goals

Atomic Habits Pre-Post

Seems like “pre-posts” are going to become a regular thing now.. yay.

These Pre-Post posts are kind of a way to set goals for ourselves during the project. It is where we forecast our ideas for the rest of this project.

DQ 🏎️:

How can improving by just 1% each day help me take responsibility for my learning, strengthen my habits, and create balance and purpose in my future career and life?

I feel that by improving by just 1% each day might not seem like much, but over time those small steps can lead to big changes. By focusing on small improvements I am able to take more responsibility for my learning because I am making an effort to get a little better every day instead of waiting for someone else to push me. It helps me build stronger habits since I am training myself to stay consistent even when progress feels slow. Working this way also creates balance in my life because I am not overwhelming myself with huge goals all at once. I am learning to grow gradually and stay focused. In the future, this mindset can give me more purpose in my career and personal life because it reminds me that real success and happiness come from steady effort, patience, and small positive choices made over time.

Launch 🚀

This project we have just launched is called Atomic Habits meaning small (atomic) habits. We are reading a book called Atomic Habits by James Clear and so far it’s pretty good!

We have so far read the introduction and the first few chapters but other than that we have been doing some other launch activities as well. We worked on reflecting on our current habits and making a mind map of our good habits and bad habits.

I know it looks like a lot but honestly I was just in the zone and kept writing my different kind of habits down. I also wrote a reflection about it highlighting my habits holding me down and the habits lifting me up.

Learning Intention

I am going to use my student agency throughout this project by demonstrating my goal setting and following through on these personal goals I am setting. I will take initiative by starting tasks without needing reminders and seeking out resources when I’m stuck.
Balance is something I want to work on in this project but it is also something I want to work on in my home life. I am a very busy person with sports and school that sometimes I find it hard to balance my life out with when to do homework and when to train. I hope during this project I can balance out my workload and get things done.
I want to be able to communicate with my peers and teachers throughout this project by asking questions and staying curious. I can ask questions when I need help or when I have questions about the topic.

I want to work on these intentions because I feel it will help improve me as a learner for the current project and for later projects. Agency, balance and communication will help elevate my learning for this year because even though they can be used in school learning they can also all be used in the real world.

Ideas I want to Explore..

Two things I want to explore more in this project are how to stay motivated when working toward long-term goals and how to make new habits actually stick. I want to understand what helps people stay consistent even when progress feels slow or difficult. I am also interested in learning how small actions can turn into lasting habits that really improve my daily life. By exploring these ideas, I hope to find ways to set goals that are realistic and meaningful while also learning how to keep myself focused and positive as I work toward becoming a better version of myself.

How Does This Connect Back To My VMV?

I feel like this project connects a lot to my success behaviours in my VMV because in the “Agency” section I talk about wanting to set more goals for myself as a learner. This project is all about goal setting and creating new habits in and out of school which really ties into that. I think it will help me figure out how to break bigger goals into smaller steps and take more responsibility for my own learning. It also connects to my mission in my VMV where I said I want to grow and improve as a student and as a person. Making new habits is not just about school it is about improving my routines, staying consistent, and making positive changes that stick. This project will give me a chance to think about what habits I already have, what I want to work on, and how I can use small daily actions to get better over time. By focusing on habits I feel like I am actually taking steps to become more responsible, balanced, and focused in my life.

Conclusion:

Overall, I am really excited about this project because it gives me a chance to focus on improving myself little by little each day. Thinking about my habits, setting goals, and working on balance, agency, and communication feels like a practical way to grow as a student and as a person. I know that building new habits and staying consistent will take effort, but I also see how even small changes can make a big difference over time. This project is not just about school; it is about learning skills that I can carry with me into the future, in my career, personal life, and everyday routines. I am looking forward to discovering more about myself, exploring new ways to stay motivated, and seeing how small daily improvements can really add up to meaningful growth.

Thanks so much for reading! Stay posted for my next post! 👍

WWII Pre-Post

When I was little all I thought wars were about was guns going boom but after learning about WWI I can see there is so much more behind them, now learning about WWII I hope to learn so much more!

Hi welcome to my first post of grade 10! This is a new year and an important one as well and to start my blog off I am going to talk about my learning intentions for the upcoming project. I am also going to be doing a pre post on an upcoming project about WW2 and what I already know.

DQ 🏎️:

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

I want to answer this driving question here at the beginning of the project and then also at the end so i can reflect on how my opinion has changed from the start to end of this project.

Before starting this project, I think stories, media, and propaganda shape how we remember World War II by focusing on certain events or people and leaving out others. Movies and books usually show the war from one side, and that can make us see it in a specific way. Propaganda during the war also played a big role in influencing how people felt about the enemy and their own country. I think all of this affects what we remember and how we understand what really happened during the war.

My Learning Intentions

Intentions, what are they? Intentions are like something you are meaning to do like an aim or plan. I am going to be talking about how I want to learn and how I intend to do things in this next project.

Communication/Collaboration • Going into this project I don’t really know to much about WWII and after finishing our WWI comic project with Mr. Harris last year I became really interested in the topic. I hope that during this project I use my communication skills to ask questions to learn more about this topic.

Agency • Throughout past projects I have found it difficult to set goals for myself and self asses myself. Here with this post right now I am setting goals and at the end of this project I am going to self asses myself as well so I hope that I do become better at setting realistic goals and not being to hard on myself as well.

Engagement • Sometimes with projects that I don’t have too much interest in I find I can show a lack of engagement. With this project coming up even though I don’t have too much knowledge on the topic or crazy excitement to start the project I hope I can show my enthusiasm in this project.

What I Know

World War II was one of the most devastating and far-reaching conflicts in human history, resulting in the deaths of millions and reshaping the modern world. The war began on September 1, 1939, when Nazi Germany launched an invasion of Poland, prompting France and several other nations to declare war shortly afterward. This project offers an opportunity for me to explore the causes, events, and lasting impact of the war in greater depth. I’m eager to build a stronger understanding of how this global conflict unfolded and why it remains so important to study today.

Key Events:

The Holocaust • 

The Holocaust was a tragic and horrifying part of World War II. Over six million Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime, along with other groups such as Roma people, disabled individuals, and political prisoners. It was a systematic attempt to eliminate entire communities. Learning about the Holocaust helps us understand the impact of hatred, discrimination, and propaganda.

The Bombing Of Pearl Harbor •

On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. More than 2,400 Americans were killed, and many ships and aircraft were destroyed. This attack led the United States to enter World War II, making the conflict truly global.

DDay •

D-Day took place on June 6, 1944, when Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy in France. It was one of the largest military invasions in history and a major turning point in the war. The success of D-Day helped lead to the defeat of Nazi Germany and the liberation of Europe.

How Does This Relate Back To My VMV?

This project connects to my vision, mission, and values because I am working toward becoming a more open-minded and reflective learner. As outlined in my learning intentions, I want to develop stronger communication skills, show engagement, and take ownership of my learning. These qualities will help me grow both academically and personally. I also aim to strengthen my critical thinking by asking thoughtful questions, considering multiple perspectives, and reflecting carefully before drawing conclusions. Additionally, I want to build my community skills by actively listening to others and offering support when possible. In group work, I’ll strive to be a collaborative team member, encourage others’ ideas, and help create an environment where everyone feels respected, included, and safe to contribute.

Conclusion:

Starting this project, I know I have a lot to learn about World War II, but I’m ready to dive in with an open mind. I’ve set goals for how I want to grow as a learner, by being more engaged, asking thoughtful questions, and working well with others. I’m also interested to see how my understanding of the driving question changes as I explore the different stories, perspectives, and media that shape how we remember the war. By the end of this project, I hope to come away with a deeper understanding of both the history and myself as a learner.

Thank you so much for reading! Stay posted for my next post! 👍

What’s Inside The Box?! 📦

Honestly I don’t think I have spent so many late nights trying to finish a 3 minute video but hey PLP is full of firsts…

Welcome to my Unboxing Me blog post. For this project we learnt a lot about how we manage ourselves and about who we truly are as people and as learners, continue reading to find out how!

Project Overview

In this project we made a final 3-4 minute long video about who we are and what makes us, US! We would tell a story about how we got to where we are now and how we plan to do something with that in the future. Throughout this project we focused on reflection and managing ourselves through goal setting and tracking with our WDYRW (What do you really want) activities.

Read more about our project below 😄⬇️

DQ🏎️: 

How can I tell a story about who I am and where I am going?

In this project when I told the story about me that went into my final video I really leaned into the fact that I love engineering, building and creating. A way that I told where I would go with that is setting my goals for the future and I don’t want to spoil to much because you will see my video soon! I feel the best way to tell an effective and engaging story is to keep it short and concise telling the key details that really add to the story.

Time Blocking

A first major thing we learned was time blocking, time blocking was something Ms. Mc was convinced would change our lives.. well umm it didn’t. KIDDING! Heh funny (no it wasn’t) anyways you may be wondering what time blocking even is, well time blocking is a way to plan and schedule and organize your life! Different ways you could time blocking are:

  • Using a calendar app 
  • Using the app Things
  • Keeping a journal
  • Honestly anything that works for you, draw on your hand if that helps!

Managing Me Video!

The managing me video was a video we made about well.. managing me. So we had to talk about our different strategies that we use to stay organized. Our teacher Ms. Mcwilliam wanted us to add how we used things and our calendar app and any other sources that we used to manage ourselves.

I included Images such as pictures of my calendar, my things page and my home calendar.

What Do You Really Want?

Throughout this project we have been reading a book called “What do you really want? By Beverly K Bachel”

This book helped us focus on goal setting and how to plan for the future. In every chapter we would get different activities to do to keep track of our goals and to visualize our future success (or something like that). We would create a journal or a notability document where we would record everything that we did. I also used the app things to help me keep track of the different activities I had to complete and what sections of the book I had to read.

From this activity I learned how to set goals for myself and how they don’t have to be grand goals but even the little victories count. In future I will review some of my goal tracker activities and see where I can strive even further.

Unboxing Me Video Script 🎥📜

This was when we started planning our final video! We were tasked with creating our script that would tell the story of us and answer our driving question.

Honestly I had a lot of trouble creating this script and pin pointing my video on one idea and going through with it. The entire time in class that we had to work on it I stared at a blank document hoping something would spark in my mind. Sadly it didn’t that class so I left with a basically blank document but when I got home I thought long and hard and I decided to talk about my love for engineering and how it started and where I am going to go with it in the future. Here is my final script:

Moving Storyboard 

Our moving storyboard was to help us plan for our video. We would create a keynote slide deck or animation to help show Ms. Mc our kind of whole idea of how our video is going to look. I made mine as a keynote slide deck that you click through. I may have not entirely thought that through on how to show you because it is 52 slides but I took a screen recording and here it is!

DONT JUDGE DRAWING IS NOT MY STRONGSUIT!

Unboxing Me Final Video!!!

Reflection 🪞

This project really helped me help me realize how important it is to set goals for yourself whether it’s academically or not. Throughout this project I feel I have gotten better at setting goals for myself self and looking toward the future to help me plan. At this beginning of this project when we were learning about time blocking and made our managing me video, I feel that helped me with my organization a whole lot more. I have now set up my calendar to fit my schedule and added it as a widget so I don’t forget. In conclusion this project has helped me become a more organized person and someone who can plan for future by setting goals for myself.

Thank you so much for reading! Stay posted for my next post! 😄👍