Introduction
Hello, and welcome back to yet another edition of the Golden Life of Sylas. Today we are talking about PLP’s most recent project in Humanities. Now it’s been a hot minute since I’ve last written a blog post, but I am especially happy to write this one since the government and how it works is something I’m actually really interested in. Before we dive deeper into my work and the steps it took me to get to where I am in this project, let’s first summarize what we were actually going to do in this project.
The Project
Okay, so the project. “Who Cares And Why Bother?” A vague question, but given context, is actually quite difficult to answer. This question is in the context of voting under the age of 30 inside Canada. This is actually quite an interesting question as it is based off of why younger people don’t feel a need to vote; a concern with younger generations and a problem with future-proofing our democracy. Young people are the future of this country, and it didn’t surprise me that most young Canadians don’t actually vote. Throughout this project, we would learn about how the government functions, the different branches of government there are inside Canada, and how each of the branches contributes to the government’s ability to operate and make decisions best fit for our country. At the end of our project, we needed to present a video and slideshow presentation to a panel of students from grades 10, and 12. Our goal of the presentation was to encourage this panel to vote in future elections, and why it is important to vote. The group we had consisted of Makenna, Ben, Colton, and me. Now that you have a bit of an understanding of what our project is, let’s dive deep and answer some of the questions I’ve brought up.
The Learning
Lord of The Flies
Now, before we even started to learn about the structure of government and how it operates, we were assigned to read “Lord of the Flies,” a book that actually works really well with our project and explains the very basics behind a democracy. During our reading, we were supposed to take notes on each chapter, and at the end of our reading/note-taking, we would have a group discussion which showcased our understanding of the book, as well as our outlook on the book and how it connected to the way our government functions. I took notes and read the book, but sadly, during our group discussion, I showed quite surface-level thinking. The reason for this was mainly due to the fact that I am quite nervous speaking in front of a group of people, even if I am quite a social person outside of school. I have struggled with public speaking for as long as I have been in high school, as shown in our debate project. It’s something that I have been wanting to work on and is probably my main focus going forward in school. Taking the chance and raising my hand is something I need to focus on getting better at. The reason I am so afraid is because I am scared to get a question wrong. I have been called out a bunch in school for raising my hand and having something wrong, and it has sadly scared me from raising my hand further. Regardless of my ability to raise my hand and share ideas with peers, I felt I created some pretty good notes. Even if I didn’t really share my ideas and thoughts, I felt I did through my notes, and I am satisfied with the work I have showcased curricular-wise. I also felt I did a good job at accepting feedback from the teacher, further showcasing my understanding of “processing.” You can scan through my notes by clicking Here.
Politics and Government Quiz
As we progress further into the project, our main focus was learning how the government actually operated. To help the teacher see where we were at in terms of our understanding of the government, we were assigned a Kahoot Quiz. Learning about the government, and the way it works, I feel is one of the most important things to understand as a student. In about 2 years, I will have graduated, and understanding the way our government works can not only help me explore possible career paths but also gives me a solid understanding of why we should vote, and how voting is important to democracy. I have always been interested in politics and government, so I naturally found it fun to learn about the government. The Canadian government has 3 main branches: the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive. To sum up the three branches; the legislative branch passes laws, the executive implements them, and the judicial interprets them. I will go further into the structure of each branch later on in the blog post.
Research for our Presentation
Research is probably the most important part of a presentation. Without reliable sources, no one can verify the credibility within your points. My research went in depth about the housing crisis in Canada, as that was the topic I chose to present in our group’s presentation. Overall, I would say my research reached the proficient-extending standard. I went in depth about my topic, explored the root of the problem, and also talked about solutions the current government is taking to help people with housing. I feel more than happy with the research I provided and can confidently say it helped benefit my slides and overall boost our group’s presentation credibility. You can explore my research by clicking Here.
Our Presentation
So, the main event, the presentation. The presentation went surprisingly well. Despite the fact one of our team members was absent, we still managed to pull it off and do well. My parts of the presentation were the Trivia, to help engage the audience. And housing in Canada, which as my fellow Canadians should know, is a big issue many young and older Canadians face daily. For one, it’s the fact that as a high school student, I may never own a home post-secondary given the state our economy is in. And for the older generations, they are faced with the ever-growing daily struggle to pay the bills and afford their next rent/mortgage payment. I felt I did a great job at presenting my issue and delivering the trivia to the audience. As a sort of reward system, we gave out candy to winning participants in the trivia, which helped give us the edge compared to other groups. In my opinion, all of our hard work paid off and I am grateful that I got to work with a great group of people. However, despite how well the presentation went, I still see some room for growth when it comes down to enthusiasm when presenting, and overall audience engagement during my slides about housing. I have always struggled in social presentations and it is something I want to improve as stated in my learning plan for this year. I definitely feel there is some growth to be made in the area of communication and engagement but I felt I have demonstrated a pretty substantial leap forward in my presentation skills compared to our debate project.
Project Conclusion
In conclusion, this project was very beneficial, as it targeted my goals in my learning plan and not only helped me further develop my presentation skills, but also gave me an understanding of how our government functions and why as a young Canadian, it is important to vote to keep the structure of our democracy future-proof.
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