I worked super hard on this last paper of my regular course. I’ll be honest: I was hoping to get one of those awards. I really thought I had this one sewed up. It was very good work.
But, I didn’t check the rubric before I submitted and I forgot to add in a table of contents. I also changed my research questions to be more concise and accidentally changed them to closed ended questions from open ended (“will” instead of “how will”). It was a dumb mistake, especially since the rest skated right through. So bummer.
It took me a lot of mental work to knock this paper out, but it paid off. I have been struggling to find A way to convey information on methods for using cell phones that test teachers, not students. All of a sudden, I had an epiphany and realized how to do it with this paper. I sat with it for a few days to be sure I was on track, and then started writing. As I wrote and outlined a logical path for the paper it came together even more tightly. I’m excited about the result and will begin creating training videos this week.
It took me 4-5 days working and thinking on this paper to get it right. My first submission was on Feb 18, I resubmitted on Feb 20, and passed on Feb 22.
I was so confident, in fact, that I immediately started writing my prospectus and submitted it without bothering to talk to my instructor. I worked on that paper for two days 6-8 hours, I think). It has a strict format, but I think I nailed it. My previous papers had information I could copy and paste in with minimal editing, including information from my initial polling I thought I no longer needed or would use. Making it flow logically was tricky because my problem is complicated. I didn’t stress too much about this, because if I get it “wrong” they’ll just send it back and tell me what to fix. NBD. I’m very confident my thinking and study are above par for the average person taking this course.
I asked 6 women in the ward who are good and/or professional teachers to meet with me for a focus group on the subject to help me ensure what I’m doing meets needs and expectations. I scheduled it for 2pm Sunday so I’d stay out of their busy schedules. I mind-mapped my two primary areas of research (Cell phones and rapport), and I think I have enough material to create significant training.
Once I have the science-part filmed, I’ll ask 8-10 adult friends to get together for a few hours one Saturday and pretend to be teenagers while I demonstrate training methods and film it for the videos. Should be fun. I also have to write up my surveys.
Up until now I’ve been nervous and tentative, anxious, about the project. Now I’m confident about what I’m doing, and I’m ready to power in.
