Both photographs are very well done and show your understanding of what was asked of you from this assignment.
Let’s begin by looking more closely at the flower photograph. For starters, you’ve managed to capture a shallow depth of field which helped you isolate your main image (the rose). You’ve also managed to keep the context of the background so your viewers will have a sense of place. This is important if you want to let your viewers know “where” your photograph was taken. If your depth of field is too shallow then you’re viewers will be left without any idea of where your picture was taken because you’ll have “over-isolated” the main object. But you haven’t done that here and that’s great. I can see the grass and the large distance behind the flower letting me know this is an outdoor photograph.
Not only that, but you’ve composed your image very well with your rose placement abiding by the rule of thirds. Similarly, although you haven’t learnt about this concept yet, your photograph uses color simplicity to help organize the photograph and make it pleasurable to view.
The second photograph (of the skaters) also shows your understanding of shutter speed control. The movement is subtle, but that’s fine. With this photograph however, I think you paid too much attention to your main subjects without full awareness of the 4 walls of your photograph. In the top right hand corner this are a few letters of a stores advertisement and some of the letters are cut off. It just looks very unintentional and could have been fixed by repositioning your camera, or zooming in.
This is one of the biggest things you need to keep an eye out for. Amputating an object with one of the 4 walls of your photographs isn’t the end of the world as long as it doesn’t detract from the photograph. In your first example (the rose) you’ve cut off parts of the leaves. However, that’s forgivable because it seems intentional and the photograph is otherwise organized. We can also tell what the leaves are even if parts of them are missing. However in your second shot (especially around the top wall of your photograph) it looks a little disorganized and distracting.
Overall, you’re doing a great job! Keep up the good work.