Less frequent, but more in depth, here you will find different projects by me that each stem from various teachings in the classroom.
Innovations 2017-2018 |
Self Portrait:
What makes me tick? I broke it down in two parts.
Harder than it seems, we dove deeper into who we are by identifying traits that we think we hold. I find it interesting how I, the person who should know myself the most, had struggles coming up with more than five traits for each section. However, after finishing it, I had a greater understanding of who I thought I was. This is what I came up with:
I think people think I am
- Optimistic
- Quirky
- Confident
- Strong- willed
- Ditzy
- Focused
- Reliable
- Open-minded
- Awkward
- Hardworking
- Amiable
- Conceded
- I am around new people
- I am around close friends
- I am in a smaller group
- I am in an open-minded environment
- There are other unique individuals in the room
- I am around my dad and brother
- There are no rules
- I have a good balance of social interaction and alone time
- I have a routine
- I praise God/ build my relationship with Him
- I keep in touch with my family
- My room is clean
- I know people are close-minded
- I am in a strict environment
- People expect me to change myself
- I don’t know what I am talking about
- I don’t feel comfortable asking questions
- People don’t share the same positivity that I do
- I get negative vibrations from people
- I am in a big group
- I get down about the things I lack confidence in
- I spend too much time inside
- I don’t have routine
- I don’t get embarrassed easily
- I have a sense of humor that not too many people understand
- I am a very open- minded yet opinionated human
- I like spending most my time with my family
- I often go on car rides and try to get lost
- I thoroughly enjoy running errands of any kind
- It typically doesn’t bother me if someone is judging me
- I am an ambivert (half introvert/half extrovert)
- I find cleaning to be therapeutic
- I can be super serious and a complete goofball
- I sometimes find it easier to talk to new people rather than old friends
- I love having routine and consistency in my life, yet I am extremely flexible and accepting of change
Rather than stopping at just a list of who I am, I had the opportunity to use my creativity to physically show others who I am. This is what I created:
Not your typical self portrait, this creative piece shows who I am with different symbolic aspects. Starting from the bottom, the flowers represent growth. In my eyes, growth is one of the most important parts of life. I think that life is all about learning from your mistakes and getting up to try again when you fail. The hands represent my passion to give to others. Whether it is in the community or helping someone individually, lending a hand to others lights me on fire. The cluster of light represents illumination and positivity. I firmly believe that there is no good use to negativity in this world, and it I make it a mission to radiate positivity on a daily basis. Everybody has something going on in their life, and I have the power to make a positive impact on others and live with a positive mindset. All of the magazine clippings around the top are all words that I found to represent me. Two of my favorites include "I don't have all of the answers" and "betting limits".
Not only did this project give me the chance to reflect and put my creative ability to use, but I was able to shed a brighter light on the more hidden personal aspects that I hold.
Not only did this project give me the chance to reflect and put my creative ability to use, but I was able to shed a brighter light on the more hidden personal aspects that I hold.
Biography of an Idea:
As simple as it seems, we were asked by our teachers to research something or some concept that we were interested in. My mind immediately went to the concept of Pen Pals. I have had a pen pal for almost two years now, I'd say. So vividly, I remember the day I signed up. It was my Freshman year, my two best friends were fighting with each other, my mom's cancer was not getting any better, and I needed a distraction. Little did I know how in depth the process was; it was almost like I was signing up for a dating website. I thought that it would be fun to talk to some fresh blood. The first day I got a match, my pen pal and I emailed back and forth several times during one day. We were both so excited. She is from Indonesia, and just in the first couple months of emailing back and forth, I had learned a bunch and found someone who could just talk about stuff that wasn't the drama surrounding my Freshman year experiences. It. Was. Awesome.
Flash forward a couple of years and we are still in touch. The emails are not as consistent or often, but when her name does pop up in my inbox, it reminds me of how big this world is and how little our personal problems are.
Not only was this project for us to open up our minds to all of the things in this world, but for educating ourselves on the constant need for ideation and problem solving, even for ideas that already exist. Upon researching the concept for the project, I learned some pretty neat information and summed it up on this lovely sheet of paper.
Learn Something New :
Often times, as humans, we struggle with moving forward. It has become so simple to opt for the easy way out. In this project, we were encouraged to pick something we want to get better at or learn how to do and document it. Even though it seems like a simple task, I chose painting my own fingernails. I'm completely serious when I say that I couldn't paint my own nails for my life. In fact, I once tried painting my grandmother's nails once, and she thought I was joking when she looked down at the final result. I played along with her assumption and awkwardly laughed along with some mild embarrassment. Another instance was when I was younger. I was at my neighbor's house, and my friend suggested we paint our nails with her mom. Begrudgingly, I agreed. We sat down on her bathroom floor with a bucket full of crusty looking OPI nail polish bottles. My inner eight year old self decided to pick the pinkest shade available and go with it. It couldn't have been 15 minutes later when I looked up to see the face of sympathy and regret from my neighbor's mom. You see, I would have gotten a gold star if the goal was to paint anything but my fingernails. That wasn't the case. Because of those laughable experiences, I took the easy way out of always getting someone else to do them for me.
This project had fingernail painting written all over it. I had 8 days to "NAIL" this task (Pun intended).
Make an Impact:
Sometimes, the smallest actions can make the largest impacts. This project, getting us students outside of our comfort zones, had us pick a person to make a positive impact on. It was divided into three steps with each one getting us further and further outside of our box. Initially, I had a few people in mind, but I really wanted to pick someone that wouldn't be an easy way out. I picked a woman from my church.
Before I dive into what I did, I should give some insight about the people who go to my church. I consider the members of my church an extension of my own family, because I have been going to that church for my entire life. They saw my parents get married there. They saw my baptism. They were in the pews at my confirmation of faith. They watched my brother and I struggle to sit still during sermons and sometimes cause distractions. They were a huge support system when my mom was fighting cancer. They attended the celebration of my mom's life and gave me comfort when it seemed too hard to stay strong. They have and still do encourage me to live a life with Jesus at the center. They have truly seen me thrive and flourish into the person I am today.
When this project was assigned, I knew this was a golden opportunity to reach out to them to show my gratitude rather than giving them a few minutes of my time at coffee hour. Our small, yet mighty congregation is made up of many older aged people who's only social time may be during the brief mingling after church lets out. I admit to taking that time for granted. I would take a doughnut hole, some apple juice, and head straight to the youth room for Sunday school without stopping to say "hi" to one single person. These people want the best for me, and they deserve the best in return. My efforts have not been great enough to show these people how much I care about them too.
For the project, I chose Deb Jones. I LOVE Deb Jones. However, I have not spent that much quality time with her. She is that type of lady that drops everything just to give you a big kiss on the cheek and a huge hug anytime she sees you. It can be alarming at times, but boy, she knows how to make someone feel welcome. Towards the end of the summer, Deb approached me with ambitions of creating a blog. Being that I have had a personal blog before, and I am a young person who knows *some* things about technology, she wanted me to help her out.
The request got swept under the carpet at some point, and we never set up a time to do so. Keep in mind, I neglected to tell her that this was part of a project, because I didn't want her to feel like I wasn't being authentic with my eagerness to help her. I had been wanting to reach out to my church family more before this project was assigned, and connecting with Deb became the perfect opportunity. These are the three steps I made for this project with the goal in mind to finally help her with this blog as the final step.
Like I said above, I knew that these actions made a positive impact on her AND me. Maybe a week or two later, I received a letter in the mail from Deb (last two images in slideshow) which only further confirmed her gratitude for my actions calling me a, "gem in a world full of cubic zirconium". Her letter reminded me that kindness is contagious, and it is not hard at all to make a lasting impact on people.
Community Partner:
Towards the end of October, students in our class were paired with community partners. The partner I chose to work with was Senator Merritt and his assistant, Jordan Rose, on the Opioid Epidemic. Senator Merritt's big initiative and focus is ending the Opioid Epidemic. This interested me, because I have always been vocal about my feelings towards drug abuse. When my partners, Kaili, Erica, and Izzy, and I first started working with them, they proposed their official challenge. They wondered if we could put together a prevention program for our peers which focuses on both prescription and illicit opioids.
The Start:
Brainstorm- What is the best way to engage the students?
Our answer- An in class convocation for the senior class
How we would do it:
The Start:
Brainstorm- What is the best way to engage the students?
Our answer- An in class convocation for the senior class
How we would do it:
Over the course of a month, we met with Senator Merritt and Jordan Rose about our ideas and their expectations. Although we all worked together to get things done, I took initiative on the communication aspects between us and Jordan on meeting times and questions that we had. Because we had our final idea early on, we spent most of the time tweaking the convocation and figuring out the logistics of it. Some of the biggest challenges included coming up with a "wow factor" that would allow students to remember the convocation and managing the time in the convocation. Solving these problems, we discussed the time with Mr. Kegley, our Principal and thought of different ways that students would remember it. We decided on creating stickers, because when one looks around the school, many students have stickers decorating their laptops and water bottles. The sticker would spread awareness of the opioid epidemic and create buzz over the students. Once we got over these obstacles, we put together our final proposal.
Our final proposal:
Our final proposal:
Reflection:
This project allowed me to interact with real problems in the world. The opportunity is not something that I would be able to have in any other class. I have been able to learn more about the opioid epidemic, but I feel like my communication and professional skills have grown too. I feel more capable of interacting with professional figures in my future and adjusting the lens I view problems with to cater to the right audience.
In the future, I wouldn't do anything differently, but I may want to look into a completely different task. I loved working on the opioid epidemic, but I am a very casual person, and the challenge felt very serious. The opioid problems today are very intense, and it became intimidating to think about solving such a huge problem. My group and I are looking forward to see where our convocation goes and what impact it has on the students. We are ever so grateful for the opportunity we have been given.
This project allowed me to interact with real problems in the world. The opportunity is not something that I would be able to have in any other class. I have been able to learn more about the opioid epidemic, but I feel like my communication and professional skills have grown too. I feel more capable of interacting with professional figures in my future and adjusting the lens I view problems with to cater to the right audience.
In the future, I wouldn't do anything differently, but I may want to look into a completely different task. I loved working on the opioid epidemic, but I am a very casual person, and the challenge felt very serious. The opioid problems today are very intense, and it became intimidating to think about solving such a huge problem. My group and I are looking forward to see where our convocation goes and what impact it has on the students. We are ever so grateful for the opportunity we have been given.
E-learning reflection:
According to the World Economic Forum
The top 10 skills for 2020 will be:
1. Complex problem solving
2. Critical thinking
3. Creativity
4. People management
5. Coordinating with others
6. Emotional intelligence
7. Judgment and decision-making
8. Service orientation
9. Negotiation
10. Cognitive flexibility
By reflecting upon the list of the top ten skills for 2020, I believe that I thrive being service oriented and decisive. Being involved with my church and volunteer opportunities has helped me develop a heart driven by service. Helping others, whether it be an everyday task or something aimed towards assisting a greater cause, makes my heart swell. Knowing that I can make someone else’s life more enjoyable or easier by putting myself to good use is very rewarding for me. It’s common to see me pounce on any opportunity to give a lending hand, even if it requires stepping outside of my comfort zone. My decisiveness has been a characteristic tied to me since I was first able to form an opinion. Although I have had my bouts of being quick to judge in the past, my decisiveness and judgement calls have helped boost the efficiency and process of projects or problems I take on. Being able to think of other peoples’ perspectives and my own to make decisions is very beneficial in everyday settings and coordinating with others.
However, I do have my flaws. I am very aware that certain parts of emotional intelligence (pattern matching specifically) and cognitive flexibility is something I struggle with. With emotional intelligence, I find myself pattern matching so frequently to the point where it is how I keep a lot of conversations afloat and going. I became aware of this only a few weeks ago, and it has been eye opening to hear myself making pointless connections in several of my interactions with others. To end this cycle, I will make sure to ask more questions to understand rather than filling gaps with personal anecdotes. My cognitive flexibility is about as flexible as myself. Hint: I'm not that flexible. Being defined as the ability to adapt cognitive processing strategies to approach new and unexpected conditions in the environment, I am having a hard time relating to this quality. Although it happens all the time, I do not enjoy being faced with unplanned obstacles. Even thinking about this past week, I have had an unexpected amount of school work to accomplish, and I went into a shutdown mode at some points. This exemplifies my hardship in accepting unexpected conditions. Working on this weakness, I will be sure to plan for an adaptation to an unwanted condition in my everyday life so that I become used to facing these types of challenges.
The top 10 skills for 2020 will be:
1. Complex problem solving
2. Critical thinking
3. Creativity
4. People management
5. Coordinating with others
6. Emotional intelligence
7. Judgment and decision-making
8. Service orientation
9. Negotiation
10. Cognitive flexibility
By reflecting upon the list of the top ten skills for 2020, I believe that I thrive being service oriented and decisive. Being involved with my church and volunteer opportunities has helped me develop a heart driven by service. Helping others, whether it be an everyday task or something aimed towards assisting a greater cause, makes my heart swell. Knowing that I can make someone else’s life more enjoyable or easier by putting myself to good use is very rewarding for me. It’s common to see me pounce on any opportunity to give a lending hand, even if it requires stepping outside of my comfort zone. My decisiveness has been a characteristic tied to me since I was first able to form an opinion. Although I have had my bouts of being quick to judge in the past, my decisiveness and judgement calls have helped boost the efficiency and process of projects or problems I take on. Being able to think of other peoples’ perspectives and my own to make decisions is very beneficial in everyday settings and coordinating with others.
However, I do have my flaws. I am very aware that certain parts of emotional intelligence (pattern matching specifically) and cognitive flexibility is something I struggle with. With emotional intelligence, I find myself pattern matching so frequently to the point where it is how I keep a lot of conversations afloat and going. I became aware of this only a few weeks ago, and it has been eye opening to hear myself making pointless connections in several of my interactions with others. To end this cycle, I will make sure to ask more questions to understand rather than filling gaps with personal anecdotes. My cognitive flexibility is about as flexible as myself. Hint: I'm not that flexible. Being defined as the ability to adapt cognitive processing strategies to approach new and unexpected conditions in the environment, I am having a hard time relating to this quality. Although it happens all the time, I do not enjoy being faced with unplanned obstacles. Even thinking about this past week, I have had an unexpected amount of school work to accomplish, and I went into a shutdown mode at some points. This exemplifies my hardship in accepting unexpected conditions. Working on this weakness, I will be sure to plan for an adaptation to an unwanted condition in my everyday life so that I become used to facing these types of challenges.