Ricardo Gonzalez

Advisory
December 10, 2012
Sophmore Reflection 1
st
Semester
The area that I have developed most in my first semester of my sophomore year is my
skills for academic success. In my freshman year I was exposed to many ways to further my
academic potential, but during my sophomore year I have practiced these skills and learned new
ones as well. Some of the assignments in which I was required to practice the skills I have been
taught are The Story of The Stuff and Banned Book Business letter,. My first semester was a
great semester and has helped me learn many valuable skills.
The Story of The Stuff project in my Environmental Science class was a project assigned
to investigate the world. We chose one common household item; my partner (Sergio Torres) and
I chose to research the common toy car known as a Hot Wheel. In this project we disassembled
the toy car and researched all the five necessary steps (extraction, production, distribution,
consumption, and disposal) needed to create a Hot Wheel. We researched many important facts
about the lifecycle of a Hot Wheel and presented it on a posterboard. In the end we got 150 out
of 200 but we still learned valuable skills in the making of this project. We strengthened our
abilities to research effectively by only using information from reliable sources. One aspect of
the research was that we had to contact the company that makes the products and ask them where
they got the raw materials to make their products. The information disclosed to us only helped a
little bit, but my partner and I furthered our speaking skills and ways to present yourself
professionally when speaking on the phone with someone else.
During Banned Book week we were given a project as a class to create a banned book
exhibit for the whole school to see. Each student was asked to choose one banned book and I
chose The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. With the book we
selected we did many things. The first was actually displaying them in the exhibit with our
experience with the book so everyone had the opportunity to see them. Then each person had to
go give a speech in a different advisory classroom, it included reading a passage from the banned
material, telling them the reasons the book was banned, and why they should read it. After that I
had to research and find a school that has banned the book I chose and write a formal business
letter to them convincing them to allow the book. The letter had to be written in business letter
format and it was the first time I was exposed to writing a letter in that format. Through this
project we learned rhetoric writing which is the art of writing effectively. In the letter we used
rhetoric persuasion along with ethos, pathos, and logos to appeal to the audience who would in
my case be a librarian. In this project we practiced reading skills and how to write effectively.
Overall this semester was a great learning experience where I learned and strengthened
many skills that may enhance my academic performance. With the Story of the Stuff and Banned
Book week I completed assignments that expanded my knowledge of the world. I especially
investigated the world in the Story of the Stuff. These projects exposed me to many real life
issues that I could be informed about and now I am. Although these projects required hard work I
still appreciate them because they have helped me grow as a student.