Click to see more of Felice Varini’s perspective-warping artwork.
Trompe-l’œil Learning
At the end of the first quarter, you were given this:
The process [of GAP scoring] should be individualized. Grade abatement stresses individual learning, and it would undermine our philosophy to treat the end of each quarter as a high-stakes event. It would turn us back toward the warping pressure of the old model of learning, and none of us — teacher absolutely included — benefits from the wearying push through 140 essays, reports, or conferences.
This is still a new idea to me, but it seems more and more important as it plays out in the classroom. We can’t be a course that focuses on final artifacts over process. The experimental model — the makerspace mentality we’re trying to embrace — values results, but it shouldn’t prioritize them. The push for risk-taking and integrity is undermined by any traditional teacher-as-judge-and-jury assessment.
As always, though, your ability to provide what Tony Wagner calls “collective human judgment informed by evidence” is dependent on how much you’ve invested in the course. Your independence and individuality depend on how closely you’ve read posts like this one. I’m running out of metaphors for this — cooking still seems apt, and vaccination is never more appropriate than during flu season — but, to use a metaphor to describe using metaphors, these windmills won’t tilt at themselves.
I’d like my role at the end of any GAP process to be simple: I’m there to put you in the exact spot that lets you see yourself clearly. I help you find clarity, especially when your learning starts to seem random and unconnected, like the spatial artwork of Felice Varini:
I’m there to shed light on the evidence you’ve accrued when it looks like a pile of trash, as in the mixed-media artwork of Tim Noble and Sue Webster:
The most important step is about perspective. Varini’s artwork only makes sense if you stand in exactly the right spot. Find that spot, and the random shapes snap together:
With a bit of light in the right spot, the pile of trash transforms into this:
You need to find the necessary perspective on your body of work. The picture might not always be positive or pretty — the hammer and axe in that silhouette are a little disconcerting — so it must always be clear. The end of a quarter should be a validation and a celebration, and then it should pass quickly. If you have struggled, it should be a moment of reflection that spurs greater effort and focus — and then that, too, should pass quickly.
Q(x) Assignment
Which brings us to your GAP assignment, to be completed efficiently and insightfully and in two stages:
- Google Form due before 7 AM on Wednesday, January 25
- Google Classroom assignment due before 7 AM on Friday, January 27
The early morning deadlines allow me to read your responses throughout the day, which speeds along the triage process. The form can be done in class or in 15-20 minutes at home on Tuesday, January 24, so that shouldn’t be a problem. You’ll have Wednesday and Thursday to figure out how to solve the second prompt, which is over on Google Classroom.
Start, of course, with the protocol given to you last quarter. Read it again (or for the first time, if you haven’t quite realized how essential that sort of guide is). Then read or re-read the massive update to Sisyphean High that was delineated back in November. The links are below:
- Grade Abatement Protocol | How to put together the evidence and understanding necessary for an accurate score.
- Mind the GAP: Sisyphean High 9.3.0 | An update on the course that covers pretty much everything.
Again, if you’ve done your work this year, you’ve already seen those. You internalized enough of them to have needed only the period on Monday to jostle your brain into the right position. These links are review. If you haven’t been keeping up with interstitial instruction, however, you don’t have a choice: You need to read it all now1.
When you’re ready, you can find your assignments over on Google Classroom. Remember:
- Ask questions in the usual places.
- Teach each other what you learn.
- Fight the predictable, learned helplessness that comes with a difficult task.
Good luck. Let’s settle these scores, make something meaningful, and get back to our studies.
Well, you do have a choice, I guess. You could choose to be frustrated and confused and misinformed. As much as that seems to be gaining in popularity around the country, I would advise against it. ↩