Student Led Conference
Let's evaluate my semester as a learner
Growth
P.E.
The
first example of my growth as a learner is in P.E. Since 6th grade, I was never
engaged in class, since I felt like it was not important, since we "were
not learning anything". This changed this quarter when we started
badminton. We started of, and I enjoyed it, even though I was not the best.
However, class after class, I started getting better and better. Every class, I
would try to be with the same person, since we were both as skilled as each
other. I used to feel that
working with people less skilled than me would make me worse, and would annoy
me. I was getting excited that my partner and I were winning many games, since P.E. was never one of my strong classes. One day, my partner decided to work with someone else, and therefore I was put with someone else. They were not as skilled as I was, but this did not bother me. I then realized, at the end of class, that I had actually helped my partner become better, and develop more skills. I then started being more inclusive, and all ways trying to find a new partner to work with. Now I know that I can actually be inclusive by helping my other teammates improve, in a way that instead of them making me worse, we both improve upon each other. In this unit, not only have I
portrayed growth in inclusiveness, I grew as a learner in P.E. as a whole. I am
now more engaged and enjoy the class more than I ever did. I have learned that
P.E. is actually very important for us as learners, as it helps us balance out
our academic life, and make us healthier. From now on, I intend on
participating more in P.E., by using my inclusive sills.
Humanities
The second example I want to introduce are
my book presentations in 7th grade. In Humanities, we have an assignment
in which we have to read a book, and then present on it. Every time, it has to
be a different format and genre. The first book I read was If I Stay by
Gayle Forman, and the second I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai. When I
first heard about these book presentations, I was really excited, as I love
reading. Therefore, I always try to do my best in these presentations, in a way
to show others that reading is not boring, but very fun and engaging. However,
I was aware that it would be a challenge.
I used to think It was going to be hard to summarize all my thoughts and ideas on each book, and that it would be hard to communicate it to my classmates. My first presentation, I signed up to be one of the
first, in a way that I could help my classmates make even better presentations.
This was a struggle, as I had no example to bace my presentation of off. I
tried my best, and included a hook in a form of a question in a way to “spice
things up”. This was a way I expressed my risk-taking
skills. It was a risk going as one of the first, but a risk that would bring me
as well as my classmates a strong advantage. I was successful in this, as many
of my classmates also used this technique. I also love public speaking, so
presenting and not looking at the board as much was quite easy for me. These
were the two areas I felt really strong in. I received a 7 on my overall
presentation, with a 6 in presenting, a 6 in recommendation, and a 7 in
content. These were my goals I set for my next presentation (at the time): Walk around the room, project voice loud and
clear, be more engaging, a more detailed recommendation, add an about the
author, a relation to myself. Sooner or later, the next presentation came in
January/February. I decided to take in my advice from last year. I also took a risk with this presentation in
my book choice and format choice. The book I chose is very complex, and hard to
communicate about it. The only true way I learned about concepts in the book
was by the story, and I could not tell me classmates the whole story. The next
risk was writing and presenting a speech. I had to present in three days, and
was still not ready. Therefore, writing and memorizing a speech was hard.
However, I ended up presenting an amazing speech. It included everything I
wanted to improve on, except walking around and making eye contact, due to
nervousness. However, I believe I improved greatly in my other areas. I did
still receive the same grade, 6 6 7, and an overall of 7, but this did not
bother me. I felt like I improved, and that is all that matters; I portrayed
growth. This whole process has helped my presenting skills. I Now I think that after creating so many presentations in other
classes, I know how to get to the main point, and still engaging the audience
(not using too much text in my presentation, starting with a hook). This growth has not only helped
me become a better learner in humanities, but in my other classes as well. I
can now use my skills in humanities in other classes. I also believe that I am
still growing, and can grow, as there is one more presentation coming up, and I
am looking forward to it!
Math
A third example in where I have shown growth is in math, with my unit 4 test. This unit we
tried a new way of learning. Everyone in the class was given a problem, with a
different topic or skill required to solve it. We each individually made our
own projects and presentations on each skill, and at the end we were told to
look at our peers work as a study guide. This was not a struggle for me, but
for others it was. I had gotten a really hard problem, so I thought I was already
good enough on this unit. However, after doing the test, I got a 6, and was not
happy. I had thought that I was at a 7 level. I had also gotten all of the
level 7 questions right, but not the level 6. I used to think all I had to do was get a good grade, so I had to do the
re-test to get a seven. However,
before deciding to do the re-test, I went up to my teacher and asked him why I
got a 6 and not a 7. He told me I had to improve in the level 6 area, and I
then understood my mistake. Since I had received a very hard problem to present
on, I was used to all the harder skills. However, I was not mastering the other
skills that my peers had to work on. I then decided to do the re-test, but in
the purpose of seeing if my learning grew, not to get a better grade. I studied
over and over again the skills that I did not do well on the test, and worked
on them until it was mastered. I used the same way of studying as I did last
time (studying for real test). This was hard, since I did not have the proper
materials. Some of my peer had not done a good job in helping others. This is
where I believe I showed I was responsible.
Instead of blaming it on my peers, I did extra research and learned new
skills by myself. It was extra work, but it sincerely helped me. After hours of
studying, the day of the re-test came. It was surprisingly easy, and I received
a 7 on it. Now I think that
there are new more advanced parts of an essay that still have not been
introduced to me. I now have improved my skills in these areas. I do
believe that I have grown a lot in math, and hope that these new skills can
help me in the next unit. I am looking forward to starting unit 5!
Struggles
Science
My first example of a struggle is in
science. Our unit this quarter was water. We first did a unit test based on our
basic knowledge on water, which went well for many. We then had a test on water
investigations (density, etc.), which got a little trickier. After learning
from our mistakes, we came to the final summative to really explain and portray
our knowledge and everything we earned this year. We were each given a water
issue that we had to study, and at the end, we would have to either write an
essay or present to the class, based on previous grades. I choose to do a
presentation, and my topic was Desertification in Kenya due to climate change
and deforestation. Everyone then went on to researching and creating their
first drafts, to present and receive peer feedback. I had a very messy
presentation at first, and after seeing my peers, I felt even more insecure. I
did not like how mine looked, and felt as if I had not done enough research, or
had done too much and nothing would fit. I
used to think I was not ready for this topic. I had done so much research, but it felt like none. I decided to try something new, and start
from scratch; I knew my time was limited, but felt like it was the right thing
to do. I first went over my old successful presentations, and got all my
information from my old presentation, to set up into my new one. It took my
quite long, and once I finished, I was satisfied. I immediately went on to
practicing, and it was not going well. I was either going too fast, or going
over time. I sometimes even stuttered a lot. The day of presenting finally
came, and I was stressed. I was waiting nervous, until it was my turn, and I
did the best I could. To my surprise, it was great. Everyone loved it! Now I
think that it went amazing. All I had to do was just organize my ideas in
order to engage the audience and get right one the point. After
evaluating my rubric, I realized that all I had to do was organize my thoughts
and ideas properly in order to create something that can sincerely educate my classmates.
It was a struggle, but one that I overcame. I think this clearly expresses my communicating skills. I became a better
communicator, as I learned new skills.
Portuguese
The second example is in Portuguese class.
We have recently done a test, re-visiting an old topic: verbs. I had gotten a 7
on my last test, so I was feeling very confident about it. This time, we were
allowed to have a study guide during the test (open note), but it had to be
done by hand on one paper. At first, I did not include that much information. I
thought I was confident enough to get a high grade again. I used to think this test would be easy, as I had already aced the last one, which was the same topic as this one. However, we soon
enough started doing practice tests and worksheets. After all these fake test,
I was not so sure about the topic, as I was not doing well. I got really
scared, and decided to start reviewing my study guide. I got a blank sheet of
paper and re-did my study guide, now with new and more detailed information. I was
still confused, as it had not helped me much. I was still lost on the topic,
and decided to redo all the worksheets and extra work from our Arariba. After
studying, our test date was moved one day later, so we had a final mock test,
with exact questions from the test (with few modifications). I did terribly on
it, and was very scared. I had studied so much, but was still lost. I did not
know what else to do, but keep studying. I was persistent, and never gave up.
It was at this point that I felt I really showed perseverance. The whole thing
was frustrating, but I never gave up on it. I knew I could do a good job, if I
had done a good job last year. At the end, it was all very worth it, for when
the test day came, most of the questions were similar to the ones I had
studied. I was still unsure that I got a good grade, but I did feel that it was
my best. Overall, I received a 6 on it, which I was very proud of. This test
has shown me a lot about how I am as a learner. Now I think that
I should always be aware of old topics, and try to re-learn everything I
forgot, for it can help me learn new topics. For the next test, I
will make sure to always review my knowledge, and always make sure that I
always study, no matter how sure I am.
Humanities
The final example that I struggled in is
Humanities. This quarter, we studied the individual role of a citizen, and how
they influence a democracy. To sum up all our information, we had to write an
argumentative essay, on two very controversial topics: the provision of the
general welfare vs. the protection of individual needs. My first thoughts were
that it was going to be very easy, and I would master it on my first draft. I used to think it would be easy to write an
argumentative essay as I already have in 6th grade. We started by learning about both sides,
and then choosing one. I stuck to the individual needs topic. I had a good
start, and it was easy to make a strong and organized outline. Each paragraph
had enough evidence, analysis, and information. I was very proud, especially
with my evidence. Instead of sticking to the sources we were told to use, I
went out and found different quotes and information that could potentially help
me. This shows how I was curious
about the topic, and how I wanted to learn more. After having a fun outline
writing, things started to get tricky. I was having a hard time writing my
essay. I wrote what I could, but I did not feel like it had enough potential in
it to convince someone who was against me. I tried getting help from my
teacher, but she had so many people to conference with, so I decided not to
interrupt. I tried doing my best, and ended up with a 5 as my first draft
grade. I was not happy, but I knew that my essay was at that level. I decided
to try and ask my parents for feedback, and that really helped me. My mom went
over everything with me, until my essay was as good as it could get. I realized
how much I had to improve, and that I should not have just assumed it would be
easy and I could just get over it. Now I think that there are new
more advanced parts of an essay that still have not been introduced to me. I
now have improved my skills in these areas. After, I learned that
all my work and effort that I put in did pay off, for it helped me during my
debate!
Success
International Relations
International Relations is a new class for
me, but with my past MUN skills, it has become a success on the first time. In
IR, we started doing some work in preparation for SAjMUN 2015, which I was
excited for. My country was Denmark, in the topic measures to ensure corporate environmental
responsibility. When I first started researching, there was not much on Denmark
addressing the issue. However, there was a lot of information from the government.
I was very stressed, because writing speeches for me has been in a struggle in
MUN. I joined this class in hopes of improving. I used to think writing a speech was going to be as hard
as all the others. After confirming my research, and learning about other
countries positions, I went on to writing my speech. At first, I could not
write it, since I was so focused on the idea that I could not do it. Nevertheless,
once I got focused, it just came to me, and I ended up with an amazing speech,
that I was proud of. All that was left was to polish and potentially memorize
it. I believe that I portrayed Critical Thinking through this whole process. I
wrote my speech on my own, trying to make sure it was what my country stood up
for. Overall, I got a 7 on my speech, and was very proud of it. Now I think
that all my past debates have really improved my speech writing, and it is
quite enjoyable now.
Portuguese
In Portuguese, we started a chain of
summative blog posts, based on a book we read, Luna Clara e Apolo Onze. The
blogpost I chose to show as a success is my first one, on the topic drought in
São Paulo. At first, I was not excited. I thought it was going to be boring to
research on it, since I had already heard so much about it. I used to think that it would be boring and time consuming
to research and write on a topic I already heard and knew about. However, after ten minutes of research, I
realized how false that statement was. I became so curious on how dry it had
gotten, and why São Paulo got itself into this mess. It was very interesting to
learn about new things on an old topic. I was very curious, and decided to look
at other resources to find out new facts that would be new to my peers. At
first, it was hard to place all this information together, but I was later on
able to do so, and ended up with a detailed, long blogspot. I now learned that you
can never know too much, and there is always something new to learn.
Blogpost
Humanities
Another success is in humanities, through
my reading. During our most recent unit (blogpost), we read a book called the
Giver, a dystopian novel. I was so interested I always read ahead, and ended up
finishing the book in two days, rather than two weeks. I was then sad, because
many people had said that the other books were not a continuation, and I did
not like the ending! I thought it would be pointless to read them. The week
before carnival arrived, and a new challenge was introduced; the Giver reading
challenge. What it proposed was to encourage us to read the next book in the
series, as well as other books by Lois Lowry. Based on how many books you read
you would receive different
rankings. I was excited about the fact that we
would receive a prize, and jumped right in. I used to think doing
the Giver Reading Challenge would just be a way to look smart and cool. I did
it not for pleasure, but for acknowledgement. This then reminded me of something
that was presented to us during assembly; act without expectations. They showed
us an example of how the Chinese cleaned up their mess after the world cup
game, for the fact that they believed it was the right thing to do. I then
realized that if I was going to do this challenge, I should want to do it for
the pleasure of reading, as I already love to read, and not for the wanting of
a prize. I did end up reading all the books, and I was surprised. I thought it
would be as boring as a school book, but they were as good as my personal
reading books. Now I think reading these books has the same meaning as
my personal books; I read for pleasure, not for appearance. This
experience has not only taught me this, but to read more. I had not read in a
while, and after reading these books, I decided it was time to get back on track
with my reading. I decided to make a jar, in which every time I read a book, I
write it down on a piece of paper a throw it in. This way, at the end of the
year, I will be able to keep track of everything I read. Both these reading
ideas portray my success in being balanced.
Not only do I use my thinking in class, but apply to my daily, non-school life.
Goal
My goal for the rest of my middle school year is to become more innovative. This is something that I do struggle on, and do not have an artifact that can portray this core value. Every time I try to write a story, I cannot get an original, insightful idea. A way I can improve this is by trying to first try making up my own idea, and then looking for inspiration. If I do this, my chance of copying someone will decrease.
Dear Laura,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts on who you are as a learner through this blogpost. I look forward to hearing you articulate these in person! I always enjoy when you present (as you spoke about in your struggles section-- it is clear that you enjoy public speaking!). A few questions I have about your SLC: the first image in your post doesn't appear on my screen. Check the permissions and settings to make sure that it will be visible no matter what browser we see it in. It is smart of you to bold the thinking routine sentences. Is this because you are going to say those exactly as they are in your SLC? Finally, have you considered what goal you want to set for yourself as a learner? How interesting would it be to look back on this as an 8th grader and see that you have reached that personal goal!