Summary of day plans

Tuesday P1 - Our main objective was to start forming the cakes. So after everyone did a little bit more writing in their logbooks they were sent to Imagine to start. First of all everyone was set to plan where their cakes were going to be on their boards. The pyramid and Petra groups had to use some of the math that they had learned to do this. The Petra group learned that their cakes stacked up on one another was not high enough so they had to calculate how many more cakes to bake and baked them before period 2. The Machu Picchu group also discovered they needed one more cake and baked this before period 2. P2 - After planning everyone was sent to start cutting the cakes and making the marshmallow crispy cakes. Then when one or two groups were making these supervised the other groups got icing to start binding their cakes together. This ran into period 3. P4 - Everyone started to reflect what they did and set individual or group objectives for tomorrow.   Wednesday P1 - When everyone was present they were sent to imagine to start adding the icing on their cakes. The pyramid group placed their marshmallow rice crispy cakes on the top of the pyramid bases and spread butter cream around it to stick the icing to the pyramid. They had a few people doing this and the others were making and rolling out the icing. The Machu Picchu group used their one more cake to form more of the shape and started moulding the marshmallow rice crispy cakes into the ruins around the cakes. Then the Petra group were adding more layers to their cake. Finally the Sphinx group were either helping the Pyramid group or butter creaming their sphinx. A problem that the pyramid group had was that the 5 by 5 pyramids crispy's could not fit so they had to find a solution and decided to make it out of ginger bread. This ran into period 2. P2 - All of the groups started rolling out their icing and started to stick them on the cakes. Then some people from all of the groups started to use some icing to make trees and people. Many of the groups showed resilience in their work since there were times when people started to get agitated at how things were working out. P3 - Everyone returned to Explore and started to reflect what they did today and what they need to do tomorrow.

What have you had to teach to get the students going on the project?

Understanding the title of the course and how it links to the content of the fortnight.(past present future vintage)

We taught our students about Islam but sent them away to answer the key questions. They have had instruction in Makaton. They were also given a shot master class in writing children's books; thinking about sentence types, punctuation and use of italics. They then drafted their first story attempts. All of which are fantastic! Well done girls :)

Number one focus has been explaining to students that PF is not about having two weeks off timetable. 

It's about problem solving, developing skills and relationships whilst understanding that future career goals/expectations must be met by academic rigour if they are to succeed. 

Students today shone in discussion with 3 chief test engineers at the world's largest wind turbine test facility... On their doorstep! 

We hardly had to do anything today - the students have pretty much done it all! I think that making sure they planned what they were going to do today yesterday morning (Zoe did some great input around the Healthy Eating plate) and then we all went to the shops to get it was really 'living the task and the learning'. I also think that they enjoyed the challenge of the (small) budget, knowing that there was a store cupboard of basic ingredients, negotiating with each other, etc. For me, today has been really special. The quality of the meals produced which were healthy, balanced, researched, chosen, prepared and cooked entirely by them FROM SCRATCH (!) has been truly fantastic. I think that they have surprised themselves by how much they have achieved today.

Day 1 - What are the components of the computer

Day 3 - How to put together a computer and set it up

Day 4 - How do the main components work in a PC (CPU, RAM, Hard Drive, Optical Drive)

In the Choctastic Cookbook project we have taught students a variety of skills that are essential for any successful chocolatier, including the very difficult skill of tempering chocolate. We were fortunate enough to have a chocolate expert to deliver a session on fair trade and ‘green’ chocolate to the students to kick start their research.

The students have also taught us many things! Did you know that one of the health risks of chocolate is lead poisoning and white chocolate contains no cocoa solid and only cocoa butter, therefore it is not really chocolate at all?

We had a visitor come in yesterday who is a professional nutrionist and a competitive female athlete in powerlifting. She shocked the class with junk food videos, explained balanced diets and promoted healthy eating for young people. This lent itself it to reviewing our diets and also introduced some GCSE Maths questions based on recipes. Additionally, this topic was well supported by the Year 7’s who had done their EAT project in Science. Students have also had to work cooperatively in order to attempt team building exercises we designed and had to complete numeracy puzzles online that require problem solving skills. We are building a sense of community spirit now and students are good practitioners of the drafting process, they naturally want to improve the quality of their literacy and drawings.

At the risk of repetition, the actual teaching that the three of us has done has been minimal. We have been as close to the model of The Guide on the Side as it’s possible to be. Students have been literally researching or creating , then as a natural part of that process, following a connected line of enquiry. Our input has been along the lines of constructive feedback, although to be fair, most of the feedback has been via critique by the group. The real input we have had is in contacting individuals to come into school; Ronnie Campbell is coming on Friday for example. Rightly or wrongly, a request from a teacher is more likely to get a positive response than one from a student.

The students have accepted roles readily and demonstrated an understanding of what is required to complete tasks whilst in role. I guess that their experiences in L2L, TDU, Humanities etc have given them the foundation to approach this task with such confidence.

A great Project Introdcution

I loved the introduction to this project, which just goes to prove you  can study the world through just about anything.

The students are studying world war one, particularly on a local level. The students are producing a cycling map, which sets up trails that then inform visitors of local history. The combination of content knowledge, engaging activities and a purposeful product are all key motivational strategies for this project.
This slide show highlights the big picture of the project, has teaching prompts and questions to teach the content, highlights and makes relevant enticing trips out on bikes, and includes the practicalities to make the project run smoothly.

What a great way to learn history and about your local area.

Project Introduction- World War One on a bike from DKMead