I look back at my past work and see a sheet of hard work, perseverance and dedication staring back at me, but now I ask myself, how can I improve and progress by the end of the year? Or in other terms, where do I go from where I stand as a learner now? This blog is all about how I plan to grow my learning from now, to the end of the year (kind’a like a “school years” resolution!😉).

The first half of this school year has been an uneasy journey. I like to image this journey as a river (just like the title of my blog!) that I am riding through. And just like a river, I encounter some rapids and choppy times as well as some occasional downfalls that, in a way, are similar to a waterfall. But, like a waterfall, things usually smooth out afterwards and something amazing comes out at the end of this rough journey. This is the story of my Journey Through the Process.

Heading out on my journey through high school

Hitting a few waves along the way

The river journey started at the beginning of the school year where I was the new “fresh meat” and had no idea what kind of river I was about to step into. I was soon way over my head with work. Luckily, I was well prepared for high school thanks to my elementary teacher, but had never experienced “Maker” before, which was something completely new to me. Because it was new, I didn’t do so well at first and regardless of my hard work, perseverance and numerous drafts, my selfie growth mindset poster was not my best work and quite a few pieces of the project, such as my photo was handed in late. Since then, I have worked hard to accomplish high quality work in all my subjects. I showed dedication to school, and if it meant missing a sports practice or dance class, then it had to be done. But cutting outside of school activities ended up being worth it in the end. And now, I plan to work hard and try my best to stay focused during class so that I use the most of my class time and complete all my work. And then, my group and I, will bring home the win at D.I.

Beside having a focused mindset in class, I also really feel that it is important for me to have a positive mindset. This goes for all subjects and projects whether I like them or not. I believe that having a positive attitude at all times will greatly increase my focus, work habits and work quality as well as make me a better group member and peer.

Ridding Smoothly

Hitting my first waterfall

And so after my downfall and slow reclimb in “Maker”, my academic river smoothed itself out, but, it was only a short period of time before I hit my next big waterfall. I took my good work habits from that I then developed from my first experience and applied it to my Humanities work. Because of this, I was able to complete a very good Oregon business ad that I am very proud of. However, once Star Wars came up and was assigned, everything went downhill again to the point where I had to miss my other commitments to keep up. I was already behind due to sickness and had so much research and type ups that needed to be done. In fact, this rough current I was going through was so big, that I hit my waterfall which resulted in tears and major break down. It took me a while to gather myself and get me back on track, but I came up with a timeline which I made to help me keep on track, manage my time and most of all, to ensure that my work was done and to relieve me of stress. I learned a lot from this experience and know that I have a second shot at it coming this spring. For next time, I hope to avoid major waterfalls and keep to the smoother root meaning managing my time and assignments accordingly as well as making a time line and dividing my work up. I also hope to stay organized and know exactly what needs to be done and when the check in dates area. This will help me avoid getting off track or handing things in late.

Lastly, my past work such as my Business Ads, Star Wars Project, Maker Project, Worldview Infographic and all my past assignments reflect me as a learner. I see my hard work and perseverance, but also the stress and anxiety that goes on behind the scenes that parents and teachers don’t see. I know the work that goes into just a short type up or simple ad and poster. And knowing what goes into my work, I cannot help but feel proud and see myself as a hard working and dedicated learner. But, where I see myself now, and where I wish to be by the end of the school year is a long ways. I hope to continue to grow my learning by applying my past experiences to my current work to make sure that mistakes I made in the past, are not made again.

Now that I look back at my past work, there are many projects I feel proud of and are happy to show others and share. But there are also assignments that I know could have been a lot better and see many ways I could improve. As I continue down my river of school, I want to improve, take risks, try new things and move on, but never want to forget my past experiences. For who knows? I just might learn something from my past accomplishments and failures. But now I ask, how can I take my failures and work hard to learn from them so that I can recognize them as just another opportunity to improve and try again?

Imgine travelling through different religions in a matter of days! That’s what the grade 8 PLP class did. Not only did we learn in-depth about a variety of religions, we also had many field studies to visit local religious buildings to further our knowledge of each religion.

Before beginning our tour of religious buildings and temples, we were placed into small groups of four. Each group was given the task to research and eventually design and complete an infographic about a religion.

Unfortunatly, I was sick and was unable to attend our first two field studies the class went on which was to a mosque and a synagogue. During class, I learned that Muslims pray and cleanse themselves at least five times a day. To do this, a mosque will usually be equipped with some sort of sink and mats to cleanse and pray. Muslims pray regularly in a specific order. Before starting, one would usually remove all extra clothing  such as coats and hats as well as any bags or additional luggage. They will then face the general direction if the holy town of Mecca and begin their prayer. Because Muslims categorize themselves as Christians, they believe in only one true God. However, another man by the name of Muhammad is also very well spoken of in the Islamic Religion. Muhammad is believed to be  the last prophet and God’s messenger. For additional information on the Islamic Religion or any of the others below, please click on the link below ⤵️.

World Religion Chart-1spfdhu  

Due to sickness, I also missed my opportunity to visit a Jewish Synagogue. However, in class I discovered that Judaism aism and Christianity share the same founder and that Christianity branched off from the Jewish religion in the New Testiment of the Bible.

Over a few days, I got to visit a Hindu temple, a Chinese Buddhist temple, Sikh Temple and a Catholic Church. All of the buildings were equipped with all the needs a person may need to worship including altars, books and statues.

the Hindu temple was rather simple on the outside, however, once inside, the air smelled of Indian food and upstairs were many statues dressed in elaborate bright clothing. A traditional song was being played and fruit and flowers covered the altar/stage and the statues. I odserved many people as they came and left, praying and offering their offerings before the shrines. One interesting act I noticed was that a person would ring a bell before kneeling before a statue in prayer. I later learned that this was to alert the God that someone was there and willing to talk.

Right after our visit to the Hindu building, the class took a short drive to a Chinese based Buddhist temple. Buddhism is probably the most loosely tied religion with very few guidelines and rules. The decor on the inside and outside including theunique shape of the  golden roofs indicated that this temple was based off of Chinese architecture. Once inside, the walls and corners of the building were covered by large golden statues of different Buddhas. One room even had thousands of miniature Buddha statues all embedded into the walls. This room also had pads in which people would kneel on to pray. A certain method of fortune telling was taught to us, where one shakes a tube of sticks. The first stick that falls out of the tube answers your question. The tour guide demonstrated this to us using a volunteer. During class, I took note that Buddhists believe that a person’s afterlife is based on their previous life. All actions are believed to have a consequence called karma. One with good karma will be delivered to Nirvana and those with bad karma will be reborn back to Earth either as a human or animal. The goal of all Buddhists is to reach Nirvana. Since this was my groups religion, we took this opportunity to ask questions to help us with our study.

The class then visited a Sikh temple where we were treated to an amazing traditional lunch of Indian food. After that, we were guided into the main room of worship and a lady spoke to us about how to properly bow and meditate before the altar. In class we learned about the importance of the Guru Granth Sahib which is a highly respected book of teachings in the Sikh religion as it is believed to be the word of God. Prayer is a central part of the belief. Sikhism prayers include meditation, hymns, devotionals and, like Islam, five daily prayers. Lastly, the class visited a local Catholic Church where we learned about the journey through this religion and how Baptism is an important step for Christians. We also were told about the birth and death of Jesus as well as the difference between Judaism and Christianity.

Once we visited all of these locations, our groups began to design and work on the infographic. In my group was Jordyn, Jackson and Taylor. The four of us began with a simple wire frame that included the main ideas we were going to write about as well as a quick outline of where the pictures, symbols and text boxes would be. My group then assigned each one of us a job and together, we put together an infographic. Below are all our drafts, and you might notice that there are more drafts in this project then any other projects I have posted. However, I learned a very important lesson: that you can never stop improving. And that every time you try again, you improve just a little bit more.

First Draft: Pretty much a replica of the wireframe with colour. Lots of text, big empty space, no pictures and overall sort of displeasing to the eye.

Draft #2: Less words and more info in the tree. Still lacking pictures and graphs.

Draft #3: Clearer and words are better fitted to the leaves. Graph is kind of lacking something though and is very simple.

Draft #4: Better Graph and use of space. Few adjustments could be made.

Draft #5: font is bolded and infographic is just about done!

Final: Graph is bigger, words are easy to read, infographic is neat and artistically interesting.

Besides the infographic, I also made a short Explain Everything  video talking about my worldview. Before beginning the video, I was required to create a thought web using MindNode which I would then use to create my video using my most important aspects of my worldview.

The chart showed different ways a persons worldview could be formed and influenced. I then filled in under each category, how these things influenced my personal worldview.

After the chart was completed, I made my Explain Everything. I made a few drafts but was unable to complete my final product due to sickness. As I didn’t want a sick voice as my new voiceover!😝