#BlogThree

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Blood Diamonds ~ Blog Three

The movie Blood Diamonds takes place in a1990, civil war-ridden Sierra Leone. Rebels terrorized villages and subsequently made Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) and many others dig for diamonds in the lakes of Sierra Leone. Consequently, Solomon Vandy finds a rare variation of the diamond just before the rebel camp is compromised by legal forces. In jail, this is where our two main characters truly meet Solomon Vandy and Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) are put into the same holding cells thus making Danny Archer aware of the rare diamond. The two become joined to find the diamond again and change their lives forever. For the better part of the runtime, they are joined by an American journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) who is set on showing Americans where their pretty diamond rings are truly coming from. As a whole, through the action-filled movie, we see the effects that the diamond business has on Sierra Leone and its people. While watching Blood Diamonds I was exposed to what many have to endure when their homeland is used for producing goods. As we see in the film the rebels within Sierra Leone know the money and power that comes with selling the diamonds ds their land provides pushing civil war throughout the area. Big companies never interfered with the actions and the whole process of the diamond collection and therefore distribution was directed by the Sierra Leone rebels and/or people. During the movie, we are shown Jennifer Connelly’s character Maddy Bowen and her unstopping will to show the rest of the world what the diamond business is. With Maddy’s effort, the conclusion of the movie shows the big corporations that sell “blood diamonds” get what was coming to them with immense backlash. I believe that although many would partake in backlash and be unsettled with the true nature of the diamond entreaty the collapse of diamonds would not nearly be possible. I believe that although many diamond brands today do not use “blood diamonds” within their company this, doesn't mean that what is depicted in the movie isn't still currently happening. Whenever there is demand for something especially when it is shown to be scary, the need to buy it cheap will always stay. I am not sure there is any true solution to stopping this social justice issue. Yet, I do hope that if most diamond distributors stop purchasing “blood diamonds” and forcing false scarcity within the marketing of diamonds, the acts of civil war will be practiced.

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Three reasons why you might want to consider putting Google Adsense on your blog.

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 WHAT IS K TO 12 PROGRAM?

The K to 12 Program covers Kindergarten and 12 years of basic education (six years of primary education, four years of Junior High School, and two years of Senior High School [SHS]) to provide sufficient time for mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship.

Every Filipino child now has access to early childhood education through Universal Kindergarten. At 5 years old, children start schooling and are given the means to slowly adjust to formal education.

Research shows that children who underwent Kindergarten have better completion rates than those who did not. Children who complete a standards-based Kindergarten program are better prepared, for primary education.

Education for children in the early years lays the foundation for lifelong learning and for the total development of a child. The early years of a human being, from 0 to 6 years, are the most critical period when the brain grows to at least 60-70 percent of adult size..[Ref: K to 12 Toolkit]

In Kindergarten, students learn the alphabet, numbers, shapes, and colors through games, songs, and dances, in their Mother Tongue.

Examples, activities, songs, poems, stories, and illustrations are based on local culture, history, and reality. This makes the lessons relevant to the learners and easy to understand.

Students acquire in-depth knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes through continuity and consistency across all levels and subjects.

Discussions on issues such as Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Climate Change Adaptation, and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) are included in the enhanced curriculum.

Students are able to learn best through their first language, their Mother Tongue (MT). Twelve (12) MT languages have been introduced for SY 2012-2013: Bahasa Sug, Bikol, Cebuano, Chabacano, Hiligaynon, Iloko, Kapampangan, Maguindanaoan, Meranao, Pangasinense, Tagalog, and Waray. Other local languages will be added in succeeding school years.

Aside from the Mother Tongue, English and Filipino are taught as subjects starting Grade 1, with a focus on oral fluency. From Grades 4 to 6, English and Filipino are gradually introduced as languages of instruction. Both will become primary languages of instruction in Junior High School (JHS) and Senior High School (SHS).

After Grade 1, every student can read in his or her Mother Tongue. Learning in Mother Tongue also serves as the foundation for students to learn Filipino and English easily.

Subjects are taught from the simplest concepts to more complicated concepts through grade levels in spiral progression. As early as elementary, students gain knowledge in areas such as Biology, Geometry, Earth Science, Chemistry, and Algebra. This ensures a mastery of knowledge and skills after each level.

For example, currently in High School, Biology is taught in 2nd Year, Chemistry in 3rd Year, and Physics in 4th Year. In K to 12, these subjects are connected and integrated from Grades 7 to 10. This same method is used in other Learning Areas like Math.

Senior High School is two years of specialized upper secondary education; students may choose a specialization based on aptitude, interests, and school capacity. The choice of career track will define the content of the subjects a student will take in Grades 11 and 12. SHS subjects fall under either the Core Curriculum or specific Tracks.

CORE CURRICULUM

There are seven Learning Areas under the Core Curriculum. These are Languages, Literature, Communication, Mathematics, Philosophy, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences. Current content from some General Education subjects are embedded in the SHS curriculum.

TRACKS

Each student in Senior High School can choose among three tracks: Academic; Technical-Vocational-Livelihood; and Sports and Arts. The Academic track includes three strands: Business, Accountancy, Management (ABM); Humanities, Education, Social Sciences (HUMSS); and Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM).

Students undergo immersion, which may include earn-while-you-learn opportunities, to provide them relevant exposure and actual experience in their chosen track.

TVET (TECHNICAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION & TRAINING) NATIONAL CERTIFICATE

After finishing Grade 10, a student can obtain Certificates of Competency (COC) or a National Certificate Level I (NC I). After finishing a Technical-Vocational-Livelihood track in Grade 12, a student may obtain a National Certificate Level II (NC II), provided he/she passes the competency-based assessment of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

NC I and NC II improves employability of graduates in fields like Agriculture, Electronics, and Trade.

MODELING BEST PRACTICES FOR SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

In SY 2012-2013, there are 33 public high schools, public technical-vocational high schools, and higher education institutions (HEIs) that have implemented Grade 11. This is a Research and Design (R&D) program to simulate different aspects of Senior High School in preparation for full nationwide implementation in SY 2016-2017. Modeling programs offered by these schools are based on students’ interests, community needs, and their respective capacities.

NURTURING THE HOLISTICALLY DEVELOPED FILIPINO (COLLEGE AND LIVELIHOOD READINESS, 21ST CENTURY SKILLS)

After going through Kindergarten, the enhanced Elementary and Junior High curriculum, and a specialized Senior High program, every K to 12 graduate will be ready to go into different paths – may it be further education, employment, or entrepreneurship.

Every graduate will be equipped with:

Information, media and technology skills,

Learning and innovation skills,

Effective communication skills, and

Life and career skills.

CORE CURRICULUM SUBJECTS

There are seven Learning Areas under the Core Curriculum: Languages, Literature, Communication, Mathematics, Philosophy, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences.

Oral comunication

Reading and writing

Komunikasyon at pananaliksik sa wika at kulturang Filipino

21st century literature from the Philippines and the world

Contemporary Philippine arts from the regions

Media and information literacy

General mathematics

Statistics and probability

Earth and life science

Physical science

Introduction to philosophy of the human person/Pambungad sa pilosopiya ng tao

Physical education and health

Personal development/pansariling kaunlaran

Earth science (instead of Earth and life science for those in the STEM strand)

Disaster readiness and risk reduction (taken instead of Physical science for those in the STEM strand)

APPLIED TRACK SUBJECTS

English for academic and professional purposes

Practical research 1

Practical research 2

Filipino sa piling larangan

Empowerment technologies (for the strand)

Entrepreneurship

Inquiries, investigatories, and immersion

Akademik

Isports

Sining

Tech-voc

SPECIALIZED SUBJECTS

Accountancy, business, and and management strand

Humanities and social sciences strand

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics strand

General academic strand

IMPLEMENTATION

Program implementation in public schools is being done in phases starting SY 2012–2013. Grade 1 entrants in SY 2012–2013 are the first batch to fully undergo the program, and current 1st year Junior High School students (or Grade 7) are the first to undergo the enhanced secondary education program. To facilitate the transition from the existing 10-year basic education to 12 years, DepEd is also implementing the SHS and SHS Modeling.

TRANSITION FOR PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Private schools craft their transition plans based on: (1) current/previous entry ages for Grade 1 and final year of Kinder, (2) duration of program , and most importantly, (3) content of curriculum offered.

[helofoxxie]

Comparative Analysis

I have chosen three recreation films by fellow students to compare and analyse. Each scene recreation (from very different films) are opposing in genre, but share similarities that allow such different films to be compared to one another.

  Dyani Morgan’s recreation scene from “The Hunger Games”, where Katnis (The female protagonist) realizes Peeta can be saved, is a very effective remake. I admire the way the scenes have been put together, from camera shots to how the actress was dressed and the location in which this recreation took place. This recreation has been done well and everything feels like it ties together in her version of this scene. 

 Kerry Mason recreated the bathtub scene from “Psycho”. I found this entire recreation very effective from the use of a high definition camera and the black and white overlay added in post-production. I appreciate that Kerry kept this recreation as close to the original as possible, as I have seen the original film and this recreation has been done well.

 Kelsey White recreated a scene from “The Fault in Our Stars”, in her recreation we see the protagonist lying under the stars contemplating life. I enjoyed this recreation as it kept to the overall feeling you get when you watch the original film. I liked the use of the voice over whilst the actress was looking at the sky, and the flash moments of the actresses fond moments in life. 

 Each of these films differ in genre and storyline, but there are key identifiable moments in each recreation that are similar to one another. All three recreations use a close up shot on the eyes of the characters/actors.

Dyani uses a profile close up of her female actress to help the audience make a connection between Katnis and her feelings for Peeta. Kelsey uses the close up shot of her actresses eyes in a similar way, she uses this shot to show the emotions felt by the actress, as tears form and drop from the actresses eyes. Kerry, on the other hand, has used the close up eyeshot to end the audience’s anticipation of the scenes prior to the shot. It also gives a definitive ending to the scene.

 A similarity between Dyani’s recreation and Kerry’s is that both scenes give the audience a strong feeling of anticipation. You can see anticipation etched on the female actress in Dyanis film, and this creates the same feeling for the audience. Kerry’s entire scene felt based around anticipation. Kelseys recreation does not feature this, instead an audience feels a mixture of both sad and happy feelings for the female protagnonist.

 Kelsey and Dyani both have a similar location setting. We see the actress of each film outside somewhere away from civilization, closer to nature. This opposes Kerrys recreation of an inside bathroom setting, we don’t see anything but a bathtub with running colour and water, and a female eye. Though each film opposes each other in many ways, they still share moments of similarities which has been fun to identify.