Part 1

Comparing my learning intention blog post to my final product and my winter exhibition is a good way to see how I’ve improved and followed through with my statements of learning intent. I wanted to use this project to serve as a testament to my learning and as a reminder that if I take the time to focus and be productive, I can achieve great results. 

In my Vision, Mission, and Values poster I highlighted areas that will help me stay on track and concentrate on the task at hand. Such as using my critical thinking skills to improve my judgment and analyze information effectively. I enhanced these critical thinking skills in this project by completing and trying to extend my assignments to the best of my ability and trying to solve problems in group work. This showed on the exhibition night because our final product was very successful and polished which was a result of including everyone and bringing in multiple perspectives. I was constantly challenged to use GRIT and took the lead in building and making posters for our winter exhibition project. This caused me to grow and allowed me to be less selfish and complete tasks for the success of our group. Normally I would’ve only done things for myself but I realized that if I could take the responsibility of helping lead my group, I would become a better learner and develop my agency.

Overall, at the beginning of the project I wanted to learn how WWII is remembered and what impact it has on us today. I’ve always been curious about World War Two but never really knew much of the details and why it mattered today. Completing benchmarks that took us through the war allowed me to improve my understanding and proficiency in the topic of WWII. It made me realize why I needed to learn this, why it mattered to me today, and what lead to this conflict in the first place. Specifically, in the “how did Europe let it happen” poster assignment, I was able to highlight events like the Treaty of Versailles and then connect it to current events. I was proud of myself for doing so because in my VMV I wanted to improve my judgement and analyzing information. I did this by researching material and then applying my own thinking skills to determine why it matters.

Part 2

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

…Was the driving question of our WWII project. I think it was a good question to center the learning around because it allows us to understand how it impacts us today and how there is multiple perspectives to war. The most interesting thing that I learnt about was the perspectives of the Japanese people during WWII. I was tasked with making  poster about the atomic bomb and some of the sheer facts alone were enough to shock me. Over 200,000 innocent civilians died in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From a western perspective, you are taught that the Japanese deserved it for starting the war. But when you look at the consequences and terrible impact that it had, it doesn’t seem so fair after all. Until more recently, many people haven’t discussed the impact that the atomic bombs had. This allows people to grow up without realizing what their history. Allowing them to make the same mistakes in the future.

The hardest thing that I experienced this project was organizing our group and making sure we completed tasks on time for the exhibition. Going outside of my comfort zone and building things like the Spitfire was very challenging because I wanted it to look as realistic as possible. The materials and time I was given was shorter than I anticipated and made it harder to complete it on time while still finishing other things in time for the exhibition. I was able to get up early and make my way into tutorial so I could have more class time to do it. Without that dedication and commitment, I don’t think I would’ve completed it by the deadline. I feel like the exhibition gave me an opportunity to express my learning and all the hard work that I had contributed. I knew what I was talking about on my poster so I was able to answer difficult questions and strike up conversations with listeners about my topic. This was very rewarding and I will continue to contribute and take the lead in group projects because of the reward and satisfaction of everything coming together. 

One of the main takeaways that I got from this project is how media can influence how war is remembered. Propaganda created “good guys” and “bad guys” which causes people to ignore the consequences and suffering of both perspectives. Western entertainment and propaganda further increases the belief that only the allies suffered and everything they did was justified. Because of this people overlook the suffering of both sides. Even though the axis powers had horrible ideologies, some of their people didn’t have a choice and still suffered as a result of the conflict. Another thing that is often overlooked is the holocaust. Many people don’t realize how many lives were lost and how terrible it really was. This is because some schools don’t teach about it. But if we don’t want it to happen again, then we have to teach about it so we can prevent something like the holocaust to reoccur. This relates to my learning in previous projects because in our ‘’Who is Canada?’’ project, I was able to make connections on how things like the Statute of Westminster impacted us today. This relates because in our WWII project, I was able to drawn connections from WWII and Avatar. Tying topics to media or current events is an important skill that I highlighted in my VMV and will be sure to use more often in the future.

Part 3

This project was valuable to me in many ways. It benefited my learning and understanding of WWII. This project gave me confidence in presenting and now I know that if I take leadership on a task, then I can help my group and push them to the best of their ability. I also now know that if I clearly lay out my goals and learning intentions that relate to my VMV, I can follow through with those statements and improve my learning. 

Looking ahead to the next humanities project, I want to carry my hard work and dedication towards group projects. Something else that I want to continue doing is reflecting and looking at my VMV so I can stay focused on my goals. Being a leader is also something that worked well for me and I think that in this project I was able to step up and organize my group members. The last thing that I will continue doing is going out of my comfort zone using GRIT and taking the harder tasks and jobs like I said on my VMV. An example of where I did this is when I built the spitfire plane despite building not being one of my strong suits. 

Thank you for reading my blog post about my winter exhibition project!

Project Summary:

In this PLP project we did research on revolutions and read a book called “Animal Farm” that was based off of revolutions and we had to connect the examples in the book to real life. We wrote notes and questions about the book and discussed it in groups. After reading the book we had to make an infographic about Crane Brinton’s anatomy of a revolution in Animal Farm. Then, we were assigned into groups and we had to do research on a different revolution. After researching, we were required to make another infographic. This time it had to be about the French Revolution. The last part of the project required us to build a Rube Goldberg machine that had 10 different actions that represented the revolution. To finish it all off we had to present it at the winter exhibition.

‘’Animal Farm’’ and the Infographic

We had to read a book called ‘’Animal Farm’’ and we had to write up notes, questions, and relate it all to Crane Brinton’s four stages of a revolution in a Craft document which we then had to share with groups and try and improve it. Overall, ‘’Animal Farm’’ was a decent book because it wasn’t on a topic I was too interested in, but it was well written and had very good metaphors so it was the prefect introduction to this project.

What did it teach me?

It taught me a lot about revolutions and the structure of a revolution and I was able to carry the knowledge that I learnt about making infographics and apply it to my next one. The hardest part about the infographics was that we had to re-do them a lot and this process really helped me because now I know how to put together a good and informative infographic.

Craft notes documents:

We had to make a Craft document where we wrote our notes on the French Revolution and ‘’Animal Farm’’. I made two separate documents, one for ‘’Animal Farm’’ and one for the French Revolution. I organized them into separate folders such as ones for the French Revolution where I made a timeline, metaphors of the revolution, Crane Brinton’s four stages, notes and extra info, and my sources.

 

French Revolution Infographic

The second infographic that we had to make was of the French Revolution. This one was much easier to plan out but it had much more information. Me and the rest of my group struggled with this task but I would say that we managed to push past it and put forwards a solid infographic. I gathered research and compiled it into a Craft document which was very helpful. I also had to revise this infographic many times but it only made it better and it improved my understanding.

Crane Brinton’s four stages of a revolution in ‘’Animal Farm’’ and in the French Revolution

Incubation Stage:

The Incubation Stage of revolutions starts off with injustice and the government treating citizens unfairly. The intellectual reformers speak out against the people in power. The example from the book is: “The pigs did not actually work, but directed and supervised the others. With their superior knowledge it was natural that they should assume the leadership.” – (Orwell 33). This shows government injustice because the pigs don’t do anything and they took advantage of the animals hard work. An example from the French Revolution is: The population of France begins to rapidly grow, this results in less food being available and people become hungry and desperate for food.

Moderate Stage:

Moderate leaders lead revolutions in the early stages. They start out unrelated to violence and relatively peaceful, they aren’t dramatic and they mostly only protest using words. The example from the book is: Napoleon kicks out Snowball and makes up lies about him and since the animals will listen to him they believe him and Snowball is kicked out of Animal Farm.

Crisis Stage:

The violence dramatically increases and the radicals gain full control. They often “eliminate” the people that get in their way and the radicals often get rid of the previous leaders. One of the most notable parts of the crisis stage in Animal Farm is the Battle of the Cowshed. This is because the animals lost this battle and the windmill. An example from the French Revolution is: People begin to address their hardships to the government. In 1789, the Estates General who are a group of representatives from all three estates-was called together to discuss France’s financial crisis. 

Recovery Stage:

The terror and violence ends and the Radicals are kicked out and replaced with the Moderates. A government with similar policies as the old one returns but with new ideas and decisions based off what happened in the revolution. An example of the recovery stage in ‘’Animal Farm’’ is: Napoleon and Squealer now walk on their hind legs showing they have no regard for their seven commandments, they even carry whips and wear Mr. Jones’ clothes. An example from the French Revolution is: Napoleon comes to public prominence for his role in saving the convention in Paris from an assault. He is able to stable the country after the bloody revolution and begins marching into other countries such as Italy.

Metaphor Machine 

The metaphor machine was like the icing on the cake of this project. I brought in a very large piece of wood and we went straight into building, we had the smart idea to plot out a plan and go from there.

Click to watch the video of our Rube Goldberg

The criteria was that we had to have 10 different actions on the revolution machine that happened in the real revolution and we had to categorize it into Crane Brinton’s four stages. We started off by doing the top, which was the incubation stage. We had two actions for this one which was the downwards economy spiral and the poor (dominos) getting knocked over by the marble (economy). This part was very important to me because it would be what I had to showcase and talk about at the exhibition. Our building plan:

The Winter Exhibition 

At last, the big day had arrived. There was excitement in the air as we carried our massive clunking machine into the PLP big room. We set up our food for our audience and began to present to the parents, friends, and family members of PLP. It was a long and tiring night but we managed to get through it. Our machine worked almost every single time and it was very rewarding.

Driving Question with Answer:

🏎️ What Factors Precipitate ‘Revolution’ and How Have They Shaped the Modern World?