PACE: Solving the Work Problem

On Tuesday we tried to take some action toward solving the "getting the work done" problem and we made some major headway.

We started by thinking about what PACE was like for the first three weeks and then what it has been like for the past three weeks.  We did this in three separate groups.

From there each group worked with a problem solving "contingency strategy" graphic organizer.

Each group identified a key problem in PACE based on the descriptions, then identified what conditions would make that problem worse, and then suggested ways to prevent those conditions from happening.  Even though each group was working independently, the results turned out to be very similar.

Next class we'll use a plot chart to figure out what strategies we should implement first.

Homework

Blog: 
3+ Posts
Req Post: Discuss today's work, the problems you see us needing to address, and your thoughts on possible solutions.
Due: Friday, October 25

Complete:  I Am Hero Work (Project & Organizers)
Place in Google Drive IN folder
Due: ASAP

Humanities: Looking at Student Centered vs. Teacher Centered Work

We took time on Monday to examine the ways in which the work we are currently doing is teacher-centered and the ways in which is it student-centered.

We used DEEP design thinking to help us come up with a way to do this using note cards and markers.

On Tuesday, we started the process of turning this conversation into action we can take based on this information.


I wanted to make a powerful point about student choice: when you have it, use it.  Why make boring, lame things when you have the choice to make them awesome?

Don't want to write a boring essay? Then don't!  Write the essay that would make you want to keep reading it!

Don't want to make a boring IGNITE presentation?  Then don't!  Make an IGNITE presentation you actually want to see!

Uninterested in the topic?  Choose an angle that interests you!  Maybe the history of chicken is boring, but the history behind hot wing competitions is interesting, or Colonel Sanders and his original recipe, or chicken farming in Farmington or who knows?!

Homework

Submit: Cardboard Challenge: IGNITE Research Presentation (12 slides, 2 minutes)
Place in your Humanities IN Folder on Google Drive
Due: Last Week

Write: Cardboard Challenge: 5 Paragraph Essay Reflection on Product, Process, Outcome
Place in your Humanities IN folder 
Due: Last Week

Blog:
3+ Posts
Required Post: What would class be like if it was more student-centered?  What would it be like if it was more teacher-centered?
Due: Friday, 10/25

Learn: Roots 3
Word Map & Quiz (Roots 1 - 3)
Due: Thursday, 10/24

AP Lit: Prufrock Remixing Notes & Pics

AP Lit 3G: J. Alfred Prufrock Re-Mix

Cue the horns.

HMW (How might we) craft "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufock" remixes that remain true to the original while featuring new aesthetics and offering new meanings and contexts.

We started this work last week by dive bombing right into the thick of it with scissors and oversized copies and mentor texts in the form of Ellie Goulding videos.  Last week you were also to have read from a collection of literary criticism about "J. Alfred" and consider your own thinking in that regards.

Today, we will take one little step back so that we might take fifty coffee spoons forward this week.

We'll revisit the DEEP process, identify the stages through which we've already passed, and use design thinking to catapult us further into the HMW for this week's creative blog post.  This will also set up our thinking for our big, rest of the year, endeavor: personal analytical process.

As will tonight's homework.  Read and annotate two of the three selections from contemporary poets below.  As you read, consider the techniques evident that Eliot employed in "J. Alfred," as well as content and thematic connections.  

"In Whoever's Hotel Room This Is" by Matt Rasmussen

"Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah" by Patricia Smith

"Goodbyes" by Jillian Weise

More importantly, however, is to document your process.  Take pics & screenshots as you go.  Perhaps record yourself thinking outloud.  Use these prompts to guide you (however -- do not merely answer the following -- this isn't a worksheet-style list of questions)

• When do you annotate?  Before, during or after the reading?
• Do you work in pen & pencil or fingers & keyboard?
• What patterns/trends do you see in your annotations?
• Do you make connections to other texts?
• What sorts of marks and highlighting techniques do you use?

Homework

** All work goes in your AP Lit 2013 In Folder **

Read & Annotate: 

* 2 of 3 poems linked above

Document your process with as much detail and introspection and evidence as possible

Due: Wednesday, 10/23

Blog:

3+ Posts

Creative Blog Prompt: Remix "J. Alfred."  Added Challenge? Music. Video.  Yeah.

Due: Friday, 10/25

Revise:

College Essays & Synthesis Essays

Due: Friday, Oct 25 at the latest

Read & Create: Award Winning/Finalist (Formerly called "Indie") Book Project

Due: Tuesday, Nov 5 or Wednesday, Nov 6

Dallowinian Party 3G AP Lit 2013

Humanities: Scavenging & Thinking

Today will be chock full o' goodness.

We'll start with a vocab activity.  Remember, we have a quiz on Thursday (Roots 1, 2 & 3) and a Word Map due.

This will in turn lead to a mightily powerful scavenger hunt.   Bring your canteens and your pith helmets.

What's a pith helmet?  Look down.  There it is.

Post scavenger hunt, we'll continue our work from yesterday involving student choice & voice and how the class balances student-centered learning with teacher-centered learning.




The info from Monday's class is below.

We'll also talk about ways to make Humanities even better based on the above.

Homework

Submit: Cardboard Challenge: IGNITE Research Presentation (12 slides, 2 minutes)
Place in your Humanities IN Folder on Google Drive
Due: Last Week

Write: Cardboard Challenge: 5 Paragraph Essay Reflection on Product, Process, Outcome
Place in your Humanities IN folder 
Due: Last Week

Blog:
3+ Posts
Required Post: What would class be like if it was more student-centered?  What would it be like if it was more teacher-centered?
Due: Friday, 10/25

Learn: Roots 3
Word Map & Quiz (Roots 1 - 3)
Due: Thursday, 10/24