Day 5 - Budgeting time and resources!

Today's class began with a brief talk about where we are headed: the imagination phase! Students will be completing the planning, proposing, research, and budgeting phase of their project in two blocks! They seem pretty eager to get started on their projects, but I wanted to stress the importance of the following things before we move on... 

1. Multi-tasking Challenge - budgeting time and activities

In a large circle, I started by throwing a ball to one student who, passed it to another and so on until it came back to me. Once our pattern was established, we tried it again but with 2 balls and 1 highlighter. Many of the passes were missed and items were dropped so it became bottle-necked at times. We tried it again, but with 2 balls, 2 markers, a roll of tape and a whiteboard eraser and it got a little hectic! Items were flying everywhere, but laughter and excitement could be heard. 

When done, we sat down and reflected on the importance of time-management and prioritization. With all the things students have to do, from school, extra-curricular clubs and sports, family obligations, chores, review work, jobs, and maintain a social life, the many "things"  that they have to juggle can sometimes be overwhelming. The activity was a great way to establish how quickly a loss of control can occur and it stressed the importance of finding time-management strategies that work for each individual student. Once they begin their projects, staying on task and on-time are going to be two crucial elements. 

2. Budget Challenge - watching what you spend

To discuss the importance of budgeting, I chose an activity where students were allotted $10 (10 centi-cubes) each. In the center of their group was a bucket to collect the "money"  as we went along. I asked the students a series of questions about money, life skills, goal setting, and future endeavors. For each question they answered "No" in their heads, they had to put $1 into the basket. If they answered "Yes," they simply held onto their money. I asked about 12-15 questions... It was amazing to hear the pings of the cubes being thrown into the bucket with each question. Many students answered "No" to questions about having a plan for spending money; knowing what they want to do after high school; and knowing what project they want to complete in this course. 

        How much money did they have left?? 

After the questions were asked, we talked about the importance of planning an appropriate budget for their project completion. As a lot of students will be collecting their own materials, either through purchasing or finding for free, they agreed that having a working plan set in place for how they will gather resources/materials, is a great starting point. 

Up next... Perfecting performance!

Day 4 - All About Research

To begin today's challenge, we started off talking about a very important aspect of project creation: RESEARCH! The web we drew on the board included ideas about using keywords; taking notes; citing sources; using a variety of resources, including people; not using Wikipedia; and paraphrasing. Students were then handed out a singular question about a particular real-world topic to research on their own, using the Chromebooks. The goal was to research as much as they could in a 45 minute time-span and then formulate an answer to the question and share it with me through Google Docs.

Questions I used. Activity criteria that guided them. 

The sweet sound of Chromebook keys taping quickly filled the room! Some students needed a little bit of extra guidance as they were confused by the simple task of just answering the question they were given. A little nudge in the right direction had them catching up to their peers in a flash. Circulating the room, I found that most students had a pretty definitive answer right off the bat; the research that they were doing was simply allowing them to answer it in a more effective, thorough way. I was impressed by how much information students were able to gather in the 45 minute time limit. 

Students were asked to share their research with me through a Google Doc and I look forward to seeing what additional information they found to help them answer their assigned question. 

Day 3... Communication Skills Instant Challenge!

Marshmallow Tower Challenge! 

In today's class, students worked in groups of 7-8 to complete their 2nd instant challenge. With defined roles, the students were tasked with building a marshmallow and toothpick structure based on a model that I had created. Here were their specific roles: 

Seer - only person allowed to see the structure 

Runners - passed on messages from the seer to the builder without asking for (or offering) additional details. 

Builder - listens to the runner and builds what they are told; they may not speak to the runners

Observer - they watch their group and record things they see that are impacting communication both positively and negatively. 

They were given 30 minutes to complete the task. I was really impressed by a few things I saw. 

1. The observers - they did a great job recording both the good things and the bad things. They were frustrated at times because they could see failures, but not get involved. 

2. The seers - all three girls (*an original seer was changed out due to lack of interest) were motivated to get the best info out to their runners. 

3. The builders - they did not give up, even when they felt as if they were overwhelmed and confused. 

After the 30 minutes, we discussed the following questions as a class: 

What was difficult about this process?

How did the Seers feel? Was it hard to give instructions without seeing what was needed? Or was it liberating? How did you feel about the lack of concrete feedback about what was happening to your careful instructions?

How did the Runners feel? Was one-way communication difficult? Was it frustrating to envision one thing and see the Builder doing something else?

How did the Builders feel? Was it easy or hard to construct something with only verbal instructions and without being able to ask questions?

What does this activity tell us about our communication styles?

We had a great discussion about the importance of being clear and concise when communicating with others, especially in a group setting. We all agreed that using precise details in small chunks was the best way to pass along information to each other. My hope is that the students have a deeper understanding about how important communication is, especially in the real world as they complete the projects they have chosen.

Next up.... Research skills!

Day Two... First Instant Challenge

For today's class, we started off by having a discussion on what good group work looks like. We created a web on the board while we discussed important factors that the students brought up. 

We moved on to completing a timed challenge call Antiques 2511, where in small groups, the students needed to create an "antique" object from the early 2000s that was found in the year 2511. All students had the same materials and the 20 minute timeline to create their item. Each group was then given 2 minutes to present their antique to the class in an interesting way. Some groups just shared information, others took on more of an infomercial format. The groups created some interesting antiques, including a baby stroller, a watch, a sling-shot and a tablet with headphones. 

After the presentations, we came back to the web on the board and added details about what went well and what did not go well. The students were then given time to individually reflect on what working in a group looks like and feels like to them. 

Next up.... Group challenge that focuses on listening skills and following directions! 

Day One

As I expected, many kids came into the option without really knowing what it was. I was a little nervous about explaining it to them, especially since this is all new to me as well. It was clear that even by the end of explaining the course outline, I had engaged the kids and they were eager to learn more. 

I showed them the video of students in St. Joseph's School in Coaldale, AB and that seemed to really help them understand the concept. Having a visual representation was a great way to spark interest. 

I went through the following documents with the students during the 80 minute block: 

1. Course Outline

2. Log Book - students actually spent time creating a Google Doc Log Book that they will reflect in at the end of each class. They shared them with me. 

3. Timeline - They seem to like the idea of creating their own timeline to follow. 

For the last 10 minutes of class, we did a Bingo activity. While they were going around asking each other the Bingo questions, they were also talking about what projects they were thinking of doing. It was nice to hear them talking positively about the course already :) 

Up next, Instant Challenges.... 

Questions, questions, questions!!

I am looking forward to hearing your questions and helping you find the answers! 

Here we go!

Calling all musicians, engineers, chefs, event planners, travelers, architects, and artists! This exciting new complementary course is available to all grade 9 students, but geared towards students who are interested in using critical thinking skills to explore project based learning.

You will be working in the classroom, exploring a multitude of things that are of interest to you. With the support of a teacher facilitator, you will be able to plan, budget, find materials for,  produce and finally showcase authentic projects that you have created yourself, based on whatever you are passionate about. For example: are you interested in architecture? Through ALC, you could use a computer program to create a blueprint of a house and then use various materials to create a model of your design. The opportunities are endless, as they are up to you!

So, if you are excited to discover more about interests you have; passionate about being creative; and eager to showcase your skills, Authentic Learning Challenge is the right option course for you!

Cost: each student will be required to prepare a budget for project completion that will be approved by both the teacher facilitator and the student’s parents.