Planning the Spring High School Residency

It feels like spring. That must mean it's time for Book-It to work out the logistics for the upcoming high school residency.

February we had an energizing meeting with the Seattle Literacy Consortium. The Consortium has nine members, all of whom are non-profit organizations that offer free or low-cost basic-skills programs to adults seeking to learn English or improve their basic literacy skills. They embraced our work and gave great guidance on strategies to support successful partnerships in the world of adult literacy.

Primarily we have been wrapping up a high school residency during which we’ve been assessing student work and evaluating our teaching practice. Right now, we are buried under piles of paper, photographs, video and audio recordings from four classes and a total of 113 students. These piles include student poems, adaptations, literary analysis worksheets, student reflections, performance images, collaborative dialogue, and assessment checklists. We are reviewing all the documents and coding themes that tell the story of the students’ experience. Then we’ll take this information and make adjustments for our spring residency where we work with five more classes at the same school.

-- Gail Sehlhorst, Book-It Repertory Theatre