Shelter Dogs and the History of the Skirt

A couple of weeks ago I saw a story on CBS Sunday Morning about a woman who had published a book of photographs she took of dogs in her local shelter. The photographs were not your usual mug shots, but were black and white and “arty” in nature (http://www.traerscott.com/portfolio/shelter-dogs.phtml?3). She posted these pictures at her local pet store and the adoption rate at the shelter went up. Every year, I have sooooooo many kids proposing to do their projects with photography or with animals, so I thought this might make a great project around here. I sold the idea to one of my seniors and she is planning to work with the shelter and a local portrait photographer to see if some of the animals in our shelter can find homes.

I checked the CBS Sunday Morning site, and, as it turns out, they have lots of neat articles that were possibilities for Senior Projects. I found articles which mentioned the medical advances on the front lines of war zones (survival rate has increased from 75% in the first Gulf War to more than 90 percent today), the cultural importance of blogs (and cursing, but that might not be an appropriate SP choice!), the history of the skirt, the stigma that Muslim Americans face since 9/11, the “Paradox of Choice” (think Wal-Mart), musicians selling their music for commercials are mocked by other musicians such as Neil Young, offering “The Bible as Literature” as an elective in high schools, and many more.

Check it out. http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/sunday/main3445_overflow.shtml

Getting Started, Again.

So, school has started again. Four days into the semester and the proposal letters are due Friday. Kids are either in the nervous, fresh, excited phase of a new endeavor (Senior Project) or they suffer from the "what the heck am I going to do for my project?!" syndrome. You might recognize the symptoms of this syndrome: blank stares, blank pages, blankety-blank language overheard on occasion.

Today I conferenced with three classes of seniors, and, tomorrow, I have three more. We talked about the "Goldilocks Factor," as I have recently termed it (recently, as in it came to me in the middle of one of my class presentations today). For us, one of the most important phases of the SP is the pre-planning, topic searching phase. We truly believe that if the seniors really think about their plan for the semester it will save them much frustration and heartache in the long run. The "Goldilocks Factor" goes like this. . . a paper topic that is not too big, not too small, but is "just right" is the one that will a. be manageable given their time constraints, b. produce a great persuasive argument with social significance (a requirement for our paper), and c. have enough current resources (but not too many) that the paper is interesting and timely. In addition, their "Project or Practical Experience" must meet those same Goldilockesque characteristics. We don't give extra credit for going above and beyond the 15-20 hour time requirement. The senior teachers and I encourage kids to choose a topic that can be completed within that time frame and can show growth or meet a goal. Sometimes they are so optimistic about what they will be able to achieve (along with the million other things they are working on) that they get themselves in a bind about halfway through the semester. We like to avoid binds.

It is hard to find just the right paper topic to go with just the right project, but the time and effort we put in to helping the kids refine their ideas is well worth it. Our goal is to show the seniors that Senior Project doesn't have to be so huge and difficult that it takes over their lives. Senior Project is a manageable endeavor if you just remember that curly-headed little busybody and her three furry victims.

Let's start a discussion in the SPN Forum about paper topics and projects that meet the Goldilocks Factor. Is anyone out there? Yoo hoo. Yes, you, with the computer. Post something in the Forum.