Political Project
In the political project, we took on different political related roles, created our own government party, and conversed and debated with other groups about what ideas and changes our country should take to improve America. I was personally a political candidate in the project, so my job was to represent the ideas of my party through debates, speeches, and discussions. The party I created was called the, "Supportive Party", and this name was decided on the fact that many of our stances revolved around the government support of our citizens. I wanted to mainly focus on the ideas of economic inequality in America, health care, college education, and climate change. The first thing I had to do in this project was create a party platform. This was the layout of all our party's opinions on issues we face in the America. Second, I wrote a political speech, running down most of what was said on the party platform but in a more persuasive, speech like way. Third and last, I used all of my collected research to debate other political candidate classmates in city hall. I feel like this project has great importance in the way that I believe all people in our country should be involved in the changes that are being made, and the politics that go on in our country. These decisions being made effect all of us, and it's important that every person in our country is aware of this, and vote. This project has also forced me to justify my own political beliefs, and some of them have changed through discussion and research. Before, I used to discuss many political ideas that I hadn't done much research on without thinking much of it, but now I feel obliged to research the ideas I defend, and really look deep into them.
What Lies Ahead
In the What Lies Ahead project, we look into the future, and what possibilities it may bring us. We are tasked to create a sci-fi story with pictures and a scientific preface. There are three roles in the project, the author, the illustrator, and the scientist. In my group of four I was one of two authors who wrote a story about a discovered alien called a "Blood Bug" that is brought to Earth for tests, and breaks out on a remote island. The story is 35 pages long, and features two art pieces throughout the book, and cover art. This project helped a lot with not only my collaboration and writing skills, but even helped me and the other students think about how our actions now could effect our future, and what the future could look like.
Mock Trial
In the mock trial project, we are tasked to either be on the defending or prosecuting side of a mock case. We are assigned as either a lawyer or witness, and have to play those roles to the best of our ability to try to win our case. Part of our job when the other cases are up is to be the jury, and to be in a group of students who decide the fate of the person in the case. In this project I was a lawyer on the defendant, and I made a cross examination and closing statement. One of the most important things I learned in this project was thinking on my feet, and confidence. Because I was questioning a witness, I had to always be thinking of what the next question I asked them was going to be. Confidence was also important to me, because I wanted to look credible throughout the debate, and wanted to look like I was confident that my side was correct. The jury ended up voting that the defendant was not guilty, and we won the case.
Podcast Project |
In this project we were assigned to create a podcast about another student. We learned about narration, editing and adding music, finding out meaning in a story, etc.. I interviewed Griffin Nun, and I found out that it was hard to work with a small portion of content. To find meaning in the story, make it interesting, and make sure that the audience understood what the podcast was about, I had to make the best of the resources I had, and fill in the rest with narration. After listening to the podcast over a few times, I found the meaning of the podcast, which made the podcast much more interesting and important, and made editing easier. This project will help me heavily on writing, because finding meaning within a story is very important to keep an audience interested.