E-portfolio

  AdVENTURE is just like it’s name… quite an adventure!  Although a great four year school experience was certainly had, there are a few things I would go back to change this year, if I could.  There were many fun projects and assignments in the 8th grade, and some very challenging ones, too.  The teachers all have high expectations, but they are very supportive and focused on student success.  There are a couple ideas that might be shared with the teachers to help them assist their students even more.  

 

 There are a few things I would do a bit differently in 8th grade, if I had the chance for a “do-over”.  One of these things would be to revisit my goals.  I would do this by looking back upon my previous work, and seeing what I could improve upon.  Another thing would be to put more effort into my work.  This is easy to do, because if you don’t let anything distract you from working hard, then there isn’t an excuse to be made for the lack of effort put into it.  I would also use more outside of school time to stay ahead on projects.  This is important to me because I am one to forget about things that are due, or coming up fast.  There are many detailed projects and assignments to keep track of in AdVENTURE.  Finally, I would utilize the extra time the teachers offer for extra help.  This is also very important, because if there is work to be done, and you are offered time to work on it, your best bet is to take advantage of the offer.

 

 The class projects, whether they were for just one class or cross curriculum, were both the easiest and most challenging part of 8th grade.  The easiest part of the projects was usually making the product itself.  For example, the Charity Fair concept idea and final product were fun to come up with and create.  The part of doing a project that I found most challenging was working on a big team. It was difficult to keep everyone on the same page, figure out who to perform what task and it sometimes showed in the final product.  The good thing is, they were always done and we were able to learn from the experience.

 

 The teachers at AdVENTURE are top notch, the best.  Even the best, however, can learn and improve.  It would be helpful to the students if all of the teachers would put all assignments in one place, like schoolloop.  From there the teachers could attach the link to any assignment on any site they like to use.  That way, the due dates and timelines would be easier to follow and make it easier for students to stay on target.  One thing I would say is there are simply too many separate websites to follow in order to keep track of assignments in different classes.  There’s schoolloop, edmodo, google classroom, etc.  The other thing that I feel would benefit the students is if the teachers actually told us what they wanted done and communicated more directly with us, instead of relying on our using technology to teach ourselves.  There isn’t enough class time for all the questions this sometimes creates, and then they are forgotten.

 

 Surviving AdVENTURE is something I have done, and you can do, too.  Staying on task, having fun with the projects (even though they are a lot of work), and remembering to use the awesome teachers’ knowledge and time whenever you can is the strongest advice I would give.  I have really enjoyed my four years at AdVENTURE and feel I was very lucky to have had the opportunity to attend this academic program!