I haven't been to 2nd light in a long time (maybe a year or so?).  Just wanted to say hello.  I used to teach elementary school, but left it for a position teaching engineering to middle school kids.  

 

For or those interested, here's a nonprofit organization that is supplying a small portion of my curriculum.  

 

I am allowed to structure my nine-week course however I want-total freedom.  

I plan to start with the history of the industrial revolution.  It's a personal favorite and the students need to know about it.  

Also, students will learn and apply the design process, working on both individual and team projects.  

 

I'll have both a classroom and a lab, along with plenty of computers, tools, and a half dozen 3D printers.  

 

Anyone have any cool ideas?

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See you all next summer.  Have a great rest of 2016, and don't vote for Trump.

where are you located?

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Dora Hates You

not a dig, but are you an engineer? worked as one?

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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

Sounds like a dig...maybe you should just PM him instead.

No, not an engineer.  I'm a teacher, but will be teaching middle school.  These are introductory courses.  I studied and am certified to teach beginning engineering, robotics, etc.  The oldest students are thirteen.  

I can't speak for high school, but I seriously doubt you'll find many engineers teaching middle school.  

The focus of my question, however, is to get ideas that I haven't thought about.  There are parameters, of course, and content knowledge the students will have to know (various types of drawings, such as multiview, isometric, perspective, etc.) along with measurement and more, but the important part of the nine-week course is teaching kids how to solve problems through design and modeling.  

 

Here's one idea, for example:

 

Johnny comes to class, and after learning the basics he says, "my little brother keeps taking coins from a jar in my room, but I can't prove it."

So he's defined the problem.  Alone, and with a team, the students brainstorm their ideas (which will be mechanical in nature and must be drawn on both paper and in Design 123 (education version) on the PC.

The team then creates a visual model using anything available (cardboard, wood, etc)., and then when they feel it might work they set to construct a prototype (using shop tools, 3D printers, etc).  

They test the design, record their observations, redesign/tweak, and then when the product is complete (or a failure) they present their product to the class   

 

Ideally they won't just copy a design from the Internet or grab a webcam, etc.  That's not the point.  

I'm just looking for cool ideas, not so much a discussion on educational qualifications, etc.

 

gracias

 

 

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See you all next summer.  Have a great rest of 2016, and don't vote for Trump.

It sounds more like you'll be teaching "Technology" a little more than "Engineering" from a purist's perspective, as engineering relies heavily on mathematical analysis and modeling.

Nits aside, anything that gives kids time, resources, and encouragement to be creative is a plus. Parental involvement, and local volunteer involvement from practicing engineers and technologists could only help -- more individual time per kid, more varied ideas and techniques.

There's a guy in Satellite Beach who does science programs for kids at the rec center. He's not a scientist or engineer by formal training, but the kids love his programs, and it piques the interest of many who take it further.

"Computer Scientist" and "Programmer" and "Software Engineer" are also terms that get conflated by some and argued about by others. But when it's all said and done, I've seen young middle-schoolers learn enough programming on YouTube to make robot kits do some pretty cool stuff. They don't care about the title... It's a lot like declaring who's the best surfer -- usually the guy having the most fun.

Good on ya, and good luck with it.

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Edit: I wouldn't spend too much time on the history of the industrial revolution, only enough intro to provide inspiration and context via inventions that changed the world. Kids have a short attention span, and much prefer the hands-on to history and lectures. A 9-week course doesn't allow much time for setup or fluff.

As long as you're doing some talking about historical aspects, do your best to inspire the minorities -- the ones who typically avoid STEM -- by the contributions of their predecessors.

You don't have to make it a political United Nations kind of presentation. There are tons of people from all races, religions, genders, preferences, nationalities, etc... who have made significant contributions. A little recognition for them could go a long way.



Edited: 06/12/2016 at 10:07 AM by RegularJoe

Mike Tech, I love the enthusiasm in your post. The best teachers are the ones that spark a deeper learning and who motivate their students to succeed. There isn't enough "problem solving" taught in schools and your class sounds perfect. Best to you with the upcoming school year. The students are fortunate to have you as their teacher.

Yes, the class is under the umbrella of technology education, but so are our computer classes. I'm certified to teach that as well, but I'm stoked on what I'll be doing.  It's billed as Design & Modeling.  

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See you all next summer.  Have a great rest of 2016, and don't vote for Trump.

Thanks for the tips. Keep 'em coming.  ??

 

The Industrial Revolution will be about two one-hour class periods with a quiz at the end of that week. There will be required videos to highlight how much the world changed as a result of moving from handmade to mass production, etc., and will illustrate how significant Henry Ford and others were to shaping this nation. 

I've been teaching fourth and fifth grade for twenty-one years, and about half the students will be kids I already know.  We're moving to the middle school together.  

I'm an added position.  The guy I'm joining was doing two jobs.  He's fantastic.  But now he will take over the formal Stem program and competitive robotics.  I'll do the intro classes.  

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See you all next summer.  Have a great rest of 2016, and don't vote for Trump.

If it is engineering, a large part of it is to recognize the problem and solve it efficiently.  My interpretation of that means knowing how to surround the problem and apply a broad category of rules to get a quality solution.  Cost, time, materials, effort, etc.  Good luck.  We need more quality engineers.  You can not over-emphasize the importance of math during your class.  The best engineers I know have a very solid foundation in math skills.

Kudos to you for getting kids interested in science and math, and how important it is to our lives.

 

If you are local in Brevard there is a guy who does great STEM presentations for the ages you are talking about.  He is a solid engineer with real industry cred who has a passion for teaching and exposing kids to science, and works with several schools in the Brevard District.   If you want his contact info pm me.

 

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If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph: THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WAS MUSIC - KV

No, not a dig.
Was just interested in the details, wondering if he was an engineer going back to teach kids (something I've considered and was going to ask but how can you deal with the huge pay cut).

Now that I understand that you are a teacher, (and have posted as such before und another name?) and are just trying to inspire middle school kids I'm all Kudos.


Sound like a great program, the details of what you teach don't matter much, it's all about inspiration. Anything that inspires smart kids to want to build stuff, perhaps not become lawyers, is a good thing.


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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

Yes, I have been posting in 2ndlight since 2004. My shtick, if you will, is all the variations of Mike this and Mike that.  But it's been a year or so since I visited.  

I'm in Atlanta.  

And as far as math is concerned:  a big yes.  I love math, science, and anything mechanical.  I've been working to get a position like this for years.  

 

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See you all next summer.  Have a great rest of 2016, and don't vote for Trump.

Edited: 06/12/2016 at 06:24 PM by MikeTech

nd launch some rockets. Plenty of YouTube videos out there. Teach the kids how to deal with real life engineering problems (weight, cost, performance). Have them calculate (guesstimate) how high their rocket can go with the different motors. 

Or anything that shows the power of math, when applied to a design/problem. Do you have access to a tensile testing machine?

engineer!! cool. Ive always wanted to drive a train to....

Can you have guest lecturers? I'm sure WG can suggest a few - that might add some interesting depth to the curriculum, as well as providing modeling for future careers. They'd have to be vetted, of course, but it might be interesting to try.

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson

I'd go to Pompano for that, he's a real engineer.
I just do software.

I get the "engineer" title and pay, but most of the job requires nowhere near the rigor of hardcore engineering, actually building stuff.
I suck at math and still do OK at it


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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

Yeah, but you KNOW people

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson

See if you can get the kids to figure out how Slater's wave pool works, then next semester, get them to build one.

kudos on your patience to be a teacher.

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Specializing in sarcasm and condescending rhetoric since 1971.

Thanks, Worksux.  Being a teacher is my life (outside of family). My primary goal is to always give students a very positive experience in school.  I don't judge and I don't try to persuade (I save that for NSR).  

I grew up disadvantaged and had a lot of teachers who helped me find my way. I'm just returning the favor.  

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See you all next summer.  Have a great rest of 2016, and don't vote for Trump.