Self Evaluation

LMS 8th Grade Project Self-Evaluation

Name: Lillianna Stelling

My project was: Pole Vaulting


1) Who or what was the most helpful resource in doing this project?

My dad. Why my dad was the most helpful resource because he helped me a lot with learning all the basic training drills. He helped me by recording my video part also. He acted as my interviewee, too, because he is the Pole Vault coach at the High School. He was a big help in the way that I could go to practices with him and watch all the older students preform to get a better idea of the sport. He gave me a book that he uses for coaching to borrow as a resource for my bibliography so that worked out well. He taught me things that I should learn now so that I will be more prepared for next year when I begin to pole vault in track.




2) How many hours did you put in? What were your greatest challenges?

I bet I put in about 5 hours on my project. A few hours my dad and I went down to the High School and recorded drills which was at least a good two hours. Then I attended a few practices and attempted the sport once, that time added up. I spent time after school every so ofter doing reflections, I would say each one of those took about 5 minutes. It took around 15 minutes actually interviewing my interviewee. I spent about 30 minutes preparing all the questions though. My bibliography took a while because I had a hard time finding a book on pole vaulting until I asked my dad for one. I read a lot of sites on pole vaulting and used for my bibliography. My poster at the end took about 20 minutes. I found out the worlds greatest pole vaulter and put information on him on my poster and I put a lot of cool pictures which took time to find.




3) What did you like best about your project? What was not so great?

What I liked best about my project was getting a head start on what I want to do next year. I liked watching all the people pole vault because it's really fun to watch. I also liked learning those drills. It was a good experience overall knowing that I began something I'm planning on persueing in the near future. What was no so great was the finishing touches of the whole project. It was hard to find a computer that would run my disk. It was also challenging finding a book on pole vaulting. I had troubles with being able to attend more High School Pole Vault practices because on my our commitment in Track and Field.




4) If you had it to do all over again, what would you change?

I would of began pole vaulting sooner so that in my video I could of had me being able to actually get over a height. I would of started my project sooner also. I would of changed how long I had for each drill on my video. I would of put more footage of people actually pole vaulting instead of just many drills and only one pole vaulter. I would of possibly gotten a more knowledgable person in the pole vaulting field. I would change my poster, in the way that I would find more information to be included on it. I would of gone to more practices at the High School to observe.

Reflection #10

Tonight was showcase night, and it seemed to go pretty smooth. I had to get a computer for my project because the computers in the library wouldn't play my disk so Mrs. Holting let me borrow hers, which was very nice of her. A lot of students had very impressive projects, that were fun to look at. I think it went good, nothing went horribly wrong. Mr. Terhar came by and checked out my project and I think he thought it was okay, so that was good. I liked how everyone just walked around so it wasn't like you were presenting to a lot of people at once for a full presentation. It was fun and I'm glad it's over!

Reflection #9

Okay this week I have been thinking about getting this project done and how I'm going to do that with the remanding time before it's due. I have yet to film me vaulting into an actual pit and the final details and probably a poster with some basic facts. I feel confident with completing the in the near future. I'm glad that I have the bibliography and interview out of the way so that narrows it down to what I need to do. Also most of my video is finished so that helps too. I'm glad that the project is almost through because I'm ready to stop worrying about it. I think now I'm about 7 1/2 or 8 out of 10, for how close I am to being done. I plan to next video tape me vaulting into the pit and make a poster and check over the 8th Grade Project Packet to make sure I didn't miss anything.

INTERVIEW

Lillianna Stelling
April 12, 2009
8th grade project
Interview


1. What got you interested in pole vaulting?
No one coached pole vault so he was asked by the head coach.

2. What is the highest vault that one of your students has vaulted?
12 feet.

3. Do you enjoy coaching this event?
Yes, because it is probably the most difficult field event to preform, because of the technique involved in projecting yourself into the air off a pole.

4. What are your goals when coaching pole vaulting?
#1 is safety. #2 is to have fun. #3 is to help students involved reach their athletic potential.

5. What has been your proudest moment while coaching this event?
Having a student clear opening height for their first time and continuing to accel.

6. What have you learned?
He has learned a lot about teaching a variety of drills through workshops to build strength. The workshop is called Tim Riley NW Pole Vault Clinic. Also by spending more time coaching pole vault, students have increased their skills.

7. How much time does it take to be successful?
You can become successful early but through increased practice the better you get. Sometimes is takes many years.

8. How long do you plan to continue coaching?
He has not made that decision yet. He plans to continue as long as he still enjoys it and can help students exceed.

9. What traits do you need to vault?
Strength, speed, gymnastic ability, and craziness.

10. Have you changed your coaching methods over the years?
No, although he does persue getting tips from other coaches from other teams that have good vaulters.

11. Do you wish you would have participated in this event when you were younger?
Definetly. He have never participated, He wishes he could today but his body is unable to. Although he is glad that he stayed focused on one event.

12. How many years have you coached pole vault?
He has coached 6-7 years.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lillianna Stelling
May 2, 2009
8th Grade Project
Annotated Bibliography



1. "The Physics of Polevaulting". Physic's News Graphics. April 22, 2009 .

From this site I learned how one type of energy is converted into another type of energy.

Pole vaulting is a great example of the central principle in physics: the conservation of

energy.

Through the use of the pole vault, the energy of motion combined with the sprint

is converted into the energy needed to overcome gravity and reach a certain height.

The faster you can sprint toward the bar, the higher you can vault over the bar, again

assuming a proper technique. Energy can never be created or destroyed; it can only be

converted from one form to another. When you pole vault, what you want is to

convert all of your kinetic energy into gravitational potential energy.



2. Falk, Bill. "Inside Pole Vaulting #6 - Basic Training for the Pole Vault!". Everything Track and Field. April 21, 2009 http://www.everythingtrackandfield.com/catalog/matriarch/OnePiecePage.asp_Q_PageID_E_274_A_PageName_E_InsidePoleVaulting6.

From this site I learned you must also train for the pole vaulting event. It’s suggested

vaulting 2 - 3 times per week plus training another three days. You'll quickly improve

your height when you become faster, stronger and more explosive. You have to sprint, lift

weights and do some basic drills to prepare yourself for the pole vault.


3.Reilly, Tim. Tim Reilly PoleVault Clinic Manual. Seattle: Tim Reilly , 2004.
From this book I learned Guiding Principle such as The Metronome Principle. The

Pole Grip and Carry which says use sprinting speed and good posture to prepare the

vaulted for a smooth and dynamic plant. Your arms, shoulders and face should stay

relaxed, some bounce is good, but pumping is not good.

Make sure when vaulting your posture is tall and square. The top hand should be extended

softly behind the hip, the bottom hand knuckles up and wrist cocked at or above elbow

level. Beginners should carry the tip of the pole at eye level, the more advanced vaulters

carry the pole higher and to the left as they begin their run.

When approaching you should have a controllable speed with a consistent stride pattern

that excels into the take-off. When a vaulted plants they should gradually lower the pole

so when at the pit the tip of the pole plants into the pit. When approaching the pit the pole

rotates as lowered into the pit. When swinging the object is to invert the vaulted while

maintaining the pole’s rotation speed.


4. "Pole Vault". wikipedia. April 21, 2009 .

From this website I learned that Competitive pole vaulting began using bamboo

poles. As the heights increased, the bamboo poles gave way to tubular steel, which was

tapered at each end. Today's pole vaulters use from poles produced by wrapping sheets of

fiberglass around a pole pattern, to make a slightly pre-bent pole that bends with more

ease under the compression caused by a vaulters take-of. Today's mats are solid pieces of

foam usually 1-1.5 meters thick. Mats are growing larger in area, in order to minimize any

risk of injury. Proper landing technique is on the back or shoulders. Landing on the feet is

not good on the athlete, It creates the risk of spraining or breaking an ankle.


5. "Pole Vault". Brian Mac Sports Coach. April 26, 2009 .

From this site I learned that pole vault is the most technical of athletic events. A lot

of time should be spent perfecting the technique. The appropriate pole to use is

determined by your weight. Never use a pole rated below your body weight. A grip area

from 6" to 18" (inches) from the top of the pole is the range the pole is made to bend. Pole

manufacturers place a red band around the top of the pole to indicate the top of the

preferred grip range.

All fiberglass poles have a "soft side" which runs the length of the pole and you must

identify the "soft side" . When vaulting, the "soft side" must face away from you in the

direction of the initial bending of the pole.

Reflection #8

This week I participated in a High School pole vault practice. I began to vault into the pit. I haven't been able to swing my legs to the top of the pole yet, but I'm working on it. I will most likely go to another practice this week to continue to get better. Next I am going to accomplish my bibliography that is supposedly due Friday. I feel pretty good about my project, it seems like its starting to rap up here fast.

Reflection #7

Lately I have been working on my video, putting all the clips together, the disk is now fully completed. I have been also working on touching up my interview. Right now i really don't have much I'm working on. I plan to do the write up of the interview, since I got all that information today from Mr. Terhar at our mentor meeting. I think I also might get a poster going, while I have time to accomplish it. I feel good about the progress right now. I think I'm about at a 6 or 7 out of ten for the whole project.

Reflection #6

This week I accomplished writing up my 12 questions for my interviewee. I also interviewed my interviewee recently. The interview went well. All my questions got fully answered fairly easily. I took notes on the answers of all the questions given, then I typed the questions and answers up. I filled out that interview form also. Next I plan to start the bibliography. On a scale of 1-10 I think I am at about a 7 now. I feel really good about the progress at this point, if it continues to progress at this rate I have a good feeling on getting the project completed in time. Right now I have no questions or concerns.

Reflection #5

This week I accomplished putting all my clips of me pole vaulting onto a disk. I changed who I plan to interview again. Now I am going to interview my dad witch was what I thought I was going to do at the beginning. Next I am going to come up with the questions for my interviewee. Then I will complete the interview. I feel pretty good on how far I am along on the project so far. On a scale of 1-10 I think I'm at about a 6. Why I rated myself a 6 is because accomplishing the filming was a pretty big part, but there is still a ways to go and a lot more until the project is finalized.

Reflection #4

This week I accomplished filming the basic pole vaulting skills. My dad filmed me showing strength building exercises and basic skills of vaulting. I changed who I plan on interviewing. Now i am going to interview High School pole vaulter. I think I am going to interview sometime this week when i attend their after school practices. I think on a scale of 1- 10 I am about a 5 now, because getting that filming done was a lot of my project so I feel pretty good on how far I am. Next I am going to accomplish either the poster or the interview. I have no questions still. The only concern I have is the bibliography but i just need to look at my project packet to make it all clear.

Reflection #3

This week I have accomplished continuing researching information that I am going to paste on my poster. I plan to interview my dad, who is the high school pole vault coach. I hope I learn strength building exercises to improve the correct form for pole vaulting. I also hope to learn how long it takes to clear a height. I want to learn what the highest height anyone has ever cleared. I have researched the basics of how to pole vault. What surprises me is how many things you have to think about while vaulting, because every little movement contributes to a successful vault. My best source of information would be probably going to practices. I learn a lot by watching other people vault and hearing all the advice given to them. On a scale from 1-10 I would say I am at 2 on my project so far. Why I think I’m at two is because I still have a lot to accomplish. After basketball seasons over I am going to begin filming so that’s when the project will really pick up speed. What I will accomplish next is the interview. I think I might just get it over with today while I’m home with my dad. So far I have no questions. My only concern is that I won’t finish on time.

Reflection #1

Yes my first proposal was accepted. My long term porposal was fairly easy to write, because i didn't change much from my writing before in the long term. I feel good about my mentor. Why I feel confident about it is because Mr/ Terhar is a track coach and my project, pole vaulting, is a Track and Field event. I have not had any first meeting with my mentor yet. I have not started my project. Although I have been thinking it through in my head some ideas.I have an idea of showing video footage of a beginner, just learning. Then as they progress continue filming. I think that i will begin collecting information of pole vaulting to paste onto a poster. I will also find professional pole vaulters to show pole vaulting. I am going to be attending a fair amount of Hifh School pole vault practices. I'm going to continue learning the event from last year. Last year I just began to get into the pot. this year my goal is to clear a height.

Reflection #2

So far I have still not made any changes in my proposal. I have not had my second meeting or first meeting with my mentor yet. I have not decided who to interview. I have a few ideas on who might be a candidate for interviewing though. I know some high school students participating in track that have been doing it for a few years and have some experience. I also could interview my dad who has been coaching pole cault for 2-3 years. So I haven't set up who I'm interviewing but it is next on my list to accomplish. So far my project is going pretty well. I am feeling better about it as time goes on. I have a better overall plan of finishing it and the time that it is going to take up to complete it. I recently began working on getting information on the basics of pole vault to put on my poster. I also found pictures to put on my poster that show good form. I have starte some research, as in information that will be included on my poster. Most of the information I already knew, but I'm sure I'll discover information I don't know about in the near future as I continue to research.