What is the purpose of I-Poly? I-Poly Mission Statement Mission Statement: Purpose of the organization Vision Statement: Outlines what a organization wants to be
What is the purpose of I-Poly? I-Poly Mission Statement Mission Statement: Purpose of the organization Vision Statement: Outlines what a organization wants to be
The purpose of I-Poly is to show young adults how to function with in a group based work environment. I-Poly presents the young students with an opportunity to learn how to deal with problems with in their own groups and how to compromise like adults. I-Poly opens many doors and prepares students not only for their future, but specifically their futures in college or in institutes of higher learning. I-Poly paves the way for generations to go out into the world as ready and confident adults with previous expierence that they will need to be successful men and women.
I’m going to start with the part of the mission that I want to further my understanding of this year. And that would have to be number 8: be able to identify, explain, and apply universal concepts. For some reason, this is really hard for me. The people at yearbook camp were constantly talking about this ‘universal concept’ idea. And it does make sense when they explained it [which was something along the lines of, something everyone can relate to, or want to relate to]. I feel like I can probably explain a universal concept if you pointed it out to me, but as for the other two, identifying and applying it, I tend to just come up blank. I’m hoping this senior project will help show me what a universal concept is in its like… actuality. So that I actually get it at least. Because seriously, these yearbook people were pros and they definitely know what they’re talking about. But more importantly, if you can grasp the idea of a universal concept and apply it to your daily life, imagine the possibilities it can do to your social life! Being able to relate to people is key when trying to communicate.
Now about the part I’ve learned at I-Poly. Goal 3: have learned the global significance of a variety events and disciplines. I would have to say that I learned this goal my first two years at I-Poly. In the That’s Infotainment project, HIV/AIDS house learned that the disease is spread through a single persons’ actions that became a huge epidemic. And then there was that project sophomore year Innoventions. My project was tsunami detector that showed when a tsunami was about to hit. This machine helped foreshadow the tsunami with enough time to evacuate people in danger areas. So sure, tsunamis wouldn’t be as great a problem anymore, but even if you solve another problem, there are more problems that come after that. If you solve global warming, then you have the problem of an overpopulated world on your hands.
To apply it to real life…Like okay, for example, there was this one time, my stepdad could never find his keys. Ever. I’m so serious, he’d have everyone looking for his keys in the house or whatever, and everyone is looking and it turns out that they somehow managed to be in our silverware drawer. So my mom decides to get him one of those beeping things where you push the button and it gives off the sound of where your keys are so that we would never have that problem again. But guess what he had us searching all over the house for next? THAT STUPID BEEPING ALERT KEY THING. Anyway, you get my point.
I-Poly, as we all know, runs on a project-based learning curriculum. Many of the goals the I-Poly staff would like to see us, as students, accomplish were already being “taught” to the freshmen that just walked on the campus at 8:05am on September 3rd 2008. One of many goals that I-Poly has helped me overcome is number six on the “Mission & Goals” list: “Be able to collaboratively reach individual and group related goals.” Before I-Poly, I knew group work as four students being put into a friendly environment, asked to make a poster board of whatever topic we had, the answers basically GIVEN to us and a short two-minute presentation of what our board was about. Looking back it is now something I find quite silly, indeed. As an I-Poly student I have learned that group work is not always easy, there will be times where I would imagine myself giving the good ol one-two to one of my group members. Joking of course. But there would be times where I would just like to stop working because there was not cooperation from all ends of a group. Instead of quitting altogether on myself and the people who were depending on me to hold up my side of the bargain, we talked it out. “Communication is key.” Something I have been hearing since I was eight years old, if not younger. Communication is what gets a task completed. For example, if there was a group assignment given out and we were to have a five minute presentation on the process of mitosis, and there was no communication occurring in the group, there would be no substantial product produced, there would be no real accomplishments, all we would have in a group with no communication is a CR if not an NC worthy presentation.
One of many things I would like to improve about myself is adapting to change. Number 2 on the Mission/Goals list is: “Be lifelong learners who adapt to an ever-changing world by viewing society from multiple perspectives.” Now I don’t really have a problem with learning all my life, I will actually enjoy that. I have no troubles with seeing the world in a different light or even seeing it through a disco ball, but accepting the fact that the world changes every millisecond…THAT for me, is HARD. If right here, right now, Darwin’s theory, of survival of the fittest, applied I don’t know how well I would do. Granted, sometimes change is for the better, but sometimes I ask myself WHY things have to change; if something was fine before why does it have to be different? I know that we will be working alone for the majority of senior year, and I accepted that change because I see it as a gift more than a punishment or challenge. Change is tough for me to adapt to but I expect to hold my weight, balance my studies and juggle three glass milk bottles in the air while standing on one foot and who knows maybe I will be able to switch it up a little by the end of the year and not just stand on one foot, but hop, with no problems. I use to think change was the basis of all evil and I have learned so far that sometimes it is, indeed, for the better. I still have trouble with change and I know that I shouldn’t which is why this year I hope to embrace changes; instead of dread them.
Knowing that I-Poly is a project based education school, I-Poly including all the staff, are helping and teaching us how to be prepared for the college life. They prepare us with different aspects of teaching and the way we present and communicate with others. Also giving us the confidence that you have the experience once you move onto any education after high school. After being at I-Poly for a while it trains you to be equipped for the final presentation of your senior project. One of the list points that I-Poly has helped me with was point 5 which is, “have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers”. Right when you’re in your first year of high school I-Poly helps you reach this goal with communication and presentation with getting to know your peers and the different group projects you receive. I-Poly has aided me whenever there was a group assignment assigned we learned how to communicate with each other and give formal presentations. If any mistakes were done they were assisted and fixed, and helped us learn from our mistakes.
Between all the points of the mission and goals list I think I would want to improve in point 2 which is, “be lifelong learners who adapt to an ever-changing world by viewing society from multiple perspectives”. Learning new things everyday is fine and actually great because I get to know more and more things as I grow. But seeing the world through different perspectives while there are new changes practically every minute, it gets tough. Dealing with the new occurrences and adapting to different things takes a rough while. I want to improve the ways I adapt to things, to make it easier and something I can get used to. Although there is always going to be change that I’m going to have to deal with. I-Poly has actually helped me with this goal whenever there is a new group or new houses assigned, I would need to adapt to that change or any different deadlines and rules that we need to become accustomed to.
Through out my last three years I have learned to mediate and reach solutions through research. Before that I based all my work and ideas on all the knowledge that I knew or thought I knew. Because of this I had trouble learning new things and processing it. Without research there was no proof on backing up my work. But now that I know the importance of research I now have a better understanding on how final solutions are solved and how research can also find many ways to state your point.
The one thing that i still struggle from since I stepped into I poly is verbal communication. I have always had stage fright that every time i have to present something to the class I get real nervous so I speed up my presentation in order to get it over with. Which makes the class lose the main concept and purpose of my presentation. But this year I promised myself that by the end of the year I’m going to make the effort to overcome my fear. Because I know that several months from now I’m going to step in the real word and realize that fear is not an option only success.
In my past three years at I-Poly i have learned the importance of goal number 2: “Be lifelong learners who adapt to an ever-changing world by viewing society from multiple perspectives.” I have always been afraid of public speaking, but I-poly has forced me to face this fear by veiwing learning in a new way. By applying the things I learn in presentations they stay implanted in my head more so I learn better. By accepting and adapting to this new way learning, I-Poly has helped me become a more diverse learner capable of surving in new enviornments out of my comfort zone.
Something that is still challenging to me is public speaking. As said before, I-Poly has helped me a great deal to overcome this problem, but I still strugle with it. I know that be the end of this year I wil be able to overcome it and be able to present bussines presentations in the real world with no problem, thanks to I-Poly. By seeing society in new ways, i will learn and be able to succeed.
In my first three years at IPoly, I gained the ability to be a lifelong learner who can adapt to an ever-changing world by viewing society from multiple perspectives. (Mission Statement 2) I was never the best public speaker, I would get too nervous and stumble along every word. Ipoly has helped me to overcome this by giving me hints and forcing me to speak in front of large groups. If I was given a choice I just would not have done it, and I would always be afraid of speaking in front of people.
Something I need to work on though is learning to mediate and reach solutions through research, knowledge, and critical thinking skills. I am a very impatient person and I like to find answers as quickly as possible. However I know that by the end of my senior year, Ipoly with help me to expand my patience and learn that having patience really is a virtue.
During my time spent in I-Poly, I believe that I have learned the universal relevence and importance of goal number 7 which is “to have clarified their personal values and developed a sense of community.” Like most I-Poly students I didn’t come from a Project Based Learning enviroment, I came from a regular, garden variety middle school where Project Based Learning enviroments don’t exist, and groups are rare. But after coming to I-Poly, they taught me to adjust to the Project Based Learning enviroment and the responsibilities that come with it. In my very first group in I-Poly I learned that group responsibilites are more important than individual desires and wants. But since I was ignorant to that fact, my group suffered because of my irresponsibilites, ignorance, and ignorance. Considering this first flop when trying to do group work, I thought that this was my fate, but after confrences between me, and the teachers, they were finally able to instill some sense of group importance, and helped clarify my personal values involving groups and the responsibilites that come with them.
As far as changing myself and my personal morals and values and group work, I believe that I still have a long way to go, as far as group work goes, I still think that my ignorance still clouds my true potential to work well in a group. But I think that is an issue that will be cleared in time, as I mature I believe that my ethics and work habits will change and become more refined, and I think as soon as walk into I-Poly, you have a sense of community, because you are a member of a community, a community of 500 students and 4 houses and eventually a group of people that will help shape you into the person you are going to be.
Add an example to your explanations. For example, during the 10th grade project, the Olympics, I ..
(6) be able to collaboratively reach individual and group related goals.
Number six as i have writen above, has made the biggest impact on me. One of the things that i really like about I-Poly is the groups, and when you are put into a group with people you see who works harder for the higher grade and who sits back and relaxs. In my middle and elementry schools group work was you put your material on a big 3 sided board and you present it. Here at I-Poly when we get projects, we ALL work together as one team to try and do the best we can.
In 10th grade my group and i worked really hard together because we all wanted that higher grade (some more than others). We all had the same goal for ourselves though.
Just last year it happend again. This time though we had different people. We were ALL working hard for the best grade. I remember everytime a new component would be addressed we would tell each other that we’re going to try and do better on this than any other team. We all wanted to do really good for the group but mostly for ourselves.
Being in groups has also taught me that just because you’re in the same group as your friends it’s not really a good idea. In my 10th grade year second semester, i had a group with ALL my friends. I thought it was going to be great, but then later on i wanted to just give up on them and go into a different group. I found out some don’t work as hard and serious as me, some didn’t care. So it was difficult for all of as to have the same state of mind.
(9) have acquired knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology
Number nine would deffently be something i need to work on. Technology for my can sometimes be confusing, since i am a slow learner. In 10th grade during the Frankenstein movie i was having such a hard time using the computer to figure out all the effects we could do to our movie. I didn’t actually learn it until the end of the year when we were making out last few adjustments. So i think if i would a bit more harder then i can get it. But I-Poly has taught me more things about technology then i ever knew. So i am making progress.
(2) be lifelong learners who adapt to an ever-changing world by viewing society from multiple perspectives
I can say that being at I-Poly has made me change my view on the world. The reason why i say this is because before i came to this school I used to hear about news and just listen to what they told us but i would never go out and figure out WHY it happened. I would just accept the facts but I know which presentation made me change this bad habit of mine. In Mr.Strands class we had one of those famous presentations where you only have 5-10 minutes to get ready for and I remember somehow bringing up the issue about the Tiananmen Square Protest. I knew the whole issue about the protester standing up to the tank but I didn’t know why. So in the time we had to get ready I quickly found out why he did it and from their i was able to give a presentation from both points of views which was the governments and also the protesters point of view. So now when ever I hear some news I don’t automatically believe it. Before I do I try to find out the facts behind it and than from there thats when I made up my mind on where I stand on the issue.
(5) have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers
Even though we are already seniors and have been doing presentations ever since freshman year I can honestly say that I still get nervous right before I start my presentation because im worried that I might explain the information wrong or it may come out confusing. So by the end of senior year I want to get rid of this bad habit. I know we have our fun senior project coming up (still unsure what im doing it on) but once i decide what im doing it on I want to make sure that i do a really great job on explaining my topic so everyone can have a clear understanding about what i am trying to get across to them. So basically by the end of senior year I want to get rid of this nervous feeling and be able to clearly explain my topic.
In my years at I-poly I have strived to fulfill the Mission statement that I-poly set for us students. The one goal that I have fulfilled the most would be #9-have acquired knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology. When I first came to I-poly I had a limited knowledge of computers. In 10th grade I was able to further my knowledge of how to use technology when the 10th grade teachers taught us movie editing. Not only did I learn how to make movies on my computer, but also how to make full scale DVD’s and create personal covers for them as well. Then in the 11th grade, I learned how to use Microsoft Excel. When we were collecting data for our price point, the 11th grade teachers showed me how to effectively enter the data into a spreadsheet and then how to make graphs of all the data. This skill has come in handy many other times in non-school related ways such as when I am figuring out what players to draft in my Fantasy football league. Because of this I have been able to apply goal #1-apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired to solve problems, into my life as well.
I would have to say the goal I need the most work on would be # 5-have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers. Even though I can get through a presentation, I often times will freeze up and will some times slur my words or talk slightly to fast. I also do not always communicate with other students to well. For example, last year when I was completing a component with my group, I did not communicate well with the group. This in turn caused one of the group members to fail to complete their part of the project. I then had to complete their part at the last minute. I am working on this skill and am getting better and talking clear and concisely.
Sophomore year my peers and I learned how to create a film. We learned how to edit and produce and a film. Later, junior year we had to make a documentary, and we had to use the skills we learned the previous year to create a proficient film. Using these skills again really helped me become better at editing, and helped my group earn a top grade for our film. Before learning all this the only way to edit a film was through my VCR. Do you know how hard that is (not to mention the final product looks terrible). I’ve definitely become an effective user of technology, and I know the skills I learned will come up again in life.
One skill that I really want to become better at is writing papers. I have so much trouble putting my thoughts together that I dread writing papers. I want to be able to take information, and write it at ease. I have trouble when I have to write a certain prompts like the one’s that appear on state exams. I hope this year I will become a better communicator in my writing
(1) apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired to solve problems.
When i first arrived at I-Poly I knew that would learn new skills and different knowledge that would later help me in the future, little did I know that i was going to have to actually apply those skills to what ever project i was doing. When someone teaches you certain skills to approach something and you want to apply those skills to what your doing you find your self doing exactly what you were tought but applying what u learned does not mean mimicking what u learned it means use it and apply it in your own way.
One particular problem that many of us encounter when we first enter I-Poly is the communication with our groups. The way I-poly has helped me and let me apply the skills to this issue is by teaching me that project groupes are a collaboration from everybody and we shouldn’t dump the work on 1 person and let them finish the whole thing. Iv learned that we have to let every one in the project group is equal and that everyone should contribute their thoughts and help tot he project. I-Poly has tought us to communicate and work with groups with out going through so much stress.
During my sophomore year at I-Poly we were assigned the making the mascot, which required a lot pf hard work and materials. We each decided to apply what we learned and divided the work up evenly 2 of us got the materials and the other 2 came up up with thye genr,al outline of what we were making. We worked together turned it in 10mins late and got an AP it worked out great (not really)
(5) have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers
Before i came to I-poly, i did not realize that we would be presenting and writing long papers for projects. I have learned to present not only to my peers but to adults and others. I learned from creating small presentations about little things we all like to asking money for a possible business settlement.
This school helped present better. I used to go up with note cards and just read off what ever i wrote, but as the years progressed i learned i have to memorize and and look at my audience, make them interested in what i am presenting. I want to improve on how i get my point across to my audience i tend to forget what i wrote down and improvise on the way.
One example of when this occurred was during freshmen years, during the debates. I wrote down all my notes, all my facts and when i got to what i had to say i really forgott what i had to say and improvised a lot, it came out rather well, but my partner blanked out as well, so we had to take a break, calm down and present the I-poly way. In the end we lost the debate, but we realized that even though we had that moment of freeze we applied what we learned and presented professionally.
Since I began coming to I-Poly, I right away realized how different it is than “regular high schools.” Before coming here, every grade in school felt the same. I didn’t really communicate with my teachers or peers through what we were learning. I-Poly actually shows you what the real world is actually like. The part/goal that I-Poly has helped me meet is (5) have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers. For the last three years I have learned how to give presentation in an effective and professional way. I could practically come up with a presentation on a topic I just learned about. I can write papers in my college classes and get A’s on them with no trouble at all. I am able to teach a group member or classmate an assignment they didn’t understand. I-Poly has taught me how to communicate to survive in the real world.
Now being in my last year in I-Poly, I would really like to improve on part/goal (6) be able to collaboratively reach individual and group related goals. Thinking about the goals I have for life, I cant come up with any. I am not the kind of person that makes a list of goals and then works really hard to reach them. I just do what I have to do to get through with the day. I want to change that. I want to be the type of person that when asked, “what do you want to do with your life?” I actually come up with a good solid answer. I want to look forward to reaching a goal. For example, for my senior project I want to be able to outline everything I have to do, like a map. I want to make a map and have my final destination be my goal.
During the last 3 years of my attendance at i-Poly High School, I have learned most, if not all of the goals of I-Poly’s mission statement. One however, stands out the most. The fifth goal states that graduates “have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers.”. Personally, I think I’ve become much, much better at learning how to communicate through presentations.
At I-Poly, presentations pop up all the time. From the start of Freshman year, your first “presentation” begins on the first day of school. I remember - just 3 years ago - when I was forced out of my comfort zone to speak in front of 30 anxious students Ive never met before. Though my short, 45-second speech only consisted of my name, where I went to school prior, and something dumb like my favorite ice cream flavor, it was probably the longest 45-second speech of my life. The following months surprised me with big presentations such as the Story Book Presentation and Info-tainment.
Sophomore year - no doubt the most stressful year yet - had HUGE presentations that your grade depended on such as the Olympics presentation and the Science of a Sport presentation. Junior year was also filled with Trade Shows that played a big role in your projects, thus, teaching me the skills I needed to come out of my shell. I am no longer shy and I can speak in front of a class without a problem.
One thing I would like to improve myself of is clearly stated through goal Number 9 on the Ipoly mission statement. It states that students will “be able to collaboratively reach individual and group related goals”. I would like to reach a goal individually. The past 3 years have always been group work which i love but this year, -especially with the help of senior projects - I would like to learn how to have and reach my own goal. Even as a child, I never had a goal. I was never driven by anything and never really sat down and thought to myself about what I wanted to fulfill. I never studied to be the smartest student in class or practiced to be a great athlete. I never had a solid answer about what I wanted to be or what I wanted to do. There was never a target. Hopefully, by the end of 12th grade, I will be set and ready for what the world has for me.
(2) be lifelong learners who adapt to an ever-changing world by viewing society from multiple perspectives
I have to say that i believe I Poly has helped me reach this goal comming up to my final yr of h.s. of being able to have an opened mind and being able to view socitey in ways in which i’ve never though were really possible or at least i didnt think i’d even really cared about the outside world other than my own interest before entering the school(as selfish as it may sound). Freshman yr ended with a project called “That’s Infotainment!” which was a little short variety show based on our house issues such as i was in the Human Rights house and we had presented our topic which had to deal with the nazi’s back in World War II with their local citizens. But not only did we portray a little scene of how unjulstly their actions were towards the community we also had brought up a current issue of the genocides goin on in todays world as in Darfur. We were able to bring an awareness to our audience and present them with the knowledge we learned with the months of research.
As funny as it may seem my weakness in which needs serious improvment that i’m hoping for before the final yr of I-Poly would have to be..
(#9) have acquired knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology
I’m not too technology smart. Being at i-poly it requires lots of time using computers whether it be to gather research or to make simple power point presentations (which for me aren’t too simple) which we should all be use to especially by our 4th yr lets just say i just stay away from all the stuff that has to do with making powerpoints or anything to do with technolgy really. For example there is always at least 1 person in a group who is good with technology but i’m just never one of them. I just hope since it is senior yr and all and your pretty much on your own i hope i’ll be able to make a simple power point without askin dumb questions such as “how do i begin?” I guess i just tend to make things a lilttle too difficult than what they truely are. But by the end of the year imma be able to say ” I did all my powerpoints on my own! :] ” or something along those lines.
A part of the mission that I have learned from I-Poly is number five:have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers. The proof is in the ability for me to go to Cal Poly. With having three classes at Cal Poly, there has been a lot of communications with professors and other students. I have had Geography, Community Service Learning, and Visual Art class. Within all of those classes I have had to do a lot of communication. In my Community Service Learning class I had to do a presentation in front of the amount of our classroom times three. I was very nervous, but I was able to get through it much easier if I had not went to I-Poly. With my presentation abilities I was able to get an A on my presentation and my complete grade also.
A part of the mission I would like to improve is number six: be able to collaboratively reach individual and group related goals. Ever since I have joined I-Poly, I have always had problems with group projects. On every single project, people have always had the assumption that I like being the leader in a group and that I will do everything. Because of having that experience, I always put all the weight on myself because I have been use to it. Even when people have offered to help, I could not let them do it because I thought that they would not do it. It has haunted me forever. People and myself take advantage of me. It’s exhausting and overwhelming. And then when I am not satisfied with the grading of a group project I have an emotional breakdown and take all of the guilt and accountability on myself for the lack of success. It had gotten to the point where I had become self destructive. It did no good for me. So being able to collaboratively reach individual and group related goals would be great for me.
I remember the first time i heard I-poly is a project-based learning school. My first reaction was “this is not going to be easy”. and yes, it wasnt easy. I struggled for the grades in every classes in the past year. It was really something I have to work on. Especially for me, i was transferred to I-poly in my junior year. Since I came from a traditional high school. I-poly was a totally new learning environment. I felt like i was the freshman at the time. Everything seemed so fresh to me. But i have adjusted and (4) learned to mediate and reach solutions through research, knowledge, and critical thinking skills. I have stepped into the class room with traditional thoughts, which had troubled me many times. In my old school, we rarely did any group project or even activities. Lack of communication with my group was a major problem. Luckily I was able to have these group members to help me go through the problems and become much better in communicating.
There are still a lot I will have to be working on. One of the biggest issue for me is (5)have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers. I just need more ways to express myself. Either performing a presentation or writing papers, they are really challenging to me. For instance, when i got an assignment that’s either a presentation or paper, I would panic. I wouldn’t know where and how to start. But for senior project, somehow I’m looking forward to it. As this event goes through, I will see how much I have improved.
The mission that i have the most experience is number 5. I believe i have learned to speak to my students and teacher in a very formal way, especially during presentations. writing formally and informally is something that i have taken great liking to, especially during the writing workshop we had done. The essential question helped me on my formal writing, as i had to be very professional on them.
In mission number 6 i believe i have been able to learn this well. I am able to work in just about any group, with no problems, understanding what needs to be done and when it should be done. Although this will be the first real year doing an entire project on my lonesome, i think i can handle it. I know that that within the group projects, you still get your own individual part, so it all ties in with each other, I know that im ready for this project.
When first coming into I-Poly I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew that it was project based and based on the tour of the school; it looked like a lot of work. I heard, during that tour of the school, that students perform presentations weekly; that scared me the most. Going into I-Poly, I hadn’t had much experience with presentations. Which brings me to number five on the mission statement list: have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers. The past three years at I-Poly have helped me learn to talk in front of a crowd, both formally and informally. Now, when I have to talk to adults I can confidently answer them because I have had so many experiences with the tradeshows that I-Poly has given us, where we have to talk and explain whatever our topic is about. In addition to learning how to give formal and informal presentations, my writing has improved tremendously.
During my last year at I-Poly I would like to improve, number four on the I-Poly Mission Statement list: have learned to mediate and reach solutions through research, knowledge, and critical thinking skills. My researching skills, as of right now, are proficient but with this senior project and the amount of research needed I think that I will be able to achieve this part of the mission statement.
I-Poly has helped me acquire the knowledge and skills to be able to responsibly and effectively use technology (#9). I-Poly helped me acquire these skills by engaging me in multiple activities involving computers, computer programs, etc. I had never used Mac computers and I had never even heard of power points before. An example of this is when my part in the group was to organize a tech video of hovercrafts in action, along with inputting the music. I and another group member ended up having problems from uploading video and pictures, but when we were done (at four in the morning) we both had figured out how to correct all the bugs and the video looked great. So in my experience at I-Poly, I now have the knowledge to effectively use them to meet my goals.
What I would like to improve on this year is to be able to collaboratively reach individual and group related goals (6), because I still have trouble multi-tasking and being able to complete all goals at a fair pace. I either work solely on the large project at hand or my personal homework for the other core classes. It is still hard for me to organize my priorities effectively. I hope this last year at I-Poly will finally get me to keep on task.
(9) Have acquired knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology.
When I first got to I-Poly, I had little knowledge of the different media around me. I knew how to turn on a computer, Google information, and use Microsoft words. My knowledge of technology and computers didn’t exceed that level. When I got to I-Poly I started working on different media. I first learned how to use Mac computers to record sounds and edit them make my own radio shows. For Infotainment I was in the tech team. I gained knowledge of a few programs that I could use to create my own video for our house. Sophomore year I got a lot more “hands-on” experience with technology. Second semester my group and I had to create our own short film on Frankenstein. I got different lectures on techniques and ways to improve the quality of the image, using different amounts of lights in different positions to change the “mood” of the movie. I learned a lot of editing techniques to make the story run more smoothly. Almost every year I expand my knowledge in technology.
(5) Have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers.
Although this is my four and last year attending I-Poly, I feel like a need help in communicating my thoughts clearly to large audiences. Before I did my tradeshow presentation last year I started panicking and got really nervous. Once I started, I began really shaky and slowly improved. This year I plan to get rid of that shakiness and nervousness in the beginning of my presentations. I want to be able to show confidence in my knowledge towards my audience instead of showing weakness. I believe in someone that is strong and confident, when someone is weak and shaky I tend to doubt them. I think that you have to trust yourself before others can trust you. I look forward to the different presentations and projects this year as a senior and hope to accomplish all my goals.
One goal that I-poly has helped me meet is number (4) have learned to mediate and reach solutions through research, knowledge, and critical thinking skills. Through Project Based Learning, I have learned how to answer questions through the knowledge that I know and research so I can answer what I need to know. For example, last year my project was based on how a CD player functions. At first I had no clue how a CD player worked, but after a few days of research, I was able to tell you everything there was to know. As if it was a second language.
One goal that I want to improve on is number (5) have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers. Writing papers is not much of a challenge for me, but when it comes to presenting, well that’s where I have trouble. I tend to get nervous when I present in front of a classroom. For example, last year during presentations, I was confident and knew all about my project. But when it was time to present, I would blank out and forget everything I was gong to say. I hope I can work on that, and maybe be able to present without hesitation this year.
After three years at I-Poly the mission statement has really shown itself. Since freshman year I know much more now than I did before. The group work we did and still do at I-Poly was one of the biggest changes to overcome. Before I-Poly it was all individual work, or groups that were full of people who knew each other. I-Poly took that away, gave us the ability to see our work from all perspectives like the mission statement highlights. Not only did we work in groups, but we learned problem solving, we learned how to over come an issue even if the people we had to work with weren’t our best friends, or were even our enemies. I think the sophomore Olympic projects were a good example of such issues and solutions. We were given a project as a goal, and a team as our tool to reach that goal. The problem wasn’t only to reach the goal, but how we got there and how we overcame problems apart from the project itself.
All in all I would have to say that the I-Poly mission statement is fulfilled every year by the teachers and the work we do. It helps every student prepare for the world more than any school I have seen.
I believe that I have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers.
I feel like I’ve met this goal because of several reasons and various experiences. One of the most memorable for me was in the middle of my junior year when my group and I had to present our project, a fast food restaurant, to a real life banker. He was to assess us and aid the teachers in grading us. I remember that my team member and I split the presentation in parts and each one of us presented a different aspect of the project. At the end of the presentations, the banker approached my teacher and told asked him to congratulate me for doing an outstanding job and to encourage me to pursue a career in the area of communications.
For this year I hope to work towards completing to a fuller extent the goal of applying the knowledge and skills I have acquired to solve problems by completing my senior project in a creative and in the most efficient way possible.
One of the goals that I feel I have met is mission statement #5. I feel as if I met this goal because through out the years I have grown from not knowing exactly what to say, to now knowing what are the most important topics to speak about. I feel comfortable presenting in formal and informal presentations.
The one day I felt most at ease with presenting was my sophomore year for the “trade show”. I was able to gain my confidence through all my previous presentations, and making sure that I was delivering a clear, effective and concise presentation.
As for this year, I really hope to gain a little more knowledge about personal values and my community. I feel as if it is something that I need to take notice of. I haven’t really been on top of my community service hours or been involved in any sort of community activities. I do feel sort of ashamed about this and that is why I will work on increasing my service to the community this year.
After three years of an I-Poly citizen i think it has thought me a lot of ways to express or show my real talents. For example our countless numbers of presentations, i used to be one of the shyest people in my middle school class dealing with presenting something. i would get nervous and would not share all the information i worked so hard for a couple of days earlier. coming to this high school made me enjoy standing up in front of my peeps and make my information interested and also a little funny. I-Poly also taught me to work in groups, how to listen to everyones opinion and not to be stubborn of my ideas or what i have to say. Now i combine my and my group member’s ideas to present a much better and interested assignment or whatever it is we have to accomplish. Not coming to I-Poly maybe wouldn’t have made me a different kind of person but i sure won’t have discovered my hidden talents and i thank my school for it.
I-Poly has definately changed my life, most likely for the better. I have learned many things and still need to work on a few of my skills, but I most likely wouldn’t be the student I am now without the guidance I-Poly has given me.
Be lifelong learners who adapt to an ever-changing world by viewing society from multiple perspectives:
I have learned how to better view the world through multiple perspectives at I-Poly. This goal has been impounded into me since I first entered I-Poly in many ways. First of all, working in groups has taught me to look at problems, work, or even other people from my group members eyes. Some subjects that are super easy from one group member might be extremely hard for another member. I have also learned that I never know it all. Even if I have already been taught something, my second teacher may bring up a topic that was never covered the first time around. I know that I do not just learn from my teachers, but also from the people around me. They may bring very important knowledge and experience with them to a group.
Have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers:
I have improved greatly since in my presentation and research paper writing skills in the past three years. I do think that I could use a little more help in these areas still. I still get nervous during presentations and usually I will start to fidget or sway while I am presenting. Sometimes, I will remind myself to stop, but usually I will continue to move throughout my speech. I also do not like writing research papers or doing the research for them. I actually think that the research part of research papers is the hardest. This is the part that is the most time consuming and tiring for me. If I can learn how to become an effective researcher this year so that I will not have to spend hours looking for a few pieces of useful information on a scholarly journal search engine, my senior project will be worth it.
I-Poly has taught me multiple aspects of life, itself. Not only have I viewed I-Poly from a student’s perspective but I’ve also viewed it as an outsider. After looking at all of those statements, I feel I-Poly has addressed them enormously in each grade level. One of the statements that really stood out at me was #9, “have acquired knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology”. In 10th grade, we had to make this Frankenstein film and use tools that I didn’t know existed on the camera or computer. Before 10th grade hit, I had no clue how to work the camera but with Mr.Daly’s help, my group and I produced an outstanding film which later received an award for. With all those tools, I transferred over to Los Osos and was hit with another obstacle similar to the one at I-Poly. Since I had earlier experience with the Frankenstein film, that project was a breeze to me, which impressed my fellow peers and teachers.So furthermore, the tools that we learn from I-Poly not only help us be proficient at school but also the “real” world.
However, there are a few things I do need to improve on, I feel #6, “be able to collaboratively reach individual and group related goals” is what I need to work on, I feel I need to make goals and complete them. I always seem to make them but never follow up on them or just brush it off to the side. Also with groups, if we make a goal to get this done, we seem to look at the goal like its not there and wait until the last minute which causes friction, so I feel my individual and group related skills need to be sharpened. By improving them, my college years would come easier to me and much more organized.
Attending i poly for three years now has been a very interesting experience. One thing that i can say that i have really improved on while being here is that i am able to communicate in front of large groups of people without a problem. in Ipoly’s mission statement i think that this statement was stressed the most.(5) have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers. I can remember in middle school i had a very hard time talking in front of a lot of people.In the first year of attending this school i learned a lot. It was the very first week in school and Mr. Strand was already making us get up to do presentations. I learned the proper way to stand, talk and even making eye contact with people, while presenting.
When it comes to improvements, I do not think that there is a lot that I have to improve on. I could be a little better when it comes to technology. I have learned the Basics but there is still a few things that I am not to good at. However i am not panicking because I know that by the end of the year I will be ready to be a college student!
Thanks to I-Poly I have become a lot better at finding solutions through a variety of ways. I have become a lot better researcher and have been able to find what I am looking for much faster than I have before.
I-Poly has also taught me how to apply my knowledge to real world situations. Every year at I-Poly has reinforced using our knowledge for real-world situations. The first year the houses were divided by world wide problems, such as poverty and aids. The second year we had to find problems in our country and a way to fix it. The third year we had to create a business and learn how it works and what problems may be faced.
I hope to continue to learn how to communicate effectively with other people as well as working on my speaking skills. I still have a problem when presenting that I wish to get rid of. I often will talk fast and fidget when I speak in front of a group.
#2
Every year at i-poly I feel that learn something new and improve on something that I may have needed improvement on. Just my work habits in general my studying and researching have gotten much more advanced in the last couple of years. My speaking skills/presentation skills have increased. Now because of the projects I know how to make movies create very informative poster boards or slide shows.
#6
One thing that I always try to work on is reaching a goal and a way to accomplish that goal with everybody on the same page working together and sometimes that is very difficult. Like when two people have a great idea how to do a project but you can only have one it is difficult to come to a compromise that will satisfy the group as a whole.
1. One of the nine goals that I-poly that helped me with is #9, which is “..have acquired knowledge and skill to responsibly and effectively use technology.” This goal was set on making technology part of my learning experiences and made my projects more professional. The way how this has help me is during my whole 11th grade through the year, we used many programs such as i movie, excel, and a website generator. What should change that more technology should be used in freshman year 2nd semester, not just the tech team
2. The one goal that I want to improve myself is goal #5, which is “…have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers.” These skills I got in like freshman year with the presenting but I never really got to teaching part or writing. Most of these skill were taught a while back but mostly has been used during sophomore and junior year. Improvement what i suggesting more usage of papers because colleges are going to require at least a term paper, every class.
1. The goal i have chosen to illusrate is this “have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers”.Transfering my Junior year(2007-2008) as a new I-Poly student i have learned numerous new things. One of which is functioning withiin a gruop and including formal and informal presentations.Coming from a catholic private school there weren’t many projects needed to be fulfilled. Here is qite the opposite. Projects are what make the school.I-Poly has given me the skills needed to produce an exceptional project filled with research, interviews, rough drafts ect.This school has surpassed my goals in being able to function within a group. I was always used to being on my own and only depending upon myself. Here i learned how to give myself boundries, deadlines, and how to share the load. I have found myself more successful because of this project based school.
2. The second topic/goal i have chosen is “apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired to solve problems.”Being that this is my last year in high school i am pushing myself above and beyond to become even more successful. I believe that this statement will drive my senior year along with my senior project. What i would like to improve about myself is to constantly take what i am learning and try to apply it to present day situations. I want to retain knowledge learned,acquire information and take it to the mext level. I beleive I-Poly can do that for me,so i will do it for I-Poly.
I-poly has helped me achieve goal number 5 have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers. Before I –poly I didn’t have to do presentations or talk in front of my class so I didn’t have good public speaking skill when I entered I-poly. Having to do presentations made me learn how to speak properly and how to give a well rounded presentation. By the time junior year came I gained the confidence and knowledge to do presentations so by the last presentation of that year it was like I had been giving presentations my whole life. Now that’s not to say I don’t get nervous and mess up, because I do make mistakes but I know that I have improved 100x’s from the first presentation in freshmen year.
A part of the mission I would like to improve on is number 9 have acquired knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology. I know I have learned to do research and make movies and that’s all new technology I have learned at I-ploy. I feel that there’s more techniques and recourses that I could have learned using the technology that the school has to offer. I think that I could really work on finding better ways to research other that Google and Wikipedia. I think that there is so much more technology that’s out there that I can learn how to use.
I think that the mission statement basically sumerizes my whole stay at I-Poly. From goal number one to goal number nine I have, in some way or another, learned to behave the I-Polian way. I think that all of us seniors that have “survived” the I-Poly groups, the I-Poly teaching system, and in general the I-Poly way of life have in one way or another learned, practiced, and taught the I-Poly mission. Whether it was unconciously or not each and everyone of us have been taught the I-Poly mission especially by teachers. Although there is one I-Poly goal that each one of us identifies with and I’m going to have to say that mine is goal number 5 which asks that students have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers. Goal number 5 is the one that I can really identify myself with because since freshman year we have been taught to do one presentation after another. Mr. Strand, and all the freshman teachers in general, taught us how to gather all the information we have learned and turn it into approximately five minute presentations. Mr. Hogan and all the sophmore teachers have reinforced presentations and taught us how to teach lessons. Mrs. Edwards and the junior team have built on our presentation skills and taught us how to write papers.
Another thing that I think we all have, besides really identifying with a goal, is working on an I-Poly goal. Personally the goal I’d like to work on throughout this year is goal number nine by the end of senior year I want to have acquired knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology. To me that basically means to know how to use technology because I have never been really a fan of technology therefore I have a lot of trouble understanding how to use it. So throughout this year I will propose my self to use more technology in order to get more familiarized with it and in the future be able to use it for my benefit.
(2) Be lifelong learners who adapt to an ever-changing world by viewing society from multiple perspectives
Throughout the years, I-poly has taught me to fulfill this goal. This goal means that I can always adapt to the world or society by viewing any situation from multiple perspectives. This goal has helped me overcome all situations I have been in. For example, when working on a group project, and I feel like a group member hasn’t contributed to his or her best ability, I try to look at their situation from their point of view, and always take that into consideration. Another example is when me and my older brothers get into minor arguments. Before I react, I make it a point to myself to see the situation through his eyes, and from his perspective. Another example I have is when I spent my whole summer vacation in the east coast. When I went there, there was a complete culture shock. Everything was so different from the way I was used to seeing things, but I adapted to the society by seeing things from a whole new perspective. I-Poly has helped me adapt to any situation I have been put in but viewing society from multiple perspectives.
(9) Acquired knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology
This goal simply means to have the knowledge and skills to use technology for my advantage. Technology has always been my biggest struggle, even after attending I-Poly for three years. Although my technology skills have improved during the last couple years, it is not up to par compared to my peers around me. After attending I-Poly and knowing nothing at all about technology, I have learned enough to get me through school. When I was new to I-poly, I kept on having technical problems with all of my assignments. I could barely type, and I did not understand how to use turnitin.com. But after attending I-poly for so long, I have learned the basic skills needed. In my last year at I-poly high school, I want to be able to use technology for my advantage, instead of having to use technology because I need to. I want to be able to work the computer, instead of having the computer work me. I also want to gain life-long skills that will help me succeed no matter what technical obstacles come in my way.
Over the past three years, I think I-Poly has at least introduced me to a number of the goals on the mission list. The goal that stands out to me, and that I think I-Poly has really helped me reach is Goal #3: “have learned the global significance of a variety events and disciplines”. For me, reaching this goal started second semester of freshmen year when we worked on Infotainment. I was in the HIV/AIDS house and we learned not only about the history of the epidemic, but how it affects a number of people around the world today. It wasn’t the first time I learned about HIV/AIDS in school, but over the course of the semester it seemed a lot more real to me. During the Innoventions project sophmore year my group’s real life problem was Breast Cancer, which affects a huge number of women especially in the US. For that reason it seemed a lot more important to me, and I was far more interested to learn about advances in medicine to help stop it. Last year during the Revolution project my group’s focus was on the V2-Rocket. We learned a lot about its role not only in WWII but also how it changed the way war was fought from that point on. Reaching this goal at I-Poly has made global problems and events like these more important to me, because of the extent I studied them.
The goal that I would like to improve during my last year at I-Poly is Goal #1: “apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired to solve problems”. One of the things I have learned a lot about since entering high school is working with people you do not get a long with. Even so, I think I have made some of the same mistakes when trying to work with difficult groups. Specifically I would like to be able to leave high school with a lot of “life lessons” really learned, like working with difficult group members.
Looking back all the way to freshman year is intimidating, to think of how much we have grown and how much we have learned. i would have to say that i must give credit to I-Poly for fulfilling its number 5 goal. I-Poly has provided me the opportunity to improve speaking skills and presentation skills. I recall some of my first presentations in freshman year with Mr. Strand. One of my most treasured group projects was our religion class that we had to teach the class ourselves about our given religion. Then i think of sophomore year with trade shows and finally Jr. year with marketing. I think that was the moment of truth, when we had to present to actual experts and see if we really understood real world language. i am most grateful to I-Poly for these many treasured opportunities. One goal i still wish to improve on is number 4, learning to mediate and reach solutions through research, knowledge, and critical thinking skills. Jr year was when i felt we really had to use research skills that learned from sophomore year for global issue projects. we had to research our invention and if found that i had been limiting myself to resources, only online sources. I know feel more comfortable obtaining research through people as well as documentaries. I hope to expand this skill during the senior project. I’m sure I-poly will come through with this goal as well.
(1) Goal #8: Be able to identify, explain, and apply universal concepts.
Before I came to I-Poly I could not identify universal concepts to save my life; I was already pretty good at explain, and applying universal concepts (sense I came from an PBL Middle School). But of course like all things I needed to work on all three, as soon as I came to I-Poly I saw that it was just like my old middle school (give or take somethings). Freshmen year, as soon as those radio shows came I had no idea how to identify, explain, and apply universal concept that my partner and I came up with. To make matters much better as well my partner did not help with anything, so I had to do those three thing (identify, explain, and apply universal concept). Threw out it all, I did finally learn how to identify, explain, and apply universal concepts after that project, and so every time I saw myself having to identify, explain, and apply universal concepts I did it with ease; so now it’s no big deal to me.
(2) Goal #9: Have acquired knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology.
I can apply the knowledge and skills I have acquired to solve problems, and to help others with there problem(s) as well, I would have to say out of those nine goals I have the number one goal down pretty well. However for the ninth goal (have acquired knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology) I seem to have a little more trouble with that one more then any other. I am not to sure why that goal is so hard for me to grasp sometimes, but it is. I would like to improve on this goal so I know how to be an effective user of technology, so when I am doing a project I can go strait threw it with out having problem along the way. I’m hoping I will become better at applying the knowledge and skills that I have learned to responsibly and effectively use technology. Over the three years I have been at I-Poly I have been getting better at it, now I just hope I will “master” this final goal.
During the past three years at I-Poly I have learned a lot about academics, the world and most importantly about myself. But also at the same time I have struggled with myself to learn and be able to use new technologies. [(9) have acquired knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology]
I know how to use a computer and the internet to do the basics. So being that this is my last year at I-Poly I would like to learn new computer programs such as Photoshop, Microsoft Works programs and the Movie editor on MAC computers. During Sophomore year at I-Poly when we were working on the editing part of our Frankenstein videos, I did not feel like much help to my group because I did not know the program well enough to help them out with the movie or give them ideas. In that particular situation I felt useless and after the project I was just glad I never had to deal with it again. I understand with the world that we live in technology is a huge part of it and in our lives. So this year I would like to challenge myself to learn new programs on the computer so that I understand them and can help people put when they need it.
I-Poly though I must say has taught me a lot about being a good presenter and teacher. [(5) have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers] When I was a freshman I really had no presentation skill let alone teaching skills, but by being in Mr. Strands social science class I learned all about it and more. To this day I can think of creative presentations and ways of teaching people new concepts. For example, during Sophomore year while we were in our country groups my group had to teach about endangered animals in India. During the lesson we talked about all the different types of endangered animals and why they are endangered. Then at the end of the presentation we had an activity and had the students get into groups and focus on one specific animal. During the activity they had to learn and much as they could about the animal and do their own presentation on it. At the end Mr. Daly was so impressed that by the end of the semester my group India won the award for best presentation and got an AE. By being taught presentations skills my freshmen year has helped me out at all of my years at I-Poly and it is one life-long skill I will always keep and use.
(5) Have learned to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers.
I think that I-Poly has taught me how to be less shy when presenting in front of people. I can now stand in front of people and explain my point to strangers with out stuttering or swinging around from foot to foot. I don’t say ‘um’ in the middle of my sentences and I don’t add the word ‘like’ in a sentence that doesn’t need it. I remember freshmen year when I had to use index card to know what I was talking about. Last year, Junior year, for the Master the Market Presentation I could stand in front of complete strangers and in front of the teachers and tell them what our business was about. Every project that I did through the years have helped me become better at public speaking and become less shy. I would like to improve on writing papers. I like to write but sometimes I really don’t know how to organize my thoughts in to paper. It’s usually the grammar that gets me into trouble, so that is where I have the greatest trouble.
Something that I would like to improve on is the last goal. (9) Have acquired knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology. I’m not what you would call, technology savvy, so I have a hard time maneuvering technology that is new to me. For example in Sophomore year for the Frankenstein Project we had to edit our movie and I had some difficulties with this. It took me a while to figure out how to do it without messing up previous work. I’m hoping that with this new year I will become more confident with the technology that I have no previous experience with.I think this is one of my goals for the year.
1)I have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers. In middle school I never knew how to give a presentation, we always did book work. When I came to I-Poly, I remember Mr. Strand drilling it into our minds that we needed to be good presenters. He had us present in a variety of ways, ranging from debates, PowerPoints , poster boards, speeches and video/audio. These were all fairly new to me and now I feel as if I have mastered the art of communication. I am comfortable giving presentations in the classroom or in front of hundreds of people, like sophomore year when I had to present my country in front of the entire school on a huge stage. It was flawless and now I have the self confidence to walk on stage in front of lots of people and know that I can pull it off. The fact that each and every teacher at I-Poly has made us do multiple presentations, large and small, has helped me become a much better communicator. I would suggest more one on one talking with people and communicating but I believe the interviews this upcoming year will fulfill that. It’s one thing reciting a rehearsed speech to lots of people but another ball park having a conversation and trying to achieve knowledge in that conversation by asking questions.
2)I need to work on acquiring knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology. Throughout I-Poly I have used many different forms of technology. Freshman year I made a radio show on Mac computers. Sophomore year I filmed and edited a movie. Junior year I managed to make my own hovercraft (a sentence I never expected to say in my whole life), in addition to filming and editing a documentary. I consider these great achievements but I have forgotten how to use all that technology. I also didn’t do any of those projects alone and because of that, some of the work fell on other people. For example, I only did the filming for the movie sophomore year, none of the editing. As a result, I did not learn how to edit. I would like to improve my use of technology and the way I apply it in my last year at I-Poly. I hope to relearn most of the skills and maybe even learn for the first time other skills. I feel that because I am so interesting in my senior project, I will be motivated to learn all these skills.
Well I have been to so called “normal” schools and I have never been to a school like I-Poly. I entered this school in the 10th grade and i had no experience with presentations group work and stuff like that I was always by myself and that was all. So ;number 5 says ( have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers). Well I-poly has taught me all this and like i said no other school has taught me this. I now know how to speak effectively without beeing shy.
What would I like to improve is #1 which says (apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired to solve problems) because I intend to apply this in the future in other words I-poly has honestly taught me a lot in some cases cuz in others hmmm lets not say anyways i have learned; again to speak and how to analyze things and right now learning how to be independent of myself.
A goal that I-Poly has helped is goal #6. Before I came to I-Poly I didn’t get to work in groups as much. I did worked in groups, but we weren’t collaborate or efficient. Because none of us knew what to do and no one step up or take charge. So basically we were lost, and we would just sit there and wait for the teacher to tell us what to do. It is either that or one person ends up doing all of the work. But I got to I-Poly, the project- based learning school, the whole atmosphere is totally different. But we didn’t really get into groups right away; some other assignments build us up. First it was the self- portrait that we had to do individually, then we got into partners for the radio show, and then we finally got into groups of four or five. As the years go by, I started to get more and more comfortable been in groups. It wasn’t easy at first because I didn’t know anyone in the group, but we needed to get the project done, so we started to communicate and work together. Now that I have reached my final year, I am back in working on my own again, it feels kind of weird because there used to be other people in the group I could rely on, but now it is just me. I-Poly has taught me how to work collaboratively whether in groups or individually.
I think I would like to improve on my oral presentation, #5. I know that we have presented a lot and it should be a piece of cake, but I really need to work on that. Even though I have already presented before, but sometimes I just get so nervous and uncomfortable that I screw things up. I guess all the attention that I am getting is kind of overwhelming. Especially I am going have to do a two hours presentation next semester, the pressure is pretty serious. I would really like to improve on that, and just basically communicate better.
I-poly is a very unique school, it prepares its students in many ways that others schools don’t. As stated in its mission statement I-poly’s goal is to teach its students skills that help them lead to happy and successful lives after they graduate. However it takes time to master all of these skills and some of us still don’t have them all down.
(1)One skill I have managed to accomplish is working collaboratively with others to reach group and individual goals. One example of this was sophomore year when my group and i managed to co-operate even though many of us disagreed, in the end we all reached proper comprises and finished our projects that were due. Another example was last year’s junior year, second semester project where we were learning to listen to each other so we could build off each others ideas to start our own successful business. The last example of this skill was freshman year when i would go and ask my fellow class mates to help me with my class work so they would help me out and teach me the parts i didn’t understand.
(2)One skill i have not mastered yet and would like to this year is learning how to communicate in a variety of ways such as formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers. One thing i would like to improve this year is my writing skills. Hopefully with all of the writers workshops in Mrs. Ortega’s class room my skills will increase. Another example of a skill i would like to increase this year is my public speaking skills. I’m hoping my senior projects multiple mini presentations will help me develop proper skills needed for future groups and assemblies. The last skill i would like to improve is my interviewing skills. As far as i know i have never interviewed anyone, the many interviews spread across the year are sure to help me with all the skills needed so i can acquire a lot more information when interviewing professionals.
I think the best mission that i can apply to myself is #5.Ever since i started here in I-poly all they talk about is the innovative way of teaching and working in groups. I-Poly has helped me expand my way of learning i went from just memorizing things for tests to actually researching and using what i learned in projects so that by the end of the semester i can teach others. For example sophomore year during the olympics at the end we had to give a lesson and activity to teach others abou our country. We had to be able to use the knowledge we had gained and get students interested in what we were talking about. in i-poly you cant just memorize the information given we have to be able to teach what we learned in presentations, lessons and even essays. Ive been able to understand more difficult topics this way because if i dont understand it from a teachers point of view when a student does his/her presentation its all simplified.
I think what i need the most help with now is mission #9. Im pretty basic when it comes to computers. I would like to be able to work anything so that i can give better presentations. if im working on a presentation and i run into a problem i just get frustrated with the computer an ask someone to help me out. So this last year i want to be able to fix the glitches without getting frustrated adn just get through the whole project without stressing much over technical difficulties.
(6) be able to collaboratively reach individual and group related goals
1. In the two years that i have completed so far in I-Poly, I’ve had the chance to do projects individually and in groups. I have learned that in groups everyone has to participate and share their knowledge with one another. When everyone comes together and works well, the results come out to be great. Ive learned that I need to hear others opinions instead of always doing what I feel like, that way everyone comes to an agreement. When you are on your own I have learned how to brain storm and really dig through whatever topic i have been given. Also Ive learned to stay organized and finish things in time or earlier if possible, that way you take off some stress of your back.
(5) have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers
2. I feel that in the past year it has been a little difficult for me to communicate well with others. I feel i have to embrace this more in order to succeed in my future, where i have to explain something to others. Its obvious to know that when you dont research something well it back fires back at you when you present, which makes it hard for you to communicate well. Its all a matter of preparing your self, and i feel i have to work on that much more this year.
(4) have learned to mediate and reach solutions through research, knowledge, and critical thinking skills
I-Poly has provided insight about topics that wouldn’t be mentioned in an average high school like aids and human rights when Mr. Strand showed us the video Invisible children it came to be more real to me than it was before. Some information that I didn’t really hear about on the news. I gained knowledge of the different issues we have in our country and the world.
I-Poly gave us situations to where we needed to actually think and not throw back what the teacher just taught us. I remember in World history when we had worksheets that would ask a question and we would have to fill out boxes and write down what we interpreted on the subject. I was so frustrated because I was so used to just finding answers in the book and writing them down exact on paper. After having those think for yourself questions I feel like it inspired me to actually think and meditate on the subject which helped me to remember the things I learned.
When I first came to I-Poly I had know idea how to gain information for research. I learned in freshman Year I remember doing a project on religion we really had to study the culture and religious practices and present it to the class. I learned how to work with a group, even though I wasn’t used to it, we had to get results out of our group for final presentations and other projects. I learned how to research my topic, for example the Master the Market project in junior year we had to learn all about what it takes to run a business. We had to research how much it would cost us, what locations to consider and how to market our business. We had a group member ask a hair salon owner about the cost of running the business and she gave us her records so we could get an idea of the cost. We really learned how to contact professionals or experts to get the information we needed to finish our project. We can take that knowledge and apply it to our lives when we get out of High School and learn contact experts and how to create questions to ask to receive the information we needed.
(5) have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers
You can’t expect to go to I-Poly without giving a presentation. We have a lot of presentations. It thought me how to communicate and to speak in front of an audience which was nerve wracking for me. Now I feel like I can present my ideas without becoming nervous no matter what audience.
I want to work on communicating clearly and to be able to teach lessons on a chosen subject. And make it fun and something to remember. To present information in a way that would capture the audience. I want to be able to speak and use the stage in a formal but captivating way. I want to speak and make profound statements.
I also want to work on my writing. I have come a long way from 9th grade get the assignment done and make it what the teacher wants to hear. To writing with voice and character, learning to cite sources. I want to improve on how I state things in non-fiction articles, so that it would get the information across but not become robotic. I want to work on using vocabulary and stay away from using to many common and plain words.
(6) be able to collaboratively reach individual and group related goals
1. In the past two years that i have completed in I-Poly i have learned the importance of working in groups. This helped me progress into helping others and hearing other peoples opinions, instead of just sticking to my ideas. Working in groups show me that there doesent have to be a leader, along as everyone collaborates and does their job everything comes out for the better.
As for work individually i have learned to really meditate in what my proiorty should be in the project i was given to complete.
(5) have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers
2. The thing that i would like to improve from my past year is my communication. I lack in expressing what i am thinking in the moment, and that puts me in the position where i can be seen as useless. I have to work on speaking up, make myself be heard. Also i have learned that if one is not will prepared with the material they have to present they will have lack of speaking skills in front of an audience. I need to dig deeper into my work that way i know exactly what i am saying when it come to presentation day.
(5) have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers.
In my long three years at International Polytenchic High School, i personality think that i have grow a lot as a person, mainly mentally. When i first started, i knew a couple things to say in front of large groups, but they wouldn’t always be the right things. I’m not that shy so that wasn’t really a problem. just i had to learn how to use that in a better way, and get the information out in a better way. And yes IPoly taught me that. This High school taught me that. It taught me how to talk in presentations, some formal and many informal.
(2) be lifelong learners who adapt to an ever-changing world by viewing society from multiple perspective.
In my last year at this breath taking school at this High School,i would like to improve on number two. i would love to be a life long learner and change my learning intake when i don’t understand. Like freshman year in science i didnt get the way she was taking her notes, so i switched it up, and i learnerd the material and passed the test in the top of the class.And in just the time i graduate i hope and i am looking forward to being a better person with new knowleadge i can use later in life,and all the skills i learned at I Poly are gonna come in handy, I’m sure of it.
9) After growing up my last couple years at I-poly i can safely say i-poly helped me become an effective user of technology. Since coming to i-poly i have learned to film and put together video and browse the internet and use my sources more accurately. i am thankful for leaning such things because college will with out a doubt challenge me in this area.
5) I-poly has taught me well in speaking in public, doing formal presentations and sharing information with others but they’ve only scratched the surface because they have not taught me to speak with authority in my voice. They have not taught me to speak thoroughly and not be so shy.
I-poly in a way has a very good job to incorporate many of their goals to the students but in my case the one that I consider myself learning more of is Number 9) have acquired knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology. This school compare to other traditional high school give you the opportunity to learn about technology and shows you techniques that are very interesting. For example in Sophomore year we actually got to do a video about Frankenstein and we learned a lot how to edit and I actually got to find out that I enojoyed doing that.Also in junior year we did a website and did a magazine which all require work on the computer and thanks to that I feel more comfortable around a computer and can do stuff that my friends that attend to another school don’t know how to do.
(4) have learned to mediate and reach solutions through research, knowledge, and critical thinking skills. I think that out of the nine of the goals I-poly have for us this is the one that I would need to work more on. I did improve in researching but I think that I could actually be better at it for some reason. Since little I have had problems in critical thinking and going to I-poly did let me improve a little bit but this year hopefully I improve more. So to conclude all of them have been good goals that I have learned thanks to this school but if I would have to pick one I would like to improve for my last year I would choose number 4 in particular because I think I need to work on it a lot more.
Dalia Felix
=]
The one goal/mission that i poly has help me reach is (5) have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers. when i first came to i ploy I was a shy girl that couldn’t talk to people and i espeacially couldnt give a presentation. But the past three years at i poly has help me so much i have improved so much when it comes to giving presentation or even talking to people . I thank i poly for that because it has taught me how to talk in front of people wether its giving a presenation or just meeting new people . It has also helped me improve on my writing skills . It also help me teach a lesson for one of the components in sophmore year. This is one of the most important goal/mission that i have gained while attending i poly.
The goal/misson that i would like to improve this year (9) have acquired knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology. Although almost all of our projects require use of technology i feel like i can still improve on my skills when it comes to technology . I know how to use the basic things but when it comes to editing and other things i have a little more trouble. So i would like to learn more on how to use differet programs and etc. That is one goal/mission i would llike to reach before i leave i poly.
ivett vazquez =P
(I tried posting it a couple days ago but I don’t see it. So here it is again!)
(8) be able to identify, explain, and apply universal concepts
This statement seems to be the one that I have learned the most. It’s not just having to work with completely different people, but the Olympic project helped the most. My group was a weird mix and that’s when I really learned to work with people. Different groups’ presentations taught us things about the world and I learned that I don’t know everything about everything.
(9) have acquired knowledge and skills to responsibly and effectively use technology
This is the one that I definitely haven’t learned. I still hate Apple computers and I wouldn’t know where to start on making a Powerpoint. When we made the Frankenstein movie, my editing was horrible! Technology is the biggest thing I’m worried about for senior project. But hopefully I can learn to love a Mac this year.
5) have learned how to communicate in a variety of ways, including formal and informal presentations, teaching lessons, and writing papers
Ipoly has really taught me some good things about communicating with others. before I came to ipoly i had never actually done a presentation in front of people. and It really was nothing to be at first because I really dont have a problem talking in front of big crouds. As long as i Knew exactly what I was talking about. In 3 years going to this school i learned that you can not just go up in front of a group of people and start talking non sence. You have to do your research and know exactly what you want to say. that way when you are up there all that knowledge will just come to you naturally and you will sound like you know your stuff. Ipoly really teaches you how to work with others in an organized way.As a freshmen i remember the teachers telling us that in that school in order to get an A you will need to go above and beyond. At 1st i thought it was just a line the teachers used to get the students to work harder, I didnt really pay much attention to it. but after i realized that they were NOT playing when they said that, you really do need to Go ABOVE AND BEYOND! And that has taught me to work harder in order to earn what i want. I look at myself now and compare myself to freshmen year. I realized that my presentation skills have really changed, I actually learn my stuff and feel like i know what im talking about, and thats because i learn my stuff real good. Now i know i could actually give a lesson plan to any type of student. When it comes to writing papers I have also improved on that. As long as i have multiple resources I can write as many pages as i want.
4)have learned to mediate and reach solutions through research, knowledge, and critical thinking skills
Research is a big part in ipoly, that is the key to getting good grades. If you just try and do something with what you think you know, then there goes a perfect grade. in order for things to come out good you NEED to reseach to have more knowledge of what you are talking about. And that really puts you in a situation where you need to think about what you are going to say. once you have lots