The first few days of school saw rapid changes in student registration for my various courses. To account for this turnover, the first few days involve mostly a preview of the work we'll be doing over the semester and the year, and introductory activities and assignments so students who add the class later aren't too far behind.
Flight by Design
The first few days we talked about the role of the engineer in a corporation and the soft-skills related to engineering - skills such as organization, communication, creative problem solving, initiative, and project management. To assess their current ability in these areas I assigned a purposely ambiguous and challenging project. They were to use a software wind tunnel to experimentally determine the formula for lift. That was all the direction I gave them - they were responsible for breaking down the project into tasks, managing their time, collecting and analyzing data, and communicating the results to me in a technical report.
The students were initially somewhat intimidated I think, but quickly dove into the project and within a week everyone had a good approximation to the lift equation, and more importantly, data to back up their hypothesis. They rose to the challenge, and I look forward to a great year in FbD.
AP Calculus
I like to make sure that AP Calc starts with a bang (which often results in a collective whimper from the students!). On day 2, the kids were given a test over their summer review assignment. It was a hard test and I think the students have learned that this is going to be a challenging class. I'm not trying to scare the kids, but I want them to understand what Advanced Placement means in the context of mathematics. They need to stay focused this year. They need to work hard and engage directly in their learning. They need to make sure they manage their time. They need to make sure that they are studying effectively, not just scanning their notes.
I didn't count the first test directly. Instead, the kids were to assess their performance and reflect on how they're going to approach the class this year. After that, we jumped directly into Chapter 2 of the textbook - Limits. Limits are a foundation concept for calculus - everything else is based on them, so it's critical the students understand limits from a numerical, graphical, verbal, and analytical perspective. The students have already taken two quizzes that have assessed them on two calculus standards.
AP Calculus moves quickly. In fact, we are almost done with limits and chapter two, which means their first real AP Calculus test is around the corner.
Calculus
The primary difference between Calculus and AP Calculus is the pace. In AP, the pace is set by the nation-wide test, which is May 9th, 2011. In regular calculus, my pace will be set by the class for the most part. I expect the calculus kids to work at the same level as the AP kids, but I don't force them on the same pace. We'll get to the same place, but we have the luxury of more time in regular calculus. For example, AP calculus was required to do chapter 1 (a review of functions) as an independent summer assignment. Regular calculus is doing this in class as a formal unit.
In the last two weeks we've been reviewing algebra, geometry, and trigonometry by studying functions using numbers, graphs, words, and equations. I expect we'll have another week or so on these topics before diving into Chapter 2 and Limits.
Astronomy
Astronomy is one of my favorite classes (and in fact, it was my major for my undergraduate degree). We've spend the last two weeks examining Astronomy's impact on history and culture. The kids were asked to select a work of art (music, painting, sculpture, film, etc.) that uses astronomy in some way to convey a message. We've started studying how mankind's conception of the universe has changed over time, and we've started learning how astronomers use math and the other sciences to learn about the universe. I can already tell this is going to be fun class and a good year.
