We did it!

Trade Fair day seemed to creep up on us, but we were ready! All but one student showed up, with their completed challenge and so off to the library we went to get set up. We allotted for two projects per table, and although it was a bit cramped, we we're comfortably arranged to greet our guests. We had a great turn out with five classes coming through the fair, multiple staff stopping by on their preps, and the most parents (and grandparents) swinging by that I've ever had! I am really happy with my students' final challenges and with how well they discussed what they did, how they did it, and why they did it in the first place. Hearing them talk about their successes, hardships, and what they learned about both themselves and their challenges, was truly inspiring. I am so proud of their hard work and received some great feedback from everyone who stopped by. I am sad that this is the only term I will be facilitating ALC 9 this year, but am looking forward to moving on to my other CTF courses, starting with Entrepreneurs Wanted next term.

Here are a few pictures of our successful Trade Fair! 

As always, I appreciate you checking in with my blog to see all the awesome challenges being competed by ELJHS's ALC 9 students! 

Until we meet again....

It's the final countdown!!!

Wow! It's November... This year sort of feels like it is flying by! This section of ALC 9 has certainly flown by, as it is my first time completing the course as a quarter option, rather than a half year option. I am very happy with the change in length, as it made students work a little bit harder to complete their chosen challenges. Are there still a few students who have not completed a full challenge? Yes, unfortunately there are a few students scrambling to get their challenges done by Friday morning, but I have a feeling their typical junior high procrastination will be sorted out by the time our Trade Fair rolls out on November 4th. 

Towards the end of this block, I will be handing out a student self-reflection activity to help me understand a little bit more of their thought process on how well their challenge turned out. I will use this reflection to offer them additional feedback about their challenges at the Trade Fair on Friday, but also to help me determine their final "grade" on PowerSchool. As this is a CTF course, I will be using the formative scale decided upon by our school to offer students a score of Excellent, Proficient, Satisfactory, Limited, or Insufficient. I will also add direct feedback in the form of a written comment specific to each student (and their project) to support the assigned letter "grade." 

Abbreviations to report Formative Assessments are:

E	Excellent	Exemplary performance of outcome(s); evidence shows indepth understanding and independent work habits.
P	Proficient	Skilled performance of outcome(s); evidence shows solid understanding and occasionally guided  work habits.
S	Satisfactory	Acceptable performance of outcome(s); evidence shows generally accurate understanding and guided work habits.
L	Limited	Partial performance of outcomes; evidence shows inaccurate understanding and ongoing support is needed during work.
I	Insufficient	Insufficient evidence to show the student has an acceptable performance of the outcome(s).  The work must be improved and resubmitted.

Here are some pictures of students putting the final touches on their projects: