This year was my first year at high school and all I can say is that it was an adventure. This year I have encountered many new things, like harder work, new friends and a new environment. During the first few months, I was surprised to see how much more work we get and how much time we have to complete it, differently a huge step forward from middle school. Another thing I quickly learned was that some people are really friendly and some are… not. Obviously, this is a new environment, one of which we have to quickly adapt to unless we wanna fail. Two of the hardest things about high school is the amount of homework and test you get for each classes and how to make friends. When it came to homework and studying for exams I was, at first I admit I was stressed, but after doing a little bit of research and picking myself up, I found out how to cope with the amount of work I got, learning different study tips and tricks and how to space out my time equally to able to complete my homework. Getting more work and meeting new people aren’t easy but I overcame those challenges by trying to keep a positive mindset and trying to keep an open mind. High School isn’t sunshine and rainbows, it’s a place where exams take place, people change for better or worse, a place where you will make mistakes, but important thing is you try to learn from it and become a better person because of it.
Spotify supported my learning and mental health, by calming me down whenever I feel stress. I love to listen to music when I start to stress or go on a walk or run, and Spotify lets that happen. With thousands of songs and artists to choose from, Spotify helps me feel calmer and happy at the same time, allowing me to focus on my work and keep a positive mindset.
My Favorite Video
I chose to share this video because my group and I created and put together this movie for our English 9 class. This video showcases our small characters as if they were the main protagonist in the story. I was proud of how well this came together, yes we had some problems, but the way we made and arranged the scenes and information was really inspiring.
My Favorite Image
I chose this image because I’m sure half the school can relate to this, I know I can. This meme showcases what I feel when I’m trying to relax, but instead focuses on stressing about upcoming test and homework assignments. This happens a lot, especially when I’m trying to relax, so some helpful tips I picked up was, counting and taking deep breaths and reminding myself that I will get it done and I deserve this time to relax and enjoy myself.
My Favorite Quote
“Don’t Let Muggles Get You Down.”
~Ron weasley
I loved the Harry Potter franchise for a while now, and hearing one of my favorite character say something so relatable, well it just had to be one of my favorite quotes. This quote helped to remind me that the world isn’t made of entirely out of good people. I’ve encountered mean and stubborn teachers, toxic friends, and just over all mean and moody people, but I’m never going to let them get me down.
Works Citied
“40 Harry Potter Quotes That Will Bring You Joy.” Oprah Daily, 28 Apr. 2020, https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/books/g32302254/harry-potter-quotes/.
“LITERALLY ME!!!!!” Memedroid, 15 May 2023, https://www.memedroid.com/memes/detail/3976310/LITERALLY-ME.
“Spotify – Web Player: Music for Everyone.” Spotify, https://open.spotify.com. Accessed 18 May 2023.
When it came to creating my avatar I searched the book, looking for little descriptions of what my character looks like. For Cole, people usually described him as a “baby face con”, so I tried to make it look like Cole has a baby face. When it came to creating Cindy, we used combinations of Cole’s avatar and searched the book for little descriptions, for example; “not a hair out of place on her head.”
When It came finding plot points, we looked at when our character appeared in the story and tried to find the important moments, ones that had an impact on the story. For example, when Mrs. Matthews threatened to hurt Cindy if she ever said anything in Cole’s defense. This had an impact on the story because it may have resulted into their divorce and their divorce stopped them working together to bail Cole out of jail.
When it came to the setting we used little descriptions that the book gave us and tried to add it into our movie. I believe setting was important to our story because it helps paint the picture of the story, it helps your imagination.
The story of our character isn’t the happiness story, so the song reflected on the mood. The mood wasn’t sad but it wasn’t happy it was more….gloomy and a little hopeful. Mrs. Matthews has been through a lot, from being an alcoholic and divorced to sending her son off to an island and hearing that he’s been in a fatal bear attack. The song just reflected on her life and what has happened to her, but it also, to me, seems a little hopeful. Like, her life isn’t over it will get better, she just has to reconnect with herself.
Core Competency Reflection
In discussions and conversations, I help to build and extend understanding by…showcasing my ideas and asking questions. In discussions I helped build understanding by asking questions that would help strengthen our understanding of the subject or I would expand on the topic by sharing of what I think and ideas from my perspective
An example of an idea I developed that was new to my peers is…when I suggested that we could predict what happened when Cindy heard about Cole’s bear attack. I suggest that we could predict that Cindy had a mental breakdown when she heard of Cole’s condition, which I thought fit well with the story. My peers agreed with me and we put it in as the last slide as the climax of the story.
When I need to boost my mood or re-focus, I…take breaks to clear my mind. When I come to a blank, I usually either close my eyes and count to 60 or I get up and take a 10 minute break to refresh my mind. This usually lets me restart and refocus on what I was originally working on for a better output of my work.
a) I was able to find out, through my notes and the internet, of how the geography around Nelson B.C impacted the community by giving them different weather to grow food as well, different physical landforms and vegetation that helped different business grow, by providing them with things they can sell or make of.
b) Technology gave me a more of in depth response, that helped me further understand my learning. I learned more about how snow is made and what orographic rainfall means, as well as different weather patterns. Technology also helped me see different climates, physical landforms, vegetations that surrounded Nelson, and a more in-depth response on how it came to be or why it’s there.
Some Pros and Cons about ‘MapHub’ is: Cons:
A lot of settings (it’s a lot of buttons to press)
Not always accurate (I tried to connect all the places, but it was always off course)
Pros:
It’s really fast when using it (It can open and save a map within seconds)
It saves changes as you go (when you change the description, it changes as you rewrite)
It has a lot of choices (It has different icons and colors you can use to represent your place)
c) In the end I think my response and explanation were pretty good. I tried to be detailed and clear when writing but sometimes I could go off course. For the designing part I tried to make it look clear so you could tell which is which from the different icons and colors. So, in the end I think I am satisfied of the final result.
d)In the future I want to spend more time on this project to add much more in depth detailed explanation and, if possible, add extra markers on the map.
I found a solution that’s gives you the right amount of money for the down payment as well as a little extra to grantee you the house.
First find out what you will do to the 80000. Will you spilt it? invest them in stocks? My idea is putting the whole 80 grand in a 3 year 4.2% non-redeemable GIC, which will turn the the 80 grand to $90,509.29 by the end of the year.
Year 0: with 80000
Year 1: 80000*1.042=83,360
Year 2: 83360*1.042=86861.12
Year3: 86861.12*1.042=90509.29
Now that we have an idea where to put the 80000, we must figure out where to put the extra 30 grand. Every year we get an extra 10000 to add with the 80000, which is now 90509.29, so if we add the 30 grand we have enough. But I want to guarantee that house and make some extra money, so I put the first 10 grand in a 1 year 3.5% annual non-redeemable GIC and keep adding the other 10 grand I make a year.
Year 1: 10000*1.035=10350
Year 2: 10350+10000=20350
Year 3: 20350*1.035= 21062.25
Inconclusion, we have not only reached our goal of 15% of the down payment, but we we have extra money to insure we get the house. When adding that 90509, from the 3 year 4.2% non-redeemable GIC, and the 21062 dollars from adding 2/3 10 grand we get a year to a 1 3.5% annual non-redeemable GIC, we get about over 15000, which is less than 15% of the down payment. Through not all hope is loss, because sitting in our savings is the third 10 grand. Add all that money up and we should get an extra 1500 more then our original goal.
I used ‘Excel’ to create this graph
Justification
I could have just put in the 80 grand into a 4.2% non-redeemable GIC and just left it there, but I chose to earn extra money, by adding the 10000 I get every year into a 3.5% annual non-redeemable GIC. This was the best option for me because, according to the survey, my risk tolerance is 13%, meaning I like staying on the safe side, but if I must take risks with money I will. The risks with GIC are that you can’t take or put in money once it’s invested in the GIC, which can help cause money to lose its value over time. Why? Because GIC’s interest rate can lose its value when it falls behind the current Inflation percentage. The safe side to this solution is that I will earn extra money that I would either combine and ensure the down payment of the house or replace any money that I lost. Inconclusion my solution in investing the money in a GIC that has a lower risk of losing money was the safe and smarter then investing the money in something has a higher rate of losing money, like stocks.
Collaboration and Contributions
My group (T.P., J.C, and O.B) was made up of smart and talkative people. We shared and helped find solutions to the questions we were given, which made it easy to ask questions and work with them. Overall I think we were a great group.
I contributed to the group by asking questions and finding solutions to the equations, and they helped my learning by answering questions and sharing the definitions of GIC’s, Stocks, Bonds, etc…
Some of my group members (T.P and J.C) mention stocks, but I couldn’t quite grasp the idea of them yet. I knew what stocks were but I didn’t fully understand the drop rate or how to calculate the right risk rate or just stocks in general.
3. Even though I contributed by answering questions, and helping my group, there were times none of us had come up with anything or we didn’t share anything with the group. But besides those times we worked well.
Core Competency Reflection
I used to think stocks was just something to do with companies because I never truly knew the real meaning. And now I know people can invest money into stocks (storage) in companies because I learned about the definition and advantage and disadvantages.
When it seems the good ideas just won’t come to me, I take a 30-minute break to either rest my headache that’s stopping me from getting good ideas or I work on something else that would require less thinking. This helps me tocalm myself or create space in mind to gather my good ideas and process them before putting them on paper.
If I notice that my group has gone silent and we are looking at each other with no clue what to do, that’s a sign my group needs help, and we can get support by asking a teacher for help or a classmate at another table.
In discussions and conversations, I help to build and extend understanding by sharing my knowledge on the subject we are talking about. The whole group did this, and I believed we helped each other learn a lot throughout this week
The internet, as we see, is a place where we can connect with others, access information, post whatever we want, find entertainment and do pretty much whatever we want. So, yes, we generally think the internet is an awesome and safe place to do and be whatever we want, but what most people don’t know is the internet can also be a dangerous place. A place where cyber bullying Is active, a place where you will always have haters no matter what you say or post, a place where once something is up its stays there forever, and place where you don’t know who is real or fake…. A place where you aren’t as safe as you think.
Why Internet Safety is Important:
When using the internet, it’s important to make sure you are using it safely. Why? Well let’s just say the internet is not always what it seems. For example, when you upload a picture or video on a social media platform, it gives you a choice to delete if you want to take it down. It might delete what you posted from the public eyes, but it’s still in the website’s server, and trust me once it’s in there it’s programmed there forever and there’s really no way of getting it down. The worst part is, once it’s up in public, there are people who can save it, copy it and give it away, disclosing your information. This makes it easy to trace you and gain information you don’t want anyone to see.
Another example is location. On your phone it gives you an option to on or off your location. Even though it’s meant for people to see where you are for safety reasons, bad people gain access in your phone (in other words, hack though data servers) and give away your location and disclose it to other people. Making it even easier for people to get personal information, (like where you live, go to school, go to work etc.).
In conclusion Internet safety is important not just teens but for everyone because we all spend so much time on our devices. Even though we don’t know it, every website, game, social media platform we visit, hackers can go through their servers to find information on us and sell it or use it to track us, this making us vulnerable and in danger.
Give Examples of Unsafe Activates
Some things we do on the internet are considered ‘unsafe’. Whether its by accident or on purpose, you might not know how seriously unsafe these activates are.
Posting inappropriate (mean or sexual) pictures or comments.
People who post stuff like this are either pressured into it, think it’s cool, or are going through something. When posting mean comments, the person who’s posting them usually thinks it’s cool or is going through something. They don’t really think it through and how it’s going to affect them in the future. People who post sexual pictures or comments (wither it’s private or public) usually do it because they think it’s cool or is pressured by someone. Either way it’s dangerous. Their stuff can get leaked and then shared to people who they defiantly don’t want to see it. This will affect them in the future, whether they can’t get a good job, can’t contact their family, or expelled from school. Not to mention people can find out who you are and get your contact information, and that’s a whole problem.
Opening attachments from spam emails
Sometimes you can receive an email from somebody you don’t know, that has an attachment. Now like everyone, you will have an urge to open it. Don’t. When opening it you might find a joke, a ‘letter’ or a photo. And people usually think, ‘it’s fine, it’s nothing bad’. What you don’t know is there are probably a few viruses that can really damage your device. So, it’s better to delete the email before you give in to the urge of opening the attachment.
Giving out passwords and credit card numbers
As unbelievable as this sounds, it’s true people do give out this important piece of information. Sometimes scam calls will say you won something, or they want to send you something for free they will ask for your credit card or some type of password. Same thing with some websites! They will ask for some personal information before letting you in any farther.
Connecting to an old or public Wi-Fi network.
When connecting to a public Wi-Fi network you might think “it’s just Wi-Fi, whatever” but do you know someone can be intercepting your data from the network, and who knows what they’ll do with it. Make sure to have a personal firewall up and running.
Describe the steps everyone can take to stay safe
I know finding out some of this stuff about the internet can be scary, but here are some ways to help you stay safe!
Making your account private
If your account is out to the public, it’s easier for people to copy and get your personal information. My suggestion is making your account private, and just adding your close family and friends. Read the guidelines and settings as well to make your account more secure.
Changing your passwords when you notice weird activity on your profile.
If you notice something weird that’s happening on your page or website that you use, change your password immediately. Someone can be pretending to be you and they can just share a bunch of stuff, and you don’t want that. Even if it’s just a glitch change your password anyway, better safe the sorry.
Think before posting something
Before posting something, think about it first. Do you want to post this? Is it appropriate? If your parents see this, what will they think? Are you confident? Will this affect you in the future? Lots of people don’t think before they post, and they end up regretting it in the future. Because like I said before, once it’s up, it’s up. So, think before you post, trust me, it’ll save you some regret.
Check your Digital Footprint
Typing your name, email, screen name into the search bar every once and a while will help you see how active you are online. This also tells you what others see of you, and maybe tell you what things you should tone down on and whatnot.
Snap Chat
Snapchat is a social media platform, where we can connect with others, send people (friends, family…strangers) pictures called ‘Snaps’, can watch videos called ‘Snaps Storys’, and just letting people know what’s going on with our life when posting something on our story.
Why Snap Chat can be Unsafe
‘Snaps’
Snaps usually last a few seconds, (unless it’s a video) and since it’s a couple of seconds, couples use this to send revealing pictures to each other. What people don’t realize is that even though snaps only last for a few seconds, that’s enough time for people to screen shoot them. Which means the photo will most likely get leaked, shared, copied etc.
‘Stranger Danger’
Snapchat gives anyone who uses it a chance to interact with friends, family and… strangers. On this app anyone who uses it can send pictures to anyone who they send a friend request to. This is dangerous in many ways. For example, someone can pretend to be anyone on that app, so say you added a ‘friend’, when it’s someone you don’t know. You could go without months before finding out, and the worst part is you’re sending snaps or information thinking it’s your friends. Imagine what they could do with that information.
Snap Maps
Anyone can see your location anytime. How scary is that, and yes you can decide who can see your location (or turn it off), but people can go through the data servers and hack it, and that leads to having your location leaked. This feature can also be damaging if you have trust issues. This can expose your friend’s location and you might find out they are hanging out without you or their online, but they haven’t responded, which can be bad for your mental health.
‘How to Stay Safe on Snap Chat’
Checking Settings
Checking the settings regularly will help your stress that someone is watching you. You can choose who can view your snap stories, location, and who can send you snaps. You can even use ‘Ghost mode’ when wanting to ‘go off the grid.’
Making sure your email or phone number is attached to your account
When verifying your phone number or email address, will let you know who you friend or who friended you, as well as making your account setting more accurate. This will also let you know if there is any suspicious activity on your account.
Blocking or reporting people on snap
If somebody’s bothering you or making you feel uncomfortable on Snap Chat, you can easily block them by clicking on their name. You can also report abuse such as harassment, bullying, etc.
Programs Used: Microsoft word and Word Art
Works Cited
Magid, Larry. “The Good and Bad of Location Sharing.” ConnectSafely, 22 June 2018, https://www.connectsafely.org/the-good-and-bad-of-location-sharing/.
Teen Voices: Oversharing and Your Digital Footprint. www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ottnH427Fr8. Accessed 26 Sept. 2022.
Your Digital Footprint May Be Unflattering Video – Google Search. https://www.google.com/search?q=Your+Digital+Footprint+May+Be+Unflattering+video&rlz=1C1ONGR_enCA976CA976&oq=Your+Digital+Footprint+May+Be+Unflattering+video&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160.451j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8. Accessed 26 Sept. 2022.
Personal/ Safety Competency Reflection
I know that my digital footprint can have positive and negative consequences, including showing people what I do online (games, profiles, email, etc.). So, I adjust my actions to by turning on private settings if the websites I use have them. Example, On Snap Chat I have a private story that only the people I choose, can view the story.
I make digital ethical choices such as thinking about what I put online, and who can view it before posting something. I do this in order to make sure in the future I have no regrets about what I posted, and it can’t affect me in any negative way.
My values around getting good grades and having free time, inform my decisions about how much time I spend on my personal device, as well as how long should a game or watch videos for. So, I would normally turn off my phone, do homework, take a break, and finish any other work I have left.
