Grades 9-10
It has been said that most people want to change the world, while few want to change themselves. The first step that needs to be taken in the process of growth is to find one’s true self.
The personal growth Portfolio project, or PGP, provides a great opportunity for 9th and 10th grade students to discover their true self and, consequently, set a clear direction for their future.
Over the last semester, students shared and communicated their thoughts and dug deeper into themselves through a variety of activities. The PGP project continues this semester and is bringing more to the students and teachers.
From morning assembly to afternoon lecture, the 6th of March for the 9th and 10th graders was packed with in-depth reflection on the meaning of identity, discussions on what it means to be who you are, and a look back on the hard work of the previous semester—all in order to concretely answer questions on how we define ourselves and sum up our growth over time.
In the morning assembly, Mr. Pardy and Mr. Slonim asked students to reminisce about the events of the previous months. They had students participate in a simple game of memory to get them thinking about how identity is not just the classes they take or the things they like, but something that stretches beyond such simple terms.
This jogged students’ memories during the afternoon CAS class. It was divided into two parts. One part involved student representatives from each class presenting their story in-depth; the other part took the form of an interesting interactive game as students guessed each other’s personality and traits based on their artifact of choice.
First, student representatives gave presentations on their own unique objects. From a small bracelet to movie posters, from works on a canvas to a handmade artwork, from a school magazine to a thick notebook, the objects shared growth stories and unique hidden significance. For example, the bracelet not only shows the student’s love and enthusiasm for tennis, but more importantly, accompanies her through every single game, reminding her that persistence will finally translates into success. The seemingly ordinary school journal represented the experience of trying to fit into multiple cultures, as well as the confusion caused by multiple identities.
During the second part, students played a complex game requiring them to define the owner of a given object. Objects ranged from bottles to English projects, among other interesting and insightful items. Participants took turns trying their hands at guessing (and ad-libbing) how the object related to the anonymous person’s object(s).
As the event drew to a close, the students were further aware of the importance of the abstract concept of identity. Many times, this idea gets muddled in the day-to-day, in the constant flow of life that we are subjected to. We can sometimes forget to reflect on ourselves, on how we as individual humans may be defined, and on how we’ve grown over a period of time.
At the end of the day, we are all our own person, determining for ourselves how we may be defined to others, not just through descriptions, but by the lives we lead and the environment we surround ourselves in. We believe that the effort will eventually be rewarded.
Written by 9(10) Brandon Wu, 10(6) Andrew Cheng
Pictures by Grades 9 and 10 Teachers & Students
Supervised by Xie Junyu and Zhou Dandan
九、十年級 | 個人成長檔案分享會
有人曾說，大多數人想要改造這個世界，但卻罕有人想改造自己。在成長的過程中需要邁出的第一步就是了解自我。上中國際部九十年級的同學們正通過個人成長檔案，PGP的項目，逐漸發現更真實的自己, 從而對自己的未來規劃有更明確的方向。
從第一學期剛接觸到PGP開始，到最終的展示會，同學們在這項活動上投入了大量精力。經過一個學期的交流和思考，同學們各自選擇了一件代表自己成長的物件，并進行了深入分析。上學期末，同學們都在各自班級的晨會課上分享了自己的小物件和成長故事。本學期第一個月，關于PGP的分享依然在進行。本周利用早晨集會和下午CAS課的時間，九十年級的學生再次聚集在一起，進行了personal growth portfolio的總結和分享。
在早晨集會課上，兩位負責PGP項目的老師Mr. Slonim和Mr.Pardy主持了活動，他們總結了上學期的收獲，向學生們提了幾個關于PGP的問題，同學們紛紛舉手搶答。這一輪的問答很好地對上學期的個人成長課題做了簡要概括和回顧，給CAS課上的展示做了很好的鋪墊。
下午的CAS課分成了兩個部分：一部分是由每個班級的學生代表分享關于他們的自我成長故事。另一部分則是有趣的互動游戲。
分享環節，同學們的小物件豐富多樣，背后的故事精彩紛呈。從小巧精致的手環到電影海報的繪本，從畫布上的作品到手工藝術品，從一本校刊到一本厚厚的筆記本。看似平凡的小物件，背后都藏著很多成長故事和獨一無二的意義。例如，運動手環不僅展現出了它的持有者對網球的喜愛和熱情，更重要的是它陪伴了這位同學度過了一次次的比賽，提醒她失敗并不可拍，只要能堅持下去就是成功。厚厚的一沓電影海報、影評、剪貼，是持有者對電影情有獨鐘的證明，也是一個回憶冊，時不時翻開看看，便能發現自己的變化和成長。一本看似平常的SHSID|TIMES校刊，背后是這位同學對多重文化的認識和理解，是對身份認同的困惑和釋然。一幅自己創作的水彩畫是平衡學業和個人興趣的掙扎和堅持。而用斷掉的劍做出的作品，展現出了創作者在運動中所承受到的痛苦和在最終克服困難后的喜悅。在分享會中，陳同學表示這個活動幫助自己了解到了自己的一些性格特征，更幫助自己對未來進行長遠計劃。斷掉的劍的主人李同學說“制作這件Portfolio的過程中讓我對生活有了真正的了解,因為它幫助自己找到定位，也能更準確地找到人生的道路。"互動游戲環節也圍繞PGP小物件展開，同樣精彩紛呈。
兩節課很快過去，每位同學的分享都獨具個性，但共同點是他們都在用力思考，努力成長。成長或迅速或緩慢，或早或晚，愿這些少年忠于自我摸索的節奏，不用為了追趕別人而亂了自己的步伐，我們相信時光不會辜負他們的努力！
文： 9(3)嚴斐琳，9(10)袁亦樂
圖：九、十年級師生
指導老師：謝君瑜、周丹丹
