A good, short e-VAL-uation

Good news! I've been keeping up with the homework and I finished chp 18 and 19 on time. I'm just trying to finish strong as my senior year winds down. So far, so good. I also believe I've been doing well on my online practice tests and chapter tests. As for now, I'll keep moving forward, specifically chapter 21 cornell and practice problems. Also, I can't wait to start my high school portfolio. I got a lot to show everybody :D

My final quarter, and my last days of Vallejo High School...

Over the spring break I did... Chps 23&24 cornell notes and online practice problems, so I had a productive spring break I suppose. What I'm going to do to finish my senior year strong in AP physics is just to do all the work I can and raise my grade so I actually have a good grade at the end of the year. My motivation to do this will be graduation and the fact that I've come so far, so why not finish my senior year off with some good grades. This year in AP physics turned out to be a lot different than I pictured it.. and it was my fault of why that picture wasn't the real outcome. I think a huge reason why I didn't do so well in this class, besides time-management, was that I was lacking the mathematical background that the calculus students had. I never went into calculus so from the beginning.. like objects sliding down ramps, was hard for me because I had never learn the trigonometry behind it. A lot of stuff was too new for me, and when I go to napa valley community college, I am going to start from the basics again and work my way back up so I have a strong foreground before I hop back into physics.

ps: I CAN"T wait for the ELECTRONIC portfolio of what my 4 years of Vallejo High School was like. :D

my 3rd quarter eval: College heartbreak, Waves & Optics, and my plan of action for my last quarter in Vallejo High

My performance this quarter has nowhere been my best. I myself and fairly disappointed myself. I had fallen into this idea where, "Cal Poly didn't accept me, so why try? Why should I still do this?" Earlier this quarter, I had checked all my college applications, I saw that I had gotten accepted to SF state and Sacramento State. This was fine, but I had no intention to go straight to these school, and maybe not at all. My goal school was Cal Poly. I was crushed when they didn't accept me, I took it the wrong way, and I let my pessimism and bad habits get to me. This last week or two I've been trying to make up the work.. and I've turned a considerable amount of work into fusion. I know some of it was late, and it wasn't all the work, but atleast I'm got some work in again, right? I hope you agree, Mr. Tillay. Besides that, I think I should get a 2/D this quarter because I did just that.. Below Average. [I wouldn't be suprised if I even got an F because I know I did fail the two goals of this class, learning physics/ how a college course works, and taking and passing the AP exam.] I lost aim in why I even took this course, and now that I've started to regain my self-esteem back, It's too late. I am not going to take the AP Physics test. I let my family down, Mr. Tillay down, and ultimately myself.[I'll continue this in my 3rd part, my plan of action.] I'm trying not to regret my decisions this year; the saying "no regrets" come to mind, but it's hard not to, when you've come so far and fallen.

My plan of action... is to graduate, go to Napa Valley community college, and go from there. I know i got accepted to Sac & SF state, but I don't know if I want to go there or not. I just need to not ruin my chance at an education like I did here.

What I've earned for my last-first quarter :,\

I believe I deserve at least a 4 in performance for my 1st quarter grade. I did all the summer cornell notes for Giancoli Chp 1-5 all electronically. I've adequately looked over the Phyzguide packets that have been handed out. I've taken beautiful and electronically organized video and class notes on my 80 gig hard-drive. I've done all the labs and the coinciding write-ups. Although I've been late too many times in 1st period, I've never missed a class day, and I have shown up to multiple tuesday-afterschool sessions.

Three of my strengths are my electronic saavy-ness, my outspoken/unshy personality, and my ability to problem solve even when all the pieces aren't given to me.

Three of my weaknesses/areas to improve on are my inability to fully stick to time logs, my lack of mathematics classes [although I'm good at what i know], and my

tardiness to 1st period.

Physics in my current definition is the manner and phenomena of how objects move throughout the universe and their "driving" forces. Also, I have some pictures to back up definition. You know what they say... a picture is worth a thousand words. :D

Four weeks down, about 36 more to go.

"You are to think back over the last four weeks about your progress as a learner. HOW has your learning changed? HOW are you using your study group? HOW are you and your group improving as problem-solvers? What help do you still need? Evaluate your study habits. Do you have a regular time and place to study? Do you regularly consult your study group during that time? How much time per week are you devoting to studying Physics? What grade have you earned for the first marking period? EXPLAIN."

So, my first four weeks in AP physics has gotten me to see a lot about myself. I've learned how to present things I've learned and explain things I've read. My study group and I have had some fun and done some real, legitimate work. We've picked up on the 5-step problem solving method and using powerpoint to present our results in a neat and orderly manner.

-a graph I made on paint for my first presentation in Tillays AP physics class.

As for my study habits. I don't have a regular time to study but I always study upstairs in my livingroom, because thats where i leave my Giancoli book. I've consulted my study group occasionally, but it's not a daily thing I do. I devote about 3-4 hours every week studying physics, but it tends to vary and I'm just giving a bold estimate. I think I've earned a 5- for this grading period because I've done a lot of work for it and have showed change and results in my study habits and my quality of work. I've come into this class with a new attitude and work ethic, and started off on the right foot. I've been willing to work with others and have successfully given results with our fully electronic presentations and documents. Also, I got ahead of the game by cornell noting chapters 1-5 on Giancoli. And, as always, my whole notebook is on my 80 gig harddrive and I even have a new addition. Not only do I do my timelog now... but I even made a timelog table as an RTF document on my harddrive! With my new attitude change, the work I've put in, my electronic use and capabilities, and my improvements from last year, I believe I deserve a 5-

-Thank you for reading my input and see you next blog!

Val Joseph :D

Reflecting over my first three days in AP physics. veryVALuable style... hahaha :]

My first 3 days in AP physics have been pretty interesting. Mr. Tillay has been giving us a general overview on what science is and showing us our educational systems faults on teaching it. Some of his statistics really humor me, like "the bottom 30% of college graduates are our educators." One of our first homework assignment was to read this article about what science is by Helen Quinn.[Shown below]

Also, we've already had our first quiz of the year, and didn't do too shabby on it! ;D I really studied the first 5 chapters of Giancoli over the summer so the quiz he gave me was sort of a breeze. :] I'm glad i took the class because when I look around the room, I see a small, dedicated, group of people who are willing to learn and don't disrupt the class, like the average vallejo high student does. Mr. Tillay has been doing a lot of life-lecturing and motivational-speaking... I know he hates lecturing, but I hope he can help break down the math equations and formula's to our first quiz, because I'm curious if I did them right.

I did a good amount of studing over the summer, and although I admit I didn't start my summer homework right after school ended... I got a good 2-3 weeks in before school started to familiarize myself with the giancoli book and the first 5 chapters of it. It's been a good first three days and I started off this new school year with some good habits, so I'm hoping I can really follow through with what i've been doing and be able to get the most that i can out of this class, because this will help me towards my next 4 years in the airforce... where I might study some engineering of some-sort. So to that... good by my friends, classmates, and readers!

'Til Next Blog,

-Val Joseph

Done! now onto details...

okay, turns out... the jigsaw wasn't very effective on the propane tank because it was a lot thicker than the normal refrigeration tank that was cut up in the youtube video i saw. So basically, we used the grinder to grind out the whole instrument. the drum makes a very nice and beefy tone.
ill make a video of it soon enough post it on here.

otherwise though, thank God its done. hahahaha update you later visually. hahaha no pictures rite now