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Senior Footprint Project
Your task: Capture your last four years of learning in five minutes or less. Guys: this is it. You are in the homestretch. You’ve almost made it. You have endured, persevered, learned, lasted, and grown. You should be proud. I know I am. I know no better way to send you out the door and into the big, beautiful world than having you reflect on your last four glorious years. So… Introducing for the first time ever at Spring Mills High School (cue drum roll and intense music)…. #myseniorfootprint A little about the project What it is:
Where it came from: In the interest of full disclosure I have borrowed this idea from another teacher whose blog I came across last year. His name is David Theriault and he teaches in Southern California. This is his idea, and although teachers borrow from and are inspired by one another all the time, a teaching idea has got to be pretty good for me to rip it off in its entirety. I am ripping this off in its entirety (down to the hashtag…maybe) because it is good stuff. How to begin: Decide if you’re working alone or in a group. You may work with up to four other people, but each person will have to turn in a one-page detailed typed sheet explaining exactly what you did for the group and how much time you spent on your own work. If you work by yourself you do NOT need to write anything. Go create! Possibilities include:
The presentation cannot be a speech. It must be something that I can save online or on my computer. Content must be appropriate (of course). Due dates: May 12 through May 19. (Signups in class)
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 Students:
A couple months ago, I read a book called Essentialism, which is a disciplined pursuit of less, or a less is more philosophy. It really affected how I see the tasks I commit to and how I evaluate what is, well, essential. Full disclosure, this has been the year where I decided to not just settle with the cherry I already had on top, but to heap more toppings on my proverbial sundae. One suggestion from this philosophy meets self-help book was to cut tasks that nobody would miss. I thought: this is my class blog. I love blogging for my students and keeping an online record of our classroom experiences and assignments, but -- who even reads it? How much purpose does it really serve? That's not a knock on you guys. This blogging format was an experiment that began last year with the hopes of offering a more complete picture of class. Before then, I'd always kept my class web site like this, and now that I'm a year and half (give or take) into the weekly blog, it seems to make MUCH more sense for all of us to revert to my previous organization. So this is just to say that I have decided to discontinue my weekly blog posts updating you on your assignments. I will, however, post all of your Senior Footprint goodness when the time comes, and make sure you and your reflective videos live an infamy on www.hilliardsclass.com. Next year, I'm going to get back to what's essential -- task sheets, texts, and ancillary materials, with maybe a blog or two thrown in the mix. Change is evidence of progress, yes? For you guys, keep on keeping on. I'm so proud of you, your hard work, your intelligence, your creative spirit, and how far we've come as a classroom community this year. You guys make my job easy, and I am always and forever grateful. Signing off (for now) and only on this weekly blog. I'll be around IRL. ;-) All the best, Mrs. H  Your task: Continue the conversation about J. Alfred Prufrock from Thursday's Socratic seminar and the videos from Flipgrid.
You must...
Click Comments to add your response. As mentioned in class, you guys have Beyonce-ishly slayed our poetry unit. We've had some good days, some great days, some tough days, some rough days, and some days in between, but through it all, I've been proud of you and your willingness to dig in and grapple with poetry of all shapes and sizes.
Our most recent poetry endeavors have included a few pre-20th century selections of carpe diem poems (or a perverse carpe diem for "Porphyria's Lover") and last week, a questionably reverse carpe diem poem in "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" and capping it off with Socratic seminar. Every day, we've gotten after critical AP Lit skills, and I've watched many of you really flourish in your abilities to take on any poem. We've Venn diagrammed and we've Flip-gridded in the meantime as well. We've also taken some time out for timed writings -- an oft requested assignment. We've discussed intro paragraph strategies and talked about our thesis statements as promises to our readers. We've also taken on 2016's infamous exam poem: Juggler, by Richard Wilbur. Below are our poems and handouts from these weeks: The Flea To His Coy Mistress Porphyria's Lover Venn Diagram task The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Prufrock seminar questions Prufrock Flipgrid assignment - code Prufrock The Black Walnut Tree timed writing Intro paragraphs mentor texts Juggler timed writing Shew! And finally, here we are -- switching it up and getting down with some creative writing for WV Young Writers competition. HERE is the task sheet for that. Your submission is due next week on 2.17. Remember/heads up -- you'll have a sub for three days next week while I'm away at a STEM conference. I'll miss you, but you'll have your journals and Kwame Alexander's Crossover, BCS's One Book, to keep you company. And trust me, Filthy McNasty is great company to keep for a few days. Proud of you. Keep on keepin' on. Ok, guys. Remember on Thursday, took a few moments to discover and define the structural poetic techniques: enjambed lines, end-stopped lines, and caesura. Your task was to find THREE examples of each "in the wild" -- that is in poetry I haven't cherry picked and assigned to you. The following links are reliable sites for professional published poetry: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/ https://www.poets.org/ http://writersalmanac.org/ So use 'em! Remember, also, that either song from Hamilton, William Blake's "The Tyger," or XIV by Derek Walcott are fair game for Poetry Response Journal 2.
For this mega huge update, the biggie is that since the new year has begun we've kicked off a mega huge poetry study. And... You guys are KILLING IT. I'm so excited about your progress -- the ways in which you are reading and being attentive to the text; the ways you are meaningfully marking up the text and looking beyond literary devices; the ways you are discussing poetry with your peers and taking intellectual risks in both your participation and your writing. I'm excited, and I'm proud. We've worked hard at getting on the right AP Lit track. To get up to date on what was happening in the new year, CLICK HERE to read this post on WVCTE's Best Practices Blog. I'd write it all here, it'd be pretty redundant. So for Play-Doh pics, follow the links. :) The week after, we followed up that good dose of purposeful play with some fairly heavy "father poems": "My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke, "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden, and "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath. We capped off the week with some non-depressing poems by e.e. cummings, and then looked for inspiration for a creative writing assignment inspired by the wonderful Randi Ward's work in her Whipstitches. (Check back later for links about that assignment...) LAST week we furthered our studies, but switched it up to a bit more activity based learning. We scavenged for sound devices in Hamilton, laid some fresh beats for William Blake's "The Tyger," and searched for structural techniques "in the wild." I keep coming back to the progress you've made, and I realize I'm gushing. And I don't intend to stop. :)
Keep WORKING HARD. It's paying off. Hello all. I sure hope it's been a happy holiday season in your worlds. Life's pretty good my way -- after hours of eating and fellowshippping, crocheting and catching up, I'm writing to you from my dad's chair in the house I grew up in in my hometown. While my kids are busy doing kid/grandparent stuff, and everything is quiet(ish) for now, I thought I'd get after the mega-huge grade update featured in the top-spot on my Winter Break to-do list.
Of course if you have questions or need help, please reach out. I'm here and I'm happy to help, guys. The vast majority of you are right on track and ROCKING AP Lit. I'm proud of ALL of you, the ways you contribute to our class, and your ever-improving literary eyes. But you know me, I always want you to be working to potential and striving to be your best. And Semester 2 is around the corner. So when that time comes, let's get to work! Their Eyes Were Watching God graphic essay Mary Oliver poetry letter to Mrs. H -- The Summer Day; Wild Geese Novel Notes (to be completed for Slaughterhouse Five and Their Eyes Were Watching God) Their Eyes Were Watching God Commentary Journals Their Eyes Were Watching God Life's Sentence Slaughterhouse Five Capstone Essay Since your last update, we've been busy with Poetry Out Loud, two sets of Novel Notes, Their Eyes Were Watching God graphic essays, and setting the table for A Doll's House with anticipation guides and Philosophical Chairs. We've been busy with endings and beginnings. And from what I can tell, you're ready to take off the AP Lit training wheels. That will be our focus from here on out: enriching the skills you already have, idependently applying strategies, effectively articulating your thoughts, ideas, and insights about texts in writing. As we are wrapping up our first semester together, here are a few questions to reflect on... How do you conistently and effectively apply reliable text-analysis strategies to the literature we're studying? What strategies best work for you? How can you offer your insights and prove them? How can you continue to work towards a more mature style and voice in writing? What skills should you practice to reach your AP Lit potential? You guys have come a long way since August, and I'm SO PROUD of all you've accomplished -- especially your comittment to digging into literature every single day. Below are some (not all) of the TEWWG graphic essays. As always, can't wait to see what else you all come up with. This is just to say that I have forgotten the blog that I write for you. Forgive me I was distracted, so tired yet so inspired. Yeah, that's where we are on the eve' of Thanksgiving Break. In the time since our last Week In Review, we have been wrapping up Slaughterhouse and essays and diving in to Their Eyes Were Watching God. So far we've gotten after voice and dialect, context and situation, and Janie and her sexy pear tree. There seems to be some really productive and rich discussion happening with this text, and I'm excited by our progress. We've studied mentor texts, posted our text noticings, and participated in our first silent discussion. And in the meantime, I, of course, jetted off and back again to and fro Atlanta for the NCTE annual convention, which was mindblowingly awesome and inspiring. It was reiterated to me again that I have the best job in the world and teach the best kids in the world (*cough, cough -- that's you.) ;) Here's what you need for now. HERE is the updated calendar. HERE is the commentary journal assignment. Here is your virtual high five for being awesome:   Guys, I went away to the WV Book Festival and became incredibly confused with our Week in Reviews! You can read more about that adventure HERE. As far as the AP Lit life, we've been sketch-noting with our SH5 Visual Notes, studying mentor texts, and kicking off our Slaughterhouse Five capstone essays. We're in the thick of our work and using class time to draft our essays. Remember, this essay is different in both kind and degree. This is not a typical "academic sounding" essay where you throw in a few five dollar words. This is an essay that should aim at being sophisticated in style and content, and an essay that requires depth of thought and careful, crafted language. Mentor Text NoticingsYou should borrow from this list of writers' moves that you have so thoughtfully identified: Writers of analysis essays that exist in the world...
Assignment & Student ModelsClick HERE for the Slaughterhouse Five capstone essay task Click HERE for the rubric Click HERE for Madi Cazz's model P.S. Check out some of these awesome sketch notes! |
AuthorYour Lit teacher, Mrs. Hilliard Archives
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