Think:

My mom- caring, funny, loving, cheerful, selfless

My brother- funny, athletic, thoughtful, sociable, annoying

My dad- funny, loving, protective, creative, generous

My cousin- funny, athletic, caring, dependable, bright

My BFF- funny, athletic, compassionate, brave, optimistic

Brainstorm:

Mom- she is always there for me, and will do whatever to make me happy.

Dad- he is always there for me and cheering me on every step of the way no matter what.

Tyler- is always there for me and will tell me how it is whether I want to hear it or not.

Aly- is always there for me and can always make me feel comfortable, is the sister I never had.

Abby- is always there for me and can always make me laugh, she has taught me how to be myself and not care what others think.

Journal: What needs to happen #1

My speech will be a toast, almost like a “thank you” approach. I will highlight my relationship with my brother over time and share some memories/stories from each time. Then, I tie it up with almost a thank you at the conclusion, as if I were giving this speech to him, but the intro opens up with more of a toast and kind of funny beginning. My good ideas highlight how we have grown over time and how our relationship has changed along with us at each stage in our lives. The challenge I have now writing this speech is that I am not good at expressing my feelings, especially to people. But also to my brother, I love him, and he knows that, but I don’t say it often and feel weird writing all this stuff and “what he means to me.” I am also scared to give this speech because it is so emotional and personal, unlike other speeches we have done up to this point. To elevate my speech, I will include pictures and try to throw in some humor to lighten my mood and myself in case I get stressed or rush through it since it is more emotional and feelings-based.

Dry-Run Video

Journal: What Needs to Happen #2

My speech will be a toast, but it will take a “thank you” approach. I will highlight my relationship with my brother over time and share some memories/stories from each time. Then, I tie it up with almost a thank you at the conclusion, as if I were giving this speech to him, but the intro opens up with more of a toast and kind of funny beginning. The good idea is how I highlight our relationship over time and how it has been similar to a roller coaster. I am scared to give this speech because it is so emotional and personal, unlike other speeches we have done up to this point. After watching my dry run, I see that the intro needs some work as I bounce around from different points/ideas I share. Although I was sitting when giving this speech, I am still fidgeting with my hands, which I will want to limit when giving it next time. For next time, I need to keep rehearsing so I feel confident and can nail down my time, as during the dry run, I got 3:06 and need to get it to 4 minutes for next week. To elevate my speech, I will include pictures and try to throw in some humor to lighten my mood and myself in case I get stressed or rush through it since it is more emotional and feelings-based.

Journal: Reflection as a Whole

After doing this speech/project, I felt relieved that it was over, but I also enjoyed the process we took to do it. With the other two speeches, I worked on crafting them, but something about this one felt different. I enjoyed the opportunity to do mini speeches in our group and get feedback from some classmates. They helped me make changes/improvements I would not have thought of on my own, and I got to hear others’ relationships with their siblings, which helped me think of things to add. My engagement with this project was good. I shared feedback with my classmates, listened to their input, and was happy to hear their thoughts on my speech. My biggest struggle was making sure I hit the required time; I did not hit it during the dry run or the day of the speech. I need to slow down when speaking and not let my nerves get in the way. I often struggle with this, but since this speech had more emotions involved than the other speeches we did, I spoke even quicker. A success I saw from this, though, is that I could remain calm enough that I felt like I did not use too many filler words and that since I was sharing more emotional pieces, I did not have to look down as much. Since I was sharing a story and knew it by heart because it was a memory and one that was really important to me. I conveyed that message as people said they got emotional from my speech and that it was well written.