Blog Archives

Monday, April 29th

4/29/2019

STARTER: For those of you going tomorrow for project tunes-- Project Tune Focusing Question or Dilemma
Come up with a GOOD focusing question or dilemma for your project tune. Write it down on a piece of paper with your name and turn it in to me so I can make sure it is legit.

Here are some examples of good ones:

How am I going to raise enough money for this event? I'm broke!
Who should come to my event? What's the best audience for this and how do I market to them?
What is the best venue to display my artwork or hold my event?
What are the best events you have been to and what made those events awesome? How could I incorporate those into my event?

Schedule This Week's Check-ins

No school Friday as it is a Staff PD day
That said, I need to have this week's check-ins on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday
I need to meet with 4 students today, 4 tomorrow, and the rest THURSDAY. Please sign up on the whiteboard!

Weekly Reflection and Goal Setting

Complete your weekly reflection for last week. This should be complete toward the bottom of your "To Do" document where the prompts are.
Once you're done with that, write down the goals/tasks you need to complete this week by filling out this week in the blue calendar on your To DO document

Work Time and Conferences with Ashley

Thursday! Check-ins AND Project tunes if you missed Tuesday's

4/25/2019

Today's Agenda...
1. Make sure you are caught up with basic senior project requirements as listed below.
2. If not, get caught up.
3. If yes, get to work on your senior project tasks or conference with Ashley if scheduled or needed.

Here is everything you should have accomplished thus far to be at 100% of the total Senior Project points possible to date:

Completed TO DO document, shared with Ashley
TWO check-ins with Ashley (including today's check-in for those scheduled toady)
ONE weekly reflection at the bottom of your TO DO document
Ideally one project tune and project tune reflection, although some of you are scheduled for next week.
A legit amount of stuff on your actual project!

Project Tune #1

4/23/2019

Please complete the project tune protocol for those assigned today!
Project Tune Protocol

Remember: You need to complete 2 project tunes with your critique group and complete the project tune reflection for each. Those completed project tunes count toward your total Senior Project score.

Week 2 of Action Projects: Weekly Reflection and Project Tune Prep

4/22/2019

STARTER: Project Tune Focusing Question or Dilemma
Come up with a GOOD focusing question or dilemma for your project tune. Write it down on a piece of paper with your name and turn it in to me so I can make sure it is legit.

Here are some examples of good ones:

How am I going to raise enough money for this event? I'm broke!
Who should come to my event? What's the best audience for this and how do I market to them?
What is the best venue to display my artwork or hold my event?
What are the best events you have been to and what made those events awesome? How could I incorporate those into my event?

Schedule This Week's Check-ins

I'm not here Friday, there will be a sub and you're expected to be here working on senior project.
That said, I need to have this week's check-ins on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday
I need to meet with 4 students today, 4 tomorrow, and the rest THURSDAY. Please sign up on the whiteboard!

Weekly Reflection and Goal Setting

Complete your weekly reflection for last week. This should be complete toward the bottom of your "To Do" document where the prompts are.
Once you're done with that, write down the goals/tasks you need to complete this week by filling out this week in the blue calendar on your To DO document

Work Time and Conferences with Ashley

Check-ins

4/18/2019

Starter:

Go to your Senior Project To Do document
Share it with me
Scroll down to the blue calendar and find today's date
Write down your goals for work time today. What do you need to accomplish today?

Individual Check-ins!
I'll meet with you one at a time.
While you're waiting, please finish your To Do document and work on your goals for today.

Day 2 of Cohorts: Crank out that To Do document!

4/16/2019

Announcement about Advisory
Required attendance THIS Wednesday (10:30-1:45) and then you don't have to be here for advisory until Advisory Olympic planning (likely an off-campus lunch with your advisor).

A Note on Good Projects and Good Project Tunes

Come with a LEGIT and specific question or dilemma. You need to show me this first!
Based on your project, think about what a professional critique session would look like. Let's get some ideas out there for your various projects

What makes a BAD project tune:

You think you don't need help, or that your group won't be able to help you. (C'mon, let's show some humility here folks)
Your question is vague or half-hearted
Critiquers don't care enough to think deeply and give thoughtful feedback
Critiquers are too agreeable and don't challenge the presenter

Example Dilemmas/Focusing Questions

How am I going to raise enough money for this event? I'm broke!
Who should come to my event? What's the best audience for this and how do I market to them?
What is the best venue to display my artwork or hold my event?
What are the best events you have been to and what made those events awesome? How could I incorporate those into my event?
If all else fails: How do I make this project More DOPE and AWESOME? How can I create a project that I'll be really proud of?

Cohort Critique Groups

Let's go over the project tune protocol (Note: Don't come up with dilemmas that suck)
Get with your assigned group (See the bottom of the Cohort Groups document)
Share out your thesis research question and your project idea
Schedule the first round of project tunes: Remember, each of you need to do TWO project tunes and reflections). Two students need to go each Tuesday for the following Tuesdays: 4/23, 4/30, 5/7, 5/14. Group 3- you have 5 students, so you may need to either start early or hold one critique on a Monday, or do three in a day, etc...)

Individual Check-ins Schedule for This Week
Check-in Objectives: To go over your To Do document and make sure your project is legit, as well as help you with your milestones
Thursday: Lydia, Finn, Janey, Soma, Ce, Baylee, Aidyn, Cady
Friday: Caeley, Harley, Amanda, Atlantia, Emery, , Emma, Faith, Owen, Sadie

Senior Project To Do

Keep working on the above linked document. Try to get your milestones as fleshed out as possible!
Conference with Ashley as needed
Sadie! You and I need to conference on map reading and route planning
Done? Set goals for yourself for this week and begin accomplishing those goals!

HOMEWORK
Finish the Senior Project To Do document by Friday!

Day 1 of Cohorts: Action Projects Begin!

4/15/2019

Alright, seniors, this is it! The final countdown begins! Here's our plan for today

Ashley's Reflection on her Sabbatical (slash her own version of Senior Project)

Existential Angst
Struggle with unstructured time
Solution: Passion and Purpose converge!
Lastly: How do I finish each academic year on a strong note, aside from knowing my source of income is always on the line ;)??

How clear are you on your senior project idea? Rate yo' self on the white board.

Starter (we'll seminar on these questions in a little bit)

What is your level of motivation for school at this point in time? (0-5)
What is one ACADEMIC thing you are MOST excited about BEFORE you graduate? Perhaps it is related to senior project, or something else?
What advice would you give your little sibling, best friend, or YOURSELF to combat senioritis and to finish strong and on a note that you can feel proud about?
How do you handle unstructured time? Is it hard for you to be productive? Hard to manage your own time wisely?
When are your MOST productive times of the day?
What is one way that I (Ashley) can help you this semester? Be specific!

Thesis Resubmissions
These were due a week after your TED Talk. If that window of time has passed, your original grade will stand. Otherwise, please follow the instructions for resubmitting EXACTLY as written on the 2nd page of your rubric.

Document Review: Review relevant documents (all of which are linked on the Senior Project Page of my DP at the very bottom).

Senior Project To Do
Cohort Groups

Review Cohort Group goals and structures:
Cohorts will meet during their assigned periods on Mondays, Tuesdays, and either Thursday or Friday.
Wednesdays are available for off-campus work. Except for Wednesdays, unless a student has made arrangements with us, they should be on-campus and working on their senior project during cohort time. Our rooms will also be available for work time during other times, and seniors are encouraged to use this time and space!

Mondays- Schedule and goals, check in, set goals for next week, reflective piece for week before, figure out who is getting critiqued on Tuesday.
Tuesdays- Project tunes/critiques in cohort subgroups (groups of 5) and exhibition planning.
Wednesdays- Free work days. As seniors do not have electives on Wednesdays, they may choose to work off campus to get project work done that requires meeting with community partners, gathering resources for events, etc...They are also welcome to work at school and/or seek guidance from senior teaching team as needed during this time. YOU NEED TO BE AT ADVISORY, HOWEVER!!!
Thursdays/Fridays- Individual check-ins with cohort advisor (Ashley, Kyle, Kurt or Lori). Half of seniors will meet on Thursday to check-in with their advisor, the other half will meet on Friday. On the day that seniors are not scheduled for their check-in, they are expected to work on their senior project at school unless they have specifically made other arrangements with their cohort advisor AND are expected to attend electives as scheduled.

A Note About Attendance
We know this is a hard time of your high school career to pull of perfect attendance AND that the unstructured nature of senior project work time can make it hard to follow structure in other places at Animas. However, that's life and will certainly be more like college life. You are ABSOLUTELY expected to fulfill your end of the bargain by seeing your classes and other AHS commitments through to the end.

Cohort Group Work Time

REMINDER--ALL seniors need to be in their cohort group during cohort tomorrow for a dilemma/project tune!
Break into cohort groups, fill out Senior Project To Do as much as possible, schedule an individual check-in.

HOMEWORK: Fill out Senior Project To Do (linked above). Start working your way down your to-do lists!

TED Talk Prep-- The FINAL Day!

4/3/2019

IMPORTANT TED TALK REMINDERS

Tech (slides)- If you are running a slideshow for visuals, email or share it with me before you present. It's easier to run the tech off one computer so we don't have to swap the clicker tech back and forth.
Professional Dress- You should be going all out here! Look sharp and professional. You know what that means.
Breathe! Relax! But practice! Have faith that you know this stuff inside and out, because you do. But also, take the time to practice frequently so that your presentation is polished and impressive.

Room Setup: Finish and finalize room setup for TED Talks
Morning class- GATHER materials! Afternoon class-- Setup the room!

Sheets/curtains hung
Lights arranged to highlight the speaker
Posters/Schedules around the school
Stage space clearly marked
Speakers/Screen/Projector/Clicker found and set up for easy use
Video Camera + Tripod
Tables and chairs set up with tableclothes for panelists (need 6 tables for this, in 3 rows)
Chairs set up for other audience members
Rest of room is clean, organized, ready for TED Talks!

TED Practice
Practice that sucker! You should aim to practice at LEAST once a day. And do it in front of other people. Good luck!

Welcome back! TED Talk final push!!!

4/2/2019

Guidelines for RE-Submission of your Senior Thesis:
I will hand back your senior thesis paper at your TED Talk. Once you have received your final grade for your paper, you will have the option to rewrite it based on my comments. Your revised paper grade will REPLACE your original grade (although if it was turned in late for the March 11th deadline, that late penalty will remain in place). In order for your re-submission to be accepted, you must follow the guidelines below exactly.

Deadline: ONE WEEK after the day you received your thesis back from me.
Email/share with me your revised draft
Submit your previous draft and the graded rubric (put your old draft and rubric in my inbox).
Your final draft must demonstrate improvement between drafts
I will not be commenting on revised drafts, and the revised grade will replace your original grade
Important: Annotations on your final draft are REQUIRED. Feel free to highlight, underline, comment, or draw arrows to specific points made, new evidence used, new phrasing etc. Your final grade depends in a large part on your ability to show growth between drafts in the categories I have outlined in the rubric. Make it easy for me to see this growth with your annotations. Even better if your comments are coded to rubric categories. Annotate as you revise to make this easier on yourself!

Other Announcements

Today and Tomorrow: Go to your normal math class to be working on TED Talk refinements! Today and tomorrow in my room will be devoted to critiques and then setting up the room so it won't be a great space for working on refinements.
Any students for whom I ONLY have en electronic copy: please PRINT your thesis paper AND complete the student-self assessment on the rubric and attach that to your thesis and turn it in by the END OF TODAY.
Heads up about All School Exhibition on May 16th: We've won an award for Senior Project. We will display TED Talks and papers/projects. We will want at least 5-10 papers and projects to showcase so be thinking about if you're up to presenting then! Just keep that in the back of your head.
Graduation Awards: Best Thesis, Talk and Project!
Share this facebook event about TED Talks with your network!

Final Stretch Review

TED Talk Schedule
Panel Schedule and Expectations
Cohorts after TED Talks-- Beginning Monday, April 15th, you'll only go to electives and the Humanities section your assigned cohort is meeting. Please check this document and make a comment if necessary.

TED Talk Setup Committee Sign-up

Design team: Sketch the layout for our TED Talk set-up; develop "materials" list (afternoon pod only)-- see below for some guidelines for setup.
Hunters and Gatherers: Hunt for and gather all materials
Set-up: All hands on deck (afternoon pod only)

IMPORTANT TED TALK REMINDERS

Tech (slides)- If you are running a slideshow for visuals, email or share it with me before you present. It's easier to run the tech off one computer so we don't have to swap the clicker tech back and forth.
Professional Dress- You should be going all out here! Look sharp and professional. You know what that means.
Breathe! Relax! But practice! Have faith that you know this stuff inside and out, because you do. But also, take the time to practice frequently so that your presentation is polished and impressive.

Room Setup Guidelines

Sheets/curtains hung
Lights arranged to highlight the speaker
Posters/Schedules around the school
Stage space clearly marked
Speakers/Screen/Projector/Clicker found and set up for easy use
Video Camera + Tripod
Tables and chairs set up with tablecloths for panelists (need 6 tables for this, in 3 rows)
Chairs set up for other audience members
Rest of room is clean, organized, ready for TED Talks!

TED Critiques
Follow the above linked protocol for critiques

TED practice
Practice that sucker! You should aim to practice at LEAST once a day. And do it in front of other people. Good luck!

The Daily