Grade 8 has been an amazing year. It has been so much fun being in a new school and I feel like PLP has helped me in many aspects. For example, not having to carry around books all the time has helped me stay more organized. So far this year we have done countless projects and in this blog post I will be going through my most memorable.
In preparation for our trip to Oregon we started coding. We were introduced to an app called Swift Playgrounds which is a brilliant app developed by apple. Swift Playgrounds was developed to help kids learn how to code in a fun and interactive way. Using code, we would move a character across a puzzle and each level would teach us something new like a new type of action or command.
During Oregon we were tasked with creating three advertisements. One advocacy ad, one business ad, and one tourist ad. We were assigned specific locations for each group of 5 we were apart of. We also visited many tourist locations and landmarks. My most memorable moment in Oregon was when we went to the aquarium. It was so much fun seeing all the different sea creatures and learning all new kinds of stuff about them. There was a touch pool where you could touch all kinds of sea urchins and sea anemones. I learned that sea urchins have muscles and can move and I also discovered that if you put you finger on a sea urchin it will try to grab you!
Next up was the winter exhibition. Our subject was ocean life and how we can protect it. Each one of us was tasked with creating an interactive project that explored wildlife and the factors that are changing wildlife around the world. The room that we had our projects displayed in, was decorated with all sorts of ocean themed things. There was also blue lighting and each station was decorated with blue streamers.
In the background of our project work, we have focussed a lot on having a growth mindset and how it affects us when we have a fixed mindset. I have learned so much about this and think a lot about how I can have a growth mindset.
Recently we started working on the play: Julius Caesar. We downloaded an app that has an animated version of the play and a complete script of the play. We were split into groups and asked to cut out a body of a character in the play and make different body parts be a symbol of something related to the personality of the character.
During our studies with Julius Caesar we were introduced to Destination Imagination which was a creative way to be involved in work experience situations. Each group was assigned a certain task, our group was assigned “show and tech”. Our assignment was to tell a story with a protagonist and an antagonist while at some point moving one of the characters across the stage with no human interference. I unfortunately wasn’t available for the presentation because I was in Winnipeg visiting family. I do know that the rest of my group did great and I am thankful that they could pull it together without me.
And finally we have just started learning about poems. Personally for me this is one of the most fun things we have done in PLP because I have always loved writing rhymes and poems. I find it a simple way to express my feelings in the moment. Most of our poems have to connect with our worldview which has also been a huge topic this year.
This school year has been jam packed (in a good way) and I have enjoyed it so much! I am so excited to see what the rest of this year and next year have in store!