Personal Project

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fewer mistakes. I also had to research a company in Bucharest that could help me print my book. This step was really easy because I already had a background knowledge of a shop that could do that for me.

Interrogate a family member

I interrogated my dad about the story, since I couldn’t reach my grandfather because he is no longer with us, and the next family member to know as much as he did was my dad. I have found many interesting information (see Appendix A), that I didn’t know before. The interview stroked me before it was odd to imagine my family to be in that position.

Collect opinions and data

I decided to collect opinions and data at the Personal Project Showcase since there are going to be a lot of people that are going to come to me willingly. I collected data of 20 people (see Appendix H and I) and I asked them to grade my product, after presenting it to them according to the criteria that I developed (see Appendix K). Most of them graded me with an 8 or a 7, but there were also some who thought my product was a 6 or 5. However, I was seeking into finding children to grade my product more because they are my audience and I was wondering if my product is entertaining enough for them to want to read it.

Planning

Developing Criteria

At the beginning of the Personal Project, I had in mind what an ideal product would look like. So, in order to have a straight criteria that could help me go on the right path with my product, I came up with some specifications (see Appendix K). These specifications are divided into four groups “Function”, “Aesthetics”, “Language”, “Audience”. I chose to divide them like this as they will help me get the best out of my product from every angle possible. When I was developing my criteria, I kept referring to the audience, which will be the kids, so that the product will suit them.

Function

The book must determine a story in which my family is moving. Also, the meaning of the book must be that the parents are teaching the little kids how to embrace the change they are facing. This final thought will teach the kids, that are going to read this book that they should always look at change in a positivistic way.

Aesthetics

The book must contain 6 stories, two covers and drawings that can sustain the written passages. The pages should be a bit glassy, not usual paper. The title of the book must be short and the back cover must contain a sentence about the story, for a nicer effect and to give the people who would like to read the book an brief synopsis of what the book is about.

Language

The stories must be contained of a few sentences, no longer than a page. Also, the language of the book must be easy, since the preferred audience are children, with mediocre reading skills. Moreover, the stories must contain dialogues as well because it helps the kids understand the story better.

Audience

The audience could be anyone who is interested in knowing more about my project. However, the preferred audience would have to be children, because the book is created for them as the vocabulary is low and the plot would be too dull for a teenager or an adult.

Plan and record the process

When I was planning, in the first two months, I didn’t have much to do (see Appendix J) because I wanted to start slow so I wouldn’t be demoralized and have a negative attitude from the beginning. Later on, I discovered a site that can email you a word per day in Turkish during the week, so I followed that site and noted in my Turkish notebook every word I get (see Appendix E). Also, after October, my mom also wanted to teach me Turkish, so I had one hour of Turkish with my dad on Saturday, and another hour with my mom on Sunday. However, this schedule didn’t work all the time since I was depending on others to complete it. Sometimes one of my parents couldn’t come to tutoring due to work related problems, or I was sick and didn’t feel well, etc. But, I still had most of the tutoring classes and I started to talk in Turkish much better than before. Also, some of the goals I set during the week such as “work on my grammar”, or “reading”, didn’t always happen because I was overwhelmed by homework or studying. But, when I didn’t have so much homework, and I don’t have to do anything major for the next day, I go on with my schedule. This shows self management skills because I am organizing my time properly, even thought I don’t follow the schedule I created on an everyday basis because if I don’t have time in one day to work on my Turkish skills, I can compensate it with another day where I don’t have school work to do.

I recorded my journal entries on Managebac since it is easy for me to use it and I can have access to it every time (see Appendix B to G). However, sometimes I wrote my journal entries on a word document or on my phone, because I didn’t have internet and I copy pasted it later in Managebac. The reason why I did this was because my car rides from home to school and visa versa are very long due to the fact that I live far away. So, I decided to use my time productive and write them somewhere.

Taking Action

Create a product following the goal, global context and criteria

As I stated before, in Investigating, my goal was to write a children’s book about my family’s history, and I have fulfilled my goal completely with my final product. I wrote a short book of six stories, with the Turkish I learned for the past few months. The goal was to write the book based on my family’s history, which I did. However, I didn’t conclude every aspect I have found about the account happened in my family because I thought it wouldn’t be entertaining for the children as it include dates and other aspects that children won’t understand.

The final product also fulfills the global context I chose, which was Identities and Relationships because the final outcome made me investigate “Who am I?” and “Who my family is?”. Also, the product is about a story that shows human relationships, to be more concise, family, which is also an aspect to the chosen context.