Week Six-Body Language/TED talk - due Friday March 13th @ 11:59 with responses due March 15th

Photo Credits Bent East Inlet, Pittsburg, NH

Highlight and click on the link below.  It is a 20 minute TED talk by Amy Cuddy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc

Please listen to and take notes, (trust me it will help you frame your answer better and I need to see evidence that you were actually listening to the talk and not trying to do 40 other things at once), and answer the following questions:

1. How does this TED talk relate to me, (meaning you), in this class? (be specific...think about your project)



2. How does this TED talk relate to me, (meaning you), moving forward after graduation from high school?


3. Spend some time observing others....maybe at a mall, or in the cafe here at school, or at your place of employment.  What do you see for body language in others....can you conclude anything from your observations? Explain


4. Why do you think I wanted you to watch the video, and why do you think I thought it was important to break down your responses in three different ways?

Week Five-Heading into March as a leader - juggling the work. Due Friday March 6 @11:59 with 2 responses due Sunday March 8th

Rye NH (Photo credit Bent)

The month of March is for refining the project details (a formal guide to what you are doing) and prepping and writing the research paper.  This is a time to show personal leadership, and remind yourself you can do anything.

I know that the end of the semester looks as tough as navigating these steps at times, but with proper planning you will make it to end relatively stress free.   

What I want you to remember is that you have chosen what you want to do with this class, so be PROUD of what your plan is, and follow through with all the details.  This is your time to shine as an independent, strong, young adult.  Do not disappoint yourself, "stay the course" and finish strong with something to share and celebrate in May. 

This week you need to concentrate on your research and the annotated bibliography process.  You cannot write the paper without the annotated bibliographies, so those of you who might think about not doing them, guess what? It won't work.  Without the annotated bibliographies I will give you a zero on the paper.  

By the end of the week you should also be about a third the way through your research book.  


So, my requests for blogging this week are short and sweet:

1. How do you see yourself as a leader?  What experience have you had at being a leader; of yourself, of others? Share some examples.

2. Find me a picture that represents you working through the class....it can be a real picture or a cartoon, or even an original drawing.  Attach it to your post. No explanation needed, the picture should tell me everything.

Week Four- Back to work folks. Initial post due by Friday Feb 28th by 11:59 pm with 2 responses due by March 1 by 11:59 pm

Cairnes, Queensland, Australia (photo-Bent)

Week Four is here, and that means you will only have another eight (8) weeks of "seat" time in class.  YIKES!  You are beginning to think more deeply and looking forward towards the horizon, or at least I hope you are.

1. Where does the project and the research paper overlap? Tell me about it. 

2. Make a plan for yourself for the month of March....write a real plan on your calendar.  Make time for the research, the reading, working on your project proposal, and making project connections. Use this month wisely because it is your LAST FULL MONTH of high school.  Accomplish what you will be proud of and what you want others to be proud of you for. Take a picture of the calendar and paste it here.

3. Share with everyone where you will be doing your project. (You need to have that nailed down by Friday February 28th)

4. There are a number of you who are behind.  List what you are missing here, and share your plan to make up the work by this Sunday.  Those of you who are caught up, share your time management strategies, they might help the others. 

You do not want to be caught...out of breath and in a knot, just hanging around waiting for the work to be done... (Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia. (photo Bent)

Week Three: Perspective,Time Management, and Challenges due Friday February 14th by 11:59 pm

Looking at the world through different perspectives, Narragansett, RI ( photo credit Bent)

Perspective:

Have you thought about how you look at things or approach tasks?  If you notice this beautiful stone structure above has a variety of windows.  They all look out over Scarborough Beach in Narragansett, but each window provides a different view.  What I would like you to do this week is work on different ways to approach your tasks....find a different "view".  For example, when you are researching the topic for your paper, try a variety of sources.  Do not just stick with one, shop around the databases, and see what you can find.  Yes, you will have to do a little tedious work, meaning reading so that you can make an informed decision as to whether you will use it or not.  No getting around this folks. 

1.  Respond:

How do you approach database searches?  Be honest here.g

How much time have you and will you spend on these searches?

Which databases did you use and why?

How was/is the frustration level during your search?
If you change the way you search, would that alleviate your frustration? Explain what you can do....

Be honest, how much progress are you making on acquiring journal articles to read?

Time:

It is one of those things that we either think we have a lot of it, or we think we do not have enough of it.

2. Respond:
How do you manage time? Think about this question in terms of "activities you like" and activities you must do".

Give me a typical day, and how you designate time before and after school?

Where and how can you improve your time management? Be realistic, and be truthful.
What does time management look like to you? Show me a picture......What I want here is YOUR CALENDAR filled out...yes, the one I gave you.

Challenges:

Dana's (my daughter) roommate, Emily,  is a member of the Bristol Fire Department.  When I asked her, (Emily), how and why she joined the department, she said that she had the same type of opportunity you, (yes you my class), had when she was a senior in high school.  At the time she could not imagine joining a fire department.  After some consideration, and a willingness to do something so far out of her comfort zone, she joined a junior fire academy in her home town as part of her leadership class.  Fast forward to college:  she liked the experience in high school, so she joined the department in Bristol., and has been a member for the past three years.  In addition, she added EMT to her resume because of an opportunity in the Bristol Fire Department.

How one connection leads to an opportunity....

My daughter, pictured in Emily's firefighter outfit, is also part of the Bristol Fire Department.  Because of Emily, she too decided to go WAY out of her comfort zone two years ago.  She is now in her third year as a member of the rescue squad.  She is an ambulance driver and a first responder.....she too took a chance, challenged herself, and chose to do something really out of her comfort zone.

By the way, Emily is a public health major, and Dana is an education major...neither one wants a career in fire fighting/rescue, but they wanted something new and different for the experience.  My point is, make yourself uncomfortable, and try to do something that challenges you in this class.

Taking a risk, trying something new...getting out of your comfort zone (photo credit Bisanti)

Bristol Fire and Rescue giving back in the Bristol-Warren School District (photo credit Bristol FD)

3. Respond...think about Emily and Dana stories.
What will you do that is challenging and out of your comfort zone during this class....or what do you think you will do?

What might scare you about this challenge? (Being uncomfortable is good....it means you are challenging yourself)

What sounds exciting and doable during this class?

What might hold you back?

Initial responses due by Friday, February 14th by 11:59 pm, with secondary responses due Sunday, February 16th by 11:59. 

Week Two- Skills, resumes, interviews, self reflection - OH BOY!

Heading into week two should not look as relaxing as Ollie's pose...(photo credit Bent)

It is already week two and there are several people who need to step it up a bit.  This is not the time to fall behind, as we are not even doing anything time consuming yet!

This week you are working on two specific items:

1) A resume
2) Contact(s) for a future project

I want you to think about how you present yourself to others (people who do not know you).  I also want you to think about the skills you possess that will help you with your project.

It might be hard to think of skills you are good at, but I will bet you have a number of them and you just have not looked at yourself through the lens of skills.

Click on the link below and listen to Jason Shen talk about ability (skills) vs experience.  Once you have watched the video, think about YOU and YOUR skills. Make a list, and use that list to help generate your resume. Take a picture of the list and share it in your blog.

https://www.ted.com/talks/jason_shen_looking_for_a_job_highlight_your_ability_not_your_experience?language=en#t-364407

Who do you admire?  Think about that for a bit.  Find two people you admire and interview them. 
Ask about:
-skills they possess
-most unusual job interview
-how they acquire new skills
-jobs they have taken and why they have taken these jobs
-did their degree lead naturally into a job? Why or why not
-have them name something that is outside their comfort zone, and then ask why they push themselves
to do something outside of their comfort zone
-what has been their best job and what has been their worst job, and which job provided a greater learning experience
-ask any additional questions you can think of

Once you have done the interviews share your responses in your blog.  DO NOT just give a list of answers, instead create a "story of each interview"

What did you learn from interviewing?  Has that helped you in writing your own resume? 

Week two will be in the book by Friday, and what have you accomplished so far? Be honest and share your progress....do you have a resume completed, have you contacted a possible project person/place, are you beginning to think about the research aspect?  Share your thoughts.

Initial post due by Friday, February 7th by 11:59 pm with two responses due by Sunday, February 9th by 11:59 pm.

Week One: Introductions, field trip, early explorations of ideas, and connections.

Think beyond the confines of a regular classroom (Scarborough Beach, Narragansett, R.I. photo credits Bent)

Welcome to Experiential Leadership.  This is a class where you flex that independent streak you know you have.  Although it might seem a little scary, or you might think this is a piece of cake, it is a class where you prove to yourself you can do whatever you set your mind to!

The initial post (blog one) is due by Friday, January 31@ 11:59 pm.  Responses to two (2) other students are due by Sunday, February 2nd @ 11:59 pm.

In this first week of class, you will be thinking differently than a traditional English classroom.  I want you to:

1) Introduce yourself to me:
-tell me your reason for wanting to join this class...do not tell me you joined because it sounded easy...
-tell me your interests....(not your life plan)....what you like to do and maybe even what you are passionate about
-tell me about what you want to do after high school...trade school, college, workforce, the armed forces...
-tell me what you have most proud of doing so far in your life
-tell me about your time management or lack of time management
-tell me something I would not normally know about you...especially if I had you as an English student junior year

2) I want you to go to your local library and do the following:
-obtain a library card, if you do not already have one
-renew your library card, if it needs to be renewed
-take a selfie with the librarian and post it to your blog this week....and yes I do mean a selfie with the librarian (not Ms. Costello....the librarian in your town).  If the librarian will not do that with you, take a selfie of you and your library card inside (no cheating and doing this outside) the library and post it to your blog.

3) If you have an idea for this class (what you might like to do...or where you might like to focus), tell me about it.  (If you do not have an idea....what are you thinking about...even if it is wild...one of my students in last year's class came up with this wild idea about Cat Yoga...I laughed, and she did too....but you know what, she did it!)

4) Connections: Choose another form of social media and CONNECT your blog so that others may share in your journey through this class.....screenshot your social media connection AND post a picture of this share in your blog.

Remember initial blog is due Friday, January 31st with responses to two other people by Sunday, February 2nd. Don't forget.