LIZ'S CLASS NOTES

We began our writing year by writing in a genre of interest. We have some narrative procedures, short stories, a fictional newsletter, a short biography, a video game review, and a memoir. In the photograph above, Ian is testing the accuracy of Nate's piece, "How to Put On and Tie Your Shoes." (You'll be happy to know that Ian successfully put on and tied his shoes). Throughout the fall, we read a series of mentor texts, analyzed them, and identified craft moves made by the writers to incorporate some of these moves into our writing.

We are moving on to developing portfolios of our apprenticeship learning. The kids will reflect on their apprenticing experiences, conduct research, collect photos and artifacts of their time apprenticing, and write about their experiences and learning. Developing a portfolio will be further enhanced by learning how to create and organize a website.

Ernest Hernandez from the LGBT Workshop conducted an interactive workshop with the Senior Learners. The purpose of the workshop was to provide an introduction to the LGBT community by defining common terminology, explaining the difference between sexual orientation and gender identi- ty, and exploring both risk factors and resiliencies. The training concluded with a discussion of best practices to create safer and more supportive environments for LGBT people. Ernesto was wonderful with the kids, and they appreciated his kind and respectful approach to their questions and the material in general.