Name __Kerri Kampsen__________

Project Start Date

___January 27, 2015______

Title of Project _Crossing the Line___

Project Completion Date _ March 17, 2015______

1. In 40 words or more describe your project and the steps you performed to complete it.
What did you produce or perform?
My project focused on the dispute over the legality of corporal punishment. In order to
highlight this dispute, I decided to conduct a debate. In order for the debate to benefit the
community, the debate was conducted with a class of freshmen. These freshmen are in
the Legal Studies Academy and benefitted from the debate practice because public
speaking is one of the requirements of the academy. This required planning on my part
and the preparation included making lesson plans and a corresponding presentation.
2. In at least 40 words explain how the project challenged you, and what sort of time
challenges and resource problems did you encounter?
This project was a challenge for me because I have trouble leading groups and speaking
to unfamiliar crowds. Of course that was the exact situation I put myself in when I
decided to teach a class of unfamiliar students. I also have a tendency to procrastinate;
however, this project gave me a reality check and forced me to stick with deadlines as I
had a certain amount of things to be finished by the date that my project was set to start. I
also was faced with the fact that not everything will go to plan and there were points
where I was forced to think on my feet so that things could still go smoothly.
3. List and then describe 5-8 fundamental ideas/concepts/skills of your project, which you
learned during your project.
Idea/Concept/Skill

Explanation

(how you learned it)

Creating lesson plans

Since I was teaching a class, I needed to
have lesson plans prepared so that it was clear what activities were going to be
conducted during those four days.
Leadership
The class looked to me to guide them through my
lesson. There were times where I needed to get the class back under control;
especially after the debates.
Time management
Creating lesson plans and the corresponding
presentation required me to stay on task because of the set dates and times.
Public speaking
Teaching classes requires the skill of public
speaking because the students needed initial information before they could get started on
their own research and debate. This required me to speak in front of them.

Patience
There were times where the class started to deviate
from the lesson and were having trouble focusing. It required patience on my part in order
to get the class under control and to be able to continue with the lesson
List and describe 5-8 problems you encountered in your project, and briefly
describe how you solved each.
Problem

Explanation

Formatting a group debate

Personally, I had only seen formal
debates done in partners. There was not enough time to have several partner debates, so I
had to find a way to demonstrate the structure of formal debates with groups. Luckily, Mrs.
Van Schenck found a handout that did exactly that. Of course I had to do some
reformatting; however, the end result was successful.
Creating activities
I had a total of three hours per group
of students that I needed to fill with activities. I didnt want to just do a long presentation
because I would have immediately lost the interest of the students. I was able to create a
list of activities that would fit in with my debate and narrow it down from there.
Role reversal
Normally, I am the student in the
classroom and having to reverse this role and become a teacher was a bit overwhelming for
me. Once I began talking to the students and taking on my role as a leader, this issue soon
went away.
Searching for charities
There is a limited number of
local charities for child abuse and they only accept monetary donations. Since I was not
allowed to collect money from the students, I had to find another way to raise awareness
for child abuse charities. I figured I could make a flier listing some of the local charities as
well as blue ribbons to give to the students. This raised awareness without me having to
collect money. Unfortunately I had already acquired the boxes, but I found other uses for
them.
Disrespectful students
I didnt have much of an issue in the
classroom as the students did what I asked; however, when I looked at my surveys, many
of the students took the opportunity to complain about the time limit they were given for
preparation. This initially hurt since I worked so hard for them. After a brief conference
with Dr. Godfrey, I was able to realize that the students were given plenty of time for
preparation.
4. Outline the process hours spent in completing the project.
A. Estimated total hours spent on project:____23___
B. Estimated total steps involved in your project: ___10___

STEP 1:

Meet with Mr. Godfrey to confirm Class time

dates and times

STEP 2:

Get in touch with crisis center to Class time

confirm acceptable items to be
donated and inform them of my
plans for donating

STEP 3:

Changed idea for charities, 1 Hour

preliminary activity planning

STEP 4:

Create lesson plan for the class

STEP 5:

Create visual aids and handouts for 4 Hours

the class

STEP 6:

Find articles for initial research

STEP 7:

Collect materials to create ribbons 2 Hours

and make ribbons

STEP 8:

Meet with Mr. Godfrey for lesson 2 Hours

plan and handout revision and
confirm final details

STEP 9:

Meet with classes and begin with 3 Hours

introduction to project with a
warm-up as well as handout
articles
and
prepare
for
debate/discussion

STEP
10:

Conduct debate/ discussion, final 3 Hours

evaluation of project, and inform
students about charities

STEP
11:

Collected surveys and evaluated 2 Hours

them

1. List materials used.

Paper (Articles, handouts, surveys)

Computer (PowerPoint presentation)
Ribbon
Safety Pins

5 Hours

1 Hour

Phone (Timer)

2. List all people who helped you on the project and briefly describe the help given.

James Godfrey
Dr. Godfrey served as my consultant and allowed me to use two of
his classes for two days each in order to complete my project.
Susan Van Schenck
She provided me with the template for my lesson plans as well as
for the group debate that I would be conducting.
Kayla White

Kayla served as one of my photographers for my A day classes.

Jalyn Lasala

She served as my photographer for my B day classes.

3. How does your completed project compare to the picture you had in mind when you
started the project?
My project ended up being slightly different than what I had in mind. I initially believed
that I would be able to find a charity to donate items to; however, the reality set in that I
would have to figure something else out. I also expected all of the students to understand
what I was trying to do for them and love my project. Obviously my head was slightly in
the clouds but overall Im happy with my project.

C. If given the opportunity, what would you do differently now that you speak from
experience?
I discovered that there are places that create pinwheel gardens to raise awareness for child
abuse prevention. Had I known about this sooner, I would have incorporated that more
into my project instead of making a handout for charities. Other than this, I wouldnt
change anything else about my project because I see every problem I encountered as a
learning experience.
D. Now that the project is completed, explain/describe the stretch or challenge you
encountered/experienced.
I definitely forced myself to reach outside of my comfort zone. This is not something I
normally do and it was obviously uncomfortable. Such a challenge helped prepare me for
the reality that not everything is going to come easily to me nor will it always be
comfortable.
E. Beyond the project itself, what did you learn about yourself?
I learned that I am more capable of success than I initially thought I was. At the
beginning of this year, I didnt think my project would turn out this way. Even during the
process, I didnt realize that my end goal would turn out to be something that I would

truly be proud of. Even though I had such great hopes for my project, I didnt think I was
capable enough of completing something this successful. After this experience, I will be
much more likely to branch out and do more than just take the easy route through life.
F. What grade would you give yourself on the project? Justify the evaluation of your grade
in at least 25 words.

Grade: ____96________

Justification:
Even though I considered my project to be a success, I realize that there were some flaws to it. I
had such high hopes for the charity aspect of my project and even though I felt I found a suitable
solution to my problem, it could have been better. As far as the actual class, the criticism is
something that should have been expected and I dont consider it as part of the measure of the
success of my project.