April 1, 2020

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Aucun Poisson d’Avril

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The image is a reference to the French version of April Fool’s Day. It’s more interestingly a reference to René Magritte’s painting, The Treachery of Images:

If you have heard of Magritte, it’s likely to be in relationship to that painting or The Son of Man, which is another absurdist painting of his.

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What This Has to Do with English

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This is being posted on March 31, not April 1, but the assignment and lesson covered here are intended for April 1. The date gives us an excuse to learn about the French version of April Fool’s Day, which leads to an absurdist image, which leads to Magritte.

None of it is related to a specific project or lesson. All of it, however, is related to learning. As always, the goal of an instructional post like this is not just to tell you about the specifically English stuff; it’s to link together some interesting information and help you hone your curiosity.

Why? Because it’s good practice for the kind of reading expected of informed citizens:

Well, Why Read?

Reading online needs to be exploratory for you. It should take you down side paths and winding roads. You have all the information in the world available to you through this screen; it would be a shame to focus you solely on the Google Form posted below.

It’s also about exposure to new ideas in the Humanities, and that absolutely should include Magritte. You could do worse than to be curious about absurdist painters and surrealism. That’s a rabbit hole worth falling into.

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The Specifically English Stuff

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We continue to adjust to distance learning:

Distance Learning: Week 1
• March 27 Update
Distance Learning: Week 2

We are fortunate to have started project-based learning that would span the entire semester. We are much less fortunate that we lost our class time, especially given how much emphasis is placed on those 40 minutes in a makerspace.

Which brings us to your formative work for the next day or so. Start by reading or revisiting the following post on feedback:

The Feedback Chain

Consider how the logic of that post shifts with distance learning. It doesn’t shift much, but it does shift; and if you want to be successful during our time at home, you need to shift with it.

That post, “The Feedback Chain,” was a November 12 discussion of how feedback works in a Humanities makerspace. Of particular importance now is this section:

[T]he design of all creative work in a makerspace is concatenative. The word comes from the root for chain, and that’s the metaphor: Strength comes from successive links, and each link is dependent on the one before it. Weak links break the chain. The chain starts with that background work, and if it is all done with fidelity and in good faith, we have enough of a feedback loop to start.

The concept of “good faith” is more important now than ever. All of your teachers are acting in good faith. You must operate in good faith, too. You must approach every aspect of your learning honestly.

We all know that there will continue to be difficulties. Working even an hour a day would be a commendable thing. Accomplishing small goals is something to celebrate. There is purpose to project-based learning, including the overarching opportunity to hone the skills and traits you’ll need in the future.

So your teachers — not just me, but all of us — will make good-faith efforts to predict your needs and proactively help you. That is much harder without our time in class, but we will reach out as often as possible. I will write to you most days. I will reply as quickly as possible to your emails.

The key here is the verb in that last sentence: reply. You need to take the initiative now. You must build that feedback chain explicitly and directly.

To show you what I mean, look at the folders you were asked to set up in February: https://tinyurl.com/gap-pbl-1. Those folders are there to organize evidence for the moments when you need it. They help you identify your GAP score, but they are much more useful to you as you complete true project-based tasks.

On my end, those folders are not artifacts to be scoured every day. It would be impossible for anyone to go through 600 individual folders on a weekly basis looking for places to give feedback. It would go well beyond finding a needle in a haystack.

Fortunately, you do not have set deadlines, except when you must self-assess for a GAP score. It is more likely that you will use your folders to request feedback based on what you need in that moment — so, for instance, you might need help with a bibliography for the research-driven writing, with the length of a slideshow for the Senior Talk, or with your statement of purpose for the commencement address.

You set the chain in motion. As we get into April, we’ll talk about presentations and final products, but even then, the conversation will be light. We don’t know yet when or if we’ll return to school. For now, you have to be proactive.

That said, I know that you have multiple classes, plus your responsibilities at home. I know that you are experiencing distress and anxiety because of this pandemic. We all are. If, at any time, you think you need an exemption or exception, just say so.

To recap:

• It is your responsibility to communicate your need for feedback.
• It is your responsibility to send links to the proper folder, document, etc, or to attach the proper document, when you request that feedback.
• You must check in each day so that I know you are working on something, but that itself does not constitute a request for feedback.

While we’re on the subject of your daily goal: That goal is set for you — not for me, not for administration, not for a grade, but for you. You are using that form to calibrate yourself, and it is a reason for you to be mindful each day. It is there to help you.

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Formative Assessment: Your Progress So Far

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This is posted mostly as-is to Google Classroom.

Make sure, first, that you’ve read that post from 11/12/19:

The Feedback Chain

If you did not read that earlier this year, or when it was brought back into focus at other points, take the time to read it now. Its message is more important now than ever: Seniors must initiative the feedback loop on their work directly, and they must advocate for themselves on each project.

In fact, the real work is the work of self-direction, self-efficacy, and self-awareness. You must set daily goals, organize your ongoing work, and respond to formative assessments — and the feedback chain starts and ends with you.

For this assignment, account for what you’ve accomplished since March 12 by writing a short paragraph (or more) describing and explaining your progress. If at all possible, include hyperlinks to evidence — to those evidence folders, to individual documents, to screenshots.

Complete this in the Google Form posted to Google Classroom. Then answer the series of true/false prompts as honestly as possible. You can then fill in the gaps in your knowledge based on which answers are “no.”

Submitting the form will acknowledge whether or not

• you have examined all recent profile scores;
• you know exactly what those scores mean;
• you know you can get individual feedback about those scores at any time;
• you know that you must read all instructional posts in full;
• you know that you must read everything on Google Classroom in full;
• you know that you must set a daily goal through Google Forms;
• you are aware of all the available resources for your project-based learning;
• you you know to share evidence of your project-based learning;
• you are aware of how to seek feedback, in class and online;
• you know you can always ask further questions to individualize the work;
• you know how to ask questions to individualize work.

More statements may be added. You will have this kind of check-in every week while we are doing distance learning.

If you answer “no” to any of these statements, that will fly a few red flags. The trick, though, is that answering “no” means that you must now do the work you missed previously. You must read the instructional posts, seek feedback directly, organize your work, and so on.

Just answering this form is a contract of sorts. You’re telling us that you know what to do and will continue to do it — a declaration that includes your promise to ask for help as often as you need it — or you’re committing yourself to shoring up your knowledge of the learning environment as quickly as possible.

The only students who will end up on an administrative list are students who don’t write the required paragraph and fill out the form. We’ll look at those students’ daily goals (or lack thereof), overall progress, recent grades, and so on; and then we’ll do whatever it takes to bring those students back in line with this project-based learning.

For everyone, use this opportunity to ask questions and to get clarification. Also use it to demonstrate that you are reading the instructional posts, directions, etc. Show that you are engaged in these projects.