English Entry 2: Fiction

This assignment asks you to use some creativity. Write a piece of fiction. Use your imagination. The only criteria I will require is that your writing involves kayaks. Check back for some ideas that we came up with in class...

Reflection Entry One

Reflection Project Entry One:

Describe our first trip on the water...
Who? What? When? Where? Why? Set the tone. Paint the scene. Spin the yarn!

Also, what were your feelings getting into the boat for the first time? Were you in the boat we made or were you in a boat that we borrowed from Mayhew? How do you think you would have felt if you were in the other type of boat?

Finally, write about the experience and your expectations. Were you excited about the trip or were you dreading it? Often times having really high or really low expectations can influence behavior and how you experience things. Look back on the adventure, reflect on your behavior, and talk about your expectations.

English Assignments for Trip Days

While we are doing the kayaking trips, we will have limited opportunities for in-class English lessons. Don't worry we thought of that. I will assign a series of writing assignments that ask you to describe our trips and reflect on the experiences. Each assignment will be posted on the blog and I will provide written instructions the days of our trips. It is your responsibility to post your work. I will provide feedback to your first posting and you are expected to resubmit your work with appropriate improvements for credit. Your collected work will be graded as a project for English.

Final Project Proposal "The Box"

My proposal
I was asked to come with a final project so I came up with building a sub box. The name of my project is “The Box”. For a description it's big and square and makes a lot of noise. At least it should or I will have to come up with something better.
Hopefully, I can get a 12 inch sub speaker to put in the box, if not I guess I will have to wait. But also this might be challenging because I've never made a sub box and it has to be better than Dan's.
How will I show problem solving skills? I will show them by working them out. I wont know the problem until I get to it. Some possible problems are if it rattles, whistles, or has distortion but I will fix it if it happens.
How will I show my people skills? I will talk things out and I will take information in and learn from past mistakes. I could talk to Dan's dad because he knows a lot about speakers.
The thing I know is that I know what sounds good. Dan doesn't, so that's my advantage. If there's any distortion, I wont be happy.

Final Project Proposal

Newfound Challenge Proposal

We were asked to make a final project for the year. The title of my project is the sub box. The description of my box is a square with a 2 ½ by 2 ½ with a 11 ½ inch hole for my 12 inch sub-woofer and it is going to have a 3 inch exhaust.
This project is going to be a challenge for me. I have built a lot of sub- boxes before so I am trying to make a better one that is better than Calvin's. My box is going to be better than Calvin's because I have built a lot of them before and Calvin hasn't.
This project is going to make me use problem solving skills. It is going to make me use problem solving skills because I need to make sure that the box is actually a square. I am also going to try different size exhausts to make it sound better.
I will be using people skills because I am going to ask RP Williams for some of the wood that I need. I will have to call them to see if they if they have the right material. I will also have to make the order. It is going to be hard because I have to work with Ryan. It is going to be hard to work with Ryan he has never done it so he is going to ask a lot of questions. That can get annoying. That is going to bother me but I am going to have to get over it.
I think that the box will come out good. I am looking forward to putting it in my car.

Building The Kayak

Today we went to the Bcc and played some basketball. For the boat, today we are making custom paint jobs. We are going to make a Pantera paint job. Also we are doing a Dimebag Darrell tribute on the boat. We will be doing one side of the boat with our paint job. The other students will be doing the other side. That is what we are going to be doing for our boat project today.

I have had several requests for up-to-date pictures of the boats. Next week we will be on the water learning basic kayaking skills.

















No students today- NRHS Career Day and Spring Fling are happening at the High School right now. I am in the down town classroom planning our trips and preparing to pick up a boat trailer, life jackets, and paddles at Camp Mayhew around 1:00pm.

The Next Step

Yesterday we did not get a chance to paint the bottom of the boat because it started to rain. So that is what we are going to do today.We made a hach (that is were you site). The hach is an opening in the middle of the boat.

Personal Project

Assignment: Choose a project to work on during Challenge class and at home. The project must be finished on or before it is due: the last day before finals week. This is for part of the final grade in Challenge Class.

Guidelines:

-You may work in groups

-You must fund it; on your own, or with “fund raising”

-You must be able to work on it during Challenge Class

-It must be legal (obviously)

-You are responsible to find the equipment needed

Requirements:

To get a passing grade, you must:

• Type a proposal for what you will do onto the Challenge Blog

• Choose a project that is challenging for you.

• Show effective problem solving skills

• Show effective group/people skills

• Present what you have done, and what you learned in some way to the instructor and the class

Some Suggestions:

- Put on a community breakfast with food from Shop n’ Save; challenge yourself to get more than 15 people to attend

- Build a bike

- Build something simple with wood

- Make your own blog

- Design a skate board logo, deck, or sticker

- Design a Alt Wheels sticker and get it made

- Make a Challenge Class ’08 yearbook

Cody & Ryan's Blog Update

Today in class we played football. Our most recent work on the boat is the combing. The combing is where you sit in the kayak. Yesterday we cut out the hole, today we have to shape it.

update

Today we started out with sanding all of the the rough and bumpy epoxy off the hull. Then we wiped the whole boat off with tack cloth which is like cheese cloth but sticky. Then we went over the boat again with epoxy to make it more water proof and look better.

The blog has grown. Now that we have an up-to-date blog with a good body of information, we can start telling people to look us up on the internet.

To stay current with what we do in class and on our kayak project, I would like to try an new posting style. Everyday someone will post an entry on what has happened since the last post. Only one person has to post on their assigned day.

This entry should be a personal reflection. It should be in your own voice and should contain your own personal experience and thoughts.

For Example:
5/10/08
Buying Paint
I had to find out what kind of paint we can use for the outside of the kayaks. It needs to be durable and not harmful to the environment. The paint also must protect the epoxy from the harmful effects of sunlight. So far I know that oil based paint will stick the best to the epoxy, but we don't know if it is still harmful to the environment after it is dry. Things are getting down to the wire; I hope we stay on schedule.
---Ryan

This "personal reflection" style of post is what many people use on their blog.

Installing the Bulkheads

The bulkheads are the three pieces in the center of the boat that give the boat shape. First thing we did was cut out 3 bulkheads with a stencil. Next you nail 3 1x1 pine sticks to each of the insides of the sides. One close to the front, one in the middle, and one near the back. This will give you some thing to nail the bulkheads to. Next you nail the bulkheads into the boat.oh yah the smallest bulkhead gos in the front and the mid size in the rear and the biggest in the middle.

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my favorite part was sanding because i made the wood smooth and it felt good

installing the bulk heads

The Boat

After the boat was sanded down and made nice and smooth.

The Latest Pictures Of The Kayak

Top is on and now we are sanding.

how to put it all together

First you put the sides together and match them up. Then you get the appropriate size drill bit and drill a hole through the bow and stern about an inch apart it is about 18-20 holes. We do this so the boat can stand up and it is also easier to work on. We used the stitch and glue process to attach the bow and the stern. We also use the stitch and glue process because it is easier to work with than nailing it or screwing it. After you put the bow and stern together you take car bondo and put it were the to sides come together at the bow and the stern this makes a fill.

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The part I enjoyed is when we did the fiberglass and the fill. I liked it the most because I have alot of experience with fiberglass because that is what I made my BMX ramps with.