Night of Notables, 2017

A message from an admirer

Dear 7X,
From 2003 until 2014, I was one of the Night of Notables teachers every year. I helped to organise it and regulate the chaos of setting up, the lining up, the speech giving and the whole experience. Then I taught Year 8 History for two years and became a mere visitor to the event. Yesterday, I was dreading the setting up double. “It’s always chaotic,” I told a less experienced colleague. “Brace yourself.”

Actually, with you as my class, it was not chaotic at all. You were all so focused and organised. You seemed completely unfazed by small matters like having to fit all your display materials on exam tables, not having a table at all initially, and then later, being squashed into a room with hundreds of admirers. You just sailed right on and did your stuff. By twenty minutes from the start of the double, you had the situation well in hand. I was almost a bystander. 

Of course, I expected no less of you. All the same, it is an unalloyed pleasure to be the teacher of such a self-reliant, resilient crew of young dreamers, thinkers and entrepreneurs.

Kind regards,
Ms Green

Please write a comment about the Night of Notables, in which you respond to any or all of the following questions:

  • What did you most enjoy about the project and the night?
  • What did you learn from it?
  • What did you discover about yourself and your friends?
  • Were there any particularly amusing moments, bizarre questions or unexpected crises?
  • Which skills did you develop or hone as you went about your work?
  • Were there any obstacles that you had to overcome and how did you go about it?
  • What could we as your teachers do in order to make the project better or easier to manage?
The many delightful details of the Night of Notables…
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19 Replies to “Night of Notables, 2017”

  1. I most enjoyed researching and presenting my work throughout the night. I learnt, as Anne Frank said, that ‘laziness may appear attractive but work gives satisfaction’. The work I put in was definitely worth it. I encountered one man who kept asking me the weirdest questions such as ‘Why was Anne so optimistic?’ I used my organisational skills much better than I would usually do and I had much more motivation compared to the last time I was doing Night of the Notables at Primary School. I think I was more motivated because I was doing a notable who really inspired me. I did not find any obstacles as setting up and making my presentation went very smoothly but I think making sure parents know where and what is supposed to happen on the night would be better as my parents were quite confused as where to go.

  2. The thing I most enjoyed about the project was the making of all the items and the setting up of the table. I learnt that being organised always helps and as long as you stay and look calm and confident everything will end up ok. I discovered a lot about how my friends work and what they are interested in; a few like being well-organised and a few leave it to the last minute but the good thing is that in the end they all do an outstanding job. One of the problems we had was that we forgot my computer at home which had the movie on it and so we had to call my mum over to give it to me. There weren’t any other major catastrophes I guess. The project required a lot of patience to deal with the work and to deal with my peers and I think I did a pretty good job on staying patient and resilient while working with them. The teachers could have been more clear with the timings and setting as a few parents were left confused.

  3. • What did you discover about yourself and your friends?

    I discovered that Josh uses C# to make games such as Minecraft and the Baguette Game.

    • What could we as your teachers do in order to make the project better or easier to manage?
    You could have some checkpoints to make sure we complete everything on time.

    • What did you most enjoy about the project and the night?
    I liked other people’s displays and that some people researched unknown but notable people. I also enjoyed looking at everyone’s creativity.

  4. Night of the Notables was truly an unforgettable experience. I loved watching other students’ stalls to admire their creativity and how they chose to go about it in their own unique style. The entire class looked fabulous in their costumes. Perhaps instead of giving the students period 5 to look at others’, you could let them go earlier and they could have half an hour to go around to students already in their costume… I also think that having an activity at your table should become highly recommended. I learnt that Vanessa and Kasey were perfectly fit for their notables. I may have accidentally scared Hannah’s sister away when I first met her, but all in all the evening was amazing. It felt a little bit long near the end and I’m sure we all went home quite tired; I would love to experience something like that again. I’m glad I had a phone with me, the entire night was picture worthy!

  5. I really enjoyed The Night of Notables; from setting up to dressing up, it was a fun ride. I personally love to dress up, so having an excuse to dress up was really great fun for me. I think my family also enjoyed finding clothing for me to wear and things to put on display. It was great fun with all my friends and getting to learn about the people they had chosen to research. The hardest part of it was probably the initial research; gathering the items for the display was rather easy for me as my family loves to collect things. I learnt how to be more productive, I had gotten everything finished early and it all looked really good, I didn’t even use some of the extra things I made for my display. I think it went by very smoothly and it was a great experience!

  6. I enjoyed walking around the portables looking at other people’s displays and eating their food. I also enjoyed taking pictures of my friends in costume.

    I learnt more about the person I chose (Charlie Chaplin) and also how to prepare and organise everything.

    What did you discover about yourself and your friends?
    I discovered that we can actually do thing without messing everything up! Seriously, I was surprised at how nicely everyone prepared for the event.

    Were there any particularly amusing moments, bizarre questions or unexpected crises?
    When everyone saw me with makeup on they freaked out, it was great seeing their faces.

    Which skills did you develop or hone as you went about your work?
    I discovered that I can put up our posters, pictures and information and make them look somewhat pretty.

    Were there any obstacles that you had to overcome and how did you go about it?
    What could we as your teachers do in order to make the project better or easier to manage?
    At first Sanjay and I were very not organised in the first few weeks but then we got better and put all our info together and managed to pull it off.

  7. Actually I met a lot of really nice people and it was funny when people were a little nervous to ask for a plane (one of my giveaways) and secretly tried to take one; I told them it was fine. One nice man showed me a picture of a funny $20 note on his phone. I think that to improve the experience of both the audience and the children as notables you should encourage people to make conversation with parents, teachers and other individuals, as they might feel uncomfortable talking or asking a question about a notable. Other than that, it was an amazing experience to see all the hard work I did being showed off!

  8. I most enjoyed our final display because everything came together. I learnt that you make mistakes but they could always be worse. Somebody asked me, “What does India have to do with Audrey Hepburn?” The skill I honed was teamwork. Our stand would not have looked as amazing if I did not work Isabelle or if we did not work well together. I had to overcome that only a few cookies turned out well. In order to make the project easier in the future, give us more time earlier in the year to start planning and doing our posters. Thank you to Ms Green and Isabelle.

  9. Dear Ms Green,
    I loved that we can learn about someone we’re interested in a fun way. The food was a bonus. I learnt that many of the notable people had to go through many hardships before breaking through. I learnt that there is so much more to some people than just “Hey, that’s the guy on the twenty dollar bill”. I discovered my classmates’ hidden talents and hobbies through their notable. I just wish that the time management could have gone better or more smoothly. We went way overtime, to the point that it interfered with prior commitments. And said prior commitments made crises that shouldn’t have been there (that I thankfully managed to work around). Other than that, the night was fun, full of amazing costumes, stunning displays and great food. I didn’t get any bizarre questions or anything like that, but I did find it quite amusing when elderly people asked me where I got my costume from and endearing when little kids approached me. A student even asked to take a picture of me. It was a nice night. I can’t wait to see what the next class comes up with.

  10. The Night of Notables wasn’t as chaotic as I had originally imagined because it turned out to be a very fun yet educational experience. I really enjoyed visiting others’ displays and finding out more and new things about their notables. It was really good how almost everyone in year 7 did someone different, although a few were the same.
    I learnt that cooperation is good but working on your own is just as good too. They can both come up with a creative and fun stall each. I also found out more about some notables too.

    During the Night of the Notables, quite a lot of things happened. Hannah kept leaving her stall to eat other stalls food while Meghana kept calling her mother to bring her laptop to her. Helen kept silently peeking over the board to check out how I was doing, the sun was getting in Meghana’s and my eyes, Lionel brought around jellybeans, urging Hannah and me to try one. Joseph dared me to try a lolly of his which turned out to taste really nice and somebody even asked me if I was wearing ruby red shoes! It was chaotic in its way but everything turned out well in the end.

    While I was teaching everyone about Lyman Frank Baum, I realised that teaching can become tiring in the end. I think I developed more patience during that time. Sometimes I kept having to repeat things because the room was too loud but I just repeated it until they could hear what I said.

    Overall, the night was extremely enjoyable and I think we should all thank the teachers for helping us set up and keeping the room from chaos. Thank you!

  11. The things that I liked were setting up my display and talking to people throughout the night, although I also loved designing and making the elements for my display. So basically I liked all of it!

    I learnt that you have to be confident in what you are saying to parents, teachers and students because you probably know more than they do, so it is good to teach them something new. I also learnt that you don’t have to have a million things to do at your display, no one did any of the activities.

    I am quite shy and felt like I didn’t know what to say to some questions asked by parents, but I figured it out. I am also not very good at understanding people with accents, I think I was just nervous and excited so found it hard to concentrate! My friends all had researched well and spoke confidently and well.
    There was an unexpected crisis at the end – I thought I had put the very expensive Chanel perfume in the box under the table, and when I returned it was not there. So I told my friends, told parents, told teachers, ran outside and told my grandparents (who were talking to the principal) and then I told my Mum who said that it was in her bag. So I had just given myself and others heart attacks, just because I forgot that I had given it to my Mum! There were also some interesting questions – one woman asked if she could keep the perfume!

    I am now a master at making tiny dresses (which were my question box)! I have learnt lots of things like how to set out good posters, how to write open-ended questions and more.

    I couldn’t quite fit everything on my table, so I had to move everything to make it all fit.

    I think the teachers did a good job organising the event!

    Good job to everyone!

  12. I most enjoyed when we had finished our display, because it looked a lot better than I had thought it would. It was also enjoyable to go around and look at everybody else’s unique displays. I learnt that even though there might be mistakes, it is not the end of the world. I learnt that I like standing on chairs! There was one family that came to us, and they asked, “What does your notable person have to do with India?” We couldn’t understand them because they had an accent. We eventually realised what they were saying and then India explained to them that her name is India! I developed lots of balance by standing on chairs. India and I had ordered a cookie cutter a few weeks ago but it was taking a while to be delivered; we then realised that it wouldn’t come in time so we had to think of other foods to make. Eventually, it came on that night and fortunately India had enough time to bake cookies.

  13. Were there any particularly amusing moments, bizarre questions or unexpected crises?

    As is expected on Night of the Notables, there was some drama and crisis: people printing stuff off at the last second, almost forgetting things and losing things in the chaos. I almost forgot my computer, which had my PowerPoint on it, one of the most crucial elements of my display. There was also quite a bit of trickery happening with the musk sticks and lolly cars I brought in. Musk sticks are just amazing and some people could not keep their hands off them. The two boys next to me had a real problem with that. Several times I had to come and take back the bag of musk sticks before they ate them all.

  14. I enjoyed every part of the project but I especially enjoyed presenting on the night. I learnt how to manage time and about what websites to trust. There weren’t any unexpected crises and I developed my researching skills and my organising skills. At the end, I was slightly running out of time, but I managed to get it done. There was nothing you could’ve done to make the project better.

  15. What did you most enjoy about the project and the night?
    I enjoyed that food at other people’s stalls.
    What did you learn from it?
    That is is possible to salvage some projects even if it seems pretty bad.

    Were there any particularly amusing moments, bizarre questions or unexpected crises?
    I had to talk to someone who knew what they were talking about, unlike me.
    Which skills did you develop or hone as you went about your work?
    I got slightly better at talking to people.
    What could we as your teachers do in order to make the project better or easier to manage?
    Nothing because it was pretty good.

  16. What did you most enjoy about the project and the night?
    Walking around and looking at other people’s displays, costumes and overall presentation.
    I also enjoyed surprising people by acting knowledgeable about my notable person.

    What did you learn from it?
    I learnt a lot about famous individuals who had a huge impact onto the current world.

    What did you discover about yourself and your friends?
    I was extremely surprised that we were able to put everything together in the short amount of time we had.

    Were there any particularly amusing moments, bizarre questions or unexpected crises?
    After straying around, I returned to my small ‘booth’. Unexpectedly, all the lollies in the huge jar were gone!

    Which skills did you develop or hone as you went about your work?
    I learnt a lot about how to present your things nicely.

    Were there any obstacles that you had to overcome and how did you go about it?
    I was not properly prepared at first since I wasn’t really organised, but later I found a lot of things to do and spent my time completing them one by one in order to finish everything.

    What could we as your teachers do in order to make the project better or easier to manage?
    Have more tables and pin boards to cater to every student’s needs.

  17. What I most enjoyed about the project was the research part because you learn many new things and every now and then, you learn more stuff about other people related to your notable person. What I enjoyed most about the night was admiring other people’s stands and especially their costumes, which told you a lot about the notable person. Also the interactive activities at other people’s tables were pretty interesting because they provided a good hands-on time for other people.
    Thanks to all the parents that attended and to the teachers for making the event possible.

  18. On the night I enjoyed looking at the product of all the presentations because we had worked on it for a long time and in the end, it all turned out well. I also enjoyed sharing my knowledge about my notable person with other people. A skill that I honed in the process of the Night of Notables was my time management. Because the poster had a deadline and it had to be done to a high standard, I made sure that I allocated time to work on the time-consuming things and finish the things that are easy. Overall I enjoyed all the experience of Night of Notables. I think I worked exceptionally well throughout the term and thoroughly enjoyed the night.

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