4th Quarter Benchmark

What I liked the most about this project was that I completely got to change history and make my own timeline and events the most challenging thing for me was creating my own primary source documents.  I think the most interesting event I investigated was the the death of Lincoln because I learned and recreated some really interesting things.The individual actions of people impact history in very serious ways because the actions of one person makes other people think and try new things so without the initial action everything else has to be recreated.  

One decision can be extremely influential because every idea has snowballed off of someone else's idea or action so when one person makes a decision it's the starting point for many other ideas. Systemic changes impact the historical record because a system is a body of one, it's a bunch of ideas and decisions so when the system changes something or makes a decision everyone tends to follow which shapes the outcome and future of history.
I think my project could be improved by going into a little more detail during different portions of my video, If I had to redo this project I would map out my video so that it was easier for me to piece the information together.


Here is my SchoolTube link for my documentary film

My public link for my documentary film







Self Made Primary Source Doc

Lend Lease Act Never Enacted

​Link

This project by far was a joyous experience. There were many things that had to be researched and imagined to make everything seamless. I greatly enjoyed this benchmark, as there were more of what my opinion was and how it could have been. Thus, if the research was done, one could easily imagine many scenarios that I myself wished could had been presented in this benchmark. By far the most, the best event that I investigated was the opposition of the Lend Lease Act, as mainly all the events that I focused on lead back to this one argument. Having a great impact, as there are many outcomes from one cause, thus my imagination ran wild with what could be concluded from this change. That it can only happen if the influence of a group or one is great enough that it could change history. I would have to say that the most challenging part of this project was actually putting it up, the primary and research to me was actually the easy part, while just spending time putting it together. Which if I had more time I wanted to have a flash animation about one of my source, which would be entertaining and amazement in my eyes as this would be an important event in history if this point of divergence was real.      

S.Kabangai- Chinese Immigration

  What i like about the project was that it made me do a lot of thinking and i learned a lot of history by going out on my own and researching the information that i needed.
    
I was surprised to find out that the Chinese are responsible for a lot of the development of America, even back then. I also learned that the Chinese were an alternative laborers back in the day during the early days when slavery was just abolished, because the Chinese were doing manual labor for cheap.
     The actions of an individual builds up a standard that others can build up on and or improve on it or do more from that standard.
     
It gives the background information on a particular subject and it shows the changes as time goes on. One decision can change lives, build or destroy history and its possible to change everything around and give new ideas, views and impact on the history to come.
   
It can be explained more in details with all the information of what needs to be done and what needs to be give easily in a sentence or a paragraph.
   
I will first get a list of everything that i need and make a check list out of it. And also makes sure that i deeply understand everything that i have to do and everything that i need for the finial product. 

Here is the link to my project 









Bjquns History

Rashaun Williams

Bājíquán’s History

Bājíquán’s Creation

Wu Zhong, also called HongSheng, was the founder of Bājíquán in 1712, and the belief is that he created it in.  Chinese Muslim living in Meng Village of the Hebei Province and at age eight, he studied Wushu. He was practicing in his country yard when an old man named Lai Kou Yuan laughed and made fun of his martial arts techniques. Wu Zhong out of curiousity asked the man what style he was doing and the man’s response was 'Baji quan'. Wu Zhong then became Lai Kou Yuan’s student. After being taught from his master, Wu Zhong made it more advanced.

Bājíquán’s Greatest

Li Shu Wen was one of the most noted Bājí practitioners there ever was, being known throughout the world of martial arts as the “God of Spear”. He's famous for the quote, "I don't know what it's like to hit a man twice" which history has proven to hold truth. Due to the fact no one could defeat him, he was poisoned. One of his most famous and well known students, Liu Yun Qiao was Chinese Emperor Chiang Kai Shek’s bodyguard. From this, Bājíquán became known as the “body gaurd” style. Chiang Kai Shek had his own personal chef who was also a student of Bājíquán in aspirations to avoid suffering the same fate as Li Shu Wen.

People Using Bājíquán & How It Spread

Bājíquán was claimed as the official style of defense of Chinese Empire. It was passed down strictly only to people of Islam considering it’s creators were Muslim. It is said they did not consider themselves Chinese. As of now, Bājíquán is accepted in the Wushu family and is practiced all over the world. During its third generation, it spread throughout much of China, superficially in certain villages and cities. The disciples of Bājíquán though keep much of there techniques hidden and sacred.


Nailah Adam's What If? Benchmark

Here is the link to my benchmark

I liked the creativity portion of the benchmark the most. It allowed me to show off skills that I had not been able to display in other benchmarks. The most challenging was completing the numerous amount of assignments. The most interesting fact I've investigated was how demographics, female or male, can determine the outcomes of elections. Individuals overall influence people whom look up to them as leaders. In my benchmark, I explored how individuals have affected history and how history has been affected by individuals. This project can be changed by being less freely with the topics and less primary source documents. I feel that the expectations were a lot higher than what people could've met based on the time period given and knowledge amongst the class in general. If I could do this over, I would change the form of multimedia I used to present. I would much rather use iMovie or Quicktime, but due to little time, the website had to suffice for it. 

Kennedy Family Succession P.O.D.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVk6c6PBhTw


I really liked doing research on the kennedy family and although we couldn't rewrite the deaths of both John and Robert I really liked taking the time to find out more about the family and looking at what made them so powerful. What made this project rather challenging for me was looking up and finding sources that would actually make since but also taking each and every individual date and rewriting them to fit the change of history I was working with; I noticed that when I changed the date of when one person went home it then had to effect the rest in somewhat of a dominio effect throughout the process. The most interesting fact that I found out was about Robert Kennedy and how he actually pressured John Kennedy after the "Bay Of Pigs" to send a some group of people again to kill Fidel Castro however the plan failed when the C.I.A picked up on the plans which to me were rather interesting because Robert Kennedy didn't come off as direct or someone to want they death of people.

The impact of individuals change history records by flipping and changing dramatically what we view as something one man is capable of doing in the sense that if someone were to single-handedly stop a powerful dictatorship in another country they would be looked at as a hero and someone who needs to be coveted with awards and from there history records talk and praise this one person for what they have done. However systemic changes effect history records because they are looked at as something that took time and a group and so they change the way we look at the group aspect of things and how we go about doing things in the future with peers and groups. One decision I think can be very influential because if you look at the issue with the U.S. and the Cuba issue I think the decision to go in and try to stop Fidel Castro changed quickly how we did things and what information we used because we learned from that that everything we thought we knew we didn't . I feel like this project could be improved by giving more time because I feel that because of other projects and things that we needed to turn in and do not only effected how much overall effort was put into the project but rushed it overall, I also feel that this project could be improved by allowing every point from history to be explored ie. the kennedy assassinations of the assassination of Martin Luther King because I think not allowing those to be done limited us to something that although is a piece from history a piece that would have been interesting to see how someone took that point of "if kennedy survived the gunshot" and what would have been different. If we could do this project over I would definitely change the P.O.D. that I chose just because although it is very interesting I feel that it took a lot of time to get exact dates to match.

History/English Bm Q4

This is the link to my english/history benchmark:​

http://www.schooltube.com/video/61cf8c2ea795813c9adc/EnglishHistory-BM-FINAL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmsj53QoARs

 Reflection :

My favorite part of the project has creating my own history. Originally I thought "Hey I know a lot about WW1, lets do something about that" only to find out I was kidding myself. Yes, I knew a lot about WW1 but nothing compared to what I learned through this project, I think that one of the most challenging things for me were coming up with my own history, I enjoyed it the most but also had the hardest time coming up with what primary source documents I was going to make, and whether to make the US the good guy, or the bad guy, it was a long thought process.
I think that one of the most interesting facts I learned was that the man in charge of hiring and preparing the assassination of Franz Ferdinand archduke of Austria-Hungary, was the chief of the intelligence department of the Serbian army, Dragutin Dimitrijevic, whom surly enough was also the leader of "the black hand," "the name of a secret military society in the Serbian army in the kingdom of Serbia." I learned that the actions of one individual make a huge difference, especially since World War one started because of the murder of an individual, and because of the man that pulled the trigger. Systematic changes impact our history by determining and effecting the way of life of not only an individual but for the whole nation. One decision in history can be so influential that it leads man to do from the unthinkable acts to the most kind and gentle, two perfect examples of this are, Hitler and Mother Teresa. 
I really enjoyed working on this project, I learned a lot through it. I think that if I included music in the final presentation it would have helped a lot, there are a lot of silent pieces and I thought they would have been good for dramatic effect, but I'm not sure if everyone will think of it the same way I do. If I had a do over one thing I would change about my process would be my organizing the information I gathered, if I had done so from the beginning I wouldn't have as much of a panic when it came time to put everything together.

What If : Trail of Tears

​My Project 

My Sources 
  • What did you like about this project? What was most challenging?

     I think the most challenging part of the part  of this project was actually finding something to change and then put it together.

  • Describe the most interesting fact or event that you investigated.

    One of the more interesting things in this project that i investigated was the assimilation of choctaw indians. They really tried to blend and adopt our culture. Even though they did this they still were not accepted.

  • How do the actions of individuals impact the historical record?

    One person can change the course of a whole event. Making their impact a large one on society and history.

     
  • How do systemic changes impact the historical record?

    If a system changes then there has to be adjustment within the rest of the system. If any part goes without adjustment then a part of the historical record could be lost.
  • How influential can one decision be in the historical landscape?
    One decision as well as one person can change history very dramatically. This one thing can change a historical landscape completely. 
  • How could this project be improved?

    I think my project could be better if my design was a little better looking and if i had more sources.

  • If you had it to do over, what would you change about your process for the project?

    I would have gone over my idea with Ms.laufenburg a little more and i also would have chosen a different subject . Along with that i would have tried to make my sources look more professional or ask for more help

What if John Mayer

Link to the story


    •    What did you like about this project?I enjoyed the freedom to do whatever we felt like doing at the time. What was most challenging?Picking what do while staying in the guidelines of the project 
     •    Describe the most interesting fact or event that you investigated.
In interesting history of the English people many things I thought would take year to do they got done in no time.     •    How do the actions of individuals impact the historical record?
They impact is heavy and lite in different areas but it's really the event that do the impact.     •    How influential can one decision be in the historical landscape?
One decision can change history.If one major event is changed the historical landscape could be upside down.      •    How could this project be improved?
Not much maybe more of a storytelling element the people that wrote a story could possible say they are feeling more of the english part of the project.      •    If you had it to do over, what would you change about your process for the project? Nothing really I just say remember to say on top of the deadline of the project

393px-Treaty_of_Paris_1783_-_last_page_(hi-res)
393px-Treaty_of_Paris_1783_-_last_page_(hi-res)

Benchmark and Reflection

Benchmark!: ​
Here it is.

Reflection:
What did you find most challenging about this project?

I found the most challenging aspect of this project to be first sitting down and simply starting than determining the validity of certain choices. I remember distinctly choosing a few that I felt were somewhat like "cheating" when in fact it simply highlighted the global nature of globalization.

How did you go about collecting the images or selecting the images?
I spent one morning wandering about with camera attempting to capture globalization. I imagine I looked a great deal like crazed tourist unfamiliar with the popular landmarks. After a short break, I decided the other somewhat more logical choice of thinking of the sites I wished to photograph before leaving the comfort of home.

Which image is your favorite? Why? Elaborate.
My favorite image was the safety image. It was a lovely morning when I took the picture and now each time I look upon it, I think only of the pleasantness of that morning. I am sorry, as this is probably not the answer you were looking for but it is the only one I have. Well, I should amend- the only one I will happily give for it is the only that is true.

How prevalent is the evidence of globalization in Philadelphia? Do you think it is more or less so (evident) than in other large cities in the US? Why Why not?
I think that globalization is quite prevalent in Philadelphia. I think that all large cities in the United States have similarly levels. This project showed how deeply ingrained globalization has become in our cullture and I think if we were to do this project in any other large cities we would find similar results. Granted, the overall amount may be the same but there may be some differences on the more specific levels. (Other cities may not have as high a Hispanic population or an Italian market, etc.)

No repeal of the Prohibition

To see my project click here. For this project I decided to see what the country would be like with out the repeal of the prohibition.


Reflection:

The part that I liked about this project was it's originality and how you could basically do anything you wanted. But at the same time that was what I didn't like about it. I wasn't sure how I was going to present the project and what I was going to do the project on, it was so broad. The thing I found most interesting was that my topic could have changed an election. FDR was liked for his ability to please the people and not repealing the prohibition would not have been good for him. Well depending on the person their actions impacts a lot on history. But then that does make sense because if the country gives you enough power to influence something then of course something will change history. Since people depend on the system it always will impact something historical. This project could be improved if you gave a list of things that people could do and try to have them not create so many sources. I would probably change my topic because even though it seemed a little fun and interestingly good it turned out not to be as interesting and not fun.




What if Fred Vinson had lived through Brown vs. Board?

  • What did you like about this project? What was most challenging?
    I liked that I had free control to change something in history. It gave me the opportunity to choose something I was passionate about and change it to my liking. On the flip side, it was hard to pick something to change that would give me the outcome I wanted.
  • Describe the most interesting fact or event that you investigated.
    Although I had studied Brown vs Board several times I was unaware that the judge died in the middle of deciding the verdict. I was also unaware of how esteemed he was. 
  • How do the actions of individuals impact the historical record?
    They impact it in a small way at first but it's like a butterfly effect. One person's absence may start a whirl wind of change. 
  • How do systemic changes impact the historical record?
    These can change history quickly and easily but maybe not in the expected fashion.
  • How influential can one decision be in the historical landscape?
    One decision can totally change history. This case would have changed history regardless but my version of it was a completely new America.
  • How could this project be improved?
    I feel as though there wasn't enough english in this. I'm not sure how the storytelling part could be improved but thats what I would change.
  • If you had it to do over, what would you change about your process for the project?
    Rather than deciding how I wanted 2011 to be first I should have brainstormed ways the initial change could alter history.

    Link To My PDFs
cover
Anabellia Academy
curfew
Dionna White Middle School
school closin letter talk about it
Hobbes School of Music and Arts
banned book graduations court cases
Davis Johnson School
donna wallace
Nadie Preschool

If Bill Clinton Hadn't Been Impeached

Here is the link to my quarter 4 benchmark. For my project I decided to take a closer look at Bill Clinton's presidency and find the pivotal moment that caused his impeachment in 1998, then discard that crucial moment in history and explain what would have changed afterwards. 

Reflection:
Overall this was a pretty exciting project for me. I enjoyed the fact that my classmates and I were given freedom in that we were able to choose our own point of divergence and tell our own story. At first I had a difficult time finding a topic that interested me enough to want to keep digging for more and more resources. One question that really explains my topic of choice is How influential can one decision be in the historical landscape? This is key in my quarter 4 benchmark project because the decision to impeach President Bill Clinton changed history for a number of reasons that are explored on my website. Changing that decision would have made a substantial difference in the United States' history in the past 13 years. If I was to do this project over again I think I would probably choose a topic or point of divergence from further back in time because the changes would be even more profound.  

What If.. Osama Died in the 1980s.

  • I enjoyed this project because it allowed to me to show the world the direction I wish America would go in without pushing my opinions on anyone else. The most challenging obstacle was overcoming my fear of "What if I do this? Then someone saying well that's not how it would've happened. The project really showed me that the world is a lot more like teenagers in high school, than it would be like adults. In my project, I have one person completely changing the way the past 30 years happens, and he isn't even American. Systemic change causes the history of everything to be altered, because all we really have is within one system or another and if we change one little event, it could start the snowball effect. This project could be improved by.. I don't really know this was a well designed project. Maybe turn this into a quarter long project, the first half being about making your change, then the second half being grouping up with 3 or 4 others and seeing debating how the world would change if we all did our events. If I had to change my process, I would find different sources, less about Osama and more about Middle East relations.
View the Newspaper online.

What If America Lost?

What I liked about this project was finding out more about my birthplace, Puerto Rico. I found some really interesting facts about it that I had never been told before. What was most challenging, though, was finding out how one thing might affect another. I spent hours just researching how America not having PR could affect the both of them. The most interesting fact I found was that the U.S tried to buy PR from Spain for 160 billion dollars. I was amazed at how a land, a culture, my own people could have a price tag. Everything is connected like a chain. One event happens, and it affects the entire thing. A person could decide to be at the wrong/right place at the wrong/right time and the entire world could change. One decision could create or make other lives including nature.

I'm not certain how this project could be improved. I didn't have any problems with the project itself. But if I had to do it over, I would probably focus a little more on America and how they're affected as opposed to only focusing on Puerto Rico.

This is the link to my website, I'm sorry it's a dropbox link.

What if? Urban Music QWhite

·  What did you like about this project? What was most challenging?

One thing I like about this project is that it showed everybody true creativity. Giving us a project where we could have changed a part of history of our choice was truly amazing.  The most challenging part was creating points of diversion. I had to go into point of different point of people life and change the outcome. It was hard to  change something that had a big on peoples lives.

 

·  Describe the most interesting fact or event that you investigated.

Rapper Little Wayne when he was only 12 years of age shot him self in the chest with a 9 mm gun owned by his stepfather. He hit his chest only 2inches away from his heart. I didn’t know that about him until reading biography .

·  How do the actions of individuals impact the historical record?

Action of individuals have a big impact on historical record depending on who you are. If you somebody important people are going t care what’s going with you.

·  How do systemic changes impact the historical record?

Same way as any other change If people care about whats changing it would have a impact on them but it means nothing if people don’t care.

·  How influential can one decision be in the historical landscape?

A lot because lets say look at the oil spill  if the person who owned the company had reacted when he first saw the oil spill then when it got big, what would have happen there no would been as much damage.

·  How could this project be improved?

If I could have been there at my points of deversion to actually see what happen and then change the outcome it would have been so much more detailed.

·  If you had it to do over, what would you change about your process for the project?

Do something that had nothing to do with somebody creativity, because if one person didn’t do it for sure somebody might have came up with it afterwards.

Q4 Benchmark luaf

What If Emmett Till lived

​My project changes the traffic death of the young boy murdered in 1955 for a cause that was not worth it my presentation will expose the cruelty of the south and how he would have helped change it if he would have survived. This project had a deep affect on me because of the research it made me search my grandmother was a teenager when this event happend and she gave me me insight as to how it felt to live and that time and to here the events that took place the way she feels and i feel are totally different but are the same in a way because my reaction was how could people be like that ,and her reaction was a more emotional approach ''Again
WWW.001
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WWW.003
WWW.004
WWW.004
WWW.002
WWW.002

English/History BM

MY Prezi
 I think the most challenging part of the part  of this project was coming up with the point of deviance what would change if it happened. I thing the most interesting fact about my project is probably the us makes history in the presidential election by electing Rice.  
Created primary source docs:
 
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Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

Natalie Sanchez 
6/7/11
History BM reflection:
My favorite part of this project was being given the opportunity to change the course of American history. This was exiting to me because it gave me the chance to play with history. It was like opening a new toy; I got to play with it and see the different things that could happen. The most difficult part of this benchmark was picking a point in history that I wanted to change. There were so many points to choose from, so it was very hard for me to decide. Once I picked my topic, however, it was harder to come up with a story of how America changed because of this historical modification. I had to do a lot of research on my subject just to understand it fully, and once I had a pretty good grasp on the subject, I started to brainstorm how changing its outcome would affect American history. It was a very hard and tedious task to come up with a point in American history, change it, and rewrite how things turned out in America. 
Though the project was tedious and took a lot of time, I learned some pretty interesting things during my researching phase. The most interesting fact that I found during this process was that the Northeast and Mid west states were once rust belt states. Rust belt states were areas that were heavily populated with foreign factory workers. These Rust belt supported the democratic party, while the Southern and Western states mostly supported the Republican party. Their votes reflected their ideals, as the foreigner, impoverished workers of the Rust belt states wanted immigration reform, while the American citizens that lived in the Western and Southern regions of America were very patriotic, and therefore, did not support immigration reform. 
In this project, I learned that the decision that one person makes can have a large scale affect. For example, in the 1980's, Reagan had the most influence on the issue of immigration in American because he was the one who decided if the Immigration Reform and Control Act or (IRCA) of 1986 was to become an act or not. I made it so that he vetoed the IRCA of 1986. Consequentially, our economy changed drastically, as we are suffering a huge depression, and live in a country where the unemployment rate has increased 75% what is used to be in 1986, when the decision of vetoing the IRCA of 1986 was initially made. These things only occur in my history of course, but it just goes to show you that the decision that one person makes created a domino affect that will eventually affect a bigger aspect. The decision that Reagan made allowed U.S. legalization to a considerable amount of hard-working immigrants and made sure that they received the wages that they deserved, as neutralized U.S. citizens. Not only this, but it also helped our economy. This is a good example of the effects of systematic change. 

One change in decision can change the whole course of history. One decision can lead to a huge change in the United States. It was Madam Curie's decision to study physics that allowed her to discovery the therapeutic properties of Radium, as it treated malignant tumors. It was young man's decision to shoot the arch duke of France that sparked WWI. As mentioned before, these small decisions create a domino affect that change the whole course of American history. 
If I could do this project again, I would start building my website a week prior to the due date of the Benchmark. This way, I would avoid all of the stress that comes with the work of putting all of my individual components of the Benchmark together into one multimedia presentation. My project can be better in the its presentation aspect. If I were to do this project again, I would improve my website by adding embellishments and more color to it. This would make my website more attractive, therefore, increasing its presentation quality.  


Here is the link 
to my website.

Nat Turner Rebellion

Dollar What if Nat Turner Didn't get Caught?








Citations: 

Gray, Thomas R. "Natturner." Wake Forest University. Web. 07 June 2011. <http://www.wfu.edu/~zulick/340/natturner.html>.



"The Nat Turner Rebellion." History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web. Web. 07 June 2011. <http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6811>.



In this project I liked how we were able to re-create history. There weren't any limitation which made the project that much more interesting and that much more challenging. The hard part was that because of the infinite things to do, there were infinite outcomes that you had to think about.

Specifically when it comes to my project, because I changed something that happened so long ago it was hard finding evidence to draw a reasonable conclusion. Whilst doing my research I discovered that Nat Turner believed he was a prophet. Nat Turner was very religious and intelligent which was rare for a black man in his time.

Nat Turner was the leader of a rebellion which failed however his actions lead to the massacre of hundreds of black men and women. What I did was I took what Nat Turner did, made it different and caused more of a systematic change. Nat Turner himself created controversy between the north and south. His rebellion and slaves escaping to the north created tension. The relationship between north and south grew sour causing war. The decisions of Nat caused a war.

I believe that I could improve on this project with more assembly time and research on other character in my story. If I could redo this project i would research Martin Van Buren because he played a major role in my story too. The research I did was sufficient but I would rather have a more in depth look at the man.



Douglas Final

What If? Taking the power out of the NAACP

what if Prezi

What I liked about the project was the same thing that I disliked about the project. For this project we got to choose the topic and the way in which we would present the information that I have found I liked this because it gave us the freedom to be in charge of what we wanted to do, but at the same time I rather do things that have a rubric and specific steps to follow because I find it easier that way. When I was doing my research the most interesting fact that I found was that most of the people who were already involved in the NAACP were people who did not have a lot of power but had more of a faith in what their organization stood for which created power. I like this because I thought before I need the project the only reason why the group got anything done was due to the fact that there was power in the group but that did not turn out to be the case, which made my hypothesis not entirely factual so this added a twist to my project.  The actions of specific individuals is made up of the reasons why the historical record is impacted, for instance if Martin Luther King Jr. was not born this would have made a huge impact on the historical record which would be changing the record completely. Also the way in which historical events happen is different too because if something happened before the time it was suppose to happen that could make sense. One decision can influence historical events because usually when things happened back then then that stirred up a whole chain of events. Throughout the project I had a certain way that I wanted the project to look like and a certain way that I wanted to story to be told, if I could have improved anything for the project it would be the way I choose to present it. If I could do it all over I would like to have more of a solid topic when I first started I had two topics in mind so it took me a while to start the actual process of getting the project started. So I felt like with research and other things I had to rush a little but I am still happy with the final product.