This document is my midterm reflection on the subject of Content Understanding. Items in Italics are prompts, all other writing is part of my reflection.

 

This document has now been updated with a reflection on the second half of this semester and how I achieved/didn’t achieve my goals. All edits/reflections completed at the end of the semester are written in blue, as seen here.

• Select ONE pillar from your Self-Assessment to be the focus of the Goal Setting Assignment 

-Content Understanding 

• A discussion, with specific examples, of your current strengths within this pillar 

Last year I set the standard for myself quite high. This year in comparison, I don’t feel I have many strengths. A few strengths I do have are that I can apply most math and physics formulas once I understand how to use them, and I can solve questions using them effectively. I find that although I take a long time to grasp subjects, I make few errors and can calculate effectively and quickly once I do. An example of this has been in the recent math unit. I struggled to understand the importance of the trig circle and the use of the 30-60 and 45-45 triangles, but now I understand their use and how to apply them to calculations. I can work through questions much more easily. 

I feel that I have slightly improved my ability to grasp new subjects over the past month and a half. I have learned more about myself and how I learn and I realized that a lot of the issues I had when learning new subjects was that I was not teaching myself the basics first. I was trying to jump right into the more difficult questions and challenge myself on the extreme cases before I fully understood how the basics worked. This goes back to building a tower on an unstable foundation, something I remember being brought up at the start of the course but that I had not fully understood until now. Now that I understand what this means, I have been able to improve my understanding by not immediately pushing myself to hard questions but instead by taking my time to build a strong foundation and then work up from there.

• A discussion, with specific examples, of areas for future growth within this pillar 

As mentioned above, I struggle to grasp subjects. This is sometimes because I miss lessons due to sports, but also because I find myself easily distracted during lessons, leading to missed information. I can’t change the fact that I miss lessons due to sports, but I look forward to the winter season when I will have fewer extra-curricular activities. I believe I can work harder to stay concentrated when working both at school and at home. I have already started to implement some strategies like shutting down my phone when working at home. I feel sometimes that it isn’t only my phone, but just my mind that wanders so I think I should become more conscious of when I am becoming distracted from my work. 

The paragraph in black above mentions how I found myself becoming distracted in class, and how I struggled to stay concentrated. I have found myself improving my efficiency in class but not exactly how I expected. Although I find myself still distracted at times, I have found that when I do I am able to catch myself sooner and not let myself get carried away in conversation. I have also found that by staying on task in my work, I don’t find myself wanting to talk to my friends as my head is on a train of thought that I don’t want to lose. I have also found that over the last few weeks now that my sports have come to an end, I have been able to attend every class so I have not had to catch up on anything. This slight change has made a world of difference as I can stay on my schedule and have time to complete work at home/outside of class hours.

• At least one goal within this pillar 

• Ensure your goal is specific (avoid broad/general goals), measurable, and time-sensitive (met within this semester) 

Although this goal could be put under the subject of Personal Responsibility as well, I’d like to improve my understanding of the subject. I will do this by working harder to stay focused when working as I find that it is my greatest fault as of right now. I will achieve this by being conscious of when I am becoming distracted and eliminating distractions like my phone or peers. Another goal with the same general idea is that I would like to improve my grades in all courses. I can do this by continuously studying and completing homework as practice is the best way for me to learn. I study well before tests, but I know that there is only so much that studying can do if I do not understand the basics of the subject. I would like to achieve both of these goals before the finals, although I know that my final will affect my grade more than any other tests and that I could use it as a way to bring my average up. My measurable goal is to be at 90% or higher in all classes before the finals. 

As a final assessment of where my goals were set and where I am now in terms of meeting them, I’d say that I am just about content. On paper, my grades have slightly improved by about 2-3 percent per class, and I feel that I have broken a lot of bad habits I had made at the start of the semester. I know I have a lot of room to improve and that I need to work hard to continue an upwards trend but the distance I’ve covered in the last one and a half months is a good start. I feel I still have flaws in many places but I have worked on many of those I had before and as a result, I have seen changes in how I learn. Another success I have found is that I feel I am in a better headspace. This I believe is in large part due to a more open schedule but I also feel that the way I get work done now and the things I tell myself are better. I still feel the stress before every test as every one of my peers does but I think I have become more resilient to it and am less affected by it. Overall, I am happy that I have been able to overcome many of the struggles that made the first half of this semester difficult to me, and I hope that I can carry what I have learned this semester into the next.