Hey there! So, it’s finally Winter break, which means our first term of this school year has came to a close. I decided to create a recap of my term one, along with what work I think I could’ve done better and what I’m proud of academically and socially!

We started off grade nine with our steampunk project, but the build up to the metaphor machine itself was really a whole other adventure in itself. Learning about metaphors, the steampunk aesthetic and Crane Brinton’s theory were all included in this project. I think the writing prompts that Mr. Featherstone gave us really got my brain turning when it came to thinking creatively, and they inspired me to actually buy a writing prompt book to practice, which helped me with my imagination skills! This process also helped us all out when it came to planning out metaphors in our machines. I think my writing ideas improved over the time we practiced and I still read them over!

I found Crane Brinton’s theory to be really interesting and it was cool to learn about how it applied to different revolutions in history. The steps he created to make the process clear was convenient because it made the learning simple but still intriguing. I personally don’t think I did my best on asking a question about his theory because I didn’t think about it enough, If I could do it over I would put in my best effort and research the topic more.

My classmates and I mostly had the same opinion about steampunk : it wasn’t extremely fun to learn about. I thought the idea of Victorian era meets modern technology was cool, but I find learning about an aesthetic isn’t necessarily fun unless you yourself are genuinely interested in it. Once again, my project wasn’t at my top standard. I had a good idea and I researched it a lot, however my planning of the projects display was poor and I shouldn’t of left it to the last minute, because Garage Band ended up backfiring on me and not working.

At this point, I was disappointed in my efforts and wanted to turn it around for our major project — the metaphor machines.

The beginning of our project was difficult for me, because our group needed to get itself in order and do it fast. After a week of frustration and annoyance, we finally got ourselves on the same page when it came to wanting to succeed. Once we got into the scheme of things, our project ran smoothly for the most part. Our metaphor ideas were creative and overall our machine actually worked! I think my growth mindset really improved within the time period of working on this project because in the beginning I didn’t believe we could make a working machine, but by the end, I was confident in my groups abilities and it all worked out! My group work skills also improved because I realized that I needed to calm down when it came to being a perfectionist. I think that realization opened my eyes and made me a better group member.

After the metaphor machine/steampunk unit, it was time to jump into our mini Blue Sky project and Cray Cray Yay Yay unit.

I myself was very excited to do the Blue Sky project even though the theme of it was something I wasn’t particularly familiar with, the magical world of Harry Potter. The project was awesome because I got to lace my strengths into the writing portion and got to work on my weaknesses which included crafts (binding the book) and it also improved my growth mindset! I go more into depth with those topics in my other blog post, so click here to learn more.

The Cray Cray Yay Yay unit was also a success — I guess you could call it a success in progress because we are still in the works of finishing it — because of my group! All four of us group members are friends so we were weary about how it would play out, but (so far) our planning and drafts have been really successful! It has improved my teamwork skills and also taught me to work with my friends and keep project struggle out of our personal friendships which is really important.

I think overall my term one taught me that if I want good grades and to succeed I need to push myself. In the beginning of the term I wasn’t motivated enough and I didn’t manage my time well enough in the class, so I definitely know that for this upcoming term I need to do those things to improve my grades.

Until next time,

My Pretty Blog