Session 1

Principle – Law of magnetism

“Who you are is who you attract” – John C. Maxwell

This principle talks about how what kind of person you affect connects to what kind of leaders you are. I feel like this simple quote really changes what kind of leader you can become. For example, if you attract bad, negative leaders, you will know that you are just like them to other people’s eyes and will have to fix whatever problem you have. On the other hand, If you are attracting kind, creative leaders, you will know that you are demonstrating these qualities yourself. I feel like this is very important, as there were many times this happened in real life. There have been times where everyone in my school group was very open-minded and positive, which lead me to work more efficiently and finish tasks faster. There also have been times where I was in a group where two people had completely different ideas, which lowered the mood for everyone in my group and lead to nobody taking responsibility for our group. I will use this principle in leadership activities by always reminding that my mind, feelings, and energy level will contribute to how everyone does in my group. If I see that everyone is feeling down, this time I will step up and be the first one trying to spread positivity.

Session 2

Principle – The leadership challenge (Leaders are hard to find. Leaders are hard to gather. Leaders are hard to unite. Leaders are hard to keep)

This principle describes how the biggest challenge in leading people is that you have to lead someone who is trying to get to your spot. Leaders are hard to find means it is hard to spot a leader, as you will not know anything about them. Leaders are hard to gather means that the person who you want to make a leader will be hard to persuade into joining you. Leaders are hard to unite means that because everyone under you is a leader, it will be hard to make everyone work with each other, as everyone wants to lead, not follow. Finally, Leaders are hard to keep connects to the third statement, if they don’t want to be a follower for a while, they will leave. I chose this principle as most people, including me, wants to be a leader, not a follower. I need to learn how to convince and persuade people into liking me and joining me. I feel like this is important as I have found out that people work more effectively and efficiently if joined you because they like you, not because I have more power. I will use this principle in leadership activities by always asking the person who is working with me if they are comfortable with the way I am. If they say they don’t like how I lead, I will ask them how I can improve, and take time to fix my mistake.

Session 3

Principle – Work on yourself MORE than you work on others, and work on yourself BEFORE you work on others

This principle explains how in order to help and make other leaders grow and improve; you should work on yourself so that you can train yourself to your highest potential. Most challenges leaders have begun with themselves, and it is important to focus on growing and focusing on yourself first. If you do not follow this principle, it will affect both you and the person you are working on in a negative way. I chose this principle from this session as I have struggled with this problem before. On many occasions, I have worried about how other people are doing then checking myself and seeing if I could improve in any way. This has happened especially a lot when I am working with the grade nines, as I automatically think I know more than them, so I shouldn’t have to work on myself but instead only work on the grade nines. I will need to fix this problem so that I can mentor, lead, and grow leaders that need my help. I will use this principle on leadership activities by thinking to myself, “did I train myself enough to teach other people?”. If not, I will make sure that I fully understand and know what I am doing, and then help other leaders.

Session 4

Principle – I Motivate

This principle describes how motivation in a group is important. This directly relates to the principle I chose from the first session, which was the law of magnetism. I feel like this is often overlooked, but important as once the team morale is down, nobody feels like they have to take responsibility for whatever task they are doing. Great leaders need to motivate their team so they can work more effectively and efficiently. I chose this principle as I believe that I must improve myself and think of the reason I am doing whatever task I have. If I can’t find a reason for what I am doing, I will know that most people that I am leading also are not motivated (as there is no clear goal). Also, I realized that I need to change my leadership mindset first before I lead people, which also connects to the principle I chose for the third session. I will use this in leadership activities by thinking of goals and the reason we want to do a task, and then starting on it. By doing this, I will be motivating both myself and my team and we will accomplish tasks a lot quicker than possible.

1. An update on your progress since the last post #5 as well as a reflection on your mentor meetings online or over the phone.
Since my last blog post, Simran and I have been meeting my mentor via text. The reason we are not meeting through video calls is becuase my mentor is in Taiwan, and there is a 15-hour time difference which makes it hard for us to all be in a video call at the same time. Because both Simran and I don’t have much watercolor paper left, my mentor advised us to not practice our techniques on watercolor paper but instead on normal paper, although it might not look the best. I am currently spending my time practicing my techniques and thinking of what I want my final presentation to look like.

2. Describe how you are going to present and share your final post to our guests during our online In-depth Night on May 25th?
Although I am not 100% sure of what I want my final presentation to look like, one of my favorite ideas is where I will be cutting my remaining watercolor paper into smaller pieces and painting miniature paintings. I will then take photos of the miniature paintings and put them in a PowerPoint which then the viewers could look at. Because they will be miniature paintings, I will have to put lots of thought into how I want them to look like. I am very excited that everyone will be able to see my paintings, and can’t wait to till In-Depth night!

Planning

My ecological footprint was 10.05 Hecters. After comparing my footprint with the Canadian average and my peers, I realized that my ecological footprint was higher than average.

My ecological footprint: 10.05

Canadian average: 8.5

Peer’s ecological footprints: 8.75 (Emma), 8.8 (Simran), 9.37 (Evan), 6.75 (Devon), 8.2 (Indah), 10.6 (Hailey), 11.9 (David), 9 (Mike)

This is a link to the Ecological Footprint Calculations

10 actions that increased my ecological footprint:

1. Taking long showers/baths (10+ minutes)
2. Buying brand new clothes
3. Using a car to travel with just my family
4. Spending more than 1 hour on technology
5. Producing lots of garbage (would fill basket)
6. Consuming non-organic food
7. Owning two cars
8. Not using water-saving devices
9. Consuming dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.)
10. Consuming meat products

5 actions to reduce my ecological footprint:

1. Consuming less dairy products – I usually drink around 3 cups of milk per day. To reduce my dairy consumption, I limited myself to 1 cup of milk per day and tried to eat less dairy in general. I also talked to my parents about having breakfast, lunch, and dinner with less dairy. This meant not eating foods that include dairies such as cereal, ice cream, cheese, and yogurt.
2. Consuming fewer meat products – Although I can’t magically change my family into vegetarians, the way I tried to reduce my meat consumptions was by talking to my parents about reducing the use of meat for our lunches and dinners. I am able to control what I eat for my breakfast as I usually make it myself, but my lunch and dinner are fully up to my parents.
3. Taking shorter showers/baths – I usually like to store hot water in my bathtub and take long baths. To reduce my ecological footprint, I only took showers and used mildly warm water. Also, I shortened my shower time to around 6 minutes by using a 5-minute hourglass to remind myself that I had to finish my shower.
4. Spending less time on technology – Although I have to spend more than 1 hour a day on school work, I realized that I also spend lots of unnecessary time on my technology such as gaming. To reduce the time spent on my laptop, I deleted most of my games and used a 1-hour timer to limit myself from using my technology unnecessarily. This has helped me become more efficient and productive while doing school work.
5. Producing less garbage – Although I couldn’t really change how much garbage my family produces, I tried reducing the amount of garbage I produce daily by buying a mini garbage can for my room. Using my own garbage can helped me track how much garbage I produce and make the necessary changes. The way I reduced the amount of garbage produced was by using less unnecessary items such as paper, tissues, and food packaging.

Reflection 

Out of all the changes I made, the easiest ones to make were taking shorter showers/baths and producing less garbage. The hourglass made it easy for me to know when I had to get out, and not taking any baths in general saved lots of water. This is also very useful in real life, as it will probably lower the water bill. Producing less garbage was also very simple. I tried to eat snacks that didn’t have any plastic wrappers such as fruits and nuts and made sure to not leave any leftovers. I also stopped using paper and used my laptop instead.

Some of the changes that were more difficult for me to make were reducing the amount of dairy and meat products and spending less time on technology. I was able to make a little bit of progress on not consuming as much dairy, but with meat products, I wasn’t able to stop my parents from using them (although I did try to ask them to try and use less meat for our dinners). Spending less time on technology was a difficult task. Since I had so much free time, my brain automatically wanted me to go on my laptop. It was very hard to resist the urge to play games, and I must say that I didn’t achieve using my laptop for less than 1 hour.

An obstacle I encountered while making the changes was not being able to change my diet because of the pandemic. One example would be trying to consume less meat and dairy. Because of the recent pandemic, we had to eat what we had in our home, and the options were limited in stores. This lead to my parents making dinners that included dairy and meat, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

In the future, I hope to remeber and keep many of the changes I made. I think using my technology less will help me become or productive and efficient, and taking shorter showers will help reduce the water bill (and save water). I realised which techniques work well and techniques I can revise and change. Overall, I think this project has really opened my eyes on how everything I do affects my ecological footprint.

Not too much has happened since my last blog post. I have been practicing my watercolor techniques in my free time and have been using social media to contact both Simran and my mentor, Nina. I have been looking at videos and online resources to catch up on my learning, and a few new techniques I learned are wet/dry washing, underpainting, lifting, backwashing, and feathering. Overall, I think I was able to stay productive and use my time efficiently while learning new watercolor techniques.

1. What kinds of learning opportunities does the mentor provide to expose you to new learning?
My mentor has taught Simran and I basic watercolor techniques such as wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, creating gradients, and layering. She also taught us how to set up our watercolor supplies, such as taping the outer side of the watercolor paper. Unfortunately, because of the recent pandemic, she has not been able to teach us as many techniques, and most of our learning has become independent work. Recently, I have been contacting my mentor to ask questions and clarify harder techniques.

2. What kinds of learning opportunities exist to reinforce new learning?
Nowadays, instead of my mentor teaching me new watercolor techniques, I have been mostly learning on my own. If I don’t get something or I need clarification, I go to my mentor. If she is not available, I use the internet and look at online resources and videos.

3. What kinds of opportunities exist that might accelerate learning?
I have been using blogs, websites, and videos to help me learn new watercolor techniques, but I think practicing the techniques on paper has really helped me accelerate the pace of my learning. The more I practice, the more natural my strokes become, which makes my painting more aesthetically pleasing to look at.

4. When you get together what do you talk about?
Before the pandemic started, me, Simran, and my mentor talked about the supplies we would need to practice at home. She taught us the basic techniques and talked about what we want our final project to look like (although it has now changed drastically because of everything that has happened so far). She also talked about things that are happening in her life right now, such as appling to universities and how she started watercolor painting. I think I have learned a lot about my mentor and watercolor through our meetings.

5. What is going particularly well in your mentoring relationship right now?
Something that is going particularly well is that whenever I have a question or need clarification, my mentor is there to help me. Simran and I mostly communicate with our mentor via message, and because my mentor is a high schooler and usually has her phone around, we are able to get answers very quickly. This has helped me grasp techniques and concepts more efficiently and effectively.

6. What are you learning about one another?
During our time together, I have learned a lot about my mentor. I learned that she is a grade twelve attending Glen Eagle, and that she is one of the best students in her art class (or at least that’s what the art teacher, Ms. Croft told me). She started watercolor painting from a young age of five because of her parents, and slowly became more into art. She has recently applied to two universities but has not gotten a response yet. I also learned that she is a VERY great painter after looking at some of her paintings. I think learning more about my mentor has helped build up a good mentoring relationship.

I am very happy about the way things are going, and hopefully, I learn even more techniques before the next blog post.

DL FINAL ASSIGNMENT

Eminent Project

Jackie Chan Eminent Person Speech

For this project, we were supposed to research someone who we thought left a good impact on our world. We had to write a speech that had to be from the point of view of something that was close to the eminent person. I choose Jackie Chan as my eminent person because he left a huge impact in the movie industry, and I wrote my speech from the viewpoint of his director.

I tailor my work to appeal to my intended audience and use language and visual design elements appropriate for them
When I first started to write my speech, I didn’t know from whose point of view I should talk about. I first thought of doing from the point of view of his close friend, wife, or kids, but I realized that my peers might not understand who they are. Finally, I decided to write my speech from a camera’s point of view, as it was something very important in Jackie Chan’s life and also everyone knows what a camera is. I was able to show Jackie Chan’s growth by changing the camera, such as from a flip phone camera to a paparazzi camera.

I respond to the work or ideas of my peers in a way that is compassionate and productive
While everyone was starting to finish up their speeches, we started to ask each other to read over our speeches to see if we missed something. I was asked many times to read over my peers’ speeches, and once I was finished, I made sure to give them at least five points to work on. I only used constructive criticism, such as “I think you need to give yourself little pauses in your speech by using a few more comma’s”. Sometimes, depending on the situation, I would ask them to either email it to me or just read it in front of me.

I constructively build upon or synthesize the ideas of my peers
While I was reading over my peer’s work, I also asked others to read over my speech. I always made sure if they had time, and if they did, I would ask them nicely if they could read my speech. When they gave me the points, they thought I had to work on, I would ask them to clarify, and then fix the mistake. I think it was easier to build upon their criterium as everyone gave me great, constructive, feedback.

Midsummer Night’s Dream Vignette

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For this project, I made a skit about a book titled “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. We got into a group of four, and we were supposed to choose a scene from the book. Once we got assigned scenes, I and my group mates made our skit. The skit was supposed to be around eight minutes long, and we were recommended not to use a script. My group got act 2 scene 1, which was the part where Titania and Oberon argue against each other.

I use digital spaces to plan and execute collaborative projects with my peers
Once we were put into a group of four and got our scene, we made a google doc to write down our scripts. Through the document, we were able to work on the script even when we weren’t seeing each other, and we were able to edit each other’s lines which were very helpful. We did everything from the idea generation, planning, and script making on the google doc.

I enhance the impact of my research or presentation through the creative use of technology
While we were in the planning stage, my group thought that it would be cool if we could change the background depending on our lines. At first, we were not sure how we could do that, but I thought of the idea of using a PowerPoint to use a background. With a PowerPoint, we were able to have a background and change it depending on our lines. While I was translating my lines, I found many cool websites that helped me write my lines such as a website that translates Shakespeare writing to modern-day text.

ZIP

ZIP story

ZIP is an open-ended inquiry project where we get to explore new ideas and learn about things that we are interested in. For this year’s ZIP project, I decided to try something new and choose picture bookmaking. For my final product, I made a short picture book that showed my learning throughout these past weeks.

I determine the most effective medium to present my work
While I was thinking of ideas for my final product, I thought of the idea to make a children’s picture book. I think that was the best was to show my learning as my ZIP inquiry question was “how do authors make original and authentic children’s book characters?”.

I design my work with consideration given to aesthetics and design, such as constant color-schemes, symmetry or organization of visual elements, and overall layout.
I spent most of my time making the picture book, as I was not a good drawer. Because I knew nothing about drawing, I researched drawing techniques used for children’s books such as using bright, bold, colors and leaving no empty white spaces. I think my picture book is pretty aesthetically pleasing, as it was what I spent all my time on.

PTI Presentation

Truth and Reconciliation Commission PowerPoint

After we read “The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian”, my group was given a research topic and we were supposed to make a presentation for our final product. My group got the truth and reconciliation commission as our topic and we made our presentation into a form of debate as we thought that that would engage our audience more than boring, normal PowerPoints.

My work demonstrates a positive, productive, and empathetic worldview
The topic my group got was a pretty controversial topic, as happened only a few years ago. While I research about the truth and reconciliation commission, I realized that. There could be different ways people could view this topic. That is why my group made our presentation have both the views, although one viewpoint was more talked about than the other. My group talked about the pros and cons of the truth and reconciliation commission, which further proves how we were not biased in our presentation.

I look at controversial issues or topics from opposed perspectives to gain a more complete understanding
When my group first received this topic, we wanted to make it the most un-bias as we can, so after sharing our ideas, we decided to show bother viewpoints so that our peers could get a more in-depth understanding of our topic. We split the group into two, one for the positive view and the other for the negative view. I think that doing this helped us not be biased as our topic was very controversial.

I identify and discuss bias in research sources
After we got the idea of doing a debate as a presentation, we split into two groups, one for the positive side, and one for the negative side. We did that to make sure that we didn’t show any bias as our presentation as a whole. I made sure to use reliable sources such as the official truth and reconciliation commission website. At the end of our presentation, our group as a whole discussed how biases can change how we think about a topic.

Electricity Science Lap

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For one of our science labs, we were put into a group of four and told to carry our own experiment using fruits as “battery’s”. My group’s inquiry question was “How does the different temperature of Lemons affect their voltage?” We later found out that the temperature does not really change the lemon’s voltage.

 I go beyond google and use databases to find scholarly research sources

While I was researching experiments similar to this, I made sure to use the CRAAP test (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose) on all the websites I used to make sure that they were all okay for me to use. Some of the websites I used were official university websites or books such as our grade 9 science textbook.

I critically assess research sources for currency, reliability, authority, and purpose

Before I used any websites, I made sure to use the CRAAP test (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose) to make sure that everything on the website was real and accurate. After our research, my group shared what we learned and we were able to see how some of the information that we learned wasn’t right.

For the past few weeks, I have not been able to see my mentor because of everything going on at this moment. However, with all this free time in my hands, I have been able to practice the skills I already have learned from my mentor and also learn new techniques by watching videos. In my last meeting before spring break started, my mentor gave me some watercolor homework I was supposed to finish during the break. Currently, I am working on the homework she gave me with the supplies I have at home.

1. What has been my most difficult mentoring challenge so far? Why?

The most difficult challenge so far would be not being able to meet my mentor. I am not able to meet her as we are supposed to practice “social distancing”. Also, since we are a group of three (me, Simran, and our mentor), it is hard to find a time that works for all three of us. Not being able to meet my mentor has affected the rate of my growth. I am now only able to ask questions online, and sometimes videos don’t cover everything I need to know.

2. What is working well? Why?

Something that is working well is since I have so much time in my hands, I am able to practice like I never had. I now spend around thirty minutes to one hour a day practicing my watercolor techniques, and I think that this is helping me notice minor mistakes in my paintings which I could then fix or learn from. I am also learning a lot from watching videos and doing my watercolor homework.

3. What could be working better? How can you make sure this happens?

Something that could be working better is having more meetings with my mentor. Since we are all busy because of the COVID-19, is has been hard to find a date that works for all of us. Also, our mentor is a grade 12 student who recently applied for universities, so she is even more busier than usual. I think the best option, for now, would be to meet each other through video calls every week.

This is a painting that uses many techniques I learned such as layering, color theory, wet on dry, and building values.

Although the last few weeks were pretty rough, everything is now flowing smoothly like the way I want it to, as I finally have a mentor! Her name is Nina Lin, and she is a grade 12 student who is currently doing an independent study with Ms. Croft, the art teacher. She is one of the most excelling students in Ms. Croft’s class and was interested in watercolor painting from the young age of 7.

Simran and I first met her on Thursday. We had a small meeting with Nina and Ms. Croft, and during the meeting, we talked about what our final goal was, how our schedule would look like, and what we wanted to learn in general. We agreed on when and how many times we were going to meet, which was every other Thursday at lunch. Although we would only get 6 lessons that are 40 minutes short, this was the only time that would be able to fit in all our schedules considering Nina’s, and Simran’s, and my extra-curricular activities. We also talked about how our lessons were going to look like. We would meet Nina in Ms. Croft’s class as she has all the supplies and materials needed (brushes, paint, watercolor paper, etc.), and she would teach us the techniques we need. We would then get some kind of homework, and we would have to bring it and show it to Nina at the next meeting. Most likely, Ms. Croft will also be in the room to help us if needed. Nina seems like a very hardworking and diligent person, and I can’t wait for my first lesson!

1. What went particularly well during your mentoring sessions?
Since this was our first session together, we mostly talked about our overall plan, but I would say our communication was very good. Simran and I were able to ask Ms. Croft and Nina all the questions we wanted to ask and they were able to answer them thoughtfully and clearly.

2. Were you actually listening to each other? Explain.
I would say everyone was actively listening to each other as we were all giving and answering questions and sharing our ideas. Everyone would ask for clarification if needed and everyone was engaged in the conversation we had.

3. What logical challenges affected your communication?
I would say the biggest challenge was that we didn’t have a proper way to communicate with Nina. At first, we would have to email Ms. Croft, she would email Nina, Nina would email Ms. Croft back, and finally, Ms. Croft would email us, which was a very inefficient way to communicate with each other. After the meeting, Simran and I got Nina’s personal contacts so that we could text her directly if we had any questions or needed help.

I am looking forward to the next meeting on Thursday, and I can’t wait to learn all about watercolor!

I have not yet found a mentor for my in-depth project. What I have found, though, is someone who I can work with. Simran is also pursuing watercolor painting as her in-depth project, and since we both have not been able to find a mentor, we decided that it would be more convenient if we work together and share a mentor. We talked about our schedules and decided that meeting our mentor at lunch would be the most suitable considering our schedules, which meant we had to try and find a mentor within our school.

After researching a little about Gleneagle’s art teachers, we reached out to Ms. Croft, who was Prabigya’s watercolor mentor last year. Unfortunately, she told us that she is unable to mentor us because of her busy schedule, but she also said that she might have a possible grade 12 mentor for us. A few days later, she emailed us and said that she might have a possible mentor for us; a very talented grade 12 who is doing an independent study with her. We have not yet gotten a response from our possible mentor, but both Simran and I are very hopeful and excited about this amazing opportunity.

While I wait for the response, I have been researching about watercolor painting. I have yet not boughten any of the materials, but I have been learning about the techniques such as wet on wet, wet on dry, dry on wet, and dry on dry. Learning about all these techniques are making me even more excited about finally finding a mentor, and I can’t wait to start painting till my hands hurt! I have also made a to-do list of what I want to accomplish before in-depth ends, and I have been sketching some ideas I have onto a small notebook so I could catch up with everyone else who already got a mentor. I can’t wait until I get my first lesson!

These are some of the videos I have been watching: