Equity-Librium (Click for Project Description)
Teacher Reflection: I worked at High Tech High North County from 2013-2014 and from 2014-2015. Last year, though, I spent the year getting my MA in Art and Community Practice, living and teaching in New York City. While that was a wonderful experience, this project reminded me of how magical and wonderful it is to work at High Tech High. This was a fully integrated project, with pieces of the project exploring Physics, Math, Humanities and Spanish. That integration was very important to me, as it was a beautiful reminder of how much learning can happen when we are not trying to make students learn things in isolation. I loved how students were talking about all of the subjects during project work time, and how they were making connections between the different disciplines. The exhibition was one of my favorite exhibitions I have done in collaboration with Kurt Schwartz. We exhibited the mobiles at Oceanside Harbor Days. Mr. Schwartz and I got to school at 5am on Saturday to prepare, repair and pick up the work and other supplies. We got to our spot at the harbor at 5:50am and set up the booth. We watched the sun rise beautifully on the beach. Our students worked one hour shifts throughout the day, and when we closed up shop at 6pm, we were done just in time to watch the sun set where we had watched it rise in the morning. On Sunday, we ran a similar schedule. It was admittedly a very long weekend for the two of us, but I think that it was worth it. Being able to see students exhibit and explain their projects one group at a time was extremely powerful. Students could not hide behind other students. We got chances to talk to the parents. Students had to be brave and approach complete strangers about the work that they have been doing in this project. It was extremely impressive to watch them go for it! We had an exhibition book that people could sign at the end of listening to the presentations and we had some amazing comments.
Some of the comments were:
"There's a lot more to mobiles than I thought. Great use of physics to determine/calculate balance."
"We need more people in the world like [these students] to spread the words of compassion, loving and caring."
"Awesome job on a great project! So insightful and thoughtful!"
"Super cool! Love seeing young people thinking about such great concepts. Make the world a better place. Great work."
"Great idea! Maybe these students can lead our country on to a more fair future for all! Thanks from a senior citizen of Oside!"
"Amazing and inspiring! Young people who are 'being' the change we want in this world! Wonderful!"
There are a few things that I learned about this project very quickly in regards to what to do better next time around. First off, on the first day, we were lacking a sign for our project at the exhibit. This made it difficult for students to draw people in because people thought that we were selling the work which made people wary of stopping to talk to the students. We remedied that as soon as we possibly could, but I wish we could have done it sooner for the students. Secondly, the mobiles are deceptively simple looking. I watched Mr. Schwartz spend 30 minutes repairing one layer of one group's mobiles. I would love to have a mobile that is NOT balanced at the front of the booth next year, and ask people who come up to the booth to try to balance the work themselves! It would be such a wonderful entrance into the rest of the work, and it would give the work context in regards to how difficult it actually is.
I am so extremely proud of the students for their work throughout this project. I could not have been glowing brighter during these exhibitions than I was this past weekend. Congratulations to these young minds for such a fantastic project.
Some of the comments were:
"There's a lot more to mobiles than I thought. Great use of physics to determine/calculate balance."
"We need more people in the world like [these students] to spread the words of compassion, loving and caring."
"Awesome job on a great project! So insightful and thoughtful!"
"Super cool! Love seeing young people thinking about such great concepts. Make the world a better place. Great work."
"Great idea! Maybe these students can lead our country on to a more fair future for all! Thanks from a senior citizen of Oside!"
"Amazing and inspiring! Young people who are 'being' the change we want in this world! Wonderful!"
There are a few things that I learned about this project very quickly in regards to what to do better next time around. First off, on the first day, we were lacking a sign for our project at the exhibit. This made it difficult for students to draw people in because people thought that we were selling the work which made people wary of stopping to talk to the students. We remedied that as soon as we possibly could, but I wish we could have done it sooner for the students. Secondly, the mobiles are deceptively simple looking. I watched Mr. Schwartz spend 30 minutes repairing one layer of one group's mobiles. I would love to have a mobile that is NOT balanced at the front of the booth next year, and ask people who come up to the booth to try to balance the work themselves! It would be such a wonderful entrance into the rest of the work, and it would give the work context in regards to how difficult it actually is.
I am so extremely proud of the students for their work throughout this project. I could not have been glowing brighter during these exhibitions than I was this past weekend. Congratulations to these young minds for such a fantastic project.
Student Reflections
Andrew D.
At the beginning of the project I thought we could fly through all of the work and it’d be easy. I soon realized it wasn’t as easy as it sounded, this came when they explained all of the steps and work we were soon going to do. After this was clear I did not think that in this crunched timeline that we could get a praiseworthy product. This thought occurred to me when someone pointed out we were going camping dead in the middle of the project, a week less wouldn’t be bad but since we had it during the project I assumed it would throw everything off. By the end of the project we had what I think are great products and far exceeded my expectations.
When I first learned we were doing physics I was excited because I had never done much physics at all through the years. For a majority of the beginning of the project I was stuck and was barely getting through physics, but by the end I understood it and could help others. I’m not saying it’s easy because there’s a lot of steps to do and you can mess up on these steps. But I am saying I helped other people to where they could understand it and do it by themselves.
In spanish I was really ecstatic to learn a new language because I’m not bilingual. I honestly was thinking it would be hard because in the middle school I took one quarter of spanish and the way it was taught was confusing and hard. So far I’ve really liked it and want to continue growing in learning it. Currently it’s not terribly hard but I’m struggling with pronunciations.During this project we didn’t have to use to much spanish but the amount we did was manageable.
In humanities we did a lot of writing and I don't think I have the best writing skills. When writing in the past I wouldn’t read my writings out loud and they would have mistakes and errors. Early in this project Miss Carol taught us how important it is to read any writings out loud, once I started doing this I fixed so many of my mistakes. I also began to have more people read what I write, to have it further examined and fixed. The last thing I learned was how important it is to have well written artist statement so that everything is easy to figure out and follow what is being made.
This project I think I got a great group/team except for one person, for the most part we worked extremely well together getting all of our work done. The only problem we had was one group member not doing his work and not knowing what to do. We did decide well on who should do what based on our strengths and weaknesses. One other thing we did was everyone worked on the artist statement at the same time, correcting each other's mistakes and giving feedback to each other. I think I’m a great leader because throughout the project I helped all my group members and directed them on what to do.
My exhibition experience this time around was much different than others, like everyone said it wasn’t at school like usual. My past exhibitions were at school so people are already interested in what you’re saying and you don’t need that further explanation and you were required to persuade them to get in. One thing that I thought was pretty neat is how no matter what age you could get someone interested in your project, although some people out right said no. Lastly I loved the expression on people’s faces when we would explain that this is our first project and that we are freshman.
At the beginning of the project I thought we could fly through all of the work and it’d be easy. I soon realized it wasn’t as easy as it sounded, this came when they explained all of the steps and work we were soon going to do. After this was clear I did not think that in this crunched timeline that we could get a praiseworthy product. This thought occurred to me when someone pointed out we were going camping dead in the middle of the project, a week less wouldn’t be bad but since we had it during the project I assumed it would throw everything off. By the end of the project we had what I think are great products and far exceeded my expectations.
When I first learned we were doing physics I was excited because I had never done much physics at all through the years. For a majority of the beginning of the project I was stuck and was barely getting through physics, but by the end I understood it and could help others. I’m not saying it’s easy because there’s a lot of steps to do and you can mess up on these steps. But I am saying I helped other people to where they could understand it and do it by themselves.
In spanish I was really ecstatic to learn a new language because I’m not bilingual. I honestly was thinking it would be hard because in the middle school I took one quarter of spanish and the way it was taught was confusing and hard. So far I’ve really liked it and want to continue growing in learning it. Currently it’s not terribly hard but I’m struggling with pronunciations.During this project we didn’t have to use to much spanish but the amount we did was manageable.
In humanities we did a lot of writing and I don't think I have the best writing skills. When writing in the past I wouldn’t read my writings out loud and they would have mistakes and errors. Early in this project Miss Carol taught us how important it is to read any writings out loud, once I started doing this I fixed so many of my mistakes. I also began to have more people read what I write, to have it further examined and fixed. The last thing I learned was how important it is to have well written artist statement so that everything is easy to figure out and follow what is being made.
This project I think I got a great group/team except for one person, for the most part we worked extremely well together getting all of our work done. The only problem we had was one group member not doing his work and not knowing what to do. We did decide well on who should do what based on our strengths and weaknesses. One other thing we did was everyone worked on the artist statement at the same time, correcting each other's mistakes and giving feedback to each other. I think I’m a great leader because throughout the project I helped all my group members and directed them on what to do.
My exhibition experience this time around was much different than others, like everyone said it wasn’t at school like usual. My past exhibitions were at school so people are already interested in what you’re saying and you don’t need that further explanation and you were required to persuade them to get in. One thing that I thought was pretty neat is how no matter what age you could get someone interested in your project, although some people out right said no. Lastly I loved the expression on people’s faces when we would explain that this is our first project and that we are freshman.
Sophia M.
In the beginning of this project, I was overwhelmed with the amount of work we needed to complete in such little time, only about three weeks, but once my partner and started brainstorming that stress became excitement. Slowly but surely, the numbers and equations of torque that we worried over started to seem simple and we were able to relate them into real world situations beyond our mobile. One day at a time, we designed blueprints, laser etched our symbols, sanded, painted, and beaded our mobile pieces, created beautiful writing pieces uniquely our own, and using physics, balanced our finished mobile to display for our community to see. Although we faced many challenges along the way, with a determined partner, and many long days working we were able to create a piece of art not only is aesthetically pleasing but also has a message we want the world to live by.
On the physics portion of this project, the one main take away I gained from this experience was to ask questions when I needed clarification on a topic. By staying back after school to further explore torque, forces, and mathematics I was able to have a better understanding of the topic, ultimately helping my group create torque diagrams and balance our mobile. I also learned the importance of making mistakes and how trying and failing is so much better than giving up without any effort. It was the most amazing feeling when I had my “ah ha!” moment while almost in tears and buried in math work, but from that point on all of the pieces clicked and I understood what torque was on a larger scale.
In Spanish, I was able to explore a new language that allowed our piece to reach more people. We translated the introduction paragraph of our artist statement in Spanish which not only allowed us to gain new knowledge, but also provided the key points we wanted others to take away in the language of others who may not been able to find meaning in our piece before. In the past few weeks, I feel like I have been able to grow my speaking and writing skills in Spanish and also become more comfortable with talking face to face with others in a language not my own.
Throughout the Humanities section of this project I was able to grasp the concept of symbolism and the beauty found in speaking through pictures and symbols that represent so much more than they seem at first glance. I also really enjoyed getting to write our Trait/Behavior Writing on something that was personal to us. One of my favorite moments from this project, was having a young woman come up to me after reading my letter and sharing how my piece touched her heart. For myself personally, I feel like having the opportunity to write something on an issue or topic that is dear to my heart allows my writing style shine through the piece. Although it was difficult at first to share something aloud that is very personal to myself, I found that so many others were able to relate to my piece as well from different perspectives.
By collaborating with my partner, we were able to create a unique piece that was personal to both of our values and beliefs. I worked my hardest to be a good team member by sharing the workload, keeping a positive attitude, and listening to my partner when she had ideas to improve our final project. One example of our collaboration was exhibiting our work at the Oceanside Harbor Days. We were able to share the air while speaking to visitors and showcase the parts of the projects that each of us were proud of without talking over each other or leaving someone behind. We also found each other’s strong points and stepped back when someone wanted to share their own story or insight on the project. Overall, I feel like we were a good pair and complimented each other’s strengths and helped to make up for each other’s weaknesses. Without Elena, I don’t think I would have been able to make through the project as successfully as we did as a team!
I really enjoyed having the unique opportunity to share our mobiles with the public and receive feedback from visitors who walked by our booth. At first, I was nervous to go out and speak to people I had never met, but when I realized that I would probably never see any of them again and I had Elena there to support me, I began to feel more comfortable speaking up. By the end of my shift, I had been able to meet so many interesting people and inspire others on a topic that is close to my heart. I found it so interesting to hear the public’s views and perspectives on the work we had done, but to be honest, the best part really was their faces when we showed our Torque Diagrams! I loved seeing so many people of all ages from toddlers to seniors taken by our work and actually engaged in the project the same we were when we started a few week earlier.
In the beginning of this project, I was overwhelmed with the amount of work we needed to complete in such little time, only about three weeks, but once my partner and started brainstorming that stress became excitement. Slowly but surely, the numbers and equations of torque that we worried over started to seem simple and we were able to relate them into real world situations beyond our mobile. One day at a time, we designed blueprints, laser etched our symbols, sanded, painted, and beaded our mobile pieces, created beautiful writing pieces uniquely our own, and using physics, balanced our finished mobile to display for our community to see. Although we faced many challenges along the way, with a determined partner, and many long days working we were able to create a piece of art not only is aesthetically pleasing but also has a message we want the world to live by.
On the physics portion of this project, the one main take away I gained from this experience was to ask questions when I needed clarification on a topic. By staying back after school to further explore torque, forces, and mathematics I was able to have a better understanding of the topic, ultimately helping my group create torque diagrams and balance our mobile. I also learned the importance of making mistakes and how trying and failing is so much better than giving up without any effort. It was the most amazing feeling when I had my “ah ha!” moment while almost in tears and buried in math work, but from that point on all of the pieces clicked and I understood what torque was on a larger scale.
In Spanish, I was able to explore a new language that allowed our piece to reach more people. We translated the introduction paragraph of our artist statement in Spanish which not only allowed us to gain new knowledge, but also provided the key points we wanted others to take away in the language of others who may not been able to find meaning in our piece before. In the past few weeks, I feel like I have been able to grow my speaking and writing skills in Spanish and also become more comfortable with talking face to face with others in a language not my own.
Throughout the Humanities section of this project I was able to grasp the concept of symbolism and the beauty found in speaking through pictures and symbols that represent so much more than they seem at first glance. I also really enjoyed getting to write our Trait/Behavior Writing on something that was personal to us. One of my favorite moments from this project, was having a young woman come up to me after reading my letter and sharing how my piece touched her heart. For myself personally, I feel like having the opportunity to write something on an issue or topic that is dear to my heart allows my writing style shine through the piece. Although it was difficult at first to share something aloud that is very personal to myself, I found that so many others were able to relate to my piece as well from different perspectives.
By collaborating with my partner, we were able to create a unique piece that was personal to both of our values and beliefs. I worked my hardest to be a good team member by sharing the workload, keeping a positive attitude, and listening to my partner when she had ideas to improve our final project. One example of our collaboration was exhibiting our work at the Oceanside Harbor Days. We were able to share the air while speaking to visitors and showcase the parts of the projects that each of us were proud of without talking over each other or leaving someone behind. We also found each other’s strong points and stepped back when someone wanted to share their own story or insight on the project. Overall, I feel like we were a good pair and complimented each other’s strengths and helped to make up for each other’s weaknesses. Without Elena, I don’t think I would have been able to make through the project as successfully as we did as a team!
I really enjoyed having the unique opportunity to share our mobiles with the public and receive feedback from visitors who walked by our booth. At first, I was nervous to go out and speak to people I had never met, but when I realized that I would probably never see any of them again and I had Elena there to support me, I began to feel more comfortable speaking up. By the end of my shift, I had been able to meet so many interesting people and inspire others on a topic that is close to my heart. I found it so interesting to hear the public’s views and perspectives on the work we had done, but to be honest, the best part really was their faces when we showed our Torque Diagrams! I loved seeing so many people of all ages from toddlers to seniors taken by our work and actually engaged in the project the same we were when we started a few week earlier.