Capstone Extra Movie Blog Post

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Making a movie might have been the most fun part of our Capstone project. We got to pick pictures, choose music, and share our research. The worst part about it was the recording because you needed to have the same type of recording in the same setting with the same tone. It was annoying especially when I was in a different place or had to speak louder because of background noise. But making a movie was still very fun and we got to share them with our classmates for advice and tips. In Cindy’s movie, she explained that when scientists wanted to share ideas, they could present them at a conference. Our movies and presentations were like that because we could present them in front of the class, with all our classmates and teachers watching.

Before the movie, we had to make a script. It wasn’t very exciting because we had to put all our research into simpler phrases to say. Also, I got my script corrected a lot. While the script was boring, it wasn’t hard or complicated. Before the script, we wrote an essay explaining the answer to our main question. What we were supposed to do was copy sentences or paragraphs from the essay onto the script and adapt it to make it match. So it wasn’t very difficult.

The movie was kind of the opposite – it was fun but hard. I think the most fun part was picking out a song because you could listen to music and think about the movie. In the end, I picked a song called Espionage, which was fitting because my topic was Cold War Espionage. It was too short so I had to start it up again on a slide talking about Aldrich Ames. It didn’t sound too weird and I was happy with it. But the most difficult part about the movie(other than recording) was picking photos. When Google searching, I had to use the “Tools” function under Images to set a Creative Commons license filter. That eliminated a lot of photos I wanted to use, but I found a trick. On Google Drive, when you use “Search the Web”, it automatically gives you free photos. There, I just clicked into the picture I wanted and double-tapped to get the file. Then I’d have a free photo. But when I didn’t have the photo I wanted, I had to search for something else or switch the topic. Sometimes, I happened upon a photo that was perfect for my movie but wasn’t free. When this happened, it was very annoying.

In conclusion, the final presentation/movie was sometimes fun and sometimes boring. It was sometimes hard and sometimes easy. In the end, though, I managed to complete it and make the best version of my video that I could. I hope that my whole Capstone project will be as successful as the movie. Because my Capstone is really a crowning achievement.

Capstone Blog Post #3

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Researching for my Capstone project was very boring. Also, it was challenging. That was because sometimes, I couldn’t understand the article I was reading or it didn’t have answers to my questions. I had a very difficult resource to understand and interpret, which ended up having only two sentences in my notes for it. Something exciting, though, was finding just the right paragraph with the answers I needed and extra information I didn’t think I’d need. While this nearly never happened, that just made it all the more exciting. Something I learned is you usually have to read a sentence or paragraph a few times before you find a connection between it and the question or topic. This applies to everything, even if you think you know what it’s about.

For my presentation, I decided to do a movie. This was because I didn’t want to memorize a script or talk to a live audience, which was what you had to do in a TED talk or Ignite. I already knew that I wouldn’t be good at it because I did it before. But movies had more features and options, so it was very clear which style of presentation I should choose. Some challenges I faced were recording and picking pictures(you can read more about my movie in my “Capstone Extra Movie Blog Post” post).

I learned that you need to always perfect and look for mistakes in your presentation(whether it’s a TED talk, Ignite, or movie) to make it the best you can. If you always think that your presentation is the best you can make, then you won’t be able to have a good enough presentation. This is important to know because then, you’ll always have a good presentation.

Capstone Blog Post #2

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The purpose of the interview was just to gain some more information and maybe get more perspectives. The information should be something you couldn’t get by searching for it and it’s good to get some opinions as well. I was worried about not being able to get an interview or the interviewee giving me bad information, and also nervous about what he would think of me. It was still really exciting to interview an expert, though.

I decided to search for experts on Cold War espionage, but all I found was experts on the History of the Cold War or other things. I wanted to interview an expert called Ian Johnson, but when I looked through his website I found that he was more focused on China than the Cold War. I also thought of another possible interviewee, but found that she was mostly talking about film. Because no one was an expert on Cold War espionage, the thought of interviewing an expert on the Cold War and then an expert on espionage crossed my mind. However, I looked through the expert website again and found someone who was an expert on the Cold War and espionage – they’d probably know at least a bit about Cold War espionage, right? Writing the questions was a little hard because I couldn’t think of anything that may be good to ask, but eventually I figured out 12 questions.

First, I emailed my interviewee, Arne Kislenko. He responded quickly, and then we arranged the date. We were going to go for 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, but he was busy at the time and we instead arranged for 5:00 p.m. on Monday. After that, he said he was too busy for 5:00 p.m. so we decided on 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. I wanted to make a phone call but after some research, found out that calls from the US to Canada cost a dollar a minute. We decided to do a Zoom meeting instead. At first, when he didn’t come on (I think this was because I sent the Zoom link at 6:07), I thought that maybe we’d need to schedule another date. But luckily, it didn’t turn out that way and he came on at around 6:10. It went even better than expected, and lasted over 40 minutes. He was able to give me a lot of information and I started to understand some spy cases better. For instance, I’d only heard the name “Robert Hanssen” before, but Mr. Kislenko told me a lot more about how much information he gave to the Soviets.

While interviewing a complete stranger was really nerve-wracking, I got through it after some challenges and mishaps. I guess that in life, you just have to get through it as best as you can and then, maybe that’ll help. I did enjoy talking with Mr. Kislenko and it was pretty exciting. Maybe this Capstone unit won’t turn out too bad after all!

Immigrant Interview Blog Post #1

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This Immigrant Interview starts with writing questions. Originally, my questions were open, but didn’t allow for much information. Then, I used starters like “give details” and “tell me” or “describe”. That provoked more answers from my mom during the interview, which was the next step. For my interview, I recorded the whole thing using my mom’s phone. She didn’t give as much information as I expected, but coming up with follow up questions was a lot easier than I originally thought. After the interview, I transcribed the recording into the interview questions document. At first, I actually tried the “Voice Typing” feature but my mom’s voice in the recording was too soft for the feature to catch.

I considered my mom’s life, from birth to now. Also, I asked some reflective questions that would give me some insight on what my mom thought. I focused a lot on the journey and the immigration process, as well. I think that “Sample Immigrant Interview Questions” and “What Kids Can Do, ‘How to Conduct a Strong Interview’ Fact Sheet”. They really helped me think of new questions and inspired me to revise some questions as well.

Me and my mom sat in the living room during the interview. She sat on the couch and I pulled a chair over. Like I said, the responses were shorter than expected, even with the extra “give details” and “tell me”. However, I did get enough answers. Also, I was able to really easily make follow-up questions as my mom’s answers raised more confusion about her experience. I think I learned that during an interview, you should keep eye contact and also pay close attention. I learned that my grandmother (mom’s mom) was a librarian and so my mom was able to read a lot. She told me that she loved reading and also loved spending time at the library.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed interviewing my mom and just talking about her life. My grandfather recently died and my mom was really sad about it. I think that talking about her childhood and life spent with her dad made her feel better and more alive. My mom also taught me a lesson. She came to America to study in a program, and even though she had a baby (my brother) and family at home, she still went. She studied hard and worked hard, and now she’s happier and has accomplished her goal.

Constitution Second Amendment Reflection

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When I chose this question (How does the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Second Amendment affect us today?), I had originally just been thinking of the Supreme Court and the Second Amendment. I’d only thought of the Supreme Court because, in all of the Second Amendment sites I had read, they all included some information on the Supreme Court and the Second Amendment. Out of all the cases, the two I kept seeing were Heller v. D.C. and McDonald v. City of Chicago. My original question was slightly different from the one I ended up with – it was aimed more at the Supreme Court itself, not the interpretation. But I think that my final question was more informative than the one I started with, and I’m happy with that.

When I was researching my project, something I found especially challenging was finding the right information, words, and pictures to help describe what I was talking about. As I took my notes, I realized the information was repetitive and didn’t include new info. For example, my first note-taking website (giffords.org) had mostly information on Heller v. D.C. and McDonald v. City of Chicago. Then, my second note-taking website (https://academic.eb.com) explained more about the origin of the Second Amendment and the start of the Supreme Court interpreting the Second Amendment. But then, in my last note-taking website, it was almost the same information I’d learned on “giffords.com”. So some of the information for the script was hard to get.

However, choosing the right words for the script was even harder! Sometimes I couldn’t explain some of the information I had learned, and when I had to introduce another slide, I could never think of a way to start it. It was the hardest challenge in making this project. Picking photos, although challenging, was thankfully easier. I was usually able to find photos on my 1st or 2nd search, and the photos were never too confusing. Everything other than those was a lot easier to accomplish. Through all those challenges, something that motivated me was thinking of completing this project. If I just pictured not having to do it anymore, I could do my work a little happier.

I think that I could’ve been a little more specific because I feel like my answer isn’t entirely connected to my question. My question was asking how the outcome of a Supreme Court case could affect us, but my answer only talked about how the interpretation changed throughout the years, not the effect of a case. So I was a little vague on that topic. Everything else, though, was pretty successful. I think that everything other than my answer was achieved to the best of my ability, with all my brainpower. I’m thankful that this has ended, but it was fun while it lasted(as painful as it was). I hope not to do something like this ever again, but I’ll probably still have to, so I can only hope that it will be less agonizing.