Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Lesson 2 Reflection

The night before my lesson two presentation, everything packed up and ready to be in a 25 minute-long limelight


Content:

1.What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?
  • I am most proud of the instinctual drive that surfaced during my presentation, this drive being one that completely drove what I said and helped me to enjoy the information delivered as I presented it.  This drive was the freedom to speak what was on my mind and involved allowing my experiences and extensive research to answer the essential question posed without second-thinking each of the steps I took in doing so.  It felt great to feel confident in what I wanted to educate my audience on and having the know-how and momentum with which to do so.  The passion I have built for my topic is responsible for this excitement, as well as the detailed and successfully-ambitious activity I chose to venture into the class today with.

2. a. What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

   AE/E    P       AP    CR    NC
  • I strongly believe I deserve an AE/E for my lesson presentation earlier today.

b. Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.
  • Not only did I reference plenty of research during the entirety of my presentation that was derived from the two books I am currently reading and referenced as well (“Farm City” and “Grass, Soil, Hope”), but I incorporated multiple pieces of my research into laying the foundation for ALL of the answers to my essential question.  In this way, I related all of the answers to the social and ecological benefits of urban farming, and moreover related these to quantitative and qualitative data that backed up their existence.  These relevance of these benefits ranged from Bangkok to the area in and around Los Angeles.  To help the audience further understand how the benefits were relevant to them, I defined urban farming in two ways - first showing its practical applications in being a social enterprise with environmentally friendly side-effects and then showcasing it as I saw it (an assembly line involving farming of the idea and selling of it as well for economical means).  In this way, various aspects of the idea were explained with facts interspersed here and there so as to not spark confusion, and so I believe I succeeded in helping my audience appreciate the diversity and complexity of urban farming as it applies to a philosophical and adaptive standpoint.  Speaking loud and clear, and with a sense of curiosity so that I presented according to what those listening were experiencing, I constantly referenced my multiple mentorships (including the surprising one at Caltech - connecting the need for science in making my topic effective and responsible).  The “cherries on top” were fruit picked by my own hands passed out during my hook, pictures taken by my own hand being used extensively in the powerpoint, quotes from my books being placed strategically in the slideshow, pamphlets being typed and printed with tips when farming and opportunities for better understanding urban farming, and the ingredients of my activity being explained in the context of my topic.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
  • The activity went very smoothly with the limited time I had.  Organizing the activity and being prepared for messes made my activity professional and intellectually invigorating, especially with how the tools used (i.e. mulch, dirt, hand-painted water bottles) were labeled and made known during demonstration in helping my audience build their own mock, usable aquaponics gardens.  The fact that I put so much effort and thought in pre-constructing most the materials used so that the activity was simple to conduct is testament to the fact that thinking ahead and planning in the same manner is essential when meeting high expectations that accompanied this hands-on, interactive activity.

4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?
  • I would have definitely practiced my presentation a bit more routinely beforehand so that my nerves would have been taken care of a bit better.  However, my inflamed nerves are what helped me condense and consolidate the information included from a longer powerpoint into a shorter one I eventually utilized.  This lesson was a perfect mode of practice in making sure my final senior project presentation provides a plan of action to take home in the case of each of my audience members (what does/can urban farming mean to you?).

5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?

  • I now want to focus on the human rights aspect of urban farming, and focus more closely on the injustices to worker rights carried out by conventional farming establishments.  In this way, urban farming being made into a livelihood is a more than a viable option for commercial farmers, it’s a plan for survival and a path to a better quality of life.

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