Eighth Blog Assignment - Final to-do list

With only three weeks to go until the completion of our Genius Hour Passion Projects, now is a perfect time to review your progress and make a final do-to list of what you need to accomplish between now and our presentations on June 8. Please answer the following questions in a new blog post by the end of class on Monday, May 21:
1) What is the status of your passion project? Is it done? Almost done? Halfway done? Less than halfway done?
2) How have you documented your progress? What have you taken pictures or video of? Remember, you want to have some kind of visual evidence of your progress and journey.
3) What platform are you going to use to share your project? Will you be publishing it on YouTube? Instagram? Spotlight153.com? Something else? Whatever you end up choosing, you'll want to be able to link to it from your blog so we can all see your work.
4) What has been the most enjoyable aspect of your project so far? What has been the most fun or meaningful or personally satisfying?
5) Do you have any questions about how to complete your project? Is there anything your classmates or I could help you with in order to ensure your project is done by June 8?

Seventh Blog Assignment - Documenting and publicizing your project

One important aspect of a Genius Hour Passion Project is its documentation and publication. As you proceed with your project, please be sure to capture pictures and video of yourself which can highlight your journey on the way to completion. For this blog post, please think about and answer the following five questions by the end of class on Friday, May 11:
1) What, specifically, are you doing for your project?
2) How many steps or tasks does your project involve? What do you have to actually do between now and the end of your project?
3) Which of these steps or tasks would work well for documentation? What could you take photos or videos of?
4) How do you plan to share and publicize your work? Will you publish a video to YouTube and share the link with friends and teachers? Will you write an article for the Spotlight Media Group for publication on spotlight153.com? Will you create and publish a photo gallery on the Spotlight website or Instagram or some other form of social media?
5) How close are you to being done with your project? Please keep in mind that all projects must be completed by Friday, June 8.   

Sixth Blog Assignment - Next step results

Congrats! You've taken the next step toward making your Genius Hour Passion Project a reality. For this post, please answer the following three questions by the end of class on Thursday, May 3:
1) What was your specific next step? What did you do? If you called or contacted someone or some place, who/where/what did you contact?
2) How did your conversation or correspondence go? What new ideas or information or direction do you have for your project?
3) What do you need to do next to keep the momentum of your project going? What are you going to start creating or doing?   

Fifth Blog Post Assignment - Taking the next step

Now that you've identified what your passion project is, why you're doing it, and who it's going to benefit, the next step is to articulate what you need to do to get your project off the ground. For example, if you'd like to volunteer at an animal shelter, your next step would be deciding which shelter to volunteer at and to reach out to them. The most effective way to do that would be with either a phone call or an e-mail where you let them know you're available to help, and ask what it is they might actually want help with.
If you're planning to cook or bake items for the local food pantry, your first step would likely be contacting the food pantry to see what items they might want, and then looking up recipes for those items.
For this post, which is due on your blog by the end of class on Monday, April 30, please state the following:
1) What you're doing for your project
2) What your next step will be
3) How or what, specifically, you will do to take that step
Regardless of your project, you should take your next step by Wednesday, May 2, as your next post will involve writing about how your next step went and how your project is developing.

Fourth Blog Post Assignment - Flipgrid Video Passion Project Pitch

For this assignment, we will be using Flipgrid to make brief passion project pitch videos. Please answer the following questions in your video pitch, which should be no longer than 60 seconds.
1) What are you planning to do for your passion project? Ex: Create a step-by-step video tutorial on how to shoot a basketball free throw OR Spend 5 hours volunteering at the South Hadley Food Pantry and publish a vlog or blog post describing my experience OR Creating a public service announcement video on how people can do a better job at recycling or reducing their carbon footprint.
2) How does this project relate to your interests, abilities, or hopes/desires/wishes?
3) Who will your project help? What will it improve or better or fix?
4) What is your next step? What do you need to do to get the ball rolling with your project?
Post your Flipgrid video HERE      

Third Blog Post Assignment - Time Management Questionnaire Responses

After completing the Time Management Questionnaire, tally up your responses and answer the following questions:

1) How many points did you get?
2) Do you agree with the questionnaire's description of your point total? (i.e. you need to change your behavior; your sock drawer is organized, etc)
3) If you scored above 30 points, what are two things you do that help you manage your time?
4) If you scored below 30 points, what are two things you might need to modify or change in order to make more effective use of your time and accomplish your priorities?

Second Blog Assignment - Spring Semester

Take a look at your Genius Hour/Passion Project mind map. Review the potential project ideas you came up with on the back of your mind map. Does one of them stand out as something you're interested in doing? Have you come up with a new idea? For this second blog post, please write a paragraph or so about your potential project idea. What are you thinking of doing? What interests, problems, skills, or questions does it incorporate? If you're still unsure of what you'd like to do, what are some questions you have? What is making it difficult for you to make a choice? Please feel free to ask me any questions in class so I can help you.