Time to Recruit

It is that time of year for students to begin the registration process for the 2014-15 school year.   Also, it is time for teachers to begin their campaign to tell students what unique skills can be gained by signing up for their classes.  Geometry in Construction is no different than many other classes.  Whether it is the first time to offer the class or the 9^th time to offer the class, explaining to students how a class such as Geometry in Construction is a must for successful enrollment.  Below are tips that we have discovered over the past 8 years to promote Geometry in Construction.

Students 

The easiest thing for recruitment is to get in front of the Algebra 1 classes for 10 minutes.   If possible, bring currently enrolled students with you to discuss Geometry in Construction.   A similar option is to have Algebra 1 teachers bring their classes on a tour of the Geometry in Construction class area.  Even if this is the start up year for GIC, there is value in getting kids to hear a presentation of GIC in the shop area.

Be sure to include topics such as: 

·         What classes can students continue on into once GIC is successfully completed?  This answers the math question, “Can I take Algebra 2 if I take this class?”. 

·         What skills will I gain for my career path?  Students heading to the trades will find general exposure to all construction trades and will then be able to continue their pathway by ????   For us, it is going to the local vocational center.  Students going into the white-collar career paths of engineering, architecture, construction management, surveying, landscape design, and drafting will gain valuable hands-on experience in construction.  According to professors at the college level, students with a basic knowledge of how things go together will have a better college experience in the engineering/construction career path.

·         Be sure to address the question that is in most students mind, “I have never used a hammer or a saw, will I look dumb?”.  We assume students have not used any tools prior to this class. 

·         Male students do not have an advantage over the females.  In fact, because of the tools (light battery saws & palm nailers) available for use, females are equally likely to be successful.  Power tools are optional as well as being on high places such as roofs.  We make the statement  “Males are better at framing, and females are better at plumbing, electrical, and finish work.  It takes both groups to build a successful project."  

·         Discuss the service-learning component if you have one.  For us, we talk about building for a family from Habitat for Humanity.   If not service learning, discuss what project(s) students will be creating.

·        When possible we show a 2-3 minute video.  Some schools can show it during video announcements.

Create a brochure.  The brochure should include 3 areas; one each for Students, Parents, and Administration/Counseling.  Include topics such as:

·         Students are ready to take Algebra 2 after completion of the course.

·         Majority of students take GIC NOT because it is easy but because it is relevant.  We answer the question “When are we ever going to use this math?”.

·         Construction is not just for males.  It provides a career path to high paying non-traditional careers for females.

·         Power equipment is optional.

·         Include a listing of career paths that benefit from GIC including green building.

·         State test score information (or national if this is your first year) showing the favorable outcomes. 

·         No experience needed for construction.

·         Community service opportunities through non-profit partnerships.

·         All geometry standards are covered.

·         It is fun.

Parents

Use back to school night or parent conferences to hand out the brochures mentioned above.  If you have a back to school night, include currently enrolled students (if you have them) as representatives.  Have a video running to grab attention (there are several on our website).

Counselors & Administrators   

We buy an inexpensive lunch (yes, out of our pocket) for all counseling/administrators.  The catch is they get an opportunity to hear a 15 minute presentation. 

•            We hand out the brochures and highlight items from it.
•       We discuss career paths that benefit from enrollment in GIC. 
•       We discuss state or national test scores comparing regular geometry classes to GIC. 
•       We do not assume counselors know all about our program.  It is too much to expect a                 counselor to know everything about every special program in our school. 

·        We suggest the brochure is placed on the counselor bulletin board or under the glass on their desk for easy reference.  We take lots of questions.  

      Good luck with your efforts!

ROSEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL GEOMETRY IN CONSTRUCTION PARTNERS WITH ACRES OF HOPE

High School Geometry Students Build Park Model Trailers for Mothers and Children in Need.  Students Built Cottage at Acres of Hope in Auburn, CA.

Students enrolled in the Roseville High School 2012-2013 Geometry in Construction Program had a little extra incentive to build their project to the highest possible standards.  They knew from the beginning that it would soon be housing a very grateful family in need of a little help.

This year, the program partnered with the Placer County non-profit, Acres of Hope (www.acresofhopeonline) to build two small Park Model Trailers for use at their new Auburn facility.  This incredible nonprofit organization had outgrown their Applegate location and was upgrading facilities to better fulfill their mission of providing homeless women with children a home and an environment of structured programming, that includes, providing encouragement, practical life-skills training, job skills, and mentoring.

For the RHS GIC program and the Roseville Joint Union High School District, the opportunity to develop a partnership with a service oriented non-profit made the decision to switch and move from Factory Built Housing to Park Model Trailers an easy one.

The 2012-2013 RHS GIC program was made up of two classes of 40 students; primarily Freshman and Sophomores with little or no building experience.  After a crash course in teamwork, blueprints and modeling, it was time to get to work.  In addition to completing highly rigorous coursework in college preparatory Geometry, students began framing these models in November.  Throughout the year, they installed the plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems; installed windows and doors; hung and finished drywall; installed a roof, finished the exterior and painted the units.  The installation of trim, fixtures, cabinets and flooring added the final touches.

Work on professional trades and systems was supported by industry professionals who taught students the skills, supervised the work and helped assess the outcome.  Along the way, students learned how the math they have been learning applies directly to the design and building of the houses. 

In addition to the year long help of our professional industry partners, students also got a helping hand from their parents on “Bring Your Parent to Work” Day in May.  This annual event allows our parents to roll up their sleeves and show off their own skills, while seeing what their students have accomplished during the school year.  Without the help of our extraordinary parents, we could not achieve the levels of academic and building success that we do. 

The 2013 RHS GIC class finished the year with an awards banquet and celebration at Roseville High School. Students were recognized for their dedication and efforts, and special thanks was given to Bob Radcliff from Beutler Corporation for his support, dedication and “over the top” commitment to the RHS GIC program over the past two years. 

The moving trucks came to move the units the first week of June to their new home at the newly remodeled Acres of Hope facility in Auburn, CA. Once in place, they were leveled, skirted and hooked up to the necessary utilities. The addition of curtains and furniture turn these small trailers into cozy little “homes” for those helped by the amazing work of Acres of Hope.

RHS GIC is proud to have been a part of Phase 1 of Acres of Hope and has agreed to build 2 more units that will be used in Phase 2 for the 2013-2014 school year.  We are looking forward to meeting the next group of students who will rise to the RHS GIC challenge.

Thanks to Jeff Bailey and Tyson Maytanes, teachers at RHS for allowing reprint of this article.  Roseville, CA is located near Sacramento.

Habitat for Humanity Home Comes Together

Agency, two Evergreen district high schools collaborate on modular dwelling

Story by Tom Vogt

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

An innovative high school course, combining math and construction, demonstrated an important principle.  Two halves make a home.

Two sections of a modular home were rolled onto their foundation Monday, capping a yearlong partnership between the Vancouver-area Habitat for Humanity and two Evergreen district high schools.

The local nonprofit partnered with Mountain View and Evergreen high schools on the project. The work was done by students in a class called Math in Construction.

“Students can learn about geometry at the same time they learn about construction,” said Anita Jenks, who represented the school district in the agreement with Habitat for Humanity. “It’s not an apprenticeship; it’s an introduction” to construction.

As they work alongside Habitat for Humanity volunteers, “Our students have some wonderful role models,” Jenks said.

The home will be occupied by Nikki Danforth and her two sons. Danforth, a medical assistant, was working Monday and wasn’t able to watch her new home take shape. But her dad, Dan Price, was on hand to take photos and video, and he transmitted updates to her.

“It’s kind of surreal,” Danforth said later Monday after work.

“I’ve worked on all three sites,” she said: the back half of the house at Mountain View High, the front half of the house at Evergreen High and the property on the 3700 block of Lincoln Avenue. But as she spoke, Danforth still hadn’t made it down to the property to see everything in one place.

There still is work to do before the family moves in next month, said Josh Townsley, executive director of Evergreen Habitat for Humanity.

The three-bedroom house is about 1,100 square feet. It’s the 29th home built by Evergreen Habitat for Humanity, Townsley said. Funding came from the owners of the previous 28 Habitat homes, whose zero percent mortgage payments are rolled into new projects.

And one of those new projects will be another collaboration with high school students in the Evergreen district.

“The class is going now. We’re hoping to use the same plan,” Jenks said. That would give instructors a running start on the work, and they’d have a chance to amend an issue that popped up Monday.

“They forgot about crawl-space access,” Townsley said.

A workman corrected that Monday with a power saw.

New Data: GPS or Understanding?

In Geometry in Construction, we believe that what gets measured gets improved.  Throughout the past six years, our math program is analyzed by a third party research team of doctoral candidates from the two largest universities in Colorado.  During this time, we have experienced staff turnover, district and state budgetary crises, increased pressure to push a higher level of mathematical standards (Common Core), and local demand for more credits to graduate.  Despite these challenges, data analyses continue to show a trend where students from Geometry in Construction perform at a higher level than other Geometry students.  More information about data analysis is available at www.geometryinconstruction.org.  

The following section summarizes research conducted by Susan Thomas, a doctoral student from the University of Colorado at Boulder in Research Evaluative Methods.  The figure below illustrates these trends by averaging state test scores for the past three years (2010-2012).    

Colorado State Test Scores Longitudinal Mean Average

(2010-2012)

GIC:  Geometry in Construction at Loveland High School

LHS:  Traditionally taught Geometry classroom at Loveland High School

MVHS: Mountain View High School Geometry, our district’s school of the arts and Project Lead the Way high school

TVHS:  Thompson Valley High School Geometry, our district’s AP high school

BHS:  Berthoud High School Geometry, our district’s math and science high school and Project Lead the Way high school

Important Note:  This is an average over 3 years, which provides a general idea of performance trends. 

Method of Evaluation: Linear Regression modeling.

How Linear Regression Modeling Works: Using current data, the linear regression model will predict state standardized test (CSAP/TCAP) Geometry scores based on several variables, such as previous test scores, demographic student information, as well as enrollment in particular Geometry courses (e.g., Geometry in Construction and traditional Geometry classes). 

Results: These variables explain 66.3% of the variance of state standardized test (CSAP/TCAP) Geometry scores.  Geometry in Construction at Loveland High School was a significant variable in the model, with a coefficient of 14, which means that on average, being enrolled in Geometry in Construction at Loveland High School added 14 points to a student’s state standardized test (CSAP/TCAP) Geometry score.

Why do we believe Geometry in Construction students outscore their peers?

On a recent trip we discovered an intriguing explanation to answer this very question.   Simply stated, students in Geometry in Construction have fewer opportunities to “GPS” their way through the program. 

On our last consulting trip we used a GPS unit we affectionately refer to as Maggie (Magelan).  These smart devices are great for getting people from point A to point B.  However, we found ourselves lost when Maggie malfunctioned mid-drive.  We had simply followed the step-by-step directions Maggie provided without paying attention to where we were headed.  We had done what thousands of people do daily and put all of our trust in the technology; this is very similar to how students use memorized formulas in many traditionally taught math classes. We could not back track or trouble shoot our route without some serious remediation; this is the very same thing that often happens when students attempt to solve unfamiliar math problems.  In this case, our solution was to find a gas station and do exactly what the majority of men hate to do while in unfamiliar territory: ask for directions.

As math teachers, we are often times guilty of “GPS-ing” our students.  We are really good at giving 5 steps to completing the square or 3 steps to solving the equation.   Many of us have had successful careers by doing this.  Have our students been as successful?  Do our students have a solid understanding of the mathematics?  Do they understand why they are doing “the steps”?  Can they apply it to real world situations?  

The Value of Service Learning

Service learning is defined as “a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities”.

Future Habitat home owner with our students

As Geometry in Construction expands into more schools across the United States, there is a small growing subgroup of schools that are implementing service learning into the curriculum.   From the inception of Geometry in Construction, we have had a desire to see partnerships develop between high schools and non-profit organizations to enable service learning to take place. 

At Loveland High School, I knew this would be good for our students due to experiences I have had with students in giving of service to others.  However, I did not realize the body of research that backs this up.  Below is a summary of some of the research compiled by Phi Delta Kappan on K-12 School-Based Service-Learning.  Students who engaged in service learning…

·          Reported a higher sense of responsibility to their school than did comparison groups.

·          Were more likely to treat one another kindly, help one another, and care about doing their best.

·          Were more likely to increase their sense of self-esteem and self-efficacy.

·          Were less likely to be referred to the office for disciplinary measures.

·          Became more dependable, and felt more comfortable communicating with ethnically diverse groups.

·          Feel that they can “make a difference”.

·          Came to class on time more often, completed more classroom tasks, and took the initiative to ask questions more often.

·          Showed greater gains in measures of school engagement and in mathematics achievement than control groups.

·          Showed greater mutual respect to teachers.

·          Had increased attendance.

At Loveland High School, we have built 5 out of the 7 homes for non-profits.  Two homes were built for Angel House (aka Family Promise) for transitional housing for homeless families.  Three homes have been built for Habitat for Humanity.   With this year’s home, the Habitat family receiving the home has worked alongside our students daily.  The students are excited to be able to get to know the family as well as be able to build them a decent, affordable home.

If you have interest in moving towards service learning by helping a non-profit consider what your partnership would look like.  At Sturgis Brown High School, Sturgis, SD, the small class builds a 26 ft wide home that is moved in 1 piece down the street.  They build the home as far as they can get it and then the local Habitat finishes it.  In Vancouver, WA, two high schools, Evergreen and Mountain View, are building a 28’ X 40’ three bedroom home for their Habitat.  Their unique approach is that each school is building half (14’ x 40’) of the home on each of their respective campuses. 

If you have questions how to proceed, contact us with your questions.  

Key Practices of the Geometry in Construction Model

Often we are asked what are the key components of our program.  Many times, the inquirer is trying to figure out what parts of the program can they leave out and still get the desired results.  We have given much thought but have never been able to give the answer they are seeking.  Instead, we decided to just list our most important practices.  These practices are our compass...if a new situation/problem presents itself, we always return to this list to help make instructional and program decisions.  Although these practices are found in many the the education reports and findings that are being published today, we believed in them before they were published in Pathways to Prosperity, High Schools That Work, etc.  We believe these practices are nothing more than what good teachers have been doing for years....we just decided to combine them into one class.  So here is our key practices. ·      All Kids o   Cooperative Groups o   Team Building o   Peer Mentoring & Tutoring o   Scaffold Learning o   Under Represented Populations ·            Instructional Methods                                                            o   CTE Driven o   Math Contextualized o   Math is Not Watered Down o   Team Teaching o   Kid Done- Kid Friendly Apprenticeship Learning o   Active Learning o   Accountability ·            Cultural Practice o   21st Century Workplace skills o   Small Learning Community o   Parent Communication o   Culture of Kid Success o   Networking with the Community o   Collaboration Between Teachers ·            Service Learning o   Authentic Project o   Self Funded o   Engaging

ALL KIDS: All Abilities and All Career Paths in the Math Classroom

What do we mean when we say we are a class for ALL KIDS? This is a very popular question when we are making presentations. It is easy to say but hard to do. In the past, the discussion always centered on kids making a choice (or someone else making it for them) about whether they are non-college or college bound. Research is telling us to think about students being post-secondary ready….a much better term and concept. I believe there are fallacies in our past assumptions and I was one of those teachers that believed that the two groups of students could not coexist in the classroom. Career and college preparation are not mutually exclusive. It is not an “either or” choice. It is a “both and” choice. The solution is not to water down the math but to change how we teach. The reminder of this article is based on my experiences as I changed from a traditional math teacher to a contextualized math teacher.

For me to make a successful change, I had to examine each part of my instruction. I had to risk and do what research was telling me about instruction. I had to stop blaming previous teachers, counselors, parents, students, and the educational system for the failures in my classroom. I had to remember that I only control 2 things: what I teach and how I teach it. Simply, I had to reinvent myself and then to keep myself from returning back to what I was comfortable with (the status quo). Yes, it was a risk to change what I had done in the classroom, especially in this day and age of high stakes testing. So what did I learn from reinventing myself? Below are a few thoughts about what I experienced.

1. Teachers can no longer be the only dispenser of knowledge in the increasingly large classroom of today. We are one resource but not the only resource. Early on I knew I needed to make better use of cooperative groups. Other students can provide another level of support for students that struggle. Some of my students needed more one-on-one time to learn the material. Why not make better use of other students who could provide tutoring. Lots of good learning occurs as students verbalize their mathematics while explaining to their peers. As the teacher, I had to trust that students are very capable of teaching if an appropriate classroom structure is in place.

Often I hear math teachers tell me that their students work in groups. However, upon further probing, they put students together without training, and hope and pray they work. Many times this can lead to teacher frustration because the students are not doing what they are suppose to do. Then it is easy to revert back to rows and silence in the classroom. Before that happens, these questions need to be posed. Am I as the teacher providing too much support during homework time? Am I as the teacher rewarding good group behavior? Have I as a teacher demonstrated what good “help” looks like in the classroom? Do I answer too many of their questions? Do I stop groups for the entire class because of the actions of a few students?

2. Teachers need to look at their delivery system of instruction. Lecture is a very time efficient way to get the facts across….but is it the best? Learning style research is everywhere but it was not in my classroom. I had to change. This is why I now use activities at least 50% of the time to help students “do their mathematics” in Geometry in Construction. Students need to be active in their own learning. Do labs and activities take more time? Yes. Research shows that as few as 10% of high school students learn best by auditory learning yet 80% of the instruction in high school is lecture (University of Illinois). If students learn best by seeing and doing, then I had to change how I was teaching whether it was time efficient or not. Yes, such instruction takes more classroom time.

Many times teachers and administrators tell me that I do not understand their situation. The conversation goes something like “I must cover all of the objectives in order for the students to score well on the state test and I don’t have time for activities.” I too, had that question personally. I had to ask “is what I am doing currently with lectures working for all kids?”. My answer was a solid NO. It was not working for my students. I personally had to gamble with what research said, teach fewer topics but be more in depth. So, that is what I did. I did throw out some minor topics so I could spend more time on the major topics. I then implemented more activities, not more lecture.

3. Closely tied to learning styles is scaffold learning. Whenever possible, teachers need to introduce lessons from a very concrete approach and then move on to the abstract. This provides students various entry points into their new learning. For me, I had to back off of the theoretical introductions to new material. My students do not need the theory. I had to find ways to introduce material from an experiential approach. Not an easy thing to do but contextualization provides avenues for this to happen.

4. The terms “high achieving and low achieving” that I was using were wrong. Many of these labeled “low achieving” students have learning styles that I was not addressing. See #2 above. Many times these students need to know how the math is going to be used (contextualized mathematics). Students need to have direct experiences with their mathematics, giving them a “hook” to attach their new learning on. I found students (and adults) do not make the connections between book mathematics and application mathematics readily. My job as a teacher is to help students make those connections. In giving students a reason to know where the math is used, I can help struggling students. I have found that “struggling students in the classroom” can be the superstars in applying the math topics out on the job site.

5. Providing additional academic support for students who are behind is crucial to success. One of the ten tenets of the “High Schools that Work” model is for teachers/schools to provide structured extra help for struggling students. We are fortunate that we are able to provide additional help in the math classroom using former Geometry in Construction students. These peers can work alongside students that need extra help. In addition, we provide before/after school help as well as a study night (using the Advance Placement idea) before each unit test. Remember, this is in addition to having students work in groups.

6. I provide second chances. All of us make poor choices, have bad days, or just don’t get it at some point in our lives. Students are not exempt. I offer retest for students that did not get it the first time. I offer learning contracts to students that fail semester 1. Does this require extra work as a teacher? Yes. However, I want my students to believe I am on their side and that I want them to succeed as much as they do.

7. Parent communication is critical. Early in the year, I establish weekly emails to each parent, letting them know what is coming up next week. This is in addition to the access they have to grades (what most school districts supply). These emails focus on the positive. By establishing good communication early, it opens the door for me to contact them with concerns regarding their student later. This is a 15 minute per week commitment. I believe the return is greater than the time cost.

8. Creating a classroom culture where we are purposeful in being accepting of ALL students whether they are college bound or not. I want my students to feel valued. As I review my previous math teaching experience, I peppered my class discussions with statements like “you will need this for college”, “when you get to college”, “what college are you going to”, etc. In making those statements, I realized I was not very welcoming of students who were not planning on going to college. I did not intend to be one sided, but I was. Also, if I brought in a guest speaker, it was always a college educated person. Again I was guilty of only showing one side. So, when I started Geometry in Construction, I was very purposeful in talking about the need for post secondary training….not college. I made a point of defining post-secondary as any training after high school (military, apprenticeship, community college, 4 year college, etc). In addition, I scheduled about half our guest speakers to represent college bound careers and the other half representing non-college bound careers.

9. Rigorous mathematics has different meanings for different people. For some, it is simply more math problems or doing 8-10 more sections (topics) in a year. For others, it means doing “Problem Set C. In fact, many of the honor classes pride themselves on one of the above definitions. One of the more accepted meanings for rigor comes from the work of Bill Daggett’s Model Schools. Rigorous math is math that is applied across disciplines. Being able to apply the mathematics in new situations is considered high level “Quadrant D” thinking. ”. I knew I wanted my students to apply their mathematics and our state test reinforces the need. Geometry in Construction asks students to apply their mathematics throughout the process of building of a home. Food for thought: Isn’t this what we ask engineers to do?


Combining all of the thoughts above into one class is not easy and is not for every teacher. Do we have 100% passing? No. However, my classroom went from 20%-30% failure rates to less than 10%. My personal job satisfaction also increased because of the improvement. When my attitude improved, so do that of my students. I believe I am doing what is best for ALL KIDS. But, for me, it took reinventing myself as a teacher.