News From Room 402 / November 2013 update
Above: Rocio, Dylan and Anthony celebrate International Day of the Girl 2013 in October / photo credit MingRoseC on flickr
Some first quarter highlights:
Global Feminism ended with final projects that ranged from films to workshops to zines that addressed topics ranging from street harassment to understanding hip hop through a feminist lens (examples here and here). We expanded our feminist library to include more than 25 titles, we wrapped up our Half the Sky book clubs, and we’re making plans for a spring conference/symposium to expand our conversation about youth feminism beyond our classroom. We’re two weeks into our second quarter, and our new Global Fem class has already expanded on the work of the first class by making its own MAKERS videos!
Physical Computing (formerly Electronics) ended with projects ranging from an electronic punching bag to a talking drinking fountain to stuffed animals that light up to piano stairs, in progress. Four of our students proposed (and were accepted) to lead a physical computing workshop at Educon in January, and are thrilled to be preparing for that! Also, we were fortunate to be one of the first schools funded by MakerBot Academy (+ a generous contribution from The Great Fredini), and we received our MakerBot in late November! We’re going to make so many things …
Cartography ended with the paper mache globe project and with final projects that ranged from musical maps to postcards sent from “imaginary” places.
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And now: Senior Projects! In addition to teaching Global Feminism again, I’m coaching 75 seniors through the process of proposing and executing a senior project grounded in their own areas of interest. Topics include breed-specific legislation, cultural appropriation in fashion, game design, sex education, GMOs, and … serial killers. Final presentations are planned for January 24th, 2014.
2010-2014 