CODE120 Class Portfolio

Your Goal Grade

Highlight the header for the column below to indicate which grade you plan to work toward in the course. Meeting the basic requirements for your chosen letter grade, according to the table below, is mandatory.

A WorkB WorkC Work
– Misses two classes or fewer, OR makes up excused absences
– Attends all CODES labs or has verified excused absences
– Completes all readings and contributes deeply to discussions
– Completes all assignments and meets deadlines or has approved extension
– Work shows engagement, care, effort, and growth
– Abides by the CODE of Conduct and classroom norms		– Misses three classes or fewer, or makes up excused absences
– Misses fewer than three CODES labs or has verified excused absence
– Completes most readings and participates in discussion
– Completes all assignments and meets deadlines or has approved extension
– Work shows care, effort, and growth 
– Abides by the CODE of Conduct and classroom norms		– Misses four classes or fewer, or makes up excused absences
– Misses fewer than two CODES labs
– Completes most readings and sometimes adds to discussion
– Completes all major assignments, and meets most draft deadlines 
– Meets minimal expectations on assignments; shows some growth 
– Abides by the CODE of Conduct and classroom norms

First-Week Introduction

I chose the goal 1a first because I am great at problem solving on my own when give the space, but working in groups is something that I need to work on overtime. I chose goal 2c because I feel that it’s a valuable skill to be able to hear many different stories enough to alter an overall opinion. Skill 12c is something that takes lots of integrity. Some people will only do work when they are seen, but those who can perform behind closed doors are harder workers. The next one I chose is 9b; which I chose because I believe that there is always more than one way to do something most of the time. If I don’t look for the path that is the most effective, I may end up making projects harder than they need to be and ultimately slowing down my team. That is why this skill is important. The last skill I chose was 8a. Being able to communicate effectively means that my peers will not understand my flow of thought from beginning to end, not just in small pieces. Practicing organized communication will lead to stronger connections with those around me.

This specific combination of goals could truly allow me to excel in CODES. When I aim high to achieve goals, I may not land exactly where I want to, but I will have improved my learning and skills regardless. Not only are these goals essential for my CODES collaboration and experience, but they will be skills that I take with me into the rest of my life. The careers that I will be able to pursue will broaden as a result of pushing myself on this journey.

Midterm Introduction

The skills that I have learned this semester have been truly valuable. I have learned to work with new teams, show organized thinking patterns and think abstractly for solutions. I have enjoyed the physical experiences the most. Being in class with my professor and cohort, as well as going on site visits for our partnership with V4A. I’ve excelled at articulating my creative thoughts in a formal manner. I intend to continue improving my ability to connect my experiences as a student with my goals. I feel that I haven’t been given the opportunity to truly find solutions because this part of my career as a CODES student is about building the skills I will need to do so. I feel that this is okay for now, and my solution finding and execution ability will be put to the test in the near future. I will make sure that I actively search for ways that an issue can be solved and move past the stage of mapping the issues.

Final Introduction

[Now that the semester is over, use your introduction to reflect in-depth on your process. How well did you meet the goals you set out to meet? What did you learn that surprised you? Focusing on your goals for this class, what do you want to remember to take with you into your future courses? What strategies can you use to continue developing toward these goals?]

Course Goals

Choose five goals from the CODES Student Learning Outcomes that you’d like to work toward. Choose goals that are relevant to the scope of this course, select artifacts/examples based on activities assigned for this course, and explain characteristics in a way that illustrates how your artifacts/examples demonstrate your progress toward the goal.

Goal 1: 1A (20%)

Effectively find solutions with a team.

What will you do to learn the content/ develop the skill?What examples will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning?What characteristics of the chosen examples demonstrate you have met your goal?
I will be consistent with speaking about the issues at hand that need to be addressed with my team. When I am working in a group trying to do research, I will make sure that I am always communicating with my team. Practicing this will lead to strong collaboration and communication ability.I will document each time I begin a conversation or contribute to connecting with others in a way that displays a strong ability to put myself out there. I will add photos, if possible, videos, and small amounts of dialouge that show that being extraverted made an impact in some way.Strong research images and conclusions, and effective recordings of conversations.

Team Collaboration on The Pitch

My current soccer team is an important part of my development as an individual. Soccer is more than just a form of entertainment. It’s a magnificent source of discipline, critical thinking, and team collaboration. I exercise each of these skills each time I meet with my team. I intend to use this as evidence for my first goal, showing a strong sense of teamwork to solve problems on the field and create success.

Collaborating to Build a Problem-Solving Foundation

In my first semester of CODES, I have learned the importance of fully understanding a system before diving in to fix it. When you do a thorough job at analyzing, you have a much greater chance of fixing the system than hurting it. In order to be effective in my cohort’s partnership with V4A, we designed a document of all of the necessary knowledge needed to truly understand V4A as a system. This document will play a vital role when we find ways to truly make an impact in our partnership, which ties well with my first goal.

Goal 2 :2c (20%)

Forming a new educated perception based on gathered information from separate sources.

What will you do to learn the content/ develop the skill?What examples will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning?What characteristics of the chosen examples demonstrate you have met your goal?
I will put myself in situations where I will be given lots of different perspectives in order to learn.I will include accounts of people who I have spoken with, collect data, create visuals of the data, and build writings that show how the new ideas were formed.Recorded data, conversations, and creation of charts that are relevant to the idea.

1) Wind-Shield Survey

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It’s not easy to talk much about this church from the outside, but I was given the opportunity to go inside to learn about the people who attend this church, as well as their values. Within the church, there was a place of warship, areas for the young to learn, and a meeting room that had some history. These things help us to understand that the church values the education of the young individuals. Something that I can remember from the tour, is being told that Covenant Church is not just a place to help people go to heaven. It’s also meant to be a place of structure and stability in one’s life until death. Because of this, those who are loyal to the church make sure that there are resources for the children who attend. I think that it’s amazing that Christ Covenant Church serves as more than just a place of warship on Sundays, and they utilize the space for more activities. It shows that the community has an interest in getting all that they can out of what they have, which is amazing. This windshield survey was an important part of my personal development in CODES. One important part of this class is being open-minded when meeting new people from new areas and communities. This windshield survey gave me the opportunity to deeply analyze Florissant, understand what works and what does not, and get a better idea of what kind of people make up the community. Above all, I found it easy to stay curious and open-minded, and those are characteristics that it takes in order to help a community!

Goal 3: 12c (20%)

Display independence when working in group settings.

What will you do to learn the content/ develop the skill?What examples will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning?What characteristics of the chosen examples demonstrate you have met your goal?
I will turn in my work on time very frequently, and rarely ever miss a deadline on an assignment.I will add screenshots of me on time and completed part of a group project. I will upload consistent updates in order to show my team the progress I made. I will submit high-quality work that clearly benefits my team. I will take action without having to be told several times.People begin to see me as reliable and disciplined. High quality work.

Photography Independence

I was given a group project earlier this semester, where my job was to be the photographer. I took this photo with the intent of editing it and explaining its significance on my own, while my group members worked on various parts of the project. This image shows independence when working in group settings, matching with my third goal.

Quality Data Collection for Cohort

The word “data” is often tied to the idea of statistics and numerical values. Data can also be something as simple as a photo of flowers. I took this photo to show how well the Applied Scholastics location was taken care of during our windshield survey as a cohort. These flowers were a part of a larger flourishing garden area. Details like this one are great indications that a place is well-kept. This helps me to fulfill my third goal, because it shows my contribution of data to the windshield survey for my cohort, while also displaying independent work.

Goal 4: 9b (20%)
Finds several different ways to solve an issue to increase diversity.

What will you do to learn the content/ develop the skill?What examples will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning?What characteristics of the chosen examples demonstrate you have met your goal?
I will list off new ways to effectively solve an issue, rather than assuming there is only one correct solution.Listing several different ways, I found an issue could be solved, comparing the negatives and positives of making a decision, testing strategies to see what works best for a particular scenario, and elaborating on why the choice that was made was the best one.Considering several different solutions instead of thinking there is only one, and always willing to hear those around me.

Group Brainstorming for V4A

Vitendo4Africa (V4A) is an amazing partnership, allowing for us CODES students to collaborate and brainstorm to solve real world issues. Going to visit them allowed for us to identify issues that we could step in and help to solve. This document does a great job at displaying our initial thought processes when searching for various solutions to aid V4A, matching well with goal 4 and goal 1

Questions as Solutions

Sometimes, simple things such as preparation can be a solution that needs to be addressed and tackled. Before the very first site visit to V4A, I collaborated with a group in order to come up with specific, educated, and group-synthesized questions to ask when we arrived at V4A’s headquarters. The diversity of these questions symbolizes various ways to be prepared for the event, tying nicely with my fourth goal.

Goal 5 8a (20%)

Transparently displaying the order of thinking.

What will you do to learn the content/ develop the skill?What examples will you add to the portfolio to demonstrate your learning?What characteristics of the chosen examples demonstrate you have met your goal?
I will study patterns of writing that are the easiest for people to understand. I can give a presentation that has a clear structure that is easy for my audience to follow. I can use well-placed transitional sentences, I will speak with confidence, and I can prepare notes in order to make sure everything is organized perfectly.Easy to follow and understand.

Media Project #1

I produced my very first media essay for this class. When doing this essay, I showed a strong sense of organization in chronological order. My writing flowed and was easy to follow as a result of my organization. This project proved to be a great example for Goal 5.

V4A Site Visit Notes

These notes are not my prettiest work of art. I took these during being lectured about V4A’s mission during the first site visit of the semester. The content within these notes is valuable, showing the small details about V4A that I found significant in real time. These notes are also valuable because they capture the exact thought processes I was having in order. When I look at these notes, I can almost replay the conversation that was being held at the same time I was writing. This matches well with goal 5, showing my thought processes within my writing.

Reflection of V4A Site Visit

I gained an immense understanding of my mission as a CODES student in my partnership with V4A after the first site visit. The next class period, I wrote a reflection of my thoughts after the experience. There small amount of content within these notes shows my perception of V4A after gaining more knowledge. I interacted and listened to Geoffrey, and Sebastin, who are drivers of V4A. Hearing from them, doing my own research, and working in class on the subject of V4A diversified my knowledge by allowing new perspectives, matching effortlessly with my second goal.