Week of January 4th - 8th | Dress Rehearsals & Exhibition Details

Welcome to prep-week for Exhibitions of Learning!

We will organize our ideas, our energies, and our time, all while reminding each other to accept the challenges and personal growth that come with synthesizing our work and sharing it with a public audience. Students are strongly encouraged to attend to details this week, in order to be prepared for personal Exhibition of Learning and be effectively present as a volunteer and audience member for others.

Volunteers & Gallery/Roundtable Audience Commitments
During transitions or extra time after rehearsals this week, please sign up to be a volunteer or an audience member for Gallery Walks or Roundtables. We still need volunteers. If interested, please contact Madison O'Brien or Kimberly. Thank you.

Only students who sign up for Gallery Walks and Roundtables in advance will be admitted to these venues due to space considerations. To sign up, please ask a staff member to add your name to the Gallery Walk & Round Table Sign Up document. Remember to write down where and when you have committed to being; we will be expecting you!

Schedule
Because there are so many details, you might choose to use our digital or paper planner (available in office). Then, please, enter your choices and responsibilities into your google calendar and create reminders for yourself. Doing this not only gives you a reference point, should you forget what you planned to do and where and when your responsibilities are, it also reinforces your memory.

Information
This blog as well as the Exhibitions of Learning Website will be kept up to date. If you have a question or miss a detail, these are the places to look. Don't forget to share details with parents. They are welcome at Exhibitions of Learning.


MONDAY>>
Volunteers who will be helping at Jake's Cafe should check in with their Project Block Advisor for attendance and then meet outside the office. You will be walking to Jake's Cafe for a tour and overview of responsibilities: Madison OB, Jessica B, Sarah W, Val A, Chance H, Elizabeth G, Jacob F. (Note: We still need 3+ volunteers to help at Jake's. If you are interested, please contact Kimberly via email or in the Dance Studio.) 
Preparations for Dress Rehearsals and Exhibitions of Learning. Today is the last day comb through the details, ask clarifying questions, practice, tweak, etc. Consider the following as tasks for the group or individual studio choices:

Review Exhibitions of Learning Schedule, Volunteer Schedule, and Sign Up to be Gallery Walk & Round Table Audience.
Plan your schedule using our digital or paper planner (available in office). Use your Google Calendar to make it official.
Practice your Exhibition of Learning.  Identify the kind of feedback that would be most helpful during Rehearsal week. Consider a self-assessment using the EoL or Disciplinary Rubric.
Revise your Artist Statement. If presenting in Gallery or Round Table formats, print your final copy. 


TUESDAY>>
Dress Rehearsals, feedback, planning.
WEDNESDAY>>
Dress Rehearsals, feedback, planning.
THURSDAY>>
Dress Rehearsals, feedback, planning.
FRIDAY>>
Dress Rehearsals, feedback, planning.

ALL students who are part of the Gallery at Paradigm Theatre Annex will need their printed Artist Statement and Art Form in their hands and at school on Monday, January 11th for the Gallery Installation. Volunteer curators will also attend installation.

STAFF folders are available in the office. These include the following:

  • A printed Dress Rehearsal Schedule to post in your space.
  • Exhibition Rubrics to use as you see fit.
  • Student feedback forms to distribute as your or students desire.
  • Jupiter reporting goals for this week.
  • Suggested agendas for Rehearsal days.
Sets of disciplinary rubrics are also available in the office, if you need to make copies for your assessments or for student self assessments.  



Week of December 21st - 23rd | Exhibition Planning

This week's primary focus is on preparing for Exhibitions of Learning by examining our own process and organizing ideas toward an engaging, thought-provoking experience for our audience. 

RESOURCES

  • Exhibitions of Learning Components and Examples
    (
    A detailed outline due to be shared with Project Block Advisors on Tuesday, December 22nd. Project Block Advisors will provide feedback using Jupiter as well as notes or conferencing.)  
  • Exhibition Rehearsals - January 6th - 9th
    (All students will participate in rehearsals by presenting and providing feedback. In the past, these experiences have been essential to revising Exhibition Outlines and dramatically improving the formal EoLs.)
  • Exhibition Schedule - January 12th & 14th 
    (Please note that attending Exhibitions of Learning from 12:00-8:00pm is required. Students are responsible for requesting off of work and rescheduling other conflicts.)
  • Exhibition Volunteer Responsibilities
    (Exhibitions are a collective responsibility and collective accomplishment, volunteers are needed and there is a place for all interests and skills. Contact Madison O'Brien to sign up.)

MONDAY >>
Groups should begin their time together with at Compass Points about Exhibitions of Learning. Students should draw from Friday's workshops and past experiences. Keep the conversation focused on planning ad presenting (not schedules, feedback forms, or other logistics) : E - Excitements, W - Worries,  N - Need to Know, S - Suggestions. Project Advisors are encouraged to bring these Compass Points to the meeting after school on Monday. Use studio time to create outlines. Remember that the components of an EoL do not need to appear in order. Ticket Out: What do you want your audience to think and feel when your Exhibition is over? (Document this as a point of reference for rehearsals. Notecards are a good medium - Tape them to the board until January 6th.) 
TUESDAY>>
The focus of today is the Audience Interaction component. Create a list of the best Thinking Routines for Exhibitions of Learning. Brainstorm the purposes for each. Share ideas for how to best incorporate them into an Exhibition of Learning, including how to set an audience up for successful engagement. 
(Example: A Hear. Think. Wonder. would be introduced before the music is played, giving the audience some direction for what you will be asking of them after they listen. Because time is important, you might choose to take 5 things people heard, 4 things people think, and 3 wonders. Are you going to capture these? How will you transition from the audiences ideas back to your own ideas and the rest of the EoL?)
It is important that Thinking Routines are not directed at getting feedback on the Exhibition of Learning, but are focused on the ideas and creation. We will reinforce this again at rehearsals.
All students should share a complete and detailed outline with their Project Block Advisor before leaving today.

WEDNESDAY
As a group, determine who might be most prepared to try out their Exhibition of Learning in front of the group. Spend the remaining time in smaller groups reading through outlines as practice. At this point, add stage directions and reminders about what to do and what resources you'll need. (i.e. How will you use the space? When is it most important to memorize so that you are fully engaged with the audience and not looking at notes? Do you need someone to help you with technology or materials?) Everyone should read through once. 

WINTER BREAK HOME LEARNING : Practice your Exhibition of Learning in front of a mirror and a human. That means at least to rehearsals before returning to school!
 
 
 
 
 


Tuesday, December 15 | Artist Statement Critique and Rewrite

DO NOW: Read one of the two student Artist Statements. (Printed copies available in the office.)

HIGHLIGHT & STRIKE: These artist statements were created under slightly different expectations than the ones that you will create, but they were created by students who participated in IDEAS Project Block. Strike as much as possible

Reread the artist statement and highlight the information that fits with our expectations for content and quality writing. Strike, or cross out, words and phrases that are unnecessary. 

REVIEW EXPECTATIONS: Revisit yesterday's workshop and the expectations for an artist statement. Determine what the statement you are looking at needs.

REWRITE: Rewrite the statement using a combination of the original text and your own revisions. 

(NOTE: This process could take up to 45minutes, as the goal is to have polished, professional, and public drafts. Even though this is someone else's writing, the critical reading and rewriting process are important to experience completely before looking closely at our own writing.)

STUDIO TIME: Students should complete their drafts or compare complete drafts to expectations and revise/rewrite. 

CLOSING: Share out two realizations from the process of rewriting an example artist statement and/or the process of developing your own artist statement. Do you notice anything different about your project? What have you realized about your audience? How does creating an artist statement challenge or affirm you?