Derek!

I was bored one day and decided to play around with my class photo on a program called Jack Paint Shop Pro. I used almost all of the effects I could find. Here are the results:

Before

After

Introduction

In this post, Mr. Fisher asked us to write a post about censorship and give two examples on what has been censored. He also asked us to give our opinion on if he was right censoring the video made by group 2 on terrorism for the ITL Project.

What is Censorship? Why are things Censored?

Censorship removes or blocks certain actions/words that may offend people. It can be a good thing, or a bad thing. That depends on what is being censored. For example, censoring nudity is a good thing because people, especially young children, shouldn’t see that. Censorship can be bad if the censor is censoring someones opinion about something, such as politics. Here are five aspects of censorship and reasons why those aspects of censorship are censored.

• Moral Censorship: This type of censorship censors the material that contains scenes of questionable content. For example, graphic violence and pornography fall under this category.

• Military Censorship: Military censorship keeps military knowledge and tactics under confidential so the enemy doesn’t know what they are doing.

• Political Censorship: This type of censorship occurs when the government is holding back information. Also, political censorship occurs when someone disagrees with the government and when he/she speaks out loud about it, the government would arrest him/her.

• Religious Censorship: This type of censorship censors any actions or words that offend or go against that religion.

• Corporate Censorship: Corporate censorship censors anything that puts their business in a bad light or makes the company look bad.

These, and many more, are reasons why actions and words are censored.

What has been Censored?

Throughout time, many things have been censored. During the time of the Renaissance, a lot of paintings have been censored, because of nudity. Nowadays, songs, movies, and television shows are being censored because of foul language and other subjects. Here are some specific examples of things that have been censored.

I Want to Love You-Akon

Akonis a huge hip-hop sensation in North America. His sophmore album “Konvicted” was released in 2006. He has many, many, many fans. So far, he has a few singles from this new album. The one I want to talk about, though, is “I want to love you”, which features Snoop Dog.

Like other songs that Akon has done, words were censored because they were inappropriate. In this song, the title was censored. The original title was I want to ___ you. You can probably guess what the blank space means. Anyways, the title of the song was censored because the original word was too inappropriate, like his other songs. Also, some of the song lyrics were censored because of that same reason.

So, this was censored because of foul language. This other one was censored because of something different.

Stu Mead Paintings

Stu Mead is known for his bizarre paintings. He is currently living in Berlin-Kreuzberg, Germany. Many of his paintings are censored because they involve pedophilia, child sexuality, and scatological fetishism.

Are there “good” reasons to Censor some Material?

Of course! There are just some things that have to be censored because of being inapropriate. Like I said before, censorship can be either good or bad. Examples of using censorship in a good way is censoring foul language, nudity, graphic violence, and more.

Was Mr. Fisher Right?

I think that in Mr. Fisher’s situation, there is no right answer. I think this because people have different opinions about the video and what to do with it. Also, I think that the message that was censored in the video was still implied, so it just makes a “softer landing”.

In censoring this video, I think that Mr. Fisher made the safest desicision, because if somebody complained about the video, the video could have been taken off. Secondly, our class wouldn’t be able to do those kinds of things anymore.

What do you think?

A picture that was censored from their video…

Conclusion

From what I have learned, censorship is both good and bad. It all depends on how you use it.

Sources

Wikipedia

 Introduction

Most of us are finally finished are ITL Projects. Everybody has done an amazing job with their videos. Now, Mr. Fisher has asked us to write a reflection on our ITL Project, mainly to know how to improve so he can do something like this next year. Also, I think he wants to get inside our heads a little bit.

 1)What have you learned about your topic?

I have learned many things about my topic of poverty. First, I learned that developing countries have more poverty than developed countries because since the developing countries are just starting, they are unstable, which can lead to poverty. Although, developed countries still have lots of poverty as well. For example, while I was researching about poverty in Canada, I learned that Canada has the second highest amount of child poverty in the world. I also learned that although poverty is a big issue that needs to be stopped, we aren’t able to stop poverty right this minute, so we can’t get our hopes up. For now, ending poverty will only be a dream.

 2)What have you learned about collaborating locally and internationally?

Collaborating locally and internationally are two different ways of collaborating. One requires very little, while the other requires quite a few. Guess which ones’ which?

 Collaborating Locally

Well, when you are collaborating locally, all you need is the person(s) you are working with that live in your area and all the materials you need (pencil, paper, etc.). This way of collaborating is what we are used to, because we didn’t have the technology to work on projects like the International Teen Life Project. Also, when you are working locally, you can easily collaborate with the person(s) you are working with because they are right beside you. This is different when you are working internationally because, obviously, you aren’t beside each other.

 Collaborating Internationally

When you are collaborating internationally, using the internet is essential. I find this because the way the internet is used nowadays; you can communicate to people from all over the world. For example, using a PBwiki (like we did for the ITL) is a great way to communicate with people from all over the world because you can write on it, then the person you are working with can easily write something back on there, commenting on what you wrote. Instant Messaging (IM) is also a great way to communicate internationally. All you need is each others email addresses and whenever both of you are online, you can talk to each other for however long you want. The only thing with IM is that you would have to do it at home, because IM is inappropriate when you are at school. So, communication is very important when you are collaborating internationally.

3)What would have made this project easier/better/more interesting?

• Longer Dead Line: I think that a longer dead line would have been better because I, and probably everybody else in my class, felt the pressure to finish on the dead line. A longer dead line would have been better because we would have more time to come up with something better, if we had the time. Also, we could have created something even better than we already have, if we had the time.

• If Kids from Virginia Participated in the Same Project as the Kids From Canada: I think that if the kids from Virginia did the same project as us, it would have been easier because we would do less work, better because the collaboration between us could have made the video itself better, and more interesting because we could communicate and collaborate with kids from Virginia.

4)What have you learned a bout telling a story combining pictures/music/video/audio/text?

What I have learned about telling a story combining pictures, music, video, audio, and text is that you have to almost “weave” everything together. For example, you can’t just have all your pictures, all your videos, and all your audio in that order. You have to tell a story with what you have. I think that this is important because when you tell a story, more importantly your story, you have to convince people that you have something good to say, and “weaving” what you have does that. Take the “An Inconvenient Truth” trailer for example. I think that Al Gore told his story very well, “weaving” everything together almost perfectly. To be perfectly honest, I almost found the trailer better than the movie.

Conclusion

This was a very good project to work on. I had a lot of fun working on it with kids from all over the world. I’m just sad that this project has to end. The good thing is that now that the ITL project has been accomplished, who knows what’s going to happen next. 

Introduction

Mr. Fisher asked us to write a blog post about what we are learning in science. It turns out that we are learning about  heterogeneous mixtures , homogeneous mixtures, saturated solutions, and unsaturated solutions.

Heterogeneous Mixtures

Definition-Is a mixture that you can see and feel the different particles that it is made up of. This is also known as a mechanical mixture.

Examples- There are many examples of heterogeneous mixtures. A few of them are soil, certain types of rocks, and bread.

 -You can see and feel the different nutrients in the soil.

 -You can see the different marks and colours on this rock.

 -You can see the difference in the crust from the bread itself.

Homogeneous Mixtures

Definition- Is a mixture that you cannot see or feel the different particles that it is made up of. This is also known as a solution.

Examples- There are many examples of homogeneous mixtures. A couple of them are water and ink from a marker.

 -You can’t see or feel any particles from this glass of water.

 -You can’t see or feel the difference on this marker ink.

Saturated Solution

Definition-Is a solution that fills up all spaces between solvent particles.

Example-An example of a saturated solution is a saturated solution of water and methanol.

Unsaturated Solution

Definintion-Is a solution with unfilled spaces in between each solvent particle.

Example-An example of an unsaturated solution would be oil and water.

Introduction

Mr. Fisher asked us to write a blog post about either our radio plays that we just finished, or our videos for the ITL project we are working on now. He mainly wanted us to write about the software (about it, challenges, learning), process, editing and production choices, and literacy. I think he just wants to get inside our heads a little bit.

I have decided to write about the radio play because it is nice to look back on things we did in the past. Also, I’m writing about the radio plays we just did because it gives me a break from worrying about what I’m going to do next in the ITL video.

Software

About it

First of all, we used a program called “audacity” to make our radio plays. Audacity is a program that allows you to record what ever you want into an mp3 file. You can record for hours and hours and hours on it, and it would still record everything you need.

Challenges

One of the challenges in using audacity is learning how to use it. When you first learn how to use a computer program, it takes a while for you to get used to everything. It can really slow down the process.

Another challenge was saving. I know when Matthew and I worked on the radio play, whenever we saved it, the program itself would close. I’m not saying that this is a bad program, I’m just saying that the only reason why it did that was because we didn’t save every five-ten minutes. In a program like audacity, it is very important to save frequently, because you never know what will happen.

Mr. Fisher asked us to keep our play in an estimate of 8-12 minutes and that was a challenge. Throughout the process, Matthew and I were worrying if it was going to be long enough. But when we were almost finished, we could relax because we passed the 8 minute mark.

Learning

Like I said before, learning was a challenge. Then, when we were getting the hang of it, things started to speed up.

I guess learning how to use audacity was fun. We got to play around with the program for a little while and we did some pretty wacky things to our voices. When we were doing these things, we realized that we could use some of these voices in our play.

The process of learning is try and try. If you make a mistake, you learn from it and you try again. That was what Matthew and I did as we learned how to use audacity, and I’m pretty sure that’s what everybody else did while they were learning, too.

Process

The process of working on the radio play was just to keep on work our butt off. We tried to do many things to see if they could fit in our radio play like change voices, trying different sound effects, and more.

There was a certain way we worked on the radio play, though. First, Matthew and I wrote the script. It was a struggle, at first, because we didn’t really know what the play was going to be about or what the genre would be. Then, we started talking and then we got our idea. We started to write our radio play like crazy. We had many ideas about what would happen next in the story.

After we wrote the script and did all the editing, we started to use audacity. After the learning process, we would record our lines. If we messed up or it just didn’t sound right, we would get rid of it and start over. This process took the longest of all.

In the middle of the recording process, Mr. Fisher gave groups and iPod and a recording thing that came with it, so that we could record our sound effects. When it was our turn to get the sound effects, I went to my house and made the sound effects that Matthew and I discussed about before. I also got sound effects off of the Internet (because some of the effects we needed we couldn’t make ourselves.).

After we got our sound effects and finished recording, Matthew and I put the sound effects where they needed to be in order to make the radio play better. This was a fairly fast process because Matthew and I knew what we wanted.

The final step in making the radio play was to make it into an mp3. This went by fairly quickly. As soon as we made it into an mp3, we were finished!

Editing and Production Changes

While you work on a radio play, or anything else for that matter, you have to edit what you have and make production changes. When I edit, I think of the first idea of what I actually wanted the project to be. If it isn’t what I imagined it to be, then I would edit it. If I have a partner in the project, I would do my best to convince him/her to make those changes.

Literacy

When Mr. Fisher asked us to write about how either the radio play or the video for the ITL project, he said that beforeliteracy used to be if you could read or write and that nowadays literacy is so much more. I completely agree with him. Literacy has now grown to so much potential. For example, blogs and wikis are the literacy of today. Even the video for the ITL project and our radio plays are the literacy of today.

Because of the rise in technology, literacy is no longer if you can read or write. It is now how you can use your ability to read and write.

Question #1: Has anyone given you tips on blogging? What would be the three most important tips you would give?

At the beginning of the school year, when we first started blogging, Mr. Fisher gave us numerous tips on blogging. He told us that writing a blog post is different than writing a story. This is because people tend to read differently online than reading a book. In books, authors write in paragraphs. Online, people usually don’t write in paragraphs. Also, Mr. Fisher said that using links is important because it almost lets your blog “grow” in a way. Other than that, nobody else has given me advice on blogging.

There are many, many, many tips I could give on blogging. The three most important tips on blogging would have to be the following:

Keep it Organized- As I said before, people read differently online than reading a book. So, keeping your posts organized when you write a blog post is very important. One way of keeping your posts organized is using subtitles. Using subtitles makes it easier for your reader to read your post. When you keep your posts organized, it is more likely for the reader to be interested in your post and they may even leave a comment on your blog! So, keeping your posts organized is a very important tip.

Use Pictures/Videos- Using pictures and videos allows your reader to fully understand what you are writing. Although, whenever you use pictures, you should always have words to go along with it. Otherwise, people won’t know what the picture is or what it means in your post. Sometimes, using pictures/videos isn’t necessary when writing your blog post. For example, if you are writing about your weekend, you don’t need a video to go along with it.

Be Safe- My final and most important tip is to be safe. Be careful not to put a whole bunch of information about yourself on your blog. You never know who is going to read it. Also, you should try to say positive things on your posts, rather than negative things.

Question #2: What is the worst problem you have with blogging?

There is no doubt in my mind that spam is the worst problem I have with blogging. In case you are wondering, spam is advertisements that are left on your blog. It is very annoying and some of them lead to very nasty websites. Whenever you have spam, delete it right way. That kind of stuff doesn’t need to be seen by viewers. There are different ways of getting rid of spam. It all depends on whether you use Learnerblogs, Blogspot, or any other blog program.

Question #3: How do you feel when you get comments?

When I get comments on my blog, I realize that people are reading what I have to stay on my blog. It is one of the greatest feelings. It is actually one of my favourite parts about blogging. When a person comments on my blog, I see if the person left a link to their blog. If they did, I would probably go to their blog and possibly leave a comment on their blog. This could lead to adding to a person to a personal learning network (PLN).

It’s Been a While

First of all, I’d like to say that it has been a very long time since I  wrote a blog post. We have been busy working on the ITL Project that we didn’t really have  time to write a blog post. Mind you, we still are working on our ITL Projects and I can’t wait until we see the final results.

 The Snow is Melting

Anyways, it has been a nice spring break here. The snow is actually melting!! We have been through a harsh winter this year, so it’s nice that the snow is melting for that reason. It’s also nice because last year, my brother and I bought a trampoline and had a fun time jumping on it last year, so I can’t wait to set it up and jump on it again.

 Back to School

Now that spring break is just about over, it’s time to go to school…again. But, school has been fun lately because we are working on the video part of the ITL Project. It has been taking some time in school, so thats a plus. Also, it gives you a break from writing things down all the time.

 My Spring Break

Well, my spring break hasn’t been all that fun. I basically stayed inside the whole time. I guess I was a bit lazy. The only thing that was different than any other day was that I got a hair cut. No big deal. But, things are going to get better, since I don’t feel as lazy anymore .

Conclusion

As I said before, we had a good spring break here in Snow Lake. Well, I guess all good things must come to an end.

How was your spring break?

THE END

Introduction

This blog post is about the challenges and advantages of working in the International Teen Life Project. So far, this is a fun project to work on, and there were many challenges that I faced.

Challenges

There are many challenges to working internationally. Some of them are:

The Internet- When you work internationally, you have to use the internet. Otherwise, the project would take a very long time.The internet can be very difficult at times, so that can be a challenge sometimes.

Feedback-Another challenge to working internationally is feedback. When you ask a question to someone you are working with internationally, you might not get feedback right away.

Timezone Difference-Also, timezones can make things difficult. I know that in the project I’m working on, students from Kuala Lumpur live in a 13-14 hour time difference. This means that it is harder to communicate with them.

Advantages

There are many advantages of working in a collaborative international group. Some of them are:

Different Points of View-When working internationally, you get many different points of view from all over the world.

Work with People from Around the World-Just the fact that you are working in a collaborative international group is an advantage itself.

 Conclusion

To conclude this blog post, I just want to say that the ITL Project has been a very fun project to work on, no matter what the challenges and advantages. Also, I want to say good luck to all the students and teachers participating in the International Teen Life Project.

Introduction

Every year, our school has a Valentines Day dance in the gym. Sometimes, the dances are really fun. At other times, they can get pretty boring. This dance, however, was probably one of the best dances I’ve ever been too.

Why?

This has probably been the best dance because I was more outgoing than I usually am, and I had fun doing that. Also, I wasn’t alone. I was dancing with Ashley and Kate the whole time except at the beginning of the dance.

The Beginning

At the beginning of most dances at our school, people just stand around talking. I think this is mainly because there are few people there. Also, it could be that the music at the beginning of our dances aren’t that great to dance to. I’m not sure yet, but I’ll figure it out soon!

Later on, people start dancing their butts off!!

The Fun Part

When students dance at dances, they dance hard! Almost everybody dances. I remember when I just sat against the wall the whole dance. Now, I’m a dancing machine :lol:. I must warn you though, I’m not very good at it. Anyways, I haven’t even gotten to my favourite part of the dance!

The Slow Dance

Yes, I really enjoy the slow dance. One reason is because since it’s slow, I get to rest my feet for a little bit. Also, it’s often the girls that ask me to dance, so that gives me a little bit of encouragement, because I am very shy. After the last slow dance, unfortunately, the dance ends.

The Sad Part

After the last slow dance, everybody exits the gym, puts on their winter gear (if needed) and leaves. That’s basically it.

Conclusion

I had a really good time at this Valentines Day dance. I hope you learned a lot about our dances at our school!

Introduction

Now, we are talking about what we want to do as a project. We have to decide on a project idea and a form of representation, Before I say what I am interested in doing, there are a couple of rules for this project that I would like to say.

Rules

1. The maximum amount of people that can be on a project is four
2. It doesn’t matter which class is in which group
3. You can’t drop out in the middle of the project, so think hard about what you want to do

What I am Interested in

I am interested in doing my project on poverty. Adrian and Sarah in Mr.Raisdanas’ class are also interested in doing a project on poverty. This idea is firm and final. If you want to do a project with us, check out the planning wiki for more information. But hurry there is only one spot left.

What do I Know About Poverty

I don’t know much about poverty because I never seen it in my life. All I know is that there is little to no poverty in my town. I hope I learn more about poverty after doing this project.

How Are We Going to Do This

Well, I am interested in doing a video for this project. I’m not sure what Adrian and Sarah want to do, but this is just an idea. I am also interested in doing a piczo website for this project. In case you don’t know, piczo is an easy way to make a cool website. It is free to sign up, but don’t click on the advertisements.

Conlcusion

So, this is what I am interested in. I am open to any ideas from whom are in the group. Again, please check out the planning wiki for more information. Maybe you will find something else that you are interested in.