DemMangoes was solely created for the Humanities class of 2012-2013. I suppose this blog will no longer be used, so it's basically dead.

Rest in pieces.

Motivation By Tony Gurr- Response

In Humanities we read a very interesting blog post about Motivation written by Tony Gurr. Tony's post is very different and unique. Instead of just relying on words to tell his message he used more visuals than actual words. The pictures were very informative and made his message even stronger. The first couple of pictures were a bit confusing, especially the one with the" cyborg" face that says "I'm back... therefore I am.", which I didn't think was very necessary. Some of the things that he says doesn't exactly make sense to me, for example "Hey…do not shoot the “postman”! I'm pretty sure that it was a joke, but I just didn't really get it (Sorry Tony).

I completely agree to Tony's perspective and advice. Basically he is saying that teachers should listen more to the students and give them a "voice" to do what they want and not just what the teacher wants. Also giving students tests doesn't make them learn more, for students, tests are just short term memories and we just forget about the subject after the tests. If us students have the three R's (responsibility , respect & reality) we can definitely learn more and be more motivated to learn which can lead both students and teachers to success.

I really liked this picture.

I personally love all of the quotes that he puts in his pictures. It makes his message stronger and the quotes are so...poetic. I definitely loved all the pictures and they made his post even more interesting. Tony did a really great job at showing his message and he is really great at giving advice. 

Response to post on Motivation

                On Wednesday we read a blog post about Motivation. The post was written by Tony Gurr. He is a teacher from turkey. His blog is about learning in more effective ways for example making the work that a student does relevant to them and make them want to learn about it. The post that we read was about Motivation.

                This post was not your average blog post with multiple paragraphs, a few images and the author giving their opinion on a topic. Instead Tony had a different way of blogging. In his posts he used more graphics and visuals than a usual blog post. This made his posts more visually appealing and kept the reader’s attention. Tony’s blog post were not just more appealing to the eye than other blog posts but he makes the reader ask questions. These questions make the reader think for themselves about what they were reading and not just reading words that just go in one ear and out the other.

                I feel that anybody who reads this post from teachers to students will get something out of this. This post is related to teachers and student because it talks about how teachers have to make the students want to learn and not just tell them to and how students have to be self-motivated learns to really learn be able to learn well.

                Tony’s post was a good change to the posts that we usually read. It was very visually appealing and made me ask myself questions.  I felt that what Tony was talking about was actually relevant to me and that I could take something away from reading this and use it to make myself a better learner. 

Tony Gurr - Responce to Post

Wednesday in Humanities, we looked at a post that was written by Tony Gurr. The post was about motivation and instead of doing a multi- paragraph post, he went in a more visual route. He had very little words with a picture. He didn't need to say much for us to understand what was going on in each picture. Some of them were hard to understand, but when I was able to figure it out, I totally agreed and got exactly what he was trying to say. I love this way of posting and the kind of style he brought to it. It was a nice "twist" to blogging.

Having a twist to your writing is always a good thing. It's what makes your writing unique! If I had a multipara graph blog in front of me and a visual blog, i would defiantly be more appealed to the visual blog because it grabbed my attention. Its something different. The main reason that I liked Tony`s post was because he used little words with a picture also having words in it. He started off with a sentence on top, then a picture and then he finished the picture with another sentence. This was a good idea because if you didn't understand the sentences, the pictures could tell you what its about. It defiantly enhanced Tony's post!

Another reason why I loved Tony's post is because it was relatable to the real world. Both teachers and students could relate to each picture posted and he also gave some really good advice. For example:

 


This picture can relate to both students and teachers. I defiantly agree that if the student doesn't like his/her teacher, they wont learn as much apposed to a teacher they do like. Also, giving your students a voice is very important as well. If we don't give them are own opinion on things, then how will the teacher know if we understand what she is trying to teach us? Giving to much voice is not a good thing, but having no voice at all is worse. This picture is my favorite post by Tony.


Overall, I think Tony Gurr's post on Motivation is an unique post because you don't see allot of post like his on very many blogs. From seeing this post, i have been inspired to do one like this next year. Its creative, unique and defiantly an eye catcher. It will also be a challenge for me because it must be hard to come up with a powerful message in only a few sentences. Its a challenge, but I'm up for it!

Motivation

Tony Gurr's blog was very unique and different from the average blog. The bridge between our type of blogs and his is that he has more pictures than words which I think is much better. I think I speak for many students when I say that visual things are much better than words. It is much easier to visualize that's why it is called a visual. If a student read a story, they will not get as much out of it as much as if there were pictures because it helps them to picture what is going on in their head.

Another good piece of feedback that I noticed is that he uses good puns and uses words in a different way that you wouldn't expect especially from someone of his age. An example would be

                                                                         

Teachers have to give what the students want, not what they want. This way they will be able to pay attention and focus and learn more. To catch a fish you have to put a worm on the hook not a sirloin steak.


The right kind of picture is also important because some pictures have the nicest background but has more words than a textbook and that will also put students to sleep. This is what Tony also does very well. He chooses his pictures wisely because most people when looking at blog they would only be interested in the first 1 or 2 pictures. If it rocks they keep going and if it stinks they would go back to Facebook.

Now that I have seen this type of blogging, I think i=I will incorporate it in my own blogs such as my own motivation blog.

Thanks Tony

Motivation Post - Response

This is a response to Mr. Gurr's post about Motivation. 

   First of all, I detested his writing style with a burning passion. He made some unrelated comments:

• Go on…disagree with my favourite rahmetli hocam – I dare you!
• No, you cannot watch another movie for 2 hours…Zeynep!
• Honest – look at that face of mine…you could buy a second-hand car from me!

His writing was nothing short of informal, and he put unimportant words in bold. 

Like this and kinda like that! I also think the sizes of the graphics was unneeded. 

BIGGER DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN BETTER!!!

One more thing: His graphics were really... meh. They were just pictures he took off the internet and put words on them. I think only half of the pictures were sourced. It makes me unhappy when people don't source their pictures.

    However, I did agree with his opinions on learning. He spoke about how teachers cannot motivate their students, but rather teachers should try to inspire motivation within their students so they want to learn.  Also, he believed in the notion that students should become their own teachers, much like our Genius Hour. All in all, I agree with most of what he said.

Poetry that Moves

Original poem by Shel Silverstein. Animation is mine.
Hope you enjoy watching as much as I enjoyed animating!
This isn't late at all

Poetry That Moves

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgikUUHgI-Q

I had some trouble with the animation,but I'll post this for now.

Soldiers Are Courageous and Strong-Poetry That Moves

Definiton Poem

The _____,
So bright
but it leaves
so soon,
then appears
again after
the darkness
ends, and warms
 us with  it's
comforting heat

Definition Poem

What is a _______?

It takes no shape or form,
And can only be seen by you.

It lives a short life.
Alive at night,
Dead in the morning

Filled with everything that we could ever want
or ever hope for.

It is a place where our imagination can run free
But also a place for our darkest of thoughts.

It can be filled with happiness and joy
But also worry and fear.

Poetry

What is a _______?

Sometimes we don't understand,
The things we see that lay right in front of us,
Sometimes it's hard to spell,
And we can bring it to show and tell,
Every person needs this kind of skill,
It's like your taking a daily pill.
From the beginning,
To climbing the highest mountain,
You conquer....
The final truth.

Definition Poem

The ____

I am a shell for the living
I sometimes cover a hard surfcae
I hide embaressment
I am in many sizes
I can be any colour
sometimes another shell would cover me
I do advertisement

Definition Poem

Used by many, even men

like a snake it wraps around bends

Carries important freight like no big deal

buy them in threes, quite a deal

Without it, many cannot walk

an often taboo subject to talk

Yet it is used every day

in the drawers it may lay

With it, there is guarantee

your figure will be quite shapely

Did you realize what I am?

Then please be as mature as you possibly can.

it's a bra

 

Student Vote Reflections

Unlike a ton of countries, our country has the privilege of voting for our leader. For several years now only people that are 18 and over were eligible to vote, now they are giving children like us to vote and see what we had to say. However there is a reason why there was a restriction about the age, it waw there because most kids would vote for a random candidate and move on with their lives. I guarantee you that 2 out of 3 kids voted randomly because they didn't know what they were doing at all. Checking off a random name with not a care in the world. However I do think it was a intelligent decision to not count the votes.

Another topic I would like to bring to your attention is: is 18 years of age old enough? Will most students be mature enough to vote like a proper citizen? This is another good reason why they should prepare us young and let us vote now while we are still youthful. You might think that you will be like your parents sophisticated and intelligent when you are 18 however when you think about it, 18 years old is only 4 years away from grade 8. Now, think again, will you be mature enough?

Change, a word that a lot of people hate. This is why the same party wins several times in a row and it's not randomized. People are scared of what might happen and do not want to take risks. And I understand why, they see that life is good and if they change that, something terrible might happen; also they would have to live that way for 4 entire years. However that never gives the opportunity for others to make a difference.  Also sometimes when someone promises something, a lot of the time they are lying and have different plans in mind. This might be frightening and you might not want to go through this but you might be surprised with what you find.

Student Vote Reflection

                Who will you be voting for in the upcoming election?  With four parties in are riding to vote for it can be hard to figure out which party fits with your beliefs on how BC should be ran.

              
            Personally I think that the Liberal party has the best intentions for are provinces future, here are a few reasons why I think this. The Liberals are for balancing the budget and paying off all of BC’s dept which they plan to have balance in 15 years if you vote for them.  Another reason is that the Liberals are focused on buildings BC’s economy by focusing on small business and by supporting the businesses more jobs will open up for the people. The Liberals being more business oriented will help grow business in BC like they want to sell are liquefied natural gas to Asia which will boost are economy.

Also the liberals are more conservative with are money not like the NDP who plans to give out extra services which will only delay the time it will take for BC to be dept  free.The Liberals also support education by giving each student 1200 dollars to help pay for their education. With more student being educated better the businesses can get the workers they need. Also the Liberals are trying to get a 10 year agreement with the teachers to improve education by not having any union strikes for 10 years.

In conclusion I believe that the Liberals are the best choice for BC at this time. With planing to balanced the budget in 15 years and growing business in British Columbia which will give are people jobs that will let them stay in BC and not make them look for work else where. I Hope that when you go to vote that you looked all of your options and vote for the party that you think will build the best goverment for British Columbia

Should Voting be a Mandatory?

Voting is a great privilege that we have.  Voting can be great because you finally get to have a say in the government, and forming the government is very important because they will be running the province for the next 4 years. So should everyone have to vote? Well personally I think that people don’t have to but they can choose to vote. We all have the right to vote at 18 years of age but having a right doesn't mean that you should get fined if you don’t.

People might not have the time to vote. Everyone has a busy work schedule and I don’t think that anyone has the time to read through a whole party’s platform, they’re like 100 pages long.  So the only information that you can get is from the media but it is mostly consisted of negative campaigns and you just get all confused of whom to vote for. 

 Imagine its voting day and you’re headed to a booth to vote and you have your ballot in front of you. You know that you've seen these names before on signs on the street so you just randomly pick one not knowing their platform or campaign promises. You then put your ballot in the ballot box, now you've voted and won’t get fined. The next day you find out that the party you voted for won. 1 year later the province realizes that the party can’t and don’t know how to run a province. Seeing poverty rates going up and the economy crashing, is that really worth not getting fined?

Voting is a right and a privilege but not a law. People that want to vote and have a say in government issues can go ahead and vote. For people that don’t want to or don’t have time to shouldn't be forced into doing anything and making them pay a fine could be a big mistake. 

Media Elections

Some people believe having negative campaigns should be illegal. I strongly disagree with this idea because the point of an election is to make your party look good and tell us why we should vote for you and not other parties. Just talking about the pros of your party will not benefit you as much as comparing yourself to other parties. Bringing down others will show the public why you are so great and will gear them closer to voting for you. This link shows the NDP talking about the Cons of the Liberals and then after them saying how they would fix everything that the Liberals have done. After watching this video, wouldn't you favor the NDP’s over the Liberals?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsnRRoKS2nk

I believe the media should remain neutral during elections. If they say they prefer this campaign over another and why, it could push the public to vote for them. Media should be talking about elections the way its is, not giving in there own opinions. Surprisingly, the way a reporter talks about a candidate can ruin their chances of winning. Also, many people believe the media should talk about the candidates as accurately as possible! If they are changing the story of what really if going on, the parties could suffer and not win.

In conclusion, I believe the media plays a huge role in elections. If the news is talking about one campaign more than the others, then the public is gonna know more about them. All media should talk about each campaign equally and should navigate away from giving opinions or extending a story more than it really is. It shouldn't be the media's fault that a certain campaign loses from the way they talked about them. Another key point for news reporters is to watch there tone when they are talking about different parties. If they are talking proud about one campaign and another they are talking more quietly, the you obviously know which campaign he/ she prefers. It doesn't only take them to say it to apply their opinions.

News report about Election:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awcSqHs7PzM

Elections Response

5. Reflect on the analysis of your CBC vote compass results. Share some of them in your post.

Consider - did the results surprise you, were any contradictory, do you think the vote compass has helped you to figure out who you might vote for — explain....

 These were the results after I took the CBC vote compass. As shown, my ideals were related the most to the NDP and Green Party. This did not surprise me at all, because I am interested about the sustaining the environment  However, I have not done any previous research about the parties, so I would study a bit more before voting.

    Right now, I would vote for the NDP, because I do not remember a time when they were in power. The Green Party has most of its plans geared towards the environment but there are also many problems with education, poverty, etc. That is why I would probably side with the NDP, because their plans are more varied. The vote compass greatly helped me to decide who to vote for. I am not up-to-date with politics, so this filled me in on more recent info.

   (After elections night)
    It was revealed that the Liberals won the election. However, Student Vote (which lets students partake in voting) voted majorly for the NDP. This is interesting because the results are wildly different. Many people said that the NDP would win, but the Liberals won by a lot. However, I would still vote for the NDP!

No Red Pill No Blue Pill!!!

Hi my name is Eddy and I would like to give you some feedback and your magnificent peace of work here.


First of all, I would just like to inform you that learning that learning IS a delightful, warm, easy, fuzzy experience. It is just like a speech, if you don’t have the audience’s attention in the first 10 seconds, they will fall asleep and totally ignore you. The way that you present something is key. Instead of the teacher saying “okay kids it’s time for math!”. Maybe a teacher could say it more excited with a good way to introduce it such as ” okay kids before we start I would just like to know who here loves money”? Kids love money and when you tell them that math is related to the one thing that they love, they might get pulled in by it.
Another way to motivate kids into learning is setting a goal for them. For example, while in class you could give out candy or a special chair to the student that works the hardest or does really well in class or behaves the best. This way everyone will strive to get that awesome prize.


 If you are wondering about the time after the student gets the special chair or candy there is a solution to this madness. Another way to get kids motivated for school is to hand out tickets to students that do things well. At the end of the day you would call out a ticket and the student with that ticket wins a chocolate bar or a magic pencil! This way students will have to behave the entire day to get more tickets and a better chance at the chocolate bar.


Finally, if You are the one that needs motivation, then just keep thinking over and over in your head that you are helping the future generation become better men and women. Or if this doesn’t work you can always keep coffee at your desk.


Thank you!

Mangoes

Oh, and how do you guys feel about the mango background? Do you think it's a bit distracting? Or is it fine the way it is?

Response to No Red Pill No Blue

Response to No Red Pill No Blue

Today in class Ms.Lees showed us this article called No Red Pill No Blue Pill. This article was about motivating students and what teachers can do. First off I thought that it was very well written and very interesting. I also like that you linked some of the words that people not know about to help them understand better. The pictures that were added to the article helped keep my attention while I was reading and I thought that they were very interesting.

 The article made a good point about that learning is a team effort both the teacher and the student have to do their job to help the student learn. Like how a teacher can open a door to learning but the student has to chose to go through it.Also that teachers can as hard as they can to motivate a student but in the end the student must want to learn to succeed. Overall this was a very interesting article to read and I like the different way of writing.

No Red Pill .No Blue Pill

Message of post: The author that wrote this post must of observed students lacking motivation and had a personal connection to this piece of writing. She may of walked around her classroom and saw students having no motivation in themselves when they were doing work. It would've been as simple as throwing a ball outside while they were at recess. The students had no motivation. By some students showing this, other kids reacted and it started having an affect on them. If kids don't have motivation now, then they won't achieve much in the long run. The author was basically saying, teachers can only teach you so much education; but once you leave your classroom, it's up to you too push yourself to achieve more and to learn more.

Who was the message directed to: This message was mostly directed to students who lack motivation in themselves. But, it was also directed towards teachers and adults. Kids look up to adults, and if they have no motivation in themselves, how are children supposed to push themselves to achieve things in life? The adults and educators need to show children how important education is and if they push themselves, they will achieve lots of things in life. Students and teachers both have equal responsibilities. students look up to adults and surprisingly, adults look up to children. If the adult sees the child motivating themselves, then he/she will want to be better and will push themselves to show the children more ways of learning.

Writing style: I enjoyed how she started off the piece as almost a poem. It definitely was an attention grabber which made me want to read further. Having short and long sentences made the piece very powerful and she also had excellent word choice! I didn't like how she put many pictures on this post. I found that it drew away from the concept of the piece. Having a few pictures is OK, but 5-6 gets to be too much. People would be trying to connect the pictures to the writing instead of deeply reading the post. Overall, i found it was well written and presented in a good format.

"No Red Pill, No Blue Pill" Response

In the article “No Red Pill, No Blue Pill” it talked about how a student’s motivation is the key to learning and a teachers inspiration to teach, but it is harder when you have unmotivated students. I enjoyed reading the article and I thought that it was very well written. It had a lot of really fascinating pictures, but the first picture kind of scared me at first and the picture with the penguins also left me confused. The whole article really flowed due to its poetic style and it definitely captured your attention throughout the whole thing with all the quotes and the visuals.

I definitely agree with the ideas expressed. I believe that everyone has been in a situation where they weren't motivated at all and lost interest along the way, it can impact their learning and could also make a teacher feel discouraged because of their behavior. A willingness to learn is the key to learning.

 Learning something new and accepting change can be hard for both students and teachers but we all have to adapt one way or another, and it is true that if you are passionate about it your chances of success are far greater than ones of someone that mopes around all day just waiting for it to end.

Motivation and passion is the key to learning and this article is a great way to represent it, it makes people think more about their behavior and how it can affect other people. It was definitely a great read and very fascinating.

No Pills Here

No Red Pill, No Blue Pill

    The process of learning changes, varies, and twists every single day. This is very much shown in the method of Digital Learning. These days, using technology is essential for school.

   But, where is the motivation? The motivation to learn?

   In this article "No Red Pill No Blue Pill", a teacher thinks about the inspiration to learn, the unknown fields of digital literacy, and the ever changing way of learning. She speaks about her upcoming class, where no one wants to learn the ways of digital literacy. She reflects upon the inspiration teachers must give to their students in order to learn. The meaning behind the title is that learning is not black or white. It isn't " Do this or do that". Learning is much more complicated than that. The willingness to learn, the ways to learning, and the reflections of learning are very important.

   The writing style, I think, took away from the meaning. I think it could've been better if it was conveyed in a more formal tone. If she could've told us what she was trying to say straightforward, I would understand it easier. However, I thought the ending was very good. It referred back to the beginning, which was very powerful.

   It is truly a difficult journey of learning and teaching. The rewards shine just as bright as the struggles, for struggling can teach you how to improve. The term "Digital Literacy" will be more known to others, and that is my wish.

The motivation is there; you just need to find it.

Critique and Feedback

                 For the weekend, we were told to watch a video on giving critique and its benefits. How strange it is, that I have to give critique on it now!
          This video is about a child who receives critique from his fellow classmates and builds on it. In the beginning, he is told to draw a detailed picture of a butterfly. His first try looked a little bit like this:

 But, with lots of critique and drafts, it turns out very well. Something along the lines of this.

(Pictures are not accurate nor drawn to scale)

This shows us how helpful critique can be in improving your work.

      
     Critique, to me, is the most important thing to receive. If you can take critique (which can be very difficult to do), then it can help you a lot in your work. For example, artists have to be able to take critique to improve their drawings and art. If they rejected all critique they got, then they would improve very slowly, or not at all. Especially in this time and age, where opinions run amok, people have to be as ready as ever to take critique. It can be hard to give critique, since it can be taken as a negative remark. That's why critique is difficult to take. We can teach how to give and receive critique at an early age, so that children can improve later on in life. That was what the video tried to explain, I think.

     I like to draw. Improving on my art can be very hard by myself. That's why critique is so important to me. Critique can tell me where to improve or what to add. To be honest, I don't get critique very often. More like once every blue moon. I've noticed on art websites, such as DeviantArt, that many people can't even take critique. They disregard it as a insult or negative comment. These artists usually don't improve at all. I just like to think of it as "tough love". :)

what if kids designed their own classes response

In class, we watched a video about what if kids designed their own classes. They could do whatever they desired, as long as they were learning something. One kid was writing a book, and another boy was learning about snowboarding. They would still go to their regular classes, but for one semester, they would have no test or quizzes. They would teach themselves new skills. This idea reminds me of genius hour. You have your own responsibilities and you make your own criteria, but you still have teachers checking up on you to see your progress. At Fraser Heights we should have this system for grades 11 and 12. By these grades we have an idea of what we want to do in life and we have basic logic such as math, science etc. But, there are disadvantages with this idea such as missing out on learning and basic planning. Most kids in grades 11 and 12 have spare blocks so why not for one semester they create their own classes? This is something to consider!

If Students Designed Their Own School Response

In class we watched a video about a school that has a class where the students have the freedom to work on projects that they are passionate about. For a whole semester the students work on different projects, there’s the weekly projects, independent project and group projects. The class has no quizzes, tests or grades so the students make the learning materials and teach themselves. It sounds a lot like genius hour but this school lets them have a lot more freedom. I didn't really think this was a good idea because I thought that they were having too much freedom. They could be losing a lot of learning from the curriculum which they could be using in the future. It probably doesn't even feel like school since they have a whole semester to work on whatever they want. There are also some advantages though that you can’t always learn in a classroom, they get to improve their collaboration skills and they can learn to stay on task since all their friends are counting on him. It was a very interesting video.

If Students Designed Their Own School

          Today in class we watched a video about a new approach of learning were students would learn what they wanted to learn. I thought that this was a good idea because everyone is interested in something from writing a book to learning to play a piano and letting them learn about things they want to learn will help them be more self-directed people. There are still some flaws with this idea because there might be some people who don’t really want to learn and would do nothing for the whole semester. I think that this is a great idea for a new type of learning and if this project came to are school I would be interested in signing up.

Speech Draft

Hi everyone. Have you ever found yourself wishing you could disappear - blending into the background - during that critical moment. You’ve found yourself thinking, “Please don’t let the teacher ask me, let it be someone else - I don’t think I can do it?” If so, you lack self-confidence. But do you know what self confidence is?

We will be discussing five key factors of self confidence.

First, not being afraid to start helps with self confidence because after you start what you are doing just gets easier and easier. Then after awhile you will feel more confident doing this new thing and all you had to do was start.

Second, to believe in your abilities. Believing in your abilities to do something is a key factor in gaining self confidence because if you don not believe in yourself to do something even if you could do it you will not be able to. For example when you wake up in the morning and you do not want to get out of bed, even though you physically could get out of bed in your had to but you end up telling yourself that you're tired to do so.

Third, is to practice what you want to do or accomplish. Practicing a skill will help you feel more confident doing it next time you do it. For example you are about to write a math test and you studied lots the day before you are naturally feeling confident about taking the test because you practiced. But on the other hand if you forgot to study for the test and you're about to write it you might be scared or nervous because you did not practice.

Fourth, having a supportive environment. Having a supportive environment when trying to build confidence can really help because if you do fail you have others to help you up and motivate you to try again. For example if you are trying to get a new job and you have parents supporting you even if you do not get the job you will still have someone looking out for you.

Lastly, perspective. Having perspective can help by looking at the situation or your goal in a different way to make it more manageable to compete. For example say you want to climb a mountain at first you might say “how am i ever going to get to the top”. Instead you could say “every step you take you get one closer to the top”.

By not being afraid to start, believing in your abilities, practicing, finding a supportive environment and having prospective you can stop saying “I don’t think I can” and start saying “I know I can”.

If Students were the Teachers...

What if students designed their own schools? Not as in structurally, but as in independent learning.

First things first, it sounded a lot like Genius Hour. 

I did not understand how it was as if students designed their own schools. The students still had to follow a strict plan of schedules and deadlines. Instead of Genius Hour, it seemed like Genius Day! There was very little difference between the two programs, except for the fact that "school" lasted for the entire day. There was no sense of freedom whatsoever. This new school still had an unchangeable schedule, the same amount of time, and teachers still present. If one wanted to design a school, wouldn't they have the choice whether to have a flexible schedule for the students, or possibly different ways of learning? Instead, the only thing that changed were the subjects. 

   I'm probably being too harsh on the restrictions. The benefits of having self-taught classes are just as good as Genius Hour's. Cooperation, discussion, independent work, and troubleshooting are certainly good abilities to have. The idea of a student created school is interesting, but to really be a "school", you would really need to have more choices.

speech draft 2

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1II8y8LgQE7yC_Qk3fMhAcidr0w-BdxAMftwYB35bF-k/edit

If students Designed Their Own School

When I looked at the title of this video, my first thought was that it wasn't a very good idea. Especially since it's an entire semester. Our class did something similar to this but we only did it for about a month. Al though it would be much easier for the teachers to get paid and do nothing, the students will have to teach themselves the courses that they had to take. such as the Sciences, Art, the Orientation, and the Collective Endeavor. Teachers are hired for one reason, to teach the students to become smarter in a certain profession. Even though there is advanced technology right now, not all of the answers are online. That's is why teachers are there to help them, not mentor and coach them. Also, the students think that it is a good idea if there is no report cards, no tests, no quizzes. If there are no grades, how are you going to know how much you improved. Also, without any tests, students will think they can slack off and pass the course by doing nothing. This is why I think this project is not a very good idea and a very big gamble as Principal Marianne Young also stated.

Speech Draft

https://drive.google.com/?tab=wo&authuser=0#my-drive
https://drive.google.com/?tab=wo&authuser=0#my-drive

Speech Draft

Eddy Leung
Humanities 8

“I like smiling, smiling’s my Favorite”

How many of you have watched the movie “Elf” with Will Ferrell? And do you know what his favorite thing to do is? It's smiling! Every opportunity he gets, he smiles because smiling benefits him and the people around him. Right now you might ask “how could smiling be good for me?” Well to name a few, when you smile it increases your health by lowering your blood pressure and stress and more, it's also natural drug by giving you serotonin and endorphins and pain killers , and smiling makes you better looking. Also, smiling doesn’t only affect you, but the people around you. Smiling is contagious, when you smile people around you want to smile because it’s a natural instinct and you know what happens when someone smiles, they get all the benefits along with it. It’s a win win situation.

At this point of my speech you all should be smiling right now and if you’re just putting on a fake smile just so you can get all of the amazing benefits, it’s not going to work. Putting on a fake smile can be worse than putting on a poker face. It has been proven that if you put on a fake
smile, you end up gloomier than ever You know how when you go to Starbucks and the employees greet you with a “how do you do” and a cheerful smile? You think they are smiling because they love seeing customers? No, they are smiling because their boss told them to and at the end of the day it just kills their mood. Also, if you make a fake smile while you’re already upset, it can result in more harmful things. However women suffer from this way more than men do because Mother Nature made us in the way that women are more emotionally expressive than men.

This is why I am telling you to smile and follow Buddy the Elf’s ways, to smile any time you can. If you need a reminder, write one on your hand, leave a sticky note on your forehead, do whatever it takes even if you have to dress up like an elf. Because as One Direction once said "that's what makes you beautiful"

SPOOCH DREFT

What is art? To me, it’s a form of expression. What are video games? Engaging and expressive, and pretty fun, to boot. But video games? As art? It’s not as far as a stretch as you’d think.
 
Hi, my name is Alayna and I like video games as much as the next person. I want to try and clear the reputation of video games being considered violent and “mind-numbing”. How might one do this? Start thinking of ways video games could be portrayed as art. Surely some games out there must have a hidden meaning, an underlying theme, or just fantastic art and music.

Speech Draft

The Pros and Cons of Composting

Have you ever noticed our new organics cart and why it’s there?  It’s because of something new called composting. Composting isn't really new per say but I don’t think any of you have ever really thought about it. Composting is a great way of recycling organic matter and it turns all our food scraps into soil; although it does have its pros and cons.

There are lots of advantages of composting. It diverts organic material away from landfills because landfills are starting to overflow and also as yard waste decomposes in landfills it can generate methane gas which could explode if heated. There are also economic benefits. By composting you are saving money by not buying as many trash bags and it reduces the costs for transporting waste to landfills. If you’re composting at home it can also enrich your soil so that you don’t need to buy any fertilizer.

Although good things do come with disadvantages. For example it takes a lot of work and time to maintain the right temperature and wait for it to slowly decompose and there’s also a high cost to shred the materials so it decomposes properly in a community compost site. The biggest problem would probably be the odour that comes from composting; it can attract cats, mice and raccoons. It could also attract lots of insects like flies, ants and sometimes even termites. These problems can quickly be solved though by not putting in meat,dairy or oil products to avoid odour or pests.

Lots of communities are now starting to compost. Surrey, Burnaby and Vancouver are all encouraging people to compost. In Surrey we now have the green bins where we put all our food scraps and they later get transported to the Richmond Fraser soil and fibre which is a composting facility that takes all our food scraps and turns it into soil or mulch for selling.

Many people haven’t really thought of composting but as the landfills overflow and more pollutants are being spread into the air the best we can do for our trash is compost. Sure, there are a lot of disadvantages, but if you can overlook them you’ll realize that it’s a good idea. It’s great that the community started composting and I hope that we will continue.

Video Killed the Radio Star (a comparison)

Our homework today was to watch two videos.

A song by the name of "Video Killed the Radio Star", and a parody/faithful update "Digital Life". What they are trying to convey in the original is that we relied too much on media and television. I felt that these lines show this.

"In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind we've gone too far"

"Rewritten by machine and new technology, and now I understand the problems you can see."

"We hear the [music] playback and it seems so long ago."

This line specifically tells us how fast technology was, and is still developing.

Music Video Response "video killed the radio star"

Today’s homework was to watch a music video on Ms. Lees blog called “Digital Life”. It was about how the internet developed over the years, how we use it now and some facts about it.  The music video was a parody of a song called video killed the radio star. I thought that the video was a fun way to teach people about facts about the internet without losing their attention  Also the video made learning in a more visual and entertain. Overall I thought the video was very well done and very entertaining. 

Digital Life Response

The video that the history teacher made was telling us the impact of technology. It is true that in our generation we heavily rely on our electronics and that we would be lost without them.

 Digital life has changed everyone’s life, nowadays everyone is joined into social media and are always trying to see what they’re friends are doing or trying to grab many people’s attention on Facebook or twitter, for example people post the most random of photos or they post at least 2 photos a day on Instagram. Instead of using books to research we always rely on Google and Wikipedia for all the answers. Kids are using IPads and even phones which were supposed to be a privilege when we got older but now everyone has it and it seems normal. Also most of their toys are kind of like robots because they can talk back to you and walk; when I was little I don’t remember having any of those things. Our grammar skills has also deteriorated since we started texting, everything we text is always simplified and we’re so used to it that it affects how we write and sometimes how we speak.

The second video which was “video killed the radio star” by the Buggles which I thought was about the advance in technology which became more popular making us forget about the old technology. It made me think that technology is advancing everyday and what is already made today is only the first step, there could be newer and better things being made and people will always want what is best. I thought that both videos were really interesting and made me think a lot about the technology today.

Digital Life Video

Digital Life

This video is teaching us that in are generation, we rely on are electronics for everything! Digital Life has changed who we are. Before, people would talk to each other in person, or use there brains and look things up in the dictionary. Now, if we don't know something we use "Google" to give all are answers and instead of talking to someone in person, we prefer a thing called "texting". I enjoyed watching this video because it wasn't a boring, informative video that makes you lose interest. It was upbeat and informative at the same time which made you want to listen and it also processes in your brain better.

People now a days think if they get a new pair of shoes, or are hanging with there friends they need to Instagram it right away. Guilty is charged towards me for doing this! When i'm with my friends, we like to take pictures and usually one of those pictures end up on Instagram. Digital life has also made students grammar bad. We use words like "legit", "idk" and teachers favorites, "ur" and "u". when we text these words all the time, it ends up being an automatic thing for us to write it down when were in English class! then your teacher will say to you "WOW, were using allot of slang today!" Digital life has defiantly changed are lives, but it's are job as students to use it respectfully.

SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT!

The 2 clips that Ms. Lees showed us on her blog were both based on electronics. One of them was about how these devices has drastically changed our lives. The other one was hard to decipher on what he was trying to explain to us. The thing is that electronics has made our lives so much better and easier. Like the first video said " we have had internet since 1992" and hasn't that made our lives the best thing ever since? As the second video stated " it is as if we are becoming a new species of humans, like a cyborg species. We are growing and evolving with our new technology, we are no longer just humans". This was said because technology has made our lives incredible and it will keep getting better.

Digital Life Response

This clip has brought many thoughts to mind. As she says during the entire video, Digital Life has changed who we are which is true. Everybody texts and calls and face times, back in the day, you had to talk to them face to face. We are pathetic. We have adapted to electronics, we have relied on them for our daily work. When we need an answer there is Google, Wikipedia, Yahoo and unlimited amount of resources. Resource after Resource that we all talk for granted.

Laziness is the thing that kills us the most. And electronics aren't helping. Although it is making our lives better and easier, we are letting it take over our lives. It has even taken away our grammar. Using slang such as "sux" and "gr8" and the most common one of all " LOL". These are all very neat things and are very useful, however they are making us soulless. We can use electronics but use it cautiously and respect them.