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.
So what is a MPOL?
A MPOL is a mid-year presentation of learning. In these MPOLs, students showcase their learning using work we’ve done so far this year. They demonstrate opportunities we have to progress as a learner for the rest of the year. MPOLs usually occur in late January and are student lead conferences between the student, a teacher, the parents, and sometimes more guests.
Avatar- My most proud project in Maker so far.
For the project I did on Avatar, I had to make a box/artifact representing our chosen theme statement from the movie. The theme statement I chose was based on the ‘conflict between humans and nature’ and was “Too much unchecked development can upset the balance of the natural world.
To represent my theme statement, I wanted to show the balance of the natural world. On one half of my box, I painted a forest and used real foliage to make the trees. The Mother Tree from Avatar is sticking up over the top. The other half of my box is a giant bulldozer. I put a balance scale on top of my box. On the scale, there used to be two trees, one on either side, and it would have been perfectly balanced. But, a bulldozer came and knocked one of the trees over, and off of the scale, unbalancing the whole thing. This shows how too much unchecked development can upset the balance of the natural world.
I’m most proud of this project because I’ve never done anything like it before, and I think it turned out well. I’ve never presented my work to anyone other than my teachers and peers, so this was a big change for me.
BLJ- My least proud project in Maker so far.
The big life journal was essentially a big worksheet on my IPad. It was asking about my goals, my dreams, my mindset and much more. I’ve never liked things like this because it’s hard for me to think into the future. My answers ended up not as thoughtful or deep as they could have been.
The Outsiders- My least proud project in humanities so far.
Way back in September, I did a project on the book “The Outsiders”. I read the book two chapters at a time, doing small assignments related to the book at each interval. I’ve always been a slow reader and have never liked novel studies, so therefore, I found this assignment very challenging. I definitely think I could do it better next time, but that doesn’t mean I want to do it again.
The Renaissance- My most proud project in humanities so far.
I just finished a project on the Renaissance in which I made a triptych featuring me and some innovations from the Renaissance. A triptych is an art piece with three panels. On the left side, I am in the Renaissance with some of the new things that were created in that time period. In the middle was me with what those ideas became. And on the right, I am with the ideas that they used before the Renaissance. I am proud of this because I had no idea how it would turn out and I think it was great.
Did all of my work meet my standards?
Almost all of my work was up to my standards so far. Only two things at the start of the year didn’t. My least proud project of each subject was the first one I did in each, the BLJ and the Outsiders, which are the only two that were below my standards. Being the very start of PLP and high school altogether, I guess I just wasn’t quite ready for the jump.
For the rest of this year I want to…
I want to improve my note taking skills. I usually struggle to pick out useful information, especially when it’s being read to me, and can’t be paused (I don’t want to miss something important while taking a note!). My goal is to listen and read with the assignment in mind.
I also want to get better at breaking big projects down into small pieces. I can find projects overwhelming, and tend to procrastinate as a result. This will be a big challenge for me next semester, but hopefully I’m up to the challenge!