So it’s summer break now. Actually not quite yet. I still have to do a year end SLC. It’s summer vacation so why am I going back to school tomorrow? Anyway I can’t prevent it so I might as well try and do a good job this time. My last SLC was pretty terrible as I felt awkward presenting information to my parents – as I felt like they already knew everything I was trying to talk about.
Stretching Myself With A Strike Zone
(Best Work and Growth This Year)
For this section I chose my Summer Blue Sky project. This was definitely my best work this year. This project was very different for me as when I have a big project to do I often pick something safe that I know I can do. The Star Wars project was really good but it didn’t really challenge me significantly. I was working in a zone that I was already comfortable in.
For the Summer Blue Sky I came with the idea of an automated Strike Zone as this was something that I was really interested in. When I first started researching how I could to it, I was worried that it might be too difficult and would fail. In the past this would have put me off and made me change to something easier. I think it shows the growth in me this year, that I did take on this challenge and worked really hard to pull it off.
I knew that doing this project would require me to learn some programming. This was something I’d always wanted to do but I had never fully gotten into it. I did not realize when I started how many other things I would also end up learning. The project was about a lot more than just programming, and I had fun learning to solder and finding out a bit about basic electronics.
This project was a huge challenge for me and I think I overcame it. I wish the final solution had been a bit more stable, but I’m very proud that I got as much done as I did (especially as it was during my baseball season).
Reading – Really do I have to?
(Work That Could Have Been Improved)
For this topic I chose the novel study we did near the end of the year. I chose this because I am not very good at reading. I am a really slow reader and I don’t get a lot out of the books. I find even after I have read a few chapters I don’t get everything about the story. This means when it comes to novel study questions I have to go through again trying to find the right text or answers.
I did read as much of the book as I could in the time available, but I was rushing to get the pages done. This meant I did too much skim reading and didn’t really enjoy the book. This problem didn’t just happen in that novel study either it also happened in both Ysobel, and The Highest Tide.
This is a problem that I know I need to improve. The funny thing is that I learnt to read before I even started Kindergarten, so the issue isn’t with my reading ability, but more that I just don’t really like it. I almost never read for fun and that is probably why I am not good at it. I need to set myself a goal to read more regularly. Hopefully if I read some books I enjoy, I will be able to get more efficient at getting through them.
Keeping Up During Ball Season
(Term Summary)
This term has been pretty similar to the last one. There was only one assignment I actually fell behind on. I was almost behind on the book but still got the work in on time. My Blue Sky project was what stood out this term and I put a huge amount of my time into that project. I’m pleased that I did keep up with my work this term as the Spring is my busiest time of year. I have tons of baseball both playing and umpiring. During the season I often umpire at least two times a week. Keeping up with school work, while spending around 3-4 hours at the park 5-6 times a week was tough, but I got it done.
Aren’t You Glad I Choose To Do PLP Mom?
(Year Summary)
For me this year has been really good. I always did ok at elementary school, but I really didn’t enjoy it much. About the only things I liked at elementary was math, gym and being with my friends. I found most of the language arts and socials really boring and didn’t work very hard in those areas. I was also pretty disorganized and often late getting work completed. I know my parents were worried how I would keep up with the work load at high school.
I heard about Flight when I was in grade 6 and thought it sounded really cool – although at the time I thought it was a class where you learned about flying stuff! When I found out more about PLP I figured it was a really good fit for me, and then had to convince my parents that this was a good idea. I think they knew this was going to work well when they saw the amount of work I put in to my application process.
I have really enjoyed the whole PLP program this year. The fact that I am having more fun, shows in my grades being much better than they were in elementary school. I have learned that I had to get all the work done, even on the topics that aren’t as much fun (poetry – I’m talking to you here).
The highlight of my year was the trip to to Oregon. I had so much fun there and the food we ate was amazing. I am really looking forward to going to Florida next year (hopefully – please pick me)!
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