2 Hour Presentation Reflection

PART I: Two-Hour Presentation

Two-Hour Presentation Student Assessment

(1) What assessment would you give yourself?

AE                      P                      AP                      CR                      NC                      +           -

Why?

I feel like I worked very hard on my two hour presentation and all of the preparation showed throughout the presentation. From the way the room was decorated, to the activities, I was prepared for any mishap. Also, I feel like I connected to my audience and I really got them to appreciate and understand what I was talking about. I feel as if the activities, especially the first one, went very well and the audience members left the room with a good understanding of concept. Upon leaving the two hour presentation, most people in the audience came up to me telling me how good of a job that I did and that it was the best 2-hour that they saw that week.

 

(2) What is one thing you think you did well in the two-hour and why?
I think that all of my activities were well received by the audience. Also, I felt like even though my topic wasn't extremely interesting to the audience they stayed engaged throughout the presentation. Not once did I see that people were dozing off, which was really nice.

PART II: Overall Senior Project Experience

(3) What do you think you did well on in the project?  What could you have done better?  Please explain.

I feel that on my overall senior project I did a lot of things well and of course there are a few things that I wish I could go back and re-do.  What I did well on was really living and breathing my senior topic. It's very evident to everyone how passionate I am about my topic and how hard I've worked on the yearbook this year despite the mishaps. I feel that I could have worked harder to meet my deadlines on time. It seemed that most of the bad grades that I received this year are because of the minor details such as not turning things in at the right time and things like that.

(4) What is your EQ and what is the best answer to your EQ?
My EQ is "What is the key aspect in creating a notable yearbook design?" and my best answer is concept. Concept is my best answer because you need a great concept to relate to your school, determine coverage and cohesiveness of the book and to give a design PURPOSE. Without concept, you're just looking at boxes on a page. Concept is what takes a yearbook to the next level and in iPoly's case, that is the award winning calibur.

(5) How has the last month of culminating events (e.g. I-Search, Two-Hour, Exit etc) affected your answer to your EQ?  Has it changed?  Why or why not?
 I was still on the fence about my answer until the I-Search. Really doing the I-Search helped me solidify my answer and determine why it is so important in creating a notable yearbook design. Then in turn, the I-Search helped me with my exit and the exit helped me with my two-hour.

(6) What suggestions do you have in order to improve the senior project?
I feel as if the timing of some of the components was a bit off at times. In example, one week we had like four components due and the work load was insane.  I feel like the creative expression could probably be done right after winter break.

(7) Overall Senior Project Assessment

AE                      P                      AP                      CR                      NC                      +           -

50 Hour Service Learning Check

Literal


My service learning was done at iPoly and I observed Mimi Orth while she gave my staff and I critiques on our work. I also worked with her on theme development for the 2011 Globe and ways to implement theme consistently. I was basically her shadow while she came to consult the staff and I on our progress.

The days on which I did service learning are:
9/4, 9/27, 10/9,10/10 10/14, 10/20, 10/29, 11/2, 11/13, 11/16, 11/26, 12/3, 12/7, 12/17, 1/4, 1/14, 1/21, 1/28, 2/4, 2/8, 2/18, 2/22,  3/4, 3/8, 3/18, 3/22, 4/1, 4/8







• Mimi Orth
1 (###) ###-###

Interpretive
The most important thing I gained from the experience was the knowledge and advice I received from Mimi's invaluable critiques. One of the most significant things that I learned from her is that there must be a concept in order to have a solid yearbook and that you need a concept first and then the design comes. I had been used to doing things backwards and Mimi really put things in perspective for me. They have helped me grow so much as a designer and better understand what it takes to have an award winning yearbook. I truly wish I had gained all of this knowledge earlier so that I could have used it in the beginning stages of creating the book. Nonetheless, I used the knowledge I gained the best way that I could.

Applied
First off, I'd like to say that Mimi is like a pool of knowledge and I tried my best to soak in everything that she had to say. Mimi is the person who put me into contact with the people I interviewed and was there to assist me in any way possible from giving me suggestions for research to actually critiquing my designs. Mimi has either confirmed or put me in the right direction as far as obtaining my EQ answers especially the "Inspiration from professionals" and "Concept" answer. I have observed Mimi's workshops on concept and talking to her first hand as well as her critiques of my work have helped me ensure that "Concept" is the best answer to my EQ. The service learning helped me answer my EQ because I was able to experience (through IC) and observe first hand (SL- shadowing her) everything that she had told me she felt went into creating an award winning book.

2 Hour Presentation Rough Draft

1) What is your sponge activity?
For my sponge activity, I want to display example of good yearbook design and not so good yearbook design and asking them which they prefer. After that I will take a few volunteers and ask them what they thought worked and didn't work.

2) What do you plan to do and say in the introduction?
First I will introduce myself and talk about why I chose my topic. I will be talking about my plan for the day and about my EQ. When I talk about my EQ I will talk about why I chose it and the definition of it. I will also describe why I decorated the room in the way that I did.


(3) What do you plan to say in your foundation?
For my introduction, I want to talk about the way iPoly's yearbook has changed over the years - particularly how it's gotten better. I'll show pictures of spreads from the last few books. I also want to talk about why it's important to move in the award winning direction and why it's so meaningful to me. I also want to talk about why I chose to move my project in the award winning direction (why I chose EQ).

4) What will your 2 or 3 answers be for your 2 hour?
In this order: Concept ->Inspiration -> Obsession with end product

5) What activities will you do for each answer and why?
 I want to do one continuous activity for my two hour which will be creating a yearbook spread. I will hand them a template with pictures on it and everything (so I don't have to teach them the fundamentals of layout design). Each answer will be a step in completing their "notable" yearbook design. For concept, I plan on having them creat an theme and incorporate that into their spreads. Next, I will have them use a magazine for inspiration. Lastly, I'm not sure what to do for "obsession w/ end product"

6) How do you plan to conclude your 2 hour?
First I'll close with a summary of what I spoke about and the most important points. Next, I want to ask people what they've learned from my presentation. My hope is that they walk out understanding all of the work that goes into a yearbook spread, let alone the whole book.

7) How do you plan to decorate the room?
 I want to hang ALL of the drafts for this year's yearbook.

8) What supplies/resources will you need to make your 2 hour possible? 
Projector, laptop, magazines, stick notes, yearbook spreads, yearbooks, black curtains/tablecloths

Independent Study 2

Log:
The following are the dates on which I worked on the yearbook:
2/14, 2/15, 2/18, 2/21, 2/22, 2/25, 2/28, 3/1, 3/4, 3/7, 3/8, 3/11, 3/14, 3/15, 3/18, 3/21, 3/22, 3/25, 3/28, 3/29, 4/1, 4/4, 4/5, 4/8, 4/11, 4/12, 4/15, 4/18, 4/19, 4/22, 4/25, 4/26

Here is a photo of me reviewing the yearbook spread made by Kat Morano (pictured above). We discussed nit picky design things and how her spread lacked the inclusion of the book's concept.

Literal

a) I, Cynthia Schroeder, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

b) Having the position Editor-in-Chief entails quite a bit of different tasks and responsibilities. I am always looking to improve the outcome of the yearbook and trying my best to implement the knowledge I have gained from my senior project. Through my Independent Study 1 (working on the yearbook) I learned two of the answers to my essential question - inspiration from professionals and concept. In order to effectively do my job and to differ the focus of the second independent study from the first, I decided that I wanted to implement the usage of concept in every yearbook medium (photo, copy and design). In order to ensure the implementation of concept I met with every single group during yearbook class (Tues/Thurs) and reviewed their stories. However, my work did not end with the staff - I conducted weekly editorial meetings and reviewed all of their work to ensure the implementation of the theme for a more cohesive product. Not only do I monitor everyone's progress and go through everything with a fine tooth comb as far as conventional errors but the main purpose of the "progress meetings" was to implement this year's concept "know what I mean?" in every story.

Interpretive

a) The work that I have done has been very meaningful - not only to me but to my staff. Just like in any experiment or any research project, it is expected that you communicate results. Due to my passion that has grown over the years for yearbook, I have developed a certain nurturing attitude towards it, one I wish all of the staff members would have. The best way I can explain it is that yearbook is like my baby and naturally I want to see my baby excel and continue to improve year after year, even if I am no longer needed in the process. I spent well over thirty hours working directly with them and helping them implement our theme/concept/voice into their yearbook spreads because I feel that in order to move into the direction of winning national recognition, we must always be conscious of the theme. I have turned in a binder in which I included pictures of myself working with the staff on many different occasions. Another form of proof that I have included is a log of hours that I've spent with the staff signed by the yearbook adviser Mr. Strand. I have also included all of the grading sheets that I used during the "progress meetings".

Applied

a) Although I figured out two of my EQ answers (concept and inspiration from professionals) from doing my first independent component, I was able to discover other valuable information pertaining to my senior project through my second independent component. First, by going through this process, I was able to validate an EQ answer, quite possibly my best answer, the fact that concept driven yearbooks and spreads make for a notable yearbook as well as notable yearbooks designs. Secondly, I was able to find my third EQ answer which is obsession with the end product. I know that the word "obsession" kind of has a negative connotation, but in order to have a notable yearbook design you must really have a keen eye for detail which is something I was able to practice throughout all of my progress meetings I conducted for my independent task. Also, "obsession with the end product" also has to do with dedication, in order to manage a staff of 17 and an editorial staff of 6 while juggling senior project, core classes, a part time job and college tasks, you must really be dedicated.

Independent Study 2 Approval

For my Independent Study 2 component I plan on doing the same thing - working on the 2011 Globe, with all that it entails.

This relates to my EQ because I am constantly practicing creating notable yearbooks designs which expands my knowledge on my topic. Also, by continuing to create yearbook spreads, I am becoming a better designer.

20 Min Presentation

Objective: To educate my peers on one of the answers of my essential question - conceptual design but most importantly theme and graphic unifiers which are a crucial part of conceptual design.

Procedure:

1. Before I begin presenting the content of my presentation, I will divide the class into groups of 3 (There should be 9 groups) and I will hand each group a few yearbook spreads that I have created (every group will receive the same ones).
2. I will begin my presentation by asking the class what they think the purpose of a theme in a yearbook is. (0:45)
3. I will then start my powerpoint. (0:30)
4. First up is my introduction that states my essential question and the answers I have so far. (1:00)
5. I will then briefly explain conceptual design, then theme and then graphic unifiers. Since my topic is more design based I wanted to focus on the deisgn aspect of a yearbook theme. (3:00)
6. I will then explain what graphic unifiers are by giving some examples. (1:30)
7. The next slide is a quick check for understanding. The question I will ask is "what have been the graphic unifiers used throughout this presentation?" and I will briefly go over the answers. (3:00)
8. Then I will begin my activity. My activity is to have each group look at the yearbook spreads (actual ones from this year) and ask them to guess what they think the graphic unifiers are. (5:00)
9. I will then go over the answers and conclude my presentation. (2:00)

Total Approx. Time: 16:45


Check for Understanding:

I have to ways of checking for understanding in my presentation. The first one I have is when I ask the question "what are the graphic unifiers used throughout this presentation" and the second is my activity. For my activity, there will be nine groups of three and they will all be given the task of determining what are the graphic elements/unifiers in the 2011 globe.

Resources/Materials

• 9 copies of the five yearbook spreads I will be showing them for my activity.
• A laptop computer (my own)
• A projector and screen

Independent Study 1

Log:
The following are the dates on which I was working on the yearbook:
9/20-9/24, 9/28, 10/1, 10/8, 10/11, 10/13, 10/18-10/21,10/28, 11/2-11/5, 11/8-11/13, 11/16-11/18, 12/3, 12/6-12/11, 12/13-12/16, 1/4-1/7,1/10-1/13, 1/17-1/22, 1/24-1/26, 1/28, 1/31, 2/7-2/9

The Model Assembly yearbook spread that was completed for my independent component.

 Literal

a) I, Cynthia Schroeder, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work."

b) There are a myriad of things that I have done for my independent task, all under the "completing the yearbook" umbrella of course. What I mean is that being the Editor-In-Chief is a very demanding and stressful job. I always have to have yearbook on my mind as well as always coming up with fresh ideas or new ways to contribute to the book or staff. In example, I am always on the look out for events happening at school. Another example is how I practically drown myself in design magazines and other schools' yearbooks and look for inspiration for my staff and I to use while designing. In my spare time I enjoy going through the stacks of yearbooks I have in my room and analyzing them. Whether it's creating yearbook spreads, managing the staff or handling senior ads, I do it all. However, since my topic is on yearbook design, I have spent a majority of my independent task time designing and inputting content into yearbook spreads.

Interpretive
Although I technically only put five spreads in the binder, I feel it is an adequate representation of what 30 hours of work is. In reality, five spreads is equivalent to only ten pages out of the 132 pages in the book; 64 of which have already been completed. In my binder, I also added all of the drafts that went into creating the final yearbook spread that is ready to be published. In order to do yearbook well, one must be incredibly detail-oriented which is evident due to all of the drafts that have been included in the binder. So even though I only have five spreads in the binder, I have over 55 sheets of paper that are drafts. I did this because I wanted to visually show the reader exactly how much work goes into creating just one yearbook spread let alone an entire book.

Applied
My independent task really helped determine what two of the answers to my essential question are - using inspiration and conceptual yearbook design. While working on the yearbook, Mimi kept telling us and referring us to certain magazines that we should try to embody. She said that they pulled off the look we were going for. Also, I have found that when I use a concept in a yearbook spread (i.e. connecting the headline to the dominant photo) it makes for an overall better product. I've learned that it is our job as yearbook designers to connect the verbal and visual concepts together to invite the reader to read the spread; it makes for an overall more interesting spread.