Justin

**Justin's Linus Project**

**Tasks in order, all tasks in blue** **  Daily Journal
 * **Daily Journal **
 * **A mini biography of Linus **
 * **Press release **
 * **Screen play **
 * **Lawrence Kohlberg essay **
 * **About the Linus Project itself **
 * **Likert survey **
 * **Bibliography **
 * **Contributions **
 * **Notable things **

February 7 - Today is my first day that i have started the daily journal task. So far, I have crocheted around my blanket one and a half times. I'm aiming to get the other half done tonight. Altogether i hope to crochet four times around my blanket.

February 8 - Crunch time! I only have a couple more days to finish my blanket. I will try to go around my blanket at least once a day but i realize that going around once per day will be strenuous. I just hope that if i do not reach my goal, the new owner of the blanket will still like it.

February 9 - Today is the first day of a new week, I hope to get most all of my work done soon seeing that it is due on Friday. The most important task for me to do is to finish my blanket. The minimal times I have to go around is two and I have only went 1 and 1/2 times around.

February 10 - Unfortunately, I came down with a bad cough and an upset stomach today which was not a pretty site. On the semi-bright side, I was able to lie in bed and finish going the second the second time. <span style="color: rgb(0, 255, 106);"> February 11 - Thank goodness Mrs. Mcfadden extended the due date for the tasks! Now I have more time to work on my blanket and to finish my tasks.

<span style="color: rgb(0, 255, 106);">February 12 - Oh no! It seems I have lost my crochet needle, sadly my parents have work today so I will have to wait till Saturday to get a new one.

<span style="color: rgb(0, 255, 106);">February 13 - Today is Friday the 13th! Being very superstitious, I decided to take the day off from my tasks...if you know what i mean.

<span style="color: rgb(0, 255, 106);">February 14 - My dad did not seem too happy since i lost my crochet needle. He was actually mad because we had to drive to Wal-mart just to get some needles. <span style="color: rgb(0, 255, 106);"> February 15 - Things are getting very hectic at my house. I'm trying to finish the rest of my tasks, upload them, and then go around my blanket some more. It is going to be a busy day and I doubt that i will be leaving my computer room soon seeing that I wrote my tasks on paper and did not type them for some reason...

**

** __G.O.__ **  **
 * Linus is youngest one but more mature
 * Mention safety blanket
 * reference to the internet but also to "A boy Named Charlie Brown
 * In the movie Linus regrets giving the blanket and goes through withdrawal
 * Make a metaphor?, the blanket is like drugs for linus, it makes him feel happy but is not good for him or his reputation

__The life and times of Linus, a <span style="color: rgb(0, 58, 255);">mini biography __

** Linus Van Pelt is a character in Charles M. Schulz's "Peanuts" comic strip. He slightly younger than the rest of the characters but can be seen as the most mature character. ( "//...he aged to just slightly younger than the rest of the cast. Despite being// //younger than the rest of the characters, Linus seems to be the smartest of them//", Peanuts.wikia.com/wiki/Linus van Pelt). Although being more mature than the rest of the crew, Linus carries a "safety blanket" wherever he goes, in fact, the term "safety blanket" came from Linus and his blanket. Linus shares a strong bond with his blanket, as seen in the movie, **"A Boy Named Charlie Brown",** Linus gives Charlie Brown his beloved blanket in hopes that Charlie Brown will have good luck in his spelling bee contest. Later in the movie, Linus starts to regret the decision of giving the blanket and even goes through withdrawal symptoms such as dizziness or fainting.

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__ __
 * G.O**
 * Begin with safe and secure feelings have powerful affects
 * mention project linus as non profit organization
 * mention history of project linus via projectlinus.org
 * use quotes from Christines tab

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(23, 61, 222);">**__<span style="color: rgb(74, 64, 165); font-size: 130%;">Press release __**

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">**West Lee Middle School**- The feeling of being safe and secure can have powerful effects on a child such as helping them though hard times. Project Linus, a non profit organization has been giving children the feeling of security through hand made <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"Security Blankets" since 1995 when a young girl was going through intense Chemo<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">therapy and was interviewed for in the "Parade Magazine". The girl said that through her security blanket, she was able to go through all her treatments.( "//An article titled 'Joy to the World' appeared in Parade Magazine... Part of the article featured a petite, downy haired child. She had been going through intensive chemotherapy and stated that her security blanket helped her get through the treatments."//, projectlinus.org/about.html) The Organization itself i<span style="color: rgb(10, 11, 10);">s <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <span style="color: rgb(255, 6, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">l <span style="color: rgb(3, 3, 3);">ocated in Bloomington, Illnois and donates about 350 blankets every month to needy children. <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 3);"> One school that has decided to embark on the journey is West Lee Middle School. From what I have heard, the students find that participating in Project Linus has overall made each participant more altruistic.<span style="color: rgb(255, 3, 0);"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Alex, a blanketeer said, "//The Linus Project is an excellent project that teaches altruism and community service...//" (2/9/09) <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Evens, another blanketeer thought, <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"   <span style="color: rgb(5, 5, 5);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 3, 0);">//<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The Linus // <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">//Project was a fun way to learn, think, and just be creative//"  <span style="color: rgb(255, 9, 0);">. (2/9/09) In conclusion, I hope that anyone and everyone that has read my article will be inspired to become a blanketeer themselves and realize that the small things in life such as a blanket can help a needy child through their rough times.

__**G.O**__ <span style="font-size: 130%; color: rgb(0, 66, 255);">**Screenplay**
 * refer to the day I was almost last person waiting for car
 * change the unknown kids name
 * add parts that did not happen
 * add parts that did happen


 * Setting**: Justin is waiting for his ride to pick him up while most everyone else is gone


 * Characters**: ( all are real people except mike.)


 * Justin**: An eighth grade student that is working on Project Linus


 * Daniel**: A seventh grade student and friend


 * Mike**- A sixth grade student who I have never met before.

Justin: (//sighs//) //Man, why am i always one of the last people waiting for my ride to pick me up. Oh well, I guess I'll go see what Daniel's up to.// (//Walks over to Daniel//) Hey man! Looks like we're almost the last couple of people here.

Daniel: Yep, we should just carpool next time, (//chuckles//) We can get your dad to drive us back home. ¹

Justin: (//chuckles//) Whatever. So how are those //Count of Monte Cristo// tasks going? ²

Daniel: Turned them in. I just hope I do good, I mean you saw how much I wrote. By the way, what's that bag your holding?

Justin: (//shrugs//) Well it's for Mrs. Mcfadden, we gotta learn to crochet and do like six essays. But at least the blankets will be for a good cause

Daniel: (//bursts into laughter//) You have to learn to crochet! At least it's for a good cause.

Mike: (//comes from behind and starts laughing// ) Ha! I thought boys don't knit!

Justin: (//shrugs some more//) I thought i already said it's for a good cause, also all the other boys in the class have to do it also. Besides, how many altruistic things do you do?

Mike: Well there goes my ride, see ya later knitting boy. ³

Daniel: (//chuckles//) Knitting boy, I would hate to be in your shoes rite now Justin.

Justin: Oh, just wait till next year. Anyways, there goes my ride. See ya later.

1) Daniel lives in my neighborhood in real life. 2) It just so happens that Daniel is in Mrs. Mcfaddens class also 3) The person did call me a knitting boy and i still do not know his name.

__**G.O**__
 * anecdote to begin
 * use robbery scenario, robber may have reason to rob bank
 * incorporate that there are two sides to one story
 * refer to Heinz story about his sick wife
 * mention the stages of pre conventional, conventional and post conventional
 * group project linus itself as post convention but group myself in pre conventional


 * <span style="font-size: 130%; color: rgb(0, 30, 255);">Lawrence Kohlberg essay **

People on earth are defined by their actions. For instance, if a person was to rob a bank, the bank would probably think that the thief was the most horrible person in the world, but there are always two sides to a story, perhaps the thief was trying to support his or her family but had to resort to stealing because no one would accept him for a job.

A similar scenario happened to a person named "Heinz". Heinz loved his wife but sadly his wife was deathly sick with a special kind of cancer but there was one drug that could save her. The drug itself was recently discovered and very expensive to make. It cost $200 for the drug but the doctor charged $2000. Long story short, Heinz only had $1000 so he decided to steal the drug. ( "Heinz steals the drug" paragraph, faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/kohlberg.html)

Although there are always two sides to a story, in the scenario, Kohlberg did not care if he or she should have done something, but rather why they did it. Later on, he would create a scale with six stages but I will only mention the three major ones: Pre conventional, Convention, and Post conventional.

In my Langauge Arts class, I was asked to classify which category Project Linus would fall under. Project Linus itself is a non profit organization that distributes hand made blankets to children in need. I believe that because the organization itself has no other purpose but to distribute it's blankets to the needy, it would fall under the Post Conventional category meaning that Project Linus does "Universal good" and will "...blend together for the greatest good and welfare of all." ( The Linus Project tasksheet). On the other hand, I have said that every story has two sides, and the other side of Project Linus would be the blanketeers or blanket makers that must work for the organization to run. I believe that within my Language Arts class, the students or at least me, should be categorized in the Post Conventional category because I myself have never heard of Project Linus and to be honest, I probably would not have done it unless someone forced me too.

In conclusion, I was only asked to write about the activity itself, therefore i can say that Project Linus's main goal is to "...provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children...." and that I believe it should be categorized as Post Conventional.

__**G.O.**__
 * History- refer to the history part on projectlinus.org
 * Purpose- refer to the two main missions
 * current status- refer to who we are part.
 * incorporate the 350 blankets every month fact
 * business for project linus workers is good because of increased altruism?
 * <span style="font-size: 130%; color: rgb(0, 49, 255);">About the Linus Project itself **.

Project Linus originated from an article called "Joy to the Wold" which appeared in Parade Magazine. The article featured a young girl suffering from cancer, and the intensive chemotherapy that came with it. The girl stated that because she had her "security blanket", she was able to go through all her intense therapy. The article inspired a person named Karen Loucks to make her own security blankets and give them to Denver's Rocky Mountain Children's Cancer Center, and because of Karen's altruism, Project Linus was born. ( "Our History", www.projectlinus.org/about.html)
 * History**

Project Linus only has two goals: The first goal is to provide a love and a sense of security to all that need it through the handmade blankets made by the blanketeers The second goal of Project Linus is to provide a fun way for kids or people to become interested in community services. Jill, a blanketeer said "The Linus Project was a fun and creatic way to blend learning a new skill and doing a community service project. I would like to do more tasks like this in the future." (2/9/09)
 * Purpose**

Project Linus donates about 350 blankets every month and has donated more than 2,300,000 blankets since Karen established Project Linus ("Since that time, over 2,300,000 blankets and quilts have been delivered worldwide. Also, because Project Linus has chapters in all 50 states, things can get busy for the workers, which in my opinion is a good thing because the more blankets, the more people are exposed to altruism. Then again, I am not the one that has to ship the blankets to all the places, but at least every thing is for a good cause because our blankets can and are known to help people.
 * Current Status**

<span style="color: rgb(0, 58, 255);">__**My Likert Survey**__.

[|Chart summary. (must be logged in before clicking)] Source: Google Docs [|Matrix summary (should work without logging in)]

In conclusion, the people who answered my survey learned toward the more altruistic answers. For example, Question one on my survey is //**"Project Linus is a waste of valuable time"**//. I found that no one strongly disagreed with the statement, instead, on a scale of one through ten with ten being strongly disagree and one being strongly agree, no one answered five or higher. Also, on question ten of my survey, //**"Project Linus has helped improve my altruistic skills"**//, everyone that answered the question answered with a seven or higher excluding one person that did not answer. Even though my results learned towards altruistic answers, I did have some outliers in my data. The most varied answers came from question question five, //**"Project Linus was a hassle and was only done because**// //** a teacher made me". **// I received one strongly disagree, two people answered with a two, two people answered with a five, two people answered with a six, one person answered seven, one person with an eight, one person with a nine, and one person answering with a ten. Another exception would be question eight, //**"I would have much rather read my favorite book and write five reports rather than participating in Project Linus and writing five reports"**//. All answers for question eight where above five, excluding one outlier answering strongly disagree or one. The most unanimous question is question nine, "The blanket made from the blanketeers will make an impact on the children who receive them". All answers where strongly agree.

<span style="font-size: 150%; color: rgb(0, 66, 255);">__**Grade Essay**__

<span style="font-size: 140%; text-align: left; display: block; color: rgb(0, 49, 255);"> __**Bibliography**__

<span style="font-size: 80%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">

__**<span style="color: rgb(0, 7, 255);">Contributions **__
 * Attempted to help Joseph learn to crochet but i think i failed, Jake did the rest.
 * Helped Alex learn to crochet.
 * Took Alex, Christine, Joseph, and some other people's Likert surveys.
 * Contributed a quote.
 * Added the How to let people see your likert survey result (not exact name) help steps.

<span style="font-size: 140%; text-align: left; display: block; color: rgb(0, 49, 255);"> __**Notable things**__
 * The reason why all my essays are typed and not in word docs is because I did most my work on a Macintosh and because macintoshes are made by Apple, I did not know if Ms. McFadden could read them without a mac.
 * I did my bibliography on my friends computer so Mrs. McFadden should be able to read it.
 * I did my grade essay on my friends computer because I did not want to type it again and go through the hassle of double spacing each line manually.
 * I am aware I did not indent in any paragraphs because for some reason wikispaces will not allow indents

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