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What was your ‘Essential Question’?
My essential question was, “How do I construct a fully functional maple syrup evaporator from scratch?”

What excited you about this topic?
What excited me about this project was being able to have the ability to boil more syrup at a time and boil it faster than I... (Read more)

So I was recently tasked with the assignment of having to find an app or extension in the Google Chrome store, create a screencast, and then have a Google Hangout with a few fellow students.  The first thing I did was search the Chrome store.  I wanted to find an app or extension that would... (Read more)

Why ThingLink?

ThingLink is a way to make images more interactive. I loved this add-on and use it with labeling in Spanish. When learning a second language, it is so important to learn the target language without going through multiple languages. For example, when... (Read more)

About My Tool: EduCanon

EduCanon allows teachers and students to create interactive videos. They are very simple to use, having an extremely clear, user-friendly website to manipulate all of its features. As a teacher, I strive for one-hundred percent student engagement, and,... (Read more)

Welcome to GDRSD Portfolio Sites. This is your first digital portfolio post! Edit or delete it, then start using this tool to capture how awesome you are!

The GD Players have been working tirelessly on their 2017 fall play, Twelve Angry Jurors. This grippingly intense production, written by Reginald Rose and directed by Chris Olson, centers around a jury deliberating the case of a family murder. A teenage boy, accused of killing his father, faces our 12 jurors. If they see him... (Read more)

Each year high schools are allowed to nominate two juniors for the All State application process. During the 2016-217 school year, I was rigorously interviewed by the All-State panel for the opportunity to be mentored by prominent artists in a two day program at U Mass Dartmouth in June.

(Read more)

Submitted to the 2017 Scholastic and Writing Finals.

Technovation is around the corner and the Mass Ed Foundation and I are excited!  Check out the program of events in the works to help kick off 2016, the biggest and best Technovation season EVER!!

Let’s Go CRUSADERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here’s the calendar of events:

Kickoff – December 5, 2015 @ Microsoft NERD
Workshop: App Inventor Deep... (Read more)

The Hour of Code is a global initiative to expose k-12 students to computer science through a series of programming applications both on and off line.  This year our ECS, Exploring Computer Science, students as well as students that helped out the year before acted as ambassadors, traveling to four middle and elementary schools combined to assist... (Read more)

4/24/2015

Dear Mrs. Maio,

My best poem I have written is my ekphrastic poem because I thought I did a very good job on it, and I thought that the art I was writing about gave me many ideas on how to get started. My other poems can be better and I could revise them... (Read more)

27 April 2015

Dear Ms. Maio,

The poem I consider to be my best is my mimic poem. I feel it uses great descriptive language, onomatopoeia, rhyme, other literary devices, and expresses feeling. In one stanza I wrote, “When flowers sprout up from the ground, In brilliant colors of all kinds, And the... (Read more)

April 15 2015

Dear Ms. Maio,

The poetry unit has almost been like a journey for me because I have learned so much and improved as a writer. I feel that my Ekphrastic poem, Reflections, is my best poem. Before writing this poem, this unit was very difficult for me. I was having... (Read more)

We did a wevideo on climate change. Our topic and title were “Where does climate change affect most people?”. We showed pictures that related to our topic. We also had explanations for the answers we found for our question. We made a bibliography with all our sources as well.

In Mr. Smith’s class, I wrote and produced an original green screen pizza box production, crafting my own backgrounds and puppets to tell a story about the American Revolution in Massachusetts.

In Mr. Smith’s class, I wrote and produced an original green screen pizza box production with available technology, crafting my own backgrounds and puppets to tell a story about the American Revolution in Massachusetts.

Saint George the Slayer

My fair maiden watches in awe

As my spear of justice stands

At the ready plunge into the beast’s head

I have stood ready waiting for the

foul creature to sliver

(Read more)

I feel like making my Social Studies House Project was a good experience to have. I learned a lot on how to do different things on the computer, like links and things like that. Before the project I didn’t know how to do all these things, but now I do! It was really fun... (Read more)

In Mr. Smith’s class, I wrote and produced an original green screen pizza box production with available technology, crafting my own backgrounds and puppets to tell a story about the American Revolution in Massachusetts.

In Mr. Smith’s class, I wrote and produced an original green screen pizza box production, crafting my own backgrounds and puppets to tell a story about the American Revolution in Massachusetts.

In Mr. Smith’s class, I wrote and produced an original green screen pizza box production with available technology, crafting my own backgrounds and puppets to tell a story about the American Revolution in Massachusetts.

In Mr. Smith’s class, I wrote and produced an original green screen pizza box production with available technology, crafting my own backgrounds and puppets to tell a story about the American Revolution in Massachusetts.

In Mr. Smith’s class, I wrote and produced an original green screen pizza box production with available technology, crafting my own backgrounds and puppets to tell a story about the American Revolution in Massachusetts.

4/24/15

Dear Ms. Maio,

I consider either my villanelle or my ekphrastic poem to be my best.  I consider my villanelle to be one of my best because I was able to take full advantage of this poem form.  By this I mean that I took advantage of the repeating lines having the... (Read more)

Forensic Science
Unit 2: Physical Evidence

The Atlanta Child Murders: A Case Study in Fiber Analysis

Please research the Wayne Bertram Williams case and answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.

Who was Wayne Williams? 23 year old african-american freelance photographer
Tell me generally about the victims (the 5 W’s).... (Read more)

Name:  __Jordan Dorff_______________________ Date: ________2/5/15_______________

Landmark Forensic Science Cases

For this assignment, you are to research the Frye v. United States and Daubert v. Merrell Dow cases.

1. Compare and contrast them in terms of how they relate to admissibility of scientific evidence in the courtroom.
2. Find real criminal cases on which each of these... (Read more)

Between 1999 and 2003, Integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS) specialists at the Stockton Police National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN) lab collaborated with Stockton Investigators and forensic experts at the California Department of Justice, using the IBIS and NIBIN databases to acquire information from the test fires of firearms recovered from various crime scenes. This... (Read more)

Based on all of the ballistics activities done in class, I have concluded that ballistics requires a great amount of patience, precision, and perseverance, and that it is easy to make errors in attempting to match bullets. I learned a lot about ballistics from the powerpoint, which included related vocabulary, procedures, and general concepts. I... (Read more)

Richard Munoz Ramirez, also known as the “Night Stalker,” was a Mexican-American serial killer who committed a series of murders in the years 1984-1985. He grew up in El Paso, Texas, the youngest of five children, son to Mercedes and Julian Ramirez, the latter of which was a railway worker. Ramirez was heavily influenced by... (Read more)

Frye v. United States and Daubert v. Merrell Dow both set precedents for the use of evidence in future court cases by discerning the types of scientific evidence admissible in the courtroom.

In Frye v. United States, Frye, who was convicted of second-degree murder, attempted to call an expert witness to testify that he had... (Read more)

What did you find  interesting in this movie?

I found the amount of specific, scientific investigation very interesting. So much detail and precision went into examining every shred of evidence. I also found it interesting that the jury chose to find Kevin Neal guilty when the evidence was beginning to point heavily towards his... (Read more)

What stood out to me the most in this case was how distinct connections could be made to almost every weapon that was found. When a 29 year old man was killed on October 10, 2003, one of the surviving victims was convinced her attackers were African-American. Several expended cartridges were recovered from a drunk... (Read more)

In this study, I researched the difference between the Frye and Daubert standards. I learned a lot from doing this research. I also worked hard to improve this study by adding more details to my writing.

Compare and contrast them in terms of how they relate to admissibility of scientific evidence in the courtroom.

They... (Read more)

As a student I think fall is the best season because you get to play in the leaves and you can paint pictures of beautiful things. You can also enjoy a great time of season and the nice weather.

The first reason I think fall is the best season is that you get to see... (Read more)

1. Compare and contrast them in terms of how they relate to admissibility of scientific evidence in the courtroom.

In the Frye V. case, a test that did not had scientific recognition (systolic blood pressure) was presented by the defense of the suspect, but wasn’t taken into account by the jury because it was... (Read more)

Let’s talk about the most famous detective (or should I say private consultant?) to ever exist: Sherlock Holmes. Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and published for the first time in 1888, Sherlock Holmes, John Watson and their criminal adventures are, even 120 years after being published, still, not only a literary success, but also a massive... (Read more)

Kids think that reading is boring and dumb,and maybe  a waste of time like in library kids just get a book and don’t read it. But I disagree. Reading is one of the best things you could do for your brain. Reading is fun. Come on just go and read. Don’t just read... (Read more)

Have you ever thought of not giving your class homework? Well if I were you, I would.It is not fair that kids have homework. Kids should not have homework because they do enough work in school, they should play outside instead, and if they are busy they won’t have time. You should agree.... (Read more)

You will need to research the case and answer the following at a minimum.

I The Case

Brief description of the case

Shirley McKie was a police officer in Kilmarnock, Scotland. She was investigating the murder

of Marion Ross when she arrested David Asbury and took him in. She was testifying in the

murder trial... (Read more)

What have you learned about crime scene management and evidence collection?  Do the guidelines make sense to you?  What steps do you think are the most important to secure the crime scene and minimize tampering/maximize evidence location?

Based on the notes from the PowerPoint that we took, and the video that we watched,... (Read more)

Andrea Whitney

You will need to research the case of Richard Munoz Ramirez (The “Night Stalker”) and answer the following questions.

I Background:  Detail the following:

1. Where was he from?

Richard was born in El Paso, Texas.

1. Who was his family?

His parents were Mercedes and Julian Ramirez who worked as... (Read more)

Are you  thinking about going on vacation? Do you have a vacation spot? You should  go to Ogunquit, ME. Ogunquit is the best vacation spot. Ogunquit is the best vacation spot  because it’s very relaxing and quiet, the beaches are gorgeous, and you can do a lot of fun stuff. Did you know... (Read more)

Do you like vacation? Do you have a vacation spot yet? Well I have the perfect spot for you and your kids (if you have kids). It is a 9 letter word. No, it is not Minnesota it is the Caribbean home of the the white sand beaches and the shady palm trees.... (Read more)

In the past several years, a new technology has arisen known as Genetically Modified Organisms, or GMOs. GMOs are organisms that have had their genetics purposefully changed by humans in specific ways. This is different than selective breeding where the genetics are changed slowly and imprecisely. GMOs are also different because the introduced genetic code... (Read more)

Huntington’s Disease is a genetic disorder caused by an inability to produce properly formed Huntingtin Protein. The day’s functional protein is caused by a series of CAG repeats along one part of Chromosome 4. The altered Huntingtin causes neurological breakdown in the Basal Ganglia and cortex leading to difficult cross-brain communication and motor control... (Read more)

The Human Genome is a complex and intricate environment that, through mutations, inheritance, and relative strengths of genes, can change and develop over time. Sometimes, these changes prove valuable, an example being the loss of hair in humans leading to better performance in long distance running, but this change can also prove problematic.... (Read more)

There are monogenic and complex traits within us. People are mostly taught how traits have two alleles and can be influenced with those genes. They provide a classic pattern with dominant and recessive. This is classified as monogenic traits. Yet, there are the traits that are influenced by several genes causing different variations, not following... (Read more)

We were given a worksheet where we had to find the one “puzzle piece” (mutation) from a family. Since it was color-coded, we were given a laminated version to use to see the colors better. I found it relatively easy to find the gene... (Read more)

There were a few things I had known before watching the movie, “What Darwin didn’t know,” but there were some things I had not known and learned from the movie. To start, we learn that a single human has 23,000  protein-coding genes. From that, there can be mutations within the DNA. What I found interesting... (Read more)

1. The four blood types are A, B, AB, and O
2. Blood type AB has both a and b proteins. Blood type O has both antibodies.
3. Genes are parts of chromosomes passed down from parents that determine a certain characteristic in their offspring. An allele is a form of a gene, where humans have two... (Read more)

The ballistics unit proved to be very engaging. The job of a ballistics specialist is extremely detail-oriented and meticulous. We used a simulation online to attempt to match 4 bullets to 4 reference bullets. A bullet is super difficult to match, because it is a clyndrical object. There is no direct face, or place that... (Read more)

1. Frye and Daubert  both deal with judging evidence during a case. Each case contains the presentation of scientific fact, and the ruling on how legitimate the evidence is comes into play. Both cases have expert witnesses, which do not, in the eyes of the... (Read more)

My time in 7th grade was amazing in ELA with Mrs. Leung. I always felt the same here but the entire time I changed without noticing. So from looking at it here and now I want to show you one of the many ways this class changed me for who I am about reading.

1:... (Read more)