Even though the students are at home, they’ve embraced remote learning as they do any other challenge; with enthusiasm and vigor. This week they fell more into the routine of online learning, starting with our morning launch at nine and transitioning into core skills. Students continue to meet with their squad members through Google Hangouts to set goals for the day.
In Physics Quest the students took their creations from last week to construct Rube Goldberg machines(machines that do something really simple, in a really complex way.) They used their marble runs to set off chain reactions to knock things into cups or push things off of tables. On Friday they learned about Leonardo Da Vinci and discussed what was better, discovering something or using a previous discovery to create something new. After the discussion they went to create Da Vinci bridges, or bridges that are built without any type of support underneath. If they’re built with craft sticks glue or tape cannot be used to hold the sticks together.
In Writer’s Workshop the learners focused on tightening up their podcasts. This week the focus was on learning how to give peer feedback, when we’re not in the studio. The students learned how to share their work through google docs and add comments for feedback. They also discussed why music is an important addition to any recorded podcast. Many of the students said that music can enhance or add to the feeling of a podcast when listening to it. This week also brought new challenges to the students. They were introduced to a platform called Loom that allows them to record videos of themselves and create online tutorials. They also participated in different challenges such as object painting. In this challenge they had to use an object as a base and create a drawing around it so it looked like another object or an animal. They even continued with their cooking challenge and prepared a small breakfast on Thursday.
The week wrapped up with a badge ceremony for one of our students. We hope you and your families are staying safe and healthy during this time.
