November 26, Day 7

I had first period as a prep period and used the time to stop by Rona for supplies and to set out the tools for today. Not everything was ready in time, but sometimes you can't prepare the lesson that you want because of time constraints and so you prepare the lesson that fits the amount of time that you have. Subtle, but serious, difference and a key to survival and sanity.

In second period I showed 61 the Mine Kafon video (http://vimeo.com/51887079) as an intro into the idea of thinking before building. We then started our Square Foot Garden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_foot_gardening). I decided that if I wait for the woodshop to be ready that I will be waiting for ever, screw it, we build today! I printed off some plans (https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B241wKO6bJmjM21UWGJyVDRWcjg) which are intentionally vague as I wanted the students to problem solve on their own. All of my handouts use Open Dyslexic as a font (http://dyslexicfonts.com/) however this may not be evident if one does not already have it installed on their PC. This free font has a weight, or gravity, to the letters which resists rotation and floating, but I digress. The students took to the task well and were eager to put the horticulture and math work we've been doing to use. Sadly, Brad still can't figure out area.

Period three saw us attend an assembly geared towards autism awareness.

In period four we continued watching clips of the Matrix in preparation for a discussion on Plato's "Allegory of THE CAVE" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQfRdl3GTw4).