ELSRs Used During the Poetry Unit
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Poetry…not my favorite part of English, so I was not exactly thrilled when I strolled into class and found out we were going to begin a poetry unit. The moment we entered, we were asked to rate ourselves on how much we enjoyed poetry. I gave myself a three; I did not mind poetry and would only do it if I had to. Fortunately, all this was about to change. As we progressed, I found myself beginning to enjoy the amount of time I spent writing verses of poetry. I was able to use figurative language effectively and I could write rhyming poems with ease. To my utter amazement, I was finally able to grasp the technique of composing poems! Towards the end of this fascinating topic we were assigned two major projects. The projects were: the Poetry Book project and the Teen Life project. We also had to participate in the Poetry Night. To complete these and any class work I received, I used the ESLRs.
I believe I was a Self-Directed Learner more than any other ESLR. I was a Self-Directed Learner because I documented my work progress, demonstrated good goal setting skills, managed my time well and used my organizational skills. I documented my work progress in the Poetry Book project by seeing which pages and poems I have completed and adding them to the book. An example of how I demonstrated good goal setting skills is when I was assigned the Poetry Book project. I made goals to bind the book the weekend before it was due and I managed to accomplish that goal. I also made a goal to finish at least five to six poems on pages in one week. Although these were a little difficult, I was still determined to achieve these obtainable goals. I managed my time properly during the Poetry Book project by making sure I divided my time equally between my project and the rest of my homework. Although my organizational skills are only satisfactory, I coped by organizing what I had to do in the amount of time I had during the Poetry Book project and filing away all the completed pages so they wouldn’t get misplaced.
Furthermore, I was a Self-Directed Learner because I took creative risks and developed untried ideas, accepted responsibility for my own learning and applied appropriate learning strategies. While working on the Poetry Book, we had to design a front cover and come up with a unique way of showing our work. Since I had never done this before, it was extremely difficult. Nevertheless, I took a risk and developed a design for the book. I decided to have a sheet of gold paper in between each page and to include bold colors on the cover. In other words, I developed an untried idea that reflected me. An example of how I accepted responsibility for my own learning is when I made use of the free time in class to write poems. During this unstructured period, instead of wasting time or talking with friends, I worked diligently on my poems in order to finish them. I also read the poems out loud during class, so that I would be prepared to read them in front of an audience during the Poetry Night. Finally I applied appropriate learning strategies according to the poems I had to write. Some poems required brainstorming to generate ideas while others, like the sensory poems, required me to recollect my past experiences.
I believe I was also an Effective Communicator during this poetry unit. I listened respectfully and asked questions, utilized technology as a tool for communication, demonstrated my creative talents to convey ideas, collaborated with others in appropriate learning situations and demonstrated awareness of the role of audience. During classes, I would question matters that were not clear to me. Sometimes I clear my doubts after class as well. For the TeenLife project, we used technology as a tool for communication. In order to communicate with the people around the world, we chatted on a wikispace. My group members and I discussed issues by writing our ideas and opinions on the wikispace. Not only did we share our views, we also made some new friends. Next, I demonstrated my creative talents during the Poetry Book project and the TeenLife project. My Poetry Book has many themes in its poems and I used different ways to convey them. For instance, my pollution poem had a dull background with gray colored wordings to emphasize the theme. For the TeenLife project, I used my creative talents by taking interesting photos that portray the subject I was assigned to and also giving ideas on how to make our PowerPoint presentation or podcast. Also, when we had to take pictures for the “We are…” videos and the school video, I used my imaginative talents to convey ideas. I took pictures of ordinary objects from new angles and changed the brightness and color according to the mood. Additionally, I collaborated with others during the TeenLife project by discussing on how to show the presentation, giving ideas and writing down poems and sending photos. Finally, I demonstrated awareness of the role of the audience during the TeenLife project and when I participated for the Poetry Night. During the TeenLife project, we were presenting to a teenage/adult audience so we should have complex writing and words, not elementary vocabulary. While participating in the Poetry Night, I was reading my poem to a teenage/adult audience as well, so I should have spoken slow and altered my voice and not speak like I was speaking to kindergarten children.
Another ESLR that I believe I accomplished was being an Academic Achiever. I accessed information from a variety of sources and assessed, evaluated and adjusted work to maintain high standards. For the Poetry Book, we had to do five miscellaneous poems. Therefore, I came up with the themes by using books to get ideas, asking my parents and remembering my past experiences. Also, while working on the Poetry Book, I had to continually review what I pages I completed, see how much I did and adjust my time accordingly to finish the rest. Another example would be when I had to work on poems in class. I would write them, then rewrite them and finally do a second draft. I was also an Involved Citizen, however, I didn’t do all the things an Involved Citizen would do. I interacted respectfully with people of diverse cultures and demonstrated care and concern for the environment. Throughout the course of the TeenLife project, I talked with people from Canada, USA and Columbia. All are in different regions and have different cultures and I interacted with them respectfully. My topic in the TeenLife project was pollution, a hazard to the environment today. I showed care and concern for this matter by writing a poem showing people who caused this damage and took a picture of how pollution was affecting the world. The last but not least ESLR which I completed, was being a Critical Thinker. I built meaning and understanding using prior knowledge and new information, when it came to the short assignment about finding a poetry author. Since I had some knowledge about Emily Dickinson, I decided to use her as my author. I found out some fresh information and used known information and finished the assignment.
If I had a chance to do things differently, I would definitely change my ways of completing the Poetry Book and the TeenLife Project. For the Poetry Book, I would have organized my time better and not leave minor things to the last minute. I would also have spent more time in developing a more complex design for the cover and change the layout of the book so it had more artwork. For the TeenLife project, I would have finished everything on time, be more involved in the project and interact more to find out what is going on. Nevertheless, I still believe I did a fantastic job in this poetry unit by applying my skills and my knowledge of the ESLRs. However, the main ESLRs I used were Self-Directed Learner and Effective Communicator. Overall I have finally learned the art of writing poetry and I enjoy it much more than I did when we first started this unit. I even think I have a gift for it! All in all, I have gained plenty of knowledge about poetry and managed to accomplish ESLRs.
