Category Archives: TMS

Creative Processes

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The Frosh Creation course has a complex layering of goals. One that the TMS team has struggled with it to teach teaming.

At a recent TMS team meeting, we were discussing this struggle and I realized how each of us occupy distinctive roles in that team. I began to notice how differently we were each looking at the problem. During the conversation, I started to wonder (One aspect of my specific role is to drift off into possibilities mid-discussion. They all know that and accept me.) could Amy, Joan, Victoria and I be archetypes for a teaming model. I began to come up with descriptions for each of us. Another realization come at that time. We somewhat align with a sequence I use in class, The Evolution of Tasks. This sequence (conceptualize-actualize-realize-display) is a guideline for a creative process.

I merged my realizations together and developed these job descriptions. I will be proposing to my team that we create teams of four students and run four team challenges in the first semester.  The members rotate role in each project.  Each challenge will include a self-reflection survey to help clarify the various experiences.  

My hope that this job training helps students discover strengths and contributions, confirms their individuality and produces synergistic results for the challenges.   

  1. Administrator
         Primary function:                  To CONCEPTUALIZE



  • Studies the problem
  • Re-explains to crew
  • Helps assign tasks
  • Guides brainstorming
  • Confirms uploads
  • Supports other crew
  1. Facilitator
         Primary function:           
         To ACTUALIZE



  • Fine tunes the plan (balancing the dream and the possible)
  • Gathers supplies/leads clean-up
  • Establishes timetable/manages work -flow
  • Quality Control
  • Supports other crew
  1. Producer
         Primary function: 
         To REALIZE



  • Develops the how behind the what
  • Creates practical instructions
  • Lead maker
  • Supports other crew
  1. Documentarian
         Primary function:                      To DISPLAY



  • Photographer
  • Editor
  • Ensures upload/submission of docs
  • Reporter of tasks
  • Supports other crew

Thoughts on the Re-Do

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Earlier this month I sent an email with both an egregious spelling error and a punctuation error in the subject line.  I noticed the error about one minute after sending, but still too late to retrieve.  Here it is. 
So I had to decide what to do.  Should I resend and correct my spelling error, or let it go and hear my own bells of shame? 

I
choose to let that spelling/typo error just go without a re-do.  I felt like I would be clogging your email, and that you probably figured out sesmster meant semester.  I really wanted to resend, but it didn’t feel right. I hoped my reputation wouldn’t suffer that much.

Earlier that week I
also sent out an email with the wrong attachment, and because of a special schedule, the wrong times.  Again the decision- should I resend and correct times and attachment, or let it go and hear my own bells of shame?  I did re-do this one.  It was a MAP test email and had information
I did not want to be lost in the errors.  I couldn’t risk it. 
 

That same week, I was re-grading a bunch of student work done in a collaboration with Gaeby and Miranda on the Little Big History Project. I try my hardest to give students the opportunity to re-do without grade consequences, and I am always surprised more students don’t take me up on the re-do. Plenty do but by no means all.  This has puzzled me, because do you remember I said I really wanted to send a correction out right away.  All things being equal, I will re-do.  The juxtaposition of my experience with re-doing choices and students’ choices made me wonder if they do a cost/benefit analysis, too.  And what do they see as cost vs benefit?

The grade matters, even in a nontraditional graded course like TMS. If the grade will change, the benefit of the grade outweighs the costs in time and study for some students. I  wonder if one of the costs – facing the embarrassment of the error – is too great for some.  I really hope they don’t hear the bells of shame because I emphasize making mistakes as part of learning,  but I am afraid some do.   I wonder if some students just hope that their equivalent of my sesmster error will somehow suddenly make sense to me.  So are they hoping for a no-cost solution?  That hope is not very realistic,
because once I grade, I don’t look back without the redo.  It is a shame grades cant be conversations, but I guess conversations have a time cost, too. I can state a lot of reasons for my errors.  Multitasking, sugar overload, terrible typing skills, a get-‘er-done stance, over-reliance on spellcheck…
but I don’t claim carelessness.  I have felt some students are careless, but I also recognize everyone has limited time, and just have to put somethings on low priority.

Sometimes I feel they re-do because they know they can do better work. That is the cost/benefit analysis I want my redo offer to validate.  I feel so happy they are recognizing a chance to either learn or demonstrate learning. I
want students to be able to present their best work, but I also want them to have agency in their learning.  Teaching is complicated.

Frosh Creation: Thinking, Making, Sharing – Sample Project Timeline

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Students focus on exploration and process.

The end product is the souvenir from their journey. 

Leah Boyle
Leah Boyle

Branna Sundy
Liv Drey
Analisa Pauline
Kayla Nuti

Day
1
Learn: terms and concepts: rhythm, pattern and pattern terms, motif, shapes vs. forms, synthesis
x1
Explore and gather evidence: photography (this is one of those cases where looking through the viewfinder actually makes the students see more!)
x30+
Day
2
Identify and indicate: digital drawing over the photograph to recognize and mark the pattern
x20
Day
3
Modify/enhance: remove the photographic layer and add new elements that maintain the original patterns
x10
Day
4
Synthesize: Create transparencies of the drawings and stack them in groups of 3 making complex results, modify as necessary to unify
x3
Modify/declutter: Repeatedly subtract a minor element from the field to strengthen the patterning
x3
Day
5
Identify and indicate: using a different color, mark the repeating motif
x3
Convert: Reimagine the motif as a form and draw it
x3
Day
6
& 7
Learn: what is a prototype? What it is role? What can it be?
x1
Build: create a sculptural prototype of the motif with cardboard and tape
x2
Self-assess: complete rubric and end of unit evaluation
x1

Sometimes, I teach through modeling

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I work at Carondelet but I like a spartan gradebook.  

Recently, I was cleaning up my Powerteacher grade book and entering some makeup grades.  Typically,  I head directly to a class through the Powerschool menu but today was a maintenance check all of my classes. This means that I would sequentially navigate through classes using the top drop-down menu. I was quickly in berserker mode and quickly making progress.  In my manner, I equate simplicity with clarity, clarity with effectiveness.  I occasionally tweak things to align them simpler.

I started at period 1, added a few late score entries and started moving down through the list.  When I moved on to 3rd period, I noticed that some details were wrong on the only assignment visible. I thought that was odd, wrong and not aligned with how I set up other assignments in other classes. I also thought that I have made other mistakes at times. I set out to make changes. I did not think that the numerous errors were a sign of anything except my previous inattention. 

I summarily ignored the blaring siren and waving red flags were trying to get my attention.  I proceeded to change Points Possible to 1 and hit save.  A window popped up to warn me that the scores would need to be adjusted to fit the new parameter.  In my stubbornness, I ignored another round of interior red flags and clicked the Go Ahead and Make this Mess Larger button.  
I slowly started to consider that I made a lot more mistakes than usual when I set up this particular assignment. That’s not problem, I was in a fixing mood. Pondering some more, I then remembered I told the students that it was not going to be worth any points. So I erased all of the entered scores so I could bulk fill them with ‘collected’ checks. Some had zeros but I thought I could just look at Schoology submissions to get the names for a clean start. I was getting closer to that lean, sleek gradebook that I prefer.  Wisely, I carefully saved the now blanked column at this moment, so I wouldn’t lose all the work I had just done. Only at this point did I realize that I was making a lot of significant changes to my grade book. I paused to confirm some facts. I scanned up, it my class name.  I looked at the column heading, it was my assignment.  My eyes finally looked left to the student names.  
Who were those strangers?! 
I had just nuked someone else’s class.
Now I know that forgiving Christina currently has the first section of Period 3 TMS, the one that follows my second period class on the Powerteacher/Powerschool menu. Happily in that course we are teaching the gift of a failure as the opportunity to improve. I failed. I need to improve. Now I have become aware of the ease of grade book trespassing as well as my own need to slow down and think a bit more or just to start thinking at all.
I do want to suggest to all of teachers with these new freshmen megaclasses that each of us have a method of backing up our online books.  

A Lesson in Design Thinking

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The new class “Frosh Creation: Think, Make, Share” more commonly known as “TMS” is off and running! This is the class all of our freshmen are taking that attempts to bridge the worlds of art, music, and computer science together. This year Christina Ditzel, Andrew Kjera, Joan Tracy, and Amy Way are team teaching the course. 


Today’s class was a lesson from Joan in Design Thinking. In the lesson students were tasked to physically build a prototype for a client, based on a specific need. Here’s how it worked: students were given a picture of their client and were asked to make observations about who their client is, and what their life might be like. Then they were given an item to design for this client. For some it was sportswear, for others it was a place to sleep. They had the remainder of class to physically design and build their prototype from the materials we had on hand. Our students found this exercise frustrating, fun, stressful (in a good way), and creative. In other words, everything we were hoping this lesson would be!

Students work to build their prototype




The lesson’s success got me thinking. While this was a great hands on lesson for those who want to get their hands dirty and use real materials, is there a way that I can design a lesson to solve a sonic problem? I’m brainstorming ideas now, but if you have any thoughts I’d love to ‘hear’ them (no pun intented.)