PACE: Design Thinking Challenge in a Day: Pitches & Macbeth

Hey folks,

I've been away presenting at SXSWEdu.com this week and learning tons and meeting folks I want to connect with you all.  One thing I learned was a fantastic mashup/remix strategy from Kami Thordarson, an innovation coach and teacher in the Los Altos School District in California, based on the DEEP design thinking from Mary Cantwell we've been using all year.

Here's what we did this morning so you can reference back to it as you create your Macbeth Pitching Power pitches over the next week.

We started with three groups and quick mapping/vizthinking about we know about Macbeth.

Then we listed movies and films and games and books we enjoy.

Then we listed reasons why we enjoy them.

Then we highlighted key ideas/insights that stood out to us.

Then we took post-its and put some of those ideas from each category on to a post it.

Then we put those post its on tables.

We sent runners to grab a post it from each table.

The group generated a pitch from the three post its.

We tried to make as many pitches as we could with new sets as we could in the time given.

Then we shared and practiced delivering the pitches.

It was awesome. And surprisingly easy and not scary.


Pitches and show bibles are due next Thursday.  Be certain to check out one another's blogs and share ideas. 
Design. Build. Create.
Accept. Communicate. Trust.

HOMEWORK 

Blogs: 3+
Req'd Post: Put up your pitch thinking from today AND/OR link to someone else's and share your thoughts.
Due: Friday, Mar 7 (Teacher PACE)

Macbeth Graphic Organizers: Must Complete 3

Teacher Pace Due Dates:

Wed: Feb 12

Tue: Feb 25

Wed: Mar 5

MUGS: Commonly Confused Words #2
Quiz: Friday, Feb 14 (NEW MAKE UP DATE - FRIDAY, Mar 7)

QUACK: Unit 1 Part 1
Quiz & Product Due: Thursday Feb 27

Think & Design: Movie/Video Game/TV Show Pitches & Bibles
Due: March 13

Humanities: Merryweather High Orientation ReDesign Presentations

Today was fantastic.

Five great presentations.

We will be using time on Wednesday to dig deeper into what made them great and how we can use that information to help us better solve our design challenge.

HOMEWORK

Blog: 3+ Posts
Req'd Post:  Think back to those first weeks of high school school.  Make a list of five or more things you wish someone had told you about life at Mt. Blue.  Explain your thinking behind each of them.

Roots: 10 (Over 6 - 10)
Roots Quiz 10: Thurs., March 6
Roots Product Due: Thurs., March 6

Present: Merryweather High Orientation Proposal
Due: Today!

Speak: Finish 3rd Marking Period (page 148)
Due: Thursday, Feb 27

Humanities: Back on Track

So, we had a weird couple of days before break with snow and snow days and here we go  . . . 

Mr. Dunbar explained the new grade book set up.  There will be more information sent home to your folks AND if they have any questions at all, please encourage them to call and/or email.

After that, we reconnected with Speak.  We used GoSoapbox to do a little surveying of where we are all with the book.  And then Mr. Dunbar ran an activity where we imagined what various characters from the book would say about contemporary issues such as the Olympics and Miley Cyrus.

Mr. Ryder read aloud starting from the beginning of the third marking period, right around page 95 or so.

Presentations on Merryweather High Orientation Proposals are due in class on Tuesday.  There will be no make up on this one.  Either you deliver the presentation to the board and admin, or you do not.

HOMEWORK

Blog: 3+ Posts
Req'd Post:  Think back to those first weeks of high school school.  Make a list of five or more things you wish someone had told you about life at Mt. Blue.  Explain your thinking behind each of them.

Roots: 10 (Over 6 - 10)
Roots Quiz 10: Thurs., March 6
Roots Product Due: Thurs., March 6

Present: Merryweather High Orientation Proposal
Due: Tuesday, Feb 25

Speak: Finish 3rd Marking Period (page 148)
Due: Thursday, Feb 27

PACE: Macbeth & Quack & Work & Due Dates & Working Smarter Not Harder

I'll be spending class saving the world from itself at a meeting in the The Chef's Table.

While I'm gone, you folks will be doing all sorts of awesome.

For one, we start vocabulary this week, using the QUACK words that are part of the sophomore year.  There will be a quiz every Thursday as well as a QUACK product due.  (The first will be on the Thursday following break, Feb 27.) That QUACK product could be the word map (found in the PACE OUT folder on Google Drive) OR may be any product you wish to make that demonstrates your understanding of the QUACK words.

• Poems
• Songs
• Comics
• Stories

Unit 1 Part 1 can be found here.

You might want to take a few minutes to complete the Commonly Confused Words #2 assignment on www.NoRedInk.com.  It's optional AND there's a quiz on Friday.

By 8 a.m., I recommend watching a large chunk of the Macbeth documentary in your Google Drive - perhaps 30 minutes? If someone would like to hook up to the dongle and audio plug at the front of the room, that's totally fine with me.

Here are some time coded notes to help you out.  These are in your Google Drive.


If you pay attention, you will see that this documentary tells the entire story of Macbeth, shows it performed in different ways, and let's you know about the major ideas and themes in the play.

It's pretty darn well done.

As you watch, you may want to take notes using your first graphic organizer.  Of course, you need to base MOST of this graphic organizer on one of the ten scenes I identified last class.   I recommend using one of the scenes from Act I or II, because we've been talking a great deal about the action early on in the play.
Link to All of the Scenes and Summary is here

1.3 

1.5 

1.7 

2.1 

3.4 

4.1 

4.3 

5.1 (out damn spot)

5.5 (out out brief candle)

5.8 (death and new king)

Finally,  open up the Due Dates form.  If you don't believe you can keep up with Teacher PACE, establish your own PACE.  

Next class will be all about the project.  It's a short class because of early release and we will focus entirely on story bibles and pitches and brainstorming ideas.  

HOMEWORK

Blogs: 3+ 
Req'd Post: Pre-Thinking Your Pitch.  Take some time to brainstorm, to mess around with ideas, to talk out loud, to sketch and design, to use whatever tools you like -- digital or not -- to come up with some ideas for your project.  Questions you could answer that might help:
Would you make a movie, TV show, video game or book series?
Where might you set your story? Think about settings that feature a lot of people, a lot of relationships, and a lot of power dynamics.
Who might be an interesting main character? What does this character want? What is keeping this character from getting it?
Due: Friday, Feb 14

Macbeth Graphic Organizers: Must Complete 3

Teacher Pace Due Dates:

Wed: Feb 12

Tue: Feb 25

Wed: Mar 5

MUGS: Commonly Confused Words #2
Quiz: Friday, Feb 14

QUACK: Unit 1 Part 1
Quiz & Product Due: Thursday Feb 27

Start Thinking & Planning: Movie/Video Game/TV Show Pitches & Bibles
Due: Early March