Saturday, October 23, 2010

9th Blog (World of Work)

We meet again, fellow bloggers. On Wednesday, all of the grade eights in my school will be going on our first field trip to the World of Work. Here's an assignment that I have to complete about this upcoming event.


2. The section that appeals the most to me is the Information and Technology Sector, because I think it would seem the most cool, and when I heard about this Sector for the first time, I thought that part of it would be about different electronic gadgets and I love playing with electronics, so that would be so cool. 

3. Construction Sector: Three jobs that are part of the Construction Sector would be a Boilermaker, a Plumber and an Electrician (including industrial and power systems)

Design and Manufacturing Sector: Three jobs that are part of the Design and Manufacturing Sector would be the Head of Project Management, a Business Development Executive and a Bridge Engineer Technician.

Service Sector: Three jobs that are part of the service sector would be a Caregiver, a Personal Support Worker and a Personal Care Provider.

Information and Technology Sector: Three jobs that are part of the Information and Technology Sector would be a Software Designer, a Web Developer and Producer and a Technician. (Guess I was off)

Transportation Sector: Three jobs that are part of the Transportation Sector would be a Transport Manager, an Airport Ramp Attendant and a Commercial Vehicle Inspector.

4. One thing I wonder is, how many jobs are there in each sector? When I was looking at all the jobs in each sector, it seemed like there was a lot and I didn't feel like counting. So I think it would be interesting to know. Another thing I wonder is, would you say that the World of Work field trip is kind of like the Technology Showcase field trip? I know they both have a bit of technology in it, but there's gotta be differences at well, and I have a strong feeling that there is. The third thing I wonder is, why can you go to the World of Work/Trades when you have College and University to go to? In College and University, you can take a career on anything you what you want to do, so that question makes me think a little. The final thing I wonder is, are jobs involving computers the only jobs referring to the Information and Technology Sector? I thought that part of it would be about electronic gadgets, was I wrong?

5. After graduating from high school, I was thinking of going to University to get a music-related degree, because I'm a musical person, I love to sing. Then, I'll see where that road takes me.

References: I'm sorry, I forgot my references. All I know is that it was not from one of the websites that Miss Pollock gave out on her blog, and I searched on Google for jobs in the ___________ Sector.

There you have it, I hope you enjoyed my assignment. I'm really looking forward to this on Wednesday! Please feel free to comment. Thank you, and enjoy a relaxing weekend.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

8th Blog (Purple Day or It Gets Better Part 2)

Aloha my fellow bloggers! Tomorrow on October 20th, lots of people around the world will be supporting the LGBTQ youth (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans-Gendered and Questioning) by wearing purple. Click here for more information! It's really important that we all make a difference to the world and show people that it's not okay that people are bullying other people because they are different from us. Like I said before on my first part of the blog, it's not just gays or lesbians who are facing this terrible crisis, people with disabilities, for example someone who rides a wheelchair or someone with an artificial leg are facing this terrible crisis. Think of Terry Fox or Rick Hansen, they are one of many notable Canadians, and people go around bullying people with the exact same disabilities and differences, not knowing that they could make a change in the world. Even gay people, like actor Neil Patrick Harris, comedienne Ellen DeGeneres and singer Adam Lambert are notable American celebrities. Being different is good, I guess some people don't really see that, because people are bullying every single day. We can start making that change tomorrow. Please, if you have a shirt, pair of pants, hat, scarf, shoes, etc. anything that's purple, please have the courage and make a stand for the LGBTQ youth and all the other people that are facing this terrible teasing and bullying. If you go to Hannah's blog, you can help support The Trevor Project for free! Remember, for people who feel like committing suicide DON'T DO IT! There are people who love and care about you and happiness is just around the corner. Trust me, it gets better!  PLEASE wear purple tomorrow! PLEASE show that you care! Have a great day!

Monday, October 18, 2010

7th Blog (Island Man: Work With It)

Bonjour bloggers! Today, my class got a poem, and we had to do a little response to it. Click here for more info! Here is the poem and my response. ENJOY!

Island Man (for a Caribbean island man in London who still wakes up to the sound of the sea)
by Grace Nichols
.
Morning
and island man wakes up                                                                        
to the sound of blue surf
in his head
the steady breaking and wombing                         
wild seabirds
and fishermen pushing out to sea
the sun surfacing defiantly
from the east
of his small emerald island
.
He always comes back
groggily groggily
comes back to sands                                                                     
of a grey metallic soar
to a surge of wheels
to dull North Circular roar
muffling muffling
his crumpled pillow waves
island man heaves himself
another London day

I would most likely want to wake up lying on a hammock at the beach, because I would get more sleep there, and it would feel so relaxing. You would hear the sound of waves splashing continuously, and you would feel the palm trees slowly swaying in the breeze, so the temperature won't be too hot, or won't be too cold, but just right. Also, you wouldn't have to worry about school or work, and you would just enjoy yourself. That's the best part!

There's my response, hope you enjoyed it! As you could see, I highlighted most of the poem in Italics, because to me, when I first read this poem (I didn't see the title then), it seemed a bit like a mystery that you had to figure out. So you had all these clues in the poem, like "the island man wakes up to the sound of blue surf in his head". So then you could put all the pieces together and realize that even though the Caribbean island man was thinking about the Caribbean, the Caribbean island man wasn't in the Caribbean, he was in London. Thanks again for visiting, and I hope you enjoyed the poem. Please feel free to comment. Have an excellent day! 

Saturday, October 16, 2010

6th Blog (Khaleefa Reflection)

Hola bloggers! Last Thursday, a local author and slam poet named Khaleefa Hamdan came to my school to present for just our class. Now our class has to do a reflection about this presentation using the 4,3,2,1 by my teacher, Miss Pollock. To view more about Khaleefa click here. Here's my response, Hope you enjoy it! 

10/16/10     Khaleefa Hamdan      Melissa R8A

4 Specific things that you enjoyed about Khaleefa's presentation.
One specific thing that I enjoyed about Khaleefa's presentation was his poems, because they were descriptive and he used very juicy words, especially when he used those juicy words when he was rhyming. Both of those poems showed description and juicy words.
     Another specific thing that I enjoyed about Khaleefa's presentation was when he rapped for us, because I don't think he rapped last year, or if he did, I don't remember him rapping last year, so that was my first time hearing him rap and it was very good. Since I'm a musical kind of person, I could tell that he was on the beat, and good rappers have to be on the beat to do well, and he definitely did that.
     The third specific thing that I enjoyed about Khaleefa's presentation was that he was very honest. He wasn't afraid to tell us that he took a year off of University to focus on writing or that he's a kid at heart. Also, he wasn't afraid to tell us that he messed up while presenting his poems, but seriously, because it was so good, I couldn't even tell that he messed up.
     The last thing that I enjoyed about Khaleefa's presentation was that we got to talk to him as a class and ask him questions, and as a person and someone who is presenting for us, he is so kind, down to earth and humble. When the class talked to him, It felt like we knew him more than a few days ago and we were really great friends with him. Overall, the presentation itself was outstanding.

3 Things that Khaleefa did or spoke about that you can use to help inspire and develop your own poetry.
One thing that Khaleefa did or spoke about that I can use to help inspire and develop my own poetry would be when he told us that "life" was basically his inspiration, because to me, that made me feel that I could really be creative and write about anything in the world. I could write about a sombre meadow or a Mac Book Pro and I would be happy about it.
     Another thing that Khaleefa did or spoke about that I can use to help inspire and develop my own poetry would be when he talked about having the right amount of syllables in each line, because if you don't, then it's not going to work out, because it wouldn't flow right. I didn't really think of that when I wrote poems before I saw this presentation, so that would help me a lot in the future.
     The final thing that Khaleefa did or spoke about that I can use to help inspire and develop my poetry would be when he expressed himself in his poetry. I starting thinking about this when he read "Don't Look". When I present a poem out loud to a person or people, I should always remember what expression I'm giving out, but at the same time to make sure the poem flows as I read my poem. I can't wait to start to write poems in class, and use the tips from Khaleefa to inspire me.


2 Questions you have for Khaleefa.
One question I have for Khaleefa is, are there some poems that you presented to us last Thursday or last year that you came that will be used in your book that's coming out soon? It would be really cool! In the future, I picture you as a big star with millions of dollars, and I can tell everyone I know that you went to went to my school twice (3 times in November) and performed poems for the school, and I'll have an autographed copy of your book and show everyone what poems you read at Fielding, and everyone will be jealous. Seriously Khaleefa, you're so good!
     The other question I have for Khaleefa is (I mentioned this in question #1), when the class get a copy of your book, could we each get autographs? It would be really cool to get an autograph from someone who's got talent, who's an inspiration to many people, and soon someone famous, and that's very cool to get an autograph from someone famous.


1 A one sentence summary of why Khaleefa is a good role model for youth.
Khaleefa is a good role model for youth, because he's a friendly and selfless person around people who expresses himself in his raps and poems.

There you have it, there was my reflection about Khaleefa. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please feel free to comment how you felt. Thank you, and have a nice and relaxing rest of the weekend!                   

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

5th Blog (Behind my Name: Melissa)

Welcome back bloggers! My class has been asked to do another assignment. This time, our class had to go to this website, behind the name, and find out the history of your name. 

Before I started this assignment, I thought my name Melissa meant honeybee, because I checked on Wikipedia to get ready for my "flair" presentation, and also that's what my parents told me  that my name meant. I think my parents chose this name for me because, here's the thing,  my family had different names that they wanted to give me. One, for example being "Gabrielle", but other family members thought it was so weak, because my sister's name is "Abigail" and our nicknames would be "Abby" and "Gabby" and that would've been cheesy, so they had to come up with a name that everyone would like, and so "Melissa" came up and everyone liked it, so that's what they named me. After searching on behind the name, what I thought my name meant was the correct meaning. According to that website, my name, "Melissa" means bee or honeybee in Greek. In Greek mythology, it was the name of one of the nymphs, which in mythology is a nature goddess, who took care of baby Zeus by feeding him honey. When I first found that out, I thought it was SO cute! I also found out that my name was the name of a fairy in a 1516 Italian poem called, "Orlando Furioso" and the fairy helps someone escape from an evil witch. When I found that out, I thought I should find a copy of that poem and check it out, and when I do, I will blog about it. I also checked out baby names, and one thing I found out that I thought was cool was that in America, my name was really big in 1970's and 1980's and was the #2 name from 1977-1979. I think my name suits me, because I like the colours, yellow and black and my family thinks that I'm "sweet as honey". If I could give myself a new name, it would be "Melody", because most of you guys know that I'm very musical, I love to sing, etc, and since that name is music-related, that would be so cool to have for a name. I don't think I would want to change my name though, because I love "Melissa", it's a beautiful name.

There you have it, you have just discovered things you didn't know about my name. Try finding out some history about your name. Thank you again for visiting my blog. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Please feel free to comment. Have an outstanding day!    

Saturday, October 9, 2010

4th Blog (It Gets Better)

Hi Bloggers! Yesterday, my class had a very important discussion about people from the United States being bullied and committing suicide, because they were gay. How terrible and devastating is that? Please be careful of the words you say to other people. They may seem like a joke to you, but it really hurts and is mean. And it's not just gays that are in this crisis, people who have disabilities also are facing this terrible bullying, being called lame, because they can't walk or dumb, because they can't speak, etc. I'm here to talk to you about Autism, because I know about Autism and it came up in the class discussion today. Autism is a disorder a person has that causes issues with non-verbal communication and social skills, which means that they process the information slower than other people. Even though they get the information slower, they still know it in their brains and they're very intelligent, just like everyone else. So please, my message for everyone is to treat others the way you want to be treated. If you see someone that's different from you, be kind to that person. Besides, being different is good, we don't want everyone to be the same, that would make this world boring. Keep this message in mind everywhere you go, and for the people who are having trouble and want to take their lives, DON'T DO IT! There are people who love and care about you. You're not alone, and trust me, it gets better. Thank you, and Happy Thanksgiving this Monday. 

P.S. If you have any time to see another example, please visit my friend Hannah's powerful and meaningful blog about "It Gets Better". She definately makes a point about this terrible cause, and also wrote two raps of her own about it. She is really standing up for herself about this, and I truly recommend that you check it out. <- (Click on this to get to blog.)                                  

Thursday, October 7, 2010

3rd Blog (Empathy Post)

We meet again, fellow bloggers! As you already may know, my class did my school's first Student of the Month presentation this year, and the theme that we worked with was empathy. For those who may not know, empathy means that you understand how someone feels without being judgemental. Some people refer it to taking a walk in someone else's shoes. I created a story that was used in the Student of the Month presentation. Spot the use of empathy as you read. I hope you guys like it!

One day, there was a Dog happily leaping along the motionless street, until an Ostrich came blubbering with a shedded tear in his eye. "What's wrong Ostrich?" Dog asked. "My goldfish died today." Ostrich sadly responded. "Oh no!" Dog shouted, then said, "I'm so sorry". "He was such a good and honest friend, I can't believe he's gone!" Ostrich sobbed. Before Ostrich said anything else, Dog stated, "I remember when my pet canary died". Dog took a deep breath, then continued, "I was seven, he was very ill. I still remember the day when he lost his breath, I couldn't stop crying. Now I cry once in a while." Ostrich felt his pain, Dog then said, "No matter what happens, we're here for each other and it's going to be okay.". "Thank you." said Ostrich, still devastated. "Let's go play some catch to get our minds off of it." Dog said. "Okay, that might help me feel better." Ostrich said, and they slowly walked to the park, not knowing if they will have a bad or a fun time, but they were always there for each other whatever the weather.
The End

Well, there you have it! Thank you for reading my story. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to type in what you have to say. Thank you, have an awesome day!

2nd Blog (Empathy Student of the Month Presentation)

Hello again, my fellow bloggers! Great to see you guys again! Yesterday, my class performed the first Student of the Month presentation of the year, the theme for this month being empathy. The presentation included a story, a skit, a poem, a rap, etc., and everyone did an excellent job! Now, my class has to do a reflection on what we liked and what we can do in the future! Here's my response using the 3,2,1 created by my brilliant teacher, enjoy!

10/07/10                                                                           Melissa R8A

Empathy Student of the Month Presentation

3 Things that I think would have helped to improve our presentation.

One thing that I thought would have helped to improve our presentation would be to have everyone with their eyes closed. I know everyone wanted to see the final production in the large gym, but the few people with their eyes closed was kind of a distraction to the different skits that were going on as well as the audience, and this was about the kids sleeping and dreaming about things involving empathy, so they could have acted like they were sleeping and had their eyes closed.
     The second thing that I thought would have helped to improve our presentation would have been having more time to practice and get everything down. We had to finish presenting those Reader's Theatre stories and doing other schoolwork, leaving us with not many days to prepare for this presentation.
     The final thing that I thought would have helped to improve our presentation would have been to get everything memorized for the presentation. Again, we didn't have that many days to prepare for this, but I saw a few people with their Free Write books and that was a bit of a distraction to the different skits that were going on as well as the audience. Having no Free Write books on the stage would have been less distracting for everyone.

2 Things that I think went really well.

One thing that I thought went really well was when the rap group (Mateen, Will, Walid and Haneen) had instrumental music to their skit. That really helped keep the beat for them. Without music, the worst- case scenario would have been that they would've been lost and they didn't know where they were. The lyrics were as well great, so great job you guys, great job to the whole class!
     The other thing that I thought went really well was when The Dog and the Ostrich group (Sara, Tara, Amy) got the skit together in just one day. The narrating was great and the lip-syncing done by the two characters was also great.
     The other groups that I didn't mention also did a great job. Switch (Qavi, Jatinder, Jeffrey, Tyler as well credited even though he was absent) had great transitions while switching and the script was as well great. Also the poem (Hannah, Sara, Charlotte) was divided evenly, the script was also great and it was great when they said, "empathy" in unison. Thirdly the Dream People (Claire, Jumanh) did a great job acting it out and I loved the thought bubble that they were holding. Fourthly the Cameraman (Connor) did a great job filming and it was at a good angle. Fifthly, the rest of the cast and crew just dozing away, great job! Finally, Miss Pollock for making all of this possible, great job! Awesome job you guys, it's too bad that I missed out on this.

(The Ostrich and the Dog is a story written by me, which you will see on my next blog, so keep on visiting)

1 Piece of advice I have for students who will be performing in the future.

The piece of advice that I have for students who will be performing in the future is to always do your best in anything that you're doing and to give it your all, no matter what happens. If you stumble or make a mistake, just keep on going, the show must go on!
The End

Well, there you have it. That's my Empathy Student of the Month Presentation Reflection. I hope you guys enjoyed it! If you have any comments or questions for me, please feel free to type what you have to say. Thank you and have a fantastic day!

Friday, October 1, 2010

1st Blog (Welcome Post)

Salutations, my fellow bloggers! My name is Melissa, and my class will be creating blogs throughout the year. I'm very happy that you are here, getting visitors helps me out SO much. I'm a studious, music-loving person who's into the latest gadgets and junk food. I can be a little bit shy, but I'm loud and fun to be around with people. I absolutely love to sing, I sang at my local Jazz Festival, Library and Archives, Carleton University and as well as my recitals. One of my favourite TV shows is The Simpsons, because it's hilarious and I've been watching that show ever since I was a baby. My other favourite show is Glee, because it's a very music-related show and I find it very funny. Those were some things about me, maybe we have some stuff in common! Please feel free to leave comments or questions. It would really help me a lot if you had any feedback to give or questions to ask. Thank you very much for visiting Melissa's Hard"Core" Blog and please come back and visit regularly, you'll never know what you'll see. Have a fantastic day!