This project was focused all around the labor issues of America, back before/during the Industrial Revolution and today. Our essential question for this project was. We looked at a handful of primary documents dating back to the 1800s in order to get a better understanding of how labor was back during the Industrial Revolution and the issues that occur. We then used this knowledge to gain an understanding of how labor has transformed and the new issues that have arisen. Our final products were podcasts produced by us students on a particular subject relating to labor issues of our choice. These topics consisted of economic inequality, migrant workers, education, corporations, local economies, etc.
My final product is a podcast I made with two of my peers about how local events create community networks to benefit our local economy and the workforce. Below you will find an in-class timed essay we wrote after researching and reading the primary/ secondary documents at the beginning of the unit. You will also find a presentation I made before the production of the podcasts about corporations and labor. Finally, you will find the final product podcast. Hope you enjoy!
My final product is a podcast I made with two of my peers about how local events create community networks to benefit our local economy and the workforce. Below you will find an in-class timed essay we wrote after researching and reading the primary/ secondary documents at the beginning of the unit. You will also find a presentation I made before the production of the podcasts about corporations and labor. Finally, you will find the final product podcast. Hope you enjoy!
IN CLASS TIMED ESSAY:
CORPORATIONS AND LABOR PRESENTAION:
PODCAST!!! (LOCAL ECONOMIES AND EVENTS)
PROJECT REFLECTION:
What was the greatest challenge you faced in the project and what did you do to overcome that challenge?
In this project, we encountered many small challenges that we had to overcome.Ourmost stressful and difficult one was towards the end when we're near the ending of the podcast and we encountered a major organization issue. Our podcast would slowly lose its flow and we had no transitions. It basically slowly turned into a cut and paste of content. To overcome this issue we spent the last work day going through the podcast, understanding its flow, as we got to the difficult bits we strategized different ways to go about making the podcast continue its content flow. Doing this we had to cut a little bit from previous sections that we felt were not necessary enough. When we were done putting everything in place, we added background music and recorded quick transitions to help refine and keep our podcasts tone and flow. We all collaborated very well to help overcome our challenge.
If you could go back and do the project again what would you do differently and why?
If I was to go back and try something different I would have helped to edit a little more while we were still in the process of creating the podcast. There were times where both my groups would be up at night collaborating and editing the podcast. I would get on to refine what they have done, but they would be on longer than I was and I wish I contributed to the main body as much as they did. I made up for it within the last couple of days when we were almost done and would help them organize and refine the product. In terms of content and the overall project, I feel like my group hit all the important topics and pieces we wanted to. However we all wanted to talk a little more about how a actual economy works and what it is, but we did not have time to. As a group, we would like to go back and focus on that a little more but we are proud of our final product.
What is the greatest insight you gained about the state of labor issues today? Think back through the entire project, historical context, the presentations, globalization, and your podcast production.
I gained a whole new branch of knowledge in this project. I was hoping for a history-oriented topic and I got it. I learned that there were no many labor issues that I had no ideas about, such as corporations, migration, and child labor. I was so invested in learning about the issues and the history that I enjoyed and had fun reading the primary documents at the beginning. I analyzed each text I read deeply and compared them to other facts I knew and grew my knowlegde about each and everyone. My greatest insight, however, I would say is how much I learned about capitalism. An overall theme I found in all the primary documents was the pros and cons of a capitalist society. A lot of the labor issues revolved around how a capitalist society formed the workforce and formed the labor problems we faced and still sometimes face today. A lot of historic knowlegde was learned in this project I feel and I really enjoyed the research element of the process.
What are you most proud of in your project? This could be something very small and not visible to me or the audience. Help me understand why you are so proud of this piece.
The part of this project that I am most proud of is the group work and collaboration my group had. We have all been in school together for almost 6 years and we have been used to group work. This was the first major project we all worked in together and we encountered some challenges. We were used to encountering challenges and overcoming them, however, the challenges were more difficult this time around. We have never created a podcast before so a lot of stress about time management, organization, and professionalism. Due to the fact that we had known each other for a while, we were able to support each other easier than usual. We were all comfortable making our opinions known and giving different perspectives as well as recieving. We overcome conflicts quick and never rushed through. We had great communication skills and each had a set goal every day. Our podcast shows how hard we worked and how passionate we were about our topic. I am proud of the work we were able to accomplish together.
Explain 1 way you grew as a student during this project. It is not when we are comfortable and know how to do a task that we grow, it is often when we are the most challenged or have struggled through something that we grow. So what will you be better at now?
In this project, based on the challenges that arose I would say my confidence as a learner and project worker grew. This project had a lot of deadlines that had to be met, and a lot of work I had to do. I learned to stay calm, take time on my work and focus on quality over quantity. When I would be working whether it was alone, or in a group, I would always stay confident that I would get the work done and meet deadlines. With this mindset, I was able to support group members and transfer my confidence to them. In the past, I have overstressed my self with the workload in a project, but this was an experimental project to see how I would work if I stayed confident in myself and slowly worked through the work and it was very beneficial to my self, others and the end result.