Mpol 2019

I can not believe that I am already half way through grade 11. The first half of this school year has gone by so quickly. It’s had it’s ups and downs but overall I am quite happy with how this year has gone so far. This is my 7th presentation at learning so I am actually excited for it. I’ve started to really enjoy sharing my learning and thinking about how I can improve. If you want to learn more about presentations of learning you can read on of my past posts here.

This year I have challenged myself and set many goals, and I’ve been working very hard to reach my goals. Coming into PLP this year I knew I wanted to produce top quality work. PGP has really helped me set goals for this year and know what I need to work on. One habit of mind that I really want to focus on for this year is remaining open to continuous learning. I want to be able to know when I don’t understand something, and be able to find a way to learn more about it. A ISTE standard that I really want to improve on is being a creative communicator. I want to communicate my learning in very creative ways and express myself more through my work.

Getting started this year after the summer was a little challenging and I didn’t get off to the best start. The first project we did was a History in Five video about the making of the atomic bomb in Hanford. This was a group project that was part of a field school. Here is my post on it.

My groups video wasn’t bad. It had strong information, and great shots on location, but it was very boring. It was not very creative at all. Also I did not do really challenge myself much with this project or take on much of a leadership role. My group did work very well together and we made some strong revisions but it could have turned out better. I also didn’t learn as much as I could have. I thought I knew enough and didn’t do any extra research to help me learn more. As much as I wasn’t happy with the outcome of this video I am happy about this project. It helped me see what I can improve on for my projects in the rest of the year.

 

The next big project we did in PLP went way better. Coming into this project I knew my goals and what I wanted to improve on. I also was really excited to work on this project so it made it easier to want to challenge myself. This project was to create an interactive experience about the 1950’s with themes from the crucible. You can read my post on it here.

My first goal I wanted to work on in this project was to be more of a leader. This was a class project so it was up to the class to vote for 2 leaders. Sadly the class didn’t vote for me. The people they chose for leaders had been leaders in projects many times before so everyone knew they would be good. To help everyone see that I can be a good leader I am going to start being a leader in very small projects and build my way hope. Hopefully next time a project like this comes along I will be able to be one of the main leaders. Even though I wasn’t chosen for a main leader I still wanted to use my leadership in some way so I became the DRI of costumes and makeup.

 

Another way I challenged myself with this project was taking on a big role in the performance. I have very bad anxiety and talking in front of people scares me a lot. I have gotten a lot better at it since I started PLP, but I can still improve. I decided that I wanted to be a guide which was the biggest role in our experience. I worked very hard to memorize my script and do a good job. I was nervous at first but I ended up having a very good time. It was a huge challenge for me to be so over the top in this role but I’m so happy I did it. I want to continue challenging myself in this way for future projects.

YPart of this unit was reading the crucible. One way that we used to show our understanding of the play was to make 3 Creative Creation blog posts on it. I thought this was a great way to step out of my box and be really creative. Here are my three Creative Creation posts.

Instead of just writing a paragraph or drawing a picture I wanted to be more unique. For my posts I made a collage, made a book, and used new tools/short codes in my blog. I was very happy with how all of these turned out. I felt like I learned a lot in this project and showed it through my work. When I didn’t understand something or wanted to learn more I did the extra research I needed.

Throughout all of this year we have also been working on Personal Growth Plans (PGP). This has included learning about certain habits of mind and ISTE standards that we will be working on this year. Another big part of it is setting goals and finding ways to reach them. We had to read a book called, What Do You Really Want? How To Set A Goal And Go For It! A Guide For Teens, and we had to fill out forms and do activities while we read it. I feel like I’ve set some pretty strong goals for myself this year and I am already working hard on reaching them. I can’t wait to see where I get to by the end of the year.

The last part of the mpol is to come up with a question for my teachers and parents about how I can improve as a learner. How can I challenge myself to communicate my learning in different, more innovated ways?