Day One

OK – well day one seemed to go well, although I may have terrified more than inspired. Increasingly I want students to know up front what a  project-based course means. This has gone beyond the rap about participating and no place to hide in the classroom to include a bit about how the course will be graded. I find the whole “no child left” thing instilled a desire, no, a need, to be graded and testes seemingly all the time. Not for all students, but some really need to periodic kick of a grade. Far too carrot and stick for me, so I explain a bit about the type of feedback they will receive. I simply can’t place a letter or numerical grade on the projects – you either execute the project or you don’t. So – after the long, long chat about the syllabus and grading and the content of the course and so on we got up on our feet and, well – the standard – name, what you study and something interesting about yourself. I must say – some interesting things to remember people by. After we played a brief word game in which students draw an unusual word out of a glass and then come up with a definition for it. This was somewhat successful – but the failing was not to have a separate word for each student. Only about ½ -2/3rds volunteered to join the game. The next class we will do something that will involve everyone. Looking forward to chatting about the Futurists on Thursday.