Category: History

Immigration Presentation Reflection

jblachman29 on

My class and I had a big project to do that included interviewing someone who immigrated to America and then making a story in a slideshow about it. This project was very fun and I learned a lot more about the person who I interviewed, which was my dad. I interviewed my dad because he was one of the only people I knew who immigrated to America that I could contact.

I learned that many people from all around the world immigrate to America, probably more than I expected. From seeing my classmate’s presentations and learning about it, many people came to America from all around the world for better life and learning opportunities.

First I had to ask my dad many questions like an interviewer would, and then take notes. After I took notes I put them into a script, then used them as inspiration for my slide show. Instead of using We-Video for my story like most of my other presentations, I used another platform called Adobe. I like Adobe better because the transitions and slides are better, and it is easier. It also unblurred photos, which was very helpful. I still like Adobe better, but there were some problems with it too.

Something that surprised me was that when I was in the process of making my slideshow, Adobe had many unexpected problems. The photos that I uploaded were glitching, my slideshow lagged and crashed my Chromebook more than once. In the end, I ended up liking Adobe less than I did at the start.

Overall I loved making the Immigration project and my slideshow ended up being a clean, thorough, and detailed story about my dad’s immigration journey. I think this very fun, even though it was difficult at one point.

Here is my final presentation. Bye!

Refugee Response Q&A

jblachman29 on

Why is Walleed not scared? Why does he not get super frustrated? Does it seem like he doesn’t care?

I think Walleed acts like he isn’t scared because he is probably in shock, and overwhelmed by everything. His family’s apartment was hit by a missile, there were many bombs, they were being shot from their car, and had to walk so many hours. He usually doesn’t get super frustrated when bad things happen because for a long time so many tragic things have happened it probably sucked all the emotion and hope out of him. He probably does care on the inside but he doesn’t want to show emotions. It is very hard for young kids like him to go through all this, it must be hard for him.

I wonder how all of these kids get the confidence to do things, and how they get so brave?

I think how they get that confidence is because they are going through so many serious and life-changing things they need their confidence and hope to keep going. Josef was so desperate to get off the boat to Cuba, that he had the confidence and bravery to slap his dad. Isabel was also very brave to jump off the boat to save a person because her grandmother had died drowning. Mahmoud was brave and confident enough to go from being completely invisible to stay alive to being the opposite of invisible to try and save himself and his family. They are very brave because either way again, they have to experience war and bombs and being close to death, which is how it already makes them even braver. 

Constitution Project Reflection

jblachman29 on

I think the purpose of this project was to advance my learning with research and presenting, while also helping us learn more about important history. I think this because I had to do a lot of learning and researching while being independent. I also think it practiced my presentation skills because we had to present our final projects. I learned a lot about history while researching, (And the Constitution projects in general) and history is important. I loved this project a lot, and it was very interesting and fun while challenging in some parts.

The first part of our project was choosing our topic. My Constitution research topic is Important events that led up to women gaining the right to vote. I chose this topic because I wanted to learn more about Women’s Suffrage, and important Women’s Suffrage Events. Next, we had to answer research topic questions and fill out a planner. After we researched and took notes about our project. I think this part was hard because we had to choose and take notes about specific topics and choose them on only 3 websites. It was fun but challenging. I learned a lot. One interesting thing I learned was that there is a women’s suffrage flag, and the women suffrage represents the following colors: Purple, white, and yellow. 

After we took notes and research we had to take our notes and make them into a script. This was also very challenging because the timing of the script overall had to be less than 2:30 and more than 2:00. Each script slide/paragraph had to be more than 6 seconds, and less than 15. It was also very hard to put my notes into a script.

Then we made a slideshow for our project and notes. We had to add photos onto each slide that connected to the topic of each script slide. This was challenging because each photo had to match, even though there weren’t specific photos for each topic. We also had very direct instructions for the slides. For example, only up to six words on the slide. Another example was it had to be a good quality and centered photo, while it had to look neat. I had the most problems with my slides in all of this project! At first, I got the photos and organization finished very quickly, but then I soon realized that a lot of my notes were out of order and wrong, so I had to fix them up. I also realized I had a few problems with my introduction slide, and my third slide, so I fixed it up. I ended up moving down a photo and deleting a whole slide. It was also pretty hard to get the timing right.

The last thing we had to do was Screencastify our slides/presentation. Screencastify is a recording app. It was really hard to get the recordings right, and I had to re-do them many times because I had messed up reading the script in the recording, or just stuttered. Other problems I had were switching the slides while recording, and finding a quiet spot to record. In general, I loved the project and it was very interesting while challenging in some parts. This project helped me learn so much about the Constitution and Women’s Suffrage. Overall I loved it, and I had a great experience.

You can listen to my presentation here:

Thanks!

We The People – Stronger- Response

jblachman29 on

The name of this song is called Stronger, by the Netflix series, We The People. This song was made by Janelle Monae. By just looking at the name of this song I can already tell it has an important meaning. Here are the lyrics:

Most of my friends want a little peace
Some of my friends want a little solace
Even when we struggle and we get kicked down
We pick each other up with a little polish
All of my friends want a legacy
Don’t wanna be left out
Every time you think we get a little weak
We get a little bit stronger
Ah, we the people, we the people
The people getting stronger
Ah, we the people, we the people
The people getting stronger
Ah, we the people
The people getting stronger
Every time you think we get a little weak
We get a little bit stronger
Some of my friends taught me how to dream
Some of my friends taught me how to fight
Even those times when we don’t agree
We know we all tryna slay the same giant
We don’t want the life without the liberty
Not gonna be left out
Every time you think you got the best of me
We get a little bit stronger
Ah, we the people, we the people (ooh, ooh)
We get a little stronger
Ah, we the people, we the people (my people)
(The people) we get stronger
Ah, we the people (stronger)
I feel stronger
Every time you think we get a little weak
We get a little bit stronger
Now they cast their votes ’cause the people wanna speak
And they check and they balance ’cause the people wanna eat
Want they due process ’cause they seek equality
And we pay for the rules, so the people in the streets
And they love America, where the people wanna be
And they all know their rights from the sea to shining sea
From the states to the ghettos, yeah, the people gonna see
That the people hold the power and together we’re a little bit stronger
Ah, we the people, we the people
We get a little stronger
Ah, we the people, my people getting
We’re stronger
Ah, we the people
The people getting stronger
Every time you think we get a little weak
We turn around and get a little bit stronger
Ah, we the people, we the people (stronger)
The people getting stronger (stronger, stronger)
Ah, we the people, we the people (you can’t, you can’t hold me baby)
The people getting stronger
Ah, we the people (stronger, stronger)
The people getting stronger (oh)
Every time you think we get a little weak
We don’t want the life without the liberty, oh
We don’t want the life without the liberty
——————————————————————————————————————–
I think this song has a deep meaning to me. From listening and watching the video I think it is about how some people don’t have the same rights as others, and they are trying to say that whenever other people are unfair and don’t treat everyone nicely, the message is saying, “Every time you think we get a little weak, we turn around and get a little bit stronger.”
This means a lot and shows how those people who don’t have the same rights as many like people who are Asian, or black, or African, or practice a different religion are being determined and strong. I think the lyrics relates to our study in government because it is about Liberty and freedom, and fairness and this song relates to all of this and shows how people are determined to earn their independence and rights.
When I read the lyrics again it gives me butterflies. I just really love this song. And it makes me feel good because I want everyone to feel good about themselves and be strong and proud, and I also want to make everything equal for everyone.
I think the artist Janelle is trying to say that she isn’t going to give up and let other people let her down. I feel that she is trying to say in the lyrics that the people are getting stronger. Lastly, I think that in general, this gives a bold message. I noticed in the lyrics it said “You can’t hold me baby.” I think that means she is trying to say that people can’t keep her held and unequal to others, the people are going to break free.
In conclusion, I hope this song, lyrics, series, and message spread around the world because it is absolutely wonderful.