22/05/25 – Reflection: Missed Sessions, Web Strategy, and Real-World ADHD Challenges

🚫 A Non-Starter Day – No Progress on the Build

Today, I didn't manage to make any meaningful progress on the project itself—no story, no game development, nothing. I was scheduled to attend a seminar on immersive design at 4pm, hosted by Immersive, and had planned to take part since I was technically off timetable, doing marketing and assignment marking.

But the day didn't go to plan.

• Several students still hadn't finished their projects.

• A few needed much more support than expected—to the point that I couldn't even get through my marking, let alone attend the seminar.

• I was so distracted and overloaded that I completely forgot the seminar was even happening until I got home—despite reminders going off on my watch.

To top it off, I left my laptop charger at work, which completely shut down any chance of working from home tonight. Chalk this one up as a bad day for regulation, focus, and time management—all classic ADHD challenges.

🤝 A Moment of Connection

One upside: a student opened up to me about having ADHD. He doesn't often talk about it, and it was clear he's still reluctant to be open about it publicly. It was a reminder of why I'm doing this project—to help create environments where disclosure feels safe, and support systems actually make a difference.

🌐 Website Prototype: A New Way to Teach & Model the FMP

Even though I've missed the formal FMP deadline, I'm continuing this process as a mock-up version for myself—and for teaching purposes. It's become a practice-based research tool to help me:

• Empathise with students

• Understand how to teach the FMP more effectively

• Design a more intuitive model for project tracking and presentation

I've started building a website using Webnode, and it's opened up a few useful ideas:

• The blog function is perfect for reflective journals. I've already begun copy-pasting and tidying old speech-to-text entries into ChatGPT, then publishing them as blog posts—backdated to reflect accurate progress timelines.

• I've created headings and a layout that reflect how I'd present the whole FMP if I were a student. This not only helps me visualise the structure, but offers a teaching tool to show students what distinction-level presentation looks like.

One of my colleagues joked that I'm like the "Bill Gates of lazy"—someone who finds efficient, smart shortcuts to do more with less effort. Honestly? I'll take it.

💡 Teaching Model: Speech-to-Text + AI + Webnode

Here's the workflow I've found most effective (and teachable):

1. Use speech-to-text in Word to draft reflections quickly.

2. Drop them into ChatGPT to tidy them up and extract key points.

3. Create a problem-solution log table with dates, issues, and fixes.

4. Publish as blogs via Webnode for a professional portfolio.

5. Embed screenshots, media, and layout the project as if being submitted.

This process has helped:

• Organise my thinking

• Improve clarity

• Provide a replicable model for students aiming for higher grades

It's also helping me develop a template I can teach from, especially to learners who struggle with planning, sequencing, or executive function (like I do).

📸 Next Steps: Visual Content and Showcase Planning

• I'll begin uploading screenshots of my work to document progress.

• I'll start drafting sections on gameplay, character design, AI use, and story writing.

• I plan to structure the site as a teaching resource, not just a personal archive.

🔁 Long-Term Vision: Showcase, Collaboration & Learning from Others

I've been invited to potentially showcase immersive work from across the department on June 20 or 25. I'd love to:

• Gather all the immersive lessons others have created

• Import them into the Innovation Hub

• Curate them into a showcase event so we can learn from each other's builds

This could spark collaborative growth and give me inspiration for mechanics I haven't yet explored.

❗ Lessons Learned

• I can't work in a linear way, and that's okay.

• I've been trying to force myself into a neurotypical productivity model, and it's not working.

• This project, as messy as it feels, has shown me just how adaptable and layered my thinking is—and how much I've already done, even if I can't always see it.

People keep telling me how much I've put into this, but it doesn't feel like a lot. That's the ADHD paradox: reward is fleeting, and the sense of achievement rarely matches the effort.

✅ Next Actions

• Finish uploading and organising past reflections on the website

• Add screenshots, videos, and progress logs

• Create a visual "If I were a student" page to model FMP presentation

• Contact Trevor re: showcasing other immersive lessons

• Catch up on the missed seminar (if it was recorded)

• Continue structuring the ADHD game version without getting fixated on a single path