WEDNESDAY 29 JANUARY 2014

I am behind schedule and plan! I am worried and tensed! I feel disorganized and messy. This is all I can say now! But today I started with my final product. I took a huge piece of plywood and started drawing the box dimensions on it. At last I started! I was also about to cut the 6 faces of the box but did not get time as there was a queue for using the scroll saw! This is what I really dislike! The school should supply each student with a scroll saw. There should be 27 scroll saws in the DT lab so that people don't waste their time waiting in the queue. Tomorrow, I am working during class time and after school and hopefully nearly finish box #1! 

                                                       TUESDAY 28 JANUARY 2014

In my opinion, today was the worst DT lesson ever. I don't think I have ever felt as miserable and helpless as I did today!! Yesterday, I was supposed to start on with my create by cutting wood for box number one. Since I could not do that yesterday, I decided to cut wood for both box number 1 and box number 2, today! But when I reached the DT lab, I realized that I had to add something very important to my exploded drawing. I wanted to start with create today, so I explained my situation to sir. He told me that I could start with my create as long as I hand in my plan stage on time. I was very glad and relieved. But when he asked for the measurements of my box, so that he could cut some wood....... I was blank! I did not bring my design stage to school today and the dimensions of the box were in my design stage. I felt useless and very helpless! I wanted to start with my creattteee!!!!! So today I will calculate all the measurements and dimensions of both the boxes and then tomorrow I will cut out the wood and some extra woods in case and then start with my create! I reaalllyyyy hope I can  do it tomorrow! 

                                                    SUNDAY 26 JANUARY 2014

Today is India's Republic Day so I was busy almost the whole day. But I found some time during the night. So I stayed awake almost the whole night and finished  my Plan stage. I am soooo glad I am done with the plan stage.... but wait there is a problem....I have not yet done my exploded drawing which is as important as the production plan. I cannot do the exploded drawing because I do not have my design stage! It is not my fault.... But I wanted ot finish my plan stage and hand it in by Monday but I cannot because I cannot do my exploded drawing. So tomorrow I will go to sir and explain the situation, then I will take my design stage, come home, draw my exploded drawing and then submit it on Tuesday. This is how much I have done today! Have a look....

                                                     SATURDAY 25 JANUARY 2013

I worked on my plan stage today. I finished filling 1-2 more columns and I am almost done with the product plan. Plan stage is due on Monday for me. So I have one more day to finish my exploded drawing, evaluation of plan and the Gantt chart.... Yeah I have a pretty long way to go...... I blame all this on PROCRASTINATION- a disease which can never be cured....!!!!! I am very tensed and hope to finish it! 
Here is what I did today: 

                                                      THURSDAY 24 JANUARY 2014 


Today I just worked on my pan stage and I am almost done with my product plan. YEAAHHH!!! I am aiming to finish plan stage by Monday and hand it in so that I can start with create stage a day earlier that the actual day. I am finding plan stage quite easy and manageable unlike other stage where I often used to get very stressed and have sleepless nights. This is how much I have progressed and I am enjoying a lot!! Have a look: 

                                                  WEDNESDAY 22 JANUARY 2014

Today I did quite a lot of work. It was a very confusing lesson and I felt very disorganized! Basically, I continued with my plan stage and planned (decided) that I will have to finish Plan stage and hand it in by Monday so that I can start with CREATE!! During today's lesson, I just organized the dates that I am going to work on my create and i realized that I will be working everyday (except for the weekends). Monday and Friday will be consdered as extra days. In other words, Monday and Friday will not be considered as lesson since we do not have DT on those days. But I will be also working on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, during the lesson. So today I just sorted that out... so here is a screenshot of what I did today:

                                                    TUESDAY 21 JANUARY 2014

Today lesson was good and not good. It was good because I learnt how to do the plan stage and I kind of started. I made the table and wrote down one or two activities. It is very difficult to predict the amount of time that will be needed for each activity! So I have to think a lot before I write down the activity! I did not like this lesson because there were a group of boys who kept of disturbing me and not letting me do my work.... but almost towards the end of the lesson, they started working and stopped annoying me!  That is when I started working seriously. I want to finish plan stage so that I can start with create stage because I am really not sure if I can finish creating my box withing the time given by the teacher!! Anyway, this is what I did today:

                                                        SUNDAY 19 JANUARY 2014 


I AM PROUD OF MYSELF! I finished a design in 1 day! Design 3, the most complicated design compared to the other two! It took a really long time for me to finish it! Design 3 was two A3 papers and 1 A4 paper long.... this gives an idea of how design 3 looks like! tooo untidy!?? noo but its quite neat! I did not enjoy working on design 3 because it was a lot of work. The reason I feel this way is because I procrastinated! Next time I will start as soon as the assignment is given so that I finish on time and not stressed up! If I had started working on design stage during the holidays, I might have finished plan stage by now! I will surely do that next time! Together with the drawing, I finished the justification part too! 
To be honest, design stage is due on Tuesday! But I want to hand it in on Monday so that I can start with plan stage! I am planning to finish plan stage much before the due date so that I can start with create stage because I am worried I might not finish creating my product on time! :) :( 
Hope everything goes on well and I don't PROCRASTINATE! here is a screenshot of design 3 (not sure if it will fit in one picture!! :P)  

                                                        SATURDAY 18 JANUARY 2014 

YEAAHHH!!! Today, I started working on design 2 early in the morning and was done by afternoon! Not only the designing and the drawing part, but also the justification and the design specifications part! I seriously worked today I am very relieved! Finishing design 2 took lesser time compared to finishing deign 1! I found design 2 easier because I only could now copy the format of design 1 which minimized on the thinking time! I had a lot of fun working on design 2 ad am sure that I will have enjoy more while doing design 3! This is not work for me. This is like a resting and a relaxing time as I enjoy designing and drawing! I absolutely love this! In my opinion design 2 is looking much neater and organized compared to design 1!
Here is a screenshot of my successful design 2... yyeeaaah :) 

                                                  THURSDAY 16 JANUARY 2014 

As soon as I got into class, I seriously got down to work. I had an aim.... to finish Design stage by Sunday night! I had to do this! I had started drawing, when a great confusion blocked my way to success! I had no idea how to make drawers. So I went onto the internet and searched. But they were showing how to biuld a drawers with some complicated tool which I did not have access to! The only solution left was to go to Mr. Wafula and clear my confusion. He explained something which I did not understand because I was very tensed and panicky! Then afetr some time, I went back and asked him to explain the same thing again and thats when I understood! Finally! It was much much easier than I had expected! All I needed was a few pop sicle sticks and then use them as supports for the drawers! At last I was relieved. My mind was now clear and I could clearly see my goal! If i had not been that worried and panicky, I think I would have understood Mr. Wafula earlier and could have started working on design 2! 

                                                       WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY

Today, during class, I did the final touches of design 1 which took a lot of time because once it had to be perfect after the final touches! I had to see if everything is well explained, had to check for any silly mistakes and many others. Then I went a showed it to Mr. Wafula and thank god I got a very good feedback. He said that my work shows that I have worked very hard. I felt really good by his comments. By the time all this was done, it was nearly time to leave. So i quickly got a fresh paper and had started drawing when suddenly, I got a shock! Design stage due monday and I have just started Design 2! Woooowwwwwwooo!! I am dead......

                                                           Tuesday, 14 January 2014

Today , I worked quite hard during the lesson. I felt very relieved when Mr. wafula liked my design and was satisfied. I liked the feeling of receiving deserving appreciation as I had worked very hard to finish my design 1. Today, I added a little more important information on the design. I feel like making the same design on a fresh piece of paper as this A4 papers was crumpled and looked quite messy. But the teacher said that it does not really matter. Once i was done adding the information, I checked the design specification to make sure most of them were followed. But to my surprise, only a few of them were properly followed. This depressed me a little as this was a sign design might not be my final product. I got a shock when my friend told me that the design stage was due on Thursday. I was only on the first design. This is when I realized that I am lagging behind a lot. Once I went home I finished with design 1 justification and packed them and kept them aside. Design 1 was done completely! I was happy but I knew I needed to hurry up and finish it as soon as possible! 

                                                    SUNDAY 12 JANUARY 2013

DONE WITH DESIGN ONE! Design 1 basically includes the two sketches of the main box- each from a different angle, the drawing on the box (Chinese script), the different joints that I have used, the total volume of the box and the lid/top, two sketches of the top/lid of the box- each from a different angle and a lot of describing and reasoning. I am very proud of my design 1 because it has a very professional and a detailed look. I am a little confused if I should color my designs. Coloring the design is not going to add detail and might make it look messy. But coloring might be a good option too, since there are many ghost marks on my work which might make it look a little untidy. But I will ask sir for his opinion on Monday so that I can take the final decision. I had a lot of fun drawing design 1 and had not expected it to

turn out this nice in the beginning. I am expecting design 2 to be more difficult because design 2 will have drawers and is more complicated compared to design 1! :) :D

                                                         Thursday, 9th January

ALMOST DONE WITH DESIGN 1! Today I am very happy because I am almost done with design 1 (only drawing). I am planning to finish the drawing during the weekend and do the justification part during class time. Today, I did not draw much but did a lot of writing- describing and reasoning. It was something different. I had to write about the different joints that I have used, a short description of the joint and why I am using it! I looked up the net for the description of the joints, even thought I knew them. I did this to be on the safer side- I did not want to write the wrong definition of the joint and then repent for not confirming on the internet. I had a lot of fun writing and felt very happy when I was done with the writing about the joints part because it looked very professional and neat. Then I calculated the volume of the box and wrote it beside the box. I also drew the Arial view or the bird view of the storage box to give the reader a better picture/ idea of the inside. For the weekend, I am planning to calculate the volume of the lid/top of the box and write a little about the back part of the lid/top ( angle 2). Since I am very fond of Chinese writing, I am planning to write a Chinese word (pretty or beautiful) on the sides of the storage box. During the weekend, I will also draw the Chinese word on the design and then write what it means and why I chose to write it on my box. So this is the plan for the weekend and I want to finish design 1 by Monday! Here is a screenshot of the work I did today: 

                                                                 JANUARY 8th  2013

Today I seriously started working on Design 1. I already knew the three ideas that I had in mind for my three designs. I am not able to choose between the three designs that is the reason why I want to use them as my three designs and then see which on follows most of the design specs which will determine my final design! I was all excited to start. Today, I drew a simple box with 4 divided sections. I decided that four main faces of the boxes will be joined together using the finger joints. Then the four faces will be stuck to the bottom face with glue which will basically make it a butt joint. To divide the box's storage area into four sections, I will used halved joints. So this means I used three joints in the box which meant that I could tick one of my design specifications for design 1! Then I drew the lid/top of the box and explained everything about it! Today I did not only draw but I also had to explain many things! Here is a screenshot of design 1 until now!:

                                                                  JANUARY 7 2013

Today was the first day of school and First day of DT of the year 2014! Back to school at last! Today's lesson was a little weird for me as I had expected many people to be ahead of me or at least started with their design stage! But to my surprise everybody was a procrastinator like me or they did not know what to do like me!?!! But whatever the reason, it was very surprising. Today, I was in the mood of starting and took  A3 papers and seriously got down to work. I did not actually work much today but I looked at design stages done by different people. I learnt a lot from those designs. That is when I got a clear idea of what I was supposed to do and what I am going to do! By the time I was done planning and started drawing, it was almost time. But i was not disappointing that I did not do much work but I was content that now I knew what exactly is to be done! 

                                                      DURING THE HOLIDAYS

Sooo.... during the  holidays I did not work on my DT!?!! AGAAINN! There are two reasons why I did not start and I am being very honest!! Reason number 1: I did not know how to as this was the first DT design stage I have ever done... seriously! Last year was the first year in senior school and I was cluless and being blank was acceptable. I drew 3 simple designs and I handed them in. I did not justify or explain anything! This year is very different. Its more serious. I did not want to start during the holidays, then eventually realize that whatever I did during the holidays was wrong! 
Reason 2: I knew that we would get around 3 weeks after schools opens. Which made me think "why should I waste my time doing the design stage instead of enjoying my holidays when I was getting around 2-3 weeks after schools opens! 
To be honest, I still feel I did the right thing! But after schools opens I have to work hard and finish my design stage nicely!

                                                         TUESDAY DECEMBER 10 2013
                                                                      TENTH LESSON

Today was the last day of school and last day of DT of the year 2013! Today was basically a free lesson since all of us were done with our investigates. Mr. Wafula had told us that we were allowed to do anything that we wished. Some of were took the advantages of the free lesson and started working on their designs! Unfortunately, I was not one of them!?!! :P I wanted to start design stage but I could not because I was in the holiday mood. Another reason why I did not want to work on my design stage because I was not exactly sure how to get started. So I just drew random things on a piece of paper.... while some talked, some played around and some even went out of the classroom and had fun. Honestly, this lesson was kind of boring because I felt like procrastinator as I had a good opportunity to start with my design and clarify my doubts with Mr- wafula but I did not! After the lesson I felt guilty for not doing my design stage! But then I felt better when I realized we had a few weeks after school opened to finish our designs. Another reason why I stopped regretting that I should have started working on the last day was that I realized that I will get a better opportunity to start designing nicely as Mr-wafula was going to explain everything properly and clearly on the first day! So ya... the last day of school and the last day of DT was good! :)