[Thank you for attending my Midterm presentation of Learning. As you can guess, I am the expert on my own learning. I am responsible and accountable for my learning. You can expect me to give an honest evaluation of my progress. I will speak the truth, and only the truth. We will discuss my strengths and opportunities for growth. Thank you in advance for listening and offering feedback in which I can use to improve as a learner.]

Hello, and welcome back to another POL, tPOL, if you will. Today, I will be reflecting on my last 1606 hours in PLP, so pitter-patter lets get at ‘er!

Firstly, lets take a look at my success behaviour self-assessment; 

I’m gonna focus on 3 aspects of this sheet, and explain them. 

Foremost, we’ll talk about my selection for “Seeking Help”. 

For “Seeking Help”, I chose ‘Rarely’. As you’d assume, I rarely seek help when I need it. However, I actually kinda enjoy figuring things out on my own, I feel like a janky Sherlock Holmes 🕵️‍♂️. 

Even still, I definitely should ask teachers for assistance when I need it. Over time, I’ll reap what I sow (🗿), and it’ll end up costing me a project, so better to confront it before it does.  For example, when, as a class, we read Scott Westerfield’s Leviathan, I really struggled to get myself to actually comprehend the book, thus resulting in me having a lack of understanding in the book. It would’ve been very simple for me to just ask Ms. Willemse to help me reach my goals, but I didn’t. 

Secondly, lets look at “Preparation [at school]”, in which I listed myself as ‘Consistently’. I believe I always come to school with things I need. iPad charged nightly, Apple Pencil attached, and positive attitude applied. Nikan Dan has never had an iPad below 50% at school 😎. 

Lastly, lets gander at “Citizenship”, listed as ‘Sometimes’. I believe I give realistic, yet respectfully feedback to peers, however, you’ll never see me really walk about to somebody- unless its somebody I’m close with- and just give them feedback, which is definitely something to work on next year. 

The last PLP project, being the focus of the PLP winter exhibition, was extremely lucky for me, because it catered towards me, and my skills really well. The project was tying together WW1, and comic books. WW1 has always kinda interested me, and learning about history and war has always perked me up, but the most important aspect of this project was the comic aspect. Although I find superhero style comics- the type we focused on- kinda lame, but a few years ago, I was known for being the comic strip guy. I loved Peanuts, Garfield, Mutts, Wallace the Brave, etc.. I read them all the time, and drew comic strips of my own, which has helped me a lot, as I pride myself as a decent artist. I had SO MUCH FUN with this project.

As soon as the project was introduced, I knew I wanted to do something special. We were told to trace real WW1 photographs, then colour fill them. I thought to myself “yeaaahhh…..no”. I decided to draw my own panels (for the most part), and instead of colour fill, I would use a watercolour brush on Procreate I became fond of. I really had fun drawing my panels, with exception of that one all-nighter. 

I finished my comic book 2 days early, and was fairly proud of it. The only part I didn’t like was how my drawing deteriorated as the book went on. Not to say I’m not proud of the later drawings, just a lot less so than the ones at the start. 

We also did a quick project about Nationalism, which I’ll quickly breeze through. In the Name of Nationalism was a project we did all about nationalism- which means when people love their country. My country of focus was the Czech Republic 🇨🇿! The final learning evidence of this project was to make a YouTube video, which again, catered to me beautifully. I’ve spent hundreds, and hundreds of hours watching YouTube videos, so this came very easy to me. I combined styles of some of my favourite YouTubers, and just the knowledge of watching so many videos, gave me an advantage. Watch my video here: https://youtu.be/79BMmDXoojY?si=s4KUHGbyPmv1HL6Z

I focused on the Sokol movement, which was when these people in Czechia got people to do gymnastics in order to fight against their oppressive leaders .

And now, the big question; Am I ready for grade 10?

One of the advantages I have over my PLP peers is this thing, its like 5’10, 130lb, and has wacky hair. That’s right, Sepaus Daniali. 

My big brother, Sepaus, is the reason I’m ready for grade 10. 

Sepaus is 2 years older, headed to grade 12, so basically, he‘s like a wisdom-bearing wizard 🧙‍♂️. He’s experienced PLP for the last 4 years, compared to my 2, thus being a major help. I’ve always asked Sepaus for help regarding PLP, but headed into such an important academic year, I will have to rely on him even more. 

But enough about him, why am I, Nikan Daniali, ready for grade 10?

Well, I believe I have corrected my mistakes from years past, and will continue to do so next year. Let’s look at what a longer-haired me said last year: 

“Next year, I will be sure to be more organized. I found myself multiple times this year finishing work, only to forget to submit it. There are so many ways this could’ve been prevented, but, I didn’t use them me. I’ve dealt with this since kindergarten. Too bad for me”

I think I’ve been more organized, in terms of not forgetting to do things, but my time management definitely needs work. Even writing this right now, its 4:28pm, the Sunday before my tPOL. Luckily, Noah Kahan’s music is keeping me pushing 💪. 

I also spoke about rushing my work, which, apart from my comic book, I think I’ve corrected. In fact, sometimes I’ve been taking too much time on work. 

My time at PLP has been up-and-down, side-to-side, but I’ve never had second thoughts about being a member. 

The highs are high, and the lows are low, but every little thing you do makes you a better learner, person, and worker. 

Thank you, PLP, our time is not over!

Thank you for reading/listening my mPOL. I believe I have given an honest reflection on my learning. For the rest of my time in PLP, I want to insure I produce quality work while improving my organization. I’m wildly excited for grade 10, and progressing through PLP. 

And until next time- Nikan out!