Project Idea Presentation

Tomorrow you will be presenting your project idea to the class. You will have to talk for 1 - 2 minutes and answer questions from your peers. Today, you should take time to prepare for your presentation. The protocol outlined below should give you talking points for your project. Take a look at the presentation protocol and then prepare a brief outline with as much information as you need for tomorrow. Then, go back and look at all the initial project ideas that have been posted on class blogs. Write down one question you have about five (5) different projects. Turn in your presentation outline and questions at the end of the period.

Presentation Protocol:

1. State your name and grade.
2. Briefly explain your project idea.
   What is the main question or issue?
   
3. Summarize your backwards plan.
   
4. Explain why you think your project is important.
   
5. How will your project affect others? How does it connect to the community?
   
6. Discuss what two habits of mind your project will exemplify

The class must ask each presenter at least two questions and receive an answer before we move on. The class may also provide any comments or suggestions to each presenter in addition to the questions.

Following the presentations we will discuss which projects will be the most meaningful additions to a portfolio.

Blogs and Backwards Plans

Class,

Many of you have either NOT signed up for a blog at www.blogger.com or emailed me your blog URL (ex: http://adamlaw550.blogspot.com/). Also you all need to post your backwards plan drafts. Having a blog is a central part of the class and your grade.

For those of you who posted your backwards plan, today you are going to try and put the steps in descending order from the last step to your first step. When you post your backwards plan, use the Numbered List feature in the posting tool bar. Now that you have had a break, take a fresh look at your plan and start to fill in all the gaps. Your backwards plan should start to have concrete steps you could take to begin your project.

1. Presenting my film to the senior class at a town hall meeting or special presentation in the spring.
2. Adding a sound track to my video in iMovie
3. Bringing in CDs or MP3 files to use in my video
   
4. Editing my film in iMovie by deciding what footage I want to include or cut. I have to put all of the shots into a sequence.
5. Shooting the footage for my video
6. Borrow a video camera to use to shoot my video
7. Create a production plan for my video where I outline all the different shots I'd like to take.
8. Storyboard the idea for my video on paper with sketches and notes
9. Write a brief treatment for my video, basically a summary of what will be in the video
10. Get feedback from my peers about the idea for my video
    
11. Brainstorm different ideas for my video

This is a basic plan that works backwards from the final step, but it is still missing a lot of steps, but your plan should look something like this with at least ten steps. If you can't think of at least then things you would have to do then you haven't given your idea enough thought.

Backwards Planning

Creating an independent project for yourself is a big task and often the hardest part is getting started. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the whole idea of a project. In order to help ourselves get started we are going to do some backwards planning. What is backwards planning?

imagine it's early June and you have just shown your amazing project to our class. In your mind, try and imagine where you are in the school. Try and imagine what you have just shown, read, or presented to your audience. Try and imagine exactly how you presented your project. Close your eyes and visualize exactly what your project looks and what the audience will see.

Now, you should have an idea of what your final project will look like. The question is 'how did you get all the way there from here?' Instead of starting with the first step, let's start with your end goal. For example, several students are interested in creating video documentaries.

Their final step might be:
"Show video at town hall in spring on digital projector"

What steps would a student have to go through to create a film. Without worrying about the order of the steps, what are some steps this student might have to go through to reach their final goal. Take a minute and think about what you know about film or video and documentaries and post ONE step you think the student would have to take to create a video that would be shown at Town Hall on the big screen.

After looking at some of the steps we think a student might have to take to create a video, start creating your own backwards plan. Today I would like you to write down that final step of your project, whether it's debuting a video or an exhibition of art work, exactly how you want to present your project. Then brainstorm a list of steps in any order that you believe you will have to go through to complete your project. Start at the end and try to work backwards, but if a step pops into your head write down. Post your final step and all your ideas on your blog under the title "Backwards Plan Brainstorm".

Creating your project blog

Yesterday some of you were unable to sign up for a gmail account because of an error.
This is because Google limits the number of email accounts given out to a specific Internet connection.

If you did not sign up gmail yesterday, do so now. You will need a gmail account for the class. If you can't sign up for a gmail account today, you will have until next week to sign up either at school or at home over the long weekend.

If you have your gmail account please sign in and visit blogger.com now. Today you are going to create a on online blog where you will keep a digital journal about your portfolio project and the portfolio process itself. Sign up for a blog with your gmail account and create a blog account. The blog address will be the URL or web address for your digital portfolio project. Try and keep it short, but it might be yourname_digitalportfolio or yourname_project. The blog title is less important and can easily be changed.

• Your first blog entry is to tell the reader about your project. You may start by writing out your project description but then you should continue to write about your perspective. How do you feel about the project? Are you happy with the project idea? Is there anything you want to change or do differently? Why are you interested in pursuing this project? Can you make any predictions about the project like what might be difficult or challenging?
• After you have made your blog entry, you need to send an email with your blog address to someone else in the classroom who has not heard your idea yet asking them to visit your blog, read the first entry, and leave a comment with some feedback about your idea.
• In return you must visit the blog of the person you sent the email to and leave them a comment with feedback about their idea.
• If you visit a blog that already has a comment from someone, find another person's blog from the class list that will be posted here once everyone has signed up for their blog.
  

Project Worksheet 1 and gmail

Today you will take your first steps into working digitally in this class. Many of you have email addresses that you use personally, but today you will sign up for an academic email through Google that you will use in this class. Follow the procedure below to sign up for your gmail account. We will be using the gmail account for blogger, google docs, picassa, and more. After you sign up for your gmail, you need to complete the first project worksheet in Word and email me your responses as a word document attachment.

Steps:

1. Go to www.gmail.com
2. Sign up for the email and provide the required information only.
3. Choose an account name that involves only your name and up to two numbers. You may use your full name, your inititals, and periods and numbers in the account. For example my academic email is mr.powhida@gmail.com
4. When you have finished signing up for the email, your first task will be be to email me your responses to questions about your project idea. These are due Thursday morning if you experience any problems signing up for your gmail account. Some of you may have to wait until tomorrow to sign-up for gmail.
5. When you click on the link, which will take you to the project worksheet, copy and paste the questions into Word. Type your answers into the word file and save it as YOURNAME_1.doc and email me the file as an attachment. Please ask for help or a demo if you do not know how to attach a file.