I chose the word lonely because we don’t really get to see anybody for real anymore. I chose the word strange because we have never had anything like this and everyday the story is new. I chose the word inspiring because we can take time to try and learn new things. My piece will have some pictures of each of these things. Some will be for comedic purposes, but most will be more serious. My photo essay’s message will be that even though this time is really hard and boring, we have to make the best of it. I hope this essay helps and gets people inspired to do new things during this time. Here is a very rough sketch of my photos.
I like that we don’t have to worry as much about structure. It makes it easier when we don’t have to have three body paragraphs and a introduction & conclusion. We don’t have to worry if some look much shorter than the others do because they are all together. I finds this comforting because I like my paragraphs to be about the same length, and when there is just one large one, I don’t have to worry about how it looks. Also the introduction and conclusion don’t have to be as formal. In other words, it can just bleed into the evidence and analysis. In my opinion that makes it easier to write them. I find it interesting that you can prove a topic, have a conclusion and a introduction in just one paragraph. I also found it interesting that I had the capability of writing a two page paragraph!
I found it challenging to keep track of the different parts of the paragraph. It is easier to edit an essay because you can take it piece by piece. For example I can edit and perfect my introduction, and after that I can do the same to my first paragraph, and so on. When writing an analytical paragraph it is MUCH harder to edit because I have to edit a part and then I’ll loose my place and start reading the entire thing again. This can be pretty time consuming when you have a two-page paragraph.
I just finished my first analytical paragraph press here if you would like to read it. I think it was some of my best analytical work.
Here is an excerpt from it. This is personally my favorite part of the paragraph because I think I did a nice job or bringing all f the evidence together in a conclusion. I am very proud of it.
Overall, this is an important thing to remember when reviewing Harry’s traits. Harry’s family left a mark on his confidence, that hopefully he can get rid of. So in Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone Harry Potter who lives in a closet under the stairs in his uncle’s house and who gets a very small amount of value in the family is self conscious because of his family.
To be honest, I really dislike fantasy books. I am defiantly not into them. I’m not really sure why, but I always have. I guess it is because I can’t picture the crazy things that happen. I enjoy to picture things that CAN happen.
Because of this I haven’t read that many fantasy books. I have only read The Giver and Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone. I didn’t like either of them, but if I had to chose I guess I liked Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone more. I didn’t love it though, because It got really confusing a didn’t make sense. There were parts that I had to read more then once in order to understand them.
I chose the books: Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, Among the Hidden, & Tuck Everlasting.
I chose Harry Potter and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe because I figured that if they were going to be my first true fantasy books, then I might as well go with classics. I chose Among The Hidden because I had heard of it and It sounded interesting. I also thought of it because I read a book by the same author that I enjoyed. For my fourth book, I got a recommendation because I couldn’t think of another book to read.
I think one of the good things about doing this project outside of school is how we can take this project at our own pace. For example if half of my class has finished one part of the assignment it doesn’t affect me as long as I get it done at the end. I also liked how we were able to be super independent in this project. What I mean is we got to make all the decisions about where are project was gonna go. It also helped us learn how to be more responsible.
Some of the challenges of being outside of school was staying focused. Because we are in our houses during this time it was much easier to get distracted from our work. For example when you sit in your room you are tempted to play outside or use your phone. When we were in school this wasn’t a problem because we had more rules. Another challenge was not being able to easily communicate with my teacher. In other words if I needed help or clarification, I was mostly on my own. Even though this was a challenge I am happy it happened because I think it taught me to problem solve these kind of things better.
During this project I learned that my time management skills have room for improvement. In other words during this project I did a ton of procrastinating and pushing back deadlines. I think in the future I will know to discipline myself more when it comes to getting a project done. Because we were not in school I think I had to learn to trust my gut more. What I mean is in the past, I liked to ask: is this good? Because there was no teacher near me during this project I had to ask myself: is this good and is this the best I can do.
Overall, I think that the passion project taught me a lot, and not just about pickleball.
This is a picture of my WeVideo presentation. If you didn’t know that is what it looks like when you are making one.
For my final project I am making a mix of a WeVideo and a Slideshow. What I mean is that I am making a WeVideo that includes a how-to video and pre-made slides. I chose to use WeVideo because we used it quite a bit in elementary school and I think I am pretty good at it. I also chose it because I could do voiceovers. I also included videos of me giving examples on how to play the game. I chose to use this format because I personally, would rather watch a 5 minute video that is exciting versus just reading a presentation for ten minutes. I also thought that a video would be much more fun to make. I am really excited to share this video because pickleball isn’t a known sport so I know that my audience will learn something from my project. I also hope it inspires them to play the game themselves.
Overall, I liked this project and I think it was a great way to pass time during these past few weeks.
One of the biggest challenges I had was finding sources. This is because pickleball is not a none sport. I spent a lot of time trying to find sources. I tried sources that usually have everything such as Brittanica and World Book. There was not a single thing about pickleball on the school databases. This meant that I had to start searching google for sources. I was lucky because I was able to find a few great sources. Such as the USAPA website. I am very grateful that I was able to overcome this struggle within a few days.
Another problem I faced was time management. I kept pushing back my deadlines. For example, I had planned to finish researching around Wednesday, but then I decide Thursday, then Friday, then I finished it on Saturday. At first I was worried that I wouldn’t complete the project in time. Luckily I worked really hard and was able to catch up. Now I am once again on track to finish on Friday.
I learned that I am a person who likes to set a plan and a layout at the very beginning of the project. I also learned that when I do this, I am not realistic. I had planned to finish all of my research before April started. When I made this plan I didn’t think about the fact that I also had other homework and April wasn’t very far away. So obviously I didn’t reach my goal, but I don’t really care because looking back, there was no way I was going to. I think I am making good progress either way. I am on track to finish in a few days. I have also learned that after my non-realistic plain fails I come up with a new one, that actually makes sense.
I think that realizing my flaws is really helpful so that next time I have a big project, I will try to be realistic in my initial plan. I think this will benefit because the earlier I have a plan the better.
I also learned that I am not good at understanding what I am capable of in the amount of time I have. At first I was planning to have three or four final projects, but I won’t have time for that no matter how hard I try. Again after I realized that my plan wouldn’t work, I fixed it. I narrowed it down to a how-to video and possibly a slideshow.
I am glad that I took this time to review my time management skills. I never really thought about it until today. In the future I hope to I correct my flaws, so this project can be my best work.
Reader/ writer:
As a writer I have learned that taking notes in color based on sources and making them really colorful helps me stay organized. I am really glad I took Mr. DeBerry’s suggestion and did it that way. This is because next time I do a research project, I can use this format to help me.
As a reader I have learned that when I read things that spark my interest, I remember them more. In other words if I was doing a research project on something I don’t care about, then I wouldn’t remember it as much. I am not really sure why that is, but it’s true.
Learner:
As a learner I have learned that writing everything that I have to do out in the morning is very helpful. I think this is because I get to physically see what I need to do that day. Also it removes the risk that I will forget to do an assignment. I also learned that I mentally feel better when I get to have the chance to erase something. This is why I don’t love long projects because even if I do a lot of it, I still feel that I didn’t do enough. (If in the photo and in the writer portion you didn’t notice, I like to color code.)
So far I have been making good progress. I have gotten a lot of research done in the last few days. I am really happy about my note taking system. I think color coding was a really good idea. I also feel that the quality of my work is the best I can do. This is because I wrote full, long paragraphs on each sub-question. The most helpful source I have been using is the USAPA website. This is because not only did it have all the information I needed but it also gave me new sources to use. I thought this was tremendously helpful because I didn’t have that many sources because pickleball is not a none topic. So the fact that the website was helping me out was great. I have also learned a lot so here is three fun facts:
1. According to USAPA: April is National Pickleball Month! So this was great timing.
2. The origin of the name pickleball is a debate that is still going on today.
3. There is a national pickleball tournament that is covered by the pickleball channel. Check them out on YouTube if you want to watch a game.
When I was searching for sources to use I had a lot of trouble. This is because pickleball isn’t a known sport. Our librarian showed my class many sites that have a lot of topics on them, but none of them had anything on my topic. This meant I had to take matters into my own hands. I searched the internet for sites about pickleball and I was actually surprised on how many I found. I am making sure that the sources I use are credible by checking the information I find with information from other websites. I think the best website I found was the United States of America Pickleball Association’s website because it has everything that I need to know. Things such as what equipment you need and the history of the game. I want to work on my nonfiction comprehension skills and I want to get better at restating information in my own words. In the past, when I was reading something that is nonfiction and taking notes about it I would come across many times when I was only able to slightly switch up one or two words in the sentence. In other words I would only be able to switch easy words with their synonyms. Sometimes I just switch up the order of the sentence. I want to be able to make more drastic changes to the exact words I find on a website and be able to comprehend the sentences better to do so. One note taking strategy I will be using is color coding. I have set up a system that makes every site I use a different color. This is helpful because when I finish this project I will know what sources I used for each question. I picked this strategy because my english teacher Mr. DeBerry recommended it to me. I can’t wait to finish researching!
For my project I am doing pickleball; where it was and where it’s going. In other words the history of the sport and how it’s getting more popular today. To know more about my project press here for my passion project proposal. When this project first got announced, I didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t until Saturday, the week the proposal was due that I thought of it. The only reason I came up with the idea was because my family had ordered a net, and equipment to set up a court in my driveway. It just happened to show up at the perfect time. The equipment inspired me to do my project on pickleball. Since I have been interested in the sport since winter vacation. I already had many questions I wanted to know the answer to. So that step in the process was easy for me.
Overall, I liked this project and I think it was a great way to pass time during these past few weeks.
