Blog Archives

TED Prep- Final Day!!!

3/14/2018

Guidelines for RE-Submission of your Senior Thesis:
Once you have received your final grade for your paper, you will have the option to rewrite it based on my comments. Your revised paper grade will REPLACE your original grade. In order for your re-submission to be accepted, you must follow the guidelines below exactly.

Deadline: ONE WEEK after the day you received your thesis back from me.
Email/share with me your revised draft
Submit your previous draft and the graded rubric (put your old draft and rubric in my inbox).
Your final draft must demonstrate improvement between drafts
I will not be commenting on revised drafts, and the revised grade will replace your original grade
Important: Annotations on your final draft are REQUIRED. Feel free to highlight, underline, comment, or draw arrows to specific points made, new evidence used, new phrasing etc. Your final grade depends in a large part on your ability to show growth between drafts in the categories I have outlined in the rubric. Make it easy for me to see this growth with your annotations. Even better if your comments are coded to rubric categories. Annotate as you revise to make this easier on yourself!

Final Review:

IMPORTANT TED TALK REMINDERS:

Tech (slides)- If you are running a slideshow for visuals, email or share it with me before you present. It's easier to run the tech off one computer so we don't have to swap the clicker tech back and forth.
Professional Dress- You should be going all out here! Look sharp and professional. You know what that means.
Breathe! Relax! But practice! Have faith that you know this stuff inside and out, because you do. But also, take the time to practice frequently so that your presentation is polished and impressive.

Room Setup: Finish and finalize room setup for TED Talks

Sheets/curtains hung
Lights arranged to highlight the speaker
Posters/Schedules around the school
Stage space clearly marked
Speakers/Screen/Projector/Clicker found and set up for easy use
Video Camera + Tripod
Tables and chairs set up with tableclothes for panelists (need 6 tables for this, in 3 rows)
Chairs set up for other audience members
Rest of room is clean, organized, ready for TED Talks!

TED Practice
Practice that sucker! You should aim to practice at LEAST once a day. And do it in front of other people. Good luck!

TED Prep- Day 7

3/13/2018

SENIOR SCHEDULE THIS WEEK:

Periods 4, 5, 6: All seniors need to be here for periods 4, 5, and 6 on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We will gather in Lori's room each day before spreading out. Our rooms are open during 3rd for work time.

Deadline: ONE WEEK after the day you received your thesis back from me unless otherwise noted.
Email/share with me your revised draft
Submit your digital revised draft together with both your previous draft and the graded rubric (put your old draft and rubric in my inbox).
Your final draft must demonstrate improvement between drafts
I will not be commenting on revised drafts, and the revised grade will replace your original grade
Important: Annotations on your final draft are REQUIRED. Feel free to highlight, underline, comment, or draw arrows to specific points made, new evidence used, new phrasing etc. Your final grade depends in a large part on your ability to show growth between drafts in the categories I have outlined in the rubric. Make it easy for me to see this growth with your annotations. Even better if your comments are coded to rubric categories. Annotate as you revise to make this easier on yourself!

Senior Project Cohort Review

See the letter linked above for expectations and structure for Senior Project Cohort. Kyle will explain further in class today!
Senior Project Cohort Groups- We are trying to group you into cohort groups based on the type of project you are planning on doing. Please look at this document, and make sure your name/project are in here in the correct category. Check with Kyle if you are not sure where you should go!

4th Period: TED Talk Critiques
Follow the protocol linked above, which is also in your packet of TED Prep materials. You should complete two critiques today, and two tomorrow. Prioritize people going early in the presentation schedule!

5th and 6th Periods: Revision and Practice
When you finish your critiques for the day, work on revising your TED Talk and practicing. Seriously, PRACTICE. This is key to success!

HOMEWORK:
Practice your TED Talk! We are looking for polished and professional here. Make sure you are engaging, and that you are communicating complex ideas in an interesting way.

TED Prep- Day 6

3/12/2018

SENIOR SCHEDULE THIS WEEK:

Periods 4, 5, 6: All seniors need to be here for periods 4, 5, and 6 on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We will gather in Lori's room each day before spreading out. Our rooms are open during 3rd for work time.

Deadline: ONE WEEK after the day you received your thesis back from me unless otherwise noted.
Email/share with me your revised draft
Submit your digital revised draft together with both your previous draft and the graded rubric (put your old draft and rubric in my inbox).
Your final draft must demonstrate improvement between drafts
I will not be commenting on revised drafts, and the revised grade will replace your original grade
Important: Annotations on your final draft are REQUIRED. Feel free to highlight, underline, comment, or draw arrows to specific points made, new evidence used, new phrasing etc. Your final grade depends in a large part on your ability to show growth between drafts in the categories I have outlined in the rubric. Make it easy for me to see this growth with your annotations. Even better if your comments are coded to rubric categories. Annotate as you revise to make this easier on yourself!

4th Period: TED Talk Critiques
Follow the protocol linked above, which is also in your packet of TED Prep materials. You should complete two critiques today, and two tomorrow. Prioritize people going early in the presentation schedule!

5th Period: Guest TED Speaker
Chris Strouthopoulous will be coming in to give his TEDx talk to you today. He'll talk to you about his process of preparation, give his talk, and then ask you for feedback. This is a rare opportunity!

6th Period: Revision and Practice
When you finish your critiques for the day, work on revising your TED Talk and practicing. Seriously, PRACTICE. This is key to success!

HOMEWORK:
Practice your TED Talk! We are looking for polished and professional here. Make sure you are engaging, and that you are communicating complex ideas in an interesting way.

TED Prep- Day 5

3/9/2018

SENIOR SCHEDULE NEXT WEEK:

Periods 4, 5, 6: All seniors need to be here for periods 4, 5, and 6 . We will run critiques during 4th period, have a guest speaker during 5th, and work time during 6th. Our rooms are open during 3rd for work time.

TED Talk Critique Scheduling
Since you guys didn't schedule your groups yesterday, I am doing it today.

TED Talk Prep
ALL seniors should be prepared on Monday with a complete outline and complete rough draft slides (if you are using visuals). Be ready to give your full presentation for critique!

HOMEWORK:
Complete a rough draft of your TED talk and slides, run through it at least once before class on Monday.

TED Prep- Day 4

3/7/2018

Starter: Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs The art of the slide-based presentation - Today we'll take a close look at slides by comparing Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. We'll also see how Bill Gates evolved over time into an excellent slide-based presenter. Follow the directions and do EVERY STEP of this! A hard copy is in your TED Talk packet I gave you on Monday.

TED Invites
Send an invitation email to your TED Talk to the following people. Make sure your email includes a polite salutation, the time and date of your TED Talk, your research question, and a brief description of what they can expect at the TED Talk.

Family
Senior Project Advisor
LINK Mentor (if your talk is at all related to the field you interned in)
Any other teachers/students you would specifically like to attend
CC your Humanities teacher on this email

Initial Feedback and Critique Scheduling
Get into the assigned groups that are on the board. No matter where you are in your process, you should do the following:

Have each person talk through their presentation in turn. They should address:
1. What are you thinking about for your presentation? Where are you right now?
2. What are you feeling good about right now- where are the strong points?
3. What are you concerned about? Where do you need help?
4. Show the group your slides (if you have any), talk them through what they mean.
5. What kind of help do you need? Are there questions you have that the group could help you with?
After the student talks through their presentation, the group will give informal verbal feedback on their slides and their presentation ideas.
The presenter should commit to an area of focus for upcoming work time.

Once every member has talked through their presentations, you should schedule your critiques for Monday and Tuesday of next week. You can do 2-3/day, as the critique protocol should take around 30 minutes. Write on the board who is being critiqued on what day.

Develop TED Talks

Develop slides and outline what you want to say
By the end of this time, you should aim for being done with initial slides and outline.

HOMEWORK
Have a complete outline of your TED talk, and complete rough draft slides ready for your critique day next week.

TED Prep- Day 3

3/7/2018

Develop TED Talks

Develop slides/other visual aids (if using) and outline what you want to say
By the end of this time, you should aim for being roughly 50% done with rough visual aids and outline.

HOMEWORK
Get to the point where your TED Talk is about 50% (maybe even a little more!) outlined, with visual aids developed for that 50% if you are using them.

TED Talk Prep- Day 2

3/6/2018

Starter: A TED talk you've surely seen (on purpose – we care not about his message). Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? We'll watch this with our graphic organizer. Debrief organizer in small groups (2/3 students), share out.

TED Analysis: In small groups, share out your TED analysis.

What patterns did you see in terms of what people liked, and what was interesting?
What were the verbal and non-verbal talents the presenters showed? Share, write your top two on the board.
Write the top audience interaction technique on the board
What style differences did you note in your group? What similarities?
What did your group notice about how the talks were structured?
Share your different styles as presenters

Student Examples: Watch at least half of a student example linked on my DP, or from 2017 Talks (check out Gabe, Ellie, Ben, Mikayla, Isabel, Claire, Izzy) Take notes on…

What was their hook? Was it effective? Why/why not?
How did this person use positive elements of their own personality to cultivate relationships with the audience and make their talk more interesting?
What do you think would make an effective hook for YOUR presentation?

Short Article: Making presentations in the TED Style. Read this article, and pick one of the talks described to watch. Explain why you chose that particular style, then watch it and take notes on…

What stood out to you about this talk
What you want to imitate from this talk
2-3 specific ideas you got from this talk

HOMEWORK
Watch ONE MORE student example. Start thinking about how you want to structure your talk, and what you want to include.

TED Talk Prep- Day 1

3/5/2018

TURN IN SENIOR THESIS! CELEBRATE WITH COOKIES!

Overview of TED Prep and TED Talk schedule

Schedule and activities
TED Talk speaking and paneling schedule- sign up for panel times
Students update research question/schedule document

TED Talk overview and rubric—how does this work, anyway?

Starter: TED Talk by Sarah Kay + graphic organizer. Debrief and share out.
TED Commandments: Read them, choose most and least important, most surprising, debrief.
TED Talk Analysis: Watch a TED Talk that speaks to you- it could be about anything! Take 15 minutes or so to choose. Then watch it, and write down the following:

Why do you like this talk?
Why do you find the message interesting?
What verbal and non-verbal talents does the presenter show us? (use rubric)
How does the presenter interact with their audience? (use rubric)
What’s one cool thing that may make this person’s style ‘different’ from the rest?
What is your style as a presenter? Are you funny/serious? Data and evidence or free-flowing? Moving or podium bound?

HOMEWORK:
Finish TED Talk Analysis (see description above) if you didn't finish it in class.

Last Revisions!

3/2/2018

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

TED Talk Times: Check your time, put it in your phone!
FINAL DRAFT is due on Monday at the start of class (10:15 for my AM class, and 12:45 for my PM class)
You must PRINT a copy to turn in to Lori- this must be done before the start of class, and MUST be printed double-sided.
You must SHARE or EMAIL a copy to Lori and to your Senior Project Advisor. This copy should be labeled: First and Last Name Thesis FINAL
Reminder: Late penalties do NOT go away if you rewrite, so make sure that your paper is in on time!
THIS IS DUE EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT HERE! If you are absent, you must submit digital copies by the start of class on Monday, and a hard copy immediately upon your return.

Proofreading Strategies
See the above list for strategies to use while proofreading!

Thesis Revision
Stuck? Go back and revise for the following:

PHASE 1: Most Important

Structural Changes: Reorganization sections, resequence
Additions/Expansion: Add additional evidence/research, expand on your analysis, add new arguments

PHASE 2: Cohesion and Sentence Level (leave a few days for this)

Cohesion: In your analysis of evidence, make sure that you are building on and relating to earlier points and arguments. In your topics and transitions, make sure you are frequently referencing how this point helps to prove your thesis.
Transitions: Make sure you have have them, and that they connect paragraphs and sections cleanly.
Quote Setup/Follow Up: Make sure that all your quotes have a setup that gives necessary context, and a follow up that explains the quote, and clearly connects that particular quote to your argument.
Sentence Level: Check for passive voice and focus, sentence variety (mix of long and short sentences).
Hemingway Editor: This is a GREAT resource for sentence level revision! You still need to use your brain, but this can really help you identify sentence level issues.

PHASE 3: Proofreading (leave a day for this)

Quote setup punctuation
MLA in-text citations
Punctuation/spelling/contractions
Works Cited (formatting and alphabetize)
MLA Formatting
Write your abstract
READ IT OUT LOUD to catch flow and proofreading issues.

HOMEWORK:
Finish this beautiful piece of writing! I'm so proud of the hard work you've put in, and am looking forward to reading your polished pieces. Make sure that your hard copies are printed before class, and that you've shared it with me and your Senior Project advisor. Let's do this!

Proofreading and Final Revisions

3/1/2018