Alisha Roberts - Task 4 by Alisha ROBERTS https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm Task 4 Journey Reflection Space en-us 2021-07-19 05:10:49 UTC 2023-02-09 00:47:24 UTC hello@padlet.com Character Strengths alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1657111501 2021-07-21 13:20:37 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1657111501 Top 5, Bottom 5 alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1657111975 My top five character strengths are:
- Humour
- Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence
- Leadership
- Judgement 
- Curiosity

My bottom five character strengths are:
- Honesty
- Spirituality
- Humility
- Self-regulation
- Perseverance]]> 2021-07-21 13:21:09 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1657111975 Character Strengths Reflection alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1657114525 I have taken the VIA survey three more times in the past - my top strength in year 8 being appreciation of beauty and excellence, the same for year nine, curiosity earlier in the year and now humour. I was interested to see how it's changed over the years, but I'm not surprised to see humour as my top strength. Generally the three mentioned above as well as leadership have been common trends, and are generally what I'd use to describe myself. I was somewhat surprised by seeing judgement, although it's not terribly out of the blue, and it can definitely come in handy in many situations, namely action project.

Spirituality has for the most part always been in my lower strengths, so no surprise there (I'm not entirely sure why it's a strength). Self-regulation was no doubt to be in my lower five as well - disciplining myself is one of my goals to get better at. Although, I was surprised to see perseverance be my last strength - although I don't tend to finish my own personal projects, I try to stick to problems as much as I can and I am rarely the first to give up or try something easier.]]> 2021-07-21 13:23:05 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1657114525 Strengths in my Personal Life alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1657119337 Humour is easily a big part of my life, as I use it to make light of uneasy situations and to see the better side in things. I'd say my appreciation of beauty and excellence generally stems from my love of natural beauty, for example I usually take at least one picture of the sky everyday. I've got a big folder. Maybe too big.
My leadership skills aren't quite as natural - I like to think I've developed them after being put in confronting projects where I'm forced to take lead. As music is a big part of my life, I participate in a lot of bands or online orchestras, and where I can I like to lead the group and organise the project. This is used alongside judgement, where both skills are necessary to solve problems arising within the group. That's the other thing - I work a lot better within groups, as I find ideas are generated the best when you can bounce off other people and work together.
Again, when I work in a team I have a lot more motivation to stick to things, which is where perseverance comes into place. Whilst many others might think a task takes too much work (eg. last terms English film - finding a location for a courtroom scene, where I went to painstaking effort including contacting Burnside council to use council chambers, which didn't work out too well), I keep at it because I always want the best outcome possible, rather than taking the easy route.]]> 2021-07-21 13:28:13 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1657119337 About Me alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1657125589 I like to think I'm lead by my passions in life:
- creative tasks
- creative tasks are great!! i love creative tasks, they're so fun and I put a lot more effort and time into them
- video editing
   - this leads me to make a video wherever possible for an assignment (multimodal? you bet it's gonna be a video.)
- filming/photography
   - photography is one of my biggest hobbies, and since I'm part of the multimedia team at school I'm often at events shooting them, eg. infinite echo
   - fun fact ! the background was taken by me on my Canon 80D DSLR at Mt Barker :))
- music
   - this could have a ton of subtopics. I'm very much a music student, and I love performing, composing, arranging, just anything to do with it honestly. It'll often make it's way somehow into assignments too. I'm also a huge musical theatre fan (current obsession - hamilton).

Things I'm very annoyed by:
- people not doing their part in group projects
- wet hairbrushes
- wet socks
- wet sleeves
- wet things
- essays
- non-creative tasks
- running out of storage on my SD card
- people cancelling plans at the last minute]]> 2021-07-21 13:34:37 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1657125589 Quarantine Problem Journal alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1660680347 Since I'm in quarantine, I'll list down my problems I've had with that too:

- Relying on others to go shopping (end up buying wrong brands)
- Cancelled band rehearsals, not being able to go to band rehearsals
- Cancelled concerts
- Online school - poorer attention during class, less information retention
- More screen time - I end up spending more time on my phone than I would've normally
- Behind in classwork]]> 2021-07-26 03:39:21 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1660680347 Product Pitch Reflection alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1666249542 Pitch Script
Finding a real problem to have a solution to for Jonathon was difficult - when stuck in quarantine, the only real problem is not being allowed out. With that in mind finding a solution was hard, so I really chose the first thing that came to mind - an android. Many flaws, but every product has many flaws, and the purpose of a product pitch is to gloss over as many of them as possible. I essentially hyped it up as much as possible, stuffing a bunch of adjectives in there, and my pitch was done.]]> 2021-08-02 02:57:28 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1666249542 Classwork - Redesign Your Partner's Lockdown alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1666252000 2021-08-02 03:00:04 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1666252000 Week 2 - Design Thinking Reflection alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1686148008 In week 2, we looked at the different angles we can approach a problem in order to understand it in more depth and provide a greater solution. This included the task "Redesign your partner's lockdown", in which we were assigned partners and had to communicate effectively about our difficulties during lockdown. I found it a great activity for me to understand just how difficult it can be to address some issues, and the type of questions you need to ask and information to gather to gain a deeper insight to it. 
Currently, I believe I have gained a lot of knowledge as to how to approach a problem - after completing the tasks, particularly working with my partner during lockdown, I understood how I could use these problem-solving skills in my personal life.]]> 2021-08-19 14:43:15 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1686148008 Week 3 - Infomercial & Product Pitching Reflection alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1697501593 This week was my first back in school, which was nice. Our lessons were aimed at the solutions aspect, and so we were tasked with pitching the product we came up with for our partner in lockdown. The rest of the week we spent studying other infomercials and looking at the key aspects as to what made one good; it must be informative, concise, and often include at least some humour or a catchy slogan to make it memorable. This information was all available on a bbc.co.uk bitesize article, and will help us when we create our product in the spin-off project.]]> 2021-08-26 02:57:35 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1697501593 Week 4 - Spin Off Project Reflection alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1703159255 The class was introduced to our first assessment, the spin-off project this week. After learning about the efficacy of good infomercials and problem solving we were tasked with creating a product or solution to a problem residents in the Unley community face, including environmental, online and social issues. I grouped with Alisha C and Swapnil, and after much deliberating we decided the concerns surrounding online or cyber safety were most prevalent and important to us; it was that or environmental issues, but we figured that would be a common topic for people to choose. 
After discussing together and creating a mindmap, we settled on the idea of scam calls within the elderly community. After doing some research and reflecting on our experience with cybersafety awareness programs in primary/high school we decided that students have plenty of knowledge as to how to be safe online, but there is less information out there for people ages 60+. We then conducted research and found that millions of Australians are scammed each year, mostly through phone calls. And so, with this information in mind, our group looked into how to stop these spam calls from coming through and affecting people at risk, creating the Sailor.]]> 2021-08-30 00:57:43 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1703159255 Week 5 - Spin Off Project Filming Reflection alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1703167180 After having finished our research, we worked on a script (very hurriedly). We spent this week filming and working on the script, being quite rushed in parts, but it went relatively okay. I felt we worked really well together as a group - sometimes we've had issues with getting off task quickly whilst shooting, but this went well.
Some things we noted in acting was the use of tone. Whilst Alisha could sometimes come off as condescending, I would sometimes say lines without enough confidence, and as we learned having the right tone and conviction with your lines is extremely important for a good video.]]> 2021-08-30 01:00:55 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1703167180 Week 7 - 2040 Reflection alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1703827346 2040 is a documentary made in 2019, directed by Damon Gameau, which aims to uncover the real, possible solutions to  climate change issues as we know them. Going between chapters of life currently vs what it could be like in twenty years time, he talks to several experts on how we can reduce emissions and create a healthier landscape for the future generations. One issue Gameau noted in his film was the problem with transportation, and how we can reduce carbon emissions. He explored electric and self-driving cars, and how we should expect to get used to using a lot more public transport, or the notion of having public cars. Having fewer vehicles on the streets means roads can be reduced in size, inviting back natural wildlife and greenery and having more room for pedestrians. With fewer cars also means most parking space will become redundant, and so that space can be used as recreational space or for a more productive use.

Overall, I felt the film was a great insight as to coming up with real, possibly, productive solutions to current real-world issues (even if it did feel a tad repetitive and slow-moving towards the middle). It did open up the floor for new discussions and conversations about some ideas posed in the film with friends.
As I've watched it before during grade 8 geography, it was mostly revisiting topics I had seen before. One that had particularly stuck with me was the concept of sharing electricity from solar panels with other houses in a grid format - I thought this was a particularly good idea, with being able to sell or buy power, and I believe we're starting to see examples of it already. I think the notion of having to eat smaller portions of meat moving forward is also particularly important; I've seen many people promoting that idea already. It relates to the movement of going vegan which, unfortunately, already gets a lot of hate. It's clear that moving forward more people need to accept the idea of not eating triple-cheeseburger-whoppers with extra bacon because the earth can't sustain it anymore. It basically all goes back to the greed in human nature, and having to give up commodities we've all been used to being able to have without restriction. Of course, there's always going to be people promoting a bad face of any movement (plenty of hateful vegans), but it's still a valid point that needs to be made.]]> 2021-08-30 05:36:51 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1703827346 Assessment - Spin-Off Project Infomercial alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1706738069 2021-08-31 09:19:50 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1706738069 Week 6 - Spin-Off Project Reflection alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1706739977 As I am pretty much a film student, creating the infomercial was a ton of fun for me, even if we didn't end up going all-out with a green screen and making me wail at my computer for crashing whilst editing every sixteen minutes. Putting aside minor inconveniences, such as not being sure if the microphone on my camera was actually working and our gimbal (camera stabilizer) suddenly failing, the project went relatively smoothly. Finding a prop was no problem (I just used my wireless speaker control knob thing); more of the issues actually lay within writing the script itself. It underwent many changes, including rewriting a whole scene the night before shooting just cause it didn't have any real direction, and it was finished whilst shooting on our last day. Having Will (a friend from band) fill in for the first three characters was extremely impromptu too; originally we were meant to have different actors, but then time flew, so I brought my camera long to our concert and filmed him in three accents in different positions along the same bench. I'm grateful for having simpler videos like these to edit sometimes, where most of the work is simply cutting together footage in a seamless motion. I heard there was some issue with mixing of audio in the beginning, so I'll be sure to adjust my speakers to get a better mix in the future. ]]> 2021-08-31 09:21:29 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1706739977 Classwork - Lotus Diagram alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1723615733 2021-09-08 03:02:35 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1723615733 Research - Spin-Off Project alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1747432397 ScamWatch Statistics
- Over $170 million was lost last year to scams
- The most common type of scam were investment scams
- The most susceptible group target were people over 65 years of age

This website was of great use to our group as we could cite simple statistics that could be used directly in our spin-off video. After learning about how important infographics and statistics are to infomercials, we thought it was important to get some reliable data that we could use to make an impact - so, using these stats we added to our script, including adding the first fact stated above into our introduction to truly give an idea of how terrible the problem of scamming is in Australia.


]]> 2021-09-17 01:44:30 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1747432397 Classwork - INNOV8 Problem Listing alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1747464272 For this lesson I grouped with Christina and Haeun. In this task we had a timer set for 20 minutes to list as many problems as we could, aiming to get at least 50. This was a lot harder than I had thought - when it came to thinking of issues we faced, I couldn't realistically think of many issues I face in my day to day life. Some of the problems we came up with were very broad - including the pandemic in entirety. Although I tried to stay away from environmental issues, as they were an easy choice and overdone, we had to resort to listing them. In the end we ultimately resorted to listing down just anything that came to mind.
As the task was very simple, we didn't have to do a lot of collaborating - however, we were still able to work together as we bounced off one another's ideas to continue creating new ones.]]> 2021-09-17 01:55:39 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1747464272 INNOV8 Expo https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1890204007 Before the expo, we faced several issues. Also we had confirmed our images had been sent to be printed at Officeworks, in A3, we were not informed that they had not been printed. Finding this out only at the expo itself, this was extremely frustrating; as the school has been having issues with IT, very few student laptops connect to the printers, and therefore we were not able to print the papers ourselves. This caused great worry to us, considering it was our prototype that needed to be shown - without our paper (which also included our business cards and sign) our stall would have been very empty. 
However, we were able to use our problem solving skills to manoeuvre around this problem. As a last resort, a teacher at the hub was kind enough to print our sheets. 

The expo itself certainly didn’t get off to a great start - most of us were scrambling together what we had as we realised there was a lot less time than we thought. 
I think it tested our communication and collaborative skills greatly - after running back from the hub Haeun and I had to quickly assemble the remainder of the stall, and Christina was absent at a meeting. Essentially we were constantly talking to each other through every process to make sure we were all on the same track - with so many things being rushed or unorganised, we had to work together as a team to make sure the end product was decent. ]]> 2021-11-15 03:27:31 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1890204007 INNOV8 Expo Stall https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1890206842 2021-11-15 03:28:55 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1890206842 Early INNOV8 - Eggshell Grinder https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1890253081 Although our original idea for Innov8 was NewStem, we briefly toyed with the idea of creating an eggshell grinder, keeping in the same theme of gardening. In class, gathering in two lines, we have small 30 second pitches to a partner to get feedback on our idea. The feedback we received was in the form of the following questions:

- Where are the egg shells being sourced?
We plan on partnering with food production factories to use leftover eggshells that would otherwise go to waste to provide a natural pesticide.
- Is it biodegradable?
As it is completely natural, yes. Eggshells decompose well eventually in soil, breaking down and adding calcium.
- Do the eggshells rot or give off an unpleasant odour?
The bad smell typically associated comes from sulphur in boiled egg whites; when dried the eggshells have so odour.
- Is it a viable long-term solution?
Though the eggshell grinder requires refilling, as long as we need pesticides and as long as factories keep throwing out eggshells it's a viable solution.

We looked at the above website briefly as a source for the information, but mostly the responses were on the spot.

]]> 2021-11-15 03:52:06 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1890253081 INNOV8 5 Minute Pitch alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1895531327 During today's lesson we gave our five minute pitch of NewStem to the class and three judges. Although parts were quite rushed, I believe we were able to fit all components required - we did have to use a lot of communication skills however, as there were chapters that we thought others were doing but later learnt otherwise. What I think we could have improved upon was that we didn't go terribly above and beyond - although our research was quite thorough, I felt as though we could have built upon the product itself more.
In the future I would like to be better prepared just in terms of presenting - avoid using cue cards as much as possible. 

When getting feedback we also found that it is quite important to speak slowly too; I think in my experience with debating I was able to work on this, but it's still something we can build upon in the future.]]> 2021-11-17 01:01:07 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1895531327 Research - Partnering Companies alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1895544961 For NewStem we needed to source where we would be getting the native seeds from. Although we knew there would be large businesses that sell bulk quantities of seeds and grasses, more for pasture or larger scale projects, we weren't sure what would be the best option to go with. We also learnt that the seeds and grasses can be very expensive sometimes - one was $700 for 10 kilos - so it was also an issue of what would be best to be sold in small packets. 

We found two websites: nativeseeds.com.au and gardenexpress.com.au. The first mainly specialises in pasture and rejuvenating large areas of land, eg. farms, so we figured it would be less suitable. The latter worked better, having plants such as flowers, but they were also quite expensive.

Finally, after searching through several more websites and companies, we settled upon The Seed Collection and Australian Seed, as they suited our needs the best.]]> 2021-11-17 01:07:15 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1895544961 Research - Survey alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1895553502 2021-11-17 01:11:10 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1895553502 Research - Survey alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1895558689 One crucial aspect of our research was finding the right market for it, and hearing responses on whether people would find our product interesting. So, we created a survey early on to get responses as soon as we could. We were limited by the fact it couldn't be sent out to the school, which affected our ability to get a good sample size; hence we went on to send it to just about every person we knew. All in all, we were able to receive responses from nearly 100 people, which was good enough. 
Through the survey we were able to find some good statistics - however these weren't as vital as we had thought. It was good to see whether our product could actually be sold, however. 
The statistic that 68.9% of nearly 100 students haven't seen a worm in their backyard for several months was a good shock factor to use in our pitches, as it's a large number with impact and supports our analogy.

]]> 2021-11-17 01:13:30 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1895558689 Research - Pricing alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1895560681 After searching through many websites, we eventually came across standards for printing; most companies required a lot of information and contact details to get a quote.
We looked at several businesses for typical magazine subscriptions, including Better Homes and Gardens which we referenced as a competitor semi-regularly. From finding out they had several periods for subscription to give the perception that people would save money by subscribing for longer, we thought this would be a good choice. 
It became evident that digital subscriptions were also very popular, and was also far cheaper in terms of not having to print, however this removed the aspect of having seeds or care packages delivered to your home.

]]> 2021-11-17 01:14:18 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1895560681 INNOV8 Expo Stall alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1898281561 2021-11-18 01:03:17 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1898281561 INNOV8 Prototype alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1898282060 This prototype was first designed for the 5 minute pitch, and required very little redesign for the expo, as most of our feedback was on the general idea - the content of the magazine was less important. A good selling point was the idea that everything was local, including partnering with small local businesses to write articles on to promote their product. Even the photos themselves are taken by Adelaide-based photographer Andy Rasheed from his website eyefood.com: I've actually worked with him before, as he does car photography for my parents' business. It felt nice to know the photographer for our magazine rather than just using basic stock images - it also meant that we were using photos of real South Australian native plants, compared to American ones off the internet.]]> 2021-11-18 01:03:36 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1898282060 INNOV8 Expo Stall alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1898282519 When trying to come up with new creative and innovative ideas to present our stall, it became clear that we needed an enticing aspect or two to make us pop out. This was hard to find, as we had very little time and few resources. 

In terms of presentation we figured few people would have much in thought for the design of the table itself. We wanted to visually communicate our idea as best as we could so visitors left with a good understanding of the general vibe and tone of our stall, along with our business cards so they could learn more. We looked at several gardening magazines and websites as well as garden aesthetics on Pinterest for the general tone and colours they used; we thought it was important to stay away from brighter, louder colours and focus more on "natural" ones. Hence we used mostly less vibrant greens and browns to bring an earthy vibe. 

For the table design, after researching on Kmart and cheap household item websites, we came across a cheap tablecloth in an olive green. It was quite large, and when we assembled our stall we were very lucky to have access to one of the larger tables as it fit the tablecloth very well and allowed us to present our items openly and neatly. In addition to this, we bought the woven placemat seen above to showcase our seeds and business cards, contrasting in colour and making them pop out as the showpiece of our stall. ]]> 2021-11-18 01:03:52 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1898282519 INNOV8 Expo - Brownies alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1898313357 In addition to good, clear presentation, the table needed one more thing; bribery. Something to draw people into in the first place. Food is the most popular choice, and although not very original, we figured most people would simply go for store-bought lollies and individually wrapped candies. Because of this I took it upon myself to stay up quite late making brownies from scratch so we could show a little love - and who doesn't love brownies? Originally we wanted to put little toothpicks with plant shoot designs to represent a plant growing out of compressed soil, but unfortunately there was not enough time to allow for this. Still, I brought a nice basket and cut them up into pieces in cupcake holders which looked good. This was how we brought in lingering parents. As they wandered by I called out and asked if they'd like a brownie - though they didn't always take one, I started introducing our product anyways.]]> 2021-11-18 01:19:22 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1898313357 INNOV8 Expo - Pitching alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1898342800 I received good feedback from parents on my pitching. As I have two years experience in debating and a background of theatre and acting, I didn't rely on any script or notes; each pitch was new and improvised on the spot. I introduced ourselves by firstly asking if they had a lawn in their backyard. Then, when most parents replied with a yes, I asked if they knew the potential harmful downsides to having them. This then opened up to me explaining the issue that motivated us to create this product, seeing as people were generally surprised to hear they might be negative; I went on to describe the irrigation and pesticides required, including rainwater runoff that endangered aquatic life.
I took some inspiration and notes from seeing other people pitch at fairs, such as the Royal Adelaide Show and on marketing shows. One thing in common was that they all tried to get on the same level as the potential customer and avoid coming off as preachy: keeping this in mind I started relating what I was talking about to my life at home so the parents understood just how much of an everyday thing this really is. When they were shocked to hear about the downsides I matched their energy - replying with "I know, I was shocked too when I first started researching it!" Throughout the pitch I talked about my own lawn at home and related it to our product, talking about how when I started planting native plants in my garden I was able to see the improvement. How much of it was true I don't know, but it definitely helped bring it down to earth and into our backyards.]]> 2021-11-18 01:34:19 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1898342800 Research - Eggshell Grinder alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1898367607 As we are currently looking into the idea of an eggshell grinder, seeing as the magazine idea may be too broad, we began researching the idea of eggshells as an "alternative natural pesticide".

The above website was a good starter point, as we found there was a range of uses for eggshells rather than just for putting around plants, widening the opportunities for our product. From homegardeners.in, we found they were used for:
- Fertiliser. When they break down, the shells add nutrients (such as calcium) to the soil, enrichening the plants.
- Pest control. You can crush or grind them (direct cause for needing a grinder) into a fine powder to sprinkle on leaves to remove beetles and bugs or around the base to deter slugs. 
- Bird food. Gardeners may have chickens or other birds in their backyard, and the shells are a great source of calcium for them.
- Seed starters. This relates directly to our supposed business - the website gives instructions on how to sterilise and prepare the whole shells to plant seeds in.
- Repel animals. By leaving them in larger chunks, they can be spread around larger plants in garden beds to deter animals and bugs from attacking and eating the crops.]]> 2021-11-18 01:47:13 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1898367607 Research - Printing alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1901234655 For one copy, $2.61
For 15000 copies, $39273
At 110 GSM, full colour, 52 pages including front and back cover, perfect binding]]> 2021-11-19 03:33:17 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1901234655 Research - Subscription alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1903067952 Better Homes and Gardens has a subscription service of 
$43.20 for 6 months 
$93.60 for 12 months 
$187.20 for 24 months]]> 2021-11-20 00:00:29 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1903067952 Research - Digital Subscription alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1903068596 For digital subscriptions:
$4.98 for one copy
$76.04 for 13 issues]]> 2021-11-20 00:01:30 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1903068596 Final Reflection - What Have I Gained alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1903112855 Over the duration of the course, I have not only learnt new skills, but have had the opportunity to grow and develop pre-existing ones. 
These included presentation skills - both in terms of display and verbally communicating - which was a key component to being able to do well in the subject. In order to sell well to the customer they must be able to understand in depth what it is you are trying to sell, and it must be in a simple and easy to perceive format. This could take form as large numbers for statistics with little writing on the slides or simple design that got the message across clearly. It was all about how to make your presentation enticing and interactive, also using humour and slogans. 
We were all also pushed to get on top of time management, as working with strict deadlines meant everyone in the group had to be on top of their work and working together. When the work needs to be presented on a certain date, there are very few extensions that can be granted: this meant that if there were any problems that arose they would have to be solved very quickly and orderly to continue to progress.]]> 2021-11-20 01:07:34 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1903112855 Final Reflection - 4 Cs alisha_roberts https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1903119839 Communication
When members of the team weren't present at school it became vital to be able to not let this hinder the group, as time was of the essence. Everyone had to interpret what had to be done and what they could do in their own time or without others so it could be ensured that work continued.
When doing the "partner in lockdown" activity I was lucky to have a partner also in quarantine at the same time as me, so we were able to use our WebEx meetings effectively, both having some more time at home to work on it. It also meant we were able to understand each other's problems more than if one were still at school.
Communication was also found in the form of the assignments we had to present, and as mentioned before, it was important to use visual communication to make our idea clear and informative. The expo stalls needed to be clean and simple whilst still teaching customers about the product; the slides used the same colour scheme with few amounts of writing and large statistics to draw people in; the infomercial needed to flow and be easy to understand whilst still being impressive to capture people's attention.

Collaboration
Collaboration pairs with communication well, for as mentioned above we needed to work together effectively and productively to produce a good end result. Since nearly all our work was done in groups we all were pushed to learn how to involve each other's ideas and how each member could actively contribute to the work.

Creativity
Creativity has always been one of my strongest skills and didn’t require much development during this course. It was fun to be able to play around with such creative freedom in the projects; notably the infomercial, where a lot of my talents come in the form of filmmaking and editing. However, there were times where we struggled to come up with new fresh ideas - as towards the end of the term most people are tired and stressed, especially for me I started facing creative burnout, where pumping out creative things became labouring and exhausting. This is where collaboration came into play, where we were able to bounce off one another's ideas to keep coming up with new things or expand upon the current ones.

Critical Thinking
A subband of critical thinking I noticed we used a lot was transfer of knowledge. Since I've learnt a lot in terms of presenting from my experience in debating and from watching good infomercials and seeing people pitch on shows such as Shark Tank, I noted what they were able to do well, and how I would be able to use the skills showed in our work.]]> 2021-11-20 01:18:05 UTC https://padlet.com/alisha_roberts/x2zopumk9lzp4xqm/wish/1903119839