Welcome to my latest, biggest, and (possibly?) greatest blog post yet. 4 weeks, 10 milestones, 6 videos. Yes, it was a lot.
We started right away. Our first video was a interview with our parents about nationalism. Wait a second, what in the world is nationalism?
Thank you John Green.
Okay, now you know a little bit about nationalism. But did our parents?
PARENT INTERVIEW HERE
In this video we interviewed our parents about nationalism. What did they know, what examples could they think of, so on and so on. Here are the questions that I asked my mom!
What do you know about nationalism?
When you think of nationalism, is there a particular example that you think of?
Are you personally effected by nationalism?
Is nationalism relevant in Canada?
Do you think that nationalism is moving in a more positive direction?
Feel free to answer these questions in the comments as well. I’m curious about other peoples answers!
I liked this milestone. It was fun to do a interview with my mom, but it was a bit awkward as well. I know that I used technology to construct my knowledge through adding my own little personal touch on the video with the animations. I also came up with, and asked, questions that guided viewers and my mom along. I used the brainstorm that we did with the class to help me construct those.
Milestone 1 was like a speed bump on a road through the Rockies. Our next videos were all very intense, but they all communicated a different message through a different format. Let’s look at Milestone 2, where we created a Nationalism Animatic.
In Milestone 2 we created a animatic. Animatic are similar to an animation, but animatics are typically used to plan an video like an animation, and use low-resolution images to convey timing and movement, rather than the look and feel of a final, finished video.
Our animatic was about a certain kind of nationalism around the world. We could pick from 5 examples; The Crimean War, American Nationalism (Manifest Destiny), Italian Nationalism, German Nationalism, and Indian Nationalism. I chose American Nationalism. I decided to focus on the Women’s Suffrage Movement, and how nationalism impacted that.
I designed texts by constructing a Film Planner, screenplay, storyboard, and other planning processes along the way. I used those tools to create my final video, which communicates a meaningful and informational message to a specific audience, and for a specific purpose.
I identified continuity and change by talking about Women’s Rights in the 1800’s, now, and between the two time periods. I talked about what has changed, and what has stayed the same.
I used technology to construct knowledge by using Keynote to my advantage with features such as Magic Move, other transitions, and animations.
I am super proud of my Milestone 3 video. It’s one of my favourites!
In Milestone 6 we created a Nationalism in BNA (British North America) Tutorial. I can guarantee that some of you are wondering how in the world we did that. Well, some people decided to go very literal with this, like Raymond, who made a super cool tutorial on how to literally unite a country. And some people, like Annie, chose a metaphorical route. She did a makeup tutorial, where each colour, product, tool, whatever, represented a different thing. I decided to create a painting.
BE FOREWARNED: this was my least favourite video. Just to warn you.
This video was very challenging for me. I mean, its hard to create a tutorial on nationalism in British North America. But I also struggled with incorporating all of the competencies, meeting the baseline requirements, and still keeping it entertaining, but not 9 minutes and 4 seconds long. Ahem.
I know that I still achieved the competencies though.
I created a screenplay and a storyboard that helped me plan, create, and edit good and strong text. I feel like I could have definitely mentioned nationalism more, and how it has effected Canada in the past and present.
Now, identifying continuity and change is where I struggled the most. I found it very difficult to do that while creating a painting. I know that I still did that though.
I feel like I used technology to construct knowledge decently. My video isn’t bad. I know that. Just because this video isn’t the one that I am the most proud of doesn’t mean that it is bad. I added titles, good cuts, and clear audio.
MILESTONE 8!!! We’re getting there, people. This video is my favourite video of this project, and probably one of my favourite pieces of work that I have ever made. I love this video so, so much. In Milestone 8, we made a Explainer video where we talked about either Louis Riel and the Red River Resistance, or The Indian Act and Residential Schools. I chose to do The Indian Act and Residential Schools. I created a animated version of myself, and that character will guide you through this story.
At first I struggled a bit with this video, but then Ms. Maxwell showed us a explainer video that some students from another school program had created. They had animated the whole thing, and I thought that it was super cool. I love creating animations, and I was very excited to be able to do that in this video.
I designed texts through my script and screenplay. I spent a long time on my script, and I think that tracking the time to research, plan, and write a successful script really helped me in this project. I made sure that I included information for people who maybe didn’t know that much about this topic, while still keeping it fresh for people who did.
I identified continuity and change through focusing on some very important different issues effecting Indigenous people, and comparing them to issues that have effected them in the past, and some that have effected them throughout time.
Here are some resources to look at so that you can educate yourself on some very important issues effecting Indigenous people in Canada.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
United Nations Indigenous Peoples Resources
I used technology to construct my knowledge, and empowered myself through that. I love animating, and I am super glad that I was able to show my passions in this video. I was able to personalize my video in that way!
So yeah, we have created a lot of videos so far. And we aren’t done yet!
In Milestone 9, we created our cumulative video. This video was pretty much all of our past videos combined into one. We could either work with a partner or individually. I worked with the incredible, lovely, inspirational….RYAN!! We decided to create a Game Show. Yes, a game show about nationalism.
It’s (almost) our final video!
I designed texts by collaborating with Ryan on our script, screenplay, and Film Planner. The texts that we created together are engaging and meaningful.
I identified continuity and change by talking about Indigenous oppression in the past and present, and by talking about the political divide in America.
I used resources/evidence from various sources in my YouTube description, and while we were designing our screenplay!
After that video, we created a reaction video, where our parent from the very first video that we created reacted to our cumulative video. It is certainly interesting to see my mother’s reaction!
WE MADE IT!!! Give yourself a pat on the back.
I used technology to construct my knowledge by adding animations, doodles, photos, really anything that I could use to convey my message.
I created a basic script outline, and I used my past experiences from all of the other videos to create a plan that was easy to follow and complete!
I cannot believe that we made it.
BUT WAIT! We still have the driving question!
How can an understanding of nationalism help us understand today?
I believe that a understanding of nationalistic acts throughout history can help us understand how nationalism effects us today, and how those acts will influence the future.
Thank you all so, so much for reading. It was a long one! I will see you next quarter!