January-Stuck Like Glue-Sugarland

Future giant thumbtack

Towards the end of the semester, I visited the Art I classes where small groups were making giant creations of everyday items out of cardboard.  Students of all grades were intently working together to create a spatula, thumbtack, glasses, bra, and umbrella.  Many of the creations are now on display in the library if you have time to swing by and take a look.  It was fun to watch students problem solve and think creatively as they developed their ideas.

A little too much glue on this one.

Umbrella

 

 In the meantime, one of my responsibilities as assistant principal is the master schedule.  This doesn't just mean I help coordinate who teaches what, where, and when-there are so many intricacies that I have spent well over 100 hours meeting and learning about every step of the process and how each effects all of the different programs we offer to students.  The exciting thing is now we are almost ready to start the registration process.  Here is a freshman registration sheet finally ready to go out to current 8th graders.

January-Finally-CeCe Peniston

Presenting to a 9th grade English class

 One of my favorite projects that happens at Bozeman High is the English IV Senior Project.  In this project, students choose any topic that interests them and not only research that topic, but also conduct interviews, develop different writing pieces, creative representations, and complete an outreach project that gets them involved in the community in some way. 

Students present to other 9th-11th grade English classes and are also judged by members of the community to provide an authentic audience for their work.

It's Montana-of course there was a presentation on cowboys!

An original piece of art for a presentation on massage therapy.

I liked this presentation on logic and motivation

At the end of each semester it's so exciting to see community members come in to evaluate their work and presentations and to see the students have the opportunity to show off the culmination of their work to their parents, peers, and teachers.

An original piece of art from a presentation on criminology.

January-Coming Home-Diddy

I always think it's interesting how many students come back to the high school to visit when they are back in town on a college break.  I think it is a powerful testament to the relationships that are formed and how much they connect with the teachers and staff.  It is also cool when they are able to come back and talk about their post-high school adventures with current high school students and inspire them with ideas about the possibilities beyond high school.  The counseling department often hosts alumni panels where students talk about college, living on your own, internships, studying abroad, and more.  Here is one outstanding BHS grad who spent time abroad in Mongolia traveling from yurt to yurt for an economic research project she was working on at Yale.





Here are some excerpts from class visits in January.  Social dance in gym was always one of my favorites so it was fun to pop into a P.E. class where students were working on some of their moves.












In jewelry/metals students were working on all kinds of creative projects.






Pro-Start students hosted a luncheon for the school board and I tried the lavender ice cream-it was quite refreshing and I had to ask for the recipe for the black bean soup.



Students in a world geography class started class by discussing whether or not American troops should be withdrawn from Afghanistan.  It was a spirited discussion on both sides with impressive reasoning.

January-He Got Game-Public Enemy

We've moved into the heart of the winter sports season and the administrators have divided up the games so at least two of us are at every home basketball game for boys and girls.  It's a busy season with games almost three days a week sometimes.

It's always fun to watch the students enjoying the game, although I find it interesting to see how society has changed with technology.  Sometimes I like to sit behind the students to see how many are watching the game and how many are on their phones-texting, Snapchatting, playing games and taking selfies.

January-Upside Down-Jack Johnson

I love when I get to visit classrooms and teachers are doing creative, innovative things that really require students to think.  Early in January I visited a math teacher who was introducing inversions by having students write their name in a way that read both upside down and right side up.




I was intrigued so had to try it myself.  Would it be easier in cursive or block letters?  Could I make it more interesting or artistic? I ended up needing graph paper and had to take it home to work on over the weekend.

And just when I was feeling good about my creation, the math teacher brought me an amazing example a student had made in leather!  When they're interested and engaged, students come up with amazing work.