Larrea Horner
32Q Reflection
Recycling Essay
One place my growth shines is in perseverance through my recycling essay. Humanities was the class that I feel like I struggled the most in, so feeling proud about a humanities project really boosted my confidence as well as my grade. Persevering has always been very tough for me. While brainstorming I was distracted by this other project I was working on privately and got very inattentive. I was also working on a concept I didn’t know much about as it bored me slightly. I chose this topic because my first one was taken. I created my rough draft though and proceeded to tell myself that I would do well if I tried hard. As the project progressed, I found I enjoyed the topic the more research I did. The project was not only on recycling but recycling around Animas High School so I wanted to get the message out to my fellow classmates as well as teachers. Informing my peers of the crisis in the near future made me want to make my work exceptional for my peers whom I respect. I was encouraged to continue working on my essay as well as persevere to make a project that I am proud of.
My Art
I’m really proud of my creativity this year in my personal life. I draw and paint a lot more than I used to because I finally have time. Starting Animas gave me lots of time to work on art projects as well as teach me about art. Roxy and Britt both have already taught me a lot of creative techniques to use. It was really nice to have feedback on lots of questions I had around the topic, most of which were simple and easily fixed. My confidence definitely grows when I create art pieces because it makes me care less about what people think and more about the process of becoming the best I can. I feel like art really defines me and to do more of it all the time brought my creativity level high and my positivity inclined as well. The whole Animas community is so creative so I think that really motivated me to make time for what I love.
Discussion Growth
I noticed growth in Ally’s class throughout the year during discussions. At the beginning of the year I didn’t talk much during discussions only when needed during a seminar. I definitely felt intimidated and unable to express my opinions as well as a few other people in the class. I am a very talkative outgoing person so when politics would come up I was very opinionated. In the bias lesson I began to be more articulate about the rights of women and black lives matter, because I understood it and agreed with the topics brought up. By the end of that section I talked a lot in class and participated a lot more. I felt like the class became more enjoyable as I became more involved. By the time we reached the Things Fall Apart section I was engulfed in the discussion section because I felt like I shared a lot and really understood the culture. I enjoyed going to class and working on our table discussions. My group worked very well together and my view on the class changed completely. I felt like I was respected more and quite a bit more encouraged to do my work in class. Speaking is very fun for me and talking a lot comes naturally. My growth really shows throughout my discussion work in this class making school more enjoyable and the class easier.
Turning In Work
I struggle a lot with following through and turning my work in for every class. I usually become distracted in class and end up not doing my work because I start to draw and talk. I think about how I have all the time in the world to do it later but always end up putting it off. This is extremely inconvenient as well as childish considering I have been continuing this bad habit since seventh grade. After I procrastinate it for a few days I finally do it and then feel like it is much too late to turn it in or I become stressed and scared to turn it in so far after the due date. This begins to build up but I keep procrastinating and end up not following through on many occasions. I feel like this is definitely something I will be struggling with for the rest of my life and I need to change my habits because they are not helpful. Following through is very important in every situation, it is something that just can not be avoided and I need to train my brain to understand it but until then I will continue to set small goals to do a certain amount of work by the end of class.
Procrastinating
I procrastinate makeup work to the fullest and this has never been kind to my grades or work ethic. I put it off until I no longer can and then I get half credit. As I go on not doing my makeup assignments the lesson gets further away so when I finally do it I take half the time learning the lesson and even less time on the work. I rush through it and make a mess of my projects such as the This I Believe Essay in Humanities. It was extremely hard for me to come back from being sick and have to catch up so I basically gave up. Not only did this happen in Humanities but all of my other classes making my learning experience stressful and difficult. I need to have a system for doing my work because in the moment it’s hard to do work and isn’t the most fun. I think if I avoid being unnecessarily late I will have much less makeup work. But when I do have work I need to set small goals for myself as to how much time I have to work.
Question
One question that I have been pondering for very long is why do the opinions of others affect my learning so greatly? Why do I become embarrassed so easily when I express myself so easily and so much? I have a very hard time learning when I feel like people are judging me. Whether they say something or look at me like they are judging me makes me quiet and uneasy. This makes me focus less on learning and I become worried about the thoughts of my peers and teachers.
32Q Reflection
Recycling Essay
One place my growth shines is in perseverance through my recycling essay. Humanities was the class that I feel like I struggled the most in, so feeling proud about a humanities project really boosted my confidence as well as my grade. Persevering has always been very tough for me. While brainstorming I was distracted by this other project I was working on privately and got very inattentive. I was also working on a concept I didn’t know much about as it bored me slightly. I chose this topic because my first one was taken. I created my rough draft though and proceeded to tell myself that I would do well if I tried hard. As the project progressed, I found I enjoyed the topic the more research I did. The project was not only on recycling but recycling around Animas High School so I wanted to get the message out to my fellow classmates as well as teachers. Informing my peers of the crisis in the near future made me want to make my work exceptional for my peers whom I respect. I was encouraged to continue working on my essay as well as persevere to make a project that I am proud of.
My Art
I’m really proud of my creativity this year in my personal life. I draw and paint a lot more than I used to because I finally have time. Starting Animas gave me lots of time to work on art projects as well as teach me about art. Roxy and Britt both have already taught me a lot of creative techniques to use. It was really nice to have feedback on lots of questions I had around the topic, most of which were simple and easily fixed. My confidence definitely grows when I create art pieces because it makes me care less about what people think and more about the process of becoming the best I can. I feel like art really defines me and to do more of it all the time brought my creativity level high and my positivity inclined as well. The whole Animas community is so creative so I think that really motivated me to make time for what I love.
Discussion Growth
I noticed growth in Ally’s class throughout the year during discussions. At the beginning of the year I didn’t talk much during discussions only when needed during a seminar. I definitely felt intimidated and unable to express my opinions as well as a few other people in the class. I am a very talkative outgoing person so when politics would come up I was very opinionated. In the bias lesson I began to be more articulate about the rights of women and black lives matter, because I understood it and agreed with the topics brought up. By the end of that section I talked a lot in class and participated a lot more. I felt like the class became more enjoyable as I became more involved. By the time we reached the Things Fall Apart section I was engulfed in the discussion section because I felt like I shared a lot and really understood the culture. I enjoyed going to class and working on our table discussions. My group worked very well together and my view on the class changed completely. I felt like I was respected more and quite a bit more encouraged to do my work in class. Speaking is very fun for me and talking a lot comes naturally. My growth really shows throughout my discussion work in this class making school more enjoyable and the class easier.
Turning In Work
I struggle a lot with following through and turning my work in for every class. I usually become distracted in class and end up not doing my work because I start to draw and talk. I think about how I have all the time in the world to do it later but always end up putting it off. This is extremely inconvenient as well as childish considering I have been continuing this bad habit since seventh grade. After I procrastinate it for a few days I finally do it and then feel like it is much too late to turn it in or I become stressed and scared to turn it in so far after the due date. This begins to build up but I keep procrastinating and end up not following through on many occasions. I feel like this is definitely something I will be struggling with for the rest of my life and I need to change my habits because they are not helpful. Following through is very important in every situation, it is something that just can not be avoided and I need to train my brain to understand it but until then I will continue to set small goals to do a certain amount of work by the end of class.
Procrastinating
I procrastinate makeup work to the fullest and this has never been kind to my grades or work ethic. I put it off until I no longer can and then I get half credit. As I go on not doing my makeup assignments the lesson gets further away so when I finally do it I take half the time learning the lesson and even less time on the work. I rush through it and make a mess of my projects such as the This I Believe Essay in Humanities. It was extremely hard for me to come back from being sick and have to catch up so I basically gave up. Not only did this happen in Humanities but all of my other classes making my learning experience stressful and difficult. I need to have a system for doing my work because in the moment it’s hard to do work and isn’t the most fun. I think if I avoid being unnecessarily late I will have much less makeup work. But when I do have work I need to set small goals for myself as to how much time I have to work.
Question
One question that I have been pondering for very long is why do the opinions of others affect my learning so greatly? Why do I become embarrassed so easily when I express myself so easily and so much? I have a very hard time learning when I feel like people are judging me. Whether they say something or look at me like they are judging me makes me quiet and uneasy. This makes me focus less on learning and I become worried about the thoughts of my peers and teachers.