Semester 1 Reflection Post: Eminent Speech

Eminent Lou Costello Final Speech

One project that I completed during my 1st Semester at Gleneagle Secondary was my Eminent final speech. An element of my Eminent Research project for my English/Socials class, I was able to choose any eminent figure that has left a mark on the world with their actions and present a 4-5 minute speech to show this person’s importance. For my project, I chose to educate my class about Lou Costello, a burlesque comedian famous for his infamous skits and movies alongside his straight man Bud Abbott. Writing a speech in the perspective of Bud Abbott, I told the story of Lou from his birth to death in a concise, informative, and creative manner.

With this assignment, I was able to bring in my creative writing and thinking skills, my communication skills, my researching skills, and my skills with public speaking. Wanting to be different more than anyone else, I try to be as creative as possible whenever I am given the leeway to do so. Using my creative thinking, I generated several different ideas on how I could convey my research and facts in an interesting and entertaining way. I would then use my creative writing skills to use my knowledge and convert it into a presentable piece of work, rather than a long list of facts. Finally, I was able to combine my communication and public speaking skills to completely memorize and present my Eminent Speech, complete with loads of enthusiasm, props, and a costume.

A few major challenges or bumps I had along the way of completing my speech included thinking of the most effective ways to capture my audience, finding ways to memorize my speech easily, and cutting down the most crucial parts of my speech to create a concise final product. During all of these struggles, I had to consider many different outcomes and strategies to find the most suitable answers for myself. For example, to choose an interesting hook to my speech, I would ask my peers for their opinion on the matter, and I would take constructive tips to further enhance my writing.

Digital Footprint Assignment

1. How might your digital footprint affect your future opportunities? Give at least two examples.

Your digital footprint is a permanent marking that you create and leave behind as you continue to use online resources. A digital footprint can and will affect your future opportunities in several different ways, both good and bad. One example may be in an application situation, where a workplace or a school will check your digital footprint to see what you could be like outside of what they know. This can be helpful in a way that they could find out previous work experience that you may have had, or positive passions that you are known to pursue. This can also be negative as well, because workplaces can see all the negative things you have done and put on your digital footprint, that may result in  you not able to get hired.

2. Describe at least three strategies that you can use to keep your digital footprint appropriate and safe.

One common strategy to keep your digital footprint safe is to use THINK before you post. This means you will ask 5 relevant questions to what you are about to post, text, or show to the internet. Is it true, hurtful, inspiring, necessary, and kind? If your digital mark can meet the criteria of not being hurtful as well as meet every other question, then it is appropriate and safe to post. Another helpful idea is usually to just ask a friend of family member around you. It is always good to get a second or third input by the people around you, and see if they are okay with what you might be posting. Finally, one last strategy for being safe and appropriate on the internet, is to use common sense. If you genuinely think that whatever you are doing is smart enough, then it should be fine. Do not just click on an ad that makes you believe that you’ve won a jackpot, or text a stranger that may know more about you than you think.

3. If you could go back in time, is there anything you would do differently online? Think of what type of advice you would pass on to your younger self or other students. How could you go about explaining it to them?

I believe that I am quite responsible in my digital world, as I don’t like to share lots of personal information online to begin with. The best advice I can genuinely give to younger students and possibly even myself, would be to imagine what the consequences of what you might do or say. No matter how you are feeling, there will be an outcome from your input in your digital world, and a lot of it can turn out to be negative.

Training Post

You are now going to create your very first post. In a separate tab or browser window, go to your Dashboard on the left and go to  Posts -> Add New.

1) Title – Create a title for your blog post. Your title will be: Digital Footprint Assignment

2) Body – This is where you place your content of the post – text, videos, pictures, etc. Follow the instructions on the Digital Footprint Assignment page to see what questions you need to answer here.

3) Tool Bar – In your toolbar you can “Add Media” and “Add Documents” into your posts, this is the best way to create visual representations. You can also change fonts, hyperlink, etc.

4) Publish – Here is where you control what items are public and private. You can also control when they are published to your website.

5) Categories – Here is where you choose where you want your post to go. This is your digital binder with all of your subjects. Make sure to categorize each post with the relevant subject. E.g. Categories -> English

6) Tags –  Here is where you tag posts with one or two of the most readily applicable Core Competencies. These tags can help you find things quicker on your blog and help you stay organised. E.g. Tag -> creativethinking

7) Publish – When you are done, simply “Publish” it. If it has been edited, press “Republish” to update with the latest version of the content.