Reflecting on the MYP Grade 10 Personal Project Experience

Reflection is an integral part of both teaching and learning at AISL. Not only did our Grade 10 MYP students include a section in their personal project reports reflecting on their growth as IB learners, but we also take an entire advisory support class after the personal project sharing to review the entire experience. Students provide feedback on the support they received from supervisors and the support classes, comment on skills and areas where they would like to spend more time, and share suggestions for next year's cohort.

Here are some aspects of the process that students found most valuable:

"The most enjoyable part of my project was working on something that I was passionate about; moreover, getting to know the community and learning about Zambia was also really enjoyable."

"I enjoyed having the independence to set my own deadlines and control my pace."

"The research for the project was an enjoyable part of the process because it was the main part of learning about our topic, and it was fun to choose the sources we use to find our information."

"I found the opportunity for growth and the ability to pursue something completely personal interesting to me."

"I enjoyed being able to take all my research and make a podcast. Being able to make a podcast is something new to me and I enjoyed the experience even though it was difficult."

Reflecting on what they might have done differently, several students said that they felt they were "too ambitious." Other students shared that they appreciated being able to delve into an area of interest. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many cited time management as a skill they would like to improve on, though many students said they have better learned how to break down long-term projects into more manageable steps. 

In spirit, the personal project is meant to be an independent project representing 25 hours of work. Through support classes, we aim to scaffold this experience for students and are always looking for ways to improve this support. We are excited to see Grade 10 students sharing some of their projects during all-school assemblies, and are eager to embark on this process with our Grade 9 students during the Personal Project Retreat in May. 

*Image credit by Yeshi Kangrang on Unsplash

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