got a creative project going in class--or in life?

[Connie Weber]

Hey, just invited a lot of folks who have a lot going on. Do you have any projects you've created or participated in over the last year or so that you found satisfyingly creative--or interesting--or "mindset changing"?

[Connie Weber]

Ok, I'm answering my own forum. What I'm into right now for creativity is making playlists. I've immersed myself in the world of iPods and music, making arrangements that fit moods, life-stages, activities. Anyone else "over the top"about music now?
By the way, I just bought This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin, and Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks....

[Penelope Millar]

Not more than usual, but I thought of a couple of things to recommend to you if you use iTunes: last.fm with the audioscrobbler program, and moody.

[Kevin]

I have a number of PBL websites that are designed to make it easy for teachers to launch into an exciting project with kids. They are designed to encourage problem solving, collaboration and 21st century skills. Go here to take a look: http://web.mac.com/khoneycuttessdack/Kevin/21st_Century_Collaborati...

[Connie Weber]

Kevin,
Yow!! Zounds!! I suddenly feel very wealthy in model resources for 21st century learning. The Doomsday project seems especially interesting to me. I love how empowering and collaborative your projects are. And the creative component is clearly there-- Thank you so much for sharing your resources...keep 'em coming.

[Jennifer Haines]

These are wonderful, Kevin. What creative ideas!

[Greg Oz]

Last term - we made 'How to' videos ('How to catch public transport) for the lower level English as a Second Language students.

This term (coming up) we're going to make "Life-story" movies. Really looking forward to it.

[Kevin]

Greg,
These projects sound cool! I'd love to see the life-story movies when they're done!

[Jennifer Haines]

I'd be interested, too. These sound like such a wonderful way to engage ESL learners.

[Greg Oz]

Hi Jennifer and Kevin, thanks for the interest. I know my students are keen to get comments from other people about their movie-work so have a look at my EFLclassroom ning space

I'll upload the "Life story" movies they did this year. I'm going to make it a bit more challenging in the new year so will be interesting to see how they go. Jennifer I'll have to add you as a friend so you can view the movies.

[Connie Weber]

Hi Greg,
Hey, perhaps you could consider getting that wonderful review (your personal reflections) of the showcase up here, on your blog? BTW, did you get my comments over at EFL?

[Jennifer Haines]

It's funny you should mention play lists, because one of my most popular projects for my American Lit. students is to make play list soundtracks for novels that we read. I have one student who's really amazing at this. He was also in my British lit. class last year, and his Oliver Twist mix was so good that Con and I were driving in the car listening to it and could tell exactly which part of the book each song was for without looking at his write-up. I've also been making many play lists for similar reasons to you.

Also, I have 9 extremely dedicated young women ranging from 14 - 18 who are in my short story writing class and they are producing just amazing work in every way. Each one is very dedicated to her own project and they've absolutely blown me away.

Thirdly, I'm working on a new mystery series and it's the first time I've tried my hand at writing mysteries. I'm really finding myself challenged by the genre, but I love writing with my new character at the center.

[Connie Weber]

Hi Jen,

This summer I attended Harvard Project Zero and had a class called "Soundtracks for Understanding." It sounds like your curriculum is parallel. I think making soundtracks can be such a powerful tool for (believe it or not) assessment. Want to use it in class, but younger kids don't typically have a very big repertoire of songs they know (but maybe I'm just assuming this). We had to do it ourselves at Project Zero, working collaboratively on choosing music for themes and then explaining our choices. Why is music so powerful?

We'll have to look at each other's "playlists for life" sometime.

Where are you teaching the short story class? Maybe you could ask your students if they'd like to post a sample--or better yet, podcast a reading of their stories. I have all the equipment, just stop by Emerson.

Does your development of the mystery series character have anything to do with your second-life gaming experiences? I would think one could enrich the other.

Take Care, Jennifer--thanks for sharing this!