Agriculture and Geometry in Construction

The Unstoppable Machine: Strategies to Gain Momentum and Support for your Contextual Program

During a recent workshop in California, one of the participants asked us how we gained so much momentum in such a short period of time. To recap, for those of you who haven’t seen us in a little while, the Geometry in Construction program began with two teachers who had a big vision and a little support 6 years ago. Today we have a thriving program with 180 current students with an even balance between young men and young women. Including our 22 sister locations, the program has served nearly 1000 students nationwide.

An advantage to teaching Geometry in Construction is having only one prep, instead of multiple preps. We accomplished this despite great opposition at times, ever-increasing academic accountability, and diminishing budgets over the years. Needless to say, over the years we have learned a few things about building support for a program.

As many schools return to the 2009-2010 school year with registration taking place in the near future, we have assembled and written the strategies we used to create the unstoppable machine we now call Geometry in Construction. These ideas have all proven to work for us, and we believe that regardless of the program you lead, this list can help you move your program from good to great.

Unlock the Entrepreneurial Talent in You: Seize the Market

To fully understand the process, you have to first analyze how to attract and recruit students to your program. Students have so many more options and choices for involvement. According to Dr. Glenn DeGuzman, Executive Director of Berkeley’s Center for Student Leadership, research studies indicate that this generation of students, otherwise known as millennial students, want as much variety, information, and entertainment as possible in their lives – especially in the classroom. As he analyzed the Geometry in Construction program, three factors contribute to the success of the program.

1) Geometry in Construction appeals to students who like to learn in small groups. Millenial students show that they prefer to learn in small learning communities where they have the opportunity to collaborate with others on a regular basis.

2) Millenial students tend to get bored easily when they are not challenged to learn in many different ways. They are used to giving and receiving information quickly. This is why students are able to pay attention in class while maintaining one or more text conversations with friends or listen to their I-iPods simultaneously. Geometry in Construction allows students to activate multiple learning strategies so participants engage with each other and with the academic material in ways that are meaningful and academically rigorous.

3) This generation of students has a much greater affinity to give back to the greater good over previous generations. They desire to be involved in large-scale projects where they feel they can make a difference locally. The Geometry in Construction program meets this need by providing a meaningful capstone project, which provides transitional housing to low-income and homeless families in their local communities.

Teachers can learn a great deal from academic research that is useful in creating these types of programs. Although we didn’t know any of this when we started, it really did make sense during our conversation with Dr. Deguzman.

As teachers we are usually pretty good at attracting students to take our classes; however, if you limit your marketing effort to just students, you are selling yourself short of your true potential. In order to avoid this common pit fall, we encourage you to reach out to a wider population and educate everyone including students, parents, fellow teachers, administrators, counselors, the community, and business leaders.

For math and core academic teachers, this is not a normal part of a traditional teaching position. However, CTE counterparts can vouch for the struggle to keep an elective program alive during times of increased academic requirements. Our advice comes from firsthand experience in building initial support for our program as well as how we continue to maintain that support. As each of you continue to build your programs please remember that the marketing effort needs to be pushed from ALL collaborators communicating the same message to students, parents, and the community. Each one of you plays a crucial role in the program’s success.


Gaining Support from Students:

Visit your feeder schools and/or classes. The math teacher is usually more effective in this outreach because there is a bigger audience. We visit all Algebra I classes that feed our geometry program. In order for this to happen, the construction teacher may need to provide coverage for the math teacher while s/he visits with each feeder class. The visit is scheduled to occur early during the registration process and prior to students making up their minds about what they will take. It is easier to steer a moving car than a parked one! I usually spend 15 minutes discussing the options for geometry. It is important to highlight the following:

• Show the capstone project. Show a photo of the past capstone or a drawing of what you think the capstone will be.

• Provide a brochure to each student who wants one. A sample is included in the general information folder that you received at the Geometry in Construction training.

• Highlight that Geometry in Construction is a rigorous math class. It is not the easy way out. Show data if you have it or discuss the national data to support your statement of the rigorous nature of the class. In our district, students can take Geometry in Construction and then continue on to Honors (pre-IB) Algebra 2.

• Discuss career paths that involve construction. Most students understand the connection with the trades but often do not realize that a connection also exists for white collar jobs such as civil engineering, architecture, drafting, interior design, construction management, landscape design, etc.

• Discuss the philosophy of the class that the math will be given relevance. Illustrate a 30 second example of studying area by looking at blueprints or studying Pythagorean Theorem by looking at roof rafters.

• Celebrate the differences of the guys vs. the ladies. The guys are naturally good at framing for example. The ladies shine in the trim and finish work. Discuss the use of battery saws and the use of palm nailers….tools that level the playing field between the sexes. Some of our freshman boys benefit from these tools. It is assumed that males can hit the head of a nail but in reality neither sex has had much experience in construction.

• Involve the host teacher by giving him/her program t-shirts, brochures, or copies of data. Invite them to visit your classroom. Open the communication between you and them.

• Invite students to visit the job site when they are able. This can build excitement. Sometimes we have had whole classes stop by for a visit.

Parents:

• Send, by mail, an introduction letter and a brochure (samples are included in the general information folder that you received at the Geometry in Construction training) to each home 1-2 weeks prior to registration. Be sure to highlight all of the points mentioned above. Include your contact information to answer any questions.

• If your school has an evening where parents/students are invited in to view programs, activities, or classes make your presence known. This is a great way to market your program.

Counselors, Administrators, and Key People:

• Many teachers tell us that it is not their responsibility to get students into their class…that is what the counselors get paid for. Regardless of the truth of that statement, we strongly suggest that you take control of the situation.

• Invite your counselors, administrators, and key people to a lunch hosted by you. We provide either pizza or sub sandwiches. For our first year, we paid for the lunch out of our own pocket. During this meeting, we visit all of the points that we highlighted for students and their parents. We provide each counselor with several brochures just like the ones that are given to the students.

• Give the counselors, administrators, and key people a t-shirt, brochures, or copies of data. Build those bridges when you can.

Community:

• Begin talking with your advisory board. Do not approach them for money but for support. Arrange them to contact key people in your district. Build the excitement with them so they can spread the word.

Gaining Support for Your Program After Students Enroll

Students:

• Follow through on what you promised during enrollment time and always remember that you want the students to know you are on their side.

• Two weeks prior to the start of the year we send out a letter to parents and students talking about how excited we are that they are registered for the upcoming program which welcomes them to the Geometry in Construction Team/Family. We carefully choose words like Team and Family because we want them to feel like they are part of a small learning community rather than just another number in a large high school.

• Mistakes made making the capstone need to be corrected but realize that students do not purposefully make mistakes. In other words, do not yell at students when they cut a board incorrectly.

• Provide ample tutoring in the geometry class. Times that we use are before and after school as well as a tutor night (1 hour) the night before a test at a local restaurant. Moving the location from the classroom to a restaurant is a nice change for your students.

• Provide an avenue for students who do not do well on the geometry test. We provide an option for a retest. This is a big plus for gaining support from all parties.

Parents:

• We send a weekly email to all parents. This takes 15 minutes once your email address list is built. The topics include the math assignments for the upcoming week, quizzes and/or tests, any special activities such as guest speakers, any unusual construction days such as dressing appropriately for painting or weather, etc.

• Establish 2-3 “Bring your Parent to School” days. Usually we have these on Saturdays scattered throughout the year. We have the students work alongside the parents. This is a great opportunity for students to show off what they know and what they have accomplished. This also provides an opportunity for parents to see how the teachers interact with the students.

Counselors, Administrators, and Key People:

• Invite your counselors and your administrators on field trips. They enjoy getting out of the office, they build relationships with you, and most importantly, they will see what your program is really like. We are strategic when choosing which counselors are invited on which field trip. For example, the counselors who value student relationships are invited on the ropes course while the counselors with a college focus are invited on the field trip to the local college engineering lab.

Community:

• Invite local media to some of your first activities. Be sure to invite when your capstone is taking shape. Emphasize that a Geometry class is doing this….not a construction class. The media is looking for extraordinary and interesting topics to report. A construction class building a house is ordinary, whereas a Geometry class building a house is unique.

• Invite the district administrators to your class whenever you have a unique activity. They especially like being part of the class when the local media is coming in.

By employing some of these ideas into your current or future projects and programs we believe you can’t go wrong. Best of luck and please keep us posted about how your programs continue to go from good to great.