Tuesday, June 10, 2014

An Open Letter to My HAL Students #MRPHAL

Dear students,

I tried to sum up the year in the last few minutes of the exam and I sounded like a moron. I had everything so well thought out and I just rambled and bumbled my way thorough an incoherent sting of sentences. So, I thought I would do what I do best and write a few thoughts.

Above everything else, I want to make sure you know that I am so very proud of everything you have accomplished this year. I'm not just talking about 20 Time or TEDx, I'm talking about everything you have done this year. You have grown as writers and thinkers in an educational setting, but you have also grown as individuals. One of the best parts of this job is watching young adults mature and take the next step in their lives. While you may have stumbled along the way, all of you picked yourself up, dusted yourself off, and were ready to take the next step. No matter what life threw at you, you were ready for the challenge. Never think you cannot do anything you want. All of you have the capacity for greatness, you just have to be willing to step up and show the world.

I also want to thank you for following me in this crazy adventure this year. I'm always trying something new and I am terrible at hiding my excitement for new things. You rolled with the punches, let me fall flat on my face, and made sure I stood back up. There were days when I didn't bring my "A" game and you were more understanding of that than I probably was when you did not have yours. For those that did not take to projects and some of my others lessons, thank you for playing along. You could have made the class difficult and fought me tooth and nail, but you tried and I hope you walked away with something from those projects. I also want to thank you for your honesty. I can only get better when I get honest feedback from you. I want class to be better for the next group of students that sit in your seats and you are the best people to help me do that. I want to thank you for your sassiness. I think a class without a little push back and sass is a boring class. You always brought that and those were my favorite times. Lastly, thank you for the memories. The long conversations, the squirrel shaped student declaration of independence, the struggle for "Dream Team" status, the lib dub battle, the ginger jokes, Jane Gallagher, symbols everywhere or nowhere, "not guilty" verdicts, Utopian societies, blog posts, and so much more will be remembered long after you leave this classroom and this school.

Finally, I want to say good luck. You are all so very talented in your own special ways. Some of you are still looking for those talents, but when you find them, you are going to blow people away with your awesomeness. My door is always open to you for anything you need to talk about and, most importantly, my charging station is always available when your batteries are low. Have a great Summer and I'll see you in the Fall. Until then...Allons-y!

Mr P

TEDxGrossePointeSouthHS Crew

Monday, June 9, 2014

Mathbreakers - An Exciting Way To Approach Math #MathChat

Mathbreakers is launching a Kickstarter campaign and is looking for educators and parents to support this product. If you are interested in getting on board for this cool product, check out this link and share with your friends.

A friend introduced me to Mathbreakers a couple of months back and I was very interested in what I saw. Having always struggled in Math, I'm always open to new ways to teach it. I worry about my son coming home and needing help with this Math homework and I am of no use to him. I would love to break the cycle of bad Math in my house. I think Mathbreakers could do just that. 

I used to play MathBlaster growing up and it did help me get better at Math. Gamification really helped me embrace my dreaded subject when I had down time. I think Mathbreakers can do the same thing. Here is what Mathbreakers is according to their website, 

Mathbreakers is a revolutionary approach to grade-school mathematics. Instead of worksheets, students explore a rich 3-D world full of machines and monsters.

At first glance, it might look like Minecraft, Halo or any other 3-D game -- but in this world, everything is made of numbers. You can pick them up, chop them in half, and throw them around. The basic rule of Mathbreakers is that when two numbers touch, they add together and combine. Based on this simple mechanic, there are a host of challenges to overcome as you explore.


The simplicity of the game is something I love. Let the kids explore and discover Math as they have fun and complete quests. As an adult, I see myself diving in and having fun with my son as we explore this world and do simple Math. 

There is also a system in place that can allow teachers to set up classes and have a dashboard where all of the information on the work students have completed in the game can be stored. Here is an example of that dashboard,



The game is most best for grades 2-5 at the moment, but that will continue to grow as they build the game for users. Level editing is in the future as well, so students and teachers will be able to build their own levels and personalize lessons for their students. The future looks bright for Mathbreakers.

Monday, June 2, 2014

#20Time Thoughts and #TEDxGPSHS #edchat

This site has been pretty quiet the past couple of weeks. I have been very busy watching students give their TED Talks in the hopes of being chosen for TEDxGrossePointeSouthHS. It was not an easy decision, but I was able to narrow down a field of 40 passionate students to 15 speakers. Here is a list of the students speaking and a link to their blogs.

Over the course of this school year, I have just been hanging on day to day as these students went to do amazing things. I've been blessed to watch them struggle and overcome obstacles they thought they would never be able to do. 

I watched a student complete a marathon. 
I watched a student plan a Suicide Prevention Walk and raise over $9K despite early fears that nobody would attend. 
I watched as another student raised over $3K the following weekend for a 5K to benefit children with cancer. 

The list could go on and on about the amazing things I have been able to witness over the course of the school year. I have received praise from parents for 20 Time and I understand why they thank me, but all I did was get out of the way of some passionate students. 

Now, I'm excited to share to the world some of the best ideas that have come from these 20 Time projects. TEDxGPSHS was something I did not intend to do when I started 20 Time this year. I thought it was a long shot, but here we are. The event will be live-streamed, so stay tuned to my Twitter feed on Saturday morning for the link to watch 15 amazing students share their love of learning with the world. 

Thank you to everyone that supported me, but most importantly, supported my students and their whacky adventures in learning and self discovery this year. They needed all of the support they could get and all of you were there to cheer them onward. I'm forever in your debt for that. 

We are almost at the finish line and I can't wait to see what the ending will look like. 

Lauren R sprinting to the finish line to compete her first marathon.