Five months later, we return to the root of obligation — ligare, “to bind,” which can be positive or negative. Let’s talk about the former usage.
Repeated: What Our Makerspace Does
Core English courses that are not affiliated with the College Board nor a state or local college enjoy a bit of freedom from the traditional superstructure of high school. The foundation is the same — that’s why the district’s SCP looks just like our set of universal skills and traits — but what we build is different.
Through the end of Q2, this has meant dividing our year into skill-based units and units based on essential questions and authentic problems:
① The Age of the Essay
② What Is Literature For?
③ The Practice of Empathy
④ Organization: Getting Things Done
⑤ When the Truth Isn’t Sufficient
This structure derives from what a Humanities makerspace is. Read that explanatory post again. This time, pay attention to the following section:
The problems students face [in a Humanities makerspace] are the problems all of us face, and they are exactly the problems that the Humanities exist to solve:
What does it mean to be a human being?
What does it mean to coexist in a society?
What are my beliefs?
How do I want to live my life?An English classroom is also the home of soft skills, including self-awareness and self-efficacy, which raises a few more questions for the makerspace:
What does it mean to be educated?
What is the purpose of school?
How does each of us learn best?
What are the most important skills and traits for our futures?Like any makerspace, we experiment to find solutions to these problems and answer these questions. We collaborate, ask experts, do research. We try to think outside the box. We sometimes try to dismantle the box to build a better one.
The tools and components we pour out on the table are a set of universal skills and traits, our connections to other human beings, and the literature and nonfiction that best teaches us how to be human.
In your final semester, you might study whether video games can be art, whether obscenity has an objective definition, whether schools take care of mental health effectively, or any of a dozen other authentic issues. These might be part of a research paper, a book project, a speech, a presentation, or your own self-directed project.
You are making meaning now. It all comes down to you.
Repeated: Second Semester Projects
The major five projects are tied together through the concept of project-based learning and the underlying paradigm shifts of the Humanities makerspace. The instructional posts for all projects are listed here:
Each of these projects will be your best examples of what you are capable of in this learning environment. There may be formative assignments given to help you along, and individual assignments will be available according to need and interest.
On Google Classroom, the Stream, as always, will show you updates, newly posted assignments, announcements, and so on. Under Classwork, in order from the top, you’ll find the following resources and categories:
- TPXA :: Brewster High School Library | Digital resources for every project.
- Daily Calibration | Start-of-class worksheet, post, and check-in forms. You must set a specific daily goal here.
- Second Semester Projects | Submission hub for all evidence related to the five major projects, plus an overview of the second semester.
- Second Semester Formative Work | Checkpoint assignments, Google Forms, and other formative steps related to each project.
- Individual Work | Appears as a category if you’ve been given an individual deadline, assignment, modification, etc. Reminder: Almost everything can be individualized.
Deadlines and Grades
June 2 is the end of GAP Q4B and the last official day for Senior Talk presentations. June 3–5 will be used for late presentations, second attempts, and other last-minute adjustments. June 5 is the soft deadline for all work
June 8–12 is when we will solidify final grades, including scores for the final exam, and final averages. Senior grades will be finalized and posted on June 12.
Except for your final exam, you control the deadlines and feedback you are given for each project. Feedback is the same as it ever was:
The process of grading you is also the same as it ever was:
- Grade Abatement Profiles
- Universal Skills and Traits
- Step-By-Step Guide to Assessment
- Clarifying Grade Abatement
- Static GAP Score Feedback
Grades are based on evidence of universal skills and traits. Your feedback uses that same universal language. Grades and feedback are most dependent on your in-class focus and use of feedback, and you will do best when you focus on growth, collaboration, and transparency.
Exception: final exam
Your reflection on the Senior Talk is your final exam. Unlike the evidentiary approach of the GAP scoring process, this is the traditional assessment of a single artifact. It is graded through a writing rubric based on our universal writing process.
Here is a folder with a collection of these rubrics:
The two that will be used for the final exam are these:
You must follow all separate instructions and guidelines. As a final exam, this paper will constitute one-fifth of your final average.
Artifact Checklist
These are the artifacts due during the second semester. Consider the etymology again: An artifact is anything made with skill. Each of these artifacts will either be a formative step or part of a summative project.
- Self-Prescribed Book Choice | Completed online through a Google Form.
- Self-Prescribed Book Project | Presentations, projects, discussions, etc. Submitted in class and/or online according to individual needs.
- Research-Driven Essay Focus | Completed online through a Google Form.
- Research-Driven Essay | Final draft and links to any online publishing. Due on Google Classroom.
- MLA-Formatted Research-Driven Essay | Properly formatted submission to Turnitin.com.
- Commencement Address | Final draft and links to any online publishing. Due on Google Classroom and Turnitin.
- Pareto Project Student Work | Presentations, projects, discussions, etc. Submitted in class and/or online according to individual needs.
- Pareto Project Final Self-Assessment | Completed online through a Google Form. Two parts.
- Senior Talk Statement of Purpose | Completed online through a Google Form that also sets the time for the actual presentation.
- Senior Talk Script | Final draft due through Google Classroom. Must also be submitted to Turnitin.com.
- Senior Talk Presentation | Presented to an audience in a space of the presenter’s choosing.
- Senior Talk Reflection & Final Exam | Final draft due through Google Classroom. Must also be submitted to Turnitin.com.