What's Happening This Week -- November 27 - December 3

Fall Term Theme

November classes --ALL CLASSES DUE BY MIDNIGHT POT 11/30!  Contact Bacs if you need to be excused.

Tower Staff Application -- Open through 11/29

OWLs -- 100% DUE BY MIDNIGHT POT 11/30

NEWTs -- 100% DUE BY MIDNIGHT POT 11/30

Class Tetris Photo Contest  -- Through 11/30

Prefects’ Challenge

Great Hall Hallows and Horcruxes Challenge -- Through 11/30

Great Hall Badges --  Classes and Detention here;  extracurriculars here through 11/30

House Cup Staff Application -- Through 12/4

House Unity Blanket Fort Activity  -- Ravenclaw Portal

Remembrall Sign ups

        

Break Month Activities --

         The Concierge Carriage

The Library Car

         The Engineer’s Compartment

         The Luxury Spa Car

         Secret Snowflakes -- Sign ups open through 12/15

         Hufflepuff Diagon Alley Party -- The Leaky Cauldron

         Slytherin -- Advent Sock Along

Last Week in the Common Room: Sometimes You Gotta Air Your Toes

Favorite flavors of Snapple and food allergies

Cat sleeping habits and how some are mirrored in their humans (sometimes you gotta air your toes)

Fingerless mitts that group fingers together to increase warmth and comfort

Temptation of video games won't sway these Cuppers!

Recommended gradients

Thanksgiving plans and food

Bags of different sizes and functions

Black Friday in other countries and the negatives it can bring

Firstie Friday: Fall '17 Final Quidditch and HMC Stats

Our fearsome Firsties are finishing the end of the Fall 2017 term as strongly as they started, and have continued their participation in Cup extracurriculars with enthusiasm. Here are some stats for the final 2 matches of Quidditch and the last round of Headmistress Challenge. 

Quidditch
Both Match 3 and Match 4 have been completed since our last extracurricular update, and our Firsties had consistent participation with 5 relaxing goals scored in Match 3 and 6 lucky goals in Match 4.

Here's just a few of the beautiful projects turned in over the course of these 2 matches.

Headmistress Challenge

The last round of the HMC saw 5 Firsties focusing on bettering something in their lives, benefiting themselves and the House by earning those extra points.


Final Stats
Congratulations to the intrepid First Years who chose to go the distance and complete all Quidditch matches and rounds of the HMC this term. Five Firstie Quidditch chasers managed to score a goal in all 4 rounds, while four Firsties completed all 4 rounds of the HMC, earning points for each and a bonus for participating in them all.


Our Firsties have had a great term with plenty of lovely projects being completed. It's wonderful to know that they've enjoyed participating in these Cup extracurriculars as it truly makes this game just a little bit more fun.

SOAR on, Little Eagles!

From the Desk of the Head of House: Reflecting and Looking Forward

Can you believe it's already almost the end of term?  Me neither.

Today (well, the day this is posting, not the day I'm writing it) in the United States, we are celebrating Thanksgiving.  For many, this is a holiday for remembering the things we are thankful for and spending time with those we care about.  

I feel like it's an also excellent time for all of us in the Tower to reflect on how this term has gone, and start talking about our plans for next term.  Did you meet your goals for this term?  Were you able to get the majority of your planned projects completed?  Did you get the Completionist Badge like you wanted (deadline for the final Detention turn-in is in a couple days on the 25th!)  Some of this reflection may have to wait until next week, of course, since we do still have a week of the term left and for many of us that means we are still working on finishing up our Advanced Studies projects, but you can also reflect while dealing with tasks like sewing in ends.

I would like to encourage everyone to also take a look back at how you felt during this term.  Were there perhaps times when you were stressed by deadlines or pushing yourself harder physically than you would like?  Were there particular projects that gave you an immense sense of accomplishment that boosted your confidence in your crafting?  Think back on the good and the bad, so that you can perhaps determine if there is something you can do to increase the positive feelings as we move forward into the holidays and the next term.

It is also time for looking forward and beginning to plan things like our Advanced Studies projects for next term.  The Advanced Studies thread for next term is currently focused on NEWT planning since we are just over a week away from their proposal period opening, but feel free to go in there to discuss your next OWL or Order Mission as well.  Next term is Winter, which means that the Detention OWL will be available.  Because there is only a guarantee of a certain number of proposals being accepted (although more often than not, more are accepted), having your proposal ready to go ahead of time is important and the Advanced Studies planning thread is the ideal place to make sure everything is where it needs to be.

Looking ahead to next term, there are already some excellent House-wide ideas going around in the staff room, so there will surely be many exciting things coming with the new year ;)

Speaking of staff, if you wish to volunteer, the link to the application is in the Announcements thread.  The deadline for submission is November 29th.  Is next term the one where you take the leap and join staff?  Think about it, and if you decide now is the time don't forget to fill out the form :)

And as always, take care.

November Prefects' Challenge Update

The term is nearly coming to a close, now, but there is still time to cross things off your bucket list! The Prefects' Challenge is ongoing through the end of the month and we've managed another four stops on the BLUE Train since our last update. (And if you aren't familiar with this term's Prefects' Challenge, you can read our introduction here, as well.)

When we reported last, we had just reached Marnham Cove. From here we traveled a long journey to Godric's Hollow, where we had a lesson on the events that happened here when Harry and Hermione went to visit Harry's parents' graves and happened across another gravestone with some intriguing carving. While we were here we also practiced some charms!

Our next stop was the Forest of Dean, where Harry and Hermione found the Sword of Gryffindor and we reunited with Ron! While we were here we learned about Dumbledore's history and practiced our Reparo spells.

After leaving the forest, our next stop on the BLUE train was at the Lovegood residence, where we were thrilled to meet not only Xenophilius and his Quibbler press, but Luna herself! She explained the replica Ravenclaw Diadem she had created and we discussed the Tale of the Deathly Hallows.

We spent a few days with the Lovegoods, but finally it was time to move on. Our next destination is the Malfoy Manor, where the Trio were taken after being captured by Fenrir, and where they discovered that Luna and Ollivander were also both imprisoned. This is our current stop, where we are taking time to discuss House Elf rights and stroll around the grounds.

Our journey isn't over, though! As long as we continue to turn in classes and mark our finished bucket list items in our spreadsheet, we've still got a few more stops to make. So keep on crafting and accomplishing your goals, so we can reach the end of our adventure!

What's Happening This Week -- November 20 -16

Fall Term Theme

November classes  

Quidditch Match 4 -- ALL PROJECTS DUE BY MIDNIGHT POT 11/20!

Patronus Seminar Class Blitz  -- 11/20

Detention -- Turn in by midnight POT 11/25 for badge!

Tower Staff Application -- Open through 11/29

OWLs -- 100% accepted through midnight POT 11/30

NEWTs -- 100% accepted through midnight POT 11/30

Class Tetris Photo Contest  -- Through 11/30

Prefects’ Challenge

Great Hall Hallows and Horcruxes Challenge -- Through 11/30

Great Hall Badges --  Classes and Detention here;  extracurriculars here through 11/30

House Cup Staff Application -- Through 12/4

House Unity Blanket Fort Activity  -- Ravenclaw Portal

Remembrall Sign ups

        

Last Week in the Common Room: Finishing the term!

Food from different places

Finishing big projects before traveling … or taking blocking pictures on hotel beds.

Strategies for finishing the term!

Cold sheep plans and results

reunions

rekindling a love of embroidery

letterboxing

diluting cold brew coffee

Tips on dyeing yarn and preventing it from bleeding

Headmistress Challenge Stats!

This term's Headmistress Challenge fit well into a common thread that we've touched on a lot in Ravenclaw House this term, where we have been talking a lot about taking the time to take care of ourselves. But the HMC went beyond that, and encouraged us both to take care of ourselves and to help others. There were four rounds, each with a theme on a certain sort of "bettering" to do. Together the members of the Cup took on many different tasks to make the world better in so many ways!

This was a really important task, but you know your Stats Reporter well enough by now to see where this might be going. You know I can't resist a good graph! So I decided to first check on what our participation rate was. From the House as a whole 51% of students participated in at least one round. As you can see from my first graph, here, the Seventh Years really went for it, with the First Years on their heels!

But of course there were four rounds of bettering projects to be done, so I decided to calculate how many times each one of these students participated. The House as a whole averaged 2.74 posts for each participant, and as you can see, the Sevenths are once again out front with every single one of their participants doing all four rounds!

As you might suspect by the previous two graphs, that led to the Sevenths charging far into the lead on points per student. They might be our smallest Dorm at only five students, but their powers are mighty! I'm proud every one of the students who went out and tried to make something better, but a special thank you goes out to those 43 of my Housemates who turned something in for every single round. The points are nice, but the bettering that resulted is, well, better!

Firstie Friday

We have another fabulous Firstie to meet today!

5Bobbins (Jenna)

How did you find the Cup and what motivated you to give the Cup a try?: I randomly stumbled onto the Cup after finding badges on another Cupper's profile page, so I looked it up and applied for sorting, not expecting to get in but as luck would have it I was accepted :) I’d tried CALs before and I loved the community encouragement, and motivation for finishing projects, as I notoriously start things but don’t finish. I posted a little story in the Candle thread about other ulterior motives as well :)

What, in your own estimation, is your wackiest/most awesome project and why?, So far the biggest project I’ve ever attempted was Sweet Potato 3’s Cal, but I think the Broom I’ve chosen, making my own charts from a clip art and converting them into a blanket, will be my most challenging yet as I also intend to pair it with some painted canvases of the same theme.

What characteristics do you love most about the Tower so far? How do these things impact and change or encourage you? The first thing I do every morning is hop onto the forums and catch up on any messages or posts in my dorm. It's great knowing that if I do have a question, there is someone there I can ask, not too far away in spirit :)

What is on your crafting bucket list? Must! Do! All! The! Things! I intend to hand in a project for every class and challenge I come across as I’m super excited to be a part of the HPKCHC!

What is currently on your needles/hook? I’m just finishing up a collection of items I intend to submit for the remainder of my classes this term, and I will be working on my Broom. I got myself a copy of the Harry Potter Audio books so I can listen to them while I work on my charts on the computer :)

From the Desk of the Head of House: Shiny Things! Round 4

It's time again for another round of Shiny Things!

This time, I am featuring the Weaving, Spinning, and Dyeing projects that have been turned in so far this month for classes and Advanced Studies.  This time of month doesn't tend to have very many turn-ins for weaving and spinning yet, but that doesn't change how wonderful they are.  

Featured in this video are projects from: lateclematis, laura909, leahandthedragon, mooseloon (two are mooseloon's!), nightgigjo, pumpahkin, softnshiny, stormrage, topfrog, twistedsticherfge

Right now there are many focused on finishing Advanced Studies projects (particularly since the Order of the Phoenix deadline is rapidly approaching) and in the United States we have a major holiday coming up next week.  So the Tower is crazy busy.  Don't forget to take breaks so you do not risk burnout or injury :)

Take Care,

QUIDDITCH MATCH 4 IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!

Quidditch Match 4 begins on Thursday, November 16!

Get out your brooms, everyone, it's time for QUIDDITCH!  Match 4 is prompting some interesting ideas for small projects.  Choose:  something at least 50% gold-colored OR something in which you have complete confidence OR something completely new because you're feeling lucky!!

Match ends Monday, November 20, and there's no yardage bonus, so don't think big for this one, think small for 18 glorious base points.  

Fun, help, encouragement, ideas, and cheers are all available in the Tower Quidditch Team thread.

Thank you to greenheron for that preview of Match 4!  SOAR RAVENCLAW!

October Class Stats

Another month has been and gone (and this one is nearly halfway over, already!), which means it's time for more class stats, of course! First off, how popular was each class? Looks like Ravenclaws favored Charms in October, followed pretty closely by Muggle Studies and the Patronus Seminar. Surprisingly, our blitz class, which was the Deathly Hallows Seminar this month, was one of the least popular classes!

You can see that Detention participation was pretty low in October as well, so that offers the question: Which dorm members were most likely to contribute? Looks like our fabulous Fourth Years were far and away the most zealous in finishing projects this month, followed by the intrepid Seventh Years!

Of course, it's not all about Detention. Finishing WIPs is excellent, but don't we all love starting new things? Our next graph demonstrates that when we're looking at how many classes are turned in (averaged by dorm population), the Fourth Years are still ahead, followed this time by the B3-B7 students, who edge out the First Years by just a fraction!

Proving that they are in this thing to win it, Fourth Years also lead on average points per class turn-in, and are again doggedly followed by the Seventh Years, who came out just a fraction ahead of the Third Years, who are demonstrating that perhaps number of turn-ins isn't always as important as bonus points!

And I know that many Ravenclaws are as (or possibly more) enthusiastic as I am about spreadsheets and statistics, so I have included some of the raw stats as I have aggregated them below. I suppose no one will be surprised that I spreadsheet in rainbow colors! The lower chart has turn-in numbers on the left and points totals on the right. I will admit that during my number crunching this month I realized that I don't take into account the base points cap for classes, so there are going to be a few points in this chart that went away in final formulas, but there isn't really a good way to decide where to take them out in my process, anyway. So, forward, with caveat noted:

That's it for October Class stats, but your faithful Stats Reporter will return this Saturday with some results from this term's Headmistress Challenge! In the meantime, don't forget to work on November's classes and plan for our class blitz in the Patronus Seminar on November 20th, which is next Monday!

What's Happening This Week -- 11/13 -- 11/19

Fall Term Theme

November classes  

Quidditch Match 4 -- 11/16 - 11/20  -- Note the short time frame!

Order of the Phoenix --  ALL MISSIONS DUE BY MIDNIGHT POT 11/19!

Patronus Seminar Class Blitz  -- 11/20

OWLs -- 100% accepted through midnight POT 11/30

NEWTs -- 100% accepted through midnight POT 11/30.

Class Tetris Photo Contest  -- Through 11/30

Prefects’ Challenge

Great Hall Hallows and Horcruxes Challenge -- Through 11/30

Great Hall Badges --  Classes and Detention here;  extracurriculars here

House Unity Blanket Fort Activity  -- Ravenclaw Portal

Remembrall Sign ups

        

Last Week in the Common Room: The Left Leaning Decrease

House bettering weekend results

cookie, cake, cupcake baking

nanowrimo

bathroom to bedroom ratio

different ways to make a left leaning decrease

lace vs cabling

From the Desk of the Head of House: Priorities

If you hang around in the Tower, you are almost certain to see one of the following (or something similar) at least once during the Term:

"Sorry I haven't been around more, (insert Real Life thing)."

"Sorry, I'm only going to earn X points this Term."

"Sorry, I'm only turning in one class this month."

These things are generally met with a reminder that Real Life is more important than our game, or that just getting in at least one class is all that is really needed.  Both 100% true!  Please do not feel guilty about not doing All the Things or like you are letting anyone down.

As much as we love additional turn-ins and chatter and everything, we also love for everyone to be happy and healthy.  Stressing about turning in All the Things or being behind in the Common Room will lead to you enjoying your experience in the Tower less.  Even if you see us pushing hard for more points or more participation in a class or event, please do not stress or injure yourself if you are too busy to participate in that particular push.  We are a family, and we want all of our family members to enjoy their time in the House Cup and the Tower.

And part of enjoying your time can sometimes mean doing the minimum to maintain Sorting priority so that you can handle things going on in Real Life.  In my case, that means that last week I missed a post here on the blog because I needed to deal with a couple of my children getting sick.  It also means that I am forever behind in the Common Room because my schedule during the school year means that I am out of my home multiple times a week and just cannot keep up with our chatty 'Claws.

If you find that in order to take care of something in Real Life or your own health you need to miss a month of turning in something (don't forget, a partial class is the minimum), don't hesitate to ask about getting an excuse.  Not every situation necessarily warrants an excuse, but you have to ask for one for it to be considered at all.  To ask about an excuse, send a private message on Ravelry to me (Bacs) before the deadline at the end of the month.

And always, please remember to take care of yourself.  Happy 'Claws lead to a Happy Tower ;)

Take Care,

What's Happening This Week -- November 6 - 12

Fall Term Theme

November classes  

Flight of the First -- Due by Midnight POT 11/7

HMC #4: Bettering -- Due by Midnight POT 11/7

Order of the Phoenix -- Missions accepted through 11/19

OWLs -- 100% accepted through midnight POT 11/30

NEWTs -- 100% accepted through midnight POT 11/30.

Class Tetris Photo Contest  -- Through 11/30

Prefects’ Challenge

Great Hall Hallows and Horcruxes Challenge -- Through 11/30

Great Hall Badges --  Classes and Detention here;  extracurriculars here

House Unity Blanket Fort Activity  -- Ravenclaw Portal

Remembrall Sign ups