Personal Edition Numero...Done. Forever?

http://goo.gl/Kfxhy

Overall, I loved this course. Sad to say it's over.

Favourite Assignment? Why?

My favourite assignment would have to be the Six Word memoirs, if that's not obvious enough from scrolling through my blog...I just found that for people like me, who can't write a long meaningful story, presenting a piece limited to six words with emotion, humour, truth, etc was a really unique way to write. I also thought this assignment was really fun and finding picture to associate pictures the words was my favourite part!

Least Favourite Assignment? Why?

I actually liked all the major units we did...and I can't say I liked anything the least. If I was to choose a minor assignment I disliked, it was probably the reading reflections...but thats probably the same for most people. They were just kind of an annoyance to do but I got through it. 

Friday Reading?

I actually liked friday reading a lot because it was a nice way to end the week. Even though all the books I chose to read this year were SO BAD and ended up finishing...none of them, I still liked the concept of having time to read them. This was definitely a good idea, I loved sitting there with my tea reading a book...at school!

Monday Written Reflection?

Hated this. That is all........okay well, if I must explain, it took away from actually reading the book a lot and I didn't always know what to talk about. However, I think I started to hate it less as the semester went on because I got the hang of it more. I took it less seriously and was able to just talk about my book like I would to someone face to face, and my reflections got a lot better because of that...in my opinion at least. 

The WRN?

...couldn't even tell you where mine is right now. May be shredded to pieces, poor soul. This didn't really work out but I'm okay with that! I loved the technology aspect of this course much more!

Blogging?

I've never blogged before so at first I was a bit skeptical. I ended up really liking it because you can actually put ANYTHING you want on it. Even though others are reading what you post, its for YOU not them. You can be as personal as you want and don't have to worry about negative comments being shot back at you or rejection. Although it can be a bit annoying at times because you constantly have to update it, you find that there's "blogging days" where all of a sudden you feel inspired to make 5 posts at a time, and then it doesn't actually feel like homework. Its just fun...and a great outlet. 

Tweeting?

I used Twitter before we started using it in this course but I found that it changed my perspective on this social media site after we used it for the purpose of writing creatively. I loved twitter fiction because, like the Six Word Memoirs, I liked making a meaningful statement in a short amount of words. 

The integration of technology into the course?

I love technology so I loved using it in this course. Save the trees! It was nice not having to always worry about handing something in, and having a firm "good" paper copy of something. In a way, using technology made things less serious and less professional...but for this course I think thats the best thing that could happen. It encourages people to write what they want and how they want without worrying that its not perfect, a solid finished piece. In a way, technology can make us better writers. 

What you learned about yourself as a reader, writer, and thinker, creator?

I don't take risks. I play it safe. This course taught me that I have a lot to say and now I know how exactly to get my voice out there. 

Comments/Compliments/Constructive criticism for Ms. McLauchlan about the course

Such a great course Ms. McLauchlan! So easy going which is perfect of this kind of class. Nothing felt like work because most of it was fun. We got a lot accomplished and I'm proud of most of my work. I liked that you asked us to add art and different media, like photography, to a lot of our projects...and I love art so that was great to incorporate into an English class!

Advice for future CW students?

Write what you want. Say what you want. Most people won't look at your blog so don't be scared to open up...then again, if they do look at your blog its probably not because they don't appreciate your work or you as a person (in the end, nobody is judging you). Speak like you would to a friend and write like you would if you had a journal right in front of you. A lot of your writing in this course may  make you come off as a pretty "soft"...don't worry about that, nobody cares.  WRITE ANYTHING. Don't bullshit your way through this course writing things that don't mean anything to you. You're making it a lot harder and you're not gonna have a fun semester. Everyone has good and bad times they've been though, embarrassing moments, major life struggles, gained love and lost love, and secrets. Use those to your advantage. Good luck guys. 

                        Authors Note

        I'm a person who, generally, doesn't take any risks. I could live through my entire life, not doing most of the items on my Bucket List, and still be content...but I don't want that. I want to make myself try new and exciting things that I wouldn't normally do. This project will hopefully give me some kind of motivation to do a lot of the items on my list because life's too short. I know thats a huge cliché but its true. It gives me a visual to look at that I can always go back to now and again to cross items off the list that I've accomplished or come up with ideas on how to tackle another item. As far as theme goes, I don't really have one...other than the fact that all my list items are relatively safe and not very risky. Every 10 or so item I tried to add some sort of act that would do good for others, like sponsoring a child in Africa, building a well, paying for someone else's groceries or helping a less fortunate family have the perfect Christmas. Also, I added a lot of travel items to my list...so hopefully I end up getting to those places in my life! For my project I did a video with Jordan and Lane. We added some clips where we have the list item written on objects or paper, and some where we literally act out the item. We hoped to grab the viewers attention and keep them interested, so we added lots of different styles. We made some of our video clips funny and some more serious and meaningful, we really tried to make an impact on the viewer by doing this. One thing that surprised me about myself through this project was that I found that actually really liked coming up with visual representations to go along with my list items. I was pretty surprised by the videos I took because they all worked out perfectly! I loved coming up with new ways to represent my items, for example, with my item "Learn how to skateboard" I literally wrote it in marker on the back of a skateboard and filmed the bottom of the skateboard. Also, another one of mine was "Start writing in a journal" so I filmed myself writing that item directly into a journal, finishing by ripping out the page. I thought it was really fun creating these new ideas and video clips. One thing I really loved about this project was that it teaches us to live life to the fullest for ourselves but it also teaches us to make other people's lives a bit better too,  pay it forward, and I've always found that really important so I'm glad we did a project that incorporates this idea. 

                 "Now What"

          This year I started to actively get involved in supporting human rights and global issues. Although, that's not to say that I've never been before, its just now that I'm older it makes it a lot easier to help and participate in certain humanitarian groups. For example I joined Just Cause this year at school and am really liking it. So, for some of my bucket list items I tried to incorporate ways to help other people globally who don't have equal opportunity to us or have their everyday basic needs being met...like clean water and food. So, two of my items include sponsoring a child in Africa and saving up money to buy a well or other supplies overseas as well (I grouped those two items together for my "Now What" because they have a similar purpose and strategy as to how to tackle them off my list). Well, to sponser a child will be roughly thirty dollars a month and a well can be hundreds of dollars…maybe even thousands (I suppose I should start by getting more information about this item). In simple terms, I need to acquire currency. In simpler terms, I need a job. So, I'm going to tackle this list item by first getting a job (fingers crossed for either the Keg, Lush, or Chapters). Once I do this I will be able to sponsor a child and pay the thirty dollars each month. Also, I can put aside 5-10 dollars each month to save up for the well and other necessary supplies for people. For both of these items I would need to go through some sort of organization…and I was leaning towards World Vision, so I would just need to contact them. I really want to cross this bucket list item off because I think I could really help someone and its not hard at all to do. 

Personal Edition Numero...something? No idea.

    Twitter Challenge #drama #followmeplease

         I feel as if, if I was celebrity I would try as hard as I could to tweet back at people on twitter...especially if I only had 3000 followers...ya, I think I could definitely find the time...hint hint, Wooden Sky...I've tweeted at a lot of celebrities for this twitter challenge thing and, not gonna lie, it's kinda making me lose a little respect for a lot of the celebs I love...except for Mumford and Sons, those guys are very busy, I would assume...so they have a pass. Seriously though, I told them an item off my bucket list and its just a huge let down when they don't tweet back. Allllsssooo since we're on the topic of twitter, I hate the whole follower idea....no one ever follows me and it especially sucks when I follow someone and they don't follow me back. It's like, I know you got the notification on your iPhone, so just click the bird button and follow me back. Like honestly, I don't really a care about what they tweet but i just want more followers so ill follow them anyways... And then later on ill unfollow them I suppose. Oh ya, I also hate how twitter has turned me into this kind of person. Reading over that last little rant on followers, i annoyed myself. Like it actually scares me how much I care about this, and ya, I'm aware it's not normal, that's not a question in my mind. Anyways that's my thoughts on the twitter challenge/twitter....

Personal Edition Numero...#softtweet

I love chocolate. Like, a lot.

Reading Reflection # 12

       Tweet #1: 

I went online today and read #PostSecret...I think that, sometimes, a secret tells a lot more than what's written...@Cre8tiveHavoc #RR12

       Tweet #2:

Check out the new Christmas secrets!There's great visuals and it puts a weird twist on most people's favourite holiday@Cre8tiveHavoc #RR12