Fun, Meaningful Project: Wiring Project

Students get excited every year for the wiring project.  They know it's coming, they know it's awesome.

Once the project gets started every kids immediately is engaged, there's no way around it.  There are too many ways to personalize this project, too much student choice to not let the be successful   The project is nothing short of a BLAST.

Kids come back year after year and say "This is the hardest thing I've ever done, and I'l never forget it."

The key to making this project a success each year is scaffolding and setting kids up for success.  Every year I reflect with students and add a new piece to make the project better.  Here's the project from finish to start....

Finished Products:

To get to the final project students were given three phases with due dates to keep them on track.  Each phase had a card to go with it.  The cards were green (planning), yellow (caution/work phase), red (finishing phase).  The cards looked like this Planning phase card below:

I recently added the ability for kids to integrate some technology.  Students (11 year olds) have been working on using Google Sketchup to make 3D models of their projects:

Student samples:

And


Student had a working circuit and attached it to their shoebox.  Since this was difficult for some students I created image laden directions should they need it:

They learned about circuits and how to hook up circuits 
(Classroom content and grade level expectations outlined by the state)  

Here's the video they used that I made when I flipped the classroom:

Before wiring they needed to design their space using the project packet:

Wiring Project Packet: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bwz1J6fj2c9rRDBZZW5FckpLQTg/edit

And it all started with teaching them how to splice wires: 

Why was this engaging?

Students were given the freedom of choice.  They could choose a room in a house, a store in a mall, a part of a car, a part of a plane, a resort, anything.  I didn't care.  They could choose to use technology, the could go old school.  They moved at their own pace, designed to their criteria, I sat aside and helped and guided them to success.

How was it graded?

Scoring guides were made by the class.  I only graded based on their knowledge and expertise with our content (series and parallel circuits) not their ability to wire.  Outside of that the students made their scoring guides.  Here's an example they made:

Moral of the story:

Use your content to design engaging projects and solve real world problems through student choice.

Spring Breakers Unite!

Where'd you go on your spring break?

As we return from spring break this week you hear that question a lot.  Where did I go?  I spent the week working on observation hours for my doctorate.  Honestly, I wouldn't trade it for anyone else's.

Where did I go?
I spent the week at three schools shadowing various adminsitrators.  I learned alot about the job, the different schools and the different communities.  The peple I met were outstanding and the learning experiences were even better.  The getting up every morning left something to be desired for sure :-).

My first school - Neuwoehner High School

Spent the day with John T. Miller, Assistant Principal (and friend).

What is Neuwoehner High School?
Located in Town & Country, Missouri, Neuwoehner educates students 14 to 21 years with a range of disabilities. Students attending Neuwoehner live in several nearby school districts: Clayton, Ladue, Maplewood-Richmond Heights, Normandy, Ritenour, Pattonville, Kirkwood, University City and portions of Parkway. The school also serves students with autism from throughout Central and South St. Louis County. (http://www.ssdmo.org/ssd_services/schools.html)


My experience:
OUTSTANDING!  This school thrives on meeting the unique needs of a very marginalized population of students.  Every one of the students in that building required some form of an IEP.  The school had students ranging in ability levels and differentiates based on readiness, ability, IEP, and every thing else imaginable.  The set up is very similar to an elementary setting where one teacher must cover a variety of subjects during their school day.  The teacher's job is even harder because not only are they the teachers in the classroom but also their IEP case manager.

Being able to watch Mr. Miller interact with teachers and students made this opportunity unique.  The school runs like every other school with bells at the beginning of the day and the end but everything that happens at the school is special, necessary and really uplifting.

This school is a diamond in the rough, if I hadn't been friends with Mr. Miller, I would have never know it existed.  The cost to run a school serving students from all over the St. Louis area with intense IEPs cannot be easy or cheap, but the impact this school and it's amazing teachers have on this population of students is immeasurable.


My second school - Washington Middle School

Spent the day with Adam Smith, Principal

What is Washington Middle School?
The mission of Washington Middle School is to maximize every student's academic potential and develop responsible, productive citizens.

Building and Facilities

Washington was built in 1970 with additions constructed in 1990,1991 and 2003. The school features six full science labs, a computer lab, a gymnasium with a stage, a full-sized track, and a football and soccer field. The two-story building is handicapped-accessible by elevator and ramps.

Technology

Technology is important at Washington Middle School. The school has two computer labs with 25 IBM computers in each lab. The library has an additional 25 computers to allow all students the opportunity to complete research through the World Wide Web. Each teacher has a computer within their classroom to enhance the presentation of, research for and preparation of curricular materials. All of the computers within the school are networked allowing instant communication throughout the school and district. The school also has two traveling smart boards, and all classrooms have cable television. http://washington.mehlvilleschooldistrict.com/wc/default.asp?Info=519272320_1-SchoolInformation--0)


My experience:

Adam Smith and I go back to teaching together and watching him excel as an assistant principal now to a principal position has been awesome to see.  As I continue to learn how to lead, it is great to have guys like Mr. Smith ahead of me blazing the trail and allowing me to come along for the ride.

Mr. Smith and Mr. Keenoy (his Assistant principal) allowed me to tag along for the day.  I toured the building and got a chance to see the building run for a majority of the day.  Mr. Smith handled some discipline issues during the day (about three), we discussed the building budget and the budget process, and began to look at rearranging a supervisory period to make more use of the RTI process.

The building was small, the population and number of teachers were relatively small which made for a great feel of the building.  The hallways weren't too crowded and the teachers, I felt, really knew one another.  The small student and teacher population made for a connected feeling within the building.

The one thing I noticed and as you can read above there was a distinct lack of technology.  Having 75 computers for a student population of  533 students makes for a unique experience.  I can tell the school and Mr. Smith are trying to add more technology with every meeting, lesson, and agenda in mind but there is a limited budget to make that change.  Having one of the labs dedicated to edison progress monitoring also limited the number of times a student can "touch" a computer and become a digital citizen.


My third school - Oakville Senior High School

Spent the day(s) with Jan Kellerman, Jim Kern, Janet Anthony, Brian Brennan and William Scheffler.

What is Oakville Senior High School?


Mission Statement

The mission of Oakville High School is to guide each student toward his/her full potential to become a responsible, contributing member of a global society.

Vision Statement

Oakville High School is committed to students achieving academic excellence through:

• An educational partnership of school, home, and community
• A rigorous curriculum
• Innovative instruction
• Active participation in co-curricular activities
• A culture of respect, tolerance, responsibility, integrity, and leadership


My experience:
There are two reflections here 1.  This is the school that hired me out of college so coming back here was like coming home.  2.  I got a chance to see a number of things, thanks to the great leadership team, that I would have never had the chance to see and be a part of.

What is it like coming home?  Well, it is great to see people you haven't worked with in 7 years.  You see that some things haven't changed with the interactions of various people within the school and district and you see how much the building and opportunities for kids have grown since you left.  Coming back and seeing people happy to see me and welcoming me back, usually with a story of "you remember when you..." always makes me smile and embarasses me a little.  I started teaching when I was 21 and left the school when I was 24, needless to say I had some growning up and maturing to do :-).

What did I get a chance to see/discuss/learn

• We surpervised lunches (all three every day) as an adminsintrator this takes up nearly 2 hours of your day.
• Dealt with a student who's keys were taken from him and we had to hint them down.
• Discussed motivation for a student on the edge of failing a semester of classes.
• Discussed a reassignment to the alternative school for a sophomore student who's attendance and grades are putting her on the path to nowhere, quick.
• 8:30 time.  Really cool idea from Mr. Scheffler: At 8:30 any student that was absent the day before reports to the commons.  There they account for their absence (reduces skipping and increases attendance) with a parent phone call.  This time is also used for students who have discipline issues when the two overlap.  At 8:30 every day every teacher and every student know that if they are on the posted list, they come to the commons.  Great idea with minimal disruption to classes.
• Worked with administrative team to build schedule for band, PE, science, business, and english.  Utilizing conflict matrix, course enrollment and available courses.  That was a great experience.
• Supervise tardy sweeps at the passing periods and before school.
• Supervised dismissal.
• Met with a team designing the new PBTE process to be piloted next year.

All in all my spring break, although without beaches, warm weather, and relaxation, yielded great results.  I'm excited to take the opportunities to learn and apply them to my next leadership opportunity.  Special thanks to the administrators that allowed me to shadow them and the learning experiences they let me be a part of.

Infographics and 6th grade students

We are using a set of reading strategies with our middle schol students from the DAYBOOK series.  What I'm hoping to do with it is take every one of the reading strategies and enhance it with 21st century skills.  Here's an example of what I'm working on:

My student this week worked on "reading a diagram" and what better resource than to ask students to read an online diagram, an infographic.  The lesson plan started with looking at a graphic, in a book, determining what the graphic was trying to tell us and then what we can learn from it.  I signed up for the computer lab for the next couple days.  The first day we investigated how to search for an image and copy and paste the location of the image, what makes a good infographic and what can we learn form it?  On the second day, I introduced them to google docs and explained the assignment.  Each student chose an infographic, explained what it is and what they learned form it.  I'm excited to see their work and see where we go from here.  Any suggestions on how to make this lesson better?

See their work below:

Mr. McGee’s Reading Strategies

“Learning Through Infographics”

Student name:	Gabi
Link to infographic:	http://www.gobankingrates.com/system/wp/blogs/12/assets/gameofhome_400.jpg
What is the infographic about?	It is a game called HOME kind of like the game “Life.”It has a lot of cool information on percentages.
What I learned from it:	64% of homes have three or more bedrooms.

Student name:	Ivan
Link to infographic:	http://amaschietto.tripod.com/andrea-art/CCAR-DRIFTING-072306.jpg
What is the infographic about?	This infographi is about skiing.It tells you how to do aback somersault with a with four twists
What I learned from it:	I learned to do a somersault with a twist on skies.

Student name:	Katie
Link to infographic:	http://www.polaine.com/playpen/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/coffee-infographic.jpg
What is the infographic about?	This infographic is about whats in different kinds of coffee.
What I learned from it:	I learned about whats in different kinds of coffee.

Student name:	Naomi
Link to infographic:	http://www.classesandcareers.com/elearning/wp-content/uploads/Gender%20Gap%20Infographic(2).jpg
What is the infographic about?	which gender gets more education
What I learned from it:	Woman earn less then men at every education level.

Link to infographic:	http://www.onlineschools.org/blog/rickrolling/
What is the infographic about?	Rickrolling
What I learned from it:	The history of rickrolling

Student name:	James C.
Link to infographic:	http://gadgetsdna.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/iPhone-3GS-vs-iPhone-4-Infographic-412-full.jpg
What is the infographic about?	It is about how two of the same type of phones are really diffrent and what they need to work.
What I learned from it:	I learned that not all phones are the same some need more battery power and some don’t . there are many thing’s in a phone we don’t always see.

Student name:	Gillian
infographic link	http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://dvice.com/assets_c/2010/06/infographic_iPhone4_small-thumb-550x403-40561.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.kekida.com/tag/infographic&usg=__RWZdNf_pa8JB-3coGSOmJ8dVdsg=&h=403&w=550&sz=72&hl=en&start=14&zoom=1&tbnid=RjbengY6brjxKM:&tbnh=112&tbnw=153&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dinfographic%2Bon%2Bphones%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26biw%3D1022%26bih%3D570%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C260&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=452&ei=gUfUTJXcHIWPnweFpIjpBQ&oei=HEfUTP7vN8myngfX6-2rBQ&esq=9&page=2&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:14&tx=96&ty=22&biw=1022&bih=570
What is the infographic about?	how to use the new iphone 4 and what is new about it.
What I learned from it:	i learned all the new features on the i phone 4 and how to use it if I get one.

Student name:	Carlow
Link to infographic:	http://commadot.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/worldseries1.png.
What is the infographic about?	Who won the world seiries and who lost in the final game.
What I learned from it:	I learned that the Yankees have won the most followed by the LA Dogers then the STL Cardinals.

Student name:	Kaleb
Link to infographic:	http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.funnelinc.com/green_infographics/img/funnelinc_green_infographic_GL.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.funnelinc.com/green_infographics/index.html&usg=__wGH0imIdVAPihcVXwyNxv5GZcT0=&h=370&w=600&sz=94&hl=en&start=29&zoom=1&tbnid=s_xyo9NabY5-iM:&tbnh=121&tbnw=194&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dinfographic%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D587%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=123&vpy=165&dur=7124&hovh=176&hovw=286&tx=11&ty=199&ei=OkTUTMzHMMOjnQfkkMjOBQ&oei=q0LUTMekEsr-nAe_8r2sBQ&esq=37&page=3&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:29
What is the infographic about?	the great lake water gathering system.
What I learned from it:	There are tankers in the great lakes that sell water to other countries.

Student name:	Alison
Link to infographic:	http://www.perceptualedge.com/blog/?p=494
What is the inforgraphic about?	Largest Bankruptcies in History
What I learned from it:	The largest amount of money stolen was 631 billion.

Student name:	Tyler
Link to infographic:	http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rhysllmorris.co.uk/images/lightbox/bmx_bike_466x300.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.rhysllmorris.co.uk/work.html&usg=__u8SZ2Ma9BjzUn-Ej-s66TNq9ijY=&h=300&w=466&sz=14&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=zeQYN_8olca-PM:&tbnh=120&tbnw=186&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbmx%2Binfographics%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DG%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D548%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=551&vpy=190&dur=94130&hovh=180&hovw=280&tx=136&ty=196&ei=j0rUTIbUNcmyngfX6-2rBQ&oei=j0rUTIbUNcmyngfX6-2rBQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=9&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0
What is the infographic about?	bmx bikes
What I learned from it:

Student name:	Carter
Link to infographic:	http://www.funnelinc.com/green_infographics/img/funnelinc_green_infographicCH.jpg
What is the infographic about?	How much production we use each day/year how many houses 1 power plant powers.
what i learned from it:	we use 2 million pounds of production each year and 5,479 pounds a day.

Student name:	Kevin
Link to infographic:	http://www.vizworld.com/2010/05/infographic-lowering-electric-bill/
What is the infographic about?	This infographic is about lowering your electric bill.
What I learned from it:	Electronics only usually use 4% of your electric bill.

Student name:	James K.
Link to infographic:	http://images.emailroi.com/users/xplane/library192.jpg
What is the infographic about?	It is about how many people in the U.S. workforce alone.
What I learned from it:	There are 135 million people in the U.S. workforce alone.

Student name:	Bridget
Link to infographic:	http://rview.reviewcentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/iphone-infographic1.jpg
What is the infographic about?	This infographic is about the top 6 new features of the iPhone 4.
What I learned from it:	I learned that the iPhone 4 has a camera in the front and a HD camera in the back. Also, it says on the infographic that the iPhone 4 has the same A4 prosesor.

Student name:	Avery
Link to infographic:
What is the infographic about?	bmx
What I learned from it:	what bmx bikes are made of

Student name:	Lauryn
Link to infographic:	http://www.everthilhorst.nl/playground_images/basketball.jpg
What is the infographic about?	All the keys to shooting and where the point ranges are.
What I learned from it:	The specific spots on the floor. Like where the three pointer is.

Student name:	Isaac
Link to infographic:	http://blog.thomasfrank.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/finalfour2010-300x280.jpg
What is the infographic about?	It is about the NCAA Mens basketball tournament.
What I learned from it:	I learned the names of the teams playing in the final four.

Student name:	Scott
Link to infographic:	http://www.dogtheblog.net/2010/7-fascinating-facts-about-canine-communication-infographic
What is the infographic about?	Dog Bark Facts
What I learned from it:	a germin sheperd can bark at 108 db

Student name:	Izzy
Link to infographic:	http://lava360.com/graphics/30-interesting-infographics-for-your-inspiration/
What is the infographic about?	Solving global warning
What I learned from it:	It’s better for the environment to travel in a car instead of an airplane

Student name:	Sabrina
Link to infographic:	http://radar.oreilly.com/infographic_20090804c.gif
What is the infographic about?	This infographic is about China puling ahead in manufacturing.
What I learned from it:	I lernand that Chin‘s manufacturing has passed the US’s.

Student name:	Miranda
Link to infographic:	http://needleful.com/search?tag=infographic
What is the infographic about?	The speed of living creatures, from a tree to a cheetah.
What I learned from it:	The speed of different living creatures placed in order from slowest[tree] to fastest[cheetah].