We began with this statement — our class where we do our work — and tried to explain how feedback makes this happen. In other words, what role does feedback play in making this statement true?
MH noted that “feedback powers the projects”.
AB let us know that “feedback helps us work harder?”
IJ said that it helps you to “reflect”. I started singing this song because feedback helps you reflect on how you got there…I sounded pretty good too.
Today I hoped we could all talk about the intention of feedback. I wanted to think about how the intention changes based on the quality of the work. Each student had to write about how intention of feedback shifts for outstanding, mediocre, and bad work.
Terrific, terrific conversation.
Intention of feedback on outstanding work:
get help winning contests
taking things to the next level (getting published?)
to make a better connection with the audience
feedback (helps you) figure out why something is outstanding.
Intention of feedback for “bad” work
helps you figure out a different direction to go in
helps you know why the work is so bad
what can you do better?
should make you feel like working and rising to a challenge
One example:
In advisory last week we talked of ownership and what it means to be inside a project. This week we’re turning to feedback: how to seek it, how to use it, when to build on it, when to ignore it, and what constitutes good feedback.
Monday morning we did a collaborative activity where students made a list of types of feedback, passed their papers to a colleague who wrote out an example of that sort of feedback, and concluded with a second colleague writing about when such feedback is helpful and when it is not. This is standard Monday morning “let’s write instead of talk because everyone is crazy from the weekend” but the results offer a window into how our group is seeing and feeling feedback.
Now if I could just a find a time machine so that I could offer more (and better) feedback.
Natural Gardening
Music Stiffneck
Inchelium Red Softneck
This winter weed has done a good job digging into the sunny raised gardens up front.
Easy enough to pull.
One thing we do is ask students to reflect on the variety of skills necessary for projects to move forward. We’ve encoded these skills in our evaluation system but it’s still important to regularly return to those skills, process them, and think about how they apply to the current project work. The photo below is a creative effort to integrate this week’s conversation about seizing control of your own work with our reflection questions.
Spend too much time watching the Walking Dead and your opening circle activities look like this:
“When someone is committed to their work, what footprints do they leave behind? What trail is left when they’ve finished?”
JB: People see what you’ve done; they can point at it and understand the accomplishment
HG: The final product makes an impact on people. It creates further opportunities.
ES: They leave behind drafts and revisions; you can see what the work process looked like.
TD: You can show off what you’ve done.
AB: Your name is known.
TC: you’ve provided a model of how you work.
Student posts:
Put together two trays with Kara:
5×2 of kale plants:
Red Ursa (Territorial)
Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch (SSE)
Scarlet Kale (SSE)
Lacinato Kale (SSE)
Healthy Kale Mix (Seeds of Change)
8 x 1 of lettuce with two rows of greens
Collared Greens (FM)
Tatsoi (SSE)
Flashy Trouts (Territorial)
Green Oak Leef (SSE)
Gully’s Favorite (SSE)
Bronze Arrowhead (SSE)
Amish Deer Tongue (SSE)
Grisp mint (SSE)
Flame (SSE)
There’s one missing. Damn.
Spent this Wednesday morning talking about people that we know who are inside of their work (and have total ownership of it) as well as describing individuals we don’t know whose life work shows their ownership over their work. The list of characteristics is here:
Time invested
People want to be around them
Their work helps other people
They’ve made changes/adjustments; they know how to do things
Know everything about it; confident in their work
Constantly revising
They are recognized
Student Work:
My dork work (Lisa on the left, author/critic A.O. Scott, whose book I’m loving, is on the right)
even when you still need help?
We began with this today and drew cartoons illustrating the best ways to do this.
Best line: You return to what inspired you in the first place. Hooray JW!
