Week of March 21st - 24th | Creation Phase & Responding to Professional Models

Research papers and revisions are still rolling back and forth between students and Language Arts teachers. This is a friendly reminder to look at Jupiter for communication about this evidence of learning. 

This week, we look forward to seeing project plans, sketches, drafts, and prototypes come together. Please keep all evidence of your process. All the ideas and possibilities generated. All of the versions. Successes. Failures. All of it shows your thinking and will reveal to you (and others) how you make choices in your creative process. 

On Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday we will take turns visiting the John Michael Kohler Arts Center to spend time responding to the new exhibitions, collectively titled "Wisconsin Wild and Tame" :

• Super Natural (Including Fred Stonehouse)
• Dreamscapes
• David R. Harper : My Own Personal Ghost
• Of Heart and Home : Mary Nohl's Art Environment
• Living Rooms
• Steve Feren: The Incredible Beingness of Light
• Sonja Thomsen: In Orbit

Artist Videos on Vimeo for anticipation or reflection on the creative retreat.

On designated days (see below), groups should walk to the Arts Center as soon as possible after the start of IDEAS Project Block and meet in the Matrix for a brief overview of the galleries and the format for our visit. 

MONDAY: Mike, Erin, Kimberly, Tim

TUESDAY: Molly, Timi, Drew, Beckah 

THURSDAY: Dan, Stuart, Addie (+ one more staff member)

The other days this week should be dedicated to moving project forward according to group norms and agreements. Please see last week's post for recommendations and reminders. 

Madison O'Brien will be following up on Exhibitions of Learning Vision Forms and Stuart would like Art Supply Requests as soon as possible. 

Before leaving for break at the end of the week, create a plan for what you need to read, sketch, make in the next week. Your project should be part of you, not part of school, meaning it should continue despite taking a break from school. 

Week of March 14th - 18th | Creative Intent & Project Planning

Researching and designing an argument for your topic through the Research Paper (an alternative writing) should prepare you with the intellectual fuel for the creation phase of your project. Of course, it is not as simple as this. Some researching, revising, and envisioning is still needed. Some is ongoing. With the hope that individuals and groups will interpret plans for their needs and continue a discussion of Habits of Learning; this week is should give everyone the contemplation and accountability needed for this transition.

Please note that some students may be shifting advisors for creation phase. The new advisor will determine whether the change is possible, based on evidence of research and creative intent clarified by the student. Submit any change to Sam, for adjustment in Alpha.

INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS 

Students need to self-check and manage the following (and possibly more):

• Evidence for Infused Language Arts
  Annotated Bibliography, Research Paper, Revisions
• Creative IntentRevisit your proposal; consider your research. At this point, you should be able to articulate what you are going to create, why - what are the parts and purposes of those parts in communicating your research, idea, emotion, who will be impacted by the creation, and how will you go about creating it?
• Project CalendarEach person needs a project management tool, a calendar at the very least. Map out the remaining days. Start by using the Project Block and School Calendars, but also consider your time outside of school. Best practice for a calendar design is to have one with two parts for each day 1) An intention for that day 2) Description of actual progress/activity. (Use what is most effective for your discipline. For example, engineers might use GANTT charts.)
• Vision for Exhibition of LearningIn the next two weeks, we will be requesting your vision for an Exhibition of Learning - Including your 1) Project Title 2) Driving Question 3) Short Description 4) Exhibition Format 

DISCIPLINARY GROUPS

Establish and use daily routines for the following:

• Sharing out intentions and clarifying steps for studio time
  (Example: Any period of studio time will begin with the group physically circled up, and intentions will be documented on students' personal planning tools as well as a public whiteboard.)
• Documenting and reflecting on progress
  (Example: Engineers use physical notebooks - every engineer has an engineering notebook, where there is a page per-day that is dated, signed off, and documenting progress.)
• Identifying needs, supports, experiences
  (Example: Any period of studio time will conclude with the group physically circled up, and progress will be shared aloud and documented on the public whiteboard. There will be one area of the board marked "parking lot" where students will identify needs, like "looking for an example of how different artists draw eyes" or "looking for a 20 minute conference with someone who has created a production schedule before.")

Establish and use weekly routines for the following:
(Examples from last semester)

• Analyzing professional models
  (Example: Every Monday we will spend 30 minutes looking at a professional model and analyzing the choreographer, dancer, and/or audience perspective. Sometimes Molly will choose the model and facilitate, but students might also take this role - especially when the model is one they've studied as an extension of their project.)
• Facilitating workshops on disciplinary skill or process
  (Example: Each Wednesday we will have a 15 minute exploratory do now where in we will try something new in our or a related discipline.)
• Preparing for and facilitating feedback
  (Example: Each Tuesday we will have small group feedback, using the ladder of feedback to structure and document feedback. Each Friday we will have whole-group feedback, using a plan created by the project creator or group and facilitated with the assistance of an Advisor. There will be a schedule.)
• Additional disciplinary needs
  (Example: Schedules for using computers in editing room or dance studio.)

SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
While there are many suggestions here, please make plans that include studio time for individual projects each day.


MONDAY>>

Focus on writing down and sharing out creative intent for all projects, to make sure that each student is with the right advisor for their project and learning needs. Publish creative intent in the form of a color, shape, line; headline; or other format; these can be revisited throughout creation phase. Students may still have writing and revisions to wok on, however the best use of time is to begin making arrangements for creation: calendars, materials, etc. Writing should occur on your own time now. The one exception is that you may use this time for writing conferences with Addie and Kimberly. (Feedback will be written on hard copies and returned to students. Additional feedback will be in Jupiter. Hard copies are needed for revision conferences and submission.)

Help Your Community

•  SURVEYS: Mindfulness, Wicca  

• SUPPORT: BaoBao 

• PLAN: If you are interested in helping Stuart and Kimberly plan our visit to the Arts Center and want to peek in the new galleries tomorrow, please contact Kimberly today! 

TUESDAY>>

Take time to discuss either daily or weekly routines needed. Continue the process of identifying creative intent if needed. Students should seek and pair share professional models. (Who do you have a creative crush on?)

Check out these professional models:

• The mothers who set up a radiation lab   

•  1,250 Paintings Compose a Stunning Dance Video 

• On Lesbos, Dutch Volunteers Teach Migrants to Turn Boats into Backpacks   

•  Be Amazed by This Marvelous Music Machine, Powered by 2,000 Marbles

WEDNESDAY>>

Look at a professional model chosen by a student. Use a thinking routine to reflect on it - considering the steps and time taken to create what they created. Continue individual project planning and/or the development of weekly routines. 

Some students will be pulled during  GWT for Annotated Bibliography and Research Paper conferences. (Check your email.)

Footlights this afternoon: Third Coast Percussion 

THURSDAY>>

Reflect on Footlights yesterday. What connections are there between their process or art form and your process or art form? Have a conversation about feedback and Habits of Learning. Groups should generated formats, conditions, and timelines for feedback. These will be shared out to other groups.

FRIDAY>>

Review, tweak, and commit to routines and ways you will document progress individually and as a group. Perhaps Compass Points will offer clarity on this: What is needed? What are the worries? What suggestions to people have? What are we excited about?

REMINDERS

 Research Papers were due on March, 11th. Print.

Schedule Writing Conferences with Addie and Kimberly

Next week we will take turns visiting the Arts Center on M, T, R for a mini 'creative retreat' - responding to the new exhibits and making connections to our projects. We do not have school next Friday. Plan accordingly.

Give your project a meaningful title <-- Seriously

Molly and Madison will collect EoL information soon!

EoLs are May 24th & 26th <-- Take Monday - Thursday off

Week of November 9th - 13th | Creation Phase: EoL Visioning & Professional Models

What will 6 or 10 hours of creation look like for your project this week? Yes, 6 hours of your school week is reserved just for you to crawl into your project and grapple with the constraints and possibilities of creating whatever it is you have envisioned. Progress toward fulfilling that vision, so that your project communicates your thinking and understanding to others in the most memorable ways. If you can commit to the 6 hours we provide, you'll see how 4 more of your own will be valuable.

Part of this process is engaging in your disciplinary groups. Please enact previously designed ritualized weeks and, as the Creation Phase progresses, discuss, evaluate, and tweak routines. The Ritualized Weeks document should reflect changes. Please use the same document to support students with multi-disciplinary projects, who may need to participate in the professional models, feedback, or other aspects of another discipline.

Items to incorporate into Ritualized Weeks: 

MONDAY>>

IDEAS Exhibitions of Learning Vision Form This form is necessary for formalizing a plan for Exhibitions of Learning, both on the part of the individual creating the project as well as for creating the schedule of events. Please complete this form (ONE PER PROJECT) with attention to detail and professionalism. If you have already completed the form, but have questions or tweaks, please contact Madison O'Brien. Students who have underdeveloped projects at this point, will conference with Molly, Kimberly, or Madison to identify Exhibition constraints.

WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY>>

We will have a regular hour of Project Block in the morning on Wednesday and go to JMKAC in the afternoon for Footlights :  AXIS Dance. We will prepare for this experience in Advisory and reflect together as a school, however students should also document connections, extensions, and challenges as the professional model relates to their projects on Thursday. A studio journal would be a good place for this to land. More information here.

FRIDAY>>

Evidence of Learning Jupiter Reporting This week, Project Advisors will look at evidence of Habits of Work, Self-Discipline, and Communication. Groups are encouraged to generate examples of evidence collaboratively at the beginning of the week. Next week, disciplinary rubrics will be introduced and an initial critique will also be entered into Jupiter as Evidence of Learning. 

Also: 

IDEAS Project Art Supplies Request Form
If you are in need of supplies for your project, please check with Stuart first. He may have what you are looking for. If he doesn't, then you are to complete the request form.

Young Chicago Authors will be back in Sheboygan on November 18th and 20th, with culminating performances starting at 7:00pm each night! 

Week of Sept 1st - 4th | "Community" & Creative Process

Welcome to IDEAS Project Block! We are excited to begin the school year with several creative explorations that will encourage new and divergent thinking about the world...these will provoke and inform the directions of our project proposals. Allow all of these experiences to transform current thinking! 


MICRO PROJECT "Community" & CREATIVE PROCESS

How can we improve our community?

Who are we as a community of thinkers, innovators?

TUESDAY>>

While we do not formally meet as IDEAS Project Block today (and we will meet with advisors this week), we will be growing as a community at IDEAS Academy. The time reflecting on these experiences will inform the upcoming projects.

[NOTE: Advisors please check medical information of advisees today. We will be leaving the building on Wednesday and Thursday.] 

WEDNESDAY >>

Today is all about exploring our local community, practicing Thinking Routines with the Language of Thinking, and dialoguing about the broader concept of "community" for interpretive projects-in-a-day on Thursday.  Each advisory group will be adventuring to part of Sheboygan to look closely, make their thinking visible, and learn more about one another. By the end of the day, each group will have a list of possible driving questions.

THURSDAY>>

We will devote the entire day to exploring our relevant, driving questions about "Community" through the phases of the creative process, the same process we will use throughout this semester in IDEAS Project Block. We will end the day at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.

FRIDAY>>

We will engage in some creative play to further explore the theme of "community" but also as a way of arranging ourselves into groups by art forms for next week's mini-project. In our new groups, we will discuss the spaces and norms necessary for week-long project success. 

Week of May 11th - May 14th | Exhibition Workshops & Professional Model

Since projects were due last Friday, this week is designed to support your preparation for Exhibitions of Learning on May 26th and 28th. Particular emphasis will be on planning and practicing your Exhibition, however there will be some time to tweak projects and revise Artist Statements.

EXHIBITION WORKSHOPS:

Presentation Skills Workshop : Peter & Mike
(Stage Presence, Timing, Mics/Tech)

Presentation Outline Workshop : Kim & Addie
(Content, Organization, Engagement)

Roundtable Facilitation Workshop : Tim

(Content, Organization, Engagement, Materials)

Year - Long Projects : Molly

(All the things!)

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE:

Monday @ 10:05am
Peter - Your group with Drew's in Drew's Room

Mike - Your group with Molly's in your room

Addie - Stuart and Dan's groups in Dan's Room

Kim - Liz and Tim's group in Liz's room

Molly - Year-long in dance studio

Tuesday @ 10:05am

Peter - Stuart and Dan's groups in Drew's Room

Mike - Liz and Tim's groups in Liz's Room

Addie - Peter and Drew's group in Drew's Dan's Room

Kim - Mike and Molly's group in Mike's Room

Tim - Roundtables in Tim's Room

ARTIST STATEMENTS:

Please schedule time to meet with Addie, revise your Artist Statements for publication.

THURSDAY | LOUDER THAN A BOMB:

On Thursday, we will be viewing "Louder Than a Bomb" at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. This documentary tells the story of high school spoken word poets in the Chicago area. The screening of this film is the beginning of a residency, and we look forward to opportunities to work with some of these writers in the fall.