Socials Reflection

Looking back

When I look back on myself going into TALONS social studies, I was not sure what to expect. As the term got going I was still not totally sure how it was going to play out. As we started moving into the philosophy quizzes it started to dawn on me how self directed the social studies term was going to be.

Meeting the PLO’s

As this midterm assignment started to take form, I took what probably was my first proper look through the PLO package. I realised that there is a sizable section of the PLO’s that refer to the process and the skills, instead of the facts and technicality's as I originally thought.

My successful PLO’s

• A1• A2• A3• B1• D1

PLO A1, A2, and A3

The A section of the PLO’s refers to the process instead of the facts.

First off, PLO A1

PLO A1

PLO A1 is:Apply critical thinking skills, including:• Questioning• Comparing• Summarising• Drawing Conclusions• Defending a position

PLO A1 (Cont)

I feel like applying critical thinking skills is something that I am especially good at. I think in general it is something that all TALONS students have a knack for. It is something that is done in class with quad discussions, class discussions, role plays, and twitter debates. Personally I think some great examples of this can be found in any of the times that I spoke in front of the class or on my twitter account. Both formally and informally I think I would do exactly what is described in the PLO

PLO A2

PLO A2 talks about assessing data and research:• Accessing information• Collecting data• Evaluating data• Organising information• Presenting Information• Citing sources

PLO A2 (cont.)

I think the only time that we did this in social studies was with the CRAAP testing but it is something that we have been doing all year in science. In socials though, our CRAAP testing was the main source of analysing data, I made a blog post about the link that I chose that can be found here.

PLO A3

Communication, that is what this PLO is all about and that I can do!Being able to communicate ideas clearly and effectively is what I consider to be one of my biggest strengths, I think this is the PLO that I completed to it’s fullest extent. Through my final address, blog posts, speaking in class, and even this! These are all places where I feel I am providing my opinions, ideas, and arguments in an oral or written form.

Second PLO strength (PLO B1)

PLO B1 talk about the effect of gender roles, ethnicity, daily life, and the arts.

In the early going of this project, I decided that the most effective plan of attack for my twitter debates with John A MacDonald would be to target his treatment of minorities. While I realise that George Brown may not have been an angel in that regard, or even made those arguments, I decided that considering the role that the minorities played in our version of confederation it would be the smartest thing to focus on from a political standpoint.

PLO B1

John A MacDonald's treatment of the minority groups was something I was able to communicate quite clearly as proved by the next few tweets

Third PLO strength (PLO C4)

PLO C4 is all about being able to explain things like• The BNA act• The branches of government• The components of BC’s provincial government• The components of municipal governments

How did I meet PLO C4?

I think PLO C4 was one of my most successful PLO’s. Even though it was not stressed to much in class, nor was it extremely vital to my character. The reason I feel I have such a good grasp on all of the government levels as well as the British North America act. Is because during the socials role-play my grandparents visited from Ontario, my grandfather who was a university professor and is also very interested in politics was extremely eager to discuss what we were doing in socials.

PLO C4 (cont.)

My discussion with my Grandfather started around George Brown as there is a college in Toronto named after him. This conversation eventually drifted into general political systems, mostly comparing the government system then to now. It was interesting comparing the Maritimes, Upper Canada, and Lower Canada, to modern day provinces. Something that was mentioned in class that relates to this topic is when we discussed the role of the house of commons.

Areas for improvement

I think there were a few PLO’s that some of my classmates will have learned about that I have not. I feel as though depending on your role play character, you could have succeed in different PLO’s.

PLO D1

This is a PLO that mainly focuses on John A MacDonald and the national policy that him and his party put into place. I think this would have been a very valuable thing to learn about and something that may have assisted me with my twitter debate or even my final address. I read through most of Jamie’s blogs and I am not sure if that is because we are going to learn it later in the term or it was just not in the blog posts.

Even as I am writing this I am still not sure exactly what the National Policy entails but I hope it is something that I will get to learn more about in the future.

PLO C2

This PLO focuses on the economic side of confederation. Things like geographical, social, and political factors that contributed to confederation. While I know about the political factors but I don’t know too much about the economics. In the future I think the fur trade and the HBC are two big topics that I feel I could know more about. Because the socials term has been fairly open ended in terms of what areas of confederation we study but I am open to the possibility of learning more about the economics of confederation in class.

PLO B4

The third and final area for improvement comes with the “change of national identity”, what this PLO describes is so vague, it is such a loaded checklist involved. I don’t think there is anyone in the TALONS classroom that can say they have completed all of the items on that list. It covers everything from ethnic diversity to the Boer War and everything in between. I think this basically entails all of the Socials 10 curriculum so there is certainly a pretty big area for improvement with this PLO.

What have I learned?

Now that we are half way through the socials term, looking through the socials PLO’s, I think I can safely say that I have a pretty firm grasp on most of the PLO’s that relate to confederation Canada. Though as you saw in this presentation there are some areas where some improvement can be made. I think throughout this term I learned all about George Brown and his effects on Canada, as well as quite a few political details. I also think that I contributed quite a lot to in class discussions as well as on Twitter.