H

School H is a place I am introducing both Gaggle and LEGO Robotics in the 2008-09 school year, along with a continuation of my Staple It To The World ("SITTW") project.

I introduced SITTW several years ago, partly as a motivational tool--to hold out the carrot of enabling a student to show off their best work to physically remote friends and family members IF the student was willing to take a "finished" piece of work and go "beyond" excellent--beyond the point at which s/he might legitimately say, "I'm done!"

I've been campaigning against the use of the expression "I'm done!" trying to get at least a few kids to say instead, "I'm ready for the next step." I like to take as a //starting point// a student's workpiece has already been accepted as a "final copy" by his/her teacher, and already been recognized as excellent with either an "A" or an "Outstanding" or a "4" (Advanced) on a standards-based assessment. This is a scale on which "1" indicates "Unsatisfactory" or "PreBasic" work; "2" indicates a demonstrated "Partially Proficient" grasp of grade-level expectations, and "3" indicates "Proficient" or "on-grade-level" skills.

This recognition traditionally has been made by the teacher selecting the finest work samples produced in his/her class, and stapling them to a bulletin board, either inside of, or in the hallway outside of the classroom. I have found some teachers sufficiently enlightened to recognize "personal best" work from students, if a particular piece shows a student exceeding the quality of his/her previous best work, even if it has not risen to the standard of an "A" paper.