To Boldly Go...

The first semester has flown by and it's time for me to head off on this exciting sabbatical trip.

"The world is not in your books and maps… it's out there!"—Gandalf, The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

And just that. I'm off to see these great schools and educators I've chatted with and learned from over the years. I'll meet many new people, catch up with friends, and explore the world. I'll have some time to reflect, invent, and renew... in 8 countries. A fine recipe for the future. 

And while I'm away...

Paul Molinelli steps in to work with folks here in the Lab, and I couldn't be more excited about that coming to fruition. Paul brings a wealth of experience to the mix and it's been great to get to know him better over the past month. Paul will be smithing this Lab blog here over the semester with students too. There are some great threads in motion already.

Tony Cirelli will step in to mentor the baseball program this Spring, and the players and families are in good hands. I've had the privilege of competing against Tony over the years when we coached at different schools and also to work with him to build this baseball program. Tony's a very competent and dedicated coach. This years Varsity team is a special group and it was a tough decision to step away from them this Spring. Ultimately though all those strengths and the tremendous character of the team made the decision easier. 'The Ship,' as in competing for a championship, is once again within reach.

My thanks to all the students, colleagues, and friends who have wished me luck and safe travels on this journey. Of course, this wouldn't have been possible without the generous support and visionary thinking of Barry and Wendy Rowland. Words can't express the gratitude I have for the Rowland's support to send educators out into the world on adventures.


I'll be blogging for Edutopia as this trip unfolds, and posting updates on my personal blog, CreativeStir, as well (there's a bit more about the logistics of the trip posted there already). I'm looking forward to the challenges to smith these journeys into some good stories and all the personal reflection and deeper thinking it brings.

Gandalf: You'll have a tale or two to tell when you come back. 

Bilbo: Can you promise that I will come back? 

Gandalf: No, and if you do, you will not be the same.

Step out your door...

Keep moving forward...

AP

Student for a Day Video

In a class discussion about 'how technology has shifted school,' the discussion got pretty heated.

Students thought 'school schedules are often organized by adults.'

So...

What is the school schedule like through the eyes of a student?

Do school schedules meet the needs of students educationally and socially? 

How can the 'student experience' be improved?

How does the school schedule effect families?

Five teachers became a 'Student for a Day' to find out. Here are their thoughts on the experience (and some good humor) in the full video below.

Their experiences lead to some timely questions to answer in education. 

We'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject too. Feel free to send me a note.

Thanks to all involved in this great project, especially our dedicated A block Tech Research class who conjured up this great idea. Special thanks to Meg Kenny, Assistant Headmaster (and also a 'Student for a Day' in the video).

We had a blast working on it and hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for tuning in, AP

BBA Student for a Day Project from Adam Provost on Vimeo.

#edchat

Student for a Day Project Video Trailer

After proposing the project, a schedule delay for Hurricane Sandy, editing, and a holiday break... at long last, here's the trailer for the 'Student for a Day' project!

We'll post the full video in a day or two.

Stay tuned!

Trailer from Adam Provost on Vimeo.

Ripple Effect

Hurricane Sandy moves over the East Coast, United States. Image Credit: NASA GOES Project

The threat of Hurricane Sandy making it's way to Vermont, especially in the wake of the devastation Hurricane Irene brought to the area last Fall, was a study in preparedness.

And justly so.

Preparing for disasters like this is key. Reacting to such disasters is when things get very messy. One look at what's going on in New York City and Atlantic City will show you why.

Looking at the news over the last few days, it looks like some folks planned to the best of their ability. Others simply went into denial about the coming storm. Some, the thrill seeking type, even went out for jogs, wake boarding, and went out to take pictures when the worst of the hurricane landed.

Some others simply couldn't do anything about it. When the devastation is that large and wide spread, sometimes... you simply endure. I've heard many people on the news over the last few days saying things like 'I just can't believe it was this bad.' It's a study of what went on here in Vermont last year.

Now that the Hurricane has moved on from this area in Southern Vermont, it's easy to say 'we over prepared.' If the storm turned east toward Vermont though... my guess is we'd be singing a different tune.

My hope after watching Katrina years back overwhelm the Gulf Coast, Irene's tromp through New England, and now Hurricane Sandy... is that we'll lend some serious thought to how, where, and why we build things in the future. And how we can orchestrate disaster plans most effectively. Error on caution... good idea.

This event once again led to some great discussions in class, and we're all watching in hopes that the places rocked by Hurricane Sandy can dig out.

With school canceled here Monday and a delayed opening Tuesday, we postponed our 'Student for a Day' project and rescheduled to next week. We'll have updates soon.

Resting up. Preparing. Moving forward.

Teachers being a Student for a Day

We've been collecting books for our 'test subjects.'

In Tech Research class we stir up a project called 'Education Revisited' where we look at how technology has challenged and shifted learning, education... and schools.

... and a discussion on 'what is it really like to be a student?' quickly evolved into 'Teachers becoming students for couple of days.'

We've proposed some great things over the years in the Lab to administration and this idea took off like a rocket in discussions.

We drafted up the idea that three teachers become a student over two days, along with with all appropriate expectations each student has placed upon them. We polished it up a bit and presented the idea to the administration. The school's Executive Team discussed the issue and approved a schedule where 5 teachers would participate for one day instead.

Modified... but approved!

Teachers were hand picked to reflect diverse subjects taught and at different stages of their teaching careers. Here's a list of of the teachers who will be 'Student for a Day.'

Oct 30th:
Scott Clausen, English
Meg Kenny, Administration
Mary-Rita Manley, Math
Pete Nicholson, English

Oct 31st:
Dave Miceli, Social Studies, Psychology

Students in Tech Research designed full academic schedules for each participating teacher and also the following guidelines:

• Pick up their class schedule in the Lab the day before their assigned student day
• Teachers must negotiate getting the appropriate supplies for their classes
• Park in the assigned student parking lot in the morning
• Attend all classes and advisory as a regularly scheduled student
• Eat in the cafeteria with no special privileges aka cutting in line and must pay for their lunch before eating
• Attend an extra-curricular activity and participate in some way for the full duration
• Be assigned an equivalent amount of homework in each class and prepare it for the next day to hand in
• Report on their perceptions of the student day (see Project Goals below), and on the hours spent after school to complete tasks/work and balance home life to their peers

Project goals:

• Is the school schedule designed as effectively as it could be for learning?
• Are the duration of classes, transition times between classes, advisory time, and lunch time / scope structures appropriately meeting the needs of students?
• Open up discussions on the demands and expectations placed on students during the school day and also in their personal lives: Understanding the length of the overall 'school day'
• Encourage discussions on the purpose and role of homework
• Reminding teachers of the demands of 'having 4-5 different subjects (jobs / classes) per day,' and an extra-curricular activity, and homework of new material
• Encouraging reflective practice on teaching students and not just subjects

When we started to bounce the idea around on campus with teachers to get their feedback the idea spread VERY rapidly. Many teachers expressed disappointment they couldn't participate in this round and have already asked if they can be included in the next.

Also... MANY students and teachers have been dropping in with ideas to consider for the future... and they are all excellent.

• Run the experiment for two days
• Run the experiment for a week
• Incorporate a 'game day' where an athletic team has a game where the demands of students participating are stretched further
• Build in a part-time job for a few participants after school
• Do this again in the Winter... which has a much more chaotic extra-curricular activity schedule

I think we're on to something ; )

We'll be reporting how it all moves along.

AP

The Way Things Work

We took a break from our Education Revisited assignment in Tech Research A block class and dove into a recurring assignment here called 'The Way Things Work.'

The mission:

Bring in something that's broken or no longer used, dissect it, discover how it works, repair it (if applicable) and then put it back together, and then tell your peers what you discovered.

On occasion we need some parts to repair things. Makes me wish we had a 3D printer ; )

Discovering how things are manufactured, what's under the hood...

Who knows where those skills could lead.

A broken digital camera, photo printer, and dvd player were our first missions.

Can we fix a digital camera? Erin dives in to find out.

James and Russell explore a DVD player that won't read discs that are slightly scratched.

A printer that won't feed paper? Andrew, David, and Matt begin testing.

Innovative Study Projects

Here is a list of innovative projects students in the Research Lab have worked on to date. Each student chooses their own topic, sets their own time frame for the project and all material is archived for future students to use.

Each project must last a minimum of there weeks. Some do two projects per semester. Some do one project per semester. Some extend projects over multiple semesters and even years.

What skills can you learn by immersing yourself in something you love, something you want to pursue? What are the links to writing, research, history, math, science, and professional mentors that can be explored? What will you learn about collaboration, communication, and even learning itself?

3D Design: Unity Engine, Maya, Sculptris
Acoustics
Alternative Energy: Wind, Solar
Anesthesiology

Animation

Amphibious Vehicle Technology

Architecture: Modern Design, Energy Efficiency, Open Housing Project

Astronomy
Audio Editing / Engineering
Aviation: piloting, mechanics
Bass Guitar Engineering

Blogs

CAD design: Google SketchUp (free) and Pro

Claymation
Deep Sea Diving

Digital design: Photoshop, Fireworks, GIMP, Paint.Net. Beginning, intermediate, advanced
Digital Photography

Digital Story Telling
Domestic feline behavior

Education: Evolution, Online Ed, Technology, Theory

Equine Technology

Farming Technology

Fashion Design: Process, design, manufacturing
Fish and Game Wildlife Management

Forensics

Game Conversion

Game Design

Gaming History
Geo-Engineering
Golf Technology

Google Apps

Guitar Design: Pickup replacement

Hiking Technology

History of Computing

History of Sound Recording, Acoustics

Horse / Thoroughbred Management and Nutrition

Humanitarian Relief

Human Intelligence

Hybrid Vehicle Technology
iPhone Technology
iPod Technology

Language Studies: AP French, Italian, German, English

Machinima

Magnetics: Mag lev propulsion
Mixed Media: Mashups, viral video
Mountain Bike Manufacturing and Design
Movie Making

Movie Technology
Music Genome Project
Myth: Monsters and Legend
Native American Reservation

Networking: Security, Hardware: Routers, Switches, LAN/WAN Design

Nutrition
Observatory Refit

One-to-One Laptop Project: One laptop per student

Operating Systems: Windows (XP, Vista), Apple OSX, Linux, Edubuntu, Fedora
Playing the Piano

PC Hardware

Podcasting

Programming: Ajax, C, C++, Flash, Java, Visual Basic, Visual C

Robotics: Scrap, Vexx

Running Technology
Schizophrenia

Ski / Snowboard Technology: Manufacturing / Materials
Small Business: LLC, Non-Profits, Taxes, Business Economy in VT vs other States.

Snow Making Technology
Snow Mobile Performance an Modification
Social Media

Sound engineering: Acoustics, recording techniques, principles
Stem Cell Research
Stock Trading: Market Analysis

Stop Motion Animation
Swimming Technology
Survival Technology
Tennis: Racquet construction, restringing, performance analysis

Theatrical Lighting
Tolkien

Typing: 9 words per minute (in a second language) to 85 ; )

Web Development: Basic web page construction, CSS
Welding: MIG / TIG

Wikis: Wikipedia / Collective Knowledge Editing / Contributions