Grade 9 is in the books! Wow, that went by very fast, I can’t believe that I’m going to be a grade 10!

But before grade 10, I have to reflect on my grade 9. How I’ve grown as a learner, how I’ve succeeded, and areas for improvement. Yep, you guessed it! It’s time for my Transitional Presentation of Learning time. Let’s begin!

So…

“Thank you for coming to my presentation on learning. I am the expert on my own learning. I am also responsible and accountable for my own learning. You can expect me to give an honest evaluation of my progress. We will discuss my strengths and opportunities for growth. Thank you in advance for listening and for offering feedback that I can use to improve as a learner.”

This year, there were a lot of successes. A lot of F.A.I.L.s too, but I’ll start by highlighting some of the projects I think I did well in. I feel I did well in the Industrial Revolution/slam poetry project. Part of the reason I feel I had so much success in that project was because of the emphasis on the process, not just the final product. This allowed me to revise and improve my work several times based on my peer critique, parent critique, and teacher critique. Learning to accept critique, and use it to improve is a very important life skill. Because I embraced critique, my objective paragraph and slam poem, were deep, and real-world quality.

Also, my public speaking in that project was great. Presenting a live slam poem in front of the class was a scary thought, but since my poem was about something I feel passionate about (climate change), it made it much easier to present and convey my message with emotion.

Another project I wanted to highlight was our most recent Humanities project on World War 1. This project required me to put all my skills to the test. I questioned, did research, and used a historical perspective, to determine ethical judgment. I communicated purposefully using several different methods of communication. I collaborated with my peers to make the exhibition come to life. It was a really busy time of year, yet I was always to stay up to date with what needed to be done. I decided it didn’t need to be PERFECT: as long as I was proud of my work and felt like it showcased my knowledge on the subject.

How did I F.A.I.L. this year?

One of the projects that I had several First Attempts In Learning was the first film project. This was the project where we made short documentary films on the real-world themes of Avatar. I made one about the destruction of old-growth forests for the economy. To make our documentaries, we had to reach out to interview someone who worked in, knew, or cared about that topic. I took a risk and emailed the Last Stand For the Trees organization to see if they could point me in the direction of someone I could interview. And they did! This might’ve been my first time interviewing someone, other than the Media is the Message project in grade 8. It was scary honestly, and it was really hard to set up a time that would work for my interviewee. I embraced these risks though— and ended up doing 2 interviews instead of the bare minimum. The documentary was way too long because I had 30 minutes of the interviews to cut down into a 2-3 minute documentary. The editing process was tough, and long, and I feel for movie editors who do this as their job. My First Attempts In Learning showed in this project, but I was still proud of the work I created because I knew how much work I put in behind the scenes.

What did I learn from this experience?
Learning to learn is a good thing. In that project, I learned that I should’ve scheduled my interviews earlier so I had more time to edit the documentary. But life, people, and working people will always throw curveballs in your direction. I learned to not be as harsh on myself for things that are out of my control. You can’t control that you’re interviewee ghosted you in your scheduled interview time, but you can control your mindset, and how you handle the situation. You can be mad, frustrated, and disappointed, but you have to re-set and try a new approach, a new perspective.

You can watch my documentary here.

Furthermore, the Franken-Stuffie Revolution project was a rough patch.

We started this project we started by creating a Frankenstuffie. We created a character description and envisioned the world that this Frakenstuffie would be a part of. I was alright at this. Here she is:

At the same time, we read a science fiction novel called Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. There were reading roles assigned for every six chapters that we read so that we could discuss what we read in class. Sounds good right? But I had a hard time being part of those book chats when I was always a few chapters behind on my reading. Like, who has time for reading in the crowded life we lead? I should read more. Reading makes you smart. I still ended up contributing to the book chats and tried my best to stay up to date with my reading roles.

I’m super creative, so a creative short story shouldn’t be hard for me. But it was. I think I could’ve made a better story and a better movie trailer. I had all the freedom, all the ideas, but then couldn’t transfer them, put them down, and bring them to life in my trailer. Because the story wasn’t the most straightforward, and pretty abnormal, my trailer was confusing. This is what I got from Miss Pitches “Great work on this project! I love your trailer and the copyrighted music. I think you could have spent a bit more time explaining the conflict, but I loved your drawings and use of different filming techniques.”

I was already behind on this project, so I never got around to writing a blog post for this one. This shows you how one overdue assignment, causes a chain of multiple overdue assignments.

Now I’ve talked a lot about Humanities, but let’s not forget about Science and Maker!!

Science was so much fun this year thanks to Miss Kadi and all her wonderful activities. I was originally not going to take PLP Science because I hated last year’s Scimatics. But once I met Ms. Kadi, I HAD to get my schedule changed. This year, Science was a blast. I got really good at explaining, representing, or creating something to communicate my research, findings, and leanings. Whether it be a Scratch simulation on ecosystems, a gif on bio-accumulation, an explanatory video on how living things sustain life, or an infographic on geothermal energy, we have done it all. Here are some science comic strips I made on methods of asexual reproduction methods. This is an example of how you can communicate information in a fun, entertaining way.

And maker…

In Maker, I feel I could’ve pushed a bit further. Aim for some more 🌈’s, if you know what I mean. An important lesson I took away from Maker 9, was the power of goal setting. How statistics show that you are that much more likely to achieve your goals if they are S.M.A.R.T.: specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound, and, you wrote them down. I feel I should implement S.M.A.R.T. goal setting into all areas of my life whether it be school, sports, jobs, hobbies, etc.

Again, I had to feature Blondie and I’s epic Whomping Willow stop motion. It’s very creative, entertaining, and fun to watch. I love where we went with this stop motion, and I feel it’s a good piece of evidence that demonstrates our creativity, filming and editing, and collaboration skills.

Habits, Systems, and Disposition

Something that applies to all my classes that I (still) want to improve on is my time management. I mentioned it during my M-pol halfway through the year. The first semester was tough, time management-wise because I had 3 PLP classes all at once: Science, Maker, and Humanities. I did enjoy the first semester, but I would stay up late doing homework after my sports, typing away at like 10 pm, which isn’t very healthy for a young mind. But I can say —I am SO PRODUCTIVE at night. 💪📄📤⏰😴

My time management was better in the second semester, only having Humanities PLP, helped. I know I will have multiple PLP classes each semester next year, so I want to be better at managing my time for grade 10. I will do this by scheduling work periods for certain assignments, taking breaks, and knowing when to stop.

I won’t stop till I feel my work is good enough, up to my standards. This might be hard but I have to change my habits and systems so that I can still reach my high standards, but not by typing away in the middle of the night.

So, why do I feel that I’m ready to advance to the next grade level?

The fact that I’m going into grade 10 still scares and shocks me. I don’t feel old enough, almost halfway through high school already. 😬😱 It goes by too quickly.

But I do feel READY and equipped for grade 10, with all that experience, in successes and failures, and how to learn from your mistakes that grade 9 has taught me. I’ve learned so much about myself, about my work habits, and about what I can accomplish when I put my mind to something.

Also, I’m ready to take more risks and go on more trips! Alberta was so fun, and I created memories I won’t forget along the way. What’s more, (I believe that) my continuous hard work deserves me a good summer break!!

Thank you so much for listening, or reading, my T-POL. Any questions?