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My capstone was centered around the prevalence of a stigma along with general discomfort and misunderstandings surrounding the discussion of mental illness in the SLA community. To address this, I held a Mental Health Visibility and Education Day. For the educational aspect, I researched numerous disorders using the DSM-5 and created posters that provided simple definitions of each one. For the visibility aspect, I made pins and stickers that were color-coded to represent different illnesses and encouraged people to wear them on the day. The idea behind this visual identification was that mental illnesses are usually hard to see, but on that day, suffering people would feel less alone and others will see the reach of the illnesses. My ultimate goal, however, was to spark conversations about the topic. I believe that my capstone was successful. While I cannot definitively say that people are now more educated, I did see many kids stopping and looking at the posters, and there was a larger amount of participation in the Visibility Day than I anticipated, as I gave out 73 pins and more stickers. In fact, I had to stop halfway through the day and print more of the white stickers, which signified general support of the cause. Most importantly, I witnessed and took part in several conversations about mental health that I normally do not see happening.

Posters: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1sICQrBXYCY35o0QVPHxMCVKSelCG25bf?usp=sharing

Bibliography:

For my Capstone project, I decided to use my own personal hobby and attempt to present it through YouTube. I picked out and continued to work on two stories that I had created, and was planning on sharing them in YouTube videos. The videos were going to have the audio of me reading each “episode” of the story, and the visual component would have been art relating to it that I drew. However, this plan did not work out, because it takes a lot of time to create what I consider quality work and I also had schoolwork to do, so I was unable to make the videos in time. However, I was able to fully learn why content creators on YouTube often take so long to make videos. And I still have the stories to present as artifacts. As for the video plan, I still plan on making the videos, just not anytime soon.

Story 1: Immortal Night: The Series

Episode 1: The First Night

It is the stroke of midnight. A young boy emerges from the depths of the forest into a clear spot up in the mountains. His light skin is marked by scratches, his brown hair is unkempt, and his green shirt and light brown pants are tattered. He paused to catch his breath.

Once his breathing reached a calmer state, he looked back in the woods. His amber eyes searched for even the slightest movement amongst the trees.

I have lived up here for as long as I can remember. Ever since I ran away. I don’t remember where I came from, or why I was running. What I do remember is feeling a strong sense of fear. However, with the help of a new friend, my fear disappeared.

Suddenly, a rustling came from within the forest. Sensing danger, the boy shapeshifted into a brown-furred wolf-like creature and growled.

“Oh, a lycan!” a voice called out from the trees. A boy with pale skin, black hair, red eyes, and wearing a black suit with a white dress shirt and a red tie emerged from the forest.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” the boy said, revealing two glowing, white, sharp fangs. The wolf boy stopped growling, but did not change back.

I could tell that he wasn’t going to hurt me, but I didn’t want to lower my guard just yet. I have to admit, I was a bit intimidated by his fangs.

“I think he went this way!” a new voice yelled out from the forest.

“Uh oh, they’re here. Let’s hide!” the boy exclaimed, grabbing the wolf by the scruff of his neck and dragging him behind a large rock. The two watched from behind the rock as two armored humans wielding swords ran out of the forest.

“Are you sure about this?” one soldier, with light colored skin and blue eyes, asked. “He’s only a little kid…”

“He’s still a vampire!” the other guard, who had light colored skin and brown eyes, responded.

“I am so captured,” the boy quietly said. The wolf narrowed his amber eyes.

“Arooooo!” the little lycan howled into the night.

“Wolves,” the blue-eyed guard said. “Let’s go!”

“Don’t be such a wimp, Caleb!” the brown-eyed guard responded. “There’s only one!”

The lycan howled again. Multiple howls echoed out from everywhere, from the forest behind them to the mountains ahead. It was as though there was an entire pack, but in reality, there were no wolves at all.

“You were saying?” Caleb asked.

“Run!” the brown-eyed guard exclaimed. The two guards ran back into the forest.

“Thanks for saving me,” the vampire boy said. “How did you know you can do that?”

“Umm...lucky guess?”

“My name’s Jonathan.”

“Moonstrike.”

“Good to meet you, Moonstrike. Listen, I have to go. I promised my parents I would be back before sunrise. But, I’ll come check on you tomorrow night. See you then!”

With that, Jonathan shapeshifted into a bat and flew off, towards a huge, imposing castle on top of the mountain. Moonstrike watched Jonathan as he flew off.

I can’t remember what drove me here, but I decided to make this clearing my territory. Something about it made me feel safe. That’s possibly because it’s the place where I met my best friend.

Moonstrike turned away from the castle when his new friend was long out of sight, and howled once more.

Story 2: Minecraft: New Dawn

Season 1, Episode 1 - The First Day

A young girl, about 16 or 17, lay unconscious on the beach as the sun rose. Her brown hair was unkempt and her light skin was covered with scratches. She was clutching a plush creeper and a silver, star-shaped jewel.

Her blue eyes opened, and the sun was the first thing she saw. Her memory was a little foggy; she couldn’t remember what happened.

She stood up on her feet and looked around. A forest was right behind the beach, and she could see mountains in the distance. The ocean was just that - a great expanse of water. There was a boat floating just off the shore.

“I must have rode that boat to get here,” she said, “but why am I here? Where was I going in the first place? I won’t find out by standing around here. Gathering resources should be the best place to start.”

She walked over to a nearby tree and gathered its wood. She converted the five logs into 20 wooden planks, and decided to try to combine four of the planks together. This resulted in her creating a workbench.

With a bit of thinking, she decided that her next move should be building a shelter. She gathered more wood and turned them into planks, and used them to build a small square shelter. While she was working, she noticed that a few saplings and apples had fallen from the leaves of the first tree she had taken down. She gathered the items, and planted a sapling where the tree had been.

Suddenly, when she was building the walls of her shelter, she remembered something.

My name is Julia.

She noticed the chest next to where she woke up shortly after this realization. She finished applying the layer of wood planks she was working on, jumped down to the ground, and walked over to investigate.

Julia looked inside the chest. Inside was a wooden sword, a stone axe, a few wooden planks, some apples, some raw fish, a roll of bandages, and a note. The note read: For you, my daughter.

Though it could have been for anyone, Julia couldn’t help but feel it was made for her. It was at this point she remembered something else: her father had disappeared. Could this chest be from him?

Julia took the items and note and walked back to her unfinished house. She took out two blocks to make an entrance and walked in, as the sun was about to set. She placed the crafting table on the floor and began working with her materials. She managed to create a few sticks, and a wooden pickaxe. She used the remaining planks, aside from the two planks from the entrance, to give her house a roof.

Suddenly, Julia heard a frightened clucking coming from the outside. She ran outside to see what was going on.

A chicken was at the edge of the forest. The chicken was cornered by four other chickens with glowing red eyes. The chicken clucked fearfully as his attackers closed in.

Thinking fast, Julia drew her sword and lept into action. With a few slashes, she took down the red-eyed chickens. They dropped 8 raw chickens and 12 feathers in total. Julia grabbed the items and the chicken and ran into her house, blocking off the exit with the two remaining planks.

“I should probably put a door there,” Julia said to herself. She heard the calls of monsters from outside. She really didn’t want to fight an army of creatures of the night, and she wasn’t in the shape to do it, either. “Well, since we’re going to be here a while, we might as well get to know each other,” she said as she set the chicken down on the ground and sat down in front of him. “My name’s Julia. What’s yours.”

The chicken looked at his savior. He could tell that she wasn’t one of them, and she seemed trustworthy so far.

“Okay, I can’t speak chicken, so I’ll just call you Chester because look like a Chester. I’m having trouble remembering my past, so all I know is that my dad went missing, and he’s apparently here.”

Chester looked at her curiosity, as if to say, “Is that it?” Julia looked at the sword in her hand.

“Well, I was pretty good with the sword back there. So, maybe I was some kind of fighter, or even a soldier. That would have been cool.”

Julia put away her sword, thinking that since she didn’t really have anything else to do, she might as well treat her wounds, eat something, and sleep. Using the roll of bandages, Julia cleaned up the scratches on her face, and bandaged her arms after taking off her hoodie. As she put her sweater back on, Julia noticed that Chester’s leg was injured, and used the remaining bandages to treat it.

Julia munched on one of her apples and laid down on the grassy ground, and Chester settled down next to her, careful to be gentle with his injured leg.

As the girl and the chicken settled down and closed their eyes for the night, two watched the house. One was happy she got his message, and was longing to contact her.

The other thought she was certainly an interesting newcomer. She was able to slaughter Luther’s minions with relative ease, so she was a capable fighter. And she was cute, no question there. Those bright blue eyes could light up even his darkest night. Anyway, she should be careful, as he knew what happened to her father. As long as the girl in the dragon hoodie doesn’t get too curious, she should be fine. Otherwise, she and her pet chicken will have more than creepers to worry about…

Annotated Bibliography

Blixemi. "The Missing Light Playlist." YouTube Playlist. August 05, 2015. Accessed January 22, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFo3ju6XJ_GF2l_F2gJRwtsZxTHIgo634.

This is a playlist for The Missing Light, an animated web series by YouTuber Blixemi. This web series is actually what partially inspired Immortal Night: The Series, one of the two stories I’m writing for my capstone. The Missing Light and IN:TS share several similar story elements, such as the main character being a wolf (or in the case of Immortal Night, a lycan) and having a special light-based power. Of course, there are a few differences, such as the fact that it is set in a kingdom of vampires and lycans rather than wolves, humans play a role in Immortal Night as opposed to being absent in The Missing Light, and the fact that the main villain isn’t very prevalent early on in the series. The point is, this hidden gem of YouTube may not be finished, but it heavily inspired my own work.

"Browse 125,000 Audio Books." Audiobooks.com. Accessed January 22, 2019. https://www.audiobooks.com/browse.

The videos I plan to make for my capstone are very similar to audiobooks such as the ones found here, in the sense that it’s a recording of my voice reading each episode. The visual component of the videos would be drawings that I made in relation to the story. I was thinking of animating the stories at first, but I thought that would take too long, so I decided to go for the recorded reading with artwork approach.

"Fossils and Archeology Mod Revival Wiki." Fossils and Archeology Mod Revival Wiki.

Accessed January 22, 2019. http://fossils-archeology.wikia.com/wiki/F/A_Mod_Revival_Wiki.

This is one of the websites I use to research for Minecraft: New Dawn. As the name implies, New Dawn is heavily inspired by Minecraft, and a few of my personal favorite modifications (or “mods”) for the block-based sandbox building game. This website informs of the Fossils and Archeology Revival Mod, which focuses on adding dinosaurs, fossils, and other archeological elements to the game. I am fascinated by archeology and anything related to the ancient past, and along with allowing the player to live out their own version of Jurassic Park, it adds a number of other extinct animals to the game, which I can appreciate. Dinosaurs don’t appear much until the later reasons, but this mod still plays a key factor in the series.

"Ice and Fire Mod Wiki." Ice and Fire Mod Wiki | FANDOM Powered by Wikia. Accessed

January 22, 2019. http://ice-and-fire-mod.wikia.com/wiki/Ice_and_Fire_Mod_Wiki.

This is one of the websites I use to research for Minecraft: New Dawn. As the name implies, New Dawn is heavily inspired by Minecraft, and a few of my personal favorite modifications (or “mods”) for the block-based sandbox building game. The Ice and Fire Mod adds dragons and other mythical beasts, making Minecraft just a little more legendary. Along with archeology, I also have a fascination with mythology, especially anything that has to do with dragons. And the mod, and also the F&A mod, adds lore into the game, and lore is a game element I always love. The influence the Ice and Fire Mod has on the series is clear early on, as the main character encounters two creatures from the mod within the first ten episodes.

"Immortal Night Tutorial." Immortal Night Tutorial. Accessed January 22, 2019. https://www.immortalnight.com/tutorial_ext.php.

As the name would imply, Immortal Night is the online roleplaying game that Immortal Night: The Series is loosely based on. I say “loosely based on” because the series is really based on the image for the game I had in my head after reading the tutorial page. Namely, I had assumed that the game was an MMORPG in a similar vein as the game, RuneScape. Elements of the game mentioned on the tutorial page, such as the market and the warring Houses, are seen in the series, but that is where the similarities stop. I have done a little more research on the game itself, but the series is purely me reading the tutorial page and seeing where my imagination and my pencil took me.

Jess. "Aphmau." YouTube. August 20, 2012. Accessed January 22, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/user/ChallengeAcceptedInc/videos.

And this is Jess, or Aphmau,’s YouTube channel. I discovered her just last summer, and she has been my favorite YouTuber ever since. She mainly does gameplay videos, but the thing I really like is her roleplay series. They feature an overarching story that develops its characters as its progresses, which is exactly the kind of story I love. The reason I put her channel as a source is because I use the stories she creates as inspiration for my own, particularly the lore on the werewolves seen in New Dawn, and it would only be fair to give proper credit to the source of my inspiration. That, and Jess’s husband, Jason, gets angry if he thinks someone’s copying his and his wife’s work, and I’d prefer to avoid incurring the wrath of Jason.

Minecraft Wiki. "The Official Minecraft Wiki." Minecraft Wiki. January 16, 2019. Accessed January 22, 2019. https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Minecraft_Wiki.

This is one of the websites I use to research for Minecraft: New Dawn. As the name implies, New Dawn is heavily inspired by Minecraft, and a few of my personal favorite modifications (or “mods”) for the block-based sandbox building game. I use this website to refer to information about the game itself. While I do consider myself an expert on Minecraft, the website is always helpful to refer to when I have to double check something or I want to see if anything changed with a new update.

Mo' Creatures Wiki. "Mo' Creatures Wiki." Mo' Creatures Wiki. November 25, 2018. Accessed

January 22, 2019. https://mocreatures.gamepedia.com/Mo'_Creatures_Wiki.

This is one of the websites I use to research for Minecraft: New Dawn. As the name implies, New Dawn is heavily inspired by Minecraft, and a few of my personal favorite modifications (or “mods”) for the block-based sandbox building game. Now, this particular mod holds a special place in my heart because it is what first inspired my fascination with mods. The Mo’ Creatures mod does exactly what it says on the package: it adds more creatures into the game. In my opinion, this simple addition adds so much more life into the game. This was especially true a few years ago, when there wasn’t really a lot in the game’s oceans. Mods like this one add a new spin on an already fun game, giving the player so much more to do. That is the reason I use mods like these as parts of my story.

Stimac, Blake. "YouTube for Beginners: How to Start a Channel for Your Business." Free Website

Builder. December 19, 2018. Accessed January 22, 2019.

As I mentioned before, at this point, I don’t know the first thing about how to create content for YouTube. I do know how to film videos, but I don’t know how to edit them or how to create and operate a YouTube channel. I will be getting help on trying to figure out this stuff from Ms. Walker-Roberts, but I thought looking at this guide on how to create a channel will be helpful.

"Writing Tips to Make You a Better Writer." Goins, Writer. April 12, 2016. Accessed January 22,

2019. https://goinswriter.com/writing-tips/.

Of course, since writing is a huge part of this capstone, I have to make sure my writing is good. This website lists a handful of tips that I try to keep in mind every time I write, such as to say focused, to just write without worrying about being good, and to read. Even as an experienced writer, I need to keep following these guidelines, so I’m not just staring at a blank page for hours on end.

For my capstone, I wanted to explore how music had an impact on the lives of people in Philadelphia. I knew that for this question, I wanted to somehow document the connections that residents of Philadelphia had to music or the industry. I conducted many interviews with aspiring musicians, songwriters, or people who wanted to be in the production part of music. At first, I thought I wanted it to be anecdotal and just small blurbs. But transcribing a full interview was much more insightful. In order to present these interviews, I made a website titled “Music of Philly” where people could sign up and read the articles. I also made an instagram page for the site to promote the articles more and I posted on snapchat every time there was an update. For me, working on my capstone has been an exuberant process and overall I’m proud of the work that I have put in. You can visit the website here.

Annotated Bibliography

1. Xu Bing: Square Word Calligraphy Classroom - The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University. Libraries. Digital Program Division, www.columbia.edu/itc/journalism/isaacs/edit/MencherIntv1.html.

This source is from Columbia University. I will use to think of ways to prepare for my interview, such as writing my questions out beforehand and trying to get the person that I am interviewing to tell a story, while still staying on topic. However, if I know the person I should try to familiarize myself with their background as much as possible. I can do this by listening to their music before meeting them. This can also open up a conversational atmosphere. The source also talks about how you should try to read the person you are interviewing body language to try and see if they are open or more secretive, that way you know what questions to ask without being too evasive.

2. Employment, Small Business and Training. “Creating a Website.” Business Queensland, CorporateName=The State of Queensland; 2 Jan. 2019, www.business.qld.gov.au/starting-business/internet-start-ups/online-basics/creating-websites.

This source is reliable because it is from a government site. The source explains that before you finalize your site, you should organize your content in a way that is designed easily to navigate through but also stands out to people. I want people to be able to know what content I'm posting and how to find it quickly. It suggests that you should have a professional make your site, however, I'm going to be the professional in this case and structure the content myself. The source also talks about finances, explaining that most companies that let you make a website make you pay a monthly fee. I will try to find one that is free, however I don't mind paying a fee.

3. Green, Taylor K. “Interview with Sofian Zapf.” 8 Feb. 2019.

Although this interview hasn't happened yet it is planned for the future. Sofian Zapf has an extensive musical background and has been in a few different bands over the years. Not only does he create music, but he has experience with playing shows in front of a vast number of people and his music has accumulated a good following on Spotify and Bandcamp. He is currently trying to plan a small tour with his band. He will be one of the first interviews that I include on the website and this will give me experience on conducting interviews and what I can do differently in the future.

4. Green, Taylor K. “Interview with Isaiah Vargas.” 26 Jan. 2019.

Although this interview hasn’t happened, yet I will use it on my website in the future. Isaiah Vargas is a Senior who attends Benjamin Rush High School, which is a public magnet school that specializes in the arts. Vargas has been playing drums for over seven years and he wants to pursue a musical career when he is older. For school, he has to complete projects that correlate to his major (music). I will use this interview to write a column on Vargas and include how going to an art school helps him pursue what he wants to do in the future, which is become a music producer and the difficulties that come along with it sometimes.

5. “How Does Music Affect Your Brain?” Ashford University, 7 June 2017, www.ashford.edu/online-degrees/student-lifestyle/how-does-music-affect-your-brain.

This source was posted by Ashford University. It explains how music impacts humans, most importantly our brain. Whenever we listen to music, we become happy because our brains are releasing dopamine. The source also included information about how music is good for your health, saying that music is an effective treatment for many conditions ranging from premature birth to Parkinson's Disease. Music even plays a key role in the early development of the brain. Musicians have improvement in memory, learning, and auditory processing. The source also provides good ways to find new music or even instruments for people to buy. Maybe I can use this advice to find new music to review.

6. “How to Create a Website.” Free Website Builder, Wix Photography Blog, www.wix.com/how-to/make-a-website.

This is Wix. It is one of the sources that I can use in the future to create my website. It also includes tips and advice if this is your first time making a website like this. It got me thinking about what I could potentially use the website for. It also got me thinking much about the design. Since I'm writing about something that's art and entertainment I should try to use an eye-catching website template. In the "Get in Touch" section of the source, they talk about how you should include social media icons so that people can get in contact with you. I thought about doing this for the people that I interview and maybe even including a link to their work/music.

7. Jacke, Christoph, et al. “Editorial Introduction Music Journalism.” IASPM @ Journal , Journal of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, 2014, www.iaspmjournal.net/index.php/IASPM_Journal/article/viewFile/737/pdf_5.

This research paper talks about how music-based journalism tends to be an "unexplored" part of the profession. It talks about the initial emerge of music journalism over 100 years ago and how it's almost become a separate form of writing and organization. Over time, magazines such as Rolling Stone has globalized music based journalism and has made it more of a norm. This source uses information from books such as "Inventing Pop Culture" and "Popular Music in Theory", and it talks about the impact of music on culture and culture's impact on music. These sources explain that the relationship that links together industry and audiences are based in consumerism. I will take this research paper into consideration when not only writing articles, but when it comes to interviewing people as well.

8. Negus, Keith. Popular Music in Theory: An Introduction. Polity Press, 2012.

This book was written by Keith Negus, someone who has a higher education and experience in the musical field, having played the guitar and keyboard in a variety of different bands over the past few years. Throughout the book, he is explaining the theoretical components that make popular music "popular". He talks about the history of music not only in the United States but the UK as well, and the emergence of "popular music" begins with the creation of rock and roll in the 1950s. This source is important to my research and the way I will conduct my interviews because it provides insight on what music people tend to enjoy more. This will affect who I interview and how I will go about interviewing them.

9. Spencer, Megan. “How to Interview an Artist || Learn: Storytelling.” ABC Open, ABC Online Services, 1 July 2015, open.abc.net.au/explore/95656.

Although this source is similar to a blog post, it is from a network organization, meaning that it is reliable. The creator of this source has a background in freelance writing, broadcasting and is a critic and media arts professional. She offers a lot of advice and interview techniques that I'll take into consideration, such as being polite and being yourself. You can be honest with the person that you are interviewing and if you're feeling nervous about the interview, you can tell them that. Sometimes people lose track of what they're talking about, so you might have to prompt them to speak on a certain topic more throughout the interview.

10. Varriale, Simone. “Music, Journalism, and the Study of Cultural Change.” Warwick.ac.uk, University of Warwick, 2012, warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/sociology/staff/syrkaf/publications/music_journalism_and_the_study_of_cultur.pdf.

This source is a paper from a student from the University of Warwick who is describing the impact of music journalism and criticism over the decades and how it affects culture. Criticism provides useful data to study cultural processes, such as the tie between arts and pop culture. This got me thinking about how the music that I'm going to be listening to and reviewing is going to have a cultural impact, and that I should take that into consideration as I am writing. The source also uses an example of one of Sam Rivers' works/performances and the political engagement that it has.

 For my capstone, I taught underclassmen a mini-course on animal sciences. I researched different teaching techniques before starting. I felt I was very unfamiliar with actually teach subjects to people rather than having conversations about subjects with them. In addition to this, I researched different lesson plans and activities or warm-ups that I found interesting that the class and I could have fun participating in. For example, for one class I made a connection to the anatomy of human muscles and features to certain animal muscles and features. We had a class discussion about what some similarities could be and why then we broke off and everyone chose one animal. I had them research their animal and imagine what kind of strength the animals would have if it were a human and why. Then I had them present to the class and we had a random animal story related discussion for the last while of class. Most of my ideas have been coming from random curiosities and theories that I’ve formed due to my fascination with animals. I wanted to share these feelings and interests with others and that's why I decided to teach this mini-course. I’ve had a lot of fun with my class and hope they enjoyed their time too.

Plumwood, Val. "Animals and Ecology." In The Eye of the Crocodile, 77-90. ANU Press, 2012. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24hcd2.10?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.

This is a primary source that speaks on the inclusion of animals within the human world, it highlights what it was like when the human race and the animal kingdom were closer and what it's like now. I feel it is important for my students to learn how different species are able to coexist and what it may look like when forced inclusion can go wrong, and how proper inclusion can go as well. I hope that they get a good sense of how to treat animals as well since this topic can probably go into animal cruelty as well.

Milner, Nicky, Chantal Conneller, and Barry Taylor. "Animals in a Wilder COntext." In Star Carr: Studies in Technology, Subsistence, and Environment, 335-44. White Rose University Press, 2018. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv9b2vq9.16?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.

This link discusses and shows examples of the scientific meaning and makeup of different species of animals. I feel my topic can get a bit confusing ur to the fact that there is a high demand to know every subcategory scientifically. Hopefully, if I use this right and implement it effectively into worksheets that I provide for my students, they can get it right. I feel like this might be a bit intense for some people since it's isn't really modified for younger viewers and it just throws you into descriptions but I believe that I can make it work.

Dawkins, and Marian Stamp. "Animal Minds and Animal Emotions 1." OUP Academic. August 01, 2015. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://academic.oup.com/icb/article/40/6/883/187667.

This link spoke on the analyzation of animals emotions. It related their emotions and actions and dealt with how we as people should go about interpreting and respecting them. This is also a very important topic to me because in order to work with animals you have to understand them and one of the most difficult aspects of working with animals is figuring out their behaviors and what not. With this, I can more easily guide the students.

Kelly, Morgan. "Understanding Animal Coexistence with a Little Dung and a Lot of DNA." Princeton University. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2015/10/26/understanding-animal-coexistence-little-dung-and-lot-dna.

This topic mainly covers how we as humans can understand and learn why animals are able to coexist the way they do. I have always been interested in why and how we have so many different species and breeds of things some of which we have not even discovered yet. With this article, I was able to dive into the vast makeups of certain animals habitats and how they are able to smoothly blend into the habitats of others without causing too much commotion. I really believe my students will enjoy this because it covers a lot of questions that I myself have always had.

Nyhus, Philip J. "Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence." Annual Reviews. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085634.

This site also talks about the coexistence of animals. I realize that this theme has become repetitive but the animal world is so vast that there is a lot to cover. This piece covers similar aspects and content but it's written a bit differently and goes in depth further than the others. I didn't mind having so many links on this topic because it's what interested in talking about with my students and I have a feeling that they will find it to be insightful.

Poblocki, Alicia. "Animals & Habitats." The Lifecycle of a Butterfly. Accessed January 25, 2019. http://www3.canisius.edu/~grandem/animalshabitats/SOFTCHALKGOOD_print.html.

This is an education packet on how to go about teaching animals to kids, it gives examples and topics and what not. I understand that the group I will be working with will be a lot older than the group intended for this pack but I think it will be helpful for me. This can be a building block template for me so I can start very small when it comes to my courses complexity than go from there once I have more confidence in what I've taken away from this. So this is more of an introductory piece for me and less of guidance piece you could say.

"22 Fantastic Ways to Get Paid to Work With Animals." Trade-schools.net. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://www.trade-schools.net/ca/articles/jobs-with-animals.asp.

This link highlights different job options for people interested in some animal-related careers. Growing up when someone like animals and wanted to work with them the first thing they would go to or be told about was becoming a veterinarian. While this is an amazing option and I myself chose to pursue that option I still wish I was exposed to their option. This link will open more windows for my students.

http://hamiltonzoo.co.nz/assets/Education-resources/Animals-Classification-Teacher-Notes-Activites-and-Worksheets.pdf

This link also discusses and shows examples of the scientific meaning and makeup of different species of animals. I feel my topic can get a bit confusing ur to the fact that there is a high demand to know every subcategory scientifically. Hopefully, if I use this right and implement it effectively into worksheets that I provide for my students, they can get it right. I feel like this might be a bit intense for some people since it's isn't really modified for younger viewers and it just throws you into descriptions but I believe that I can make it work.

"Classifying Animals." Mensa for Kids. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://www.mensaforkids.org/teach/lesson-plans/classifying-animals/.

This link simply outlines a bunch of lesson plans that I can build off of and get inspiration from. I am not very good at coming up with certain things from scratch so this outline can help me a lot of navigation wise. I do not intend on using the exact examples within the sheet but I would like to incorporate some of the things they mentioned within it. This link is primarily for my activity portion of my mini-course so it isn't as crucial as the informative links.

The Rom 241 Team. "3 Innovative Methods of Teaching for High School Educators." Concordia University-Portland. April 06, 2018. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/3-innovative-methods-of-teaching-for-high-school-educators/.

This link is an informative article that instructs people on the basis of teaching other efficiently. I was very worried in the beginning because I am not so used to teaching people fairly close to my own age. I need to figure out how to input my authority within this group without overstepping but also keeping their respect. This link is more for myself rather than my students I want to better prepare myself as much as possible and with this research, I will be able to achieve that.

For my capstone, I focused on self-care. I did this by creating a website that has different aspects of self care like meditation and gemstones. I made the website with research, talking to peers and teachers, and shadowing a dermatologist. At the beginning of my capstone I didn't have a clear idea for my capstone. I figured out my final idea by asking my mentor and other teachers. The capstone process overall was a little stressful because I had to research different careers in the field and the best way to help people. However, I had a good time doing it because self-care is something that I am passion about and wanted to learn more about. I felt that I was about to motiative some people to learn more about their self-care routines and improve my own.

SLA Mentor: Mr. Hernandez

Topic Summary:

Figuring out how to effectively create a club at SLA, with there being a focus on reducing students’ stress levels based on the activities.

Project Abstract:

I created a karaoke club that would consist of students being able to sing and dance along to their favorite songs in a judgment-free zone. I began with putting up posters around the school, asking a friend to design one for me that would catch the eye of those who were interested. As it was only possible for meetings to occur during one lunch band, it was difficult to reach a larger amount of students who were interested in attending. I held four meetings, with required surveys for students to complete before and after they experienced the club. In the surveys, there were questions regarding their level of stress, how they felt, what they do to help themselves, and what can be improved in the club for next time. Each meeting was different because the number of people who attended was not consistent and the energy was either very high or significantly low, all of which affected the way the group as a whole participated. It was difficult trying to contain everyone and the kinds of music and activities we ended up doing when it came to deciding on a song or video on Youtube, it spiraled a little out of my control. I attempted to make changes, which included a judging round but it didn’t work well since people didn’t enjoy it, or want to participate. Ultimately, I decided to keep the genre of music to pop for a more universal reach as a constant throughout each meeting.  

For my capstone, I wrote and directed my own play. I wanted to perform my own play because I wanted to demonstrate my own vision and ideas, rather than take another play and attempt to replicate someone else’s idea in my own style.

Over the winter break, I just let myself write. Before I knew it, what started as one scene about a boy getting dressed turned into a story about events that took place in my life with jokes brought in that highlighted this story of a boy wanting to tell his mother the truth.  After a hefty amount of edits from close friends and mentors, I was finally ready to get people to audition.

With just enough people coming to auditions and enough stage crew members, I had put together a team. Every Monday and Thursday after advisory, we would practice simple acting techniques and scenes from the play for about two hours. This would go on for two months. It was more challenging than I expected to get people to simply walk and talk on stage. It wasn’t until the final practice, the day before the play, that I had realized how far we had come as a group and how much work we had put in.

On March 22, we performed “A Year to Remember” during X-band lunch only expecting twenty audience members and actually had triple the expected amount. I left the drama studio with a handful of flowers and this warm feeling that took over my entire body. My capstone allowed me to display a story that I believe SLA will never forget and that I can be proud of.

Link to bibliography:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bDNL68hIhcunZMIIHU-z9vFFQIS7bk2Nczs73mrViUY/edit