My 30 day challenge progress report! :)

     I'm not sure if it's just me that's not doing so well but I'm pretty unhappy with my progress so far. I obviously don't feel so great about myself now because I feel like I've done such a poor job so far. But if I think about it, I DID improve at least a little bit. It's hard to say I am successful with my 30 day challenge but I at least tried! :) Just to refresh your memory, my 30 day challenge was to not procrastinate. I know it's a problem for a lot of my friends and Daniel (my blog group member) has a similar challenge too! My goal was to take it by step by step and work it up slowly. I was first going to start out with decreasing the amount of time I spend on Facebook everyday. The second step was to try not to take naps afterschool because it leads to pushing my homework till later. I have a bad habit of taking naps afterschool. It leads to doing my homework later at night which makes myself sleep later and yawn a lot in class the next day. It's a BAD habit that I really need to fix. I also wrote in my goal a few weeks ago that I'll try to finish my homework before dinner time! 

     I know, it has been a hard time for me to resist myself from going on Facebook. Facebook is such an addicting website! I actually spent less time on Facebook than I usually did. I used to spend about 2 hours on Facebook on weekdays afterschool but I decreased it to about an hour! I know, I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm almost there! :) I also tried to finish my homework before I went on the computer, and a lot of my friends helped me out with that. I remember sharing my goal with the class a couple weeks ago and Ms.Lees told everyone to ask me if I was done my homework whenever they saw me online. Surprisingly, a lot of people DID ask me and I felt pretty guilty the first couple days when I went on it without completing my homework before! I was really surprised when people from the other block 4 class asked me, I was a bit creeped out but it turned out that Ms.Lees told them about my goal too! My peers helped me a lot with this little goal. I know I have a lot more to go, so I'll remind my friends again to ask me whenever they see me online and now, I could try to set my goal to go on Facebook for 30 minutes and decrease the amount everyday.  

     My second little goal that was part of my big goal was to not take naps afterschool. I don't think I've been doing so well with this one because I haven't been getting lots of sleep lately and I can't concentrate if I'm tired usually. I think this one's the hardest because I can't help it. It's just my body that's tired and that can't concentrate. I really should get in the habit of sleeping earlier so I don't take anymore naps. I tried to reach this little goal by myself but I don't think it's working that well, so I'm going to tell my sister about it and tell her to remind me if I fall asleep. It'll be hard to not take naps at all suddenly, so I'm going to decrease the amount of time slowly each day. I think this goal is going to be my main goal for the other half of the 30 day challenge! Also, since I took naps, I didn't really get the chance to finish my homework before dinner. I think I succeed maybe for 5 days! At least, I improved a little bit.  

     I feel pretty good about myself with the Facebook part of my goal because decreasing the amount of time on it is a really big thing for me. I could never go off Facebook! It's just so addicting! I think it's going pretty good so far but I'm not so sure about the not taking the nap part. I'm always so tired afterschool so I really need to work on that part a lot more! I haven't looked at all of my peers 30day challenge goals but I have been helping out some of my peers by reminding about their goal and I even discussed about it with some people in the other class (block 4) and it was very interesting to hear their goals! I think almost everyone's trying except for a few that forgot about it! I really hope we can be all successful on our 30 day challenge goals! I think it's time for us to work EXTRA hard because we don't have too much time left!

MY 30 Day Challenge Progress Report

At first I wasn't going to admit it, but honesty is important. So I am just going to come out and say it... I haven't been very successful with my 30 day challenge. :( I know, I know... I should have tried harder and I am not too proud of myself. There are a number of reasons why my challenge hasn't been going too smoothly. Just to refresh your mind, my challenge was to plan out a whole story and complete at least 3 chapters of it within a month.
I piled way too much on me. I thought it would be easy, but boy was I wrong! Planning out a WHOLE story, and what to include in it takes a lot more time than I had expected. You have to decide how much and what you should include in the chapter. Plus, you have to have all of your settings, characters and plot planned out so that you don't miss something or forget to include an important detail. Or else, your story will go no where. I should have thought of a more reasonable goal, and planned it out more. For example, I could have said that in the first week I would finish my outline, in the second I would write Chapter one, and so on. But I didn't!
Another reason my challenge hasn't been running smoothly is the time factor. I know that a lot of people have had this problem... We just can't find the time to do it! My challenge takes hours and hours. Between school, family and homework, sometimes I find it a struggle to find time for my story. Some people's challenge take up no time at all; such as not eating candy. Not eating candy doesn't exactly affect your time; but it does affect you in different ways. You need a LOT of will power to complete that challenge. The only time I can ever find to work on my story is the weekends, but then I feel like I am cramming it in and I get a brain block.
The third reason is that I haven't felt too motivated. I always plan out these extravagent story ideas in my mind, and get so excited about them. But when I try to put them on paper (or in this case, on Microsoft Word), I realize that they may not be as great as I thought. Or that there are loose ends in my idea that I need to fix or the whole story won't make sense.
BUT I AM DETERMINED! So I have decided to give myself a second chance and I am going to attempt to modify my 30 day challenge and complete it! Now, there isn't much time left, so I may need to extend it to more like a 40 day challenge. I really would like to tie up all the loose ends up my story idea and get typing! My challenge now is to finish my WHOLE Plot outline, plan out my next 3 chapters and complete at least one chapter--- but attempt to do more within the time limit if possible. I am going to keep a notebook or journal, with a timeline in it. I will say how much work I need to do each week, and the appoximate amount of hours it will take. This way, when I am sitting around bored and not knowing what to do, I can look at my journal which will remind me to work on my novel. Some days I may even bring my journal to school so that when I have free time, I can jot down new ideas in it. This way, when I don't have access to my laptop, I can still be working on my journal. I have already told my mom about my challenge, but I am going to ask her to try to remind me to work on my story every once in a while. Like they say in the IDEO Shopping Cart video; deadlines are important because they help you reach your goal and keep you on track. If you don't have a deadline or planout, then you may just forget about your goal in the first place and keep putting it off.

I am not very proud of the fact that I have only done a little bit of my plot outline and Chapter 1. It makes me feel and sound weak. BUT, it has made me more determined than ever to complete my challenge. Many of my peers have said that their challenge is going well, and I will admit that it makes me feel a little discouraged. I have also heard some people say that their challenge isn't going as expected either, so I feel like there are some people on the same page as me. Hopefully the ones in the class that have been struggling can work though all of this together. Because if we DO complete the challenge, then it will give us encouragement and make us want to try more new things.

February 15th Wednesday Learning Log

What We Did


On Wednesday, after coming to class, we were greeted by a substitute, due to the fact that Ms. Lees was unable to attend today. We started off by receiving our marks for our 'There Will Be Wolves' Chapter Questions. The substitute marked them using a system where an 'X' meant that it was unsatisfactory, or incomplete, a checkmark with a '-' meant that it was satisfactory, but under Grade 8 expectations, talking to the teacher about our assignment. We were assigned to take notes (in whatever form we preferred) on:

-The 'Manor Life' in the High Middle Ages and how the lords of manors lived. Along with how ordinary/commoner life was like, compared to the higher, noble class life.

-The roles of women in the middle ages and during the Feudual Period, and how their rights differ from the modern age.

For all of first block, we worked on these notes until break.

When second block started, we continued to work on these notes, for most of the class hadn't finished them. By the end of the block, most people had finished and went on to their 'There Will Be Wolves' Chapter Eight Questions.

Why We Did It

The reason we worked on those notes, about Manors and lords who owned them and also about roles of women in the middle ages, is because it helps us learn about the middle ages and how it was like during the Feudual-Contract Period of the High Middle Ages. This also helps us improve our note-taking skills, which are essential for looking back on things or studying about particular things.

Connections/Reflections

I thought that this assignment was very important, for I learned alot by just taking notes in this double-block session. The class got to learn alot about what it was like to live in the Middle Ages, when the Feudual-Contract was still in place, and how the lives of Nobles and Barons differed from those of Commoners, who are the freeholders and serfs.

Note-taking skills were a big factor in the double-block session, because other than learning about the feudual contract, we also got to improve our skills in note-taking. This is very important for future assignments in any subject, for note-taking is critical in learning and studying.


Homework


-TWBW Ch.8 Questions
-Notes must be finished.. If not, go to flex

My thirty day challenge

I consider myself a very procrastinative, so for my thirty day challenge I chose to stop sleeping after school and immediately work on my homework, without doing anything else. I chose to do this, because I tend to get lazy constantly and I'm known to get easily distracted. So by finishing my homework, or at least working on it, at an earlier time, I get to sleep earlier. I consider this both a personal and academic challenge. Sleeping earlier is more healthy for me, and finishing my homework is good for my grades.

Tuesday, Feb. 7th -- Learning Log Post! :)

What We Did 
    As we got into class, we sat in our usual seats and Ms.Lees talked to us about the 30day challenge posts that were supposed to be done last night. She noticed that a lot of people didn't post it and everyone had different excuses. Some peoples' computers didn't work so hopefully those people posted them today! You should probably post on her blog or send her an e-mail about the problems so she understands and gives you an extension on your posts if it happens again. If you don't, Ms.Lees wouldn't know what had happened and think that you just forgot to do them which would be marked as INCOMPLETE homework. I don't think you would want that! Also, she went over how people just wrote 1 or 2 sentences for them, when she exactly said that we had to write a paragraph. She was quite dissappointed because we've been doing so many blog posts and we weren't able to meet the expectations. We also had to write WHAT the 30day challenge was, WHY you chose that, and HOW you're going to achieve your goal. 
     After we went over the 30day challenge expectations, Ms.Lees partnered everyone up with people who we've never worked with. We had to sit beside them, not in front of them so we could see each others work and such. We were assigned to go over our chapter 3 and 4 answers to improve on each others. We had to look at things such as, if the answers had  "I think" in front of the sentences. We had to make sure they were all complete sentences, had reference to the pronouns,could be able to know what the question is, have no spelling errors and no general/vague language like the word "stuff". We critiqued on our partners work and talked about it together to amend our work. We all had to try our best to meet the criteria for Ms.Lees. 
     Almost at the end of the class, Ms.Lees talked to us about how phrasing the words could change the whole meaning to the sentences. She said that if we say we are correcting each other's work, it sounds like we have lots of mistakes and we are just correcting them by ourselves, but if we put the word amend in it, it sounds like we are just improving on the good peice of work that's already there. It sounds a lot more nicer and formal. By saying this, people wouldn't get their feelings hurt as much if they think "correcting" is offensive for them. She also gave an example of saying car crash, not car accident because car accident leads you to think that it was just an accident and it wasn't anyones fault. The truth is that it's usually SOMEONES fault, so using the term car crash sounds more fair and that it was just a crash that had happened, not just an accident. Another example was that, from now on people are going to call child porngraphy, sexual abuse images. Child porngraphy might sound like the children wanted to take those photos for money and they were intended when it's actually forced and it's sexual abuse. It's officially illegal for children to take these kinds of inappropriate photos in Canada. 
     At the end of class, Ms.Lees gave us a couple minutes to work on our chapter 5 questions so we don't get much homework tonight. It didn't turn out too well because some people in the class talked and wandered around when it was supposed to be a quiet working time and Ms.Lees was VERY dissppointed about this so Ms.Lees assigned it for homework and she expects every single answer to be meeting expectations and thorough! 

Why We Did It 
      Some people posted their 30day challenge very poorly with only 1 or 2 sentences without following Ms.Lees instructions. It was important for Ms.Lees to go over and review our 30day challenge post expectations because we've been doing different kinds of posts on our blogs for quite a while and if we still can't post good work without meeting expectations, it's a problem! It's important for everyone to know what is expected and know what they're doing. It's always good to understand the criteria and do the assignments correctly. It's also good to do what is expected and get a good mark! Who doesn't want to get a good mark? :) 
     It was a great way to make friends and talk to new people by working on improving our answers. I know that Ben's partner was Angela and they've never really talked to each other before and by doing this assignment, they were able to know more about each other and get the chance to talk. It was a great way to improve our collaboration skills by doing this! Ms.Lees put people who were very strong with answers with people who needed help on some things and we were able to amend on each others work and improve our answers. It wasn't just correcting our partners work. We had to talk to each other and discuss about what we thought about the question and if one of the partner missed something, they  would  add to their answers. It's a great way to improve our work because sometimes correcting peoples' work can be mean and might be offensive but by adding on what we thought we should add, we didn't feel sad or offended at all. It's always good to know how different people think and compare. One person could be strong in a certain area and the other could too, so they would fill in their empty spaces and improve greatly. 
     It's important to know that phrasing words slightly different could lead to changing the whole meaning to the sentence. By changing a word in your sentence could make the person who's listening to you feel differently. Some people might hear your saying offensively, but after you change a word, they might feel okay about it. 

Connections/Reflection
     My 30day challenge goal was to not procrastinate. I know, some of you guys that don't know me very well might think that I always have my homework in class and I'd probably go home and do my homework right away. YOU'RE WRONG. I'm a very huge procrastinator. Even though I know it's a big problem for me, I always tend to do my homework really late which is not good at all! I remember I went to bed at around 3am a couple times to finish projects last year. Some were even group projects because my group didn't cooperate vey well and I had to do most of the work. Bad memory for me! :( But it was okay because we got to evaluate our group members and they all gave me a good mark! I know it's going to be a quite of challenge for me but as I already mentioned on my post yesterday, I go on facebook a lot which I think is the reason why I push my homework to the lastest. I'm going to try to spend less time on it and see if it works! I'm probably going to take one step at a time because if I try to reach my goal all at once, it might be too much for me! I wish it goes really well! 
     I think that collaboration skills are very important because you won't know every single person that you work with when you grow up. It's not like your going to be best friends with every single one of them! Even if you work with people who you don't know very well, you got  to be confident and try not to feel awkward at all. I'm a really awkward person with people I don't really know well. I'm usually creepy and weird in front of my friends. (Olivia should know very well :) I usually feel uncomfortable telling people what they should add and maybe change with their answers because I feel like I'm mean and it might be offensive for them. I didn't feel too uncomfortable with Dinny because I've worked with him last year in grade 7 before and he doesn't seem to get offended if I tell him that he might've got the question in a different way or such! 
     I think it's important for people to say the write word when speaking or writing because I've realized it makes a lot of difference! I personally feel depressed if people correct my work and leave a whole bunch of crosses or corrections on my work but by saying amending, it's less offensive and I understand it's just a step to improve our work, not a time for dissing about each others work! 

Homework
     Finish chapter 5 questions for tomorrow! 

Tips
     - Remember to think back at what you looked at with your partner today and check if you don't have any errors in your answers to chapter 5 questions. 
     - If you were sick or didn't come to class today, check your classmates blogs to see what we did today!
     - If you aren't able to finish certain homework by tomorrow, contact Ms.Lees by her e-mail and ask for extension with a good excuse!
     - Check your binder to see if ALL your work is done and if not and you need help, go to flex on Thursday at 11:10! It's usually Mondays and Thursdays!
     - Don't go too far ahead on your novel because you might forget some of the things when you're doing the questions!
     - It's National Sweater Day on Thursday! :) 
     - Make sure your blogs are perfect this week because it's your last chance to improve!
     - Check grammer/spelling before you post your blog! 
     - If you have a question about your homework, post on Ms.Lees blog, e-mail her, or contact your study buddies! You should have at least 2! 

Schedule
Monday : Olivia B 

Tuesday : Alice B

Wednesday (double block) : Daniel K

Friday : Luke W (Don't forget to do your last weeks post ASAP! ) 

DANIEL WILL BE BLOGGING TOMORROW!    

MY 30 Day Challenge

Hello Everyone :)
After debating for a long time, I have finally decided on what my 30 day challenge will be!

I have always enjoyed writing very much, almost every day I come up with new ideas for novels. Sometimes my dreams even give me a starting idea that blooms into a whole new story. I picture the names, their appearance and personality and the whole story plot. The problem is: they only ever stay in my mind. I never actually put them on paper. I have had this problem for years! I manage to plan everything out and have developed practically the complete story. It's such a waste for me to just keep it in my head. A few times I have actually started putting the plot down on paper and maybe even written a page of it or two. But that's all that happens! I have at least ten different documents in my computer of my started stories, but I never manage to get past writing a chapter.

In grade 7, we had to write a story that was almost partly a novel. I loved putting my ideas on paper and I managed to ace the project. The only reason I finished it though was because I HAD to. It's not that I don't want to write a novel or that I don't enjoy it, because believe me; I do. It's almost as if I have a fear of failing.

That's why I have chosen to try to start at least one novel. I want to finish at least 3 chapters, and maybe if I manage to do that before 30 days, then I can extend the amount of chapters. I realize that that may not sound like a lot, but planning out a WHOLE story and all of the characters takes a LOT longer than you may think.
The type of challenge I have chosen isn't exactly something that I do separately every day, but it does change over a period of time. What I mean by that is that I may not do an even amount of writing each day do to how busy I am that day, but the result over time should add up. When 30 days has passed, then I can add up the amount of pages and divide them into 30. This way I can see my average amount of pages per day.

I plan to achieve this goal by motivation and believing in myself. I have a friend named Ashley who loves to write too, and she always motivates me to write. We can compare our stories and progress, so when I see her write a lot, then I will want to as well. I will need to put a lot of time and work in to my novel, because I would like for it to be top quality. Tomorrow, I will go through all of my story ideas and choose one. On my calendar I will have a mini goal. Such as: Write at least 4 pages of your novel during the next three days.

I would love to hear your opinions on my goal and if you think it's realistic or not. :)

Exciting Group Name!

Hello everyone! (:
Me and Olivia were discussing about how we should make a new unique name for our blog posting group. We were looking at our blog site in class when Ms.Lees was going through them and since our background picture is bunch of ostriches, maybe we could name it "The Attack of the Ostriches!" I think it's very unique and I like it a lot! I've already made the changes so if you guys don't like it, comment below and we'll try to arrange an another name for it!