Day 95: Figuring out the project for CSP

CSP

Well - I dropped the ball here.  We had bad roads which meant that students showed up late first hour which made it difficult to get started.  In my effort to procrastinate, I had students develop extensions for the math app I showed and then also brainstorm ideas for themes/skills.  Then we went around the room and listed their ideas on the board.  That was a really good move!  The diversity of ideas was great!

Here's what they came up with:

How could the programmer improve this app?

• Make a penalty for getting something wrong
• Add different functions other than addition
• When you get to the "you win screen", it could automatically reset
• Add a number of lives (and a losing screen)
• Clearer directions (with objective)
• Icon pop up when you get it correct to make it more clear
• Add a time limit
• If the player makes a mistake, make the rocket go down. 

THEN, I was kinda freaking out about students not having partners.  I intentionally grouped students but then so many students were gone that any "intentionally" was gone.  SO I told students they needed to co-plan with another student, but starting Friday (after 2 days of work time) they could do individual projects if they wanted.

I also feel like broadening it to "skill" practice instead of "math practice" was a bad idea.  Students wanted to practice Spanish or do trivia which is better suited for a list rather than variables... I think for this group I might do a random lesson with lists to help out those who are interested.

My 2nd hour I restricted it to "math"so I think that was helpful.

Co-planning was important for collaboration - I saw a lot of students having good discussions around that.  We will see as tomorrow progresses.  I wish we were on bigger screens to help students see eachother's work.

AP CSA

Students did a quiz today and then worked on two FRQs.

Geometry

I took students down to the commons to demonstrate the mirror activity for similar triangles.  The rest of the time they worked on homework.  I think it was a good idea to demo it the day before (before students had mirrors or tape measures in their hands)