Write about a time when you realized that your perception of a particular food was based on a stereotype. Explain what the food was, what you originally believed about it, and where that belief came from. Then describe how your perspective changed after experiencing or learning more about the food. Be sure to include specific details about the moment your thinking shifted and what you learned from that experience.

 Prompt Response: I originally believed all Sushi was raw fish, unsanitary and gross. Alot of this perception came from my grandparents who unfortunately grew up in a time where Japan was seen as an enemy so would still avoid their food and culture like the plague. Eventually a friend convinced me to try it and I realized that my negative perception of Japanese food only held me back from enjoying one of my now favorite foods. 

Summary: I was on a field trip on this day

Reflection: Speaking of stereotypes, on this day in class I was watching the musical "Come from away" on a field trip, which follows the events following 9/11 in a Canadian town that had to harbor 38 planes, and it includes the way middle easterners were treated following the events of 9/11 despite the people around them having no real justification for their hatred.

How does the New Orleans episode of Street Food: USA show that food represents more than just something people eat? Explain how at least one food from the episode reflects culture, identity, or community.

 Prompt Response: In the episode we see how the food in New Orleans has helped bring impoverished people together throughout the history of the region, both old tradition and recent events like hurricane Katrina, food was used to bring people together in celebration of one another.

Summary: We watched and answered questions based on the street food USA episode.

Reflection: Despite both being southern states, Louisiana has such a distinctly different culture than Georgia

Today, we continued our discussion about culture and food. What is one dish from your culture that is a must-have as a representation of your culture? Identify the dish and explain what it is and why it is significant.

 Prompt Response: I come from a long line of Scottish-Appalachian families, and so my cultural dish is an important combination of both cultures, bringing potato dishes from the British isles and combining them with the popular pan fried dishes from the deep south where proper ingredients were too expensive. My dish is pan fried golden potatoes, sprinkled with rosemary.

Summary: We worked on our cultural dish poster and did research into our own cultures dishes.

Reflection: Im less connected to my actual ethnics cultures just due to how long my family has been in the U.S. that we really do have our own unique cultural traditions not seen in others parts of the world, and im slightly sad I cant put more focus onto my southern background as its not seen as a real cultural background.

Food is often tied to memory and emotion. Describe a meaningful memory connected to a meal or dish. Analyze how that experience shaped your understanding of family, culture, or belonging.

 Prompt Response: For me its simply mac n cheese and peas, my dad would always make it on nights my mom worked late and couldn't get home in time for dinner he'd throw together a fairly simple meal but I'll never forget the taste and how it felt when the house was half empty on those nights.

Summary: we jotted down cultural dishes with meaning to us

Reflection: My family has a more unique culture than I thought.

How did the writing process (brainstorming, drafting, revising, proofreading, and finalizing) shape the strength of the final essay, and what was learned about your personal strengths and areas for growth as a writer?

 Prompt Response: Its difficult for me to get started but if uninterrupted I can really focus and get into a flow of writing. Getting into that state is quite difficult in a classroom environment full of people and sounds of coughing, typing, feet bouncing and music bleeding out of headphones but I feel I managed as well as I could.

Summary: we wrote the final essay

Reflection: I should invest in noise cancelling headphones

Why is drafting an essential step in the writing process rather than going straight to a final version? Use your own experience from this essay to explain how drafting improved (or revealed weaknesses in) your thinking.

 Prompt Response: drafting helps you really see weak points in your explanations and wording, allowing you to already start with a base and replace words to strengthen your point rather than writing straight from scratch and coming up with things on the spot.

Summary: We wrote our draft

Reflection: I wish I prepared a little bit more of a strong thesis.

Reflect on your writing process for essays. Which part of writing an essay do you struggle with the most (for example: developing a thesis, organizing ideas, finding strong evidence, writing introductions, or explaining your analysis)? Which parts of essay writing do you feel most confident about? Explain why you feel strong in those areas and what specifically makes the challenging part difficult for you. Include at least one goal for how you plan to improve your essay writing skills.

 Prompt Response: I really struggled with finding evidence as it felt like such a vague goal, with an entire book of evidence its difficult to only choose 6 pieces for an entire essay. For me personally I had to really just narrow down to specific ideas and rely on memory of what words were used in those moments so I could search for them. 

Summary: We continued preparing for our essay

Reflection: Combing through an entire book for evidence is exhausting

After viewing your classmates’ digital posters and reading the feedback comments left on your work, what new ideas or perspectives did you gain about your poster? Reflect on how the feedback influenced the way you think about your creative choices and describe what you learned about the creative process while designing and presenting your poster.

 Prompt response: People seemed to really like my poster and a common opinion was how mine stood out in format and color especially. I had alot of fun making my own poster from scratch using some y2k assets I found on Pinterest rather than just using the stock assets from adobe.

Summary: We reviewed each others posters

Reflection: Im lowk goated at graphic design and thats definitely not ego talking

Reflect on the simile and metaphor worksheet. Which topic challenged you the most when creating your figurative language, and why? In your response, explain what made that topic difficult and how you worked through the challenge (or what you might do differently next time).

 Prompt Response: Appearance challenges me the most, I could have chosen something harsh or negative but growing up, in middle school people didn't really care for comparisons, they would just look at you and call you ugly. My mom is an English major so she tends to use alot more figurative language than the average person would so I quoted her instead.

Summary: We worked on our simile and metaphor posters

Reflection: Making a poster from scratch was really fun and I liked the creativity of it.

Today you created similes and metaphors that reflect your struggles, growth, and resilience. In a well-developed paragraph, reflect on the process. What did you learn about yourself while writing your figurative language?

 Prompt Response: Frankly the most difficult part of the process for me what remembering specific times that I could use as inspiration for my metaphors and similes, I didn't want to just make up a generic scenario like being a beautiful butterfly or my hair being a rats nest, I wanted to choose specific times from my life so I could be more creative.

Summary: We created similes and metaphors about ourselves

Reflection: I can remember alot more experiences from elementary school in vivid detail than I thought, alot of the experiences I used for my quotes came from grades 3-5.

Describe how you spent your time, any activities, traditions, travel, hobbies, or moments that stood out to you. You may also discuss something new you tried, something you learned, or how the break helped you reset before returning to school. Keep your response appropriate for a school setting and focus on experiences you are comfortable sharing publicly

Prompt Response: Over break I got the opportunity to meet my future illustration professor at CU Denver, and show him my current artistic portfolio. I was able to receive critique as well as praise from someone ill be learning from for the next 4 years.

Summary: We read and analyzed Maya Angelou's "Still I rise"

Reflection: Every year of high school in our English class we review this poem and every time I feel like I understand a little more of it.