Humanities: Privacy, Freedom & Responsibility Products & Little Brother

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, folks worked on their Freedom, Responsibility & Privacy thematic statement projects.  The rubric follows right here.  Monday we had significant time set aside for blogging. 




HOMEWORK

Blog: 3+ Entries
Req'd Post: Which freedoms are you willing to sacrifice?  Which freedoms are you unwilling to sacrifice?  Why?

Little Brother Organizers: 2 Due by Friday, April 18.
2 Due: Over Break
2 Due: Friday, May 2nd
Grand Total of 6: Friday, May 2nd
PAST DUE

Project Proposal
Due: Friday, May 2nd
Project Due: Friday, May 9th
Expect to Write Reflective Process Essay: Due Friday, May 16

Vocab: Roots 14
Study: Quiz & Product (11-14), Thursday, May 15

AP Lit: Watchmen DT: Discovery Into Empathy

We Answered Some Big Questions on Wednesday

We went on location, stood in the lobby where we think the installation is going to go.  Being in the location where your DT solution will take place can be an incredibly powerful means of finding solutions.  Standing there revealed a lot of ideas to me.

We know the BIG theme is 'Growth of Identity and the Human Identity."

And now we know several of the thematic ideas we want to integrate.

We know we want to build a giant clock.

We know we want the installation to run the length of main street to the food court.

We are pretty sure we want the installation to go to the 2nd floor mezzanine AND along main street, then connect at the end.

We know we want the focus to be on a more universal themes and be accessible enough for most students to find meaning.

We know we want a second mini-installation at the end that explains the connections to Watchmen.

We know we want to use sound/music, art, poetry, film, and every tool we have at our disposal to create.  I think it would be powerful to focus this list.

We know this is going to be a HUGE endeavor and is going to require all of us to be resourceful, to communicate well, and to collaborate.

Installation goes up the night of May 28th AFTER the spring concert. 

Student body experiences it May 29th and 30th.  Then it comes down.

Note below the emphasis on May 13th to complete the #ayuhaloha #remash work

HOMEWORK

Blog: 3+ Posts
Req'd Posts: 2 Req'd Posts This Week: Both on Watchmen
1. Empathy.  (Counts as a connection.)
Develop a short 3 to 4 question survey to conduct amongst the general population of Mt. Blue Campus in hopes of determining what sort of installation would achieve your intended goals.  Conduct the survey with at least three people - one of whom must be a stranger.
OR
Use the empathy strategies suggested/developed by the class.

2. Discovery.  
What techniques and tools do Moore & Gibbons employ that we could mirror/borrow to create our installation.  For example, Moore & Gibbons leave tons of clues in the signs and environment around the action.  How might we use signage (whether existing or created) and language in the environment around  to convey meaning in the installation?
DUE: SUNDAY, May 11th.  

WATCHMEN INSTALLATION: MAY 28th & 29th.

Craft & Share: #Ayuhaloha collaboration. 

Due: Friday, May 2nd.  May not be able to meet this deadline if without response to your pieces.  Otherwise.  SHould be honoring this dead line as best as possible.

** REALLY WANT TO COMPLETE THIS BY TUESDAY, MAY 13 IF POSSIBLE.  **

Pin: Review Pinterest Pin Boards

Due: Friday, May 2nd.  This is important as I want to be able to review them over the weekend and give you some feedback and thinking to take with you into the test.

TEST: Thursday, May 8th.

Test Prep: Materials in Google Drive.  I suggest looking them over and giving your brain time to process.

Get 'Er Done: Literary Analytical & Composition Process Project

Past Due

Watchmen Installation: Empathy

We're now entering the empathy stage of our design thinking. Let's consider these questions as we start to explore the themes in Watchmen.

Blog: 3+ Posts
Req'd Posts: 2 Req'd Posts This Week: Both on Watchmen
1. Empathy.  (Counts as a connection.)
Develop a short 3 to 4 question survey to conduct amongst the general population of Mt. Blue Campus in hopes of determining what sort of installation would achieve your intended goals.  Conduct the survey with at least three people - one of whom must be a stranger.
OR
Use the empathy strategies suggested/developed by the class.

2. Discovery.  
What techniques and tools do Moore & Gibbons employ that we could mirror/borrow to create our installation.  For example, Moore & Gibbons leave tons of clues in the signs and environment around the action.  How might we use signage (whether existing or created) and language in the environment around  to convey meaning in the installation?
DUE: SUNDAY, May 11th.  

WATCHMEN INSTALLATION: MAY 28th & 29th.

Craft & Share: #Ayuhaloha collaboration.

Due: Friday, May 2nd.  May not be able to meet this deadline if without response to your pieces.  Otherwise.  SHould be honoring this dead line as best as possible.

Pin: Review Pinterest Pin Boards

Due: Friday, May 2nd.  This is important as I want to be able to review them over the weekend and give you some feedback and thinking to take with you into the test.

TEST: Thursday, May 8th.

Test Prep: Materials in Google Drive.  I suggest looking them over and giving your brain time to process.

Get 'Er Done: Literary Analytical & Composition Process Project

Past Due

AP Lit: Watchmen Realtime Boards: What/How/Why

Period 3B Period 2B

AP Lit: Discovery Phase & Moving Into Empathy Phase

We are knee deep in discovery phase of DEEP DT.   We have another day of this before the big transition into Empathy and then into Experimentation.  

On Thursday and Friday, folks used Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row" as an inroads to understanding Watchmen and uncovering some of the layers we may want to include in our installation.

This lead into Monday and a serious round of What/How/Why.

Period 2B kicked things off by identifying repeated images, colors, words, shapes, objects in Watchmen.

From there we used colored post-it notes to identify those repeated images and items that triggered something.  That got the brain going.

 Then we moved those points of discussion over to the cabinet.

During Period 3, Noah captured this work in the moving image.

Also, new Silhouette cut printer.  Sweet.

This sent us in pairs or solo to doing the How & Why portion of the program.

Folks used a combination of analog & digital means to document their thinking.  We are using Realtime Board to collaborate within each classroom.  I'm working on making sure everyone can at least see the other boards involved.  (Putting in multiple e-mail addresses on Realtime Board is a bit of  pain. )

During Period 3B, we discussed the possibilities of the installation and the angle to take.  After some vigorous thinking and discussing, we came to a non-conclusion that it was important to remember that not every student in the building will have read the book and we will want them to find meaning and engagement no matter.  

We discussed the possibility of separate strands .. a book strand and a life strand .. that mirror one another in intent and concept, but are separate.  We also discussed the possibility of just going with a life strand -- focusing on the application of the text's ideas to students' realities -- and we discussed working the text into the background and underlayment of the Watchmen text.

What's certain?

On Tuesday, Period 3G will be looking over the concepts uncovered by the other two classes, delving more deeply into the why, and determining a strategy for understanding the user's perspective as we move into empathy phase, knowing that we can always continue a return to discovery phase and that experiment phases will undoubtedly open up some new ideas.

HOMEWORK

Blog: 3+ Posts
Req'd Posts: 2 Req'd Posts This Week: Both on Watchmen
1. Empathy.  (Counts as a connection.)
Develop a short 3 to 4 question survey to conduct amongst the general population of Mt. Blue Campus in hopes of determining what sort of installation would achieve your intended goals.  Conduct the survey with at least three people - one of whom must be a stranger.
OR
Use the empathy strategies suggested/developed by the class.

2. Discovery.  
What techniques and tools do Moore & Gibbons employ that we could mirror/borrow to create our installation.  For example, Moore & Gibbons leave tons of clues in the signs and environment around the action.  How might we use signage (whether existing or created) and language in the environment around  to convey meaning in the installation?
DUE: SUNDAY, May 11th.  

WATCHMEN INSTALLATION: MAY 28th & 29th.

Craft & Share: #Ayuhaloha collaboration.

Due: Friday, May 2nd.  May not be able to meet this deadline if without response to your pieces.  Otherwise.  SHould be honoring this dead line as best as possible.

Pin: Review Pinterest Pin Boards

Due: Friday, May 2nd.  This is important as I want to be able to review them over the weekend and give you some feedback and thinking to take with you into the test.

TEST: Thursday, May 8th.

Test Prep: Materials in Google Drive.  I suggest looking them over and giving your brain time to process.

Get 'Er Done: Literary Analytical & Composition Process Project

Past Due

PACE: Work Plans, Pre Writing

On Friday, we established our fourth quarter work log.  If you check the Due Dates spreadsheet in the Google Drive, you will find a sheet for Quarter 4.

And what you will see includes a suggested teacher PACE timetable for the rest of the quarter.  Included are stages and assessments of the book work as well as the essay work.

For the rest of class, folks could opt into two activities or work independently.

In the reading activity, we read an excerpt from House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisernos.  

We practiced using the GIST literacy strategy to document our understanding.

You can find the GIST form in your Google Drive PACE OUT folder.

We also did some work with our essay writing and used a "Why" chart exercise.  We established our essential questions and then started asking the question "Why?" to explore possibilities for our arguments.

HOMEWORK

Blog: 3+ Posts (Q4 Wk 2.)

Req'd Post: Make a five song playlist for conflict resolution and post it on your blog with explanations for each one.  You might choose songs that feature each type of conflict or you might choose a song you'd suggest one listen to in order to resolve a conflict.  Explain your thinking for each.

Person vs Self

Person vs Nature

Person vs Person

Person vs Society

Person vs Technology

Vocab:  Quack Unit 2 Part 1

Quiz: Thursday, May 8

MUGS: TBA.

Quiz: TBA.

Read:  2 Novels from Selections

Complete: 3 Graphic Organizers Per Selection

Due: June 1

Complete 1st Book by May 15

Write: 2 Essays over Self Selected Essential Questions

Due: June 8 

Complete 1st Working Draft of 1st by May 15

Humanities: Thematic Projects & Other Work: Little Brother

Thursday, we start with Roots 13 Quiz.  The quiz covers Roots 11-13. You also have your word map or product for Roots 13 due as well.

From there, you have time to work on graphic organizers for the Little Brother unit around the themes of privacy, freedom, responsibility/accountability.

You also have time to work on your project proposal for your product, demonstrating your ability to create and explain a thematic statement based on one of those three themes.

Here are the notes from Wednesday's workshop time in my room.

If you look carefully, you can see how we took the three themes and from there designed some thematic statements.

That leads to products we might make and how we might make sure that what we create ACTUALLY shows our understanding.

Mr. Dunbar and I will be conferencing with you tomorrow and all throughout the week next week around it.  And you can email us about it as well. Or talk to us in the halls.  Ask questions.

HOMEWORK

Blog: 3+ Entries
Req'd Post: To what extent should high school students be given unfiltered access to the internet?  

Little Brother Organizers: 2 Due by Friday, April 18.
2 Due: Over Break
2 Due: Friday, May 2nd
Grand Total of 6: Friday, May 2nd

Project Proposal
Due: Friday, May 2ndProject Due: Friday, May 9th

Vocab: Roots 13 
Study: Quiz & Product (11-13), Thursday, May 1st