During Week 27 – 28, we returned from Spring Break and I got behind on writing this blog for 2 reasons.
- I am one of the MNTH testing administrators and we completed our first round of EOC testing during Week 28. Which meant during Week 27, much of my days were filled with scenes like this (see below). Thanks to great cooperation from our staff and our students, we were able to run our first round of EOC testing in Week 28 without any serious irregularities.
- Over spring break, I started a new project – to transfer all my professional development and book notes to a blog. Thanks to Mr. Rodriguez’ amazing artistic abilities, the header for said blog looks like this:
The url for the new blog is:
http://pblife.edublogs.org/ I suspected that the blog would have A LOT of stuff. But 100+ articles into this project, I’ve confirmed for myself visually and in written form that is takes MANY(!) strategies to be an effective PBL teacher.
Also during weeks 27 and 28, I helped coordinate a letter writing campaign to support Manor Middle School 8th graders taking STAAR. I observed a great finale and a great launch in our humanities classes. I also met many families and many of next year’s freshman at our school’s Personal Graduation Plan (PGP) Night.
Students working during our Quad period at all grade levels wrote motivational cards to the 8th graders at Manor Middle School taking the STAAR test. They included test taking tips and tips for staying focused and calm during the STAAR tests. Many of the students also included positive drawings in their cards. Many of our students really embraced this task and did their best to communicate very helpful and positive messages to the middle school students.
Students in Ms. Thompson’s and Ms. Willson’s Humanities class (Our Lit History) created multi-media campaigns that supported different types of diversity. I observed really nice and textured presentations that were campaigns against sexism and homophobia. The presentations included statistics, info on local organizations, and excerpts from interviews of key stakeholders. Some of the students extended their work outside the classroom by volunteering for organizations that supported their causes.
During the Personal Graduation Plan night, our future freshman made decisions about their future courses that influenced their graduation tracks. I took this picture 15 minutes before the event began and our cafeteria was nearly full already. By the time the session started, the cafeteria was packed. It was cool to meet many of our future students. One future freshman wanted to take ALL the engineering electives ASAP. Her enthusiasm was really great! 😃
After EOC exams, the freshman and sophomore classes jumped right back into full PBL mode. I observed a really thought-provoking launch in Ms. Castro’s and Mr. Humphrey’s freshman Humanities class. To set the stage for a deep discussion on individualism versus collectivism, the teachers facilitated a simulation of a class based on pure collectivist principles. The simulations got students to examine their views on the merits and pitfalls of individualism and collectivism. I really liked how students were able to draw from their personal experiences to evaluate the simulation and communicate their views. It will be interesting to see how this project evolves from here.
The year is quickly winding down and I’m sure our year will be still be densely packed with awesome stuff. Starting next week, I will resume posting weekly so we don’t miss too many awesome happenings at Manor New Tech.
