My Bucket List

Eavesdropping 101

For the eavesdropping assignment, a group of us went to the band room. We are pretty familiar with the band teachers so it wasn't too out of place that we were there. The conversation lasted for about 15 minutes between the four of us and the teacher. Micayla had been recording out teacher while I observed body posture and language. Morally, it felt wrong to be recording this conversation. Our teacher is a very trusting person, but on the flip side it made me feel like a secret agent. The conversation made me realize that certain teachers treat some of their students like friends. Te way he spoke was very casual and his posture was relaxed. It really just depends on the kind if relationship you have with them. Our conversation involved talking about the amount of grade eights that we're coming up to play in the jazz band, and the general worry about if it would be enough. 

If I were writing a short story this assignment would give me insight as to how a dialogue would work between a teacher and a student in a story. At most, anyone can determine the chatacter of a person by the way they act when you are speaking to them. Shifting eyes, interruptions, different topics, body language, etc. Personally, I believe that when someone is keeping eye contact, has their focus on you, and is genuinely listening instead of thinking of the next thing they're going to say is the sign of a good conversationalist. 

When more than two people are involved in a conversation, I find that more often than not it results in multiple ideas being said at once without a real base of the conversation. That doesn't go for everyone, or all the time; it is just much easier to talk with someone one on one to stay on topic. I've found that it doesn't really matter what age you are, if you're respectful and willing to actually e invested in a conversation, people will trust you. That overall has been the most surprising to me and it's become more apparent to me over the last year. 

Depending on who you're speaking to, spoken conversation can be either really formal or really chill. When you're writing something or texting I find that people care more about what you think if there is no punctuation. If I am writing an email to a teacher, everything has to be perfect. Correct punctuation or who knows what they'll think of me. In person, I am the complete opposite. 

Everyone is very different in the way they speak to people they know and don't know. 

Newspaper Blackout Poetry (Notes)

#Tedxfg

Going to see Ted talks was a different experience for me. I knew what they were but I had never actually seen then for myself. I love listening to other peoples' stories. I know that sometimes I am consumed with things that are going on in my own life so this gives me more of an insight as to what goes on in the lives of others.

Nereo II was the very first presenter and he set the bar really high. He started out with a spoken word poem, and then went on to explain how his life had went from smuggling drugs across the border and painting patrol cars, to investing his time into making beautiful spoken word poetry and teaching people how to go after what they're passionate about. Nereo II closed with another beautiful spoken word poem, this time with accompaniment. 

Abigail Theano-Pudwill also opened with a spoken word poem about technology. I'm pretty sure everyone in the audience could relate to what she had to say. Her topic was "Facebook is not my friend, you are." This topic had to deal with how we have become so consumed with technology that we sometimes forget to invest our time in the people around us face to face instead of screen to screen. 

The last presentation was done by a girl named Lauren Chopeck. Her presentation stunned me the most. She had no script, she just spoke about the heavy burdens that had been placed on her heart. Lauren told us her story and how it still affects her today. There was not a single person in the room who did not have their eyes glued to the stage, everyone was hanging on to her every word. I have mixed emotions on this presentation, but the one word I would use to describe it, is powerful.

A small group of us went to this, but we all had a very good time getting to know eachother better and discussing what we had heard. 

Quick Write - Worst Meal

Anything meat, is probably the worst meal for me. I am a vegetarian, so the idea of eating meat to me, is not very appealing. The texture, smell, and idea of meat just turns me off. I do not mind watching other people eat meat, but the times when I tried it as a kid resulted in gagging. Hot dogs are something that I did eat as a kid, but now the thought of them just makes me cringe. A lot of my friends love to eat ribs, and in our group chats there is the occasional "let's go eat ribs." My natural response to them is "I'll just eat carrots." 

Quick Write - Eden

My imaginary Eden would be bright. Beautiful blue skies, sun shining, and not a dark cloud in sight. This would be a place with no judgements, and insecurities would not control any thought process. This is a place where faith takes a big role. Everyone has something to put their hope in, and no matter wha the circumstances are, we always comes out stronger in the end. My loved ones would be here, stress would be subsided, and people would be filled with not only happiness, but joy. 

Ideally, another Eden that I have would be sitting on stage, front row, black dress, black dots on the pages in front of me, no audience to be seen; just the conductor. I would have the most beautiful, lyrical, professional solo placed on the stand in front of me and not a nervous bone in my body. I would play my flute with grace, unafraid of making a mistake. The people around me would be my second family, all supportive of anyone in this orchestra. As I look around the room, everyone would be working towards one goal, one beautiful song that would make jaws drop. 

Skype Reflection

The Skype session went really well today. Everyone was prepared and the kids seemed to be pretty interested in what we had to say. It was cool that we got to put their procedural writing into practice, and it was a fun group project as well. 

I think skyping is really effective in learning for both our grade and theirs. It's a new experience and we get to see their working habits compared to ours. It's exciting and it keeps us all engaged because it's a different way of doing things. The grade 3's are genuinely interested in doing well and learning from us. It's pretty cool to get a different classes perspective on things.