WE WENT TO DISNEY WORLD…..FOR SCHOOL!!!!!!!

Our power of imagination project was an amazing project which just might have to do with the field school we went on for it …. Florida aka DISNEY WORLD!  Our driving question: how do Disney theme parks shape and influence the cultural, economic, psychological, and social experiences of visitors? 

Investigation 1

This investigation was about building your knowledge that you would need to complete this project and storing it in a PKM. I found this first investigation the most infuriating. Researching, which involved reading articles as a class and watching videos like the “Happiness Advantage”, was very enjoyable. Also, learning about the culture of Disney was very interesting. Walt Disney’s mindset when created these theme parks was so different from other people of his time. What was infuriating? While reading articles and watching the videos we had to MAKE (not to be mistaken for TAKE) notes, which was expected. But then we had to write a summary. The 4 – 2 – 1 structure was challenging.  I like the idea but I had a hard time finding the point I should get across in that amount of space. There was so much information and I seemed to include more than I needed. Concise writing is hard! Overall I liked when we found our own articles such as the PKM I made for Dole Whip. This whole investigation shows my growth on the processing curricular competency with critical thinking shown in the fleeting notes and the creative and reflective thinking shown in the connections I made and my thinking sections. 

Investigation 2

Early on we were put into groups and assigned a specific aspect of our driving question. My group focused on how Disney theme parks formed emotional connections for the visitors of the park. For this investigation, as a group we had to come up with a pitch board for a 10 minute documentary. The pitch board had to include the main concept we wanted to get across and the mood we wanted the audience to feel. This part of the project involved a lot of growth in the decision making competency. Working as a group we had to look at our topic from different sides and figure out how to put it all together in the end. A challenge for us? The groups were made up of students from both classes. This made collaborating difficult. We did not understand what the other half of our group had done the class before us. Communication was not clear. Thankfully we used time in our other classes to bring it together but it was still difficult and it was a problem throughout this whole project. 

 

Investigation 3

It’s story board time! While working on our pitch board, we came up with a reliant idea. We decided that the main concept we wanted to get across was how the merchandise is a way to take Disney beyond the boundaries of the park.  We would show the differences in the merchandise and how they remind you of a place or experiences in Disney.  Group members would each introduce different merchandise. The other choice we made was that the overall mood will be up beat and we will interview someone who obviously loves the merchandise.

Thinking back, I loved our idea and I wish our final product showed that more. Our idea evolved and that is ok but I loved our original idea. With the story board, we also created a script for our documentary. The collaboration was difficult because of the separate classrooms and we needed more time. When flights were cancelled the ONLY good thing was that we were able to finish our scripts and get better idea of when and where we would shoot and who would shoot what. I really enjoyed this part of the process because I could see the shape of what we were doing.

Shooting on location …. DISNEY WORLD!

originally I was going to interview a Disney Customer, someone who loved the merchandise. But we decided to have the same voice interviewing both of our interviewees to keep some consistency. So, I instead, was in charge of B Role which meant whenever I was in a store I filmed the merchandise about the 50th anniversary merchandise. My other job, was to film Noah and Gwen when they talked about the custom and limited time merchandise. I helped them film this at multiple locations within Disney Springs. We ran into a several problems. First of all it was very loud in there to get good audio. We also could not find custom t-shirts Gwen had researched before coming. These challenges meant we had to make adjustments so we could still get our point across and show our idea. Throughout our Disney trip, we checked in with each other to make sure we were getting the shots we needed to fulfill our plan. 

Since returning, we have been editing and assembling out documentary. I was not in charge of editing but I got audio from other group members and sent it to the main editor, Noah. 

This project made me think while I was in Disney World. When I was there, I would look at things differently. Instead of thinking “oh look at that tower” I noticed how the tower added nostalgia because it was the Tangled tower, which reminded me of my childhood. The research we did and the focus I had because of the project made this experience of Disney World different for me than when I went to Disneyland a few years ago. I noticed more. The way the cast members talk to visitors was really cool because it changed based on which part of the park you were in. In Disney World, nothing is out of place, which is good for fantasy but also shows a specific view of life.

 

Creating Opportunities from Balance

How does balance in our life create opportunities? This driving question is something every high school student should consider this is because we are making decisions about our future. I personally thought about this questions in two ways: why do we need balance and how do we start to achieve balance? The why part really relates to the idea of well-being as well as opening up more time (opportunities). The how part relates to systems we can put in place to strive to get better every day with having balance in the areas of your life.

To answer the driving question we had three main resources:

  Positive Brain Training   7 Habits (review)           The Atomic Habits

In this blog I would like to focus on how balance improves well being and brings opportunities. I will use examples from each resource that impacted me.

 

Positive Brain Training 

The main point of this training is to bring about a more optimistic mindset. We wanted to see if we did certain practices or two minutes per day if your outlook would be more positive. Research showed that a more optimistic point of view leads a person to be more productive and more successful. Meditation Mondays was one exercise we tried. I found it very peaceful but with so many people in the room, I could never fully relax or clear my brain.  One practice that really impacted me helped my well being by bringing me joy and gave me an opportunity to make my friends happy. The conscious act of kindness Tuesday had a love letter activity. I needed to write a letter to people I love telling them that they are important to me and why. Writing this letter helped me realize the good people I have around me. I wrote this letter in the morning. Often I get tired when I think about the LOOOOONG day stretching ahead of me but this activity gave me energy and made my friends feel good too. It should be noted that I wrote three letters but only got two replies … (cough, cough … Lilah you let me down).

7 Habits

Sean Covey wrote The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers, which we read last year, and reviewed again in PGP. I must say I had a BIG brain moment because I actually remembered all seven habits in their proper order which if you know me, is very impressive. One of the habits that I use all the time is “First things first”. Whenever I feel like I have a lot of homework, I write it out on a whiteboard stating what it is, how much time I think it will take, and what I need to get it done. Instead of stressing out I am able to see what is important first. When I put things in the right priority I make opportunities for myself. I know how long I need to make my homework sessions and when I can take a break. This allows me to enjoy my VR or play a game with my family or have my friends over instead of realizing I forgot about an assignment due the next day.

Atomic Habits (ALLLLL 25 chapters … very long chapters until chapter 22)

James Clear promises remarkable results with tiny changes in his book The Atomic Habits. The book is filled with amazing stories that really stood out to me. He gives very helpful suggestions on systems that can help us achieve our goals. He also does a good job at showing us why the systems we are using or trying to use are hard to follow through. For example some people want to go to the gym but their system really works against them. 

Hear are some of the notes I took during Law 4:

The Cardinal rule 

– Habit adaption 

– We are more likely to repeat a behaviour when it is satisfying 

– Pleasure teaches your brain that an action is worth repeating 

– What is rewarding is repeated what is punished is avoided 

– Positive emotions builds habits 

– The fourth law makes a behaviour better next time 

– Immediate satisfaction better

– Delayed environment not what you want for your brain 

– You value the present more than the future 

– With bad habits the immediate outcome is good and long term is bad this is the opposite with good habits 

– What is immediately satisfactory is repeated 

– Add immediate pleasure to good habits and pain to bad ones 

I thought it was very interesting that to achieve something the steps need to be enjoyable. You will not stick with something if it is killing you no matter how good the end goal is. Most people think “no pain, no gain”. I think my Dad has said that twice a day for my entire life. Sadly, I cannot tell you the context so I guess it truly does not work. 

From reading this book I recently set a goal regarding my VR and my iPad. James Clear said that if you want to reduce how much time you spend on video games, you need to put away the console after you play. Then it makes it more work to take it out the next time. There is a better chance that you will choose an easier option. This will help you spend less time playing video games and more time doing something that you want to do. I want to create opportunities for myself in this small way. we have a charging station at our house that is near the kitchen and far from my room. I plan to plug it in there by 9:00 every night. This will create more opportunity for me to read books which I also love to do but don’t do if my iPad is a fingerprint away. Similarly, I have a goal for my VR us. My Mom keeps putting my VR in a cupboard. I take it out and leave it in the living room but then I can get distracted. My new goal is to return it to the cupboard after every time I use it. This will help me with balance between school work, and what I am doing in my down time.

Throughout this project, I have grown in several areas. I already use Things very well but this project helped me see how much time I could have with better planning. I practiced time blocking and ended finishing my homework early one weekend. It also showed me practical ways I could go about achieving more peace, less stress, and create more opportunities to invite my friends over or go on a walk. Overall, even though the 25 chapters almost killed me, I will remember the stories and continue to work these tips into my life.  

  

TikTok Trends!!!!!!

How do I make effective personal design choices? This was the essential question to my first Grade 10 maker project. Making personal design choices involves collaboration, evaluation, self-exploration and the refinement of skills. We started with investigation 1 learning about and creating a personal productivity system. 

Investigation 1

Using management tools we already learned in past projects and combining them with new skills we were going to learn, our goal was to create a new system to help us manage our own projects inside and outside of school. In order to do this we needed to follow these 7 steps: 

1.Introduction: 

– What Is the Purpose of a Productivity System?

2.Using the Right Tool to Get in the Flow: 

-How can I use a Task Manager and Calendar effectively in my Productivity System?

3.Capture: Building Buckets, Capturing Stuff, and Clearing a Backlog

  • closing open loops (the stuff circling around in my brain before bedtime)
  • 3 buckets: Home bucket, school bucket, and out and about bucket. 

 

4. Clarify 

 

  • determining the exact meaning of something that came from the capture phase
  • Mental not physical stage
  • Identify your stuff and determine: Is It Actionable? These are evaluated in terms of does it need  a next action or turned into a project. Is it a Non-Actionable Item? These non actionable items can be classified as Trash, or a checklist, or as “someday” or “maybe”, or reference. 
5.Organize: Process Actionable and Non-Actionable Items
  • to physically, visually, or digitally sort and place items of similar meaning into distinct categories and locations. 
  • Actionable 
    • Calendar 
    • Things to do 
    • Things project 
  • Non-actionable
    • Someday folder in things 
    • To Do Bullet List in Anytime Folder in Things
    • Files in the Right Places
6.Reflect: to review and update the contents of your system to bring it up-to-date with your current reality so that you can make informed and effective choices.
  • A Daily Review
  • A Weekly Review
  • A Weekly Plan
7. Engage: Clear your space to do the Things
  • to clearly, fully, and confidently do what you know you should be doing in the moment.
  • chill
  • relax
  • listen to music
  • be fully present for a friend, have a conversation with someone new, daydream about someday or maybe lists 
  • check your Things. What is in your To Do’s at the moment?
  • review your choices:
  • Location: where are you? what can you do here?
  • Time: what can you do in the time you have?
  • Energy: what can you focus on and do with the energy you have?
  • make a priority decision:
  • what is most important for now?today?

Investigation 2 Research

Investigation two was making the foundation for our final product. Our assignment was to watch TIKTOK! Our end product was to create five Disney TikTok trend videos so for this investigation we had to research Tiktok trends by watching TikTok. I don’t have TikTok and never watch any videos from there so I found this step challenging. Most of the videos I found on TikTok seemed weird and not something I would enjoy creating. I watched all the examples in basecamp and searched up my own ideas and came up with three different examples of what I wanted to do. Then with my friends we came up with two more that I really liked that we would film and hand in together. 

Investigation 3 Planning

This step started a week before Disney world and was about planning the trend videos by using storyboarding skills and making prototypes. Starting with storyboarding, I quickly realized that I needed to do more research, because I was planning on doing a Disney food video but I didn’t know where or what food I wanted to use. I am glad I did more research because if you have ever been to Disney World the food and beverages are very imaginative like blue milk!

After a few days I created the storyboards and some prototype videos. I unfortunately was sick and wasn’t able to create all of the prototype videos but I made enough to get a strong idea of my plan.

Disney was awesome!!! This project was a fun way to express things we experienced at Disney that we want to mention. The video is silly but you still needed to plan it out and think it through in order to make it effective.

 

Here are the videos I made:

  1. Craziest food I had at Disney 
  2. After a day at Disney 
  3. A day at Disney 
  4. Can we skip to the good part?
  5. Meet the friend group

We ended up being very inspired by Disney and made a fun bonus video. It imitates “It’s Corn!!” Trend video but is called “It’s PORG!!”.