This School year for me has been a big one, but not just because of PLP. Throughout the year I have had to manage my dance schedule, choir performances and practices, school trips such as Hanford and Spain, and volunteering and work opportunities.

Above all of that, grade 11 classes are known and have proven to be the toughest to get through.

Even though it has been a chaotic year, I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished.

I decided for my Tpol instead of going through my best and worst work, I would use the story spine we continuously keep coming back to, to demonstrate my year.

The Beginning

The year started off like any other, every student was fresh and eager to be back after a long two months of sunny days by the beach. Although this year already felt different then any other being that our grade 11 PLP class had shrunk down 1 size and we now had regular science and math classes with the other students in our school. I only joined PLP last year, so for me it wasn’t a new skill to have to manage assignments and tests scattered and sometimes stacked on one day from multiple teachers but for the rest of the class, (other than Izzy), this was going to take some getting used to.

The Event

As per usual we got right to work starting off with a Bomb Drop Newsreel video project that some excelled at and others such as myself gave loads of room to grow for this year. What we didn’t realize at the time is that this was all leading up to the big event our Hanford project. We had about a month to prepare for our History in 5 video projects that we would film on our mini exploration to the atomic bomb Hanford site. This project taught me so much about going above and beyond to prepare yourself therefore you can get the most out of your experiences.

Middle

At this point in the year I didn’t have any projects that were my best work so I was determined to make the winter exhibition something great. Our exhibition did turn out to be one of my favourite projects I have done in PLP. The exhibition was a class project where we created an interactive experience for our audience. This project captured what I love about projects in PLP. We had a lot of freedom to express our knowledge, we were able to work as a team, and it used a huge variety of skills from writing to building.

 

With the exhibition done we had a brief moment of celebration for all the work we did before moving on to our next task. This task took a lot of careful thought to be able to execute it really well. The project we had to create was about the Civil Rights Movement. Because this topic was so huge and had many layers we had to really narrow down our topic. My partner for this project was Parker. We both had so many ideas of what we could do because we were exited about learning about such an important topic. We were able to implement our love of music into the project as the influence of freedom songs had a huge impact. Even though I was really passionate about the project I learned that partner projects are really hard for me because I often have contrasting ideas with the other person and get stressed not having control of meeting deadlines.

The Climax

By this time in the story I have been able to balance all of which I talked about at the beginning of the journey. My grades aren’t as high as I would like, I haven’t been able to find much free time but I was still going strong. It was after spring break that this all was going to change. These last three months of school is truly what makes or breaks you and these past three weeks has felt like the great battle that seems to never end. With countless tests and a new job it’s been hard to find enough time to focus on my exhibition. I’ve come to far to create something I felt was mediocre for my conceptual art project so as it comes to the final week I’m needing all the time management skills I can get.

Resolution

The final performances for dance and choir have come and gone the grade 12s have graduated but somehow there’s still a lot to complete before I’m able to put this past school year behind me. Once it truly does come to an end I will take what I learned this year about teamwork, dedication, and time management into the following years. Even though this story of how I got through my Grade 11 year of high school has come to a conclusion this is not the end for me yet. For now I’m going to enjoy my summer and prepare myself the best I can for truly the end of a great chapter in my life.

 

This year in PLP we had a specific course that worked on our goals, productivity, and habits called PGP.

This course wasn’t very big and didn’t have many assignments it mostly enhanced our skills that we all have to use to stay on top of things and do our best.

Even though not all of the tactics and tools we were supposed to take on was a good fit for me, learning about why it’s important to be productive and that there are many ways todo so motivated me.

The tool that I was able to make a habit for productivity was time blocking.

Being a forgetful person with a busy schedule has caused alit of anxiety in the passed so this tool of organizing Calendar has proven very helpful. I also find it more helpful to see the gaps in my day instead of filling it with HW and eating time.

Even though I did not end up loving the app Things. I was motivated to use two more simple tools to organize my HW and to dos.

Since elementary school I’ve been using the little Exercise Book to keep notes, test dates, doodles and all my weekend HW.

It may not look the prettiest but it works!

In case I am even busier then usual I will use notes on my phone as a helpful reminder of my to do’s.

Talking about journals we were given one in PGP for our goal setting. We read the book What Do You Really Want and did it’s many tasks to get you to think deeper about what’s important to you and where you want to get to. I thought the goal ladder was really helpful when thinking about goals like getting into university that has a lot of steps.

I also used my goal ladder to successfully get a job

Finally we learned about the 7 Habits

• Habit 1: Be Proactive
• Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
• Habit 3: Put First Things First
• Habit 4: Think Win/Win
• Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
• Habit 6: Synergize

In this part of PGP we were able to reflect on our life as teens in the book and workbook The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens.

Here are a couple of my favourite pages of the workbook

I thought this work book and these pages in general helped me think about how I balance all aspects of my life. I think having a balanced lifestyle is one of the most important thing you can do to ensure a happy healthy life.

What I liked most about PGP is how it was personal to helping you succeed the best you can. For a whole year I have taken away a lot of skills that I hope to continuously use. I also was able to see how I need to improve in time management and taking care of myself.

 

The early 1960s were some of the most dramatic years of the Cold War as several key events influenced the turning point with the Cuban missile crisis of October  1962. But what really led the world to be on the brink of nuclear destruction.

World on the brink essay.

In class we researched, and formulated our essays about why the world was on the brink. I decided to focus on the formation of NATO and more specifically West Germany’s involvement.

Something I learned in this unit is that every event and decision leading up to a change or turning point in history connect to each other

We watched some great films about the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 60s, and social change. From all of these films and further research I made a connection that the want to keep power pushes away serious economic issues and causes more. The Cold War took the attention away from the economic change that needed to happen with the united farm workers and caused more harm to Germany.

The Cold War caused the whole word to live in fear as the threat of nuclear weapons were much to pressing. In the film “Thirteen Days” allows you to feel what the president and others in power such as Kenny O’Donnell might have felt during these intense 13 days. My favourite quote was, “There is no wise old man”, because sometimes when making the tough decisions there is only you, and only you can look at the past to decide what’s best for the future.

We have been learning about the crazy 60s for awhile now but the film “The Sixties: World on the Brink”, as you could have guessed covered the new topic we were focusing on for our essay. From this film we were able to pick one of these topic that we thought was important to research into.

• Marshall plan
• Iron curtain
• Berlin blockade
• NATO
• Wasrsaw pact
• Korean War
• Berlin Wall
• Truman Doctrine

Developing Essays

From creating this essay I learned that there is value in spending time after doing your research to think of these four things.

1. Why am I writing?
2. How is my topic a small part of a whole?
3. What message do I want to send?
4. Who is my audience?

We also focused in on credibility. When using websites for information there are some great tips such as checking out the organization on Wikipedia that will save you from heading down the wrong road. Also Google Books and research data bases are helpful for finding primary sources.

“The freedom songs are playing a strong and vital role in our struggle,”

“the soul of the movement,”

– Martin Luther King

Music is apart of culture, expression, our daily lives and great events in history.

Music has been, and continues to be, used as a crucial tool for change because it speaks to many people in ways just words cannot.

This video I created with Parker hopefully has proved this statement and given you a new understanding of the power music can have.

To create this video we did extensive research, crafted a script, recorded audio, and found and created our own footage. I’m not going to go into detail about the drafts and work done for this blog, but I will however go into detail about what I learned.

History of Music

In all probability, music has played an important role in the lifecycle of humans perhaps even before we could speak. Significant evidence has been discovered that very early man developed primitive flutes from animal bones and used stones and wood as percussion.

During the medieval period music was a dominant art in taverns to cathedrals, practised by kings to paupers alike. Alongside many other important forms came the madrigal that often reflects the moods and feelings of the people of the time.

The Renaissance (1450 – 1600) was a golden period in music history. As instrumental pieces became accepted into the repertoire, we find the development of instruments like the bassoon and the trombone giving rise to larger and more elaborate instrumental groupings. This gave composers far more scope to explore and express their creative ideas than before

Freedom Songs

From the Montgomery bus boycott onward, music was an integral part of the civil rights movement.“We Shall Overcome,” a song with its roots coming from the Highlander Folk School during the labor struggles of the 1940s, became the unofficial anthem of the movement.

The songs of campaigns, led by student activists, moved beyond traditional church music. Younger activists made up new lyrics, giving new life to many traditional songs.

Protest Music Today

Our generation of protesters today knows that if you want justice now there is value in having some sort of battle cry.  Using songs unifies the movement, expresses our needs and soothes each hurt soul all at the same time.

Hip-hop has emerged as society’s driving force when it comes to protest music. Just like their ancestors that were involved in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, a lot of hip-hop artists and rappers haven’t been afraid to let their opinions be heard. Similar to the song, “We Shall Overcome“, Lamar’s song, “Alright“,  has become an almost unofficial anthem for those protesting injustice in the African American community.

The purpose of protest music is to bring a movement together. As long as we keep using these new tools, such as social media, to let our voices be heard and unite people together, the sanctity of protest music will live on.

Its insane to think that we are already halfway through the school year and that the summer is so far gone, but from the start of September till now we have learned and accomplished a lot in PLP. This year in PGP we were shown an academic success plan/goals to shape and work towards this year. In grade 11 we have Curricular Competencies, ISTE Standards aswell as Habits if mind. I thoughts all of these resources had were great goals suited for our year and will be helpful to think about and refer back to them in further work.

Curricular competincies

• Assess the significance of people, cultural expressions, political issues, places, events, or developments, and compare varying perspectives on their historical significance at particular times and places, and from group to group (significance)
• Read for enjoyment and to achieve personal goals
• Use writing and design processes to plan, develop, and create engaging and meaningful texts for a variety of purposes and audiences

Habits of Mind

• Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations: Use what is learned; Consider prior knowledge and experience; Apply knowledge beyond the situation in which it was learned.

ISTE Standards
• Empowered Learner: Students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning sciences.

We also now use a journal and things to organize and create and keep track of our goals. There was a lot of helpful assignments in the novel What Do You Really Want that really made you think of what goals are important and how you can actually achieve them. I put some of the work I did in Book Creator

Our big question to be covering in this Mpol which is:

How are you going to progress as a learner before the end of the school year?

I will be answering this by showing examples of where I haven’t done my best work, and what I should’ve done differently. Aswell as showing where I thought I did great work, and how I can go farther next time.

The Newsreel Project

One of our first projects this year, sadly, I felt like was my worst project in Plp in general. Though I guess when you think about it, it’s alright because I can only go up from there. This project was creating a Newsreel that I did with Sam, Callum, and Ryan.

The problem for me wasn’t motivation or understanding the expectations, because I was exited for this project and thought it was going to look really cool. What I did find challenging in this particular project, was working with my group. I found that we weren’t working very well in class and definitely weren’t all as motivated to do this project, which greatly affected the outcome. Next time there’s a few things I definetly could have done differently.

#1 Decide What Role is Best for me Considering the Circumstances

For this project I took on writing the most of the script. During the project I had more time then usual and like I said before I was very interested in the project unlike some. All though it was beneficial that I did the first draft of the script because I got it done fast so there was more time for the rest of creating the project, I definetly think I should taken over the final draft of editing.

#2 Make Sure Everyone is on the Same Page

Because we didn’t work enough in class we didn’t communicate enough as a team. I found when I saw the final product there was a lot missing, such as a title, and the visuals wasn’t what I imaged they would be for our theme. I wish I spoke up more because even though I understood what we should be doing to make it a great project, not everyone did.

#3 Don’t be Afraid to Just Do

I really held my self back on this project because I was afraid of over stepping when I didn’t need to. Next time I should definetly go with my gut when I’m worried someone might need help or not have enough time to get some of there part done well. Instead of asking them if there good or need me to do anything, I will take action.  

Before I get into the exhibition I’m going to talk about the blog I created for it.

This years exhibition was such a cool PLP project that exited everyone one way or another because it involved building, art, acting, writing, and presenting. Though it also was intimidating because although there was something I love (art) there was also something I don’t tend to enjoy (presenting). I definetly was proud of my work I took charge in painting the scenery created props, helped edit the script, had some good ideas that were heard, and definitely got out of my comfort zone acting as Joseph Welch.

Now that I reflected I realize there was definitely a couple things I could have done differently. I definitely could have gotten out of my comfort zone for this project. When assigning roles instead of saying that I didn’t care and staying away from big roles such as being a guide I should have gone for it. Also I should have been preparing for the blog post by taking notes and pictures of the process.

 

My last example of work I have done is actually not from this year but I thought might be substantial to include and reflect apon. So let’s take a look at my last years mPOL.

 

Coming back to your big question, “how are you going to progress as a learner before the end of the school year?”, all I can really say is that I am going to try, probably fail at first, grow from my mistakes, succeed sometimes, and always be open to do more.

To elaborate on that, I am going to start every project not thinking I will never get this done or it won’t be good, but how can I use whatever time I have to get it done and be at least a little proud of the work I have done. Managing my time is more important than ever this year, having multiple classes with constant heavy workloads, so it is great that are PLP teachers are pushing us to time manage. How I time manage is by writing in my journal. I have been using this method for a long time and it really works if I follow it. I always have my journal in my back back and whenever we are given homework or a test is coming up, even if I don’t know exactly when it’s due, I write it down and later order the priority usually for the weekend.

A new skill I will be using this year is the time blocking. I have always had my schoo, and dance/sport schedule in my calendar but never thought of using it for homework. Although I mentally schedule out when I have time for homework being able to see everything I need to do and not worrying about forgetting something would definetly help me not leave things to the last minute.

This year I am going to put a lot more effort in time management because when you allow yourself more to get the most out of opportunities you are given.

The 50s were a time of prosperity, consumerism, growing economy, family and community. But no time was perfect. This might have been the perspective of one group of people, but certainly not all.

This blog won’t get into the civil rights movement but you might find it in a later blog coming soon. Also if you’d like to skip to just the Winter Exhibition it is at the bottom.

The Cold War and Red Scare 

A big part of the 50s was the “Red Scare”, that all started because of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States.  From my understanding the Cold War was a state of political hostility between the two countries that had no physical warfare but included, propaganda and threats. Early on in this unit we did a package and watched videos on the Cold War to fully connect our last topic, the Manhattan Project ending WWII, to this one.

The Cold War damaged the relationship between the two countries so greatly that they didn’t trust eachother. This led the United States to believe that there were hidden communist spies threatening the country. They were so frightened that they actually started turning on there own people calling them out for being a communist and part of the red scare.

The Crucible 

At the start of this unit we read a play called The Crucible written by Arthur Miller. This play grasps the concept of how a society can throw all logic away when dealing with a pressing threat. In the Crucible this threat was witches, and for the 1950s it was the communists. In both examples the community started blaming each other for the smallest and sometimes completely unlogical evidence.

I’ll come back to this in just a moment but let’s talk a little about something great about the 1950.

Baby Boomers and Life in the 1950s

Because there was no massive war going on anymore and soldiers were finally coming home to their wife’s, this made a lot of fast changes in the society and the economy.. kind of like a “boom”.

This video should some up the baby boomer generation and how they made such a huge impact on society. During the whole unit we learned about the baby boomer generation by watching videos such as this one Leave it to Beaver, and Happy Days. We also watched The Century, Americas Time: Best Years where we took a lot of notes on the baby boomers aswell as the red scare.

Now lets back to The Crucible and Red Scare. In the novels once someone was accused of witchcraft they would go on trails where they were forced to confess or be killed. Sadly, this is not far from what happened if you were accused of communist influence in Hollywood. If you were accused of being a communist you would be fired from your job most likely but if you worked in Hollywood your would go though a senate hearing probably get blacklist and never work in the industry again or even be sent to jail.

These types of hearings weren’t just for people who worked in Hollywood though the senator at the time, McCarthy famously accused multiple people and groups of having communists such as the US navy. Something great about the 1950s was that television was common in most households so people could now see more of what’s going on for themselves, such as the senate hearings. Because these hearings were televised people realized there senator was making false accusations with no proof. This made people believe the red scare was a hoax and helped end it.

Winter Exhibition 

Now I think you are well caught up in the crazy world of the 1950s and The Crucible, so let’s recreate and demonstrate what we learned in one amazing exhibition. It sounds like a lot of work, and yes it was, but for this exhibition we worked as a whole class and were all pretty proud of what we did.

Getting Started

For awhile we had been thinking about what the Exhibition would look like. We knew it had to be a interactive experience, we would walk through about 6 stations, we would have guides that go through all the stations, and it had to connect to the 1959s The Crucible and today. That, and what we learned through the whole unit, was pretty much all we had to work from when the teachers left us in the classroom (just like the LOTF debate) to figure out our exhibition.

Having to organize the project, and actually the whole exhibition in general, showed how much we have grown up into more productive critical thinkers since last year. We had barely any trouble deciding realistic ways we were going to connect all of our themes, what big ideas to use to separate the stations and how many people needed for each, and who should charge in script writing, editing, costumes, and set design. Throughout the hole process we were able to use our teachers to help us stay on the right track but we mostly just used eachother and our resources.

Everything Coming Together

We all put our strengths together and I can happily say we did a good job. There were definetly a couple fall backs and struggles, such as coming up with a impactful conclusion, the wall that seperates the gym not working, needing to fill the gym more, and parts of the Hollywood scene falling apart during our presentation. We dealt with all of this and did the best we could to give a spectacular 1950s experience that you can see here.

https://youtu.be/Hz4YaRez95w

Reflection

Even though I was very proud of how we came together and what we produced, there’s is definetly more I could’ve done as a individual. This project had a lot of aspects to it such as script writing, art, acting, building, and presenting so everyone had something they were good at. I mainly stuck to what I was comfortable and confident doing, which I would classify as the more behind the scenes stuff. Now that I’ve reflected, I wish I had taken the opportunities that I had to try new roles such as being a guide or even a DRI.

This winter exhibition I definitely found more challenging then last years, but I also think I learned a lot more about history and literature. As I mentioned before we covered the American history of the glorious 1950s. Most of what I learned about the baby boomers, suburbs, Red Scare, blacklisting, Cold War, and McCarthy I kept in a pages document.

Reading the Crucible was definetly different then what we normally read for English because it had a lot of interesting text that we deciphered during our in class readings.

In this unit one of my biggest takeaways was how history can repeat itself. That is how we decided to conclude our presentation, so I thought that would also be a good way to conclude this blog.

https://youtu.be/M5eCF2_2Mm8

Think of your favourite TV show you have ever watched. It probably was relatable,  made you feel something, o was overall enjoyable to the point you wish it never had to end.

When TV shows became a thing in the 1950s there wasn’t much option and people used to plan their schedules around being home to watch their favorite shows, but that didn’t stop it from being America’s favourite past time.

Today we have more of a variety than ever and even can watch the newest and oldest shows whenever we want. Some of the shows I have become fond of such as Friends and Scienfeld were shows that my parents watched around my age. So why are we so obsessed with shows and how do they stay so relevant?

1. Relatability

As humans we find shows more interesting when they connect to us and our lives. There is a satisfaction that comes when seeing something that is relatable because it makes you realize that your not alone.

2. Character development

Why TV shows are different than movies because you are more likely too fall in love with a character because you watch them grow and develop. Full House is a great example of this because you watch characters such as DJ mature and struggle through the good and the bad as she grows up from being a young kid to an adult.

 

3. Educational

Not only documentaries are educational most shows have a message behind them and teach you a valuable lesson. Like how friends teaches you how you can turn your life around with the support of good friends or the office of how you should take advantage of everyday and take risks for your happiness.

https://the-artifice.com/the-office-characters-comedy-life-lessons/

4. Escape

Some times after a long day you need a break from the real world and escape into to a good show. This allows your mind to relax making it able to be more productive. But make sure you don’t get to into your show and end up finishing a season.

5. Science

https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2018/01/18/why-our-brains-love-to-binge-watch-tv-shows/

This article explains the science behind our love for Tv shows and how it provides our brain with a feel good high as it releases dopamine.

Thinking of what makes Tv shows so good and stay popular for so long I predict that two shows in the 2010s will stay relavent for the many years to come

Modern Family

Stranger Things

 

When you first see someone you usually can tell there age, ethnicity but would you be able to spot out a dancer.

https://youtu.be/RpKBd2xW-SM

In the play The Crucible the townspeople are trying to find witches. They make up crazy reasons for why they know this person is a witch but they never have actual proof.

I have been dancing scince I was very young and have realized there’s a lot of things I naturally do because of that. Also I have oftenly had strangers ask me if I was a dancer and always wondered what gave it away. I came up with a list of real things that dancers do and have.

• Bruises on your legs
• Understands French 
• Constantly stretching
• Good posture
• Stands in 3rd positions
• Gracefully falls
• Sleeps with leg in passé 
• Always moving there feet
• Smells of hairspray
• Can tie there hair in a perfect bun

I also researched a couple videos to give me an idea of how mine should look like.

We all have done things we aren’t proud of. Some people feel long term guilt for there bad actions and some people can easily put the past behind them. I for one, once I am forgiving, will completely put it in the past but know that I have learned from my mistake. Though, I have never kept a large enough secret to be guilty for as did Abigail, Mercy, Betty, and Ruth and the other girls did in the four act play called The Crucible.

This play is set in the town Salem that was populated by Puritans who saw the world in terms of good vs evil. They saw the dark woods as a place where the devil hides and unusual woman as witches. So when the girls went into the forest to cast a spell and were caught they were in terrible trouble. The girls were very guilty especially because they hid the truth of why they were dancing in the forest.

Even though I haven’t felt guilt for my actions, I have delt with a lot of internal guilt. Since I was young I have been taught by adults that I should be thankful for the beautiful safe place that I live in, my wonderful family, and my wealth and opportunities. What they didn’t realize is that even as a child they didn’t have to remind me because everyday I reminded myself of that fact. When I was mad at my parents, when I passed the homeless, when I saw tragedies on the news, whenever I was upset about my own life, I reminded myself that so many people out there have it much worse. Even now reading about how young girls and slaves were abused in the play that is set in the 1692 I am greatful that I don’t live in such a time. What I have learned is that if u hold onto guilt it will consume you

This drawing I drew in sketches pro represents that. If you allow yourself to forget about all the guilt you have and move forward you will be much happier.