Monday Landscaping

I'll be out Monday April 25th repairing the field with the baseball team. It's a great day to keep tinkering on final presentations. The Force is with us. See you Tuesday! AP

2011 Varsity Baseball Team
Saturday April 23, 2011
Landscaping in rain, sleet or shine!

eDesign Creativity...

In one of the latest assignments in eDesign, students took on the task of creating a collage based on the project themes this semester in the A block Tech Research class. Here's the list of themes:

Garrett: Fish and Game Wildlife Management, Adam: Survival kit , Eric: Bass guitar design, Hannah: Movie making, Ryder: Sound editing, Hannah: Nutrition in schools, Emily: Digital Photography, Kyle: Horror films, Heather: Horse Management, Dylan: Forensics, Jenny: Horse nutrition, Trevor: Building iPod app, Sunny: Two subjects: History of war, and Monsters of Legend, Rachel: Music Genome Project, Lucas: Technology, Jenn: Two themes: Tolkien, and bad movies.

 After the collages were created, the Tech Research class voted on their favorites and here they are respectively:

1st Place: Veronica:

Three entries tied for second place: Emily, Ethan, and Jimmy.

In all, the collages across the class came out great. Many thanks to all those who entered and to those who voted.

The Photoshop Effect...

After the break the eDesign class will be exploring Photoshop digital photo editing in more detail. Lots to discuss!

New Course... Engage

For roughly three years we've been kicking the idea around of a 'Senior Seminar' type course here, specifically to meet the needs of our students graduating and moving into the world. We've had many discussions on 'starting here' and the need / opportunity to incorporate these tools into many other areas of the school. Hopefully the work that students do here can be a beacon to open doors in other curriculum areas. Here's one of my original posts here on my personal blog from when we started brainstorming with students on this topic.


Colby Halligan ('11) and Luen Proft ('11) shored up the work this semester that  Anders Ax ('08) and a host of others began and we again passed it on for approval.


We received notice this morning that this new course was approved so we're off and running. We'll be announcing more details about the course, asking for feedback online from the academic community here and abroad as to what to include, ideas for guest speakers, and for projects. Think tank sort of stuff: The essence of social networking... and moving forward.


Many thanks to Jenn Hyatt and Neil Freeburn for their input and also the cast of people who contributed ideas along the way.


Engage, AP


SOCIAL NETWORKING: A SENIOR SEMINAR
1 credit Level 2
Seniors (available to Juniors if there is space available)


What role does technology and social media play in your life? Is it a source of entertainment and grounded to more typical school functions like reading, research, and writing? If so, there's a good deal more it can do. How can you leverage these tools to build an extensive learning network? How can you learn to deal with information overload? How can social media be leveraged into, well, more? Here are some other questions designed by your peers who created this course: What practical knowledge and tools will help you in the future to understand the world of finance, budgets, credit cards, online investing, amortization rates, taxes, individual retirement accounts, and mortgages? What resources will help you manage stress, and understand the role of nutrition in this modern world? We'll explore the questions from the class by leveraging social media... for you. We'll also use these tools and skills to connect with guest speakers. These speakers will discuss their areas of expertise and also how they made the transition from high school into the responsibilities of adult life. We'll use social networking skills to collaborate in and out of class and help you learn about how to head into your future. This class will consist of collaborative work, group discussions, explorations and projects designed by the class.

Lots Going On... Engage.

My thanks to the everyone in the 1st semester Tech Research and eDesign classes for their work. We covered some great individuals projects, thought provoking classwork and design work.

Lots going on...

The new semester fires up Tuesday. Another eDesign class and the first run of a modified version of the Tech Research class for Freshman while D and E block Tech Research continues.

A few students are firing up an internship this Spring with me to develop a course for next year. The idea centers along the lines of a Senior Seminar type experience. The hope is the course will challenge our conventional thoughts on education, introduce many practical threads for students as they move on to the next step, bring in some great guest speakers (educators, business folks and Alumni!) and explore a student centered feedback loop for the students to deliver messages to the school on their perceptions on education. We'll look at length at the master schedule too... what could be possible with some flexibility and creativity. Very excited about where this can lead.

Next week I'll be headed to the Educon conference in Philadelphia. WHOOHOO! There's a great slate of discussions planned and I'm excited to meet many of the folks I've collaborated with online over the past few years.

Work has started on a faculty study group to explore project based learning, pedagogy and the role of technology in the future of this school. The Educon trip next week is part of this work. We've started a professional development blog for the group to share resources as we go.

Board work with VITA-Learn and I'll be working on a conference in the Spring, likely April, on project based learning, pedagogy and specifically the impact more personalized technology can have on these fronts.

Another baseball season is on the horizon too. Lots to do. Work continues with the 643DP Foundation to improve the local playing facility, we'll be looking at a Spring trip (possibly to Cooperstown, NY and the Hall of Fame) and addressing some much needed All-Star selection and season schedule refits for the league. I'll also be working on planning renovations for the local little league fields too and the Summer youth clinic. It looks at this time that negotiations to lower the Summer camp price through the school were successful. I think this will lead to increased enrollment and ultimately better service to the community.

On these baseball fronts too, I'll be working with other folks in the State at the VBCA to run our Spring clinic and to develop a Junior All-Star game. We've discussed the Junior game for two years now and it's time to set it in motion.

On a personal note... it's time to tear out the floors in the house. Green bamboo, fresh paint throughout, cast out some furniture... perhaps a renovation of a bathroom and add a first floor pellet stove. We'll see how things sugar out.

Grad course for SNHU? We'll see what they are up to in the Spring or Summer.

Then there's starting that Masters program... hmmm.

Mix in a few trips here and there to Boston and Burlington, some good company along the way... some blogging here and on my personal blog...

We'll see what else gets conjured up.

Should keep me busy until June!

Engage.

Updated Social Media Stats: Did You Know?

Karl Fisch started this years ago with videos called 'Did You Know.' Here's the latest entry. Pretty incredible statistics. I don't believe school can or should avoid discussions on social media. At some point, hopefully soon, it' will be considered irresponsible not to enter the discussion. Embracing the strengths and potential, actively discussing pitfalls, well, we'll get a lot further than simply ignoring it. Especially if we are educating students for 'their future.'

The Brian Gawlik Studio

Familiar faces... family, friends... old and new came together this afternoon to dedicate the Studio here in the Smith Center to Brian Gawlik... and the dedication on the memorial so reads:

THE BRIAN GAWLIK STUDIO
dedicated to the memory of

Brian Gawlik
   1961-2009

Brian came to Burr and Burton in 1999, a year after the Smith Center for Communications opened. Thanks to a generous gift from Barbara Riley and Gerald Levin, the lower level had been fitted out with a state-of-the art digital television studio complete with digital cameras, two editing bays and Avid editing stations. With his rich background in professional video editing, and news production, Brian brough just the right combination of talent, experience and personal skills to the task of setting up a vibrant communications program for students.

Under his expert, sometimes teasing, yet always gentle direction, his students became the writers, producers journalists and designers of their own news shows and films. He had high standards for their work in class and for how they conducted themselves out of class. He wanted them to have real-world experience and be professional in all they did. He was as likely to be seen instructing them in the finer points of tying a tie as checking light levels. Many of his students have gone on to work in the industry. None of them will forget him.

Brian also helped many local community organizations who came to him with requests for his experience in film and audio technology. He was unfailingly generous with his time. He is remembered by many in the community for his years as a volunteer with Race for the Cure cure committee responsible for the annual Summer event to benefit breast cancer research.

Born on March 25, 1961, in New York City, Brian moved with his family to Sunderland, Vermont in 1973. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Lyndon State College in 1983, he worked for the college's NewsLINC program. He went on to be a freelance editor and videographer for CNN and MSNBC and worked for Galaxy Broadcasting in Bondville before coming to Burr and Burton.

Brian Gawlik, teacher, mentor, and friend, died on December 8, 2009 after a long and courageous fight with cancer. He was 48 years old. He is honored and missed by the Burr and Burton community, but his legacy will live on in the students who benefit from the program he began.