Week Four- Back to work folks. Initial post due by Friday Feb 28th by 11:59 pm with 2 responses due by March 1 by 11:59 pm

Cairnes, Queensland, Australia (photo-Bent)

Week Four is here, and that means you will only have another eight (8) weeks of "seat" time in class.  YIKES!  You are beginning to think more deeply and looking forward towards the horizon, or at least I hope you are.

1. Where does the project and the research paper overlap? Tell me about it. 

2. Make a plan for yourself for the month of March....write a real plan on your calendar.  Make time for the research, the reading, working on your project proposal, and making project connections. Use this month wisely because it is your LAST FULL MONTH of high school.  Accomplish what you will be proud of and what you want others to be proud of you for. Take a picture of the calendar and paste it here.

3. Share with everyone where you will be doing your project. (You need to have that nailed down by Friday February 28th)

4. There are a number of you who are behind.  List what you are missing here, and share your plan to make up the work by this Sunday.  Those of you who are caught up, share your time management strategies, they might help the others. 

You do not want to be caught...out of breath and in a knot, just hanging around waiting for the work to be done... (Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia. (photo Bent)

Week Three: Perspective,Time Management, and Challenges due Friday February 14th by 11:59 pm

Looking at the world through different perspectives, Narragansett, RI ( photo credit Bent)

Perspective:

Have you thought about how you look at things or approach tasks?  If you notice this beautiful stone structure above has a variety of windows.  They all look out over Scarborough Beach in Narragansett, but each window provides a different view.  What I would like you to do this week is work on different ways to approach your tasks....find a different "view".  For example, when you are researching the topic for your paper, try a variety of sources.  Do not just stick with one, shop around the databases, and see what you can find.  Yes, you will have to do a little tedious work, meaning reading so that you can make an informed decision as to whether you will use it or not.  No getting around this folks. 

1.  Respond:

How do you approach database searches?  Be honest here.g

How much time have you and will you spend on these searches?

Which databases did you use and why?

How was/is the frustration level during your search?
If you change the way you search, would that alleviate your frustration? Explain what you can do....

Be honest, how much progress are you making on acquiring journal articles to read?

Time:

It is one of those things that we either think we have a lot of it, or we think we do not have enough of it.

2. Respond:
How do you manage time? Think about this question in terms of "activities you like" and activities you must do".

Give me a typical day, and how you designate time before and after school?

Where and how can you improve your time management? Be realistic, and be truthful.
What does time management look like to you? Show me a picture......What I want here is YOUR CALENDAR filled out...yes, the one I gave you.

Challenges:

Dana's (my daughter) roommate, Emily,  is a member of the Bristol Fire Department.  When I asked her, (Emily), how and why she joined the department, she said that she had the same type of opportunity you, (yes you my class), had when she was a senior in high school.  At the time she could not imagine joining a fire department.  After some consideration, and a willingness to do something so far out of her comfort zone, she joined a junior fire academy in her home town as part of her leadership class.  Fast forward to college:  she liked the experience in high school, so she joined the department in Bristol., and has been a member for the past three years.  In addition, she added EMT to her resume because of an opportunity in the Bristol Fire Department.

How one connection leads to an opportunity....

My daughter, pictured in Emily's firefighter outfit, is also part of the Bristol Fire Department.  Because of Emily, she too decided to go WAY out of her comfort zone two years ago.  She is now in her third year as a member of the rescue squad.  She is an ambulance driver and a first responder.....she too took a chance, challenged herself, and chose to do something really out of her comfort zone.

By the way, Emily is a public health major, and Dana is an education major...neither one wants a career in fire fighting/rescue, but they wanted something new and different for the experience.  My point is, make yourself uncomfortable, and try to do something that challenges you in this class.

Taking a risk, trying something new...getting out of your comfort zone (photo credit Bisanti)

Bristol Fire and Rescue giving back in the Bristol-Warren School District (photo credit Bristol FD)

3. Respond...think about Emily and Dana stories.
What will you do that is challenging and out of your comfort zone during this class....or what do you think you will do?

What might scare you about this challenge? (Being uncomfortable is good....it means you are challenging yourself)

What sounds exciting and doable during this class?

What might hold you back?

Initial responses due by Friday, February 14th by 11:59 pm, with secondary responses due Sunday, February 16th by 11:59. 

Week Two- Skills, resumes, interviews, self reflection - OH BOY!

Heading into week two should not look as relaxing as Ollie's pose...(photo credit Bent)

It is already week two and there are several people who need to step it up a bit.  This is not the time to fall behind, as we are not even doing anything time consuming yet!

This week you are working on two specific items:

1) A resume
2) Contact(s) for a future project

I want you to think about how you present yourself to others (people who do not know you).  I also want you to think about the skills you possess that will help you with your project.

It might be hard to think of skills you are good at, but I will bet you have a number of them and you just have not looked at yourself through the lens of skills.

Click on the link below and listen to Jason Shen talk about ability (skills) vs experience.  Once you have watched the video, think about YOU and YOUR skills. Make a list, and use that list to help generate your resume. Take a picture of the list and share it in your blog.

https://www.ted.com/talks/jason_shen_looking_for_a_job_highlight_your_ability_not_your_experience?language=en#t-364407

Who do you admire?  Think about that for a bit.  Find two people you admire and interview them. 
Ask about:
-skills they possess
-most unusual job interview
-how they acquire new skills
-jobs they have taken and why they have taken these jobs
-did their degree lead naturally into a job? Why or why not
-have them name something that is outside their comfort zone, and then ask why they push themselves
to do something outside of their comfort zone
-what has been their best job and what has been their worst job, and which job provided a greater learning experience
-ask any additional questions you can think of

Once you have done the interviews share your responses in your blog.  DO NOT just give a list of answers, instead create a "story of each interview"

What did you learn from interviewing?  Has that helped you in writing your own resume? 

Week two will be in the book by Friday, and what have you accomplished so far? Be honest and share your progress....do you have a resume completed, have you contacted a possible project person/place, are you beginning to think about the research aspect?  Share your thoughts.

Initial post due by Friday, February 7th by 11:59 pm with two responses due by Sunday, February 9th by 11:59 pm.