Reflection Assignment Prompt:
As we draw to the end of the semester, it's time to evaluate and reflect
upon the progress that you've made thus far as a critical thinker in
this course. Respond to the prompt below and upload that response to the
dropbox.
Given the nature of independent study, and the guidelines we've laid
before you for this course, how would you evaluate yourself this first
semester? How much have you truly grown as a thinker and a student based
upon your efforts regarding independent research. Does your blog serve
as an accurate representation of your growth this term? How so/how not?
In what other ways should you "be allowed" to demonstrate your knowledge
gain if not in the form of a blog? What else should we as the teachers
do to help you develop as critical thinkers?
We will consider these statements in our deliberations about your final
semester grade. This is your chance to make your case, so make it.
My Submitted Response (I probably didn't include enough of the actual judging of my progress and too much of the other stuff, but it's a bit late now...):
I would evaluate myself as having done well this semester, though
more so in the second half than the first. While I don't presume that my
individual progress has been the pinnacle of success, and my group's
year-long board game project is slightly stunted, I would say that our
school improvement project is at least one of the better ones.
I have learned a lot on my topic, and while I have not been outright
confounded by anything (yet), what I have been learning does take a
while to sit back to visualize and understand it, which is more than my
other classes. The perplexity of thinking about things differently than
I've been taught and actually using my brain (rather than just reviewing
old information and memorizing new stuff as often occurs during school)
has, I believe, helped my thinking skills in general.
Right now it does not accurately represent all that I have learned and
wish to learn. For a while, I was opposed to the mere thought of a blog
(all that writing, all those people reading my bad writing, all that use
of technology!) and just stumbled through the motions, not knowing how
to format it or what to do with it. Then I realized that nobody cared
about my bad writing skills, and that all that technology was really
just simple HTML, and decided that blogging wasn't quite that horrid. I
now have plans on how to organize my blog to make it aesthetically
pleasing and easily navigable, and what to post in each topic to better
record the process of learning as well as the end product, though I have not gotten to implementation much past the first part. Never fear though, as I plan to fully use the few days I have left to make my blog more accurately represent my learning progress.
Using the form of a blog is well-suited to our purposes, demonstrating
the development of knowledge over time if done correctly. However, a
good blog is high-maintenance, almost placing more importance the
demonstration of knowledge than the actual acquisition of it, which
should not be the case. Having an exposition of knowledge as previous
Gifted classes have done is another viable way to demonstrate knowledge,
with students presenting and teaching their learnings to others, though
I don't know whether or not one is already planned for this school
year. This form does not show the process of learning as well as a blog
unless smaller periodic presentations, discussions, or assignments are
incorporated to help achieve a fuller understanding of a student's
progression. I do not believe any single grading form, even blogs, can fully demonstrate knowledge gain, and would prefer more of a mix.
Including smaller group activities (problem-solving,
puzzles/riddles/games, etc) that can be completed in a single or couple
class periods instead of only long-term projects would allow more
distinct application of critical thinking skills, as smaller activities
are more specific and immediately rewarding with their lessons, and are
often easier to focus on that extended projects. Reading and analyzing
another book as a class would also be helpful, as I found our discussion
of Outliers quite eye-opening.