Juxtaposed Eulogies

One of my favorite words in the English language is "juxtaposition." Read Wikipedia's entry for Juxtaposition

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You promised academic integrity, remember?



As I think about the Senior Presentation of Learning, perhaps my favorite mode of communicating growth and insight is through juxtaposition. Quite simply because juxatoposing images with words or words with words or images with sound immediately creates a comparison and a contrast where there might not otherwise been one. As humans, we thrive by creating order from the chaos that we experience through our senses, thus, a great communicator manipulates or plays with this inherent characteristic. We want to make sense of things, so placing two unexpected items together tickles our brains....

Eulogies are quite another matter from juxtaposition. Eulogies are those speeches, or oral tributes given at funerals for the dead. Eulogies can be difficult to write if the person was just not such a nice person, as their intention is to praise the dead. If you don't believe me, look at the etymology of the word (the history). We have "eu" from Greek which means "good" and "logos" (also Greek) which means word, phrase, or speech. In other logos, we mean a speech made up of good. While I don't wish any of you death, I do thiink that thinking about your Senior Presentation of Learning as an opportunity for you to eulogize the death of your high school career. You are laying to rest a part of your life, and your P.O.L. ought to highlight the "good works" that you experienced. Now, just as it's troublesome to write a eulogy about a bad person, so it might be difficult to eulogize (write good words) about parts of your high school career that might be unaccomplished or off-track...I encourage you to rethink those times that you or others might even see as wasted and discover what was good about it?

So, to keep this short....

I encourage you to collect all your materials together in a box. Read every shred of history you have over the last 4 or 5 years. Start placing objects and words together to create a juxtaposed eulogy of your high school career.

I have been ending these blogs with questions. This time, it's your turn. What questions should be asked at the end of this blog???? Post them...Answer other people's questions...Be engaged.

Academic Growth in 2007

Academic Growth in 2007

At the heart of public education is the idea that we as a citizenry should educate our populace. According to the PBS documentary, School: the Story of American School Eucation (2001) three questions have been at the heart of the educational debate since as far back as Plymouth Rock. Those questions are:

What is the purpose of a public education?
Who is to receive the educational services provided by the public?
How does government ensure the quality of these educational services?

With our school’s fate hanging in the balance, these questions take on even more importance as we as a school are asked to demonstrate the school’s commitment to academic achievement. You as seniors are being asked to demonstrate your academic growth in your portfolios and presentations of learning. And this is precisely why, I want you each to think about what does academic growth mean. As you formulate your definitions, I hope you consider multiple ways of demonstrating your growth, and challenge yourselves to show your learning in ways that might be outside of your own comfort zone.

Most P.S.1 students are people who take great pride in being individuals, in not conforming to what some might call the dominant society. I certainly am one to champion those who stand up against oppressive belief systems; however, as I grow older, I am less likely to simply discount the dominant society as being stupid or annoying or just plain wrong, and rather, I strive to understand where might there be common ground between the various sides, and look for solutions there.

I encourage you to take pride in what P.S.1 does well (respectfully allowing for creativity and individuality). I also challenge you to take into consideration deeply:

• How DO you demonstrate that you have grown academically?
• What observable measures can you bring forth?
• How can you use descriptive statistics to show your acquisition of knowledge?
• How can you do this succinctly, perhaps in a graph?
• How are you measuring yourself and your journey?
• How do you know that you have achieved academic growth?
• What areas are you still deficit in?
• How are you pushing yourself now to learn and grow?