Burst of Steam

Since my last posting I have had a burst of steam ...

 a burst to get me moving to finish up lots of things that will lead me to success.

The unexpected (or maybe UNWANTED) snow storm on St. Patrick's day led to a day off from school.  Of course, I had chosen not to listen to the weather forecast, so I did not bring home school work to complete in case of a day off.  So much time to use... What should I do?

I chose to use the time to complete Chapter 5, the final chapter of my Capstone project.  Amy promised I would enjoy writing the chapter.  I will not go as far as to say I "enjoyed" the writing, but having the opportunity to use an unexpected day off for the completion of the paper certainly took some of the stress off me.  After submitting the paper, I now just have some tweeking of the abstract and some editing of my favorite - APA style.

One of the best parts of getting this project done was that I could use it as an example for my FCCLA students who spent last weekend scrambling to get their projects completed for the Spring Leadership Conference.  I don't know how they did it, but all projects were completed, made it to conference and they were presented in professional manner.  Our students did well, with five students qualifying for National Competition this summer in San Antonio.  I am so proud of them, and I know that I will be able to help them edit and tweek their projects for national competition.  

They Powered Up with FCCLA so they can SOAR to nationals!

It's a New Year!

  

On January 31 millions of people around the world will be celebrating the Lunar New Year - the year of the Horse.  Since my new year on January 1 started out like a blur, I think I will take a "do over" and begin the new year this weekend.

My first start of the New Year began with a resolution to limit my "sarcasm" - needless to say it was a true, unmitigated failure!  Maybe it lasted 24 hours! Sad, but True :(

So my new, New Years Resolution is to complete this Capstone project with a positive attitude, believing that my students truly get the intersections of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics within the curriculum of Family and Consumer Science.

It has been a difficult marking period, with many breaks in learning as snow days, half days and holidays have broken up any real flow.  A few more days, and a formative evaluation will show me if my students truly grasped the concepts.  I must say their sewing projects were well designed; most figured out the relationship of engineering, planning and the process.  So tomorrow we begin the evaluation - I know they will show their understanding (this is not sarcasm!)  Thursday we will create our New Years meal - Fried Rice; a blending of Asian - American Cuisine.

So speaking of Fried Rice - FCCLA is selling Seasoned Rice Packets to benefit Share Our Strength:No Child Hungry campaign.  $5 donation and you to can make Fried Rice with my "famous" recipe.  I deliver to my followers as Southern Regional and South Jersey.

This is a shameless plug!

Happy New Year - The Year of the Horse!  
Let the work begin... or at least continue.

Blocked.. Clogged and somewhat congested

This week seems to be moving quickly without my full participation. It seems that since our week off for the convention I have been moving in one speed ... slow and somewhat stumped.  The work just keeps on coming; marking period ends, grades need to be entered, DC trip needs to be chaperoned, and next thing you know it is FCCLA Fall Leadership Conference and Competition.  So in the middle of coming back from DC completely congested and feeling very much sub-par I need to motivate 30 some students to complete a variety of competition projects. Banners, Lamps, Child Care Projects, Cupcakes and Display units and dresses are all needed to be completed and perfected.

 It is exciting to see the enthusiasm these students have, and they don't seem too concerned that they will need to be at school by 6 AM on a Monday Morning.  When I get frustrated I remind myself that this is why we do the job.  Watching them work as teams to create within the guidelines given shows how they understand the concept of engineering.  Tonight they gave me the list of resources needed to make the cupcake display - PVC pipe, Electric Drill, Duct Tape, L-brackets, foam board - They have the idea and the plan; hopefully it will work when it comes together!  I have a huge smile on my face because I see the connection directly to my STEAM initiative within a FCS curriculum.

As for my project; I wish I was moving as quickly.  The four hours of writing Chapter four seemed to go smoothly.  I still get all confused with the APA guidelines and I am grateful for Amy's gentle nudging on the comments. I certainly hope I finally get it under control by the time the paper is completed.  It really does not surprise me that I have difficulty with the guidelines - I never was one to follow the rules!
I am trying to wrap my head around the Methods and Procedure Plan (chapter 3).  As I outline it I am concerned it is too large to be completed in a 45 day cycle.  I need to focus on the use of technology and am going to be working hard to create methods of flipped learning experiences that will enable students to be hands-on in a project based environment.  Hopefully my ideas can transfer onto paper.  This may become the one time I need an extension.