#i dont know if thats really fair to Daniel though. thinking about it a lot of his personhood and story is intentionally hidden

[yoshistory]

unfortunately now want to make an Amnesia Rebirth amv

[sidesteppostinghours]

41 and 58 for ships of your choice??

evening! thank you for the ask :D

41. Which one would take their jacket it off and drape over the other one because they were visibly shivering?

Caine- now how do you answer this when all three of their love languages are acts of service to some extent/lh

if i had to say though, mooost likely ortega? i could see them doing it out of general chivalrousness. i know chen has given his jacket to step before but those were in entirely different cricumstances so idk if hed do it normally. caine wouldnt give their jacket by virtue of them Not Having a jacket to give in the first place. theyre basically a cartoon character and they wear the same hoodie everyday. i love them. hed probably give his hoodie if he felt the others would need it though.

Cynthia- also ortega! to be fair, theres not a lot of opportunities to do it (thanks los diablos), but cynthia Does get cold very easily, and like i mentioned before, general chivalry on ortegas part lol. cynthias also smaller than ortega, so shed look super cute in her jacket, which ortegas definitely going to take advantage of given the chance.

58. Who’s more likely to hold a grudge after an argument?

Cyrus- oh yeah, thats cyrus. petty little man whos driven by anger, im sure hes pulled a lot of shit because of arguments before. ortega was usually a victim of this. that said, i dont think theres a lot of opportunities to do that with daniel? heralds usually pretty non-confrontational, and cyrus is good at talking things out reasonably. they dont butt heads aside from some of the Really big things.

Cecilia- hmmm, this is a bit difficult to answer for her and argent since theyre both rather hot headed people, and ceci does have her pride to defend. id have to go with argent though. mostly because ceci is the sort of person to roll with her punches, and at some point shes probably going to get distracted enough to forget about the argument as a whole.

questions are from here!

[pikapepikachuu]

How Josh Wakely landed the Beatles, Dylan, Motown and more

Could I please have a knife and fork, he asks the waiter as we take our seats in Mr Wong, a bustling, upscale modern Chinese restaurant in a converted warehouse in Sydneys CBD. Even as the words are leaving his lips, he knows theres a good chance theyll end up in print. I knew the risk I was taking, he says. He pulled the same stunt on his first date with the woman who was to become his wife. Shes a human rights lawyer and I was a semi-employed screenwriter and I went for the knife and fork. And how did it turn out? I got a second date, but it still burns her, he says. At least it wasnt a spoon. Wakely is quite happy to tell stories against himself. Hes proud of what he has achieved that his success allows him to order the spectacularly good salt-and-pepper Balmain bugs at this restaurant whenever hes in town, for instance and he has ambitions to achieve a lot more. But as a boy from Newcastle, he also knows it doesnt do to get ideas too far above your station. His parents were, comparatively speaking, quite posh his mother was a social worker, his father a teacher but the town in which he was raised was dominated in every sense by the steel plant, at least until it closed in 2000. Everyone was employed in BHP and then everyone wasnt, he says. It was a very working-class world and thats still the world I feel most comfortable in. And yet the one thing I could do was write, though I didnt really know what to do with that.

The salt and pepper Balmain bugs are a highlight.Credit:Louise Kennerley He lasted just five weeks in an arts-law degree at Newcastle Uni his brush with torts was cut short when he rocked up to class dripping from the surf, only to have his tutor tell him, I dont think youll be a lawyer before decamping to Sydney with dreams of making it as a writer. Some good reviews for his 2002 play Woomera in which he also starred as a young detention-centre guard helped earn him a place at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, even though acting wasnt his primary interest. So I rang up the head of WAAPA and said, Ill come to your drama school, but I want to be a writer and director, he recalls, laughing at his own chutzpah. He says Im the only person whos ever rung up and negotiated. The tyro writer did all the acting and dancing expected of him even though he wasnt particularly good at it. Then he would go home and write for four or five hours, every night. By the time he left he had enough work under his belt to convince a series of producers to pay him to write screenplays none of which ever made it to production, he says, because they were just too ambitious for Australian budgets.

Beat Bugs marries the songs of the Beatles with computer-animated critters.Credit:Netflix Thats why his credits pre-Netflix are, to put it mildly, rather thin. But if he was guilty of thinking too big back then, Wakely has zero regrets. There is great power in being wildly naive, he says. Unquestionably, though, his most pie-in-the-sky idea was to go after the rights to the Beatles catalogue with an eye to turning their songs into an animated childrens series.

The bill, pleaseCredit:Karl Quinn Beat Bugs has recently produced its third season for Netflix, won him a screenwriting Emmy, and spawned three albums of Beatles covers by the likes of Sia, Pink, Rod Stewart and The Shins. Next year, a live version is set for an 80-city tour of the US and Canada. It's fair to say it's been a hit. But for a long time after Wakely and his wife moved to Los Angeles about a decade ago, it was just another wildly ambitious plan seemingly destined to go nowhere. One day, Wakelys worried father-in-law, visiting from Australia, tapped on the door of the garage where he wrote and asked what his back-up plan was if he didnt manage to land the Beatles rights. Ive got a good idea for Bob Dylan, came the reply. His father-in-law closed the door, shook his head in despair and walked away. Now I look back on it, he was the sane one, Wakely says. I was insane. When he finally got a chance to put his idea to Sony/ATV, which holds the publishing rights, Wakely rocked up with a demo recorded for $200 by his old mate Daniel Johns in one hand and a pitch document hed put together at a local printing shop in the other. The meeting didnt go well. For some reason, he was made to stand on a cushion, and its very hard to keep your status on a cushion. Then one of the executives fell asleep while Wakely was talking. Worst of all, when he hit play on the stereo it didnt work. And I just remember thinking, I am f---ed. It could have been a fatal blow, but as I left one of the guys there said, Hello, Goodbye would be a good song for children. That was enough. For Sony/ATV, the appeal of Beat Bugs lay in exposing the music to a generation that might otherwise never hear it. It refreshes their catalogues, it keeps them pertinent and present, Wakely says. If you refresh it, it stays in the culture. Presumably there was the small matter of a significant sum being handed over too? To be clear, I think the Beatles were fine without me, he says. I dont think it was ever about the cash. They made the cash long ago. Once he had the rights, everyone wanted to talk to Josh Wakely. In the weeks after, it was all expensive cars coming to take me to meetings at Disney and Dreamworks, he says. But while being feted was nice, he realised that if he signed with one of the majors hed get the bungalow and the credit but he wouldnt be making the show himself. So instead he went with Netflix and the Seven Network in Australia. I came back to Sydney to set up an animation company, which was its own epic journey. It was as hard, really, as securing the Beatles rights. Wakely is a restless spirit, though, and long before the first season was in the can he was onto the next thing. I kept saying to them, You know when I get the Beatles rights then Ill ask for Motown, because that will be electrifying for children. They just thought that was part of my stand-up act. And then Beat Bugs had success and I went back and reminded them. [embedded content] He landed the Dylan catalogue too he even spent a couple of hours in the presence of the great man, an experience he describes as sacred and Universal has given him access to its entire repertoire as he looks for ways to tell stories about the songs, or the stories behind the songs. Because that, really, is his thing. For now at least. When he got the go-ahead to do Beat Bugs, he says, Id never directed a frame of animation and Id only written one childrens script. But I get how music works with storytelling and I took a lot of confidence out of that. Now his slate also includes projects with Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, and a project called 27, based on the mythical age at which so many rock stars have died. What if one of them survived, and you get this alternative history, he says. You can watch it linear or you can watch it interactive.

The dining room in this converted warehouse is buzzing.Credit:Louise Kennerley Despite his success with Beat Bugs and Motown Magic, Wakelys main interest is in adult-oriented drama and comedy. He wants his company, Grace, to develop into a fully fledged production house, ideally based in Australia. The creative talent is here, he says. Its just a question of whether the resources and infrastructure are here and if youd get the blessing [from the studios in LA] to do it here. Theres no knowing how much of this he will be able to bring to fruition, of course. But on the evidence to date, youd be mad to rule out the possibility that he might just pull it off. At any rate, all he can do is ask for the chance to try. The odd power I take into those rooms is a sense that I shouldnt be there anyway, the kid from Newcastle says. So what have I got to lose? Follow the author on Facebook at karlquinnjournalist and on twitter @karlkwin Karl is a senior entertainment writer at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. Most Viewed in Entertainment Loading https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/how-josh-wakely-landed-the-beatles-dylan-motown-and-more-20190408-p51c3z.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

[oldtoothgun]

movies on uk netflix worth watching (that ive seen) (in my opinion)

anastasia (1997) stunningly historical inaccurate but the songs are great and its fun

rise of the guardians (2012) remember when everyone was obsessed with this lmao? anyway its a fun and cute kids movie

the adventures of sharkboy and lavagirl (2005) just for the laffs

kung fu panda (2008) its good!

kung pu panda 2 (2011) its good too!

green room (2015) gross gore effects cool plot good acting whats not to luv

creep (2014) ik this ones kinda polarising but i thought it was pretty good and creepy!

the craft (1996) classic!! bitchy gothy goodness

would you rather (2013) jeffrey combs seeing what gross shit desperate people will do for money? loves it!

the invitation (2015) one of my favourite movies of recent years. could talk about for hours! slowly creepingdinner party horror flick

burlesque (2010) 119 minutes of blatant moulin rogue, cabaret and chicago rip offs and christina aguilera fannig her ego and i enjoy it thouroughly every time

dreamgirls (2006) one of the best movie musicals in my opinion. the sheer raw power and talent in this movie!!

footloose (2011) bad movie but its 1 of the 20 movies miles teller has been in and i’ll take what i can get. also he dances and has a southern accent and wears a cowboy hat ad thats all pretty good.

a single man (2009) colin firth? julianne moore? matthew goode? tom ford? christopher isherwood? in all honestly tho this movie is beautiful.

whiplash (2014) you probably already know. miles teller again as well.

aileen: life and death of a serial killer (2003) documentary about aileen wuornos. its really sad and insightful. worth a watch.

escorts (2015) very nsfw documentary about two escorts living in london. its really interesting and quite funny.

labyrinth (1986) you already know.

boys dont cry (1999) this movie is harrowing as shit and might make you want to die but hilary swank, chloe sevigny and peter sarsgaard put in brilliant performances. i have a LOT of opinions on this movie, not all of them good, but its a pretty good watch.

jackie brown (1997) better than pulp fiction!

the drop (2014) tom hardy and puppy?!?!?!

amanda knox (2016) another really good documentary. 

gone girl (2014) you probably have already seen this.

we need to talk about kevin (2011) creepy and good

layer cake (2004) daniel craigs in it and tom hardys there as well. idk why but ive got this on dvd. crime movie.

legally blonde (2001) classic!!! but seriously this movie is really funny and good

uptown girls (2003) brittany murphy being beautiful and lovely :’( 

a series of unfortunate events (2004) no matter how much he tries, neil patrick harris will never be jim carrey

arthur christmas (2011) this is my favourite christmas movie i cry every time i watch it and i will until i die at age 39

nativity! (2009) another christmas movie i cry at every time. they did it !

fantastic mr fox (2009) the detail in this movie is just lovely. and so is the soundtrack. 

bratz: the movie (2007) shaped me as a person

shrek 2 (2004) classic

eddie the eagle (2016) i love taron egerton i love hugh jackman this movie goes!

funny girl (1968) barbara streisand man.

hotel for dogs (2009) lots of dogs in this one.

annie (2014) very cute

charlie bartlett (2007) i watched this in like 2007 going through aton yelchins filmography and its a pretty dece teen flick

just my luck (2006) lindsey lohan, chris pine, mcfly. whats not to love!

21 and over (2013) agai, shitty movie, but miles teller is in it

legally blonde 2: red, white and blonde (2003) this ones got gay dogs in it!

monsters vs aliens (2009) when i was a kid i used to pretend i was in this movie

the duff (2015) not as awful as you think itll be

flushed away (2006) ive seen this movie so many times man

angus, thongs and perfect snogging (2008) another classic

fargo (1996) blood has been shed, jerry

birdman (2014) its alright

the big short (2015) again, its alright

the big lebowski (1998) yeah well thats just like your opinion man

super (2010) rainn wilson is a gem

kingman: the secret service (2015) exceeds expectations greatly

hunt for the wilderpeople (2016) taika waititi knows what hes doing

seven psychopaths (2012) i love colin farrell i love sam rockwell i love martin mcdonagh. 

drive (2011) youve proabaly seen people raving about this and for good reason! its good! good acting good soundtrack good lookin its got everything. fair bit of violence and fast cars too.

the nice guys (2016) funny and all that. my favourite film of last year. ryan gosling and russell crowe work so well together.

turbo kid (2015) great little movie. post apocalyptic 80s nostalgia gore goodness. netflix describes it as: offbeat, violent

night of the comet (1984) like totally underrated 80s sci fi horror. two teenage girls wake one one day to find everyone turned into dust. its brilliant

coherence (2013) if you liked the invitation youll like this one. indepentant sci fi thriller set at a dinner party. you have to think a little though.

star trek into darkness (2013) aw i went to see this on my 14th birthday

under the skin (2013) this movie is brilliant. netflix says: chilling, scary, cerebral, steamy 

watchmen (2009) worth it for the opening titles alone

equilibrium (2002) GUN KATA

the lobster (2015) this movie is so left field and weird. high hopes for the killing of a sacred deer yorgos!

ex machina (2015) 2015 was such a good year for movies. oscar isaac, domnhall gleeson and alicia vikander are all brilliant

what we do in the shadows (2014) funniest movie ive ever seen. taika working his magic again. if youve met my dad, he’s probably told you to watch it

sing street (2016) funny and good.

let the right one in (2008) kid vampires!

from beyond (1986) one of my fav films ever. i wanna be jeffrey combs so bad.

starry eyes (2014) first time i watched this i thought it sucked but second time around i thought it was weird and cool and its got some good gross bits!

[handslows]

Pretty sure no one should be tolerating the beards when we know how nasty Eleanor was especially towards Harry and then the story of how Danielle basically forced herself on Louis in public came out (plus, if you stick to the narrative, she did cheat on him), and to me both those girls are ugly since they chose to help closet a person. So yeah there's really no reason to be tolerating either of them

ok but like. listen.

this is gonna be long because yall are exhausting me and miss the point every fucking time

i never liked eleanor bc she was annoying and said nasty things about fans and larries and her friends were terrible esp. max. we only heard these bad stories about what she allegedly said about harry AFTER they broke up too. so i didnt particularly like her and she had done her fair share of bad shit across the years but that doesnt mean ppl can say shit about her looks?? which no one did btw. people were far kinder to eleanor than they ever been to danielle.

the thing with danielle is for months and months and months she NEVER said a single word about louis and never posted about him on social media and NEVER interacted with fans (still hasnt). she was just there. but people still spent HOURS talking shit about how bad her shoes and clothes and facial expression were. which was just super unnecessary and nasty. you can not like someone for the job they are doing but attacking a young woman for how she looks is just really fucking low. so i always stood out against that, against the completely unnecessary criticisms. because you know these were not personal criticisms against her, these people wouldve said more or less the same shit about any woman because they dont like what she represents. so yeah, it really fucking annoyed me.

i also lost followers and mutuals for being done with people’s bullshit. people kept projecting so many intentions on her like, people were legit talking like she was forcing herself into louis’ family house bc she was so ‘desperate’. some posts even sounded as if she tricked louis into taking a pic so she could post it on her insta like??? calling her non-expressive resting face ‘smug’ on every pap pics??? like JFC shes not smug shes just!! existing!!! if everyone saw my resting face theyd all call me a bitch. and if she was smiling then she was desperate. so smug or desperate, what a luck. people were losing their fucking minds. i never gave a shit about her, i thought she was a pretty girl doing an annoying job and i wanted her gone as much as everyone else but thats it. except for being a beard (which btw we dont know the details of the contract between the two no matter how much ppl tried to blame her for everything thats bad in the world) she didnt do ANYTHING publicly that was annoying enough or on par with eleanor except existing. people mocked her over how she swung her bag for like, 2 weeks. 

the story of danielle allegedly forcing herself on louis happened LATE 2016, like november?? and only got discussed on tumblr like, a month ago, so you using this as an argument is weak. There was no reason to preemptively hate danielle because of this story back in january 2016 no matter how hard you try to convince yourself that your hate was justified. everyone was just being nasty and bitter and going crazy over babygate and losing sight of what their priorities are. that’s it.

even if people had “receipts” on her prior to that that would justify why they hate an unknown nonfamous 21 years girl so much, they never shared it with the fandom as a whole and therefore, the fandom as a whole did not have any reason to hate her this much. literally the only story i heard is that apparently she was rude to a waiter in a restaurant. omg!!! bring out the torches!! this totally justify you spending hours mocking her face!!!! unless youre telling me that “big larries hated her therefore we all hated her too” because thats just sad and another problem altogether. so yeah dont try to use that as a reason of why you said nasty shit about her appearance back in february 2016.

i dont even know why im saying this because…having reasons to hate her will never justify the amount of absolutely deranged comments ive read about the way she looks. it was and will always be totally uncalled for and i cant believe how far this fandom went, i cant believe the stuff adults have written about this thinking it was ok. if she is that much of a terrible person there has to be more shit you can say about her than your subjective opinion that her resting face looks “smug” and that shes desperate for being in the presence of louis. i also cant believe how much people mocked her for not being famous enough even though a recurrent role in tv show is more than most people can achieve and when yall know you wouldve hated her for being famous if she was. so, eleanor was bad because she was non-famous using louis’ money and not going to school, taylor is bad because shes too famous and using 1d and harry’s name for her own career and danielle had a recurrent role in a popular franchise and that still was not ok for yall. i get the point is that youre never gonna “like” any beard no matter what her job is because you hate beards but just ADMIT IT and find other things to talk about instead of making up reasons why shes a bad person.

so, honestly, this isn’t about danielle at all. i dont care about her feelings or whatever. my problems is that for months ive read thousands of comments criticizing this girl for doing ANYTHING. and the worst is that when i was telling people they should probably calm down and that attacking a girl for how she looks is not cool at all, i got hate and lost followers and had mutuals indirecting me. because apparently having human decency was too much for people to handle. because apparently people still dont get that criticizing a girl for how she looks and dress as bigger far-reaching consequences in the long run. for months ive had to see people spreading bullshit and lies about her just because of their assumptions. 

and this goes for briana too. that girl is awful and did a lot of fucked up shit and i totally support talking shit about her AS LONG AS ITS FOCUS ON THE BAD THINGS SHES DOING. ive also been disgusted at comments towards briana or ashley shaming her for how they look and i dont find it more acceptable just because i hate them too. theres a line and yall crossed it, like, 12 months ago.

im not saying you have to tolerating neither of them now because of you what found out, im just saying that what you DIDNT KNOW a year ago cannot be used to justify what you did back then. 

anyway this isnt about danielle this is about how i still can’t believe i lost hundreds of followers and dozens of mutuals because i argued that talking shit about how she looks was not valid criticism and was a harmful behaviour. 

and if you still don’t think that’s fucked up and still wanna defend that nasty behaviour from last year i can’t help you.

[thiswebsiteisbooty]

Wrestlemania 34: A Review

Normally I don’t really write reviews for wrestling events but I really feel like I have a lot to say about this one (as did most of the internet). That said, I will kinda keep it as brief as I can. I’m not really going to talk too in depth about individual matches, rather try and paint a broad picture of my overall experience.

They set the mood at the beginning perfectly with an amazing pre-show (and I want all of my wrestling fans to count how many times they’ve been able to use the phrase amazing pre-show), and an excellent, and frankly a little under appreciated, opening match. I’m insanely excited to see where this duo of Hardy and Wyatt go, I legit jumped out of my seat when Naomi won the women’s battle royal, and Cedric and Mustafa put on a great match themselves. The Intercontental triple threat match, again like I said was really well done. I personally wouldn’t have been mad no matter who won, however I do think I would’ve most liked to see Finn take home the gold. 

Charlotte and Asuka put on what many people are calling match of the night, and while I don’t agree with that statement, I do understand why people think that. I’m also not hipster enough to believe that it wasn’t top 3 of the night. People are kinda split on the result. I personally think that it’s a good thing the Asuka win streak came to an end (although I wish it was via pinfall rather than submission), but Wrestlemania was honestly the best place for it to happen, and I can’t think of too many better people to do it than Charlotte.

The night hit it’s first lull during the US Title Fatal Four Way, which to be fair Fatal Four Ways imo are rarely classics and often end up being at best, okay. And that’s what this match was, was simply okay. I think if WWE really doesn’t want to give up on Jinder than it was a smart idea for him to win here, I just hope they don’t do the typical thing were someone (in this case Rusev) gets super popular, and the company waits waaaaaay too long to capitalize on it.

Angle/Rousey vs. HHH/Stephanie started slow but I think well surpassed many people’s expectations. I think any doubt that Rousey wasn’t going to have a decent WWE career ended here, and it was nice that everyone got their moments to shine.

Another one of few matches that I feel like never really took off the way they should’ve was the Smackdown tag title match, especially in comparison to the absolute classics that the Usos and The New Day have put on in the last year. But that being said, I think it is nice that the Usos finally got to compete on the main stage at Mania, a fact that made me entirely okay with the idea of them retaining. But its also nice that Rowan and Harper finally got a chance to win tag gold, even if the end result was a little predictable.

The Cena/Taker squash match was just... perfect. Whether or not this sets up any future feud I don’t know, but what we got was booked perfectly, from Cena having his “be careful what you wish for” moment, him hanging out in the crowd beforehand wondering if he was even gonna show up, and even the Elias fakeout was great.

I dont really have much to say about the Bryan/Shane vs. Owens/Zayn match, outside of it was honestly probably my favorite match of the night. From Daniel’s entrance on I legit could not stop smiling through the entire thing. I only just wish the crowd got behind Shane a bit more.

Again, not much to say about Alexa vs. Jax, aside from I’m really happy for Nia, and Alexa honestly had a great run as champion.

The WWE championship match though... I think a lot of people would agree with me that this should have been match of the night. We know what both men are capable of, especially against each other. WWE kept calling it a dream match and it absolutely was one. But it just never really felt like it got going. I know people are saying this was just a setup match, which I guess is fine, but it also feels weird to have a setup match at Mania. Nakamura as a heel is something I’m kinda split on, but I was honestly ready to see Nakamura’s coronation. I like Styles as much as the next guy don’t get me wrong, but I am ready to see someone else be WWE champion again. And it would be nice to see Nakamura become WWE champion with the crowd on his side, rather than against him.

Braun’s tag team match is honestly one of those matches that people on the internet are gonna be split on. Its either something you love or hate, and I personally loved it. No The Bar aren’t “buried”, and the Internet Wrestling Community uses that phrase waaaaaay too much. No the tag titles aren’t a joke, the idea is that Braun is just that damn good. Plus the crowd seemed to absolutely love it. I’ve said before that I think wrestling is at its best when it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and I think this was a perfect example of a moment that was silly in the absolute best way.

What was silly in the worst way however is the main event. Already WWE had an uphill battle since nobody was super interested in seeing Roman/Lesnar again, plus it came at the end of a really long Wrestlemania so the crowd was already burned out. The build to the match was honestly super great, and got a fair amount of people behind Roman. I think, for once, WWE had a moment where fans actually wanted to see Roman win a world title (even if it was only because he wasn’t Lesnar), so its so bizarre to me that they chose this moment to not go through with it. It wouldn’t have even been as bad if the match was a little better, but what can you do.

Overall, it’s a little weird to see so many storylines kinda start here (Wyatt/Hardy, Heel Nakamura, Braun and partner, Cena/Taker) at a show that is traditionally where storylines tend to end. Thats not really a bad thing mind you, just a bit strange. Kinda curious who is gonna take the title off of Lesnar but at this point I think the fans would be happy with just about anyone. But, overall, while there were a few dull spots, I would honestly say that this was the best Mania since the even hit its 30s, and I would give it a solid 4-4 1/2 stars.

[athena29stone]

Personalizing the Curriculum with the Learning Journey Model

Mark Engstrom, Episode 188 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Mark Engstrom shares a personalized model for learning that he calls the “Learning Journey Model.” After students accomplish a core competency, they personalize their learning journey much like the “game of LIFE” board game.

Got 5 minutes? That is all it takes to enter the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest. If you’re a US public school teacher of grades 6-12, you and your students just need to come up with a STEAM idea that can help your community. If you’re selected as a finalist, you’ll win technology and prizes to help your STEAM project come to reality.

The entry period ends this week – Thursday, November 9 is the last day! Go to coolcatteacher.com/samsungsolve to learn more. Good luck!

Listen Now

    Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

    Stream by clicking here.

  Below is an enhanced transcript, modified for your reading pleasure. For guests and hyperlinks to resources, scroll down.

***

Enhanced Transcript

Improving the Curriculum with the Learning Journey Model

Link to show: www.coolcatteacher.com/e188 Date: November 8, 2017

Vicki: Today we’re talking to Mark Engstrom @markaengstrom Head of Middle School and Upper School at Allen Academy in Bryan, Texas.

The Learning Journey Model

Mark, you are passionate about helping students have control over their learning. Give me an example. What do your students do?

Mark: So… my students know which components of my classes are foundational and what components are collaborative, what components they will have choice on and what they’ll get to choose from when it’s time for assessments.

I think of the Learning Journey more like the game of life and less like a traditional syllabus where teachers dictate what’s going to be taught, when it’s going to be taught, how you’ll be graded, how you’ll be penalized, the resources you have to use. I prefer to give kids a path, and let them choose from within that path what works best for them.

Vicki: OK, did you say that they get to choose their assessment?

Assessment in a Personalized Classroom

Mark: So they do get to choose. They have a variety of passion-based projects they get to pick from. Within the assessments, there are six questions, and they do three of them. They have five different chances to take the assessment, so the idea is that there’s choice within the assessment, and there’s choice about when they want to take the assessment.

Vicki: Okay, so are all the assessment tests, or do you assess other ways?

Mark: I assess in other ways as well. We’ve got MAP quizzes, we’ve got content-based knowledge assessments, so there are some other some other ways.

Vicki: OK, so there are some teachers sitting here saying, “OK, so you’re coming up with four different ways to assess? That sounds like a whole lot of work!”

Mark: It is! But once you get your kids trained to sort of think, “OK. I’m learning for learning’s sake. I’m going to be assessed in a whole bunch of different ways, and I will have choices,” then they are really feeling empowered.

It becomes less about “playing school” and more about, “How much can I learn? What more can I learn? What don’t I know? Who can help me? Where can I go online to get better? Who in the class can help me? What do I need to ask the teacher?” It makes them the agents of their own learning, and it is fantastic!

Vicki: Do you have a learning management system that helps you keep up with all this?

How does this relate to your Learning Management System?

Mark: We do. It’s called PowerSchool. The reality is that it’s a round-peg-square-hole kind of situation, because I don’t want to manage their learning. I want to inspire them, I want to spark inquiry, I want to answer their questions, I want to give them resources. So the whole idea of a learning management system? I just think it’s flawed. We shouldn’t be managing their learning, we should be sparking it.

Vicki: OK, but you use that to track it and hold it all together? I use PowerSchool Learning as well. I think I’d have to say that they do sponsor some of the work that I do, so I do have to say that.

So, OK. So what class in particular… You’re Head of School, but are you also teaching a class, or is this the model in all of the classrooms for your students?

Mark: So I’m the Head of our Middle and Upper School. We’ve got a Head of School who’s in charge of the kit and kaboodle of Pre-K through 12. So, in my two divisions, Middle and Upper School, we’ve got five classes that now use the Learning Journey model.

Vicki: OK. So is this something that you invented, or where’d you find it?

Mark: I went to some professional development that made me rethink the way we do school. And I kind of landed on the Game of Life that I wanted to use. So, yeah, I came up with it.

Vicki: OK. And we’ll share in the Shownotes , you’ve got some infographics about how you structure your syllabus. (See above.) You completely changed the syllabi for these courses, haven’t you?

Mark: Correct. Can I just talk a little bit about how the Learning Journey works, so it’s clear to people?

Vicki: Yeah! Help us

Mark: So, if you’re looking at the infographic, (see above) basically the top left is Goal Setting. You can follow the white arrows all the way down. It kind of forms maybe two “S”-shapes. Along the way, there’s Artifacts and Reflections and Goal Setting. Kids are always thinking about, “What did I do that’s awesome?” or “What did I do where I struggled?” or “What do I do when I want to do it better?”

And “What did I do that was collaborative? Where can I get an artifact that sort of encapsulates this segment of my learning?”

And then they write a little paragraph about it. I comment on that.

So it’s not just about the learning. I tell kids, “The hidden curriculum is YOU.”

We talk about geography, and I care about geography. But what I really care about is, “What are you learning about how you learn best?”

And so, the first part is foundational learning. That’s the blue part. In every class around the world, teachers could identify the non-negotiable pieces that lay the foundation for deeper thoughts. Those pieces are in my Foundational Learning segment.

Then there’s Collaborative Learning, which looks like what you would imagine it should look like for any collaborative project.

Then we move into a personal segment where they do a Passion-Based Learning Project.

The final segment of the class is getting ready for the assessments.

Vicki: Are all the kids operating at a different speed?

How the personalized approach works

Mark: We work on trimesters. The first trimester we kind of all go at the same pace. But then in the second and third, I really let them loose. Some kids really fly, and you realize that they’ve been shackled by the traditional methods of teaching and whole-class instruction. And it is awesome to see kids just take off on their learning.

Vicki: What happens, though, when you have some people who’ve covered a lot more material than others, and then you go back to this, “OK, these folks have class rank.”

Class Rank and Traditional Grading in this model

Is it fair if somebody covers eight more chapters than somebody else?

Mark: What do you mean by “class rank”?

Vicki: Well, in high school, do you have first, second, third, fourth in your class, or do you not do that at your school?

Mark: We have to do that for the state of Texas, because it affects admissions policies. But other than that, we don’t need to.

I mean, I see your point. There are kids who go above and beyond. But this isn’t a system that’s geared to satisfy other components of traditional education.

Vicki: Ahhhhhh….

Mark: I’m trying to drill down to what does research say about agency? Like if you look at Daniel Pink, Mastery, Autonomy, Purpose… the Learning Journey is full of autonomy and purpose options. That’s kind of the driving force.

Vicki: So… you… are just reinventing school!

Mark: That’s what we’re trying to do.

Vicki: Do you get any pushback?

What pushback do you get with the Learning Journey model?

Mark: I’ve presented this at conferences before, and I’ve written about this. Some people will write in and say, “Wow, that’s great!” But I get very few people who actually want to jump in. I think right now there aren’t enough incentives for teachers to take the time to overhaul their class. Whether their principal wouldn’t appreciate it, or they team teach with people who aren’t interested — I just think there aren’t enough incentives out there right now.

But I would say that any teacher out there, who’s really looking to get re-energized around student learning and the experiences that they’re offering their kids? They’re more than welcome to reach out to me. I’m on Twitter, and I’d be happy to talk through the first couple steps of the Learning Journey.

Vicki: Mark, the truth is that we’re going to end up where you are at some point. We can either aggressively go after it and become part of the change, or the change can be done to us.

You’re either a victim or a victor when you’re dealing with change.

This whole personalized learning approach is really where we’re moving. I mean, would you agree with that or disagree with that?

Mark: Amen. I think you’re spot on.

30-second elevator pitch for the Learning Journey model

Vicki: But it’s just hard. I’m trying to get my arms around it. What do you think… If you were stuck in an elevator with someone who was in charge of the curriculum for one of the biggest districts in the country, and you had one minute to sell this approach of the Learning Journey model. What would you say?

Mark: I’d probably start by asking them, “What’s the number one thing they want to change about student learning in their school district?”

And, depending on their answer, I would chime in that there are different parts of learning journeys, or personalized learning, or digital tools that can accomplish what they’re hoping to accomplish.

And if I had a whiteboard or my infographic at the ready, I would kind of walk them through how the Game of Life — which allowed you to make choices about going to college, having a wife and family, investing in stocks — I mean, that same sort of board game path is applicable to giving students agency over what they want to learn and how they want to learn.

Vicki: So what’s your greatest, “AHA!” moment from this whole process?

Greatest Aha Moment

Mark: ASo I think the “AHA!” moment is that we don’t need to move students through the old industrial model of teaching. It’s easy to do flipped class learning and see how that works. It’s easy to do Project-Based Learning and see how that works. But all of those things feel to me like piecemeal or part of the answer. Whereas I hope the Learning Journey is more of a holistic approach to giving students control. I think that would be my “AHA!” moment.

Vicki: What do you think is the biggest mistake you’ve made in this journey?

Mistake in Personalizing Learning

Mark: The first step I made was to get rid of all content as a requirement. I gave kids too much choice to start. I got a lot of pushback from parents saying, “We don’t know what to study.”

I wish I hadn’t started there. I wish I had started smaller, and given kids choice and trimmed back the content instead of giving them total choice over what they study.

After the Foundational Learning piece of the journey, they really do have total control. So I’ll have some students who only do politics. Or only do environmental stuff. Or only do economics. And I didn’t do that well the first time.

Vicki: I love that you admit — I think that this is important for the transparency — saying, “This is what I did right, This is what I did wrong.”

Your Learning Journey model really is a journey, for you.

Educators, you’re definitely going to want to check the Shownotes for the infographics and the links to Mark’s site.

We love to feature brave, remarkable educators on the 10-Minute Teacher to really provoke your thinking. This is the direction that I think that we’re all going to be heading.

It sounds complicated. It sounds hard.

But I’ll tell you this — we cannot let the fact that something is challenging keep us from doing it, because we’re talking about lives here.

If it works, we need to consider it.

So let’s take a look at the Learning Journey model, and see what we can learn from it.

    Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford

kymberlimulford@gmail.com

Bio as submitted

Mark Engstrom is an Educational Consultant, Blended Learning Designer and the Head of MS/US at Allen Academy in Bryan, Texas. He has presented on digital and personalized learning through Independent School Management, Association of American Schools in South America and Association of International Schools in Africa. He has also written for EdSurge, Getting Smart and Teachers Matter. He has helped teachers from all over the world make learning more engaging for their students. Feel free to connect through Twitter @markaengstrom

Twitter:@markaengstrom

Author of

Blending Alone- http://www.gettingsmart.com/2014/01/blending-alone-blend-non-blended-environment/

Redesigning the syllabus to reflect the learning journey- https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-09-10-redesigning-the-syllabus-to-reflect-the-learning-journey

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.) This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

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