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Thursday, December 10, 2015

What Our Students Are Learning - It's More Than Facts

Merry Christmas! The end of the semester is quickly approaching with just one week of school left, so I thought this would be a great time to take a look at some of the fantastic things our students have done over the semester.

In my first blog post I highlighted 21st Century Kingdom Skills. Let’s take a look at how our students are using these skills that have become central to our student development this year.


· Faithfulness: Joshua 24:14

· Collaboration: Ephesians 4:2

· Responsibility: Galatians 6:5

· Self Motivation: Hebrews 12:1

· Information, Technology, and Media Literacy: 1 Timothy 4: 11-14

· Critical Thinking & Problem Solving: Colossians 2:8



What about faith-formation and faithfulness?

Coach Crawford has gotten to know a family of four that lives in Cashion who is struggling. The family is being supported by one of the children, who is in high school, because their mother has been severely injured. Their house is dilapidated and has a trailer on the property. They have to wash clothes outside in a shed. Coach Crawford, in partnership with Memorial Road Church of Christ, is fixing their trailer up so they can move out of the house and into the trailer. Then, they plan on fixing the house up so they can rent out the trailer to provide more income.

Recently, OCA students cleaned out flower beds, tore down drywall and paneling, removed cabinets, picked up trash, raked the yard, cut dead tree branches down, and shoveled and cleaned sidewalks. To end the day our OCA students prayed over the family! It is wonderful to see our students' faith in action!

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What about collaborating to help our world?


OCA has robotics! Did you know our robotics team received 2nd place in their very first competition! They competed in a competition through a national organization called First Robotics. The competition challenged the builders to create a robot that could help with the global trash epidemic.

Our students did a tremendous job creating a robot to help with the trash problem we are having globally. Hopefully, through this experience they learned about science and engineering, but more importantly, they learned that through the skills they have they can play a part in redeeming the world.

One of the OCA Robotics team members, Christian Wood said, “I learned a lot about teamwork, technology, and about protecting the environment. This is the world that God gave us and we should do our best to protect it.”



What about responsibility?


With the hopes of teaching important skills and instilling life principles, Mrs. Dunagan and Mrs. Ruff’s class are taking on the challenge of growing wheat. On October 6 they started with two raised flower beds and a bag of dusting wheat on our playground. They cleaned out the beds, broke up the soil, and used a yardstick to carefully measure out each row for planting. The yardstick was also used to help them dig a straight line for their seeds. The hope was that if they continued to use the same yardstick and the same unit of measurement that the kids would become familiar with the process.

Each child spread their own seeds and watered them. Mrs. Dunagan said, “Throughout this waiting period we talked about patience and faith during times of waiting. Our kids would check their wheat every day at recess. The first signs of a sprout the kids knew right away and were ecstatic.”

Once the wheat began to grow they started measuring the wheat using centimeters. The first measurements were on October 12th and the wheat was three centimeters tall. After measuring we graphed the growth of our wheat on our AITC bulletin board. The students use the same ruler each time and graph the growth themselves. They also write the length and the date we measured. To finish off the project they will be entering their findings into the state fair next year.

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What about self-motivation?

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I am sure most of you heard we were given a 3D printer by one of our wonderful alumni. Our students have really enjoyed playing with it and seeing what they could create. One of our students, KJ Hazelip, created his own iphone case using the 3D printer. He designed it and printed it.

The first case he attempted to make, which was his first 3D print ever, did not turn out very well. So, he made some changes to his design and printed another, and that didn’t come out to his liking. Through his own self-motivation he spent hours perfecting it. In his third print he got it right.

“I didn’t want to quit on my first try,” KJ said. “I was really motivated to get it right. The first time I forgot to print out the ear hole, the second time the build plate was unlevel, and the third time was perfect. I was surprised by how easy the printer was to use. At my previous school we got to play with 3D design software but we never had the opportunity to print something!”


What about real-life application and problem solving through technology?

Several of our technology club students were given a real-life task by the Oklahoma State Highway Patrol this semester. Their goal was to fix Bobby the Safety Boat, a fully-functional robot that helps teach boat safety.
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The challenge our students had was that Bobby the Safety Boat was not operating. Thanks to some of our OCA students and our Systems Administrator, Mr. St. Aubin, it looks like Bobby the boat is fully repaired. They had to replace the rectifier diode (5400 1/5400 50v 3A 1.2v forward voltage) with rectifier diode (HER605G 50v 6A 1.3v forward voltage) on the 2nd voltage regulator. The Turnigy 9x v1 with OpenTX firmware to solve some issues and add new features like motor disarm. They also installed a new light bar on the top for a more modern look. Colton Britt says, “I feel like we learned a lot about electrical engineering. Also, it was fun seeing how we could recycle parts from an old PC computer to fix the boat.”



What about creativity?

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Mrs. Loomis had one particular student shine with creativity during her make-an-instrument project! The objective was for students to identify the families of instruments in multiple ways. This project was a way to help the students better understand the instrument families they had been studying over the previous weeks and as a way to feature their creativity and musicality. Fourth grader Britt Bailey created a french horn out of electrical conduit and a funnel! How creative is this?!








What about making academics relevant?

How about math class? What are we doing in math that is fun, engaging, and real-life application? Well, just this week our junior high math class has done a fun project.

The objective of the project is to use ratios and proportions to make a scale model of a famous landmark. This project was split into three phases. First, they were asked to choose a famous landmark and research the actual dimensions of the building/landmark. Second, the students had to pick a scale for their drawing/model (¼ in: 1 ft, 1/16 in: 1 ft, or 1/32 in: 1 ft) and they were asked to draw the schematics for the building/landmark. They needed a minimum of 2 schematic drawings, one of the elevation and one from overhead. Thirdly, they were asked to construct a scale model of their landmark/building out of “gingerbread.”

Here is an example from London, a sixth-grade student. Her project was Big Ben clock tower located in London. Great job!

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I had so many stories and examples I could have shared from our amazing students this semester. There are too many great things happening here to record in one place! If you have additional stories that you would like to share, make sure to add them to the comment section below. I love hearing more stories about ways that your students are learning how to live a more full and purposeful life through OCA’s education. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Monday, November 9, 2015

Good Education is a Balance

I should have made the fourth-grade baseball All-Star team.  I was CLEARLY the best player on the team. I mean, just look at this catch I made as a kindergartner!


If I was this good as a kindergartner, you can just imagine how good I was in the fourth grade. I had years of experience at that point and training by a Major League pitcher. Nathan Minchey was a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, and he grew up at the same church as I did. Nathan gave me personal pitching lessons in his off-season. I was good.


So when the season was over and we were at the closing ceremonies, I knew my name would be called for the All-Star team. But…it wasn’t. The head coach’s son’s name was called.  My dad was just the assistant coach. I was so mad at my dad! How could he not stand up for me in the coaches’ meeting and make sure I got on the All-Star team? It was simply an injustice. I can remember the anger I felt, and I can remember how mad I was that my parents decided to do nothing to help me get on that team.


Now, as an adult, I look back on this situation so thankful for the way my parents handled it. Last semester during our Family Institute, I started to process what I learned from this experience and what I would have learned if my parents had fought and got me on that team.


If my parents had complained
Because they didn’t complain
I would have learned my parents loved me
I learned how much they loved me for not complaining
I would have learned that life is not fair but you can manipulate the system
I learned life is not fair
I would have learned that I can get my way by how I interact with my parents
I learned to work harder and improve
I would have learned that my parents will fight my battles for me
I learned to suck it up (grit)

I learned a lot more about real life by not being on that team than by being on the team. Dr. Tim Elmore, an author, national speaker, and teen researcher has put some interesting information together about raising the current generation of kids.


He says that our kids' world is full of…


Speed
Convenience
Entertainment
Nurture
Entitlement


What are the consequences of these things?


If our children’s world is full of SPEED, they will view SLOW as bad.
If our children’s world is full of CONVENIENCE, they will view HARD as bad.
If our children’s world is full of ENTERTAINMENT, they will view BORING as bad.
If our children’s world is full of NURTURE, they will view RISK as bad.
If our children’s world is full of ENTITLEMENT, they will view LABOR as bad.


Think about this for a second; what are the implications for our children? How do they view slow, hard, boring, risk, and labor? As an adult I often have to deal with slow, hard, boring, risk, and labor.  If I have a hard time in my marriage, how do I respond? If work is boring for a period, how do I respond? How can I function as a follower of Jesus if risk is bad?


We know that this must be a balancing act because life is also full of speed, convenience, entertainment, nurturing, and entitlement. We also know that these things are not inherently bad. The key is knowing the right opportunities to teach all of these.


So, how does this balancing act impact your child’s education? As a response to all of this, here are some great examples of what we can do in education, which is also great advice for parenting.


Don’t think Control, think Connect.
Don’t think Inform, think Interpret.
Don’t think Entertain, think Equip.
Don’t think Manage, think Mentor.
Don’t think Impose, think Expose.
Don’t think Prevent, think Prepare.
Don’t think Cool, think Real.
Don’t think Tell, think Ask.
Don’t think Prescriptive, think Descriptive.
Don’t think Lecture, think Lab.


As educators, we spend a lot of time thinking about the most effective ways to reach our students. As you have read from my previous blog posts we desire to be a school that focuses on best practices. Yes, you have seen updated technology use, strategic pedagogy, and new programming being effectively used at OCA. But at the end of the day, are we preparing students to be good decision makers and problem solvers? Or, more importantly, are we forming students to be followers of Jesus? 

This is a delicate balance that we take very seriously. We are in the midst of building an educational system that provides speed, convenience, and other modern advantages while still training our students how to do hard, risky, and labor intensive things. There will be adjustments made along the way, but our goal will always be to provide our students with the most well-rounded experience possible.


Bloom’s Taxonomy is a learning model and best practice that educators use to help their students develop critical thinking skills and for better retention of information.


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To move up the pyramid from lower-order thinking (simply remembering and understanding facts) to higher-order thinking (analysis, evaluation, creation), we must push, challenge, and create opportunities for critical thinking. Critical thinking, problem solving, self-motivation, and responsibility are 21st Century Kingdom Skills that we focus on at OCA. As educators, we value partnering with families in teaching these real-life skills because we know this will prepare them to be successful in our world.

I am so thankful to be a part of a community like Oklahoma Christian Academy that has families who allow our educators to do this. You allow us to be rigorous, you desire that we develop faith-formative skills in your children, and you collaborate with us (not against us) when your child hits adversity because you know the value of preparing your child for the path and not the path for your child.

Monday, October 12, 2015

Netflix vs. Blockbuster


Blockbuster blew it. It's as simple as that. In 2000, during the early days of Netflix, their leadership team flew to Dallas, Texas to meet with Blockbuster. The goal Netflix had in mind was to sell Blockbuster on this new idea of video rental by mail, and their big hope was to sell their company model to Blockbuster.

As you know, Blockbuster said no. The CEO of Blockbuster said there will never be a time in American culture where families will not want to go to a store to rent a movie and watch it as a family. Not long after that Blockbuster went bankrupt. 

Some may think that the success of Netflix hinged on innovation. I disagree. Netflix’s concept was not innovative, it was just common sense. The Netflix concept was essentially the same as Blockbuster. A customer rents a movie, watches it, and then returns it. They did change the rental payment to a subscription fee and they used virtual ordering and shipping. Those two details were innovative, but the nuts and bolts remained the same. Essentially, all they did was take current technology and enhanced a system that was already in place. This is not innovation; it's common sense. 

In education we have a phrase for common sense things. We call them best practices. Personally, I believe one of the biggest problems in education right now is the focus on innovation and not best practices. As you know, I believe technology must play a huge role in education, but it's not for the sake of innovation. It’s so we can enhance and update best practices. That’s the conversation we need to be having more often in education. 

A new survey by educational publisher McGraw-Hill found 73% of K-12 parents believe traditional textbooks move too slowly to stay relevant in today's rapidly changing environment, while 80% believe digital resource supported learning can make it easier for students to get their head around difficult concepts.

Here is a practical comparisons of the two:

Textbooks
Digital resources
Disengaging
Engaging
Expensive
More affordable
Quickly outdated         
Easily updated
Limited accessibility         
Increased accessibility
Individual  
 Collaborative
Stagnant  
Interactive

On September 9 we took a big step at OCA. We provided 9th-12th grade students use of a personal Google Chromebook. These are 15-inch laptops using Google Drive, a cloud-based storage and sharing platform, and the Chrome internet browser. They are made for education and are the most practical device in the educational market. 



Putting engaging, collaborative, interactive technology in our students’ hands is one of the most effective ways we can educate our students and prepare them to be leaders in our world. According to research recently published in the New York Times, Chromebooks have become the standard tool for forward thinking academic settings, taking over the market once held by the iPad. This is a best practice that OCA has embraced, and we are ready to see the new doors it will open for our students and educators.  

Offering our students exposure to great learning opportunities is a responsibility we take very seriously. We also understand there is an equal responsibility to provide our students with a clear expectation for responsible use. First and foremost we are teaching our students about digital citizenship and how to use technology responsibly, appropriately, and professionally. Additionally, we are using programs to promote safe use of the internet, programs that include GoGaurdian, Hapara, and Google App Management.

The GoGaurdian content filter follows each device when it leaves our campus and monitors its activity. Hapara allows teachers to view what the students are doing with their computers in the classroom via a live feed. All of these programs will allow us to help direct our students towards responsible use, helping them appropriately use technology and teaching them to be successful in the 21st century.

Netflix knew what they were doing when they removed the barriers to high level success in the movie rental business. Now we’re doing the same thing with education.