Writing Prompt: The Cheat; Write an epilogue from Katie and Sarah's perspective. Review the book and master their unique writing styles to present the day of Jake's return.

Sarah: 

It feels as if everything has changed,

Our lives have rearranged. 

I've come back,

But it still feels so blank 

I wonder when it will all be the same 

Well at least, I got rid of the blame. 

With the help of my friends and Jake telling the truth I came back to school happily and everything is alright. I have learned my mistakes and making sure not to repeat them again. Things are a bit rough as of now, but hopefully they'll get better as the year goes on. At least I'm glad to have all my friends back. 

Katie:

I am really happy my best friend Sarah is back. I don't know what's going to happen..

A) Is she going to get Along with everyone?

B) Are they going to get along with her?

C) Is everything going to be back to normal?

Well whatever happens, she is my best friend and I will support her till the end. We've all learned an important lesson that we won't ever forget, and it will help us throughout life. 

Silhouette Printing for Art!

Another amazing project for Art!! Making silhouette prints!

Materials: Paper, Paint, Exacto Knife, Cardboard, Heavy books(or any other heavy objects)

Steps on how to make silhouette prints:

1- Choose a easy picture that can be cut out on cardboard. I used a duck as my silhouette print, however I had many other drawing options. 

2- Trace it out on paper and then draw it on cardboard.

3- Cut out the drawing from the cardboard.

4- Choose a colour and paint the drawing that's cut out from the cardboard. 

5- Then, place the drawing on paper and put heavy objects on the paper to get a good print for 2-5 minutes. 

6- After, take off the books/heavy objects and carefully take the drawing off from the paper. 

7- You just made a silhouette print!!!

To make more prints, repeat the steps.

My Most Favourite Journal Entry!

We were given a few different dialogues to construct a story around. Here's my story:

"Look at the garden!" said grandma Ruby. She was a total freak when it came to her garden, she always wanted it neat, organized and perfect. Seeing that huge mess made by animals that came overnight made her sick and extremely angry. She lived all by herself in her huge mansion and her husband grandpa Kevin. He liked travelling so much that even at the age of 70, he was travelling the country all on his own, worry free about grandma Ruby or anyone else. 

Grandma Ruby was so mad about her garden but then she got a phone call saying grandpa Kevin had fallen ill. Her day had just gotten even worse, but she made her way to the railway station as soon as possible and got on the train to Saskatchewan where grandpa was. On the train, she met a woman in her early 30s named Nancy. Nancy built rockets for NASA and was headed for Saskatchewan for her new mission. Grandma was really amazed by Nancy's stories and had a great time on the train despite her worries and the bad day she'd been having. 

After a long and tiring ride, grandma got to the place where grandpa Kevin was staying. It was quite weird to be a hospital and looked a lot like a tower with no windows and looked very creepy. However, she got there and couldn't find grandpa and she got very worried and asked some nearby people if they had seen him. The lady in red said "he left a letter and a key". Grandma read the letter that had said "your husband has been kidnapped, get to 1255 Willow Dale Rd. and unlock the door with this key". 

She had no idea where the address was but the local taxi took her exactly where she needed to be. It looked like a large convention center made of wood. Grandma quickly rushed her way to the entrance and unlocked the door and as soon as she walked in "SURPRIIIIIIIIIISEEEE" yelled everyone. There was grandpa and all family friends and relatives. At first, grandma was very puzzled but then had been reminded that it was her birthday. Despite her bad day, and garden being destroyed, it was the most adventurous birthday she had really enjoyed at the end of the day. After celebrating grandma's birthday, they all headed back to Ontario, and lived happily ever after. 

Quote of the Day: To light a light is to cast a shadow. One cannot exist without the other.

Quote of the Day: 

To light a light is to cast a shadow. One cannot exist without the other. 

Response:

What does this quote mean? 

"There's always bad in the good, and always good in the bad". The light represents as the bright future you've moved on to, and the shadow represents the dark past you've left. With every good that appears in life, it comes with a shadow (the bad), and every shadow in life is only formed by the existence of light (the good). 

What shadows have you cast on yourself? 

There's many shadows we've cast on ourself that we are aware of and some that we aren't. A shadow that so many teenagers have cast on themselves is using devices and get so caught up in the world of media that we've started neglecting the nature around us. The light in this case would be the devices and the knowledge we are getting off of them, but the downside to it, the shadow, would be neglecting the nature and avoiding the people around us. Now that's what most people these days think, but the reality is the opposite. The light is the nature and the people around us we should be spending time with, but instead the shadow over us, the devices are taking over our lives, our time and we're in an illusion of it being the best thing but it's actually not. 

Describe how a character in a text you have read has experienced the same thing? 

Once I read a book in which a girl always wanted to succeed in everything she did. She started as a middle schooler with a crazy obsession for sports and her small group of 4-5 friends helped all they could and motivated her, and brought the best out of her and got her to the regional games, and once she won from there, she forgot all those who helped her get till there. The light she saw was the achievements she was getting, but the shadow there was the people she was forgetting while being illumined by the light. 

Journal Entry: Tell me about a type of music you detest and why (2 specific reasons). Is this music just rubbish, or is it merely that you don't like it? The beats are horrid? The lyrics are pointless? (provide a specific example and lyrics to support your position).

I personally like all kinds of music, however Jazz would have to be my least favorite. Jazz music contains a lot of instrumental and doesn't have lyrics, and I think "what's the point of music without lyrics?!". I also find this music quite similar and all have the same tempo, which I dislike because I'm more of a hip hop/pop person with various ups and downs in the rhythm and beat. This is the kind of music played in those classy 80s restaurants, during yoga or a morning breakfast in a rural country area. Another reason I merely dislike this music can also be my age. Many teenagers usually prefer fast beat hip hop like music, and I think Jazz is more of an option for older people. I just think that these soothing, calm rhythms really, really bore me and would drive me crazy if I sat down to finish an hour long video of Jazz music. However, there are other types I fairly dislike, but Jazz would definitely have to be my least liked.

Here's a link below of a common 3-hour long video of Jazz music:

P.S I barely got through the first five minutes! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsC4zTr77oI

Does social media have a negative or positive impact on children'smental health? Be specific and cite examples in your response.

Social media can have a positive and a negative impact on children's mental health. It depends on how you make use of it. Are you using it for a limited amount of time to socialize with family and friends here and there? Or constantly refreshing your messages and news feeds because there's nothing better to do? Now, if you use it for a limited amount of time and socialize here and there, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it because a world without socializing would be very difficult to live in, and technology is an advancement, so why misuse it? But then there's many people who will constantly be refreshing their messages, news feeds and be looking for wifi wherever they go and that's wrong because surprisingly, there's a world outside social networking! 

We're constantly torturing our brain with hours and hours of constant use of social media, and we forget the people around us we're neglecting and the nature around us we're forgetting. Personally, I believe the olden times were better where you would have to get up to go see your friend and actually get a walk/drive and refresh your mind and get work done, however now all you need to do is sit near a power outlet where there's good wifi and you can charge your phone and always be sitting in that one corner socializing all day long. 

Don't get me wrong if you're thinking I'm against socializing because I'm a very frequent user of Facebook.. Twitter... Instagram.. etc, but what the problem is that with every advantage a disadvantage appears as well. For example, watching all these pretty, perfect models out there, there's times you wanna be just like them and start hating your own self image, but don't forget, more than half the things online are edited, just like more than half the models are photoshopped! Another example, where you see all these luxurious items and go like "Omg, I wish I had this Lamborghini" or like "Omg I wish I had these shoes, or this dress", but forget to appreciate what you actually do have compared to many others who don't. We constantly compare ourselves to what social media shows us, and that definitely affects our mental health. 

Another negative impact is the constant anxiety on not missing out on anything. There's times even I have had it, and wherever I go I tend to look for wifi so I can get an update on what's going on in the world or in my friends' lives, but I forget to enjoy the time with the people around me at that time rather than sitting back with a phone right in my face. Apart from wasting so much time, new things like cyberbullying and online safety have also showed up. We all act like we know exactly what we're doing but the type of language we use, or the wrong terms to address people we use, or even the things we post, we forget that the whatever goes on the internet once can never be deleted. It may be "hidden" from friends or family, but it can be easily retrieved. Despite what we do ourselves, there are other people on the internet who can harm us. For example, people who portray themselves as your age and as a "friend" but end up being a 50 year old pedophile? It's a common crime people commit without realizing, and it's a common mistake for victims to fall for it as well, all these online safety hazards, etc also affect our mental health. 

Now the good side to every bad side, in this case the social media can also be a good source of awareness. Websites like www.gofundme.com are a great example on how the world can donate to make lives better. For example, the recent earthquake in Nepal that took away many lives, is one of the ways the world has come together in raising money and sending aid to rebuild Nepal, and help those whose lives have been shattered. If social media didn't exist, it would probably take days for news to get to places like Canada that are half way around the world, but today we're able to get the most recent news updates and actually be able to help the world and make a difference. 

Clearly, there are more negative impacts, but along with some positives. Again, I believe in how you use the social media and if the gained is worth more than the lost. However, I personally would prefer a world with decreased social media usage, but as the world advances and technology increases, I hope we would also be able to increase our knowledge on mental health and contribute to cures. 

My First Experience with Photography and Editing.

One of my very first times doing photography, this is the picture I took and edited. As a first experience, it was quite memorable because I had to sit on wet grass to get the right angle. Also, it was confusing to

adjust to the right part of the grid and lighting. For editing I used the app called "Snapseed", the editing however seemed easy, even though I wasn't so sure about how much or how less each feature had to be such as contrast or saturation or even the blur.  After all, I think for a first time, it's pretty good. Ever since, I have taken other pictures and edited those as well. Photography is something I personally enjoy a lot, it is very valuable and captures perfect moments and leaves great memories.