LEAP Update
Week of December 14-18
DO SOMETHING
Diversity of Ideas
Currently, the students are working on their Do Something projects. Everybody’s doing something different, and it’s so encouraging to see the diversity of ideas. There are students who are learning to code (java), learning to animate, working with wood projects, creating blueprints for school, experimenting with artwork, writing short stories and comics...they are all so diverse! As they continue to progress through their projects, here are a few things I’d like for you to know:
Reflections
Each week, your student is writing a reflection on his/her journey so far. The first reflection was about INSPIRATION, the second about PLANNING AND SELF-INFLICTED DEADLINES, and the reflection this coming week will be about how they are dealing with OBSTACLES. They are writing these reflections on their Google drive (where I’m leaving feedback), and then they’re posting them on their websites. This is where we’re spending a lot of class time over the course of these few weeks, and it's where I encourage them to reflect on the creative process. Check out the calendar for due dates for the reflections. In short, they’ll have the 3rd reflection due next week, the 4th one due at the end of the break, and the 5th one due the week they get back.
Get Involved and Ask Questions
I want to encourage you to be involved in your student’s project. Since everyone’s project is so varied, I’m not requiring any specific steps other than the reflections we begin in class (edited and posted on websites). Most (if not all) of the students would really benefit from some guidance from someone older who could provide some critical feedback and some advice on what steps need to be done to accomplish a final product they can be proud of. We talk a lot about wanting to have something at the end of this project that is worthy of 5 weeks worth of work. Ask questions to help them get there. Here are a few questions you could ask:
- What vision do you have for this project?
- How have you planned specific steps to reach your goal?
- What is a barrier you're facing right now? How do you think you can work around it?