1. Introduction to the Personal Project

2. What is the Personal Project?
The Personal Project is an individual project completed in the 10th grade .
It consist of three main components:
Process Journal
Your Project
Written Summary

3. Why Do a Personal Project?
The personal project provides you an opportunity to
demonstrate the skills you have learned during your
MYP years.
You choose your own topic
You will enjoy learning about your topic as you research and develop your product
The skills you develop will be helpful in writing your Extended Essay (IB Diploma)

4. What are the Aims of the Personal Project?
Demonstrate the personal abilities and skills required to produce and present and extended piece of work
Engage in personal inquiry, action and reflection on specific topics and issues
Focus on, and demonstrate an understanding of, Approaches to Learning and one of the areas of interaction
Reflect on learning and share knowledge, views and opinions

5. What are the Objectives of the Personal Project?
Planning and Development
Students should:
Identify a clear and achievable goal
Describe and justify a focus on the chosen area(s) of interaction
Describe the steps followed to achieve the stated goal
Adhere to the stated goal throughout the project

6. What are the Objectives of the Personal Project?
B. Collection of Information/Resources
Students should:
Select and utilize adequate, varied resources
Identify and use relevant information critically
Acknowledge sources of information appropriately

7. What are the Objectives of the Personal Project?
Choice and Application of Techniques
Students should:
Choose techniques relevant to the project’s goal
Justify their selection
Apply techniques consistently and effectively

8. What are the Objectives of the Personal Project?
D. Analysis of Information
Students should:
Analyze the information in terms of the goal and the focus of the project
Express personal thought
Support arguments with evidence
Respond thoughtfully to ideas and inspiration

9. What are the Objectives of the Personal Project?
Organization of Written Work
Students should:
Organize their work in a coherent manner according to the required structure
Present information clearly
Present references, bibliography and symbolic representations appropriately

10. What are the Objectives of the Personal Project?
Analysis of the Process and Outcome
Students should:
Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the project at different stages of development
Where appropriate, suggest ways in which the project could have been tackled differently
Assess the achieved results in terms of the initial goal and the focus on the chosen area(s) of interaction
Show awareness of the overall perspectives related to the chosen topic or piece of work

11. What are the Objectives of the Personal Project?
G. Personal Engagement
Students should:
Meet deadlines
Follow agreed procedures and work plans
Make appropriate use of a Process Journal
Show initiative, enthusiasm and commitment to the task

12. What Type of Personal Project Can I Do?
Your Personal Project should be:
Personal, original, individual, something in which you have a genuine interest
Guided by an area of interaction

13. What Type of Personal Project Can I Do?
Your Personal Project should not be:
Part of an assessed school course work, bound by any specific subject
So big that it destroys your social or academic life

14. What type of Personal Project Can I Do?
The Product can be:
Creative product
Community project
Experiment
Composition

15. What type of Personal Project Can I Do?
A Few Product Ideas to Get You Started
Original work of art/music/drama
Original science experiment
Presentation of a special event
Presentation of a new student/community organization
Presentation of a developed business, management or organizational plan
Invention or specially designed object/system
Piece of literary fiction

16. What type of Personal Project Can I Do?
Some successful examples of projects include . . .
Designing a beach chair/trolley
Design a program to teach 4th graders a special skill
Learn how you can support a disabled person be physically active
Create an audio library to show how different types of music are used in advertising
Design a website for Habitat for Humanity
Create a mural about poverty in Chicago
Organize a fundraiser to support a women’s shelter

17. What type of Personal Project Can I Do?
Some examples of unsuccessful projects include . . .
Terrorism (don’t write a book)  why not write a play from the point of view of the “freedom fighter”?
How to solve Tanzania’s national debt (turned in at 40, 000 words (much too large for a personal project; also may lack “personal” connection!) why not design, plan, and implement a new solution to help the poor in Chicago, etc.

18. Components of the Personal Project
Product
The product will take the form of either a creative or technological product or service action. It should not be an essay.

19. Components of the Personal Project
Process Journal
You will need to maintain a detailed record of your progress, reflections and plans in a Process Journal
At the end of the project you will be asked to summarize your notes from your Process Journal into a written summary.

20. Components of the Personal Project
Written Summary
The written summary will follow a prescribed general structure, and will include the following elements:
Title Page
Table of Contents
Introduction– defining the goal of the project and an explicit focus on the chosen area of interaction.
Description of the Process—production steps, the characteristics, aspects or components of the work

21. Components of the Personal Project
Written Summary
The written summary will follow a prescribed general structure, and will include the following elements:
Analysis of Inspiration– research and influences guiding the work, the findings and decisions made, the resulting product and the process in terms of the goal and its focus on the area of interaction chosen
Conclusion—where the student reflects on the impact of her project, and on new perspectives that could be considered
Bibliography—in proper format
Appendices—where appropriate

22. Components of the Personal Project
Written Summary
The Assessment of your Personal Project is based on
your Written Summary.
Length of the Written Summary
Must not exceed 4000 words

23. How Do I Start?
Attend the Introduction to the Personal Project Session
Read and discuss the assessment criteria for the project
Begin recording information in your Process Journal
Update your process journal weekly regarding your progress
Brainstorm and find a topic that is interesting to you
Begin to narrow your topic and begin developing a goal and your product

24. Choosing a Topic and Product
See handout (Beach Trolley/Chair Design)

25. Sub-topic
Sub-topic
Topic
Sub-topic
Sub-topic

26. Areas of Interaction
See Personal Project Guide

27. What do the 5 areas of interaction mean?27

28. AoI: Approaches to learning (ATL)
Through ATL, teachers provide students with tools to:
take responsibility for their own learning
develop awareness of how they learn best
develop problem solving and decision making skills
develop awareness of thought process and learning strategies.
develop critical, coherent and independent thought. 28

29. AoI: Community and service
This component extends learning beyond the classroom and requires students to:
take an active part in the communities in which they live, thereby encouraging responsible citizenship
develop a sense of responsibility
develop skills to make an effective contribution to society
develop community awareness and concern. 29

30. AoI: Human ingenuity (homo faber)
Students explore in multiple ways the processes and products of human creativity to:
appreciate and develop the human capacity to influence, transform, enjoy and improve the quality of life
explore relationships between science, aesthetics, technology and leads students to examine, experience and reflect on the creative process. 30

31. AoI: Environment.
Aims to develop awareness of humanity’s interdependence with the environment so that students:
accept responsibility for maintaining an environment fit for the future
understand local and global environmental issues
make decisions on environmental situations
understand political and economic environmental issues. 31

32. AoI: Health and social education.
Aims to educate the whole person dealing with physical, social and emotional health and intelligence—key aspects of development leading to complete and healthy lives. Students will:
develop skills and knowledge to make informed choices
become aware of potential hazards
take responsibility for their own well-being
take responsibility for their social environment
understand the relationship between the individual and society. 32

33. Summer Dates June 20, 2008 (Room 319) - (9 – 11 am)
Personal Project Session II
Goal Statement
Personal Project Notification Form & Questionnaire Due (pp. 15 & 16)
July 18, 2008 (Room 319) - (9 – 12 am)
Personal Project Session III
Researching for your Personal Project