Julia’s Journey

A guide to my learning

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! 

Post 3 – The Renewal

By

On May 11, 2025

In Maker

Over the past few weeks in Maker, we have been reading a book called ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens’ by Sean Covey. The Renewal is part 3 of the book, and it only focuses on one habit, which you could argue is the most important of all. Habit 7 is Sharpen the Saw. 

Sharpening the Saw

Why is this habit so important? 

Before we dive into the deep stuff, lets cover the areas that are important to know. Sharpening the Saw means taking time to nourish and renew yourself. Sharpening the Saw is broken down into 4 main areas; body, mind, heart and soul. These categories make it easier to know what key areas you need to and can strengthen.

  1. Physical – Sleep, exercise, nutrition, avoiding vaping and drug usage.
  2.  Mental – Learning, school, reading 
  3. Social/Emotional – Relationships, being social, being kind
  4. Spiritual – Meditation, spending time in nature, looking back upon previously made goals, spending time doing a hobby you enjoy

Some of these are examples provided in Covey’s book, and some are not. Sharpening the Saw is not just making yourself feel better, it’s digging deeper and finding those actions and choices that make you feel better. 

Personal Example

In soccer right now, my team is heading into playoffs. We are playing well, training well and we want to win playoffs (if we win playoffs we head to nationals) but our only problem is we can’t score, and if you cant score, you can’t win games. We have 3 weeks until playoffs start and we need to turn it around.

With all that said about my team, I am not playing well right now. I just am not myself out there, I am playing scared and timid. I need to sharpen the saw to be ready for playoffs. Physically I need a lot more sleep, I should be getting 8-10 hours a night, but I’m not close to that at all. I should also be eating healthier and exercising more; because I want to be in top shape heading into playoffs. I think my mental health is going well, I like to read and/or bullet journal at night before bed and It helps slow don by brain for bed. Social and emotional is a tough category for me. Throughout the years, friends come and go, and new people are coming into my life. This is happening a lot right now which adds an extra load every day. And if you know grade 9 girls – they are dramatic, so I need to keep up! Lastly, spiritual, like I said I like to bullet journal at night which helps me get out my feelings, and also reflect back on the pages I have completed and review my goals and compare which step I am at each day. Writing down one positive win I have each day really helps me build some confidence for the next day.

Practicing soccer if I am not feeling well is like using a dull saw. It’s crucial that I’m tuned in and feeling full strength to perform at my best. I need to get going for playoffs, and these next few weeks are critical for me to sharpen my saw. 

YouTube Short

For our 3rd and final YouTube short, our groups were changed. This time around I was placed with Cece and Gemma. I thought that this short wasn’t as successful as our other 2, because our plan wasn’t as well organized and the filming was pretty rough cut. But we got it done!

Conclusion

At first, this book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey, was not my favourite. I found the spaces weird in the book, and it was hard to read. The farther along I got, the more I learned. Like lessons are not a thing I come across often, but this book was jam packed with them! It turned out to be worth it to read. Reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens has changed my worldview. It has taught me to look at the world from different perspectives than I normally would. Instead of looking out at the world in your eyes and putting yourself in other peoples shoes, I have learned to think of opportunities and what would effect each decision I make.

Thanks for reading keep your eyes peeled for my next post coming soon in Humanities!

Post 2 – The Public Victory

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On May 2, 2025

In Maker

The Public Victory

The Public Victory focuses on chapter 4,5, and 6; Think Win-Win, Seek first to understand, then to be understood, and Synergize. So far in the book, I have found the habits extremely helpful. Whenever I seem to second guess myself, or pause slightly before a decision, thinking of these habits help. That extra pause can decide the difference between success and failure. It is essential to try and plan ahead, try your best to have knowledge and reasons behind your decision.

Habit 4 : Think Win-Win

“Think Win-Win is an attitude toward life, a mental frame of mind that says I can win, and so can you. It’s not me or you, it’s both of us.” (Sean Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens) What Covey is telling us here, is that you can’t just be dismissive of other people and have what you want all the time. I think what this means is that we all need to have the attitude and mental capability to keep up, and make sure all the boxes are being ticked. We need to be open to other peoples ideas, and make sure everyone feels heard, including you. Thinking Win-Win is the foundation for getting along with other people. 

Another example that will stay with me is the tumour twins, who are competition and comparison. You definitely cant think win-win if you are always focused on competing and comparing yourself to others. It’s very easy to get caught up in this, I have been myself, but then I reel myself back in and remind myself and others around me, each person is different, be yourself, and think win-win! 

One way I used win-win thinking was when I was negotiating with Charlie, my brother. He outgrew his skis and I really wanted them, they were the perfect size, beautiful colours and they were pretty new as well. Charlie just bought some new skis for himself and he wanted to sell his old ones. The price was $400, $200 out of my price range. So I got to work, trying day in day out to get him to change his price. After talking to him for a while and saying all the positive points I could think of in my head, I got him to lower the price by $100. So now we were $100 out of my price range. I knew I still couldn’t buy those, they were still too expensive, so I offered to do his chores until Christmas. That was a big offer, and we both knew it. I half regretted it the moment the words came out of my mouth, but I am so glad I worked all summer to make the money to pay Charlie.  

Habit 5 : Seek first to understand, then to be understood

“Before I can walk in another’s shoes, I must remove my own.” (Unknown) Seek first to understand, then to be understood means you need to listen first, talk second. My mom used to tell me that the some of the smartest people in the room speak last. This means you hear other peoples ideas, take them in and help form one big idea with everybody’s small ideas contributing. A good example is when I was applying for PLP, and I was creating my entry video. I researched about soccer and women in the sport with the inequality between men’s and women’s soccer. The men get paid an exceptional amount more, even though women are at the same level just a different gender. When I was looking into this, I saw that the leader of the meeting always always spoke last, because she took everything in and then when it was her turn she had a solution for some problems, and she had formulated an idea that sounded incredible to everyone in the room, but really it came down to her listening instead of talking the whole time.

Somewhere I used this habit was during the winter exhibition. I had a group of friends. Awesome, not awesome. It took some work to get on track, but at the same time we all knew each others learning style so it was quick to get going. I found a good coping method was listening to everyone else, then speaking last or 2nd last because then nobody would interrupt and it would really help our group come to a better solution. 

Empathy has a lot to do with this habit. Being in another persons shoes, and seeing the world and problems from another point of view.

Habit 6 : Synergize

Synergy is when two or more people work together to create a better solution than either could do alone. To create, and build synergy, you have to look for it. You need to see and realize each person is unique and should value who they are and their personality.

On my soccer team, each and every person has a unique strength that contributes to our overall skill as a team. When each person brings that skill they have we all bond together to have a successful team. The result we have as a team is much better than an one teammate could do alone. This is a very good example of Synergy, because 2 or more people are coming together to bring out a result better than 1 person could have done. 

What does taking the highway mean? It means to find a better solution than lose-win, win-lose, or lose-lose. An example Sean Covey used in his book was about geese! If the lead goose gets tired, it will rotate to the back and rest until its ready again, the geese in the back will honk encouragement to the front, if one gets sick or hurt, 2 other geese will accompany it to the ground and wait for it to either die or get better, then return with the pack. This is an incredible example of synergy, and taking the ‘high’ way. A group of geese working together flying through the sky to generate a better outcome than any goose could do alone. It’s not one or another’s way, but a better, ‘higher’ way. The ‘high’ way is finding the best solution.

YouTube Short 2

Tyler and I are together once again for Youtube Short number 2. This one is focused on habits 4,5, and 6 just like this post! I will post it shortly, stay tuned for football players, Julia and Tyler! 

Reflection

This time around I felt like I connected more with this chapter. These habits 4,5, and 6 have really opened my eyes about how I can move on forward with my life. Each one is valuable, and I hope that everyone out there has a chance to learn about them, because really, they are life changing!

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