It’s that time of year again. Another TPoL (or SLC, take your pick). If you’re reading this online, hi. Sorry you’re not getting the full experience. For those of us actually talking, also hi.

I’d like to start by talking about something I’m proud of. Something that I’m really proud of this year would be our WWII website. I feel like, given that I was working alone, I did quite well with it. I had to learn a bunch of new things about website design, and had do to all of the research on my own, and it’s one of the strongest projects I did this year. I’m very proud of how it all turned out in the end, considering how much time I put into it.

Next, I’m going to talk about something I feel like could have used improvement. Something that could have used improvement was my disruption podcast that I did with Claire. We actually wound up turning our video project into a podcast last minute because we didn’t fully take advantage of everything we had at our disposal in California, and even then it wasn’t the best podcast we could have made. I would have put more effort into the script, as it was very rushed, and planned everything out better, maybe gotten a few more interviews. It’s still alright work, but it definitely could have been better.

Another thing that I’d like to add in here is: what’s the most valuable thing you have learned this year? I’d like to say that it’s knowing your team members’ strengths and weaknesses, but don’t play it safe. During DI is when this really set in for me, because we all played into each other’s strengths and didn’t stick anyone on a job that they either didn’t know how to do or weren’t good at. But we also didn’t play it safe. Personally, I’m not a great public speaker, I never have been. Yet I wound up getting the second most lines in DI, with Claire (who also isn’t big on public speaking) having the most. We could have been super simple and given Adam all of the lines, as he’s confident in it. It was a challenge, but we did it. Another thing would be Claire’s makeup skills. We knew Claire could do makeup, but we asked her to push her limits by asking her to try and do things she’d never done before, like draw on tattoos and make a fake beard. There needs to be a good balance between doing what you’re good at and challenging yourself.

Finally, I’d like to talk about something that shows my growth as a learner. For this, I’m going to pull upon our Sins of the City unit. In the end, we created a podcast talking about homelessness in Vancouver, specifically the issues surrounding a homeless shelter being build across the way from an elementary school. I feel like this shows my growth as a learner because I had to learn to work in a group, which (if we all remember from last year) I tend to struggle with. I also had to deal with editing a podcast, something that I wasn’t too great with before, and hearing the sound of my own voice on tape. I’m very proud of my team, and I feel like we all grew as learners during that time.

So, why am I ready to move into the next grade? Because of all of these things. I’ve grown in my public speaking skills, and I’ve done excellent work this year. Personally, I think it’s the best it’s ever been. I’ve also learned important lessons about team work, strengths and weaknesses, and challenging myself. I’m really looking forward to grade 11. Until then,

Read you later

Sincerely, Me