This is a place for the community of learners in Room 8-41 to learn and enjoy math. It is an extension of the classroom making it accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Shenna's 2 Minute Reflection
Version 1: Draft
Final Cut
2. We made a lot of changes in our final cut. We changed the speed and quality of our voices because some parts weren't clear and hard to hear, added and deleted some pictures because some looks like it's poverty from different parts of the world so it doesn't really fit with our topic which is poverty in "Winnipeg", include our expert and picture of "us making a difference" because on our draft we didn't include it. When we posted our draft, it wasn't what we really want to post because were missing a lot and we aren't ready. So we received lots of comments from our classmates and it was quite helpful. We were able to improved our video with results that exceed our expectations. There wasn't any comments about making our video better but there was one comments that says we did a great job.
3. My group and I were looking all over the Internet to find one and luckily I was able to contact one from the Winnipeg Harvest (because of their homepage site). His name is Chris Albi and I got to talk to him through email. He had sent me a lot of information about the questions I asked him which contributed a lot to our video. My group and I also quoted some of what Robb Nickel (another expert together with Chris Albi from Winnipeg Harvest). Here are the 3 points they have added in our video. One is that poverty in Winnipeg never really started at a specific date. It just happened like the rest of the poverty in different parts of the world. Two is that poor people are everywhere in the world, not just in Winnipeg. Three is that poverty in Winnipeg is a major problem. I learned from them that Winnipeg is a major problem. I never really thought that Winnipeg would have poverty issues since Winnipeg is in Canada which is one of the developed countries in the world but I guess I was wrong. They were right that poverty happens everywhere, it doesn't matter if the country is rich or poor. Its just that its not as a severe here as other undeveloped countries.
5. The greatest success in our 2 minutes to make a difference would be getting it done on time and meeting the criteria required to make the video successful. The skills I would take away with me and use in the future would be managing our time and finding solutions when things didn't go as planned because during our project we ran into situations that could have prevented us from doing a good job and completing our video but my group and I managed though.
6. I would say finding pictures that fits with our topic frustrated us the most during our movie making. There wasn't much pictures to find because most of them are related to poverty in undeveloped or developing countries. After searching through many websites that our teacher recommended, we were able to find enough for the video. Pretty much the solution is to keep looking and don't give up. However it was time consuming which made it more frustrating since we didn't have much time. Also coming up with a thought provoking statement was difficult but after my group and I had a meeting during the weekend and put our brains together, we were able to come up with one.
7. I think the 2 minutes to make a difference is important for grade 8 students because we have to be aware and understand the problems going on around the world and let the other know too. This project helps us show the world that we care and wanted a change even at our young age. To show we have something to offer to the world with our voices and actions. This project also improves our researching and internet skills, cooperate with our groups and developed a skill to write constructive comments.
8. I will make a difference by spreading the word of our video and of course doing the same actions we did in our video. I will volunteer sometime at Winnipeg Harvest over the break.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Kim's 2 Minutes Reflection
Raelynn's 2minutes Reflection
2. The changes that my group and I did were our voices because it wasn't consistent and one of our group member couldn't record her voice on that day since she was busy. So we tried to changed the speed and quality of our voices. We also changed some pictures because it doesn't look like it was taken from Winnipeg. Also, we had to interview an expert and we needed pictures for evidence to show on how we made a difference. The comments helped our video improve a lot.
3. We checked out some sites for someone to help us instead of meeting him in person. One of the important facts were as long there have been people, there are more people that has less basic needs and wants. There are poor people in every country in the world and Winnipeg is the child poverty capital in Canada, more children are poor as well as their mothers. Winnipeg has no specific date to when poverty happened.
5. Our greatest success in the 2 minutes project was getting it done on time. We also had a chance to show evidence of making a difference before the due date. The skills that I would use in the future are good making movie skills. It helps on which song fits to the picture. And the time length - not too fast or not too slow.
6. While making the movie, the most frustrating part was finding pictures. Most of the pictures are from Africa, Afghanistan and other countries besides Winnipeg. We searched through every website to find that our teacher recommended. The only pictures we could find are in Canada, which Winnipeg is a part of. We had to find an expert to interview us so we can get some information for our topic and showing evidence by taking pictures of us making a difference. We were also thinking on what big question we can put on the video. It took us a while to think before the due date for our 2 minutes.
7. The 2 minutes project is important for the grade 8 students because it helps you learn on how to make a difference and what is happening in the world today. It helps you understand the problems in life and let others know this too. Making a difference is a good thing to do. It could be useful for helping out families and friends.
8. How I would make a difference in the future is to tell others that every kid deserves a chance to have something they need and not leaving them alone suffering from hunger and pain. Take action. Also, I can ask my family to donate foods or clothing that we don't necessarily need in Siloam Mission and Winnipeg Harvest. I'll also spread the word so they'll know.
Julibella's 2 Minutes Reflection
Poverty in Winnipeg: First Draft
Poverty in Winnipeg: Final Draft
Some changes that I made between the first and final cut of my movie were that I took out certain information because it was too much to read and I thought that it wasn't as important as the other information on my slides. I also changed one of my pictures. I added voice at the end, but only saying our names. I also added in my final draft my evidence of my expert because in the first draft I didn't show anything. The comments on the blog really helped me because they thought it'd be better to find another picture instead of having the same one for 4 different facts.
I found my expert from Winnipeg Harvest. I used to volunteer there and I knew some people that could help me with an interview. Some points I added to my video were that 1/3 of immigrants that live in Canada will be in poverty. Over 23000 children receive emergency food from Winnipeg Harvest. And that Manitoba is in the top 3 provinces for child poverty rates in Canada with 1/5 children living in poverty. I learned that there are around 5800 people who live in poverty in Winnipeg and that 3% of food bank users are homeless. I also learned that there are many ways to prevent poverty from occurring. Basically my expert, Meghan said that we just have to aware our community that poverty is a really big thing in Winnipeg. Also, just letting people know their rights. We could also help by volunteering at soup kitchens or food banks.
I think my greatest success in the 2 minutes project was finding a lot of information and volunteering. I found out more than I needed to put on my video, but it will really help in the future someday. A skill I will take away with me in the future are being confident enough to be at an interview and talk to my expert professionally and successfully.
Some things that frustrated me during the movie making process were having more information than pictures and also finding music that I thought would fit. Strategies I used to become successful were putting 2 or 3 facts at most on a picture if I needed to instead of having just a black background. Another strategy was just being patient to listen to a lot of different kinds of music that would fit my topic. It took a while to find a song but I think it was worth it.
The 2 Minutes project is important to Grade 8 Students because we need to know that even though we are at such a young age, we can still make a difference in the world and have a say in anything we believe. It's important because we wanted to let the people become aware of what issues are going on in that world that we truly care about. We all have voices it's just how we use it that matters.
I will make a difference in the future by telling people that there are more people that have it way worse than us. Making sure that they are aware of what is going on either in the world or right in our community. So we have to give back to them and let the people who are struggling know that they are not alone. If we come together we will all form a beautiful united community.
Glenesse's 2 Minutes Reflection
Poverty in Winnipeg: 1st Draft
Poverty in Winnipeg: Final Draft
Paul's 2 Minutes Reflection
First Draft
Final Draft
In our fist draft there were definitely mistakes that we missed, while doing the video. When the students commented it really helped us a lot. Some of the comments were the same, but there are some that really helped us in improving our final draft. Some changes that we made were having the slides stay for a longer time and add transitions to our climax to show our change. Also we added our personal voice so that the audience will understand our information more.
As a group we found our expert when I was looking for information about child labour. I was looking for information when suddenly I found a youtube video about child labour. We looked at his channel and there we subscribed to his channel to be able to message him and ask for his e-mail. We got his e-mail and his name was Agnam Goly Diop. He also showed us a website that talked about other children issues. Three things that I would say Agnam helped us with are, informative information, ways that we can help prevent child labour and the other things that child labour can do to others. It was very helpful of him to help us and we would've never known more information if we hadn't seen his video presentation about child labour.
If we did not find an expert the important informations we have gathered from him would be gone. Our video would be less fluent for other people to understand. Also all the things we researched, some of those information were based from our experts understanding.
I think our greatest success in our two minutes project would be spreading the child labour issue by making our fliers and displaying them in unique places that are easily seen. Some places are at bus stops for people going down the bus to see. Though it did rain and snow a week later. The video was also a success because we did what we could. The skills that I would probably take away and use in the future would be my cooperation, organization and my leadership skills. Through out the whole project I was helping my group by taking and researching as much information I could find about child labour. Using my organization skills,I was able to organize all our notes and take them into a flowing way of information. Leadership, I used it when we had problems and give suggestions and take in others suggestions to fix that problem. Problems would be finding our working place or time we are all available to work as a group.
In the video process there was only the last part that frustrated me. Throughout the video making process it was very smooth when we made our first draft and post it on youtube. There on out is when it started to get messy. First of all we discussed as a group what we needed to change in our video. We had what we needed to change, but when it was time for me to change it, it wouldn't open in my computer, so we had to do it in school. We did our best putting in the right problems we need to fix. Our strategy was to work as a team and use what we know and what we could do to finish our final video.
The 2 minutes project is important to grade 8 because it will help them in future projects. We would need team work to finish our video. Also we would need to think about the skills we use to make our project the way we want it to be. Of course it'll be hard because everyone has different suggestions, but that's when we need our skills to manage those ideas. It would also help us in future jobs because we never know when we would need to research about a topic we know nothing about. We would need to find experts to introduce us about that topic and what we need to know about it.
In the future as I grow up, I would help by many ways. I would donate to issues that would really need my help and the attention to be prevented. I would also try to participate in many people's life if they would need me. I would be happy to help those who are in need and help them have a normal life.
- I think this is my last post as a grade 8 math zone scriber. Thank You to all teachers that help me and especially Mr. Harbeck for this blog work to help us in the future.
Kevin's Two Minutes Reflection
2. The changes we made between our first copy of our video and our final copy is some rewording in the words. We decided to change the grammar because some of our sentences didn't make sense. We also added our voices to our final copy to give the video more emphasis and meaning. Between our first copy and our final we decided to give more credit to our expert and to show people where we got most of our information. The comments our peers made helped us in editing our video becuase their suggestions gave us new ideas to include in our work.
3. We found our expert using the help of our friend Paul, Paul was searching child labour facts and ran into a youtube account that provided us with a huge amount of information. Our expert provided us with some examples of how we can help prevent child labour. Another point our expert helped us with is telling us what is child labour, he also helped us by telling us what kinds of child labour there is. I also learned a lot of information from him, thanks to him I learned a bunch of new things I never knew before.
4. I think our greatest success in our two minutes project was creating those fliers and displaying them in certain areas. The areas we placed them in were highly seen by people passing by, we placed them at bus stops and at sargent park. The skills that I would probably take away and use in the future would be my cooperation and teamwork skills as well as my leadership. Through out the whole project I was helping guide my group members when there was confusion. When we needed a place to figure out our plan and contact our expert I was there to cooperate with them and decide a place with a certain time.
5. What really frustrated me during the movie making process was the audio for the video. I had trouble on that because after we made our rough copy Paul had to finish it at school. But at school the audio files Paul put in for the rough copy weren't showing but you still heard it. So when we recorded our voices, it removed all audio. Which made me even more angry because we then had to add another piece of music behind our voices so the music won't stop and then play again. To become successful we took our time and realized what had to be done in order to finish it correctly. We took the new music clip and tried to smooth it in with the last music clip.
6. The 2 minute project is important to grade 8 students because it shows how capable we are at video editing software. It also shows how much we can learn about a certain topic in such a long period of time. Doing the 2 minutes project especially shows how capable we are at working with peers in a project that involved a lot of communication. Also the 2 minutes project is important to us grade 8's because it shows how long we can focus on a single topic without getting bored of it, or procrastinating thinking it's not worth anything. This project shows how we are all responsible in our own ways.
7. In the future I will make a difference by donating to UNICEF or another child labour organization. I will also help by donating to anybody in general, as long as I can make a difference in somebody's life it'll make me happy. Then maybe someday that person can pay it forward and help somebody else in need.
P.S. Bye Mr.Harbeck, Thanks for the wonderful year of math!!! ☺
Suzie's 2 Minutes Reflection
Animal cruelty final copy:
First draft:
2. The changes my group and I made were that we fixed the music so it wouldn't stop suddenly in the middle of the video and we added a voice recording. We also cleaned up the credits and added some more things to it. The student's comments were very helpful in making our video better because they told us exactly what needed to be fixed so we could get it done and make our video better.
4. My group could not find an expert. We all looked at various different sites and called some people, but they were unfortunately unable to help us. By that time it was too late and we had to get working on our project more so we didn't focus on finding an expert as much then.
5. Our great success in our two minutes video was that we were able to get it done on time and do a fairly good job. We also got a chance to make a difference and to help animals. Some skills we learned from this project are movie making skills and even some marking and advice giving skills by giving the other students advice on how to make their video better. We also learned a lot about animal cruelty and our knowledge could help animals in the future.
6. The things that frustrated me during the movie making project was getting all the information, pictures and music together and the planning of the movie. We all had different ideas, so it has hard to compromise and use a bit of each idea.
7. The two minutes project is important to grade 8 students because it gives them idea of the problems happening in the world and it gives them a chance to learn and how to make a difference in the world. It's also never a bad idea to learn how to make a life changing and informative video!
8. I will make a difference in the future by telling others about animal cruelty and by not supporting products that use animal testing, puppy mills or hurting animals. I could also make a difference by taking care of the animals I do or will have in the future so they don't have to experience animal cruelty.
Anabelle's 2 minutes reflection
First Draft
Final Draft:
The changes that I made between my first draft and final draft are the following. I added more pictures to enhance the visual appeal of the entire presentation. I also quoted my expert, Stephanie on her opinion on why we should care about Child Soldiers. The last thing I did was show what I did to aid in the cause against it. Due to these changes I had to cut out some text to make room for them. This also meant that I had to add a bit more important mentions in the credits. The student's comments were very helpful. I wouldn't have seen my various errors if it wasn't for their wonderful comments. Not only that, I really appreciate the compliments on my video, both on YouTube and outside of YouTube. These comments gave me a huge confidence boost, and support while making the final copy.
I found my expert while looking through the various assignments posted by the University of Manitoba. I found an article on child soldiers written by Stephanie Scott, one of their students. (Her article can be found here.) I found her contact information via the Universities website. I asked her if she could help me in this project. She said that she might not be and "expert" on the subject, but she was happy to help with anything she could, and let me tell you, she assisted me in a lot. She even gave me another person to have as an expert. She was a woman who worked for the child soldier initiative. (Their site can be found here.) From Stephanie I learned plenty on the various and general topics of child soldiers. Things like: where in the world I could find them, what they do, how they're recruited, and even sent me some fact sheets. Tanye gave my information on what her organization does to help stop child soldiers. She also gave me information on how I can help. Stephanie also provided me with her own opinion on why we should care about Child Soldiers, which she happily let me quote so I could add it to my video. Sadly, I wasn't able to quote everything she said.
I really like how I decided to add my own pictures into the video. Drawing them were a way to express my thoughts on this topic through my art. I thought that it gave it more of an impact. I also thought adding the stories of some of the countless other children. I also thought that I made a great effort in trying to make my changes according to my comments. A skill I would take away to use for the future would be to take suggestions made by other people to better my work, and to have personal voice in my projects and assignments.
What frustrated me the most was finding pictures that I could use. Luckily I learned that you can find good pictures by typing things that could possibly relate to the project, instead of typing in your exact subject.
This project is important for grade 8 students because it takes our small perspective on the earth from having everything being about us to the harsh reality of other people outside our world. We are the future of our world. When we grow up, it is our responsibility as to how our world will move and change.
I will make a difference in the future by donating, fundraising, and helping out various organizations. The Child Soldier Initiative have a place on their site where you could donate money. I can also donate to UNICEF. I also hope to focus on other problems around the world.
Ysabelle's 2 Minutes Reflection
2 Minutes to Make a Difference Version 1
2 Minutes to Make a Difference Final Draft
- The changes that my group did in our video are our voices and the pictures. Our voices in the first draft aren't very clear and besides that, Shenna wasn't with us when we recorded it. We also removed some pictures because some of them aren't from Winnipeg. I think the comments we received were very helpful in making our final cut better.
- We were looking for experts int he internet and we found Chris Albi from the website of Winnipeg Harvest. We learnt form our expert that there is no specific or year when poverty started. We also learnt that Manitoba is the child poverty capital in Canada. Poverty in Winnipeg is a major problem and it's getting worse.
- I think our greatest success in the project is we did it on time and we had evidence. Our video isn't too fast or too slow and our choice of music is good. I think the skills I will take away with me and use in the future are research skills.
- The pictures frustrated me in the movie making process. It was really difficult to find good pictures of poverty in Winnipeg because there aren't much of it. Most of the pictures I saw were from poor countries and places like Africa. We looked for more pictures using creative commons and gladly, we found pictures that look like they're from Winnipeg.
- The 2 Minutes project is important to grade 8 students because it helps the students to be aware of what's happening in our world today. This project helped students to inform the world of the ongoing problems that need to be taken care of.
- I think I will make a difference in the future by helping people and spreading the word. I'll donate food and clothings to organizations and I will also try to volunteer in some of their activities.
Duyen's 2 Minutes Reflection
Google Document: 2 Minutes To Make A Difference
2 Minutes To Make A Difference Video: Education For Girls In Afghanistan First Draft
2 Minutes To Make A Difference Video: Education For Girls In Afghanistan Final Version
I have made many changes to my 2 Minutes To Make A Difference Video. I practically changed the entire video. In my first draft of my video I had the words over top of the pictures, while I put the words on the final copy on separate slides. I also changed the font colour from pink, which represents the colour of females to white on the final copy because the pink shade I chose previously was a little to light and difficult to see. Another thing that I added to my video are some narrations to capture my audience's attention towards the main highlights that I want them to pay close attention to. I also made the statements more concise and less "wordy" because the statements in my opinion were to long. I also fixed a spelling mistake of the name "UNICIEF", to "UNICEF", with the help of Chelsea Canlas's sharp eye for spelling mistakes. Thank you Chelsea! Another thing I changed were that I add some different different pictures and took some out because I had a brand new set of eyes and fresh mind when I edited the video for the final version and I thought it didn't match the set of words and mood. The most important thing that I changed in my video is probably the provoking thought/question because I thought that my previous provoking thought/question in my previous video was not as strong as I wanted it to be. I am really satisfied with the new provoking thought/question. I also changed the format of the credits because the rolling of the credits in the rough draft made me feel extremely dizzy watching it. So probably my audience would have felt that way too. Instead I add one picture for all the credits so my audience's head won't be spinning out of control. Overall I am extremely ecstatic about my 2 Minutes To Make A Difference video. Lastly, I would like to thank you for all the wonderful comments and views that I received! The comments were all so helpful, and I read each and everyone of them.
First of all thank you:
Cy-Thea Sand
Women's and Gender Studies
University of Winnipeg
Marilou McPhedran
Principal, Global College
University of Winnipeg
Roewan Crowe Assistant Professor
Dept of Women's & Gender Studies
Co-Director, Inst for Women's & Gender Studies
University of Winnipeg
All these incredible women that volunteered to be interviewed, especially Cy-Thea Sand who always had the quickest and thorough responses. I found my experts through the University of Winnipeg Women's & Gender Studies Department website. Cy-Thea Sand was the one that answered all my questions in time for the video so I only took her ideas, but I e-mailed all my experts. She was also friends with Jackie Kirk, who did outside Kandahar, Afghanistan visiting a school of girls. Jackie's Story can be found here. Some things that I learned from my expert, Cy-Thea Sand are:
- "70 millions of girls couldn't go to school"
- "One issue is safety – the Taliban have targeted girls’ schools as a way to terrify families and keep control"
- The cause of denial of education for girls: "Poverty, war and conflict, patriarchal beliefs about the role of women. For aboriginal people in Canada, not going to or dropping out of school is a direct result of the abusive residential school system which existed in Canada until recently"
The three important points that my expert added to my video are:
- Advised me to make the words more concise
- Change the colour of font to be more visible
- An empowering quote
In my opinion the greatest success of my video is probably the provoking thought/question that took me quite a while to compose, but it was worth the time and efforts. The reason why I think that the provoking thought/question is the most successful this provoking thought/question is the last thing you read so it will leave a lasting effect of wanting to make a difference. I hope that my audience will also consider it one of the highlights of my video and that it had a strong lasting positive effect on them too. A skill that I will take with me to use in the future that I gained through this whole experience is being a flexible person in order to work with three others with all very different work ethics and opinions. I will take the skill of flexibility every where I go in the future. No matter where I might be in the future.
What really frustrated me and made me feel furious is that I lost my original first draft then I had to remake it from the beginning and that all of my group members never had the "time", or "forgot" to do something. Some strategies that I used to help overcome these tricky obstacles are that I kept telling myself that they'll come around, they just have very busy lives compared to mine and I also learned to save my work in a USB stick and on my computer in order not to lose any precious work that I finished.
In my opinion, the 2 Minutes To Make A Difference project is important to the grade 8 students is because by working on this project in groups they will learn to interact with other people similar or different from themselves, which sharpens their sociability and flexibility skills. Another reason why the 2 Minutes To Make A Difference is to learn what types of conflicts there are in our modern day world or society without us, the typical Canadian teenagers might not notice on an everyday basis. This project is a really an eye opener for me and probably many other grade 8 students. What we might consider a "bad" day might be one of the best day of someone less fortunate.
I will make a difference in the future by informing others in my life about the current situations in the world and try to help tame the situation to the best of my ability. My dream is to open a foundation called "Be-U-tiful", that helps improve girls self-esteem and give out scholarships to girls who can't afford to go to a post-secondary school or any grade level in school.
Hanin's 2 Minutes Reflection
Google Docs Powerpoint
2 Minutes Movie First Version
2 Minutes Movie Final Draft
In my first movie I just did the outline. Then when people commented I changed the backround and added more pictures. I didn't talk to an expert because I didn't find one. I looked on the internet but I didn't find anything. My partners didn't do any work so I ended up doing this by myself. I very happy that I finished it on time. I was most successful with that. I was one of the first people to post mine up there. What I found frustrating was Movie Maker, it kept freezing. I think that 2 Minutes is important for Grade 8 because it teaches about the many issues of the world that need attention. I will make a difference by helping issues such as child labour and poverty.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Vincent's Math Questions Page 339 6-9
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Patrick's Math Questions Pg. 339, 10-12
Monday, May 9, 2011
Leea's Algebra Post
Variable- a letter that represents a number in an algebra equation or expression
Constant- integer in an algebra expression or equation
Equation- only has one answer and has an equal sign (=)
Expression- has a pattern, many answers
Question# 2
X+2=3
Question#3
Question#4
Here are some links to help you :
http://www.analyzemath.com/intermediate_algebra/questions_1.html
http://www.analyzemath.com/intermediate_algebra/questions_1.htmlhtml
http://tutoring.sylvanlearning.com/eighth_grade_math_algebra.cfm
Youtube Videos Links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6fPIVeS_-A&feature=fvwrel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etQZMd0xqKE&NR=1
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Kim's Algebra Post
Shane's Algebra Post
Example: n+6=14
x-6=3
Variable - a letter that represents a number in an equation or expression
Example: a+11=20
Constant = the integer in an algebraic expression or equation
Example: 18+m=8
Expression -pattern -many answers
Example: 3x
Equation - only has one answer and an equal (=) sign
Example: 3x=9
Solving a One Step Equation:
1st Isolate the variable
2nd Cancel the constant using zero pair
3rd Balance - do it to other side
4th Verify to check
One Step Equations and Models
Solving a Two Step Equation
1st Isolate the variable
2nd Cancel the constant
3rd Balance
4th Simplify the variable
5th Balance
6th Verify
Two Step Equations and Models