STEM - Measurement Olympics

Juda has been part of the I^2 STEM summer institute at UW-Platteville the past 2 years; its goal is to have more STEM in schools which couples extremely well for my desire for large hands-on projects.  So I wanted to post about the Measurement Olympics I ran in my Intro to Engineering Class this semester and encourage other teachers to use it (motivation came from the institute and our school's Olympic theme this year).

Instead of homework I am trying to issue challenges this year.  I am pushing students to be persistent and solve difficult problems - really trying to focus on Habits of Mind.

I created a short youtube video about the events (so that my judges could know see first hand what the students were doing  - also here is a link to the materials)

It went great.  The students were divided into teams and estimate, calculated and worked hard on solving these problems - it ended with them presenting their results to panel of judges.  It went well and taught a lot of the real world skills we want in students.  Plus first prize was cool (see facebook post).....

Grow Rural Education Winner!!

Happy to announce that our STEM initiative at Juda receive a $10,000 grant to expand our robotic equipment used within our STEM program for all 6-12 grade students.  Monsanto Grow Rural Education funded the school project (2 years now - 2015 and 2016).

The STEM program is done during homeroom time through-out the year as ungraded part of our curriculum to help develop and practice 21st Century skills like persistence, flexible thinking, problem solving and team work.  It is key part of our visions to create life long learners.

Habits of Mind are quickly becoming the skills that separate people in the work place.  I am excited because this grant helps Juda continue on its vision of changing the school culture from one problem-one solution mindset to a growth mindset - one where students attack problems with multiple solutions and refine thru multiple revisions.  Like the world the students are entering.

Watch for updates!

Maker-Space Saturday....

   Today I am at a conference on Makers-Spaces (thank you Sun Prairie HS & presenters from www.naomiharm.org).   My idea today was just to blog through-out the day as thoughts hit me.
    Maker-Spaces are about hands-on.  Using building blocks, electronics, cars - anything, so long as you create.   It is the idea that doing is learning, that doing is understanding.  I know in math that the doing is critically important - but the skill I want to deliver is problem-solving.  And that happens by solving problems -- thinking about and handling problems.
    The first activity was the question what can you do with a paper plate, the instructor used Socrative and we thought about what a paper plate can be used for, then we built something.  It was interesting to think about a problem and then how to solve it.  My gang from Juda (4 of us) designed a car to deliver candy down the ramp at our school building (the cloths pin had a Kit-Kat prior to the picture - I ate it....).    A project that was a problem where students could build, test and revise.  Again - to get "good" at problem solving you must practice problem solving.

   We then discussed room redesign - remaking learning spaces.  The question from the speaker that I grabbed was:  "Is the classroom for me and my stuff or my students?"  After a decade of teaching I need to take a couple of days and make sure my room is actually their room.    I need to continue to make the space multi-purpose, make it a place where the cost of errors is non-existent and opportunity to succeed is always present.  That is part of the maker-space mentality also.
   Finally our group talked about our school.   That was big part of the day for us.  Our school's discussion centered on our vision for students and student learning.  How do we create the environment to help our students become better problem solvers?  And for us it centers on the idea that everyone needs the chance to be hands-on (forget a particular class) and is done for practice (thus not for a grade).  And lastly, probably most importantly, there is a culture where mistakes are not discourage but embraced as a step forward.  That mistakes occur on the path to success and those mistakes along with revisions are a normal part of problem solving (not to be avoided or made fun of).
    It was a good Saturday.

Hour of Code

So there are times where you just take advantage of opportunities and this week there is the Hour of Code.  And since my school doesn't have a Computer Science Teacher I try integrate those skills into our math curriculum  - and this week makes an easy start.  In the past I have had units using Alice and it has always been a good project -- but the Hour of Code seems to be a much better way to start.

Programming is a chance to apply our problem solving skills that we continually work on in math.  I think it is great fit with Algebra through Pre-Calculus.  And curriculum-wise I am willing to trade a couple of topics for the students to have this skill.

It is not too late to be part - just go to Code.org\learn.  It is worth an hour of time from the math curriculum.

Projects or matrices

So I spent 12 years working as an Engineer - designing packaging equipment, doing projects, managing people -- high level responsibility - pay matched.   And guess what?  I never did matrices - not one single one.  Yet it is a requirement for high school now in most Algebra 2 courses?  Does that make your typical Algebra 2 student better that they know Cramer's rule?  Or are we (teachers) just making ourselves feel good by having students pump and dump (memorize and forget) one more thing.

Don't get me wrong - I think it has a place in high school - PreCalculus, a class for students who want a STEM career but if I have to really make students understand matrices in Algebra 2- that will take at least 5 class periods - nearly 3% of my year.

I can teach about stocks and its math, loans or how to use math to solve open ended problems - but that takes time. So....  how valuable are matrices?  Because choices need to be made, and as a group we are picking matrices.

So are matrices more important than stocks (401k 403b anyone?) or loans (buying a house and car is a little more common than matrices)?  The point is we have a limited commodity - time!

There is simply not enough time.  And if I hear one more expert answer my question of how we are supposed to do it all - say "When you have a unified K-12 curriculum it will happen."  - I may seriously crap myself.

I love matrices- there is really vision for programming and problem solving with Cramer'r Rule.  Looking for patterns - using to simplify repetitive problems - but if you do it in 5 days in Algebra 2 do you make it to the level of discovery and struggle students need for growth as learners?

I keep thinking the experts forgot we have only 180 days when planning my curriculum  - which I lose at least 15 a year to trips, etc.  (and those trips need to happen).  So in 165 days in 4 years I have to teach and lead student's discovery of math's interconnections and uses - a standard every few days.  Ugh.

Now common core haters should not be smiling - we need a national set of standards and math does need multiple solutions not just memorization of algorithms.   We just need to make sure what was published in 2010 is not written in stone.  We need to allow for creativity and paradigm shifting thoughts -- they should be reviewed and revised every few years.  That is real progress.

When I was in industry my simple goal was slow constant sustainable growth - I never said lets be 15% better next year.  We moved for 2-3% growth year after year - and once you do that you get long term amazing results.  There is too much change too quickly - half the initiatives I have seen in my limited time of 9 years never got the chance to work - not enough time or belief by anyone that they would work.

So there - projects or matrices --  it is really the question of how we make problem solvers.

I pledge to not allow "Pump & Dump" - You should too

 So I was doing some reading on education and ran across an article on terrible learning habits (3 Terrible Learning Habits You Probably Picked Up In School)  and it discussed 3 ways that are poor ways to learn new concepts.  It discussed re-reading, cramming and catering to your "learning style."  Instead of arguing about if they are or are not "good" I found myself really thinking about why these methods are prevalent.  Why are students just rote memorizing, dotting i's and crossing t's, not really learning and understanding.

Because students do what is required.  They are trying to survive and when educators allow ways for students to "get-by" without learning material but simply by regurgitating it - that is what they typically do.  And it is not the student's fault, but the teachers'.  And the simple fact is many educators feel that is the job of teaching - making drones able to spew facts with no idea of what they mean or how to use them.  Because it is not what you say as teacher, but what your students can do.

I often talk about how when I was a student that I simply cleared the bar, as a young man I did whatever the minimum required was to make the grade.  I was not interested in knowledge or being prepared for the world, I was interested in just completing the course and moving on.

When teachers raised the bar, I raised my performance.  If I was allowed to memorize - I did - which I now affectionately call "Pump & Dump."  And I talk often about the fact that we do not "Pump & Dump" in my room, we study, learn and use.  We do not turn math into 4,000 rules to memorize but talk the language of math and its interconnections.  We do not use it once and forget it, but have recursive practice on all math concepts they have learned.

We do projects, write and struggle - not as much as I want, but it is part of what we do where I teach.  

I often joke there needs to be changes on how we teach and our expectations, that I work for the student; the 27 year old student not the 15 year old student in my room now.  And that I just talked to the student's future self and they want me to be tougher, to make them into tenacious problem solvers.   

I also joke that we are learning how to learn and problem solve, not memorize math.  Actually there are only a couple of rules in math -- all expressions must remain equivalent and that all equations need balance.  That's it.  So when I hear of students memorizing rules and formulas I wonder what bar they are hopping over, and how high is it?  Are they better problem solvers because of it?  

Unfortunately hopping over the bar sometimes makes them better students -- but rarely better problem solvers.

Progress on 10% Green Goal!

Big day on the 10% green project.  Had students working on new lighting fixtures - test fixtures.  Changing from less efficient T12 florescent lights to new LED lamps.  Installed a handful today and now can "see" how they work!  It was a great learning day.

Homework amount? The real question is its value.

I have read many articles lately on the amount of homework students are getting today, is it more or less, etc.  Are students over-worked, under-worked?  I don't know the answer to the questions of amount - whether it is more or less, or if it is too much, but the question of the value of homework keeps popping up in my head.

A lot of what I am reading is connecting rigor and homework amount together, more homework is more rigor.  And the question I have is this: does homework make better learners, better students who are more prepared for college and career?  This is the question that I try and remember to ask with each assignment I give.

Is the homework creating a student more prepared for the future, not for the next big power test, but does it support my vision of a person who can problem solve, learn and understand/deal with situations.

I feel like when I started teaching my first instinct was to assign homework because that is what you did, how else can students learn.  But the longer I teach the less homework I assign and it is simply because now I ask myself - how does work make the student stronger, better.

Assigning the homework to be "forward-moving" for the student, making him/her more ready for the next step beyond high school is my only goal.  For me that means a blend of practice, problem solving and justifying - perhaps not every assign gets all three of those things, but when I think about what I assign over the course of month or quarter I think I am getting a decent blend of the three.

In the end - I do my best not to assign busy work, I try real hard to assign work of value.  And my plan is not to stop asking "Is this of value?" when making homework assignments.

What I control

Lately I have been doing a large amount of reflecting on what I control in a classroom (working from Whitaker's 14 things great teachers do ).  I cannot control what a student does outside my door very easily, heck, it is hard to control them within my room (from a desire to learn perspective - from a classroom management perspective I do okay).

I control myself, the relationships I make, the passion I bring to the room.  If my class is boring whose fault is that!  I know math can be dry -- but I don't have to be. I control my room, my relationships and expectations, the projects we do, and what the students find important.

I cannot control others in the building, or other schools, or in the community or in the state legislature, I can only make sure that I make an environment where my room is a sanctuary of learning the math skills the world requires of today's students.  I try and create a place where we do things the students need to know to succeed - sorry Smarter Balanced Test.   Where students don't strive for an artificial grade but for real skills, real problem solving - skills that will allow them to succeed beyond the walls of my school.  I don't teach math for students to play school but to gain the ability to be successful outside the walls of my room.

Those are the things I control.  And everyday I know I have to approach my room with a desire and fire.  What we do within my room is greatly important.  We work hard to skip merely good and go for great.

I control that.

Preparing students is my job, even those who would rather not be students

I see my job as to make sure all the students in my room get enough math to be ready for the world with respect to college and career.  Thus when a student does not want to learn, refuses to do homework, etc I do many things.  One thing is for sure, a student is not "allowed" to sit and take an F in my room.

Not to say every student passes, but I also do not let 16 year olds make life decisions such as "I don't need math." or "I don't need a dipolma."  I simply don't use grades as a motivator.  If a student is motivated by grades I don't have to worry about that student's effort. If he or she isn't, well, then we have to find what does motivate them.

This year I have a few more students who are not too interested in school than usual.  So the last thing I do is use a traditional homework/study/test class setting for those students.  Given the opportunity they would cause disruptions, try to sleep (which I don't allow either), or some other less than helpful thing and simply fail.  Again it is a young adult making a poor decision, my job is to help guide.

And since I believe what I teach is a key to their future success I make it my job to get them to do enough to learn what they need.  That means all kinds of things, students staying before and after school.  Students eating lunch with me (how cool is that - eating lunch with me - the math teacher!).  Adjusting homework so we get what we need - everyone does not have to do it the same.

Now I hear teachers say that does not prepare them for work - for the responsibility.  But school's number one job is to get them the problem solving skills, responsibility is usually something not learned at school - simply punished.  And it is funny, the worst students can often be good employees - saw it many times.  They realize the difference between a job and school and perform as required.

My job is to make school their job - forget grades - grades only prove knowledge by some instance in time, we are after them being ready for the world - that is not a grade thing.

So I keep on pushing, challenging, annoying and some of my students may dare-say harassing them to do their work - but in the end they need the skills and the diploma - and that is my job - to drag them through.

Green Energy - Week One of Installation

Last week our vendor, Synergy Renewable, came and did some measurements and met their new "project managers" - the 2013-14 Physics class.    We are very excited, and most of the install is now done!  It is really a great finish to a project that started 2 years ago with the Physics class of 2011-12 (we offer Physics every other year at my school).

With effort and tenacity big projects can happen!  Take a look!

The inverter will arrive in the next day or two and then we will be powering our green school!

Problem Based Learning - Real problems, real solutions -

How do you get students interested in what is going on?  How do you make them understand real world things like ROI and payback?  How do you make students justify and defend?


You do real world things.  We did the green energy thing, and we will finish that project shortly.  So now it is encore time.  What other real world things can students do?

LED Lighting, Roof gardens, Water reduction, Insulation (heating/cooling) reduction -- what else?
Figuring out what is next is challenging -- leave a comment, help me out!

Green Energy - Putting Solar at Our School -- Two

So this has been an excellent week for green energy at my school. Thanks to tremendous community support we have been able to raise over 25% of the system cost (over $5000) with donations and grants.  (Synergy Renewable also donated labor to help lower our overall cost.)

This brought the payback of the system into a reasonable range for our school!  And this past week the board approved the purchase of Juda's first solar array.  This is a commitment to the school, the community, the students and is a great support of our educational initiative to have the students do real world work.  The students created a project that worked and will have be helping the district reduce costs for decades.

We are now proceeding with a 24 panel, 4.3 kW system that is warrantied for 25 years.  And the day we get it install it will lower our electric bill!  It will supply less than 5% of our needed power but it is a start (because the first step is hardest, the next step is always easier).

And due to the support we were able to buy a system that was slightly larger than our smallest plan!  We may have even more support coming yet which would allow us to buy a slightly larger inverter thus allowing for another row or  12 panels to be added in the future.

This project showed that you just have to hold on to good ideas, cause sometimes things simply take time.  The project will meet all the goals the Physics class of 2011-12 except one - which was to install the spring/summer 2012.  

Yet I call the project a complete success.

Green Energy - Putting Solar at our school

Two years ago I started a project with my Physics class to research green energy for our school.  It included all reports, vendor contacts, etc -- and I sat back and advised but did not teach it.  I let the students find their way.

Now we are closing in on it happening!  When you combine curriculum, problem solving and real world things together cool stuff happens (true PBL!)!  Here is an article we did a couple of weeks ago for the local papers:

Green Things Take Time

            Two years ago the 2011-2012 Juda Physics class embarked on the ambitious project to install a green energy system at Juda school.    It was a year-long project incorporated into the Physics class.  “Sometimes good things take time” may be the best statement about the solar panel project at Juda School. 

The project consisted of students’ research, reports, studies, project bids and studies, and timelines.   The students’ assessment determined that a 24 panel roof-mounted solar array was the best fit for the school with a price of approximately $25,000.  The students gathered bids from multiple suppliers, checked and organized permits, completed an energy audit, updated project progress to the school board and many other tasks.  But as teacher Scott Anderson stated “I am extremely proud of the project they created, but like many green projects the payback was just too high to immediately proceed without some additional funds.”

So working with the selected solar supplier, Synergy Renewable Systems located in Oregon, a grant was applied and received from Focus on Energy.  The $3,755 grant helped clear a big hurdle towards the additional funding the project needed; that grant along with a $2,000 labor credit from Synergy and some funding from student organizations, has now brought the project to the brink of being a reality.

            The previous and current Juda Physics classes are now asking local businesses and community members for support to help fulfill their vision of a green school.  They see the solar array not only as a power source but as a source of school and community pride.  “This will change how Juda’s students think about energy and power; it will also change the culture of our students with respect to energy.” says Scott Anderson

The goal is to get enough funding so the project is able to proceed this summer prior to the start of school.  To see progress of the solar project, or to help fund the project please visit www.judaschool.com.  

 

Real Math Problems - Changing what students do.

So as I proceed on making math practice look like it is 2013 versus 1985 (Previous Post), I am working hard on a list of problems that require students to think, research, analyze, conclude and support solutions.  The funny part is the problems themselves are not long. They are open ended and usually moderately interesting.

At the Wisconsin Math Council conference I heard a great problem from Dave Ebert's presentation that sets the tone for all my problems; it was simply a video of a cheetah running down an antelope and the following question: 

A cheetah and a gazelle are on the African plain, does the cheetah catch the gazelle?

This question requires the student to do all the things we want from them.  We all realize a cheetah runs faster than antelope during a burst but for a short duration, it requires a piece-wise function in my opinion.  Otherwise all gazelle would be caught!


But students are going need to be taught that the above problem is math versus doing 1-25 odds on page 666 (and parents too).  And that will be the really hard part.  

So I am working on a list of milestones with deliverables for when I first assign problems like the cheetah problem this coming year.  Otherwise someone, a mini-Scott, will simply answer "sometimes" to the whether the cheetah catches the gazelle.   (My penetence for being a smart-a** in HS is teaching them all now.)  What we want is just too different not to guide the students at first. I am initially thinking it is a 4 week assignment, where I will guide students through stages of the projects.     

This is not set in stone and will be evolving on a Google doc, but right now I have the following milestones:

   1) In a reflection explain what the answer to the problem will look like.  
   2) Define an “entry point” on the problem (by e-mail?, combine with #1?)

   3) Define unknowns and things to research

   4) Gather knowns from research (be sure to cite and check)

   5) Create solution

   6) Test solution

   7) Revise

   8) Prepare final document

Also a sampling of problems:

A bridge is being built across the Wisconsin River, what gap should be left between sections.

You are following a car on the interstate, you pull off to use the restroom at a wayside.  How long will it take you to catch up again?

Determine whether global warming is occurring in Juda?

Determine the amount of money saved by the solar array at the school for July 2013.

Again I see these problems working in tandem with on-line practice, using every minute of every period for concepts/practice versus students "starting homework" and as integral part of a class that uses PBL to deliver the required curriculum.

I know this is not easy, I know students will "fight change,"  people always do.  But I also know that solving problems is the skill the separates people in the world - and at the least my students will have practiced that skill.

Time outside class - Figuring how to Flip

So as I reflect on how we are going to do homework in the coming school year, It's 2013 shouldn't HS HW look different, I am really trying to figure out how to use a flipped classroom to help deliver content.  I know there is value in doing practice and problem solving during class when I can help guide the students.  I also know a lot of the low level practice can be done outside of the class.  But how much is enough?  What I mean is how much time besides the 220 in-class minutes do I need per week? 

In the past I have asked for 15-20 minutes of outside work 5 days per week, for projects, homework, etc.  - though students tend to procrastinate the projects into 2-3 hour sprints.  And it should be noted that I had already taken daily practice to 4-8 problems that are complete review for practice (I don't assign new content for homework).  So my thought going forward is to keep the 100 minutes per week of outside time (with study halls that is not too much), somewhat tough to pick a number because everyone works at different speeds, but it is a target.

That would allow me to assign about 20-30 minutes of "online" practice per week, 15 minutes of pencil/paper homework per week, 25-40 minutes of project work per week leaving 15-40 minutes for flipped instruction.  That would be about 2-3 videos per week (seems like a lot).  My goal would be 1 video per week, perhaps 2.

The problem is how do you know whether a student watched the video, it would be awfully hard to do practice in class without an idea of the content (students will try to though - asking to be taught the video info in class).  How do you know they watched?  Reflections (google docs)? Notes?  A worked sample problem?  And what do you do with the students who don't watch the videos, is it the same problem as homework?   Remember most students are minimalists, at 16 who cares if you understand, they are just trying to get it done (at least that was how I was).

Currently I make students stay after school to do the work on the same day (see HW FAQ), I treat assigned work like deadline work in the world, and I suppose I could do the same with flipped videos but I still need something to check (a problem, note sheet, reflection, a quiz).  My temptation is to do notes for upper level courses and perhaps a google doc reflection in the trilogy courses (Alg 1, Geom, Alg 2).  I plan to start making some Physics videos soon -- that would be a high level course in my school.  So I would expect to see notes (because the course is open note for all quizzes, tests and exams).  In the trilogy courses I think I will start with the google doc reflection (thanks to Brian Steffen). 

Either way the commitment is made -- math is gonna be different.