For this project I showed collaboration skills when I asked my peers for inspiration or positive criticism or any other ideas regarding my piece. If I ever had trouble deciding on a certain colour or design of something, I collaborated with the people at my table group to help me form my final piece. Specifically, I used this skill when it came to where I should glue certain card board pieces and where in my setting I should place my clay model. Because we were all sharing the glue gun, we took turns with it and they helped me choose where to glue my cardboard details. In the end, I am proud of what I created and I am happy that I was able to get some advice from my peers to enhance my project.
Critical and Reflective Thinking:
For this project, I demonstrated critical and reflective thinking when molding my clay fairy. For instance, the hair strands of my fairy were beginning to fall and break off as it dried. To fix this, I restarted the head of hair and made it so the hair was a bit thicker and not as long. I also added a lot of slip so that each strand was secured in place. Another issue that I had to face was that my clay mushroom was a bit wobbly. This was happening because the support cap of the mushroom was quite large compared to the stem/base. It had to be fairly big so that the fairy could fit and sit on top of it so instead of shrinking the cap, I added some clay to the very base of the mushroom. Adding more structure to the base allowed for the mushroom to hold up the fairy
Communication/Collaboration– The Cell Membrane Diffusion Lab required strong communication with my partner and group peers. To participate in this lab and carry out both Part A and Part B, our group of 4 people was split into two pairs. One pair was in charge of testing the diffusion of the starch cell, while the other pair was responsible for testing the diffusion of the glucose cell. Because we were working in pairs, we had to communicate and collaborate with each other for every step of the experiment to ensure we both understand was is happening and what steps to follow. Specifically, one step that required both individuals was creating the cells using semi-permeable dialysis tubing, and filling them with the correct contents. The pair in charge of part A (starch) worked together to tie the strings on each end of the dialysis tubing and also communicated to measure the starch solution and releasing it into the cell accurately. We then worked together to secure the cell onto the edge of the beaker and submerged it into the IKI water by using the plastic holder. Furthermore, each partner used their communication skills to evaluate and analyze the experiment’s qualitative and quantitative data/observations. All of these steps that were done for Part A were done the same for Part B with the glucose instead of starch and distilled water instead of IKI water. Finally, I used my communication skills to discuss our results/observations with all four group members to create an agreement on a conclusion to our hypothesis.
2. CriticalThinking – The Cell Membrane Diffusion Lab required me to use my thinking core competency skills to come up with answers to the analysis questions, as well as to write/form my conclusion paragraph. For instance, to answer all of the questions for the lab, I used multiple sources to support my reasoning. I used information from my notes, as well as communicated with my group peers to agree on an answer. Furthermore, Part A (the starch cell) of our lab didn’t result the way we predicted in our hypothesis. Due to this unexpected result, I used my thinking to discover where we went wrong/what errors may have occurred, and how the errors can be prevented next time.
This semester, I have focused on learning and using mathematical vocabulary, as well as working collaboratively with others. I demonstrated progress within these two topics when I reviewed the class notes multiple times in order to learn new proper math vocabulary. This occurred whenever I found myself stuck on a math question, so as a result, I would seek help through the notes and lessons. In order to comprehend the notes, I needed to make sure that I understood what words were being used in the lessons. After learning what specific words meant and what to use them for, I incorporated them into my personal vocabulary when figuring out or teaching others math concepts. Fully understanding these concepts and the vocabulary used in them helped me expand my ability to answer questions correctly, as well as teach peers how to solve them. The other topic that showed progress this semester is being able to work collaboratively with others. At first, I had to adjust to working with new people, and from time to time, I found it a challenge to communicate with peers I didn’t know very well. However, as I learned more about the math concepts and got more comfortable with my group members, I was able to have more efficient communication with them. In addition, as the semester went on, my teacher allowed us to pick our group members for group work. This allowed me to take a step further in communicating with my peers as I had picked to work with people I was previously comfortable with outside of math class. Even though at times it could be a bit distracting, I do believe this helped me expand my learning. While working in a group I was able to discuss the process of solving math problems through different perspectives. Some people would have strengths in specific topics while others struggled, so group work was a great opportunity for everyone to help each other better understand math. Throughout this semester, I have demonstrated growth in learning and using math vocabulary, as well as working collaboratively with others.
Advice for Future Students
My advice for future students is to not let workbook questions build up. This means, from the very beginning of chapter 1, you should try to finish all workbook questions in class before you go home. From my personal experience, I tried keeping up with the workbook homework pretty well in the earlier chapters but began to lose motivation and didn’t use my class time as wisely as I could’ve. This doesn’t mean that I just sat around doing absolutely nothing, but I would end up leaving most of my workbook questions to do at home. However, I’ve realized that this was not a sufficient way to prioritize my homework as outside of school, I have a very busy life. For instance, I have two jobs that I attend to after school and on the weekends. To add on, this semester, I have had all academic courses, meaning that I have no electives to give me a chance to catch up or take a break from the academic courses I find more challenging. Knowing this, I advise that you evaluate your priorities both in and outside of school, and figure out a stable way to manage your time to complete work. This means you should try your best to sign up for FLEX, CENT Time, or even come in before school starts so that you never fall behind in workbook questions. Falling behind in workbook questions causes you to fall behind in understanding each lesson. Workbook questions allow you to better understand a chapter and practice solving problems. Without doing workbook questions, you will fall behind drastically in the course, and find yourself lost, unable to answer questions. However, if you do complete all of the workbook questions in a considerable amount of time, you will most likely do significantly better on assessments.
For my French 11 Movie Poster I worked with my classmate, Lauren, to research and review our chosen movie, as well as design and write out the answers of different topics about our movie. The movie we chose to do our project on is actually a French Novel that was turned into an animated movie in 2015. The story is called “Le Petit Prince” – the movie is called “The Little Prince.”
This project required a lot of communication, collaboration, and creative thinking. It is clearly demonstrated that I can communicate and collaborate well with my partner as our Movie Poster is very organized and the work was completed evenly between the two of us as we constantly discussed our research/information and creating design ideas. We were able to cover all topics required for this project and answered the questions proficiently. A lot of creative thinking was also involved from the very beginning of this project to the very end. For instance, when we were trying to figure out what movie to research, me and my partner decided to do a French movie since my partner had previously read and watched the movie in French. I also used my creative thinking skills when designing the poster; where to put the text, what pictures to use, where to put the pictures, and the theme of the poster. My partner and I painted the background of the poster to match the “space” theme as the movie is revolved around traveling to multiple planets.
