MOOC is ready!

Well, you may have noticed I have not posted in a while. As you may have guessed from previous posts, I have been finishing my PBL MOOC. It is now ready at: Coursesites. Though currently there is only one class available, you can find the latest information about new MOOC's (assuming this first one goes well) at the website:

Enjoy!

Gantt Chart

Is there anything prettier at the start of a project than a well thought out Gantt Chart?

In case you hadn't guessed, the MOOC planning process is entering its final stages. I hope to be live for the beginning of the high school spring semester. The class lasts about a quarter and if successful, I hope to have part two for the next quarter.

Engineering Task Force

I am having fun making my resource files pretty for some engineering/math projects I have used in preparation for the KSTF Engineering Task Force fall meeting. It is great to go over old lessons, reflect on what worked and what didn't and be able to share them with the world. Enjoy, Jim Engineering/Math projects More information about the Engineering Task Force.

Furlough Over/Arduino in the Classroom

With the furlough finally over we can get back to work. I am excited to continue my work on creating a Project Based Engineering MOOC geared towards high school students who don't have engineering options at their high school. Besides being free to sign up, I am looking to make it free to participate also. This means that all of the projects will have to be made at no cost to the student. This presents a fun challenge, though not altogether new. As a classroom teacher, I always struggled to provide my students with meaningful tasks that fit within my school's budget. So many (if not all) of the MOOCs I have seen are simply lecture put on the internet. I think this is wasted time for those who want to make the information accessible to a broader range of students (ie ones traditionally underrepresented in higher education and engineering) because we know that lecture only works for a subset of students (citation needed). I just found out that now you can read about one way I integrate technology and programming into the classroom: http://makezine.com/2013/08/26/arduino-in-math-class/ Enjoy, Jim

Achievement Gap Graphic

From a presentation by Jerry Valadez from Fresno State, the grade 4 TIMSS Math scores with the added columns of "US Wealthy" and "US Poor." It struck me that the former is 2nd and the latter is 2nd to last. I had never seen the disparity put quite so clearly or succinctly. This just punctuates the need for us to get all students excited about STEM in order to close the achievement gap.

What is the graph showing?

As renters go up homeowners go up? I mean you can infer from the text what it is trying to say, but the way they labeled those axes just makes me shudder.

Einstein Fellowship

Now onto the third iteration of this blog. The first, a simple homework problem listing (scroll way down), the second a place to organize my thoughts as I went through the National Board process (I passed!), and the third to add my thoughts and plans to the internet. Because what the world needs most is another teacher blog (sarcasm really doesn't read well on the internet, someone should fix that). Knowing that this may be more white noise than useful to the world, I see it as a way for me to work out what I am thinking and hopefully start a conversation.