Week+7

For quite some time now, I have had plans to build 'roller coasters' with my basic science class as a final assessment for a lesson on kinetic and potential energy. We have been prepping through video, interactive smartboard lessons, and guided practice in order to learn 'outside the box'. At first the concept was very exciting to the students but it seems that as time goes by, some get very frustrated with figuring out the solution to problems on their own. Some on the other hand, love trial and error. As we started the construction of these roller coasters with foam 'track' (pipe insulation) lots of duct tape, toothpicks, straws, wood blocks and more; we encountered numerous roadblocks all of which by now have been solved by the students with only questioning on my part.

The criteria for the track is that it must have one hill, one loop, and one jump and the marble 'car' must land in a cup at the end of the track. The independence and creativity of my students is astounding. And as far as they're concerned the more challenges, the better. Our major set back in the building of these roller coasters is the blasting heat that flows constantly out of the vents in the ceiling. Each morning that we come in, the tracks have fallen apart or down in some way. For most students, this does not mean failure, it only poses the question, "How can I improve my track?"

Week 7 video's have been of further inspiration to me, they show me how to be a better teacher in the project-based learning environment. Although some may have been a bit drawn out and dare I say, boring, I found it all informational and helpful. The following video was a favorite of mine because she taught the kids why it is important to follow directions in a way that worked for both visual and kinestic learners, which is something that would even work well at the high school level in my special education classes. []

In closing, I am grateful to be a part of this team as it opens my eyes to various practices that I otherwise would be blind to. The videos and readings are all helpful in that they teach you both effective and ineffective ways to come across to an audience, wether that be students or fellow teachers.