[Noisebridge-discuss] a little bit of info on the excel program, and an idea to move forward

Thu Apr 16 19:15:05 UTC 2009

On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 12:23 PM, Michael Shiloh <
michaelshiloh1010 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Aha! I have just heard back from one of my friends who does in fact use
> ExCEL at her school, and she is going to put me in touch with the ExCEL
> coordinator at her school. I will hopefully talk to her later today.
>
> She does say, though, "EXCL is notoriously underfunded, underorganized,
> etc.". But we should determine for ourselves. The proposal process should
> tell us a lot.
>
>
>
> Comments in line below. A big question I have to all of you:
>
> If this is a program that kids volunteer to be part of, I'm interested in
> reaching those kids who don't give it a second thought.
>
> How do we reach them? My fantasy: we come do a demonstration or a show or
> something where everyone is included. Then we ask the kids "Who is
> interested in learning how to do this?". Everyone who raises their hand is
> sent out (or perhaps sent off with our first teacher). With everyone left we
> have a discussion, basically trying to figure out what kind of things turn
> them on, what would they like to learn how to make, or build, or create, or
> whatever.
>
> Perhaps video editing? or sound or audio recording? perhaps electronic
> music? perhaps basic carpentry or model rockets or just smashing computer
> monitors?
>
> One of the problems is that in high school it is cool to appear bored by
> life and disinterested in everything. How do we get around this?*
> *
>
* I am not sure about this,   but I think that bonding with them is very
important,  and  getting them involve in a longer project would work but
under my point of view you should have the same teacher always there, committed
to work with them.

 I also think that you are not getting anything  done in one class, so
perhaps  one project for six weeks ( six classes) or two at the most should
be enough.*
*
 The thing about working with afterschool programs with younger ones is that
they have to go there, because they have no other place to go and is
mandatory for them if their parents sign them up for it.  With high school
kids,  is not mandatory to attend the afterschool classes. I think that if
you get 3 to 5 kids ( coming in on a regular bases for the 6 weeks)  is good
start*.

>
>
> Mitch Altman wrote:
>
>>  Thanks for the first contact, Michael!
>>   I like your general outline of 6 weeks.  10 kids per class is nice, but
>> maybe we'll have a better chance of acceptance if we teach more?  (That's a
>> question.)
>>
>
> Good question, and one which I asked my teacher friend just now. Will let
> you know.
>
>
>
>
>
> I'd be most up for high school aged kids, myself,
>
>> since we can go more into things.  And if these classes are for people who
>> volunteer themselves to be a part of, then I think we'll get some really
>> interesting kids.  If we have a 6-week curriculum then we could do it twice
>> per semester, if we like, plus once in the summer.
>>
>
> Yes, I like this way of thinking.
>
>
>    We could have 1 teacher per week (or a set of teachers), with that 1
>> teacher (or set of teachers) teaching 1 topic.  I don't think the topics
>> need to be closely knitted together, but just fit under a general umbrella,
>> such as "making cool things".  What do others think?  We should pick the
>> number of days/times that each teacher (or set) will teach -- I think we
>> need to have this consistent for all 6 weeks.
>>
>
> Agree to all.
>
>
>    I'd like to teach kids how to make cool things with microcontrollers.
>>  I'll be doing this for a week at a high school in NYC for learning
>> disability kids.  The administration put out the word to the whole school
>> that this class was available, thinking that 20 to 30 kids would sign up for
>> it -- but 118 did, which is half the school. (!)  In this case, I'm teaching
>> 6 individual 3-hour classes, where each kid goes to one of the 6 classes,
>> and everyone builds one of the 5 projects that I offered (TV-B-Gone kit,
>> Mignonette Game kit, Brain Machine kit, Trippy RGB Waves kit, MiniPOV3 kit).
>>  The school is buying all of the tools so that they will be able to teach
>> this class without me in the future.  I'll see how this goes at the NYC high
>> school.  Much of what I do there will be directly applicable for teaching
>> for the ExCEL program.  Any comments/thoughts?
>>
>
> Excellent. Look forward to your reports.
>
>
>    I leave for 6 weeks of travel starting tomorrow morning.  I'll be
>> checking my email every day, and I'll have my phone, if anyone wants to call
>> for any reason:
>>     415-377-5993
>>   Cheers,
>>  Mitch.
>>
>> ------------------------
>>   > Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2009 21:52:04 -0700
>>  > From: michaelshiloh1010 at gmail.com
>>  > To: noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
>>  > Subject: [Noisebridge-discuss] a little bit of info on the excel
>> program, and an idea to move forward
>>  >
>>  > Man, these guys are hard to get in touch with, in spite of the handy
>>  > contacts list on their web page.
>>  >
>>  > My (soon-to-be-ex) wife spent some time on the phone and was able to
>> get
>>  > through to Jason Rigg, the new manager. He does not accept direct
>> emails
>>  > (can we work with someone like this?) and he directed her to the two
>>  > documents we've already seen: the RFP and the spreadsheet.
>>  >
>>  > He said to think "pie in the sky" and when they review the proposals
>>  > they might want to negotiate down to something that they can fund.
>>  >
>>  > I will next follow up on the leads that Lee got from 826 Valencia:
>>  > Marisa and Dave.
>>  >
>>  > Meanwhile, I get the impression that we can propose pretty much
>> whatever
>>  > we would like, so in order to keep the ball rolling, and since the
>>  > deadline is the end of this month, let's start talking about this.
>>  >
>>  > So, if we could propose our ideal program, what would it look like?
>>  >
>>  > I'll toss out some of my ideas, but please let's hear yours, and don't
>>  > take mine as a firm proposal:
>>  >
>>  > Number of kids per class? I like no more than 10, although you do get a
>>  > different dynamic with a larger group, assuming you have enough
>> teachers.
>>  >
>>  > Ages? I just finished teaching a bunch of 8-10 year olds. Very high
>>  > energy, very low attention span. Sweet kids, though, and good work when
>>  > they focused, but I spent too much of my time telling them not to
>> bother
>>  > each other etc.
>>  >
>>  > 7th-8th grades have the hormones making them crazy. I should know, I
>>  > have a 14 year old daughter. Keep away.
>>  >
>>  > High school can be the most rewarding, but is challenging. OTOH, this
>> is
>>  > probably the group that can most benefit from learning a creative skill
>>  > in an after-school setting, and might especially enjoy the cool stuff
>> we
>>  > can teach. And, at their age especially, this could have a real impact
>>  > on their future.
>>  >
>>  > My preference? 10-12 or high school.
>>  >
>>  > Subjects?
>>  > Let's keep this very broad.
>>  >
>>  > Duration?
>>  > I think for the first time we do this, I suggest we do something like a
>>  > 6 week program, perhaps 2-3 times a week, and then expand as our
>>  > confidence and experience dictates.
>>  >
>>  > Let's also discuss philosophy. I really am not interested in working
>>  > with "gifted" or even those already interested in science. The ones I
>>  > prefer are those who think they can not understand this, or can not
>>  > learn how to do this. And I like to draw out the kids who are quiet and
>>  > don't jump up and raise their hands the first time. And I want to use
>>  > materials and supplies that are cheap and readily available, so that
>>  > after class they can continue or duplicate without having to spend lots
>>  > of money. I want to keep this accessible to all, and especially the
>>  > underserved.
>>  >
>>  > I'm also particularly interested in getting more girls involved in what
>>  > we do. We might consider having one group be a girls-only group, so
>> they
>>  > can develop their skills without having to compete with the guys. There
>>  > are arguments on both sides of this issue, and I lean towards having a
>>  > girls-only session.
>>  >
>>  > Have at it!
>>  >
>>  > M
>>  > _______________________________________________
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>>  > Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
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>>
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