TPols are our presentation of learning at the end of the year. I will be talking about everything that I have improved on or need to improve at. Unlike mPols, tPols are everything in the whole year not just a semester. There will be 4 main categories I will focus on my Learning Plan, Humanities, Maker, and Science.

Learning Plan – Review

My Learning Plan is like a map of what I plan to achieve and do this school year. A lot of my focus in my Learning Plan is on my Dyslexia and how I am going to still achieve my goals. The big parts of that are adding more context into my writing, and fully planning it out before I start writing. With these steps, I have improved in lots of places across my different subjects, and in my core competencies.

Before coming into PLP my big areas of strength were Creative Thinking, and Critical Reflective Thinking. I had done lots of Creative Thinking in Elementary, and that carried over to High School. Doing puzzles and lots of thought problems just helped think outside the box. My Critical and Reflective Thinking was pretty good in Elementary but only really started to develop in my last 2 years. I was able to figure out problems with my work, or where I needed to change things. The more difficult part for me was figuring out what the key problem was, and what it should be changed to. I have improved a lot in figuring out where I need to change things, and what they should be.

In the end of Elementary I started to see different places where I had lots of room for improvement in. Some of the big places for improvement like Collaborating, and Communication. Looking back at it I think that main reason for me struggling a bit in these places was because of lack of trust with group members. I feared that they wouldn’t do the work or would just forget it. I have now figured out how to trust group members and still make sure the group project is completed. Another place I struggled the most is managing my own responsibility. When in a group project I managed it well, but in a solo project I struggled more. Not having other people to help or remind me was difficult, but with more solo projects with less support form teachers I improved large amounts in that area.

Humanities

What areas did you grow in and where do you still have room for improvement?

Going into this year I didn’t have much faith in my writing skills, and that is why I aimed the lowest in my Learning Plan for all of my subjects. I didn’t know how much writing was going to be in different subjects, but I knew that Humanities would have the most, and I wasn’t wrong. It did end up having the most writing but it is where I could improve the most in, and improve I did. Having such a large area for growth is important when going into something new. Being able to learn in lots of areas give you more chances to learn and grow. Because of that Humanities is the place I have grown in the most, and where I will continue to grow in for the rest of PLP.

What are some examples of growth?

^Middle Ages Project^

Most of by growth has come from doing projects like the Middle Ages where I make an informational presentation, and I think I enjoy them the most. Having a project that includes research and then writing about it not only helps renforce what you learn, but also how well you will gather and write about information the next time you need to.

 

Maker

What areas did you grow in and where do you still have room for improvement?

Maker was last semester so most of the things will stay the same since my mPol but some skills that I use in Maker have been built upon. With another semester of work and going on a Field Study have greatly increased my knowledge of apps on the IPad. Having gone on the Field Study I have learnt more about calendar and Things to keep track of thing I need to do, or when I need to be places. Along with skills on apps, I have also gained many skills that are real world skills like setting alarms to stay on time, and managing my things by taking care of my belongings. Even though I have improved upon my skills doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. I have learn a lot of skills and there aren’t many new skills for me to learn at the moment, but I can greatly improve my skills I have right now.

What are some examples of growth?

^Numbers page^

A big example of growth is how my skills in graphic design and organizing have improved. In the start of the year I was  just filling out things in numbers, from documents I was given by the teachers, but now I am making my own pages on numbers and filling out my own questions. It doesn’t mean that my organizing skills and Numbers skills are amazing, but they have definitely improved.

 

 

 

Science

What areas did you grow in and where do you still have room for improvement?

The biggest area of growth in Science for me has been asking better questions, and building more well rounded projects and processes for science. We have done many fun experiments but I have learnt more from planning them, than actually doing them. The process of building your project, making questions for you to study further, and improving how you go through the scientific method is the big things that has come from science. Learning the processes and how to learn is the big reason we are in school. In 20 years, chances are low that I will need to find out what the volume of a cylinder is, and I can’t just google it, but figuring out how to learn new things is the key. Science has done an amazing job in improving my skills in that area.

What are some examples of growth?

^Keystone#1^

While working on Keystone#1 of my project studying bacteria and viruses I made a slideshow about my learning, and I had to make my own question, hypothesis, and prediction. Having all of those in one project helped my understanding of the scientific method far more than any other Science Project we have done so far. It also helped me make questions that went beyond, and figured out important things.

 

The Big Question

Am I ready to go into Grade 9? Yes. I have learnt many important skills and picked up important information from Grade 8, and there isn’t much left for me to learn there. My next step in learning is going to be going into Grade 9, and learning new skills, or building upon ones I have already gained.