Crista+N.

Oral Interpretation #2 Self-Assessment In this assessment, I will discuss how I did on my second oral interpretation. I plan on telling you some things that I did well on, what I need to improve on, I will critique my selection, discuss the impact the choice of selection had on me and what I learned throughout this experience. I think one of the best things I did in this oral interpretation, was my eye contact. On the first OI we did, I hardly looked up. However, this past one, I managed to look up throughout my whole intro, and parts of my poem. In addition, I think my volume was high and my pronunciation was clear and crisp. Some things that I think I could have done better, would be, my movements. I kept on fidgeting with my monologue and it was somewhat distracting. Also, my facial expressions and my vocal expressions were not as enthusiastic as I wanted it to be. I think my selection of my poem, was a good selection. I easily related to it, and it made me feel calm and appreciative of nature. The reason I did choose this poem, was because I love reading and listening to anything about nature. I am a nature gal, and the way it made me feel, the pictures it painted in my mind the first time I read it, it was amazing! Doing some research on this poem and the author really opened my eyes. I had never heard of William Wordsworth before this project, but now, he is one of my favorites! I love the simplicity in what he writes, and all of that romantic goodness. I absolutely love it. This performance will be and was significant to me because “I wandered Lonely as a Cloud” will be etched into my mind forever! Also, now I am more appreciative and aware of the nature around me. Whether it is the simple blow of the wind, or a vibrant yellow daffodil, now I notice the little things in life. I learned a lot from this OI. I learned that I need to let loose a lot more. I cannot be ashamed or embarrassed to go all out in projects like these. My facial, verbal and hand expressions should be a lot more enthusiastic. I need to get out of my shell more. Another thing I need to improve on is my moving around. As I watched myself, I noticed that I kept fidgeting, playing with my monologue and moving around. I guess when I get nervous, I move around a lot. I need to grow out of this habit because it is very distracting. Some obstacles I overcame, was that I paced myself throughout the poem. On my last OI, I went over time, by a lot. This time, I planned everything just right so that I did not go overtime, but I was not under time. If I had to grade myself, I would give myself a B+. I think I deserve this grade because I did improve on things since my last OI and I overcame a lot, and put in tons of effort and hard work.

OI #3 Self Assessment In this assessment, I plan on picking my performance apart. Whether it is things that I need to improve on, or things that I did well on I will be talking about it all. First I will analyze how I did with my performance as a whole. Then I will critique my selection, discuss the impact, reflect what I learned, and then I will grade myself. I think the delivery of my performance was, as a whole, very good. I kept eye contact with the audience as much as I could and I did more physical expressions than my last OI. Also, I was a lot more animated with my voice. I changed tones and went fast at some points, then slow at the appropriate times. Also, I think my intro had a hook and was interesting, but I could have said it better. Some things I think I could have done better on was my fidgeting. Last time it was with my feet, this time, it was with my hands. I kept fiddling with my monologue and it was very distracting. Also, I was very soft. Next time I should try to be louder and break out of comfort zone. My intro was good, except I agree with the class, it sounded like I memorized it. I should have been more enthusiastic. I think choosing this poem to do for my OI #3 was a good choice. I am very into, going green and helping the environment, so I thought this would be the perfect time to try to get people to help out. I don’t think people realize that our earth could be dead very very soon. I guess when I talk about something that I am very passionate about, it is easier to accomplish. I hope my poem had a big impact on the audience. That is the reason why I picked to read it! I hope it motivated them to take better care of the earth. This was also a good time for me to research more about our environment, and I learned quite a bit more about the earth just by writing and performing this OI. This OI was by far, my favorite so far. I learned so much! I learned more about the environment, global warming, and about ice caps. I also learned that when doing something that I wrote and something that I feel passionate about, it is easier to be myself when performing. Performing something that someone else wrote, you don’t really connect as much with it. As opposed to performing something you wrote and constructed yourself. I think what made me want to do good, was talking about something that I wanted more people to know about. I wanted people to listen. I had a hard time memorizing my intro. I have to work on making my memorization skills. I was so focused on not forgetting, I forgot to put some energy into it! Also, the fidgeting. When I get nervous, I move around a lot, and I thought I stopped doing it with my legs, but I realized that I started doing it with my hands! So I have to control my bad habit! Some obstacles I overcame, was just memorizing my intro in general. I have super bad memory, so it was a feat just to have memorized five lines. I think I would give myself a B+ because I improved on so much since the last OI. Like my shyness was not as visible, I managed to make it through my intro without pausing for dramatic effect, and my physical body movements were a lot better!

Oral Interpretation #4 Assessment In this assessment, I will talk to you about the things that I think I did well on, and what I did poorly on, also I will discuss the impact this section had on me along with what I’ve learned throughout this project. My purpose was to pick a passage that made people want to read Moby Dick. I felt that I could’ve done better on this assignment, it was a little rough around the edges and I could have fixed it up a bit. Some things that I think I did well on was my vocal expressions. I think I conveyed good emotion, “Oh Ahab, oh, my captain, my captain, noble heart- go not- go not” when I said this. Also, my hand movements may have been a little awkward, but I did more than my last OI. My eye contact was pretty good too. I didn’t shift around too much either and my tempo was good. Now some things I could have done better on, was memorizing my intro better. I stumbled along some parts, “Do they manage to kill the white whale, After months and months of searching for Moby Dick, they finally catch sight of him”. Also, my eye contact could have been a little better. I should have looked up more. “Oh Ahab, oh, my captain,” This is when I held my hand to my heart to indicate how I want him to listen to me. “my captain, noble heart- go not- go not!” I shook my head and made a sad face to tell him not to do it. “See, it's a brave man that weeps; how great the agony of the persuasion then! Not too late is it, even now the third day to desist.” I held a number three. “See! Moby Dick seeks thee not. It is thou, thou that madly seeks him!” I pointed to signal I’m talking about him. I expressed a tense tone. The impact the selection had on me was good. I learned a lot about whales and about myself. This OI was significant to me because this had the longest intro that I had to memorize, so it was the hardest. I learned that it is not clever or smart to try to memorize your intro the day before you have to present. It is too hard and nearly impossible for me! I want to improve on my memorization skills, so that next time, my eye contact can be better. I plan on studying my passage more before I have to present it. Some obstacles I overcame was that I had a hard finishing the book. But I knew that the best part was at the end so I used that as an incentive to finish it. Next OI I will have my intro fully memorized and free of any errors. I think I get a B for this OI because I screwed up in my intro a little, and I don’t think I did my best. There was so much more I could have done better on!

Crista Nishimoto Period 8 11-9-09 Oral Interpretation #6 In this oral interpretation, I will describe to you how I think I did on my oral interpretation. Starting off I will tell you what I think I did well on, what I didn’t do well on, I will critique my selection, discuss my selection, and tell you what I learned as a performer. I think this was my favorite OI! First off, I will tell you what I think I did well on. I am proud of myself for memorizing what I wrote. I know we were not supposed to have a full on manuscript, but this is the only way I can talk in front of a group of people! Also, I improved on my verbal expressions. I was more enthusiastic this time, and I think I broke out of my shell. This time, thanks to the microphone, my volume was good and my enunciation was clear and understandable. What I did not do too well on today, is that I kept fiddling around. Small movements that I did not know I was doing! In addition, during this OI, I used many filler words, like “yeah” and “so”. I should try not to use those so much. I chose this piece to do my OI on because being only fourteen; I have not exactly had many hardships or struggles yet. The closest thing I could come to pain and misery, was cross-country. I think it was a good choice for me because it represents a very important hardship to me and a hardship I am sure, other kids can relate to. Being in a position that you want to give up, but you push through it and conquer it! The impact this OI had on me was pretty major. Listening to everyone else’s hardships, like dead relatives, sick friends, and new schools, made me feel very appreciative and lucky to have the life I live today. It opened my eyes to what other kids go through every day. I learned a lot from this OI, for example, you need to enunciate and speak clearly, when you talk into a microphone. I also notice many things that I need to improve on, but I will only focus on two things that I want to improve on. My moving around and fiddling, had gotten very distracting. To stop from doing this, I am going to practice in front of a mirror more often. Also, I am going to pretend like my feet are glued to the floor. My second area of improvement is that at some parts, it seemed like I had memorized an essay. Which I did. I want to work on it so that it sort of just flows out, like I did not have to practice. I just need to practice more in order for it to sound like I did not practice really hard! PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! Some obstacles I overcame were not having a manuscript up there with me. I thought I would completely forget my entire speech because I did not have it up there with me. However, in the end, because I did practice, it turned out; I did not need a manuscript! I did fine without one! I think I deserve a B+ for this OI. I improved on so many things. My verbal expressions, facial expressions, memorization skills and even my volume and enunciation! I worked hard on this OI and I think this is my favorite one so far.

Crista Nishimoto Period 8 12-9-09 OI #2 In this self-assessment, I will be critiquing my second oral interpretation of the second quarter. The topic was, what makes me, me. I will begin by talking about things I did well on, and things I did not do well on. I will then critique my selection, discuss the impact it had on me, reflect on what I learned and then lastly, I will grade myself. Some things I did well on were my eye contact, I looked comfortable up there and although it was not obvious, I improvised at some parts when I forgot what to say when it was not on my note card. I also think my power point turned out good too. Some things I could have improved on was my fidgeting (knee popping), I could have been a little bit louder, my conclusion was not as up to par as it should have been and I could have added in more hand movements. I chose the topic of my sisters because they are the reason I live. They are really and truly my best friends, and I do not care how cliché that sounds, but it is true. I think this was a good choice for me because I know my sisters so well; it is really easy to talk about them. The impact this assignment had on me, was not life changing, but it was not nothing either. When doing this OI, it made me look back and reflect on my sisters. I know sometimes I want to strangle them, but reflecting on this, it showed me just how much they mean to me. I realized that my sisters are the greatest J. I learned quite a lot from this OI. I learned about the birth order theory and Alfred Adler. I learned more about my sisters from interviewing my mom about them, and I learned more about myself and how I perform in front of an audience. Some things that I could have improved on were my fidgeting. Yet again, my bad habit has been picked back up. Throughout the whole time I was up there, I kept popping my knee and fiddling with my note card. It was distracting when I watched myself. To get better at this, I am going to have to practice as much as possible. I will stand in front of a mirror and talk to myself. I hope I can correct myself when practicing. In addition, I hope to improve on my volume. To do this, I will pretend that everyone I am talking to is deaf; this will force me to talk as loud as I can, but not too loud. I think I deserve a B for this OI. Although I improved on many things, such as approachable-ness and comfortability up there, I still have to work on so much more. Like my volume, hand and body movements and my conclusion.

Crista Nishimoto Period 8 1-13-10 Self Assessment In this self-assessment, I will be analyzing myself on our book talk speech. I will start off by talking about things that I did well on, then what I need to improve on, I will critique my selection, discuss the impact, reflect on what I learned, and then I will grade myself. For this speech, I read “A Little Princess” by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I think I did well on my eye contact with the audience and my hand motions. I also liked how I sounded kind of personal and approachable. I totally think that there is WAY more things that I need to improve on. Like my memorization skills, I forgot my whole introduction and some parts of my speech. I also laughed or giggled when I messed up, (I showed when I messed up), and I fiddled with my monologue and note card a lot. I think this book was a good book to read. I really enjoyed it and it taught me a lot. I chose this book because my mom had recommended it to me because it was a childhood favorite of hers. It was also a good choice because I hope it showed people out there that there are children who are forced to live like poor little Sara Crewe. The impact this book had on my was big. It taught me to be thankful for my family, friends and home. I could end up like Sara. From this speech, it taught me that you cannot just go through the motions when practicing. This speech was memorable to me because I think I messed up the most out of all of our presentations thus far in the year. The biggest thing that I learned from this speech is that you cannot just go through the motions when practicing. You need to remember what you are saying, how you are saying and when you are saying it. To get better at this, I plan to practice on focusing more. Instead of practicing way more, I am going to practice the same times, but after each time I say it, I am going to go over what I just read and said. I also need to improve on my messing ups. To improve on this, I plan to practice every time I mess up, I am going to try to improvise and tell myself not to giggle or laugh. From this speech, I have gained a sense of appreciation for my family. This book taught me that there are children, who struggle everyday because they do not have enough to eat, or enough clothes, or even a family. For this speech, I would give myself a B- because there were way more things that I need to improve on.

Crista Nishimoto Period 8 2-16-10 Speech and Debate Observation

Friday, February 12 2009 was when I attended my first speech and debate tournament at Iolani School. I had never been to one before, and I found this one to be quite interesting. In this speech and debate analysis, I will describe my experience, my thoughts and feelings on the subject, and how this helped me reinforce what we are doing in English 9 right now. Seated in a Weinberg building, with the air condition blasting and two students firing away at each other, this was an experience I will never forget. First, one side of the argument would start, then the other side would analyze what they just heard and put them under the spot, asking questions, asking for proof, etc. I had to be a time keeper, and this job sort of limited me to my focus on the debate. Each minute that passed, we had to flip a card to show the debaters and keep record of the times. It was not as challenging as I thought it would be. The two judges sat next to each other, both constantly scribbling down notes. My thoughts and feelings on this outside observation were mixed. At first it was exhilarating to hear kids my age speaking up for what they believed it. But it soon got boring. Some of the debaters ran out of things to say or ask so we would be sitting there in silence for minutes. I thought that the debaters were really brave to participate in something like this. I also felt a little disappointed because I had heard that the debate were normally very intense with screaming and arguing, but maybe they were talking about varsity level because most of the debaters stayed calm and cool. I think maybe next time, students should not have to be time keepers. This made it distracting and hard to concentrate on the debate going on right in front of us. Plus, some of the debaters put lots of pressure on us. I did not like time keeping. I learned a lot from this performance. It totally reinforced what we learn in English 9. I noticed what the speakers said and did to make their side more believable. When one person did hand motions and added enthusiasm to what she was talking about, I believed her side more as opposed to the boy she was competing with. He was monotone the whole time and barely raised his arms. I didn’t feel as convinced with his side. Some of the kids also kept eye contact almost the whole time. Barely did they look down or away from the judges. I learned some new techniques from the debaters. Every single one of them dressed in an appropriate manor. Their hair perfectly coiffed, their suits and skirts wrinkle free. They just seemed very presentable and therefore made it easy to agree to and see their side of the story. After watching this debate, I learned that the littlest things such as arm motions and eye contact can almost make the debate winner. The simplest things go miles. Next time I perform a speech, I am going to try to incorporate all of these new techniques that I have learned from the speech and debate.

Crista Nishimoto Period 8 3-14-10 Self Assessment In this self assessment I will be assessing myself on the past speech we did. I will begin by critiquing the delivery of my performance, both the good and the bad. Second, I will critique my selection, then discuss the impact this speech had on me, then reflect on what I learned then last I will grade myself. The things that I think I did well on were the normal things, such as my volume. It was quite audible and easy to understand. I also did well on my eye contact with the audience. I think it was because we were allowed to use a power point so it made it easier for me to remember to look up and not stare at my note card. Some things that I need to improve on is STILL my stature. Also, my arm movements and my verbal expressions. At some parts I am just standing there and the way it talk, is boring. Watching myself, I even got a little bored. I think our selection of the topic Gangs, was not very good. It was a lot more difficult to find information on the subject than we thought. Kristen and I thought that doing gangs would be a good choice because gangs are very popular now days so it would be easy to get information on them. But we didn’t think about information during the Elizabethan era which was the toughest part. The impact this speech had on me was kind of big. I didn’t know a lot about gangs before, but after doing the speech I learned a lot. Also, this speech was significant to me because we had never worked with a partner before so it was a good experience. After doing this speech I learned how to “ping pong” a speech. A term that we came up with. It’s like when you ping pong the speech. First I say something then Kristen would say something then me, and it would “ping pong”. I actually learned a lot from this speech, like how to work on speeches with a partner, gangs now and during the Elizabethan era. Some areas of improvement is my organization and my verbal expressions. It’s difficult to improve on my organization skills which were really messed up during this speech. I think it was because we were working with a partner so sometimes the communication skills were off. But to improve, I plan on just working on being organized. To improve on my verbal expressions, during practice times I am just going to go all out and not care how I sound. Some obstacles I overcame during this speech was working with a partner. Not to sound like an ignorant brat but, I think I work better by myself. So it was kind of difficult to do a speech with a partner. I gained a broader knowledge on the subject of gangs. If I had to grade myself on this speech, I would give myself at least a B. I think I deserve this grade because although I improved on many things, there are still some things I could improve on.

Crista Nishimoto Period 8 4-14-10     Self Assessment In this self assessment, I will be critiquing myself on the delivery of my performance, the good and bad, then my selection, I will then discuss the impact this speech had on me, I will reflect on what I learned, what obstacles I had to overcome, what I learned and what I gained as a performer. First off, the good. I think I did well on my volume. It was clear, crisp and audible, easy to understand. Also, my tone of voice was good. I was approachable, enthusiastic and relatable sounding. I also did well on my eye contact, I barely, if not ever looked at my note card. Secondly, the bad. AGAIN, my stance was off. Plus I fiddled with my note card a lot which was very distracting. Also, I had a few blank times where I paused for a moment looking for the right thing to say. Lastly, something I didn’t do too well on was that I kept looking back at the board and I put the mouse in a bad spot. The way I was moving was distracting. I think my selection on the topic was a good one. I picked the right topic because it was one that I care about. I really wanted to get the message out there about animal cruelty. This was the perfect speech to do that. The impact this speech had on me was pretty big. It was big because it is a topic that I care deeply about and feel strongly about. This speech was important to me and significant because it was one that I can really connect with, and when you can connect with something, it makes it that much more enjoyable to do. Plus, it felt good to get my message about animal cruelty out there. I learned quite a bit from this speech. I learned more about animal cruelty, what it’s all about. I learned how to deal with using a power point by yourself. It is pretty difficult. Some areas of improvement could be still, the way I stand during the speech. Even though I have been practicing standing with my feet glued to the ground (just pretending they are glued) I have lost my focus on my stance and have worried about some other element of my speech. To improve on this, I should not worry so much about my other stuff, just primarily focus on the way I stand, but not completely forget about everything else. Some obstacles I overcame from this speech were the fact that I was going on the first day so I had less time to prep and practice. I really jammed my practice time. I used every single minute of free time I had to practice my speech. I think I deserve a B for this speech because I could still improve on a lot other things, but there were things that I improved on too since the last speech.