My Personal Project
Goal: To learn how to do a piece of street art that has a social meaning and creates awareness on how this form of expression isn’t vandalism but urban art.
Global context: Personal and cultural expression, particularly in the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings and beliefs, the way in which we enjoy our creativity, and the appreciation of the aesthetic.
Justification: My goal is connected to the global context I chose since urban art is many times not appreciated and considered as something bad. I think it can be a way to express feelings and ideas, and a message can be given through it. I want to learn how to do a piece of street art to improve my art skills and express myself too, and I would like to transmit a message that could be done in school.
Inquiry Questions
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What kind of messages or feelings can urban art transmit and what’s its impact on people?
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What are some of the different street art styles and techniques that exist?
Inquiry Plan
Research
I'm going to collect information in differnt ways. Interviews will be done with people who have experience with graffiti and I will use all the possible medias to gather information. In addition I will add my observations and experiences on this topic.
Report
This will be my process journal and here I will record the significant findings and development of my process. It will be in this virtual format and I will report about it through digital formats and mixed media
ATL skills:
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Formulate provocative and relevant questions and goals. I applied this by setting my inquiry questions and goals for the project.
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Identify problems and develop aims, goals and objectives.
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Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation.
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Keep an organized and logical system of information files/notebooks. I did this by doing this webpage and putting in all the information.
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Process data and report results. This was applied throughout the webpage by filling the process journal with all what I did and found out.
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Reference accurately and construct a bibliography according to recognized conventions.
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Structure information correctly in summaries, essays, reports and presentations.
Personal Project Reflection:
These last months had been a difficult but at the same time great experience, an experience named personal project. I think this is the first time I encounter a challenge as big as this one, where you actually need to use more abilities than you think so. This is the first time I go through such a long and defiant process, with new challenges as you advance. This is a really complete project, that doesn't just teach us about the topic we choose and the global context related to it, but goes beyond at and teaches us things about ourselves. It teaches us the skills we have, which are our limits, how responsible can we be, and how much effort are we willing to put into this. This is not simply another project, this one is different and unlike any other.
The personal project gives us the opportunity to choose any topic we want to, and this is one of the many components that makes it so fantastic. Each one of us had the chance to research on things we were passionate about, or in my case something I was dying to know more about. The personal project would have been totally different for me if I had chosen any other topic, since at this point I cannot picture myself going though such a long process with something I didn't enjoy doing so much. The personal project was a different kind of experience for everyone, and for me it was fun. I was able to use my creativity and improve my art skills, and sometimes I did things for pleasure and not for work. Doing street art was also something completely new for me, something I would never have done in my life if it wasn't for this project (so it's another reason to be thankful).
There are some memories I will always keep and that were in fact very special for me. My favourite moments include going around the city looking for street art, taking the spray-painting course, analysing street art with different messages, following YouTube tutorials, putting into paper my ideas, developing my own tag, and the rewarding feeling I had every time I accomplished something. Sure, there were some moments I disliked this project and times sacrificed hours of my sleep for working on it, but if it wasn't because of that I wouldn't feel so proud of myself at this moment.
Completing the project has extended my knowledge and understanding of the topic and the global context immensely as I said. But this experience was another step forward that prepares us for life. The personal project is a really good way to start closing the MYP, and to put all what I’ve been learning the past few years into action. As I’ve said numerous times it wasn’t easy, but that’s the whole point, testing us and see if we are ready for what is ahead of us. It helped me prepare for what’s coming up with the IB and with life in general.
ATL skills:
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Identify obstacles and challenges.
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Evaluate solutions to problems.
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Pause to reflect at different stages in the learning process.
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Keep a reflective journal/portfolio of personal learning experiences focused on both process and content.
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Understand and implement intellectual prosperity rights and the value of academic honesty.
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Analyze one’s own and others’ thought processes to think about how one thinks and how one learns.
