Whiteboard Art: Rock On!

We have ten minute passing periods as we have to accommodate transitions between two school campuses.  Sometimes, students make it into class early and in the anticipation to start, use the whiteboard as an expressive canvas.  As long as nothing lewd makes it onto the board, I'm generally okay with it.  

As we are in the midst of final exams and project presentations, this particularly perplexing whiteboard "art" appeared!  I'm not sure if it is supposed to represent me as a musician playing a 4 string instrument ... or, if the Sharks tag is another giveaway.  The hair certainly isn't mind, but perhaps the flustered face is another indication of student stress!

Anyway, whatever or whoever this person was gave us a good laugh before we got things going.  

Project Managing with Posters for Homecoming Week

This past week was homecoming week, and the student council was in charge of the activities and the festivities.  They use a big white board in the student life office to organize their work.  Impressive as the planning as, I couldn't help but smirk at the detailed directions.  

To wit:

(1) When creating the 2 posters detailing the timing of all the activities for the homecoming rally, make sure to check the poster example ... the left column has the event and the right column has how long it takes.  Oh yes, make sure that the poster reads "portrait" rather than "landscape" ... this is indicated by the long (height) and regular width (wide).  Remember, what's written in the brackets: you do not need to include anything else!

(2) For the next poster, pay attention again to the length and regular width indications to ensure that the poster is correctly made.  Again, remember what's written in the brackets to let you know what the poster is for: this is for homecoming dance set-up.  Very important!

(3) Be sure that the homecoming dance banner includes the dance name (Casino Royale, in case anyone forgot!) and be sure that it has cool designs, and good artwork.  Not great artwork, just good, decent, hard-working artwork.  As long as it has cool designs, it'll be good to go.  Oh yes, and look for the * (asterisk) on the example poster to tell you where to place said cool designs/(good) artwork.  By the way, make sure that the poster is really long!  How long?  We don't really know ... just make sure it's really long.

(4) Finally, it better be good because this poster will be seen by everyone and will be at the entrance of the dance!

Cool hipster lo-fi green numbers brought to you by Paintbrush, the Mac OS X equivalent of the old classic MS Paint!

The Case of the Missing Bubble Wrap

On Thursday, October 16, 2014 at exactly 2.10 PM, a plea over email to all hands went out.  It read: 

A nice image of an empty cardboard box accompanied the pleasantly worded email.

Exactly 25 minutes later, the very same day, a follow-up email with a huge clue was sent in response.  The subject line said: "We need to look for a Chevy S10 pickup" ... the email read:

Sadly, no image of a Chevy S10 pickup accompanied this email clue.  But, let me include a sketch here just in case you don't know what it looks like. 

... wait, maybe that's not it.  Let's try this one.

... and, here's what bubble wrap looks like up-close in case you've never seen bubble wrap before.

 
... and, here's what bubble wrap looks like on a roll ... you know, in case you're wondering.

... and, here's a random comic of people dancing on bubble wrap.

... maybe, this is what some faculty and staff decided to do ... have a little fun on a Thursday afternoon and perhaps they disposed of the evidence!  After all, doesn't doing this bring us all back to our carefree childhood days?

Anyhow, I digress with this report.  At least 12 hours went by, and still no sign of the missing bubble wrap.  Another all-hands email went out with the following message:

... and, once again, accompanying that message was another pleasant image ... this time of Jimmy Kimmel in bubble wrap appearing on the Ellen show.

A whole weekend went by, and not a single sighting.  So, the original email sender sent another call out, this time with a more detailed description of the kidnapping victim.

I think by adding the description, the height, and the fact that this particular bubble wrap from Staples is made from 30% recycled content (15% Post-Consumer Content and 15% Pre-consumer [PIRC] Plastic Recycle Content) ... I bet this will turn the corner in the ongoing investigation.

Meanwhile ... life went on at school.  Nevertheless, the case of the missing bubble wrap clearly affected even those sending out announcements about upcoming field trips. 

Slowly ... teachers lost interest.  Their minds, like the 24 hour news cycle, clearly gravitated to other things like prepping for classes, grading papers, attending life-sustaining meetings, and ... wait for it ... wait for it ... wait for it ...

Teaching!

UPDATE:  On Wednesday, October 22, 2014 at 9.47 AM exactly 6 days and some 19 hours later, yet another email went out declaring that the case of the missing bubble wrap mystery was solved by our amazing head librarian!

And, a photo of the missing box and bubble wrap a little roughed up ...

Thank goodness, we did not have to go out to buy a whole new roll of bubble wrap to replace the missing one.  

Still ... questions remain.  Who would have dared to hide the missing bubble wrap in the first place?  Why was it never returned to its proper place?  Is all the bubble wrap accounted for?  Is the bubble wrap actually "long-lasting" and more importantly is it really "reliable cushioning"?  

Perhaps the case of the missing bubble wrap is not fully solved ...

Sympathy or Extension for Sophomore Excuses?

I imagine that, as a parent, it is hard to stay angry at your children after they have done something wrong.  I was lucky to grow up in a household with a mom, dad, and sister, a grandmother, and a couple of uncles.  But, boy ... whenever I did something foolish, all of the adults in the house would be on the same page and united in ensuring that whatever discipline I was receiving was consistent.  In other words, I could not go to my mom if my dad was upset with me, nor could I seek refuge with my grandmother.  My uncles would have an "I told you so" look on their faces.  My sister would generally be in my corner, unless, of course, I somehow crossed her in the process as well!  The key was for me to seek forgiveness and to atone for my wrongdoings, whatever they happened to be.  Then, I would cry and all would be forgiven. 

Anyway, I assigned a group project twelve calendar days ago that was a culminating summative assessment.  I clearly laid out my expectations for the project, and pre-selected the group members to ensure that there was a good balance of personalities and talents.  I had them create a working document that they would keep up to date with all of their progress and work.  I gave them their rubric and a clear deadline.  They were given some class time, but they had to do some work off-hours to ensure that the project was completed.  The project was due today, a Monday. 

I was away for a few days the week before for an immersion experience.  But, everything was set and the students were on their way to success ... or, so I thought.  Why wasn't I surprised when I received a barrage of emails from some members of the class asking for extensions on the group project?  All sorts of excuses peppered the various emails.  

I had to crack a smile, however, when I came across this message ...

First, note the time stamp.  Pretty late on a Sunday evening, eh?  Second, how about acknowledging the lateness of the ask.  Okay, a few points for acknowledgement and owning up.  But, the kicker is in the last two sentences!  This is a typical diversionary tactic to stem away the sting of asking for forgiveness by asking about the immersion experience and then wanting to hear all about it!  It also seems to fast-track the assumption of my granting absolution for the infraction with the quick "thank you, see you tomorrow!"

I was not amused.  

Neither was Captain Picard.

In class today, we talked about accountability, responsibility, organization, and communication.  In truth, I want my students to own up and to communicate earlier in the process if they should encounter any difficulties.  I'm much more tolerant and lenient if they plan appropriately and if they attempt to anticipate their scheduling issues.  At this age, we all know that the adolescent male does not yet have a fully developed frontal lobe.  

So, for this reason, and because I occasionally get emails that give me reason to smile ... even if they are late on a Sunday evening, I can't stay mad for long.  

Grading ... Assessment ... Evaluation ... Oh My!

So, after conversation started to heat up in our joint De La Salle and Carondelet Grading and Assessment Committee meeting during our recent Professional Development Day, I showed our group this clip from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's sitcom Mr D to lighten things up a little.  Here's a little gift from my home country of Canada.*

*Remember, folks, that this is meant to be funny!  And, to be clear, we Canadians don't actually mark this way.  Yes, marking to Canadians is grading to United Statesians.

Mr D deserves a "D" because his system amounts to educational malpractice!  In fact, it might actually be downright DGrading to any student who is bent on collecting points and gold stars!

Nevertheless, a little levity at the right moment in meetings might help to ease any tensions, especially when it comes to discussing policies around the ever-contentious issues of grading ... assessment ... and, evaluation!