I demonstrated my critical thinking skills when creating my Spanish Family Project. We were asked to create a PowerPoint of four family members plus yourself as well as a family tree. My thinking skills were a great asset to me for this assignment because it helped me to overcome any struggles I may have encountered. Asking questions, watching videos, talking with my peers and talking with my teacher helped me have a better understanding of Spanish and helped me to succeed. I gained better thinking and communication adroitness throughout this task because now I feel more comfortable asking questions, and know how to get help. This project helped me gain a greater understanding of Spanish and what I am capable of in this course.
Atticus Finch Body Biography from “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Starting this project I chose my friend Tyler as my partner because I already knew we would have good communication and be able to create a positive project. The best thing we did was assign ourselves different sections of the assignment to focus on separate parts. Doing this gave us the ability to both be working during class as well as taking our own parts home to work on. I demonstrated communication through the body biography project we did in my English 10 class. There were times where we disagreed but it was always over something iota and we never had it weigh over us for too long. Overall this project was a complete success and hope I am able to continue growing in all aspects of my learning and development.
Whenever I want something in my life to be different I make the necessary changes to achieve that goal. If I put time and effort into my goals I believe I can achieve them. Organization and productivity being some of my biggest strengths are helpful in situations such as these because they assure that I will be determined and successful. Taking time for myself is really important to keep me grounded and calm when I am under a lot of pressure or stress. Writing notes, making lists, having people hold me accountable and creating smaller goals are all strategies I am using to monitor the progress of my goals. I take my education seriously by studying, setting reminders, asking questions and talking to my teachers about how I can become a learner. Academic validation is something I feel I need to continue be a better person everyday and am always striving to succeed.
Elements of the town: Sawmill, Housing, Farmland, Rivers, Coal Mine, Factories, Barns
Population: 274
Explanation / Brief History: Millstone is an up and coming town founded in 1822 by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Miller. They have been married for 22 years and have three beautiful young children together . Their family loved each other very much but they never had enough money for rent or to buy a home so they would get in arguments a lot. One day Mr. Miller decided he had had enough and took him and his entire family across the country looking for a fresh start. After days on the road Mr. Miller finally decided that this was it, this was the land he and his family would put down roots. After a few weeks of them living in what is now Millstone village, Mr. Miller invited his good friend Mr. Samuel Copestone to their new home. Mr. Copestone was a bachelor born into a wealthy family and as soon as he saw the land he knew what he wanted to do with his fortune. Mr. Copestone sat down and talked with Mr. and Mrs. Miller about co-founding a town together. Mr. Miller loved this idea and was right on board to get started. Now just over 12 years later their village has grown immensely with over 200 residents, 50 plus buildings, many opportunities for work and is constantly expanding and growing.
Media Fluency Reflection
A. How was the ease of access in building the town, and what software did you use specifically?
Building my town was easier than expected but it took awhile to get the hang of. I used the software ‘Roll For Fantasy’ as requested by the ADL teachers, and I enjoyed playing around with the different designs I could do. If I ever needed to do something like this again I would defiantly use this website because of the simple layout and how easy it was to navigate.
B. Were you able to apply the skills you learned in the planning stages appropriately to a digital environment?
Before actually creating my design I drew it out on a piece of paper to see if I liked the look of it or not. I tried my best to fit the description of the town into the design for a more realistic understanding. So, yes.
C. What were the sources you researched that made this an “authentic make-believe” town?
I used 2 different sources to try and get as precise as possible. The first source I used was just using google and looking up different pictures and drawings of factory towns. Doing this helped me to get the main idea of what these towns all have in common and then creating one design with the information. The last source I used was reading the book ‘Lyddie’ by Katherine Paterson in my Social Studies 9 class. ‘Lyddie’ is about a very poor young girl that works at a factory during the Industrial Revolution. When I read about the town Lyddie lives in, it is described in my opinion very similar to my design.
D. Is there other software online that could have done the job better? Explain.
There is defiantly other software that could do a better job, however I would still use Roll For Fantasy. Other websites may have a better look to the finished product, but if you just want to be efficient and get it done I would recommend Roll For Fantasy.
I created an infographic using Canva. I screenshotted it to add it in my EduBlog. My infographic poster explains what a positive digital footprint is and tools to achieve one.
Personal/Social Competency Reflection
Some of my preferred strategies for maintaining a healthy, balanced online presence include, turning my phone off an hour before bed, talking to my friends to stay connected, and giving myself limits to decrease the amount of time on my phone. I do these sorts of things to monitor the amount of technology I use and fix what I think needs improvement.
By asking friends and family for their consent before posting on any social media platforms, I make a positive difference to my peers. Doing this makes them feel more comfortable and more aware of their online identity. Whenever friends and family ask for my permission before posting a photo or video of me it makes me feel valued and respected.
I know that my digital footprint can have both negative and positive consequences, such as missed job opportunities, false rumors, or something as simple as a bad photo, so I adjust my actions to secure my online identity. Some things I do to ensure my online identity is safe include having all accounts private, using strong passwords, and only allowing people I know in real life to see what I post and share online. I take these precautions to help me feel safe and secure whenever I am posting or sharing parts of my life online.
My most successful lab I feel was my Vegetable Pot Pie because we finished it in a good time period, it tasted really good and also looked really pretty. It smelled like a biscuit, tasted like veggies and a flakey crust, looked colourful, and felt creamy. I choose this as my most successful lab because it tasted so good and flavorful, looked really pretty and was simple to make. We defiantly made the product standards with the biscuit being flakey and the vegetables being packed with flavour. There were no challenges we had to overcome that I remember. My greatest success with the Vegetable Pot Pie was the presentation and taste. I am most proud of trying something new because I’ve never had this before but really enjoyed it. I used my knife skills and flour method to help create this dish.
I think my most challenging foods lab was the Thin Crust Skillet Pizza because, we were running behind, and our presentation was clearly not the best. It tasted like caramelized onion and peppers, smelled a little overcooked, looked somewhat unappetizing and felt like a lot of different textures in my mouth. There is nothing crazy that made this the most challenging lab other then we were running behind and I was not in love with the final product. We met the product standards but there was just something off about it. The only challenge we really had to over come was the onions not cooking fast enough. That made us work slower because we had more time which ended up making us be behind. We did have success though because it did taste good but all the original flavours blended together which was different. I am still proud of our final product, yeah it may not look the prettiest and the flavour is not quite there. However, if I had an opportunity to do it again I would know what to do differently.
The fancy grilled cheese was my favourite lab because it was a simple concept that I would have never come up with. In the “fancy” grilled cheese I added tomato, zucchini, white onion, cheddar and havarti cheese. It smelled like tomato, felt soft, gooey and buttery, tasted like vegetables and cheese and looked colourful and tasty. I choose this as my favourite lab because my partner and I had a lot of fun cooking, it looks really pretty and it tasted really good. There was not many challenges that I had to overcome for this lab other than my veggies taking longer to cook than expected but that just meant we had to wait longer. The greatest success about this dish was the final product and how good it actually tasted. The thing I’m most proud of from this lab was getting to try something new.
For my Breakfast Home Lab I decided to make breakfast burritos with a ton of different ingredients. I added potato, egg, turkey bacon, spinach, cheese, onion, peppers, cherry tomato’s, fresh garlic and siracha on a whole wheat tortilla. It smelled like sautéed onions and garlic, tasted like egg, siracha, and veggies, felt soft and looked really tasty. I choose to make breakfast burritos over pancakes, a breakfast sandwich or something potato because I love breakfast burritos. I think they are so cool because of all the different flavors and ingredients you can add to them. One challenge I had to overcome was that my microwave was broken so, I had to boil the potatoes instead of put them in the microwave. I cook breakfast for my mom all the time so this was nothing super surprising for her but she always loves and appreciates my cooking. I am most proud of my presentation and being able to blend multiple different flavors together. 🙂
