Heading down the blogging road

Hello Planning people... our class is done, and I'm taking a break from teaching Planning for a while, so... thanks for being a part of the blog activities this year and good luck in you future classes as you continue to develop your goals about money, health, careers, education, and life.

Finances Unit - 1 post

Choose one of the following topics on which to make a thoughtful post on your blog:

1. Now that you've looked at budgets for your future, what's your financial plan to help you achieve your goals (think about the 7 steps)?

2. What are some things (maybe a top ten list) you could do to ensure that you have reached some of your financial goals by the time you are 31 (like 15-year plan?

3. What are some risks in spending too much time worrying about money? Is our society too consumeristic? What values get left behind when people are always trying to "get ahead?"

next unit: Finances

After you've finished your 3 Issues Unit posts (see below), you can start thinking about our Financial Planning & Budgeting Unit. What does it coast to live outside of "home?" What does university tuition cost? basement suites? apartments? bus passes? vehicle insurance? campus parking fees? a cart full of groceries? ...Start figuring out (using the internet) some post-secondary expenses (record them on a word or appleworks file) and gather some pictures of things you'd like to do or have after you graduate.

Issues Unit Posts (3)

For the community & social issues unit, you should update your blog with at least three posts on the topics below (three well-organized posts will earn full marks for the blog section of your unit evaluation). Choose three from:

1. Provide some background on the issue you chose for the photo-essay. What did you learn from your internet searches? What did you learn from your "field research" with the cameras? This is a chance to show your opinion and fill in the details your photo-essay may not have provided. Giving references would be useful, as would placing your issue in a broader context (e.g. if you did littering at DPTS, how does it compare with littering & pollution in other parts of the world).

2. Identify an important, relevant, and appropriate community or social issue you would like to study or discuss (different from the one you picked for the photo essay). What are the sides to the debate? What arguments do people (or you) give to support particlar views on the issue? Giving examples and references would be useful.

3. Find an online location where you can participate in an activity that supports or promotes human rights. If you can, you could start such an activity (a blog or web forum on tolerance or human rights, email campaign, getting information from a member of the government, etc.). You may also use your blog to evaluate the outcome/s of the human rights activity -- report on whether the activity is effective, etc. (helps address portfolio Aspect 2.3).

4. Use the internet to help identify a local or global situation where action is needed to support or promote respect for diversity. First, define diversity (e.g. cultural, religious, learning, social, gender, generational, etc.). Describe the situation, identify the root causes and appropriate actions that could develop respect for diversity and lessen the conflict (helps address portfolio Aspect 2.4).

5. Affording post-secondary education is a growing issue. Where do you plan to attend after high school? Pick an institution you'd like to attend (even of you haven't made plans). Using the internet for information, write up a small profile of what the college, university, or institution is like (programs, campus, accomodations, recreation, tuition cost, etc.). You can include a picture or link to their website if you like.

6. As we figure out career paths, issues, ourselves, and plan for the future, we are faced with a world that is very small and very big at the same time. One reason I think it is small is because technology has made everything available to us all the time. I also think that globalization has robbed many communities of their identity, making strip-malls out of towns and turning people into buyers, and threatening the environment. I think it is big (maybe cold or lonely) because all of these changes make it harder for individuals to make meaningful connections to the people and places around them. Our Planning course has moved back and forth from the individual (health, careers, skills) to society (issues, health, etc.). One idea that links the parts of the course is "citizenship;" what does it take to be a member of society? Where does personal freedom and social responsibility begin? What's your opinion? Discuss any of these "Planning" issues as they relate to media awareness, globalization, citizenship, fast-food culture, or challenges to identity.

Post your three pieces by the end of the unit, please (June 3)

Careers Unit blogs

1. Top Ten Interview Skills (list based on Lifechoices questions Part 2 #H.1)
2. Top Ten List of (your choice) -- advice on a relevant topic like how to do well on tests, how to avoid peer pressure, how to stay drug-free, how to be a better athlete, how to be a good friend, etc.
3. Optional... try another Top Ten List if you want
4. What did you think of the interview activity? Did you use any of the interview skills from you top ten list? How did your interviews go? Which one went the best for you? Why? (comment here if you like)

Post these by the end of the unit please (May 13/05)

Tradesperson Assignment

Planning 10 Careers "Lab" assignment on Trades (to be completed in class Thursday, April 21/05)

First block:
1. Search online to find out what kinds of trades are out there (e.g. welding, carpentry, millwright, drafting, plumbing, masonry, electrician, roofing, building maintenace, etc.)
2. Gather some information about a trade or trades program -- what kinds of things do you do in the job, what do you get paid, what kind of training did you need? where did you get it?
3. Prepare a brief statement as if you were a tradesperson in that trade. This is a two-minute speech where you give your (fake) name, decribe your job, what you like/dislike, your training, etc. Suggestion: write down or print out a few notes to make the "speech" go easier.

Second block:
1. Practice you speech to yourself a couple of times so you don't have to read any notes... become the tradesperson!
2. Deliver your speech to the video camera in the "speaker's corner" set up in class. Press record on the camera, speak clearly & directly to the mike/camera, try to use vocal inflection, facial expression, etc. that fits your "persona" -- keep the whole thing under 2 minutes!

Miss today? Figure this one out on your own and let me know by comment how/where you did an alternative assignemnt.

New posts for Health unit

Four or more thoughtful and thorough entries on YOUR blog are expected for the current unit (Health & Wellness)...

1. PARTY program feedback (what you learned)
2. Results of your mental disability research (click here for pdf file)
3. Brief results from two of your classmates' mental disability studies
4. Summary of your plans for health project planning, and project reflection (what did you do, how did you do it -- a "behind the scenes" on your health project -- also a good place to post a picture of your poster or a screen shot from your powerpoint)
5. Optional -- reflect on what you learned from our presentations on HIV/Aids & Health issues awareness

As always, you are also encouraged to make other relevant posts related to your thoughts and work in Planning 10 (what's you opinion on piercing after the presentation?), and leave respectful and useful comments on your classmates' blogs.

Website questions for you

Optional... if you have advice or opinions on web design, read the "Website help needed" post at my main (thielmann) blog

3 required posts

1. An introduction to yourself on your blog -- this could be a summmary of the bio you shared in class.

2. A comment on my blog about the online self-assessment you completed in February.

3. A summary of your skills presentation on your blog -- what went well? what would you do differently? what challenges did you face in preparing your project? What did you learn from doing it?

(all three due by Wednesday, March 16th)

First task... online self-assessment

There are many tests on the internet to measure your health, intelligence, personality, confidence, skills, and fincancial plans. Some are free, some or not. Some are useful, some are not. Your goal is to find (and take) two free, useful, online tests about anything appropriate to Planning 10.

You may have to look through a few test sites before you find what you want (e.g. http://www.testcafe.com has some good and bad ones). Explore with a good search before you commit to a test.

You will decide if the test/results are private & free (e.g. don't require a login or a fee), and if the information you get is useful or not (from the perspective of a Planning 10 student). To show your work, respond to this blog (one comment per student) by saying

1. the web addresses and titles of two free/useful online tests
2. what you thought of your results -- were they accurate? meaningful?
3. what value would you place on the tests?, would you recommend it to others?
4. put your name in your comment (e.g. Marcy B.) so I can give you some marks

Due... have your comment about what you did complete for Friday, Feb. 18th

Welcome new class!

First new post on the old Planning blog!... we'll use this site to share work and post ideas related to Planning 10

Last shot (here) for Portfolio work

After Planning 10 is done, completing your grad portfolio requirements will be your full responsibility. You have been able to contribute to many "Choice Aspects" in this course: 1.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 6.3, 6.4 -- most of them at the 3 out of 5 level. Read through the requirements for each of the 4th and 5th mark out of 5 in the Choice section of your Grad Program Guide (pages 25-64). You may wish to write or create some evidence which shows that you have addressed these criteria (and submit on paper or online). Examples of evidence can be seen in the Portfolio Guide (pages 71-77). You can base your evidence on something you have already done in Planning or elsewhere, or you could write/create something new. To get the 4th and 5th mark on a "Choice Aspect," you can submit your evidence here, on your blog, drag to the Hand-in server folder, or on paper/hard product. About three blog contributions are expected for your final unit evaluation (less if one of them is more "involved") -- e.g. Financial planning feedback, PARTY feedback, Community Involvement post or comment, thoughts on racism, diversity, human rights, and communication skills.

more on the Photo Essay

Click here to see your class handout on the Photo Essay Assignment. What next? After you've chosen an issue and taken some pictures, you need to order and display them. Build your photos into a story by arranging and labelling them on your blog or a powerpoint (see the handout for more options). The pictures and your captions or explanations will talk about the issue from your point of view. Need more tips? See the post below for getting pics onto the net, and another post way below for how to post pics to your blog.

public_html

Here's how you save stuff (like a picture) so it can appear on the web:
1. In your server folder (e.g. Marcy Brown's "mbrown" folder that comes up when she logs in), there should be a folder called public_html (make one if you don't see it) -- anything you put in this special folder is now on the web
2. For example, Marcy has a picture of "school spirit" she wants to share on her blog. She calls the picture spirit1.jpg and places it in the public_html folder. The web address for her picture is now http://www.dpts/sd57/bc/ca/~mbrown/spirit1.jpg
3. Press shift and the key next to the 1 on your keyboard to make the ~ (also called a tilde). Anything that is web-readable (e.g. ,jpg or .pdf or .doc or .mov) can now be seen using this process

More examples... Marcy has an assignment called resume.doc and a movie of another assignment called skills.mov she wants to make available o the internet. She puts them in the public_html folder and others can see them at http://www.dpts/sd57/bc/ca/~mbrown/resume.doc and http://www.dpts/sd57/bc/ca/~mbrown/skills.mov

Try it -- it's quite cool -- you can use this feature to post work, pictures, movies, whatever. If it works, leave a comment here showing others where to find your stuff and what they should be looking at. ou can even have folders inside your public_html folder so you can irganize things. I have a folder called blogpics inside mine, so (for example) a picture I have of a family of mullets is located at http://dpts.sd57.bc.ca/~gthielmann/blogpics/mullet.jpg

Dave from PARTY

Interested in donating to Dave? Take a look at Robyn's post to learn more.

We have already collected about $50 to present to Dave sometime soon

Community Involvement & Responsibility

Please refer to your Grad Portfolio Student Guidebook for this activity... or view the entire Grad Portfolio document online, or wait to get a copy in class.

Portfolio Choice Aspect 2.2 deals with positive interpersonal communications skills
Portfolio Choice Aspect 2.3 deals with responding to human rights
Portfolio Choice Aspect 2.4 deals with respect for diversity

GET MARKS FOR YOUR PORTFOLIO BY DOING ACTIVITES ONINE: Planning 10 covers some parts of each of these aspects -- you will get marks towards your "Choice" section of your portfolio simply by passing various assignments in the class. If, however, you want 5/5 for any of these, you will need to do a bit more. So... you may choose one (or more) of these options to complete (let your teacher know when you are done, so your portfolio mark can be recorded):

1. You have had many opportunities for develop skills for positive interpersonal communication in Planning 10. Use your blog to write about the impact of these skills on personal, peer, and/or school-based relationships (gives you the 5th mark for Aspect 2.2). Start by doing a websearch on what makes good personal interpersonal communication skills (e.g. ability to listen, understand, communicate).

2. Find an online location where you can participate in an activity that supports or promotes human rights. If you can, you could start such an activity (a blog or web forum on tolerance or human rights, email campaign, getting information from a member of the government, etc.). You may also use your blog to evaluate the outcome/s of the human rights activity -- report on whether the activity is effective, etc. (can give you up to all 5 marks for Aspect 2.3).

3. Use the internet to help identify a local or global situation where action is needed to support or promote respect for diversity. First, define diversity (e.g. cultural, religious, generational, etc.). Describe the situation, identify the root causes and appropriate actions that could develop respect for diversity and lessen the conflict (can give you up to the first 3 marks for Aspect 2.4).

PARTY program

What did you get out of our field trip to PGRH and the P.A.R.T.Y. program?

Financial Planning feedback

Now that you've prepared a budget based on three scenarios (limited student lifestyle, first job some limits, great job few limits), what do you think of budgeting and personal financing? What challenges do/will you face in meeting money needs? What parts of your budget were "cash-hogs" (seemed to drain your budget the most). Did you find good websites while researching your budget items (if so, you can provide the link/s)? Feel free to comment here on the above questions, or you can post something on your own blog.

Tips for posting pics & links

BTW, have you figured out how to post pictures and make links yet? You'll need the web address of the picture or link, then...

Global Citizens?

As we figure out career paths, issues, ourselves, and plan for the future, we are faced with a world that is very small and very big at the same time. One reason I think it is small is because technology has made everything available to us all the time. I also think that globalization has robbed many communities of their identity, making strip-malls out of towns and turning people into buyers, and threatening the environment. I think it is big (maybe cold or lonely) because all of these changes make it harder for individuals to make meaningful connections to the people and places around them.

Our Planning course has moved back and forth from the individual (health, careers, skills) to society (issues, health, etc.). One idea that links the parts of the course is "citizenship" -- what does it take to be a member of society? Where does personal freedom and social responsibility begin?

I invite your comments (here or on your blog) on the topics of media awareness, globalization, citizenship, fast-food culture, or challenges to identity.