HAMILTALONS: Individual Blog and Research

STEP ONE  — BLOG POST / ANALISIS

 

A: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

 

What is your song’s contribution to the musical’s:

• Context and Characters: provide an overall synopsis of the song in regard to its setting and how it advances the plot of the story so far. What characters are included in the song? What are their wants / fears / background?

 

In the song “Hurricane” written by Alexander Hamilton, it reflects upon the event that had occurred when he was seventeen years old when a hurricane came and devastated his home. The hurricane raged violently as it caused destruction throughout the village, it was if God was unleashing his wrath upon this little village. The wind, the sea attacked the village from all sides. All you could do was stand there and accept your fate as you heard the shrieks of the distressed surround you. In the song, it says “I didn’t drown, I couldn’t seem to die”, I believe that there is a tipping point in his career because, through this event, it seems that his mindset had changed and now he has the motivation to use his skills to help others. I believe he thinks God had shown him mercy and let him live, although it would have been so much better if he died within that hurricane, God had other plans for him so he was alive for a purpose. Alexander Hamilton says in his song that “[he] wrote his way out” and in a sense this is true. Through this event, his writing had impressed the villagers that were left and through this event, and through his writing skills, all the villagers felt motivated to help get Alexander Hamilton on a “Ship that was New York bound” so he could continue writing. As the song continues it explains throughout different scenarios that  “[he] picked up a pen, [he] wrote [his] own deliverance” in other words when he was backed into a corner his writing, improved his circumstances. Such as how in the song “Alexander Hamilton” it says that Alexander Hamilton “wrote his first refrain, a testament to his pain, well the word got around, they said this kid is insane, man! took up a collection just to send him to the mainland, get your education, don’t forget from whence you came and the worlds gonna know your name” and this explains how he survived the devastation created by the hurricane, through his writings.

B: CONNECTIONS TO HISTORICAL ELEMENTS

How does your chosen song relate to the American Revolution as a whole?

 

• Historical Events and Ideas: Look up any phrases, events, documents, or concepts that are not familiar to you, or may be familiar to your peers in order to fill in the gaps in their knowledge. What does your research tell us about the event, ideas, values, or perspectives of the time?

 

From examining this event we can learn about how the Hurricane affected the entire history of America. Without this event occurring Alexander Hamilton would have never have journeyed to New York and started his career as a writer. Alexander Hamilton would have never become a famous scholar, or one of the founding fathers of America. Alexander Hamilton had over time become one of the influential voices in the U.S. Constitution. Alexander Hamilton pursued a vision of America as a glorious nation. Alongside James Madison, Alexander Hamilton played a major role in the securing of a Constitution calling for a national government. Alexander Hamilton had also become the founder of the first national bank of America.

 

Through all of these accomplishments of a once poor man, we can learn that the way a poor man can improve his life, is with the American Dream/Way. The American Dream/Way says that an individual can build a better life through a good work ethic, Alexander Hamilton’s life demonstrates that the American Dream/Way was an accurate idea at the time. Through hard work and a good attitude, many people believed that you could build a better life for yourself, such as how Alexander Hamilton lived his life. 

 

 

• Socials Curriculum: Which one of the courses’ Big ideas does your chosen song connect to the most, and in what ways? Be specific!

 

 

The physical environment influences the nature of political, social, and economic change.

Through the event of the hurricane, it caused the village to be in utter ruin. They had nothing, their homes were destroyed and those who were still alive shared whatever little they had with the rest of the villagers. As it says in the song “Hurricane” “they passed a plate around” and I infer that they were all sharing the same meal throughout all the survivors. Through this event, it emphasized how the poor become poorer, and the rich become richer and the rich don’t give the poor a second thought. Through this, even Alexander Hamilton began to understand that if he wanted to succeed in life he had to use the skills he had to make a future for himself. He was a poor seventeen-year-old, who sought out the power, to make himself rich, and make a name for himself. He wrote a piece about the event that had occurred when he was seventeen. He wrote about the Hurricane and made it a describing piece where the reader could read the story and visualize it so well that it was almost as if the reader was there to experience the event that had taken place. As he started writing, his name slowly started began to be known. All the survivors of the Hurricane gathered up whatever they could just to send Alexander Hamilton to New York to get an education and to use his skills to create a good work ethic, just like what the American Dream/Way said, it said that the individual can build a better life through a good work ethic. This event influenced Alexander Hamilton, to begin leaving his mark on the world. This event pushed Alexander Hamilton out of his shell and made him sprout wings so he could soar. This event influenced the economic change of America because if this event had not taken place it would not have led to Alexander Hamilton creating the first national bank in America. This economic change could never have come into existence, if the hurricane had never occurred it would have never led to Alexander Writing that descriptive piece about the hurricane then that would have never led to the survivors of the village to help Alexander Hamilton get onto a “ship that was New York bound”, which would have never led him to create the first national bank of America.  

 

C: GUIDED QUESTION

In what ways does your chosen song relate to the American Revolution as a whole?

 

• Analysis: Find and analyze at least three lines in your chosen song that you believe to be essential to understanding the people, conflicts, ideologies, or events of the American Revolution. In other words, does the synthesis of your research and listening of Hamilton reveal about how the American Revolution affected the lives and privileges of those involved?

 

 

Once the American Revolution, was over and when America gained its freedom, the lives of those involved improved. They won a war, then flooded their products all over the world. The American Way is also known as the American Dream. The American Dream in a sense is that the individual can build a better life through a good work ethic. In the song “Hurricane” Alexander Hamilton in a sense represents all of those people who migrated to America because he has the impulsive behavior and mindset that through his hard work, and by using his skills he can better improve his own life. It stats in the song that “[he] wrote his way out”, this is true because Alexander Hamilton used the skills he had gotten from God and used these skills to improve his life. It is quite funny because in the song Alexander Hamilton believes that God has given up on Alexander Hamilton and that God won’t help him anymore, although God is helping him in a strange way. God provided Alexander Hamilton with the skills he needed to have in order to improve his life. Alexander Hamilton just had to make the choice of how he was going to use his skills. He could have easily did the opposite of what he did and just wrote for fun instead of for the world, or kept his skills to himself. He went from a poor seventeen-year-old who had is home obliterated by a hurricane, to be a scholar who is still remembered even today. Alexander represents the American people who had once taken the impulsive action to start a Revolution against the British. In the song, it implies that Aaron Burr is the type who wants to make a change but is too scared to do anything, so he constantly says to Alexander Hamilton to “wait for it”, just wait for the right time. Alexander Hamilton does not listen to Aaron Burr, because like I mentioned before, Alexander Hamilton represents the Americans who started the Revolution. I can infer that without the impulsive action the Americans took, and Alexander Hamilton took, they would have never gotten anywhere in life. Alexander Hamilton became a champion in the constitution, “[he] wrote about The Constitution and defended it well” he was a 10 dollar founding father, “[he] wrote financial systems into existence”. All because he grasped the concept, that by having a good work ethic and by using the skills he had, he could improve his life, just like how the American Revolution forced people to grasp this concept, and this caused them to strive. Although over time their idea of the American Way/Drea, it evolved to “give me liberty and I will use my work ethic to build a good life for myself and family”. This is funny because the whole reason the American Way/Dream was made was to get people to strive for a better life not because they had to, but as it evolved it started changing into an obligation that it was required to have a good life. In the end, the American Revolution improved the lives and privileges of the Americans, because it made them strive to use their skills to create a better life for themselves. Even though it evolved into an obligation it still helped a lot of people to have the correct mindset and helped them improve their lives.

 

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JAY Talk

Link to my research

Link to my script

Link to my JAY Talk

 

 

Independent Investigation 1605 – 1763

 

Link to my Final Project: https://create.piktochart.com/output/39209902-james-wolfe

 

Reducing My Ecological Footprint

The Plan 

After completing the ecological footprint worksheet, I discovered that my ecological footprint was 3.7 hectares. I was happy about this result because compared to my peers, I got one of the lowest scores. My peer’s ecological footprints were: Kellen got 11.462 hectares, Adam got 5.62 hectares and Joon got 7.89 hectares. After seeing my friends’ results, I was happy but was quite surprised because I was having doubts about my score. Once I had looked over my ecological footprint sheet, I realized that I had days where I was on an overnight practice trip, so this is not normally what happens on my weekends, so this affected my score a lot on the third day, but I believe that without the practice hike, I would be around 5 hectares.  

10 actions that increase my ecological footprint 

1. Eating 2 servings of meat 

1. Driving to school and cadets 

1. Amount of waste (shoebox amount) 

1. Eating plastic wrapped foods 

1. Wearing matching socks 

1. Requiring lots of gear/ equipment for my activities (overnight practice hike) 

1. Leaving the water on while brushing my teeth  

1. Living space 

1. Water usage while showering 

1. Land that had been converted into, fields, rinks, pools, gyms etc.  

 

5 actions that I will take to reduce my ecological footprint  

 

1. Eating 2 servings of meat  

I wish to reduce the number of servings I have a day because, I fell that having 2 servings of meat a day is quite bad, because the number of greenhouse gases to be created just so I can eat the meat, is not worth it. I will do my best to reduce my servings of meat to 1 serving a day and save that one serving of meat for dinnertime, because African cuisine, can consist of a lot of meat, such as chicken curry and lamb curry etc. The way I shall do this is that I will refrain from getting my mom to make my lunch and make it myself with no meat whatsoever, or if my mom makes my lunch, make sure there is no meat. 

1. The amount of garbage I produce  

I wish to change this because, I have noticed that I have slowly but surely increased the amount of food  I eat, with excessive plastic waste, also I know that it takes a long time for the plastic to decompose, some of it doesn’t even decompose. I have also seen in my behaviour in an increase in the usage of plastic bags, and in some cases, I could reuse the bag, but instead, I throw it away. So, the first thing I wish to do is buy food in bulk and package it myself in reusable containers, and if I need to use a plastic bag, make sure I bring it home and try to reuse it again.  

1. Not leaving the water on while brushing my teeth 

You might say that this is quite a childish endeavour, but it really is not. I am quite busy when I am brushing my teeth. I normally get everything, start brushing my teeth leave the bathroom and do other things, such as packing my school bag, making my bed, so it was quite easy for me to forget to turn off the water. When I first started it was still quite difficult, but the more I practised and continued to do it I managed to not forget to turn the water off.  

1. Reducing my water usage while showering 

 When showering, I normally take roughly a 5-minute shower, and when I thought about this matter, I thought to myself rather than thinking how to reduce my showering time, I thought how I can reduce my water usage. I thought back to how I solved my problem of leaving the water on while brushing my teeth, so I came up with a similar approach. What if when I was actually washing my body with soap, I turned off the water and turned it back on when I needed to rinse my body. This idea did wonders because although my time remained the same, I was actually using less water.  

1. Land that had been converted into fields, rinks, pools, gyms etc.  

Over the weekends, I always go and hang out with my friend at his house and we always do something physical, like a bike ride, but lately, we have been playing a lot of basketball on courts, so land that had been converted into a court. So, I asked him if he was willing to take a break from playing basketball, and asked him the one day if he was willing to go for a hike. I explained to him about this ecological footprint assignment we were doing for Talons, and he really liked it. He then told me that he would like to join Talons, but he does not possess an IEP or gifted recognition. He then said sure why not let’s do a hike for a change, so we then decided to do the Diez Vista with his family and we continued to talk about Talons.  

 

Reflection 

Some of the actions such as reducing my usage of land that had been converted into fields, courts rinks, etc., was quite easy for me to accomplish because I wasn’t doing it alone. I find that even when running, it is a lot easier if you are doing it with a friend because you are more motivated then if you go running by yourself. The same was for reducing my usage of land that had been converted into fields, rinks, courts, etc. After I had solved my problem of leaving the water on while brushing my teeth when it came for me to solve my usage of water in the shower, that was really easy to do because I had basically done the same thing already just on a smaller scale.  

 

The things that were difficult for me to change, were the things that impeded my regular routine the most, such as eating less meat. This was quite difficult because, it also made it harder for my mom because now she needs to adjust how she goes shopping, and what she cooks for dinner if she let me take the meat to school for lunch. This impeded my routine because I have always been used to having meat with every meal, even when I have breakfast I have normally some sort of meat. Secondly, reducing the amount of garbage I produced, was quite difficult as well because my snacks seemed to always be individually wrapped. The thing difficult about it was that it was so convenient to just throw some granola bars into your bag, and most snacks these days are individually wrapped, like, seaweed, trail mix bars, or just trail mix, goldfish each in individual bags etc. I tried changing this by going out with my mom and buying things in bulk, but it was difficult because I have a habit of always comparing prices and going with the more economical one, rather than the one with less garbage. I took some time but eventually, I got the hang of it, by buying in bulk and restraining myself from checking which is more economical. Lastly, the thing I believe that was the most difficult for me to change was me leaving the water on while brushing my teeth, it was the hardest because it was the hardest to remember because it is such a small and insignificant thing. As soon as I had solved it, it made solving my water usage during showers a whole lot easier so in the end it worked out for the good.  

 

Throughout the process of making these improvements to reduce my ecological footprint, I ran into some problems, but many were just little things that could be solved quickly. Although my forgetfulness to make the improvements was one of the biggest obstacles I had to face. I simply just kept on forgetting to turn of the water when brushing my teeth, although once I had that down, it helped solve other problems, such as helping me reduce my water usage in the shower. I believe that most people forget to do things because sometimes they truly forget, but other times they just want to forget because by forgetting things it makes their lives easier by not having to put in the extra effort to remember. Speaking of extra effort, this was another obstacle, because it was quite difficult for me to change my routine, by changing the number of servings of meat I consumed daily along with eating foods with less excessive waste. I found these to be one of the greatest obstacles I faced because these required the most effort to do so. There were always situations where I just wanted to forget of taking a snack in a reusable container and just take a few granola bars or just take goldfish in a plastic bag, but I needed to put in the extra effort, along with the use of my will power, to make the correct choice. I know that this is going to be a challenge for others as well, because this is what causes others to just give up because they decide to take the easy way out, not the hard way, which is generally the right way.  

 

In conclusion, I have learnt a lot from this experience, and I have learnt a lot of skills that can help me in the future. Going into the future I hope that I continue to acquire more skills on this matter, and maintain the current skills I have now because these skills have helped me in many ways. The price of paying for heat is going down, because there is not as much hot water being used, by turning off the water when brushing my teeth provides us along with the world a little more drinking water, no matter how small. Even reducing my amount of waste, helps prevent a little less garbage going into the landfills. From this experience, I have now gained a more informed view, on things either increasing or decreasing my ecological footprint and how my everyday decisions can affect the future to make a change for the better or the worse.  

“One man can make a difference and you are going to be that man” From Knight Rider  

 

 

 

 

 

Final In-Depth Blog post

 

For the past 4 weeks, I have made much progress, from knowing the absolute minimal about guitar to being able to play a full song, using either chords or playing TAB. If you didn’t know, tablature, or for short, tab, is a form of musical fingering and notation, however, guitar chords are a set of notes played on the guitar simultaneously, so in other words, a combination of tab fingering and notation. I have been meeting with my mentor every Friday since, the end of February, beginning of March. Through all these meetings I have learnt a total of 13 different chords. Firstly, I commenced with learning the song, Jesus Loves Me, secondly, I learnt Great Are You, Lord, thirdly, I learnt 10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord), fourthly, I learnt Amazing Grace and lastly, for my in-depth presentation, I am learning God’s Not Dead (Like A Lion). In my spare time, my mentor encouraged me to practice these songs, and follow along with a video on YouTube if the video was available. I asked my mentor once I started practising these songs with chords, I asked what is TAB? My mentor replied that it is fingering and notation, rather than a chord where there are multiple notes being played. After that meeting with my mentor, I did my own research and started to practice TAB in my spare time, and it improve my results, it helped me with my transitions of chords because it got my fingers used to moving along the guitar, more so then just continuing to transition from chord to chord.

Concepts

• Reading Standard Music Notation and Tablature
• Essential Music Theory
• Strumming Patterns
• Tuning by Ear
• Open Position Notes
• Basic Open Position Notes (A-G)
• Barre Chords

Alternatives

• Different versions of the song: My mentor for my final song for my presentation for in-depth has provided me with 2 versions of the song 1 that is difficult and another the is a little easier. My mentor has provided with 2 versions of the same song but, if I had a different mentor it is possible that I would have received a different version, one that I don’t have of the same song because there are a lot of versions.
• Different variations of the positioning/fingers on the chord: My mentor has taught  me different ways of playing certain chords and let me choose which way I am more comfortable with and I use that way, but if I had a different mentor it is possible that he would assign me a certain way of playing the guitar and I have to use that way, not one I am comfortable with.
• Different way of holding the guitar: My mentor taught me that me a way of holding the guitar, where I can place my finger on the top of the guitar to rest it there, but for beginners he said that it is best for them to put the thumb on the back of the neck of the guitar so it makes them maintain the correct posture for when holding or transitioning to a chord. However, a different mentor might say that is always best to just keep the thumb on the back to maintain correct posture.

 

For my learning centre, I will set up a laptop or 2 to show my progression and improvement through the videos I took of me with my mentor. I will also make a tri-fold board to show my learnings and understandings, such as the positions for different chords or a lesson on how to read TAB along with something somewhat like a timeline to have another visual to represent my growth.

However, I am not sure whether for In-Depth I need a learning centre because I am a performer.

 

Here is a little demonstration of me playing TAB at the end of my practice with my mentor

Animal Farm Inquiry

1. What conditions are needed for revolution to occur? Based on your readings so far, what is the single most significant factor leading the animals to revolution? 

A revolution is when a group of people with similar values and ideals join to fight against a common cause, whether it is a disagreement against certain laws, made by an unjust government or society.  The biggest factor needed for a revolution to start, is for there to be someone, perhaps a born leader just like Old Major, to point out that there is a problem with how the government or society is functioning in this case, however, it is how Mr. Jones treats the farm animals and how he runs the farm. Old Major is a born leader and explains with compassion for his fellow farm animals, his thoughts on the nature of their lives and how Mr. Jones is treating them. He explains how their “lives are miserable, laborious and short” when they could be living lives so much better (2). He tells them that “man is the only creature that consumes without producing”, he explains to them that they would have been able to support a much an abundance of farm animals if man did not just drink our milk and eat our eggs (2). The farm animals did not even realize that this huge problem was happening right under their noses; without Old Major, the farm animals would not have had the kick in the butt they needed to commence their revolution. Old Majors` personal beliefs influence all the animals, even after he dies, they continue to use his thoughts as their foundation for their revolution. With a strong leader, who is well respected amongst his peers, it is common that his peers would accept what he believes as the truth and make it their own beliefs even after he dies. With Old Majors` thoughts and beliefs as their foundation, the farm animals create their own “principles of Animalism” called the Seven Commandments (8). In conclusion, all it takes for a revolution to start is that there is someone who points out that there is a problem with the government or society against a particular group of individuals.  

 

2. When, if ever, is the use of manipulation or force justified? What are the long-term benefits and detriments of these actions? 

 In the past, present and future, there have always been someone or s group of individuals in a higher power leading other, through the use of manipulation or force. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, we can infer that from the animals’ experience with Mr. Jones it is only okay to use manipulation/ force justified when it benefits all the animals. However, throughout the story it starts off that everyone has equal rights, but as the story progresses, the pigs commence to take more for themselves, all the animals assumed that everything would be shared equally; but the pigs say that “milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig”, so they take more for themselves (11). As the story continues Napoleon a pig takes charge of everything, he takes newborn puppies from their mother, and he says that he is going to educate them. Instead, he trains them to be the enforcers of his law and now obey Napoleon and do his bidding. At the meeting where they are discussing the plans for the windmill, Napoleon sends out “nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars”, to get rid of Snowball because Napoleon accuses Snowball that he is going to lead all the animals down the wrong path in life (16). Later in the story, Napoleon controls the animals through fear because whoever does not follow his instructions shall die. He controls them by planting fake things in their mind to make them scared, such as saying, that there is a possibility “that some of Snowball’s secret agents are lurking among us at this moment (24).

 

3. In your opinion, was the revolution successful? Were there any other opinions available to bring about the animals’ desired change? If so, what might have been done? If not, why was revolution inevitable? 

 

A revolution is when a group of people with similar values and ideals join to fight against a common cause, whether it is a disagreement against certain laws, made by an unjust government or society. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the revolution was inevitable. Once the farm animals had heard the truth about their living from Old Major that their “lives are miserable, laborious and short” when they could be living lives so much better, they revolted against Mr. Jones (2). They revolted against Mr. Jones expecting changes that would benefit them, but as the story progresses the farm animals began to be controlled through fear and manipulation by a pig named Napoleon. Napoleon changes the rules as he pleases and as he has trained newborn puppies to be the enforcers of his laws, whoever does not obey, must be punished. As Napoleon takes control, he changes rules o benefit him. He then, changes one of the seven commandments, to “no animal shall kill any other animal without cause” (27). This benefits him because now he has gained the power because of his enforces and now he can instead of punishment just punishing the animals, he can kill them as he chooses. The animals now have to deal with their new leader’s ways of doing things, through force and manipulation, along with fearing a “treacherous attack” from Frederick, the man who scammed the animals. In the end, they thought that their revolution who provide them and give them a better life, but in reality, they ended up, worsening their living conditions, such as the amount of food they get, they also ruined their safety because since they are the first farm animals to revolt, people through force tried to gain control of them again. Throughout all of history when a group of individuals with similar ideals, have a problem with their higher-ups, they will react, because history is like a repeating pattern, but the outcome can it either get worse or a little better.  

Digital Literacy Portfolio Assignment

English/Socials Assignment #1: Wheel of Revolution

Link to: Wheel of Revolution

2. Description

In order to clearly show my work, I decided to learn how to create a piktochart to present my wheel of revolution, so it can be organized and can create a useful and informative, way of representing my work, along with it being creative. In order to learn how to create a piktochart, I had to learn by following a tutorial and asking the digital literacy teachers in the nest for further support and guidance on how to use the program correctly.

3 / 4. Digital Literacy Criteria

Creativity, Innovation, Technology Operations and Concepts

• Student represents learning and knowledge in a creative and engaging way.               In order to represent my learning and knowledge of picktochart in a creative and engaging way, I spent time developing my skills, by following tutorials and asking for support and guidance from the digital literacy teachers in the nest. I focused mainly on how the picktochart would look and how to keep it as organized as possible. To do this I got people to peer edit my work, along with asking my mom to look over my work so it is most appealing to others and to get as many comments as I could to help improve my work. 
• Work demonstrates an understanding of the audience in the representation and presentation of learning.                                                                                                          As students and teachers are the primary audiences for my picktochart assignment, it is important that they can clearly and easily understand the content in my picktochart. I also needed to assure that it was easily accessible for the teachers and students so that they can grade it, along with use it as an example for future years. In order for me to have accomplished this task, I needed to make my picktochart organized and easy to follow.

Communication and Collaboration

• Student proactively uses devices or services to plan and execute the assignment.                                                                                                                                           To complete this assignment to my own likeness, I had to proactively use my device to learn from tutorials and ask the nest for help to learn new skills to help me improve my skills, such as: How to upload an image from the web onto my picktochart, how to write over top of an image/figure I placed or even just the simplest thing such as improving my formatting and layout skills of my overall piktochart. 

 

 

English/Socials Assignment #2: Introducing Eminent Person Blog post

Link to: Introducing Eminent Person Blog post

2. Description

For this assignment, we were required to select one person and describe how they have changed the world and how the world has changed them, in other words, how are they eminent. We had to go online and do in-depth research, by visiting websites we had to make sure that it was C.R.A.P. tested approved before using that website’s information. I took notes on online software called Microsoft Word Online, as well as wrote my draft and my good copy. I published my good copy of my draft on a website called WordPress.

 

3 / 4. Digital Literacy Criteria

Digital Citizenship

• Students work demonstrates a positive, productive and empathetic worldview.                                                                                                                                             During this assignment, I dove into my eminent person’s religion the most but was able to share out his ideas about his religion, in a respectful way because I was never saying that my eminent person’s religion is correct. however, I was talking about his restrictions and how his religion made him behave. By taking into consideration of a worldview, I stayed away from talking about things such as ethnicity or their political views because these are heavy and dense topics, which many people have many different sentiments and views when it comes to these topics; so I decided that it would be best to be a positive, productive and empathetic and just stay away from these sort of topics. 
• Student can ethically use content that is not their own and cites their resources correctly.                                                                                                                           At this time I had not learnt how to create a bibliography correctly so instead of citing my resources, I just created a reference list and put this at the end of my document. However, I included quotes that my eminent person had said and made sure to put them in quotations marks, to show that this was not my work, but it belonged to my eminent person along with to give my eminent person credit for their words. I did not, however, include the references to my images, because I did not realize that I needed to have references for my images before it was too late. 

Research and Information Literacy

• Student can identify and access bias in research sources.                                                  When doing my research on my eminent person, I made sure to be aware of bias from the [erspective of the author of the article/site/webpage because I remember that most historians write from the perspective of the victor. While the victor’s point of view might be cooler in a sense, it is important to understand and take into consideration all perspectives. When doing my research there was some bias from the author because they had a personal connection with my eminent person, along with the fact that they were talked from their perspective of the matter, along with sometimes talking about the eminent person’s perspective. Although I know that the information can sometimes be warped because they are talking from a personal perspective. 

 

English/Socials Assignment #3: What Makes or Breaks Relationships MND Essay

Link to: What Makes or Breaks Relationships MND Essay

2. Description

For this assignment, we were all instructed to read the Midsummer night’s dream with our class and have small presentations in each class. At the end of each class, we were assigned a booklet of quotes for us to decipher and have ready for the next class. Cloe to the very end of the Midsummer Night’s Dream unit, we were instructed to write up an essay on what makes or breaks a relationship? Everyone had different views and approaches to answer this question. While using the knowledge and understanding of the different relationships in the story, I was able to successfully complete his assignment.

3 / 4. Digital Literacy Criteria

Research and Information Literacy

• Student views topics or issues from multiple perspectives.                                          When writing this essay it was important to consider all points of views to ensure that our response was as accurate as possible. When looking at the story Midsummer Night’s Dream there were many different types of relationships throughout the story. When we were assigned the task of writing an essay, to explain what makes or breaks a good relationship it was really helpful if you went through the perspective of each character and thought what they think makes or breaks a good relationship, it would have helped you out a lot. By doing this with each character, it ensured you understood the key aspects and important points needed to answer this question properly, with the utmost detail. 

Communication

• Student constructively builds upon or synthesizes the ideas of others.                  When we were writing our drafts for our essay it was amazing to discuss with fellow class members, because this allowed us to expand our ideas and to build upon each other’s idea to get a clearer picture on what the expectations were. It also provided us with a chance to see how other’s approached the question and to ask others for help in areas where we were lacking.  

Digital Citizenship

• Student’s work demonstrates a positive, productive and empathetic worldview.                                                                                                                                    By making sure I ask others for their opinions, it helped me to make sure that I maintain a positive and empathetic worldview to everyone and not just certain individuals. In my essay I tried to refrain from expressing my personal ideas into the mix but rather, just giving evidence and explaining how this evidence is relevant and how it explains my point. By doing this and by not saying things such as this is the right way or this is the correct way, I maintained a positive, productive, and empathetic worldview because I was being respectful of everyone’s opinions and ideas. 

Science Assignment #1: Cancer Research Project

Link to: Cancer Research Project

2. Description

For this assignment, I had to select a type of cancer and answer 10 essential questions about this type of cancer and share this information with the rest of my group. I did my research on school databases such as the Gleneagle library along with some other resources recommended by Ms. Mulder. I completed this assignment in software called Microsoft Word Online. Through this software, I was able to easily send a link to my friends so they could peer edit my work as well as send a final copy to my teacher.

 

3 / 4. Digital Literacy Criteria

Digital Citizenship

• I gave credit to all websites used during research is noted in a Works Cited or Bibliography.                                                                                                                                         When I was conducting this assignment I made sure to include a section at the bottom of my document for a bibliography so I could make sure to give credit where it is due. During the time of the research, as soon as I opened a webpage/site/article I made sure to copy down the URL after making sure that I will use the webpage/site/article. In class, we spent some time learning the rules for certain styles of formatting. So when it came to assignments our teacher would tell us what format/style she would want the bibliography. 

Research and Information Literacy 

• Used the C.R.A.P test to verify all sources.                                                                                    To make sure that the information I was using was trustworthy and that the information is indeed true, I used the C.R.A.P. checklist to verify all my sources and information. I checked for the currency of my source (website/article) I made sure to check the date and that is was updated or it was recently posted. To check for the relevance, I made sure that it was relevant to my part of the cell and checked that it was meeting the criteria. I checked for the accuracy of the information by going to other C.R.A.P. approved sites to make sure that they all had similar information, such as say, for instance, a number was very different I would have to make sure whether it was true or not. Finally, to check for the purpose, I made sure that it was, geared towards science. 
• Student uses databases to find scholarly research sources.                                                 During this assignment, I used different school databases such as the science database on the Gleneagle library. With this database, it made it quite easy to find scholarly resources along with C.R.A.P. approved because teachers have already looked at these sources beforehand, and chose to recommend these sites/articles/webpages to their students. By knowing that these databases had been chosen by teachers made life easier because all the information I needed was right their instead of spending double the time having to surf through the web to find the information I needed. 

 

 

Science Assignment #2: The Parts of the Cell (slides 31-33)

Link to: The Parts of the Cell (slides 31-33)

2. Description

For this assignment, I had to use Microsoft Teams to complete a collaborative powerpoint with the entire class. We each were assigned a certain part of the cell to learn about and then to teach the rest of the class. We all had a certain amount of slides we could use and the maximum amount was 3 slides each. With this, we researched using websites Ms. Mulder had recommended and then used these slides to represent our learning of each part of the cell. We then used different ways of communicating with each other to coordinate how our slides would work along with the layout and the order of the presenters.

3 / 4. Digital Literacy Criteria                                                               

Creativity, Innovation and Technolgy Operations

• Student actively uses the most effective medium to represent his work.                        To represent my work, I chose to use a powerpoint online and share it to the entire class because we all had to add our individual slides to it, to create a collaborative powerpoint. There were some ups and downs in the beginning because people’s fonts kept changing or the layout of slides changed, but in the end, it was the most effective medium to represent our work. It was easier to use because of its share function along with the fact that it made it easier for everyone because they could work individually, and then add their slides, instead of the entire class cramming on 1 computer to work together. 

Communication and Collaboration

• Student uses digital spaces effectively to plan and execute collaborative projects with others.                                                                                                                            For our parts of the cell assignment, we decided to use the program called Microsoft Powerpoint Online, because of it’s easy accessibility with a link. This program was useful because now everyone did not have to cram on 1 computer, and everyone could be working by themselves and at a later date just add their individual slides to the powerpoint. We also used different messaging platforms, so we could discuss and find solutions to problems, such as, the layout of slides keeps changing, the font keeps changing when someone changes the theme of their slides everyone else’s slides change. This was just a big learning experience for all though and since we used digital spaces, it made it very easy to plan and execute our collaborative Powerpoint. 
• Student responds to the work or ideas of others in a way that is compassionate and productive.                                                                                                                            Throughout this assignment, there were many things that went wrong, like the layout of people’s slides kept changing, some people’s slides were deleted and so on, but this never stopped anyone, everyone just redid their work or people stepped up to help others. My friend’s slides had been deleted so I asked if I could help and he accepted my help. Everyone just kept on moving forward no matter what was happening. Everyone showed a lot of compassion towards each other because it wasn’t like it was just one person who was having problems, it was the entire class along with the teacher as well. So everyone found productive ways to get around the issues, and by being compassionate to others.  

Animal Farm #2

When, if ever, is the use of manipulation or force justified? What are the long-term benefits and detriments of these actions? 

 In the past, present and future, there have always been someone or s group of individuals in a higher power leading other, through the use of manipulation or force. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, we can infer that from the animals’ experience with Mr. Jones it is only okay to use manipulation/ force justified when it benefits all the animals. However, throughout the story it starts off that everyone has equal rights, but as the story progresses, the pigs commence to take more for themselves, all the animals assumed that everything would be shared equally; but the pigs say that “milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig”, so they take more for themselves (11). As the story continues Napoleon a pig takes charge of everything, he takes newborn puppies from their mother, and he says that he is going to educate them. Instead, he trains them to be the enforcers of his law and now obey Napoleon and do his bidding. At the meeting where they are discussing the plans for the windmill, Napoleon sends out “nine enormous dogs wearing brass-studded collars”, to get rid of Snowball because Napoleon accuses Snowball that he is going to lead all the animals down the wrong path in life (16). Later in the story, Napoleon controls the animals through fear because whoever does not follow his instructions shall die. He controls them by planting fake things in their mind to make them scared, such as saying, that there is a possibility “that some of Snowball’s secret agents are lurking among us at this moment (24).  

Raft Letter

Dear King, Charles I 

 It is I, Henry Johnson, I am writing to you this day to discuss the needs of the lower class. The lower class is in desperate need of medicine, as we are being attacked by the black plague. I spend my days as a doctor trying to save my people, but it is not working. Our current medicine is only slowing down the inevitable. The plague has taken hold of my brother William for a day now, he does not have much time, my lord please help us, help the lower class survive this plague. Hundreds are dying each day, on average once infected, they survive for three days. The rats are swarming the streets, our schools are becoming empty as the children are staying at home taking care of their parents or they are dying themselves. Please help us stop the spread of this plague and find a cure, millions will have died. How would you feel if one of your loved ones got infected and all you could do was watch as they fade away right in front of your eyes? If you find a cure for this plague think about how everyone will respect you more. You will have fewer problems and disputes with parliament, along with more people will be more incline to follow you. Think about the headlines, Great King Charles I saves England from the Black Death. I would be extremely grateful to you my king if you can get back to me as soon as possible to prevent the spread of this plague.  

 Sincerely, 

Henry Johnson