In regular school, people have parent teacher conferences, where the teachers fall the parents all about how were doing. Our teachers believe that the only people who can tell our story is us. So, we have 2 ‘student lead conferences’, or SLCs, throughout the year. At the end of every year, we have the Transitional Presentation of Learning. It’s absolutely terrifying, so yeah!

Question 1- What skills did you use and what skills do you want to continue to develop?

To answer this question, I wanted to choose an example from Maker. To be more specific, Destination Imagination. 

I honestly don’t think I learned more from a project than this one. A lot of that was due to our group, though. We worked really well together, and I think that totally contributed to our success. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t have any hiccups along the way. We had so much to revise after our first performance. We almost redid everything. But it was a building block. 

As you may know, I have always had some issues with working in a group. I have been trying very hard to work well with others, and I think this project demonstrates that the best. I know I still have lots to work on in terms of this, but every group project gets me closer.

Question 2- What project did you most enjoy? Why?

To answer this question, I’d choose the WW1 project in Humanities.

I had a lot of fun during this project. This was because I got to reaserch my great grandfather, and see what kinds of things he did in the war. Doing a project on him, I really felt motivated to do my best work, to honour him. In every draft I had, I was motivated to do my best. After every critique session, I went back and revised. This is some of my best work, and I am very proud of how it turned out!

Question 3- What was especially satisfying to you about the process of working on projects?

To answer to question, I want to choose the Cloning project from Science.

In this project, we had to clone different plants. I found this project really cool, and I learned a lot from it.

Our first clones were dandelions. After planting, we had to wait and see if they sprouted. Soon, we realized that our dandelions hadn’t made it. But we didn’t dwell on that. We kept moving forward. We planted our garlic plants. These went amazing. It was really amazing to see how we had created life, from just a clove of garlic. It’s always amazing to see the final product of all the hard work that we do.

Question 4-   How do these projects connect to the adult world outside the classroom?

For this question, I want to choose an example from Math, specifically the polynomials project.

In this project, like a lot of our math projects, Mr Gross gave us a vague outline for the project, and we had to come up with a project. (That’s not supposed to sound bad). We also worked in partners, whom were chosen for us. I was working with Luca OG, whom I’d never really worked with before. So that was something.

For the actual project, we had to come up with a question, and make a presentation for it. We chose ‘How are polynomials used in architecture?’. This is directly related to the outside world because architecture is something in the adult world.

We did the project, and presented it. It was after that we got critiqued. I kinda found that weird, but whatever. Anyways. After we presented, Mr. Gross gave us feedback, and we went back and revised.

For grade ten, I have a few goals. First, to prioritize my work, so I can do better work and not be stressed. Finally, I hope, next year, to continue to work on my group work skills.

This presentation is based on the driving question, ‘How am I going to progress as a learner before the end of the school year?’. I think that’s a good question, and one I had to think long and hard about.

What is something you worked hard on and revised several times, but the end product turned out better than expected?
For my maker example, I chose the all about me blog post. This is because of the process in which it was created, and how I think there was a lot of PLP essence. My first draft was ok, but there weren’t a lot of pics. The video wasn’t the greatest either. So I got critique, and went at it again, this time making it a whole lot better.

What project did you struggle with? Why?
For my math example, I wanted to use the metaphor machine project. When we were doing the circuits side of things, I kinda got controlling. This was because I found the circuits very interesting, and I didn’t really want anyone else to do it. Because of that, some of our group didn’t have anything to do, so they were off task a lot. Group work is something I haven’t always been good at, and I need to work on it.

What skills did you use and what skills do you need to continue to develop?
I wanted to use the Frankenstuffie project, a project from science and humanities to answer this question. In this project, we learned a lot about film techniques, which is a key part of PLP 9. These skills will continue to help me throughout the year, so it is important to me to keep working on them, learning more and more all the time!

And finally, another example from humanities. In the metaphor machine project, we had two different parts to it. We had the book wok, learning about all the revolutions and such. We also had the actual building of the machine. I find it interesting to look back and see the contrast between them. The actual building was really fun, so I think the Easter Rising revolution will stay implanted in my brain a lot longer than the stuff we learned sitting in a desk taking notes.

In conclusion, I have three goals for the remainder of the school year. Firstly, I need to improve on my group work skills. Secondly, I would like to become more familiar with all the filming techniques we’ve learned about in class. And finally, I would like to be better on the first draft, rather than not trying as hard because it is the first draft. How do you think I can improve other than in these three areas?

In the grade nine curriculum, it is necessary to learn about revolutions. But of course, PLP students are special, so we do things a bit differently. We made machines.

The unit started off with an introduction into the time before revolutions. We learned about farmers and town life, touching on what we learned last year in our Change Creates Tension Unit. We talked about how the industrial revolution changed everyday life.

During that time, we were split into different groups. Each group had to study a different revolution, and later make their machine (which I will get to later) on. I was studying the Easter rising revolution with Tamara, Lauren and Kailey. I wanted to do this revolution because recently I was accepted into a trip to Europe with girl guides. We will be visiting Dublin, where the revolution took place, so I thought it would be a good idea to learn more about it.

The Easter rising was a revolution in 1916 in Ireland. The fighting only lasted 6 days, and the British won. But it set in motion a plan for Ireland to become independent.

Meanwhile in scimathics, we were learning about circuits. Each machine was required to have at least two hand-built circuits, so we learned how to make them before starting on the machines. I thought it was pretty cool. My dad was an electrician, so learning the basics of what he did was pretty cool.

To learn about our revolutions, we first had to learn about what a revolution was, and how it worked. We studied a theory that was created by Crane Brinton. He compared revolutions to a sickness, with several stages. If you want to learn more about Brinton and his theory, check out my blog post on it, How long really was the wait?.

While learning and doing all this, we were reading a book. The book is called Leviathan. It is about a young boy who gets thrown into a war. It is a really good read. Now, you might be thinking, ‘how does Leviathan fit in with revolutions?’. Well, I’ll tell you. It doesn’t. We read the book because of the genre, Steampunk. Steampunk is a combination of futuristic technologies based in the Victorian era, and powered by steam. Again, you’re probably thinking ‘what does steampunk have to do with revolutions?’. And again, nothing. We learned about steampunk for the aesthetic. We incorporated steampunk into our machines. I found this part of the project really cool. This is because I know some steampunk enthusiasts in Kaslo, where I am from, and it was neat to see what all the fuss was about! I have more information on steampunk in my post, Steampunk, and how….

Now’s when we get into the nitty gritty stuff, the building of the machine. See, the thing is, by this point, we were down to three group members. One of us was in Australia, and couldn’t do much from there. So we had to make our small number feel great. And we did. We were very on the ball, and came out ahead of most groups. It was a difficult process. At the beginning, we had big plans, but the number of them that actually worked out was small. Especially when it came to circuits. It took me three days to get this one thing working, and finally we had to change our entire idea for it. But we persevered, and came out with an amazing product.

For the math portion, we had to do blueprints. The one of our first idea

Looks nothing like our final one

And for our full sized sketch

We had to completely redo. This part was very trial and error, but turned out fantastic.

But the biggest part, was the video. This was where we would explain what each thing meant, and how it related to the events of the Easter rising. We worked really hard on it, doing voice overs, making music, and dragging the machine all over the school. It didn’t turn out the greatest. We got tons of critique, but really took it to heart and got working again.

The second and final draft turned out way better. We redid lots, but still used some from our original.

https://youtu.be/kgOkGXtjBFU

This project was really strong in the fundamentals of PLP. We had group work, trial and error, critique, hands on, and electronic based stuff. It was a fun project. I definitely couldn’t have done it without the help of my peers. Although there were some things I wish I had done differently to start with. For example, I should have figured out that one of the circuits would have to be on its own before I spent 3 days on it. I definitely could have procrastinated less on some of the assignments. I need to work on balancing my projects. Because while all of this was going on, we also had the PLP winter exhibition. I really think I learned a lot from this project, not just from the work, but also how to work in a group better.

At the end of each year in PLP, we have another SLC. But it isn’t exactly a SLC. They are called TPOLs. A TPOL, or transitional presentation of learning, it where you show off what you have learned and how you are ready for next year. So of course, blogging!

At the start of the year, I was a little grade 8 with an iPad that I barely knew how to use. Now I am the techy in my family who’s been to Oregon, came second in a provincial tournament, and learned so much about growth mindset that I didn’t get upset when my final project bombed. PLP has taught me so much, it is awesome.

To show my improvement, I pull upon the exhibitions. At the winter exhibition, I was super nervous, and my work wasn’t my best work. I didn’t think I would have enough Ike to do a huge thing, so I didn’t. I had to explain a lot of my project every time someone came. It wasn’t a total bust, but it definitely showed that this was my first exhibition.

For the spring exhibition, we had a lot more time to do things. Approval, for me anyways, seemed a lot easier. Working, I tried my hardest to make it work. And when it didn’t work, I didn’t freak out, because from the learning we got in the growth mindset project. I knew that I shouldn’t be upset, because there is always a better and always a worse.

My favourite project of this year would probably be Destination Imagination. I know l used this in the first SLC, but I am so proud of how we did. This project helped me learn group working skills, because I wasn’t great at it at the beginning of school. Although we had a few hiccups, we came in SECOND!! And I am so proud of our team and all the Seycove teams!

In the category of growth mindset, here’s Scimathics. At the start of our finance project, I thought it was going to be so hard, and that I’d be bad. But as we continued on, it made more and more sense.

One thing I would like to improve upon for next year is my speaking skills. At the exhibitions, and various other events I have had to present at, I was always super nervous. I didn’t always know what to say, so I came off nervous. This can help me for presenting, but also if we have to do group projects, interviews, and things with other groups!

I have grown so much over the past year, and I am so proud of myself. I know I can get better, and I will strive do just that!

Student Lead Conferences, or SLCs, happen twice a year in PLP. This is my first SLC, so, yeah.

This is a reflection of the work I have done this, year, including some work I am proud of, and not so proud of.

The work I am most proud of this year is Destination Imagination. I have no idea how we ended up pulling it off, but we did, and I’m glad we did. It was a great experience, and can’t wait to get to provincials!

DI

For an example of my learning, I chose to compare my learning in Scimathics from the beginning of the year to now. It was a struggle at first, not knowing. But I soon became used to it .

Scimathics

Finally, to show my growth mindset, I will pull upon our photo angles ‘trip’. We went out to the field, to take photos, using different photo angles. I choose this example because at the beginning of the year, I thought I was terrible at taking photos. But I have come a long way from then, and am now more confident in my photo taking.

Photo Angles

Now, I have created three goals that I intent to reach by the end of the year.

1. Not procrastinating in my work.
I hope to accomplish this by the end of the year. To do this, I will have to learn how to manage my time better. I have been attempting to schedule out my free time, so I have time for fun stuff, as well as homework.

2. Working in a group.
Throughout the past year, I have been trying to work on group work. We have to do a lot of it in PLP, so I want to excel in this. I improved greatly on it in the process of DI, but I have far to go.

3. Revising more
I have found that I don’t take constructive criticism very well. I will try and better myself at this by revising more, and taking into account my classmates and teachers advice.