First Quarter Reflection

This week in our DigCit class we were discussing some of our progress we've made on our Passion Projects. This week was all about discussing the things we have yet to do and things we have exceeded on with our projects. For me, what I've accomplished is I've rounded my plan for some of the deliverables for the end of the year. I found that I've been slacking on some of my project. I have not been up to date on my deliverables and I understand that I need to be better with those things. It's not the fact that I don't want to do the's just I always think that I'll do it later. I've always had a problem with procrastination and a problem with using that as an excuse for myself not to do work. Just writing about this issue now makes me realize that it needs to stop. And unlike times in the past where I've said that I was going to stop, I now can know that when I say it this time, I mean it.

Aside from me identifying my flaws this week, I'me also learned that this project won't be as hard to complete as I previously thought. Whenever I here the word "project," I think of some history or science project that usually take weeks to complete through rigorous work. Because this class is not like traditional classes, the project has no "rubric," just guide lines for what needs to be done by the end of the year. It's really centered around goals you set for yourself rather than goals your teacher assigns to you.

Looking toward the future, I have made little progress on my final product for the end of the year and, as stated previously, I've decided that I'm going to change that starting today (October 22nd, 2015). Though my final goal is still unclear, my passion isn't. I will continue to work toward global happiness one step at a time. Of my scheduled bookmarks, I have met first quarters goals about 50% of the way. I am going to make things in the second quarter different because my drive to get work done has been lit. My plan for next week is finish some of my first quarter deliverables and start on some of my second quarter deliverables.

Success vs. Failure

In our DigCit class this week, we had a discussion about success and failure in school and in life. I always grew up thinking that if you failed something, that was the worst thing that could happen to you. I wasn't looking at it as a way to improve, I looked at it as a sign of my inferiority. As I got older, I learned that you need to fail in order to succeed. This has been my mindset for the better portion of my life. I am only now starting to realize what being a failure really means. I always thought that being a failure means that you did not do something or not being the best at something. I'm now realizing that what I previously thought to be failure behavior is only me improving. My definition of a failure has changed as well. A failure to me used to be someone who could not do the work. A failure to me now is someone who doesn't want to do the work. The discussion we had in class has opened my eyes to the reality that is success and failure. My definition of success has also changed. A successful person to me used to be someone who did everything right. A successful person to me now is someone who does their work. With the combination of these two new definitions of mine, I am able to feel better about myself and my work rather than only doing the minimum or not doing the work at all.

We also discussed how some schools are starting to use the grade "not yet." Contrary to number grades, this grade would be use if the teachers didn't feel like the students couldn't do the work, but rather for the students to realize that they are capable of doing and completing the work. I feel that this "not yet" grade could motivate kids to try their best and not just their minimum effort. This has inspired me to try my hardest whether or not I have the "not yet" grade in my school. I am now going to treat every grade as a way for me to improve rather than just another grade. When someone says you are successful in school, I think of someone who does their work and gets good grades. I now realize that the true successful people are those who understand their work, try to do everything, and learn from their mistakes. Whenever I heard of a failure in school, I thought of someone with bad grades. I now realize that the true failures in school are those who don't do their work purposely.

Overall, I feel that this week has given my a clearer picture of what a failure and a successful person is. I learned that grades shouldn't be a reflection on a person's intelligence and that someone could have bad grades and be very successful. From this experience, I can now feel better about myself as a person rather than a student.