Mole Movie Posters

Every year, the American Chemical Society has a poster contest.  They pick a theme (usually some sort of movie) and the students are to create mole poster based around it.  Unfortunately, the contest is set for 10/23 and rarely am I in the mole conversions unit when it happens so my students would have no clue what they were making this poster for.  So I decided last year to just do it for my classes.  Their assignment is this:

"Recreate any movie poster so that The Mole is the theme."

I am all about not giving specific guidelines so I let them pick any movie and do with it whatever they want.  Some students hand draw their posters, some use Photoshop.  Some pick very popular movies and some pick obscure ones that are their favorites.  The key is the creativity that they put into it.  I also tell them in advance that the class will vote on their favorite and that person wins a prize.  I never tell them what the prize is so they always think it is something really, really cool.  This year the prize was one of those squishy ladybug toys that when you squeeze it, it expands in a different spot.  I am not describing it well, but I found it in the $1 part of Target.

The kids got really into this year and several handed the assignment in days in advance.  They were arguing with each other over who got to do what poster, but in the end I had no duplicates anyway.  I want to share the amazing work they did, so here is the photostream from Flickr.  Enjoy!!

Want ad

I want to redesign the want ads that I see for school principals that I see in the paper.  Normally, under qualifications, you see phrases like:

• experience in NCLB, grant writing, and school management
• a master's degree preferred
• knowledge of current instructional practices and experience implementing on a whole school setting
• Prior administrative and/or teaching experience at the elementary and/or secondary level preferred
• Demonstrated leadership capability in the areas of curriculum and staff development.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Curriculum and staff development
• Communication with community
• Innovative Staff Evaluation Strategies
• Recruitment and staffing
• Data Driven Decision Making
• N.J. Core Curriculum Content Standards
• Developing high performing teacher learning teams

While some of these are absolutely necessary, there are several really, really important ones that should be in every job description.  Why don't you ever see:

• Is an innovative educator who uses varied teaching techniques to maximize the potential of his/her students.
• Understands that technology is a necessary tool for instruction and should be incorporated into every aspect of the school.
• Inspires those around him/her to reach their potential and push themselves beyond.
• Is a creative problem solver.
• Has an open mind.
• Provides his/her staff with as many resources as possible to maximize the learning for the students.
• Is student oriented.
• Understands that sometimes learning is messy.
• Is supportive of the staff and assists parents and students who working through their problems with the teacher before calling the principal's office.
• Has a desire to foster a strong community relationship through the school's website, blog, facebook page and twitter account.
• Is willing to dare to fail.

While I absolutely agree that many from the first list are necessary for someone who is going to manage a program, I know that I don't want to be managed.  I want a leader; I want to be inspired; I want to be given the chance to shine in my own way.  In reality, I want someone who is daring and makes me want to be daring too.

Am I asking too much?  Does this person really exist?