While I was Away: The Movie

Plot, Character, Setting and Mood

・Explain how you figured out what your avatar would look like:

I looked for descriptions of the character in the story, (Things like eye colour, face shape…) And patched them together and thought up a face that would match all of the descriptions. Another thing that helped to confirm afterwards was an actual photo the author of this book of when she was 12, when the story took place.

・How did you choose the plot points?

There were many points in the story that were significant to change the way the story changed direction, but I chose the ones that stood out to me the most, and were the most important.

・Explain how you figured out the settings in your story. Why is the setting significant to the story?

I picked up clues from the events happening in the story, and when they took place. (For example, the characters in the story talked about the Olympics in the story, and the last time the Olympics happened in the country they were in and also made sense for the other events to have happened..) The setting, (Japan in the 1980’s) is important because the story is about Waka being torn between her American and Japanese self and being confused in a place new and strange to her. The time that the story took place is significant because the way she is treated and some things that they thought to be right are exclusive to that time (and the story makes more sense when you know these things.)

・Explain what the words mood means and how/why you picked the song you picked?

I chose the song because it felt a little bit cold and melancholic, like how Waka felt when she was looking back on her memories of when she was in Japan. The song also was not too loud or disturbing, so it was the better choice for the presentation

Core Competency reflection

・I appreciate feedback on… and prefer when it comes in the form of…

I appreciate feedback on my work, and I prefer when they do not just tell me what they think is bad about it; I want them to tell me where they think I could grow or what I could change next time to make it better. I also want to be told which parts are good and should be kept, and why they think so. I do want to know how other people see my work, because if it is just me looking at my work, it is only my way of thinking, and a narrow field of vision.

・When I need to boost my mood or re-focus: 

I usually take a break and do something that makes me feel happy. Some of these things include drawing, reading and listening to music. Those things help me because when I’m doing those things and focusing only on those things, my mind is filled with that, and gets rid of the space for worries or stress. I also find listening to music when doing work (Usually fast music.) It helps me type and work faster. I usually make the music 1.25 times faster; it makes me finish my work faster and helps me be motivated. I also watch videos that make me laugh when I am tired. After laughing, I feel lighter and can start off my work again feeling better.  

・The ways I communicate at school differ from how I communicate at ____ (home and online) in these ways:  

When I am at home, I communicate with my mom and sister in Japanese, and it helps me keep up my Japanese skills. (I speak English when talking to my Father) I have to try to talk properly in Japanese to get my family to understand (without using English.) It is sometimes hard for me, but it helps me keep my Japanese speaking skills alive. When I am online and chatting with people, I try to remember that they (the person I am talking to) is not able to tell how I am feeling or wanting to convey my message by the tone of my voice, so I am careful to use emojis or Ellipses, and other punctuation for them to be able to tell my mood when talking so no unneeded misunderstandings happen. I also take note to explain things more thoroughly and check my grammar, because really bad misunderstandings and fights can start from a simple spelling mistake. 

Reflecting on My First Year

My Grade 9 Year

This year felt like the longest year ever but flew by so fast at the same time. 

At the beginning of the year, I was scared but still a little bit excited and wondered what high school would have in store for me. Thinking now, I had very unrealistic expectations about what high school would be like, and I dreamed that once I would be there I would have so much fun with my cool friends and learn lots of new things; and maybe even finally know where I wanted to go with my life. I know it is only my first year, but I really feel like I got my whole life’s worth of energy drained from me this year. I had so many problems finishing my work that I never had before, and more stress with due dates and having to manage all the classes and the different work each had (Because all the subjects are separate classes unlike middle school.) I was able to get out of bad relationships I had to deal with when I was in middle school, but from there I had a hard time starting up new relationships; I was too scared to. No relationships would have to go wrong if it never started.

Overall, this year I learned that it is not good to keep stress bottled up for so long, because it will hurt you more when the bottle explodes. 


・My Favorite Website

https://open.spotify.com/

Spotify is my favorite website. Listening to music helps me focus on my work, because it drowns out any sounds that are distracting to my work. I used to use YouTube but I prefer Spotify because Spotify does not have videos and has only music (podcasts) while YouTube has videos as well, and when I see them I might start watching them or want to watch the videos, which would distract me and lead to not finishing work.

・My Favorite Video

In English class, we watched a movie called The Matrix. I thought the movie was interesting, and concepts that were explored through the movie were worth considering. This is the trailer video for the movie ↓

・My favorite Image

This is my favorite image, and I have it set as my phone background and keyboard so I can see it all the time. This says “It will be okay” in Japanese. An influencer I admire wrote this; the image is a screenshot from the video in which they were giving their fans an encouraging message. It many sound stupid, but when I feel really anxious or scared when I am at school, I look at this and take a breath to calm myself down a little bit. It helped me through the school year.

・My Favorite Quote

・My Favorite Quote

“If it makes you happy it’s never a waste of time”

・Works sited

“Spotify – Web Player: Music for Everyone.” Spotify, https://open.spotify.com. Accessed 2 May 2023.

The Matrix (1999) Official Trailer #1 – Sci-Fi Action Moviewww.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKQi3bBA1y8. Accessed 4 May 2023.

25 Uplifting Quotes And Positive Sayings To Boost Your Day. 23 Mar. 2021, https://organisemyhouse.com/uplifting-quotes/.

Technology & Wellbeing Reflection 

Spotify, music which keeps me sane

I sort my feelings in Dms

Reflect on how you manage stress in your life and care for your wellbeing. In particular, think about technology and if it is a cause or coping mechanism of stress for you. How has technology impacted your stress levels this year? How can you use technology to support you in you in your wellbeing? 

I think that having technology has been a help and a way of coping and getting away from the world in front of me and not dealing with it in good and bad ways. Listening to music and feeling what the singer feels painfully or sinking into a story that I can read online may be a good thing to clear my mind of the problem I was dealing with for a while before I go back to it. But the internet is such a vast thing, so on one hand, you can see various things that you like and discover new things to love which is great; but on the other hand, because of how big it is there are many people who have many different values and opinions, so it is not rare to meet people who thing differently from you and do not agree with you, and it can cause you to often get hurt unnecessarily. There are heartless people everywhere, and so that is true online too. The internet allows you to talk to anyone who has access to it and with it you can talk to people you would have never if you only talked to people you see everyday. It can allow you to find people who share your interests. But seeing the shiny lives of other people through the photos they post, even knowing those are only snapshots of the best parts of their lives it often makes me feel jealous or not being able to satisfy myself with my everyday life. The internet can help or worsen your mental health situation depending on how you use it. I have to use the internet to my benefit and not let it control me.

・I find it easy to be part of a group. 

No, I do not find it easy to be a part of a group. I find it hard to express my feelings in words so people can understand, and because of the many relationships I had and what I have had said and done to me I don’t even want to talk to people and start anything if it could hurt me or them.

・I can appreciate diverse perspectives on issues and can resolve problems respectfully and effectively. 

I think that it is a completely normal thing to have different thoughts or perspectives on things, and I find it interesting to listen to what they think. I appreciate their thoughts, and think you can resolve problems if you talk things over.

I demonstrate respectful, inclusive behavior. 

I include people when they are not in the group. It does not feel good being the person left out, and I know how it feels like..

Art 9 reflection

・One strategy or activity that stimulates my imagination is…

When painting and making things in art class, I listen to music to help me get ideas. I also tend to listen to music to fit the theme of the thing I am making, as music influences how you feel and what your mind thinks about so much. Listening to songs make me think of stories, and it gets me imagining things and makes me want to create something to show how I feel and what I am thinking. Without music, I think it would be harder for me to create art.

・Some skills I have developed to make my creative activities better are…

One thing I think that I gained and got better from this course is my ability to be flexible, and experiment with new materials I am not used to. I really did not like if even one thing was off with my artwork, and I would trash it or try to re-do the whole thing (just to be sad again because it did not get any better.) But in this course many of the things I did were things I never had before, so I knew that it was okay if it was not perfect, and I learned to be satisfied with what I can do.

・I appreciate feedback on… and prefer when it comes in the form of…

I appreciate feedback on my work, and I prefer when they do not just tell me what they think is bad about it; I want them to tell me where they think I could grow or what I could change next time to make it better. I also want to be told which parts are good and should be kept, and why they think so. I do want to know how other people see my work, because if it is just me looking at my work, it is only my way of thinking, and a narrow field of vision.

R- Self Study

・How I studied Japanese this semester

I took notes during class, and if I did not know how to do things I asked sensei.
I took Gakken classes to learn Japanese every week, and I used class time to research words I did not understand. One thing I did to try to keep my ability to pronounce Japanese intact was reading the questions and writing on the worksheets in out loud Japanese.

A month.. 2 months? Worth of marked Gakken prints


Notes (Things to talk about) from when the language exchange video call happened.

・What you did well and how you can improve your Japanese study habits (min 2 sentences)

I think I can do better with keeping track of what assignments are there, because when I was given the sheet that tells you what assignments you are missing (not handed in.) There was so many more assignments I had not turned in than I thought. I think I did well on the tests and memorizing the vocabulary.

(Core competences)

・An example of something I have spent a lot of time learning about is… 

I have been learning Japanese since I was 2 years old, but I still have so much more to get better at! I remember learning to write hiragana in a Japanese children’s language class. I like learning new Japanese words because of the way it makes me feel like I gained another word that will allow me to express my feelings and thoughts more like I think and feel them; I learn new words that “fit” my feelings more and it helps me be able to communicate in a way that is easier to understand.

・To celebrate an accomplishment such as ____, I … 

To celebrate accomplishments like finishing all of my assignments and having none overdue (something that happens very very rarely) I usually tell this to Rinu in his Dms and send longer messages to him. (which he does not read/cannot read because of how many 86 thousand followers do so) Which I usually do not have the time, energy or focus to do, and it usually makes me feel really happy because he is the person I want to share my thoughts with most. (Though it is a 1 way thought, it makes me feel happy so that’s okay.) I also take time to watch videos from him and his group, and look at his Tweets which I did not have time to look at before (he tweets everyday) I also like writing stories in my spare time, though I usually do not get to have free time long enough to do so. The celebrating will be done as I have other Japanese studies as well as schoolwork and chores to be done as well.

・Some short/ long term goals for myself include… and my plan to achieve them is… (include where you might seek help from others) 

One long, this year term goal for myself with Japanese learning are getting qualification for JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) passing the N2 level test. I will study with the booklet (I will ask my parents to buy it for me online because I will try hard and not waste the opportunity to challenge myself. I will ask help from my mother to help me learn, I am recently having a hard time reading Japanese properly so she listens to me read and corrects me when I read or pronounce words wrong.

・How will you continue your Japanese language acquisition over the year? (min 1 sentence) 

I will continue learning Japanese on my own and with my workbooks, next year I want to challenge the Japanese course (at this school) and try to finish the next 3 years worth of class with the test. I also want to study for the JLPT test. (I wrote more about it above.) I also want to be able to help people with Japanese, so I maybe I could be a pure tutor. But the thing is I am not really good at explaining Japanese concepts in English, so it would be good practice for me as well.

・If you could travel back in time, what study/language advice would you give yourself or others? (min 2 sentences)

If I could travel back in time, I would tell myself to read more. I really need to be able to read, and my reading skills are terrible having more practice would have helped. When reading in my head, and when reading out loud. When reading out loud, my mom often tells me that I pronounced a word or was reading it wrong, and I never knew because I read it like that in my head so it stayed like that and now I have it memorized as the wrong way of reading.

Thank you for reading, and thank you Illing Sensei for treating me so kindly!

Scale Factor Project Reflection

Finance Project Edublog Post

Core competency Reflection ↓

When I am sad, angry or frustrated, doing math and I keep making mistakes doing … helps me be more productive or calm:

When I am sad, angry or frustrated, doing math and I keep making mistakes, I get up from my chair and take a breath; make it so I cannot see my work, and listen to a song so I can forget about how frustrated I was and regain my will to finish my work. It helps me be more productive (or) and calm.

I use evidence to make judgments or decisions as demonstrated in this …

I use evidence to make judgments or decisions as demonstrated in this graph scaling project, I counted and checked my answers with a calculator to make sure the measurements of the shapes were correct. I used judgment to see if the shapes were really equal. I had to use graph paper instead of a whiteboard grid because I could not use it when I was at school as people were using it.

I used to think … and now I know … because I …

I used to think it was impossible to find out how to make a project 2 times bigger or things like that without a calculator, but now I know it is possible because I was taught how to find out the numbers to make it work.

R4 – School Life

・How does school in Japan compare to Canada? Is there anything they do in Japan, that you wish we did at Centennial?

I think the schools in Japan expect more responsibility from students than the schools here do. 
Walking to and from school without parent supervision is something that is expected from grade one in elementary school, and you must clean up your own classroom, carry the heavy dishes up to your classroom to get to eat.  

Even seemingly small things like these build up the ability to be self-sufficient and have to rely less on others. I think a big thing is that they teach that there are consequences for your actions; for example, if you forget something you need in class (they have a check in the morning to see if you have what you need to bring to school) the teacher scolds you, then writes that you forgot something and what you forgot in your notebook. You then must show it to your parents and bring it back the next day to the teacher, signed by your parents.  

I feel like here they would not usually have measures that strict, if you forgot something it’s your loss and that’s it, nobody else is informed about it. Maybe that makes you stay in line more. I do not always think this kind of strictness, (like no dying hair, no short skirts etc.) is the best for students as it causes stress and may keep them “in line” but could kill their ability to think outside of what they are told to. 

There are some parts of the differences that I would want to see happen here though, one would be how the students there clean their own classrooms and school.

・Do you think that students should have more responsibilities at school like cleaning duty? Why?

I think that having more responsibilities would be helpful for the future, when you are on your own and must do everything on your own. It is good practice for cleaning up, as I am not very good at tidying up things, and in grade one they teach you how to clean places up efficiently and I think that knowledge would be useful. 

・How lucky are you in じゃんけん?Would you be able to snag leftovers?

In the short time I was able to go to Japan, I got to eat the school lunches and I thought that each portion of food were so much. The rice was put into the bowls like a mountain, and all the food was way too much for me to eat. I had to ask the teacher to lessen the portions for me, and the teacher would scold me and tell me to eat the full portion every time. It was so much, and I really do not know how the other students were eating those portions and then wanting more. I never participated in the janken because I always was so full.

Japanese Elementary school students cleaning up their classroom (second on is cleaning shoe boxes) ↓

See the source image

R 3 – Japanese Mascots

I picked a character called

“あまっち” (Amacchi)

He is a fairy of a type of strawberry called “amaou” which is a type that is harvested in the Fukuoka prefecture. Amacchi is part of a group calle “Hakata Jomon-san All Stars” with 27 friends. It works to promote agricultural products from Fukuoka Prefecture, and Amaou strawberries (He is an Amaou fairy, after all) The name of the strawberry comes from it’s characteristics. “red, round, large, delicious” (They took the first letters of the words. *In Japanese.)

~About Amacchi~ ↓

Gender:

But he’s a fairy.. (Some websites said he was a boy, so a boy I guess!)

From:

Fukuoka prefecture

An image of Amacchi! ↓

Source: https://w.atwiki.jp/yurupedia/pages/2261.html

Drawing version of Amacchi! ↓

Source: https://localchara.jp/catalog/3719/#:~:text=%E5%88%9D%E3%82%81%E3%81%BE%E3%81%97%E3%81%A6%E3%80%81%E3%81%82%E3%81%BE%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A1%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99,%E9%A0%91%E5%BC%B5%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B%E3%82%93%E3%81%A0%E3%80%82

I chose Amacchi because I thought he was really really cute, and because I like Strawberries. Also, the fact that he is a character promoting a type of strawberries that grows only in Fukuoka got my attention. (My grandparents live in Fukuoka, and when I go visit them it’s like my home in Japan.) I found it cool that he and his friends have a group. Their reason to be a group is to help children all around the world to stop hating vegetables.

Their (the group’s) official website ↓

https://www.ja-fukuoka.or.jp/about/character

A photo of some members of his group ↓

What makes Japanese mascots different from the ones we see in Canada?

I think the mascots in Japan are more close to home, or relatable than the characters they have here. They seem to be cuter and more fluffy, and are more related to the items or places they advertise. I also think they draw more people, and have easier-to understand character concepts. The ones in Canada seem to be more human-like, and less soft and circular or cute. They also seem to have concepts that are harder to understand than the simple ones in Japan. (For example, they are advertising kelp snacks, the character looks like kelp.)

Why do you think mascots are so popular in Japan? Do you think Canada should have a similar take on mascots? Explain

I think that mascots are a very good way to advertise things, and people love cute things, so they will come see the characters, and then buying the products. Little kids too, even if they cannot understand about the store or the products, they can see the cute characters and want to learn more. (About the thing that is being advertised.) I do not necessarily think that Canada needs to have the same kinds of characters, I think that not many people would like them. (But in Japan, the concept of cute characters is already something everyone knows.)

If Coquitlam had a mascot, what would it be? Describe or upload a drawing of what it would look like.

(Face is pancake, French flag and Canada flag.)

When I asked about something special about Coquitlam, my dad told me about the “festivaldubois” which is to celebrate French culture and music that is held in Mackin park. (I had never heard of it before.) (Apparently it has a pancake breakfast, that is why I made the character’s face a pancake. I also included maple syrup because Canada makes a lot of it. He has a French flag and a Canada flag on him.)

Image of him ↓

~Thank you for reading~

Core Competency Goals

Personal Awareness and Responsibility Prompts:

Watching videos
Girl watching videos.

When I need to boost my mood or re-focus: 

I usually take a break and do something that makes me feel happy. Some of these things include drawing, reading and listening to music. Those things help me because when I’m doing those things, and try to not think about anything but that, my mind is focused on that, and gets all filled up with that and empties of any worries or stress. I also find listening to music when doing work (Fast music.) It helps me type and work faster. I usually make the music 1.25 times faster; it makes me finish my work faster and helps me be motivated. I also watch videos that make me laugh when I am tired. After laughing, I feel lighter and can start off my work again feeling better.  

When I am sad, angry or frustrated, doing… helps me be more productive or calm. 

Some of the things I do to stay mentally and physically healthy include taking breaks while studying and exercising regularly. These both help me feel less stressed and let me live better on a daily basis. If I do not take breaks during study and work, it would not help me get more done, it would stop me from getting as much work done because I would be tired and not have good ideas or be motivated to work. Exercise also helps clear my mind.  

The ways I communicate at school differ from how I communicate at ____ (home and online) in these ways:  

When I am at home, I communicate with my mom and sister in Japanese, it helps me keep up my Japanese skills. I speak English when talking to my dad. I have to try to talk properly in Japanese to get my family to understand (without using English.) It is sometimes hard for me, but it helps me keep my Japanese speaking skills alive. When I am online and chatting with people, I try to remember that they (the person I am talking to) is not able to tell how I am feeling or wanting to convey my message by the tone of my voice, so I am careful to use emojis or Ellipses, and other punctuation for them to be able to tell my mood when talking so no unneeded misunderstandings happen. I also take note to explain things more thoroughly and check my grammar, because really bad misunderstandings and fights can start from a simple spelling mistake. 

These are my goals that I will try to fulfill, Thank you for reading 

(Social Studies) Critical and reflective thinking

Was the French Revolution justifiable? Why or Why not? 

( I can Statement ↓ ) 

~ I can analyze evidence to make judgements ~ 

I think that some parts of the French revolution were justified, but some were not. 

The reason I think this way is because of how the King and Queen and nobility were very well off compared to the peasants (the 3rd class) and the higher classes were the only ones doing well, which is not okay as a social structure. The ones classified as the “lower class” were doing work, but all their money and hard work was going to the ones who weren’t working for themselves, or for a living. All the peasant’s money was being taken by taxes and by the royalty (To take baths in crushed strawberries!? When the peasants were going hungry and having to eat grass!) There was so much of a gap in the way they lived their lives, as well as their lifestyles. It is not right that only the peasants (3rd class) should suffer and starve! So, I think they had a right to revolt and have a revolution. The revolution led to the creating of new rules and civil laws, and I think made the people of France more together. 

But the other part of this revolution (Related? Came with the revolution?) That the bloody killing of the lots of people in the reign of terror made any sense or was justified. That really is was evil thing, so many people were killed without reason and not even given a chance to fight for themselves. That is not something the revolution wanted; in fact it goes against what the reason of the revolution was! (People speaking their thoughts and getting a fair representation.) 

Overall, I think good or bad, the French revolution was a big event that impacted many years, and that impact still lives on today; I think the event is a good example of the power people can have when they have a strong will and thought. 

(I can analyze evidence to make judgements) I think I was able to meet this core competency well, I looked at my notes and remembered/watched the videos we went over in class to see the information and remember it and thought for myself and used my judgment (of right and wrong) to do this assignment. 

— Thank you for reading! —