Julia Di Simone
13 January 2012
period 6
Presentations of Learning:PART ONE: Introduction
My name is Julia Di Simone, and in my Presentation of Learning (POL), I will be focusing on the “Social Justice” project I completed in my sophomore English class. Social justice is defined as the fair and proper administration of laws conforming to the natural law that all person, regardless of ethnic origin, gender, race, religion, etc., are to be treated equally and without prejudice. The purpose of this project was for students to find a non-profit organization and a social justice movement that they were interested in, and to learn about it. Through this project, students were immersed in learning about the non-profit Invisible Children, their chosen non-profit, and also the various non-profits of their peers. The project was very rewarding, and it opened my eyes to the quest for social justice around the world.
PART TWO: Projects
Concepts to be Presented
1. For the writing component of this project, I wrote a research paper on the topic of the clean water crisis.2. Through this project, I learned that my non-profit organization, A Child’s Right, provides clean water to orphaned children in many areas hit hard by the clean water crisis. The work of ACR is focused in the Asian continent, rather than many organizations that operate in Africa. I also learned that they recently expanded their program so that it not only works in orphanages, but also in schools, shelters, hospitals, and rescue homes.
3. I learned that there are so many different facets of social justice. You would be hard pressed to find an interest of yours that did not have a social justice linked to it.
4. I have no doubt that I learned valuable lessons while obtaining information about Invisible Children. Even more than the tragedies of the children that this organization fights for, I really was satisfied to learn that average people such as the three founders of Invisible Children, really can make a difference, and do something as crazy as starting their own non-profit, and making their own documentary fresh out of high school.
5. I chose the topic of clean water mainly because it is something that I find so many fellow Americans really do take for granted. I was really excited to explore the lives of the people, especially the women and children, who struggle to provide water for their families every day. I also have an interest in health, medicine, and disease prevention, so this topic was right up my alley.
Artifacts to be Presented
1. For the artistic component of this project, I created many felt bracelets to raise awareness for clean water. Some of my teachers and fellow pupils agreed to wear them around campus for me.
3. For my technology component for this project, I created an online presentation creator called PREZI.COM.
Reflection
1. A definite success within this project was really learning how to use PREZI.COM. Prior to this project, I had only previously made one PREZI before, and now looking back on how many times I have used them for class assignments, I can see how much better my PREZIs look, compared to when I first started out. I can now whip out a PREZI quickly, and with little difficulty, which has surely come in handy!
2. Overall, the research paper did not pose too many problems for me, since I do well in writing. One of the hardest things though was finding a happy medium for my thesis statement. I originally had a thesis that was too specific, and had to learn to broaden it without overdoing it, and causing me to find too much material to work with.
3. My time management with the research paper was terrible. For one, I am the type of person who likes to get a huge chunk of writing done in one shot, and since there was just so much time to complete the paper, I just ended up procrastinating until the last minute.
4. In order to improve my overall product, I surely could have spent more time with the challenge option. I also could have gotten more headway on the research paper so that my last nights before the due date would have been less stressful.
PART THREE: Reflection and Goals
Reflection #1 Academic Progress
I know I am learning when I start to relate things that I learn in school to my everyday life. I find that I do this a lot with new vocabulary words, or even discussions that we have in English class. I lean best when I use as many tools as possible to absorb the information. For example, if I need to understand a concept, I will have it explained until I feel like I have a grasp on it, asking the teacher to repeat themselves if necesary will write it down in my notes, and repeat it to myself so that I can hear it out loud. Despite my best efforts, I still struggle with time management. I have to learn to spread out my work, and not be compelled to finish an entire project component in one night just because I like to work in large chunks.
Reflection #2 Social/Emotional/Behavioral Development
One of the ways that I have become a more resourceful learner is that I have learned that it is okay to ask for help from your peers. However, I still need to work on getting over the anxiety of freaking out and worrying if you’re going to sound stupid if you ask a particular question. My largest challenge with working collaboratively has always been trusting others to do their share, and to do it well. I often grow paranoid that if I allow my team members to work independently, their component of the project will not meet the appropriate standards. I have personally contributed to the LVCP culture by participating in school events, and taking part in interviewing perspective teachers, as well as meeting with my peers and the school administration to better the school. So far, my most memorable learning experience has been taking the college level American History course offered here on campus. I think that the lecture-based, fast-paced classroom style really appeals to me. I am also lucky to have such a fantastic professor who is truly passionate about his subject, and a class full of students who make the class a fun place to be.
PART FOUR: List of Artifacts
> research paper
> felt bracelets
