tPOL – AKA What I learned this year

So this year I have learned a lot. About my self and my class mates. There were definitely a lot of ups and downs this year; it was not easy but it was fun.

At the start of the year Ms Maxwell prepared us with the Growth and Grit lessons. I learned that my dyslexia had helped me develop a lot of grit. What I didn’t know was how much I was going to need that grit later in the year. I have learned that I need to dig deep when the going gets tough, and I need to really live by my motto from that post: 

In fact, for the past couple of months I have started watching motivational videos every morning. 

I also came in to this year not knowing a lot of people  but I think I did pretty well with making new friends and getting to know people. Our Oregon trip where we spent a week doing everything together, helped to solidify us as a group. Which is important because so much of what we do in PLP, we do as a group.

 

Our Fall Exhibition was Star Wars themed, and I chose to compare Clone Troopers with Canadian Forces Members. This was my first taste of the fullness of PLP. Choosing something that is of interest to you within the framework of an assignment really makes learning more engaging. It also was my first taste of how hard you have to work to make something presentation worthy. And worthy enough not to get yelled at by Ms Willemse. 

But in the middle of the year some things happened and I got really off track, as I’m sure you noticed. I was not being me. I won’t go in to detail about what happened, but I learned that I need to ask for help, and to accept the help that is offered to me. 

This term I tried to turn it around. I worked hard, I took risks, I asked for help, and I think I did well. I even volunteered to read out loud in class, which is a big deal when you are dyslexic. In fact, I was one of the narrators for the tableau for my group in Colonizing in a Tempest. 

My shining moment this year was my Blue Sky Project. I had a plan and a schedule and I stuck to it. Good things happened. My prototype rugby rebounder needed some reinforcing and modifications after the original build. Because I allowed for this in my schedule, I had time to fix the problems well before I needed to bring the prototype in for the Spring Exhibition. I had time to have my target group try the prototype and film them using it as well. Once again, this was a truly engaging process as I got to choose something that was important to me. And I learned that planning for extra time to fix things that could go wrong is always a good idea because something always goes wrong. 

OK, I’m ready now. Bring on PLP 9!