Blog Archives

Day 4: College Essay Bootcamp Peer Critiques

8/30/2019

STARTER
Read this New York Times article about a controversial college essay and answer the following prompts:

What are your general impressions?
What qualities does this essay showcase about the author?
Would you advocate for accepting this student, given the rest of his application was worthy? Why or why not?

In general, do you think one should aim to "entertain" the admissions officer? Why or why not?

Essay Tune Prep

What is one thing you really like about your essay/topic?
What is one thing you do not like or would like to change?
What is a question you need help with from your group?
EXAMPLES: Do I balance scene and analysis well? Does my word choice and tone show my personality? How could my hook grab your attention better? How can I end my essay in a less obvious way? Do you understand the moral of my story clearly? How could that be clearer or stronger?

Ashley will pass out and go over the protocol for Peer Critiques

Get into your support group
Elect a timekeeper with military precision and a facilitator to read the directions for the protocol and help group follow the directions.
Complete critiques for each person using the protocol #1 or #2 depending on where you are with your essay
When you are done, your group should check in with me and tell me what your major refinement needs are AND grab a mini-lesson resource from me relevant to your refinement needs.

Work Time!

Sign up for a conference with Ashley for sometime between now and Friday, 9/6
Revise, revise, revise!

Revision Strategies
Revision Checklist from Escape Essay Hell guide- pages 41-42

Missed Peer Critique?
Share your essay with a trusted friend or two, and have them give you feedback. Then revise, and sign up for a writing conference with me.

EXIT TICKET

What is one thing you did to improve your essay today?
What is one additional thing you need to do to improve it?

College Essays: Day 3!

8/29/2019

Starter: This activity is adapted from page 7 of “Escape Essay Hell” guide book

Write your name on the top of a piece of lined paper
Underneath your name, write three qualities that best describe you. They have to be POSITIVE! (stuck- see the list of qualities on page 8 of the Escape Essay Hell guide)
Now, pass your sheet of paper and help each other out! Provide ONE new quality that best describes how you see your classmates. Let’s help build each other up. Next to the quality, write WHEN you saw them demonstrate that quality. Keep it to one sentence.
When you get your paper back, review the list and feel warm and fuzzy.
If this feels useful, try the next exercise in the Escaping Essay Hell guide “Searching for a Time” on page 10

Class Biz

If you are ahead of the game with college essay and want to conference with me, you should start your portfolio conference #1 prep. See instructions here! (we'll all do this Tuesday of next week)
Heads up! We'll be at the Durango Public Library next Wednesday for Senior Project Orientation from 8:30-12.
Homework: Bring your draft tomorrow for critique with….

The prompt you are responding to and word limit
Your current word count for your essay
A focusing question for critique (see College Essay Tuning Questions on the documents page for ideas here)

Support Group Check In
Spend 7 minutes in your support group, checking in.

Review your support group google doc/schedule. Make sure everyone knows what they need to do for the days, and have each person in the group share where they want to be by the end of class today.
Next, each choose one of these helpful 90 second video tutorials and then share out what you learned from it:
1. How to make sure your essay isn’t boring.
2. Should I Talk About Religion in My College Essay?
3. Does it Matter Which Common App Prompt I Choose?
4. What if I’m Worried that My Essay Will Sound Like a Sob Story? (not a video, but has some GOOD examples)

College Essay Work Time
Today, your goal should be to get a complete draft written, and if possible, do some initial refinements. Try to run right up against the word limit of your essay!
You could tackle any of the following:

Need some more warm-up time? Warm-up exercises
Choose a Prompt- Figure out what prompt speaks to you. Need help with this? Come talk to Ashley!
Brainstorm- Use your own method, or any of the methods linked on my Documents page to help you generate ideas.
Write- Start writing, get words on the page. Remember, at this point it's okay to go over the word limit. We can always cut later.
Get Feedback- Show your writing to Ashley, your support group, another teacher, other classmates.
Revise- Make it better! Cut, revise, focus, refine! Check for show don't tell, cut extra words, replace boring sentences with more powerful ones, check out the revision strategies on the Documents page of my DP.

Please note that you should NOT be using your time for any of the following:

College Applications- This time is for writing your essay, NOT filling out the applications. That needs to be done outside of my class.
Scholarship Applications- See above.
Work for Other Classes- This is pretty self-explanatory, right?
Time Wasting Techniques- Including, but not limited to....YouTube, social media, finger-boarding, cosmetics, movies, idle chatter.

Exit Ticket

How productive or engaged were you today?
Explain: What contributed to that?
What do you need to do tonight to be ready for peer critique tomorrow?

College Essay Bootcamp Day 2- Examples and Brainstorming

8/28/2019

Starter- In Support Groups

First check-in on how you are each doing today. 1= really bad and 5=awesome! No need to explain your rating.
Check in with your support group to review (and finish) your schedule for how you'll manage your time these next two weeks. Make sure you each have that table filled out for your work time goals each day!
Then, read this passage and discuss what you think of the writing style:

My arms flail and my legs convulse. My pulse skyrockets as sweat drips down my forehead. Rather than dial search and rescue or even get out his first aid kit, my brother rolls the camera and begins narrating in an Australian accent: “We’re coming up on a wild creature,” he begins as he slowly pedals closer. “I’ve got to be very, very careful about how I approach this beast. Hers is one of the rarest. This is, folks, what 30 days of bikepacking through the desert can do to an otherwise sane homo sapien.”
I am not in fact suffering from some deadly snake bite. Rather, I had reached the top of a monster climb and, overcome with joy at seeing the San Juan Mountains again after nearly a month in the desert, I pumped some Anderson Paak through my iPhone and had a solo dance party.
Before you judge, consider this: Who hasn’t danced euphorically at the sight of alpenglow on mountain peaks or felt a calming sense of clarity and focus while sitting on a canyon rim? Each of us has a certain landscape or particular place that fills our soul, fulfills our hopes, restores us to our true nature. It reminds us of our connection to nature – that we are a part of it, not separate from it. And it unites us with others who share that same connection. Connection to a place heals us.
This I learned from bikepacking with my big brother.
(Source)

Class Biz

School photos are today during advisory
Make sure you inputted your final vision/mission statements into the survey on yesterday's DP
A note on the opt-out policy for college essays

Quick Check-in
I know some of you worked with Jess at the beginning of the summer so I don’t want my lessons to be redundant for you. I am going to be using many of the same brainstorming exercises she used with you for others. If you find this useful, participate. If you’re ready to start writing, you can just start writing today. But please participate at least through the sample essay read-alouds as you can provide helpful tips for your support group.

Agreements

We will all commit to stretching out of our comfort zone when brainstorming, sharing, and creating
We will all listen to each other's ideas, experiences, and thoughts without judgement
We will encourage each other to be creative and hold space for any emotions that come up during our exercises
If we are asked to provide feedback we will do so in a caring manner that is specific and focused on improving each other’s work.
Any others you feel important?

Types of College Essays- A quick guide (page 6)
Let’s spend some time really looking at these types of essays.

More detail on how to write a narrative essay (you may have to request the free guide to access this)
More detail on how to write a montage essay (free guide needed)

Sample Essay Read-aloud:
First: We'll read "Breaking up with Mom- Type C" together

What do you notice about the structure of this essay?
Personality- where does it come from (use of story, written words, can you hear the author’s “voice”, other?)
Favorite sentences/essay moments?
What are the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the essay?
Would you want this person in your college? Why/why not?

Then, you'll read ONE more with your group
Choose one of the sample essays linked above in blue (beginning on page 7) to read. As you read, look for the following four things mentioned above and then when the reading is done, we'll discuss them.

The Best Two Brainstorming Exercises Ever (according to the College Essay Guy)
(these each take about 10 minutes. We'll do them as a whole class, but if you've already done them and are ready to write, see below)

Ready to write?

Pick a topic!
Pick your approach
1. How to write a Narrative Essay (Values and Needs exercise)- will need to access free guide
2. How to write a Montage Essay (Essentials exercise)- will need to access free guide
Begin brainstorming/free-writing

More Brainstorming Techniques

Mind map
Freewrite
Freespeak (record it!)
Walk and talk with a partner. Record each other’s thoughts
Others that have worked for you in the past?
Here are a whole lot more Brainstorming Strategies

Still Stuck?
Read some more Animas student examples
Ashley's Bears Ears Bikepacking trip article published in the Gulch for some examples of a personal narrative with descpriptive language

College Essay Bootcamp: Day 1

8/27/2019

Starter

What is your attitude toward peer critiquing?
What makes for a BAD peer critique? What makes for a GOOD peer critique?

Class Biz

School photos tomorrow during advisory!
A Note on how I'm assessing seminar reflections
Mission/Vision -- I'll grade them once you've put your final versions in the form embedded above. This will be a part of your portfolio and will just be in the gradebook as 0 points, turned in or not. Those types of assignments will be good discussion points for the ENGAGE category of your portfolio

Mission/Vision Workshop Peer Critique: Get in groups of 2-3 and take turns sharing your problem/why/mission/vision statements. Here are questions for the critiquers:

Does the presenter have a clear "why"?
Does the Mission Statement clearly express the WHAT in an easy to understand manner? What word choice would you recommend? What can be cut? What needs refinement? Is the mission concrete/tangible/achievable/realistic?
Does the Vision inspire you? Why? Does it identify the vision for how the "world" will be different as a result of the fulfillment of their mission? How is the word choice? Can it be more inspiring, clear, concise? How?
Talk about the challenges you see in achieving each of your mission/visions.
Help each other identify some ways to overcome these challenges. Think about support systems you might need, or PEOPLE you could call on to help you, etc...

Refinement time! (10 minutes)

Apply feedback from your peer critique to polishing your mission and vision statements.
Complete the survey embedded at the top of this blog when you're done refining!
Be ready to share ONE of your vision/mission statements

TRANSITION: Welcome to College Essay Boot Camp
1 minute: Close your eyes, take 5 deep breaths-- get settled and anchored into this new phase of the day, and class. Now, think about how you feel about the college application process. Scan your body. Notice how your body feels. Perhaps there is tension in your chest, etc…. Just notice those for now. Take three more deep breaths and when ready, open your eyes

College Essay Reflection Prompts (answer these questions on a notecard for Ashley)

How do you FEEL about the college application process in general, and writing college essays in general?
Why do you feel this way?
What do you THINK about the college application process?
1. Do you think it is valuable? A necessary evil? Something YOU have to do, something you GET to do?
Why are you applying to college? Is this something YOU’VE truly chosen?
Define your OWN purpose for writing a college essay.

Whole Class Debrief: Can I have at least 5 people share their purpose?

College Essay Bootcamp Overview-- Read this document closely: College Essay Boot Camp

What questions do you have?
What piece of student feedback struck you as particularly helpful?

Let’s look at the list of resources on my Documents page

College Essay Guy is amazing! You need to email to request access to the free guide, but it is worth it! Do it! We’ll check out the various resources he has listed in that guide real quick….

Where Are You?
The corners of the classroom have been labeled with numbers 1-4. Go to the corner that best represents your current status in regards to college essays. Use the following criterion:

Which phrase best describes your current situation in regards to college essay writing?

I haven't started yet, and don't have a clue what the outcome might look like.
I have a prompt and have started writing, but I'm nowhere near done.
I have finished at least one essay, but it would benefit from some more refinement
I have mostly finished my college essays, but still have a few more and/or supplementary writing I can work on and refine.

Support Groups
We'll form groups of 4, with students from each corner so there is a mix. You will be working in/with your support group at different points throughout the College Essay Boot Camp to help answer questions, provide suggestions for each other, serve as sounding boards, etc. After your group is formed, go to the link for Support Group Scheduling. MAKE A COPY of this document, and work with your group to fill it out. You'll run through the following tasks:

Discuss where you each are in the writing process and what support you need from each other/Ashley/internet and then send one student from your group to fill out the table Ashley posted in the classroom.
Review deadlines (see Support Group handout linked on DP if you were absent!)
Review resources- Go to the “documents” page of my DP and read through the titles of all the extra resources so you know where to find them when you need them. TONs of helpful stuff if you’re stuck!
Create a schedule by filling out the bottom table on the Support Groups handout

Mission/Vision Workshop

8/26/2019

STARTER

Share your seminar reflection with me!
Turn in your signed syllabus and self-assessment in the box o' fun and place shared resources on the tea station table
In your comp book/starter doc, answer the following questions:

What did we do/talk about in class last week?
What idea/concept or insight about yourself and/or others stood out the most to you?

Wrap up my Syllabus Overview (15 minutes)- starting on slide #20

Go over classroom expectations/norms/honors
Review of metacognition and mission and research question for the year
Introduction to Ashley's grading philosophy and the ABCDEG's

ABCDEG's Gallery Walk (10 minutes)
5 minutes: In your small group, try to come up with as much as you can to answer these two questions about your portfolio category:
- What does each category mean?
- Why would that be important, especially given the class mission statement?

5 minutes: Spend the next five minutes scoping out what the other groups wrote on the other posters. If you have something to add, add it. If something resonates with you, put a star next to it.

*********************TRANSITION TO MISSION/VISION STATEMENT WORKSHOP*******************

NOTE: Resources for this workshop can be found on the DOCUMENTS page of my DP as well as linked below!

Watch the first 8 minutes of Simon Sinek's TED Talk, How Great Leaders Inspire Action,
About the TED Talk
Sinek, author of Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, shares a simple model on how to become an inspirational leader: Start with a circle, and start with "Why?" Sinek uses examples like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Apple to illustrate why this is effective.

Ashley’s powerpoint on Missions and Visions and why we're doing this

Mission/Vision Real-Life Examples
Discuss the questions listed below with regards to your assigned organization. Be ready to share out: What is the mission? What is the vision? What is their “why”? How could it be clearer?

ww.animashighschool.com (Scroll down to "MISSION" and try to distinguish between the mission and the values. Is there a "Vision" statement embedded here or not?)

https://www.aclu.org/about-aclu: Can you distinguish their Mission from their Vision?

http://sanjuanmountainsoles.weebly.com/ (Outdoor Education and Leadership Development Organization for high school girls in Durango)

Complete the Mission/Vision Workshop Handout

HOMEWORK

Finish your Mission/Vision work. Refined version is due at the beginning of class tomorrow
Bring in any college essay work you've started!

Academic Mindsets, Mission/Vision Workshop and HoHCP seminar prep

8/23/2019

Starter

What is metacognition? (review from yesterday)
Reflect on your experience reading last night's homework. Questions to consider:

What reading strategies did you use, if any, to enhance your comprehension?
How long did it take you to read it?
What was difficult about reading it?
What did you do to overcome that challenge?
How engaged were you in reading it?
Did you try to find personal value or relevancy in the reading?

ACADEMIC MINDSETS Seminar Prep
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
The purpose of this is multi-fold: 1. To help each other better understand and make more meaning out of an academic journal article 2. To help you reflect on your own identity, 3. To give me more insight into who you are and how you see yourself, especially as a learner. 4. Lastly, to help you develop more metacognition and self-awareness as you reflect on areas of growth and strengths

SEMINAR-- fishbowl style
Before

What are qualities of BEST seminars?
What is the fishbowl format? (hot seat, etc...)
Take notes while on outside to help you prepare for the reflection
Are seminars graded? No and yes.

After

How'd we do?
How'd you do-- how engaged were you? How much did you apply your knowledge of the reading to your life? How deep did you dig?

Homework

Seminar Reflection
Signed Syllabus
Class materials and shared resource (see syllabus)
Make sure you have your reflections from Senior Orientation with you in class Monday for our mission/vision workshop.
If you missed Wednesday, please see my blog from Wedesday. Watch the youtube video and then spend about 30 minutes journaling on the various journal prompts listed on the blog.

Welcome to Humanities 12! First day of school

8/22/2019

YEEEEOOOOOP! I'm super excited to have you all in my class this year. It is going to be a challenging, rewarding and FUN year so put your big girl/boy boots on and let's get started.

Starter: Create Name Tents (5 minutes)
While I take attendance, please make a name tent like the one I've created for y'all and put it in front of you on your desk.

NO DOZE Leadership Styles Activity (45 minutes)
Let's head outside!
Bring a pen/pencil and comp book

No Doze Individual Reflection (15 minutes)
In your comp books, please reflect on the following questions:

Engagement: On a scale of 1-5, five being SUPER DUPER engaged and 1 being checked out, rate your level of engagement in the No Doze activity.
Think about why you were or weren’t engaged. Explain.
Apply your knowledge--To what extent does where you landed in the grid represent you? Is there an example where you’ve seen yourself demonstrate that leadership style (or a different style)? Other people you know who embody your style?
Digging Deep: Lastly, to what extent are you digging deep to really think critically and thoughtfully about your personality and the way the styles relate to you? What’s a piece of evidence to prove your level of deep thinking?

Whole Class Debrief (10 minutes)

Share reflections
How well do you really know yourself when it comes to placing yourself authentically and accurately in those grids? How much do you anticipate you’ll change- move to another grid in the coming months/years?
How well do you know others? (Interpersonal intelligence)
How much were you able to apply your knowledge?
A- E- D will come into play with the ABCDEG’s later in class!
Why did I do this No Doze activity? (slide 1) Why would I start the first day of class this way?
1. First day of school can be boring. I wanted something to get you out of your seat and outside!
2. Senior year will require leadership. Wanted you to start thinking of yourself as a leader, and what kind of a leader you might be. We’ll do a ton more this year on leadership development, so I wanted to plant a seed here.-- However, COLLABORATION skills are critical to be an effective leader and in general student at AHS. Do we teach HOW to collaborate? Not a ton. This gives you awareness of +/- of other styles so you can make sure groups are balanced and working to leverage + of each group member.
3. Leadership requires self-awareness. Self-awareness and more specifically metacognition will be a big theme this year, so I wanted to get a general sense of where you all were in your self-awareness with this one exercise.
4. Demonstrate three of the criteria you’ll be assessed on this year with the ABCDEG’s portfolio system. More to come here!

Welcome to Humanities powerpoint (30 minutes)

Assign homework on Academic Mindsets (5 minutes)
Please see the "Homework" page on my DP

Purpose of this reading is to a) give you a sense of the type of academic journal articles you'll be using for senior project research and b) help you better understand yourself as a learner/student (METACOGNITION)

Senior Orientation: Welcome Back!!

8/21/2019

Schedule for our 1st day back together

SENIOR SUNRISE
6:45 Seniors will meet Janae at the base the ABC trail (coffee and donuts at the top!)
7:45 At the top of the hill we will eat a light breakfast. This will consist of what we all bring potluck style. We will have 30 minutes to eat, reconnect, and share stories from the summer.
8:15 Walk to Noble Hall by way of the Concert Hall
8:20: Soak it in kids, this is where you’ll be at the end of this year! Envision how you want to feel on this day! #jungleboss

Noble Hall
8:30-9:15am Overview of the day and Mindfulness

Overview of Orientation- Roxy
- Agenda and Mission Statement
Story time with Jess Adams
Mindfulness with Maureen Fallon-Cyr (20 minutes)

9:15-9:45 am: Journal time SEE STUDENT JOURNAL PROMPT HANDOUT FOR THE QUESTIONS!
9:55-10:05 am Get into 6 groups (Nisty)
10:05-10:35 am Debrief journal activity in small groups
10:40-11:10am Return as whole class in Noble Hall classroom

This is Water
Story time with Ashley
Whole group discussion on This is Water (Ashley)
- General emotional reactions to this speech? Popcorn out how you’re FEELING, emotionally, right now?
- David Foster Wallace disagrees with the fact that the value of education is to teach you what to think. Instead, he says that the true value is in making the choice of what to think about. Specifically, he says, “real Freedom is being educated and understanding HOW to think” and later “this is about the real value of a real education which has almost nothing to do with knowledge and everything to do with simple awareness.'' What does this mean and do you agree or disagree with this?

11:10-11:35 Individual/Small Group Reflection and Brainstorm Time Framing (25 minutes)

Choose to join small discussion group led by teachers or go journal independently either in written form or record yourself.

11:35-11:45 am: What’s the purpose of lunch with the freshmen + Overview of the afternoon
11:45 Head back down to Animas for Lunch & Mash Up
12:00 - 12:30 “Find yourself a Freshman” Lunch Mash Up
12:30 - 1:00 Lunch time to mingle with all AHS students
1:00-1:30 Check-In with your advisory + student contracts in your Advisor’s room
1:30-2:30 College Prep check-ins- In each Advisor’s Room

College Preparation Instructions- Shared with seniors to start the work they need to do
Seniors Spreadsheet- Advisors use this to find out where you advisees are

2:30 Student Led Nest Meeting @ AHS in Commons

Student Journal Questions (Round 1)
Journal time (you can choose how to capture these ideas, either in written form, or via voice recording on your phone)

Where am I at? Check in with yourself about how you are feeling about Senior year, work, school, friends, etc.
What do you want out of the year, next few years, etc.
How or by what are you inspired?
What do you have control of in your life? What don’t you have control of?
What can your senior year be? What can you do? What are you going to do?
What hurdles can you see in front of you? What can you do about those hurdles?
What is your senior year vision for yourself and community?

This is Water reflection and Mission Statement Brainstorm (Round 2)
(Again, you can choose how to capture these ideas, either in written form, or via voice recording on your phone)

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS? The goal of this time is for you to reflect more deeply on This is Water, the relevance of David Foster Wallace’s message to your own life and way of thinking AND to begin brainstorming your Senior Year Mission Statement. Please capture these ideas and bring them to Humanities class tomorrow as Sara/Ashley will guide you in creating a refined Mission Statement that answers the question: “What is my authentic vision for my senior year experience and my contribution to community”. Here are a few questions to help you further reflect on This is Water. Feel free to answer as many of them as you’d like, but make sure you jot down some ideas for your mission statement.

Reflection questions

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: “What is my authentic vision for my senior year experience and my contribution to community”?
What does Wallace mean by our "natural default setting" manner of thinking? In Wallace’s conclusion, what does he suggest that we try to do to avoid this “natural default” way of thinking and living?
What do you think is your “natural default setting” in how you think or perceive the world?
Describe an experience you have had similar to the example Wallace shares at the supermarket. Looking back now, how could have shifted your thinking during that experience? How could you find the meaning or purpose in that moment?
Wallace says, “The only thing that's capital-T True is that you get to decide how you're going to try to see it. You get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn't.” What have you chosen, consciously or not, to assign meaning to? What is sacred? What is important? Thinking about it consciously now, is it worthy of your time and attention?
Have you ever thought to yourself that "I am the center of the universe?"
Describe how self-centered thinking occurs in your own life, or someone you know, or someone you have observed. Then explain the negative or positive effects of thinking in this manner.
The second half of our mission statement for today was to inspire you all to articulate not just a vision for your own experience this year, but also for your CONTRIBUTION to community. This will be a major expectation for the senior project, that you contribute somehow meaningfully to the world beyond yourself. How can the 12th grade curriculum enable you to think beyond yourself? To what extent are you inspired to do so?

The Daily