As a human being, I have lots of stressors. In school, I have a lots of homework, projects, and tests over the next week. To deal with this, I am budgeting my time, and understanding that as stressful as it is, it’s not really that bad and I’ll get through it. I used to have dance every Sunday and Monday, and I help with the family business on Saturdays, so my weekends are busy. It makes it hard to make plans and do work, since I have almost no free time. Recently, my dance season ended, but school will be over before I get to use my newly cleared weekend. My social life is hard, since I have a certain degree of tension in the two groups of friends I hang around. My self esteem is lower than it was earlier, and my emotions are less stable. Since dance ended, my dance social life is over until the fall, and I have to spend more time worrying about school and my social life there. To deal with this, I don’t go out with friends as much as I used to, and spend more time focusing on other things. Therefore, I use avoidance and bottling up my stress to deal with it. I also wear comfortable shoes, and when gym strip doesn’t get in the way, wear what I feel the most like me in.
Core Competency Reflection – Thinking
I am kind to others, and support others when they need it.
I show this by being kind to everyone I can. I help people with homework, offer advice if I have any, and stand up for others if they’re okay with it.
I recognize my emotions and use strategies to manange them.
I chose this because although it doesn’t look like I can manage my emotions, I can. It takes me time to process things, but when I figure out exactly what’s going on, I know how to deal with it.
Goal: I use strategies to help me find peace and I sustain a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
I manage my emotions, and can make them go away. However, I need work when it comes to remaining peaceful. I have strong anxiety, and anxiety attacks. To work on this, I employ many different methods to find the ones that work best to help me.
This is the cover for my project. I made a book about my family.
Core Competency Reflection; Creative Thinking
I thought of what I knew about my family members, then what I knew in French, and put it together. I had to figure out what I could write with my knowledge.
I created a design. I used scrapbooking paper, photos, and cardstock to design the inside pages and cover.
When I was stuck, I talked through my ideas with other people. I also did other homework to give myself a break if I felt I had worked on it too long, and needed a fresh view on it.
One strategy or activity that stimulates my imagination is listening to instrumental music. I have a strong sense of musical intelligence, and often use music to help me think. However, I find that when I listen to music with lyrics, I focus more on how the lyrics relate to my topic than the topic itself. This is okay when I’m doing math, but when I’m trying to do something more creative, it becomes a distraction. So, I’ve found that listening to instrumental music, like movie or game soundtracks, makes working easier. I listen to songs like Experience by Ludovico Einaudi, or tracks by Two Steps From Hell to help with creativity.
During this project, I listened to music to help come up with ideas. This let me practice coming up with ideas.
Some skills I have developed to make my creative activities better are finding good music to listen to, and free-writing. Listening to music, as I said above, helps immensely with my brainstorming processes. Free-writing allows me to come up with an idea, or even a full draft, with less judgement than I’d usually face. For me, free-writing is a state of mind where I throw my ideas into a bullet list in a google doc I might never look at again. So, the promise of always having the ideas, but being able to give up and start all over is very promising. Also, being able to build on old free-writes allows me to start again, but not have to face a blank page.
An area of writing in which I feel confident to develop new ideas is in fiction. I have being writing fiction for many years. So, I feel very comfortable experimenting in fiction. I specifically love writing fantasy. I like the freedom fantasy offers.
Goal:
I am so curious about flash fiction that I am excited to learn more about how I could write it to make it even better. Previous to this assignment, I had no interest in flash fiction. It’s short, it cuts out my favourite part of writing (describing things in depth), and it doesn’t allow for much development. However, after writing a piece of flash fiction (that was still on the lengthy side), I realized it may not be as bad as I thought. According to the five or six blogs I scrolled through, it’s a concise writing style that allows for a more ambiguous ending that leaves the reader questioning what they had previously thought, or what they were reading. I think learning how to write it better will allow me to become stronger in word choice, specifically in verb selection.
We spent a lot of time learning about the structure of DNA. Once we learned about base pairs, and the make up of the ‘ladder’ that DNA was, we did a lab creating DNA. We used different coloured marshmellows and licorice to represent the different parts of DNA. I thought about how the candy embodied the parts of the DNA. I also thought through which colour mirrored the other, to make sure the DNA had proper pairs.
We also used critical and creative thinking to figure out how to secure toothpicks in the licorice with minimal breakage on the outside, as well as minimal breaking of the toothpick themselves.
I made a series of three themed posters on having a positive digital footprint and being safe online through Canva.
Personal/Social Competency Reflection
By doing my Edublog posts, and keeping up with my assignments online, I make a positive difference to my peers. By doing the work, I get a better understanding of the assignment and am able to reiterate the criteria and help other do better.
I know that my digital footprint can have both positive and negative consequences, including bettering my image for others in potential opportunities, so I adjust my actions to keep my image clear for when I have a goal to work towards. I restrict how much of me is online.
My online support network is helpful to me because they help me with my mental health and school. I have Teams, and Outlook, which I use to communicate with my teachers and check my assignments. I also have discord, which I use to talk with my friends, and cheer up after a long or stressful day.
This is a representation of the Flaming Ions lab we did. We worked in partners and burned different metals to see what colour they burned. The Different metals burned different colours, similar to the candles.
This project developed my Collaboration Competency as we did these labs in partners. The lab wasn’t easily split into multiple parts, so we had to work together and take turns doing the different jobs in the lab, which was more collaboration than group work. We made sure that we used all of the elements, and bounced ideas off each other as to which element was which, and how to best describe they they burned.
We followed a script provided by our teacher to create a modernized version of a script from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. I learned how to readjust the starting point for lines in Word.
We italicized stage directions, and moved them further into the page. We also formatted the different margins for Enter and Exit directions and dialogue.
We used capital letters to indicate the speaker for dialogue.
Core Competency Reflection – Collaboration
I can work with others to achieve a goal.
I worked with a partner to write the script. We collaborated on the ideas and wordings for the script. Effectively we worked together towards a common goal.
I can encourage others to share their voices and value diverse perspectives.
At some point during the assignment, I noticed that my partner was sharing less and less. I encouraged them to share more ideas.
I can take on roles and responsibilities in a group; I do my share.
There weren’t many individual parts in the project – it was more like two painters on one canvas. However, we both did equal amounts of work, each doing our share.
Goal: I can recognize different points of view and can disagree respectfully.
I can recognize different points of view, and will disagree, however I won’t voice my disagreement. I don’t want to offend or put down my partner, so I’ll try to file the issue away for later, and often never get it fixed. To reach the goal, I’ll try to be more direct in expressing when I have a disagreement, rather than staying silent.
The main character my group and I followed was Lysander. We subconsciously followed common tropes and initially came up with the same general image for each of the characters. Many of the markers were chosen because of hints in the text, such as dialogue, or statements of intent.
The setting was stated outright in the story. It started in ancient Athens, moved to a forest, then returned to ancient Athens. In order for the characters to have become lost, the forest had to be large, or extremely characterless, with each section looking the same as the last. The photos we chose showed the settings as well as the feelings we felt went with them.
The mood was very vague, and the music I chose reflected that. The story started on a more dramatic foot, with the main focus on the relationships and power imbalances between the individual characters. A large section of the story was cut out of the rendition we were given, which likely involved comedy and fantasy, which would’ve impacted the mood. However, without the extra input from the omitted content, the atmosphere of the story felt flat. Almost as if sedated.
Core Competency
I give, receive, and act on feedback to progress in my goals.
While making this movie, I worked in a group of three. We bounced ideas off each other, giving, receiving, and acting on the feedback we gave. This helped us work towards our goals.
I also acted on the feedback my teacher gave me to rework and improve my project.
I can form new ideas to create new things. I can also build on the ideas of others.
I created a PowerPoint, and turned it into a video. I came up with avatars, and found images for settings. I also built on others ideas, reworking the story I was given into a shorter synopsis.
I can reflect on my thinking.
I reflected on my processes and thoughts when I made this blog. I had to take what I had written, and translate the verbal discussions and idea fragments into a coherent post.
I ask and respond to questions to be an active, supportive listener.
For our project, we had to do a voice over. One of the members of our group wasn’t comfortable with being recorded, and with the teacher’s help, we devised a solution.
In order for the solution to work, however, I had to listen to the questions from my teammate.
I can develop a body of creative work over time.
I worked to make and design a PowerPoint over the course of a week. I also created and formatted this post. Both of these took time, and were developed through a number of drafts and versions.
A family of four needs a plan for their dinners on the weekdays. It must fit their individual schedules, as well as include at least one new recipe and consider their cooking abilities.
Solution
Justification
The earliest a meal can be is decided by the latest time any dining member of the family gets home. The latest a meal can go is decided by the obligations that happen after eating.
Who cooks is decided by a variety of factors. We took into consideration;
When they got home
Their comfort with cooking
How often they cook through-out the week
Their schedule for the rest of the day
Monday:
Parent A gets home at 4:30. They have plenty of time to cook, and don’t have any commitments for the rest of the day. They are comfortable with cooking.
Parent B gets home at 5:30, and has to leave at 7:00. They don’t have a lot of time to cook, and need to get to a fitness class right after. It would be stressful and rushed for them to cook, however comfortable they are in the kitchen.
Teen 1 and Teen 2 both get home at 3:30, however both Teens cook at a different time in the week, and Teen 2 isn’t comfortable cooking complex dishes.
Dinner will be ready for 6:15.
Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni takes a long time to cook, however there is time to cook, and Parent A will start half an hour after they get home.
Tuesday:
Parent A is home at 6:00, which is the earliest dinner can be, and since Teen 2 has to leave for soccer at 6:30. They have to eat right at 6:00, and leave immediately in order to be at soccer in time.
Teen 1 cooks since they are home at 3:30, and have plenty of time, and don’t cook for the rest of the week. They’ll start cooking at 4:55. Although the recipe only takes half an hour, it requires pre-cooked mashed potatoes, which themselves take about 35 minutes to cook. Teen 2 is also home at 3:30, however they cannot cook on their own. Parent A will be cooking 400 grams of rice for the next day.
Teen 1 is making Turkey Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie. The extra servings will be given to the Teens for lunch at school the next day.
Wednesday:
There are no after school or work obligations, so there isn’t a time limit. Parent B is home at 5:30, which is the earliest dinner can be.
Parent B will cook because they don’t cook many other times during the week.
Parent B will cook, starting at 5:45. They will cook double a Scorched Bibimbap, since it only makes two servings. Dinner will be served at 6:45.
Thursday:
Parent A comes home at 6:00. Parent B gets home at 5:30. Teen 2 gets home at 3:30. Teen 1 gets home at 5:15 due to basketball.
Parent B is cooking. They will cook Basic Rice and Ginger-Glazed Salmon with the help of Teen 2. Since both recipes make four servings, and they’re cooking two full servings, all of the family will get leftovers for lunch the next day.
Friday:
Teen 1 has a part time job, so they won’t be home for dinner. They only need three servings.
Parent B is home at 5:30, which is the earliest dinner can be. Parent A is home at 4:30.
Parent A will cook with Teen 2’s help. They will make half a Vegetable Pad Thai. They will start cooking at 5:25, and have dinner ready for 6:00.
There are no after school obligations for the rest of the family.
Collaboration Reflection
To communicate with each other, we used Discord (texting and voice calls), Outlook (sharing documents and files). We also used technology to edit and share cards for the days of the week. I used Elements, which I’m not very familiar with to do the editing, and a scanner to scan the cards to digitize them.
We all collaborated on the days of the week, and each found a new recipe. Brandon took notes for the math questions, I created cards for the week, and Dahlia wasn’t primarily responsible for one item, however she offered input on all.
As aforementioned, I created visuals for the days of the week (see the gallery above). I spent a few hours drawing and measuring the cards out on paper, then I scanned them. I used Elements to crop, and edit the colours. I used Outlook to share the photos with the others.
I also found the Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni recipe in the Family Cookbook.
Recipes
Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni;
1 hour 15 mins total cooking time
Serves 4
4 tbsp butter, plus extra for greasing
10 oz (300g) spinach
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
15 oz (425g) ricotta cheese, drained
½ tsp grated nutmeg
16 dried cannelloni tubes
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
1 ¼ oz (40g) finely grated Grana Padano cheese
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a medium, shallow ovenproof dish
Bring a large pan with a centimeter of water to a broil, add the spinach, and stir until wilted. Drain and press out excess water. Drain the spinach.
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium pan and sauté the garlic for 2 minutes. Add the spinach, season, and stir well. Remove from the heat and stir in the ricotta cheese and nutmeg. Carefully fill the cannelloni with the spinach mixture and place the tubes in the buttered dish.
Meanwhile, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pan. Whisk in the flour over low heat and cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the milk, a little at a time, whisking well between each addition, until it has all been added. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens.
Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, Be sure to whisk right into the edges of the saucepan, as this is where the sauce can burn if left undisturbed. Season well and pout over the filled cannelloni. Sprinkle the cheese over the top in an even layer. Place on baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
Scorched Bibimbap; (this recipe came from a cookbook I don’t have access to — I don’t have access to the instructions)
(Since we made two portions of this recipe, the family has to double the quantities)
1 hour total cooking time
Serves 2
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
80 g carrots, julienned
80 g summer squash, sliced into half moons
100 g spinach, roughly chopped
200 g cold cooked sushi rice (day old)
2 tablespoons Sweet & Spicy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 eggs
— Doubled Amounts — (6 tablespoons of vegetable oil; 160 grams of carrots, julienned; 160 grams of summer squash, sliced into half moons; 200 grams of spinach, roughly chopped; 400 grams of cold cooked sushi rice (day old); 4 tablespoons Sweet & Spicy sauce; 2 tablespoons sesame seeds; 4 eggs)
Turkey Sweet Potato Shepherds Pie;
30 minutes total cooking time
6 servings
2 tablespoons of oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cups of hot water
1 Knorr® Vegetable Bouillon Cube, crumbled
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
2 cups of 1/2″ cubes of cooked turkey
2 cups of bite-sized pieces of assorted vegetables
2 cups of leftover mashed sweet potatoes or mashed white potatoes, heated
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat and cook onions, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 6 minutes. Meanwhile, combine water and Knorr® Vegetable Bouillon Cube in medium bowl; set aside.
Stir flour into skillet and cook, stirring, until flour is toasted, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in Bouillon mixture and bring to a boil. Boil until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in turkey and vegetables and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 3 minutes.
Transfer to 2-quart (2 L) baking dish. Top with hot mashed potatoes and sprinkle with cheese. Broil until golden, about 3 minutes.
My name is Sofiya. One day, I plan to go to university and do something useful with my life. In the meanwhile, I strive towards a good education to help me get into aforesaid university. My life consists of homework, school, dancing, video games, pop music, and fiction.
I also enjoy working towards perfect, futile as it is, and proudly claim to be a perfectionist, hence this entire paragraph. I laugh it off every time my perfectionism comes up. Unfortunately, being proud of such a role doesn’t make it any less frustrating to deal with.
I love writing. This means books, articles, blogs, t.v. shows, movies, and all other things related. I also love recruiting others into my love of writing, although that rarely ends as neatly as the stories I tend to read and write.
Forget the world with this website!
I’m an emotional, music-inclined person. Music helps me run away from reality, yet it also helps me focus. It can do anything! I find that if I’m not trying to focus, music, along with a good book and heavy blanket, can fix everything.
I suggest listening to Welcome to Wonderland by Anson Seabra. It’s depressing but relatable, and makes me smile after I cry.
I present to you… YouTube Music! The website where almost all music is available, free, and ad-speckled!
Honestly, coming up with a video was nearly impossible. Videos aren’t really my thing. I purposefully go for the music videos with nothing but the album cover. However, this video jumped out at me, and suddenly my dilemma of ‘I need a video but can’t find one anywhere’ was solved.
I mean, what if we all had a world hidden right under our noses? It inspires me to try to find the ‘more’ in normal, everyday things.
An image worth the storage space
Thanks to the internet, we have access to a plethora of beautiful photos, but since I found it, years ago, this photo has made me think of another life every time I look at it.
Imagine living there, in a forest bathed in a clear blue light, the butterflies dancing through the air, alighting on logs and leaves, their silent conversations forever banned from our ears. Imagine the forest as it thins out leading to a large meadow where the sun sparkles on the dew, and the wildflowers dance as if every day is their very last.
An amazing quote!
People are gonna tell you who you are your whole life, you just gotta punch back and say no, this is who I am. You want people to look at you differently? Make them. You want to change things? You’ll have to get out there and change them yourself because there are no fairy godmothers in this world.
Emma Swan, Once Upon A Time
This quote hit me as ironic the first time I heard it in the show. But I guess it just reminds me that I can do something, and that I will get somewhere, if I just do it.
The image was taken down as far as I can tell, however this is the site where I found it; https://pixabay.com/
The link to the video itself was auto-embedding, and messing with the formatting. However, I found the video on YouTube. You can type in ‘The 10th Kingdom Opening’ and find the video; https://www.youtube.com/
