استخدام الوقت بحكمة

In Arabic, this title means to "use time wisely." We have been asked to make a timeline for the planning and developments of our project. If we have already done some work on the project, we are to include those important aspects in our timeline. I have not done much for the physical part of the project except to plan how to make various activities. I talked with Mrs. Myers about a random school in Spartanburg called St Ignatios, which is practically a basketball school for people who have finished High School and have no where else to go between High School and college. This has absolutely nothing to do with my senior project but we spent a good long 15 minutes discussing our plans for a soccer school and... now that I think about it.. we should start a table tennis league at our school! Well, that is for someone else to do for their senior project. Anyways, Mrs. Myers and I talked and she decided to follow whatever schedule I would like, which is really kind of her and it gives me some flexibility. I want to finish building my activities by January 9 at the latest. From the 1st of February until the 11th, I plan to work with the 3rd through 5th graders on the activities during their PE time. Exciting right! I will have a more detailed timeline soon...

それはほぼ完成しています。私はリサーチペーパーを提出する準備ができています！

The title means "It is almost complete. I am ready to submit research paper!"  The research paper will be turned in this Friday. The comments made on my research paper have been very helpful. Thank you to everyone involved in helping correct my paper. I sent my paper to my brother in Germany, and he helped with some corrections as well. It seems surprising to me that someone who speaks very little English daily could be able to be so much help! Well, I am just happy to be turning it in, and I am excited to start the next portion of my project. I have been trying to help other people with their projects, because I know if I was in their position, I would want all the help I could get. I need to re-check prices of lumber and other materials in order to plan for a more accurate budget. I am also excited about Christmas because it means my brother Jess comes home and I will have some time to build some of the activities in preparation for February. Time-lines are due after Christmas, so I will also have to plan that out during the Holiday break. Merry Christmas, and remember what this entire season is really about.

La Investigación, conlleva mucho Trabajo!

I got my research paper back from Mrs. Zion after doing the corrections and adding selective bits of information. Mrs. Price gave me some questions that I need to answer before next Friday. I will probably answer them this weekend. However, I am not thrilled about picking between the emphasis of either school or business. Preferably, I would like to write about both of them equally, but it seems that it would be better to focus on school because business seems to already require collaboration. I am not sure when I will start my building for the actual project but I am still excited about the prospect of beginning my project. I do not consider my research paper truly part of my project, so I feel like I have not really begun. I believe Christmas will be a good time to begin the building. Ciao.

Change is back!

Well I have changed my research paper back to the original topic and format. My plan is to make the second part of my paper fit with the first part of my paper. The paper is ultimately about collaboration and half of the paper is about the world changing. I must include these facts because my points cannot be proven without them. I have decided to not put quite as much emphasis on 21st Century skills. I will interview my father about his business so that I will have something to connect the first part of the paper with the last. Mr. Hinds gave me the idea and I am excited to get it done this weekend. I will not do it during Thanksgiving.

21st Century Skills is the New Topic... Scratch Collaboration

I have gotten my research paper back and have realized that my thesis is not proportionally equal in topics to the rest of my paper. It would be too drastic of a change for the paper to be rewritten; so instead, I will rewrite the thesis and organize the paragraphs accordingly. I spent this last friday helping Danny Seyffer with his senior project. I chose to help him for two reasons. The first reason is that I love doing the work and I would do it for any of my friends. The seconds is that one should never expect help on his own project until he has helped someone else. I am planning to finish the research paper this weekend so that I will have it finished before Thanksgiving. Along with two other papers and various other homework assignments, I must finish my work as soon as possible so that I can actually spend my Thanksgiving with my family (that is if I don't die trying to make it to Thanksgiving). I have decided to change my thesis to "21st Century Skills" instead of focusing strictly on Collaboration. I feel that I have already written in depth about each of the 21st Century skills, and I want to keep my focus on the idea that our world is changing. Until next time.

Searching for supplies...

I am actually looking to start the construction of the activities I plan to do in the Spring. I am excited to shop around and plan how I want to build the activities. Hopefully, I will not have too much trouble determining the exact calculations for the project. I plan to spend some time next weekend examining the different choices in materials for these structures. I need to probably start collecting my thoughts for the manual that I must prepare. It should probably be written already when I introduce the activities to the children. This seems like a good idea because it lets Mrs. Myers be on the same page as me when we begin to run the activities. I am excited to have turned in my paper and I actually appreciate the subject that I researched. I have been able to include my topic into many conversations, as well as in my thought processes for future work-related decisions. I have discovered that engineering is a highly competitive field and that I probably would do well not to enter that field of study. I am leaning toward the option of business because I am interested in Economics and the different aspects of how a company runs. It will be interesting to see what advice I receive when I get my paper back.

Party together.

As my title says, today was a day of celebration among the senior class as we turned in our life from the past few days. As I walked into the door, I saw coffee being chugged and rings under eyes. I had worked diligently most of the week and this weekend to complete my paper and I still ended up staying up late working on homework. I learned that we are now forced to collaborate as citizens of America. The world is now part of the competition and Amercia will be left in the dust if we do not find a way to compete. A very important start is to teach the rising generation valuable 21st century skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. There is no longer an option because nations such as India have already become part the competition. I think that the goal at Oakbrook should be to prepare children for the world, not college. If we just prepare the students for college, the students will have trouble later in life when these skills are found more valuable than just a basic education. I think that this is what sets Oakbrook apart for Dorman or other public schools. I am glad the I have gotten an opportunity to look into the vision for the future of our school. Because it is new, people will fear the change. A worse result comes from not changing. Students will be missing a vital part of their education. Are we ready for what our new world has to offer?

The paper is coming, the paper is coming!

I like my topic. I do not have time. I like the books. I do not have time. I am currently at 75 notecards and have written the introductory and some of the second paragraph. It is something that is easier to write about because all the information is solid in my sources. I flip to the pages about collaboration and it seems that there are many things to cite. I have some of my bibliography but I assume I need them written on notecards. To me, that seems a little silly because it will all be transferred to paper anyway. Time is valuable and there is never enough of it. Bye bye long weekend.

getting prepared...

So, I have been accumulating resources from Mr. Hinds. I also told my mentor, Mrs. Myers about my thesis and she liked the idea. I have still not had enough time to start compiling notecards from the books but that will be a project of this weekend. I found it interesting that Ms. Autenzio made the statement today about getting the work done for the research paper and not spending time doing recreation, when I have hardly any time do my school work. This class of seniors is diligent to the fault. We try to be excellent in too many things and it results in unhappiness and frustration. But I digress... I am excited about the prospect of starting the buying and building of the activities. In my timeline for my proposal, I planned to start the building in november. I know it is early but I am still preparing myself. I am much more motivated to think about an exciting project such as a low-ropes course than a research paper that is due too soon. My plans are to seriously research the topic this Saturday and begin to write things down. If I have enough information, I will begin to write an outline of my paper. I believe I am underestimating how much work this will be, but I am willing to be disappointed. Ta ta for now, and a jolly good day to you!

FINALLY!!!, and as a very important man once said, "It is finished..."

Here is a cool new Thesis that I am pretty excited about! I sat down with Mr. Hines today and got some valuable information. Here it is:

Thesis:

 Collaboration is an integral part of the learning process for 21^st Century skills because technology and globalization require it in our changing world.

Sources:

Keen, Andrew. The Cult of the Amateur. First Edition. New York, NY: The Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, 2007. 228. Print.

Friedman, Thomas. The World Is Flat. 2nd rev. and Expanded ed. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. 660. Print.

Wagner, Thomas. The Global Achievement Gap. New York, NY: Perseus Books Group, 2008. 290. Print.

I have to print it out and turn it in tomorrow, but I am pleased what I have finally come up with. I has been a long time coming and past many due dates but I am glad to say that I have come up with something that will be better than if I had rushed trying to finish it for the due dates. 

Senior Retreat... oh how I wish I was still there...activities

We had a wonderful Senior Retreat and I was really excited about how much we got to know each other on the trip. I still have yet to write my thesis out clearly but I have narrowed it down to two topics: Teamwork is more emphasized in the 21 century than in the past (or) It is more effective to teach a child teamwork at age (a certain age) than any other age because it is the appropriate time in their child development process. I am not sure which one would be better, but I have been leaning toward the first option. Mr. Hines has told me that a lots of sources and information can be found on this topic. I really don't have very much to say this week about senior project except that the retreat was absolutely amazing and I could not have higher praise for good planning and a great location. My Senior class also made a big difference to how wonderful it was. I have been very busy with makeup work for English and Statistics so I have not had very much time to work on the things I need to do for Senior Project. Hopefully I can do a better job of organizing my paper and maybe even start planning exactly how I want my activities built.

ThesisGrade=NotGood

Basically, the thesis that I turned in Monday did not go as planned. I decided to turn in the following thesis:

In sports, proper team function is more important than a few skilled individuals because each part of the team has its role to play, jealously will arise with other team members when the “all-stars” are on the team, and pride hurts a team.

Sources :

Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Lencioni, Patrick. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. 1st ed. California: Jossey-Bass, 2002. 223. Print.

Coach Wooden’s Leadership Game Plan for Success

Wooden, John, and Steve Jamison. Coach Wooden’s Leadership Game Plan for Success. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. 0-273. Print.

Go Team!

Blanchard, Ken, Alan Randolph, and Peter Grazier. Go Team!. 1st ed. California: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2005. 0-143. Print.

The Wisdom of Teams

Katzenbach, Jon, and Douglas Smith. The Wisdom of Teams. New York: HarperCollins Publisher, 1993. 0-263. Print.

I know this is not the best thesis, and the more that I read it, the more I realize its fallacy. However, if we could change anything by next year it should be this: AP students need just as much help (at least some more) as CP students. We should be told if our topic/thesis is to vague or obvious, because people have been telling their thesis to others and they tell them "that sounds fine" but our grades don't reflect it. I know the comments on this post might say that this strictly complaining but please take it as constructive criticism.

Proposal Completed

I am finished with the proposal. People have been nervous all week about their presentations. I was blessed to be one of the first people to go, and when I finished, I have come to this strange reality. I actually liked presenting the project. I liked the adrenaline rush of having to speak to a group of people and I thought the board members made it very easy and pleasant. They were very encouraging and I was pleased as I walked out from the Senior Commons. I believe that they have either changed the way the asked their questions or last year's seniors took everything too personally :) I now have a better idea of where I want to go with my research paper. I think that my paper will be about whether or not team building exercises and models increase the effectiveness of learning teamwork. I believe that they do increase the effectiveness of learning teamwork, whereas some people think that businesses and camps are wasting their money. What feedback do you all have for this idea. I would appreciate the feedback before Friday if possible because of the deadline for the thesis.

So Busy, But Not Getting Anything Done...

Right now in my Senior Project career I am waiting to get approved. I am still getting plans together for the launch of my project, but it would be unwise to start anything solid at this moment. Some people seem to be really nervous about their presentations, however I do really feel so scared about them. I am a little nervous about it not going smoothly, but for the most part I believe in my project and I feel that I know the material. I am actually really busy with school work a this time, so progress on the planning front is slow. I plan to keep my project open ended to leave room for little creativity. I do hope that the workload dies down a little bit so that I can work on my project appropriately. If it does not then it will be more stressful but I believe that I can get it done. Time management is a big issue for me but I am learning to cope with a larger workload. I am sorry to those readers who have to read this because it is not one of the more exciting blog posts. The research paper theme might change in the near future due the lack of credible resources on the topic. I am currently searching right now and will finalize the topic soon. DISCUS IS BLOCKED AT SCHOOL!!!! Stupid cite blocking! thanks for reading! Bye!

Alright guys... let's figure this out!

I have written up my proposal and and turned it in. I have also practiced my proposal in front of my peers. Now it is time to make sure that I have planned everything correctly. Mrs Zion would like for me to do some activities during the Senior Retreat, but if possible she would like to b doing activities that are fresh and new. Part of the experience of doing these activities is practical problem solving. If I plan these activities for the Senior Retreat, I will be much better prepared for what is to come later in the year. I would really appreciate it if I could get some fresh ideas about activities that use very little equipment and lots of imagination, it would be greatly appreciated. I am getting more comfortable talking about my project to people, but I fear that my proposal will not be very clear in verbal descriptions of certain activities. The "Lava Field" is a very easy concept, but the activity is very difficult to explain. I had an issue with the explanation during my mock-proposal. I would love to show the board members an activity or two, but being teamwork activities, they require many people. The board would probably not appreciate getting sweaty while doing an activity so I need to think about how to present my project cleverly. I believe that a simple project presentation would be very effective but if a clever idea comes to me, I will willingly sacrifice :) Please comment if you would like to help be an influence. Thanks!

"Islands"

This is a CAD image of what I plan to do for an activity called "Islands"

 (by the way, I designed this on the computer myself. I feel proud!). The team has to get from one platform to another using a large plank. They must find a way to get everyone over in multiple turns because that platform in the middle cannot support every team member the first round. This is challenging because the team has to communicate between each other to accomplish the task. These CAD designs are cool but they take a little while to make. Please be patient while I continue to create them. Thank you.

Second Blog Entry

Well we beat the Day School! Hooray! Now I need to talk about my project. I want to start a team work program for the younger grades at Oakbrook. My plan is to involve 3-5 graders in teamwork activities during their PE time. I will construct 3-4 team building devices with which the students will have to complete tasks together. The other stations that I will create, involve team building activities that will not require building (Ex. the human knot, etc...). Mrs. Myers is my desired mentor because of her great knowledge in the area of children and activities. She also is the PE teacher for the children that I want to lead. as soon as I figure out how to add pictures to this blog easily I will visually show my ideas! If there are questions, please ask. However, this is a hard thing to describe in words. It will be easier to show. So please be patient while I learn.

First Blog Entry

I guess this is how I set this blog up. If this shows up on the site, then I know I have done something right. I am a poet. Thank you Ms. Autenzio. I have changed my project a lot in the past few days. I have decided to make the ropes course out of the woods and not permanent. I have also decided that Mrs. Myers would be the best mentor to have because she will be directly involved with the scheduling and the executing of the project. I am currently working on a budget and sketching my ideas of what I plan to build/teach. I will be posting plans in better detail soon but I am currently organizing thoughts. Wish the Oakbrook Varsity Boy's soccer team luck tomorrow as we face off with the Day School.