Ben reviewed one of two science tech articles which I hoped would connect directly to his interests. The first of the two articles was an NVIDIA article which tied computers, graphics, and science innovation together, and a designs trends article which I believe will speak to his interest in graphic art and logo design. As we discussed the first article, Ben added that the science tech company, NVIDIA makes up about 12% of every stock in the world" Ben has a wealth of knowledge across different disciplines and often contributes to discussions in meaningful and relevant ways. He went on to explain the reasons he does not like AI, using video clips and describing the nuances one should look for to distinguish between the two. I praised Ben's expertly delivered explanation and use of understandable/relatable vocabulary and suggested he consider delivering it to an audience - perhaps to his peers. Ben is giving due consideration to allow me to me make an audio tape of his explanation and critique of AI. This is a huge win, as he tends to shy away from public demonstrations and praise. Of late, Ben has been more open and agreeable to options, and I have been encouraging these considerations. We will review the other article in tomorrow's class. I chose the two articles to review as both are very current (2026) and written at an accessible but intellectually challenging level for a college-bound Stem student. Ben is tasked with responding to comprehension and critical thinking queries after reviewing the tests to asses his understanding and synthesis of the material.

We calculated the payment on a mortgage and did a partial amortization schedule without the use of technology.

Ben worked on his typing skills. We also did some technology examples related to graphs of functions

We will observe the graphs of nine different parent functions that will be used to discuss piece-wise defined functions.

Ben and I viewed a video about organic compounds and learned how scientists explored some of the effects of plants found in indigenous regions in remote parts of the world. We then contrasted it with controlled lab experiments performed in the US. Ben spoke highly of the scientist who examined the effects of certain plants in different cultures, acknowledging the fact that he learned their languages and dialects and respected their culture and traditions.

We have been following three stocks since December. We will look at the graphs of the price of a share since then and use the properties of functions to note trends.

We will observe the properties of functions using technology to produce the graphs.

We will look at examples of increasing and decreasing, concavity, and asymptotes in the graphs of functions.

After reviewing and completing chapter XXI in 'House of Leaves,' we read Chapters XXII which concludes with Karen finding and rescuing her husband, Navidson, after entering the maze herself- which changes the reader's understanding that he had died in the house. Navidson survives the house by burning his only remaining light. The couple ends up marrying but the entire experience with the house leaves Navidson forever changed and scarred. Ben identified and compared the symbols and motifs in the novel and how they represented in the text. We identified the following symbols: the house, labyrinths and hallways, mirrors. and darkness and void. Motifs included the footnotes and Danielewski's use of multi-layered texts, echoes, and typographic play, all of which intertwined to explore grief and reality. Ben effectively connected the recurring ideas to the themes, characters, and events described in the novel. This led to the conclusion that the main themes were fear, obsession, the unknown, and the questioning of reality. As Ben leafed through the final pages of the book, which showed various illustrations depicting the house, he creatively summed it up as " A book of leaves within The Book of Leaves" - a most fitting conclusion to our exploration of this challenging novel.

Ben classified organic compounds into the following groups: alcohol, carboxylic acid, aldehyde, ketone, ether or ester, and then drew the structural formula of each.