Personal Project Day
As an IB school, it is a requirement for all sophomores to complete a personal project which is designed to encourage students to practice and strengthen their approaches to learning (ATL) skills, to consolidate prior and subject-specific learning, and to develop an area of personal interest. The personal project provides an excellent opportunity for students to produce a truly personal and often creative product/outcome and to demonstrate a consolidation of their learning in the MYP. The project offers many opportunities for differentiation of learning and expression according to students’ individual needs. The personal nature of the project is important; the project should revolve around a challenge that motivates and interests the individual student. Each student develops a personal project independently.
MYP projects are student-centered and age-appropriate, and they enable students to engage in practical explorations through a cycle of inquiry, action and reflection. MYP projects help students to develop the attributes of the IB learner profile; provide students with an essential opportunity to demonstrate ATL skills developed through the MYP; and foster the development of independent, lifelong learners.
On Wednesday March 11th, all sophomore students had the chance to work on their projects during their social science classes. Some of the students’ projects include products like creating and designing their own comic books, learning how to play the piano, creating sports web sites/blogs, and creating documentaries on various topics, just to name a few.
Barbara Jimenez summed it up by saying, “We needed this time to do research! Many of us don’t have computers at home, and need this time where we can freely research.”
Overall, it was a great success. Students were able to work on their projects, and more importantly, they were able to re-focus their efforts.