In this presentation, we were given creative freedom to share any topic we wanted that related to fear. I chose to present about the Uncanny Valley phenomenon. The greatest strength of my presentation was the visual imagery, as I included multiple videos and pictures that were not only memorable but relevant to the presentation.
If I were to do anything differently in the future when given a project with as much freedom as this one, I would take advantage of how much creative freedom I have and really go into depth when I find a topic that I’m passionate about. I found that I struggled with determining how detailed I should go, but I should’ve taken advantage of the fact that I had loose guidelines and really explained nice aspects of my topic that I didn’t touch on.
Core Competency Self-Assessment
I brainstormed multiple ideas about things that I was interested in, with the Uncanny Valley being the broadest topic I had. I thought it might’ve been too niche if I had gone with some of my other topics and that I wouldn’t be able to connect with the audience as well because the things I wanted to talk about were so unknown. I also knew that if I had gone with something too specific, it might bore those who were not as interested in the topic as I was.
I did my research on the Uncanny Valley using some of my prior knowledge and experiences, but also made sure to use trusted websites and sources of knowledge. I avoided any websites that looked sketchy, but also tried looking for more recent news articles and published sites so that I could get the most up-to-date information. I did not need to research too deeply when talking about the deepfake aspect of my presentation as I already had encountered it myself and got to share some of my own personal opinions on the matter.
In my journey as a vocal jazz ensemble member, I have found that reflecting on my personal experiences, such as past jazz performances, enhances my well-being, particularly when I review past concert videos. I listen over these videos multiple times to catch any moments that I thought could be improved. I also listen to the overall sound of the group to see how well we blend. I know that the sound can differ based on where an audience member is sitting, but this helps me know whether I’m being too loud or quiet.
As a vocal jazz ensemble member, I consistently take ownership of my vocal goals, improvisational learning, and behavior, as seen in my dedication to joining Jazz Club, where I am given the opportunity to practice my improvisational skills with others who are just as interested in jazz. I enjoy working in an group as I get to see others show off their skills and also learn extra jazz theory from the leaders of the club. During our practices, I also get the opportunity to practice soloing over the band, which has greatly helped me develop my improvisational skills.
Within the vocal jazz community, I recognize my potential as a jazz vocal leader, and this became evident when I began making practice tracks for Vocal Jazz. To maximize our efficiency, we use practice tracks to individually learn our parts, but sometimes individual practice tracks aren’t available, so I manually copy our sheet music into MuseScore and then export the audios individually for each vocal part. These tracks often take multiple hours to create an export, but I enjoy doing them as they help the overall group. I want to continue making tracks and finding ways to be helpful and a leader within my community.
In my journey as a choir member, I have found that reflecting on my personal experiences, such as past performances, enhances my well-being, particularly when I am stressed about our upcoming performances. I find myself getting extremely nervous and worrying about not being perfect on stage, but I combat this by looking back at my past performances. Instead of only worrying about being perfect for the audience, I look at each performance as a showcase of my growth as a vocalist and performer. I can be proud of how far I’ve come in the past few years and the fact that I will continue to improve as time goes on. So rather than wanting to be perfect, I focus on doing the best that I can do in the moment.
I prioritize my vocal well-being by consistently sustaining a healthy and balanced vocal lifestyle, which includes not raising my voice excessively. I am already not great at yelling, but I don’t make it a habit to raise my voice too much as I know this can damage my voice. I also constantly hydrate myself with room temperature water, and close to a concert, I try to avoid foods that could potentially affect my ability to sing, such as sugary or greasy foods, and dairy. When my voice isn’t at its best, I always make sure to take it easy as to not strain my voice.
Within the choir community, I recognize my potential as a leader, and this became evident through the various times I’ve given advice to my peers. Before our performances for the last two concerts, I always give a pep talk to the choir to calm any nerves, as well as express my gratitude for the synergy of our group, even if I’m also nervous. I can recognize and attempt to mend potentially harmful thought processes and behaviours amongst the group. This was evident after I suggested a mindset shift within the choir when we were faced with situations that weren’t completely present. I believe that it’s important to recognize one’s privilege and approach situations with a “I get to do this task that some people don’t have the opportunity to participate in”. I hope to continue being a positive role model for my peers and learn alongside them.
With our debate, my partner Sage and I were debating against Jada and Tiffany that the right to determine all matters for their children should fall with the parents, with Sage and I representing the affirmative. Some of the main points that came up were that children are not mentally mature enough to make big decisions for themselves and are already dealing with enough stress from school, so by allowing parents to make decisions for their children, it would take some of the burden off of their shoulders. The opposing side brought up the fact that decision making is a skill rather than a privilege, and thus shouldn’t be given at a certain age.
My Debate Reflection
I found debating very fun and challenging. I wasn’t used to talking in front of a big group or arguing in a professional setting, so it was a nice learning experience. My strengths fell with my arguments themselves, as I always received good feedback in terms of the quality of my arguments. On the other hand, I received feedback that I lacked stage presence and I definitely agreed. I was very clearly nervous during the first debate, speaking too fast and not making eye contact, which I fixed for the second debate by slowing down when I spoke and emphasizing what needed to be emphasized.
This was the best resource I found while researching this topic. It is a credible government source that laid out all of the legal rights that parents have when it comes to decision-making for their children. The website provided a lot of insight for the topic and helped me form my arguments.
My Favourite Quote
https://everydaypower.com/debate-quotes/
I chose this as my favourite quote because I felt that it really reflected the criteria that we were under while arguing. When the judges were filling out their sheets, they would score us on a scale of 1-3 based on how we presented our arguments, rather than what the argument actually was. Therefore, in this context, our actions mattered more than our arguments, as we had to make sure that we had confidence to score high.
Works Cited
Best Interests of the Child | Family Law in BC. https://family.legalaid.bc.ca/children/parenting-guardianship/best-interests-child. Accessed 25 May 2023.
Canada – Place Explorer – Data Commons. https://datacommons.org/place/country/CAN/?utm_medium=explore&mprop=lifeExpectancy&popt=Person&hl=en. Accessed 25 May 2023.
“Do Teenagers Really Make Bad Decisions?” Frontiers for Young Minds, https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2017.00053. Accessed 25 May 2023.
Government of Canada, Department of Justice. Department of Justice – Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Children’s Participatory Rights in Canada. 18 Mar. 2016, https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/article12/p3a.html#:~:text=Generally%2C%20parents%20are%20entitled%20to,governing%20consent%20to%20medical%20treatment.
“Know the Law: Children and Consent to Health Care.” Dial-A-Law, https://dialalaw.peopleslawschool.ca/children-and-consent-to-health-care/. Accessed 25 May 2023.
“Legal Guardianship BC, Family Law Act BC Guardianship | Thomas & Associates.” GK Thomas, http://gkthomaslaw.ca/guardianship-in-british-columbia/. Accessed 25 May 2023.
Parental Decision Making | UW Department of Bioethics & Humanities. https://depts.washington.edu/bhdept/ethics-medicine/bioethics-topics/detail/72#:~:text=Parents%20have%20the%20responsibility%20and,best%20interests%20of%20the%20child. Accessed 25 May 2023.
“The Adolescent Brain: Beyond Raging Hormones.” Harvard Health, 7 Mar. 2011, https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/the-adolescent-brain-beyond-raging-hormones.
Youth Age-Based Legal Rights in BC| Legal Rights for Youth. http://legalrightsforyouth.ca/age-based-legal-rights. Accessed 25 May 2023.
Core Competency Reflection
One of the ways I ensure my partner and I are clear on the common purpose is to constantly communicate with each other on our points and opinions. We both made sure that we knew what the other’s arguments were so that if we could help each other come up with rebuttal arguments and prepare for cross examination.
I used criteria and/or feedback to improve my debate; evidence of that is after our first debate, I received feedback about my stage presence when presenting my arguments. Specifically, I was told to speak slower and more concise, and try to make more eye contact with the audience. I took this feedback and applied it to the second debate, where I received better marks about my stage presence.
When I was faced with ambiguity or setbacks in the debating unit, I would go back to my sources and re-research my topic. I wanted to make sure that I fully understood my topic so that I would be able to debate it and would be prepared for any potential arguments that came my way. By going back to my sources, I would refresh my memory, which would give me new ideas and solve any problems I had.
How did your journals support your preparation for your final assessments?
While preparing for the final assessments, I was able to go back to my past journals so that I could see my past thinking while reading the book and used some of the information I put in my journals as sources for my presentations.
How did the graphic organizer help you connect your novel(s) with the sub-themes?
The graphic organizers helped me lay out what sources I wanted to use to back up the points I would talk about when we would write essays. They also allowed me to pre-write what points I wanted to talk about in my essays so that when I went into the essay, I wouldn’t struggle with what to say. The graphic organizers also helped to connect my novel to the sub-themes because I got to lay out my definition of relationships and the “big ideas” made it easy to pick out examples from my sources.
How did participating in the circle help you formulate your ideas for the essay write?
By participating in the circle, I could get new perspectives about my sub-theme that helped when formulating ideas for the essay write, as some people offered insight that I originally wouldn’t have thought of before.
How did you choose what you would do to create the personal connection piece?
I decided to write a song because I’ve written multiple songs before, and it is something that usually comes quite easy to me, especially when there’s something clear that I’m writing about. The fact that we had already gone through the theme of relationships and power extensively also helped in generating lyric ideas for the song.
Core Competency Reflection
An example of where I built upon someone else’s ideas is during our circles, as I was able to provide insight about relationships and how it related to my novel after listening to another person who had read the same book that I did. They explained certain aspects of the book and how the themes within the book related to the theme of relationships, such as the familial relationship that the main character has with the other members of his group. I was able to add on about how their experiences created the circumstances in which they were able to become a family.
I can contribute to and work with criteria to improve my own work; evidence of that is also during our circles. At the start of the semester, I was very awkward when it came to public speaking and wouldn’t make eye contact very much and was clearly nervous. However, as time went on, I got feedback on what I could do to improve. I’ve gotten better at being more engaged with the audience and generally being less nervous.
I can describe how the identities of Indigenous communities relates to my experience growing up in Canada as a 2nd-generation immigrant. We learned about the struggles with identity that Indigenous people face, as their identities as Indigenous people are sometimes not recognized, or they are placed in a box in which they don’t fit, or they are shamed for their identity. I related to this as I was often put into situations where I was shamed for my culture and forced to assimilate to what was considered “normal”, and have had a similar struggle with feeling as though I was a stranger to two different cultures.
For this project, we were given a scenario in which our entire class was stranded on a desert island and our task was to create an efficient form of government for the group to follow to ensure everyone’s survival. We began by creating different units to delegate tasks to, as well as a leading unit (Justice Unit) that was responsible for enforcing laws and keeping order. We also set out the general rights of everyone on the island, the laws they must abide by, and the corresponding punishments for misconduct. At the end of the project, we reflected on what other types of government and how previous legal codes influenced the creation of the system, such as the Justinian Code and Magna Carta.
Core Competency Reflection
I can take on roles and responsibilities in a group; I do my share.
Due to the substantial amount of work that the project required, my partner and I had to both do a lot of work to ensure that we had something that we were happy with. I took on the responsibility of developing and explaining the different units.
I can work with others to achieve a goal.
This project was done by myself and a partner. We worked together and collaborated to brainstorm ideas, which worked well as we could point out when there was a discrepancy in what we had written. Talking with another person helped in making sure our form of government was solid and had as little holes as possible.
I can form new ideas to create new things. I can also build on the ideas of others.
This desert project took a lot of creative thinking due to the fact that we were creating a whole new government system on our own. My partner and I were able to build on each other’s ideas while we wrote to create new ideas.
I can persevere over time to develop my ideas, and I expect setbacks and failure, but use that to develop my ideas.
We faced many setbacks while developing our government system, as we had to take into account the limited amount of people we had, their own interests, what laws to enforce and who would get the authority to enforce them, and it was a daunting task for two people. However, we worked through these setbacks and used our knowledge of law to create an effective government system.
I can analyze my own beliefs and consider views that do not fit with them.
This statement is something that I want to work on because, while I am able to analyze my own beliefs, I want to continue to work towards ignoring my own biases/beliefs and my ability to put myself into other’s shoes to understand their thought process and how they came up with their conclusions. I want to become more flexible in my thinking and instead of automatically jumping to conclusions, be able to think about other’s logic first.
Curricular Competency Reflection
Our government system took a democratic approach, with elected leaders to enforce laws that were created and agreed upon by the majority of the group. Although there were leaders, people that were considered “regular citizens” still had many freedoms and rights, such as the right to challenge laws and authority. The government system was structured but did not feel authoritarian and everyone was expected to do their share and contribute to the welfare of the group. My partner and I used our own ethical views to create the laws and punishments, such as murder being illegal but the death penalty not being used.
I am very proud of the Vocal Jazz’s performance of Don’t Get Around Much Anymore by Duke Ellington. It’s a very pleasant song to listen to that we had to work on a lot to refine the harmonies. The song was also sung acapella, so we needed to rely on just our voices to fill up the song. I think that the song went well and the practice we put in could be seen.
Curricular Competencies Reflection
Through this experience, I was able to show the ability to listen to the people I was singing with and blend with them. I would like to continue to improve on this ability as being able to blend with others is one of the most important parts of being in an ensemble and finding balance is important as it could throw off the entire song if there is a lack of it. In the future, I’d like to continue singing with other people as I find it very enjoyable and fulfilling.
Core Competencies Reflection
Through being in Concert Choir and Vocal Jazz, I’ve had many chances to collaborate with my peers for our performances. There were a few times when some of us would have to step up to lead a practice, so we’d all work with each other and take turns to lead so that we could ensure we got things done. We’d collaborate on things such as warm-ups and song choices, and were also able to be honest with each other so that everyone could improve. To improve for next time, I’d want to be more confident in the chance that I would need to lead again.
I demonstrated creative thinking through the poetry unit project we did in my English 10 Creative Writing class. When creating my artifact, I brainstormed the different ways that I or those around me have experienced love in different ways. I took different experiences I’ve had to generate the lines of the poems. I also took inspiration from different forms of media that I’ve consumed over the year that involved love and romance to paint a picture as to what love could be like from a variety of perspectives. A strategy I found when trying to write this poem was to just write “badly”. I would disregard any grammar rules and just let my mind run wild as I wrote down everything that would come to mind, no matter how bad it was. Once I decided that I had enough written down, I would go back and edit what I had written and try to fit it into lines of poetry that made sense and seemed cohesive. This poem was written in free verse, meaning it had no rhyme scheme or general pattern, so to improve for next time, I would like to branch out and try to write poems using more rhyme schemes or writing a wider variety of poems.
I demonstrated the ability to play in a group and create an entertaining stage when my friends and I performed Maroon 5’s Lucky Strike at a concert. During this performance, I both played guitar and sang at the same time, which I believe I did well in. A skill that I would like to improve on in the future is my stage presence, as I feel that there were times during our performance where my energy dropped. I feel like I could do more to contribute to an entertaining performance. I want to continue performing with my friends in the future, as the process was very enjoyable and I was satisfied with the end result.
Core Competencies Reflection:
During the process of creating this performance, I exercised my collaboration skills through my role in our group. I acted as the unofficial “leader” of our group and helped during the organization of our practices. When we were first deciding what songs we wanted to perform, we knew that we wanted to choose a Maroon 5 song as we had also performed Maroon 5’s Misery at a previous performance and dubbed ourselves “Maroon 4”. Due to me being the one who was most familiar with Maroon 5 songs, I was able to compile a list of Maroon 5 songs that we could perform and showed them to my group. Through a consensus, we decided on Lucky Strike. While we were practicing, the three of us that were playing instruments worked individually to find out how to play the song in a way that was comfortable for us. I was able to provide assistance and guidance when we were figuring this out, such as working with the pianist for the arrangement of the piano and guitar to make us sound the best we could. Overall, my group work really hard to create a good performance that we could all look back on and smile at, and I’m very proud of what we accomplished. To improve for next time, I would put more of a focus on the emotional side of performance as we were so focused on making it musically perfect that there were times we were reminded to have more energy.
I feel nervous this Monday morning because of all the upcoming final assessments I have going on this week.
Personal Health and Wellness
When I am sad, angry or frustrated, doing music helps me be more productive or calm. I really enjoy learning how to play instruments as it gives me something to focus on. I learn instruments for my own gain, so I feel very little pressure to vastly improve in a short amount of time. If I’m feeling stressed or upset, I can play songs that give me comfort and cheer me up or songs that reflect my emotions so that I can fully process them. I find it to be a healthy way to let out any negative emotions that I have as music is a very positive thing in my life. Music has also given me a lot of friends, so playing instruments with them and singing gives me a lot of joy and makes me feel better.
Core Competency Reflection
I work with others to achieve a goal. In our various sports units, we would play as teams and I would be teamed with people in my class that I usually never interact with. Although sports may not be my forte, I was able to work together with my teammates and listen to the advice of those who had more experience in the sports we were playing to help me improve. Whenever my team would win a match, it felt very gratifying and exciting, almost as gratifying as seeing the improvement in my own abilities over time.
I can identify my strengths and identify my potential. I used to often self-deprecate and say that I was horrible at most sports. While I am not extremely strong in some sports, I found certain sports that I am actually good at and enjoy, such as badminton and ultimate frisbee. Even if I wasn’t given the chance to show my strengths at times, it made the moments when I would do really well feel so much more meaningful. I believe that I have potential in some sports and if I were to practice more, I could get decent.
I can show a sense of accomplishment and joy. I take pride in my work and myself. When playing sports, I tend to be more of a supportive player than the one leading the game and making the most points. I find it best to be back support as I can back up my teammates if needed and there is not as much pressure as being at the front. Whenever my teammates would score, I would always celebrate the victory. However, there are certain times when I have been able to score a point or do some kind of action that greatly helps my team. When things like these would happen, I was able to celebrate my own accomplishments and feel proud that I could help my team.
I can identify how my actions affect the community or environment and I can make positive change. As a more supporting player, I’ve realized that there are little things that I could do to overall benefit my team. An example would be moving to a different side of the field or court if I was too close to another teammate to give more opportunities for plays. Although this was very small and insignificant, it was still something that could potentially benefit my team and I understood that the decisions of everyone in the game affect the outcome.
