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、十年级 | 个人成长档案分享会
有人曾说，大多数人想要改造这个世界，但却罕有人想改造自己。在成长的过程中需要迈出的第一步就是了解自我。上中国际部九十年级的同学们正通过个人成长档案，PGP的项目，逐渐发现更真实的自己, 从而对自己的未来规划有更明确的方向。
从第一学期刚接触到PGP开始，到最终的展示会，同学们在这项活动上投入了大量精力。经过一个学期的交流和思考，同学们各自选择了一件代表自己成长的物件，并进行了深入分析。上学期末，同学们都在各自班级的晨会课上分享了自己的小物件和成长故事。本学期第一个月，关于PGP的分享依然在进行。本周利用早晨集会和下午CAS课的时间，九十年级的学生再次聚集在一起，进行了personal growth portfolio的总结和分享。
在早晨集会课上，两位负责PGP项目的老师Mr. Slonim和Mr.Pardy主持了活动，他们总结了上学期的收获，向学生们提了几个关于PGP的问题，同学们纷纷举手抢答。这一轮的问答很好地对上学期的个人成长课题做了简要概括和回顾，给CAS课上的展示做了很好的铺垫。
下午的CAS课分成了两个部分：一部分是由每个班级的学生代表分享关于他们的自我成长故事。另一部分则是有趣的互动游戏。
分享环节，同学们的小物件丰富多样，背后的故事精彩纷呈。从小巧精致的手环到电影海报的绘本，从画布上的作品到手工艺术品，从一本校刊到一本厚厚的笔记本。看似平凡的小物件，背后都藏着很多成长故事和独一无二的意义。例如，运动手环不仅展现出了它的持有者对网球的喜爱和热情，更重要的是它陪伴了这位同学度过了一次次的比赛，提醒她失败并不可拍，只要能坚持下去就是成功。厚厚的一沓电影海报、影评、剪贴，是持有者对电影情有独钟的证明，也是一个回忆册，时不时翻开看看，便能发现自己的变化和成长。一本看似平常的SHSID|TIMES校刊，背后是这位同学对多重文化的认识和理解，是对身份认同的困惑和释然。一幅自己创作的水彩画是平衡学业和个人兴趣的挣扎和坚持。而用断掉的剑做出的作品，展现出了创作者在运动中所承受到的痛苦和在最终克服困难后的喜悦。在分享会中，陈同学表示这个活动帮助自己了解到了自己的一些性格特征，更帮助自己对未来进行长远计划。断掉的剑的主人李同学说“制作这件Portfolio的过程中让我对生活有了真正的了解,因为它帮助自己找到定位，也能更准确地找到人生的道路。"互动游戏环节也围绕PGP小物件展开，同样精彩纷呈。
两节课很快过去，每位同学的分享都独具个性，但共同点是他们都在用力思考，努力成长。成长或迅速或缓慢，或早或晚，愿这些少年忠于自我摸索的节奏，不用为了追赶别人而乱了自己的步伐，我们相信时光不会辜负他们的努力！
文： 9(3)严斐琳，9(10)袁亦乐
图：九、十年级师生
指导老师：谢君瑜、周丹丹
