After 9 months, 6th grade is finally coming to an end. I am really excited to be going up to 7th grade with my friends and meeting new teachers. 6th grade has really been fun and I have really enjoyed it.
When I first came to ISKL, I was very worried and scared. I had so many questions. What would ISKL be like? Would the teachers be scary? Would I be able to make friends? What was the canteen food like? I was really nervous and worried then, wondering if I would be able to make a lot of friends or if I would get a lot of homework to do. I was also worried whether I would blend in with the people there and not look like an outsider. After a few weeks, I realized that I had nothing to worry about. I made plenty of friends. One of my best friends today is from Sri Lanka. We met during the legendary locker opening problem. There was a time when I had trouble opening my locker. I was worried because I knew I would be late to class but I didn't dare ask a teacher for help. After a few minutes, a boy came to me and asked why I wasn't in class yet. I told him the reason. He then asked a teacher to come help me. That’s how Jake and I became friends.
ISKL was SO different from my old school. It was like going to a different planet! My old school was a Chinese school and students were only allowed to speak in Mandarin. We were expected to complete our assignments on our own.
Here at ISKL, I had to collaborate with my classmates and work together with them to complete assignments. I had never done that in my old school! Here, students were expected to participate in class discussions a lot more. When I didn’t understand something, I didn’t ask questions because in my old school we were not allowed to interrupt the teacher. In ISKL, most of the work is done with computers and we were asked to present our assignments in many different ways like as a song or a video. It was pretty exciting for me but the problem was I wasn’t sure how to do it. Luckily my teachers were very patient with me and helped me out.
The piece of work that I think I'm most proud of is acting in front of my parents for the drama class. We did a play based on the Mad Hatter’s tea party in Alice in Wonderland, and I was the March Hare. I was actually really nervous because I’m very shy and I had never acted before. Somehow I just did it. After the play, my teacher told my parents that she was very happy with my performance. She said I had improved a lot because when I first started drama class, I only recited my lines in a monotone.
The greatest challenge for me was completing my assignments. For humanities, I really did not enjoy lit circles. I spent hours doing my lit circle assignments because I didn’t know how to start. I had to read the chapters over and over to try to understand them. It always takes me a long time to choose a passage to write about or coming up with a good question and a personal connection. If you ask me, I don't really like doing it because it puts a lot of stress on me.
Behavior
Satisfactory
Explanation:
I try to be on my best behavior most of the time and my behavior overall is good but sometimes I get distracted by things around me and I lose my concentration in class.
Participation
Needs serious help
Explanation:
I do not really participate in class that much and that is bad. I’m trying to improve but it’s not easy for me because I’m very shy.
Organization
Needs serious help
Explanation:
For some reason, I am always disorganized. My locker is a mess and I don’t file my work away. I think it is because my learning profile is gestalt which means I am not that organized and I need to see the whole picture every time.
Effort
Needs serious help
Explanation:
I would always put in just enough effort in my work like if the teacher wants two paragraphs, I would write two paragraphs. But I know that I should actually write more than that so that I can show the teacher that I am putting in more effort in doing my schoolwork and my homework.
My first goal: In 7th grade, I really want to be more proactive. In 6th grade, I never really talked that much in class or to my teachers. I think it affected my grades and I lost out because I ended up not understanding some topics. So in 7th grade I am totally going to try and ask the teacher whenever I have a problem or I don't understand something. My second goal: In 7th grade, I am going to really try and work on my organization. I am really messy when it comes to organization. For example, my locker is quite messy so I really hope to have a clean locker throughout the next year. My third goal: In 7th grade, I will try to improve my work so that I can stop core support. I actually wanted to learn I.T. because this class teaches us everything about computers, software, etc. but because of my poor grades, I had to take up core support. I really hope that I can get out of core support so that I can learn I.T.
This is some advice I'd like to give the next generation of 6th graders. Whenever you have a problem, always go and look for a teacher. That is one thing my teacher and parents keep telling me. Another advice: never do your work in the last minute because you always have to stay up late to do it and your work will never be good because you’re rushing to finish it. I should also tell you to communicate a lot with your teammates whenever you collaborate on group assignments. Lastly, take part in as many extra-curricular activities as you can. Well that is all the advice I can give and have a very good year!
