I have not accomplished anything since my last blog post. I am still waiting for a response from my friend at the First United Methodist Church about using a space in the church to have my bracelet making sessions. This last week, I have learned that it is very important to know everything about the organization that I am sending the bracelets to, because I only just found out that I can’t send my package to Operation Gratitude whenever I want to. They have specific dates that they can receive packages, and those dates are during the summer time. But, this gives me more time to make more bracelets than I wanted to make in the first place. Which means, the more bracelets I send, the less work Operation Gratitude has to do. They still have to make the bracelets, but not as many as they are going to have to when I send the bracelets.
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I have learned a few things since my last update. I have learned that I am not able to send my para-cord bracelets to Operation Gratitude as soon as I wanted to. They have certain dates that they can receive packages, so I will be working on the bracelets throughout the summer. Because these are difficult to make, I only have about 190 bracelets made. I am trying to get a small group of people together for this summer to make these bracelets, but I am having a hard time finding a space where we can meet. I am contacting someone I know at the First United Methodist Church, and I am asking them if I can use a space in the church. I am still waiting for a response.
What struck me the most about the gallery walk was how many people were interested in my project. What also shocked me was the fact that I got no critique whatsoever. I really think that I should have been given some critique, instead of having people come up to me and telling me that my project was good and then just walk away. Some feedback that people gave me was that they thought that my project was cool, but that is not enough for me to be able to make my project better. One thing I have accomplished since last Wednesday is I have made almost 50 paracord bracelets. That is a large amount of paracord bracelets because they are very difficult to make and they take some time to make also. One thing that has gone wrong for me is I keep making the bracelets either too long or too short, which causes me to have to unravel the bracelet, and then make it again. My next step of action is to create a ‘How To’ video on how to make the paracord bracelets.
I have learned a few things since my last blog entry. I learned that my project does have a purpose. Paracord bracelets can be used to save someone's life. Soldiers can use the bracelets in an emergency situation. If someone is in a place where they can’t climb out of somewhere, or if they can’t necessarily get to a lower spot, the person with the paracord bracelet can easily deploy it, and use it to bring that person back to safety. They can be use to replace shoelaces, string something up in a tree, etc. The paracord I am using can hold up to 550 lbs. I have accomplished a few things, such as, asking students to help me make the bracelets and emaling the CEO of Operation Gratitude. She told me that I was doing a great thing for our soldiers and that made me feel like this project is worth something. It is worth putting a smile on a soldier's face. I have not really faced any challenges this week other than not receiving an email back from Kelly South, who is the lady that runs the paracord portion of Operation Gratitude. I emailed her and asked her if it was ok for me to send half of the bracelets as a fishtail design, and the other half the design they have on their website. My next step of action is to get the students who helped me make the paracord bracelets and have them each write 2-3 letters to be included in the package that I am sending to Operation Gratitude. These letters will basically say how much we appreciate the soldiers and everything they do for our country.
This week I tried to create a GoFundMe account. I realized that I cannot set up a GoFundMe account because I need to first figure out what my mission is, who my audience is, and what I am producing. People need to know why I am doing this project. I cannot tell people that it is for a good cause and ask them to give me money. I can’t just expect people to give me the money that they themselves have worked hard for. I need to have a purpose for doing this project. I have not accomplished a lot this week, but I have made a website for my project. This website is telling people about my project and why I am doing it. In my website, I have included the link to Operation Gratitude’s website for people who are interested in helping them. I have faced a few challenges throughout this project. I keep asking myself, “is this project worth doing?”. I feel like my project is pointless and it’s not actually helping anyone. I am still trying to think of ways that I can get my school involved, but I just don’t think anyone would really be interested in helping me. I strongly feel that I should have chosen an actual issue in the world. Sending care packages to soldiers who are deployed over seas is a common thing for people to do. It has already been done. My next step of action is to talk to Stephen about my project. Is this really helping anyone? Because this has already been done, should I even be doing this? What is the point of my project?
This week I have learned that I should try and get the school involved in my project. I think I want to have a few students who have family members or even friends who are in the military and I want to have them make para-cord bracelets. I’m not sure if anyone would be interested in helping me make these, but I think I can make it happen. So far I have started creating a website for people who are interested in helping me and Operation Gratitude. I have also gotten donation forms that have to go in every care package that I am sending. I also got the shipping address information. The only thing that has gone wrong for me is finding people who would be interested in helping me and my mind that keeps telling me that my project is not worth doing. My next step of action is to finish my website, and find a mentor for my project.
For my project, I want to assemble care packages for soldiers overseas. I would like to get the school involved in this and have them write 2 or 3 letters to be put into these care packages. I also want to have the students create para-cord bracelets to put into the packages. My audience for this project is going to be soldiers, marines, new recruits, veterans, first responders, wounded warriors, caregivers, and individually named U.S. service members. Military members like to receive packages from their family members or friends. But if a complete stranger sends it, it makes them feel like they are worth something. In my opinion, the difference between student centered learning and audience centered learning is very big. Student centered learning is when the teacher is instructing us to do a certain project. Audience centered learning is when the students are finding their own project around something they are passionate about. The only obstacle I have encountered was trying to figure out what I wanted to do for this project. My next step of action is to find an organization that sends care packages to the soldiers and get the shipping information. I also need to find out what things can be sent to the soldiers, so that I know what to buy and make. I want to make things for these soldiers so that it doesn’t seem like I just went out and bought these things and sent it to them.
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
April 2016
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