The students have been working for the last 2 days on their timelines in addition to the 2 days before they had spring break. Each class has two teams to create their timeline. They have needed lots of supplies: construction paper, markers, glue, double-sided tape, scissors, markers. One group ran to the art room and borrowed watercolors and brushes. Every group has been using their computers to look up information about the authors, poems, time periods, literary periods. They have also looked up images so they could draw free hand: leaves, cats, tigers, pears, trees.

I am struck by the degree of collaboration and the division of labor. Each group had a different process. One group spent the first class discussing each poem exhaustively and writing notes. One group started designing and executing the timeline complete with flames. Another group divided up so some worked on the poster, some wrote the poetry analysis, some worked on researching the literary periods. The fourth group was more fluid and students went back and forth between tasks and roles. (But even so, in each group there was one or two students who seem a bit more disengaged. That is always a challenge: how to make sure everyone or encourage everyone to participate equally).

What are they learning? As I floated between groups, I did witness epiphanies as they recognized how the poems fit together and as they figured out how the poetry developed over time. The students had to negotiate and compromise as they executed their timelines. In one group, a student said at first they were clashing because everyone had different ideas, but that they came together at the end. Usually one or two students assumed leadership roles. They talked a great deal about design and how to combine information with visual appeal with signficance.

I am currently witnessing a group realize they are missing an analysis for John Donne’s “Death Be Not Proud,” and a student is volunteering to write that analysis quickly. They are learning how to work in times of stress.

I just visited my other group and one student said at first they were clashing because everyone had different ideas, but that they came together at the end.