Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Goal Setting and Finding an Expert

Now that the Internet is working, please comment on last week's goal #5(6) regarding your progress and post a NEW smart goal #6(7) on your blog. The marking period ends tomorrow and we will be conducting progress conferences tomorrow and Thursday. You will have time tomorrow and Thursday during those conferences to catch up on any blog posting and goal setting you need to improve your grade, as well as meet this week's goal.

Finding an Expert

Many of you could use some guidance for your projects, because there is an overwhelming amount of information on the Internet. As you know, information is not valuable unless you are able to comprehend, apply, analyze, synthesize, and/or evaluate it. In order to help find some guidance we will be searching for experts, or people who have already applied the kind of higher order thinking you need to do in their own work.

We happen to live in a city of experts. In terms of your projects, many of you will be able to find help and ideas within the school and others will have to look beyond the school walls. How you do find an expert? You search for people and contact information in the industry you are researching and you reach out to several of them until someone responds. I was contacted by a student at the Young Writer's Academy to talk about my work as a writer in Brooklyn. I sat down for an interview about my writing process. The student found my email on the Internet and contacted me. I responded because I thought it would be good for the community (commitment).

Before you start searching for an expert on your project (or area of interest), you will need to think of several questions to ask your expert. For example, Karisha wants to write a fantasy story. She might ask an expert on writing "Why did you get into writing?", "What are some of the steps you take to write a story?", or "How can I develop my characters?"

Each of you needs to write a series of at least seven questions for an expert about your project. They should not be yes or no questions, but ones that will help guide your work. Email me your questions today at mr.powhida@gmail.com

If you finish your questions early, start searching for people in your field of interest or if you know a faculty member that might be able to help, include them in your email today. So, if you are making a video/film search for "Brooklyn, Film makers, production companies". If you are doing fashion, search for "Brooklyn, fashion designers"

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