december 10th

Today I observed both classrooms. It's interesting to see how different teachers will approach the same project. For example, before Mr. Cohen's class was working on a book called "Inherit the Wind" and now Ms. Ohle's class is doing the same. The book is based on the scopes trial that took place in 1925 in Tennessee. The differences in the two approaches toward this book are so incredibly different although both include the students reading the play aloud, which really gets some of the rowdier, more theatrical students involved.

In Mr. Cohen's class, they're working on video projects using an online video maker, which is a website that produces videos from tracks of your music with pictures. The website is really remarkable, and a useful tool for getting the students to really be part of the imagery in the literature. I'm gonna get registered so I can make a video from the pictures of the students fingerpainting.

The fingerpainting projects were designed to have the students "make a conversation in the paint." This communication through solely image is intended to strengthen the thought processes behind communication From their work, they will bring poems from image. This translation of media is supposed to enhance their ability to understand the relatability between what's happening in the different forms of communication. It's really deep stuff for eight graders, but very cool.