Tpol
Thank you for coming to my presentation of learning. I am the expert of 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 giving me feedback I can use to improve as a learner.
Ok now that that’s done with, let’s get into it.
This year we were asked doo do our tpol a little differently so I will be going over 3 of the PLP success behaviours. These behaviours are from the: agency, engagement and preparation sections. I chose these behaviours very carefully to show success, something I’ve grown in since my Mplol and something I intend on building on in grade 10.
Let’s start with My growth. The behaviour I chose for this section was “Outside of school ” From the preparation section, I marked myself as “Manages time effectively to meet deadlines and complete tasks, uses organizational tools.” However, even a month and a half ago I would have been put myself as “has a system to manage tasks but struggles with consistency”
At the beginning of this year, I was just trying to figure out what systems worked for me with my busy schedule, and I would find myself cramming often because I didn’t look ahead. Now that it’s been a while, two years of being a PLP learner I know how my brain works as a PLP learner better. In this time I have found the following strategies for myself.
-I am an early bird and am much more productive if I wake up early instead of cramming late and doing sloppy work. (Using my favourite music makes it easier to wake up too!)
- I am busy and need to schedule my work blocks. I will build on this by using my calendar next year.
- I need to compartmentalize my work when at home, moving locations (library, mum’s office just going outside instead of my room which is just asking me to be distracted.)
- I strive for competition and can simulate this by setting a time-lapse of myself working (insert video)
- IMG_4302
- Moving onto something I would like to build on in my grade 10 year. That is resilience. As a learner I care deeply about the work I create and when it gets deleted or a bad mark because I was rushed I feel incompetent. I need to work on sticking with it without giving up. Some days I just can’t be productive in class. During our nationalism project, I got so discouraged from not finding proper sources that I ended up staring at a blank iPad screen for almost 3 classes. Though I did eventually have a successful Video and project it was only completed by waking up early and staying up late.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AHDawXtt2g
I am resilient in other ways, however. When I don’t do as well as I could have on a project I become even more driven to do well on the next one. I can very easily pick myself up if there is another chance to do well, to impress myself and others.
As soon as I went over the form I knew I wanted to talk about my enthusiasm for learning. I think it is one of my biggest strengths as a learner. As a learner, I crave knowledge and a complete understanding. This leads to me pushing myself to complete projects to the extending level I expect from myself. A good example of this was our WW1 project, where instead of making up a random story from a pre-decided list, I went through my family history to find a story that I wanted to tell. The result was an extremely detailed, personal, and immersive graphic novel which is possibly what I consider my biggest success as a learner thus far in school.
Another example of this was our nationalism project. As unorganized as I was throughout this project it did get done and I did create a product I am somewhat proud of. This is only because of my enthusiasm. I picked a niche topic (again) and connected a topic I felt little connection to to myself. I am good at connecting myself to all the things I am learning about.
Another thing to consider with my enthusiasm is how overpowering it can be. This connects to the balance sections, something that has been brought up by teachers at every Pol I’ve had so far. When I get really into my learning there isn’t much that can stop me from myself. I end up burnt out and exhausted. This is also due to how packed my schedule is. I have to squish in my homework time.
Though this sounds bad, and I don’t enjoy it in the moment it makes me stronger and more ready for the grades ahead of me. I know I’m doing more than the average student my age and I’m really glad I have made that decision for myself. Being involved in our school’s choir program is important to me, as is coaching swimming, playing piano, and spending time with the people I care about. I know how to fit everything into my schedule even if it is a bit much at times. This was shown in our Louis Rial project, it was a really interesting topic, but I found myself breaking down late at night because I felt like if I couldn’t get every thought and idea I had into my essay it wouldn’t work
I think my enthusiasm is there for a reason though. The layout of PLP is something I’ve been thankful for this past semester. The ability to choose parts of what I learn is not something I take for granted especially in comparison to other courses. I don’t do as well when I can’t challenge myself.
Each school I pick a word to determine the way I want to be. In grade 8 it was impression, to make a good impression on people in the school, and make connections to get my impression on PLP. This year it was been Excellence, to hold myself to a standard I could be proud of (which I am! This has possibly been my most successful school year yet). I think that at times the constant standard of excellence was a bit harsh, but it worked out well for me.
As I go into science this summer my goal is strength. Strength both physically and mentally with summer school and a goal of working out more. I don’t know what the word will be for my Mpol next year but I guess you’ll see then.
Thank you for reading/listening! See you soon with a post on our WW1 project!
Neko