A couple of weeks ago, CPEP (CT Pre-Engineering Program) held it's annual competition day. CPEP is a pre-engineering program, held after school, that has students working on projects throughout the year and then they compete at the end of the year against the other schools. Projects include Roller Coasters, Maglev vehicles, boats, and more. Students design, build, and then modify their projects throughout the year. This is my third year doing it and every year we have won a few categories. This year we swept the Chess tournament and took 2nd in the Maglev vehicle. CPEP is a great program that teaches students teamwork, problem solving, and applications of math and science.

At CPEP day, we had a keynote speaker at the opening ceremony. It was Naveen Selvadurai, one of the founders of Foursquare (He is from Connecticut). In his keynote speech, he talked about his life, how he came to work on Foursqaure and gave some advice to the students on his tips to success. He had stated that he started Foursquare because he felt that the phone in his pocket could do more based on locations and where you were and what was near you.

Here are his 5 points (with my notes):

Be Curious - look at things and wonder why. Wonder if something can do more. Wonder if you can make something better or different. Ask why? Ask how?

Keep Learning - never stop learning. Be a life-long learner. Learn because you are curious. Learn because you want to better yourself. 

Don't Be Afraid to Fail - no one succeeds on the first try. For every great success, there are hundreds of failures. You learn from your failures and they help you succeed. We should encourage students this way in school also. 

Be Passionate - be passionate and excited about what you do, no matter what. Why do it if you aren't passionate or don't care. This goes for everything you do, from cleaning your room to doing your work.

Keep Good Company - be around people who share your values and beliefs. Be with people who are passionate, curious, and keep learning. Surround yourself with people who will help you succeed, not lead you to failure or troubles. 

These are great tips and advice and we should share them with our students and colleagues.

READ MORE - 5 Tips for Success - in school, business and in life

Being an educator is a great, responsible job. When we go out and educate, we need to make sure we are prepared and have back up plans. Here are some tips to make sure your presentation and training goes well. 

As educators and presenters, we can find ourselves at hotels, conference centers, school classrooms, training centers, garages, basements, outdoor venues, and much more. We need to know where we will be teaching and be prepared for that environment. Always get information about the facility and the resources available to you in advance.

Find out who your audience is, what they want to learn, and why they are learning it.

Prepare your lesson plan for your training program:

Know your material

Plan for unexpected 

Rehearse, Rehearse

Expect that something will not work

Your lesson plan for your presentation or lesson should include:

Title of lesson or presentation, concept/topic being taught, any standards addressed, goals and objectives, materials, procedure (lecture, demo, etc), closure, assessment and anticipated questions. You should include in your materials list the backup materials listed below.

TIPS:

Laptop - have spare battery or make sure battery is fully charged (in case of no power outlet)

Projector (lamps burn out, make sure yours isn't too old or have a spare lamp or projector)

Speakers - if you have video or audio content

Backup of files on a flash drive (problem with hard drive file, using a backup computer, etc)

Don't count on having internet access at the facility (use screen shots of websites)

Extension cord and power strip (in case facility doesn't have one)

Extra copies of handouts

Print out of lecture notes and information (in case of catastrophic failures you can use this to teach from. If you make copies of your lecture notes it's even easier.)

Flip chart with markers (for notes, etc. and also in case of hardware failure)

Can your files work on their computer? (software) - having them in a generic form like PDF is better than PowerPoint or Keynote

Have a backup projector or laptop available if facility is providing computer and projector

Bring a drink (water, etc) and a snack for yourself.

Notepad and pen for notes.

Dry Erase markers (in case facility has a board but no markers)

Materials for demonstrations or hands-on activities (bring extra and don't rely on facility to have what you need)

Take a deep breath before going up to present and relax. 

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Share your tips with us!

READ MORE - Survival Tips for Educators and Presenters

(cross posted at http://www.techlearning.com/section/Blogs )

Last year, I wrote about the advice a group of recent high school graduates gave to a group of pre-service teachers in the CT Alternate Route to Certification program. This past weekend, I spoke to this year's group of ARC candidates about urban school issues and educational technology and there was a group of high school seniors there to give some input on what they feel makes a good teacher.

It was a great discussion with the students giving information, advice and opinions and the ARC candidates asking questions and asking for the student's thoughts on different topics and issues.

The first comment made by a student was that students don't like, and will become unmotivated to do work, when a teacher doesn't have a plan, is unprepared, and "wings it" each day for lessons. The discussion moved on to homework and how it has to be meaningful, should not be too long (quality vs. quantity), should prepare students for tests, and should not be due the next day. Students have many different classes and activities and need multiple days to get homework done. They also said that they like it when a teacher posts the homework ahead of time so that they can start it early if need be. They also said it was important in math and science to have the answers or solutions available so that the students can check their homework and learn from their mistakes instead of getting frustrated.

Many students remarked that they have teachers who give out busy work for homework and classwork (like puzzles and way too many problems) and that this does nothing to help a student learn. They stated that they feel like the class was a waste if that was all they did.

An ARC candidate asked the students how they thought teachers should handle discipline issues in the classroom. The consensus was that teachers need to address students who are disturbing others, but should take them aside and not berate them in front of the whole class. It was mentioned though with some students that is the only way they listen. They stated that teachers should be nice, but serious, and not feed a student's anger or get into an argument with that student. It was interesting to hear this coming from students since this is a concept taught to teachers.

One student stated that they absolutely hate when teachers don't get work or tests graded and back to the students in a timely fashion. They said it's hard to know how you are doing in a class if you don't get any feedback. True That!

Most of the students agreed that the best teachers are enthusiastic and excited about what they teach, make it fun and interesting, use projects in class, and make their classroom a safe place to be. "If the teacher isn't excited about the material, why would we be?"

Projects were listed as something they all loved. The were able to apply what they learned to something and not just sit in class doing problems or writing a paper. They all agreed that they learned more through projects than just listening to a teacher talk or doing homework.

Technology was also discussed with the students wanting teachers to use technology to communicate with them, post resources, and make learning more fun. Facebook was brought up, but most students saw Facebook as a social thing, not necessarily for education. They did like when teachers use web sites and email though and want teachers to be accessible via email for help.

Along the lines of help, they stated that teachers need to be available after school for help, especially the day before a test. Students have to have access to teachers for help as much as possible.

Mutual respect was also a big topic. Students wanted to see teachers interested in their students as people, trusting their students to do the right thing, and talk to the students with respect. Teachers need to make students feel comfortable in asking for help in class.

It was a great discussion and I was pleased to see that what the students want in a teacher is what we try to teach teachers to do.

A note: these students were all high level, self-motivated students, but I think that their advice is good for all levels of classes.

Thanks to the 2009-2010 ARC Class, Science Methods Instructor Glenn Couture, and special thanks for their time and insight, high school seniors Emily Lavins, Kenzie Bess, Nick Quadrini, Andy Rumore, Will Marr, Dom Kruszewski, Matthew Lee, Jason Parraga, and Anthony Lato.

(Photo coming)

READ MORE - Students Weigh In On Characteristics of Effective Teachers