My Learning in 2015, Term 2

What has made a difference to my learning this year so far?
Having a teacher that is good at explaining the tasks and helping me become more independent.

How do I learn best?
In a quiet environment where I can focus and concentrate on my work.

What have I found challenging this year so far? How did I overcome this?
Some weeks I found that I was struggling to complete all the homework set so I either got an extension or I came to school early and finished it before school.

How do I reflect on my learning? What do I do? 
I go through my books and see my marks and how I have done in the tasks. I use the feedback given to me by Miss McGarva or my friends.

What are my successes this year so far? 
Making the second eleven football team and getting an academic point. I enjoying being in the show "Bugsy Malone." I have completed some good pieces of writing.

What groups/teams have I been involved with this year? The second eleven football team and the top tennis team. Outside of school I am in a group called the Young Eagles which is at the Waikato Aero Club. We do something every month like go flying in a light aircraft and have a bbq wherever we land with some other flying groups or we go just go cross country flying from place to place.

What is the most important skill I will take through to the rest of the year?
Learning to become more interdependent and going out of my comfort zone because those were my goals at the start of the year and I think that my teacher has helped a lot with achieving those goals.

The Habit of Mind I need to focus on in Term 3 is....
Striving for accuracy because I am working on pushing myself and stepping out of my comfort zone with all subjects. 

WRITING

I am enjoying writing this year because we are learning about a lot of different writing styles. I find it easy to come up with ideas and I can draft quickly. I think I did a particularly good job on my hydropower explanation.

My Next Steps are ...

To use a range of language features and complex punctuation; for example, rhetorical questions, metaphors and semicolons. Also to create a sense of tension and suspense in my writing. Another is to spend time re-crafting my writing by exploring various ways to improve the quality of my message. I also need to proof-read to eliminate simple spelling errors and punctuate dialogue correctly

READING

I enjoy reading action stories and I like books by Chris Ryan and Terry Deary. I don't usually read at home but I do when I am enjoying a book.

My next steps are ...

• Infer information by reading between the lines and making my own judgement.
• Understand, organise and sequence material.
• Read regularly and select a wide range of reading material to help me build on my vocabulary knowledge.