Teen Life and Poetry Unit Essay
This unit English Eight, we worked on a Poetry unit. Throughout this unit we worked on many poems and on a smaller project called the Teen Life Project. At the end of the unit we had at least twenty poems made ready and corrected and began a book. The poetry book was our major project this unit. All ESLR’s where used this quarter and will be listed.
Poetry this year was much more fun than I had expected it to be. I was never a real poetry fan but this unit really got me engrossed in it. During this unit I was an Academic Achiever, an Involved Citizen, an Effective Communicator, a Self-Directed Learner, and a Critical Thinker. As an Academic achiever I demonstrated progress in all areas of work. I did this because as you read through my poems I feel that they progress in quality and length. However as an Academic Achiever I did not access information from a variety of sources. I am sure that over the time that I dedicated to my project I could have dedicated more time to finding more information from books and magazines and not just Google. On the other hand, I believe that I demonstrated technological literacy and the use of technology as a tool for the efficient and creative completion of a project. This was done by using technologies such as computers and printers and binders to complete my book. As an Involved Citizen I seeked to improve the lives of others by not making too much noise in the class room, and by helping those in need. I also demonstrated awareness and respect for the rights of others by again not speaking too loudly and letting others talk and not talking when they are talking. For example, during class discussions or group meetings I raised my hands and let others talk respectfully. I was not only an involved citizen but also an Effective Communicator. I demonstrated my creative talents to convey my ideas, and I incorporated technology as a tool to help me finish my projects. I did that by using Microsoft Word to help me finish my writing and cameras and printers for the pictures. Last but not least, I demonstrated the act of being a Self- Directed learner. I did this by accepting the responsibility of my own learning, and by taking creative risks in the making of the book and the poems. Over all I think that the most important ESLR completed was the Effective communicator. I think that any one can complete the other ESLR’s but for many people it’s hard to communicate their ideas. I definitely had a bit of trouble reading my poems. In conclusion, I would give myself an A+ in this part of the unit.
The teen life project we did this year was great. I had a lot of fun making the videos and taking pictures for the project. Throughout the duration of this project I accomplished a couple different ESLR’s. One of these ESLR’s was the Self Directed Leaner. We did not have much instruction in this project, and I felt it was really up to us to make it good. As a Self-Directed Learner I accepted the responsibility for my own learning. I feel that this point was achieved because as I mentioned before, we did not have mush instruction and it was up to us to make our learning adequate. However in the completion of this project I did not take creative risks. Last but not least, I also monitored, adjusted and documented all the work that we were performing throughout the project. Now moving on to Involved Citizen, during the making of this project I definitely was an involved citizen because you needed to respect others and that is what I did, I interacted with others from diverse cultures respectfully. I also demonstrated the awareness of the rights of others, I did this by respecting the things that the other students posted and wrote. In return they respected mine. Lastly, I demonstrated the act of seeking to improve the lives of the other students. I did this by not imposing too much work on them and respecting them. Last but not least I was an Academic achiever. I was an Academic Achiever because I demonstrated advance or progress in all curricular activities. Unfortunately, I did not access information from a variety of sources; I mainly just got information from Google and wrote two poems. Finally, I continually assessed my work to maintain high standards; this was done by keeping a written record of all the poems and changing them for the better. Over all the work done in this unit was not much for we really only needed to have at least one poem and one picture by the end of the project. In conclusion I think it was a great experience to be able to meet new people and new schools. If I where to change something in this part I would have used a variety of sources to find new information. I would give myself a B+ in this part of the unit.
The last part of this unit was the technological part. Though it may seem unimportant it was one of my most difficult tasks. I was never very good at computers so this part was hard for me, but on the other hand though I learned a lot about computers. In this part of the project I was a Critical Thinker. I was a critical thinker because I identified, evaluated and used resources effectively for the purpose of problem solving; this was done by using the resources around me to help me solve problems with computers or blogs. Even so, I did not use a variety of strategies to help me solve problems. I used Mr. Raisdana or my friends when I could have also used my booklet on how to do things the internet, my dad or even Ms. Cofino. During the completion of this project I was not an Academic Achiever. I did not get good grades in this section and was trying very hard to continually assess work in order to maintain high standards. Nevertheless I was a Self-Directed Learner and took full responsibility for my learning. Overall I think that the most important ESLR completed here was the Critical thinker. Because I needed to acquire more sufficient skills in computers, this ESLR really helped me achieve my highest. If I were to change something in this part of the project I would change the way I did the Academic Achiever ESLR. I would have demonstrated progress in all curricular areas, continually assessed, evaluated and adjusted work to maintain high standards, and demonstrated the ability to work both independently and collaboratively. I would give myself a B+ in this part of the project.
In a nutshell, I had a good time doing the unit. I was not very excited to begin with but at the end of the project I was very content. Furthermore I feel that I learned a lot in the arts of photography and in poetry alike. Mr. Raisdana taught me a great amount of tricks that make the poems seem better or more poetic. Taken as a whole this poetry unit was my favorite unit of all the English Units so far.
