We are now at the end of the semester, and it is hard to believe.
The year is going by very fast.
All classes will review for semester final exams on Friday &
Monday. Exams start next Tuesday, which is a full day of school.
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are all half days, where students are
dismissed at 1:15. No lunches are served on the short days. Here is a
link to the schedule for exams.
For IED, the exams will be as follows:
3rd period: Tuesday 9:05 - 11:05
4th period: Friday 9:05 - 11:05
5th period: Wednesday 11:15 - 1:15
6th period: Thursday 11:15 - 1:15
Note that no one will be able to exempt the spring exam as PLTW
requires us to give an end of course exam to all students. If you want
to exempt anything in IED, this would be the one. Also, freshmen are not eligible to exempt the exams.
Students who wish to exempt may pick up the forms in the office today
or tomorrow after school. Completed, signed forms are due back in the
office Monday afternoon by 4:30. Don't be late!
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Welcome back from the break!
Welcome back. I hope that you had a great Thanksgiving break. It is hard to believe that we are just 3 weeks away from the semester break. The year, as usual, is slipping by very quickly.
We have about another week plus of work, and then we will be preparing for and taking semester final exams. We are currently learning about different types of holes (tapped holes, countersinks, counterbores, etc.) I know that most people think a hole is a hole, but to engineers, nothing is that simple. The main thing at this point is to get the vocabulary down so that we can communicate more succinctly about different options in our designs. We also have a few more tricks to learn regarding modelling parts with Inventor, and then I will spend about a day with a brief review of material for the semester final.
For IED, no students will be allowed to exempt the spring exam. PLTW requires that we give each student an End of Course (EoC) exam, which will be given during the spring final exams. For that reason, exemptions will not be given for engineering courses in the spring, and you should exempt the fall exam if you wish to do so at all.
The details can be found in the RRISD Student Handook (excerpted here). Basically, sophomores, juniors, and seniors can exempt up to three exams each semester provided that you were not counted as absent three or more times for that particular class. Remember that three tardies count as one absence in all classes. The grade requirement is an 85 or better for the semester. I will sign anyone's forms for exempting who has an 88 or better for the semester. If your grade is less than 82, you will likely not be able to raise your semester grade enough to meet the 85 standard this late in the semester. Between 82 and 88, I would need to look at on an individual basis and, possibly, grade outstanding assignments before making the determination. Listen to the announcements to find out when and where to pick up the forms as well as when the forms are due back to the office signed by any teachers whose class you wish to exempt.
We have about another week plus of work, and then we will be preparing for and taking semester final exams. We are currently learning about different types of holes (tapped holes, countersinks, counterbores, etc.) I know that most people think a hole is a hole, but to engineers, nothing is that simple. The main thing at this point is to get the vocabulary down so that we can communicate more succinctly about different options in our designs. We also have a few more tricks to learn regarding modelling parts with Inventor, and then I will spend about a day with a brief review of material for the semester final.
For IED, no students will be allowed to exempt the spring exam. PLTW requires that we give each student an End of Course (EoC) exam, which will be given during the spring final exams. For that reason, exemptions will not be given for engineering courses in the spring, and you should exempt the fall exam if you wish to do so at all.
The details can be found in the RRISD Student Handook (excerpted here). Basically, sophomores, juniors, and seniors can exempt up to three exams each semester provided that you were not counted as absent three or more times for that particular class. Remember that three tardies count as one absence in all classes. The grade requirement is an 85 or better for the semester. I will sign anyone's forms for exempting who has an 88 or better for the semester. If your grade is less than 82, you will likely not be able to raise your semester grade enough to meet the 85 standard this late in the semester. Between 82 and 88, I would need to look at on an individual basis and, possibly, grade outstanding assignments before making the determination. Listen to the announcements to find out when and where to pick up the forms as well as when the forms are due back to the office signed by any teachers whose class you wish to exempt.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Freshmen Career Fair
For Freshmen Only!
RRISD is hosting a freshmen Career Fair this Friday (November 18) at the Round Rock Higher Education Center on University Boulevard. Freshmen can learn about various careers, the academy structure at RRHS, and how we can help them explore and better prepare for those careers.
There will be a breakout session (break out by academy) as well as time to explore a vendor area where potential employers can answer specific questions for our students. The bus will from RRHS in the morning and return to school in time for the lunch periods.
Any student who is interested in attending but has not registered may do so by having parents fill out and sign these two permission forms and returning to Jill Bunnell in the 9th grade office (700 building). The seats are limited, so remaining slots are being given out on a first come-first served basis. Let me know if you have any questions.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
November 14
There has been a lot of discussion and changes around the grading system used at RRHS. Since IED is a project-based course, I will continue using a 1-4 grading system and grading rubrics for projects and parts of projects. This fits much better for the types of assignments that we do than the more traditional system. The "product" that students produce lends itself better to grading on rubrics than a standard %correct. Our curriculum (Project Lead the Way) provides rubrics for many of the assignments students are given. Please let me know if you have any questions about this or any concerns on your grades.
This week, we will continue working on advanced sketching and modeling skills in Inventor. We will use Inventor for projects throughout the remainder of the year, so it is important to understand how the software works and the many options that you have for accomplishing any particular task.
Speaking of Inventor, the license purchased for us to use at school allows students to download and use an educational version at home. You have access to this at home to keep up or catch up on work from school, which helps to mitigate the limited access to the software at school. Click this link to download Inventor. You will need to enter some registration information, including an email address. Please fill it out correctly, as Autodesk will send information to you that is necessary to complete installation. Also, make sure to choose Inventor Professional 2011. Any other version will leave you unable to share files between school and home. Finally, expect this to take from 3 to 10 hours, depending on your computer and internet connection speed. This isn't necessary as students have access to the computers in my room during tutorial hours. Many like to have access to the software at home as well.
This week, we will continue working on advanced sketching and modeling skills in Inventor. We will use Inventor for projects throughout the remainder of the year, so it is important to understand how the software works and the many options that you have for accomplishing any particular task.
Speaking of Inventor, the license purchased for us to use at school allows students to download and use an educational version at home. You have access to this at home to keep up or catch up on work from school, which helps to mitigate the limited access to the software at school. Click this link to download Inventor. You will need to enter some registration information, including an email address. Please fill it out correctly, as Autodesk will send information to you that is necessary to complete installation. Also, make sure to choose Inventor Professional 2011. Any other version will leave you unable to share files between school and home. Finally, expect this to take from 3 to 10 hours, depending on your computer and internet connection speed. This isn't necessary as students have access to the computers in my room during tutorial hours. Many like to have access to the software at home as well.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
More Drawing/Sketching, a Quiz, and Open House
We are continuing learning to sketch this week. We have already begun learning to draw orthographic projection (multiview drawings), which are one of the most important concepts to understand in a first engineering course. I want to spend a couple of more class periods because of the importance of this to our engineering; because it has critical links to your geometry classes; and because it is relatively new and difficult to grasp for many students. Spending more time here now will make some other material later in the year go faster.
IED students will have a quiz on Tuesday/Wednesday. I will have an object for you to sketch and will have some questions regarding the terminology of orthographic projection. Know where the views are located and the directions of height, width, and depth in a multiview drawing.
Finally, don't forget about the ribbon cutting/open house Monday night. All students, parents, and other interested parties are invited to attend a ribbon cutting of our awesome new building at 5:30. At 6:00 there will be a short PTSA meeting, and then parents are invited to walk through your child's schedule beginning at 6:30. We will have 10 minutes per class period with a short passing period in between. I hope to see you there and look forward to meeting you.
IED students will have a quiz on Tuesday/Wednesday. I will have an object for you to sketch and will have some questions regarding the terminology of orthographic projection. Know where the views are located and the directions of height, width, and depth in a multiview drawing.
Finally, don't forget about the ribbon cutting/open house Monday night. All students, parents, and other interested parties are invited to attend a ribbon cutting of our awesome new building at 5:30. At 6:00 there will be a short PTSA meeting, and then parents are invited to walk through your child's schedule beginning at 6:30. We will have 10 minutes per class period with a short passing period in between. I hope to see you there and look forward to meeting you.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Week of Sep 5
We will continue working on sketching this week. Oblique sketches will be due this week. They should be complete in your journals by Wednesday as I will start grading isometric and oblique sketches. After perspectives, we will get in to more technical drawing and learn about orthographic projection (multi-view) drawings, which are the main type of drawings with which engineers and technicians communicate with each other.
Expect a quiz over sketching and the beginning of orthographic projection on Friday/Monday.
Thank you to those of you who have brought in your lab fees. If you have not, please get it to me or get with me so that I can make plans. We will use the fees to cover some of the cost of materials and supplies, such as the 3d printer powder, and expenses related to demonstrations for the classes.
Home access will be available starting this week. Contact the school office if you need to set up access or can't remember your access information.
RRHS Open House
Once again, make plans to attend the RRHS open house on Monday evening September 12, which will begin at 5:30 with a ribbon cutting ceremony and chance to visit our beautiful new building. At 6:00, there will be a brief PTSA meeting, and then you will have a chance to go through your student's schedule and meet all of their teachers. I hope to see you then.
Expect a quiz over sketching and the beginning of orthographic projection on Friday/Monday.
Thank you to those of you who have brought in your lab fees. If you have not, please get it to me or get with me so that I can make plans. We will use the fees to cover some of the cost of materials and supplies, such as the 3d printer powder, and expenses related to demonstrations for the classes.
Home access will be available starting this week. Contact the school office if you need to set up access or can't remember your access information.
RRHS Open House
Once again, make plans to attend the RRHS open house on Monday evening September 12, which will begin at 5:30 with a ribbon cutting ceremony and chance to visit our beautiful new building. At 6:00, there will be a brief PTSA meeting, and then you will have a chance to go through your student's schedule and meet all of their teachers. I hope to see you then.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Open (School) House & Lab Fees
Please remember to have the $35 lab fee to my by this Friday (Sep 2). If you need to work out arrangements, just please speak with me so that I will know. I definitely understand that you have gotten a lot of fees right here at the first of the year and will be happy to work with you.
Mark your calendars for RRHS Open House on Monday September 12. The evening will start with a PTSA meeting. Afterward, you will go through the student's entire schedule. I hope to see you in person and meet you then. Watch the school page or check back here for more information.
Finally, I use Moodle quite a bit. I like that I can post assignments and even lessons for students to access from home. In that way, you have access not only to what you need to complete a homework assignment, but you can review the material in which it is taught as well. Unfortunately, RRISD is experienceing some difficulty with the servers that support MOODLE at this time. It is subject to going down and may not be available at all times. Please bear with us as our tech team works to improve the uptime and bandwidth. This is not the norm, and I believe that they will find a solution for us soon.
Mark your calendars for RRHS Open House on Monday September 12. The evening will start with a PTSA meeting. Afterward, you will go through the student's entire schedule. I hope to see you in person and meet you then. Watch the school page or check back here for more information.
Finally, I use Moodle quite a bit. I like that I can post assignments and even lessons for students to access from home. In that way, you have access not only to what you need to complete a homework assignment, but you can review the material in which it is taught as well. Unfortunately, RRISD is experienceing some difficulty with the servers that support MOODLE at this time. It is subject to going down and may not be available at all times. Please bear with us as our tech team works to improve the uptime and bandwidth. This is not the norm, and I believe that they will find a solution for us soon.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Drawing Assignment
Moodle is up and down this weekend so that you may have difficulty getting to the drawing assignment. That is not unusual for the first of the year as our technology department works the cobwebs out of the servers and systems that we have. I believe that there are more people using Moodle this year, so the traffic may be more than they anticipated.
Note also that there is a notice posted on the login page of Moodle that it will be down every Friday evening for maintenance (or at least it might be).
In the mean time, you can Google "How to draw a" and then choose your object that you want to draw. You will find similar instructions to the packet that I had in class and posted in Moodle for you. You may choose other objects, the the ones that I had in the packet were: pig, cat, tiger, clown, helicopter, castle, pickup truck, teddy bear, etc. I found these instructions when I Googled "How to draw a pig". (link).
Note also that there is a notice posted on the login page of Moodle that it will be down every Friday evening for maintenance (or at least it might be).
In the mean time, you can Google "How to draw a" and then choose your object that you want to draw. You will find similar instructions to the packet that I had in class and posted in Moodle for you. You may choose other objects, the the ones that I had in the packet were: pig, cat, tiger, clown, helicopter, castle, pickup truck, teddy bear, etc. I found these instructions when I Googled "How to draw a pig". (link).
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Howdy!
Once in Moodle, select "All Courses" on the left side and surf to RRHS then Electives and finally find my name. Select the Intro to Engineering course from the list. The enrollment key is "Monday".
Finally, click on these links for a copy of the course syllabus and the computer-use contract.
I am excited and looking forward to this year and what we can all learn together.
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