Author Archives: 080-akinsman

Core Competencies Reflection 2025 – Semester Two

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Creative Thinking

This semester, I was challenged to adapt to new creative circumstances through Creative Writing 11. While taking the class, I was forced to adapt to many new writing styles and genres such as scriptwriting, poetry, flash fiction, and short stories. Through this, I was able to branch out and expand my breadth and become better at adapting to new situations creatively.

My classes have also forced me to grow more creative with project work, as many of them included numerous presentations where PowerPoint design was a highlight of the mark.

Creative thinking also played a huge part in aiding me in deciding what I would partake in for my Capstone, with me deciding to take a similarly creative challenge on over the summer as my Capstone (textiles.) The competency has played a huge part in my semester so far, and will continue to do so over the next year in school.

Core Competencies Reflection 2024 – Semester One

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Personal Awareness and Responsibility
-Well-Being

-Self-Determination

-Self-Regulation

 

To build on the same competencies as last year, I continued to pursue on similar skills. I moved on from having a minor leading role in a lower-stakes club and adopted a more important role in Stagecraft, having helped with the shows during Metfest in November. This was (and still is) an invaluable experience, and it’s taught me many skills relating to taking responsibility and having jobs of a higher importance. Stagecraft was also a massive help in broadening my social horizons, enabling me to talk to other people I may never have met otherwise. The program is quite sizeable, and I’m very happy I’ve met who I have during my time there.

I also decided to start attempting to take more purposeful steps towards advancing my education, attempting to get ahead a few classes through the extra credits Stagecraft provided and attending the University and College-related large-scale assembly a few months ago. Alongside this, I’ve taken more self-betterment steps, and am slowly learning to relax more instead feeling as though I must fill my free time with inconsequential tasks.

Overall, I’ve been looking more towards the future and improving my work ethic, and I believe I’ve greatly improved in that area already, and will only continue to improve with time.

Core Competencies Reflection 2024

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Personal Awareness and Responsibility
-Well-Being

-Self-Determination

-Self-Regulation


This year, I really attempted to work on my sense of self-determination and self-regulation, as I’ve never been a very independent or proud person. To accomplish this, I made sure I took an important role in a club I’ve participated in all year—DnD Club. I became a co-leader of sorts of the club and host the meetings on Thursdays the majority of the time. The main experience I want to highlight, however, would be the stall our club ran for the Miracle Movement Club. I ended up doing the majority of the planning for the stall alongside another member and ran it during my off-block, block 2. I took the time to plan out a game for people who arrived at the stall to play, even if the game didn’t get any players. I think this experience of planning and temporarily manning the stall helped me become more confident in my own abilities and aided my sense of responsibility and self-regulation in addition to the entire year’s experience. My goal is to continue building that sense of self-determination. 

Alongside this experience, I attempted to be more helpful towards others and heading many group projects to further bolster that sense of self-determination. I spearheaded a large project in my CLE10 class, which is another great example of self-determination even if that project hasn’t been graded yet. Woodwork 11 is another good example due to the independent nature of the elective. Taking Woodwork 9 last year was a far more dependent experience with set projects that you could do. Woodwork 11 is a completely different course in comparison which lets you pick which projects you want to make and take initiative in planning and creating them. 

All in all, I hope to continue pursuing this core competency and strengthen my knowledge of it even more heading into grade 11. 

Final DL Project: Writer’s Wage

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During this project, I learned a lot about the wages of writers, the most popular genres, and the most well-known and well-paid authors of all time. My goal was to figure out which genres sold the best in stores.

I used various sites including Wikipedia and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to find the information I needed.

The process of locating and finding the information required aided me greatly in learning how to navigate the internet properly and without worry. I think with proper knowledge, the internet could change the way we find information permanently in the near future.

Information Fluency – Writing as a Passion

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Writing is something that can be very hard for somebody to do. It requires a lot of reading alongside constant practice to become better, which many kids may not choose to do. But the pros of writing far outweigh the cons. Writing allows you to create your own universes, your own little characters with their own personalities. Did you not like Harry Potter when you read it? Make your own version of it, with characters you can actually connect and relate to. Nonetheless, writing is a technical and complicated skill that requires good grammar and a creative drive. I used the sites Explora and Gale Engage Learning to search. One interesting site I found mentioned the various ways that “Reading and Writing Interlock,” which I found exceptionally interesting. “Although there are elements specific to each,” writing and reading are exceptionally similar as they are skills that must be honed and oftentimes go hand in hand. Most of my skill in writing comes from my hobby in reading. The second site I found, centered around writing tips, offered skillful advice: your first book “isn’t necessarily the first novel you should publish.” That’s good advice. Either way, I hope this helps anybody else searching to become a writer similarly to me. 

 

Citations (Two Minimum): 4 Ways Reading And Writing Interlock: What The Research Says. Gale Engage Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://go-gale-com.bc.idm.oclc.org/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=T003&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&retrievalId=38241a6f-a799-4759-b407-f6fe8fba00dc&hitCount=275117&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=1&docId=GALE%7CA735378655&docType=Article&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZXAS-MOD1&prodId=GPS&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CA735378655&searchId=R1&userGroupName=43dcbs&inPS=true 

 

Whitlock, N. (n.d.). Tips For First-Time Novelists. Discovery. Retrieved April 3, 2023, from https://discovery-ebsco-com.bc.idm.oclc.org/c/fcpiu2/viewer/html/esydqp5ruv

Goblin Mode: True or False?

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I chose a very strange, very recent article about a ‘Word of the Year’ competition hosted by Oxford Languages.

According to them, the term was coined in 2009, but didn’t become popular until 2022. The other contenders were the expressions “metaverse” and “#IStandWith.”

The article I found was posted by npr.org, so the first thing I did was research if they were credible.

A short search on Wikipedia revealed that NPR has been accused of bias before. However, the site also says that it’s quite a studious website and many members say that it is quite legible and trustworthy.

Upon further research, it is revealed that, yes, Oxford Languages did host this poll- and the term “goblin mode” did win by a landslide. Many sites say this. I think that this article is true.

TOKTWD

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A photo of me, petting the Treehouse's service dog, Nessa.

(I can’t figure out how to right the rotation.)

For TOKTWD, I went with my mom to the Treehouse.

They are a organization placed around Canada that helps children realize if they’re being abused in certain relationships and aid the family or child in going to court and resolving their issues. The Treehouse specializes in contacts and works with the police department alongside other experienced legal experts, but their main goal is to aid children who are hurting.

Their staff is filled with kind, passionate people who truly care about and enjoy what they do! I talked with nearly all of them about their careers, and learned a lot of interesting things. It was so cool to learn about all of the things they do for a living and to ensure the safety of children.

I have to now answer two ordained questions.

The first question is about what I felt through my senses as I visited. Many of the main office rooms didn’t smell like much, as they run a very clean organization. The room designed for the children to chill in smells distinctly of Lysol, however, as the toys constantly need to be cleaned.
My second question is about what would encourage me to go to work each day. While their service dog, Nessa, is a defining factor, the main factor is their exceptionally friendly staff and the amazing work they do for abused children.

Thank you for reading!

Guidelines for my Account

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Yo! Welcome to my page!

All are accepted here, but there’s a few things I will not tolerate at all, being: Racism, Sexism, or Homophobia.

Other than that, there’s no rules other than just being chill and kind in the comments. Be sure to respect the opinions of others as well!

An example would simply be a kind comment on somebody’s work, either praising them or giving constructive criticism. The comments don’t have to be super long either. A simple ‘Good work!’ is completely fine.

Talk to y’all later!