Hello! This blog post is the summary and story of my latest blog post for PLP, my mPOL. This isn’t a project but an end-of-semester presentation I have to do. The driving questions for this presentation are “how have I demonstrated growth as a learner so far this year and how can I sharpen my Learning Plan to ensure I will reach my learning targets by the end of this school year?” 

Accomplishments I am proud of

In this part of the post I will be showing what I am proud of that I did this year. I am not really one to jump up and and be proud of what I do. I can be a little cynical at times, and I’m always able to see where I could do better. Always trying to achieve perfection. Because of this I had to actually think about it and get some help from my dad.

Drawing:

I actually decided that I wanted to get better at drawing in my Learning Plan and I think I really have. I actually did a project on drawing here [https://www.blog44.ca/judahg/2021/12/14/carr-the-joy-of-the-pencil]. I worked on this further during the winter holidays by reading some books about drawing figures. Some key drawings that I’m proud of that I did this past couple months are Attack Penguin, the Green Dice, My Hallway and my Peanuts character of myself that I use as my profile pic everywhere.

Screens:

Now I bet everyone during Covid is been on screens more and I’m not exception. But I have been working on being on screens less. Some examples of this are taking up sketching on paper again, not going on my computer, and just reading a lot. A challenge with this however are getting a brand new iPad for school and doing all my work on it. But I have time limits and I have not been getting carried away with it.

Attending school:

I know this is like oh of course you’re going to school. You shouldn’t feel proud of that, it’s just what you have to do. But hey its more complicated then that. I have had a flipped lid for the past couple of months, I have lost a dear friend, I am having high anxiety and I’m finding school really challenging on top of that. The fact that I go without complaining and get myself ready always is something I’m proud of no matter what they say.

Where I’ve grown

Before starting this I didn’t think I had grown much, but after I looked back at it I realized I really have. For all of these things I obviously have room to grow but really have gotten better.

Perfection:

I really have started to let go for perfection more and just say “thats good enough.” I still have to actively think about it but thats still a start. Where I have done this is with drawing and all my school work in general. 

Handling anxiety:

Now I still have anxiety. And a let of it. It is still a real, real challenge. However I have started to learn some ways to calm it down. For instance telling it the truth about right now. Showing the anxiety that I am safe in this moment. 

Group work:

Now same with anxiety, and all the things on this list but I really have grown, with working with people. Sometimes letting an idea happen even I don’t agree, like it, or think I have a better one. It can be really hard doing it.

Where to grow

Most of the things here are from where I’ve grown because I really want to get better at those things. There is also some new ones.

Handling anxiety:

This will be quick because I have already touched on it. I specifically want to learn how to deal with it in the moment. This is something that I can talk to with my mom and counsellor.

Help:

I really need to learn to ask for help. It’s not just that I don’t want to, I convince myself that I can do it myself. I also forget a lot of the time to ask. I also have a hard time accepting help. I can’t even give myself any help.

Group work:

I still struggle so much with group work. I have grown in it but I believe I can always do better. Part of this is communicating. I have always had a hard time communicating even with people I know well.

PLP Class Review

Here I will be talking a bit about each PLP class I did this semester. Humanities, Maker, and Scimatics. 

Humanities:

In Humanities I feel I did fine. I pass safely, but don’t completely excel. I have actually not tried to spend all my time doing work and getting 100%. This is different from how school has been for me so far in my life since I used to get all A’s. I got those not just because I’m bright but the material felt very easy. It was more challenging. I actually find this with all my other classes as well. My favourite project we did in Humanities was poetry. It brings together feelings and writing. Both things I am not too bad at (its also quiet dramatic:). All together I do like Humanities.

Maker:

So for I am liking Maker. The only thing I haven’t loved about it is doing DI, but thats not really Maker, just what we did in the Maker time. I feel like Maker is a mix of everything you do at school. Thinking, building, writing, etc. I favourite project that we did for Maker so far is probably Constructing Creative Communication. Specifically the Carr class where I got better a drawing, though the picture taking was interesting as well.

Scimatics:

Scimatics is the class that seems most like real school. We learn about math and science two really fascinating things that have gotten even more interesting now that I’m in high school. We learned and created laser displays! We would never do that in elementary! I really like scimatics. There is also less group work. My favourite project in scimatics that I have done so far is for sure the Laser Laws. We learned about a mathematical law for goodness sake! A formula! a²+b²=c². It’s amazing. And then we tried to prove it in real life! 

See ya around and goodbye, Judah G!