Month: April 2020

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.

At last we are at the end of The Passion Project 2020! It took a lot to get here. Such as Noodletools, 5 previous blog posts, and a whole lot of researching, but I made it!

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.

Time Manager:

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.

 

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