Reflections on Week 5

Frustration, thy name is interruption! This week has been one of those weeks for high school--safety drills, class rings, graduation announcements, guest speakers, career tech meetings, and a big game on Friday--distractions abound. Nevertheless, we managed to get a bit of work done.

HELA10:
Monday was Moonshot Monday and just about everybody has an idea going. I can't wait to see what they come up with at our festival in December. Students are also busy working on their analysis of Hamlet. Several students are working together to tweet the play's events as characters from Hamlet. I love this approach to the project. It is immensely entertaining to read them! You should check them out: @Horatio1738, @ElPolonius, @HamletDude, @laertesdane, @OpheliaOfficials, @trapqueenGer, @Rosencratz1738, @trapkingclaud, @senior_hamlet.

CBELA11:
The last meetings of our lit circles for book one are happening this week, and we've had some issues. For our next novels, I will need to be clearer about the expectations for those meetings, how students should work with the roles, and how they can better work together. We may need to swap out some group members so that teams function better.

Art 2:
Students began working on Ancient/Classical art projects. Several are building small-scale architectural models using classical building features, many are making mosaics, and a few have begun frescoes. It has been exciting to see students jumping in together on the models and the variety of approaches to the mosaics and frescoes.

Art 3:
Almost everyone is on the image transfer project. After a few initial stumbles, it seems that the technique is catching on. I brought in several examples on Tuesday, and that helped a great deal. I am working alongside students on this one when I can. It is one of my favorite techniques to teach during painting or drawing instruction.

Art 4:
Portfolios are coming along, and I think that students are beginning to see where their concentration areas can lead. Students have been working on what interests them, and that's been powerful.