Leader of Project (Blog #5)

     My rehearsals are moving along now; in fact, we just had our fourth one today. Managing all of those people at once and getting them to listen to me is very difficult at times, but I have seen that once I am able to grab their attention, we are a productive team. I have considered being up front with my words when I talk to them without being rude since Ms. Fitz, Camila, Aidan, and Jenni all suggested that I need to be more affective with how I talk. There have been times in this week and a half of rehearsals so far where I have felt I am not a good leader because my volunteers find it more interesting to talk to each other than with me (well some of them do). Today, I came right out with it, and the first thing I said during rehearsal was that I was glad to have all the help, but those who weren't going to listen to me shouldn't come to waist my rehearsal time. I think it worked since no one left, and everyone worked peacefully with me for the rest of the day.

     Production wise, our group has been gradually progressing, but we will need to work faster in the future to meet our performance date. In my opinion, last week wasn't that good for us since we were mostly acquainting ourselves with each other and the idea of the play, and this week should be able to help us out significantly before break. I have been working with my actors through their lines and addressing problems they may have, while my Leadership helpers have been working with the volunteers about what they should do to prepare and what everyone can bring in to contribute. Even though I haven't seen too much happen yet, I also have just started working with this group as a whole, so I have full confidence that everyone will stick with me and our final product is going to be great!

     As for the things I said I would handle in my Force Field Analysis, I have taken care of them as well as I could. I have asked my helpers if any of them are willing to stick in for roles if an actor is gone on an important day, and I have gotten many offers in which the role assigned was not a problem. I didn't have to search outside of my group for this at all! Like what I said before, I am working carefully and planning things out in order to make sure we finish all of the background props and sets in time. Also, Mr. Hoehne has been very nice to us and convinced the custodian to let us eat lunch in the gym if we pick up EVERYTHING when we leave (he has also agreed to help the custodian hoist anyone who leaves food behind up the flagpole).

(P.S. I plan to add pictures next time I post!)

Leader of Project (Blog #4 Force Field Analysis)

Driving Forces:

1. Brings out hidden talent in students that would otherwise be kept bottled up.
2. A great opportunity to bond with new people.
3. Helps students with their community service hours.
4. A great way to learn responsibility when others count on you.
5. Helpful in getting over stage-fright for students.
6. Provides an entertaining break and something fun to work on after a stressful day.
7. Marks the start of something new at AHS.
8. Is a wonderful experience to take away from.

Barriers:

1. A lead or other actor may be absent the day of the performance or on an important rehearsal.
2. The sound system may fail us during the play.
3. People may not show up to watch the performance since it is optional to come (or only a few will).
4. We may not be able to prepare the sets and such before the final date.
5. There may be a problem with our venue during rehearsals or the performance.
6. There might be an issue st school that would cancel the play.
7. Volunteers may stop coming to help out/someone might quit because of other priorities.
8. Students may want to eat their lunches on rehearsal days.
9. Students may forget about the things they volunteer to bring in for preparation.

Top three barriers I will try to change:

• An actor may be absent the day we perform or on an important meeting date.
• We may not be prepared in time for the big day.
• Students may want to eat their lunches at rehearsals.

An actor may be absent when we need him or her:

     In order to avoid this problem as much as possible, I have decided to ask my volunteers to be back-ups for my actors, so that if an actor is absent on an important date, the back-up can fill in. If I don't get enough of my volunteers to accept filler roles, I will turn back to the rest of the student body at our school to see if anyone might be willing to take them on. I will make sure that I have someone take attendance and such on big days for practicing so that I know specifically who is present and who is not when there is a lot of work to be done; a back-up will take the place of someone who isn't able to make it there. It is important that I have my fillers present and watching as many rehearsals as they possibly can so that they know exactly what they should be able to do if they have to take an actor's place during a rehearsal or the actual event.

We may not be prepared in time for the performance:

     To make sure that our team does not have to face this problem, I will make sure that everyone is being productive during the little time we have at rehearsals. I will see to it that the actors are practicing their parts at home and with each other when we meet so that they will be ready on time for the performance as well as supervising the volunteers to make sure that they are either discussing what they can bring in or do at home and school that will carry on with background preparations. I will make sure to take any suggestions for things that the team could do to make everything easier from all of my group members and other peers that may be interested in helping me. Mr. Hoehne will be a great help to me and a big asset to our group because not only can he help with the ordinary things that need to be attended to, but he can watch over the others and offer advice along with me, creating an atmosphere of there being twice the work to get done with less goofing off. My Leadership helpers are also going to be nice to have around since they can fill in for my supervising post if I am busy or I want to help with another part of the preparation. It is mandatory that I keep reminding my project members about the important dates where certain preparations need to be completed, and that I keep a schedule for the team so that we all know just how much progress we are making.

Students may want to eat their lunches during rehearsals:

     My team members and I have come to find that we are not allowed to bring food into the gym, which is our venue for meetings, and since we get together during lunch, my helpers may get hungry and want to eat. To avoid any disputes or let my teammates go through the day hungry, the most practical solution to this problem is that I dedicate at least five minutes of our rehearsals to eating outside the gym door as a group so that we don't have to spend time finding one another when we are ready to start. If there is a big problem with one or two people about needing more time, I will try to negotiate, and if that fails, I will need to let them go since it means they are not dedicated enough to the project. If multiple people have a problem, I will head out to find a new place to meet in which we could go about our business while eating lunch (I personally think that it is better to not eat during meetings because we would get less done, though).

Helper for Aidan (Blog #3)

     For Aidan's project, I haven't really been asked to do much else than what I was doing before since he wants to make sure I have more than enough time to do my own play project. I am still listing ideas for what can be added to the manual and telling him about new ones I have whenever I get a chance to discuss them with him. We have been talking more about what he can do for my play since the original plan was to align both of our projects in order to have the sound system ready on the day of my play performance (or a few days prior if possible). I have volunteered many times to come in the gym to help him with the actual physical part of repairing the system, but he keeps telling me that part of the project is done with and I only need to worry about rounding up suggestions for the sound system guide and manual.

     On the other hand, he has volunteered to come in during my play rehearsals so that all of his helpers (along with me) can experiment with the sound system when my actors are practicing so that we are all used to how everything will work by the time January 13 (or my play's performance date) comes around. It is really helpful to both of us for me to be helping Aidan and him to be assisting me because our projects relate to each other pretty closely; it saves me time from having to arrange the sound system times, and it gives him an additional helper to write his manual.

Helper for Hiren (Blog #3)

     Hiren's poster project has been very efficient and simple for me because I have been helping him in ways that don't require too much of my time. He has finished his individual experimental posters and started to hang them up around the school, having previously asked his helpers to critique them and give him some feedback. Now that he has moved on a bit with his project, he has told me that I would be helping a lot by just sending him ideas about what his next couple posters should be based off of through e-mail or verbally. I have started to formulate basic concepts future posters can revolve around that would be both inspiring and not too time-consuming all at once. Some of them are things such as dream and promise because he hasn't really created any posters about these yet; since I find these subjects very exciting and fundamental for success, I have started to rummage around my old books and the Internet for quotes and pictures that would express the ideas even better on paper.

     Hiren has told me that once I have a pretty good idea of inspiring concepts and glittering additions that could go with them, I should record them and make sure he knows exactly what idea I am working on and when. He wants me to finish up giving him ideas sometime before or during Christmas Break because he wants to work on a team poster (where all of his group members would create something to add to the piece) either during the break individually, or during class when we come back from break as a group. Hiren is not yet sure about what this team poster will be about, so he will consider the ideas and concepts sent in by all of his helpers to decide on that, and we are supposed to help him decide when the best time to do it would be when he asks us to. 

Leader of Project (Blog #3)

     I am very happy with my progress on this project so far because I have been able to get more done than I ever expected I would by this time. Just this week and last, I have been able to get my project approved by Ms. Gilman and Mr. Kelly, finalize all of the rehearsal venues and get them accepted by Ms. Pamela, write an entire script for the play that was approved by my helpers, have Mr. Hoehne agree to be my adult superior, create and put up posters for advertising, and (if that is not enough) make a semi-list of volunteers that have asked about helping and acting. I was worried when I first chose this project that I would never be able to do anything on time, but my determination and love of theatre has already pushed me ahead of the game, I just can't wait to see how everything turns out!

     The milestone task for this week (that is, by 2 December 2011) was to be aware of people willing to help me and act in the play by writing down the names of those who agreed, or to come up with a meeting date and place for a chatting session so I know specifically who is willing to help me with my project. Since I am not yet fully aware of how many people I have on my side, this meeting (set for 5 December in the gym during lunch) has been put aside as an audition/approval of volunteers time instead of an official rehearsal.

     Even though I have been spending much of my free time working on things for this project, I am enjoying that work, so it is totally worth it. I have talked to so many staff members for the approval of this project, that most of the things I was worrying about before (such as getting proper times and places for rehearsals and the performance) are no longer a problem, and this only makes my IP more fun for me!

Helper for Aidan (Blog #2)

     Aidan has not talked to me much about what he wants me to do for his sound system project, mostly because he was absent from school a couple days before Thanksgiving Break. I have been coming up with ideas for different things or problems that can be added into the manual, so that I have some ideas and suggestions to give to Aidan when I see him again. Some of these problems include things like how to connect some of the basic wires and such to the actual instruments so that anyone can rejoin them if they become disconnected in the future. Also, some details about how to fix the current problem that was just resolved of the random beeping sounds coming from the sound system can be included so the school knows what to do if it happens again and not have to wait. With concepts like these in the manual, the school can just have volunteer students read from it and fix problems if no one else has time to do so in the future.

     Next time that I get a chance to talk to Aidan, I want to make sure that I ask him what it is I need to get done for the manual, and if all of the current system problems have been taken care of so far. I will be open to any new tasks he might give me to think about or complete since he hasn't told me to do much yet; I will always keep thinking about things we can add to the manual because that is the least I can do to contribute as a helper of this project.

Helper for Hiren (Blog #2)

     Right now, Hiren is experimenting on the types of posters he wants to make for his project. All I have been asked to do so far for his project is to come with ideas he can use as concepts for his posters such as inspirational words or phrases, and subjects that would bring out school spirit in students. Hiren wants just ideas because he wants to create the first couple posters by himself so that he can decide exactly how he wants the rest of them to turn out; once he has figured out how the final products should look, he will ask the other member of his group to make some of them.

     Some of the suggestions I have given him to experiment on his posters are things like using deep poems or phrases that involve the concepts of learning and community since there are quite a few people at our school who enjoy creative writing. Also, I said that he could use interesting and eye-catching pictures on his posters that would somehow describe a single-word theme (such as showing a beautiful picture of stars in space to show the concept of dreaming). All in all, my idea about this project would be that whatever the posters look like, students should almost always be able to get some message out of them whenever they look at them, and preferably the message is a powerful and impacting one. Even though this project might not turn out to make a difference in the lives of everyone, there is enough satisfaction knowing that we would have at least tried and maybe even impacted the thinking of some students through the posters we will now create.

     As soon as Hiren is done with his experiments, I will ask him what he has decided to stick with, and what I can do to contribute more in this project.  

Leader of Project (Blog #2)

     My first milestone date was set for this week (or the week of November 21, 2011) and I have pretty much gotten ahead and accomplished it pretty early. I needed to finalize the play that I want to do because I needed to get all the copyright details over with to proceed on the project. What I plan for this is since I chose The Cat in the Hat as my play and it is a book, I will write my own script for it over the Thanksgiving Break, so that although I will need to acknowledge that the story isn't mine, I will not need to do any legal work for the script copyrights.

     With that all taken care of, the other main thing that I needed to get done by this milestone date was to tell either Ms. Gilman or Mr. Kelly (whoever I got a hold of first) about my project and present a rationale and proposal for the positive effects my project would have on the environment of our school. In the proposal, I said that this project would give students who have talents outside of STEM education subjects to show them to other people who might not know of them as well as that it would be a good bonding opportunity between the students of this school. I have given my papers to Mr. Kelly, and he has said he will give me the details tomorrow (on November 22) about what he thinks and suggests for my project.

     I have started to spread the word about my play (although I am keeping it kind of low in case I am not allowed to do this project) by asking my friends the following:  1) if they want to join, 2) if they know anyone who might be interested in volunteering backstage or performing, and 3) if they would like to help in the future but aren't sure yet. I already have many people who are eager to help me (Chandler Neames has said she could do make-up, and Haley Silvernale has said she would love to help with costumes), and I am not only excited to see how my project will turn out, but also proud I have chosen a topic that many students here seem to enjoy.

     November 22:  Mr. Kelly said he was very interested in my project, and he gave me  few tasks to complete before I started doing anything too big. He wants me to get the signatures from all of the adults that will be helping me throughout this project as well as create a calendar of dates for when I would meet with my helpers and actors so that they can be informed along with the people helping me with venues.  

Helper for Aidan (Blog #1)

     For my second helper project, I will be assisting Aidan with his project called "Fixing the Sound System in the Gym". I have the contact information for reaching Aidan when I need to for this project, but it is best not to reveal any of it on my blog. So far, Aidan has said that he already has two of them done, and the step that comes next is creating a manual for other people that will use the sound system in the gym for events such as assemblies (and even my play). He hasn't really informed me about the other milestone dates he has planned so far, but I will talk about them as soon as I am informed.

     The objective for this project is to fix up the sound system in the gym that always makes odd noises and interrupts important events such as speeches and assemblies. By fixing the dirty parts of the system, not only will the person speaking avoid being embarrassed by having to stop mid-sentence, but it would also avoid laughter and taunts during a serious meeting. This project aligns with the goals of our class since it would help both the school and community by doing good for the school and making it so that it doesn't have to get a whole new system. It would be useful for creating a professional atmosphere for guests that come to our school since the constant sounds coming from the system would no longer make it seem like our school doesn't care enough to change what we have.

     My role for this project is going to be working with Adain in writing the manual for the new system since I am pretty good in coming up with warnings and instructions. The manual will be about how to handle the system properly as well as how to fix any future problems that might occur. Adain has not yet explained to me just exactly what I am supposed to do specifically for the manual, but I do know that we are both going to work on connecting our projects to each other since my play will need the sound system, and Adain will need my help in writing as an exchange.

     I am going to check again and again to see where Adain is in his project and if he is on time; I can do this both in class, and through the contact information we have traded. Every time there is a project work portion in class, I will make sure to get updated with all of the new tasks I have to do. I am also willing to stay after school or during lunch in the gym to either assist Aidan's progress or to take things into my own hands if Aidan is busy and thinks I should do more as a helper. If Aidan ever needs me to research anything, I will do it as fast as I can get it done, because I need to have his project done on time if I want to perform with a well-working system and easy-to-use manual.

     The largest thing I see getting in my way during this project is that I may not be able to accomplish that much writing in a short time frame if I am given a lot to write since I have a pretty packed schedule when it comes to homework. A group obstacle may be that it turns out to be difficult to find exactly what needs to be talked about within the manual, because much background knowledge about technology and what was done in order to accomplish fixing the sound system is needed in order to tell someone what needs to happen during a problem.

      I can solve my problem by giving myself a bit less time to relax and instead using it for this project on the weekends; I can also use some of the time I have in class to work on writing the manual if I am on track with my own project. The problem about having background knowledge can be handled by recording all the steps it took to fix the system while actually repairing it. Also, some background research can be conducted to figure out more about other sound systems so that we can compare them with this one in the manual.

   

Helper for Hiren (Blog #1)

     My name is Surbhi, and the first project that I will be helping with is that of Hiren. The project is called "Inspirational Posters" and it has a purpose of getting students at AHS to have more school spirit, as well as inspire them to follow their dreams and goals in life. I have the contact information of the group members written down, so there is no need to include it in my blog. The milestone dates are still being set, for Hiren hasn't yet finalized what they should be. The objective of this project is to create a new atmosphere of spirit and connection to the school in different areas that students tend to hang out, so that there is always some kind of reminder that AHS is a wonderful school that should be worth celebrating everyday.

     This project aligns with the goals of our class because it not only helps influence the people within our school to be happier and remember the whole reason that they attend AHS (which should be something like wanting to be well-educated and do what they would like to in life). Also, this project would create an even safer environment for both the school and community by setting a positive example of why education is important and why we are proud to be learning. With more people positively contributing in school and learning for fun, the whole community would be inspired to do the same for similar causes.

     My role is going to be pretty simple in this project since I will be doing more of the background research than the actual artwork. Whenever Hiren wants to make one of the posters, he is to call me and his other helpers for suggestions according to the topic he is making the poster on. I would also research a little about the topic and give him things like pictures and quotes that he can use on the poster. Also, I would help assemble the posters if the need came and I was available, as well as hang up the posters around the school on selected times when I can be of assistance.

     I will constantly e-mail and call Hiren to monitor his progress, especially on the milestone dates to check if we are finishing everything on time. If not, I will give advice on how we can speed up and when we can meet together to get more work done quicker. I have asked him to give me a call when he would need me to do something more than just research, and I will most likely take extra work on myself to get what needs to be done finished (this shouldn't really occur since this is a pretty simple project).

     The largest obstacle in the way for me during this project is that I am not too good of artist, and if I am ever asked to actually create a poster or two, it will be not only very time-consuming for me, but they also might not turn out like Hiren wants them to. Something that might come in the way of the group would be not being able to create posters that are inspiring to the students at our school, and ending up wasting our time with this project.

     In order to take care of this, though, I will create an outline early after asking Hiren how he would want the poster to look, and I can create the poster by copying my earlier outline. By doing it this way, I don't have to worry about whether Hiren would like the poster, and I also don't have to think about what to do for a long time. In order to make interesting posters, the group can observe things around it, such as certain words that students use that are inspiring as well as popular, and the posters can be based off of these kinds of topics. Also, we can create extremely eye-catching and colorful posters so that they are noticed easily by people walking by them.

Project Under Leadership of Surbhi Ghadia

     My name is Surbhi, and I am in Ms. Fitz's Leadership class. This project is for serving my community by choosing a task to accomplish that will benefit others and myself. The name of the project that I am planning to do is "The Direction and Success of an All-School Play". Since I plan to perform just a little while after the holidays, I want to do a play about The Cat in the Hat. I have started this project on Monday, 7 November 2011, and want to finish it (actually perform the play) around Friday, 13 January 2012. My helpers for this project will be Camila, Jenni, Aidan, and Hiren; my adult supervisor will most likely be Mr. Hoehne.

     What I want to see as the result of this project is bonding between not only the people who will be in the play, but also the ability for the rest of the people in the school to relax and enjoy something that their classmates and students have given up their time for and put hard work into. I want to use something as wonderful as acting to bring the school together as well as try to end the comments that some make about AHS being a boring and nerdy school, especially since this is a unique concept for our school. Even if the play is not a success, the ending result should make my crew and myself proud to have given a shot to something new and we should be able to see that our efforts were not to waste. My project will be able to accomplish some of the goals that I have created in Leadership class, such as using my independent and leading skills to bring the school together while inspiring the ones I work with to display the talents they may be hiding.
    

There will MANY obstacles that will come my way while working on this project, especially because it will require many events and people to be associated with it. Arranging times and places for these events (such as auditions and dress rehearsals) as well as writing a script and going through copyright procedures for the story. Rehearsals will need to be in a reasonable setting where everyone who needs to can meet whenever necessary, and I will need to make sure that my schedule is flexible. One thing that can go very wrong, though, is if no one is interested in doing the play except my helpers, and we have to pick our own actors and such; this would add a lot more work in our list of things to do. As for successful auditions, my helpers will most likely assist me with judging them.

• The very first date that will have to be set as a milestone is making a story final for the play and getting any legal information taken care of to do it. This step also includes having a meeting with Ms. Gilman or Mr. Kelly (maybe even both of them) to make sure my project is good to go; I will need to type up a proposal for this. After that is all finalized, posters would need to be put up advertising the roles and assistant spots for the play (these need to state that those with much free time should audition). This should all take about a week to do, and the day the posters are put up will be the milestone date. I have set this for the week of November 21, 2011.
• The second important step is fixing a date where the gym at the school would be open to host the auditions in after creating a script or pieces of it so the actors can be realistic with what they are auditioning for. The judging would also need to be done within a few days of this by my helpers and me. It also might turn out to be unnecessary to have auditions if the word is spread and I get enough people to volunteer for both props and actors; the people with the best available times and willingness will be chosen by me in this case (I will make a list of volunteers). The list of people or a meeting date finalization is set for December 2, 2011.
• The third milestone of this project would be the day when all the actors meet for the first time and our first rehearsal is completed. During this meeting, things like acting exercises, personalities, and any mistakes within the script should be addressed as well as the other meeting dates be finalized. Something that would also be important is creating volunteer lunch dates in which volunteers could meet at lunch and help create props under the supervision of our project mentor while the actors rehearsed more with each other in another area. First meeting set for 5 Decemeber 2011, other meeting dates have already been set on my official IP calendar.
• The fourth milestone would be the setting of a time that the play will be presented and arranging a dress rehearsal accordingly. All of the associated people will need to meet, dressed as their character, and practice through as much of the play as possible (this should be a day after school or on the weekend). This milestone has been set for 11 January 2012 after school from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• The fifth and final milestone for this project would be the actual play date, either during school or after. Everyone working on this project should be present and prepared, and it would be preferred if all went smoothly. Once all is done, there will be some kind of event that I will hold in order to thank all of the people who helped me. This milestone is set for 13 January 2012, either during or after school.

All of these things will be made sure to happen on time by using preparation techniques properly and working well with the opportunities and people that will assist me so that I can be on time. Unless the unfortunate occurrence of no one wanting a play happens, the obstacles in my way will be taken care of by communicating when necessary with my helpers and the school staff for arranging meetings, and working with my parents to take care of all the copyright business.

      I will need support from my peers to create posters to put up around the school. Materials that will be needed are things to make sets and props out of as well as casual character-fitting clothes that will most likely be simple enough for the actors to already have. The gymnasium will be needed multiple times during lunch and after school for rehearsals as well.

     I will need many people other than my helpers to assist me during this project... Not only actors are necessary, but I will also need stage technicians for moving props and creating effects. Many volunteers are also needed to help create the props and background supplies for the play, I WILL NOT have time to do this by myself.
    
     As many volunteers that want to be there for access help can come, but the actual play will hold no more than fifteen characters acting, of which some will be my class helpers and myself. My parents will be helping me at certain times, and a separate adult mentor will also be there for assistance. The plan will be to take on people who are free most of the time so that they can make most of the after-school rehearsal dates. My helpers will need to assist me in the script and other things, but they too have their own projects to worry about as well. All of my actors will need to show up to a certain number of rehearsals and bring assigned supplies if they want to be a success. I need to make sure I get my parts done in arranging and writing done on time before the made milestones.

     What I will do in order to hold both myself and my team members responsible for the things that we are all assigned to do is make sure that we all know for sure what is happening and what our roles are. As long as everyone in the group is updated on what is going on, there will be no confusion on what needs to happen. Also, I will only make sure to accept people into my group that promise as well as prove that they will not slack off, and anyone who volunteers that makes things harder rather than easier will be asked to leave.