Harlandale Independent School District is located in southern San Antonio, Texas. The district has 2 primary high schools. Harlandale High School was a Texas Education Agency Recognized school in 2007-08. Its enrollment of 1880 students is 90%+ Hispanic with 34% of the students eligible for free or reduced lunch. Albert Perez is a construction teacher with 24 years experience. He originally trained for Geometry in Construction in Seguin, Texas during the summer of 2008. Mario Rodriguez, who has 16 years experience in math did his training during the summer of 2009. With support from their CTE director, Velma Ybarra, they launched Geometry in Construction this fall.
Tell us about your classes?
We have 2 sections of 25-30 students each. Each section is scheduled for two 50 minute periods each day. We have about 30% females. Originally there was to be only 1 section, but the initial enrollment came back with 2 sections and with 20-30 students on a waiting list.
What are you building as a capstone?
The project is being built on campus on concrete block piers. The 754 square foot house has 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. It has a bay window, to get more of the geometry into the construction. What is unique is the 26’ by 29’ house is being built in one section and will be moved in one piece.
What type of community support have you received?
We have had wonderful support from the community. Everyone we have asked is willing to be a sponsor. The Minority Contractors Association of San Antonio have partnered with us by providing expertise and architectural drawings. In fact, the architect is an alumnus of Harlandale High School. All the HVAC has been donated by a large firm in San Antonio.
How have the students responded?
When students were asked “Do you want to change back to regular geometry?” Their response was “No, we like being able to apply our math”. Another popular comment has been “Not what I expected. It was supposed to be easy. I have to think.” We have had no major discipline issues whereas by now we would have had 1-2 fights in our regular class.
What has been your biggest surprise?
The girls are taking a leadership position in the math classroom and on the construction site. Also, I have gained a new perspective of how the classroom math is applied in real life situations.
What has been your biggest obstacle?
The process for ordering materials takes a lot of time.
What advice would you give others considering starting Geometry in Construction?
Start with a small capstone. Order your materials early. Be willing to learn and be willing to get out there with the kids.
Do you have any final thoughts?
It has been a good experience for both of us. Have an open mind because you may not be the master of your subject.
Thanks to Albert Perez and Mario Rodriguez for sharing a little about their classes.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
End-of-the-Year Celebration
It’s never too early to begin thinking about an end-of-year celebration. I must admit, initially I had serious doubts about the work vs. benefit balance. It was and still is a lot of work and although scheduling the event, coordinating the food, tracking the RSVP’s, soliciting donations, organizing the student awards, and carrying out the evening’s festivities are a party planners dream; these tasks coupled with a full teaching load can push a teacher to the breaking point. Advanced planning is the key to a successful experience that will leave your students wanting more and the community asking how they can help in future years.
Whether it be Geometry in Construction or another type of contextual program, the end of year banquet provides several benefits to the program including a valuable time to honor the students in front of their parents and the community. Second, the banquet will provide an opportunity to recognize any business partnerships (However big or small they may be) and also any key school/community members.
Here are the things that you can do now to prepare for the banquet.
• Find a location and get it on the school calendar. We use the school cafeteria which we annually fill to capacity at just over 500 people. It does not have to occur the last week of school. We have always scheduled ours for 2-3 weeks before the end of the year. This avoids the graduation/end of year activities. We prefer it to be on a weeknight from 5:30-8:00 pm.
• Send out the date to all your student’s parents. Do this several times throughout the year so that families can “Save the Date”. Also, invite all of your school administration and key community members. Again, remind them of the date often.
• Send out the date to all business sponsors. Remind them a month before the actual banquet.
• Begin to have those feelers out for inexpensive food. We buy pizza and salad (or something similar) to serve as dinner for the crowd. Any portion of this that you can have donated is a plus.
• If you have a potential buyer for the house/project, be sure to invite them…even if they are a potential buyer for next year’s project. The event provides a great opportunity to market your project. Include the local media in the invite.
• If you have student aides….or management team members, be sure they clear the calendar for 2-3 hours before and after for set-up and clean-up.
• Make a class list of all your students. On this list record any funny happenings, etc as you go through the year. We give each student an award at the banquet. The awards can be on a certificate or some inexpensive item that represents the award. The local “Everything’s a Dollar” store gets a lot of our business. Awards include hardest worker, best at drywall, roofing, etc, most improved math student as well as some funny awards such as “It’s too cold to work” or “measure once and cut twice”. We try to keep the awards in a positive light. Sometimes these awards are done in groups such as the “best plumbers” or “willing to tackle anything” awards. Keep a list of the highlights of each student. Do not wait until the week before the banquet to come up with all the awards.
• Be sure to take photos. Get group shots as well as individual. We have 2 digital cameras that we have running in every construction class. We select 2 students to be photographer of the day. The students selected as photographer changes daily. If you keep the same photographer, you will get photos of the same students. We ask that students take photos of only students that are working. Also, be sure that you take some of the math classroom. Download these photos once every couple of weeks, and sort through them getting rid of any poor quality photos or inappropriate ones. You can choose a student to do this if you think they can exercise good judgment.
We hope this gives you a little insight into planning the big event. Make records of the banquet so that you do not have to recreate the whole thing next year from scratch…as I know that once you have done it once, you will make it a cornerstone of your program.
Whether it be Geometry in Construction or another type of contextual program, the end of year banquet provides several benefits to the program including a valuable time to honor the students in front of their parents and the community. Second, the banquet will provide an opportunity to recognize any business partnerships (However big or small they may be) and also any key school/community members.
Here are the things that you can do now to prepare for the banquet.
• Find a location and get it on the school calendar. We use the school cafeteria which we annually fill to capacity at just over 500 people. It does not have to occur the last week of school. We have always scheduled ours for 2-3 weeks before the end of the year. This avoids the graduation/end of year activities. We prefer it to be on a weeknight from 5:30-8:00 pm.
• Send out the date to all your student’s parents. Do this several times throughout the year so that families can “Save the Date”. Also, invite all of your school administration and key community members. Again, remind them of the date often.
• Send out the date to all business sponsors. Remind them a month before the actual banquet.
• Begin to have those feelers out for inexpensive food. We buy pizza and salad (or something similar) to serve as dinner for the crowd. Any portion of this that you can have donated is a plus.
• If you have a potential buyer for the house/project, be sure to invite them…even if they are a potential buyer for next year’s project. The event provides a great opportunity to market your project. Include the local media in the invite.
• If you have student aides….or management team members, be sure they clear the calendar for 2-3 hours before and after for set-up and clean-up.
• Make a class list of all your students. On this list record any funny happenings, etc as you go through the year. We give each student an award at the banquet. The awards can be on a certificate or some inexpensive item that represents the award. The local “Everything’s a Dollar” store gets a lot of our business. Awards include hardest worker, best at drywall, roofing, etc, most improved math student as well as some funny awards such as “It’s too cold to work” or “measure once and cut twice”. We try to keep the awards in a positive light. Sometimes these awards are done in groups such as the “best plumbers” or “willing to tackle anything” awards. Keep a list of the highlights of each student. Do not wait until the week before the banquet to come up with all the awards.
• Be sure to take photos. Get group shots as well as individual. We have 2 digital cameras that we have running in every construction class. We select 2 students to be photographer of the day. The students selected as photographer changes daily. If you keep the same photographer, you will get photos of the same students. We ask that students take photos of only students that are working. Also, be sure that you take some of the math classroom. Download these photos once every couple of weeks, and sort through them getting rid of any poor quality photos or inappropriate ones. You can choose a student to do this if you think they can exercise good judgment.
We hope this gives you a little insight into planning the big event. Make records of the banquet so that you do not have to recreate the whole thing next year from scratch…as I know that once you have done it once, you will make it a cornerstone of your program.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Chester High School, Chester, California
Chester High School, located 200 miles north of Sacramento in Chester, California is a new site for implementing Geometry in Construction. On the shores of Lake Almanor, the high school is small by many standards with 180 students but big in spirit. Construction teacher Paul Hardig, with 24 years experience, and Math teacher Shawn Mahaffey, with 20 years experience, are two energetic teachers with a passion for their students.
Describe the structure that you are building?
The house is 16 ft by 20 ft. It is unusual because it is a 2-story. Radiant floor heating is being explored as the heating option. The cabinets will be built by the class. The plans were originally used by a local junior college and more recently updated by a local engineering company.
Describe the classes that are involved?
The primary Geometry in Construction class is 16 students strong with 6 girls and 10 boys. The students in this class really benefit from a different approach to mathematics, says Shawn. The curriculum is “great stuff” and my students are gaining “valuable experience” through the program. The students are more eager to learn when they can “get their hands on the math”. Other classes involved in the building of the structure will be a construction class of 10 students headed by Paul. There is one other “highly academic” Geometry class being taught using College Preparatory Mathematics. Many of the activities and problems from the Geometry in Construction class have been used in this geometry class with great success.
What are some of the reactions from others?
We have had lots of support from the school administration, ROP director, parents, and the community. We have already presented to the local Rotary Club and believe that many donations will be forthcoming. Our parents have been very positive.
What advice do you have for others considering Geometry in Construction?
Teachers need to have a good grasp of cooperative learning to get the full benefit of the course. The other piece of advice would be for the proposal/paperwork to be started early…preferably in the spring before the fall when the class is implemented.
Students at Chester High School are indeed fortunate to have teachers such as Paul Hardig and Shawn Mahaffey who have worked above and beyond to bring this class to their community. Thanks Paul and Shawn!
Describe the structure that you are building?
The house is 16 ft by 20 ft. It is unusual because it is a 2-story. Radiant floor heating is being explored as the heating option. The cabinets will be built by the class. The plans were originally used by a local junior college and more recently updated by a local engineering company.
Describe the classes that are involved?
The primary Geometry in Construction class is 16 students strong with 6 girls and 10 boys. The students in this class really benefit from a different approach to mathematics, says Shawn. The curriculum is “great stuff” and my students are gaining “valuable experience” through the program. The students are more eager to learn when they can “get their hands on the math”. Other classes involved in the building of the structure will be a construction class of 10 students headed by Paul. There is one other “highly academic” Geometry class being taught using College Preparatory Mathematics. Many of the activities and problems from the Geometry in Construction class have been used in this geometry class with great success.
What are some of the reactions from others?
We have had lots of support from the school administration, ROP director, parents, and the community. We have already presented to the local Rotary Club and believe that many donations will be forthcoming. Our parents have been very positive.
What advice do you have for others considering Geometry in Construction?
Teachers need to have a good grasp of cooperative learning to get the full benefit of the course. The other piece of advice would be for the proposal/paperwork to be started early…preferably in the spring before the fall when the class is implemented.
Students at Chester High School are indeed fortunate to have teachers such as Paul Hardig and Shawn Mahaffey who have worked above and beyond to bring this class to their community. Thanks Paul and Shawn!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Donation Pointers
Tips for Donations
If your school is like most other schools, donations are always useful and needed. When we build the house at our school, we depend on donations for about 25% of the materials/cost of the program. We work hard at securing help from our community. We have been fortunate because our community responds. We believe this is because we are working with students building a house for a homeless family. Some of the donors give because we are an educational institution while others donate because of the service component.
Here are some quick pointers for helping with the donations.
• We do a mail out requesting donations to all of our businesses in the community. If you have student aides, they can help with this task. Request specific materials. For example, for a roofing company, request 15 squares of shingles or from a plumbing company, request a white toilet. We have found the companies are much more likely to donate material than money. If you need money, request a specific amount to fund certain things. Example, our end-of-the-year banquet is funded because we requested a specific amount of money and specified how the money would be spent.
• The mail out is the start. We will do follow-up phone calls to find out if there is interest.
• We write grants that we find from the local businesses. Remember to check the Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant.
• Work through your local realtor association as well as the Chamber of Commerce, Lions, Rotary, etc. If they have a newsletter, maybe they can present your need to their members.
• There are some things that seem difficult for us to get donated. For example, the lumber package is tough for us to get donated. So, we ask to get things at cost, with little or no markup.
• One of the best resources for donations you have is your student’s parents. We do a weekly email that is sent home that announces upcoming homework assignments, field trips, and general information about the program. In this e-mail, we will post our needs. Many times, parents have connections with their work or with friends. We typically have a good response to this approach for donations.
• Whenever we do get a donation, we advertise the business as a supporter. We do this by putting their name out in the weekly emails to parents as well as putting their logo on the web site. (Remember this year you can put logos on the website that we are hosting for your school. Contact us about this possibility.)
• Invite donating businesses to your end-of-the-year banquet as well as to your Advisory Board. Send letters of thank you and if possible acknowledge in the local media.
We hope that you are able to help your Geometry in Construction program with these tips. We found the donations were easier to secure after the first year of the program. Many businesses were waiting to see exactly what we were doing. They wanted to be a part of something different. Your local media can help you with this by telling the community what you are doing and what the benefits are for the students you are working with.
If your school is like most other schools, donations are always useful and needed. When we build the house at our school, we depend on donations for about 25% of the materials/cost of the program. We work hard at securing help from our community. We have been fortunate because our community responds. We believe this is because we are working with students building a house for a homeless family. Some of the donors give because we are an educational institution while others donate because of the service component.
Here are some quick pointers for helping with the donations.
• We do a mail out requesting donations to all of our businesses in the community. If you have student aides, they can help with this task. Request specific materials. For example, for a roofing company, request 15 squares of shingles or from a plumbing company, request a white toilet. We have found the companies are much more likely to donate material than money. If you need money, request a specific amount to fund certain things. Example, our end-of-the-year banquet is funded because we requested a specific amount of money and specified how the money would be spent.
• The mail out is the start. We will do follow-up phone calls to find out if there is interest.
• We write grants that we find from the local businesses. Remember to check the Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant.
• Work through your local realtor association as well as the Chamber of Commerce, Lions, Rotary, etc. If they have a newsletter, maybe they can present your need to their members.
• There are some things that seem difficult for us to get donated. For example, the lumber package is tough for us to get donated. So, we ask to get things at cost, with little or no markup.
• One of the best resources for donations you have is your student’s parents. We do a weekly email that is sent home that announces upcoming homework assignments, field trips, and general information about the program. In this e-mail, we will post our needs. Many times, parents have connections with their work or with friends. We typically have a good response to this approach for donations.
• Whenever we do get a donation, we advertise the business as a supporter. We do this by putting their name out in the weekly emails to parents as well as putting their logo on the web site. (Remember this year you can put logos on the website that we are hosting for your school. Contact us about this possibility.)
• Invite donating businesses to your end-of-the-year banquet as well as to your Advisory Board. Send letters of thank you and if possible acknowledge in the local media.
We hope that you are able to help your Geometry in Construction program with these tips. We found the donations were easier to secure after the first year of the program. Many businesses were waiting to see exactly what we were doing. They wanted to be a part of something different. Your local media can help you with this by telling the community what you are doing and what the benefits are for the students you are working with.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Geometry in Construction in Texas
Geometry in Construction in Texas
McKinney ISD
McKinney is located 30 miles north of Dallas and is considered home to one of the state's largest historic districts, the country's fastest growing populations, and a new site for implementing Geometry in Construction. Teacher Danny McFarland and Teacher Steve Burgett from McKinney Independent School District took some time to chat with us about the progress of their program.
What is the size of the structure you are building?
Our Lake Cabin is 8' wide 19'-3"long and just under 13'3" high. We are building on a heavy-duty car hauler type trailer.
Where did you get the plans for the structure?
We got our idea from your suggestion about Tiny Houses www.tumbleweedhouses.com. Our plans came from students who submitted ideas to the architectural drafting class for final drafting. The architectural drafting class students and teacher all are great to work with.
Are there any stories you would be willing to share with us?
Only that I made the right pick for a partner. Danny does not finish my sentences yet, but he is on the same page. (Thank goodness)
How many years of experience do you have under your belt with teaching?
35 years teaching Building Trades and Wood shop, all at the same high school. Geometry in Construction has been a new and welcome change.
After implementing this program, what are some pieces of advice you are willing to share with others in taking this program on? Try to get the kids to buy in early and take ownership as soon as possible.
Thanks to Teacher Danny McFarland and Teacher Steve Burgett for their updates!
McKinney ISD
McKinney is located 30 miles north of Dallas and is considered home to one of the state's largest historic districts, the country's fastest growing populations, and a new site for implementing Geometry in Construction. Teacher Danny McFarland and Teacher Steve Burgett from McKinney Independent School District took some time to chat with us about the progress of their program.
What is the size of the structure you are building?
Our Lake Cabin is 8' wide 19'-3"long and just under 13'3" high. We are building on a heavy-duty car hauler type trailer.
Where did you get the plans for the structure?
We got our idea from your suggestion about Tiny Houses www.tumbleweedhouses.com. Our plans came from students who submitted ideas to the architectural drafting class for final drafting. The architectural drafting class students and teacher all are great to work with.
Are there any stories you would be willing to share with us?
Only that I made the right pick for a partner. Danny does not finish my sentences yet, but he is on the same page. (Thank goodness)
How many years of experience do you have under your belt with teaching?
35 years teaching Building Trades and Wood shop, all at the same high school. Geometry in Construction has been a new and welcome change.
After implementing this program, what are some pieces of advice you are willing to share with others in taking this program on? Try to get the kids to buy in early and take ownership as soon as possible.
Thanks to Teacher Danny McFarland and Teacher Steve Burgett for their updates!
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