Blog 24: Last Presentation Reflection

(1) Positive Statement
What I am most proud of from my from my block-long lesson is that I was able to talk about my experiences from the year long project and that people liked my activity.

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation?  Use the component contract to defend that assessment.
 P

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project? Use the component contract to defend that assessment.
 
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(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

What worked for me in this project is that I was able to find research articles with relative ease and did not have to resort to buying books.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project?

 I would try to expand my research field as well as have decided on solely fitness instead of starting with mixed martial arts and fitness. But for an absolute do over I would have stuck with my original choice of video games for a topic and have gone with competitive gaming.

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.

Senior project has helped me understand exercise better especially since one of my future endeavors is to be physically fit. This is from my research to prove that if I were to find ways where my exercise will work with how my life will be situated.

Exit Interview

(1) What is your essential question, and what are your answers?  What is your best answer and why?

 "How can an adolescent maximize personal fitness?" My answers are: enjoyment, motivation, balance. I believe enjoyment is the best answer from my research because my research and interview with a personal trainer both pointed me in that direction.

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

 I tried to keep the research count balanced when it came to my three answers. However, the more I read into them they all has an underlining theme of being able to do these things with a positive outlook vs someone who has no interest in doing exercise. My interview with Danny Navarro finalize my decision because he put it simply, " Enjoyment will create motivation and will lead to the balance that people need."

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

 The first problem I faced in the senior project was that my first mentor, Danny Navarro, was unable to be my mentor anymore, and then to resolve that I started mentoring with my uncle, Edwin Sic. Another problem I faced was that my second answer was rather shallow in terms of research for solely "intrinsic motivation" to resolve that I changed my second answer to general motivation which helped me further my research.

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

 The two most significant sources I used to answer my EQ were WebMD and Huffington Post. Those two sites were the leading sites where I found the most significant and reoccurringly relevant resources for my answers which helped answer my EQ.

Blog 22: Independent Component 2

LITERAL
(a) Include this statement: “I, student name, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents ___ hours of work.”

I, Isaac Diaz, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 31 hours of work.

 
(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.

 N/A

 
(c) Update your Independent Component 2 Log (which should be under your Senior Project Hours link)

 Link to the hour log for mobile users: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TK0pZkK_R75psJc1fpVuYo5XoM7IqUJ25CgAlh4Hnro/edit#gid=0

 
(d) Explain what you completed.    

What I worked on was doing physical therapy recommended to me through my doctor that would help me recover more from my accident.

 
(e) Defend your work and explain the component's significance and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.   

What I did is experiential research for my answers: enjoyment and motivation. I do not consider it research for my third answer (balance) since I needed to work with my limitations. This  also gave me insight for how I can better communicate the importance of body care and fitness especially when recovering from an accident.

 

In addition to the following link I included a picture of: my walking route, me and my dog, and me and the horse I worked with.

 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kxKxbysJ9_YhusFxv46ujGqJ0dZzF9ZilBEET_tEpoQ/edit?usp=sharing

(f)How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped. 

 As previously stated my project is very experiential and trying to understand how to get into exercising especially since I did not know how to connect with people who have had accidents or exercise-limiting accidents.

Blog 21 - Interview 4 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  

The most important thing that I learned from this interview was how my previous mentor would feel is the most solid of my three answers as well as giving me input on what I have been researching.

2.  How will what I learned affect my final lesson?

Since I have asked what Mr. Navarro's opinion for which of my three answers would be best for my EQ. While I will not use his answer as my own (unless research and thinking about my answers) for my final answer.

Direct Link: https://soundcloud.com/isaac-diaz-863495835/interview-4

Blog 20: Fourth Interview Questions

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?

I don't know who I want to interview for my fourth interview, I was thinking of interviewing someone at 24 Hour Fitness, but I do not have someone in mind at this time.

2.  Post 20 open-ended questions you want to ask an expert in the field concerning your senior project. Your focus should be finding answers to your EQ.

1. How can someone make exercise enjoyable?
2. What does exercise mean to you?
3. Have you ever had to make a decision between exercise and another activity?
4. As a trainer, how do you motivate clients?
5. How do you motivate yourself to exercise?
6. How often do you exercise and why?
7. (follow up to #6) For that reason how did you find that balance between exercise and other activities?
8. Do you feel dieting is of equal or greater importance to exercise?
9. What are the benefits of exercise that are not directly related to body changes that you can think of?
10. I assume that you work with very physically active people, but how would you recommend someone who has had a physically weakening accident to exercise for the best results?
11. Do you think that it is easy to make physical activity a habit?
12. How often do you work with adolescents?
13. (follow up to #12) What do you recommend for adolescents who are busy with school and other activities?
14. Do you believe that there are alternatives to exercise?
15. What exercise activities can a person do that is not directly exercising in a gym?
16. Is a person is unable to exercise frequently or at all what would you recommend them to do?
17. Mental health is just as important as physical health, how would can one incorporate exercise for aiding in mental health recovery/treatment?
18. Do you believe that group exercise can make exercise more enjoyable?
19. How easy is it to spark a passion to exercise?
20. If I were to ask you "How can an adolescent maximize personal fitness?" and your choice of answers were: Enjoyment, determination, and achieving a balance between works and exercise; what would you say is the best answer and why?

Blog 19: Third Answer

• EQ: How can an adolescent maximize personal fitness?
• Answer #3 (Write in a complete sentence like a thesis statement)*
  To achieve a maximized personal fitness, an adolescent must achieve balance.
• 3 details to support the answer 

1. Each individual has to have a tailored exercise routine to balance any situation they experience,
2. It is important for a person to balance their emotional life, one way that a person can achieve that balance is by using exercise to help manage their emotions.
3. As adolescents, our lives are usually busy and we need exercise to stay healthy. Therefore we try to balance every aspect of our lives as much as we physically and mentally can.

• The research source(s) to support your details and answer

Brown, Nancy. "Emotion & Life." Sutter Health. Sutter Health, October 2013. Web. 29 February 2016. http://www.pamf.org/teen/life/stress/lifebalance.html
 
Abeles, Vicki. "Students lack school-life balance: Column." USA Today. USA Today, 25 September 2014. Web. 29 February 2016.http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/09/25/vicki-abeles-stressed-students-balance-column/16110085/
 
Jeanne Goodes. "Tips for Helping Teens Balance School and Sport." breakingmuscle. breakingmuscle, n.d. Web. 29 February 2016.http://breakingmuscle.com/family-kids/tips-for-helping-teens-balance-school-and-sport

• Concluding Sentence: Everything in life requires balance, and when it comes to life we need to have exercise, but life can be so busy. Many people, not just adolescents tend to write off their physical fitness to make time of other things. Having balance is very important to maximizing personal fitness.

Blog 18: Answer 2

1.  What is your EQ?

"How can an adolescent best achieve personal fitness?"

2.  What is your first answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

 Enjoying exercise is how one can maximize personal fitness. 

3.  What is your second answer? (In complete thesis statement format)

 Using intrinsic motivation, a person can maximize their personal fitness.

4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.

•  If you enjoy something to no longer feels like work, you can enjoy what you're doing.
•  When you exercise you feel better and that can lower negative emotions.
• Once you can enjoy your exercise you can make it a part of your daily activites.
• The first part of getting exercise is done is getting out of the door.
• If nothing else motivates you, you are always something that you can rely on.
• Change is good for the body and you are the one who ultimately chooses to change.

5.  What printed source best supports your answer?

Deci, Edward L."Effects of Externally Mediated Rewards on Intrensic Motivation." University of Rochester. University of Rochester, 30 June 1970. Web. 22 February 2016.
 http://www.quilageo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/fn103.Deci_.pdf

6.  What other source supports your answer?

"Change for Good." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 18 February 2016.
 http://www.webmd.com/balance/change-for-good-15/default.htm


7.  Tie this together with a concluding thought.

Paraphrasing what my mentor said, if you can turn the workout into playtime you will feel better and its all on you to walk out that door and take.

Blog 17 - Interview 3 Reflection

Link to soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/isaac-diaz-863495835/interview-3 

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  

I learned that you can do what you want/need to do as long as you are willing to take that first step. 
 
2.  How has your approach to interviewing changed over the course of your senior project?

 It has changed more from acquiring general knowledge to asking questions that help me further my research as I ask questions that relate to current research and give me answers that I can use for answering or establishing questions regarding my EQ.



My mentor, Edwin, worked at Bally's total fitness for many years and is very driven from exercise, this makes him very qualified to be a mentor and interviewee.

Independent Component 2 Approval

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

 I'm not entirely sure for what I'd like to do for my IC2. Some ideas I had was doing another 30 hours of doing exercises or trying to get out more while staying active.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

 For both I'd take photos and videos to show that I was doing activity.

3.  Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.

 Well for my first answer it was enjoyment, and then for the second answer I was thinking of being determined to exercise. Going out to do physical activity I'd try to do.

4.  Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.

 Added to the log and here is a link for mobile users:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TK0pZkK_R75psJc1fpVuYo5XoM7IqUJ25CgAlh4Hnro/edit?usp=sharing

Blog 16: Independent Component 1

• LITERAL  

(a) “I, Isaac Diaz, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.” 

(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.

I did not use books or articles for my independent component.

(c) Update your hours in your Senior Project Hours link. Make sure it is clearly labeled with hours for individual sessions as well as total hours. 

Link is on the sidebar, for mobile users click the link provided:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TK0pZkK_R75psJc1fpVuYo5XoM7IqUJ25CgAlh4Hnro/edit#gid=0

(d) Explain what you completed.    

I completed some exercise and physical activity in the beginning of my IC#1 then when the new year rolled around and I injured my leg I spent the first week of school writing down a food log to observe what I ate and how I can fix it.

• INTERPRETIVE 

  Defend your work and explain its significance to your project and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  
  
  Food Log: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19zyfGdDBwbYXTy8NeicoplRdYCRQtx2n4U28_huZ1hY/edit?usp=sharing
  
   ( I tried to get video of me walking my dogs and the trip from the park on the 30th of January but the files couldn't be transferred as of 8:02PM 4 February 2016. I'm still trying)
  
   
  
• APPLIED
  How did the component help you understand the foundation of your topic better?  Please include specific examples to illustrate this. 
  
  The component has helped me understand fitness is something more than solely exercising, its about taking care of my body (planning my dietary changes) while still doing physical activity (jogs, walking my dogs, and hoking with family) gave me a new perspective that exercise can be made into something better. And then with my accident it has shown me that there is exercises that I can be doing doing during recovery and afterwards too.

Blog 15: Lesson 2 Reflection

1.What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?

I am proud that I did not choke up (very much) on my presentation because when I practiced I ended up going overtime from stumbling over my words and not knowing what to say when a slide came up

2. a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

NC

     b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.

I didn't make time with the explanation of answer portion, That is an auto-failure...

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?

What worked was having a powerpoint to look back to for reference.

4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?

The only thing that didn't go well was me being short 2 minutes. If I could I'd do a recap of what I said to make the whole presentation tie up and add timw.

5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be? 

 I've been considering something along the lines of "Discipline is necessary for an adolescent to maximize personal fitness."

Blog 14: Third Interview Preparation

 

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?

 I plan to interview my uncle. His expertise is 12 years of experience from Bally's fitness.

2.  Verify that you have called your interviewee to schedule an interview.  What is the date and time of the interview? 

 We have not scheduled an appointment however we are trying for either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

3.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you find research resources that would help to answer the EQ.

 How can someone make exercise enjoyable?

4.  Phrase an open-ended question that will help you think about other useful activities you might do to help you answer the EQ (IC2, possible experts to talk to, etc).

 What would you recommend me doing to get the best out of fitness.

5.  Phrase two open-ended questions that help you to understand your interviewee's perspective on an aspect of your EQ.  

 How can someone enjoy physical activity?

 What parts of group exercise makes it more beneficial?

Blog 13: 10 Hour Mentorship Check-In

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?

 We've been doing a variety of things from working on dieting and what to exercise with to actually going out for runs.








2.   Who is your contact?  What makes this person an expert?

 My contact is my uncle. He worked for Bally's fitness for many years this gave him the qualifications to be a mentor for this.

3.   How many  hours have you done during the school year? (Summer Mentorship Hours and Mentorship Hours should be reflected separately in your Senior Project Hours log located on the right hand side of your blog).

16 hours summer hours. 11 hours form Mentorship. And currently 5 hours for IC #1. In total that is 32 hours total.



4.   Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours.

 With my first mentor we had a good bond however after time we lost the connection due to too many complications and he could no longer be my mentor, now with my second mentor we have a great relationship since he is family. To complete the rest of my hours I need to combine dieting, physical exercise (when I recover), and just working more with my uncle.

Blog 12: Holiday Project Update

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?

In regards to doing project work, before I fractured my fibula, I was practicing striking a punching bag in my backyard, that would be the exact same thing I'd be doing at a professional location.

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  What was the source of what you learned?

 

 From what I learned is to be prepared fitness-wise for any possible injury that would prevent me for continuing exercise. Since I cannot properly exercise I will be working on dieting to try and maintain a steady weight. I have collected some sources in my working bibliography regarding dieting.

3.  Your third interview will be a 10 question interview related to possible answers for your EQ. Who do you plan to talk to and why?

 

 For my interview I will be interviewing my uncle, he has had experience with dieting being employed at Bally's Fitness for several years. 

Blog 11 Lesson 1 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in your lesson, and why?

 What I'm most proud of from this first lesson is that I did not need note cards to remember any information on my presentation.I was afraid that I'd not remember any information without notes but I was mistaken.


2. What assessment would you give yourself on your lesson? Explain why you earned that grade using evidence from the component contract.

 I would give myself an AP because I gave a solid presentation however I did not meet the time requirement by I believe 30 seconds.


3. If you could go back, what would you change about your lesson?  How can you use that knowledge to give a better Lesson 2?


 I think if anything I would try to make my hook better because I felt the hook went awkwardly and I feel like didn't get a lot of attention for my topic. I feel that just adjusting my hook and slowing down when I speak will help me for lesson 2.

Blog 10 - Interview 2 Reflection

 

1. Please explain how you are spending your mentorship time (Is it at a workplace or somewhere else?  Are you shadowing?  Are you able to do tasks that are meaningfully related to the topic?  If so, what?  Are there other people who are experts in the location?  Etc...)

 I'm working out with my mentor in his garage, on a rarer occasion we go to an MMA gym in Rancho Cucamonga. I don't know if practicing fighting is overly meaningful, but when my mentor talks about what the exercises do in terms of muscle development that helps. There isn't really many at they gym who can be considered an expert there are only a few classes in the gym and even then they're closed off to those who join them.

2.  How did you find your mentor?  How did you convince this person to help you?   

 Back in the summer of 2012 my parents wanted me to learn how to defend myself since I was going to be entering high school. And so my uncle recommended us to one of his friends who was a professional MMA fighter. I asked him and he seemed willing, however since he got a new job he really hasn't really has enough time to meet for much. 

3. How would you rate your comfort level with your mentor at this point in your relationship?  How does this relate to the time you've spent so far at mentorship/with this person

 I'm rather comfortable with my mentor as a person, however as a mentor he makes me kinda nervous because he doesn't a lot of time for me..

4. What went well in this interview?  Why do you think so?  What do you still need to improve?  How do you know?  How will you go about it?

 At this time I haven't been able to interview anyone I plan to keep pestering the 24 Hour Fitness by my home just to see if I can talk to anyone in regards to fitness. I've tried to contact my mentor since interview #2 was introduced but it usually was only responded to "I'll text you back later" and last week I told him that time was running out for me to interview him but then he told me that he couldn't this week because he wanted to spend time with his kids for the few days before and on Halloween. I know interview 2 is supposed to be with the mentor that is why I didn't ask other people for interviews. However, Mr. Rivas said for me to try and interview anyone to get it in so at the moment I am still trying to get in contact with people.

Blog 9 - Advisory Prep 3

1. State whether or not you currently have a mentor, and what the status of your interview is with that person (I have completed the interview, I have scheduled the interview, I have not scheduled the interview, etc).

 Yes, I have a mentor. And I haven't been able to get a hold of him to schedule an interview, he is most likely busy with the up coming holiday, I'm still trying to get a hold of him.

  2. At this point, your research is probably guiding your studies toward more specific areas within your topic.  Name the area or two you find most promising and explain your reasons.  

• Fitness
• Boxing for fitness

  3. What kinds of sources do you think will help you in the next month to gain more research depth?  Where will you go to get them?

I believe that to get the information that I think will help me are types of fitness booklets. You can get variations of these from different fitness programs or dieting programs.

  4. Write down a possible EQ.  Please don't worry about wording other than ensuring that it provides the option for multiple correct answers.  At this point, the senior team is most interested in understanding your thought process.

How should a person use mixed martial arts for fitness?

Blog 8: Independent Component 1 Proposal

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

 What I hope to be able to do for my first independent component is 30 hours of training in a UFC gym. A UFC gym in Rancho Cucamonga offers classes on different mixed martial arts as well as offers people to work out as much as they want.

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

 I plan to record a little bit of my class or training to demonstration what I've done.

3.  Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

 

 I feel this will be beneficial for me to get a new perspective on MMA and different martial arts that I didn't really have a stronger understanding of to see how they feel on my body. 

4.  Update your Senior Project Hours log.

Blog 7 - Second Interview Preparation

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?  If their workplace does not reflect their expertise, what makes them an expert? 

My mentor is Danny, my first interviewee. Danny works at a UFC Gym in Riverside. 

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

1. How long have you been in the professional world of mixed martial arts?
2. What sparked your passion for MMA?
3. What does MMA mean to you?
• Does this conflict with the professional view?
4. Do you feel that MMA can be for everyone or only a select few who have the patience for it?
5. How deep does MMA run into your family?

Blog 6 - Advisory Prep

 

1. What has worked well for you concerning senior project this year?  What has made it a positive experience for you?   

 

 I guess what has worked for me regarding the project is the amount of time we've had to make up anything we've needed to with changing topics. As for what has made this a positive experience...I don't know really.

 

2. What are you finding difficult concerning senior project?  How can you adapt to make that portion work better for you?  How might the senior team help?

 

 One of the most difficult parts of the project is managing people in your project. I personally find it incredibly difficult to get a hold of people since I have to: find someone close by, free, and willing to help. I rarely manage to get anyone willing to help. How the senior team can help.......I have no ideas how the senior team can help.