Wow… 8th grade is already starting to come to an end. Not yet, but soon enough for this blog post. So in recent times, the PLP class has been preparing for the SLCs which are essentially student/parent/teacher conferences. Just coming back from a week of snowboard provincials in Fernie, I was living the “ignorance is bliss” life. Upon hearing that the SLCs are this week, I decided to get my gears moving and talk about some of the work I’ve done this past school year. I’ll be focusing on three things; Something I worked on that I am most proud of, a skill or ability that has improved since September, and something that showed my growth mindset.
Starting things off with a piece of work that I’m most proud of, I definitely consider my Star Wars Blue Sky project at the top of the list. Not only was I very proud of the turnout for my project, but I feel that I used many skills that we were taught throughout the school year. I used my critical thinking for my project idea which was essentially a design for a lightsaber that could theoretically be made today. I did so much research that a scientist would probably cry. Anyways, after finally coming up with an idea that I knew could possibly work, I took action and began setting up my project. I started by listing out what I would need to theoretically create the lightsaber and fine-tuning which materials I would need. After that, I started drafting my lightsaber and the energy-pack it would need. Funny enough, to draw it, I actually needed to use a bit of math for how I would scale it. I then proceeded to list out all the parts of the lightsaber and pack and create a little write up about how the lightsaber would function and how each part of the lightsaber was used. I made it as esthetically pleasing as I could, and even used a bit of the advertising skills we learned to make people curious about my project using the drawing and get them to have me explain the project to them. You can find this project right here.
Next on the list is how I grew as a learner. I definitely think that my public speaking has improved over the course of this school year. A great example would be the Julius Caesar parody scene that my group and I performed in front of the class. If you asked me to perform something for a group of people in September last year, I wouldn’t have even considered going up to the stage and performing. I would have definitely said no. I noticed a change though. See, in PLP we have had to speak in front of the class many times, whether it was for a presentation, answering a question, or just being given the option to represent PLP to random strangers. I didn’t notice until we performed our scene that public speaking just became easier over time. When the time came to perform, I felt confident in my ability to play my part and at least do a decent job with my acting. So yes, I definitely consider my ability to speak or perform in front of a crowd has improved and therefore, deserves a spot in this blog post.
Last but definitely not least, is my example for my growth mindset. I could say an example for anytime I’ve done a public speaking project, but for the sake of not being redundant, I think that quilt project we did a little while back is a good example for my growth mindset which was originally fixed on this subject. When we started out this project, I couldn’t help but complain that I was going to completely and utterly suck at sewing and end up with a pretty crummy quilt block. To my surprise, after our first time learning and practicing the basics of sewing, I had a different mindset on how I was going to accomplish the project. Don’t get me wrong, I did a completely horrible job with the practice run, but I knew that I could improve if I put some more time and effort into it. My thoughts after that sewing practice run was something that someone I used to know said often, ” If you think you can or can’t, you’re probably right.” I knew I was going to be able to pull it off, and as it turned out, I think I did a pretty good job on the final version of my quilt. You can read about my solo work on the project here and my group work here.
Well that was my little portfolio of highlights from this year’s work. I hope to be writing another one next year, but you’ll just have to wait and see… Waiting… Just waiting…
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