(3) CELEBRATIONS:
1. Grown in my confidence to advocate for myself.
This semester, my ability to advocate for myself has grown. When I used to think about changing something just because it didn’t work for me, I would think that I was making too big of a deal and it wasn’t important. I didn’t want to attract attention to myself and I didn’t want to appear self-centered. However, there was one thing this year that pushed me so far, I had to do something about it. I was in Roxy’s advisory. I wasn’t a fan of this advisory from day one as I am very different from the peers in that advisory and very different from Roxy. I was not thriving in that advisory and needed something else to set me up for success. I had played around with the idea of switching for a while, but again, I didn’t want to make a big deal about something. It wasn’t until I attended the Sophomore college night that I learned advisory is only going to become more important the further into high school. That was the final straw and I pushed myself to talk to Libby the following day. I was, of course, scared as I was stepping out of my comfort zone. I was asking for something to change on my account. Nevertheless, I went through the whole process knowing that I was bettering myself and my high school experience. Now, I am in Lauren’s advisory and I am thriving a lot better. It was a nice reminder that it is always okay to advocate for something better.
2. Becoming more confident and open-minded.
I have definitely become more growth-minded this semester. In Ally’s class, at the beginning of the Hero’s Journey project, she was talking about our exhibition and how we were going to tell our stories up on stage in front of a big audience. I froze and I would have predicted that my first thought was going to be, Well, I’m not going to do that. It wasn’t. My first thought was, I’ll keep that in mind, which is a huge step for me. To embrace something like that and to always be pushing myself to get out of my comfort zone was not like me at the beginning of the year. When that thought came into my head, I actually noticed it and was surprised. This has only been the beginning, too. I have begun to notice myself pushing to produce better work. In Biology, I had this sudden urge to make an amazing exhibition. It was out of nowhere and it was this wave of excitement. I am pushing myself and I am continuing to act on these thoughts.
3. Growth in reading.
I have also noticed that my attitude towards reading has improved. In Humanities, during the Hero’s Journey project, we read The Alchemist. I considered the fact that I am not a huge fan of reading, but of course, I was going to read it because it was a grade. As I read, I got engaged in the book and loved to find the hidden messages and was thrilled by the ending. I had actually enjoyed a book which was huge for me. So when we read Siddhartha, I was a little more optimistic about reading, but I heard it was more difficult than The Alchemist. I was also a little nervous and I wondered if I was going to have the same reaction as I had had when I read The Alchemist. At first, I had some difficulty connecting to the book, but I eventually got into it again. So much that I emailed Ally when I finished the book, raving about how I ran out of sticky notes on the last page and how it was so meant to be. I was so confident about reading at this point that I accepted the challenge extension to read Animal Farm during Thanksgiving Break, which is something I would not have done in the past either.
This semester, my ability to advocate for myself has grown. When I used to think about changing something just because it didn’t work for me, I would think that I was making too big of a deal and it wasn’t important. I didn’t want to attract attention to myself and I didn’t want to appear self-centered. However, there was one thing this year that pushed me so far, I had to do something about it. I was in Roxy’s advisory. I wasn’t a fan of this advisory from day one as I am very different from the peers in that advisory and very different from Roxy. I was not thriving in that advisory and needed something else to set me up for success. I had played around with the idea of switching for a while, but again, I didn’t want to make a big deal about something. It wasn’t until I attended the Sophomore college night that I learned advisory is only going to become more important the further into high school. That was the final straw and I pushed myself to talk to Libby the following day. I was, of course, scared as I was stepping out of my comfort zone. I was asking for something to change on my account. Nevertheless, I went through the whole process knowing that I was bettering myself and my high school experience. Now, I am in Lauren’s advisory and I am thriving a lot better. It was a nice reminder that it is always okay to advocate for something better.
2. Becoming more confident and open-minded.
I have definitely become more growth-minded this semester. In Ally’s class, at the beginning of the Hero’s Journey project, she was talking about our exhibition and how we were going to tell our stories up on stage in front of a big audience. I froze and I would have predicted that my first thought was going to be, Well, I’m not going to do that. It wasn’t. My first thought was, I’ll keep that in mind, which is a huge step for me. To embrace something like that and to always be pushing myself to get out of my comfort zone was not like me at the beginning of the year. When that thought came into my head, I actually noticed it and was surprised. This has only been the beginning, too. I have begun to notice myself pushing to produce better work. In Biology, I had this sudden urge to make an amazing exhibition. It was out of nowhere and it was this wave of excitement. I am pushing myself and I am continuing to act on these thoughts.
3. Growth in reading.
I have also noticed that my attitude towards reading has improved. In Humanities, during the Hero’s Journey project, we read The Alchemist. I considered the fact that I am not a huge fan of reading, but of course, I was going to read it because it was a grade. As I read, I got engaged in the book and loved to find the hidden messages and was thrilled by the ending. I had actually enjoyed a book which was huge for me. So when we read Siddhartha, I was a little more optimistic about reading, but I heard it was more difficult than The Alchemist. I was also a little nervous and I wondered if I was going to have the same reaction as I had had when I read The Alchemist. At first, I had some difficulty connecting to the book, but I eventually got into it again. So much that I emailed Ally when I finished the book, raving about how I ran out of sticky notes on the last page and how it was so meant to be. I was so confident about reading at this point that I accepted the challenge extension to read Animal Farm during Thanksgiving Break, which is something I would not have done in the past either.
(2) WORK ON:
1. Having a positive attitude towards my peers.
This semester, I have had difficulty maintaining a positive attitude towards my peers. I hold myself to a high standard, so I naturally expect others to hold themselves to high standards, too. I am disappointed when I see others conducting themselves in a poor manner, but when that poor decision affects my learning environment and my ability to work, that’s when I get frustrated. This disrupted learning environment has occurred in Humanities, Biology, and Spanish 2 more than once. I would typically go home and complain to my mom after these situations. However, it occurred to me that I am also not doing anything to improve this learning environment. I’m watching it happen and continuing to have a negative attitude towards it all. For example, in Humanities, we were having a Socratic Seminar and my seminar group had gotten off topic. Rather than helping them get back on track, I sat there waiting for them to do it themselves. If I had helped them, we might have been able to have a more meaningful and on-topic conversation. I would like to improve this attitude and find some way to help make our classroom environment more productive and respectful. This is something I will continue to work on.
2. Not stressing about every little assignment.
For a long time, I have been stressing the little things. Worrying about little assignments and little things that I know I will get done, only adds to the regular anxiety of life and worsens my ability to take care of myself. This is a problem I have faced for as long as I can remember. For example, last week, I was freaking out because my Pre-Calc project was not coming together the way I thought it would. It was late at night and I was so bothered by its imperfection that I completely started over, when wasn’t needed. While this stress does help me produce amazing, beautiful work, it can also have unhealthy results. For example, stressful days can cause sleepless nights, which can affect the work I produce the next day. So I would like to take better care of myself and reduce the amount of stress I take on for everything in my life. This could start by setting time limits on the amount of time I work on projects outside of school and using the rest of that time to relax and do something I enjoy.
This semester, I have had difficulty maintaining a positive attitude towards my peers. I hold myself to a high standard, so I naturally expect others to hold themselves to high standards, too. I am disappointed when I see others conducting themselves in a poor manner, but when that poor decision affects my learning environment and my ability to work, that’s when I get frustrated. This disrupted learning environment has occurred in Humanities, Biology, and Spanish 2 more than once. I would typically go home and complain to my mom after these situations. However, it occurred to me that I am also not doing anything to improve this learning environment. I’m watching it happen and continuing to have a negative attitude towards it all. For example, in Humanities, we were having a Socratic Seminar and my seminar group had gotten off topic. Rather than helping them get back on track, I sat there waiting for them to do it themselves. If I had helped them, we might have been able to have a more meaningful and on-topic conversation. I would like to improve this attitude and find some way to help make our classroom environment more productive and respectful. This is something I will continue to work on.
2. Not stressing about every little assignment.
For a long time, I have been stressing the little things. Worrying about little assignments and little things that I know I will get done, only adds to the regular anxiety of life and worsens my ability to take care of myself. This is a problem I have faced for as long as I can remember. For example, last week, I was freaking out because my Pre-Calc project was not coming together the way I thought it would. It was late at night and I was so bothered by its imperfection that I completely started over, when wasn’t needed. While this stress does help me produce amazing, beautiful work, it can also have unhealthy results. For example, stressful days can cause sleepless nights, which can affect the work I produce the next day. So I would like to take better care of myself and reduce the amount of stress I take on for everything in my life. This could start by setting time limits on the amount of time I work on projects outside of school and using the rest of that time to relax and do something I enjoy.
(Q) BIG QUESTION:
What is the motivation behind the amount of effort I put into everyday work? How will this end up helping me in my future? How will this end up hurting me in my future?
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