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: 

Looking good!

The buzz of the busy students is such a great sound to hear. One month in (and one to go), the challenges are really starting to take shape and you can see the students getting excited to present what they have learned. A new student joined our class today, so it will be interesting to see what he can do in half the time of the other students. 

I enjoyed going through their challenge proposals last week and was happy to see that students were eager to add more details to further explain their challenges when it was suggested. It's great to see the students invest themselves a little bit more into what they are doing. 

This week I will focus on looking at their timelines, which really outline both their thought process and their daily progress. I am hoping that they have added description to what they have accomplished as a way of me seeing the challenges they've chosen through their eyes. 

Here are some pics of today's class: 

Off to the races!

Now that we are in the "thick" of our challenges, I am happy with the work that has been done so far. Some students have eased into the process, while others have taken their time getting comfortable. Two students decided to switch their challenge ideas as they were struggling with the original ones they had chosen. Today, I spent some time with each student, discussing their progress and their use of the timeline document. I really enjoyed chatting with each of them and learning a little bit more about their challenges, but also a little more about them.

Students working on drawing portfolios.

Multiple devices in full use.

Building bridges! 

Getting to use some cool machines! 

Henna time! I love that he students are being supportive of each other's projects!

Poster boards will be coming in next class and I can't wait to see what creative ways the students use to present their challenges to the school and the community! 

Starting Again...

Welcome back to my ALC 9 Blog! I hope you all had a restful summer. I am looking forward to sharing a new journey with you and my new batch of ALC 9 students. 

So back in the spring, our school staff discussed the full implementation of the CTF curriculum starting this school year. We decided that offering as many CTF courses as we would like to, would need quarterly options instead of half year. As a result, my ALC 9 course will run as usual, but in half the time. I have had to adjust my timeline quite significantly, but I think the overall quality of the challenges the students choose to complete will be higher as they have to be more focused and attentive to meet the November 4th Trade Fair deadline. Yep, the trade fair is less than two months away! 

What have we done so far? Well last week, I introduced the course itself and showcased the many cool challenges that were completed last year. I surveyed the class to see how many students had an idea already of what they would like to do for their challenge, and about half had a general idea. I went around today's class and made a list of all of the awesome challenge ideas the students have; it will be exciting to see them all come to fruition. I have about 5 students who are still unsure and I have reminded them they need to be ready to start their challenge next class, which is Monday September 19th. 

Today's goal was to get the students' challenge proposals completed and their timelines started. I've decided to use the timelines as their "logbooks" where they fill in (with great detail) what they did each class and can make notes of what they need to do in the following classes to keep their challenge on track. Once created, these documents were to be shared with me via Google Docs. 

I am really excited to be offering this course again and look forward to documenting the journey over the next two months!

Here are the amazing challenges coming your way soon.... 

Another Successful Challenge Trade Fair!

Wow! Am I ever amazed at how all of my ALC 9 students' projects turned out. Each one is so unique and it was great to see them talking to other students, staff, and admin about their hard work. I loved being able to sit back and watch each of them explain their successes (and failures) over the past 5 months. ALC really is all about the students discovering more about their interests and passions... And then being able to self-reflect on their learning and see if they want to pursue more of this area in the future. Some kids discovered that they LOVED what they chose to do, while others are adamant that they NEVER want to take part in this kind of challenge again. Either way, I'd say that's some meaningful learning! 

Here are some pics of the amazing Challenges: