Writing Center | Appointments Available During PBlock

Writing Center | Appointments & Drop-in Hours

The Writing Center is now open! The meeting location has temporarily moved to the Little Library until computers can be restored and distributed from the actual Writing Center in the Office. Please make appointments by clicking the link above and filling out the Google Form based on Calendar availability.

If an appointment time appears on the calendar, the Writing Center appointment is available. If a name appears on the calendar that appointment has been booked. Please setup your appointment by filling out the Google Form at the bottom of the web page. Once I receive your submission, I will update the Google Calendar and send you a Calendar invite. Please accept this invite so that it is added to your personal Google Calendar as a reminder of your appointment.

You should make an appointment to discuss your research questions (driving, open, closed). Appointments should also be made to discuss your formal written piece as part of the revision stage. Final submission of the formal written piece should not take place until you have met with me at least once in the Writing Center.

Appointment Hours
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday during IDEAS Project Block

• 10:00-10:15 a.m. 
• 10:15-10:30 a.m. 
• 10:30-10:45 a.m. 
• 10:45-11:00 a.m. 
• 11:00-11:15 a.m.

Drop-in Hours
Monday after school - 4 p.m.
Wednesday 7:55-8:57 a.m. and 10:00-11:00 a.m.

Friday, September 18th | Ideation & Initial Research

Please take attendance using the spreadsheet. (Add days.)

Who are we as a community of thinkers, innovators?
What do I need to know about myself and my community, in order to develop a project?
How can I document and share my thinking through effective routines and organization?

At the end of this week of exploration, we begin narrowing ideas toward a driving question and a course of research. 

DO NOW: Begin by opening only the following tabs (and your paper notes) 1) This blog 2) Your Project Block 2015 folder 3) EasyBib.com 4) Google.com. Close all other tabs. Choose one of your topics or questions and engage in 5 minutes of research using google search. For each new source, open a new tab so that they are all open

SHARE OUT: On a scale from 0-5, how much information did you find? Share out, including one piece of new information and the source. Consider, the quality of the source.

SEE. - What did you notice in your 5 minutes of research? In our share out?
THINK. - What do you think a lot/little information in 5 minutes means? What do you think about the quality of sources found in 5 minutes?
WONDER: What does this experience make you wonder about your own research process.

DOCUMENT: Set up an account and new project in Easy Bib. Enter any sources worth keeping on a topic. (If you have multiple topics, because you are still deciding, please create multiple projects in EasyBib. This will help keep the research separated.)

MORE QUESTIONS: Working toward a driving question.

• Create a new document in your Project Block folder. Name it : Firstname Lastname | Driving Question | Fall 2015
• Read the Driving Question page on the Humanities Website.
• In your document, generate clear lists of Open and Closed questions on a topic. (New document for each topic you are considering.)

CONTINUE INITIAL RESEARCH & DOCUMENT VALUABLE SOURCES in EASYBIB

10:30 - 11:05 a.m. Like yesterday, this will be time for students to leave classrooms with a purpose...and notebooks, Chromebooks, post-its, etc. to have to have brief conversations with advisors who have an interest or expertise related to the topic. On a whiteboard (or another place) each person should sign out - Stating their names & where they are going and who they intend to talk to.

(Note: Rod and some Mosaic teachers may not be available. Find them after school.) This could also be a time for collaborators to bounce ideas off of one another. 

Thursday, Sept 17th | Organizing & Questioning

Please take attendance using the spreadsheet. (Add days.)

Who are we as a community of thinkers, innovators?
What do I need to know about myself and my community, in order to develop a project?
How can I document and share my thinking through effective routines and organization?

Thank you all for engaging conversations about professional models yesterday. All advisors are encouraged to share their models with Kimberly, so that they can be added to this blog as reference. 

So far this week, we have had the opportunity to brainstorm different topics and survey different art forms. It is valuable, at this point, to have more than one topic to take deeper into ideation. Please keep in mind that many considerations go into a successful proposal, and project advisors will only approve viable proposals. 

Today we will set up an organizational system used to capture thinking as well as communicate thinking to project advisors. We will also generate questions and consult different advisors to test our topics. 

DO NOW: As a group, walk through the process of creating and curating a Google Drive folder for the semester.

• Google Drive >> New > Folder
• Name this folder : Firstname Lastname | Project Block | Fall 2015
• Example :  Jacob Bartz | Project Block | Fall 2015
• Share this folder with your current project advisor.
• Inside the folder, please place any documents already created and name them clearly with your name and a title for what the document is/says/does
• Example : Jacob Bartz | Ideation Lists | Fall 2015
• Example : Jacob Bartz | Ideation Mind Map | Fall 2015

DO NEXT:

• Use Question Sorts to begin generating questions about a topic.
• Click on the link above.
• Rename the document: Firstname Lastname | Question Starts : Topic | Fall 2015
• Move the document into your new folder for Project Block.
• Use the document to generate questions - keeping in mind that we are still seeking possibilities, ways of framing the topic that will lead to a project. Driving questions will emerge after some initial research and conferences with advisors.
• Repeat this process for each topic you are considering (more than one)

10:30 a.m. At this time, students are encouraged to review Advisor Profiles on the Ideation Page. They should prepare specific questions for certain advisors. On a whiteboard (or another place) each person should sign out - Stating their names & where they are going and who they intend to talk to.

10:35 a.m.  Students can leave classrooms with a purpose....and notebooks, Chromebooks, post-its, etc to have brief conversations with advisors who have an interest or expertise related to the topic. (Note: Rod and some Mosaic teachers may not be available. Find them after school.) This could also be a time for collaborators to bounce ideas off of one another. 

11:05 a.m.  Students return to original groups and share out their progress.

Tomorrow, we will set up structures for initial research and begin working toward driving questions. Students considering year long projects need to read this.