Paper Bag Scavenger Hunt Assignment

In this activity, each student was to decorate a bag relating to yourself. Then inside the bag had to contain five items that represented each individual. There were seven categories to chose five out of for the items that go inside the decorated bag. The categories were you as: a member of a family, member of a student body, a member of a larger community, as a teacher cadet, as a complete person, as a member of a gender, and as a member of an ethnic group. Then we presented these projects to the class. These bags helped to learn that knowing oneself is important because in order to do anything in life, you have to be comfortable with yourself. For instance if you don't like something about yourself, it may be hard for someone else to like that about you, if even you are unable to.
My own bag was decorated with sparkly letters for my initials. Also there were megaphone and pom pom stickers representing cheerleading. There was sparkly hearts on the bag as well. This represents me because I love sparkles, and the initials are for my first and last name, the megaphone and pom poms are for the activity I participate in and the hearts represent that I have a big heart. The first item inside my bag was a picture of my family. It was important to me because it was one of the few times my family of eight was able to be all together without interfering with school, college, or work. It showed how I have a big family. I have two loving parents,two older sisters, two younger brothers and a younger sister. The second item in my bag showed how I was a member of the student body and it was my student I.D. card. This represented how I am a senior at Middletown High School North. The third item was a cheerleading bow. This was a bow that the Middletown North Cheerleaders wore on the homecoming Thanksgiving day game last year. This represents me as a part of a larger community. The fourth item inside of my bag was nail polish. This represented me as a gender, a girl, and how I love to have my nails and toes painted all of the time! The fifth and final item inside my bag was a letter and envelope addressed to me from my preschool child I taught in the child development class last year. This envelope represented me as a teacher cadet because I taught this little girl and she appreciated it and had fun still while learning many subjects. It was a great experience for my future in teaching.
During the oral presentation, I felt a little nervous before I stood up. But as I began talking I felt more comfortable presenting. I knew my subjects well because each item represented me as a person. To improve I could have projected my voice more and made more eye contact. Overall the presentation in my opinion went well. I think that as the year goes on my presenting skills will improve and I will be able to breeze through presentations easily.
This activity taught me a numerous amount of things about each classmate. For example I have known Kayla Troia my entire life and knew she was Italian, but I was unaware that she was 100% Italian! Also I learned how Lauren is Scottish and knows how to cook Scottish food that she brought in for the class to enjoy. I had no idea that Sarah also had a big family like me! I knew Tyler was wrestler but i didn't know he had a special pair of shoes that he wears all the time! This project also taught me things about myself. For example it taught me that each person has important things that make up who they are. Something that shapes who I am is my family. Growing up having my parents and two older sisters as role models helped shaped the person I am today.