How I Evolved As a Writer Script
I've grown as a writer because of the Resonance of Remembrance project. That project helped me develop good writing strategies. Also, reading a book called The Things They Carried by Tim O'brien gave me a good glimpse of how to be descriptive and show imagery. I added this strategy into my memoir by being very descriptive of the setting and what I saw. Also, we had read another booked called A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickins. Unfortunately, we had read this book after the project so I wasn't able to incorporate any of Charles Dickins' writing strategies into my memoir. And some of his strategies were pretty good as well. An area of growth for next semester is to improve and giving and receiving critique. I would like to improve on receiving critique because sometimes I wouldn't really take any of their ideas into consideration mainly because I didn't like what they had said. Some would say, "Oh I think you should take this part out." and in my head I thought, if I were to take this part out, the main purpose of my memoir would be taken away, and it wouldn't make much sense. I also would like to grow in giving critique because whenever I would give critique, I feel as if I don't put my 100% effort into giving them feedback. I would always write something that is very short and simple. I mainly said, "Maybe you could add this," and "Maybe you could take this part out." When I would give my peers critique like that, I feel like that critique isn't very helpful to the writer and isn't exactly helping them improve their writing. Now thinking back to it, I realize that I should've taken the feedback I got and incorporate it into my memoir to make it even better than it originally was, Taking my peers' feed back on my writing will help me produce even greater writing and grow more as a writer and same for giving much better critique. The symbolic image I chose to represent my growth as a writer is a drawing of a sea turtle that is very detailed. This image represents my growth because the image is very very detailed to enhance how a sea turtle would look like in real life. And in my writing, I've been adding more details to short sentences so that the reader can really picture what is happening in their mind. Having these writing strategies will help me in upcoming projects in upcoming years for when I have to write a story. In addition, I now already know what it's like to be a good writer and how to create good writing.
Evidence
“The place was dark except for a small glowing window, which stood partly open, the panes dancing in bright reds and yellows as though the glass were on fire.” - The Things They Carried by Tim O’brien
“I remember always going there, walking to the entrance and always seeing the water fountain right outside of the building. I remember walking inside and signing in to the visitors log and looking at the old, stained, red and yellow rug. A pretty chandelier hanging in the top of the lounging area." - My Final Draft of Memoir
“I remember always going there, walking to the entrance and always seeing the water fountain right outside of the building. I remember walking inside and signing in to the visitors log and looking at the old, stained, red and yellow rug. A pretty chandelier hanging in the top of the lounging area." - My Final Draft of Memoir
Symbolic Image
POL Panelist Reflection
Discuss one new opinion or insight you learned about one of your peers today. What caused this new opinion or insight? Why was this important or interesting to you?
A new opinion I learned today is that you should have pictures/evidence while you're presenting to help back yourself up. For example, if you're talking about Science Current Events and how you improved on writing more, show before and after evidence. This is very important to keep in mind while presenting because it will have the audience really believe what you're saying and it'll be a good thing for them to look at.
What did you learn about how to make a "good" POL presentation? Which presentations caused you to learn this?
I think that in order to make a "good POL presentation", you need to have pictures that back up your statements. Also you should be able to present without always looking at your paper and/or note cards. Sydney's presentation is what led me to think this way because she was very prepared and didn't look at her note cards that often. Also, she had a lot of images that showed her growth. I don't want to say any names, but there was this one girl in particular who was reading her script word for word throughout her entire presentation. I feel like when you read your script exactly the way you wrote it, you're not really showing how thoughtful you are.
The whole goal of POLs is to get students to share a meaningful learning experience, one where we can discuss each student's strengths, passions, and how he/she can improve even more. Do you think we, as an audience helped EVERY student achieve that goal? Why or why not? What could we do to improve next year's panel so that we achieve that goal for EVERY student?
Yes, I think that my panel did a good job helping each student achieve what their strengths, passions, and how they can improve because my panel would always ask the presenter questions. I think a way to improve for next year, is to go in a full circle and each person in the panel either say the presenter's strengths, passions, or how he/she can improve for future POLs. I think doing this will help every student achieve that goal.
A new opinion I learned today is that you should have pictures/evidence while you're presenting to help back yourself up. For example, if you're talking about Science Current Events and how you improved on writing more, show before and after evidence. This is very important to keep in mind while presenting because it will have the audience really believe what you're saying and it'll be a good thing for them to look at.
What did you learn about how to make a "good" POL presentation? Which presentations caused you to learn this?
I think that in order to make a "good POL presentation", you need to have pictures that back up your statements. Also you should be able to present without always looking at your paper and/or note cards. Sydney's presentation is what led me to think this way because she was very prepared and didn't look at her note cards that often. Also, she had a lot of images that showed her growth. I don't want to say any names, but there was this one girl in particular who was reading her script word for word throughout her entire presentation. I feel like when you read your script exactly the way you wrote it, you're not really showing how thoughtful you are.
The whole goal of POLs is to get students to share a meaningful learning experience, one where we can discuss each student's strengths, passions, and how he/she can improve even more. Do you think we, as an audience helped EVERY student achieve that goal? Why or why not? What could we do to improve next year's panel so that we achieve that goal for EVERY student?
Yes, I think that my panel did a good job helping each student achieve what their strengths, passions, and how they can improve because my panel would always ask the presenter questions. I think a way to improve for next year, is to go in a full circle and each person in the panel either say the presenter's strengths, passions, or how he/she can improve for future POLs. I think doing this will help every student achieve that goal.
POL Presenter Reflection
What was the most helpful/interesting questions by your peer/teacher/parent? How did you respond to this question? Why was this helpful, or how did this make you think differently?
I think that the most helpful question was when Ms. Janna asked me where I included evidence from the article to support my opinion. I responded to this question by reading aloud to my panel my opinion and the evidence right after. This question was very helpful for me, because now I know in my future POLs, to make sure that I read aloud my evidence rather than just showing it to my audience and have them read it themselves.
If you were to do your POL over again, what would you do differently (What would you include/exclude in your presentation?) What products would you showcase? How would these changes lead to a richer POL?
If I were to do my POL all over again, I would include a couple of Charles Dickins' writing strategies since I stated in my POL that he did have some good ones but I wasn't able to incorporate them into my memoir. I think that including some of his writing strategies will lead to a richer POL, because the more evidence you have, the better.
Given what your peers, teachers, and parents said, and given what you stated in your POL,
I think that the most helpful question was when Ms. Janna asked me where I included evidence from the article to support my opinion. I responded to this question by reading aloud to my panel my opinion and the evidence right after. This question was very helpful for me, because now I know in my future POLs, to make sure that I read aloud my evidence rather than just showing it to my audience and have them read it themselves.
If you were to do your POL over again, what would you do differently (What would you include/exclude in your presentation?) What products would you showcase? How would these changes lead to a richer POL?
If I were to do my POL all over again, I would include a couple of Charles Dickins' writing strategies since I stated in my POL that he did have some good ones but I wasn't able to incorporate them into my memoir. I think that including some of his writing strategies will lead to a richer POL, because the more evidence you have, the better.
Given what your peers, teachers, and parents said, and given what you stated in your POL,
- What is your top goal for second semester?
- Who helped you think of this goal?
- How will you challenge yourself?
- How will you know whether you reached that goal by the end of second semester?
