Hi. This is a follow up to a previous post, about Destination Imagination. I recommend visiting that, before you read this. Without Further edu, lets get started.
Destination Imagination is a national event. The idea, is that a team of kids have to solve a challenge, then present there solution at a tournament after five months of preparation. It’s meant to encourage collaboration, independence, and project based learning.
Our Solution
Our team had to solve one of four challenges. The challenge we got, was the Scientific challenge. The task was to create a story, set in a microscopic world, with a mysterious object. Some of the requisites include: A backdrop for the microworld, and a visual effect to enhance our mysterious object. Our backdrop was pretty well made. It consisted of a wooden frame, with a giant sheet of paper attached to it. Our mysterious object was a gem, that lit up with fairy-lights.
Our props were all of descend quality. We put a decent amount of effort into making them look good. I think our team did a great job with the story, as it was engaging, and had all the good story points in it. Our team choice elements on the other hand, weren’t very well implemented, and I could do better next time.
Teamwork
Over the course of the project, a lot of teamwork was required. I learnt that cooperating with people you don’t like, is harder than it looks. Sometimes, people can be stubborn. A problem we ran into, was that some people just weren’t pulling there weight. By the end of the project, some people had done WAY more than others. Another problem, was respect. Sometimes, people would be inherently rude to one-another. I did my part to try and keep people from fighting, and not getting mad at people. Me and my team had some rough patches, but over all, we cooperated enough to get the job done. Our strongest point, was organizing meet ups, and assigning tasks. We were all fairly flexible, and if something needed to be done, someone will step in.
Above: Memorizing our scripts
Below: Painting the backdrop while eating snacks.
Here are links to my teammates blogs:
http://www.blog44.ca/ChristianL
http://www.blog44.ca/FrancisR/
The Tournament
Ok, so you’ve finished your solution, you’ve rehearsed it, now its time to present. The tournament took a lot of flexibility. It was originally going to be hosted at our own school, but the location changed to a school about an hours drive away. This was immediately a problem, as the backdrop we created was one big piece, And couldn’t be transported. My solution, was to take apart the backdrop, drive each piece to the tournament, and drill them together while we were there. This worked surprisingly well.
At the tournament, we cooperated really well, and did a good job on our performance. We didn’t mess up at all, and remembered all our lines. I think my acting skills shined quite a bit, while performing. At the end, the judges told us they found our jokes funny, so I’m quite proud of that.
Here’s a photo of me and my group members holding our team sign:
Here is our performance. Hope you enjoy it!
Was It Worth it?
DI was VERY time consuming. But after five months, we didn’t learn as much as you would think. Sure, we practised many valuable skills, but could it be faster to strengthen those skills in other ways? This section is a critique directed at PLP teachers, so that they can be informed, from the students point of veiw.
Here is a list of the skills we built in DI:
-Teamwork
-Task Management
-Independence
-Planning
Wait a minute, those sound like all the things we would normally learn in a regular PLP project. BUT, in a regular PLP project, we are still learning stuff from the curriculum. So, we used MANY hours of our class time, doing something thats making us learn LESS, than what we would normally do? That’s just inefficient.
Another problem, is the commitment levels. Honestly, people are more likely to put more effort into a bunch of smaller projects, as they can just do one big push, and get it over with. With something thats five months long, people lose the will to do there best, and start slacking off.
Last of all, I think the fact that the teachers were so pushy about us getting things done, was just a layer of unnecessary stress, which only made things harder. I think, if the students complete tasks because they want to finish there solution, rather than because they don’t want the teachers to yell at them, DI would be a much better experience for everyone.
All this is just something to consider, when you enroll us in DI next year.
Wrapping Things Up
In all, DI was a lot of work. It took a lot of patience, and time. One thing that I would do differently next time, is to start building things a lot earlier. We were pretty low on time by the end of things, and that would have helped a lot. DI wasn’t just pain though. Here were some fun moments, and it definitely felt rewarding once it was finished. Anyway, this is the end of this post. Come back any time!