Julia’s Journey

A guide to my learning

Atomic Habits – Changing My Life For The Better

By

On January 11, 2026

In PGP

Recently, our class had been reading a book called atomic habits, by James Clear. This book highlighted how building successful systems and habits helps us stay more organized and focused on our goals, what’s important.

Reading the Book

We explored the book Atomic Habits by James Clear for this project; not only to build good habits, but to break bad ones. We read the book by breaking it down into three sections, chapters 1-3, 4-10, and 10-20. I took away a lot from this book, and the habits I’ve built throughout still stick with me in my day to day life. 

Atomic Habits Journal Entry – Chapters 1-3
Atomic Habits Journal Entry – Chapters 4-10
Atomic Habits Key Ideas – Chapters 10-20

Habits system design board

A lot of people are always talking about sports. I want to get better at this, that… you can’t get many places without being good at school though. Being in grade 10 this year, I am starting to learn that I have specific priorities that I need to stay true to and follow through with. I have found that with my new and improved systems of organization, I can work well. Although I still am working on perfecting them, they are starting to make a difference, even within the first week.

I want to improve 1% at my mental organization. As I have been reading the atomic habits I have found out some new ways of making positive habits. One thing that goes along with this is making goals and systems. In my grade 10 year, I have a goal of getting a 95% average across all grades. One of my systems to achieve this goal would be to be mentally organized. This includes making my weekly calendars, writing to do lists, and even keeping my living spaces clean. A clean mind comes from many different places. 

Each weekend, I sit down and designate a time to create a calendar/plan for the week. This includes my homework, when assignments are due, sports and other commitments I have made. As the week continues on, I can add and cross out things when I complete them. 

So, how will I keep improving? The topic I have chosen can be interpreted differently; everyone has different systems and things to make sure they get up every day, and so I will be exploring which will help me best. Will it be my calendars? Will it be jotting things down it my bullet journal? Using Things? As I am improving by 1% each day, I will be choosing my systems, while keeping my goal of 95% average in mind the whole way. 

Improving by 1% each day is a good goal to have, for it motivates you to keep going and working to get better each and every day. Whether it’s going to the park and practicing ball control, or eating a healthy meal, everything thing counts towards the final goal. This past summer, my coach sat us down when we were training for nationals and asked us, “how do you see our team at the end of the tournament? After all the hard work and sacrifices you guys have made, how will you feel, look and act?” Our end goal was to win the tournament, which unfortunately went sideways for us, but during training and team meetings, we were all locked in and ready to train, as this meant so much to us. This experience really helped me see that every piece of hard work pays off for something, and by focusing on how you will feel, act, and what you will do at the end of the road, will help you realize everything is worth it.

Reflecting 

In my learning intention blog post, I mentioned that I wanted to learn about, and imrove my routines and mental organization. Looking back, I realize that the systems I developed while reading atomic habits helped me in my day to day life. Each weekend I would sit down and write down a calendar for the week. I keep this is the front of my binder, and it helps me remember when assignments are due, times for sports and extracurriculars, and what I have to do that week. This calendar has become a staple in my routine, and now, I can’t imagine my life without it!

Success Behaviours

My PLP strength I am working on is communication and collaboration. For years, I have been slowly improving on this, and I’m still getting there. I spend so much time on my schoolwork, where it only gets a little bit better. If I spend half an hour extra and I only get another sentence down, it’s not worth it to spend that time where I could be spending somewhere else. I could instead create something I’m proud of in only the required amount of time, insetad of adding extra stress when it’s not worth my worry over.

In my VMV that I wrote for my PrePol at the beginning of the year, I talked about how my communication and collaboration could improve a lot by really breaking down group work into steps. For example, we set a due date for ourselves for step one of the project, and then once that has passed we move onto step two. This could be incredibly useful, especially because it makes sure our work is done on time, and to good quality.

Conclusion

This project meant more to me than just reading the book; I actually learned things from my experience. I realized that goals are useless to set without systems to help you achieve your goals. No matter how far fetched they are, you need to break them down into steps reasonable for you. 

I really enjoyed reading the book because I learned new strategies and ways to deal with stress, time management, and setting achievable goals. Learning about habits and how they work impacts our day to day life, because they shape how we live, the choices we make, and the routines we are set in. Working through reading atomic habits, I changed and tweaked my systems, goals and habits so they work for me, and I can achieve my goal of becoming more mentally organized. 

Winter Exhibition

By

On January 7, 2026

In Humanities

Introduction

This past winter exhibition we combined and connected the two ideas of avatar and world war 2.

When I first learned we were going to be doing these topics I was confused. How does avatar relate to World War Two and how do they have anything in common? Well, I discovered they actually do have a lot in common, and the concepts that we dove into connect and relate to each other in the similar ways – powerful, meaningful and deep.

Looking Back

Before writing a reflection blog post about a project, I always take a minute to look back at my learning intention post. Rereading this post, makes me not just reflect back on what goals I set out, but also looking at the learning behaviour I chose to zoom in on. In this case, I focused on Communication and Collaboration, because it one of my biggest strengths, but also one of my biggest weaknesses.

In my VMV that I wrote for my PrePol at the beginning of the year, I talked about how my communication and collaboration could improve a lot by really breaking down group work into steps. For example, we set a due date for ourselves for step one of the project, and then once that has passed we move onto step two. This could be incredibly useful, especially because it makes sure our work is done on time, and to make sure its good quality.

Previous Learning

Before the winter exhibition, we had learned about world war 2 for around a month and a half. We went through specifics about people, places, and important events throughout the war. We were taught about the sad, hard parts to hear like the holocaust and concentration camps, and also about specific wins to Canada and the allies such as Vimy Ridge. Learning about war is not only about the battles and wins. It’s about the individuals who gave up their lives to help the allied Nations to freedom, and to defeat the Germans.

We watched a few movies in this project, but one of the ones that showed me the most reality from the German perspective was Jojo Rabbit. Jojo Rabbit is about a small boy who believed Hitler was his imaginary friend. He was enlisted in the Hitler youth and he was very Nazi forward and Nazi focused. When he had to stay home after getting injured in a training exercise, he discovered his Mom was hiding a Jewish girl in his sister’s old room. Throughout the movie he realizes that the Nazis are wrong and he starts to take the side of the Jewish girl, Elsa.

Click here to check out my Jojo Rabbit notes

Another movie we watched was Dunkirk. Read on to learn more about Dunkirk and the reflection I wrote on it:

Dunkirk was a big historical moment for many of the allied countries because in May-June 1940, about 338,000 allied soldiers were rescued from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk. This film brought up many emotions throughout the troops, ranging from fear, and helplessness to hope and happiness. When we watched this movie, it really brought alive the idea that war was real; its not just these big stories you hear about, its hundreds of soldiers dying everyday, being scared and afraid day and night and living on edge. These soldiers endured so many things that aren’t talked about, and these emotions and ideas were brought alive in Christopher Nolans film, Dunkirk.

This movie captures the likeness and accuracy of the mood across Dunkirk. Many soldiers were terrified, frustrated and maddened from the circumstances, and just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. 

A lot of the everyday conversations soldiers had, through the ups and downs of emotions were simplified in this movie. From what I’ve read and learned about war, the men were brave and fearless; but thats just not the case a lot of the time. They were scared; they were terrified, they were going mad because of not knowing whats to come. 

Dunkirk emphasizes the mass feelings of fear, uncertainty of whats to come and absolute chaos of both the soldiers and everyday people in WWII. Throughout the films cuts to the air, beaches and seas, it shows how little choice the soliders had as well. They were thrown into battle with little to no preparation, and were fighting for their lives. As well as showing the audience the soldiers being scared, and trapped, it also showed them making brave decisions and sacrificing themselves for a better outcome in the war. All the ships’ captains that came from England were also incredibly brave to bring their boats into the midst of war and bombings and rescue the soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk. 

The story of Dunkirk is a very important story that still resonates with us today because it shows how the power of nation can come together and achieve something great. Everyday people were asked to bring their boats to Dunkirk and rescue the thousands of soldiers stranded on the beaches. Instead of backing down to the challenge they rose to it and completed the task together. The story of Dunkirk reminds us that resilience, teamwork and simply hope can pull us through hard times, especially when we come together. 

Exhibition Time! Going From None to Done

As we learned what we were doing for the winter exhibition just 2 weeks before the date we had to create ideas and products in a short amount of time.

Originally in my group we had 5 people – Tyler, Liann, Sven, Oliver, and myself. At some point the teachers realized that we needed to cover two more topics and so they decided to split up some groups to make the new ones. We got a little unlucky and got two members taken, so then we were left with Tyler, liann, and myself. At first I was a little upset because we had already started working and we just lost two group members, but the three of us surged forward and accomplished things we were proud of.

Our topic for this exhibition was Culture, identity, and belonging. Our group wanted this topic really badly because we felt that it would really demonstrate the connections, growths and differences. We wanted to focus on the jewish perspective and how they were discriminated and hurt on the WW2 side, and the N’avi people on the avatar side.

Creating Our Work

For the exhibition, we were tasked to demonstrate our work by making one artifact and some other posters, or way to show our learning. We chose to make 2 artifacts to display what we learned, and 3 posters. Instead of making a lot of things to have at our station, we decided to make each artifact and poster jam packed with information, and filled with our answers to questions and further thinking we did.

Artifact 1 – German Mineral Boy

The first artifact we made we named Joe Fresh – our German mineral boy. This boy demonstrates how hitler saw his followers and those he made follow him – blond hair, blue eyes, and the same visions, beliefs and ideas. The minerals represent the main rare mineral the humans dug up on pandora when they came. Connecting these two ideas, our German Mineral Boy shows how both the nazis and humans wanted something so badly that they were willing to destroy cultures and communities in the proces

Artifact 2 – Pandoras Tree

Our display shows Pandora’s tree of souls with a Jewish family tree on it, burning down to the ground. The Jewish family tree demonstrates the deep cultural history and identity that was attacked during not only the holocaust, but also throughout the two wars. The tree of souls represents the connection and spiritual culture of the N’avi. The fire symbolizes how both the nazis and the humans destroyed culture, identity, belonging and connections in pursuit of what they want without so much as a second thought.

Poster 1 – Avatar is Offside – White Saviour Ship

Poster 2 – What Holds Communities Together

Poster 3 – Cultures Threatened

Reflection on Exhibiton Day

As it was only Liann and I on exhibition day, we knew we had a lot to do. We had to set up the room, with help of the 9’s and 12’s, practice our script, and be ready for the doors to open at 5:30. Starting right after school, it was very stressful. As a lot of people didn’t show up in tutorial, it was tough to navigate the different ideas people had. Although we had ideas of how the room should look and how people should flow through it, people had new ideas, which they believed worked better. Despite these small conflicts, we had our room ready and were prepared to present. 

Liann and I were overprepared I would say; we had our script sorted, we each knew all the information that we needed, and were prepared to answer any questions thrown our way. I thought that each parent, sibling and teacher that came our way understood the ideas we were trying to convey, and the thinking we were doing and had done. 

Our Driving Question

How do stories, media, and propaganda shape how we remember World War II?

Propaganda can be a positive thing, because it informs the world with current events, and important world problems. It can also be a very bad thing, because it can spread false information to the public. I believe that if Propaganda is spread properly, then it can be a very effective thing. Posters can inspire soldiers to sign up for the army, stories of brave soldiers can make more young guys want to help fight for freedom, and the more information, spread through word of mouth can inspire and support these soldiers going off to war. Now, we remember war through movies, articles and more. How we remember and learn about battles and specifics on the war depends on which side it’s based on. If the movie or film is based on a young allied soldier fighting at Vimy Ridge, we are going to remember that the allies won, and the unique strategies they used to take the Ridge. I think that if you want to believe something a certain way, you can. You can read online about certain battles from the allies side, or the Germans side.

Conclusion

From learning about World War 2 to preparing for the exhibition, I felt like I grew as a learner in a few ways. I learned that the more I took notes, the more I understood the topics we were covering. The more detail they were in abled me to go back and review them when writing an essay or reflection. I also grew in my group work – I tried, and succeeded when I took a step back and listened to not only my grade 10 group members, but also the grade 9’s and 12’s.

Overall, I felt this exhibition was extremely successful, and Tyler, Liann and I did well in displaying information in a way that people could easily understand, and learn about. Every parent, sibling and teacher was engaged, and asked questions. I was really proud of my group and how we worked together for an amazing outcome.

Loon Lake Field Study 🌲📔

By

On December 3, 2025

In Maker

How Loon Lake Made Me Look Outside The Box For New Challenges And Ideas

This past week, my grade 10 PLP class and I went on a short 5 day excursion to Loon Lake, located by Maple Ridge, BC. This trip was designed for us to explore our personal boundaries by not only meeting with an inspirational man named Jonothan Willcocks, but also pushing ourselves in activities we did. PLP gives us the opportunity to go on field studies because the program believes that it provides learning that extends beyond the classroom, and provides opportunities to connect and develop independence and real world skills. On this field study, I hoped to connect further with my classmates, and learn more about decision making, by using 3 different parts of our brain to make each desicion. Read on to dive deeper into the details of our trip. 

VMV

A part of my VMV that connected to our trip away to Loon Lake was the section ‘Collaboration and Communication.’ We focused a lot on connecting our class to each other on a deeper level, and collaborating to get certain things done. We did various activities to build up our communication and trust before we all opened up and had long conversations with each other. A man named Jono lead a lot of our lessons up at Loon Lake. I found him super inspiring, and everything he talked about somehow related to me or life in some way, which was super interesting. After working with him, I now have new values, goals, and knowledge that will help me move forward not only in school, but with family, friends, and my entire world. Some of the exercises we did with Jono were scary, or new, but we all gave them a shot and learned that our class has each others backs and every single person in my class will listen and be by your side. Thank you Jono!

Putting Trust in My Peers

One of the best days I had with Jono was when we did the trust fall off a chair on top of a table. We started small, by just falling from about 10cm away from our parter. We worked up to falling while the person catching was on their knees, and then we got really brave and fell on a chair on top of a table! This was meaningful to me, because I remember it being the turning point in our trip. We began trusting each other, and opening up to one another in group settings, not just within small broken off friend groups. Going back to school with this group has been awesome because we all talk and joke with each other and have a really great time, all thanks to our time with Jono and the Program up at Loon Lake. I learned that I could connect and have something in common with everyone in my class, despite what I thought. We all have our own ways of looking at people and situations, but what really showed this trip was, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ because a lot of people are super different than what they seemed, in such a positive way. This moment really helped me grow because I had to believe in all my peers to catch me, and I can do this in the classroom as well. If they say they are going to catch me, they will. If they say they are going to finish this piece of work for the group, they will! Trust.

Showing Our Learning

We didn’t do that many activities while in Loon Lake, because most of the time we were with Jono. We used a booklet with Jono that worked on creating new values, goals, and explained things like the 3 parts of the brain you use for decision making, but the teachers have them at the moment, so I can’t share too much about those. One project we did that I loved, was making our posters. We had a big piece of paper, and wrote our names right in the middle. Around our names we drew little images and quotes that represented us, and that we value. Then, at the bottom of the paper, each person in the class wrote something nice about the person, or a memory they had together from the week. It was fun to read all the little messages people put on my poster, and after we get them back, I’m going to keep mine forever!

On the last day of Loon Lake, we had a mini exhibition, where our parents came in and we taught them what we learned throughout the week. The grade 10 group focused on our 3 values; empathy, unity, and trust. These are each core values to our group, and we keep each other accountable to these day to day. Each and every person spoke at some point, which was interesting to hear everyone’s thinking and ideas. This was a nice way to end the trip, and I liked sharing how we grew and connected.

Communication and Leadership

I think that during loon lake I showed strengths by communicating with my peers. I really grew in the leadership category throughout the week, because I was forced to lead my group, which made it feel more natural and easy. As I kept working and communicating with my group I learned new things not just about them, but about me as well! 

What Can I Work On?

Next time, I would focus on trying more of the exercises. I didn’t do the rope exercise because I didn’t feel comfortable, but next time I think I would push myself to step outside of my comfort zone and do it. I know that everyone would catch me and support me, so I don’t know why I didn’t, but next time I would do more of the exercises.  

In the next 5 days, I want to focus on getting all my work done right when its assigned and not right before the due date. This will reduce stress, and give me a bit more free time. Il’l track this by looking at Showbie, and getting my friends and family involved, so they know about my goals, and my timeline. This goal matters, because I am not the best at time management, and I think it would improve that, and it would translate into other aspects of my life as well. 

How Did This Field Study Change You As a Learner And As a Community Member?

This field study taught me to look at things from outside the box, and focus on making people feel comfortable and included. I learn’t many things, and the new values, goals, and mantras I made on this trip, I will carry through everything I do for school and my community. 

Teach a Teacher – Reflective Post

By

On November 9, 2025

In Maker

Teach Who?

This project was one that I never expected; instead of the teacher teaching us, we were going to teach the teacher! 

Our goal in this project was to teach your teacher how to add something new onto their blog. We created steps, slides, and pictures to make it easy to explain our topic. Each person in our class got a different topic to teach, so by the end it would be an amazing blog post with neat things you wouldn’t expect. I wasn’t in class the day we all got to choose our topics, so I was stuck with some easy ones. I tried my best to make a presentation that would explain how to make tags in your post, and also the use keyboard shortcuts, and how much time you can save using them.

Driving Question

HOW CAN I ENHANCE THE STORYTELLING PRESENT IN MY LEARNING PORTFOLIOS?

I can enhance my storytelling by making sure my blog is always telling my story. I can add pictures, links, words, and reflecting to show how my storytelling has improved and changed. Each post is unique to its creator, and I want to make mine interesting and not something you have to read; something you want to read. A persons story can tell a lot about them; who they are, their choices, their actions… but enhancing this key idea is what people are really looking to read. My learning portfolio represents myself, nobody else, and it’s my job to make it interesting, interactive, and engaging. By learning new things from my classmates ‘Teach Your Teacher’ reflective posts and from my own research, I can enhance my learning portfolio into something better than ever before.

Tags

The first topic I chose was tags. Tags aren’t as cool or interesting as some of the other things that go into making a blog post, but it does add something new! A tag is kind of like a hashtag in a way, and you can add as many or as little as you wan’t. Usually, you add tags that follow along with the topic or theme of your blog post, but really its up to you! 

Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are something I use everyday, not just in blog posts. They are a way of cutting down time when you are working on a iPad or laptop. As I learned when I was researching for ‘Teach a Teacher,’ there are many more keyboard shortcuts than you would think; some are simple, like copy and paste, but there are more people don’t know about that save you a lot of time. 

Reflection

This project went really well for me, I thought my presentation was easy to follow and simple enough that you could carry out the tasks without to much thought. I focused my presentation on making sure it would be easy to do, so each person that followed it wouldn’t struggle to compete the tasks. I had fun designing my presentation and adding examples of my own work so people could see what it looked like when it was done. I thought I did a good job on this project, and the one thing I wish, is that I got a different topic to teach my teacher. Making a presentation about keyboard shortcuts and tags also taught me about them, and made my life a bit easier!

Conclusion

Looking back and reflecting on the project we just did, I found that through my research I learned new things as well as teaching my teacher new things. I found it interesting to see what my blog could become if I used all the new techniques our class learned came into focus. Each new blog post I create will improve and be better than the last.  

Thanks for reading my post!

Atomic Habits Learning Intention Post

By

On October 31, 2025

In PGP

In this post, I will be covering my intentions for our upcoming unit on the book Atomic Habits, by James Clear. We have already skimmed through the intro to this book, and I think I will enjoy it, especially because I love to have an organized life. I will go over some areas I want to learn more about, as well as what I know already, and my learning goals and intentions for this project.

Our Mind Maps

Recently, we completed a benchmark where we created mind maps to show our current positive and negative habits. I think this is going to be something that we can look back on because the further we read in the book, the better understanding we have of how to create habits, and how to follow through with them repeatedly.

What I Know

I don’t know a ton about habits, and what works for each person individually, but I have my ways of going about life. Each person has their own routines, schedules, and habits that work for them, but this book we are starting to read enhances each of those habits to make them better, and more refined.

Areas I Want to Explore Further

Routines

A routine can have a big impact on your day; wether it be morning, night, before a sport, or any activity you do a lot. Sometimes routines can be a relaxing thing, like stretching before soccer, or it can be a super complicated, like having superstitions. Any routines we have are great because they organize our lives!

New Habits

Organization

I am really looking forward to learning about how to make positive habits that I can apply to my life to make everyday easier. Last year, when we did the project on the book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens’ I had a great time making habits and organizing my journal, Things app and other things. As summer past, I spent more and more time ignoring those habits and eventually they dissolved. I am really excited to recreate these habits into something better and more detailed than my last ones. The app Things is an incredibly useful tool, and throughout grade 8,9 and now grade 10, I have totally taken advantage of it and started to use it more. It keeps me organized, and my life stays in order!

Driving Question

How can improving by just 1% each day help me take responsibility for my learning, strengthen my habits, and create balance and purpose in my future career and life?”

Improving by 1% each day is a good goal to have, for it motivates you to keep going and working to get better each and every day. Whether it’s going to the park and practicing ball control, or eating a healthy meal, each and every thing counts towards the final goal. My coach in soccer this year, when we were training for nationals sat us down and asked us, “how do you see our team at the end of the tournament? After all the hard work and sacrifices you guys have made, how will you feel, look and act?” This really helped me think that every piece of hard work pays off for something and focus on what you will feel, do, and act at the end, because everything you do each days impacts that.

Communication and Collaboration

My PLP strength I am working on is communication and collaboration. For years, I have been slowly improving on this, and I’m still getting there. I spend so much time on pieces of work, where it only gets a little bit better. If I spend half an hour extra and I only get another sentence down, it’s not worth it to spend that time where I could be spending somewhere else. I could instead create something I’m proud of in only the required amount of time, instead of adding this, adding that when it’s not needed I could just stick with the original.

In my VMV that I wrote for my PrePol at the beginning of the year, I talked about how my communication and collaboration could improve a lot by really breaking down group work into steps. For example we set a due date for ourselves for step one of the project, and then once that has passed we move onto step two. This could be incredibly useful, especially because it makes sure our work is done on time, and to good quality.

Conclusion

Learning about habits are important because it shapes how our everyday lives go, the choices we make, and our routines. Throughout this project I hope to bring my voice forward and make habits that change my life. I want to learn about new things and explore ideas I haven’t before.

WWII : Pre-Project + Learning Intentions

By

On October 20, 2025

In Humanities

In this post, I will be talking about an upcoming project we have. We are starting our unit about WW2, so I will be talking about topics that I want to learn more about, as well as making learning goals and sharing my learning intentions for this project.

What I Know

World War II was a major global conflict that ended in significant loss of lives. It officially began on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. A few days later, France and a number of other countries later, declared war on Germany. I have been interested in WWII since I was young, always reading books and talking about it, and I hope in this project I can deepen my knowledge and understanding of this time period.

So, what topics interest me?

The two areas I want to explore the most are number one, D-Day, because it has always interested me, and I find massive organized ambushes like that incredibly cool. Number two would be the holocaust because it was a big thing that took part, and I want to learn the background; the whys, who’s, whats, and where’s.

D-Day

D-Day was an incredibly important day in not just Canadian history, but its also important internationally. On June 6th, 1944, allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy, France to rebel against the Nazis. Thousands of soldiers were lost that day, and their bravery and courage will never be forgotten.  

I have always been incredibly interested in specifically this date in history, as I have read six or seven books about it, and I know a bit about it. I believe it had a major impact on the war, and I want to learn all the little details about it.

Holocaust

The Holocaust was a difficult time period where around six million Jews were killed by the Nazis. Other groups were targeted as well as the Jews, but they were the main target. 

This topic is something I want to learn more about because it is something very important to learn and talk about. None of the things that happened were right, and I want to learn about it because the more you know, the bigger impact you can have on creating change; knowledge is a powerful thing.

Propaganda

The driving question for this upcoming project is “How do stories, media, and propaganda shape how we remember World War II?”

Propaganda can be a positive thing, because it informs the world with current events, and important world problems. It can also be a very bad thing, because it can spread false information to the public.

Learning Goals and Intentions

For this project, my PLP Humanities 10 class and I are going to learn about World War 2, and how we can properly remember it.

A lot of things we hear about WW2 are from other people talking, movies, and what we ourselves WANT to believe. But really, we all need to know the cold, hard, truth, so I really support exploring these topics, even if they cause pain to talk about, or remember.

Communication and Collaboration

My PLP strength I am working on, and will continue to do so is Collaboration and Communication. I could spend hours on a piece of work, or less than half an hour. I need to improve on balancing the time I spend on work. It could be an insane amount of time and I wont get that much done, or I could create something I am really proud of in a few hours. It’s all about balance. ⚖️

In my VMV that I wrote for my PrePol at the beginning of the year, I talked about how my communication and collaboration could improve a lot by really breaking down group work into steps. For example we set a due date for ourselves for step one of the project, and then once that has passed we move onto step two. This could be incredibly useful, especially because it makes sure our work is done on time, and to good quality.

Conclusion

Learning about World War II isn’t just another project – it’s an important part of not only Canada’s history, but the world’s. Throughout this project, I hope to bring my understanding to a new level by further exploring topics like D-Day and the Holocaust. As well as those two areas, I want to examine things I haven’t heard of before, and expand my thoughts and knowledge to new places. I also believe other people’s perspectives on these major events can shape, and change my worldview for the better.

Thank you for reading my post!

Comic Quest – WWI 🪖

By

On June 19, 2025

In Humanities

Have you ever wondered about WWI? What happened? What did it look like?

A Bit of History

WWI was a brutal time in our history. WWI started in 1914 after the assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand, but nationalism, militarism, and different allies also played a part in the war starting. Austria Hungary launched an attack on Serbia, which then escalated to countries declaring war upon others. Germany, Austria Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire fought against the allies; Britain, France, Russia, and later on Canada and the USA. The allies won the war  in 1918. War was awful; about 40 million soldiers died in total, from both sides of the war. 

How can researching the historical significance of World War I inform and enhance the storytelling in a graphic novel I create?

The graphic novel we made each represents something different from the war. It could be air aces, women in war, front lines, and a few other choices. Each story that our classmates wrote told a story of world war 1, with the reality of battles, death, and struggles. Each graphic novel had a reality about it that was very similar to how it would actually be. 

By researching facts and events in World War I, you could make sure the information was accurate and had the correct timing. By knowing the information, you could really enhance the story by making it seem all very realistic. If the person writing the graphic novel understands the materials, and how life would be, then it could make the story better they know what they are talking about. Doing this, the reader could also try and make connections between the readers and the graphic novel, by words, drawings, or even the sounds. 

Final Project

The final project for this WWI unit was to make a 20 panel graphic novel. I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into… it was hard!! I didn’t expect all those late nights, early mornings and hours working on this graphic novel. 

Planning Documents

Before we could get into drawing these graphic novels, we had to plan for them! We did many panning documents, but I am grateful we did each and every one of them, for they were extremely helpful when it came to start drawing. 

WWI Comic Book

For our comic books, we got to choose our very own category. I chose air aces, because I was interested in how the life was. My soldier was names Charles and he came from Canada. He got placed in a British training camp, then joined the RFC (Royal Flying Corps). He flew in the battle of Passchendaele, in Belgium. I found learning about all these battles, ways of life, and facts very interesting, and I am glad I chose the topic I did.

  • Screenshot

Conclusion

I thoroughly enjoyed this project, and I am glad I got the opportunity to make it. Even though this comic was hard, and it was very stressful to make, I had so much fun, and the feeling when it was finished was super rewarding.

 Thanks for reading!!

Transitioning Into Grade 10!

By

On June 19, 2025

In POLS

Ms. Mc, this is my mom and dad, Katie and Ian Mortimer, and Charlie.

“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.”

As I start reflecting upon my journey through grade 9, I want to start by saying how much has changed, and what a different person I am right now. Starting grade 9, I was a timid learner, who always asked questions and afraid to get things wrong. Now, as I am about to transition into grade 10, and I feel as though I have gotten more confident in my work, and being okay with making mistakes. 

VMV

My vision for the end of high school has so many goals and visions that are so far away. I do need to start thinking about graduating, but I feel as though short term goals are more important at the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mission is more relevant to right now. I was working really hard all year to achieve extending, and I am proud of my hard work. I am most proud that I earn each mark instead of teachers just giving it out. I have volunteered some of my time helping the teachers, like cleaning the classroom after exhibition! (It was really messy). One of my absolute favourite things I have participated in this year has been volunteering for NVFC. Every Saturday for the last 4 weeks I have been helping a coach with u5 (under 5s). It was so rewarding to see the little smiles on each and every one of the kids faces. The last session I actually got to run myself, which I thought went okay. In the summer I am either going to be working or volunteering more with the NVFC kids.

Growing as a learner means actively developing your abilities, knowledge and understanding. I feel as though I am such a different person than I was at the start of the year.  I am going to give a quick reflection on each PLP subject:

Science

Science has really captured my attention this spring. Our focus has been on pollinators and their impact on our communities and where we live. For the first time ever, science was our subject for the spring exhibition! I was really excited to see what was in store for us. The night before the exhibition, we were not ready. I spent hours making posters, painting and getting supplies together. I am really proud of our group because of all the last minute hassle. The exhibition went really well, and our booth was definitely a hit!

Humanities

Humanities has been something I look forward to each day. It always seems we are learning something new, having fun, and sharing ideas as a class. The very last project we just completed was a WWI graphic novel. It was very challenging and time consuming, but when I finished, it felt so rewarding because I had put so much work into it. 

  • Screenshot

Maker

The most recent project we completed was making a mini doc. I chose my dad, as an ultramarathoner because I was interested to know more about it. I had such a fun time with him in the mornings going to film; he would run and I would bike beside him filming. My dad just completed the Vancouver marathon in under 3 hrs and 15 minutes which means he qualified for the Boston marathon which happens next April! I found it very exciting to learn all about his running journeys and adventures throughout the years. 

So Why Am I ready For Grade 10?

I believe I am ready for grade 10. I have worked hard all year leading up to thistransition, and I think my hard work has payed off. I think I am ready, because I take responsibility for my learning. I feel as though I have taken responsibility for my learning by completing work on time to an ability I haven’t in my previous year. I am very excited to explore new content next year and I am ready to move on to the next level; grade 10!

I know grade 10 will be a whole new challenge, more projects, bigger questions, deeper thoughts and ideas. Whatever comes my way, I think I can push past the struggle and work hard to create something great. 

Thank you for listening to my TPOL, I appreciate you all coming today and I will see you in grade 10!!

Don’t Worry, BEE Happy! 🐝

By

On June 18, 2025

In Science

Don’t worry, BEE happy!!

What did we do this year for our spring exhibition? Read on to find out…

I had an absolute blast this year during spring exhibition prep, and presenting at it as well. We did something that we’ve never done before – Science!! 

Leading into this exhibition, we learned all there is to know about pollinators. Bats, butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and plants – these all help our environment and impact  our planet in various ways. 

How can we support and protect local pollinators to ensure healthy ecosystems in our community?

Pollinators have a huge impact on our world, and its essential to protect them. Without pollinators, we wouldn’t have the same lives we do right now. One out of three bites we take are because of pollinators. There are many ways to support and protect pollinators, but the biggest thing we can do is to keep planting flowers, plants, etc.. because it’s important that pollinators have thing to pollinate. Things like hummingbird feeders, bee hives, and lots of plants contribute to the pollination population growing. 

All There is to Know About Pollinators

Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the male part of the flower called the anther, to the female part of the flower called the stigma. Pollination is a very important step in the sexual reproduction of plants. The transfer of pollen is crucial for fertilization, where gametes from the pollen come together with the female gametes in the ovule, which eventually leads to the creation of new plants. 

Pamphlet

For our exhibition, we had to create multiple interactive elements. The pamphlet we made had made taught the public more information about pollinators, and what the importance of it was. 

Food web

In addition to creating a pamphlet, we also created a food-web that showed the interconnectedness of our ecosystems, and how each animal operates with the others in nature. 

Call to action

As well as the pamphlet and food web, we also completed a call to action which taught the public a bit more about why pollination is important and what we can do to help in our communities.

Interactive element

For our interactive element, we did a colour by number! You spun our wheel, and the colour you got was the one you painted in on our canvas. If you were lucky and you spun one of the three brownie spaces, you got to enjoy a yummy treat!

How can we help?

There are many ways we can help pollinators in our area. The best way is to add as many native plants as possible to gardens around the neighbourhood. Planting native pants instead of non native plants is best because they support local ecosystems, and usually require less maintenance than non native species.

Conclusion

Pollinators are crucial to our existence. They play a vital role in keeping our ecosystems intact. Pollinators clean the air, stabilize the dirts, and support other animals in the wild. The goal of animals, and plants is to make seeds, eggs, or to become pregnant to bring the next generation into our world. 

I really enjoyed the spring exhibition this year, we learned so much about pollinators, and their job in our lives.

I will be posing a lot in the next week, so keep your eyes peeled!

Thank you so much for reading! 

In The Name Of The Nation 🇨🇦

By

On May 16, 2025

In Humanities

Did you know the significance of Canada’s history, and how our country came to be? 

Well our country had quite an interesting past, and this recent project we finished in Humanities really has opened my eyes and taught me so much about our history. Each group covered a province and made a decision whether or not to join confederation.

‘How has nationalism’s influence shaped the global structure? Moreover, how has nationalism impacted the establishment of Canada as a nation?’

Prior to learning about nationalism, I didn’t know what it meant and I was confused why it was an important part of our world. I now know that it means people who have the same beliefs, language and religion should have their own government and people in their lives to lead them to have successful and promising lives. It is important for people to make their own choices and have the right to say no, because it makes a difference when you can think for yourself.  

Present and Reflect

The final product details were to make a persuasive video advocating for your territory to either join confederation or remain sovereign. Every member of your group has to be included in the video, and planning, shooting and editing must be visible.

✅ 5-7 Minute Runtime

✅ All Members Present

✅ Scripted Material to be Handed in With Final Video

✅ Clear Determination, Join or Remain Separate?

✅ Incorporation of Historically Accurate Details

✅ Use of Technique to Engage Audience  

Preparing to Film

Before we could film, we needed to have a good plan, script, storyboard and notes. Having these things are so important because if something went wrong filming we all knew our story so well we could adapt quickly. Our story was a difficult one. It really took some time to develop because it was different than a debate or a conference room. We knew it would be challenging to pull this off, but we wanted to complete something hard, because the satisfactory feeling afterwards makes it all worth it.

Here’s an example of the notes we took:

Click Here!

Here’s an example of a part of the storyboard we made:

Confederation of Northwest Territories

Maggie, Marcus and I were given the Northwest Territories to make our persuasive video on. I was especially excited on getting the Northwest Territories because I did not know much about the past, so it was interesting getting to know more about one of our provinces.

Video

The Confederation Cup was the name of my 5-7 minute video I completed with the help of Maggie and Marcus. At the start, we were concerned that it would be hard to show our idea in a way the audience could follow along. Another struggle we had was finding the old hockey clips to use; their weren’t many, and some of the ones we found wouldn’t work at all because of minor details that effected the video in big ways. 

Towards the end of our filming journey, I found that it was less stressful because we got most of our filming done early so we had tons of time to edit and get feedback to improve our video.

Key Points

1. Ruperts Land – Ruperts land was a huge area owned by the Hudson’s Bay Company since 1670, and it covered most of western and northern Canada. Ruperts land was mostly used for fur trading, but had few other purposes as well. The transfer of Rupert’s land became official on July 15, 1870 to the British Crown, then to Canada.

2. NWT Joining Confederation – The NWT joined confederation on July 15, 1870 in an after effect to the transfer of Ruperts Land.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed completing this video with my group members. It was equally challenging and fun which is what made this project great! I feel as though I understand Canada’s history to a better extent now that I have researched and completed our video! 

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