Friends

This past weekend my best friend from elementary school came to visit with her husband from California. Since I'm the one that moved away I'm always the one friend going to visit everyone back in California. Now that we have a bigger house people are now starting to come visit us. It was so much fun having time with my school friend. We usually talk on the phone a couple times a week but it's so different when you can actually share your life with them for a few days. Now when we talk on the phone we can picture everything in our heads. Having visitors is definitely more tiring than people think. When we have visitors we make it a point to go to the beach or go to tourist locations to hang out. My friend was very jealous of all the things we did but I had to remind her that this is definitely not what we do every day. We usually are working and being responsible and don't have much time to just lounge at the beach all day. We got to take them out and teach them how to surf in Waikiki, go hiking through Manoa Falls, and go exploring on the North Shore. These were just a few things we did but it was just a great feeling to have such a close friend here. It makes me feel so comfortable and at home. I think it's funny how when you see someone you have known for a long time you just revert back to the way you behave with each other. We are definitely like sisters since we grew up together. :-) It was one of the best weekends I've ever had.

Starbucks

Starbucks has a brilliant marketing plan! I've realized that there's three main reasons why Starbucks is so smart. The first reason is because of their mobile app. I feel like being able to pay using your phone is so convenient for people. The next reason is because of their gold card. When you have a Starbucks gold card you can use it when ever you make a purchase and earn stars. You must earn 30 stars a year to stay at the gold level. Being at the gold level offers small discounts that make you feel special. Every 12 stars you earn a free drink of your choice. Any flavor and any size. This takes me to the last reason as to why Starbucks is so amazing. They have a great reward system! When they notice you haven't made a purchase in a while they will randomly email you a sale of $1 off your next drink or buy one get the second free. These are just three of many reasons that this company has so much power. I always have a great experience when I go to Starbucks. The coffee tastes good, the music is relaxing and there's usually a comfy chair to curl up in. Starbucks is also a place for me to focus and get work done. I think this company does a great job at marketing and keeping their customers happy.

Mechanical Energy

Last week I did a science experiment with my students about mechanical energy. They had to use the Engineering Design Process to make windmills using the supplies I gave them. Their supplies included one large index card, 4 jumbo size paper clips, a straw, 2 binder clips, string, and tape. I started with showing them a sample I made. Then talked about the goal, which was to design a windmill that will be strong enough to roll the string on the straw and hold binder clips. I told them that when I made mine I was able to hold 9 binder clips. So their goal was to beat my record of 9 clips. They first started with the first step of the design process which is "ask". I told them to write down any questions they may have before beginning. Then they made their plan, designed their model, tested it out, and figured out how to improve their model. The students really enjoyed this experiment and it was a fun way for them to learn about kinetic energy changing to mechanical energy. After completing the experiment I asked the students to go back and look at their questions and see if they can answer them. It was interesting to hear some of their realizations and how much they could improve their design. Some groups needed help with getting started on their design.  I noticed that the designs I thought wouldn't work ended up being the strongest designs. The kids were way more creative than I was. My design was very safe and simple. They weren't afraid to cut anything and actually put in a lot of detail to make it look like an actual windmill. In the end the strongest design was able to hold 15 binder clips. They were of course extremely excited to beat my record. :-)

TCC

Last week we got to watch all of the master's projects being presented on TCC. When I first heard about the TCC conference I thought it was this big conference we had to attend at the convention center or the Blaisdell. Little did I know that I would watch it all from my living room. I was shocked when I found out it was all online! So as I sat on my own couch listening to these presentations I thought it was cool! Not only do we get to listen to all these presentations but I can listen to them from home. I can even go back and watch more if I miss any because they are all recorded. Then I was wondering where all of the presenters were while they were presenting. I couldn't believe that some of the presenters were possibly presenting their master's project from their very own home. They could even be in their pajamas! Technology really has a big impact on this project. I was relieved when I found out next year when I present I can just do it from home. That will be less nerve racking because I get a bit nervous talking in front of big crowds. However, this isn't the best situation because a couple of times while I was watching my Internet connection went out and I had to restart BBC. Then I thought "what if this happens during my presentation!" Well, I guess I will figure it out when it gets closer. Maybe going on campus with reliable Internet connection is the best idea. Watching these presentations was really helpful to get an idea of what we will do for next year. I took notes on things I liked and can hopefully incorporate into my project.

Remodeling a house through You Tube!

In October my husband and I bought a house, and since then we have been non stop remodeling. We realized quickly that this is an extremely overwhelming task. There were multiple things we needed to get done such as, putting up drywall, installing wood floors, and putting in tile. The first task we decided to tackle was putting in the wood floors. We wanted to save money so we decided to put the floors in ourselves. Before starting we watched multiple You Tube videos that had step by step instructions and important tips to remember. The videos actually taught us more than we thought they would. After the completion of the floors we were not only proud of how nice everything looked but excited about how much money we saved! This was a successful learning experience! If it wasn't for You Tube and technology we probably would have paid someone to install them for us or it would have taken us a lot longer. It's amazing what we can learn on the internet! Since then we have utilized You Tube to learn how to grout tile, solder copper piping, and installing a toilet. There's so much to learn! Thanks You Tube! :-)

Gyotaku

Last Friday I had a parent come in my class to do Gyotaku art with my students. They had so much fun learning about the Japanese culture, different kinds of fish, and creatively painting their fish prints with water colors. The parent brought in about 7 fish from the fish market that morning. Some of the fish he brought were Mahi Mahi, Monchong, and Ahi. He first taught the students about the history of Gyotaku and how it's a part of the Japanese culture. Then he talked to them about the different fish that he brought and highlighted the different characteristics of the fish. Last, he went through the whole fish printing process with the students and showed them a bunch of examples of his own artwork. Once he was done with all the instruction the students worked together to make the fish prints. It was really neat to watch my students help each other paint the fish. Each of them would also help each other grab a side of the paper and set it down perfectly on the fish to make a clean print. It was interesting to see the kids who were a bit scared to touch the fish so they were standing off to the side not very excited about touching fish. Then I saw the other kids tell them how cool it was and talked them into making a fish print. My students really enjoyed this art lesson and I thought they learned a lot from it. After they were done printing they got to sit and paint their prints using water colors. Even thought this didn't leave the best smell in my classroom my students had a lot of fun and impressed me with how much they knew about fish.

Stress and Exercising

Last semester I had an increased amount of stress and I was having a hard time dealing with it on a daily basis. It was causing a lot of problems such as neck pain, lack of sleep, struggles with organization etc. At the end of the semester I realized that I wasn't leaving enough time to exercise. Normally my body is used to exercising almost everyday especially during paddling season. Last semester I was so worried about trying to get all my work done that I felt like I couldn't do anything except for school and work. It was driving me crazy sitting at a computer day after day thinking about how I should go outside and run or go out and paddle. I wanted to so bad but wouldn't let myself. As I started this semester I knew that I needed to do something different. This time around I decided to set aside time to go to the gym. Setting aside this time has allowed me to not have to think about having to go exercise because I already knew it was in my schedule. Since I have changed my schedule I have noticed that I'm much more relaxed and I don't have nearly as much neck pain. Even though I added something else to my already full schedule I can actually manage my time better and I'm even more productive! I found this video on how exercising can change the chemicals in your brain. I really do believe exercising is important for your body and everyone needs it to release their stress. I always remind myself and others how important exercising is for your body and you need to make time for it no matter what!