Month: January 2018

They Keep Changing the Name, Eh

ethand on

Once again the name has changed, what used to be SLC, then was TPOL is Now MPOL, but I guess we’re still using TPOL for the end of the year. Anyways that’s not the point of this blog post, the point of this blog post is to talk about what I am going to be doing for my mPOL. This year there is a different format than past years. This year in my opinion involves a little bit more thought then past years. This year I am supposed to talk about the work that I have done this year, how I am proud of it or not proud of it, and how my skills have improved.

I am going start with an assignment at the beginning of the year. Which was my blog post on the WWI unit. I found it was not the best blog post I could produce but was definitely one of the better ones that I have done.

WWI Soldiers, Eh

I spent a lot of time on that project, and I learned a lot about my great grandfather, and it was one of the most interesting units in school I’ve ever done.

The next project I am going to talk about I was also proud of but mainly because it was just fun to make it. That project happens to be one that I did in science class, and it was focused on work safety and basically what not to do in a science class. It was mainly a lot of fun becuase of the humour we  added into the video we made.

I have another project that I was very proud of, and that was the group project that I did on aboriginal rights. With this project it especially made me proud after my teacher, my group members and I talked to Brad Baker who works for the school board. After we talked to him it told me that my group and we had done a good job on our essay, on that unit. That project involved a lot of good teamwork, as my group and I communicated a lot and divided all off the work we had to do. I also felt I showed a little bit of leadership in that project as I was named DRI, and I helped make important decisions.

Aboriginal Rights, Eh

This next project I was also proud of but it had some flaws. I was proud of it because my Grade 12 and I worked very well together, as I would make my podcast and then, send it to him and he would give me critique. That was our system for each podcast, as it made the podcasts the best that we could make them. The reason why I said there was flaws was, I felt that I wasn’t the most prepared I could be for the final podcast, and if I was it probably could have been stronger.

Everyone Has a Story, Eh

This next project that I am going to talk about was the video that I made for the HTH students. The reason why I am going to talk about it is, that I did very well on my first draft. I actually did well enough to the point where I barely had anything to change on my second and third draft. Now I am going to incorporate that into a goal now that I have, which is; I want to put as much effort as I did into that video so that my first drafts are high quality and I don’t have to change as much for second and third drafts. If I can accomplish that goal, my quality of work will increase a lot, and I will have less stress when it comes to revising.

I was very proud of that video after I finished it as it fully explained who I am.

One of the last things I am going to talk about is something that I am not so proud of. That happens to be a math project that I did, and I am not so proud of it as I did not hand it in on time. I was a little bit ashamed of how late I handed it in, so I am going to work and do my best to make sure that doesn’t happen again. One good thing that I can say about that project is that I still put a lot of effort into to incorporating the golden ratio into the image.

The Golden Ratio, Eh

Last but not least the thing that has made this SLC/TPOL/MPOL different from every other. I am supposed to ask my teachers question that is specific to me. The question I am going to ask is based off of my work habits between last term and this term. The question I’m going to ask is; How has my quality of work changed since last term, as it was sub par?

Now that I look back at what I have done this year, I have noticed it has all gone by really fast, and I have learned a lot. Now I realize that I still have a lot to do before this school year is finally over.

Everyone Has a Story, Eh

ethand on

To end the year we did a very interesting project, and it is also a lot different then the past Blue Sky Exhibitions I have done. For a while, the only thing we knew about it was, that we were going to be working with the grade 12’s(if you didn’t know, I am in grade 10). That was the only thing we knew for weeks, we constantly were prodding our teachers for information, until finally, they told us what we were going to do. The first thing they told us was that this unit was going to be based off of something called story corps. They then told us that we were going to make 3 podcasts in the span of about 3-4 weeks. Starting off with one that involved the grade 10 interviewing the grade 12, but first we actually had to meet our partner grade 12. Apparently the grade 12’s selected their grade 10. I don’t know how they selected us but they did, although I thought it would be funny if they drafted us like it was the NFL. Anyways like I said the first podcast had to involve interviewing the grade 12(Oh and by the way my grade 12’s name is Tom). Tom and I immidiatly started brainstorming questions that i could ask him that could pull a story out of him. Right after we made 10 or so questions, we went and found a quiet place in the school. I interviewed him, went home and editid it, and this is my product that I got from it.

The next podcast involved the grade 10 interviewing a family member or family friend of some sort. I chose one of my long time family friends that have known me for as longa as I have been alive. The person who I intervieweds name is Brian Webster. I know him because he and his wife are very good friends with my parents. I interviewed him about his job becuase I only knew a little bit about it, so I asked him ten or so questions that would get a story out of him.

https://youtu.be/Igz73KXUuLs

Now lastly we had our final podcast that we had to make. That one was going to begin on the night of the exhibiton. That meant that we were going to interview 3 people who went to the exhibiton that the Grade 10 has never met. The person who I found had the most interesting story was John Sushams, who happens to be grade 12 partners dad.

Those were all the podcasts that we had to do, and it was probably one of my more favourite blue sky projects that I have ever done. I am also very excited to see what it is like to be the grade 12 for that project.

Yippies, Eh

ethand on

If you have never heard of The Youth International Party, you probably think I was just having a good time and misspelt yippee. Well that is not the case. The Youth International Party, also known as the Yippies were a huge thing in the late 60’s. They got a lot of attention, as that was their main purpose. They were very involved with pop culture which was Rock n Roll at the time. They were mainly well known for street theatre and politically themed pranks, which made them well known for their senses of humour, but they were either ignored or denounced. They were well known for massive actions, such as trying to levitate the pentagon, which is crazy but, I think I have to give them around of applause for basically fighting the pentagon.

Before I did my research on The Yippies, I read a book called Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. The book mentioned the yippies in a small part, because the book was about taking down the government essentially. The reason why was is because the main characters thought they were doing something wrong. That is almost exactly what The Yippees did, they stood up to the government, and stood up to what they thought was right. That is something that I believe in, although I probably wouldn’t have the confidence to stand up to the government.

I have done this reasearch and read this book because of our main driving question for this unit, which is based off of disruption and how it has caused things to change. If you ask me I think that the yippies caused plenty of disruption, as they basicallly got in the way of people who were opposing them. They were all over the news which obviously means they were disrupting something.

The yippies have interested me greatly, and they will always be something the back of my mind as they are very inspiring and something  I could learn from, but I don’t think I am going to be one. All in all it is probably one of my most favourite topics I’ve learned about in school.