Blogs:
Blog #1
I decided to take the capstone course to challenge myself and use my creativity in a cool and new way. When I was in high school in 3D Art class last year with my teacher Mr. White, I realized that I was a lot more creative than I thought. I made anything from buildings to aliens out of lego which came out really well. Over time I started thinking about inventing something but never turned my ideas into a reality. Once I heard Mrs. Radday, my Capstone teacher talk about how I could invent something really cool and creative for a project, I couldn't resist.
Capstone Project Ideas:
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A garbage can with four wheels instead of two so it is easier to push and a break in case someone’s driveway is on a hill.
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A trashcan for a car so people don’t throw out all their trash on the floor of the car.
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An app that you can buy shoes to fit the arch of someone’s foot perfectly.
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A leaf blower and vacuum that can blow leaves, but also you can attach a disposable garbage bag to the leaf blower and suck all the leaves into it.
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A heat sensing fire alarm system that directly puts out the fire without leaving the room completely soaked.
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A documentary on the process leading up to me doing crazy flips.
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A tutorial website to teach people basic flips since I know a lot about the learning flips.
Blog #2
One idea from my personality test which has led me to success is being open to hearing others experiences and ideas. In addition, I am eager to learn from others and enjoy the social aspect of the sport. For example, I like to know anything that I am learning very well so in classes like math and Spanish I pay close attention and ask many questions if I don’t understand something. Once I understand what I am learning, I tend to answer and answer all the questions my teacher throw at the class and it gets to the point were my Spanish teacher, Haley Ahouse won’t call on me anymore. This trait will be important when talking to my mentors about how they got to their place with whatever they invented or down. It will also help me problem solve when something in my capstone project doesn’t work. I think that flips have really taught me it's ok to fail and that the more you try and don’t give up, the farther you will get. Especially when I was learning the corkscrew flip. When I was trying this flip I landed on my knees and kept getting up for six hours straight for three days in a row. It got to the point where my whole body was so tired and I had to take a break. Once I took that break for about a day, I came back and landed the trick. The flip taught me that you should always take breaks at what you're trying to accomplish and if you wear yourself out too much you have to stop.
Blog #3
My three ideas for my capstone project are socks that are easy to slip even if someone's foot is a little wet, a backflip helper, and website which provides flipping tutorials. I like the sock idea because it is annoying to put on socks after a shower and if I could easily slip socks on after a shower it would save so much unneeded energy. I like the backflip helper idea because there is already a thing that can help someone backflip, but the existing ones are poorly designed. I believe if I put the time and effort into making this I could really help people learn backflips a lot faster. Lastly, I like the idea of a website with tutorials because I am a somewhat experienced flipper and if I put my knowledge out into the public; I'm sure I would be able to help a few people. A problem with the socks is that it might be hard to find a material that makes socks comfortable and easy to slip on when feet are wet. It will also be hard to design a backflip helper that doesn’t completely take the fear out of doing a backflip. Lastly, editing the flipping tutorials might be challenging and tedious. The idea I am leaning towards the most is the backflip helper because this, in my opinion, will be the most beneficial and interesting to create. I am interested in flipping and inventing and if I put those two things together I will have a good invention for people who do what I love. I can also be creative with it which makes this idea my first choice at the moment.
Blog #4
The idea that I am doing for my capstone project is a device that you put in a shirt and when you pull it out, it pulls the shirt right side in. I picked this idea because I don’t like folding laundry and putting shirts right side out is a good portion of doing the laundry. If I put shirts right side out fast enough it would be a nice luxury. I hope to accomplish a fully functional prototype by the end of capstone. The progress that I have made this week is thinking about the design and materials of the prototype. I am thinking about making an umbrella-like device with latches so far. I want to make it out of a flexible material so it doesn’t get stuck.
Blog #5
My mentor is Mr. Everett, my math teacher at Marvelwood. I met him at Marvelwood and he is one of my favorite teachers. I hope my mentor can help test my prototypes to see how well they are functioning and also give good constructive criticism. Mr. Everett is a good mentor for this project because he has shown me how wise and smart he is in class. He will become an important asset as my invention starts coming together.
Blog #6
I want to start working on creating my first prototype and have it done by February 25. I also want to keep working on my website and have it well organized before going on Spring Break. I am worried about completing my first prototype because it's not going to be easy to make and it is going to take a lot of time which I don’t really have right now because of drivers ed every Tuesday and Thursday. I also have sports and live far away from school which is another problem. I will figure it out though because I know I can do this. I think until after February since drivers ed ends, I will have way more time and I will start completing my capstone project a lot faster.
Blog #7
I have learned so far that this project is going to be a lot more work than I thought. I have also learned every part of an invention is designed in its own complex way. The status of my project at the moment is working toward a first prototype and starting to put a lot more time into my website. My short term goals are to get on a solid path for my invention.
Blog #8
I think that my capstone project is helping me think about the future because there are many jobs which involve creating and inventing. It is not helping me decide what I want to major in college yet, but it might as I get further into the capstone. I have learned from this project that if I give myself a structure and plan, I will start to work. I have also learned that I am fully capable of doing a big project on my own.
Blog #9
Throughout this project, I have gotten better at planning. Planning is a skill that I like to skip over a lot, but since I have followed my plan in capstone, I have gotten on a much more work done. I really want to grow my entrepreneurial skills because I have never really practiced them, but that skill is very important. It is important because I might possibly become an entrepreneur of some sort in the future. I want to grow in this area by explaining my invention to everyone and working on my website too.
Blog #10
I decided to change my Capstone Project to a documentary about flips. This year has been a really crazy year for me and I have been progressing crazy fast with flips. I found out that I enjoy displaying my progress with everyone then try to invent something that is basically useless. I think I am going to find much more joy down this path as capstone continues.
Blog #11
I hope to film a lot for my documentary during Spring Break because I am going to California. If I get all my clips during the break I will have to edit, film myself speaking, and finish my website in the spring semester.
Blog #12
During Spring Break I got some great footage. From scenic clips of me on the beach to awesome clips in the gym; I got it all! I have finished getting footage and now its time for the editing side of things. I have two personal for capstone right now. The first goal is to edit everything together and the second is to add some speaking to the video.
Blog #13
The biggest 21-century skill that I am the weakest at right now in my capstone is definitely time management. This semester has been very hard for me because I have been getting slammed in school. I have the ACT, SAT, prep classes for both and the AP Test. I have been dedicating all my time to these things and not very much to Capstone recently. Once the AP Test, ACT, and SAT are all over I will have more time to finish my capstone.
Blog #14
For the last three week of Capstone, my goal is to finish editing the edit for the video and finish up my website. I hope to deliver a good video and a well-displayed edit on May 20th. This video will display my skills and tell my story behind this crazy sport I am trying to learn. The biggest goal of mine at the moment is to really work on my website because I have been dedicating all of my time on my video.
Blog #15
When I heard Mrs. Radday talk about Capstone in the Fall, it really sparked something inside of me. A project where I could do anything from inventing something amazing to filming an interesting documentary. I signed up with a smile on my face but didn’t really realize what I was getting into. I started the project off with unbelievably high expectations for myself. I wanted to invent something, but inventing something is way harder than I thought. I came into Capstone every week with tons of new ideas on my phone, but sadly most were already invented. After weeks of thinking I thought of a machine that could easily fold clothes inside out. It seemed like a good idea at first so I started working on it. I would tell my friends and family if it was a good idea and luckily, they gave me the truth. They said it wasn’t a good idea because this machine would be useless unless it could fold clothes inside out in a split second. After my first idea was a bust I strayed back to my roots of flipping. I made a documentary on what flips mean to me and what I have accomplished. I had so much fun filming and going back into all the clips to see how much progress I made. Overall, this process was stressful, but a lot of fun and I would recommend it to anyone who has a drive to accomplish such a cool project.