Grade 10 has been a good year for me so far. As 2017 has come to a close, there are many things to reflect on that have happened this past year and term. In this presentation of learning, I will discuss some of the work I have done this year that have shown teamwork, improvement and growth in my learning as well as work I feel proud of that I have done this year.

One piece of work I feel proud of is my World War One podcast. So far this year, the class has been learning about Podcasts and how they are created using different apps and features. One of the first assignments related to podcasts was my World War One podcast, where we had to introduce a soldier from World War One and talk about their journey and their identity and how it represented Canada. I’ve always been interested in history, and especially the world wars. Learning about how countries became powerhouses and how the war affected them was always interesting to me. Because of my interest in history, I was excited to begin doing this project. I researched about my solider, got some good points and notes on Canada in the first World War and began writing a script. Creating the podcast itself was also pretty fun. Since last year, I have known how to create really good videos and how to make the visually appealing, but with podcasts, there are no images. No help from pictures to help showcase your point. It’s all in your voice to help create an outstanding product. Along with music and sound effects, my podcast I created was very well done, and after a few revisions, I felt it was one of my best works I had produced all year. With the music, sound effects, and the overall storyline of my soldier in World War One, It was a great piece of work I had created.

One of the skills I thought I learned and adapted well too were my podcast creating skills. Podcasts are one of the biggest things we are learning about this year, and I think it is one of the skills I have developed over the course of the year. Using different apps like Ferrite and iMovie, I have created some great podcasts, like my World War One podcast, Vancouver Growth podcast, and my three interview podcasts. With my video creating background form last year, I have quickly transitioned to creating awesome podcasts.

I have a few pieces of work that I think show teamwork, and that is my Vancouver Growth Podcast and my how World War One began video. The World War One beginning video was probably the most fun I’ve had all year in terms of school. This video my group, which was Adam, Lucas and I, created was so much fun to make. Not only was it comedic and entertaining, but also historically accurate. When we showed it to the class, I thought that they really enjoyed it. They especially liked our end scene when Canada comes in after Germany attacks the allies. Our teacher said it was excellent, but we could have added more information, which was true. Our video had only a little bit of info on the whole idea of why World War One started, so we could have added more on how these alliances were actually created instead of cutting right to the chase. Overall, I really think this was one of my strongest pieces so far this year in PLP, and I enjoy doing more of these types of projects in the future, as doing these types of projects is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to showcase our knowledge and work.

The second piece of work I feel teamwork was a huge benefactor to the success of this project was my Vancouver Podcast I created alongside Adam and Kate. One of the endings to our Vancouver Unit was creating a podcast about Vancouver and narrowing it down to a subtopic, in this case, our group got city growth. Doing this podcast involved a lot of hardworking late nights, as both my group members are extremely busy and I cant believe we got it done. Thanks to being with the two most busy kids in North Vancouver, most of the pressure was put on me. Whether it was developing music, finding interviews or editing the podcast, it seemed as if I was doing the heavy load. Once revisions were available for the class to do, we delegated time in class to focus on this project, and that’s where the teamwork part comes in. We were extremely productive in class and we completed this podcast, and it was an excellent one, too.

One project I feel I could have done better and worked harder at was my PLP interview project. In this project, we had to create three separate podcasts to showcase peoples stories. We had to go to a website, StoryCorps, to learn more about how to share these stories and what to do to draw the audience. Personally, this wasn’t my favourite unit to do The idea of interviewing people is just not my forte and I’m a pretty quiet person, so it wasn’t one of the best experiences, but it sure was a unique one. I had never done something like this, and I think that was the goal of this unit, to get out of our comfort zone and try something new. Limitations to the podcasts and the quick deadlines made it a little bit of a struggle for me, and adjusting to the new Ferrite made it a little harder as well.

 

Doing all of these projects was a lot to handle in such a short amount of time, and that is one of the main things I would like to improve on. I would like to get better at organizing and managing my time. As this past year has gone on, things like basketball and my part time job are starting to take up most of my time, and I feel like school has become my second or third priority. I really don’t want it to be that way, as I want to succeed in school and i believe this program will help me achieve my goal. If I’m going to start getting my act together and become more dialed in to school, I’m going to have to rely on myself knowing that school will always be the priority. I understand that inn order to change that, th pressures on me and that’s why I’ve been starting to plan out my day using a calendar, which I hope will help me move forward in my learning. As a fifteen year old, my responsibilities have gotten a lot bigger, like taking care of my brother more often and getting places on my own, and other things that people would expect of a teenager. It can get pretty tough, and stress is a huge thing I sometimes endure, so doing things like hanging with friends and playing sports are ways to let me stress go. I’m going to plan on impoving by managing time and instead of doing projects on the last week or day, I will schedule time for everything so I dont have to worry about making the same mistakes.