Backchannel by Jacopo Stifani https://padlet.com/jacopo_stifani/v6nemv72agv8 Post comments, concerns, gripes, here... we welcome them all. en-us 2017-04-19 01:21:47 UTC 2017-05-03 13:31:30 UTC hello@padlet.com A Selection of Questions and Comments (No need to say it twice, unless you have something novel to add.) jacopo_stifani https://padlet.com/jacopo_stifani/v6nemv72agv8/wish/166907713
  • Monitoring and taking attendance throughout the day. It is very likely that there will be students who try to skip or evade attending workshops/mini-lessons. 
    • This is true. We will be assigning various teachers with hall duties throughout the day.

    • Does the final product always have to be a public service announcement?
    Absolutely not. In fact, we hope to change it from semester to semester. However, each time we make a change in formal products, we need to ensure we have provided the necessary supports.

    • Do students work in groups or individually?
    They will have a choice. But we will encourage groups no larger than 4.

    • Students who are away. What do they do?
    We plan to record all presentations and toss them up onto the website as well as all information that is generated during the process. If they are working with group members, they will be able to get first hand information from them.

    • Dealing with students who don’t care. Does the typical Grade 9 student share this same enthusiasm and maturity for deep, purposeful, inquiry? Could the leaping off point be...as suggested...a small test group of Grade 9's that volunteer to be involved, much like joining a school team or club like DECA?
    Good point. But there will always be students of this sort. As teachers we try our best, but we can't assume we will reach everyone. But, the morning of day 1 the onus is on us to put on a great show so that we have fewer of these cases.
     
    • Dealing with teachers who don’t care. Since this endeavour requires significant team-teacher planning, what do we do about teachers who don’t care enough to make it awesome?
    Sad but true. There will be varying levels of engagement for all teachers. For those who want to spearhead the process to those who are just along for the ride.

    • Evaluation. In pulling in curricular overall expectations from various subject areas will there be a balance between the various subject area expectations in terms of evaluation of the project and if the curricular expectations are somewhat limited in terms of relevance will one subject area only be able to place this project in the term 70 percent as opposed to the final 30 percent.
    Balance is an aim we strive for, but it would be foolish to expect that a project of this nature, where the students are directing their learning, can be distributed evenly among courses.

    • Time Constraints. If we take away significant amounts of class time when we are already challenged for the same given the athletic and other commitments of our students, how are departments going to compensate for this.
    Firstly, this is replacing the current CCT. Time saved. Secondly, we will be coordinating all grade 9 classes together so that this happens on the same days. That said, significant panning will have to be done. 

    • The department workshops. Are students choosing which ones to attend?  If they only attend one or two would that limit their ability to complete task in all subjects?
    Yes they are. They will be generating their own rubrics based on the courses they are taking. It behooves them to attend workshops for the courses they are taking. But it's not necessary.

    • How will this fit into each department, yet offer the opportunity for one project only, while still meeting course expectations?
    Department members will need to decide how to teach to students' interests in their courses, not the other way around.  
    ]]>     2017-04-19 01:27:17 UTC https://padlet.com/jacopo_stifani/v6nemv72agv8/wish/166907713