Preparing for the Coming Week

As the days count down to the final implementation and physics symposium, we continue to work on our presentation and finalize our bell. To be quite honest, this is much more difficult than we would have ever expected. We got off to a reasonable start with interviewing teachers and trying to find a problem. That is something we will mention in our final presentation. We have also made it a point to mention the process we've gone through. For example, calling Island Signal multiple times to get the bell set up and then meeting with the administrators.

This week in physics, we will continue to work on our final presentation speeches and keynote. Sam has already started the keynote presentation, and we will figure out who will say what. Basically, we will tighten up our proposal and detailed design so that it is eloquently described and answers the questions that will be asked. We need to take more pictures for the final project. Data collection has begun as well. We shall use that as additional data and, hopefully if the bell is implemented soon, can use the additional data to support the bell being a success.

An update: Hopefully, by the end of this week, we will have implemented the bell. Again, we have continued to inform Mrs. Martin about the urgency of the bell. We're still in high hopes that the bell will happen this week. THIS WEEK.

Day 26: Final Approval

Today our group got in contact with Island Signal and Sound and were informed that Mrs. Martin was interested in our groups ideas and wanted an explanation from us about the bell.  We are now sending her an email with an attachment of our proposal and if that is not sufficient enough we will schedule a meeting with her and clear up any questions she may have.  We are very focused on getting our bell out there to help the students.  Because we cannot do anything more to help the implementation, we have focused our attention to preparing for our final speech presentation.  Yesterday we divided up the responsibilities, and have each got started on writing and creating our keynote slides.  We will continue to keep our hopes up and continue to strive for excellence.  

Back In The Waiting Area

Since all there really is to do is wait for the prototype to be deployed, we are focusing on our future assignments. We have begun preparing for our presentation on the 20^th of May by starting our Keynote presentation and working on what we are going to say. We have divided up the tasks on who will be saying and preparing what for the presentation. As an update, we have given out data sheets to several teachers who have agreed to assist us in this project. They will be collecting data for us from within their classroom. For the past week the selected teachers have been taking note of the number of tardy students per period. This is, of course, before the bell is put into place. Now that the “constant” of our data has been established, it is time for the true experimentation. As mentioned before, we now await the sign from Mrs. Martin saying that the bell will be up and running. Let’s hope it gets done!

Day 24: Prototype

Today our prototype was to be deployed. Sadly, our prototype’s release date must be postponed on account of several factors, mostly miscommunication problems. Although we’ve submitted our blogs, proposal, and detailed design in on a timely manner, our prototype could not be expounded to the public on time. This is so because there was a miscommunication error between the Island Signal company and the administration at Kamehameha. We were able to get approval from the administration a week ago, but the contact between the two parties was not in order. As of today, Mrs. Martin and Island Signal are in contact with each other trying to set up the bell system, which should be up in a matter of time. All in all, everything that was preventing us from achieving our prototype deadline was out of our hands. We are just waiting for word from Mrs. Martin as to when the bell will be implemented.

Um...Maybe?...Okay, Probably Not

Today is Tuesday. In less than an hour, our prototype will have to be deployed.

That's where the problem begins. The 5-minute warning bell was supposed to be put into action by tomorrow. As of right now, at 11:02 pm on Tuesday, May 3, neither Mrs. Martin nor the other members of the administrative team have updated us on the status of the bell. Kala spoke to Mrs. Martin yesterday, and he said that she would call Island Signal to touch base with them on the implementation of the bell. Because she was not at the last AT meeting, Mrs. Martin is somewhat lost on the topic but reassured Kala that she would do her best to coordinate the bell. I don't feel confident that the bell will be in place by tomorrow. And that's fine. We've done all we could and scheduled everything we had to schedule and talked with people from whom we needed answers. Our proposals went out, the administration heard about what we wanted done, and they approved it (much to our surprise). We've been persistent in getting administration to contact Island Signal, but I understand that there were other more important things that they needed to deal with first. At the end of the day, we've done all we could and while not having the prototype in by the deadline is devastating, we really did try our best.

In the end, we're doing this for the students and teachers. We've stated our purpose in doing this multiple times, and we'll stand by our decision to have this bell. When all is said and done, we believe this bell will benefit the community at Kamehameha.

Day 22: Time is Running Out

Today is May 2nd, 2011; two days before our prototype has to be out and about servicing the students and faculty.  Where we are at right now is, we have been approved by the school and the administrators.  The only thing holding us back now is Island Signal.  We're patiently waiting for them to implement the new bell schedule.  However we're beginning to get a little worried as the due date is approaching fast.  The baton is no longer in our hands, and its been passed to the workers at Island Signal and Sound.  We will continue to contact them, and are hopeful that they will bring it home for us before the May 4th deadline.

The Week Is Here

After much planning and anticipation, the week of prototype deployment has arrived and we are hanging on by a thread. Our prototype must be implemented around Kamehameha by the 4th of May, which is when we will begin the second step in our data collection. Over the past week we have distributed a data sheet to various teachers, noting the amount of tardies per period. After the bell is implemented, the teachers will continue to record the amount of tardies in their class and we will hopefully see a positive change. In addition to preparing for our data collection, we will also be sending out an announcement to the student body, via Puka Mai Kala, informing them about the bell change. We are prepared for the bell to implemented, now we await the confirmation from Island Bell Systems to input the warning in our system. It's getting close!!!