Focus on the College Essay

Wednesday, September 29th

On Wednesday we started class with another game of charades. This time the theme was 'cartoon characters,' inspired by La'nae's expert drawings of all things animated.

Jen as 'Oscar the Grouch'

Sharaya laughing at something....

Dominique attempting to mime 'Penny Proud' to her group....

Dominique's group doing their best to get it....

Katie, Crystal, Le'von, and Luis trying to figure out their groups character

After a lively game of charades, Jomaira led the class in an activity to help students identify some of the important characteristics about themselves

In their journals students responded to three prompts:

I am....

I believe...

I value...

In response to each of these prompts, students generated lists of things they "are," believe," and "value." After sharing these with their groups, students chose one quality, belief, or value to write about in more depth. After writing these students got to share them with their groups and get feedback from their group members. In the groups the college students also wrote in response to the question and shared with the Parkway students.

La'nae

Aaron and Dorian

Darcy and Jen's group discussing (Ramire, Aaron, Dorian, and Sharaya)

Nadine and Le'von

Talking with Briana about her essay

Dominique

Tanisha and Shelby

Luis

Le'von

Britney M. working on her essay

At the end of class Jomaira gave each of us three small slips of paper. On each one we wrote something that was important to us or made us who we are. We all stood in a circle and dropped one of our pieces of paper in the middle of the circle. Afterward we went around and said what we had dropped. Then we each dropped a second piece of paper and went around said what we had dropped and what we were still holding on to. The activity helped to bring home for everyone in the room what we valued and what made us who we are. It was an excellent way to end class as students continue to work on their essay drafts, which are due on Monday. The feeling in the room was that everyone was connecting the importance conveying what is essential about you in your college essay.

Jomaira leading our closing activity

Oral Histories: Monday & Tuesday , Sept 27th, 28th

On Monday, students worked in three small groups to generate a list of questions that they would want to ask one another in an oral history to help shed light on the question:

How have the experiences or people in your life shaped the way you see the world?

Below is the list of questions that all three groups generated:

ORAL HISTORY QUESTIONS: PWAY SSB 9/27/10

-Describe the street you grew up on

-Do you have a favorite school experience

-When you were 10, what did you want to be when you grew up? –Why

-What do you like to do in your spare time?

-How do you express yourself?

-Tell me about your family?

-how many siblings do you have?

-how do you relate to your siblings?

-Do you have a best friend/s?

-what do you look for in a friend?

-what characteristics do you share

-Do your friends tie into your future?

-Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

-What do you have to do to get there

-What kind of music do you listen to?

-What kind of impact do you want to have on the world and our community

-How was your school experience?

-How was your childhood?

-How would you describe yourself as a child?

-What is 1 event in your life that really defines you? Describe the event and why it describes you?

-If you could go back to any grade, which would you go to and why?

-What’s a typical day like for you?

-What’s your most embarrassing experience?

-If you could change something about your school what would it be and why?

-What’s your favorite school lunch?

-Who are your closest friends and why?

-What teacher will you remember the most and why?

-What teacher had the most impact on you and why?

-How was your first day of high school and what would you change about it?

-Where do you see yourself in 2 years?

-Do you want to live in Philly for the rest of your life, why or why not? If not, where would you go?

-What would you tell an 8^th grade student about Parkway West?

-Is there any past high school friends you wish you could keep in contact with? Why or why not?

-What was your favorite subject in your schooling experience thus far, has it changed? Why or why not? Why was it your favorite?

-Was there ever a dilemma in high school where it made you want to quit?

-Was there ever someone who wished to keep you from achieving? How did you respond to them?

-Did you have a job in high school? What was it and did you enjoy your experience working there? Why or why not?

-Who was your biggest high  school crush? Did you ever date? Why or why not?

-What was your biggest concern about high school?

On Tuesday, students continued to work in their groups to plan and record an oral history.  Each group picked someone to be interviewed, someone to record the interview using a Flip video camera, and people to ask the questions. As a group, students selected questions from the full list to ask in their interview. 

The videos from the oral histories are posted on youtube (most of the files are too big to post here, but I will include links soon).

Briana being interviewed about a defining experience in her life.

Briana being interviewed by Tanisha and Le'von while Sharaya recorded the interview.

Oral History with Briana

Below are links to youtube for the video from one of the class' interviews. This one is with Briana and focuses on her schooling experiences and where she sees herself in 10 years.

Prepping for Briana's interview.

Tanisha asking a question

  

Interview 1 with Briana: How do you express yourself? Do you have siblings? How do you relate to them?

Interview 2 with Briana: talking about her educational experiences.

Interview 3 with Briana: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Briana Interview 4: below

Interviews with Lenyce

Although Lenyce wasn't "officially" being interviewed for the oral histories, below are videos of Lenyce answering questions posed to her by her group.

What do you do in your free time, Lenyce?

How has your high school career changed you?

Friday: creating connection across parkway and the bi-co

Friday, September 17

Reading an Image

Monday, Sept 20th


In preparation for our own self portraits, we explored, analyzed and discussed the content of two sets of photographic portraits. Drawing on a lesson plan developed by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), students in the class responded to the questions about Dorthea Lange's Migrant Mother. We discussed the emotions the portrait evoked and collectively answered the question "What the (Migrant Mother) would say if she could speak." We then broke into small groups and analyzed the Social Documentary photographer Milton Rogovin's portraits of a working mother.  After deconstructing these portraits, we ended the class by beginning to think about how to analyze colleges by filling out What Do you Want in a College, an information sheet with questions about our own personal preferences for campus size, location and academic offerings. 

(Adrienne Webb)

                                          

Students' response to the question: What would you want to convey about yourself in a self-portrait?:

-My heart

-How I think

-I would want to convey innocence, vulnerability and youth and wittiness

-Happiness (Winnie the pooh)

-I would want to convey me showing my true-self and how good I look

-I would like to convey my determination & creativity in a portrait

-I would love to convey my superb leadership abilities and/or athletic abilities

-Sports/athletics, happiness

-Look heroic

-Happiness, struggle, strength, pink

-My personality (my smile, my energy, & my brightness)—just in a glance!

-A image of myself expressing how I feel and why I feel this way how and how can you tell my feelings

-Convey art (with kids drawing different pictures)

-Who I really am

-A strong young woman. Educated and have self-respect.

-Happiness J

-I would like to convey my music

-My athletic and muscular body. My cute face and hair. And nice big white smile.

Day 3: Monday Mural Day!

On Monday we welcome a new group of college students to our class, as well as Mural Arts Program muralist, Shira Walinsky!

We began class  by brainstorming questions about being an artist/murals in the city/and Mural Arts Program to ask Shira.

To introduce ourselves we went around the room and each asked a question. Some of the questions we had were:

• Is it hard to think of an idea?
• What murals did you do? Where are they?
• What inspired you to be an artist?
• Where do you get your inspiration?
• What is your favorite mural in Philly?
• What does it mean to be an artist?
• How many years does it take to become an artist?
• How long does it take to complete a mural?
• What does Mural Arts entail?
• What age did you start your first mural?
• What made you want to be an artist?
• What else does Mural Arts include?
• WHY is painting a mural so important?
• What happens when you mess up on a mural?
• How do you design a mural with a community?

We spent class learning more about the history of murals in general, the Mural Arts Program in Philly, and talking about specific murals we liked in the city. One that kept coming up is on 52nd st and is pictured below:

 

Parkway students also talked about their interest in creating self-portraits that would be accompanied by quotes or different kinds of text. This is an idea that we will follow up on in the SSB in the coming weeks!

The rest of class we worked on finishing up decoriating our journals and getting to know each other.

Day 2: "I am from..."

Wednesday, September 8th



We began Wednesday's class with a discussion of our favorite teachers from the past...and what about them made them our favorites.

Common themes of what made a good teacher included:

-a person who explains things well enough so that when you go home, you know what you're supposed to be doing

-someone who is real with you

-a good sense of humor

-being strict and making sure you learn what you need to

-someone who explains things well

We tied this conversation to a free-write about our past experiences in school, both positive and negative. 

Transitioning from our conversation about school, teaching and learning, we returned to our work with the "Where I'm from" poems.

Each student and the college facilitators chose one line from their poem to write on a colored square to share with the class. After everyone wrote their lines we did a "read-around" where we went around the circle and each student read their line without others responding (except for some snaps and "deeeeeep"s). 

Fueled by the energy from the 'read around' the students decided they wanted to arrange their lines from the poem on the wall during class.

We posted each tile on the wall surrounding a quote from Wendell Berry which read:

"If you don't know where you're from, you'll have a hard time saying where you're going."

We spent the rest of class collaging our journals in a way that represented who we are...the fake flowers we found in rm. 318 were a big hit!

 

Below are more photos from the mosaic of lines from students' poems: