It’s the reason the snack machine has been getting empty.

It’s the reason so many teachers were burning the midnight oil.

It’s the reason the art teacher was running out of paint.

It’s the reason the kids have been wild and teachers worn out (and broke).

It’s also the reason we had so many technology problems on Wednesday (like…just our luck!).

What was it?  Student Exhibition!

This was the trial run.  On November 13th, every single student in Memphis City Schools put a project on display for community jurors to come in and evaluate.  It was an event on the grand scale.  This week has been tough, with nerves frayed and halls crowded with tables and kids walking around in costumes.  The computer lab became a stop for finishing up typed reflections and video touch ups.  Everyone, from the janitors to office staff to support teachers rolled up their sleeves and made sure everything went smoothly on the big day.  The students were not the only ones being graded, after all.

The day started off with me wrestling the stubborn laptop and projector, which thankfully decided to cooperate in time.  We welcomed the jurors in and after coffee and a training session, they were set forth into the school.  It was great to see so many familiar faces, including Debbie Robb, whose shoes I have been filling this year.  As the official photographer, I got a chance to observe the jurors at work, but they were not really the stars.  Nope!  It was our students, who were nothing short of impressive in explaining all the hard work and studying they have done.  I was really glad to see so much technology incorporated into projects.  Stellar projects abounded, overall, and the teachers were excellent facilitators.

Now the work begins for me.  One of my tasks was to take a digital photo of all student projects (about 700), and that was finished today.  Now, I have to rename the files and upload them, along with Powerpoints and videos to digital portfolios that the school district will be keeping up with.  It’s also a reason I may not be blogging that much in the weeks to come, as I don’t have much planning time and will have to committ after-school time for completing it.

This was definitely a learning process as far as the procedures went.  Of course, our school does projects all the time and most of the projects on display were regular projects each grade does every year.  We just don’t do them all at once.

Here are some pictures from the big day.

The students actually made the Chinese dragon scales by cutting out circles and applying metallic paint.  It wasn’t a judged product, but part of the overall unit. Just an interesting idea, if you plan on making a giant dragon for your wall in the future.  The kindergartners also made a pretty sweet totem pole.