Weekly Blog #2 : VOLUME AND VOICES. (8/14 - 8/17)

    Hey 'Ilima! This second week of school was just as short as the last one. . . yet so eventful don't you think?  I learned and did many things this week. Some of the main things that happened throughout this eventful week was learning a 5-step process to presenting, sharing my bio cubes with Leadership, observing TV and Music, doing Pre-Algebra, making many new friends and elections. Really, this week was something!

    This week, Mr. Ing taught us a 5-step process to presenting. It's literally so helpful! Afterwards we shared sides of our bio cubes. First time we shared in A101, then moved to the cafe and then the stage outside of the cafe. This was to help us understand that we need to speak loudly if we want to be heard. It also was for us to understand that regardless of how small the room is, we shouldn't lower our volume. Instead, we have to continue to speak loud and clear. I remember when we went outside to the stage, I was yelling! Yet no one heard me even after I tried yelling louder. This really made me understand fully that volume is essential. We needed to have good volume if we want our audience to hear us talk. Then on Thursday, I had to present in AVID. Having the 5-steps in my mind to guide me helped me a ton. I was able to present my slides without much of a problem! I also felt more confident in speaking in front of a crowd and I was able to communicate with others with ease. 

    Throughout the week, I also happened to watch TV being set up and Music. I have the gist of how Music is set up so a believe that I can do it. I might just need to work on remembering where some of the wires are plugged into. I might need to update my playlist for school! I found better songs and the songs on my playlist are kind of boring and meh. As for TV, I know that the A and B box switch each day, how slides and TV intros work and switching the HDMIs. Though I'm kind of confused with the mic. I understand that the sound check is important, but I'm confused on the boxes. Does it matter which box you use for the mic? I guess I'll ask Reese on Monday, or I'll try figure it out once I watch TV set up again. During this week Mr. Ing also talked about yearbook pictures. I chose to work for period 6 on Tuesday meaning I won't have to go to Mrs. Miya's class!! Even though I have to go a little bit before her class ends to grab stuff. . .but at least I won't cringe like crazy in there! 

    Moving along, I found out I was in Pre-Algebra! Somehow, I ended up in there . . . I'm literally so clueless! Anyway, we learned about rational numbers as decimals. We even had to turn the decimals into fractions. I thought it was easy until I did the homework. I really struggled doing the homework. Alex also did too! However, because I did the homework, I was able to gain a better understanding of the topic at hand. That really made me understand that homework might be a bore and all but if you think about it, homework is there to help you grasp and take mind of the subject more. I was also added into a group chat of majority of people in my Pre-Algebra class. This really helped me make more friends. 

    The last main thing that I want to talk about that occurred this week was that I made many friends and my bonds with my peers had grown and making my decision for who to vote for in the elections. I began talking more with everyone in leadership. Mostly Jewelyn, Mal, and everyone in my period. I really feel great talking to them, and they make my day so good. Through this entire week, I decided to talk to more people outside of A101 because not only did I make a goal before to make lots of friends but also because of elections. Some friends I made were Char, Johnlester, Mia, and Jenna. Jenna is really upbeat and chill. Char is very pretty and chill as well! Mia is also great. I honestly thought Johnlester was mean or something, but in truth we share common interests! I was so surprised. I honestly thought Johnlester was annoying. Middle school really does develop other friendships. Though I haven't been hanging out with my other friends, I've been calling them every day to keep our friendship alive longer. Focusing back to the topic at hand, making my decision in elections was so difficult! Especially for President. I had to choose between my five favorite people!!! I swore I had to rethink my choices so many times. When I finally voted, I felt so relieved. You might be wondering. . . who did I really decide I'd vote for? Well, that's a secret! As for who won for President and Secretary? Well, that's something I'll find out next week! Now let's move on to a highlight and a low light of this week. 

    Something that I would highlight this week is Elections for Office. Elections really pushed me to the edge of my seat for this entire week! Some people running for office were really going all out! Putting posters and papers with their names up, giving gum to people, screaming their names. . . Obviously because my "opponents" were trying their best, I decided to try my hardest as well. I made so many friends this entire week! I was even astonished by how many people I know now compared to Monday. I was able to get along with them all really well too! In addition, I made a video for people to check on Instagram! Which was really fun. When voting eventually made its way, I thought I was going to be filled of suspense, but I felt way better after making so many friends. 

    A lowlight that I would mention this week is that I kept getting things wrong in science. Science isn't really my strong suit. . . I'd much rather prefer ELA, Math, practically every other subject. I swear I got less than 10 answers correct on a pre assessment. It really annoyed me because the first five questions were ones, I already knew the answer too, yet I guess I doubted myself and changed my answer. That resulted in me getting two of the first five questions wrong. . . On the bright side, it was a pre assessment. Meaning it was just to see what you know! So, it wasn't really graded anyway. That really puts me at ease. Let's continue to the conclusion of this blog post! The lesson learned!

    This week really was eventful, and I learned lots of things. However, the main lesson that I learned is that Leadership is like your support team. They're the ones who might laugh at your ideas or mistakes but just know we're all here for each other. We're all here to support each other and work together. Leadership isn't something you do individually, but something that you do together as a team. I understand now that you shouldn't be ashamed of your mistakes and that you should just acknowledge that you have to learn from them. Everyone in leadership has guaranteed made a mistake before. But together they were able to learn from them. This week was really a blast. I can't wait for the results of the people running for office! I'm practically waiting eagerly for what next week has in store for us all. Thank you for reading my blog! Riselle's signing off!  

(a picture of me and Jewelyn on Thursday! We were talking about our blog and some other things!)

- Written by Riselle (030)/