Passion Project Semester 2 Update

 If I were to grade the progress so far that Surya and I have made in this project, I would give it a solid B+.  We have spent very long amounts of time trying to grasp the concept of how to make short movie.  What  better way to do this then watch short movies.  So, we have been watching movies and I have been taking some notes on the way its done.  However, we haven't made much project on script, but we have identified our actors, and character personalities.  Some obstacles that we face are having possible writer's block, and filming the movie outside of school.  This is going to take some coordination between Surya and I and our actors.  We also have to pick some of our remaining actors.  What we plan to do is meet with all of our actors after school and give them a basic timeline of what needs to be done and when it has to be done so there is no confusion.  The position we are in though does not worry me, as I believe we are going to create a well made movie.

Passion Project Reflection

        At the beginning of the Passion Project I struggled to get a lot of footage because I was a playing during the season and was not able to record much.  However, as the season progressed my friends were able to help and I was able to record some game footage.  However, as I progressed in this project I decided to change the project to My Soccer Experience so that I can get more footage.  As a result, I can record much of what I am doing outside of school as well to get more footage.   So, my progress has been I have got about 15 min. of footage and need another 5-10 min.  The only obstacles I see ahead are video editing but that will probably not be that difficult because I have worked with this software before.

Lionel Messi A True Outlier

       

Outlier:  A person or thing situated or detached from the main body or system.  The entire body of soccer players can be considered a main body or system.  Every system has their outliers; soccer's main outlier is Lionel Messi.  He is an exceptional player in the world of soccer, and is regarded as the best soccer player in the world.  However, Messi has a very unique background which is why he has become the best soccer player. Messi started as a kid on the streets and and arose to become the prominent figure he is                                                                                         today.

        Messi was born in Rosario, Argentina and from the start he displayed a liking and aptitude for soccer.  He played for a club called Grandoli, which was coached by his father.  He was a very good soccer player at his age showing great promise.  Unfortunately, at age 11, he was diagnosed a growth deficiency.  Many soccer clubs, such as River Plate knew he had exceptional talent and wanted to sign him.  However, these clubs did not want to play for his medical treatment.  Then, Barcelona gave Messi a trial to play for them.  The coaches were very impressed and were willing to pay for his treatment.  Messi was blessed with the opportunity to train with one of the best clubs in the world and receive treatment free of cost.  So for 8 years, Messi received training from the top youth academy training for 8 hours a day 5 days a week.

        Messi eventually received his big break at age 17 breaking into the first team.  At this point, he had had about 16,640 hours of soccer practice.  According to Malcolm Gladwell, 10,000 was a very important number because if you hit 10,000 hours in whatever you were doing you would have achieved a very high level of skill in that activity.  Messi almost doubled that and he was only 17.  That was his second stepping stone to success.  It began with him being given the opportunity to train with Barcelona and receiving a contract.  When it seemed like no club would take him because of his medical illness Barcelona comes in and gives him his one opportunity and seized it.  Then, he got pulled to the first team and after that the sky was the limit.  He played scored goals and won championships with his club.  He then got pulled up to the international team and has found great success there as well as setting records both club and internationally. One of his most prominent records was breaking the record of most goals scored in one calender year in all competitions.  He broke the record by scoring 91 goals breaking the previous record of 85 goals set by German Gerd Muller.

       The main reason I see him as an outlier is his work ethic and his intelligence.  His work ethic was very easily depicted when he stated,

             "I made a lot of sacrifices by leaving Argentina, leaving my family to start a new life. But               everything I did, I did for football, to achieve my dream. That's why I didn't go out                           partying, or do a lot of other things."

        Also, people do not realize that Messi is a very intelligent soccer player.  Using the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence it is evident Messi has a high intelligence in all 3 groups which are practical, analytical, and creative.  Soccer is game of geometry with angles everywhere. Messi is regarded the best player in the world because he knows these angles very well.  This makes his analytical intelligence very high.  Creative wise, whenever Messi gets the ball defenders shiver, he has attained such a mastery with a ball that he is so creative and can manipulate it in so many ways making it impossible for the defenders to tell what he is doing. Finally, Messi's practical intelligence is very high.  Whenever in public he knows exactly what to say so people will love him.  He is a very humble person, and that is why people adore him both as a player and a person, he knows what to say at the right time to achieve that affection. Overall, Messi is regarded an outlier due to his work ethic, and intelligence.  Lionel Messi has a story that unlike many others is a true success story.  He had one moment and did not let it slip away.

       


http://www.biographyonline.net/sport/football/lionel-messi.htmlhttp://bleacherreport.com/articles/237096-the-lionel-messi-story-how-did-he-get-to-the-top-of-the-world

LAST BLOG OF THE YEAR

The favorite part of ROGATE class this year was Google 20%.  My favorite unit in ROGATE was Google 20% because it really got me out of my comfort zone.  It helped me learned new ideas that I have never heard of before.  Also, not only was it fun to do Google 20%, it was fun to watch the other presentations because there was such a variety.  I think blogs can be used more effectively if we just blog every week about what were doing.  Then, at the end of the year we can create a summary for the whole year for a grade to see what we learned through the year.  Unfortunately, I will not be taking Gifted & Talented Seminar I.   What I will miss most about middle school is all my new friends and I hope that I will have the same people in my classes next year.  Some questions I have about high school are:  Is there actually bullying?  Also, are the teachers nice there?  My plans for the summer are to play soccer, watch soccer, and have fun.

Kickstarter

Kickstarter

Kickstarter is a form of crowdsourcing.  Kickstarter is where if people want to start an idea, but they need money.  They can borrow money from other people who will fund his/her project.  In return, depending on how much the person funded his idea the person will get a reward in return.

Romo: The Smartphone Robot
Pledge $192.  Reward: One limited edition Romo smartphone robot-- lasered engraved, numbered from 001-100 and will arrive in time for Christmas! Included in the package is our “I heart Robots” t-shirt and a thank you letter signed by the makers, Peter and Phu.  This is a robot which can be controlled with a smart phone for many regular day needs.  For exmaple, you can use it to get yourself a soda by controlling it with your ipod, or smartphone.

Laser AppTag:
Pledge $120. Reward:

Office Commando! There's 4 of you and it's time for a 4 player frag fest in the office or back yard. You get 4 AppTag LaserBlasters for a great price of $30 each. Outside of USA add $20
This is a laser gun which uses ur ipod, or iphone to use the gun.  The ipod or iphone is docked on the gun and you get the app and play using the ipod to shoot people for fun.

Zombie Playgroud:
Pledge: $200 Reward:

Get early access to the ZPG closed ALPHA! PLUS, your team will never lose track of you in the dark with your nifty in-game glow in the dark "Kickstarter" T-shirt! You will also get all of the previous rewards.
Zombie Playbround is a video game which is 3rd person video game that where school children kill zombies.  It is mainly for entertaiment for children.

An example of crowdsourcing is Pinterest.  Pinterest is a pin-board in which people can put theme-based pictures, logos, and other pictures about hobbies, interests, events, and more.  Then, people can take pictures from other peoples' boards and create their own pin-board to share their board.  Also, if people think they can add to someones pin-board they can if it fits and makes sense depending on the ideas,hobbies, and interests on the person's pin-board.  Therefore people can get new ideas, recipes for food, and create new inventions from the ideas you get. This is a good example of crowdsourcing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinterest
http://thedailydigi.com/pinterest-101-a-tutorial

20% Project

      My project is about the brain and mental illnesses that occur in the brain.  So far in the project we have found out about 5 major mental illnesses that effect the brain and we done research on them.  Now we have to discover how the regular brain works and compare them to the other mental illnesses.  So far so good.

Waste Land

       Mrs. Mystrena first brought up the movie Waste Land I was thinking that it was going to a terrible movie, but I was wrong.  I couldn't believe how inspiring the movie was.  I was thinking that this movie was just going to show how the people feel in the landfill.  It was much more than that.  As I watched the movie my opinion changed.  I thought these people were just worthless workers, but they were than that.  They worked hard for their money, and they weren't garbage pickers they were

      There were many ways Vik  Muñiz  helped the people of Jardim Gramacho.  He gave them  money by  making paintings of them and auctioning them for money for the landfill.  Also, he made them feel good about themselves.  Vik told them that they weren't trash pickers they were helping the world, and they should be noticed.  Finally, he told the trash pickers that they weren't worthless they should have a chance to express how they feel.

        I personally agree that its better to have a honest job.  Why would you be a drug dealer, or a prostitute?  So, I would rather have  a honest job.  I wouldn't care what other people think of me.  If I know I am doing the right thing I feel proud of myself

Google 20%

When you think of the children today, you think of not hard working lazy, and they hate school.  I personally think they have a right to hate school.  Just think about it every year you learn about the same things.  I guarntee that more than half of the kids in our school will not have a job doing with math.  Kids want to learn what they think is interesting because thats what they will want to be when they grow up.  So, this google project is the perfect way to express your ideas.  Kids can finally decide to learn something they want to major in.  This is why Google 20% is the best thing to do.

Texture

Looking In

Depressed Noah

Even more depressed

Most depressed person

Colors

Add caption

Colors

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2944590666374&set=a.2938026062263.2132761.1609484491&type=3

Cold and Underneath

Womens World Cup

Of all he photo essays my favorite one is the Womens World Cup.  It was a emotional rollercoaster for me.  It makes me very happy to know that people all around the world love to play.  The determination they have to win the world cup is tremendous.  I was very happy to see USA advance in the world cup and reach the finals. In the photo essay the most dissapointing picture was Japan holding the trophy.  I was very sad to see USA losing, but happy for Japan after all the bad things that happened like the earthquake and tsunami.  I learned that photo essay capture those small moments that are very emotional and show many feelings.  Photo essays capture the little, but important events to show tothe world.

Life In a Day

Recently our class watched a movie Life In A Day.  The movie was about the day July 24th. Everybody around the world sent a video about a little part of their life, and submitted it to Youtube.  Then, directors around the world toook the videos and made a movie to show everybody around the world how the world is in a day.

The scene that was most memorable to me was the scene with the kid with a laptop.  It was very memorable for many reasons.  Eventhough the kid has tough times and has to polish shoes to make money he was always happy because he had a loving da and a laptop. The kid finds joy and happiness in his laptop.  He says the laptoop is the dictionary of the world.  Thats what the most memeroble scene to me.  This scene was also the most positive scene to me because the kid finds joy in what he has.

The scene that had a negative reaction was when people were fight at the love parade.  How can people fight.  We all live in the same world so we cannot fight.  That creates war and people will die.  We cannot afford human casualities in this world.  That scene shows that the world is bad.  Thats needs to go and we need to have world peace.

There were many patterns of humanity in the world.  People were cleaning his teeth.  People were crying, fighting, laughing.  Also, their was sleeping.  Finally, just leaving and breathing.

Juxatpositions occured in the world.  It was form people laughing to crying.  Happiness, to sadness.  Also, dry places to wet places.  Finally there was night from day.

I though Life in A Day was great movie to show people how the world is.

Times Influential People

Three People I find interesting are: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Lionel Messi, and Geoffery Canada.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni:  They say with a great leader you can accomplish anything.  Dhoni the captain of the Indian Cricket team is not a very good player.  Eventhough he isnt good he had the will to always win and never except defeat.  He told his team that do your best never give up.  India was losing in the finals, his team gave up, but he didn't.  He played and got tremendous amount of points.  With that will, his team believed in him and they didnt give up.  They ended up winning.  Dhoni has told everybody that if you have great leadership, and will you can do anything.

Lionel Messi:   People say "Size doesn't matter."  Lionel Messi proves that.  As a 5 ft 4in player he has won the player of the year award back to back years.  He has scored the most goals in two seasons.  Lionel Messi has told the world that with will and dedication it doesnt matter how small you are you can accomplish anything if you try your best.

Geoffery Canada:  Kids all over the world are poor and can't get an education.  Geoffery Canada has helped kids all over the world by giving them a chance to  make living, get an education, and be successful.  Just because people are poor doens't mean they are dumb.  He has created schools for poor kids to have an education.  Geoffery Canada has given people a chance.

New Jersey vs TLO

New Jersey vs. TLO was case that took place in 1985.  A girl with the initials TLO was caught smoking at school.  So, the school searched her purse to see if she had drugs.  Apparently she had more than just cigarretes.  TLO had marijuana, cigarretes, and pipes.  TLO said that the school wasn't allowed to search her purse and that goes against the 4th amendment.  So, TLO took it to the Supreme Court.  The ruling went in favor for the school 6-3.  They, said the school has the right to search purses because they need to protect kids of the school.  The impact of this case is schools have the right to search personal property if they need to.

The impact it had on me is that I feel more safe in schools because I know if there are drugs in our school the school will search property to protect schools from whatever is harmful.

My Six Word Memoirs

1) MIT maybe, Division One soccer, yes
2) Not a dreamer, only a believer
3) I dream, eat, sleep, think, soccer
4) Brothers are annoying, yet they're fun
5) I am a rollercoaster of emotions
6) Soccer is fun, School's a joke
7) F is failure, A is awesome
8) Messi's skillfull, yet shorter than me
9) 5 years, no fun, no sports
10) Friends are stepping stones to success

Gifted pros cons

There are many pros to being gifted.  Some pros are that you get recognized.  You have access to advanced education which will help you in the long run when you need to go to college.  Also, you have chances to explore new ideas while other people are working on lower level subjects.  Being gifted also means you have good grades, which is a good thing.

Unfortunately there are bad things to being gifted.  Gifted people, like me, have pressure on us to perform to are highest potential.  Also being gifted means your different and it sometimes separates you from the crowd.  Being gifted means you have higher expectations which causes stress. Stress can lead to loss of interest in activities, increasingly moody behavior , and much more.  These are the pros and cons to being gifted.

ASYNCHROMOUS DEVELPOMENT is when you grow at different rates emotionally, intellectually, and physically.  One time when Iexperienced this is when my parents keep telling me that I need to grow emotionally because I keep acting immature eventhough I have a straight A's, and growing tall.

From the Being Gifted is a Blessing and a Curse for Students article, they quote one student that says she "expects to perform better than the average student and will push herself until she does."  I always like to perform better so I can show my friends that I am gifted because when I push myself I feel good that I do good in school.