Thank you for coming to my presentation of 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 we have completed many Humanities projects but we also had the opportunity to build our learning in the B.C. First Peoples (BCFP) course. Both of those PLP courses had highs and lows when it came to my learning which is what I am here to reflect on today as this is why I am ready to advance to the next grade level.

πŸ—£οΈAgency – Seeking Help

One of my favourite projects this year was β€œThe Great Debaters”, despite the fact that I would have to debate was an extremely scary thought. We completed this project in the first semester, and I feel it demonstrates my growth in agency, particularly through seeking extra help from my teacher when needed. Throughout this project, there were multiple instances where I effectively sought guidance from Ms. Madsen. For example, at the very beginning, when we were practicing persuasive writing, I found it challenging to incorporate emotion that would appeal to an audience. With the feedback I received, I was able to not only add more emotion to my writing but also recognize the difference between facts and opinions.Β 

Towards the end of the project, I continued to seek additional feedback on my presenting skills by going in to tutorial. I was surprised and happy to learn that my presenting skills were already strong, largely because I had put significant time in to understanding my debate topic. This shows how I was able take responsibility for my own learning. This was evident when we were given time for individual research and writing for our debates, which I made sure to use productively.

My dedication was visible as I used both extra class time and my personal time to practice and refine my debate performance. By the time of the spring exhibition, I felt confident and well-prepared, so I could present a strong and confident case. This project not only helped me improve my persuasive writing and presentation skills but also reinforced the importance of being proactive and taking charge of my own education. The skills I built from β€œThe Great Debaters” have motivated me to continue developing these abilities, and as a result, I have signed up for spoken language 12 next year to further enhance and apply my communication skills.

πŸͺ΄Engagement – Enthusiasm and Curiosity

For this years spring exhibition we were challenged to showcase both our humanities and BCFP projects. This meant merging different topics that didn’t all have clear connections. However, this pivot helped demonstrate the engagement learning behaviour, through my enthusiasm and curiosity for learning. In my learning plan I mentioned that I feel I have an open mindset when it comes to my learning, however I wanted to build on this motivation and continue to apply it when shifting into new projects to later on share my learning with others. For the BCFP β€œgive back, carry forward” side of the project, my plan was to create plant profile cards to bring awareness of the Indigenous connections to the land and environment around us. I chose this topic because I found the food, health and wellness section in this course particularly interesting as I didn’t realize all the uses and hidden meaning within the plants that I walked by everyday, so wanted to share all the knowledge I built with others. I successfully achieved this goal through the engaging conversations I had with the public during the PLP and BCFP exhibitions.Β 

As for the humanities side, I had originally planned to create a children’s book with a partner on the Upstander of my choice, Audre Lorde. However, do to the shift in the exhibition plan I ended up creating this project on my own. This added a bit of a challenge as I then needed to finish one project and start another in a short amount of time, however I did not let this take over and shift my school and personal life balance. One of my big goal in my learning plan was to set healthy boundaries and to seek balance in my life as I tend to get caught up on assignments and completing them on time which in the past has taken up loads of my free time. I was happy to recognize though, that despite the suddenly large amount of work that I needed to accomplish, I wasn’t overly stressed and I was able to complete the majority of it during school.Β 

I think that one of the pieces that made this project go so smooth was really using my class time productively and also switching between the two projects so I wasn’t hyper focused on one for multiple hours at a time.

✍️Self-Regulation – Balance

The third project I would like to talk about is the Cat and MAUS project we are currently finishing in humanities. In my learning plan this year, another one of my goals was to be more open minded when it comes to accepting and applying feedback. I feel this project shows the most of this because we were tasked with multiple writing assignments which can always use revisions. Through the different writing, we practiced using storytelling as a learning tool, using examples from text to support your thoughts, and taking key points from events and analyzing them to find the hidden meaning. The two big assignments that show how I’ve applied feedback are the Holocaust Reflection Writing and the Literary Critique on β€œMAUS”. As these were both formal pieces, they included multiple drafts giving me the space to make the needed revisions. Some common revision notes I received between both these texts were the need for stronger transitions, unnecessary citations and some grammar mistakes which I have learned to recognize are all things that will enhance my writing.

🎬What skills will I bring with me to grade 12?

Although I have build many skills this year, heres an overview of the some of the main skills I plan to bring with me for my grade 12 year.

πŸ“‘Accepting and applying feedback

πŸ™‹β€β™€οΈSeeking help when needed

πŸŽ‰Enthusiasm and curiosity for learning

βš–οΈSchool and personal life balance

 

Thats a wrap (almost) on my grade 11 year, thanks for reading/listening to my TPOL!

-Makenna