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March 29, 2024, 07:12:26 am

Author Topic: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)  (Read 19187 times)

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SlowandSteady

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Re: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)
« Reply #15 on: August 18, 2019, 04:48:51 pm »
+5
I wouldn't say that heaps has been happening, but it's a dramatic shift to what I'm used to (doing nothing and eating cheese).

English: We're expected to have all of the persuasive done except the conclusion by Monday. I'm falling a bit behind, (during class, I ended up helping my friend with his more than working on mine ::)) but I'll aim to have two arguments done by tomorrow.

Maths: I received my mark on Monday and I was ecstatic. It was an A+. It felt like the longest weekend of my life waiting for it, constantly wondering if I had made a terrible mistake by handing it in early, but now I'm just relieved. We've moved on to a unit involving rates and ratios.

Science: I was struggling to hand in my rationale, because there was just a lack of reasoning as to why certain surfaces treated energy differently. Luckily, I found a resource that introduced me to Newton's Experimental Law and the coefficient of restitution. I still have no idea how it works; being a senior bio teacher, my science teacher is the same, but she said that she's willing to believe that it exists (how kind of her).

Geography: Had my exam on Thursday, and I felt really confident. I woke up at 5:30 that morning to pre-write some of my exam answers. I was so happy afterwards because I didn't end up running out of time.

Visual Arts: I'm really in trouble with this subject. Someone showed the teacher his work (it was better than mine) and asked for a predicted mark. Sir said he would be looking at a C+. I won't be able to do any better, so I'll be looking to bring my semester mark up in music. Speaking of music, I've been informed that next term I'm doing music, (yesss) but I don't think the course matches the one described in the subject sheet. I believed that it involved creating "a piece of music through a computer based ‘looping’ program," but I've approached other students who have completed the course already and they said that they instead played ukuleles, which seems considerably less fun to me.

Spanish: Participated in the languages competition earlier today and nerves got to me. I was horrendous, floundering, monotone. I couldn't answer the questions they asked afterwards. Left the uni immediately. I just got an email saying that I got a highly commended, to my surprise. Started my Spanish assignment: a multimodal presentation on Ecuador and Paul McCartney. I've gotten through all the research and now I just need to put it into a speech & powerpoint.

I hope everyone had a great week ;D
QCE Class of 2023 :D

Snow Leopard

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Re: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)
« Reply #16 on: August 22, 2019, 05:59:31 pm »
+1
Congrats on your score for Maths!

SlowandSteady

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Re: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)
« Reply #17 on: August 22, 2019, 06:01:31 pm »
+1
Congrats on your score for Maths!
Thanks!
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Joseph41

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Re: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)
« Reply #18 on: August 22, 2019, 06:02:21 pm »
+1
Thanks!

How's your week been since? ✌️

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SlowandSteady

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Re: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)
« Reply #19 on: August 22, 2019, 06:08:16 pm »
+3
How's your week been since? ✌️
It's been alright! Mostly I've been deliberating over whether or not to go for head prefect because the application's due tomorrow, but I really don't know if I'll be able to speak in front of loads of people. There's also a vote which is pretty much based entirely on popularity. Might be looking forward to applying for a senior position, though (once I participate in more school events and gain some leadership experience to put down).

Edit: Also, today I got my mark back for Visual Arts (B-) and I'm over the moon considering how it turned out :)
Edit Edit: Just remembered that it's my birthday.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2019, 06:33:44 pm by SlowandSteady »
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Bri MT

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Re: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)
« Reply #20 on: August 22, 2019, 06:31:52 pm »
+2
My advice?  Go for it!
Even if you struggle w/ the speech and don't get in its a new experience to learn from without much investment

Congrats on VA!

SlowandSteady

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Re: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)
« Reply #21 on: August 26, 2019, 04:29:52 pm »
+3
Pretty much summed up my week above, but I've been trying to do some recreational drawing for the first time by strictly following youtube tutorials. I'm so bad at it, but hey, you need to start somewhere.

« Last Edit: August 26, 2019, 04:35:34 pm by SlowandSteady »
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SlowandSteady

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Re: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)
« Reply #22 on: August 29, 2019, 08:36:16 pm »
+3
Hey all :D How's your week been?

English: Because the persuasive is the only thing we've been working on and we've already handed the drafts in, we had no English this week so that they could be marked. The lessons were swapped out for geography.

Maths: We've been doing linear equations and for most of the time I've just been really stumped. Only today did it hit me and now I'm pretty sure I have a solid understanding. I'll know once I start doing practice Q's, I guess.

Science: Mostly just finishing up the report. Been handing in drafts for sections and getting them back. Nothing special.

Geography: We started a new unit, Coastal Processes, which introduces us to management strategies to combat the erosion of gold coast shorelines (dredging, artificial reefs, building rock walls and so on). The exam will be next week. It'll give me two stimuli containing two management strategies. I have to outline the economic, social and environmental consequences of each, including the perspectives of the different stakeholders of the beach: tourists, locals and the government. I got my exam back (the one I was confident in) and got an A+, so I'm chuffed.

Visual Arts: We've been starting on our new assessment piece: freehand drawing (eugh) insects and shading them with charcoal. I've just been smashing out tutorials online on how to draw them, so I'm hoping my efforts aren't in vain. On another note (haha) i found out that for music next term, I will be making music using software; the term is split into one half uke and one half composing. I'll be emailing the music teacher tonight (after introducing myself as to not sound like a weirdo) and asking what software we'll be using for the composition; I want to mess around with it in advance.

Spanish: After the languages comp was over, those who participated got free mexican food, which was nice. Churros were delicious, but they accidentally rolled one of mine in some kind of chili powder rather than cinnamon sugar. I've been writing up my final speech to be presented on Wednesday or Friday. Somehow it feels like there's less pressure for this speech compared to the languages comp.

After reading a great article, I've decided to apply for head prefect. They extended the application due date to Monday because a huge lack of application numbers. For the second time at assembley they had the current leaders speak about why we should apply. "If you want to work next year, having a leadership position on your resume'll set you apart". I just want to apply to get involved behind the scenes with house events and for the wicked life skillz (maybe if I'm exposed to enough public speaking, my heart won't sink into my stomach when putting up my hand in class).
Also, it's a public holiday tomorrow, which is awesome.
That's all for now. Have a good one ;D
QCE Class of 2023 :D

Joseph41

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Re: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)
« Reply #23 on: September 13, 2019, 04:47:20 pm »
+1
How have your last couple of weeks been, SlowandSteady? :)

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SlowandSteady

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Re: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)
« Reply #24 on: September 13, 2019, 08:29:53 pm »
+5
How have your last couple of weeks been, SlowandSteady? :)
I’ve been wanting to update this, but there was no internet except for my phone data and typing this out on there would be a huge pain. Also, I’m lazy.

But so far, my week (or two :P) has been fine!
The application for Year 9 subject selection has dropped tonight and I’m kind of confused as to what to pick… We get to choose two electives; Digital Innovations is pretty much locked in, but for the second I’m thinking of either doing:
Economics & Business – Economics definitely sounds interesting. My only problem with it is that it is almost completely focused on business with an intro to economics as the last unit and assessment is linked to creating a stall and people spending monies on it; I’m worried that the sales will be based on popularity rather than the quality of the idea. Also my Dig. Inno teacher gave the course a bad rap.
Digital Technology – Quite a bit of content overlaps with Dig Inno and I really enjoy digital subjects. Also, If I go well in them (which I think I might be able to), the school might be more inclined to allow me to undertake Digital Solutions as a 1/2 subject in Year 10, which would be superb.
Music – Music sounds pretty fun, although I haven’t done it in high school yet. I’m pretty sure for assessments you’re able to pick an instrument of your choice to play and (from what I’ve messed around with on the computer) I really enjoy composing. Most units are on 70’s music: the time when music was, in my opinion, SO much better than whatever they’re playing now.
Spanish – I’m pretty good at it and my teacher really wants me (and everyone else in the AcEx program) to continue it. The thing is, I’m not too interested with it and I don’t plan on continuing with it through senior, so I don’t see a point.

As for what’s been happening in school:
English – After submitting my persuasive on one hour’s sleep, I’ve moved on to creative writing and this entire unit is really disagreeing with me :( I just really struggle to think of an idea under pressure. We’ve been doing this thing in class where we’re given a prompt and we need to just write for 6 minutes. Lately, I haven’t been writing anything for them. I just can’t think of anything good and it’s really frustrating. The assessment will be exactly the same: we’re given a prompt and we just have to write. A 500 word short story is due on Monday; I have the weekend, so I should be fine.
Maths – All of my math exams have finished and I got the results back. I got an A, but I was SUPER disappointed with a really silly mistake I made. We’ve moved onto some unit on time and something else I can’t remember (in other words, not very eventful ::)).
Geography – My exam finished and I think I might have went ok on it, but I’m not sure. I’m not confident, but I know I haven’t completely bombed it. We’ve moved on to our unit on urbanisation, titled “changing nations", currently looking at the reasons why people move from rural areas to cities.
Science – I got absolutely no sleep the night the assignment was due, but I’m glad it payed off. I ended up getting an A8 out of 10, which I was extremely surprised with. We’re now doing our biology unit, being introduced to plant and animal cells and reproductive processes and all that jazz.
Spanish – I performed my speech and I’m pretty sure I did alright in it. All of this week has been people doing their speeches. My friend got really nervous and just struggled to remember, but he redid it next lesson with more enthusiasm than most people in the class, so good on him! You could see that some people just put no effort in whatsoever, though.
Visual Arts – Ugh. My piece is due on Tuesday and I need to work over the weekend to complete two bug drawings. It’s not the end of the world, but it really sucks to be made to do something I’m just not good at :P I’ll take my time and see what the result is; that’s all I can do. I finished the background of my piece and I think it looks alright, at least.

I also created a little jingle on this music software to represent my mood now that all of my assessment (bar VA) is over for the term.

Well, that’s been my couple of weeks. I’ll try and maintain this journal better, now that I have a more stable internet connection.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2019, 08:39:54 pm by SlowandSteady »
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Snow Leopard

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Re: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)
« Reply #25 on: September 13, 2019, 08:54:11 pm »
+2
Just listened to the jingle. I like it  :)

caffinatedloz

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Re: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)
« Reply #26 on: September 13, 2019, 10:01:37 pm »
+3
Good luck picking electives! The things you do in Year 9 won't majorly affect your life, so choose things that you think you'll genuinely enjoy! You'll like school better and probably find the homework less mind numbing.
What are you learning towards most?

As for what’s been happening in school:
English – After submitting my persuasive on one hour’s sleep, I’ve moved on to creative writing and this entire unit is really disagreeing with me :( I just really struggle to think of an idea under pressure. We’ve been doing this thing in class where we’re given a prompt and we need to just write for 6 minutes. Lately, I haven’t been writing anything for them. I just can’t think of anything good and it’s really frustrating. The assessment will be exactly the same: we’re given a prompt and we just have to write. A 500 word short story is due on Monday; I have the weekend, so I should be fine.
The best way to get good at writing creatively is to practice. If you know that you're expected to write to a prompt in six minutes, why not pick a prompt a day and write for six minutes? It won't take up much of your time and should definitely improve your writing quality.

I saw a post literallylauren made a little while ago with some tips about creative writing (not that I can find it now :-\), and the things that she said (that you will hear time and time again) are to show not tell and to make the internal external.

Show not tell.
Rather than saying: "She was angry."
Try: "With tense shoulders, she clenched her fists as her stoic gaze rested upon..."

Making the interal external.
Rather than saying: "She was angry."
Try: "The volcano within her boiled and bubbled, threatening to explode. And when it did, hot dangerous lava would come flying in every direction."

Using a mixture of these two ideas and heaps of practice completely changed my writing. I hope it agrees with you a little more before you finish the unit!

<3

SlowandSteady

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Re: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)
« Reply #27 on: September 13, 2019, 10:25:14 pm »
+1
Good luck picking electives! The things you do in Year 9 won't majorly affect your life, so choose things that you think you'll genuinely enjoy! You'll like school better and probably find the homework less mind numbing.
What are you learning towards most?
The best way to get good at writing creatively is to practice. If you know that you're expected to write to a prompt in six minutes, why not pick a prompt a day and write for six minutes? It won't take up much of your time and should definitely improve your writing quality.

I saw a post literallylauren made a little while ago with some tips about creative writing (not that I can find it now :-\), and the things that she said (that you will hear time and time again) are to show not tell and to make the internal external.

Show not tell.
Rather than saying: "She was angry."
Try: "With tense shoulders, she clenched her fists as her stoic gaze rested upon..."

Making the interal external.
Rather than saying: "She was angry."
Try: "The volcano within her boiled and bubbled, threatening to explode. And when it did, hot dangerous lava would come flying in every direction."

Using a mixture of these two ideas and heaps of practice completely changed my writing. I hope it agrees with you a little more before you finish the unit!

<3
Thanks so much! I'll definitely try and get some practice in next week. The problem lies mostly in actually thinking of an idea that doesn't sound bad in my mind (quite the feat) and putting pen to paper. Never thought about externalising; that's a fantastic piece of advice!
QCE Class of 2023 :D

caffinatedloz

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Re: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)
« Reply #28 on: September 14, 2019, 06:38:39 am »
+4
Thanks so much! I'll definitely try and get some practice in next week. The problem lies mostly in actually thinking of an idea that doesn't sound bad in my mind (quite the feat) and putting pen to paper. Never thought about externalising; that's a fantastic piece of advice!
Draft, draft, draft! The first copy of my creative writing is awful. There's a couple of good bits mixed in with a whole bunch of filler words and sloppiness. No one has to read that copy, the copy where everything in my head, no matter how it sounds to me, goes down on the paper. You can always refine it later.

Have you ever head of unconscious writing? It's a warm-up activity that's really helpful for what you've been saying you struggle with.

SlowandSteady

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Re: My Journey to the QCE Journey (and beyond)
« Reply #29 on: September 16, 2019, 07:02:56 pm »
0
I ended up going with Digital Innovations and Digital Technology as my two electives, having already handed in the application. Straight after that I had second thoughts as to whether I should have done Spanish because of the mark I got today (yay) and how disappointed the teacher was when I told her I wasn't doing it (one of the nicest teachers I've ever had, but boy can she lay the guilt on).
Oh well.
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