I demonstrated being a self-directed learner because I accepted responsibilities for my own learning.  I strongly believe being a self-directed learner is essential for all learning, so that I can be independent and not to rely on others too often.  When Mr. R was talking to the class about LOTF I would record down what I have learnt on pieces of paper and keep them nicely in my folder for future references.  After completing my work as a normal practice I would self edit to make sure all my work is done correctly according to Mr. R’s expectations.  I also identify my needs and apply appropriate learning strategies. I have several ways of applying my learning strategies for example, first, I will take down all my notes during class, second, before starting my work I would have brainstorm session or draw a mind map.  I believe that I am lacking organizational skills therefore I utilize these strategies to manage information and structure my writing.  By doing this I am able to perform my best on all my assignments.  I also have an organized planner to manage all my homework so that I can hand in all my work on time.
However, I realize that I should be participating in more co-curricular programs and activities which develop social, emotional, and physical talents to further improve on my self directing skills.  A self-directed learner can multi-task and can do things proactively.  When in need for assistance they will not hesitate to ask to gain further understanding.  If you concentrate too much on one skill of being a self-directed learner you will not grow with the other ESLRs.  For example if you only focus on developing physical skills then you will not grow in social nor emotional.   Self directed learner is similar to the ESLR, academic achiever, for both means achieving the best and setting goals to improve themselves.  On the whole I believe myself to be a work in progress.  I would be a good self-directed learner if I put more effort into concentrating on my studies.  With this I can improve and manage to be an accomplished self directed learner.

I was an effective communicator during this quarter because I demonstrated creative talents to convey my ideas and concepts.  I have done this by making my journal creative and colorful so that it is interesting and will captivate the audience’s attention.  I also incorporated technology as a tool of communication, especially when I am in need of additional information I make use of MSN to ask my friend for assistance to scan and send some files to me for reference.  In addition I have demonstrated being an effective communicator when I exhibit the skills of effective collaboration.  During the group discussions of LOTF I would continuously participate and try my very best.   I contributed valuable points that would help the group to learn and flow with the topic, to do this I would create a more interesting learning session by putting in inspiring points of views.  I would then organize and convey my ideas appropriately to ensure no misunderstandings or misinterpretations of my comment or question.  A way I could improve on this ESLR skill is by working on respect and ask questions to facilitate understanding and achieve insight.  I should listen and contribute more to other’s comments and questions. Sometimes I think a lot about what I am going to say next and then I end up repeating or saying something completely different.
In order to be a good effective communicator you also need to be able to be an involved citizen.  If you have really good points, but don’t know how to put them to use, because you are not so involved in many things your skills cannot be perfected nor heard.  I believe that an effective communicator will be able to express their ideas in many forms and to make it so that the audience will understand.  An effective communicator should also be aware of whom their audience is and so they will use the appropriate type of communication structure.  At the same time they must know what they are writing about so their formatting and language are well fit for the subject.  An example is that I wrote my journal to fit one of the characters in LOTF personalities. When I had to write for Simon, who was one of the characters in LOTF I would try to stand on his side and think how he would feel during the time where Jack killed the sow.  Over-all I think that I am a good effective communicator, however I just need to improve on not interrupting and respect the person who is talking by listening and thinking over what they said.  These are my thoughts on the ESLR effective communicator and how I have demonstrated being the effective communicator over this quarter.

I believe that I have been an academic achiever for this quarter because I would set high goals and put my best efforts into achieving them.  An example for this is when I saw my grade before the project and it was a B and since I needed an A I did my best on the project to get the best possible grade in order to get my overall grade boosted up.  Over the quarter I accessed information from a variety of sources.  Some examples of these sources are computers, I would surf the net for additional information and take notes on it to guide me through my work.  I would also look through reference books and try to improve on my vocabulary by reading books with a higher level of grammar.  Moreover I will ask assistance people who are good at that particular area to help me through my work or assignments.  The ESLR academic achiever is similar to critical thinker because both strive for higher marks and urges you to set higher and more challenging goals.  I believe that being an academic achiever is essential for improvements.  In summary I certainly need to be more of an academic achiever and motivated so that I don’t really have to revise my work so many times or in other words to avoid double work. These are the things I will do to be more of an academic achiever and these are my thoughts on this ESLR.  Over this quarter I think I have grown in this area and will continue to expand in this area to help my self be more of an academic achiever.

I feel that I have been a critical thinker this year because I would take a problem and really look into it.  I would also try to analyze and synthesize and interrogate it in different views, as opposed to just knowledge, comprehension, and application.  A way I have been a critical thinker this year is when I look at my work and try to edit it to see if there are any missing things that I had forgotten to add.  I will also keep improving my methods till they are ideal and when they are I will try to improve on other things too.  Some other ways in which I proved myself to be a critical thinker is when I built meaning and understanding using prior knowledge and new information.  I would think of all the discussions from the past and I would include them to what I currently had.  I would review my old work and see if any of it could be helpful to my work and so by doing this, I am using a source effectively, which will prove me to also be an academic achiever, for I access information from a variety of sources.  My old notes, work, and prior knowledge are the many sources, because of this, I believe that critical thinker and academic achiever go hand in hand and work well with each other.  One more way in which I am a critical thinker is how I apply problem solving skills to facilitate learning, for when I was reading the book I would replace the character’s names with symbols such as anarchy and intelligence.  By doing this I am viewing the book in a different way with the hidden meanings revealed.  Then colors also happen to play a role in this book for each color represents a meaning, for example black symbolizes evil, fear, and darkness where as creamy pink is innocence and femininity.  These are problem-solving skills for after I do this I understand the book more than before I knew about these symbols.  It is important to be a critical thinker so then you will be able to go far in life, for critical thinking is a skill that makes you think out of the box.  Therefore your knowledge will not be limited and you can do many things with the knowledge in the future.

In my opinion I have been an involved citizen for I constantly participate during group activities.  I also contribute ideas and help the group move on and frequently discuss what to do and what we will have to do in the future.  I also do my share of the job and if some members are unable to perform their part I will help to make sure it gets done on time.  Involved citizens play an important role in the ESLR’s for they help a group and the individual achieve what they want and help improve.  Being an involved citizen is when you work together and when you do you manage to make something successful. Being an involved citizen also means demonstrating care and concern for the environment.  I do this by recycling the paper and having my work printed back to back.  Another thing I do is demonstrate awareness for people’s rights for if they wanted to say something I would listen and if I notice there are others who hardly speak I will encourage them to share their ideas to the group.  Everyone should be helping each other and when something doesn’t work the group would discuss and come to a conclusion of which everyone agrees on.  Also an involved citizen would come up with ideas to help the group, not to take over the group.  Some other ways that I had been an involved citizen is when there are discussions of LOTF I participate constantly and share good points worth discussing and this helps discussions move on smoothly. This is was involved citizens would do they would cooperate and try to come up with the best thing to do in order to help the group grow, progress, expand, and improve.  I believe that this ESLR best relates to effective communicator for even though you are involved, to show that you are you should be able to present your ideas and try your best to make it clear, concise, yet still be able to capture the audiences attention and give them needed information. Overall I think I was a good involved citizen because I help out and respect my peers and treat them with equality and try my best to be understanding and respectful to them and their ideas.

I believe that all ESLRs are essential for helping a person go far in life.  If a person lacks in one ESLR they will tend to lack in other ESLRs and therefore a person needs all ESLRs to be a successful person.  Some people are weak at some ESLRs and therefore they are in need of practice.  To practice they will have to act more like an self directed learner set goals like an academic achiever.

6 Traits~
Word Choice-I changed word choice by changing (I think, I thought) to (In my opinion, I believe) to make it sound more definite.  I also changed my language into more literal form rather than verbal.

Conventions-I made my work split into more paragraphs, for example the self- directed learner when I talked about what I needed to improve on I did a separate paragraph.

Sentence Fluency- For the part in self-directed learner for the fragment “ , so to be ……” I just took out the comma and erased some words to make it so that there is on independent sentence and dependent sentence into one independent sentence.

Voice-For voice I changed my language into more literal form rather than verbal.  So I would use more words than I would usually not say when talking to someone.
Organization- For organization I would make sure I put in how I believed I was that particular ESLR then what is it to be in that ESLR and all these patterns follow in each of my paragraphs.

Ideas- For ideas, I let my ideas flow from one topic to another and keep them in order, I also try my best to keep them in an organized fashion.