Final Assessment

     English 10 has come to an end, and I don't know whether I should be happy or upset. To be honest I'm a bit of both, but before I write my final assessment, I just wanna start off by saying that the most important thing is that I actually learned something in this class. I didn't walk away with useless information in my head, and I can proudly say that English this year has changed my whole perspective on English class in general. I definitely have the teaching style to thank for that. I have never had a class that was all online, but I've also never had a class where the teacher actually cared enough to help us truly get something out of it. And that is exactly what I got this year. I developed so many new learning skills, such as learning from other classmates, finding valuable information when researching, and a new way of understanding things when I read them. If you look back at my Myers-Briggs personality test, I remember stating that I didn't like English class because I had a hard time "reading between the lines".

Throughout this year, I have learned how to do that, and now I actually enjoy it. I also stated that I didn't like English because I didn't understand Shakespeare. 

I can honestly say now that I made up my mind that I didn't like it way too soon. The way I was taught it this year really helped me to actually understand what was going on, and since I could actually follow along, I found it fun! I understood the meanings of things and the language and I've never been able to do that. I liked how we learned it in a modern way, connecting things from the story to things from present day, and also from our own lives. I think the reason I succeeded more this year then in previous years (and also enjoyed it more) was because I could actually relate to what we were learning. 

 I think one of the things I struggled with slightly this year was self regulation. I attended class almost every day. I missed 3 days, only because I was sick. When I did miss a day, I would either message the teacher or a classmate to see what I missed. 

I also would keep up on Edmodo and blogger. I was on time most of time. The only time I wasn't was when I forgot we were in the library and would have to walk to the portable, and then all the way back to the library. I think I chose my seating plan well. Instead of sitting with multiple friends, I just sat with one. I believe that this helped me because I didn't get as distracted as I normally would. I occasionally had to remind myself to get back to work, and sometimes found myself getting distracted by notifications, but I don't believe that this affected my quality of work. I still went through the class, improving day by day, even if I got distracted at times. Most of my assignments were on time, except for my "Who Killed Wellington" and "Walking a Mile" essays. I don't have anyone to blame for that except myself, and I know that. Although they were late, I have to admit that I found the extra time useful. I think my "Walking a Mile" essay was my best of the year. I really focused on making up for them being late by improving the quality of my work. I finished the novel on my own too, but I had to go back and re-read a lot because I zoned out. I found it helpful to be able to go and read other blogs because I learned a lot from doing that, and in return it helped improve my work. Me and Margarita also texted a lot to discuss work which is another source from which I learned a lot. As a class I believe we were all a part of each others success. We could rely on each other for help and ideas, and I think that contributed to the growth of each and every one of us. For this section I give myself a 30/33.

 
One of my stronger areas was my communication skills.

The PLO's I chose were A5, B8, and C1.

A5: Oral Language; select, adapt, and apply a range of strategies to prepare oral communications, including
– interpreting a task and setting a purpose
– generating ideas
– considering multiple perspectives
– synthesizing relevant knowledge and experiences
– planning and rehearsing presentations

     I chose this one because when I saw "oral communication", I instantly thought of our extended metaphor presentation. Our task was to find a song, poem, movie, etc that had an extended metaphor in it. The purpose was to analyze the literature and then explain the metaphor to the class. We had to generate ideas by thinking deeply about the metaphor and why it is extended, and not just regular. I remember that Kirat and I both chose the same song; Firework by Katy Perry. But we had different interpretations of the metaphor. She saw it as a metaphor about being bright and beautiful, where as I saw it as a metaphor about having so much more in you than what others can see, and that you have to show it. This opened my eyes to the multiple perspectives others may have. For synthesizing relevant knowledge and experiences, I thought about times where I have been in the same situation. I have had experiences where I have opened up and showed people what I have in me. Or, when I'm going through a hard time, I look deep within me to get through it. We had to plan and rehearse this presentation so that we could deliver our best.

Here is Kirats post:

Here is mine:

B9: Reading and Viewing; interpret, analyse, and evaluate ideas and information from texts, by
– making and supporting reasoned judgments
– comparing ideas and elements among texts
– identifying and describing diverse voices
– describing bias, contradictions, and non-represented perspectives
– identifying the importance and impact of historical and cultural contexts

     When I read this PLO, it reminded me of our novel study. While reading, we had to do many things. We had to make supportive, reasoned judgments about who killed Wellington, and we had to support this. We also had to make judgments about relationships in the story such as the ones between Mr. Boone and Mrs. Shears, and Mrs. Boone and Mr. Shears. We could compare elements of the text to "The Hounds of Baskerville." It is referenced a lot in our novel, and there were many things that were connected in the books. There were many diverse characters and voices in the book, seeing how the main character was autistic, while the rest of the characters were not. There were also biased opinions, contradictions and non represented perspectives because of Christophers disability. I dont think anyone in our class really knew that much about autism, and while reading we could have been biased since we only knew parts of it. Some things may have contradicted our original knowledge. I know my span of knowledge about autism definitely grew and opened my eyes to a lot. In the novel, there were not a lot of historical references, but I know Sherlock Holmes was an idol of Christophers because they were both interesting in mysteries and being detectives. Sherlock Holmes was around before Christophers time, but he had a lot of impact on our novel and I think that is important.

C1: Writing and Representing; write meaningful personal texts that elaborate on ideas and information to
– experiment
– express self
– make connections
– reflect and respond
– remember and recall

We did a lot of personal writing this year so I have many examples I could use for this one, such as our stress song, our tattoo assignment, our Myers-Briggs personality test, or our teenage years post. I think the one I have the best examples for though is my tattoo assignment. This assignment was very personal to me, and I was able to make the best connections to me and my life in this post. I got to express myself by sharing my opinions on tattoos, what tattoo I would get, and giving background information about my great grandpa. I made connections to my other family members who have tattoos, and to past experiences that influenced my decision for my tattoo. I got to reflect on the posts of others, including Mr. Neufs, and respond to that by writing about my personal ideas. I got to remember and recall memories from my childhood that have stuck with me and were a part of my general tattoo idea.

Here are some photos that back up my writing:

I think that in this category I learned a lot and I grew as a writer. I learned new strategies (such as citation, finding literary terms, etc). Before this class, I didn't even know what citation was. It is essential in writing and I'm really glad I learned what it was. 

Before:

After:

In my Romeo and Juliet essay, I don't think I used any citation. Comparing that to my "Walking a Mile" essay, you can really see how I began to understand how to do citation, and then transferred that into my work. Also, I think that my style of writing has progressed throughout the term. I've never been one to go out of my way to make my writing astonishing by using big words and fancy phrases. I want my writing to sound like me! But at the same time, I feel like I do a good job of making my writing formal when needed. My grammar is usually good, other than maybe a few punctuation or spelling errors here or there. I managed to get my voice across in all my essays. I believe that when I need to make an argument, I can. Personal examples are always easy for me because even though I'm only 15, I have already experienced a lot, which I can then relate to my work. It helps me to make connections in class, which then helps me to understand it more, and makes it more interesting. I believe that if you can connect to a piece of literature, then you already have a head start.  It makes it so that when you're reading something, you can think to yourself, "Oh I've been through that!" or "This has happened to me before." If you have previous knowledge of the same situation you're reading about, it makes it a lot easier. Just like my personal example from "Walking a Mile" did. 

     Overall, I give myself a 31/33 in this category.

  

"Contributing to the learning environment" is a category that I feel like I have sort of neglected. First term I had a hard time commenting on others blogs, finding decent positive/negative criticism for others, and also doing the same for myself. I didn't go out of my way to do that. After doing my midterm post, and realizing that I really needed to start that, I think I made a good effort to improve that. I started giving others more structured comments about what was good and what they could improve. 

I began to go back and change things after receiving comments to make my work better. I think this helped me grow, and I hope that by giving others better comments, it helped them grow as well.

Here are some comments that were helpful for me:

The bold is what I went back and changed: 

I also think that I brought a really positive attitude to the class. I was never rude to anyone and I think I did a good job of working with classmates. I was responsible as well. I think I could have engaged more with the class and gotten into discussions. Its not scary having an opinion that is different from everyone else's, but I do not think I ever applied that to my work. I know for next year that if I have a class like this again, I really have to get into it more because I know for a fact that that could have really improved my work. For this category I give myself a 28/33.

     If you add that all up (28+31+30) plus the extra 1% because I'm rad!!! that would be 90% in English 10. Thank you so much for such a great year and for being such an awesome teacher! I really hope you agree with my assessment. :)

    

    

Thursday Morning Tea

   It was 8am on Thursday and the morning sun was just starting to pour through the front window of the house. I walked onto the front porch and sat down at the small round table with a cup of coffee and the paper from the previous Sunday. I started to flip through, first reading a story about a young girl raising money for cancer, then a study stating that "Smart phones may be ruining your child's life!", and finally completing the crossword puzzle. I got up and walked into the kitchen to pour myself another cup of coffee when I heard a loud bang from upstairs. 

"You okay?" I called. 

I didn't hear a reply so I placed my mug on the counter and walked upstairs. I entered my bedroom and instantly laughed. 

"Spark, what in Gods name are you doing!?" I chuckled.

I bent down and picked Spark up out of the laundry basket he had just knocked over. Clothes were scattered everywhere and he had a sock stuck on his tail. I took the sock off and put Spark down in the hallway. He ran downstairs and into the den. 

I walked into the closet and began to shuffle through a pile of clothes trying to decide what to wear. 

"Hun? Can you throw me a towel?" my husband called from the bathroom. 

I grabbed a towel off the shelf and hung it over the bathroom door. 

"You better hurry up, you're gonna be late for your meeting." I called as I began to walk back downstairs. 

I put my mug in the dishwasher and sat down on the couch. I heard my husband come down the stairs. 

"Do I look okay?" 

"Yes. You're gonna do great. Call me when you can. I wanna hear all about it."

I walked him to the door and gave him a quick kiss before I shut it behind him. I looked at my watch. It was already 9. I quickly ran back upstairs and threw on a pair of jeans and a cartigan. I shut my bedroom door on the way out to hide the mess. 

I got the kettle boiling and grabbed 4 tea cups from the cupboard. I went into the pantry and grabbed the box of tea bags too. I waited until the water was done boiling and then poured it into the teapot along with 2 tea bags. I placed the teapot and teacups on the table along with a platter of cookies and sat back on the couch. At exactly 9:30 on the dot, I heard a knock on the door. I figured it must be one of the ladies coming for tea. I got up and answered the door, but was confused when it was not who I was expecting. 

It was Mrs. Nickelson. 

Mrs. Nickelson was the old lady who lived across the street. She had lived in the same house for the past 40 years.  She was always out watering her garden or taking her dog for a walk. Her husband was quiet and kept to himself, but on several occasions I had seen him barge out of the house late at night and drive off in a hurry. She was a nice lady but I always felt bad for her. In the 5 years we had been neighbours, I never once saw another family member visit her. Then again, I never really bothered to ask her about it either. 

"Hello" I said politely. 

She didn't even say hello, but instead reached out and offered me her hand. Inside was a small piece of paper with a phone number. I looked at her with a puzzled look on my face.

"What's this?" I asked as a took the paper in my hand. 

She replied, "In case you ever need someone to talk to. I know a few people who would be happy to help you." 

And with that she turned around and started to walk away. I began to shut the door but before I could close it completely I saw her turn around and come back towards me. When she reached me, she put her arms out and threw them around me. It caught me off guard, but I managed to quickly pat her on the back before she let go. When she faced me again, I saw that she had a tear in her eye. 

"Im so sorry for your loss."

I replied, "My wh-?"

She cut me off and said, "It's always the best that get taken too early." 

I looked at her blankly and said, "Im sorry I have no idea what you're talking about..." 

She stared at me for about 5 whole seconds before reaching into her pocket, pulling out a piece of paper, handing it to me, and walking away without saying another word. This time she didn't turn around to come back. 

I shut the door and sat down at the table. First I took out the piece of paper with the phone number. I grabbed my phone and dialed the number. It rang about 3 times before going to voicemail. I pressed end before even listening to it. I reached into my other pocket and grabbed the other piece of paper she gave me. It was a piece of newspaper. I just stared at it wondering what the hell it was. I was about to throw it out but first I quickly turned it around. I stopped in my tracks. On the other side of the paper was a perfectly cut out article with the title, "Fatal Car Crash Kills One, One in Hospital." 

I began to read the article and had to sit back down so I didn't collapse. The article read, 

"Saturday night at approximately 10pm, police and ambulance were called to a car crash on Kurtswood Street. It was a head on collision with a semi truck. The crash killed the driver of the car on impact. The semi driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries but will be okay." 

When my eyes had finished reading the article and had moved to look at the picture accompanying it, my heart stopped. 

Right there on this cut out article was a photo of the car crash. And right beside that, a photo of my husband. 

Walking a Mile in Another Persons Shoes

     At first glance, our first instinct is to base an opinion on whatever it is we are seeing. Every human does. We could know nothing about the person, place or thing, and we would still instantly form a judgement about it. But as we start to learn more, our opinion can change. Or, we can also experience something that changes our perspective as well.  We begin to see things in a different light, and realize that first judgements can be wrong. 

     In the start of the play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo believes he is in love with Rosaline. In Act 1, Scene 2, Romeo gets invited to the party, and sees that Rosaline is going to be there. Benvolio tells Romeo that this is the perfect opportunity to go and meet new girls. Romeo says, "One fairer than my love! the all-seeing sun Ne’er saw her match since first the world begun." Romeo believes that there is no match to Rosaline. He is in love with her and nothing can change that. In Act 1, Scene 5, Romeo attends the party. He sees Juliet from across the room and is instantly entranced. Rosaline vanishes from his mind and he says, "Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night." Romeo, who didn't even want to attend this party but only did because Rosaline was going to be there, just completely forgot about "the love of his life" in under 10 seconds. This just shows that after he had new insight into what else there was, his firstperspective  of love changed drastically. 

     In "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Christophers Mom left him and his Dad to be with another man. She leaves Mr. Boone alone to raise Christopher, which can be challenging because he has "behavioural issues" as he says. On pages 52 and 53, in chapter 127, Mr. Boone and Christopher get in a fight because Mr. Boone finds Christophers book, and learns that he knows about the affair. Mr. Boone first grabs Christopher and he thinks to himself, "Mother had hit me sometimes because she was a very hot-tempered person, which means that she got angry more quickly than other people and she shouted more often. But Father was a more levelheaded person, which means he didn't get angry as quickly and he didn't shout as often." But then Mr. Boone hits Christopher. On page 68, in chapter 157, Christopher is reading the letters from his Mom. In one she says, "I'm not like your Father. Your Father was a much more patient person." But as the story continues, Mr. Boone becomes more short tempered with Christopher. When Mrs. Boone was around, she helped take care of Christopher so all the responsibilities were spilt equally. But after she left, Mr. Boone was left taking care of Christopher alone. He walks a mile in Mrs. Boones shoes. He realizes why Mrs. Boone got so angry and was so short tempered, because now he is becoming like that too.

     I have experienced walking a mile in another persons shoes myself. For two years I had a best friend that I did everything with. We hung out basically everyday, went shopping every weekend. and we were as close as sisters. When I got a boyfriend a few months ago, I had to start splitting my time between him and her. I also started getting close with other people, and I started hanging out with them too. My best friend was getting upset because things were changing and we didn't hang out as much as we used to. It was easy for me to say that she was over reacting, and didn't understand that I had other priorities too. We started to drift apart a bit, and when we tried to talk about it, we both started getting angry at eachother. I started hanging out with another friend because she had a boyfriend too so she understood what I was going through. But then as time went by, she started ditching me for her boyfriend. I got to truly experience what it's like to be in another persons situation. I felt so bad that I hadn't listened to what she had to say. I definitely wasn't putting a boy before her, but I also wasn't making time for her, which is exactly what started happening to me. Having been through that, I can personally say that walking a mile in another persons shoes really does change your perspective. 

     Sometimes once we have based an opinion on someone or something, that is what we believe to be true. Once you have actually "walked a mile in another persons shoes" you can see how first opinions really aren't everything, and sometimes it takes physically going through something to make you truly understand the situation.

      

Short Story Elements (Man From the South)

Man From the South


Plot:

-introduction: 

the introduction tells us that it is 6 o'clock  somewhere sunny and the first character introduced is going to sit by a swimming pool and have a beer 

-conflict 

the conflict in this story is man vs man (because the Amerian boy is versing the man from the south), man vs himself (because the American boy is struggling to decide if he wants to do the bet or not, and also because the man from the south because clearly he has a gambling problem or something if he always chopping off fingers for a bet)

-rising action

the rising action in this story begins when the man from the south proposes the bet to the Anerican boy, and then from there it keeps going as they decide whether or not to do the bet, and then even more when the American boy agrees to it

-climax

the climax is when the man from the south and the American boy are actually in the room doing the bet and the boy is lighting the lighter over and over as the man holds a knife above his hand, the readers tension is growing and growing anticipating what's going to happen

-falling action 

the falling action is when the woman comes in and stops the man from continuing on, the reader isn't on edge anymore 

-conclusion

the woman tells the boy that he bets with everyone and she herself had to bet to win his car and then the man sees that the woman only has 2 fingers left 

Character:

- protagonist 

the protagonist would be the American boy because he is the force opposing the antagonist (the man from the south)

- antagonist 

the antagonist is the man from the south because he is opposing the Anerican boy

-static 

a static character would be the British girl because her opinion stays the same the whole story (that she thinks it's a bad idea) and she doesn't change throughout the story (could also be flat because she doesn't have many characteristics)

-round 

a round character would be the man from the south (Carlos) because we learn in the beginning that he wears nice white suits and Panama hats and smokes cigars and he offers up a Cadillac and we know that he has an accent and is from Italy or somewhere Spanish (could also be dynamic because by the end of the story we learn he is not actually like that and that he only has all that because of bets)

- flat 

a flat character would be the man at the start of the story because all we know is that he is on vacation in Jamaica, lounging by the pool drinking a beer. we don't know his name or anything about him 

- stock character (stereotype) 
I think the American boy could be a bit of a stock character because he is out at the pool picking up girls, and then when offered the bet he wants to show off so he accepts it, but really inside he is scared 

- dynamic 

a dynamic character is Carlos (as mentioned before) 

Setting:

-time

this story takes place from 6pm onwards

- place

Jamaica 

4) Theme

the theme of this story is very suspenseful and has you wondering what's going to happen the whole time

5) Point of View

the point of view in this story is first person told through the eyes of the man on vacation who is not part of the bet, but watching from an outside perspective 

6) Foreshadowing

the foreshadowing in this story is that when the man from the south first offers this bet, the man on vacation says "I had the feeling he was relishing a private little secret all his own."