In the spirit of this week, I have a number of reasons to be thankful about this class. I was given the opportunity this year to put a course into the schedule that was unlike anything done before. While we strive, as a school community, to provide learning environments that are more student driven, active, and creative, it is not without challenges nor without taking a bit of risk. So I am thankful for the opportunity to serve as a prototype "maker" classroom.
Additional thanks must go to my colleagues here at St. Matthew's who came to our aid this week. As we near the end of the trimester, students are racing to the finish line to complete their projects. I knew the week would be the most difficult in regard to supporting each individual project. I called upon my friends here at school to see if there were any available adults that could visit us on Monday and Tuesday. As is the nature of the work ethic here, responses flooded in. From the Athletic Director, to math and science teachers, technology teachers, the librarian's husband, Middle School Principal and even the Head of School, the cavalry arrived.
These were two of the most productive days I have experienced in Creator's Studio. It didn't matter if people knew how to code or use a soldering iron, what mattered was that each student felt supported. A student designing a model could bounce an idea off of an adult in the room, a teacher could take some students out to the meadow to test out their trebuchets, and I could focus on two projects that needed the extra bump. It is truly a luxury to have this level of cooperative learning in the classroom, and while it is not possible every day, it was essential this week.
Thank you to Alex C., Andy, Bruce, Gabi, John, Manny, Michelle, Ross, and Stu!
Final thanks go to my colleagues outside of St. Matthew's. As I mentioned in my previous post, one student was stuck in the coding part of his RC Car. Neither he, nor I, had enough knowledge to take the next steps forward. I called upon the K-12 fablab group to see if there were any takers. Within minutes I had responses coming through, with suggestions to changes in the code, and verification of accurate hardware platforms. My student and I are happy to relay that the code adjustments worked! There are still refinements necessary but we are over the hump. In fact, at this stage, he can now focus on looking at the code to see how subtle changes will affect the output.
Thank you to Angi, Jaymes, Trevor, Harlan and all the folks in the k-12 Fablab group.
Below is a short take of the Arduino controlled RC car in action. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Additional thanks must go to my colleagues here at St. Matthew's who came to our aid this week. As we near the end of the trimester, students are racing to the finish line to complete their projects. I knew the week would be the most difficult in regard to supporting each individual project. I called upon my friends here at school to see if there were any available adults that could visit us on Monday and Tuesday. As is the nature of the work ethic here, responses flooded in. From the Athletic Director, to math and science teachers, technology teachers, the librarian's husband, Middle School Principal and even the Head of School, the cavalry arrived.
These were two of the most productive days I have experienced in Creator's Studio. It didn't matter if people knew how to code or use a soldering iron, what mattered was that each student felt supported. A student designing a model could bounce an idea off of an adult in the room, a teacher could take some students out to the meadow to test out their trebuchets, and I could focus on two projects that needed the extra bump. It is truly a luxury to have this level of cooperative learning in the classroom, and while it is not possible every day, it was essential this week.
Thank you to Alex C., Andy, Bruce, Gabi, John, Manny, Michelle, Ross, and Stu!
Final thanks go to my colleagues outside of St. Matthew's. As I mentioned in my previous post, one student was stuck in the coding part of his RC Car. Neither he, nor I, had enough knowledge to take the next steps forward. I called upon the K-12 fablab group to see if there were any takers. Within minutes I had responses coming through, with suggestions to changes in the code, and verification of accurate hardware platforms. My student and I are happy to relay that the code adjustments worked! There are still refinements necessary but we are over the hump. In fact, at this stage, he can now focus on looking at the code to see how subtle changes will affect the output.
Thank you to Angi, Jaymes, Trevor, Harlan and all the folks in the k-12 Fablab group.
Below is a short take of the Arduino controlled RC car in action. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
