Bailey MeCey

Life is all about being flexible, and that hasn’t been more evident than now. Previously, I wrote about a new project I am developing exploring the rise in non-traditional education models. The goal was to create a video series; however, that was causing some problems. COVID has made it almost impossible to get into schools, which would be a problem. After taking some advice and researching, I decided to pivot in a new direction.

The project would keep the same focus, but it would be a blog series instead. The primary influence behind this change was the series Humans of New York and how they capture the stories of everyday people. My project will follow the same format and style but with a more focused look at the people involved in non-traditional education models. I hope to interview staff and teachers of these models to learn how these models are working in the classroom. I would also like to interview alumni and find out if their non-traditional education has helped prepare them for success. At the same time, I want to give space for the negatives of these models. To accomplish this, some of my questions for the interviews will address problems in the models.

In addition to the blogs, I want to create an Instagram page to help share these stories. Along with that, I can focus on education communities online and share my writing with them. The blogs will publish on a website, and I want to create graphics to help give it a more professional feel if time allows.

After making this change, it was essential to get organized. To do this, I created a project management plan. This plan, built in the management system Trello, would help me stay organized on what tasks to complete and stay focused. I tend to be a procrastinator when left to my devices, so it has been my goal to hold myself to a plan. Also, the project requires much planning, so having tasks built out helps a lot with direction.

In the project management plan, each of the goals is sectioned by pre-production, production, and post-production. I’ve decided to try to knock out smaller objectives throughout the week when I am busy. Thanks to that, I can have more time dedicated to the larger tasks on the weekends.

The most necessary aspect of the project is securing the interviews. Without them, they will lack the personality that I hope to push with the blogs. Also, I want the blogs to be educational for the audiences to learn more about these models. The interviews will help explain these models and give a practical side to them.

After creating the plan, I went back to my research. Some of the research had to be changed out due to it not matching the projects new direction. From there, I added annotations as well to flesh out the research. The most exciting part of the research was discovering that the three models aim to accomplish the same goal: to teach the whole child. However, they try to achieve this challenge in different ways. Even though they have different ways of going about their teaching, a through-line will help connect each blog.

While this is the second round of editing my research, I expect to do more in the weeks to come. I hope that from my interviews, I also discover new research to inform blog writing as well. The interviews will be with people working in these models, so I hope to gain a lot of more hands-on information.

Writing has always come naturally to me, so I’m confident in this new direction for the project. I was concerned that my project would not work, but I’m happy to know I can continue moving forward. Now that a plan is in place, the focus will be to stick to it and hit the deadlines.

Over the coming weeks, I hope to follow my plan and complete the project in time. However, it’s essential to be flexible if there is a roadblock in the way. Instead of accepting defeat, it’s about adapting and finding solutions.