It's almost the end of the year - 14 more days of school left. That means it's time for us to wrap up our 20% Time Projects before we hit the beaches this summer. What a great way to end the year!
Students are currently working on outlines for their speeches and thinking about how they will present their projects. I've given them outlining resources and pointed them in the direction of some of the top speeches last year (at least that were posted on the blogs) to get inspiration.
To read some of last year's speeches, check out the following students' blogs:
Celeigh
Annes
Brooke
Donghan
Gabriel
Luke
Nate
Meredith
Kevia
Friday, April 29, 2016
Friday, April 8, 2016
April 8th Update
Good Morning!
It's a beautiful Friday morning in Auburn, AL. This morning, I'm taking some time to peruse the student blogs. Some exciting things have been happening lately. First, I'm starting to notice students taking more control and independence in their projects.
Luke set up a personal tour with Officer Roberson of our local police station and got to go with him and see all sorts of behind the scenes stuff. This is really cool to me, because Luke really wants to be in law enforcement when he graduates. It is so awesome that he was able to get a hands-on experience like that! Many students this age have a general idea of what kind of job they want when they "grow up," but often, students at this age don't really realize what that job entails or what the day-to-day work in the job might be like.
Kekeli is working on composing and strengthening her drumming skills. I'm loving reading her blog and watching her videos. It seems like she's actually learning quite a bit about teaching music - much of her time has been spent working with other students with musical projects. I'm interested to see what her final learnings will be at the end of 20% time this year.
Shelton and Sarah have been working hard to find someone to help them learn to play guitar. I'm proud of them for expanding their horizons and tracking down teachers who are available during 3rd block to help them. I got an email yesterday from Mrs. Carson, our library aide, asking when our 20% time started so she could bring her guitar - which means Sarah and Shelton worked out a lesson arrangement with Mrs. Carson all on their own.
I know some of this might seem silly to some, but these are big steps for 8th graders. Sometimes talking to adults you don't know, teaching peers and experiencing new things can be scary and intimidating (let's be real, those things still scare and intimidate me too!). I'm so happy that they are pushing their comfort zones and learning to do this stuff before they get to high school and college.
I just highlighted a few today, but please take the time to look through more of the student blogs linked on this page. They are all in different phases of their learning, and each phase is valuable and important. I can't wait to see what they come up with next!
It's a beautiful Friday morning in Auburn, AL. This morning, I'm taking some time to peruse the student blogs. Some exciting things have been happening lately. First, I'm starting to notice students taking more control and independence in their projects.
Luke set up a personal tour with Officer Roberson of our local police station and got to go with him and see all sorts of behind the scenes stuff. This is really cool to me, because Luke really wants to be in law enforcement when he graduates. It is so awesome that he was able to get a hands-on experience like that! Many students this age have a general idea of what kind of job they want when they "grow up," but often, students at this age don't really realize what that job entails or what the day-to-day work in the job might be like.
Kekeli is working on composing and strengthening her drumming skills. I'm loving reading her blog and watching her videos. It seems like she's actually learning quite a bit about teaching music - much of her time has been spent working with other students with musical projects. I'm interested to see what her final learnings will be at the end of 20% time this year.
Shelton and Sarah have been working hard to find someone to help them learn to play guitar. I'm proud of them for expanding their horizons and tracking down teachers who are available during 3rd block to help them. I got an email yesterday from Mrs. Carson, our library aide, asking when our 20% time started so she could bring her guitar - which means Sarah and Shelton worked out a lesson arrangement with Mrs. Carson all on their own.
I know some of this might seem silly to some, but these are big steps for 8th graders. Sometimes talking to adults you don't know, teaching peers and experiencing new things can be scary and intimidating (let's be real, those things still scare and intimidate me too!). I'm so happy that they are pushing their comfort zones and learning to do this stuff before they get to high school and college.
I just highlighted a few today, but please take the time to look through more of the student blogs linked on this page. They are all in different phases of their learning, and each phase is valuable and important. I can't wait to see what they come up with next!
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