Goal # 8 Reflection and Goal Setting #9

Good morning, today you will assess your progress on your last goal #8 by leaving a comment on your previous post. Please explain how you met your goal and describe your progress including any evidence that you produced last week. When you are finished commenting, post your new SMART goal #9 and begin working on meeting your goal during class today.

During your goal reflection and setting today, I will be coming around to check for evidence of progress. Please be prepared to show and/or explain how you met goal #8. We will look at the number of students who set and met their individual goals today and tomorrow in class. This is the final marking period and meeting our goals is the most important goal for the class.

Project Conferences and Finding your expert

Today I will be meeting with each of you to discuss your progress towards completing your project. We are entering the third Marking Period and projects for portfolio will have to be finished and graded by Tuesday May 26th for Juniors and Thursday June 4th for seniors. The rest of our time in Digital Portfolio needs to be used to create, execute, make, image, write, or design your projects. Your final weekly goals should be about making the product.

Today and tomorrow while I conduct conferences, you may work on your project after you spend some time searching for contact information for experts who might be able to answer your questions. Use Google to search for poets, writers, painters, artists, musicians, and/or people working if fields relevant to your own. Many of you have found blogs related to your topics, and you can contact those people with your questions as well.

Try and find contact info for 3 - 5 people you think could answer your expert questions and email me the information at mr.powhida@gmail.com. In your email, include a short 2 -3 introduction that you will send out along with your questions to the experts. Tomorrow, we will try and send out your questions at the beginning of class.

Goal Setting and Finding an Expert

Now that the Internet is working, please comment on last week's goal #5(6) regarding your progress and post a NEW smart goal #6(7) on your blog. The marking period ends tomorrow and we will be conducting progress conferences tomorrow and Thursday. You will have time tomorrow and Thursday during those conferences to catch up on any blog posting and goal setting you need to improve your grade, as well as meet this week's goal.

Finding an Expert

Many of you could use some guidance for your projects, because there is an overwhelming amount of information on the Internet. As you know, information is not valuable unless you are able to comprehend, apply, analyze, synthesize, and/or evaluate it. In order to help find some guidance we will be searching for experts, or people who have already applied the kind of higher order thinking you need to do in their own work.

We happen to live in a city of experts. In terms of your projects, many of you will be able to find help and ideas within the school and others will have to look beyond the school walls. How you do find an expert? You search for people and contact information in the industry you are researching and you reach out to several of them until someone responds. I was contacted by a student at the Young Writer's Academy to talk about my work as a writer in Brooklyn. I sat down for an interview about my writing process. The student found my email on the Internet and contacted me. I responded because I thought it would be good for the community (commitment).

Before you start searching for an expert on your project (or area of interest), you will need to think of several questions to ask your expert. For example, Karisha wants to write a fantasy story. She might ask an expert on writing "Why did you get into writing?", "What are some of the steps you take to write a story?", or "How can I develop my characters?"

Each of you needs to write a series of at least seven questions for an expert about your project. They should not be yes or no questions, but ones that will help guide your work. Email me your questions today at mr.powhida@gmail.com

If you finish your questions early, start searching for people in your field of interest or if you know a faculty member that might be able to help, include them in your email today. So, if you are making a video/film search for "Brooklyn, Film makers, production companies". If you are doing fashion, search for "Brooklyn, fashion designers"

Thinking about Thinking

Today we are going to look at higher order thinking and Bloom's taxonomy before we begin searching for outside experts to help us develop our projects. Please reflect on last week's goal#4 and then post your new SMART goal #5

Before you start your reading, I think it's only fair that you start to understand that the kind of work you are doing in this class is difficult intellectually. Why? Well, let's take a look at Bloom's taxonomy, which breaks down intelligence into different categories. Carefully read the 1st domain of cognitive learning only (unless you want to read more) and then answer the six questions below and email me your answers at mr.powhida@gmail.com

Don't post them or add a comment here. Email your answers only.

Copy and Paste the questions into gmail:

1. What is Bloom’s definition of knowledge?
2. How do you define knowledge?
3. Provide an example from school where you demonstrated knowledge?
4. Which of Bloom’s categories of knowledge is the most difficult? How do you know?
5. What category or categories might describe our habit of mind of perspective?
6. Describe which category of knowledge you are required to use in school and explain what you think that means about the school:

When you have finished please begin work on meeting your goal for next week.

SMART Goal #3 Reflection/ SMART Goal #4 Setting

Before you set your goals to today, I would like us to review the project rubric together, so that you can gauge your progress so far. After we look at the rubric here http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhrh47t8_128cb227gg6 and discuss what the different standards mean, you have to give yourself a progress grade so far. Thinking about what you have accomplished so far leave a comment below this POST here and give yourself a progress assessment. Use the example format below:

P - Distinguished
A - Undeveloped
N - Developing
I - Undeveloped
C - Proficient

After you've left your self assessment, please continue to read below and complete your goal reflection and setting for this week.

Today you should take a moment to add a comment about your progress towards meeting your SMART goal #3. (if you have four that is OK, but most people are on SMART Goal #3). When you have finished posting your comment, POST a new SMART goal #4 on your blog. I will be responding to your goals this week as well.

Goal 2 Reflection/New SMART goal 3

In response to your second goal that you posted on your blog, add a comment that answers the question "Did you meet your goal?  If so, support your answer by describing or showing the evidence you produced.  If not, what obstacles prevented you from meeting your goal?"

After you have commented on Goal #2, you now have to set a SMART goal for next week.  Check your backwards plans and give yourself another goal to complete for your project.  PLEASE use the SMART goal template outlined below on the class blog.  Make it a reasonable (small) goal that you can accomplish during the week outside of class because we will be working on customizing our blogs and developing personal banners in Photoshop.  

BE SURE TO POST GOAL #3 on your blog (even if you are not here today) 

 

Materials List Post

By next Tuesday you should have your blog completely caught up to today's assignment, which is to post a list of materials that you will need to complete your project.  Your materials list can include both physical things; paper, paint, video cameras and academic things; learning how to use Flash, how to use Photoshop, or edit a video. 

Think about what you want/need to know, learn, how-to-do and the what you need to make it happen. Type up a list of everything you could possibly want to use and know, don't worry about whether or not we can actually get it yet. Think big first. Post your list on your blog using the bulleted list feature in the menu bar to left of the quotes icon.