32Q - THREE CELEBRATIONS, TWO AREAS FOR GROWTH, ONE QUESTION
We have successes and downfalls. The never ending cycle of improvement and purification of our consciousness. This first semester of my sophomore year I have defeated the enemy in the cycle of learning. Only to have the enemy of procrastination, incomprehension, and unsustained effort retake the same hill that I had just occupied.
Celebrations
I have become a more independent in my ability to complete and comprehend math assignments. Last year for the second semester was struggling a lot in my Advanced Algebra class. So what I did was acquire the crutch of a tutor to support my incompetence in this class. Over the summer I made a goal for myself to become more independent and not require a crutch for a class. This first semester of 10th grade I started the next advanced math class which was Pre-Calculus. This semester I have completed this goal by not using a math tutor and yet I am actually doing better in this class without a tutor. I am comprehending the content better in the respect of my ability to focus on the topic at hand and my note taking skills have improved greatly aiding my remembering of the content for the homework. The product of the two improved factors described above is an improvement in my completion and retention of assignments. Through these improvements in this class, I have completed my goal of removing the crutches of math support that I had procured out of my incompetence in this class as a 9th grader.
I have improved my short term writing skills. Having a piece of writing become beautiful work, well-refined, and comprehensible in a short period of time has never been a forte of mine. Ally's class has helped me confront this challenge out in the open by challenging me to do just this. This semester we have had to write several short essays over the course of only one night. In the past, I would have taken three days to complete an assignment of this size. I was recently introduced to TEA format which has helped with this area of success. It helps me to rapidly and effectively communicate whatever I need to write about in an essay format. It comes out in its more structured form of TEA paragraphs helping to compose more complete ideas. After that, they only need some grammatical and spelling work to finalize it. By using these various writing skills that I have acquired this semester in Humanities Class, I have begun to write in a more succinct, complete and faster way.
I have grown in my public speaking confidence and skills. Though the Humanities project of storytelling my confidence in my public speaking skills has increased. I also have encountered various places outside of school where family members have put me on the spot to explain some topic about the ranch or myself to a large group. At the storytelling exhibition I told the story about my foot that got bit by a spider and swelled to the size of a small football. Throughout these experiences I have been challenged with my age old fear of public speaking. With a earlier instances of public speaking to break the ice I now think that the fear is starting to leave me.
I have successfully grown 20 gallons of micro-algae in solution and dried 10 gallons of that algae. I at the beginning of the summer I came across an online article describing how scientists have been discovering micro-algae and that it can, under the right conditions, create a lot of oil. Through my experimentation, I have started to grow to like this area of study and hope to pursue it further.
Areas for Growth
I need to work on becoming more proficient at focusing on my physics class. In my Advanced Physics class, I need to work on getting better at not becoming distracted in that class. Due to the fact that there are many fun scientific objects lying around the physics classroom they can be easily distracted too many of the students including myself. In the process of getting distracted in this class, I neglect the content that we are learning. Because of how I got distracted easily I did not do well on the midterm test. Because of my distraction, I have not done well in understanding the complex topics in that class.
Time management and procrastination two of the most costly things in a student's life. In Humanities class I would write two sentences during work time during the day, and then when I got home and procrastinated until 8 o'clock I would write the rest of an essay due at midnight in an hour. This is not new for my teenage self in fact right now I am writing this essay later than the deadline. This has happened to me as a freshman I completed half of my rube Goldberg in one night. The same thing has happened for various projects in middle school as well. Throughout all of these poor choices resulting in time management problems, I have learned to procrastinate on my issue of procrastination. I need to work on getting this problem more in control so I plan to do this by sitting where most of my family can see what I am doing. That way whether on my computer or on paper they can stop by and hold me to doing my homework and not getting off task. I suspect that after a few months of this practice I will become much more efficient at getting my homework done faster. This will also increase my sleep time then improving my performance in school as well.
My Question
How can I find a better balance between school and life?
I have had successes and I have had downfalls. I have brought myself to a better educational stance helping my forward motion in the world. I have defeated the struggle of comprehension in math class. I have improved my writing skills and moved enemy lines back. I have defeated my fears of speaking in public. Only to have the real enemy of procrastination and unsustained effort remain intact. This is my never ending battle where the victory can not coexist with my dignity remaining intact. Next semester I plan to elect a new president to help further affairs in my land of educational challenges, and capture the vast expanse of hills that manifest as barriers in both my mental and physical world.
Celebrations
I have become a more independent in my ability to complete and comprehend math assignments. Last year for the second semester was struggling a lot in my Advanced Algebra class. So what I did was acquire the crutch of a tutor to support my incompetence in this class. Over the summer I made a goal for myself to become more independent and not require a crutch for a class. This first semester of 10th grade I started the next advanced math class which was Pre-Calculus. This semester I have completed this goal by not using a math tutor and yet I am actually doing better in this class without a tutor. I am comprehending the content better in the respect of my ability to focus on the topic at hand and my note taking skills have improved greatly aiding my remembering of the content for the homework. The product of the two improved factors described above is an improvement in my completion and retention of assignments. Through these improvements in this class, I have completed my goal of removing the crutches of math support that I had procured out of my incompetence in this class as a 9th grader.
I have improved my short term writing skills. Having a piece of writing become beautiful work, well-refined, and comprehensible in a short period of time has never been a forte of mine. Ally's class has helped me confront this challenge out in the open by challenging me to do just this. This semester we have had to write several short essays over the course of only one night. In the past, I would have taken three days to complete an assignment of this size. I was recently introduced to TEA format which has helped with this area of success. It helps me to rapidly and effectively communicate whatever I need to write about in an essay format. It comes out in its more structured form of TEA paragraphs helping to compose more complete ideas. After that, they only need some grammatical and spelling work to finalize it. By using these various writing skills that I have acquired this semester in Humanities Class, I have begun to write in a more succinct, complete and faster way.
I have grown in my public speaking confidence and skills. Though the Humanities project of storytelling my confidence in my public speaking skills has increased. I also have encountered various places outside of school where family members have put me on the spot to explain some topic about the ranch or myself to a large group. At the storytelling exhibition I told the story about my foot that got bit by a spider and swelled to the size of a small football. Throughout these experiences I have been challenged with my age old fear of public speaking. With a earlier instances of public speaking to break the ice I now think that the fear is starting to leave me.
I have successfully grown 20 gallons of micro-algae in solution and dried 10 gallons of that algae. I at the beginning of the summer I came across an online article describing how scientists have been discovering micro-algae and that it can, under the right conditions, create a lot of oil. Through my experimentation, I have started to grow to like this area of study and hope to pursue it further.
Areas for Growth
I need to work on becoming more proficient at focusing on my physics class. In my Advanced Physics class, I need to work on getting better at not becoming distracted in that class. Due to the fact that there are many fun scientific objects lying around the physics classroom they can be easily distracted too many of the students including myself. In the process of getting distracted in this class, I neglect the content that we are learning. Because of how I got distracted easily I did not do well on the midterm test. Because of my distraction, I have not done well in understanding the complex topics in that class.
Time management and procrastination two of the most costly things in a student's life. In Humanities class I would write two sentences during work time during the day, and then when I got home and procrastinated until 8 o'clock I would write the rest of an essay due at midnight in an hour. This is not new for my teenage self in fact right now I am writing this essay later than the deadline. This has happened to me as a freshman I completed half of my rube Goldberg in one night. The same thing has happened for various projects in middle school as well. Throughout all of these poor choices resulting in time management problems, I have learned to procrastinate on my issue of procrastination. I need to work on getting this problem more in control so I plan to do this by sitting where most of my family can see what I am doing. That way whether on my computer or on paper they can stop by and hold me to doing my homework and not getting off task. I suspect that after a few months of this practice I will become much more efficient at getting my homework done faster. This will also increase my sleep time then improving my performance in school as well.
My Question
How can I find a better balance between school and life?
I have had successes and I have had downfalls. I have brought myself to a better educational stance helping my forward motion in the world. I have defeated the struggle of comprehension in math class. I have improved my writing skills and moved enemy lines back. I have defeated my fears of speaking in public. Only to have the real enemy of procrastination and unsustained effort remain intact. This is my never ending battle where the victory can not coexist with my dignity remaining intact. Next semester I plan to elect a new president to help further affairs in my land of educational challenges, and capture the vast expanse of hills that manifest as barriers in both my mental and physical world.