As mentioned in an earlier post our school is planning to move toward a "no letter" grade policy next year. I am excited about the possibility and believe it will enhance learning in our school for both students and teachers. That said, we certainly have some work to do.
Letter grades are easy. Effectively and accurately reporting on learning is a much harder process.
A friend of mine shared this lesson idea with me, and I think it's just fantastic, especially if you have students in your class who are inclined to doubt the value of a having a high school education/diploma...
In my friend's class (which is in a NYC public high school), she showed her students the following chart, which indicates the median weekly earnings as well as unemployment rates in the U.S.
by Terry Heick, TeachThought.com : Shift_Learning: The 7 Most Powerful Idea Shifts In Learning Today
So we’re taking a stand here. This is all incredibly subjective, but so are the VH1 Top 100 Hair Bands Videos and those are fun, am I right?
So subjective it is. Let’s make a list. A list of ideas that are truly transformational. Not just trends or buzz, but substance with the potential for lasting change–and stuff that’s available not tomorrow, but today.
Laura Kay Rudat, filmmaker, is full of surprises and is an incredible story-teller. Her brief yet fascinating filmmaking career has taken her to some of the most unlikely places on earth. In India she filmed the documentary A House for Vasan (below) telling the story of Hands on Houses, which builds houses for widows and the poor. In California she created her thesis film Moriah (bottom of page).
Her upcoming project will be with a team in the Philippines. She is raising money for that here.
A House for Vasan from Laura Kay Rudat on Vimeo.
A bit of her story: I met Laura a few years ago at university near Vancouver, Canada. She was studying International Relations and figuring out what to do next. Over a period of time she was confronted powerfully and mysteriously with the realization that she was supposed to move to San Francisco. She describes the experience with the following words in a post entitled “Dear Reader”:
Many of you are wondering how I got to this point–bags packed, and hours away from moving to San Francisco.
Aware that my student visa was due to expire at the end of August, I began to pray about my next step. I sensed my time in Canada was up, so opted out of extending my stay. In this time of seeking His will, God began speaking to me about San Francisco. The idea was strange to me for several reasons.
To begin with, I was happier than I’d ever been in Langley. Freshly graduated and surrounded by close friends and an amazing church community, I had no reason to leave. Washington would have been the logical option if I were to leave; there I could enjoy the familiarity of home and family. Not only had I never been to San Francisco, but I didn’t really know anyone there (though I later learned two of my cousins have recently moved there).
But God was relentless. Every day, for about a month and a half, San Francisco came up in the most random of ways. Conversations on wholly different topics would suddenly swerve towards San Francisco. Somehow, everything I encountered in my day would subtlety or blatantly (depending on my level of doubt that day) orient my future-focus towards this city. Throughout this time, I began to feel peace about going and I received still more confirmations. Once I decided for sure I was going, whether I knew why or not, the signs virtually stopped. It was as if God said, “Phew. She finally understands.”
I thought that after making this decision, God would reveal more of the plan. But as I get ready to leave today, I know almost nothing. He is requiring me to trust Him more by not taking the matter into my own hands. But I do have promises, which I continue to hope in (Hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes in what he sees?). I have promises of provision, purpose, community, joy, and His best.
It was a year in San Francisco before she had her next big realization: that her hobby-love for filmmaking was not only real, but what she was meant to pursue. Entering film school and subsequently working things out in dead space after graduating was a testing time period for Laura, but things changed shortly for the better. In the last year she has moved north to Redding where her presence at Global Legacy has taken both her love for the nations and her love for filmmaking and married them in a dream come true. She is truly living the dream.
Laura’s fun, quirky, and inspiring blog And So She Went will tell the rest of her exciting and challenging story. In the meantime, find Laura Kay at film festivals and on Vimeo.
Life hacks are little ways to make our lives easier. These low-budget tips and trick can help you organize and de-clutter space; prolong and preserve your products; or teach you something (e.g., tie a full Windsor) that you simply did not know before.
Most of these came from a great post on tumblr. There is also a great subreddit '
If only I knew sooner that simply typing “Canada” into Bandcamp’s search bar would bring incredible music like this to my ears, I wouldn’t have waited so excruciatingly long.
Riverhood is one of the most creative albums I have ever heard, and I do not say this lightly. It’s the work of Montreal’s highly talented Luke Loseth (aka Felix Green), Charlotte Loseth (aka Sea Oleena) and others listed on their Bandcamp page.
The production is incredible. At any given moment, the sound is a flawlessly layered cake; an auditory delight: vocals reverberating, bass marching, synths spiralling up and down, and an incredible array of ambient sounds – claps, old European radio broadcasts, pianos, glass bottles, and the like.
Genre? “No” is the band’s apt reply. “Sonic exploration”.
Pick this album up. You’ll love what you discover.
Get Riverhood directly from the artist for $8 here: holobody.bandcamp.com
Oh my… it’s art.
