Val Hill Response

1. What works? What does she do well?
2. What areas could be improved? Be specific.
3. Your thoughts on her introduction/hook...
4. If you watched this presentation live, what questions may you have for the presenter?
5. As you continue creating your product and presentation, what can you learn from this presentation and apply to your own process?

 

After watching Val Hill's presentation my initial reaction is of mixed feelings. She presented her information with great ease but the presentation was not very engaging; in fact it was quite boring. I never really got hooked into the topic and she didnt really fluxuate her voice enough to really capture my attention. She was reading off of her paper for most of it and her legs were constantly swinging. She had good images but they were seperated from her research. I would have used them to add to the words being said as an image to go along with the words. This engages the audience more. Her binder of letters was nice but as an audience member, they are just pieces of paper from a binder. She should have given a sample of each as an example so the audience knows what the meaning of each is. Her introduction was not really anything special it was more of a "this is my topic" approach. If i was a judge I would have a few questions for her. Would you have special needs kids in a special ed course or in a general pathway classroom and if so how would you set it up? Is this realistic in all school districts? How much of a help would this really end up being to these students? It's clay how special can it be? As i watched this presentation i can reflect on how to improve my own work. In my presentation, not being monotone is very important. Voice fluxuation makes people interested in what you are saying. Also saying what I have to say confidently will make the audience believe what I say because they think I buy into what im selling. Finally I have to use my multimedia and my research to compliment each other. Seperate they are nice but together they work flawlessly.
Deadlines approaching, crunch time is closing in, well see how it goes.

 

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be.
Now put foundations under them.
Henry David Thoreau

Product Proposal

Product Proposal

Product proposal (Short paragraph describing, in detail, what your product will be for Capstone Night.)

Goal: How the product demonstrates or supports my research:

My product for the capstone night is a computer rendition of a new 21^st century classroom and a blackboard site that sets out what a lesson plan would look like.  

Considerations:

1.       Level of challenge for me (significant, moderate, minimal). Explain why:

The level of difficulty for my product will be around a moderate level. The rendering of a image of the new classroom will be quite difficult while creating a lesson plan wouldn’t be that difficult I don’t believe

2.       Types of challenges (emotional, intellectual, or physical). Describe how:

The physical challenge of creating the whole plan and images will be pretty difficult and the frustration of time management will also be a serious challenge

3.       Application of research (accessing and integrating new information). How does your product enhance you research and grab outsiders’ attention?

This product will give the readers a tangible thing that illustrates how and what the 21^st century classroom will look like and how it will operate.

4.       Resourcefulness (independent problem solving and thinking). How will this be demonstrated in your product?

Because there has never been a new classroom such a this created and implemented in the US there is nothing to base my stuff off of. I have to come up will all of it on my own.

5.       Materials/equipment/technology to be used in product. List in bullets:

·         Blackboard site

·         Image rendering software

·         Computers

6.       Materials/equipment/technology to be used in presentation. List in bullets:

·         Laptop

·         Maybe a projection device?

Spring Break, A Time to Reflect

Ahh spring break, a students favorite week of school. No worries of homework or tests, a chance to relax and get your mind off of things for a while. For me, This spring break meant it was time for a trip to Florida. So my friends and I packed up the car and headed down to Panama City Beach for the week. The week consisted of hitting the beach, mini golf, go carting, and just cruising the beach front. It was a great week. The one black cloud that popped up though was when I thought about my capstone paper and realized that the final draft was due when we got back. A depressing thought if I do say so myself. This made me wish I had actually started my research before I did. This would have lessened the stress of trying to cram for deadlines. Oh well, it builds character. Im pretty happy where I am in my progress right now. I completed my revised final two sections after having to basically rewrite them after my first draft. That was a joyous experience let me tell you. Me and my laptop logged some serious time together that night. Now with the final deadline approaching I just need to do some minor revisions and maybe widen my research a bit. Shouldn't be too hard. (knock on wood) Granted I also thought butler would shoot more than 18% from the field last night so well see how that goes. Hurrah!

revisions and products

As you revise and develop sections 4 & 5, what are the main differences between you first draft and your current draft? Consider your product. Now that you have completed most of the reseach, what will be the best way to represent your project? What are your brainstroming ideas for your product? Be as specific as possible.

As I have continued to revise my sections 4 & 5 I realized i had quite a load of work to do. Fantastic. In my first draft of section 4, I had a non-sensical information dump that was unorganized and lacking of serious research. In my revised draft, the organization of my paper is leaps and bounds better than it was before. Now I am structuring the paper by presenting one of my main research questions then presenting all relevant information pertaining to that subject. This allows the reader to focus on one point at at time while still getting all the information they need to understand my analysis and conclusion.

here is my survey http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22C4PU8RFFV/

After gathering my research it is up to me to present this information in an engaging and exciting way. At first this seemed quite challanging and even now it does look much easier but i have come up with a few ideas. As I brainstormed ideas for a product, I thought about creating a rendition of an ideal 21st century classroom. This would include images of classroom layouts, maybe potential costs of implementation, a sample chapter curicculum and an analysis of how all of these would help students learn better.

Research, research, and more research

As I continue to research, there are a few opportunities that I plan on taking advantage of in the near future. I am currently in the process of creating a survey that I will put on facebook for my friends from many areas to complete. This information will provide insight into the minds of high school students from around the nation.  With this ever changing topic there is always new information to look at to help me gain a solid conclusion. With my diigo groups there will always be new information at my fingertips to shift through and interpret. After gaining information from both of these sources I will be able to make an informed conclusion.

Short Sighted Writing

We can all agree, writing a paper of any length longer than 2 pages, double spaced of course, sucks. And believe me the thought of having a a 10-12 page paper is a horrifying thought the likes of Freddy and Jason. So why not take it slow? Break it up, bit by bit. Now that 10 page paper is a one page paper that you bust out every night for like 20 min tops. Not so bad right? Instead of pulling the allnighters the night before it's due that we have become accustomed to, just sit down once a night for the week or two that your teacher gives you for the paper and bust out a couple paragraphs. Not only will you have a great sense of accomplishment but you will get your assignment done without the hair ripping, caffiene guzzling, therapy inducing all nighters. This worked for me when my Marketing teacher assigned us to create a 14 page sales manual for a product of our choosing. Breaking the paper up into sections and setting individual due dates helped me get it done on time and with only mild cases of carpal tunnel and migranes. Of course I will use this tactic to make my capstone go a little easier. Cause if I have to write a 12 page paper in one night, you may have to schedule me a week in the hospital.

Successful People Quotes

In class today we received a sheet of paper with 14 quotes from successful people explaining how they made it to the top. Authors from Oprah to Thoreau and Emerson made contributions to the piece, so the range of ideals provided was vast. There were two quotes that really caught my eye; one by Emerson and one by Sherry Lansing, Chairman of Paramount Pictures.

1. "Self-trust is the first secret of success" - Ralph Waldo Emerson
 I like this quote because i believe that self confidence is the most important trait that a person can possess. As an athelete, and a person that plays individual sports like tennis, if you dont have confidence in yourself there is no way that you will come out on top. You have to think you can beat someone or else you have no chance to do so. To apply this to my capstone project, I have to believe that I can come up with a quality product cause if I dont, it will show in the final results.

2. " The major difference I've found between the highly successful and the least successful is the the highly successful stick to it. They have staying power. Everybody fails. Everybody takes his knocks, but the highly successful keep coming back." - Sherry Lansing
This quote really stuck out to me because it speaks about how successful people do what they dont want to do in order to be successful. In the offseason, tennis conditioning starts at 6am every tuesday and thursday. It sucks. Im not going to lie. Its probably the worst thing I do during the year but it is worth it because it helps us win games. As reigning GMC champions, we have a target on our back. And without being in tip top shape, we are going down. Now capstone has a lot of work that honestly is about as fun as watching paint dry while sitting outside when its hailing, but to have a successful project, it is neccessary to do this work along with the fun stuff. Without it, my project would be incomplete and I would probably fail it. Sweet right? So for me to do my best work, I have to do everything, even the most yawn inducing busy work, to reach my full potential.

"Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad."