Hello and welcome to my blog! This post will be a bit different, instead of a project reflection, I will be doing 3 small posts about all of the 7 habits. Title: How to Be the Main Character of Your Own Life (According to Sean Covey)
Enter Sean Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, starting with the first three habits that are all about conquering yourself before trying to conquer the world. Let’s break them down.
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Being proactive means you don’t just sit around waiting for things to happen—you make things happen. You’re not blaming your bad mood on your little brother, your teacher, or the weather. You’re saying, “Hey, I get to choose how I react. I’m not a robot. I’m a legend.” Covey uses the idea of “responsibility” = response-ability — your ability to choose your response. So yeah, life throws stuff at you. But being proactive is like having an emotional force field. You don’t flip out, you flip the script.
Pro tip: Stop saying “I can’t” and start saying “I will figure it out.” That’s proactive energy right there.
Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind
This habit is like playing chess instead of checkers. You’re not just reacting move by move—you’ve got a strategy. You’re not living on autopilot, bouncing from one TikTok to the next. You’re asking big questions like:
Who do I want to be?
What do I want people to remember me for?
What would the highlight reel of my life look like?
Covey says to make a personal mission statement—a little life GPS. It’s like giving your brain a playlist of goals so it knows what direction to vibe in.
Fun idea: Write your mission statement and slap it on your wall, journal, or phone background. Instant motivation.
Habit 3: Put First Things First
Alright, this is where it gets real. You’ve got goals. You’ve got vision. Now you’ve got to prioritize like a boss. Habit 3 is about managing your time like it’s your most precious snack and you don’t want to waste a single bite. Covey introduces the idea of the Time Quadrants—fancy words for sorting your life into what’s urgent, important, or just straight-up distractions (looking at you, 3-hour YouTube rabbit holes).
Example:
Homework due tomorrow? Urgent & Important.
Practicing guitar? Not urgent, but important.
Scrolling memes for two hours? Not urgent, not important (but weirdly addictive).
The goal: spend more time on what’s important but not urgent—like working on goals, exercising, building relationships. That’s where growth happens.
Pro move: Use a planner, a to-do list, or even a sticky note attack on your wall to plan your week around your priorities, not your procrastinations.
The Awesome Video:
Along with this post, I made a fun YouTube short about the first three habits. Since I was paired with Ella and Brooklyn, we chose our theme to be Harry Potter. The video follows the story of the tri-learning tournament when Harry and Ron decide to sign up but have no idea how to prepare. Hermione helps them become proactive learners by thinking with the end in mind and putting first things first.
The Big Picture:
Habit 1: Take control. You’re not a victim—you’re the hero.
Habit 2: Dream big and design your life with purpose.
Habit 3: Prioritize what actually matters and stop getting sidetracked by stuff that doesn’t.
These first three habits are like building your own inner superhero. Once you master them, you’re not just surviving teen life—you’re owning it.
Want more? Stick around for the next post where we dive into Habits 4–6—aka, the teamwork and relationship power moves. Until then, go start being the main character of your own story.
Stacking Blocks and Life Lessons: What I Learned Destination Imagination
Hello and welcome to my blog. This post is about my latest experience with Destination Imagination (DI).
This year, I had the absolute chaos-filled joy of competing in Destination Imagination (again) with my team, The Block Busters (yes, we had the best name). (I also barely managed to escape with my life and quite a few battle scars).
Our challenge was a technical one: build up a structure using technical methods, and then use completely different methods to tear it down. It was like the ultimate engineering-meets-destruction test. And if that doesn’t sound cool to you, then I don’t know what does.
We spent months planning, building, testing, re-building, and occasionally watching everything collapse way before it was supposed to. It was frustrating. It was messy. It was also kind of amazing.
Regional Tournament: The Plot Twist
For our regional tournament, we showed up so prepared. We had rehearsed like mad scientists. Our stack was solid, our teardown method worked (well, most of the time), and our skit tied everything together in a way we thought was super clever. We were pumped. Then we got our results. Let’s just say… we didn’t place where we thought we would. And yeah, it stung a little. Okay, it stung a lot. We had worked so hard! What did we miss? But instead of giving up or sulking too long, we took it as a sign: we could do better. So we leveled up.
Provincial Tournament: Déjà Vu with Duct Tape
For the provincial tournament, we brought our A-game—and then some. We made our structure stronger, made our teardown flashier, improved our skit, and worked even more tightly as a team. We pushed ourselves creatively and technically. We were in it to win it. And then… we got the same placement.
At first? Super frustrating. Like “scream-into-a-pillow” frustrating. It felt like all our effort didn’t show up in the scores. But then something clicked for me.
What I Actually Learned
Sure, I had wanted a trophy. But what I got instead was something better (okay, maybe not shinier, but definitely more valuable):
Persistence matters. We kept going when it would’ve been easy to stop. We didn’t just accept our first result—we worked harder to improve.
Teamwork is everything. The Block Busters became more than just a team name—we were a unit. We learned how to support each other under pressure, how to solve problems together, and how to laugh through the disasters (looking at you, duct tape mishap #47).
You can’t control the outcome—but you can control the effort. The rankings didn’t reflect how much we grew, but we know how far we came. And that’s something no score can measure.
Creativity doesn’t always fit inside a scoring rubric. We took risks. We tried big ideas. And even if those didn’t pay off on paper, they meant something to us.
In the end, I’m walking away from this experience with skills I never expected to build—from quick thinking and engineering to collaboration and self-confidence. And honestly? I’m proud of the work we did. We built something awesome. And yeah, we smashed it too (literally and metaphorically).
We were The Block Busters. And next year I’ll be part of a brand new team (hopefully battle scar free)
Hello and welcome to my blog. In this post I will unbox me. This maker project is all about setting goals, making good habits, and unboxing yourself. Unboxing Me (the project name) started with a book called What Do You Really Want by Beverly K. Batchel.
Driving Question: How might I tell a story about who I am and where I’m going?
My story is about growth, goals, and figuring out where I’m headed. I’ve always been someone who likes structure—not just to stay organized, but because it helps me focus on what really matters. I use my iPad to keep me on track. The Things app helps me break big goals into smaller steps, and my calendar keeps me accountable. Whether it’s planning projects, managing daily tasks, or just making sure I have time for what’s important, these tools help me turn ideas into action. With the right mindset and tools, I can successfully plan a future and also tell a story.
What Do You Really Want?
“During adolescence, a person is faced for the first time with the need to plan his or her own life, set long-term goals and take responsibility for their fulfillment. That’s a big challenge even for adults, isn’t it? Think back to your teenage self: did anyone teach you to set goals, understand yourself and follow your dreams? I don’t think so. More likely, you were nurtured, given the information you needed and tried to guide you. But the most important thing an adult can give a teenager is to help form not knowledge, but so-called meta-skills: the ability to communicate, to hear yourself, to understand others, to be persistent, to set goals and achieve them. They will help a child find their way and succeed in their chosen endeavor. This book is written for teenagers who are thinking about the future, but do not yet know exactly what they want. It will help to define their aspirations and outline a plan to achieve their goals, teach them how to motivate themselves and inspire them to achieve their goals.”
There are many activities in the book that help boost your goal setting habits. My first activity was a think it and ink it. The book instructed me to make a goal tracker, so I hopped onto notability and wrote down some of my current goals. Then I added more to it by talking about how I would achieve the goals and what I would do to get there. Our second task was a twenty by twenty sheet. “If you could do any twenty things by the time you turn twenty, what would they be?” My sheet consists of many different things such as school, sports, travel, work, friends, and housing. I like to think of my self as pretty ambitious so I hope to reach most, if not all, of my goals by the time I am twenty. The next activity and my favourite, is the dream board! I love making dream boards because you can use your creativity to express yourself and your goals. Mine was fun to make because I used Canva and made mine pop with colour and images. Our second last task was writing a letter to ourselves. I struggled a bit with this because I’m not much of a goal person so actually writing to myself about goals was a bit tough. The letter spoke about what you will do once you reach a goal. And last but not least, we made a celebration plan! Our task was to write about what we would do to celebrate once we had met one (or more) of our goals.
Goal Tracker:
Twenty By Twenty:
Dream Board:
Letter To Myself:
“Sup me,
I wanted to take a moment to remind myself of the things I love about who I am. Its easy to get caught up in the grind and forget to appreciate what makes me, well, me. I love how kind I am. I always try to be there for the people in my life, whether its offering a helping hand or just
listening when someone needs to talk. That kind of empathy is something Im really proud of. I also love my resilience, Ive been through some tough times, but I always manage to bounce back and keep going. It reminds me that I’m stronger than I think. Another thing I love about myself is my curiosity. Im always looking for new things to learn, whether its reading or just diving into something that piques my interest. It keeps life exciting. And lets not forget my creativity. I find new ways to solve problems or just express myself, and it feels good to know I can come up with something original when needed. I also really appreciate my sense of humour. I know how to laugh at myself and keep things light, even when life
tries to get too serious. It makes everything a little easier to handle. And Im grateful for my selfawareness. Im not perfect, but I know who I am, and Im always trying to grow and be better. My determination is something I admire too. When I set a goal, I dont back down, I keep pushing until I get there. I
also really value how I stay true to myself. I dont try to be anyone else, and Im learning to be more confident in just being me. I try to keep a sense of gratitude in my life, appreciating all the little moments and things I have. It helps me stay grounded and focused on what really matters. And lastly, Im learning to love myself more. I show love to the people I care about, but Im working on giving myself the same kindness and care. I guess, at the end of the day, Im proud of who I am. Ive got my flaws, but Ive got a lot of good stuff too. Im constantly growing, and Im excited to see where that takes me.
With love,
Me.”
Celebration Plan:
“Hockey: I did it! I set out to get better at hockey, and all the hard work has paid off. I wanted this because I love the game and knew I had more in me. Even when it got tough-early mornings, tough losses, and frustrating practices—| stuck with it. I stayed consistent, pushed myself, and kept improving little by little. Now I’m faster, stronger, and more confident on the ice. Time to celebrate! Whether that means treating myself, taking a well-earned rest, or just enjoying the game even more, l’m going to soak it in. I earned it.
On to the next challenge!
Fiji:
Goal achieved! I set a goal to be fitter and feel more comfortable for Fiji, and all the effort has paid off. I wanted this because I knew l’d enjoy the trip so much more if I felt strong, confident, and full of energy. Even when it was tough-workouts I didn’t feel like doing, cravings, and days where progress felt slow-| kept going. I stayed consistent, made healthier choices, and kept pushing myself. Now I feel better, move easier, and have way more confidence. Time to celebrate! Whether that means fully enjoying every moment in Fiji, or just appreciating how far l’ve come, l’m going enjoy it. I earned this.”
Managing Me Video:
Our first benchmark was our managing me videos. We had to make a short 1 ish minute video about how we stay organized and manage ourselves. I talked about time blocking my calendar and using Things. Time blocking is a very useful way to keep track of your day and also your goals. I time block my school days to know what classes I have and what time I have in each class. I also like to time block my activities outside of school so I can keep track of sports like my hockey and boxing but also other things like walking my dog or hanging out with friends. Since we didn’t post these videos to YouTube, I used a background song that would be subject to copyright. So unfortunately I cant show the video on here because of some technical difficulties.
Unboxing Me Video:
For our last and final part of thee project we made an Unboxing video about ourselves and our goals. Our videos had to feature enough information to tell a story. The video had a time limit of 2-3 minutes. For my first draft I made a script: “Do you have big goals for life? Hi, my name is Elsa, and I have some big goals. Before I get into some of my bigger goals, I’m going to go over who I am and my values. I love sports and physical activities. I am I huge fan of hockey and I’ve been playing it since I was three years old. I love getting exercise and going on hikes. Another sport I do is boxing. The most important thing I value is nature, especially the ocean. Every summer I go on a boat trip with my family and I have the best time. I love being in and on the water. That’s why one of my biggest long term goals in life is to become a boat pilot. I was never interested in this type of job until I went to the B.C boat show. I was wandering the halls when I saw a stand that talked about becoming a boat pilot. I was immediately intrigued when the two people who were working at the stand mentioned the good pay and long vacation times. You get to travel the world and get paid for it?! This sounds like the job for me! I will need to work hard to become a boat pilot and I know that the journey wont always be easy, but I will have to stick with my goals and chip them away one at a time! In order to stick with my goals I will have to stay organized. I will keep track of all my tasks and be able track my goals as well. I’m going to set small goals that will lead up to bigger things like getting into university or applying for a job. I want to become successful and be happy with my life and how I got there.”
Personally, i didnt really stick to my script but thats the gist of my story. I did a lot of filming and re-filming but I got there in the end! My video is posted on YouTube for you all to enjoy. I’ll drop a link below.
Hello and welcome to my blog! It’s POL time! Today’s post is all about my first Presentation of Learning (POL)! Specifically, I’ll be doing an MPOL— a Mid-Year Presentation of Learning. This is a student-led conference where I get to share my learning journey with my teacher, my parent(s), and any other invited guests. It’s a great opportunity for them to understand where I am as a learner and how I’ve grown.
The MPOL is a 12-minute conference, with 7 minutes dedicated to my learning story and 5 minutes for questions from my teacher and parent(s). Let’s get started!
Opening Statement:
“ 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.”
My Vision, Mission, and Values:
My vision is just the things that I want to accomplish either by the end of the school year or by graduation. My mission is how I’m going to accomplish my vision and the work I will have to do to get there.
Vision:
On my graduation day I will find myself being a happy and healthy person, having reached my goals and being ready to move on into adult life. I want to have no regrets about my grades in school and my actions. I want to be able to leave school prepared to be an active citizen in society. I will be able to further my education in the form of going to a college or university that fits my preference.
Mission:
To reach my vision I will have to work hard in my grade nine year to prepare myself for the years after. I want to have a good mindset about my learning and also have the thirst to further it. I will have to be able to successfully balance my school and home life by being responsible with my time and homework, so that i don’t get discouraged or too stressed. I want to stay active both physically and mentally, so that I am more engaged at school.
Humanities:
Peak Potential:
This project was all about getting over basically everything. Some of us had to get over physical and mental challenges with the hikes, and some of us had to get over anxiety challenges with asking complete strangers to get an interview (literally me). Before we left B.C, we were told we had to get with groups and then stick with them for the whole trip to conduct interviews. After the trip we put together all of the interviews and made one video on how to become the best version of ourselves.
This project helped push me out of my comfort zone when it came to talking with strangers. At the beginning of the trip I kept trying to procrastinate so that I wouldn’t have to talk to people but eventually I did and it wasn’t so bad. I had to use my communication and collaboration skills a lot in Alberta. This really helped me advance my agency and engagement success behaviours, by taking responsibility and taking action when we needed to conduct more interviews. At the end of the trip I no longer needed 3 friends with me to ask people questions, I could just do it myself. I also used my organizational skills a lot in Alberta when it came to keeping interviews saved in the proper folder, doing my daily checks on my note sheet, and keeping track of the interview questions and answers.
PGP:
TYKTWD:
This project was for the grade 9 take your kid to work day activity. For my “Take Your Kid to Work Day” blog post, I shared my experience volunteering at the Seymour Fish Hatchery since neither of my parents could take me to their workplaces. Along with my sister Emilia and my friend Brooklyn, I got to participate in activities like feeding baby salmon and doing a carcass recovery. The carcass recovery involved wading through the creek to count dead salmon and record important details like gender, size, origin, and whether they had spawned. This helped gather data on the salmon population. To add more depth to my post, I also conducted an interview with Megan Sampson, a volunteer at the hatchery. Talking to her gave me insight into the roles and responsibilities involved in wildlife conservation.
This project helped me advance my skills such as:
• Reflective Writing: I was able to clearly communicate my experiences and observations, making sure readers could understand what my day at the hatchery was like.
• Interviewing: I prepared thoughtful questions for Megan and learned how to gather valuable information from a professional in the field.
Analytical Thinking: Participating in the carcass recovery and recording data required me to observe details carefully and understand their significance.
• Environmental Awareness: This experience gave me a deeper appreciation for conservation efforts and how people work to protect wildlife.
Overall, this day was both educational and rewarding. Not only did I get hands-on experience with conservation work, but I also developed important skills that I can apply in the future.
How have I shown growth as a learner this year?
Throughout the year I have been working very hard to keep on track with my homework and school time. This year has been pretty stressful because of outside activities but I’ve been able to keep atop of all my work! I am good with time management but sometimes I need to be more in charge and do my work earlier so that I don’t have to stress about it the morning of. I’m a morning bird so that makes me very productive in the morning. If I need to do some extra work, I will take responsibility and do it in the morning. I am good at putting my thoughts into words, especially if I’m writing. I am working to having a more open mind when it comes to school work because if I like the subject I will pay more attention and contribute more. I enjoy reading and history so I like it when the subject revolves around that sort of thing.
– Homework
– Self regulation
– Time management
– Having an open mind
Thanks for reading my blog post. I hope you enjoyed the story upon my learning! Until next time!
Hi and welcome back! This is my blog where you can read about everything that I learn. This post will feature my latest humanities project called…. Fankenstuffies: The Rise of Change! This project was all about the Industrial Revolution and the changes it brought to society. The Industrial Revolution was a period of major changes in the way products are made. It took place more than 200 years ago and greatly affected the way people lived as well as the way they worked. In earlier days, people made products by hand. They worked mostly in their own homes or in small workshops. During the Industrial Revolution, many factories were built. Labourers began making large numbers of things using machines powered by engines such as steam, or coal powered.
Driving question: 🏎️ How can we, as writers, weave historical details into our creative storytelling to convey a clear and impactful message?
We kicked off the project with the urbanization game, which was a fun and interactive way to get a feel for what life was like during the Industrial Revolution. Urbanization happens when people move from rural areas to cities, usually because of job opportunities in growing industries like factory work. As we explored this shift from farming to factory life, we started to understand how drastically things changed during that time. Cities became overcrowded, living conditions were often poor, and factory work was exhausting and even dangerous. It was interesting to put ourselves in the shoes of people who experienced such a massive transition. We imagined what it must have been like to leave behind a familiar way of life, move to a busy city, and try to keep up with all the changes happening around them. Here’s a picture of the city my group created: 👇
Making the frankenstuffies:
The Hero’s Journey
For this part of the project we had to create our very own frankenstuffies! It was a super fun (but slightly sad) activity that took around 3 classes to finish. We had to bring in around 3-4 stuffies that were no longer loved (my heart💔) and cut them up and use their body parts to create a whole new stuffie. I learnt a lot of things during this part of the project but the thing I learnt most was hand sewing. (Strange thing to be learning in a history class). Anyways, here’s a short video on how my beloved stuffie came to be!
Film Pitch
My Storyboard
For the last bit of preparation we had to do, we made a story board to map out our films. A storyboard is very helpful when you want to be organized before you create a story. Mapping out your ideas will help you create a more precise and easy to follow story. I used drawings to create my story board.
The Final Draft
It’s finally time to introduce my beloved Stefan!! Isn’t he gorgeous?! Anyways, for the final draft I worked really hard to find pictures and sounds that were copyright free to use in my movie. We used iMovie to create a short story that featured our characters in the Industrial Revolution! Here’s mine:
How does electricity shape our society, and how can we generate it more sustainably?
During this project, we learnt many different types of energy and how to generate energy. But our main focus was how to generate clean and sustainable energy.
Electricity is a huge part of everyday life, it powers our homes, keeps hospitals running, and lets us stay connected with each other. But a lot of it still comes from fossil fuels, which pollute the environment. To make it more sustainable, we need to focus on renewable energy like solar, wind, and hydropower. Using energy more efficiently and improving battery storage can also help cut down our reliance on nonrenewable sources. If we keep pushing for cleaner energy, we can build a more sustainable future.
Hydro Electricity Infographic:
This was our first assignment in this project. We had to make in infographic on our choice of sustainable electricity. I chose hydro electricity because I love water and I find it fascinating that water can power electricity. Hydroelectricity is a way of generating power using moving water. Dams or turbines are placed in rivers or reservoirs to harness the energy from flowing water, which spins turbines to produce electricity. It’s a renewable energy source because water cycles naturally through rainfall and rivers. Hydropower is one of the most reliable and widely used renewable energy sources, but it can impact ecosystems by changing water flow and affecting fish populations. Despite this, it remains a clean and efficient way to produce electricity without burning fossil fuels.
Operation Electricity! ⚡️
This was the final benchmark in our project. We had to create a replica of the game ‘Operation’. Using our newfound skills with electricity, we made a fully functional (most of the time) board game!! We made it with a shoe box, tin foil, wires, metal tweezers and a whole lot of electrical tape! It’s crazy what you can do with just those materials.
I really liked doing the practice one because I was really proud of myself when it worked. It was a bit challenging to get my actual game to work 100% of the time because every once in a while I would have to re adjust the foil to get it to work. But I did it in the end! The tin foil we used was the conductor of electricity. We created a closed circuit for the electricity to flow through and to turn on the light.
thanks for reading this short little post on electricity and all the ways to harness, and use it (sustainably of course.)
Hello and welcome back to my blog. In this blog, I will talk about my PLP 9 experience during the winter exhibition! This blog is a 2-parter so you can read about BOTH the exhibition and the project called “Vive Les Machines À Métaphores”. I’ll start with the humanities project that led up to the exhibition.
Vive Les Machines À Métaphores⚙️
This project was all about What Factors Precipitate ‘Revolution’ and How Have They Shaped the Modern World? Revolutions happen when economic struggles, political oppression, and social inequality push people to demand change. Big ideas, new technology, and outside pressures often fuel the fire, like in the French Revolution. They’ve shaped the world by ending monarchies, spreading democracy, advancing rights, and driving progress. Revolutions show that the fight for freedom and fairness never stops.
Animal Farm:
Our project started off with us doing a novel study on the book Animal Farm by George Orwell. Animal Farm is a book about animals who rebel against their farmer to create a society where they are all equal. However, as the pigs take control, they become as oppressive as the humans they replaced. The story highlights how power can corrupt and how revolutions can betray their ideals. After we finished reading, we made an infographic on the four stages of revolutions and how each stage represented an action in Animal Farm.
Crane Britons Theory:
The first stage of a revolution is the incubation stage, people are unhappy because of issues like inequality, bad leadership, or economic struggles. Tensions build up, but nothing major happens yet—it’s all bubbling under the surface. Next is the moderate stage. Protests, strikes, and calls for change begin. Moderates try to fix things with reforms, but they usually don’t go far enough. The situation becomes more unstable, and people start to lose patience. In the most violent stage, radicals take over, the old system collapses, and things get chaotic. You might see violence, extreme measures, and big changes as the revolution reaches its peak. And finally in the moderate stage, things start to settle down. A new government forms, often less extreme than the radicals wanted. Society gets back to normal, though some parts of the old system might come back, just under new leadership.
Revolutions in action:
Our next step was to learn more about revolutions. There were 5 different revolutions we could choose to learn more about. The Russian, American, Meiji, Haitian, and French revolutions. I chose the French Revolution because I already knew a little about it, so I took the chance to learn more. After we became familiar with our different revolutions, we were instructed to make an infographic on them. We used Canva to make our infographics both aesthetically pleasing, and packed with information. Here’s mine:
Exhibition Ending:
Now it was time to put all of our learning into action. The grade 9 section of the winter exhibition was based off all of the revolutions. Each revolution group had about 5-6 people in it. My group consisted of Samuel, Eloise, Evelyn, Carmyn, and Liann. (I will link their blogs down below). Each group was to make a Rube Goldberg machine that was a metaphor for a revolution. A Rube Goldberg machine is a device that preforms multiple actions in order to complete one simple task (for example, turning on a light). Since they needed to be metaphors for a revolution, each action had to directly relate to an important event during the revolution.
Spiral
The economy spiraling.
Dominoes
The government pushing aside the poors needs.
Bouncing off the National Assembly
The third estate getting rejected from the National Assembly.
The tennis court
The poor protesting in the Tennis Court Oath.
The rights of man board
The government finally signing the rights for all men.
The knife and figures
The execution of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The end of the monarchy.
The car and flames
The Reign of Terror and chaos.
The car knocking over a board
The execution of Maximilian Robespierre. Also the end of the Reign of Terror.
The ball hitting the French flag.
Napoleon finally taking down the French government.
The crown
The end of the French Revolution and the beginning of the Napoleonic Era
The ball going back to the top
The symbol of how revolutions never truly end and how once a revolution does end, a new one is ready to begin.
From the Top:
These are just a few video clips that highlight the progress we made while building. (My YouTube wasn’t working otherwise I would have posted this video)
For the actual exhibition, all of the grade 9’s were put in a room with their Metaphor Machines. Once the people started to flow, it was time to present our machines. Each person in the group was explaining one stage of the machine. I was in charge of presenting the 6th action. Although I had to leave an hour early for a hockey game, I enjoyed seeing some of the other grades, and presenting our metaphor machine. On the whole, I think our group was the most successful. We had great organization and every single member contributed. It was hard work to build a Rube Goldberg machine, and even harder to get it to work properly. But in the end our group did really well and I enjoyed myself at the exhibition.
The End
That’s it for this blog post! Hope you enjoyed reading about the winter exhibition. Oh and also… Happy New Year!!
Hi and welcome back to my blog! This post will be about the world of filmmaking. Our maker project called “Running a Remake” was meant for us to pay attention to detail and make an EXACT copy of a short film called “RUN!” (I’ll leave a link). Attention to detail was extremely important for this project because in order to make a copy, we had to film the exact angles, timing, sound, shots, and overall, story. We learnt many video making skills by learning how to create a story by using filmmaking. Sound affects were the hardest part because we had to create original audio.
Most people think that copying a 1 minute short film is easy, but there are so many aspects you have to consider. The first thing you have to consider is the angles you are using to portray your film. If you were trying to make a copy like we did, then you have to make every single scene count. We had to pay attention to the angle of the shots, the lighting of the shots, the setting of the shots, and of course the style of filming.
The first step of re-creating a film is making a storyboard. Your storyboard doesn’t have to be detailed, but it has to be precise. Make a drawing for each one of the different shots and angles and then you’ll be able to follow along better. A storyboard is a simple, but effective way of figuring out which shots you will need to make. Once we finished making the storyboard, we were ready to film.
Part of being attentive to detail is your costumes and settings. Since I was the runner (the main character) I had to be dressed accordingly. The runner in the RUN! video is wearing a tracksuit, so I tried my best to get a sweater and sweatpants to make it look like a tracksuit. A second detail is that the runner is wearing a grey toque. Since I couldn’t find a grey toque, I had to make do with the black one. And the final detail is that the runner has earbuds in. I also couldn’t find earbuds with strings so I had to use wireless ones. Once my costume is ready my group and I headed outside to film. We had to be careful in choosing our filming spot somewhere where we wouldn’t be interrupted too frequently by other groups or other people. We chose the perfect spot in a trail that fit the setting of the original video.
It was challenging to get all of the correct shots, but once we were done, it was time for the editing stage. Since I was the editor, I was in charge of inserting the sound that we had filmed and also editing the video so it looked more like the original. Sound is one of the most immersive parts of any movie or show so it’s critical that you get it right. Once I was done editing the video, I posted it to my YouTube. (I’ll leave a link.)
Thanks for reading this post! My next post will probably be after winter break (unless the teachers are ruthless…) I hope you enjoyed the details of recreating a short film.
Welcome! This blog is all about the grade 9 take your kid to work day. Take your kid to work day is exactly how it sounds. Basically grade 9 students all over the province have the day off school to spend the day with parents, relatives, or mentors visiting them at their jobs. My day was different because my dad is retired so I obviously couldn’t go with him, and my mom had a really important meeting that day so I couldn’t go with her. So I spent my day volunteering at the Seymour Fish Hatchery!
My Work Day!
Me, my sister Emilia, and Brooklyn all went up the mountain for a day of volunteer work. Our first task was to feed the baby salmon in the outdoor pond. Once that was done we headed off to do a carcass recovery. A carcass recovery is a 2-4 hour trip down the creek, wading through the waters and counting carcasses. For every carcass we took notes on it’s gender, size, origin (weather it’s wild or hatchery), and it’s spawn. Once we finished taking notes on the salmon, we would cut the salmon in half, to prevent accidentally re-counting the salmon. All of our notes on the salmon then went into a file for a population count.
My interview
For tyktwd, we had to make an interview with someone who works there. I made an interview with Megan Sampson, the volunteer worker. She was also the person who took us on the carcass recovery. I had a very successful interview with her and she had great answers. The interview was all about getting to know more about the job, from someone who worked there. We were to ask open-ended questions, that could help us understand the job, and get us interested. I personally, am not planing to work with wildlife, but I still love the environment and wanted to know more about the job. After we finished the interviews, we posted them to our personal YouTube accounts. Hope you enjoy!!
The driving question:
The driving question was “how does experiencing a work day change our view of career choices?” By experiencing a workday myself, I am able to see what it would be like to be actively participating in the work place. If you aren’t able to experience a work day, you wont be able to properly gouge what it’s like in the work place, and therefore, your opinion might change based off your experience. Obviously, not every day is the same, but you will still get the gist of the job if you are able to see a day in action. Experiencing a work day might also help you choose what aspects of jobs you like, or don’t like. For example, a day in the action might help you differ from desk jobs vs. An outdoor job, or a hands on job vs. A behind the scenes job.
Thanks for reading my blog!! Hope you liked this post. I know it was short but this project was pretty small.
Heeeellllooooo goooberrrrsss (my fandom name)! Welcome back to my blog! This is a post all about the most exciting humanities project I’ve ever experienced! This project was all about advertisement and inspiring adventure. The driving question was “How does language inspire adventure?” Ads use awesome visuals and cool stories to get you curious and excited. They show epic places, crazy activities, and breathtaking scenery to make you dream about going on adventures like that. Ads create a strong connection and make you want to live those experiences. They often paint a picture of a perfect life where adventure is a big part, pushing you to want to explore and discover new things. Some ads create urgency with limited-time offers, pushing you to act fast. When they feature famous people or influencers known for their adventurous lives, it’s super convincing because you want to be like them. Ads also say that trying new things and stepping out of your comfort zone can help you grow and discover more about yourself, encouraging you to be more adventurous in your everyday life.
The Quarry Rock Ad!
Who are first assignment in this project we took a short field study up to Quarry Rock where we then took pictures and asked hikers what brought them to Quarry Rock. Then we took this information and made an ad to visit Quarry Rock! We found out that most people go there for the excitement of a challenging hike (and an opportunity to take Instagram photos.) For the ads, we got maybe one or two revisions but in the end, we were all pretty happy how they turned out.
Every year, the PLP grade 8’s, go on a trip to Oregon and now it was finally our turn!! on the trip we would learn a ton of stuff and also get to experience the coastal beaches and learn more about the history of not only Oregon, but the entirety of the US. This trip was a great way to test my limits on needing time away from my classmates and also running a whole day on 5 to 6 hours of sleep. This trip also tested teamwork skills like for example the quests that we did together, (you can read more about this in my adventure book that I will put below.)
Rubber Boot Evidence!
Also, this wasn’t exactly an assignment, I just wanted to put it in here because it’s hilarious.
During our adventure in Oregon, we were supposed to keep track of our time by documenting everything in an adventure book! Although I wasn’t glad at the beginning that we had to do this I’m really glad that we made this book because now I can look back at this trip and look back at all the fun memories and experiences that I got to do. If you would like to flip through my book and learn more about our Oregon adventure in better detail, please do, I recommend it. It will be a fun experience.
2024 Spring Exhibition:
Now it’s time to talk about the (second) highlight of this project…..THE SPRING EXHIBITION!! This being my first spring exhibition. It was all new to me. The main theme of the spring exhibition was based off of our Oregon ads. My groups theme was excitement and escape, so we decided to play in zip lining, which was the most exciting part of the Oregon trip. Our food choice was apple juice and cookies. Apple juice and cookies are the two consumables we chose to enrich our audience with, because we thought it tied into excitement perfectly! During our field study to Oregon, we went zip-lining! During the zip-lining adventures, we were given the food choice of apple juice and cookies! Then we used our Oregon ads to make a display that would hopefully get the audience wanting to go to Oregon. I think that the exhibition went well, other than the fact my group had water balloons and I’m guessing you can tell where that led to. Thought to be fair, it’s not entirely realistic to expect a bunch of 13-year-old kids to be able to stay in one place for four hours and not want to have a little fun with water balloons.
