I went to an orientation meeting for Camp Invention Directors. There is a lot to learn and to absorb. I'll be meeting with my teachers and camp parent this week to update them on what I learned.
Today we have a Project Day at GWAEA. We will be sharing what innovations we have been working on in the form of display tables in the conference room.I have mine mostly set up, and in about a half-hour from now I will take the technology downstairs to finish the set-up. I have no idea what to expect as far as visitors.
I continue to get a lot of clarification questions on deadlines and bills. Carla Green has been so wonderful to work with when I need help on the business end of the grants.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
April Continued
I have been busy making site visits and working on the final report, as well as Camp Invention and the Final Showcase event. The invitation list for the showcase takes a lot of time, because people change in their job roles, so a list from last year is not necessarily still valid. I checked and rechecked principal names, and superintendent names, and added people from CSI-OSO, and had many, many changes in other categories as well. The list was checked by Jeanne, and parts by Jim, and checked by Deb Johnson, as well as Kim Martin. Each eye that viewed the list was helpful in some aspect. I had Jenny Becker check the Rockwell names, and the IMSEP gang checked their realm. Finally, the invitations went to print.
I met with Kim Martin, who was very helpful in telling me what we do to get the final report done. I hadn't realized how that should be organized, so I spent time on that so that it would be a work in progress that wouldn't sneak up on me as a colossal surprise at the last moment.
I'm going to a Camp Invention training for directors tonight from 5-8. I'm hoping that this is helpful in showing me the big picture of what I will be pulling together. I visited Yukiko's camp, but the nuts and bolts of it are interestingly unfolding.
Yesterday Jim and I drove to HLV, which is quite a drive. We met with Joy Dolmage, who is an amazing hero to me (as all these sites have). She is a first year site, so we carefully went over the procedures for filling out her final report and how to get reimbursed for expenses before the deadline approaches.
Another thing I am working on is Monday's Project Day at GWAEA. Staff will be sharing with each other what they are working on for the agency. I will be sharing a STEM display. I am also looking forward to learning from the other displays.
I met with Kim Martin, who was very helpful in telling me what we do to get the final report done. I hadn't realized how that should be organized, so I spent time on that so that it would be a work in progress that wouldn't sneak up on me as a colossal surprise at the last moment.
I'm going to a Camp Invention training for directors tonight from 5-8. I'm hoping that this is helpful in showing me the big picture of what I will be pulling together. I visited Yukiko's camp, but the nuts and bolts of it are interestingly unfolding.
Yesterday Jim and I drove to HLV, which is quite a drive. We met with Joy Dolmage, who is an amazing hero to me (as all these sites have). She is a first year site, so we carefully went over the procedures for filling out her final report and how to get reimbursed for expenses before the deadline approaches.
Another thing I am working on is Monday's Project Day at GWAEA. Staff will be sharing with each other what they are working on for the agency. I will be sharing a STEM display. I am also looking forward to learning from the other displays.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Final Preparations
The two main events that require a lot of time for me right now are the Final STEM Showcase and Camp Invention.
The Final STEM Showcase will be held on May 19. Jim told me that this would require a lot of time and that TIR's in the past of mentioned what a lot of work it is, so he told me that I'd want to get started on it. The first thing I did was to dig into the computer files to find clues as to what I needed to do. I printed off what I thought would be valid, and began working on the invitation list, which is quite extensive. There are 136 people on the list to invite. This list is being checked by those at Rockwell, Jeanne, Jim and then I am also using the online District Directory. We added several categories of people to attend, such as math consultants and curriculum directors. After this list is finalized I will send invitations. I'm waiting to hear if Jeanne wants Save The Date invitations first.
The second event is Camp Invention. Camp Invention has a big binder that I'm working on getting through. It is full of procedures as well as programing. I have a meeting today with my camp parent and my on site teacher to touch base on our registration numbers (which are at 16 so far) and see if there are any questions they have.
I met with Jim yesterday. He wants to meet personally with the new sites as well as a couple of the old ones to go over how to write the final reports. It is such a pleasure to work with someone so thorough, organized and knowledgeable about everything. I'd have to say he's the highest quality administrator I've ever worked with directly. I have started setting these meetings up, and have two responses confirmed. I just love it when people do things right!
The Final STEM Showcase will be held on May 19. Jim told me that this would require a lot of time and that TIR's in the past of mentioned what a lot of work it is, so he told me that I'd want to get started on it. The first thing I did was to dig into the computer files to find clues as to what I needed to do. I printed off what I thought would be valid, and began working on the invitation list, which is quite extensive. There are 136 people on the list to invite. This list is being checked by those at Rockwell, Jeanne, Jim and then I am also using the online District Directory. We added several categories of people to attend, such as math consultants and curriculum directors. After this list is finalized I will send invitations. I'm waiting to hear if Jeanne wants Save The Date invitations first.
The second event is Camp Invention. Camp Invention has a big binder that I'm working on getting through. It is full of procedures as well as programing. I have a meeting today with my camp parent and my on site teacher to touch base on our registration numbers (which are at 16 so far) and see if there are any questions they have.
I met with Jim yesterday. He wants to meet personally with the new sites as well as a couple of the old ones to go over how to write the final reports. It is such a pleasure to work with someone so thorough, organized and knowledgeable about everything. I'd have to say he's the highest quality administrator I've ever worked with directly. I have started setting these meetings up, and have two responses confirmed. I just love it when people do things right!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Using the Science Assessment Probe after EIE
I asked Erica what the very best assessment would be for me to use with teaching science. She suggested Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, More Formative Assessment Probes, by Page Keeley, Francis Eberle, and Joyce Tugel. I found the one related to Earth Materials, which was the FOSS kit I was teaching at Garner. So I gave the probe before teaching the FOSS kit, and then again after the FOSS kit. I also gave it once again after teaching the EIE kit. I would love to have more time with the students after uncovering what misconceptions still exist, such as that coral is a rock, but I did learn a lot from doing the probes. The fact that coral is one of the common fossils found in Coralville (near where many of them live), creates an easy misconception that it is a rock. A discussion on that matter needs to take place. This is one reason that using formative assessment correctly requires teachers to have plenty of time for science in order to include time for the curriculum in addition to time to address misconceptions with more than a sentence. I wish I could go back and address some of the misconceptions they still have.
These are the results of the probes at each stage of teaching:
The reason that doing the EIE kit increased so much understanding was that one might not have noticed that in studying rocks and Earth Materials that students could not distinguish between what was a rock and what was a mixture made from earth materials such as rocks. Cement, for instance, is thought to be a rock by a majority of the students. When they did the EIE kit they tested sand, soil and clay for their properties and determined whether these properties were sufficient to make good mortar (and found that they aren't). They then discovered, through the process of Engineering Design, that these very materials had different properties when combined, and that in combining them they could make better mortar (i.e. less breakage and more stickiness). Testing these material designs increased their understanding of the difference between what a rock is and what mixtures containing earth materials are. This was a higher understanding than the important concept the FOSS kit was aiming at, which had to do with rocks being made up of minerals and that minerals have different properties such as color, texture and hardness. This expansion through adding the EIE kit provided for 'digging a little deeper', if you will, and to my surprise addressed misconceptions I wasn't even intending to address. I had been interested in the STEM application, the engineering process, and the real-world connections. Now I understand that I also "uncovered student thinking" and addressed common misconceptions by adding Engineering is Elementary Curriculum to compliment the FOSS kit while teaching science. It was a great opportunity for all!
These are the results of the probes at each stage of teaching:
The probe I used was called, "Is it a Rock?" version 2, page 157, Copyright © 2007. Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, Volume 2: 25 More Formative Assessment
Probes, by Page Keeley, Francis Eberle, and Joyce Tugel. Published by NSTA Press.The reason that doing the EIE kit increased so much understanding was that one might not have noticed that in studying rocks and Earth Materials that students could not distinguish between what was a rock and what was a mixture made from earth materials such as rocks. Cement, for instance, is thought to be a rock by a majority of the students. When they did the EIE kit they tested sand, soil and clay for their properties and determined whether these properties were sufficient to make good mortar (and found that they aren't). They then discovered, through the process of Engineering Design, that these very materials had different properties when combined, and that in combining them they could make better mortar (i.e. less breakage and more stickiness). Testing these material designs increased their understanding of the difference between what a rock is and what mixtures containing earth materials are. This was a higher understanding than the important concept the FOSS kit was aiming at, which had to do with rocks being made up of minerals and that minerals have different properties such as color, texture and hardness. This expansion through adding the EIE kit provided for 'digging a little deeper', if you will, and to my surprise addressed misconceptions I wasn't even intending to address. I had been interested in the STEM application, the engineering process, and the real-world connections. Now I understand that I also "uncovered student thinking" and addressed common misconceptions by adding Engineering is Elementary Curriculum to compliment the FOSS kit while teaching science. It was a great opportunity for all!
Monday, February 21, 2011
IMSEP at the Capitol
Saturday, February 19, 2011
February
I've been busy these last few weeks with teaching at Garner, visits to grant sites, preparing for IMSEP Day at the Capitol and finishing two projects that Jeanne asked me to do (one with STEM career video tapes and the other with EIE manual inventory). We had a long science team meeting, and Grant Wood AEA is having a very hard time with budget cuts causing people to get pink slipped. I have no idea exactly what is going on because no one talks to me about it, but there is tension.
Jim and I went to Hiawatha and enjoyed the program there. One teacher was sick, but the one that was there was just amazing. She was doing an EIE kit called "It's a Long Way Down; Designing Parachutes". She had nearly 30 students and she had complete control in addition to humor (which is a great combination). They were quite impressive.
We also went to Clear Creek Amana. That STEM club was working on Lego Robots, and a couple of young ladies also wanted to show me their lego city project. They then showed me how they could build with Lego's on the computer. I showed them how to download 'Google Sketch-up', which they hadn't seen, and I think it may take them to a higher level of architecture, which is their aim. Jim and I were impressed with the amazing students in this club, as well as the teacher. There was also a student engineering major volunteering his time to this club. It was great.
Jim and I went to Hiawatha and enjoyed the program there. One teacher was sick, but the one that was there was just amazing. She was doing an EIE kit called "It's a Long Way Down; Designing Parachutes". She had nearly 30 students and she had complete control in addition to humor (which is a great combination). They were quite impressive.
We also went to Clear Creek Amana. That STEM club was working on Lego Robots, and a couple of young ladies also wanted to show me their lego city project. They then showed me how they could build with Lego's on the computer. I showed them how to download 'Google Sketch-up', which they hadn't seen, and I think it may take them to a higher level of architecture, which is their aim. Jim and I were impressed with the amazing students in this club, as well as the teacher. There was also a student engineering major volunteering his time to this club. It was great.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
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