Yesterday, Ji Sung asked me what I would do if I could do my own 20% time project. In a way, I am doing my 20% time by facilitating and monitoring my classes' 20% projects; but I knew Ji Sung meant more than that - he wanted to know what my passion project would be without the responsibility of mentoring my students during this time.
Today, I'm thinking an extra period for grading papers might be kinda nice... but I started talking a little about how I started getting interested in the concept of a 20% time project and I realized that this really is one of my passions (duh - right?) If I were doing "my own" 20 time project, it really would be researching 20% time information and learning more about the cool things teachers, companies, and people following their passions are doing.
So, yes, I have some restrictions so to say on my 20% time because I've committed to being a mentor to my students, but this is truly what I find fascinating! Plus, it makes for awesome story telling and bragging on my students every time I have dinner with friends, call home, or tell my hubby what my students did at school each day.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Friday, January 16, 2015
Conference Day
Today, I set a goal to meet with every student individually about their 20% time projects. I actually met it (minus the folks who were absent)!
I'm so, so proud of my students this week. I loved looking through each blog and hearing about their successes and struggles with their projects.
One exciting development that I hope will grow is that we set up a Google "Writer's Circle" for my aspiring authors, hopefully this will give us a chance to connect and share our work and get some extra feedback for those working on writing projects.
One of the things a lot of my students seemed to need help with is citing sources and getting permission to use materials. We're so used to copying and pasting and sharing pictures on social media now, that it can be hard to remember to take the time to give credit where it's due. Luckily, we'll be starting with our research papers soon, so we'll have plenty of resources to help make citations perfect!
This weeks highlighted blogs:
Ji Sung: Learning to play the piano after years away from it (truly impressive).
Learn about photography with Sarah Kennedy. I love the most recent post about taking pics of pets - I'll have to try this with my dog this weekend!
Check out a history of music with Tori. I think I'm feeling some classic rock on the radio on my way home today.
I'm so, so proud of my students this week. I loved looking through each blog and hearing about their successes and struggles with their projects.
One exciting development that I hope will grow is that we set up a Google "Writer's Circle" for my aspiring authors, hopefully this will give us a chance to connect and share our work and get some extra feedback for those working on writing projects.
One of the things a lot of my students seemed to need help with is citing sources and getting permission to use materials. We're so used to copying and pasting and sharing pictures on social media now, that it can be hard to remember to take the time to give credit where it's due. Luckily, we'll be starting with our research papers soon, so we'll have plenty of resources to help make citations perfect!
This weeks highlighted blogs:
Ji Sung: Learning to play the piano after years away from it (truly impressive).
Learn about photography with Sarah Kennedy. I love the most recent post about taking pics of pets - I'll have to try this with my dog this weekend!
Check out a history of music with Tori. I think I'm feeling some classic rock on the radio on my way home today.
Friday, January 9, 2015
Gotta Love Technology!
Silly me... I haven't spent enough time exploring my own blog and using Google+ to its full extent. I'm currently adding all my students to a Google+ circle and will be able to communicate much more efficiently with everyone through through this format. How exciting!
I also found lots of staff at school who think they will be able to donate spare computer parts to Gabriel for his 20% Time project. What a helpful & generous bunch of folks we have here!
Unfortunately the buzzer just rang, meaning time's up. More to come soon...
I also found lots of staff at school who think they will be able to donate spare computer parts to Gabriel for his 20% Time project. What a helpful & generous bunch of folks we have here!
Unfortunately the buzzer just rang, meaning time's up. More to come soon...
Brrrrr! It's Blogging Time!
It's been awhile since we've had 20% time. We had exams and our December holiday break since the last time I've posted. Despite the freezing cold, we're back in business and ready to explore our passions, learn about ourselves and our projects, and blog about it all!
Monday, January 12 is the last day for students to post their project proposals. This is an assignment that calls for students to formally write up their rationale, steps, and goals for the project. Check out the blogs linked on the left to see these awesome proposals.
Monday, January 12 is the last day for students to post their project proposals. This is an assignment that calls for students to formally write up their rationale, steps, and goals for the project. Check out the blogs linked on the left to see these awesome proposals.
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