Quality Project Reflections

Here are some general topics to make sure you cover in your reflections. In addition, all of you need to have a written introduction that elaborates on the reasons why you chose this project.

For the reflection:

*Describe the process you went through for the past six weeks.

*What were the successes and frustrations? How did you deal with them?

*What makes your project quality? Think about our discussions of the classical and romantic elements of quality. Discuss both and how they apply to your project.

*What's next for you? What doors have been opened? What interests have you found?

Character Study/Mental Model Essay...and some other stuff

This is the last essay, and I'm trying to give you plenty of class time to work on it. Here are some things to think about using as an outline:
* Articulate what you don't understand about your subject.
* Describe physical characteristics symbolic of what's interesting/perplexing about your subject.
* What do others say or think about your subject?
* What is your subject's voice?
* What is the universal theme that your interest in your subject reveals?

Other Stuff:
The deadline for missing work was yesterday. If you've completed posts, you need to send me an email so I know to check your blog.
Don't forget the four posts for cycle 26.

Freshman Performance Project

As you know from class, your going to be staging a performance of a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream. In order to create a believable interpretation, the project will have several required steps, as well as a few creative options. The idea behind the project is that a play is meant to be performed, and the only way to really understand the themes and characters is to become them from the inside out. That's what you're going to do.

Step One: Brainstorm your ideas for characters, scenes, and how you might put them together and perform them (you already did this on your blogs).

Step Two: Find others that are interested in working with you. Or don't, you can perform solo if you like.

Step Three: Write a one page interpretation of your scene. More specifically, you will analyze the minimum 15 lines that you'll memorize, adapting the scene for performance, and figuring out how you're going to play the character, including their mood, tone, motivations, frustrations, all based on the language. The one-pager is due next Wednesday, C-day the 16th.

Step Four: With your groups, if you're working with a group, decide on a performance option. Here they are:
1. You can put on a live performance for the class. This means creating props,
costumes, and learning how to stage (move actors around the stage).
2. Radio show. These were before your time and mine. But they're really cool.
Think the audio version of the play but with more sound effects. This option
will mean really knowing how to inflect every word and how to use effects to
create meaning. The final product will be a podcast.
3. You can film and edit an iMovie. Before you choose this option, there are
several things to consider. First, you will have to make arrangements with
ITV to check-out equipment, unless you have your own. And it's a busy time of
year for video equipment. Also, we will need to meet and discuss sound,
lighting, and composition. These will make the biggest impact on the quality
of your movie.

Step Five: You will create a neat, organized, well-planned storyboard, analog or digital. The storyboard is also due C-day the 16th.

Step Six: Rehearse and create any materials.

Step Seven: Performances will be next cycle, day 3 and 4. That'll be Friday the 18th and Monday the 22nd.

Flat World Reflection Questions

On your blog, respond to the following questions. We will discuss and podcast in class.

1. What did you like best about the project and why?
2. What did you like least and why?
3. What was something surprising that you learned about the other students (from other schools)?
4. How do you think the project affected your writing?
5. Describe the most challenging aspect of the project.
6. Offer some advice to future participants.
7. Other comments.

Freshman Homework

We don't meet again until next Tuesday. So here's the work you need to prepare:
1. Finish your Shakespeare wikispace page. We'll be looking at them as a class next week.
2. Finish reading Act II, maybe even start reading Act III. Write another character analysis post after reading.
3. Prepare a few notes for a Flat World debrief/reflection session that I'm going to podcast.

Freshman, Here's Today's Activity

Follow this link to the Freshman corner of my class wikispace. Read every word, follow the links, rearrange yourselves into the assigned groups, and get to work.

Sentence Fluency For Freshman

Here are the questions to use for feedback on the Flat World Project this week:
1. Highlight the beginnings of sentences. Are there too many "th" words? Suggest different sentence structures.
2. What is your favorite moment based on how the essay sounds? Why? (this works for podcasted stories or for required read-aloud.)
3. Do the pace and style of sentences match the content of the story? Discuss specific examples.
4. Are there repetition of words and/or the same kinds of sentences? Is there a strategic reason or can it be deleted?

Also visit this link for Mr. B's sentence fluency exercise.

Cycle 21

The last cycle of the quarter is here! In the next few weeks, sophs and frosh, we'll be finishing our novels and looking ahead to final projects. Juniors and seniors, we'll continue to improve and innovate in our writing with fresh topics and model essays, as well as interesting, I hope, activities that will help you think about composing sentences and paragraphs in different ways. Oh, and that spring break thing too.

Cycle Theme: Recharge

SAT Vocab: paucity and appropriate (verb)

Freshman
In Class
Day 1 - "Shaman" quiz and discussion.
Day 2 - (After break) Flat World. CLCC.
Day 3 - Flat World. CLCC.
Day 4 - "At The Western Palace" quiz and discussion.

HW:
Over break, read "At The Western Palace."
When we get back, feedback for voice and sentence fluency, and a new revision. Denver and Seoul are going to take a break with us.


Sophomores
In Class:
Day 1 - "Revelation" quiz and discussion.
Day 2 - Film: Mosquito Coast.
Day 3 - cont.
Day 4 - Lit Circles

HW:
Over break, read "Judges."
Before break, a post comparing film to PB and anything else you find relevant.
After break, a commonplace post and a lit circle post.


Composition
In Class:
Day 1 - Sentence/Grammar Work.
Day 2 - Posting photos and writing sentences on wiki.
Day 3 - More work with sentences.
Day 4 - New essay, new topic

HW:
Over break, non-required writing and reading.
After break, posts due.

Mr. Watson's Reading Habits

Here's my blog reading/grading schedule.

A - Composition 12:30
B - English I 2:30
C - Composition 10:30
E - English II 1:30
F - English II 11:30

Cycle 20

We've been busy! And we've experimented with the use of a lot of new technology. So this cycle, we're not going to introduce anything new. Instead, we're going to reflect on where we've been and continue to do what we're doing. We'll do some more podcasting as a supplement to writing in all classes (frosh-seniors). I'm also going to ask you to consider what 'self' you've created on your blog and whether or not you're satisfied with that self. With the exception of my composition classes, we'll be moving deeper into our core novels. Lastly, don't forget that the end of the quarter is right around the corner. So make sure you're caught up with EVERYTHING!

Cycle Theme: Raising the bar.

SAT Vocab: penchant and pragmatic (add to your sidebar, make notecards, use in posts and class)

Sophomores
In-Class:
Day 1 - Class discussion led by lit. circle groups, new group and role
assignments.
Day 2 - Walk activity. Examples in sidebar.
Day 3 - Lit. circle time, center-of-gravity quotes.
Day 4 - In computer lab for reflective blog work. ("Revelations" quiz next A-day)
On Blog:
2 Lit. Circle Posts
2 Comments on other blogs
Blog revision and assessment (we'll discuss)


Freshman
In-Class:
Day 1 - In computer lab for Flat World Story Work - Organization.
Day 2 - In computer lab for Flat World Podcasting.
Day 3 - Lit. circle meeting.
Day 4 - "Shaman" quiz. Class discussion.
On Blog/FlatWorldWiki:
Feedback for two writers in row below your row posted by Thursday midnight.
New draft by next Tuesday (these are new deadlines)
Post a Hawaii ghost story on your blog.
1 Lit. circle work post.


Composition
In-Class:
Day 1 - Elbowing Day 2.
Day 2 - In computer lab for time to revise/give feedback using Wiki.
Day 3 - Finish King essay.
Day 4 - Defining Moment Essay due. Grammar work.
On Blog:
Leave 5 comments
4 Entries (Revise/delete after class discussion).

Extra: Mr. Burell and I are looking for some students to Skype with us and some of his students over the weekend. We'll talk about blogging and record our conversation as a podcast. Talk to me if interested.

Here's My Practice SAT Essay

The media does not determine what's important and worth value in our culture; at the same time, they do. What I mean is this is a false question because technology has changed the face of the media. Increasingly, we are our own media. We have places to publish and broadcast our own original work, opinions, and news. In addition, we have the tools to critique what we all the "mainstream" media. We are able to hold them much more accountable than ever before.

Recently, The New Yorker published an essay about Google's current project of creating the world's loargest digital library. The implication is that anyone with internet access has the ability to access any information they deem valuable. Access changes everything. And the ability to publish freely makes the amount of and diversity of media content grow exponentially. People have a choice. They can decide what's worth valuing and consuming. The question becomes who does and doesn't have access.

Currently, my class is reading The Poisonwood Bible in which a family goes to the Congo in the 1960's on a Baptist mission. They realize that Congo is diametrically opposed to the world they live in, and what works in America doesn't work there. In a very general sense, they (admittedly, in their own way and with a religious bias) are trying to help. One problem is that Congo is only covered during the 1960's by major news broadcasting organizations. Now, with the advent of what we'll call hyperlocal media, more information is available, awareness is global, and there are resources to try to help in appropriate ways that make sense within Congolese culture, or at least there are ongoing attempts. Moreover, with a people-controlled virtual spotlight, leaders are hopefully held more accountable as are Americans.

What we are beginning to realize is that the technologies available now are redefining terms, like media, that we've grown accustomed to. Logically, once our literacy changes, the way we communicate, negotiate, and live will change. It's not a question of us or them defining culture. We are them. The lines have disappeared. It's time to examine what we value. And who has access.

Literature Circles With A Twist

I guess that makes them literature figure-eights. :) As we read our respective novels in freshman and sophomore English, we'll be using literature circles to discuss and extract ideas from the texts. Traditionally, I'd assign you groups, assign you roles, and assign you a reading and meeting schedule. I'll still assign you groups, but they will change after we read each chunk of the book. I'm going to give you a list of role options from which your group will decide who does what. And you will post and comment on each other's work on your blogs. This will allow you class time to discuss and determine what direction your explorations will go. Eventually, we'll use our wikispace to develop an extensive, original, Poisonwood Bible and Woman Warrior resource publications. For now, here's the list of possible roles:

Moderator (Bring questions)
Lexicographer (Vocabulary)
New Critic (Identify key passages)
Character Analyst (What do we know about the characters?)
Biographical Critic (What do we know/learn about the author?)
Psychological Critic (Analyze motivations)
Director (for drama) (Give instructions to actors for key passages)
Engineer (Identify physical and/or logical structures)
Historian (Information and inferences about history)
Anthropologist (Information and Inferences about culture)
Narratologist (Identify authorial strategies)
Stylist (Sentence-level strategies)
Feminist (What is stated/implied about the role of women?)
Devil's Advocate (Identify and attack weaknesses)
Cinematographer (How would this work as a movie?)
Philosopher King (What are the themes/big ideas?)
Musician (Where is this language most pleasing to the ear?)
Egotist (What's in this for me?)
Artist (How would this translate into a picture?)

Freshman Friday Follow-Up

Friday, we discussed the six methods of characterization and used Maxine's aunt in "No Name Woman" as our example of how to identify each of the methods. In class, your group is working on a visual based on the six quotes your group decided to use. On your blog, you starting to develop a family story that will become your contribution to 1001 Flat World Writing Project. For your first post, you should be trying to put together a story that somehow reveals your culture and how it plays a part in making you who you are. For now, it's probably mostly true; as the story develops, it'll take on more fantastic elements. Woman Warrior will surely inspire this. You should be revisiting your post and trying to add methods of characterization and Smiley-Face Tricks to bring your story alive. Everybody should have a draft to work with posted on their blog by Wednesday.

Composition - What To Do

Welcome to the blogosphere composition students. Last week, you had a chance to learn how to use our Composition Corner wikispace and set up your own blog.

How we'll use the wiki:
This space will be a virtual writers' workshop. You will post ideas, drafts, and feedback. We might also decide to use the space in other ways. Remember, it's a community space, not a place for you to post whimsically.

How we'll use the blogs:
You already have your notebook. Now you have a virtual notebook. You can complete the 10 pages of writing per cycle requirement on your blog, in your notebook, or a little of both. The advantages to the blog are a real sense of audience, an opportunity to follow ideas in depth over several posts, and others can help you by sending comments.

What to do this weekend:
Post something from your Defining Moment draft to the wiki. Then, give somebody else's draft some feedback. You might also help to organize our pages. And get started on your blog by polishing and posting some work from your notebook.

Getting Back On Track - Sophomores

Well, I'm designating this cycle to just getting everybody, including me, back on track. So here are the tasks you should accomplish by the end of next week.

1. Post your "This I Believe" podcast. Now, some of you have had some trouble for various reasons. The process should be a lot easier next time around. Here's are the tricks: be sure to set you iTunes iPod setting to "manage music manually." This will allow you to move voice memos back and forth without restrictions. Also, before you can upload your podcast to podomatic (make sure you have an account started), you need to export the file to iTunes. After it's in podomatic, it's easy to embed the URL in your blog. (This will probably be our last podcast session in the lab, but if you need to you can come use an iPod in my office or record with Audacity).

2. Read the first section of The Poisonwood Bible.(up to page 10). Then compose and post a similarly descriptive passage based on a place you know well, maybe at home or on campus. A picture on your post would be nice too.

3. Reflect on all your posts up to this point. Then revisit you essential questions. Write a post in which you discuss what you now know regarding your questions. Do you need to explore further? Have your questions changed?

4. Explore some of our online collaborators (links in the sidebar) and leave some thoughtful comments. Remember to "leave the door open" for more thinking.

Once we accomplish these four tasks, we will be moving forward with the novel. Our work will include collaborative literature circles, artwork, and creative writing. I'm also excited to show you a place where other sophomores, outside just our classes, are collaborating and sharing PB work.

Garageband - Some Basic Instructions

Today, we're in the computer lab editing the material we've recorded for "This I Believe" podcasts. Since everybody will move at different speeds, I'm posting some quick instructions that everybody will need to follow to get started.

1. Plug the iPod into your computer via USB. When you do this iTunes will open and ask if you want to transfer voice memos. Answer yes. Then it'll ask you if you want to sync the iPod to the computer. Answer no.
2. Now open Garageband and start a new project, be sure to pick podcast.
3. On the right, your multimedia browser will open. From there, you can import your voice memos as podcast tracks. Off you go.

Tips:
Move your mouse around and see what the controls do.
Under edit, you're going to use the split function a lot, check it out.
Look around and find the loops you can import for sound effects and music.
Listen to other podcasts for good ideas.

Welcome Freshman - What About Blogs?

The sophomores have been working in our blogosphere since the beginning of the semester. Now it's your turn! The blogs are different than our Moodle page. I think you'll find that they're more personal and have a much wider audience. We'll talk more about it in class today, but here's a quick set of guidelines:

What About Blogs?

How we’ll use them:
We’re going to use blogs as virtual notebooks. You will post daily assignments, free writes, reading responses, and many other forms of work on your blog. In addition to text-based work, you’ll eventually learn how to use multimedia on your blogs, things like pictures, podcasts, videos, etc.

The difference between our Moodle and your blogs:
Moodle can't be seen by anybody other than members of our class. We can post assignment instructions, drop files, develop wikis, amongst other things. Your blog is published material. Once you post it, people will read it. So think of it more as a place to post ideas to which you want people to comment, as well as more fine-tuned pieces of writing. More specifically, your blog will loosely document your exploration of our essential questions: Who Am I? How can my use of language help to develop self and voice?

What a blog’s not:
A blog is not a myspace. This means that when you write, you need to write correctly and academically. Try to avoid using abbreviations and slang. You should try to cultivate your voice. Be descriptive, specific, and yourself. Some assignments will be more formal than others.

What not to do:
Make sure you don’t post any pictures of yourself and/or use your last name in any of your published materials.

Where to go for great examples:
Start by clicking on the sophomore links from this page
Check out Mrs. Watsons' students' pages.
And, for some more inspiration, check out Mr. Burrell's class blogs.

WikiSpace Update

Okay, I've set the page to accept any new members. So you should be able to join without problems. It would be a good idea to read the tutorials and learn as much as you can about how to edit the page. Explore the following: how to add new pages within our space, how to add hyperlinks, how to add pictures, how to use the toolbars, etc. We'll share what we learned in class next time.

Quality

Mr. Kandell led you through an introductory exploration of quality in art, writing, thinking, and other aspects of the world. You also had a chance to revisit how these universal standards for quality translate into our Sophomore Rubric and will later lead to your Quality Projects. Our next move is going to be to use and develop our wikispace to further explore, collaborate, and generate a collective understanding and explication of what quality means to us. So, click on the link for our wiki, join as an editor, then add some content to the page. Here are some suggestions for contributions:
-Summarize yesterday's discussion.
-Develop a rubric for a quality blog post.
-Develop a rubric for a quality world citizen.
-Post an example of something you see as quality and explain the criteria.
-Work on the wiki's design, theme, style, look.
-What else?

This I Believe

We've read a couple essays and watched a short film that explore the question: To what degree are we responsible for taking care of others in our world? Now, you are going to start thinking about what you believe. Be sure to continue to read your classmates' posts about what they believe and how they're processing the pieces we've been analyzing. Next week, we're going to work on these statements and eventually create podcasts of them. NPR has done a series based on this idea called "This I Believe." Go to their site, listen to at least three that interest you, then write a post about them: what they said, what you think about what they said, and how it changes what you've been thinking lately. Be sure to try to link to the podcasts in your post.