My World in Year 8 at Matthew Moss High School

In ‘My World’ year 8’s have worked on researching their family histories and producing an excellent copy of their family trees. Some of the learners who showed most progress from start to finish have their learning displayed at ‘Touchstones’. See below for one of our learner’s account of the project.

My Family Tree Experience

Doing a family tree was extraordinary but in a few parts of the project it was difficult and at times complicated.

When I was producing this family tree I realised there was a lot of research need to put into it. When it was time to find out about my ancestors I went and checked with family members for information on my generations. Our teachers helped with the family tree by advising how to start a family tree or how to set it out.

My time management was really hard to plan as I did not anticipate the amount of time I had to work on the family tree, so in the last week before deadline day I had to work to the best of my ability. I took my work home and looked around the house for pictures and found out more about my ancestors. By visiting ‘Touchstones’ and visiting  Birmingham I found lots of information because all my family live there as well as my mum and dad.

Working on this project I have learnt you have to be patient to get answers, I learned how to use resources better and the best ways to find out my ancestors.

The time when I wanted to give up was when I researched my Dads side; I had no clue what I was looking for, when they were born, died and their full names. It was difficult because they were in a different country to my dad. Unfortunately they couldn’t assist as unfortunately they hadn’t kept a record of dates of birth. That was a struggle to get through.

The main ELLI dimension I was using was, Meaning Making because I liked it when I was fitting new information into my tree, finding out new information for people. I had used a bit of Strategic Awareness because I didn’t estimate how long it would take me to complete my family tree. Critical Curiosity, I was curious about what information I was getting, thinking to myself is this information right? I checked with people as I wanted deeper information.

Through all this experience, I was pushing myself; if I didn’t I would not have got to this extraordinary stage. This project has made me learn on how can be an excellent learner.

By Alisha Ajaz, 8:5 Maple 5