Not many comments this week. On another note, I am pleased to share that the Performance Opportunities are showing good signs of growth. I am halfway through the pile, and I am happy with the kids’ efforts. No surprise, but the ones who got feedback on the practice are doing better on the performance. Hopefully, this will motivate more to take advantage of the practice opportunities and the feedback that comes from it. Feedback fuels learning.

“We are getting tons of assignments, and then we don’t know if we turn them in or not in class. Can we throw away all those loose completed-in-class assignments, please???” –Anonymous

Anonymous, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will work harder to be more clear about what we will do and turn in, and what we will do and not turn in. Sorry I have not been as clear about this as I could be. As for the “loose assignments,” if I have not collected it, I am not going to, but some may be worth keeping to use on performance opportunities. Again, I will try to be more helpful with this. As for anything that I have returned,  you may throw it away, I am keeping everything that I want kept in your portfolio. Hope this helps.

“Hey, Sy. I’ve been trying not to take advantage of the this class; however, I haven’t turned in many assignments. I think it’s because any slack I can get, I take because I have all honors classes and after school activities, and it’s just hard to get everything done. I am trying to turn in more class work.” –Anonymous

Anonymous, I am glad that you are seeking to balance your crazy schedule in a way that also enables you to take advantage of the practice opportunities in this class. Hopefully, our heart-to-heart as a class this week helps in this regard. 

“I like the entry tasks and how they don’t have to do with class. They are just fun little questions to start the class; sometimes they are more serious and other times they are not, and I like that. Also, I don’t mind the EOW because I don’t think having a longer EOW would help. A small one once a week isn’t asking much of us if you think about it.” –Anonymous

Anonymous, glad that you find value in our “connections” entry tasks. Thank you for your mature perspective on the EOW’s. Hopefully, our discussion this week resonated with you as it confirmed your thinking on the subject.

“Hey, Sy. I just wanted to say thanks for giving us the opportunity to learn and not stress about schoolwork. I appreciate it greatly. I feel that in your class I have learned not only about literature and sentence structure but also about life. I would like to thank you for that.” –Anonymous

Hey, Anonymous, I just wanted to say thank you for thanking me. Project 180 feels lonely at times as I wonder and worry about its impact. Your words help. A lot. Thank you.

Have a great weekend, all.