Week Nine Final Reflection

Wow, I can’t believe Galileo is ending soon. I’ve had an amazing few weeks and i’ll really miss it.

During week nine we touched on a few subjects that really meant a lot to me. We had discussions about sexual diversity and body image which was overall really deep and meaningful but during the body image discussion we spent a whole session just talking about one slide and as a result we didn’t get to touch on other issues.

We also had our Actions Project. It was somewhat successfull but it could have been organized better. In the end we raised about 25 dollars which was good.

I’m a bit nervous about the presentation I have to give tomorrow for my Final Exhibition. I think I might have the usual thing happen to me again where I’ll turn red and talk really fast.

Critical Thinking Week Eight- OPTIONS

‘Will photography still exist in the future?’ 

We asked this question to our interviewee Tony Pierrakos, a photographer and owner of Intone Photography. His response was ‘Yes, I think photography will still exist but people really need to keep on buying photos to hang up on the walls of their house.’

I agree with what he said. People will always be taking pictures of anything they find pretty or interesting, you don’t need to be a professional or even have a professional camera. The real problem now is that you can just find an image you like on Google Images and print it out. It’s faster and cheaper, but because of this, photographers like Tony Pierrakos have a hard time selling their artworks.

 

Week Eight Reflection

Week Eight was all about preparing us for our options trail. The highlight of the trail was when we met a guy who had his own photography business and had a shop in the Vic Market. He was extremely kind and by the time our interview had ended we left with all our questions answered and also a copy of one of his favorite photographs. Our group worked really well together which helped to make our day run smoothly. The only thing I would have done better was when we went to survey people at the State Library. We chose a wrong time to do so because not many people were there.

Overall the options trail went really well!

Critical Thinking Week Six- FUTURE

‘The people of Melbourne can feel confident about what the future holds’

Do you agree or disagree?

To this statement there is no right or wrong answer, it’s all based on what you perceive the future to look like. I don’t really know how I perceive the future because I don’t really think much about it, so I don’t really have an opinion on this. I guess I  could say Melbourne can feel confident in some areas but also not so confident in other areas. We can’t really predict the future but there are many different positive and negative outcomes that could happen. For example, medicine and technology could progress very far and we could all become a very healthy and advanced society or natural disasters could strike and wars could take over causing famine and many deaths or maybe nothing will happen and Melbourne 2100 will look the exact same as 2014 Melbourne.

All in all, we can’t predict the future so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

 

Week Seven Reflection

Future’s week was alright. I’m not really the kind of person who likes to think about the future much, I find it a little bit daunting, possibly because I focus on all the negative things that could happen. I’m not really 100% sure what I want to be when I’m older. I would like to be an architect but I’ve heard that it’s a very long and difficult process to go through.
I went to Science Works which was probably the highlight of my week. Even though I’ve been there several times I still found everything pretty cool and interesting. This week I don’t think I really got to progress on my learning goals, I didn’t really have much chance to do so.

Crticial Thinking Week Six- WORLD AROUND US

“The subjects we learn in school provide the most effective tools with which to understand the world around us.”
Do you agree or disagree?

I disagree with this statement. I belief that the subjects we learn in school are effective and useful but only to a certain extent.To understand the world around us we have to be knowledgeable about our mother Earth and be able to understand and perform everyday tasks. Traditional schools today offer the same usual subjects such as English, maths, science, history, physical education, health and a language.

Many different skills are needed to understand the world around us. Maths and English are involved in almost everything we do, without having any knowledge of it we wouldn’t be able to face simple tasks such as applying for a job or counting money. During one of our class sessions we debated whether we should learn history or not, it was a mix of yes and no. From one point of view we could say that we should focus on the future and not the past but than without history how would we be able to know what went right and what went wrong: we could learn from people’s mistakes.

All the subjects we learn in school expand our knowledge on certain things but there are also many skills that schools don’t teach. When I helped out at RAW’s Community Garden and the Permablitz workshop I learnt a new set of skills that were essential to understanding the world around us. Not only did I learn about food wastage and recycling but also the beauty of getting a group of people together to help each other out while socialising and having fun. Hearing Mariam’s voice (the person who started the RAW community garden) really change my perspective of things and I became more aware of our planet Earth.

Overall I believe that we should keep all the subjects we learn at school but we should also include more.

 

 

Week Six Reflection

This week was extremely enjoyable. The focus of the week was the World Around Us. Most of the in class sessions turned out to be really fun but also educational. The best part of this week was the Permaculture trail I went on. I went to a community garden where I met Mariam, a Somalian woman who had moved to Australia from Kenya. The vibes she gave off was so positive and when she spoke everyone would just be in awe. Everyone who came helped out in the garden and later on we sat around a table and ate food that was grown from the garden itself.

Overall this week will probably be one of my favourite weeks.

Camp Reflection

 I really enjoyed camp.

I learned and experienced many new things and challenged myself mentally and physically. In general I really liked the feeling of being outdoors and sleeping in a tent. Before I went on camp and heard that I was supposed to go caving, I was afraid that I wouldn’t fit through but I did and I found it really fun but I felt as if it should have gone on for longer.The outdoor ‘toilet’ wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be so that was a relief as well. To be honest I had mixed opinions on hiking. I enjoyed the scenery but I was also really distracted by the fact that I was lugging a really heavy bag. When it rained and the leeches came out I kind of freaked out because I thought they were harmful but then I realised they weren’t so they didn’t really bother me as much. I loved the feeling I got after the big hike. I felt really good because I had just walked a really long distance while carrying a really heavy bag. When we met up with the rest of the groups I didn’t really mind but it did make it harder to talk to new people.

My view of the Yarra has changed quite a bit. I honestly didn’t care much about it but then I saw how polluted it was near Flinders Street compared to Warburton and I became more aware about how important the Yarra really is.

Overall I thought camp was really great.

Critical Thinking Week Four- JUSTICE

‘Is Melbourne fair?’

Before I answer this question I have to find the meaning of fair. Fair is defined as ‘treating people equally without favouritism or discrimination’. I think Melbourne is fair. We have access to things we need such as a proper government and the right to voice our own opinions and beliefs.

Firstly, without a stable government the country itself will not be stable or functional. Therefore the people will not have the access to things that they need to survive. Here in Melbourne we are living under a democracy where we can contribute our own ideas to make a change for the better, statistics have shown that democratic countries thrive much better.

Secondly, in my opinion Melbourne is like a community and going back to communities week I agreed that the most important aspect of a community was to feel welcome and have a connection. Before people express their own opinions or feelings they have to feel safe to say it. They have to feel as if people will listen and not judge them. This is where Melbourne has its good and bad traits. As much as there are people who will listen and try and help you, there are also people who are not willing to accept. For example when I went to the Magistrates Court, I met a lady judge who was catching up and checking up on people who in the past took drugs etc. As I listened to her talk to them I realised in the past she had befriended them and had given them many chances to change and the outcome had been positive. The other part though has been the times where I have heard/seen people discriminate others due to race, sexuality etc. This is where Melbourne needs to improve on.

All in all I still think Melbourne is fair but there is still a need for improvement.

 

Bibliography

https://www.google.com.au/#q=define+fair

Week Four Reflection

The main focus of this week was justice. To be honest I never really cared much about the law so I didn’t really know much about it but after this week I felt like I had learnt a lot.

The high point of this week was when I went to the Old Melbourne Gaol. I found it extremely interesting especially when I walked into certain cells where they had the face masks of the criminals.

The low point of this week was when we had to do our team project group presentation. I wasn’t really that nervous until I started talking, where I then started to speak faster and cut down what I had originally in plan to say so that I could get it over and done with.

I couldn’t get on to the Human Resource page so I couldn’t get a temperature but I personally think that Uni High does a okay to a pretty  good job at looking after us and our rights. They don’t try and force us to do things we don’t want to do but they also encourage us to try new things. We have a SRC and a Code of Conduct, but not many people I know take it seriously, so I guess that could be something they could improve on.