Project Proposals DUE!

This upcoming Friday, my students will be turning in their project proposals. Their next step will be to turn those proposals on paper, into presentations. They know that these presentations need to be outstanding, because they will be giving the presentations to a group of 'investors' much like on the show Shark Tank. This should provide my students with a number of interesting challenges, first, they will need to present their ideas in a clear fashion. Second, they will need to rationalize why they should be funded. Third, they will be fielding questions on the fly from this group of 'investors.' I really feel that this is where a lot of the learning comes in, when students must think on their feet, while not contradicting anything they have previously stated. Making sure that they can accurately respond to questions that they do not know ahead of time, gets at a level of understanding that I think is not really attainable by just writing down on paper.

I started to look over their proposals this past weekend, and as expected, each group of students are in different spots. I am anxious to see how they all progress and what the final product will look like on paper.

Building wise, this may not be the most productive time of the year, but I truly believe that having students figure out what they want to design, figure out a way to justify funding for their projects, and teaching them to write in a scientific manner, have much value; even if they do not see it as such. I want them to understand that in the real world, when you have a group of investors that you are giving a pitch to, they are not just going to give you the money, you need to demonstrate to them why your idea is deserving of their money. So, I feel that there are life lessons the students learn by going through this process, and not just being handed the money for the projects or materials for the projects. They need to earn them.

Following the Labor Day Holiday

Last week was a little quieter here. Students were working on their project proposals this week. I did receive many great questions regarding the wide variety of projects. Some of the potential projects this year include: a claw machine (similar to the ones played at arcades), 3D printed home-made fidget spinners, a vending machine, an electric motor powered bicycle, 3D printed prostheses, and an arcade game (home-made).

It is quite interesting listening to the students when the talk about how they are going to go about building their ideas. I find it fascinating when I ask them to come up with a budget and they realize that most items cost much more than what they think! 

Here is one group brainstorming this morning!

On another note, our professional development for the year is off to a great start! We have many teachers who have already earned multiple badges! BadgeList.com has been a great host site for our professional development this year. We are continually adding badges as we go, asking for input from the faculty for more badges, and giving many opportunities for everyone to grow! Thus far, we have collectively earned 194 badges. Pretty good start to the year!

Week 1 In the Books!

This week, I had my students working a few different things. Students that are returning to my classes for a second or third year (taking Honors Engineering, Honors 3D Printing, etc) started working on their project proposals for the year. Each group of students must come up with an idea for a project that they can build. It can be just about anything, and I encourage them to be creative; look for new ways to do things, look for ways to make improvements on existing products, and overall, how can their project add something to the community or be relevant to the world?

My new students, taking Honors Tech and Design Thinking, learned how to use the 3D printer on Tuesday, and on Thursday went through the Stanford D-School Virtual Crash Course. I love this exercise for the students. I love this exercise for me! It helps teach my students how to become a design thinker, think like a creator or producer and not like a consumer. In this world, we are so consumer driven, that is how most of us think. I want my students to think like designers, like producers, like entrepreneurs. It also helps remind me of how to think like a designer and not a consumer. This was not easy for them, and I really love how it presented them with challenges to how they think!

My students sharing their new points of view with each other!