On to the last leg of the journey . . .
Looking at my timeline, I realize that I did what my wife says I always do, which is believe that I can fit more into a certain time period that is actually possible! Having too many cool and fun ideas is a good problem, but there isn’t any way to increase the school day or year, so I will have to make some hard choices.
Regardless, it has been a great February. The students have been working through the JavaScript course on Khan Academy. The goal is to finish through the Variables section, and about 30% of the students have done that. Once they finish that far, they create their own website on Weebly.com. We just began with the websites on Thursday, and it has been fun to see them get so excited to publish their work and express their personality!
Regardless, it has been a great February. The students have been working through the JavaScript course on Khan Academy. The goal is to finish through the Variables section, and about 30% of the students have done that. Once they finish that far, they create their own website on Weebly.com. We just began with the websites on Thursday, and it has been fun to see them get so excited to publish their work and express their personality!
From zofienewberry2016.weebly.com
Even within the course, each child’s work is slightly different as they made the projects their own. The most difficult part of the process has been trying to keep those students who struggle with coding engaged. It has been great to see students who are farther along encourage and mentor struggling students.
From devinnewberry2016.weebly.com
From kainewberry2016.weebly.com
I normally skip a few parts of the curriculum because I get so irritated with materials management. This particular unit has 5 lessons in a row that have the students cutting and glueing multiple things each day. It is enough to drive me crazy! But, this year, because of my project, I decided I would do each and every one. Now, I would love to say that I never had any frustration and it went extremely well, but I would be lying.
But, the lessons were engaging, and the students really did do a very good job. The lessons were focused on discovering the formulas for the area of parallelograms and triangles, and looking at nets and surface area.
Finally, my scale project with Ms. Taubensee has been pushed back because of the dates of the architectural boat tour. We went to an Educator Open House at the Chicago Architectural Foundation, and I won their curriculum! We had some great conversations, and we are looking at how we can partner with them in the next couple of months. We want to culminate our unit with the Architectural Tour, but that doesn’t start until mid-May, so we are trying to see when we can fit it in.
Finally, my scale project with Ms. Taubensee has been pushed back because of the dates of the architectural boat tour. We went to an Educator Open House at the Chicago Architectural Foundation, and I won their curriculum! We had some great conversations, and we are looking at how we can partner with them in the next couple of months. We want to culminate our unit with the Architectural Tour, but that doesn’t start until mid-May, so we are trying to see when we can fit it in.