Sunday, August 31, 2014

"Sunday Morning Rain is Fallin" Sunday Summary MTBOS Challenge Week 3







My Sunday 3-2-1 Summary

3 things that happened this week:

  • We made it through our first full week of school!  We made it through our first regular Wednesday early dismissal; these days will only be 33 minutes, so it is extra important to make the most out of these short days.
  • My projector and screen were put into place!  Now, I am just waiting for whiteboards!  That is great because I am almost out of large chart paper!
  • My 7th graders tried the Marshmallow Challenge again, and I really think that all teams improved in some fashion.  For some students, that meant that they participated more than they did the first time.  It was great to observe this in action.
2 things that I enjoyed this week that were not school related:
  • I got a haircut!  I have been wanting for a really long time, as my last haircut was in March maybe.
  •  My husband and I have been relaxing with friends at the Taste of Madison.  There weren't as many bands that I knew this year, but definitely the food was worth it.
1 thing I'm looking forward to this week:
  • Watching the 8th graders build their bridges.  I think the groups are really taking the planning process seriously and have been using their class time well.  It will be exciting to see which ones hold the most mass.  I am also interested to see how they do with writing up their instructions for other teams to build another team's bridge.





2 comments:

  1. Congrats on getting that first week done! I am going to do the marshmallow challenge with my 5th and 6th graders this year. Did you have your 7th graders do it again because it didn't turn out well the first time?

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  2. Thank you! I revised the challenge to better align with engineering and other process/inquiry standards that involve students having a second go at things. This year, the first time around wasn't the greatest compared to other years. The students were able to see the other designs and we discussed (each team reflected upon three questions before sharing out) what things went well, not well, what they needed to improved upon, etc. The second time around, more teams were successful in building the tower and also demonstrating team skills and participation. We concluded this activity by viewing the Ted talk that goes along with this and talking about their thoughts after doing the activity and seeing the video.

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