Tuesday 29 April 2014

QuickWrite - Worst Food

Over spring break, I was in Berlin (as well as some other places) and one day, we had to find our own lunch, and 5 or so people went over to a little kiosk that sold a bunch of different things. Knowing myself, I knew I couldn't have really anything there other than the fries which came with a sausage. I hadn't ever tired it and I was open for a new experience. 
This sausage tasted kind of sour, and was hard to chew. Though it was sour, I found it to be very juicy and had a lot of flavours to it I wasn't sure about. 
We ended up having this sausage for dinner a few times as well and the taste was, almost worse than what I had for lunch that day. For most of us, the sausage wasn't cooked so we didn't even try it. For myself I knew I wouldn't like it because of the experience I had already had with the Bratwurst. 

QuickWrite - What is your Imaginary Eden?

My imaginary Eden is an island, very secluded and unknown. No buildings, no one knows about it, barely any people live there. Only people who accidentally found the place know about it. Basically, there is nothing on this island. You could take 3 days to walk across to the other side and without any trouble at all. The only downside, but not a downside in my opinion, is that since there is nothing on this island in terms of architecture, you would have to restart your entire life. For me, I would enjoy that. I enjoy having work to do, constantly. Having to find your own source of food and of fresh water which could be anywhere but hidden as well. There is no religion, no set apparel, nothing in my imaginary Eden has any rules. 

Mid Semester Reflection

(1) Six Word Memoirs - I would give myself a B. I think overall things went well, more specifically I think that my pictures captured my topics well. I think what needed work in my Six Word Memoirs was the editing of my photos. Not only that but I think what else needed work was my explanations apropos my photos. 
In terms of writing, I learnt about myself that I can go on and on about something without realizing it. When I do realize that I have written a lot on one specific topic, if I go change anything, my paragraph (or however long it might be) then doesn't make sense. I have learnt that I need to get to my point quickly when writing anything. 
In terms of being a thinker, I think what I have learnt about myself is that most things take a while to figure out. While doing my six word memoirs, finding words for certain topics was hard but I'm not sure why. Even though it takes me a while, I think in the end they all turned out quite well. 
In terms of being a creator, I learned about myself that I can come up with different ways to show my true personality and things that I ball up inside without being too strait forward.
(2) IGNITE presentations- I think what went well was that before spring break, we were told that we would have to find pictures that relate to our topic. For me, that was perfect because I was going on my trip to Europe to study WWII as well as events that took place during that time. So knowing about the project and having a topic in mind to use, was perfect for me. I think what needs work is my presentation skills. 
In terms of writing as per the IGNITE presentations, I think I didn't do any. I chose not to write a script for my presentation because I think that doing it on the spot brought back the memories of when I was at the camps. So speaking from the heart, in my opinion for this project definitely made presenting easier. In terms of myself as a thinker for the IGNITE presentation, coming up with the subject of "The trip that changed my life" was difficult, and although I knew I wanted to use pictures from my trip, but I couldn't figure out a topic. I came up with the topic I used for my IGNITE presentation while I was at Awchwitz. The room I was in when I cried, I realized that I wanted other people to experience what Awchwitz and Birkenau were like. It was obvious to me that, no one could really understand what it was like, actually standing inside of the death chamber or just seeing the camps in person. Even though that is true, I wanted my classmates to at least see what the real concentration camps looked like, since we all have been learning about them since grade 6 (for me at least). Finally, as a creator I think that simply the topic of my IGNITE presentation was fairly creative. Not to discourage my classmates topics, but I think that my topic, considering the rest of the topics that were presented was very different and might have had a little more effort put into things. I could be funny and say, "I went to Europe just for this project!" And although I would love to, just for the heck of it, it wouldn't be very polite. What my point on the matter is, is that in my opinion, I think my topic for IGNITE was special in a way that, not too many people can say they've been to Europe specifically to learn about the Holocaust and the wars. Not too many people, from where we live, can say that they've actually stood inside of the 2 latest concentration camps which were used in the Holocaust. All in all, I would give myself a B for this assignment. 
(3) Blogging - Honestly, I'm not a very good blogger. I rarely post things to my blog however I am trying to post more. I don't typically visit my classmates blogs and comment. Finally, I am not very good at posting assignments on time. Judging on this assignment, it is obvious I need motivation to be able to post my things on time. All in all I would give myself a C for this portion. 
(4) Connecting and Engaging - I would have to give myself a B for this because I show up on time and I am in class everyday. However I don't participate in posting to my classmates blogs. 
(5) Course goals for myself as per this course would have to be..
a) Posting more personal posts to my blog and on a regular basis.
b) Posting assignments on time to my blog.
c) Staying on task during class while my friends are all talking around and over me while I am trying to work is difficult, so I may either listen to music more often or move spots. We will have to wait and see if listening to music does the trick. My goal for 'c' is staying on task when we have work to be done in a timely manner. 

Monday 28 April 2014

Personal Post - A numbness

The song Wake Me Up by Aloe Black has inspired me. It has made me think about a recent event that feels like a nightmare that I just want to wake up from but can't. Although the song is a happier one, about love and well happiness, it helps me through this rough time. 

I recall something that I read a while ago about music; When you're upset, you feel the music. When you're happy, you hear the lyrics. 

Right now, I definitely feel the the music and the tone of the song and I take it to be a sad song. Though as I listen, I tune out the lyrics, and when I tune back in at certain points, the song makes me feel even more sad because of how I feel at this moment, since the song is a happier one, as are the lyrics. 

There aren't too many songs that could help me when I am sad about anything. It really depends on what 'state of sadness' I am in. At this moment, I'm not sure. It's almost like a numb feeling. Like what just happened isn't real, though I know it is. This numb feeling doesn't feel real, it feels like I am asleep, dreaming that this all happened. As if I could simply wake up and everything is back to normal. But I know it's not. And in the morning, I know I will feel even worse, because I know I will encounter what made me sad, and when I do encounter it, I have no idea what I will do, or how I will feel. 

Skype Reflection # 2

(1) What went well in todays Skype session?

I think for my group, (Ben and I who taught How to Watch a Scary Movie) did well with our presentation, as did everyone who presented. I think what went well out of everything was the amount of enthusiasm we all had while we presented, and how excited the kids were to hear about what we were teaching. 

(2) What is the value in collaborating with the grade 3 class? 

For me, I think that the value of collaborating with the grade 3's in Thompson gives us grade 12ers the opportunity to see how things have changed since we were that young. Obviously things in society and in the technology department have changed, and since our grade 3 year the way kids are taught has changed as well. In Creative Writing, we use our devices which is much different than any of my other classes. Personally, I like being able to use my devices during class and have the trust of my teacher that we are doing our work. Unlike my other classes, I feel like my teacher treats us like adults which is exactly what we need. So collaborating with the grade 3's gives us a chance for our teacher to see how we can use our technology to do really, anything in regards to teaching and learning while we get to know our grade 3 pals from Thompson. 

Thursday 24 April 2014

Paper!


So, I have this app on m'y iPad called Paper and today in essentials class, my best friend decided she wanted to try it out and draw a sailboat. 

Simply wanting to draw a sailboat, turned into all of this....





Thanks to Jordyn Syrenne and Kathryn Sequeira! 



Wednesday 23 April 2014

IGNITE Présentation






















Procedural Writing: How to watch a scary movie


Step 1:Find a scary movie and some friends



Step 2: Turn off the lights and get ready (i.e. Popcorn, drinks and blankets) 



Step 3: Start the movie



Step 4: Get the main plot points, so you can understand the movie



Step 5: If you get scared, cover your face and try not to scream 



Step 6: Once the movie is over, make your friends swear they won't tell that you got scared 



Step 7: Try and sleep..... good luck