Consolidation unit meetup! plus virtual studio

Work to have done:

Complete the web unit project, with a reflection
Post a proposal (ideally with a task list and target dates) for how you’ll spend this last project unit.

Plan for the day:

Faces and Voices
Sharing and deepening ideas (active listening)
Set an intention
Studio time!
Exit note

0. Welcome back / updates

Hello again, everyone! I miss seeing you, and I’m delighted to spend at least a few minutes with at least some of you. If you’re arriving between 2:30 and 3:00, please join us!

I’ve now sent out notes on all the visual unit projects (at last - and again, so sorry!), and I’m going to do my utmost to respond to your web unit projects by this time next week. In the meantime, the consolidation unit proposals that have been coming in seem to be exciting, feasible, and sensible ways to deepen your practice. (Okay, apparently I sound like a yoga teacher now? Strange times, indeed.) Well done, everyone!

If you haven't yet posted a proposal for the consolidation unit, please do so as soon as you can! There are generative writing prompts in the previous lesson plan. I'm happy to email with you about it, too, if you're not ready for a public post.

1. Faces and Voices (5-10 min)

You now know a little of what I’ve been up to: what about you? Are you feeling okay? If you were sick, are you better? What are you doing to keep sharp? This can be a venting session if that’s what we need right now.

As I said in my email, one of the other big reasons to do this in real time is to bounce ideas off each other: many ideas we’ve almost, but not quite articulated to ourselves have a way of coming out in conversation with interested and interesting people. We can still socialize! Just… at a distance.

Can someone volunteer to share, in brief, what they'll be working on for the consolidation unit?

The rest of us will respond by saying back what we hear as the heart of the idea, adding ...? to the end, opening up a space for the speaker to say more. This kind of active listening has a way of helping people reach into the almost-said, which can in turn sometimes lead to useful insights or increased energy for the project ahead.

Depending on how many people can make it, we’ll either continue this as a single group (if seven people or fewer) or split into breakout rooms.

If you're not able to do this with us, live, try it out with a friend or family member! See if you can realize something new, or in a new way, about your own project. (Then, maybe, offer to reciprocate for them, too.)

3. Set an intention

The rest of today’s studio will work like last week’s, and the week before. Post notes to our google doc at the beginning on your intention for this working period, and update with your progress by the end of whatever time you spend; I’ll be using those notes as a way of taking today’s attendance for people who weren’t in the live Zoom. Because this is asynchronous, though, you have all of Tuesday to check in. (And if it’s there by Wednesday morning, I’ll consider it as having been done on Tuesday. :)

Before you start your solo time today, head over to the google doc and write a quick line about what you hope to accomplish with your remaining time. e.g. Will you...

Work on responsive layout?
Work on making your html match the intended structure?
Work on replacing placeholder content with real content?
Work on one of your stretch goals?
etc etc

Just a sentence or two as a guidepost will give you something to come back to, to reorient, if you find yourself walking in circles or caught in a thicket.

We’re doing this asynchronously now, so I can’t keep track of your time… but I can recommend a Chrome app that will simulate the effect:

Talking Timer settings with custom text such as 'it\'s been 25 minutes. Stretch break!' and '15 minutes left. Are you saving and committing?' — Custom Speaking Timer. After installing this in Chrome, you can run it standalone from the desktop.

I’m sure something similar exists if you’re not a Chrome user; I found this one pretty quickly on Google.

4. Studio

Take 70 minutes, and subtract however long you just spent reading (or living!) the sections above. Then give yourself reminders to stretch, save, and write commit messages as you go!

I’ll be online in Zoom from 2:30-3:45pm.

Don't forget to save periodically as you go:

as a project file, if appropriate
as a git commit, saying what you've just achieved
as a screenshot

5. Quick report back

Before you leave, just as a way for me to check in, I’d like to hear more about what happened today: did you find images? Level up on a particular CSS skill? Decide something about your project? Raise a question in a new way that you’d like some help with?

Head back into the google doc and reply to your intention-post. You could email me directly if you prefer, but I’m hoping some of your insights or achievements will help inspire others.

Homework for next time

Your individual tasks will be determined by your projects; if you’re working in a group, make sure you discuss your timing and tasks with each other.

Whatever you choose, I’m hoping that by Thursday you’ll be able to produce some kind of Preview. As should be familiar from past projects, by this I don’t mean I’m expecting anything like a real draft – if you can get there, more power to you! – but I am hoping you’ll be able to get your hands dirty with whatever platform or application you’re adopting, to get sense of what’s going to be possible in the short time we have.

Thanks for bearing with me through these weird working conditions, everyone!