Proposal

My 20% Time Project is going to be learning American Sign Language. My final goal will be to be able to communicate in ASL, even if it is on a somewhat basic level. I want to be able to at least introduce myself and hold a short conversation. The majority of this project will be done in class, but I plan on reinforcing what I have learned in my class time at home when I have free time.

       To be successful in learning sign language, I should know the history behind ASL. Sign language was around in America before the official invention of ASL. This specific language came about after a hearing minister, Thomas Gallaudet, and a deaf teacher, Laurent Clerc, started the first American school for the deaf in Hartford, Connecticut in 1817. They combined what they had learned in Europe with the signs already established in that area to create ASL. It is also important for me to understand that there are many different types of sign language; it is by no means universal. Aside from ASL, there is British Sign Language, International Sign, Finger Spelling, and many more.

       The easy part about this project for me will be motivating myself. I am so excited already for this project and have been wanting to learn ASL for a long time, but never set aside the time to do it. Now that I have specific time set out in class, I do not have to take as much time at home to do it and will have a much better time focusing. Also, there are so many resources available that I know it will be easy to find lessons and keep going. The most difficult part about this project, though, will probably be the solitude of it. I know two people that speak sign language, so it will help to practice by speaking to them, but I do not regularly see them or spend time with them so it might get difficult there.

Proposal

Christian

                For my 20 Percent Time Project, I chose to pursue Photography.  My dad has a passion for photography, and I admire the pictures he takes and just the eye he has for a beautiful shot.  I have a small background in Photography due to my dad’s knowledge such as the basic functions of the camera and baseline terminology such as exposure and white balance. My friends who go to David Brearley High School in Kenilworth are offered a photography class, and many of them elect to take it. If my dad is not around, I can always ask one of my friends for help when I’m having trouble.  Other than my dad and my friends, I have the Internet, with video tutorials and articles that explain the in’s and out’s of the camera and its abilities, it will be a valuable source to me.

                What will be easy in this assignment is the surplus of resources I have on photography, the prior knowledge I have with cameras, and the enthusiasm I have to learn photography. What might be a struggle for me is my desire for perfection. I am afraid I will not feel as if I successfully learned photography unless I am perfectly satisfied with the pictures I take and the way I use the camera. The majority of the work will be done outside of class because there is only so much I can photograph in a health classroom. While in class, I will use the Internet to look for new information on photography and use my peers to review my work and make suggestions on what I can do to improve my work.

Reflection

Reflection

My 20 Time Project is going to be creating a blog. My final product/goal/accomplishment will be to make a blog post two days out of the week every week. The first thing I need to do is choose a blogging platform, whether it be Wordpress, Blogspot, etc. I then need to decide if I want to pay to create a blog or grab a free one. I will most likely use a free one like Wordpress or Blogspot, but I have to keep in mind that certain things are limited and my blog could possibly be deleted if on a free site. I then have to decide the design of my blog, how it will look aesthetically. Finding a website to post blogs on will be easy. I already have an idea on what site I want to post my blogs on: Wordpress. Finding a topic to talk about two days out of the week will be difficult. I want to share my unique opinions on something that’s going on, and if I basically share the same opinion with most people on a certain topic, I don’t think it’s worth sharing. Balancing schoolwork and this blog will be difficult as well. Depending on the options I have, choosing a layout might be difficult. Most of this project will most likely be done outside of class. It will be easier for me to formulate ideas on what I want to talk about outside of class. I will be able to write one of my blog posts outside, although it is not required. I might possibly gather ideas from being outside, but for the most part, it is not required to blog outside.

I will mostly be working on this project by myself, but if I ever need help, I could ask family members, friends, and of course my Humanities teacher, Ms. Roy. My audience is for people around my age, people in high school. It could also be appealing to young adults. This project is worthwhile because I’m allowing my opinions to be shared online. I expect to learn how to manage my time better and to have new perspectives on things. At the end of the year, I have to show my blog. All I need for this project is my laptop. I have until the end of the year to launch my project.

Proposal

My 20% Time Proposal Project is to work on my mile run. When i have reached my maximum efficiency, i will work on my 100 meter run. This is mostly a personal project so i will be working by myself. I will probably need someone to record/time my runs (but it is not necessary). The audience / user base / client base for this project is me. I think this project is worthwhile because it ultimately helps me in the long run (literally). Me working on this now will help me greatly when I’m doing spring track; this is my practice. From doing this project I will learn how to have a better diet plan and how hard it is to maintain a steady time when running these events. 
At the end of the school year I will make and present a powerpoint showing my beginning times for the runs, then i will keep working on the runs, timing each time i do the event. Then i will have a slide comparing my final times to the beginning times for the events. For this project my only expense would probably be buying new running shoes/spikes. I will need running shoes, a time clock (my phone), a camera (my phone), and time. There is no specific ending to this. Working on my body/personal events is always going to happen all the time.

Proposal

Kayleen 
My goal for my 20% Time is to teach myself how to play the guitar over the next 16 weeks without professional assistance. As of now I don’t plan to work with anyone specific all the time, but I may ask a friend for help sometime during my learning. I will mostly rely on guitar courses from the Internet, but my friend will also be helping me occasionally since she knows how to play guitar. The audience that I am targeting is, inevitably my humanities class, and possibly those interested in teaching themselves guitar. This project is worthwhile because it is good to know how to play an instrument and is a good use of my time, since I tend to waste time doing useless things when I could be doing something productive. The project will also help me develop skills that I can use in school, such as time management, responsibility, etc.

I obviously expect to know how to play the guitar, though not like a professional who has played for years, but know enough to play at a decent level. Besides knowing how to play, I also hope to be able to learn how to manage my time better and be able to teach myself how to do something over an extended period of time, while having to balance these lessons and schoolwork. I do not have any extracurricular activities outside of school, and I believe that this opportunity will allow me to make use of my time productively. I hope to find this project enjoyable to do, rather than it being burdensome in achieving a good grade.
The product that I plan to show for my presentation is a final video of me playing one or more songs on the guitar. I may plan to take a short video halfway through to show the progress I made to lead up to the final video. This project does not exactly require me to pay for anything besides maybe a book for guitar tutorials and pieces, because I already own a guitar for children at home. I may plan to borrow an actual guitar from my friend who is offering to help me if I need assistance.

Since I am only provided with a limited amount of time to complete this task, I have to plan wisely on how I am going to succeed in learning how to play. I am planning to use youtube and free lessons online from websites like http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/ and http://www.justinguitar.com/ as two examples. I will try to plan what I should achieve every four weeks. To start, I will research more about the acoustic guitar (anatomy, etc.), and its difference from electric, and also learn and memorize the chords (and the difference between minor and major). I can then learn and practice techniques like slides and trills, scales, and study what the base note of each string is. Another thing to learn would be frets, and how each fret down is a completely different note. I will learn about the different notes and tempos and as the weeks go by, the difficulty of what I am learning will gradually increase until I can play well enough to play a full song. After these 16 weeks, I will film a final video of me playing a song of my choice and present it to the class. Learning how to play the guitar in 16 weeks will be a difficult task, especially because of schoolwork and limited time, but I will have to stay focused since basically all of this project will be done outside of class. During class, I can get started on my reflection or do more research on what to learn to add to my schedule plan. By the end of this project, I hope to gain new skills and confidence in learning new things by myself and successfully play a song at a moderate level.

Proposal

My 20 Time Project is going to be producing music through computer software programs.

My final product/goal/accomplishment will be to produce either an individual, or short compilation of short instrumental songs made by myself (a new, independent creation).

What do I need to know about my topic to be successful? (Now research these items and staple them to this handout.)

I need to learn how to count beats, understand how to operate music software programs, understand how to create simple melodies, simple drum and bass and string patterns, and gain an overall better understanding of the creative process in making music, sampling instruments from other works, and synthesizing a product that is playable and not a literal clone of someone else’s work.

What will be easy about this project?

I love music, learning about music, the creative process, challenging myself creatively, and hearing things that work, knowledge of instrumentations, and overall brainstorming.

What will be difficult about this project?

Physically learning how to use the computer software programs, being able to see the bigger picture of a beat (the forest as opposed to the trees) and how everything will work in unison will be key.

Will most of this project be in class or outside of class?

Most of the project will likely be outside of class, as I can’t download the software on computers in school.

If outside, what will I do during the class 20 Time?

Watch tutorials on making beats, reading articles about creating music (tips, tricks, creative ideas), listening to other instrumentals for inspiration, brainstorming ideas, practice counting beats.

Proposal

For 20 Percent Time, I plan on creating a blog. My goal is to create a blog post every day out of the week for two weeks. I already know what blogging platform I want to use. Wordpress was one of the most highly suggested places to start a blog, so I decided to use that website. I decided to use a public platform because it’s free to use. I have to keep in mind that my blog could get deleted at any time.

When I create my blog, I want to use it as a place to share my unique opinions. I want to share a unique perspective on topics going on currently. If my opinion is already shared with the majority, I don’t feel it is necessary to share it. However, since I have to create a blog post two days out of the week, sometimes I might have to. I will try my best to make the blog posts interesting and captivating.

Creating this blog might help me in my day to day life. It can help me understand where other people are coming from with their views. Lately I have been understanding why some people think the way they do. Instead of attacking them, I could think of the reasons why they think the way they do. I also used to have ignorant opinions, so none of us are perfect. This does not mean however, that we should be okay with people spreading hateful comments.

I want to become a journalist when I’m journalist, so this blog will most likely be very helpful. For awhile now, I’ve loved to write and share current events. My blog will most likely be a combination of the two. This blog will help me in pursuing a career in journalism.

Proposal

Kamryn

My 20 Time Project is going to be about me learning how to braid hair and install a hair weave. My final product will be a hair doll or person with a fully braided head and a styled weave sewn in. In order to be successful, I must learn how to braid, sew, install, and style hair. I also must learn the cost of materials for this particular project.

At times, this project may be easy and other parts may be difficult and take some time. This project will be easy because I am actually interested in hair. I find different textures of hair and different colors to be very interesting. I have only had a weave once, but i like the fact that you can make your hair look however you want by just installing a weave. The difficult part will be the actual learning of how to do each skill. Another part that I will have to do is ask my mom for the money to buy materials. I prefer not to ask for money, but this project may save her money in the long run. She will not have to pay the hair salon to do my older sister’s hair.

When considering time management, I can work on my project both in and out of the classroom. I can work on 50% of the project in class and 50% outside of class. In class I can watch tutorials or even bring in a hair doll to practice. Outside of class, I can watch tutorials, practice, and collect materials.

Proposal

Charlotte

My 20 Percent Time Project is going to be learning how to draw with computer software. My final goal will be a good understanding of Krita computer software and to be able to create art on Krita. I am very excited for this project because I have always enjoyed drawing in my spare time. Many artists and graphic designers use software, like Photoshop to create images and painting. I want to have these tools available so I can create and share art with my friends.

To be successful in my project, I will have to know how to download Krita (https://krita.org/download/krita-desktop/) and know how to use the software (https://krita.org/learn/tutorials). Fortunately, all I need to know about Krita Software is right on the website. If I need any extra help in using the software or drawing, the internet is a terrific resource. I have several books at home on art and drawing to read if I get stuck.

What will be easy about this project is that this is something I enjoy, so that makes this 20 Percent Time project 100% easier. It will also be easy to learn how to use Krita, since all the resources are right on the website. I'm not terrible at drawing, so getting a good result/drawing from the program won't be hard either.

Actually using the software is a totally different story, though. I believe trying to use the tools on Krita will be the hardest part of the project for me because I am terrible at following directions, and I know it. It's not for a lack of trying, but I always get lost or overthink what I'm supposed to be doing, and do the wrong thing. This will be a challenge, but I'm up for it.

I think the time I spend getting this project done will be split pretty evenly between class and home:

I can watch videos and read pdfs in class, then implement my knowledge of the software at home. Since I can't download programs on school computers, I will leave all the drawing to do at home.