So I am already working on the preparations for the next Photo II assignment and it struck me:  This is a group project and they are required to work as a group and individually as parts of the whole - not what happens in some other classes.   Apparently, lots of teachers have group work but the members of those groups are still working independently within that group.  So where is the cooperation?  It isn't there.  I know that some teachers give all members of the group the same exact grade.  Really?  What does that teach a student?  It teaches that no matter how hard or little you work, you will all be rewarded the same.  Great lesson there.  In my zine assignments, I observe constantly.  I notice who works and who does not, who contributes to the group functioning as a well oiled machine who who tries to throw a wrench in the works.  Each students gets an individual grade.  They complete their own self assessment.

Perhaps we need to rename these assignments.  They are not group projects.  They are cooperative assignments.  Can I copyright that?  Or will one of my colleagues who reads this take this as her own idea?

I tried something new for the critique of the Music and Art project on Friday:  I played the music the student listened to while we viewed the work on the screen.  While starting the day off with Einsturzende Neubauten and KMFDM might have been a bit alarming for the period one kiddies, I liked this method.  It enabled the work to make so much more sense.  And speaking of senses, I think the kids ended up linking the music they heard to the visceral response in ways they had not thought possible.  They wanted to trade genres.  They wanted me to give them a new one.  Some even wanted to pick their own genre.  I - as usual - refused to give in to their whims.  My reasons are that if they choose the genre, they already have their own personal associations that would direct the type of photographs they would take.  If they are introduced to a music they never heard or know little to nothing about, the response is more pure.  I like what I got, for the most part.  Of course, there are a couple of kids who bs their way through the assignment and the silence form the peanut gallery was telling.

Last week was also a big week because I handed out the individualized assignments.  Each year, in the third marking period, I think I know the Photo II kids well enough to give each one of them a unique assignment based on what I know about them, their strengths and their weaknesses.  Usually I get some people who say the assignments is too hard.  Well, this year, I was met with mass approval.  Hooray!  The first time I encountered this.  The students were very pleased and some even thanked me.  Whoa.  Some have begun shooting this weekend.  I want to keep pushing them harder and I think I need to be more honest with my feedback.  Well, maybe not more honest, but less kind.  Some of the kids are not helped by my efforts to be kind when they are just being lazy.  Sure, the kids words are still followed by honest grades, but I think I need to be more to the point.  Does the work look like filler?  Just say it.  I won't say it in a way that hurts feelings, but I can sense the senior laziness start to creep in and I refuse to let the be a repeat of last year.