tcsnmy8

The afternoon escaped me and we never had a chance to discuss what should go in this post. I’ve listed the items that I know below and left space — like this [????] — for the details that I don’t yet have. Once I get those, I’ll fill in the blanks. If you get my email, please respond with whatever is missing. Thank you. Update: Done.

1. Math: Practice solving quadratic equations using the quadratic formula. Complete selected problem from Skill Practice 9-4.

2. Español: Haz la hoja de ejecicios sobre el subjuntivo.

3. Graduation: What are your ideas for “what you want to leave TCS”? Come prepared with them (specifics, please) tomorrow.

4. Documentary: Know what you will say when interviewed for the Portland documentary.

5. Novels: Books need to be finished by Wednesday, May 23. Consult with your group about incremental reading assignments. (Nation needs to read through to the end of chapter nine by Monday, May 14. Gathering Blue needs to read through page 70 by tomorrow. Gulliver needs to read through to the end of part two by tomorrow.)

6. Capstones: Don’t forget to check in with your mentor at a regularly scheduled time every week to assess your progress and to set goals for the week to come. Also remember to document the work that you are doing. The presentation date is Thursday, May 31.

Let’s hope this doesn’t happen again tomorrow.

Talk to your parents.

1. Math: Complete skills practice 9-2 (completing the square).

2. Español: Haz la hoja de ejecicios sobre el subjuntivo.

3. Graduation: What are your ideas for “what you want to leave TCS”? Come prepared with them (specifics, please) on Wednesday.

4. Documentary: Know what you will say when interviewed for the Portland documentary.

5. Novels: Books need to be finished by Wednesday, May 23. Consult with your group about incremental reading assignments. (Nation needs to read through to the end of chapter five by tomorrow. Gathering Blue needs to read through page 70 by Wednesday. Gulliver needs to read through to the end of part two by Wednesday.)

6. Capstones: Don’t forget to check in with your mentor at a regularly scheduled time every week to assess your progress and to set goals for the week to come. Also remember to document the work that you are doing. The presentation date is Thursday, May 31.

Did you see the three previous posts on this blog?

It’s timely that someone brought up the topic of color this morning because I have recently read several articles about color and perception. This post is meant to serve as a catalog of those items.

One: Mills Baker, in a longer article on “Objectivity and Art”, shares this perspective on color:

[W]hen you look at a red sign, the “redness” you see doesn’t exist anywhere. The sign is an almost entirely-empty latticework of vibrating particles. Photons bounce off of some of these and enter your eye at a wavelength, but that wavelength is a mathematical description: it has no color in it, and photons themselves are colorless. Your mind experiences “redness,” but you might also say that it “creates” or “invents” redness when prompted by certain light phenomena which themselves have nothing to do, now or ever, with “redness,” which doesn’t exist.

Two: A long passage from Guy Deutscher’s Through the Language Glass, which was quoted in a post by Liz Danzico:

Japanese used to have a color word, ao, that spanned both green and blue. In the modern language, however, ao has come to be restricted mostly to blue shades, and green is usually expressed by the word midori (although even today ao can still refer to the green of freshness or unripeness — green apples, for instance, are called ao ringo). when the first traffic lights were imported from the United States and installed in Japan in the 1930s, they were just as green as anywhere else. Nevertheless, in common parlance the go light was dubbed ao shingoo, perhaps because the three primary colors on Japanese artists’ palettes are traditionally aka (red), kiiro (yellow), and ao. The label ao for a green light did not appear so out of the ordinary at first, because of the remaining associations of the word ao with greenness.

But over time, the discrepancy between the green color and the dominant meaning of the word ao began to feel jarring. Nations with a weaker spine might have opted for the feeble solution of simply changing the official name of the go light to midori. Not so the Japanese. Rather than alter the name to fit reality, the Japanese government decreed in 1973 that reality should be altered to fit the name: henceforth, go lights would be a color that corresponded to the dominant meaning of ao. Alas, it was impossible to change to color to real blue, because Japan is party to an international convention that ensures road signs have a measure of uniformity around the globe. The solution was thus to make the ao light as bluish as possible while still being officially green.

Three: Liz also points the fasinating Wikipedia article about “distinguishing blue from green in language.”

Four: Sim Daltonism and Color Oracle are applications you that can install on your computer and that allow you to see like people who have different types of color blindness. Michel Fortin compares the two programs.

Five: In a conversation with Erin Kissane the other day, she shared with me a quote from the Tom Stoppard play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

The colors red, blue and green are real. The color yellow is a mystical experience shared by everybody.

Six: I have an ongoing fascination with synesthesia and have a collection of bookmarks related to the topic. To start, you might explore this post (and the many links within) that I made to the tcsnmy6 blog back in my first year at TCS.

Bring any missing thank yous by Monday.

1. Novels: Books need to be finished by Wednesday, May 23. Consult with your group about incremental reading assignments. (Nation needs to read through to the end of chapter five by Tuesday. Gathering Blue needs to read through page 70 by Wednesday. Gulliver needs to read through to the end of part two by Wednesday.)

2. Capstones: Don’t forget to check in with your mentor at a regularly scheduled time every week to assess your progress and to set goals for the week to come. Also remember to document the work that you are doing. The presentation date is Thursday, May 31.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Tomorrow is a very busy day. You are presenting at Community Meeting, there will be a mariachi band roaming campus, and the day concludes with the Sock Hop (although you have decided to join the preschoolers earlier in the day).

1. Community Meeting: Are you ready? Please arrive at school no later than 8:00 AM so you can finalize the slides and rehearse once more.

2. Math: Take the quiz on concepts 8-2 to 8-6.

3. Español: Escribe un verso nuevo para el canto, “La Cucaracha.”

4. Thank Yous: Have them ready tomorrow.

5. Novels: Books need to be finished by Wednesday, May 23. Consult with your group about incremental reading assignments. (For example, the group reading Gulliver needs to read through to the end of part two by next Wednesday.)

6. Capstones: Don’t forget to check in with your mentor at a regularly scheduled time every week to assess your progress and to set goals for the week to come. Also remember to document the work that you are doing. The presentation date is Thursday, May 31.

That should do it.

No time for an intro today…

1. Update: Those of you who are retaking your graduation photos need to come dressed for them tomorrow morning by 8:00 AM.

2. Math: Study for a quiz on concepts 8-2 to 8-6.

3. Charmaine: Bring a picture of you and your mom by tomorrow.

4. Español: Sube tus proyectos a tu sitio Tumblr.

5. Documentary: Bring your Portland photos to share with everyone.

6. Community Meeting: Don’t forget to remind your parents (and anyone else you’d like to be there) that you will be presenting at Community Meeting on Friday.

7. Thank Yous: Have them ready no later than Friday.

8. Novels: Books need to be finished by Wednesday, May 23. Consult with your group about incremental reading assignments. (For example, the group reading The Nation needs to read through to the end of chapter three by tomorrow.)

9. Capstones: Don’t forget to check in with your mentor at a regularly scheduled time every week to assess your progress and to set goals for the week to come. Also remember to document the work that you are doing. The presentation date is Thursday, May 31.

End.

Don’t forget to remind your parents (and anyone else you’d like to be there) that you will be presenting at Community Meeting on Friday.

1. Math: Complete 9-2 (solving quadratic equations by graphing).

2. Español: Sube tus proyectos a tu sitio Tumblr.

3. Documentary: Bring your Portland photos to share with everyone.

4. Charmaine: Bring a picture of you and your mom by tomorrow.

5. Thank Yous: Have them ready no later than Friday.

6. Novels: Books need to be finished by Wednesday, May 23. Consult with your group about incremental reading assignments.

7. Capstones: Don’t forget to check in with your mentor at a regularly scheduled time every week to assess your progress and to set goals for the week to come. Also remember to document the work that you are doing. The presentation date is Thursday, May 31.

Ya.

It was nice to have the whole gang together again today.

1. Math: This is an opportunity to review concepts 8-2 through 8-6. If you did not get enough practice graphing quadratic functions, please put in some time tonight.

2. Español: Sube tus proyectos a tu sitio Tumblr.

3. Documentary: Bring your Portland photos to share with everyone.

4. Update: Library: Boooooyyyssss! Turn in your “how I would change the world” answers to Janie ASAP.

5. Charmaine: Bring a picture of you and your mom by Wednesday.

6. Novels: Books need to be finished by Wednesday, May 23. Consult with your group about incremental reading assignments.

7. Update: Thank Yous: Have them ready no later than Friday.

8. Island Project: Have you posted materials and a reflection?

9. Capstones: Don’t forget to check in with your mentor at a regularly scheduled time every week to assess your progress and to set goals for the week to come. Also remember to document the work that you are doing. The presentation date is Thursday, May 31.

Don’t forget to remind your parents (and anyone else you’d like to be there) that you will be presenting at Community Meeting on Friday.

I’m putting together this post to serve as an index for the Portland Trip that the eighth graders took from April 21-26, 2012. As new materials become available, I’ll add them here:

Updates summarizing our adventures: Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Photo posts: Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, and Wednesday.

The view of Portland from the TCS preschoolers in La Jolla on Thursday.

Help viewing the Instagram feeds (many more photos) from the trip. See also photo sets on Flickr by Carwai and by me.

For some background on the trip, here is a resource document that I put together before the students began planning the trip.

A few quick reminders post Portland…

1. Portland: Record your confession(s) to airdrop to me on Monday.

2. Bikes: Have you made arrangements to get your bike home?

3. Island Project: Have you posted materials and a reflection?

4. Capstones: Don’t forget to check in with your mentor at a regularly scheduled time every week to assess your progress and to set goals for the week to come. Also remember to document the work that you are doing. The presentation date is Thursday, May 31.

Get some rest!