For Rosane, Amanda and I’s Genius hour we tried to tackle an African stereotype. If you would like to read our blog post here is the link:

https://africanbeauty2k17.wordpress.com/

For my Genius Hour Project I did baking. But more specifically I focused on Nutella hot chocolate brownie cupcakes. I chose this as my topic because I thought it was  interesting as well as fun to do. I also thought that I could use this opportunity to make a treat for myself.  Although I did not follow all of the steps for the toppings. This is of course with the hazelnuts, marshmallows. I didn’t learn a lot while doing this Genius Hour. One reason is because there was not a lot to learn. As most of the research was just recipes.

One of the reasons this Genius Hour helped me grow as a person is because of the process for this research. Before picking the cupcakes I did research on other foods like eclairs, cakes, and others. So, this kind of helped my knowledge of desserts and foods. As well as how hard it is to make. I am not sure for what my next Genius hour will be, but I am thinking it would help inform people on a environmental or global issue.

The hard part of the process for collecting the information on the cupcake was finding the full recipe. As the original recipe was on Tastemade, it did not have the recipe for the icing. So, I had to go to the maker of the video’s website, The Scran line. I found a more detailed video with the recipe for the frosting. Also, I made some mistakes during this process.One mistake I made was accidentally making 48 cupcakes when the recipe was suppose to make 24. All in all this Genius hour was a fun project.

My Presentation: https://docs.google.com/a/isd.sn/presentation/d/1piu8t7HyHQ6MvDqM4SQ-n-Me951rZgiSotvqSizLrkU/edit?usp=sharing

Giuseppe Milo via Compfight

Giuseppe Milo via Compfight

Works Cited

Donnie Nunley. Light through the fog. November 16, 2013. Flickr. January 20, 2017.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/dbnunley/12261  705236/in/photolist-jFwrLY-4op1Ns-p1PVkG-q6gxan-7ez96p-t1nQD-rtNFtg-4nMrMc-frsHGf-8nkSTL-my72XD-5ASEeB-aWN3yx-7pz6ob-ohS4Sh-o7kend-ooau3P-neo7F-rcFGJ5-i6RRPE-qbPXsd-6RbpKc-qRK871-6jdQYG-qwonEB-ouJ9ss-r8tAWJ-JvWVfF-cd6Xm9-9ndAKm-oVwFqs-7KaLhV-5rFAfp-GuhS5F-q5W56f-5rKVFb-o6X9EY-9m6SWM-7GYBkd-cE8dwS-fwb1Q1-sfYEfL-8yG3jy-bXyTZf-oSZ8Rb-5rFB6V-oEEoqE-rsQH1D-pczkdM-5VwwQY

Chris Combe. Forth Bridge Blues. October 2, 2014. Flickr. January 20, 2017.          https://www.flickr.com/photos/cosmicherb70/15092861213/in/photolist-oZGRP4-pR6uio-qD3wza-5ASEGV-sfYMQe-qD4jYf-ijcpxv-qVmn25-4dHfpE-r1aGrz-4aEUW9-7qWZNE-rBrMEF-7Jpb4J-p7147L-rnnwmk-p2pzYr-mzxf9g-4QFXpS-iukg8D-vCQR4-pXTzF9-cPmtqS-qV2hAx-rQnNoD-5qXfHY-5FWo2c-9e8ApG-kanpbK-o3neo1-8PPonW-iiBznh-2EqQP1-pqSLmS-rQaq2c-9nXz9B-9PM7rj-pQFgj9-jFwrLY-4op1Ns-p1PVkG-q6gxan-7ez96p-t1nQD-rtNFtg-4nMrMc-frsHGf-8nkSTL-my72XD-5ASEeB

Media is a way of connecting to people who have useful information and people who are willing to share it with others. It is a great educational opportunity which not many people see. This is what our class did. For our Genius Hour project we went on twitter to seek information from experts. Genius Hour is a project where a student picks a topic and researches about it. Later on the student presents their findings to the class. For my project I thought to do  nutella hot chocolate brownie cupcakes, or more broadly cooking.

For the first part of the project we had to find at least 10 people on twitter that have to do with your topic. For me, it was hard when I looked for people to follow. I tried to find people who were very responsive to questions that they get asked. Also, people that are interested in cooking. As well as for people that were recently active on their account. In the beginning I found ten people but, added others along the way. So, in total I followed fourteen people.These people were @CHOW, @plattypants, @thekitchn, @finecooking, @iamkelis, @LCBSchools, @MyFamilyTable, @John_Whaite, @KCRWGoodFood, @aboriginalchef, @culinarymuseum, @IUPCulinaryArts, @marcjsievers, and @paleo4beginners. I slowly tried to form a relationship with the people I followed, this meant to once in awhile  like or even re-tweet one of their tweets. I found out later that these weren’t the best bunch for the second part.

The second part didn’t go as well as I hoped it would. After you have developed somewhat of a relationship with the people we’ve followed we would move on to the next step. This was asking ten of the people we were following a question that was about our topic. The question would have to be one that is not easily found on the internet. This meant that I asked about their opinion and their thoughts. I only had one person reply to me. This reply  wasn’t as I expected. It was shorter than I anticipated. I asked her for her opinion and I gave her what I thought. She replied with an agreement to what I asked. She didn’t really go further as I hoped. But, she did back my idea. I hoped more people would have replied to my tweets. But, that was my fault. I did not pick the right people. I picked people who didn’t respond much and weren’t very active. I didn’t do what I wished. All in all I  picked people who weren’t right for the second part.

In conclusion, for the first and second part I didn’t so as well as I hoped. The first part iss because some of it was to form a relationship. I didn’t really form much of a relationship with most of the people. This is with the exception of Wendy. Also, some of it was to pick the correct people. I didn’t do that. For the second part I didn’t do well because not many people responded. But, I felt that I did well in forming the questions. All in all I didn’t do as well as I hoped for this major assessment.

I’ve traveled to many places in my life and also lived in many places. I’ve traveled to England, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Oman, USA, and Vietnam. But, I’ve lived in China, Belgium, Thailand, France, and now Senegal. Of course each country has something about that makes it special. It is very interesting t see each country and its different cultures. Here are some countries’ descriptions.

I went to England for my spring break a while ago. It was cloudy but, warm. I went to many places like the London Eye and Sea life London Aquarium. I also went to Madame Tussaud. Madame Tussaud’s is a place where they make realistic wax figures of famous people.It was a unique experience. I saw many  different celebrities’ wax figures like Angelina Jolie, David Beckham, Muhammad Ali etc.

Italy I went to a while back. More specifically Venice. Its beauty truly can not be described with words. It stands out from all the other cities because it has no roads and cars. The way of transportation is with canals. I feel that this is a great way to minimize pollution and also its pretty at the same time. Besides the canals their Gelato and Pizza is amazing.

I’ve lived in France for 5 years. Even though I didn’t master french there, it was a great experience. There are many places where I have gone to but one place that I visited many times is Disneyland. Even though I couldn’t ride many of the rides because of my height, I did enjoy its food. But of course the rides I could ride were great. Another place I really enjoyed was the Palace of Versailles. It is breath taking. The art, the garden and the rooms. It was Louis the 14th’s house. It is just crazy to see their bedrooms and their living space, truly. My favorite time of the year in france is the Winter time. Not only because of the snow but also the Christmas markets. These are small shops set up in the Champs Elysees. You can buy anything from souvenirs to food. It gives off this cozy vibe, and really gets a person into the Christmas spirit.

Links to wax figures:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Muhammad Ali: https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/muhammad-ali-madame-tussaud-s-20341830.jpg                                                                                       Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt together: https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/07/6f/11/66/madame-tussauds-london.jpg                               David Beckham:https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4049/4629057698_c69e4782f0_b.jpg

Venice:                                                                                                                                                  https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/sites/default/files/heros/venice-italy.jpg

France:                                                       http://en.parisinfo.com/var/otcp/sites/images/_aliases/diaporama_big/node_43/node_51/node_235/march%C3%A9-de-no%C3%ABl-avenue-des-champs-elys%C3%A9es-nuit-1-%7C-850×540-%7C-%C2%A9-otcp-am%C3%A9lie-dupont-%7C-187-43/10058196-3-fre-FR/March%C3%A9-de-No%C3%ABl-Avenue-des-Champs-Elys%C3%A9es-nuit-1-%7C-850×540-%7C-%C2%A9-OTCP-Am%C3%A9lie-Dupont-%7C-187-43.jpg

https://secure.parksandresorts.wdpromedia.com/resize/mwImage/1/1260/540/90/secure.parksandresorts.wdpromedia.com/media/abd/refresh/europe/france-vacations/adventures-by-disney-europe-france-hero-01-mont-saint-michel.jpg

http://www.wallpaperup.com/428227/CHATEAU_de_VERSAILLES_palace_france_french_building.html

Pros:

Communities can have many pros. Of course this being a moderately small group. The members will all have a vision of a bright future, and them having a big impact. Also, hopefully the people that are apart of the community are comfortable with each other, so there will be more participation. Of course with that more ideas that are unique and helpful to the cause or the people. Also, it can increase the effectiveness of the group. Also, it is nice to have support from the group.

Cons:

A community that grows too quickly is obviously not helpful. This is because people in the group will be less familiar with each other. Thus, not having a bond with each other. The bond of a community is really important. This is because a good bond means they get together well. With that the community can get great ideas and can do work smoothly.

Another con is that if there are more people there will be less time to go through everyone’s ideas. Which maybe people will think that their ideas won’t matter. So, that may become a problem because the participation will go down. Thus, the production of ideas will go down and the community will not be as efficient.

These are just some pros and cons of being in a community.

My Ideal school would probably be a location where there are a lot of visitors. Or where a lot of people go for vacation. For example the Bahamas, Maldives, or  Hawaii. It would be close to a body of water. This is so that all the classrooms would have a nice view. This is so that the students would be relaxed in class. Also, if they are in the middle of an exam they can look at the view to calm themselves down.

In the classrooms there would be more comfortable chairs, maybe even couches. There would be also a 15 minute break between each class. The students will have four classes each day. Rotating the classes between two days, like ours. There would also be and 1 hour for lunch where students can go anywhere they would like on campus. The school is from kindergarten to high school. The school would start at around 10 am and end at around 5:00. With the classes are an hour each.

The campus would have many leisure activities. Obviously there would be a library and a computer room. But, there will also be a lounge for students by grade. For example there would be a grade 5 lounge, grade 10 lounge etc. There would also be a lounge for teachers. In the students’ lounge there would be a fouse ball  and ping pong tables. There would also be microwaves and vending machines.

There would also be a beach like place where the students could eat their lunches. There would be a variety of places the students can buy their lunches. There would be fast food places if the students want something unhealthy. But, there would also be a healthy place for students who’d like to eat salads. Keep in mind that the food would be cheap. Teaches would also have access to this.

Also, I imagined it to be a boarding school.The dorms are an option open to only high schoolers.  The dorms would be spacious. With the students picking their roommates. Also, there would be an option of having your own room. The dorms would include a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom with bathrooms of course. The dorms would be close to the classrooms.

This is just an idea of what my ideal school would look like.

I really enjoyed reading people’s blogs. I read a variety of blogs from the Orange Grinch, to video games, to the Philippines. The Orange Grinch post was relatable and interesting to watch. It provided new information that I din’t know before. I could understand where the person was coming from and why he wrote. The other post was video games. I couldn’t relate to video games. But, my brother is a little obsessed so, I could make a connection. It was an interesting point of view and I found out more about this person. Lastly, I read about the Philippines. Or more like about a person who was proud of where she came from. I totally agree with her pride and I have the same pride for my country. She posted many pictures that were very nice and she was very passionate. All in all I saw the variety on edublogs!

Blogs I read:

How the orange grinch stole the election

Video Games

http://mariannella.weebly.com/mariannes-blog/being-proud-of-of-your-nationality-is-just-something-so-amazing

Here is a list of things that are very important in order to survive a crisis or a natural disaster.

1.  Water & Food
2. fuel (to cook if needed)
3. first aid kit
4. some items for self defense
5. flashlight
6. matches
7. Duct tape
8. lastly hand sanitizer

These are some essentials for a disaster

What I had for breakfast.

Today I had a boring breakfast. I had pancakes and nutella. I also had tea to drink it with. I have tea every morning. It was a small breakfast so, I was pretty hungry afterwards.