I’m back! This was our first project in PGP EVER, and I was really excited to do it. This project was based around the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. This books is centred around the idea of improving by 1% everyday. I really like this idea becuase it means that you still get progress but you dont have to put your all into every aspect of your life that you want to do well in. That’s just a recipie for burnout. After reading this book and doing manyactivities on it, we make artifacts to represent our learning. Read more to find out about mine!
The driving question for this was :
How can small changes in my habits shape my success this year, and beyond?
I implemented this through my artifact. I chose pick many topics from the book to show my understanding. My artifact was a desk redesign and I chose this becuase it was truly useful to me. By organizing and making this space welcoming it is ready to serve me for years to come.I did a really good job of picking an artifact that works for me, not just something that I thought would get an A. It’s been two weeks as of now and my desk truly has turned into a study space. Everything I outlined worked and I am very proud of myself.
I couldn’t just get there though. It took a lot of work. We did this project at the same time as a big humanities/makerproject which forced me to really evaluate what was worth spending my time on. This is really pushed me to time block to make sure I could get a proper deep understanding of the topics.
One of the pieces of this project was really awful for me. I have ADHD and because of that I’m very sensitive to background noise (listen to our class podcast The World Needs More Canada) to go through a simulation I made of this. We had two tests on this book. That first one was find. The room was quiet and I had had a good day so far so it was easier to bear. The second test fell on a bad day for me. I had had choir early in the morning, and likely French beforehand. This was not a good set up. As soon as I sat down to take it I started shaking. I have anxiety and it’s really spiked by tests, as I have a very bad habit of measuring my self worth against my grades. With my anxiety already running rampant, all of the little noises drove me nuts. I understood the concept completely and I think I wrote a good quiz, but everyone else was finishing faster. This made my anxiety worse. Add the guys next to me loudly whispering about brawl stars, and its no wonder I had a mini anxiety attack. The big takeaway for me from this was that I did go ask for the accommodations I’m legally allowed to have. I got up and was allowed to use my headphones for white noise which helped but the drama was already done. In the future I hope to advocate for myself in advance.
The core competency for this project was personal social : “I take purposeful action to support others and the environment, advocate for my rights, and take responsibility for my choices, actions, and achievements. I use my strengths to contribute to my communities.” I showed this by picking a project that worked for me. I advocated for my rights by using my accommodations to use headphones in the stressful test. I took responsibility for my choices by planning in advance for when I would make the artifact instead of doing it last minute and badly.
By adding all these atomic steps together I created a insightful artifact that fully communicated my understanding of atomic habits. My artifact will serve me for years to come to come and remain relevant in my life.
Hello and welcome back to another year of PLP! Surprisingly, I’m still here they couldn’t get rid of me. Our first humanities project was about why the world needs more Canada (why is our country awesome). This was prefaced with: the rest of your projects will be all about bashing Canada so we thought we’d start with something positive. This project was joined with maker so we wrote essays that we later turned into podcasts that you can listen to here:
During September we mostly focused on building our knowledge in English, how Canada presents itself on the world stage and current events in general. I really liked how we built our knowledge in a variety of ways because if we had just focused on one of these things I would have been bored out of my mind.
I’m an English lover. It’s always been a class I really enjoy so I was really excited when we had some separate days just for it as humanities normally combines the two. We analyzed a bunch of short stories and talked about them together. My favourite was Bread by Margret Atwood as I’ve read her work before. Something about her work makes you find a new meaning in a piece every time you read it. Having this in the project made me a lot more interested in it, meaning I put in a lot more effort than I would have otherwise.
Here’s how I dissected bread:
We also focused on current events. We were assigned to watch the national. This was surprisingly not as boring as I thought it would be (though my mum was the most excited about this). We also led thinking Thursday discussions where we would bring in our favourite story from the week and discuss it with a random group. Throughout the discussion process, I stayed very engaged, encouraging classmates to participate both when I was leading and when I was listening. I was prepared for the discussions because reliably watched the national. My own topic was new AI coming to hospitals in Toronto that lets healthcare workers. As I learn to live with ADHD (as in how I’m figuring out how to accommodate myself and find systems that work for me) I’ve realized that picking topics that I relate to helps me stay engaged and WANTING to learn more. I liked this because I’m looking into a career in healthcare and this could directly impact me later in my life!
The last piece of evidence I will touch on is the big one, the essay (or multi-paragraph composition). I struggled with outlining this because I was on a weekend trip and I thought I could outline it. I forgot that there is little to no cell service or wifi in the Cariboo so I ended up at the place I could get the best cell service. A tiny bench on the ranch we were staying on. Note: the Cariboo is cold in the evening in fall. At least I had a nice view.
My outline steered me wrong and if I had thought ahead and done it earlier I could have relaxed on this vacation. Luckily I did figure out how to get my essay working (I think) but I could have saved myself a lot of time by doing this organizer the right way the first time.
This project focused on the questioning core competency. I think I did really well with this because I am a person who is a questioner. Even to the point of why are we even doing this sometimes. I demonstrated this through the thinking Thursday’s especially.
Now, you’re probably wondering what my answer to the driving question is. I think it’s a complicated question. “Canada” is so broad with so many people with so many opinions that we’re unable to define as one thing that the world might need more of. If you think that all of Canada and the people that live in can be labeled as one thing, maybe relook at that because you’re probably stereotyping. When I look at my own topic (IEPs and Academic Accommodations) I think the world does need more Canada. This is one way we are ahead. Canada is often thought of as a good country, and don’t get me wrong I think that’s true but we still have a lot of room to grow. Overall, in many ways the world does need more Canada but in someways it doesn’t.
Overall I think this project went ok. It could have been better but I’m giving myself grace as it was the first one and I am still getting used to the linear system having 8 classes at once). I’ve had a lot of successes in this project and I know what I have to build on for the next one.
Keep an eye out for the related maker post!
Welcome back to another exhibition post! This was possibly my favourite exhibition so far for a multitude of reasons. This was the first exhibition that wasn’t a group project, and if you’ve read any of my other posts you would know that I’m not the biggest fan of those (I’m working on it).
Our project for this exhibition was on WWI. We were asked to create 20+ graphic novels, based on a real battle or event with a real or fictional character of our choosing. I immediately thought of my great-great grandmother Mabel Henshaw, a survivor of the Lusitania. I’m very thankful that I got to tell her story.
The driving question for this was pretty simple: how can I create a graphic novel that accurately depicts a scene from WW1?
I think the answer is time. You have to put in the time to find sources (I used family members and this website). You then have to put in the time to draw all the panels I eventually spent around 16 hours on my final comic (tracked by Procreate). I didn’t mind this though because I could listen to music or an audiobook while I worked which isn’t something you can do with a lot of tasks in this class.
On the day of the exhibition, everything was chaotic. I ended up being in charge of some stuff when teachers weren’t around. I got my own table though and drew my family tree and a big ship backdrop.
During the exhibition, I got to talk to so many people of so many ages, from a kid who already knew a shocking amount about the ship to someone’s grandma. I felt bad because I had presented it so many times it was hard for me to remember how tragic the story was. I kind of shut off my emotions so I wouldn’t get too sad while presenting.
I would call this my most successful project yet. I got to play to my strengths of writing and storytelling while trying something more difficult for me (drawing). I was enthusiastic about this project, and positive the whole time which is often hard for me.
Here are some exhibition photos
I also just really enjoyed this project. Something that I often get feedback on at pols is my lack of balance. I got to relax while drawing. I also got to schedule my work early, because we were told in advance how much time we had and what was expected.
Thank you for coming to my presentation of learning. I am the expert of 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 giving me feedback I can use to improve as a learner.
Ok now that that’s done with, let’s get into it.
This year we were asked doo do our tpol a little differently so I will be going over 3 of the PLP success behaviours. These behaviours are from the: agency, engagement and preparation sections. I chose these behaviours very carefully to show success, something I’ve grown in since my Mplol and something I intend on building on in grade 10.
Let’s start with My growth. The behaviour I chose for this section was “Outside of school ” From the preparation section, I marked myself as “Manages time effectively to meet deadlines and complete tasks, uses organizational tools.” However, even a month and a half ago I would have been put myself as “has a system to manage tasks but struggles with consistency”
At the beginning of this year, I was just trying to figure out what systems worked for me with my busy schedule, and I would find myself cramming often because I didn’t look ahead. Now that it’s been a while, two years of being a PLP learner I know how my brain works as a PLP learner better. In this time I have found the following strategies for myself.
-I am an early bird and am much more productive if I wake up early instead of cramming late and doing sloppy work. (Using my favourite music makes it easier to wake up too!)
I am busy and need to schedule my work blocks. I will build on this by using my calendar next year.
I need to compartmentalize my work when at home, moving locations (library, mum’s office just going outside instead of my room which is just asking me to be distracted.)
I strive for competition and can simulate this by setting a time-lapse of myself working (insert video)
Moving onto something I would like to build on in my grade 10 year. That is resilience. As a learner I care deeply about the work I create and when it gets deleted or a bad mark because I was rushed I feel incompetent. I need to work on sticking with it without giving up. Some days I just can’t be productive in class. During our nationalism project, I got so discouraged from not finding proper sources that I ended up staring at a blank iPad screen for almost 3 classes. Though I did eventually have a successful Video and project it was only completed by waking up early and staying up late.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AHDawXtt2g
I am resilient in other ways, however. When I don’t do as well as I could have on a project I become even more driven to do well on the next one. I can very easily pick myself up if there is another chance to do well, to impress myself and others.
As soon as I went over the form I knew I wanted to talk about my enthusiasm for learning. I think it is one of my biggest strengths as a learner. As a learner, I crave knowledge and a complete understanding. This leads to me pushing myself to complete projects to the extending level I expect from myself. A good example of this was our WW1 project, where instead of making up a random story from a pre-decided list, I went through my family history to find a story that I wanted to tell. The result was an extremely detailed, personal, and immersive graphic novel which is possibly what I consider my biggest success as a learner thus far in school.
Another example of this was our nationalism project. As unorganized as I was throughout this project it did get done and I did create a product I am somewhat proud of. This is only because of my enthusiasm. I picked a niche topic (again) and connected a topic I felt little connection to to myself. I am good at connecting myself to all the things I am learning about.
Another thing to consider with my enthusiasm is how overpowering it can be. This connects to the balance sections, something that has been brought up by teachers at every Pol I’ve had so far. When I get really into my learning there isn’t much that can stop me from myself. I end up burnt out and exhausted. This is also due to how packed my schedule is. I have to squish in my homework time.
Though this sounds bad, and I don’t enjoy it in the moment it makes me stronger and more ready for the grades ahead of me. I know I’m doing more than the average student my age and I’m really glad I have made that decision for myself. Being involved in our school’s choir program is important to me, as is coaching swimming, playing piano, and spending time with the people I care about. I know how to fit everything into my schedule even if it is a bit much at times. This was shown in our Louis Rial project, it was a really interesting topic, but I found myself breaking down late at night because I felt like if I couldn’t get every thought and idea I had into my essay it wouldn’t work
I think my enthusiasm is there for a reason though. The layout of PLP is something I’ve been thankful for this past semester. The ability to choose parts of what I learn is not something I take for granted especially in comparison to other courses. I don’t do as well when I can’t challenge myself.
Each school I pick a word to determine the way I want to be. In grade 8 it was impression, to make a good impression on people in the school, and make connections to get my impression on PLP. This year it was been Excellence, to hold myself to a standard I could be proud of (which I am! This has possibly been my most successful school year yet). I think that at times the constant standard of excellence was a bit harsh, but it worked out well for me.
As I go into science this summer my goal is strength. Strength both physically and mentally with summer school and a goal of working out more. I don’t know what the word will be for my Mpol next year but I guess you’ll see then.
Thank you for reading/listening! See you soon with a post on our WW1 project!
What leads us to write as people? What leads people to rise up against oppression? How does Nationalism impact this? How do these three things overlap in the 1800s in France?
What nationalism though? Let’s start with the question who do you cheer for in the Olympics? It’s probably your home country, where you live or where your family is from. This is a loyalty to your nation. It’s the same reason we go to war for our countries. It’s the same reason I make sure people know I’m not American when I travel. Nationalism is a devotion to your nation. When the country people live in does not look like the one they want to live in, they will make a change for the good of the nation.
For this project, we made videos again. I found this pretty easy because at this point in the year, I feel like I’ve made thousands. I found a bunch of good visuals and managed to make 3 days of filming look like 1 (same lighting same time of day with blinds closed and same shirt and hairstyle), which isn’t even something I would have even thought of at the start of this project. I also found it helpful to write my script out and then put it into a diagram like this :
Once I got into the research I hit a block. Turns out very few people have studied this topic so I had to pick through a lot of sources to get the information I needed. Wikipedia was really helpful they have a really good page on the history of French journalism (here) that I used as my biggest source of information. Eventually, I regretted picking such a specific topic, but I’m glad that I pushed myself (something I outlined in my MPoL).
Without further ado here is my video
And Part 2
Something I will improve in my next project is my time management. Many days of class during work blocks I stared at my screen in a block not being able to get anything done until there was a time crunch. This just increased my stress and brought down the quality of my work
Overall I would consider this a learning project of knowing when to not bite off more than I can chew.
“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.”
I am like my cat Seymour. Hopefully a little smarter, he definitely couldn’t tell you a basic timeline of the French Revolution but we are similar even if it doesn’t seem it from the outside. However, I see myself in him sometimes though it may not be obvious at first glance. Here is a photo for reference (of him as I write this).
However, Seymour and I are similar. We both have short attention spans, neither of us can ever make up our minds (though he tends to focus on being in or outdoors) and we both have trouble getting out of bed to do stuff in the middle of the day.
I have decided to outline this blog post and presentation differently, by showing my learning through the 3 pillars of the PLP program, technology, travel and project-based learning. I have also added another “pillar” I consider vital to what PLP is. It’s teamwork because almost all of our projects have been group projects and as frustrating as they have been I have demonstrated much growth in this area that I’m proud of.
Let’s start with the obvious one, iPads and tech. I’ve pushed myself in this sector this past year, especially with the grade 9 focus on the moving image. I’ve learned new techniques, pushed myself taken risks and made multiple short films. I’m really glad we had this focus because it’s something I never would have thought to put the time into outside of school. I had the opportunity to see so many others’ ideas of how to portray stories through the moving image and it was cool. To demonstrate my growth here is the first video I created this Video, my “at-home video” from the storytelling in the Rockies project.
Here’s my most recent film from the Frankenstuffies project
And what I think is my best film from this year was created with Kennedy and Hazel (add links) “The Note” from our Thrill Us project in Maker.
Another aspect of the tech pillar I’ve grown in is using the apps available. Since this is my second year in the program, I know which apps work for me and keep me organized. I love notability, MindNode and of course things. These apps make sure I remember that projects exist and don’t leave anything to the last minute (although sometimes it still happens). I’ve cut down on stress using these apps because I can take notes in a way that keeps me unstressed.
In science this year for example I used the notability function to record audio of class in case I missed bits of when Ms kadi was talking as I took notes. Later when I reviewed my notes I realized I missed something important but I had it on audio.
Here’s an example of my notes
And My things. Things’ pie charts for projects are really helpful they drive me to close them because they’re unsatisfying, here’s the current things section for this post.
Overall I’ve done a really good job of using my iPad in a smart way this year and I’m proud of that. I get distracted by it sometimes like anyone, but I’m good at getting myself back on track and getting work done on it using the tools available to me. (No matter the amount of internet available. This brings me to the next Pillar I will address, travel.
Travel
We started the year in Alberta (or ‘Berta as Mr Harris calls it), and though that was incredible the trip was as was our trip to Loon Lake, I want to talk about going somewhere else that demonstrated my growth first.
Earlier this year, I got the chance to visit my elementary school and talk to the grade 7 students about PLP, explaining it from a student’s perspective. As I stood there all I could think about was how far I had come. I’ve changed a lot since I first even thought about PLP and I’m so glad I picked it. Through these two years (the time since I had that presentation done to me) I’ve grown as a person since then as a result of PLP. I’m so thankful to all my teachers for giving me this opportunity to share my experience with the next generation of learners and the chance to reflect on myself as a learner.
In September as I mentioned, we went to Alberta. This trip was around a week long and it was the longest week of my life but not always in a bad way. This trip pushed my ability to focus in more… difficult environments. Travelling in a group of 30ish people is no joke, especially when it’s a group of teenagers, your bus breaks down and everyone’s tired all the time. But at the same time, we were seeing all these amazing things and it was really important to stay focused on the learning of the trip. I think my book created on this field study demonstrates how I stayed focused and managed to have a complete understanding of the actual project throughout all the chaos. On our next field study, I would like to not get involved in the drama of the trip as much (since it’s bound to happen in our class) and stay even more absorbed in the learning.
The last trip we took, and my last one to mention was our trip to loon lake. If I were to describe this trip in one word I would call it transformative. I think we all changed this week in ways we didn’t expect and in the end, it brought us closer together as a group. Before this trip, I didn’t like group work with the people in my class very often. But this trip highlighted everyone’s skills and abilities in a way I didn’t see before. It made me more open to teamwork which brings me to my honorary pillar, teamwork.
Teamwork
I decided to include this because almost every project we’ve done this year has been a group project. At the start of the year, I hated group projects. Never in a million years would I have thought that a group project would be my favourite this year.
Throughout this year I have noticed how different dynamics work in group projects and my place in them. I tend to gravitate towards leadership roles because they feel like I can control what’s happening and make sure everything will be done on time, and correctly. It’s hard for me to trust group members in school because of past experiences when team members didn’t do their part of the work. It’s a hard line to walk, or when I should just let people face their consequences or pull their weight so the group doesn’t fail.
A project this was apparent in was the metaphor machine project. I was designated as the project manager and this put a lot of stress on me, but I’m thankful I had the opportunity to be in this role as it taught me a lot about who I currently am as a leader and who I want to be. In this project, I noticed that I have a system for dealing with conflict that doesn’t necessarily serve me as well as it could.
People approach group projects differently. I like to put my head down, get a good concept stick with it and work hard until it’s done. Other people on my learning team don’t necessarily share that process and that’s hard for me to process because then I get scared nothing going to get done. The system revolves around me getting other people to learn like me and I have realized this will not work in the long run, it’s just exhausting for everyone to be around. I tend to assign roles and then follow people very closely to make sure they’re doing it. And to be fair to me I usually do this when the person in question hasn’t pulled their weight in the past. This usually ends in me sending text messages the night before deadlines seeing if people did the stuff they signed up to do, panicking, getting annoyed and sending text messages that I will somewhat regret in the morning. None of this is good.
Since nagging people and outlining what they need to do doesn’t work, in the future I am going to be taking an “it’s your problem now” attitude, while still being available for support. Every group project doesn’t have to be pushing other people and I need to let go of my need for control sometimes. As I continue this year I will focus more on this and ask for more help, as outlined in my learning plan. I think this comes from my need to succeed but if I put in the work necessary, I can still feel successful.
However, I think DI went well for me this year regarding my learning plan especially. I wrote in it that I was going to focus on being confident working with older students and I was. I contributed and enjoyed not always being the leader. I meshed well with teammates, did my work and we came together in the end if not for the whole time.
Projects
Finally projects. Projects are where I feel I can see the most growth. Let’s start with what I’m proud of. The project that was my best this year was Louis Riel. It was a project we could do on our own which let me hone in on the learning. I was very organized, using my things effectively as you can see here:
I also participated well in class, I found the material early interesting. This was also a writing project so it played to my strengths. I did well in the analyzing exercises in class with whiteboards and watching videos in class. I also wrote a successful multi-paragraph composition which I’m proud of. It made me look forward to writing essays. This project made me realize that I’m good at putting things into words after analyzing them and I can’t wait for more opportunities to grow that skill.
A project I’m not proud of was the videos I created at our Alberta field school. I was exhausted that week and I should have taken care of myself better so I could produce my work to my standard. I say my standard because I still met the proficient standard but I feel I could have done better and I wish I had pushed myself more. This is proof to me that I still have stuff to work on from my learning plan from the start of grade 8 where I said I was more confident in writing and I still have a lot to learn about with other media. though I have grown my video skills this year they can still be stronger. I want them to be at my writing standards, which is as easy as walking for me.
I’m next going to talk about Science which was successful for me this year. Isn’t the past I’ve struggled with having motivation in science as it wasn’t very fun in elementary school, leading to me having a fixed mindset of not linking her class until last year. This year however I pushed myself in Ms. Kadi’s class and created a lot of work I’m proud of, which led me to my current career plan. On my first RC, I got proficient. That wasn’t enough for Rome and I’m proud of how I pushed myself to extend in the second quarter of the year. My agency is really strong and that’s demonstrated here. I am currently extending my learning plan goals in that sector.
I demonstrated growth by making a video after being told to take risks. I chose this because as I’ve said before, videos aren’t my strong suit and I wanted to push myself. I was fully aware that that idea could fail. I also wanted to create an accessible option on that project because it felt like something I could do. I’m going to try to make my blog more accessible in the future by recording audio versions of my blog posts. This was inspired by a talk my dad did on this at a conference a couple of years ago.
This is also proof of my engagement. I pay attention to the feedback my teachers give me, it’s the only way I’m going to grow. Even if I can’t always tell what an academic risk is I’ll keep taking them.
Overall I think Grade 9 has been very successful for me so far. I applied feedback to my work and got straight “extenings” on my semester 1 report card. I worked hard for that and got the results I wanted. Even though it probably won’t happen again, it gave me the confidence to keep working hard. It proved to me that hard work pays off. I would say I am currently proficient or extending in all of the success behaviours of a PLP learner and I’m proud of that (#fillingmywaterbottlebeforeclass).
WITH THE BRAINS OF A DRAGON, THE STRENGTH OF A UNICORN THE FLIGHT OF A LADY BIRD AND THE TAIL OF A BEAR, Miraghan was a hot mess.
That’s my fault but let’s back up. This project was called Rise of the Frankenstuffies and it was our most English-focused project so far (I’m not complaining). The driving question was:
How do we as writers make our message clear and engaging to an audience?
I was very excited to read this because I love writing and I have a lot of ideas but I find it hard at times to clearly communicate what’s in my head (even harder when it’s a video but I’ll get to that later). Before we could even begin to our stories we needed characters, which brings me to the most hands-on part of this project.
Our first investigation was about character and to this we ripped apart stuffed animals and sewed them into morphed animals, Frankenstuffies. This was important because we would be using these characters for the rest of the project, we needed to keep in mind how we would communicate with them.
Then we started developing our hero’s journeys. This is a plot outline that shows up in pretty much every epic hero story. You can the video we were shown in class here.
Here’s my outline. After creating this We all had to pick one section to right. We were told to write about a page. Of course, I went and wrote double that (sorry Ms Willemse). I ended up changing my story a bit but I think it made the character’s arc much clearer and less confusing out of context from the rest of the outline. You can read it here. (Tap it for drop down)
What is Right?
The lights glare down at my face, but I am determined not to blink. She wouldn’t tolerate it. I can hear her claws dragging across the marble floors, a slithering, grating sound getting closer, and closer, with every given moment. I hold my breath trying not to move a single muscle. I learned the hard way last week what that brings.
I look at the morph beside me. He’s different than me, with a long lizard's tail and ram horns, good for heavy fighting. He’ll probably be sent to the frontlines as soon as our training is over. It’s a death sentence but she’s looking in his eyes in a way that makes me worry his life is due to end much sooner than that. All too soon she gets to us
‘You’re out of line Officer Raek” Her voice is steely as she looms over us all, glaring down watching for anyone else., “This won’t be tolerated. I have given you all everything. Food, a home and all I ask is for you to be loyal to me. Is that too much to ask?!”
He bows his head to her “ Of course not Your Majesty. I am sincerely sorry for any accidental disrespect to you and our empire”
But it is too late, and no amount of grovelling will save him from this. She pushes him to the ground with such force that I’m sure he’s unconscious
The light pours in through the training hall windows illuminating his body in a circle of light. It’s blinding reflecting off the polished floors. You would never guess a place this beautiful is a place of such pain.
She takes a heavy step forward, her shadows eclipsing his form which is twisted in many unnatural ways that make me want to recoil but I can’t. Not if I don’t want that to happen to me.
“Watch.” She demands.
“This is an example. I expect all of you will learn your lesson from this. Do not forget where you came from. You are all nothing, and can and will be replaced. Your families won't like that very much will they? Without you here they will rot on the streets like they deserve. I am GENEROUS to give you this opportunity and this wealth. I could have chosen any other street rats, but I chose YOU and I will not tolerate disrespect or imperfection in this grand empire! Go back to training before I become sick of you again”
She leaves in a huff, followed by her guards, dragonic morphs like me though with giant bat wings instead of ladybugs. I’m a newer model in a way improved and faster. Another one of her toys.
That’s all we are to her.
Toys. Her Morphs. Perfect soldier war machines, made of different parts of creatures from across the continent. Perfectly suited to her desires. To fight the war outside while she sits in her castle of gold. I’m a dragon morph. A new edition was created in her labs, the strength of a dragon, the mind of a unicorn, the wings of a ladybird, and the additional tail of a bear for balance. My body is strong and unbreakable, but I lost everything to have it, left everything.
I return to the training grounds and spar with a couple of other morphs before the bell rings to go to bed. We trudge back to our quarters, muscles sore and full of thirst.
The bunks are lined in a row indistinguishable from one another. I find my mine and lay down on the mat. When no one is looking I pull a photo out from under it as quietly as possible. I’m not supposed to have it. Nothing from our homes is allowed but it took too long and was too expensive to leave behind. It’s a family portrait, my parents my little sister and me. It’s funny to think it was taken a year ago, just before I was offered this opportunity. It took ages to save for, photos are expensive, but it was worth it to now be able to see their faces.
My little sister is dressed in her best clothes though they’re not very nice compared to the things in the capital here. Still, she looks pretty, in green garments across her pink body, though you can’t tell through the black-and-white picture. My parents stand behind us, tired eyes looking at the camera exhausted from long hours at the factory pulling the machines. And then.. there’s me. Younger than now and of course I look completely different. I look just like the rest of them a unicorn. I miss those days. I wouldn’t change my decision to leave, it's the only way they’re alive now but I miss my old body.
I was approached by an official a year ago working at the corner shop. He told me I would be compensated for my service. He never mentioned the surgery. At least they pay me. I may have become one of those who are the reason my family starved in the first place, but I will do whatever it takes for them to be provided for. So gone is my torso, replaced with the strength of a dragon, gone are my teeth also dragon now, new are the wings on my back, new are the extra horns, new are the bear leg. I am not who I was.
I turn over and try to sleep, tomorrow will be my first day as a guard and I need my rest.
At the crack of dawn, the bell rings and we get out of bed in uniform, no one out of line today is I guess her speech worked. We walk out into a line and suit up into the starch-white uniforms of guards. It itches along my scales and I struggle to get my wings out. I secure the darts in my pocket (neutralizing) and stand up in line. We trudge out into the cold, it's snowing and get into the trucks. We’re out of the city centre before I realize where we’re headed. Soon the streets become familiar and I am filled with dread. I never thought I would have to police my neighbourhood. Families' faces look up at the bus and I can feel the stares though they can’t see me through the tinted glass.
They start calling us off every block or so in pairs to watch. Soon I’m called near my old school. Kids are just starting to arrive and they look so young so innocent. Officer Reak is called with me and we stand on the corner, watching. The kids tense up when they get near us and drop their heads avoiding eye contact. I want to tell them I don't want to hurt them, but I’m not supposed to speak. The snow lands on my head and starts to melt and I try to just focus on that. We’ll be here for hours before they come back. But just as I’ve counted the fourth snowflake, a motion out of the corner of my catches my attention.
It’s a figure running fast and being chased by a vendor. I remember that vendor, he had the highest prices around and was always so rude to the people in our neighbourhood, a bully. Then I realize I know the runner as well. He lived in my building he’s my sister’s age. His family struggled more than mine barely getting by.
“GUARDS STOP THAT THEIF” the vendor cries into the busy street and suddenly all eyes are on us.
Officer Reak darts down the street and time slows down as everything flashes before my eyes. My job is to catch him, but I know him. I went Christmas carolling with his family, and had him over for dinner I know how they struggled to get food on the table. How it may be worse now.
But this is my job. My family will get hurt if I don’t do this, I will lose the one reason I do this job for good. They’re everything to me I can’t lose them too.
So I join the chase. Twisting down the streets Officer Reak is just in front of me until he trips. I keep going we’ll lose him if I stop. I catch him as we speed around the corner and pin him down.
“Lionalial Richards you are under arrest for thievery a personal offence to our great empire and our Queen..” the rest of the memorized speech rattles off without my noticing. I’m too shocked at what I’ve just done to focus at all. Is this right? Is it worth it? Soon enough Officer Reak arrives, running down the pavement out of breath being followed by the vendor. I hand the purse back to him and let him know he can leave, but before he does he gets in one more glare.
Officer Reak is cuffing him though I don’t think it will do much, his whole body is so thin they might slip right off his wrists at any given moment. I don’t want to think about what's going to happen to him so I look out at the crowd that’s gathered around. So many faces many vaguely familiar. Lots of kids are just on their way to school, probably starving themselves. And then… and then I catch a face in the crowd. One I didn’t expect
It’s… my sister. I inhale sharply and try to look elsewhere anywhere but at the little unicorn staring at me. And then I realize I am looking. Because she isn’t so little anymore and she’s glaring at me.
The disdain in her eyes makes me feel like a traitor. I’ve done all of this for them; for her but was it worth losing them? Was it really what they wanted? Was it what I wanted? Through all of this, I had done everything for them but was it the right decision?
It’s too late though. Our backup is here loading him into the van and they’re calling me in a way much too celebratory for such a sad day. As I turn for one last look she mouths the words “You’re not my brother anymore” and I know I have lost everything.
Then we adapted them to film. This was tough I’ve never really clicked with working with film. It was hard to adapt my story to film because it was a very internal story. It’s mostly his thoughts. I also had to cut it quite a bit because it was too long when in film. I’m disappointed because of this because I think it took away from the meaning of my story.
You can watch my film here
After all of this, I had an answer to the driving question, if you don’t remember it is this :
How do we as writers make our message clear and engaging to an audience?
I think that to make our message clear we have to come up with an engaging idea first. Only after that can we communicate it. Engaging ideas make people think of themselves and link to their lives ( I did this by adding some tension with family vs duty in this story). If things are engaging and people are interested then they will pay more attention to it. It’s easier to understand then. Making things clear is easy and hard at the same time. I have so many ideas I want to share but I have to share them in a way that makes sense to others. To ensure this you can use peer critique to get others interpretations.
Finally after watching please comment on this padlet.
You’re in the Amazon, on a hunt for the sacred tombstone of Guacs.
Or at least that’s where I was on Saturday during our DI presentation here at Seycove Destination Imagination regionals. Through a lot of work, we finally made it to our first public presentation,
DI is a global competition for people from pre-K to university age. Through a competition of our central challenge (the same for everyone) and the instant challenges (shhhhhhh). Our central challenge was scientific and we had to create a story about an archeological investigation and make a puppet that was a character from the past.
Another vital part of DI is teamwork. This is most likely the most difficult part of it. I didn’t know anyone in my group beforehand which made it hard to be confident in my ideas, especially when certain group members weren’t receptive to other opinions. It’s really hard to work with other people! Communicating seems so easy but it’s not.
Know that I know my group members better I feel much more prepared. throughout getting ready for the regional tournament I found myself prompting group members to get the bare minimum required for our solution. I noticed how this affected my own life in and outside of school and stressed me out. Constantly coaxing people to do stuff is hard ! (How our teachers do it all the time is beyond me). Because of this as we go into preparations for nationals I have decided for my well-being to stop chasing so much. In the end, I did not get much done when I did it and it wasn’t my responsibility to remind my teammates of every deadline and thing they had to do because they couldn’t do it.
This said many of my teammates were amazing! Bobby came over to work on stuff and responded to messages very fast with a positive attitude that I was really happy to be around. Brooke and Meghan stepped up after not being able to attend our first dress rehearsal coming to tutorial early with Bobby and me to get everything done. Meghan rewrote our script which meant the WORLD and Brooke wrote an epic bass part to accompany our story.
I don’t know why that’s upside down.
On the day of the competition we all came together once, and everyone realized how real it was. We did many successful run-throughs ironing out little details. Then we had our actual performance and instant challenge (shhhh I’ll talk about that later). Our performance went well and we got 3rd at the awards ceremony.
Through all of this, I learned a lot about balance, teamwork and collaboration which I will apply to later. My 3 goals for myself going to nationals are to:
Communicate all progress clearly often and effectively
Organize at least 2 out of school meetings
Use the Kanban board so everyone can visually see who has to do what in our Basecamp
“I have nothing but my heart, I have given it long ago to my country.”
These were the last words of Louis Riel as he waited to be hung. A pivotal figure in Canada’s history, Louis Riel has been portrayed in hundreds of different ways throughout history. This project was all about how.
To answer our driving question “How has the portable of Louis Riel changed over time?” We wrote 3 paragraph compostions. You can read mine here.
It wasn’t just that simple however. This was a revison heavy project for pretty much our whole class. I started with two paragraphs the first and third ones. I got really stuck on the middle one because it was difficult for me to connect the two time periods I was talking about, and there was still so much more that I wanted to talk about. Eventually however, I got it done. Then I handed it and got these revisions back.I corrected them and then handed it in again.
This project was so much more than 3 paragraphs though. Before writing our paragraphs we learned how to write a paragraph. There were a lot more pieces to it then anI expected, but it turns out Iknew them already without knowing I did. This the paragraph I wrote to practice on the heritage minute by Historica Canada.
Blue -topic sentence
Green -explanation
Yellow – evidence and examples
Red -concluding sentence
Here’s the heritage minute as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fLnJp-Rjow
The main competency for this project was analyzing. I think the best example of this was the whiteboard activity we did early in this project on 3 art pieces.
The first was by Lemay and Gaboury
The second by Miguel Joyal
And the third by John Nugent
This was a short project, much shorter than our previous one metaphor machines. It was a challenge to hold myself to the high standers I hold to learn in the richest way possible in a short period of time. Add over 17 hours of extracurriculars a week and all my other classes and I was set up for a stressful month. However, with stradegies a lot of time management and my family members support I managed to produce an answer to this driving question that I’m more than happy with and I’m exited to transfer this learning into all of my later projects. My goal for all my projects it to do better and I did on the last one and I think I accomplished this on this project.
How revolutions, complicated structures and hot glue became PLP 9 exhibition project.
Welcome too (imagine a drumroll)……
METAPHOR MACHINES. The grade 9 PLP exhibition project combined filmmaking (from maker), revolutions, and Rube Goldberg machines into a project none of us will ever forget. Split into groups and assigned revolution we were given the task of researching our revolution and then using métaphores to create a Rube Goldberg machine.
Group projects… love them or hate them we all have to do them at some point in our lives. A group can make or break a project (literally our machine broke multiple times because of fighting). But what was that machine? Why were we building a machine in our humanities class? Why were they fighting (please let me know if you have an answer to this one I can’t seem to figure out why they thought being physical was going to solve anything).
Rube Goldberg machines are machines that complete a very simple task ( turning on a light, ringing a bell etc.) in a very complicated way. These are usually made of household objects that you can find anywhere. Some are cool (especially when they work). Making Rube Goldbergs takes a lot of perseverance, they rarely work the first time and it can take a while to get it to work every time. But how does this relate to the French Revolution????
Humanities
Before I get to that let’s take a look at the French Revolution. First things first I’m glad I wasn’t there. It was a very chaotic and bloody period which inspired many other revolutions (check out my classmates Izzy, Kennedy, Kai, Baz, Quinn and Aiden’s blog posts for more information on those.)
We learned about these revolutions through Crane’s theory of a revolution. He thought that all revolutions work in about the same way with different ways that each one shows up. To learn more about this take a look at my explanation of cranes theory (I used the recycling process as a metaphor) and my infographic about the French Revolution.
So we took these revolutions and after learning about them, Rube Goldberg machines and metaphors we were tasked with making blueprints for our revolutions that were metaphors for our revolutions in Rube Goldberg form.
Here’s mine
Then after we got into groups we presented our ideas and discussed each plans strengths and weakness before designing made blueprints for the the machines we were going to be building. First, we picked the most important events to include and then we brainstormed metaphors for all of them. Side note these were going to be MASSIVE, like 2x2ms.Then we got to building which I’ll talk more about in the maker portion
Maker
At the start, we were only building in maker, and it was going… slowly. When you have 8 people working together on the same thing no matter how big it is, communication is really hard. Everyone had their ideas about how it would look and how they were going to build their part. As the team manager, it was my job to guide everyone to stay on track and stay motivated. If I described the building process in three words it would be this: frustrating, eye-opening and satisfying. TIP TO THOSE WHO DO THIS PROJECT NEXT: you need way more hot glue than you think and stick to your plan.
Throughout this whole process, we were documenting these whole this to make a documentary that goes into the building process a bit deeper.
Exhibition night.
My feet hurt just thinking about this. Here are my top 2 learning moments from the day of the exhibition
1. Accepting that it wasn’t going to work and that that was ok. Our teacher Ms. McWilliam is always telling us to look at the forest instead of the trees, the bigger picture. I realized about halfway through the evening that it wasn’t going to work and I was surprisingly ok with that because this project wasn’t about Rube Goldberg machines, not really. It’s about change and understanding that change. Though it didn’t work, I still learned a lot about the French Revolution and film making and teamwork.
2. WOW I learned a lot. When people asked about the revolution I shocked myself at how much I knew. I could completely explain our revolution without a script or notes.
3. We’re still a team. I won’t lie our team had rocky patches. But we were all in it together. During the exhibition, we felt like a team instead of the group we had been in before that. (Learn more about the difference between these 2 things in my Loon Lake reflective post)
So, through all of this, I finally have an answer to the driving question of this whole project (which as I write this was introduced about 3 and half months ago)
How do ideas drive change?
A single idea can catch fire and ignite an entire revolution. When French people heard of the revolution in America they started their own, and they then inspired Haiti. Change is constant we cannot escape it just as we cannot escape ideas. They will be with us wherever we go. The French Revolution is an example of how when we think for ourselves instead of just going along with what we are told, we can change the world for better or for worse.
I don’t know why that’s upside down.
Then we got to building which I’ll talk more about in the maker portion