Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Week of April 12th: Research
Well during this week, even though I wasn't journaling I was still making progress in my project. I completed a rough draft of my letter to the editor for the Ithaca Journal on Saturday, however I need information from my survey which I have not conducted yet.
Week of April 12&19: Reflection
Ugh. Unfortunately, I have NOT been keeping on my journal. I can't say why I would do this to myself. I was very proud of myself for getting out of red flag, and if I put myself back in it again I will be very disappointed in myself. I have not updated for two weeks, and I am just now coming back to write about the two weeks I have not updated. I think I was caught in the senioritis of the week before Spring Break. STILL: Not an excuse!!! I obviously am going to have to work hard to keep myself up to date, and show myself and others that I am responsible and deserve the freedom that the WISE class is based upon.
Week of April 5th: Reflection
Well the big thing that happened this week was I got out of red flag!! This means I will be on my own to keep up on my journal and research. I feel very proud of myself for this accomplishment, I have been working very hard to get out of red flag and it paid off.
Week of April 5th: Research
For research this week, I went through the interviews I have conducted so far and put together my survey. I also spent time at the library again, I think I am coming close to getting of the research that is useful for my project from the library. As far as my survey goes, I would like to go out in public at least once during spring break and collect data, preferably twice.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
In Class: Thursday Class
How much time have I spent on my project so far this week?
I've spent around 6 hours on my project this week. I have attended class, updated my blog, and have created a rough draft of my survey that I am bringing to class tomorrow.
What did you do that was hands on?
I notice a lack of hands on in my project this week so far, I have done a lot more research. In order to balance this out my goal is to finalize more interviews as well as start brainstorming my article I am writing to the Ithaca Journal.
What research did you do?
I was at the library a lot this week. It's a great resource, so far I have been able to find city records on many developments that have happened in the city of Ithaca. In particular, information on Lake Source Cooling, the Wal-Mart development, and proposed plans of the Southwest neighborhood development that has not happened yet. I also found city records of the Waterfront Trail and have been looking at how the political groups committees and government interacted with all of them.
Did you meet with your mentor?
I met with Ms. Shenk on Tuesday morning.
Do you have at least 3 journal entries?
Yes I do.
Were you in class this week? Did you have and use your journal?
Yes I was in class, and I answered the questions from "Happiness Revisited" that evening.
Do you think your fulfillment of WISE requirements was...?
Adequate. I spent the majority of the on research and would like to involve myself with more hands on. However I am pleased with the effort I put into the research and have now have plenty! of sources for my project.
What are your plans for next week?
My plans for next week are to:
I've spent around 6 hours on my project this week. I have attended class, updated my blog, and have created a rough draft of my survey that I am bringing to class tomorrow.
What did you do that was hands on?
I notice a lack of hands on in my project this week so far, I have done a lot more research. In order to balance this out my goal is to finalize more interviews as well as start brainstorming my article I am writing to the Ithaca Journal.
What research did you do?
I was at the library a lot this week. It's a great resource, so far I have been able to find city records on many developments that have happened in the city of Ithaca. In particular, information on Lake Source Cooling, the Wal-Mart development, and proposed plans of the Southwest neighborhood development that has not happened yet. I also found city records of the Waterfront Trail and have been looking at how the political groups committees and government interacted with all of them.
Did you meet with your mentor?
I met with Ms. Shenk on Tuesday morning.
Do you have at least 3 journal entries?
Yes I do.
Were you in class this week? Did you have and use your journal?
Yes I was in class, and I answered the questions from "Happiness Revisited" that evening.
Do you think your fulfillment of WISE requirements was...?
Adequate. I spent the majority of the on research and would like to involve myself with more hands on. However I am pleased with the effort I put into the research and have now have plenty! of sources for my project.
What are your plans for next week?
My plans for next week are to:
- Interview or e-mail interview a city official
- By next weekend have conducted my survey in Ithaca (the first time, I suspect I may go out more than once to gather enough data)
- Keep up with the at least 8 hours a week, and blogging.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
In Class: Tuesday April 5th
Today in class we read "Happiness Revisited". There are some follow up questions (in relation to our projects):
What do you feel most happy?
I am most happy when I am doing hands on research, and interviewing people. I like talking to people, and when you are in front of people talking there are things that you can talk about that you are unable too when it is, say, over the phone or e-mail. Surprisingly! I also really enjoyed myself when I have been going to the library to do hands on research. I have always thought that doing doing research was horribly boring, but the fact that I actually enjoy myself doing research for my project makes sense (as it should! I am doing this project because I want to, right?) There were oodles of references at the library that I did not expect, and still see myself going back at least a few more times.
React/Respond to this article.
This article was very thorough. "We feel a sense of exhilaration, a deep sense of enjoyment that is long cherished and that becomes a landmark in memory for what life should be like. This is what we mean by optimal experience." (Pg. 3) This quote was particularly intriguing for me. Of course, I want to live my life to the fullest and enjoy it every second I can get. I have felt optimal experience before, and it is a great feeling. In relation to my project, I believe I can obtain optimal experience from it if I keep up with my work, and reward myself with the things I love doing with it (talked about in Question 1).
Where are you on the flow chart? How has this changed/remained the same throughout your project?
At this current moment, I would say I am closer to the anxiety side of the flow chart, but not by much. I tend to get ahead of myself, and worry about the WHOLE picture at a time, not by steps. This is a matter of perspective I think. I created a WISE planner for myself which I think is very helpful, it allows me to look at goals I have for my project broken down into smaller pieces. This way, I can focus on one thing at a time, and it is helping me see that step by step the whole picture comes together, it doesn't happen in one fell swoop. This is completely opposite from where I was in my project a month or so ago. I was deep in the boredom section of the flow chart, abusing my responsibilities and robbing myself and my ability of "flow". I have come out of this now, and have been keeping up on all my work, and have been doing the things I enjoy doing with my project. All in all, I would much rather be anxious about my project then bored. However, I think it would be a good idea to keep flow in my mind as I continue my project, and try to find my happy medium where anxiety and boredom are not involved.
How can you achieve flow?
As I have already mentioned, I created a WISE planner for myself so that I can step back and work on things one at a time. I think this will also help me not leave things for the last minute. I put myself under unnecessary stress when I wait until the last minute to do things, and also cause boredom for myself when I'm not doing anything. Ms. Lord talked today about how some of us have to fall before we really know what it means to conduct an independent project. She was right, I can say that I fell before I knew what it meant. Having said that, I believe I am at an advantage for knowing when I achieve flow. I'm not there yet, but I am certainly working on it.
What do you feel most happy?
I am most happy when I am doing hands on research, and interviewing people. I like talking to people, and when you are in front of people talking there are things that you can talk about that you are unable too when it is, say, over the phone or e-mail. Surprisingly! I also really enjoyed myself when I have been going to the library to do hands on research. I have always thought that doing doing research was horribly boring, but the fact that I actually enjoy myself doing research for my project makes sense (as it should! I am doing this project because I want to, right?) There were oodles of references at the library that I did not expect, and still see myself going back at least a few more times.
React/Respond to this article.
This article was very thorough. "We feel a sense of exhilaration, a deep sense of enjoyment that is long cherished and that becomes a landmark in memory for what life should be like. This is what we mean by optimal experience." (Pg. 3) This quote was particularly intriguing for me. Of course, I want to live my life to the fullest and enjoy it every second I can get. I have felt optimal experience before, and it is a great feeling. In relation to my project, I believe I can obtain optimal experience from it if I keep up with my work, and reward myself with the things I love doing with it (talked about in Question 1).
Where are you on the flow chart? How has this changed/remained the same throughout your project?
At this current moment, I would say I am closer to the anxiety side of the flow chart, but not by much. I tend to get ahead of myself, and worry about the WHOLE picture at a time, not by steps. This is a matter of perspective I think. I created a WISE planner for myself which I think is very helpful, it allows me to look at goals I have for my project broken down into smaller pieces. This way, I can focus on one thing at a time, and it is helping me see that step by step the whole picture comes together, it doesn't happen in one fell swoop. This is completely opposite from where I was in my project a month or so ago. I was deep in the boredom section of the flow chart, abusing my responsibilities and robbing myself and my ability of "flow". I have come out of this now, and have been keeping up on all my work, and have been doing the things I enjoy doing with my project. All in all, I would much rather be anxious about my project then bored. However, I think it would be a good idea to keep flow in my mind as I continue my project, and try to find my happy medium where anxiety and boredom are not involved.
How can you achieve flow?
As I have already mentioned, I created a WISE planner for myself so that I can step back and work on things one at a time. I think this will also help me not leave things for the last minute. I put myself under unnecessary stress when I wait until the last minute to do things, and also cause boredom for myself when I'm not doing anything. Ms. Lord talked today about how some of us have to fall before we really know what it means to conduct an independent project. She was right, I can say that I fell before I knew what it meant. Having said that, I believe I am at an advantage for knowing when I achieve flow. I'm not there yet, but I am certainly working on it.
Reflection: Week of March 29th
I felt I spent a lot of time on my project this week. In total, I would round it to 9 or 10 hours. I was proud of all my work on my project this past week and I am going to make it a goal to work AT LEAST 8 hours a week on my project, hopefully more than that.
I thought my interview with Mr. Logue was very interesting. We met at City Hall, and he had BIG maps of the trail which were helpful in understanding conflicts in the trail and the construction of the trail. Mr. Logue seemed involved in Phase 2 of the trail more than anything else. I now understand what he had to go through (being the City Engineer of Transportation) in order for the Trail to connect Phase 1 and Phase 3.
I also found my research at the library extremely helpful. I talked to a reference librarian about my project and she was able to help me found tons of resources. There were many city documents on development projects that had happened in the past. I found of final draft of the proposal of the Waterfront Trail and copied that. I plan on returning to the library several more times to copy more resources, and investigating the politics of proposing and constructing a development like the Waterfront Trail or the Wal-Mart Development.
I thought my interview with Mr. Logue was very interesting. We met at City Hall, and he had BIG maps of the trail which were helpful in understanding conflicts in the trail and the construction of the trail. Mr. Logue seemed involved in Phase 2 of the trail more than anything else. I now understand what he had to go through (being the City Engineer of Transportation) in order for the Trail to connect Phase 1 and Phase 3.
I also found my research at the library extremely helpful. I talked to a reference librarian about my project and she was able to help me found tons of resources. There were many city documents on development projects that had happened in the past. I found of final draft of the proposal of the Waterfront Trail and copied that. I plan on returning to the library several more times to copy more resources, and investigating the politics of proposing and constructing a development like the Waterfront Trail or the Wal-Mart Development.
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