11.7.13 The fruits of their labor

Today students split into thirds, like yesterday.

Mrs. A had students reading the Prologue in their newest book, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This marks the beginning of a new humanities design challenge for our students, one that involves researching human rights both globally and locally. The book is just the gateway into the project and students are already into it. They even asked if they could stay during lunch to get a little further into the book. Makes this English teacher proud.

Students working with Mrs. Soblo continued their storyboarding and their use of VoiceThread to critique their storyboards. They should be ready for her tomorrow.

Students with Coach West and myself in the tool room continued their work on different deliverables each group had designed. Today we had our first finished product, and Group 1 (Tavarous, Alicia, Trinity, and Xavier) were so proud of their bench. Rightfully so, too. Check out how beautiful it is!

They were just a little proud of themselves.

And who could blame them?

The entire bench was made from pallet wood, with the exception of one 24 inch piece of 2x4.

This is their first of several, eight I think, but they did a great job and cranked it out in one day! Once they hand the hang of it you couldn't stop them. So proud of that group for working so hard today!

Our other groups are right on their heels and should have more designs completed as the next few class periods unfold. Some students even came back during lunch to work on their projects.

Seriously, what teenager does that?

Ours do. And they're awesome.

So proud of you all today!

And for those of you who think it's cute to blow up Coach K's phone with selfies....there is payback my friends.

                               

                                  







Boom.

11.5.13 Beginnings

Today students began two new chapters of their design challenge. Students are creating a storyboard to showcase their educational tool this week.  The storyboard (due Friday) will be turned into a student created Voice Thread.  This draft needs to include a minimum of 7 panels with an image, the scene (tell me what I'm seeing), the script (write out exactly what you plan to say) & the message you are trying to convey to the user of your educational tool.
At the same time, students are getting familiar with Voice Thread (the tool we'll use to peer evaluate the educational tools) by making at least 3 comments  & 1 drawing of the slides I've shared with them.
Comments & storyboard are due by Friday.

The Voice Thread presentations they'll create from their storyboards next week.  The presentation must include a minimum of 7 slides- 1 that introduce their education tool, & 6 featuring parts of their educational tool they are either really proud of or want feedback on.  These are due at the beginning of the news show Thursday, so we can have a virtual gallery walk.  The plan is to link all the voice thread presentations to my environmental studies page for both teachers, students & parents to look at.  Teachers & students can comment on the slides in order to help create better end products.

With Mrs. A, students took their second vocabulary quiz. Despite the fact that she said it almost every day, some of our students STILL forgot that the quiz was cumulative and could/would include words from their previous quizzes. The jury's still out as to how the class did.

With me (Coach K) students who had passed all of their safety tests started tool demonstrations in the project room today. Students who had not yet passed all of their safety tests had to go in Mrs. A's room and continue those tests until they passed. We had a few last minute additions to the demo as people passed a test or two today, but for the most part the majority of each group had passed as of this morning.

Today we did demonstrations on some of the tools we use most frequently. Students had to make a cut with the miter saw, had to drill a pilot hole for a screw, make a cut with a circular saw while using saw horses, and sand with the grain using one of the handheld sanders. Students were generally excited about working with the tools for the first time, and even some of them who were apprehensive at first were making cuts and holes on their own by the end of the period. Students still need some work with the table saw, Dremel, and a few other tools in the room but they are (mostly) ready to start construction on their designs. We'll spend some time tomorrow making sure the prototypes are as complete as they can be so I can make a Lowe's run to ensure we have all the materials the prototypes call for. Here are a few shots of some of our students with the tools.

11.1.13 Congaree National Park Trip

This has been sort of a whirlwind week for D9. I've been MIA a good bit this week doing presentations in the district on Design Thinking and Project Based Learning, so Coach West, Mrs. A, and Mrs. Soblo have held down the home front. Students have begun a new unit with Mrs. A that is going to be focusing on human rights and the struggles with those human  rights across the globe. To supplement that, students have begun their first unit of basic geography with Coach West.. Mrs. Soblo has been preparing students all week for the trip we took today to Congaree National Park.

We've had this field study on the books since early October, but with the government shutdown of national parks we've postponed it a few times. Finally today we were able to take both D9 and D10 to the swamp! Students were broken into groups and had to identify examples of the species they have been studying with their Educational Tool. Congaree has a beautiful boardwalk suspended in the air so all our students were able to attend the trip without worries of accessibility. Each teacher took three or four groups and we were off around 10 a.m. 

We walked,

saw wildlife, 

took selfies,

 ate some snacks,

took in the view at the lake and fed a turtle,

 loved on some HUGE trees,

The two boys in grey in the back are over 6 feet tall...if that's any clue as to how big this tree is!

 and walked more.

We walked around 3 miles in total and my group did it in an hour and a half. We were wiped. Students had a great day even with all the walking. Some of our students had never experienced a forest like this one, and some had never spent time outside like we did. They got to see a lot of the species from their field guides first hand, which was a great experience and also let them see, in a small way, what some of the possibilities could be from their own outdoor learning spaces.

10.25.13 Prototyping Take 2.

Today students worked primarily on their prototypes and revised design plans. We began class as a whole group and broke out into our five design deliverables: French Drain, Octangular Table/Benches, Storage Chair, Storage Chest, and Pallet Garden. Octangular Table and Storage Chair groups had yet to add their design to the Bird's Eye View, and spent the first part of the class completing that task. Now that we have an idea of how much square footage each piece of the puzzle will take up things are starting to come together visually. After that was checked off their list, students worked on their new versions of their prototypes that were now done to a realistic scale. Students are responsible for prototyping their design EXACTLY how they see it in the OLS, and for completing as many prototypes as they want realistic components. At one point we ran out of some crucial prototyping materials (i.e. popsicle sticks and graph paper) so after a quick Walmart run we were able to begin again. It was great to see so many of the groups working so hard to get these new prototypes built. They were taking such careful measures to accurately measure all their materials to ensure the scale was as realistic as possible. I hated to break the momentum but while I was gone, Mrs. Soblo showed the film Born to be Wild, and related it back to the Educational Tool students are currently working on. It was a quick 40 minute showing and by the time the movie was finishing up I was back with the supplies.

A few weeks ago, Jordan and Breanne accompanied Mrs. Auspelmyer to an Outdoor Learning Symposium in Savannah, Georgia. They spent the day in some awesome sessions on Outdoor Learning Spaces and brought back a ton of information to share with the class. They spoke briefly the Monday after they returned, but had some great visuals and information still to share. Today was a good day for that sharing. They spoke about what they learned, how to make outdoor learning spaces more used, about aversions to outdoor learning spaces by both teachers and students, and even got to experience some tools for outdoor learning spaces. Here's their presentation complete with some cool pictures.

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After we heard from J and B, we continued on with prototyping. A few groups still had some struggles with communication in their new larger groups, but after a long productive conversation they were able to put creative differences to work instead of at odds against each other. Groups that didn't have these issues are obviously further ahead, and here are some shots of our groups showing off their new, to small scale, prototypes.

Tyler, Alexis, Taiyah, and Da'Naria- Pallet Garden Planters

Charles with his group's storage chairs

10.24.13 Busy, Busy, Busy

Today's lesson is brought to you by the word Busy.

We're flying a man down today with Coach West being out, so our groups are working in rotation 3. The Pallet Garden group is their own rotation. The French Drain group and the Storage Chair are in another group, and finally the Storage Chest and Octangular Table are in a group. Groups worked with me on completing their Bird's Eye View of the Space and together we put together a tentative floor plan for our Outdoor Learning Space.

Here's what we are up to (as of now):

You can't see the grid lines on the graph paper but the entire space is 30' x 30'. The designs represented are of the square footage each item would take up in the space. The left side of the design is primarily pallet gardens that students plan to fill with native plants that will attract native wildlife. The storage chests are on the right side of the space and are multifunctional and can serve as seating too. What we don't have pictured yet is our Octangular Table and Benches, and our Storage Chairs. Those two design teams were having a difficult time converting their imagined measurements into real life square feet. Being the non-math expert that I am, I sought out a math expert in our own Student Activities Director Mrs. Janet Frick. She and a few of our students had a chat about how to find square footage of a square, and how to find the circumference of a circle when we know the diameter. Check her out working her math magic!

Students were then able to calculate their measurements and give an accurate representation of how much space their design would need. It was great to have some help. Math was never my thing....

Some groups, like our Storage Chest, Octangular Table, and one other group were able to begin their new and revised prototypes. They have to create one prototype for every object they plan on putting in the space, and it must be done exactly to a predetermined scale. This will probably take us to the end of tomorrow.

Our Octangular Table group debating on their table top
design.

One of the table top design possibilities.

The same group working on their new bench prototype.

In Mrs. Soblo's class, students are creating an educational tool that can be used in the outdoor learning space to identify some of the organisms that can be found on campus.  Each student finds 13 unique species that we've seen here or are very common in the area.  The task then is to research the organisms they select to create a tool for identification, listing what the organism looks like, how it's different from similar species & other interesting facts.  Students need to include citations of the resources they use in their research & for images they add.

Many students are creating field guides (paper & online versions), but a few students are creating games.  Students can work in teams in order to create a larger field guide- for example: 2 students need 26 species, 3 students need 39 species.

Timeline for completion is 12/3 for the finished product.

With Mrs. A, students have been practicing their citation skills. From Mrs. A herself: Following prior direct instruction on plagiarism and how to avoid it (including how to use direct quotes and how to paraphrase information), students have recently taken notes more specifically on how to properly give credit to sources at the end of a paper or research project. The focus has been on electronic source material, since most students are using primarily these types of sources. Students had to learn how to identify what type of electronic source they were viewing, where to find information like title, author, publisher, date, etc. on each website, how to create citations in MLA style, and how to format the final works cited page. After an introduction to these concepts and skills, students used their notes to create a works cited page (using 5 arbitrary website sources of various types). This assignment was then awarded a score, based on the accuracy of each individual citation as well as overall formatting, and students were given individual feedback about where they made errors.

Based on the results of this assignment, it was clear that most students had not mastered these concepts and skills; therefore, after a brief reteaching of the content, students were asked to try again, with a new set of 5 arbitrary website sources of various types. This new assignment will result in a new works cited page that, after feedback and reteaching, is expected to be more accurate than the first attempt. Students will be allowed to replace their initial grade with their new (presumably higher) grade. It is expected that at this point many students will have mastered some of the basic skills involved, but it is also expected that due to the available variety of electronic sources alone, students will need continuous practice with this throughout the year to expose them to all the possibilities (and differences in citations) of source material. It is clear, through observations and discussions with students, that most are aware that the most important and difficult step when crediting sources seems to be determining what type of electronic source they are using. The next lesson, in addition to continued practice creating works cited pages, will involve examining sources for bias and evaluating sources for validity, usefulness, etc. Meanwhile, we will continue to work on effectively incorporating source material into writing.

Here's the assignment from Mrs. A if you were planning to BINGO her citation practice.



So....we're busy. Just in case you wanted to know. Busy days in the Studio are all we see in our future. Make sure you keep up with all the action right here!

10.22.13 Ed Tool/Prototype Revisions

Today students met for the first time in their large groups. It was a somewhat productive day. Most groups finished their bird's eye view of the space that included their design, and some began revising their new prototypes to scale. Some groups had a harder time meshing in their new environment, and spent some time figuring out what their new dynamic would be. Students had to realize that the design doesn't have an owner, and students have to relinquish any idea of ownership over the design so that the new group can have input. It's hard to look at a design for weeks and then listen to someone make suggestions as to how to make it better, but we have to be open to changes for the benefit of the space.

With Mrs. Soblo, students worked on their Educational Tool. Students now are each responsible for 13 organisms in their Educational Tool. Some groups are making field guides and some groups are making games. Students are still working on researching and narrowing down the organisms they want to include, so they should have research to work on daily. 

10.22.13 Revision Begins

Now that we've narrowed down your prototype designs into the five that we as a class would like to bring to life, we have some major revisions to do. Just because a design was voted on doesn't mean that it's flawless. Now we have to pull out the microscope and find ALL the flaws so that we can revise them in our new groups. From our humble beginnings as 11 groups we transform into 5 mega groups. Each (new) group is now working on one of the five designs that you voted on as a class.

Today students took a serious look at the pallets in our tool room, and made some decisions about whether or not recycled materials would work for their purpose. What they imagined pallet wood to be, and what it really was did not match up. Students took some time to design a bird's eye view of the space and where they envisioned their deliverables going. Our next challenge is to take a close look at our prototypes with fresh eyes to see where we can make them better.

Here's a few of our winning prototypes: 

Our D9 Storage Chest

Storage Chair (Seat lifts up for student storage)

Storage Bench

Possible Pattern for the top of our Octangular Table.
Seats 16 and this thing is gonna rock!

With Mrs. Soblo students reattempted their dichotomous key quizzes using shapes instead of leaves. With Mrs. Auspelmyer students took notes on common citation mistakes in hopes that they won't make the same mistakes in the future, and with Coach West students began a study on culture in preparation for a future design challenge :)

10.21.13 Prototype Defense

This morning we're spending time putting the finishing touches on our Prototype Defenses. Student groups will present to the entire class and defend why their prototype should be the one we build to put in our outdoor learning space. Students have been working for the past two weeks on their prototypes, building plans, and 3-D sketches.

Requirements for Presentation:

1. Title
2. Scale of Prototype
3. Materials (What they want to use to build with)
4. Plans on graph paper with scale
5. Defense Prepared
• Why does this design meet the needs of the users?
• Why is this design the most sustainable of its category?
• Why is this design the most functional of its category?
• Why is this design the best in its category?

Students must put together a Google Presentation with pictures of their prototype- 5 slides in total. One picture of each of the four sides and one bird's eye view.

Students will use this link to access the form.

After presentations, students should complete at Stop-Drop-Reflect on what they just saw.

Answer these questions on a separate piece of paper. Name and Group Title at the top.
1. Based on what you saw, how feel your group compared to other groups? Were you as prepared? Was your prototype as detailed and complete? How well thought out was your design in comparison to other groups' design?

2. Based on what you saw, what changes, if any, would you make to your design? Be specific. What elements were frequently combined in the different prototypes? Did these combinations make sense? What combinations might we make that we did not see already?

3. Were there any prototypes that you would rule out automatically because they were too complex for the space, too labor intensive for our deadline (Dec. 20), or you felt they did not make sense? If so, explain what traits about that specific prototype makes you want to take it out of the running.

These go to Coach K.

We'll see how it goes!