(note the title of this journal is inspired by the song title by Jack Johnson, UCSB alum)
Hi! It’s Lila, again. This week, I’ve been busy using some fun apps for school. In online science class we are making a Brainpop movie. We’ll get to share it with our classmates next week. I am especially excited because I have never created my own Brainpop movie before, but have always wanted to. One thing that was tricky about this project was when I started making the slides. I made the first and second slide and even video recorded on both, and everything seemed to be going well. Then all of a sudden, my finger pressed on my mouse which was sitting on the delete slide button. Oh no! When I realized what I had done, the slide was already gone. I was pretty upset. But, I calmed down quickly and took a deep breath. I tried again to make a similar slide to the one that got deleted. This time I actually improved it and liked it more than my first try! I realized that when you make a mistake, you can always fix it and if you try hard enough, it could even turn out better. The photo above is of me working on my Brainpop movie where a robot named Moby, my brother, and I teach everyone about cats.
I also used Book Creator this week. First, I wrote an essay about how animals impact our world. Then I started working on making it look like a book of facts in Book Creator, which allows you to copy and paste in whatever you wrote and add pictures. I have designed twelve pages so far. It is turning out really well! To the left is a photograph from my book cover.
In class this week we also shared how we take care of ourselves. When I am feeling sad or nervous, I shared that the way that I take care of myself is that I take deep breaths and take sips of water. I also take walks outside in nature whenever I feel like I need a break. A lot of people in my online class agreed. One person even said that they like taking walks in their garden. It was really nice to hear from everyone and hear about what one another feels.
I had time to think about a few things this week. I realized that there are certain things that you are excited to finish and some things that you never want to finish. For example, I really enjoy when I finish a yoga class because it feels so nice. I also am really excited when I finish all my homework and the only thing I have left is reading. It’s not that I don’t like my homework because I really do. It’s just that I love to read. But, there are some things that I never want to finish like a good book. I also never like it when it seems time to finish my cup of delicious, icy cold shaved ice.
I also thought about how everyone is really getting used to this time. What I mean is that everyone is getting used to not touching or interacting with too many people. We are getting used to online schools, shopping with masks on, not being able to eat out, but being able to pick up the food and bring it home. So many people are getting used to a new way of doing things. I am starting to wonder what it will be like when the coronavirus is over and we all go back to school. Will we all immediately hug everyone? Or will we all stand in a corner not daring to touch because of how it used to be? It is pretty hard to get used to something and then switching back. Like growing up speaking a certain type of language, moving to a place that speaks a different language, learning and mastering it, speaking in that language at home, and then suddenly, you move back. What will you do? What will we do? Well, one thing I know for sure is that we will all be so grateful and joyous to see one another that it’s all that will really matter.
Happy quarantining! Until next time, virtually yours, Lila
Lila Kia-Keating is a 4th grader who lives with her family in Santa Barbara. When she isn't reading or writing, you can probably find her riding bikes with her brother or making friends with the neighborhood animals.