The article I chose is related to the Millennium Goal, “Achieve Universal Primary Education”. Recently, we started a unit which has to do with the MUN (Model United Nations). During class, we got to watch a video which helped us understand more about what the MUN was, the history of MUN, and the separate goals of the MUN. These goals are called the Millennium Development Goals. As I stated before, I will be talking about a article that focuses on a certain goal which is “Achieve Universal Primary Education”. The link which will take you to the article is right HERE. The title of the article is “Strengthening education in Bangladesh”. This article talks about the village of Matiranga, in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The Hill Tracts, a region of Bangladesh, is home to around 1.5 million people and among those people, there are many different communities that all speak different languages. Since 2003, the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) has been helping the people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, promoting development and creating a variety of opportunities. The UNDP has created a education programme which aims to strengthen education within the society. In December 2009, the European Union funded to help the education programme start a new phase. This new phase focused on making education both relevant and accessible to people of young ages. This effort has caused multilingual education in 150 schools within the region. During the program, teachers gradually move on, and start to teach the language of Bengali so that when the students near the end of primary school, they can switch to the national curriculum, as they can now be taught in Bengali. This education program has been a lot of help, and has shown definite changes towards schools where there are high dropout rates.

After I read this article I found out that slowly but surely, the MUN were starting to accomplish their goals. At first, I found it hard to believe that the goals could be achieved when all of them had many challenges, in which the MUN would have to face along the way. However, after thinking about this article I began to realize that with the combined thought and reasoning of multiple representatives from all around the world, these goals could be achieved. Within this article I can see that the UNDP had already made quite a difference in Bangladesh. Promoting multilingual education within a region where a variety of communities exist is a very good step to achieving one of the goals, promoting universal education. If the UNDP keeps this up, they will be able to achieve their goal of universal education. This will make a huge difference toward our society. With more people, there will be more job opportunities as our global society progresses further, and becomes more complex. Also, with more educated people around the world, this will mean that there will be less people who have to live in poverty as all of them will be able to earn enough money to support themselves, and their family. A question I want to ask is “How can multilingual education be achieved, when there is a limited amount of teachers. Does there have to be one teacher for each language, or does there have to be one teacher who is capable of teaching all different languages?”. Another question I want to ask is “Can this education program be applied to different countries if the languages that have to be taught using the program are different?”.

We had a Court case during science class concerning KMT. We had two sides. One side was defending KMT and proving that it was right, while the other side was proving the KMT wrong calling it a fraud. We had around three weeks to prepare for the trial. During those three weeks each of the different sides gathered information from experiments etc, which would help prove their point during the trial. There were 6 separate roles that played different parts during the trial. The roles were the bailiff, the jury, the prosecution team, the defense team, the photographer, and the stenographer. All of the people who played these separate roles each contributed to the trial and the process in a different way.

1)    Pictures/videos from the class website

2)    Do you agree with the jury’s verdict? Why or why not? Include at least 5 facts from evidence that was presented during the trial.

I agree with the jury’s verdict. The jury’s verdict was that the team who defended KMT won and that KMT was correct. I think the jury’s verdict is correct because the defending team had handed in all their data to me the bailiff before hand, ensuring that that they would be able to use all of their information during the trial. Also, the defending team presented their information in a clear organized format using different graphs, tables etc. This way, they could refer to to these different forms of representation during the trial which would give them some leverage over the other team, because the jury’s would be able to see that the defending team put a lot of thought in their work while also including clear facts and data. During the trial, the defending team asked a lot of different questions to the prosecution team. I could tell that they had chosen their words carefully, blocking all possible loopholes in which the prosecution team could use to answer their questions. This way, the defending team could minimize the chances of the prosecution team answering their questions. The defending team also had made sure that everyone from their group had something to say. This way, when a member of the defending team got called up as a witness he or she would know how to reply to the questions they were asked, because they had already gone over the possible options with their group members.

3)    What was your job? Explain how you fulfilled your responsibilities.

My job was the bailiff. I had to gather all of the information from both the defending team and the prosecuting team beforehand. I also had to make sure that all of the data and information from both teams was handed in to me before the trial, or else the the data and information couldn’t be used without permission from the other team. I fulfilled my responsibilities as a bailiff by reminding everyone to send me their information and data via first class or by a usb, before the day of the trial. I then took all of the information, whether it was a graph, a table, a picture, a video etc and then organized everything so that on the day of the trial, when someone asked me to pull up a certain file or information, I would be ready to do so.

4)    If you could do a different job during the court case, which would you have volunteered for and why?

I would have volunteered for being a member of the defending team. This is because there were many ways to  defend KMT, and by doing a number of experiments I would be able to certify KMT. Then, on the day of the trial I would be able the information I gathered and I could use it to prove my point, going back to each of the separate experiments and how each of them included evidence which backed up KMT. Also, by being part of the defending team I could learn to cooperate with a number of people who all shared the same point of view as me. We could use our knowledge on the KMT, and evidence we gathered and we could use it on the day of the trial ensuring that the prosecution team wouldn’t be able to go against us.

5)    Explain one or more thing you learned about KMT during the investigations

Something I learned about the KMT is the fact that without Kinetic energy things can change. For example, one of the experiments we conducted was putting a blown up balloon into the freezer. Basically what would happen was that a few days later when we took out the balloon it was smaller then when we had first measured and put it in. This is because inside the freezer it is very cold. Because of this, there is no heat meaning that there is no Kinetic energy to fuel the oxygen inside the balloon. Because of the lack of heat and Kinetic energy, the oxygen molecules inside the balloon couldn’t expand and because of the cold, the oxygen molecules would actually slow down and slowly go away causing the balloon to become smaller.

6)    Explain how you improved as a scientist during the KMT investigations and the trial.

I improved as a scientist during the KMT investigation and trial.  During the KMT investigation and trial, we had to conduct many Labs. This way, my skill in writing Labs become better and I was able to record my data in many different ways, such as a graph, a table etc. Also, I learned to concentrate on the task ahead as I worked my way through different Labs constantly reminding myself how I could tell the KMT was applied in each new experiment. This way I could build on my focus. Finally, during the actual trial I figured out just how important it was to take accurate notes. As I observed, I could see that the defending team was questioning the prosecution team asking them if their data was valid by asking the temperature, the day, the weather etc. I now know that when taking notes even the little things matter and can be used against you during a trial .

What did you like/dislike about the novel?

Something I liked about the novel was the fact that the author really knew how to relate to real life events, which made events happening in the story really seem realistic. One example would be when during the story, they relate to Ken Saro Wiwa. This is because Ken Saro Wiwa was a person who told the truth about the government, and despite all the protests from around the world the government found a excuse to execute him. One of the main protagonists in the story was also someone who told the truth, and the author relates to Ken Saro Wiwa in a way, in which you can really compare the situation he was in and how this character must feel. Something I disliked about this novel was that I was confused at times and there were some parts of the story which  were left un explained till the end. One example would be when two of the protagonists, Sade and Femi are left behind in a cafe. This is because after a tragic event, there dad the person who told the truth about the government decided that it was too dangerous for the children and sent Sade and Femi to England with a women. This women apparently had false passports which would allow Sade and Femi to get on a plane. After they reached England, the women instead of taking Sade and Femi to their destination left them in a cafe alone. This women’s actions weren’t very clear. Even though we can make assumptions I think it would have ben better if we got a straight forward reason.

How did you apply what you learned from the novel to your project?

After reading The Other Side of Truth, I learned a lot of new things that I didn’t know before. This new information that I acquired from the book came in handy when I was doing my project. My project question was about the support that refugees got when they went to the US. Even though this story takes place mostly in England, I was still able to get a general idea of some of the basic help that refugees got. For example, when refugees arrive at their new country, I learned that the refugee supporting agencies help the refugees find a temporary home, which in the book turns out to be living with other people who volunteer for the time being. I was able to take this information from the book and I was able to compare it with some of the things that I searched up myself. There were some minor differences but in general I was able to check the information I got by using two different sources, a different website and the book.

For the project, what skills did you learn or apply in a different way than you had before?

One of the skills I knew before was how to cooperate well with a partner. Usually, in previous projects I would make sure that when cooperating with a partner we always did the same things so we could get it done together. However, for this project I decided to do things differently by not doing the same thing as my partner. This way we could get things done faster, and we could always read each others work and give feedback. At home, I would usually call my partner so that we could talk things over. However, for this project we mainly used google docs. This way we could read each others work and we could also make some necessary changes.

This is a picture of the cover of the book, The Other Side of Truth:

Where would you fall on the stress and learning graph? Why?

I think I would fall at a 3 (Relaxed Alertness). This is because I already learned about fraction & decimals at home. Even though this unit helped clarify things, I didn’t find it too difficult. This is not to say that I wasn’t stressed. In some parts of the unit, I got confused with some of the different techniques we used to convert decimals to fractions, or fractions to decimals. In the end, I managed to figure out how to do this properly without making a lot of mistakes. Also, I got a bit stressed when preparing for math tests. This is because I was afraid I would forget what I learned, and also I might make careless mistakes. As for learning, in class there were times when I didn’t get what we were talking about, but in the end I usually caught up. Either that, or I clarified what I had heard with my friends just to make sure if I was getting the correct information.

What was challenging about this unit? What was easy?

I think something that was challenging for me was representing different values in different forms. This was especially hard for me when we had to do this with decimals and fractions. I had to work on building my skills. Three of the new main forms of representation we used for this unit were diagrams, grids, and number lines. I found the number line and the diagram the most challenging. For number lines, it was hard for me because we had to find out the exact place where a decimal or fraction went, meaning we had to divided the different sections of each number line even more. As for diagrams, I just found it confusing to solve problems with them as I didn’t really  get the concept. Now of course, I am comfortable with using both forms of representation. One of the things that I found easy from the start was doing long calculations. Sometimes I made simple errors, but other then that I didn’t find it as confusing as using diagrams or number lines. That’s because calculations are straightforward, unlike diagrams and number lines which require more thinking and comparing.

How was your effort in class and at home reflected in your assessment results?

I tried my best in class. I tried to concentrate on my work and tried my best to not make any errors in my calculation. Also, when it was a group project I would cooperate with whom ever I was working with, making sure that we didn’t make any major mistakes which would throw us off. In home, I would do personal research so that I would be ready when we had to do our assessment. To get prepared for the 7-8 questions,  I would get help from different people who were more intelligent then me, so that they could test my understanding on both fractions and decimals by giving me more difficult questions that I wasn’t familiar with. In the end, I think all of my studying and effort payed off. I think  I did ok in the assessment but there still was a lot of room for improvement. This just means that next time I will have to work harder and I will have to set more goals.

What activities did you like in this unit?

I liked all of the activities because all of them were very helpful, and let me explore new and different ways of approaching unfamiliar situations steadily.  Also, they gave me different ways in which I could learn math so that made math more interesting. However, I would pick the Proportional Practice just because I got to work on improving my weakness.  This is because Proportional Practice looks on converting decimals and fractions into different forms, while also letting you experience comparing the different forms with percentages. It also allows you to practice finding out the total and then using that knowledge to further investigate, finding out the different percentages of each of the different parts of the number line, grid, diagram etc.

T.A.P stands for Teacher Advisory Program. Every Wednesday, we have T.A.P in between periodes 2 and 3, or between periods 6 and 6. In T.A.P we get to meet up with students from different classes and we get to know each other better. T.A.P is also a time for getting to know the teacher in charge of your T.A.P class. I will now list the Pros and Cons of T.A.P and some suggestions.

Pros: I think a Pro of T.A.P is that we get to meet new students. This way, we learn to cooperate with new people. We also have more time to go and talk to the teacher and ask about events happening in school and other things which were curious about. We also have extra time in which we can go to ask advice from fellow students or the teacher. Also, because of T.A.P we miss around 10 minutes of each class from that day and so we get to relax a bit.

Cons: I think a Con would be that T.A.P sometimes is too relaxed, and makes the period seem very long. However, this is not saying that we should make T.A.P shorter. Instead, I think we should make it a bit longer so we can discuss more about different subjects. This is because the time it takes for us to discuss certain subjects really depends on what we are doing for that class. Some subjects take longer to discuss because what we are learning for that subject is more complicating.

Suggestions: I think we should have T.A.P two times a week, because if we are trying to meet new people and discuss about different topics we should at least be able to do this two times a week. Because if we don’t, I think we kind of forget about what we were doing the week before and we have to take some time to refresh our memories.

C.A.S stands for Community and Service.  Us students at CDNIS have to help out with the school community and the community outside of school. So far, I haven’t done a lot of things so I think I will have to do some research to find out what I can do to help the community around me. So far I have helped out in my church, cleaning up and holding winter concerts etc to entertain the adults there. I think I will have to work on doing more things both in and out of school, which will benefit the community.

Watch this space for my Hong Kong Heritage documentary about Chi Lin Nunnery (Diamond Hill).

You can watch the movie in progress at my website (Google Process Journal website)

The documentary I have been working on concerning one of the Heritage sites of Hong Kong is ready. The process has been very exciting and I am proud to present the final product.

Click here to view the embedded video.

a) I like…

I like the fact that we got to get together as grade 7. This way, we didn’t have to spend as much time because the teachers didn’t have to explain to us one by one. Also, we could share our opinions and ideas with many people. When we needed help, we could also turn to our fellow students for answers to our questions. This way, we could experience what it was like to help each other and figure out questions without an adults help. In general, helping each other made us more independent in a way, not always relying on adults and teachers for the answers.

b)I wish…

I wish we could have seen more movies like the one we saw which explained different places of HongKong. This way, we could have had a more clearer idea of what a documentary was like. This would give us less trouble when we started to film and create our actual documentary, because beforehand we got a lot of examples which gave us a basic idea of what to do.

c)What if…

What if the groups were larger. If the groups were larger, there could be more then one person working as each role. This way, we could learn to be more cooperative while also learning to express our ideas to others, and also take in different ideas. We would also have less to do and we could have ‘arguments’ which helped us to decide on what truly was the best way to make a good documentary.

For english, we had to write a story on something that had happened during our life. We had to utilize all the different skills and techniques that we had learned during the unit. This way our story would be engaging for the reader.  After we did that, what we had to do was we had to make a presentation explaining some of the choices that you made which helped make the story better.

Some of the skills I learned while doing this was on how to use things such as similes, metaphors, personification, suspense etc while writing a story. In parts of the story I used similes and metaphors which helped paint a picture in the readers mind. This was because I was comparing bits of my story with something that the readers knew.  This way, it would be easier for them to picture the setting or certain objects in my story. I also used personification in parts of my story. This way it would make the story more interesting if I made things come alive.

For my presentation I decided that I would have different categories which explained my story and the techniques I used. In one point, after we had finished writing our first draft for our story, we got to get feedback  from other students. What I did was, I took writing from a part of my story in the first draft and took the same part of the story but from the final copy and underlined the parts I changed. During my presentation, I explained why I had changed these certain things and how they helped improve my story.

If I could make my presentation again I would like to improve it by adding some explanations on why I changed certain things on the presentation itself. This way, the audience could follow along even if I spoke to quickly by looking at the words on the screen. Overall, I think this task was a good experience for me. This was because we got to experience what it was like to be a author. Also, we got to learn how to give a good presentation to someone without getting them confused.

These are parts of my presentation:

The thing I liked most about our Patterns Unit was the fact that we got to learn how to create formulas. Formulas are interesting because with them, you could find out and get numbers without having to find out numbers before it in the pattern. One of the things I liked the least was how we had to solve number sequences. This is because they  were very straight forward and we didn’t get the chance to think while making x and y input tables. Also, I am better and finding formulas then at finding patterns. I think this is because by using x and y my brain is able to relate better to other numbers in the formula. I think I learned to use the input output table really well because we had to use it in a lot of situations. I stil have one question which is, is there a easier way to find out a formula for a pattern without having to test out every option. I think Patterns will be helpful in real life because people can predict important matters. For example, people can predict when a earthquake or tsunami will happen looking at the patterns of the ones before.

This is a picture of one of the problems we had to solve. I think this problem is interesting because it includes a lot of the techniques we learned in the Patterns Unit.