Then and Now

With the completion of my first semester of high school, I learned
many aspects of myself as a student. To begin with,
I have become more of a visual learner than an auditorial learner. This is because now I like to repeat tasks that I have done before. For example, in math class when a problem has been completed, I like to re-do it again because I realize that repetition and seeing what I am doing multiple times ends up benefitting me.

Besides that, as the semester went on, I developed a study skill that benefited me drastically. It was reviewing the material bit by bit until the night before the test. So, I would study a page or two in depth for one night. Then the following night I would study another page. A week later, the night before the test, I would then review all of the material just so then I feel confident. However, by then I would know everything so there is no point of doubt or uncertainty by then.

The one project that I am the most proud of this semester, is the Twilight project. This project I spent the most time with. Primarily because I spent a lot of time creating questions for the person that I interviewed, having email exchanges with the person, and then transcribing everything what was said during the interview. Also, once the project was complete, I felt extremely confident about it because I left "no stone unturned" and I put forth the best work that I possibly could.

During the semester, the one thing that did not reach the results that I had hoped for was the Fairytale project. This project, I started off strong by having a great idea to build around, and I felt as excited for the project as it could get. However, as time went by, my ideas for the project began to dissipate and that affected my mindset on the project greatly. To add, once we got our grades back on the project, I got a B+ on it when my intentions were to get an A.

In general though, the content from this class proved to be useful to me because with the extension, I have become a more efficient student. For example, I use the StayFocused extension when I need to block a website because it is prohibiting me from completing an assignment.

In conclusion, a specific goal for second semester is putting forth one hundred percent effort and care on all assignments, homework in particular. The steps that I will take to accomplish this goal, is first avoiding an form of distraction as possible. Then, I will avoid technology so I am just concentrating on my homework and nothing else. Lastly, I will not rush to complete the homework but I will plan out time intervals saying that I should be done with a specific section at a certain time.



http://www.istockphoto.com/photos/mathematics

Is Staying Focused Possible?

After using this particular extension, I truly feel like I have benefited from it tremendously. In this extension, I found that the nuclear option helped me the most because it gave me a time limit in which I can use the website. Then, once the time limit is done, the website is blocked for a set time. During moments when I am doing my work, I like to go onto the NBA website and view the scores of the day. Having the nuclear option, I am able to block the website for a certain amount of time. Not getting distracted every twenty minutes or so, has really made a difference thus far.


On the negative aspect of the StayFocused extension, the timer would not go off unless you are on the page. The issue is that people will think that using the extension will mean that they are distraction free. The extension is a baby step into learning how to not get distracted but it is not the only step.  However, it starts with you and ends with you. Whether you want to consitently go distraction free or not is up to you.


Overall though, the StayFocused extension did more good than harm to me. I will definitely be using this extension on more assignments to come, involving a form of technology. Using this extension, I made use of every minute of time that I had.