- Mr. King, Associate Director of Education

 

Here is a brief list of best practices I've recently observed in the classrooms at ACE Tech. If something on the list piques your interest, check in with those teachers to get more info on how they did it.

 

Mr. Pugh & Mr. Volpe: Building Trades - Feb 26th

 

These teachers had students use ‘log books’ in as they built doghouses. Students were using these for project management and self-awareness as they recorded who was responsible for what and who had delivered on their tasks. They were actively using them to drive the process and reflect on what was working and what was not.

 

Ms. Gonsiorek: U.S. History – Feb 26th

 

Ms. Gonsiorek used our "Do Now" fous to build student habits of mind. Students were asked to list as much of the Bill of Rights as possible, and what memory trick they used to remember it. The previous day, the students created strategies to remember the Bill of Rights, and presented them to the class. They then were to choose the strategies that worked best for them to guide their studying

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Ms. Cruz: Art – March 3rd

 

Ms. Cruz provided differentiated instruction in terms of student readiness: for part of the class, students were working on individual projects and actively moving at their own pace. I saw students building pin-hole cameras, working on essays for the New House competition, and completing a project on canvas.

 

Ms. Richey: Economics/Engineering - March 4th

 

Students were learning about the difficulty of introducing environmentally sustainable products in terms of manufacturers and supplier chain negotiations. Students were to play the role of a supplier or producer and negotiate to find a win-win solution that made it an incentive to create green-friendly products. Ms. Richey modeled the negotiation process for students, and then students had a reading to give them their background info for their negotiations. Students turned in their exit slip with a result. This was a great example of connecting real world business skills with course content.

 

Ms. Sniegowski: Geometry – March 5th

 

Ms. Sniegowski took students to the annex to work on creating designs for a music studio and discover measurement and trig functions. In addition, students had to consider constrains in terms of how support beams, sound waves, and soundproofing would affect their designs.

 

Ms. Gamache: Alg/Trig – March 6th

 

Ms. Gamche introduced a project, "You're the Boss," that required students to create businesses and utilize linear equations, substitution method, and graphing to determine the break even point and the best price in which to sell their items. The teacher gave students the purpose, overview, rubric and expectations. The utilization of math was required, but there was a great deal of student choice and creativity within the lesson.

 

Ms. Scharon: Chemistry – March 6th

 

Students created ovens out of materials they brought in, which would ultimately be powered by a lamp. Each student I checked in with was able to tell me the principles that were at work, how they were designing their ovens, and the materials that would allow them to maximize the temperature.

 

- Mr. King