As a first generation college graduate, a decision I made early in life was to have a growth mindset. If you’re new to the term growth mindset, or maybe just on the hunt for resources, check out Teaching Channel’s Growth Mindset Deep Dive. While many people assume things in my life have come easily, I’ve spent my entire existence struggling to succeed. Blessed or cursed (depending on your perspective) with an insane amount of drive as well as a natural curiosity toward all things, my life has been a constant cycle of discovery, failure, retooling, and — mostly — eventual success.
This lifestyle has carried over into my classroom, as I believe that regardless of the content I’m teaching, it’s my duty as an educator to prepare all of the young people that walk through my door to face the challenges that lie ahead of them. That’s why I’m such a staunch advocate for the incorporation of the engineering design process into all classrooms. The EDP is the epitome of growth mindset and transcends the classroom into every facet of day-to-day life. In that spirit, I continue to refine my practice. Every year, I identify one area of my instruction as a point of emphasis. In the past, these areas have ranged from classroom management, to individualized learning plans, to the integration of technology. One area I’ve been putting off is refining the writing process that occurs within my STEM course. Why have I been putting it off? Quite honestly, I struggle with writing. I believe in the value of writing, but freely acknowledge that it’s not a strength I possess. Opening up this area of my practice could be humbling, but it’s my hope that we (myself as well as fellow educators) will all benefit from this experience. In the spring of 2016, I was approached by a fellow educator in my district, Jen Tropp. Jen is a high school ELA teacher whom I’ve known since I was a teenager, and a trusted friend. She also happens to be on Greenon Local School’s Writing Across the Curriculum Committee. The group’s goals are to assess needs and then assist with the integration of writing in all classrooms and disciplines. Knowing I have a team to provide non-threatening, constructive feedback eliminated all excuses and let me know it was time to refine this area of my practice. While opening up my classroom is never easy, I jumped at this opportunity and decided I’d use it to improve the engineering design journals required of my eighth grade STEM students. Up to this point, formal journals have been used intermittently. While spiral bound notebooks are used on occasion, they aren’t versatile enough to suit the needs of a wide array of projects. The guide sheets I provide for my students are very good, but are cobbled together from a couple of different sources and need to be tweaked to work in all situations. My goal is to develop a flexible system that is consistent, allows for my students to make the journal their own, and allows each student to see not only the evolution of their product, but also the evolution of their ideas. As an educator, this system of documentation offers a deeper understanding of a student’s thought process. Not only can I see their answer (the product), but I can also learn more about how a student reached their conclusions (the process). Then I can find areas to place my own notes for remediation or to challenge the student to help take their thoughts to the next level. My Teaching Channel EDP blogs and videos have generated quite a bit of interest amongst Tchers. One of the most frequent requests is for materials to support the utilization of engineering design journals. As I refine the writing that occurs within my classroom, I plan to share all of the materials I develop and adapt to suit my needs. In the meantime, I’m curious to learn more about the methods and tools you utilize within your learning space. If you have resources or comments, please feel free to share and open a discussion below. I’m looking forward to getting better together! Tom Jenkins teaches both middle school science and STEM in Enon, Ohio. He is a NASA SOFIA Airborne Astronomy Ambassador, Teaching Fellow for the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, as well as the Boeing Science Teacher Laureate for Teaching Channel. Connect with Tom on Twitter: @TomJenkinsSTEM.
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My greatest accomplishment
William Adams said”You can have anything you want if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose”. In my native country of Benin Republic, transportation is an important aspect in our community as it is all over the world. As a little boy , I was fascinating about the structures and the functions of cars. As I got older, my curiosity about car grew even more. One day, when I woke up, I started thinking about the shape of my Dad car and I went to get the car key. After getting the key, I went to open the car and I started to look at every part of the car from the front to the back and I began to wonder about how all those part(the Radio,the sits,the wheel,the gear etc) have been fix together in the car. While I was thinking, an idea came in my mind “why can’t you go to the auto-mechanic to have more idea about your curiosity”. So,I decided to go down to the auto-mechanic shop everyday when I get free time to watch how cars are being fixed and transform. The more I watched, the more I became eager and fascinated to work as a mechanic. It was for this reason that, two years ago I decided to go to a trade school, to obtain more knowledge about cars. Once I had decided,I went to my parents to propose my idea to them. Both of them encouraged me to follow my dream of becoming mechanic. After having the conversation with my parents, I inquire about the auto-mechanic program. By doing so, I got in contact with a family friend, who was in charge of the program. We agreed that I will be attending class six days a week.. On each day, I had to focus on specific tasks or skills. I had to be at school at 8 o’clock but I had to wake up early in order to make it on time because my school was an hour driving away. On the first week, I learned how to use different types of tools, such as adjustable wrench,combination wrench, double box wrench, rubber wrench, ratchet, socket etc. During that first week, I did not know all the tools names and it was a little bit hard for me when my teacher ask me to go get them. He had to explain how it looks like every time he sends me or he tells me to ask one of the other worker because I was not the only one learning. They were two others younger man than me who usually help me at anytime, because I can’t always go to my teacher to ask for help. On the second week, I learned how to change car oil. Here are some description about it. First, pull and park the car into a space with level ground. Make sure that there is enough working area to work and have your tools by your side. Second, place the car in park, remove the keys and apply the parking brake. Third, jack stand and never work a car that is supported by a jack only. Fourth, put the draining pan underneath engine and remove the oil cap and the oil plug and let it drain on its own. Fifth, pour a fresh and new oil into the oil tank and let it cool. Finally, put back the oil cap on and start the car to make sure that the procedure was successful . On the third week, I learned where and how to check the different kind of oil, such as engine oil,brake oil, wheel oil,transmission oil etc. During the same week I learned how to remove and replace some part of the car such as the tires, the brakes,and the transmissions. It was at this point that things got a little bit difficult because it was necessary to have a lot of strength to loosen the tight bolts and I had to do everything possible not to strip or break the bolts, also I had to be careful not to get hurt. It was at this stage that I realised that being an auto- mechanic would be hard work and it would take a long time to get good at it. I used to get hurt while working, I was all the time with black motor oil. Sometimes, I did not have the enough strength to loosen some bolt and my teacher had to do it for me. There were also some part of the car that were too heavy and it takes two to four people to lift them. It tooks me months to get strong enough and as time went on, I learned other skills about car and I was able to graduate! The reason why this is one of my greatest accomplishment is because I was determined and persistent to be an auto-mechanic. Even though being a mechanic is not my ultimate goal but it is a stepping stone for me and it shows how hard working and dedicating I am. 17) Student Choice: Please select a topic, blog title, and blog category. Post your work to your blog.
Success I am a student, I wake up in the morning thinking about my classes. How can I do to succeed in this class? Success is a great thing. When you succeed in something especially when you reach your goal, you have this feeling, this feeling of joy which help you live more and put you in the comfort zone. You are happy about what you have done, after the struggles. Nothing is easy but do your best to succeed now before it becomes late. I remember my teacher told me to pass this class, you have to come in class on time, do your homework, listen to your teacher or classmates when they are talking or explaining something important. You have to take note of important keys that would help you. Do more research especially when you have an assignment and turn in your assignment on time. Success is not for people who wake up late. If you didn’t know yesterday, now you know it. So take the advantage and get up. It is not late. You are the success, get up now. I decide to get up today and I want you to follow me so we can succeed together. The train is not waiting. Get up my friend and let make this happen. I want to pass my class and succeed in my life. Recycling Papers
Paper has played and will continue to play a significant role in our society. It is an universal material that everyone uses, including students and teachers. Therefore, it is very important to recycle papers because we use so much of them. We the students of DCCC(Delaware County Community College) have come up with two ways to recycle papers. First, we have decided to make signs which we will post all around the school to encourage students to recycle papers. Another way is placing recycle bins all around the buildings so that students would trash recycling materials in the recycle bins. By recycling material like papers, it will make a difference in our society. From this video what impress me is to not be scare to fail in life. When ever I feel down I like to listen to motivational speech to motivate me more to continue putting my best effort in everything I do. The one thing I always strive for is greatness and by doing that I'm not afraid to put myself out there because I believe in myself and the works that I am doing. Living means do what you love to do. In this class I know that if I give my 100% into it, I will succeed. I know I am not good in English but I'm not afraid to do mistake that will lead me to the right answer or result. I'm not afraid ,even if I fail 10 times but on the 11 times I know I will succeed greatly.
According to my grade, assignment and writing, my professor of English 100 meet with me to discuss about some important point on my Hiraeth project,
During the meeting, we talk about how I can revise my work until the end of the semester. We talk about how I can revise my Hiraeth project, what grade I think I have earn in this class and how I can improve myself before the end of the semester. He gives me some good ideas about how I can extend my writing, make it clear and revise it by giving the name of my village, the clothes we used to wear when we want to go our field. He told me to check my paragraph and try to put it in order. In my blog post, in some assignment I put the category and the number of the assignment and he told me to delete those stuffs because there are unnecessary. My professor told me to create a scene and make the people who are reading feel like it is happening now. I think that if I follow all this instructions and revise everything I will get a good grade at the end of the semester. My plan is to focus more on paragraph and make them more stronger by doing more reseach and think more deeply about my story. |
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