What is a tPOL?
As a new PLP student, I had to learn what a tPOL is myself. I assumed that it would be similar to an mPOL, but of course there would be differences. (To read my last mPOL, click here!) As I read the guide that would help me better understand the purpose of a tPOL, I found out that it is a transitional presentation of learning which allows me to show my parents and teachers the growth I have made this year as a student. This is similar to an mPOL because it is based around the same ideas, but this presentation would be different because I need to show my growth as a learner throughout the year, not just at midterms. The theme for this presentation is moving up a grade level and the driving question is: why do you feel you are ready to advance to the next grade level?
How can I express that I am ready to advance to the next grade level? I know that I have improved on and mastered new skills, but where did I show this in my assignments?
Starting with Humanities, I have improved my leadership, group work, and presentation skills. In the beginning of this year, it was difficult for me to be a leader in groups because I was new to PLP and was not the most skilled iPad user. I was able to help by writing scripts, acting in videos, and making plans for my group. Now, I am more comfortable using an iPad so I am able to help with more aspects of the projects. I have shown my leadership skills in multiple assignments, including the more recent projects with my Lord of the Flies group.
As for group work, I feel very comfortable around all of my classmates now that I have done so many projects with them. I have also found ways to get the most of everyone’s strengths by assigning roles that make people comfortable with the work. The Perspectives of War website is a very good example of great group work. My teammates were Simon and Izzy and we worked very well together to split up the work that needed to be done. Izzy made lists of things we needed to do, we all worked on different pages on the website, I edited the pages, and Simon worked on formatting and technical difficulties. As a group we revised our website together, and we are very proud of our final product.
The next aspect of my learning that I have improved on is my presentation skills. Once again, this has to do with being comfortable around my class. Throughout this year, I have had the chance to present my work in front of the class on numerous occasions. I used to feel uncomfortable with sharing my work with my classmates because I was used to only showing my teachers my work. Being in PLP has been a huge change because I had to learn to be open with my classmates so that we could collaborate together easier. Part of this meant that I had to share my work with classmates to get feedback.
As my projects reached a higher standard, I became more proud of my work and was excited to share my hard work with the class. For example, sharing my Helmut Podcast was exciting because I was proud of what I accomplished. (Click here to listen to the podcast!) I would like to continue to work on presenting my work in the future because it is something I still struggle with. I should always be proud of the work I am submitting because I work very hard on every project I produce.
In my Maker class, I have improved my teamwork, leadership, and organizational skills. Since the first exhibition in December, I have grown as a PLP learner. Now that we are focussing on our Blue Sky projects, I have the chance to show my growth.
I have exhibited my skills as a good teammate in my Blue Sky project with Mimi this past semester. We have worked very hard to think of a project that is attainable and is related to our theme. As a team, we have already conducted our experiment and this is because we both have leadership skills so were able to spit up the work and complete it in minimal time.
I have shown my organizational skills in the Planning 10 section of this class. I was able to show my independence, planning skills, and organizational skills in the most recent project, the Job Shadow project. The job shadow assignment was a project designed to help my class understand the professions we are interested in better. This assignment required me to take initiative and make independent plans with someone who has an occupation of my interest. This project took place out of school time and had very little assistance from teachers, so it was very important to stay on task. I organized plans with an interior designer from BCIT and was able to complete all aspects of the project on time. I even took the project further by interviewing her students so that I had additional information to add to my bog post!
One part of this class that I would like to improve on is my blog posts. I would love to be able to make my blog posts longer and in more detail, of course adding more links and media as I do so. This will help me show what I have learned in each unit so that I can strive for a better grade.
In my math class, I have shown my knowledge through the tests and projects throughout the year. One project that I am very proud of is my algebra game project that I did with Sofia. This project exhibited my teamwork, mathematic, and video editing skills. I worked very hard to learn the mathematical concepts as well as making a game that is unique and fun to play! My classmates really enjoyed spinning the wheel of math in class while we edited our video.
Another project that shows my learning is the Cell Phone Plan Project for our Systems of Equations unit. (Click here to see our project!) This project was done with Izzy, and we did a lot of hard work to create a high quality presentation. First, to make sure that we understood the mathematic part of this project, we had a quiz which I got 100% on. Next, it was time to take this information and communicate it to the class through a writing and a verbal presentation.
One aspect that I could improve on in my math class is to do more extensive revisions. When I finish a project and get revisions, I would like to get better at completing those revisions. I always complete project revisions if they are necessary, but I can always revise my other projects too!
In my science class this year, I have completed many projects that I am proud of. Some assignments have shown leadership skills and group work, while others have focused directly on core compitencies. My water wheel project is a great example of a group project that required leadership and communication skills. The water wheel project was a renewable energy project where we had to use nature to create enough power to light up several LED light bulbs. We needed to find a time for all four of my group memebers to get together to create our project and film our video.
I showed my knowledge of core competencies in the astronomy project I created with Izzy and Isobel. In this project we needed to pick a topic and create our own project that was based around four of the six core competencies. My topic was the star life cycle and our driving question was how does the star cycle relate to black holes? The core competencies we chose were communication, processing and analyzing data, questioning and predicting, and planning and conducting. Although these aspects are almost always used in very project, this project was special because we got to choose exactly what we were being marked on. My group worked hard to create a high quality presentation that we are proud of.
Overall, I have worked extremely hard this year and it was shown in all of my projects. I have grown so much as a student this year, possibly the most I have ever grown in one year. I have become a better group member, leader, and student overall. To answer the driving question of this tPOL, I believe that I am ready to advance to the next grade level because of how much I have grown as a learner this year. Although there are still some areas that I can work on, I know that I have exhibited strong work ethic this year and I am very proud of the work I have completeted.
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