What does a look inside americas biggest steel company look like? On November 1st I spent a whole day with my mom in her office to see what her job is like.

The Day

The day started at 7:00am with her first meeting which I sadly couldn’t watch because it was a personal event with her boss but right after that I was in her office for the rest of the day. My mom works for DBM Global and has a home office, though often, she goes to their headquarters in Phoenix Arizona for more work. She is the VP of marketing and branding and has been working with the company for a few years now. Around noon she had another meeting with her good friend casey where they were discussing the launch of a new project. For the rest off the day I watched her, Interviewed her twice, and she showed me some of her companies projects in detail like Apple headquarters, SoFi Stadium etc. She finished her day of work at around 6:00pm so I spent the rest of the time getting B-Roll and editing. The editing carried on into the next few days because I really tried my best at producing this and I am very proud of the results and angles.

Editing

Editing this Video was a big deal for me. Throughout the day, I tried some very unique and interesting angles that I was very exited to put into the video. Going out of my comfort zone (filming wise) was a really good exercise and it made me a lot more comfortable filming and producing quality videos. Out of all the videos I’ve ever put together, this is by far my favourite and the one I am most proud of. To make this video I started by putting in all the interview clips into the edit and cut them up to shorten the video. Next, I added some background video and did a voiceover to talk more about her company. After that, I did some final touches like adding text, an intro, a conclusion, music, transitions, and some special effects. This editing process was a challenge but end the end it payed off. There were multiple points where I would get frustrated and want to quit but I kept going and loved the end result.

Conclusion

In conclusion, being able to spend a day in my moms office showed me how much effort she puts into her job and the teamwork and dedication that is involved. Exploring new camera angles and techniques in this format was really good and made me feel way more comfortable making films. 

Thank you for reading my blog post!

“Run”- A remake reflection 

As I hide behind a log, with monster chasing me, lost, and I am wondering what will happen next.

I was absent for when my group made their first version of run I was still able to watch and understand the project once I got back. The first few days when I got back we were critiquing other groups run videos while they played in sync with the original.

Feedback to my own group:

“I think my group did an amazing job while I was away but I think the only piece of feedback I would give is to move the camera away from Sydney’s face a little bit because in some shots its so close its hard to tell what’s happening”.

After the feedback we had a few days to re-film and edit more. We went back into the forest and filmed some more running scenes because the other ones were somewhat shaky. The next day we also went back to the forest because we wanted to re-film some sounds. The filming conditions were better and the leaves were more crunchy. After that, we did some final editing back in the classroom and finished the video. 

In conclusion I learnt a lot of different filming angles and strategies. Even though I was late for the project and wasn’t in any shots I still learnt a lot from watching them and others videos.

Introduction

7 Days, 4 projects, 3 major hikes, how will it play out? Read my book to find out!

Over the span of our classes Alberta trip we all had to make a detailed book about the trip. There is 25 pages and for most of the book, I show the different locations we went to and how they show the 5 themes of geography. For the rest of the book I talked about the driving question: “how does the geography of the west shape who we are” and showing off my comic life. If I were to have a favourite book between this one and the Oregon book, I would say I likes the Oregon book more because of the variety of questions and it was a little bit more interesting to fill out.

Maker Links

Alberta Videos Reflection

Not only did we work on the book, I had to make 3 videos. 1 TikTok video with a partner (Jack), 1 silent video which I filmed at the 3 valley gap ghost town with Lucas and Mika. Lastly, I worked on my investigative video which was individual and I had to share what I learned on the trip and research the driving question.

Book Summary and Review

The book was an amazing way to keep track of what’s been happening on the trip and I learned a lot going through it. Some of the things I learned about myself while making this book are: I struggle to stay focused and type on busses due to noise, Books are a great way to keep memories and look back on them in the future, and that taking notes during the trip and writing later is a great method that I will probably use in the real world. Everywhere we went on the trip, had some significant and it reminded me how much fun learning can be. Some of my favourite locations on the trip were lake Louise because of the beautiful hike and also because I had been there a lot before with my family and it has such a special spot in my heart so it was cool to go there with a class. I also liked the Banff Hot Springs because of how refreshing it was after the tiring Sulphur mountain hike. Lastly, I liked the golden Skybridge a lot because of how thrilling the zip-line was. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, this trip had a really good balance between work and fun and I enjoyed going back to Alberta. I had a lot and being able to have a nice book to remember how everything went.

Introduction

Over the Alberta trip I made 3 Videos. These videos were all taken on the trip and told some sort of story related to the west. During the trip we also made our books on Book Creator. My book has a lot of the space taken up by reflections on the different days and also an answer to the driving question.

Alberta Book Reflection

TikTok Video

The first video I made was my TikTok video with Jack. In this video me and Jack did a TikTok trend dance where we went to various locations and filmed the dance with a nice background that had evidence that location. The end video was about 30 seconds long and we had a lot of fun making it. It was kind of a break from all the hard work we were doing but still as a project. Editing it was also really fun and I learned more about CapCut (the app i used to edit it).

Silent Video

The next video we made was the silent video and I was in a group with Lucas and Mika. We filmed the video at the three valley gap ghost town just outside of revelstoke. The video was supposed to tell a western themed story using the buildings of the ghost town. Our story was told using the bank, a few different sheds, the roundhouse, and jailhouse. Our story went like this, Me and Mika just robbed the bank and we got spotted by a police officer (Lucas). Lucas chased us down the street until we dogged him and went into hiding. eventually Mika got spotted and put in jail, I kept all the money in the end.

 

Investigative Video

Last but not least, my investigative video! I am so proud of this video, I put a lot of effort in to it and tried my best to make it clear. The video is basically about what we learned on the trip and how it connects back to my thesis. My thesis is “Tourism is the  main contributor to the economy of the Rockies”. I talked about the CPR and how is sparked a whole lot of new places and tourism in the area and how that is what grew the Rockies to how it is today. My interview was also in the video. I interviewed this very kind man named John and it was at Lake Louise. 

How Might I Use the Moving Image to Tell a Story

To me, moving image is just video. Using videos to tell a story is very commonly used and that is what I’ve done in this post. All of my videos tell some sort of story that the viewer can follow. You can use the moving image to tell a story by pricing together different camera angles, techniques, and strategies to make a easy to follow, well edited video for others to see.

In conclusion, Having the opportunity to film and create with friends improved my understanding of filming and inspired me to get more into film making and camera angles at home.

“Thank you for coming to my presentation of learning. I am the expert on my own learning. I am also responsible and accountable for my own learning. You can expect me to give an honest evaluation of my progress. We will discuss my strengths and opportunities for growth. Thank you in advance for listening and for offering feedback that I can use to improve as a learner.”

Intro

Hi, Welcome to my TPOL, my name is Hunter and in this presentation I will show you why I am prepared to graduate to grade 9.

Struggles

Despite how fun and easy PLP feels for me sometimes, I have also struggled with quite a few projects and sections through the year. Last summer before I started grade 8, I was really stressed by the thought of shifting into high school, especially PLP. I was really nervous after hearing friends talk about the larger work load and hours upon hours of homework. I felt skeptical. 

Through the summer, I felt like I never wanted to leave Cove Cliff. I knew it well and felt so comfortable with its environment. The building was massive, there were so many people and it was really big upon first sight. To my surprise though, on the first day of school, I just dove in! 

After a few days I didn’t feel fearful any longer. I started to love PLP more and more, felt more comfortable around the PLP teachers and favoured PLP classes more than the other ones. Despite what I had heard over the summer about a large workload, I felt the work to be engaging and simple, I think it was my learning style that set me apart from what I heard about the difficulty.

Past Experiences That Helped Me Build Skills

Throughout the years of grade 6 and grade 7 I had some challenging situations with my teachers that taught me important skills. In grade 6 I had a very strict, unwelcoming, and mean teacher. Through that time I developed important skills like independence and self improvement. I learned how to teach myself which can always come in handy later to help me solve problems to find solution’s faster. These skills of self directed learning are used a lot in PLP. 

For projects like TPOL and MPOL I had to look back and create my story without guidelines. A lot of PLP projects give guidelines that you have to follow but also a lot of freedom to make something that reflects you. Some examples of this are the winter exhibition, spring exhibition, Oregon field study journal, and The outsiders. Because of what I learned in grade 6, It has helped me with PLP in a lot of ways. 

In grade 7, I had 7 teachers which made the year really chaotic and challenging, which I think contributed to my stress of going into grade 8, but then once I got into grade 8 it was a lot less then I was used to.

My Learning Plan

At the very beginning of the school year, I made a learning plan. The learning plan was a way to set my goals for the year. In the learning plan, I set goals of the grade I wanted to achieve for each subject. For humanities my goal was to get a 🌈 because I already knew a bit of history and I saw potential to grow on that. My final grade for humanities was 🌈, so I reached my goal which I am really proud of because sometimes humanities was really hard for me. My goal for maker was ☀️ because I didn’t really know what it was and I wanted to be able to put my focus on humanities and science. My final grade for maker was what I wanted, ☀️. Last but not least, for science. I really thought I could build up my  science knowledge a lot more and set high expectations for myself. I aimed to get a 🌈. 10 months later, my final grade was a 🌈 which I am also really proud of. 

My grades throughout elementary school were not very good at all, but this year they have improved a lot. I think the reason for that is because I have value school more and that has led me to focusing on it and making it a priority. 

What Project Prepared me For Grade 9

Out of all the projects I have been assigned this year, the one that has made me feel ready to graduate is the advertisements project. This project consisted of going to Oregon, having a exhibition, and making our own advertisements, which makes it the biggest project I have ever done in my life. The project started with Sunny, James, Kai, Finn, Melissa, Alex, and me forming an advertising group. For the first few weeks we started getting a understanding of the business we were going to interview. During that time I bonded with my group and made some friends that would stick with me and help me in the future. 

Oregon was the first field study I have ever went on and it was in another country. I underestimated how home sick I would feel at the end and what the trip was going be like. When I got to the border it hit me what I was about to do. Despite my nervousness at the beginning, I started to really love the trip. I found it amazing to visit new locations, try new food, and try new activities in a different country. All within my friend group. 

The trip made me think back to one of the main reasons I joined PLP in the first place – to travel and learn outdoors. About halfway through the trip, at Cannon Beach, I had the most surreal feeling. The second my eyes saw the towering haystack rock, and the beautiful sandy beach and waves I knew that PLP was going to be something I would stick with. In that moment, I thought back to all the difficult times where I had been stuck on homework, or frustrated about PLP, and realized that it was worth it. I had made the right choice joining PLP. Because of the amazing experience I had on the Oregon Trip, I knew that I would 100% be in PLP next year to have this amazing style of learning that fits me perfectly. Towards the end of the trip, my business group and I interviewed marine discovery tours and gathered information for our advertisements. I found it so cool to be interviewing a stranger that I have never met before while on a school trip. 

With the information that we gathered from the interview, it was time to make our posters. From my point of view I thought my first draft was amazing and thought it would get approved almost instantly. When I showed it to the teacher, I immediately realized I had a lot of work to do and I needed to raise my expectations for myself. After a few more drafts, it didn’t change much and the teachers still disliked it a lot. Before I knew it, the exhibition was a few days away and I still had no poster. At this moment I did everything in my power to try and finish it. One day before the exhibition, I still had no advertisements, then it hit me! Mine looked more like a poster and not a print ad. I wasn’t using any advertising techniques or appeals. After a bit of help I got mine approved just in time for the exhibition. My main takeaway from this is to realize my full potential and use it from the start instead of waiting till the very end.

Portfolio of Media Learning

Why do I Feel I’m ready to Graduate?

This school year has been a crucial growth year for me. Comparing who I am now as a learner, to who I was at the beginning of the school year, is crazier than any other year in the past. My takeaway from my first year in PLP is that it fits me perfectly. The learning process that is used it PLP fits my learning style perfectly. So with that, I do believe I have grown a tremendous amount as a learner this year, and that is why I’m ready to graduate.

Q&A

Spring Exhibition

The spring exhibition was our last exhibition of the year. The exhibition was to demonstrate what we learned about advertising and our ads through stations with snacks, games, and more!

What did I Struggle With?

Prior to the night of the exhibition we had to make our ads, we had about 2 weeks to do so. After my first draft, I got a lot of feedback and no matter how much I changed it I was still missing one crucial detail that I didn’t realize. After hours and hours I finally realized with some help of the teachers, it looked more like a poster, not a print ad. I wasn’t including advertising techniques or appeals to make it look legit and professional. One day before the exhibition, I got help from Ms. Willemse and she helped me get my ad approved just in time for the exhibition! In the end, I was really happy that It got approved and I loved the way it looked. Looking back on my first draft, It is insane how far I came within the span of a few weeks. In conclusion, I am proud of my final design for this project.

Our station

Our group had 7 people in it which was larger than most groups which made it difficult to arrange all of our iPads and decorations on 1 rolling table. Our company was Marine Discovery Tours so we tried out best to use mostly blues and stick with a ocean theme. We all wore blue shirts and black pants because it fit the theme and we all had it. I brought a stuffy shark that was about 3 feet long and a ship in a bottle that I bought in Oregon. With everyone in my group bringing something ocean related, our station looked amazing in the end and won the award of Ms. Kadi’s favourite. The night prior to the exhibition, Me and Sunny volunteered to make the cookies together since we are neighbours and it would be convenient. In the end, Esther also joined and In total we made over 100 sugar cookies decorated with icing and they all looked like crabs, whales, seaweed, and sea stars. In total, the cookies took around 4 hours and they tasted delicious.

What did I learn?

During the night of the exhibition, I built on my presentation skills form the winter exhibition and meet a lot of people while doing so. While making my poster, I learnt to not rush myself and to take time while making thing so they turn out great and I can avoid multiple revisions and stress. When I was presenting, I caught myself coming up with what I was saying on the go, none of what I said, was prepared which is a good skill to learn. Learning these presentation skills is crucial for my future and it might not seem like much now, but it will help me throughout my whole life. Teamwork was also a major skill I built on because I was working with a team, we each had a job, and we had to do it right. Lastly, I learnt how to bake sugar cookies which was fun and will help me on Christmas because I usually makes them with my grandma and I can probably help more now that I know what to do.

In conclusion, this exhibition was a great way to spend time with friends and family in a educational way for the end of the year. Thank you for reading my Spring Exhibition blog post!

Small but Mighty

Welcome to my blog post about the small but mighty project. Throughout this project, I learned a lot about the innate immune system and the adaptive immune system. At the end of the project, we made 2 posters about vaccines, and kids health.

 

Prior to this project, I didn’t know much about the immune system and when I heard we were learning about it, I was really interested. In this project, I learned about the different cells in our immune system which are T cells, B cells, Pathogens, Macrophages, and Antibodies. To cope with this we made character cards. The other thing we learned about was vaccines. We learned how they evolved over time and how they were made, then we learned about the different types and how they work which has always been a mystery to me.

 

With this knowledge, I made a myth busting poster on vaccines answering the question: Do MMR vaccines cause autism? To make this poster I used Canva and It was a great opportunity to get used to the app. I found it confusing at first but then got used to it later. The second poster I made was a kids health poster about covering up when you cough. The poster includes a fun fact, a kids drawing of bacteria (pathogens), what you can do to help, and a picture I drew. To make this poster, I used Procreate and Keynote because those were apps I already knew.

 

I wanted to make the poster the best I could. Thank you for reading my blog post the immune system and vaccines. This project has been really interesting and it was fun learning about what’s in our bodies.

Travelogue Reflection

 

Learning about the age of exploration has been a fun and great opportunity for me. I never knew much about Christopher Columbus and I hadn’t even heard of the Columbian exchange. Throughout this project I learned: the motivation explorers had, gold, god, glory, the Columbian exchange, and the tools explorers used. When I look back to my book I made, I feel proud of it, and accomplished from what I’ve learned. For me, it was important to learn about this because its the reason we live here today, if Christopher Columbus didn’t discover the americas, chances are, we wouldn’t be here right now. I conclusion, I really enjoyed this project ad it has been really interesting for me.

“Thank you for coming to my presentation of learning. I am the expert on my own learning. I am also responsible and accountable for my own learning. You can expect me to give an honest evaluation of my progress. We will discuss my strengths and opportunities for growth. Thank you in advance for listening and for offering feedback that I can use to improve further as a learner.”

My Journey Through PLP So Far

During the duration of the first semester I have come a long way in growth and learning. When the semester first started it felt like a lot ahead of me but as I progressed through the semester, things got easier and I grew in areas that could have improved in last year. As I was completing the projects inside PLP, I learned how to manage my time better than ever. Back in grade seven, we got close to no homework, nothing compared to this year. When I first started getting homework this year, it was stressful, but over the first month, I learned the skills to overcome this.

My Learning Plan

In my learning plan, my statement of learning intent was to get a better understanding of technology and how to incorporate it into my learning. I’m would also like to make a lot of new friends because I’m in a new school with a ton of interesting people. In humanities 8, my goal was to get extending and I wanted to grow past my comfort zone and be able to study at home more. For maker, my goal was to get accomplished and I wanted to sit with new people and cooperate with my classmates better

Projects We Did

The first major project we did was the book report on the outsiders. For this project, we read the outsiders book, one chapter a day until we were done, then we had to recreate a book cover with our read ding groups. I found this project great because it connected me with people I’ve never had the chance to get to know. I made a lot of new friends that have helped me throughout the rest of the semester. To make the book cover, we recreated a scene from the book in real life. We had costumes and props and worked together to make the picture, then edit it on keynote. Although, out of all my projects, this is the one I’m least proud of because I was new to everything and if I were to do it again, I could probably do it better.

After the outsiders project we got introduced to posting on our blog. At first, I had no idea how to do anything, I was really confused, and I wasn’t looking forward to that class. As Time progressed and I started adding more projects on my blog, I got to know the software quite well, and now I look forward to posting on my blog. Some projects that I posted on my blog, that helped me get comfortable with the software were, becoming a PLP learner, Making interesting images, and my skiing Geek Out Blog

 

The next project we did was on the Crusades and Middle Ages. For this project we had to create two Keynotes, one on the Crusades, and one on the Middle Ages. In this project, I think I demonstrated growth on my ability to Make presentations. Throughout elementary school, I found that making presentations was hard and they weren’t in depth. This year though, I tried to change my style on making presentations and it worked. I am really proud of these presentations and they mark a new chapter in my skill of making presentations.

Keystone 2  < Middle Ages     Crusades >  The Crusades

 

Now finally, the project I’m most proud of, Pandora’s box. Pandora’s box is essentially an environment that we build inside a box based of our theme statement. My theme statement was “when riches are at stake, humans can prioritize force over their morals”, so I made my box relate to that. During the actual presentation itself, there was a lot of standing but it was great for my public speaking skills. I met a lot of my friends parents and the transformation of the room we made was amazing. The reason I’m so proud of this project is because of how organized I was and that made the project easier and I learned a lot of new skills like, planning what materials I will get ahead of time, public presentation, and building a sick box.

What do I Enjoy and Find Difficult?

What do I Find difficult in PLP?

Despite how fun and creative the  PLP program is, there are still difficult areas where I struggle. One of those difficult areas is using Basecamp. I find it really hard sometimes to follow the teacher in Basecamp because of the number of links and pages it can get confusing sometimes, and therefor, makes it harder to access the assignment that we are doing. Another thing I find difficult is the workload. PLP comes with a lot more homework than other classes and sometimes that can be overwhelming. Don’t get me wrong though, PLP is amazing and for me there are more pros than cons.

What do I Enjoy in PLP

In PLP there are a lot of things I love that my other classes don’t have. First of all, I love that PLP is textbook free and that everything is digital, I can type and draw faster and better on a iPad rather than paper. The second I love in PLP is how social it is, We almost always have a group project and we get put in random groups at the beginning of each lesson which I find great because I can meet and talk to people who didn’t go to my school before grade 8. The last major thing I think sets PLP apart from other classes, and what I like the most is how simple it is. The reason I love PLP so much is because you don’t need to go through your backpack and find textbooks and paper, instead, its all within an app or a couple clicks.

My Transition From Grade 7 to Grade 8

My Transition 

My time in grade 7 compared to what I have done so far in grade 8 is so different. In grade 7 my class had 6 different teachers and a thousand substitutes. Everything was all over the place and we never stayed on one subject for more than a couple weeks, at the time, my grades weren’t the best either and as a result, my grade 7 class was very difficult and chaotic. After all the graduation parties and events it was summer and I was really happy that grade 7 was over. Throughout most of the summer though, I was worried and stressed for grade 8 because it was going to be a big new school with a bunch of new kids, but I tried to not let the stress effect my summer break. The couple weeks before school started, my mindset started to change, and I started to look forward to high school and started to think it would be interesting, new, and exiting, and I was right. Over the first couple weeks of high school, there was a lot of new subjects that I didn’t have in elementary school and it was a lot to take in. Later, I started to realize how big the workload was going to be. In elementary school, I never got much homework, and in grade 7, since I had so many different teachers, they all had different opinions on homework, so my schedule wasn’t very consistent. After I started to settle in to high school, I began to see the big picture of everything that was happening and it all started to make sense.

Why I like High School more than grade 7

I like High school more than my elementary school for a lot of reasons, Firstly, There are a lot more students then my elementary so I can make a lot of new friends. Secondly, There is a way larger variety in classes. In elementary school, we would have 3 terms with all the same subjects, in one classroom, all day. In High school, we get to go in between classrooms, have a different period arrangement everyday, and have new classes every semester.

What Does My Work Reveal About Me As a Learner

This year, I have growed an insane amount compared to last year, and I have discovered some new interesting things about me that I didn’t know before. In high school, there is a much bigger workload than elementary school and at first that was really challenging, but as the year progressed, I have developed a new skill I have never done good at before, finishing my homework. Throughout grade 6 and 7, I was never the best and handing in homework on time, or at all, I had a lot of catch up, sloppy work, rushing, and stress. At the beginning of this year, I thought it was going to be the same, but it wasn’t, I was doing my homework just fine and well. Not only was I finishing my work properly, but I was getting better grades, and everything was just working out like magic. In my opinion, the reason everything turned out great in the end, was because of the new environment, it was like a fresh start. I also had knew that high school grades mattered so I knew I couldn’t fail and I was really motivated and had really supportive teachers and friends to work together with. 

Another thing that my work has revealed about myself is that, If I am organized, and plan everything, I can accomplish anything. During my time in PLP we have been introduced to so many new apps, one of them being “things”. Things is a note taking app that I have used immensely since I got introduced to it. In past years I NEVER took notes, and this year, I’ve been taking more notes then I can count. This year, I have taken notes on all my homework and other tasks I need to remember. The last major skill I have learned this year is blogging, in fact, your reading one of my blogs right now! When we first started blogging, I had no clue how it worked and I was really confused, but after publishing my first couple blogs, I got the hang of it, and I enjoy sharing my work to the world very much. So in conclusion, the skills I have learned this year are: note taking, organizing, managing homework, handing in assignments on time, and blogging, but what does this reveal about me as a learner? All these new skills I have learned this year show that, as a learner, I am adaptive, a problem solver, creative, I catch on, catch up, I am able to mange work, and most importantly, cooperate with others and take the inspiration I need to help myself grow.

Thank you for reading my mPOL! I am happy to share my journey through PLP so far and all the new skills and areas of growth I have learned and developed. I have enjoyed this first semester more than any of my years in elementary school and I believe I have come such a far way since this semester started. Thank you for reading my mPOL.

In this Blog Post you will find the artwork I made in sketches pro over the duration of the past couple weeks. To showcase this art I made a Book on Book Creator that includes descriptions of my artwork, my artwork, and an about me page.

On sketches Pro we learned various tools and skills like, using angles, the fill tool, the shape tool, different brushes, and more!

I hope you enjoy reading my book!