Category: English 10

Core Competencies relating to the Podcast assignment.

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Communication and Collaboration

  • Our group split the podcast into two hosts and one guest speaker which we worked together on deciding who would do what.  I thought about what my strengths and likes are (factual, detailed, using technology) and what the rest of my groups’ strengths and interests were (more conversationalists, listened to more podcasts, etc.) hence I became the guest speaker, and in charge of overseeing the revision of the podcast, while another group member was in charge of setting up mics, etc.
  • I collected information for each of the sections by going back into the novel and finding examples or quotes that I could share with my group to include in our outline.  I was able to ask questions about the others’ ideas so that we could clarify what was important.  I also showed that I was an active listener by nodding my head, and saying things like, “good idea”, or “I see what you mean”.
  • It was difficult to find a time outside of class when the group was available to work on and record the podcast.  I made sure that I was flexible when I could meet, and was prepared with my ideas so that we could be ready to go.  If someone, needed help I would help them.

Critical and Reflective Thinking and Creative Thinking

  • When reading this novel, I was able to connect some of the main character’s personality to my own.  We both like routine, clear instructions, logic, order, math, and science.
  • I knew someone in a class who had “Autism”.  I am able to better understand his actions and thinking now. 
  • I am not strong at creative tasks like podcasts. I only listen to one podcast and that is about technology.  I took a risk in doing this type of project. A strategy I used with this task was to get the facts, and then go back and see if I could talk about it and add a word or line to make it more humorous or interesting.

 John Henderson’s talk

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There are a few things that stood out to me today regarding John’s talk. The first is how they “kidnapped” John from his home and made it sound legal. Indigenous people had no way of fighting back. Anyone trying to get kids their back was threatened with jail time. It must have been very hard to be taken from your home and put in a place where nobody cared about your language and culture or whether you saw your family again. The idea that Indigenous children suffered so much abuse is something that also stood out. Children were considered stinky and dirty and had to be “de-loused” and were whipped with the strap for standing up for a younger student.  There are many injustices that stood out during John’s talk. Orange shirt day will remind me of that but also remind me that we need to help heal the pain that was created and to make sure this does not happen to any group again. 

There are many connections between John Henderson’s talk to Rita Joe’s poem “I Lost My Talk”. John states that children today are lucky because we have the freedom to make choices, live in comfortable homes, and have parents and teachers to guide us. John said he had none of these freedoms or supports as he was taken away from his parents when they were not home and sent to Residential school. Rita Joe also did not have the support of her parents, as her mom died when she was 5, put into a foster home, orphaned at 10 and sent to residential school when she was 12.  In the poem, “I Lost My Talk”, Rita says her talk was “snatched away” when she went to Shubenacadie school. In his talk, John mentions that they had killed the Indian in him by taking away what he knew – his culture, language, etc. Rita expresses that the government’s way was more powerful. Teachers were not supportive of Indigenous culture but we there to erase what they had learned. Rita writes, “I speak like you, I think like you, I create like you”. John says after residential school he didn’t know how to “walk” anymore; Similarly, Rita mentions that she lost her talk.   Both people look for ways to heal their wounds and learn more about their culture; John through his art, and Rita through her writing.