Fall Senior Project- Week 1

DUE DATES- ON TIME​​​​​​

1. Annotations for "Habits of Highly Cynical People" and "Screw motivation, what you need is discipline" articles. DUE: Thursday 8/29, 30 minutes into Class. Google Classroom OR Show Lori during class. 
2. Idea Fishing. DUE: Wednesday 8/28, Start of 2nd period (9:25 am).  Google Classroom.

 
DUE DATES- LATE (-10%)​​

1. Signed Syllabus. LAST DAY TO TURN IN: Tuesday 9/3, Start of Class.  In Turn In Box.

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2nd Period- Senior Project Exploration (30 min)- COMMONS ALL SENIORS

1. Examples of projects (5-8 projects)
2. After teacher talks through these, find a partner or group of 3 and discuss:
   1. What were the common threads that connected these exemplars?
   2. What did you learn about what makes a good project?
   3. How does this shape your ideas or hopes for your senior project?
   4. What questions does this raise for you?

2nd/3rd- Zen and Motorcycle- Read, Discuss, Write
Discussion Groups (45 minutes)

1. Read and annotate- make sure to mark favorite lines
2. Put chairs in a circle
3. Spirit Read (each student shares their line)
   1. Discuss patterns, bring into Socratic seminar
4. Seminar Questions:
   1. “The idea that the majority of students attend a university for an education independent of the degree and grades is a little hypocrisy everyone is happier not to expose.”  What does this mean?  Do you agree?  Why/why not?
   2. How much are you subject to the “mule mentality” (paragraph 8)?  What impact does this have on you?  Where does this come from?
   3. “The purpose of abolishing grades and degrees is not to punish mules or to get rid of them but to provide an environment in which that mule can turn into a free man.”  To what extent are you a mule?  To what extent are you a free man?
   4. The transformation described in this piece is predicated on the idea that everyone has an innate “creative intelligence” that has been stifled.  Do you agree with this premise?  Why/why not?
   5. “He’d be a knowledge-motivated person. He would need no external pushing to learn. His push would come from inside.”  When have you felt this?  What contexts/subjects are conducive to this experience?
   6. How motivated are you by grades?  How motivated are you by knowledge?  What implications does this have for your senior project?
   7. Make sure to note that senior project itself is ungraded...how then, can we connect senior project to ideas in this text.  Inspiring?  Terrifying?  Both?
   8. Last line:  “It would be the real thing.”  What do you need to do to make sure your Senior Project is the “real thing?”
   9. The world outside of school is one that exists without grades.  You succeed or fail based on your track record and reputation as well as a list of your accomplishments, not your GPA.  How can the final senior project provide you with an artifact or story that will propel you forward outside of school?
   10. How can your senior year help you make connections in the community, locally and abroad?  How can those connections help you after your high school career is over?

Final Reflection (15 min)
Take 10 minutes to write in your Humanities Starter document.  What are you thinking about senior project right now?  What hopes do you have?  Ideas?  Questions?  Emotions?  How did this discussion spark your imagination, ideas, or intentions? Write the whole time!  Now, underline the most interesting line of your reflection, and share it with a partner.

3rd/4th- Idea Fishing Part 2- Slideshow and Instructions
Students sort into corners based on the following statements.

1. I am more confident than ever that my idea is pretty good, and I want to keep pursuing it.
2. I like my project, but am not confident about my thesis.  I’m not sure if I should scrap it or keep digging into it.
3. I like my thesis, but am not confident about my project. I’m not sure if I should scrap it or keep digging into it.
4. I hate my original idea, or I think it’s not going to work.  I need something new. 

Idea Fishing Part 2- Where are you? Discussions (15-20 min)
Group into groups of 4-5 based on who is in your corner. Go sit at tables together. 

1. Group 1: Confident in current idea
   1. Get in a group of 4-5 people
   2. Share your current ideas for your research question/topic and your project
   3. Share why you are excited about this, and one interesting thing you learned in idea fishing
   4. Discuss with each other how you need to narrow your topic.  Help each other come up with a revised research question to pursue, based on the first round of research

 

1. Group 2: Confident in project, thesis idea is less good
   1. Get in a group of 4-5 people
   2. Share your current ideas for your research question/topic and your project
   3. Share where you think your ideas are strong, and where they need refinement
   4. As a group, help each other refine the pieces that need refining, and come up with a revised research question (or questions) to pursue.

 

1. Group 3: Confident in thesis, project idea is less good
   1. Get in a group of 4-5 people
   2. Share your current ideas for your research question/topic and your project
   3. Share where you think your ideas are strong, and where they need refinement
   4. As a group, help each other refine the pieces that need refining, and come up with a revised research question (or questions) to pursue.

 

1. Group 3: Need a new idea
   1. Get in a group of 4-5 people
   2. Share your last idea, and why you don’t want to do it. 
   3. Going in turn, spend 3 minutes for each person brainstorming new ideas they could research for this round

Idea Fishing Part 2- DUE next Wednesday at 9:25 AM.
Split between Kyle and Lori’s rooms.

1. Option 1- The Mola Mola
   1. Repeat the previous idea-fishing process with an entirely new idea or topic
2. Option 2- The Lungfish
   1. Repeat the idea-fishing process on the same idea
   2. This time, try to start with a more specific question rather than a super general topic
   3. Look for more specific pieces of information to fill in gaps or answer questions you identified in round 1