leg, and you lift the other leg as high as you can.

week 9 10/19/12

This week in psychology, we watched a movie called Pleasantville. It stars Toby Mcguire and Reese Witherspoon as a brother and sister in present day, fighting over the TV and they break the remote. A mysterious man gives them a new remote, and while using it they get stuck inside the TV show Pleasantville.Everything is black and white, and based in the 50's. The two change the town's dynamics and how the townsfolk see the world. Slowly, things start to turn color as the people of Pleasantville experience new desires and outlooks on life. Meanwhile, the people still in black and white are furious their town is changing. The story has key themes of authoritarianism, in groups and out groups, and racism. We had to document the different examples of these terms throughout the movie. We read chapter 9 about authoritarianism, in groups and out groups, and racism. The terms for the chapter are due on Monday when we get our mid-term back.

Week 8 10/12/12

This week, we turned in our mid-term essay on the study of personality psychology. I am convinced that I did very well. The Dean came in on our Monday class and had us fill out forms on how well our teacher was doing. On Wednesday we watched a movie about the brain and how phantom pains come to people who have lost limbs. In my body conditioning class we did excersizes focusing on abs, thighs, arms, and barre work for our feet. I practised my dancing for the Waltz of the Flowers.

Week 7 10/5/12

This week in my psychology class, we turned in our essays on the different personality traits of the candidates for presidency. We presented our dream boards and reviewed the chapter we had just read. Our next paper is due on Wednesday about personality psychologists. I wanted to interview Cory but he was not in today.
 In my body conditioning for dance technique, my teacher gave me a DVD on the secret of Russain technique which I'm going to watch over the weekend. We did exercises on the floor, then with weights, and on the barre. After that we did our own personal exercises and stretches.

Week 6 9/28/12

          In my body conditioning class, I showed everyone my floor barre technique and my teacher loved it. I practiced my dance for the primrose part in Nutcracker and Ms. Kristi helped me with my technique. My teacher continues to help me out because she was a former ballet dancer. There aren't many ballet students in this class so, she is happy to help me out.
          This week in my psychology class, we had to present our vision boards. I didn't get to present because there were so many people.I will present mine on Monday. Because I hope to travel in the future, I put New York and London on my board with clocks representing different time zones of the world. I put dancing pointe shoes on it because I would love to dance wherever I go. On my board I put a driver's license because I hope to drive soon. I'm tired of taking the bus.
          I have an essay to write and I'm not sure what the topic is. I was in my psych class Wednesday but not Monday because I was sick. My teacher was talking about a political paper with traits of presidents saying she explained it on Monday. I raised my hand and said "I wasn't here on Monday so can you explain the paper?" She said, "Well, if you listen and take notes you will know." I heard someone say something like "this is college." and this guy looked at me weird. She didn't ever explain the assignment. I'm going to email my teacher in hopes of getting the information I need to do the essay.

week 5 9/21/12

This week, I'm working on my dream board for my psychology class. It's where we see ourselves in 5 years. Our first formal paper on the personality study of psychologists is due on the 10th of October and I'm going to interview Cory. We have been reading out of the textbook and during the class we go over it, so it is not too exciting. In my body conditioning class we did this workout tape by Mary Helen Bowers called Ballet Beautiful. She trained with New York City Ballet and trained Natalie Portman for her role in Black Swan. It was really rigorous and hard but the outcome of a job well done was the reward.

     Last Friday I went to the Cedars of Marin. It is a program for mentally disabled adults. They do all kinds of activites like art and writing. It has a really happy vibe about it because everyone there is so kind and joyful that their love and happiness spreads to you. I'm excited to teach them dance and movement, but I am not sure when my first day is. I should be hearing from the coordinator about a start date soon.

week 4 9/14/12

This week in my psych class, we reviewed the definitions for chapter 4 and got assigned to read chapter 5. Our first essay is due for our mid-term, It's a paper on what personality psychologists do. I'm going to interview Cory for the paper because that is his profession. We also got assigned to do a dream board. My vision is having New York Times Square as the main layout, with a ballerina dancing on pointe right in the middle. On the left is a view of the world because I want to travel, and on the right down the road is England, where I want to continue my dance career.

        In my body conditioning class Kristi, my teacher, is teaching me how to properly land a phirouette. For the Nutcracker, we got our roles. My role is a magical maiden, in the beginning of act II. A big mouse for the battle scene which is the biggest scene in the show, and a primrose for Waltz of the Flowers. I'm really excited because I get to wear a real red tutu and perform en pointe.

Week 3 9/7/12

This week in Psychology I watched a documentary on the brain. I learned the hard intensive life of a potential Navy Seal. They are faced with tons of psychologically difficult tests, such as how they act in the face of fear, and how they can get themselves out of the most difficult test. one example is being underwater for 20 minutes with only 10 minutes of oxygen. Then the instructor tested them by tangling the oxygen tubes. We also learned about psychopaths with an antisocial personality. Despite the name, these people are social, but have no empathy. They like to cheat people out of anything and have no remorse. One out of 100 people have been diagnosed with this disorder. A type of psychopath is a serial killer and less than 1% of the population. When questioned if they felt remorse, they said no. 300 inmates got tested to see how they deal with failure; most of them had test results where there was no activity in the emotionail part of the brain when they failed. Studies show that the part in our brain that controls our empathy and emotion is normal size for anyone else, but for psychopaths theirs is 17% smaller then normal people, so they are less sympathetic in nature.

Week 2 8/31/12

   This week in the Pathways program, I learned new information in psychology. We completed work in the textbook and reviewed it. The whole class had a discussion about the different ways to learn about personality with the BLIS tactic. S data is self evaluation, so the questioner asks the induvidual how they see the world and what they believe in. I data are judgements by knowledgeable informants about general attributes to the induvidual's personality. L data is life outcomes, such information as what groceries they have bought, their employer,  income, and zip code. B data is behavior, as in watching what the person does in life situations.
        In my body conditoning class, I learned more thera band stretches and different ways I can exersize my toes. We sickle in and out, we spell our name, we lean in and out of the pointe and flex. I learned with two bouncy balls on my butt that I can turn out and lift my legs above the ground and roll around and it's a really good stretch for turnout.
      I have an interview for Cedars today for my dance class that I might be teaching there as an internship .
       At San Andreas we watched a movie on civil rights and had to answer questions about it. I have been working on geometry in the program plato with Christof.

Week 1 8/24/12

This week was the first week of officially being in the Pathways program at San Andreas High School. On Wednesday, I went to my first COM psychology class and already have a lot of homework. The class seems alright. The teacher is not as bad as my first psychology teacher at Drake. We are studying the different forms of psychological methods and how they all fit together. How not only one is correct, such as psychological masterminds Freud and Skinner; who believe their forms are the only right way.

      My other class is body conditioning for dance technique. The teacher is great. We do excersises and condition our body on a ballet based curriculum. We use thera bands and yoga balls to better yet use our bodies to stretch and strengthen. The class teaches us how to properly stretch, excersize, condition, and eat nutritionally.