Arts Academy Revitalization Action Team

Val’s Vision (first draft) for Crossover Days

This is my vision (first draft) for Crossover Days. Most of the examples involve my class because I have the most experience with how it could be chunked up.

I hope that this will be a jumping-off point for discussion, because I think we could make this into something great.

What is a “Crossover Day”? A Crossover Day is a day each week when participating programs offer classes in the style of the Community of Learners or Adult Ed. Classes can be a single session or multiple sessions. Community members can enroll (if allowed by the instructor) for a small fee. All posting of classes and sign-up for classes is done online.

• Crossover Days happen every Friday in both sessions. All classes are 2.5 hours long. I think the regularity of every Friday is important to maintain, especially if we can get community members used to checking the Web site to see what’s happening on a Friday.
• Instructors can enter course information online.
• Students, staff, and community members can sign up for a course online.
• Instructors can offer chunks of courses. Example: Ms. Green will offer a 6 session course in PHP Basics. Ms. Green will offer a 6 session course in Advanced PHP. Prerequisite: PHP Basics or permission from the instructor.
• Instructors can offer small chunks. Example: Ms. Green will offer a 3 session course on combining Flash and PHP. Prerequisites: Flash Basics, PHP Basics.
• Instructors can offer a common course during Crossover Days. Example: Ms. Manzi will offer a 3 session course in Layout Basics. Ms. Green, Mr. Nichols, and Mr. Beane will require their students to take this course.
• Community members can take classes. Example: Mr. Smith, who lives nearby, is thrilled to see that Ms. Krasnow is offering a 3 session course on finding the right market for your product. He signs up online and pays a small fee to enroll.
• Community members can teach classes. Example: Ms. Nadeau, a Portland resident, is interested in teaching a 2 session Horticulture Crossover in Phytoremediation.
• 8th Grade Exploratory Option 1: Mr. Beane will offer a 5 session exploratory course for 8th graders interested in Video Tech.
• 8th Grade Exploratory Option 2: Jennifer, a student at Moore, sees that Ms. Green is offering a 5 session Robotics and Intro to Java Programming class. The class is open to PATHS students and 8th graders.
• Semester Class Option: Ms. Green will offer a 10 session class in Using CSS for Web Design. The class is open to PATHS students, all students in the Portland Schools, and community members (for a small fee).
• Students can teach other students: Clarissa is so good at PhotoShop that she wants to teach a class on Advanced Image Processing Techniques. She works with Ms. Green to develop a lesson plan and then offers a 2 session course for 10 students.
• Crossover Days can be outside the usual subject area. Ms. Green will offer a 6 session class in Argentine Tango. Class size is limited to 20.
• Crossover Days happen every Friday, but instructors don’t have to offer one every Friday. Example: Ms. Green holds a regular class for 5 Fridays so students can finish a big project. Or: Ms. Green and her students take Ms. Manzi’s course in Layout Basics for 3 Fridays.

There are a lot of logistics to work out (scheduling, insurance, contract requirements, etc.) but I think it would really energize PATHS to have something like this going on.

Thoughts on “Crossover Days”

I was just thinking about the idea of “crossover days” that we were talking about at the meeting and had some “what if”s:

What if crossover days were open to the public for a small fee?
What if crossover days could be a one-time offering OR a sequence of sessions?
What if students could be teaching assistants for a crossover (or teach a crossover themselves)?
What if the offerings were done on a Web site that took care of class size limits and enrollment, and students (or community) could sign up on the Web?
What if a sequence of crossover days could be a “mini-course” or an 8th grade exploratory?

Meeting Notes: PhotoShop Meeting with Bob Bettencourt

Summary

Val, Dave B., Dave N., Diane, and Jess (Diane’s intern) met with Bob Bettencourt to plan the combined PhotoShop course.

The course will take place in early December. Val, Dave B. and Diane will combine classes, with Dave and Diane’s students in 321 and Val’s students in 320. We will open the door between the rooms. Dave Nichols’s students will have their own section in the Graphic Arts classroom.

Goals of the project:

• students understand the principles of good design
• students have basic PhotoShop proficiency

Please continue reading for meeting details.
Continue reading Meeting Notes: PhotoShop Meeting with Bob Bettencourt…