POL Prep Aguirre/Delgado/Hofmann Team 2013

Many of you have requested support in prepping for your POL. This sheet is meant to act as a guide for you as you develop your POL. The most important thing to remember about the POL is that it is reflective in nature. It isn’t a content based presentation. It is meant for you to think about where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re going relative to your academic growth. Keep in mind summarization is not reflection. As such, Mr. Aguirre’s 50 reflective questions is a good resource for you as you develop your presentation.

A rough guide for developing your POL could look something like this:

• Update your DP. Often times, trying to think about what you’re going to say is a difficult step. So start with a more mechanical process. Get your DP ready to go. Remember you need  one radio drama, four humanities artifacts, two math artifacts, and one physics artifact posted on your DP with a link to your physics blog. Your artifacts for humanities and physics can simply be transferred from your portfolio or blog, respectively. That leaves you only needing to compile two math artifacts which are hopefully easy enough to locate. Post artifacts that will serve as evidence for growth, the challenges you faced, or areas you are seeking improvement in school.  Artifacts that you are proud of work as well.
• Write your one page reflection. You’ve been writing reflections all semester. Now it is time to write your final one. In a one page paper, reflect on how you’ve grown over the course of the past semester. What challenges do you still face? What are your goals for next semester? It is a good idea to keep the “content” portion of the rubric in mind as you write the one pager. They are attached below for ease of reference. This reflection is a one page, double spaced, typed paper you must submit to Mr. Hofmann at the time of you POL.
• Write an outline/script/3”x5” note card. Many of you come from the middle schools where you were required to write an outline or script for your presentation. If that works for you, please continue to use that. If you haven’t done this, it can be a great aid in developing your 7 minute speech. We are not requiring you do this, nor do you have to submit any evidence of one. We recommend this for students new to presentations. An outline is essentially a bullet-pointed list of everything you plan on saying. The script would be your entire speech written out. During your POL, your only aid will be your DP and one 3”x5” card.
• Practice, practice, practice. Finally and most importantly, you should practice your POL repeatedly. The more your practice it while timing yourself (even in front of a small audience like your parents, siblings or fellow students), the better off you’ll be. Have the audience listen for reflection as opposed to summarization and pay attention to your timing. Practicing 8 – 10 times would be the recommendation. More would not hurt. Good luck!!!

Content Portion of Rubric. Reflecting on these will ensure a successful POL:

• Reflects on  project objectives, outcomes, and significance
• Reflects on academic strengths and areas for improvement
• Provides strong evidence of revision, teamwork, responsibility, and production of beautiful work as a student at HTH.
• Reflects on growth in humanities, science and math (all).