Week of Nov 26

It's hard to believe that it is only 4 short weeks until we are out for the Christmas break and that the year is already half over.  Of course, one of those weeks will be taken up with final exams and preparations.  That means that there are some things you need to know about soon.

For all of the PLTW engineering classes, an End of Course exam is required, which will be given during the times of the spring semester exams.  That means that you will not be able to exempt your IED exam in the spring regardless.  If you want to exempt the fall semester exam and qualify per the school guidelines, you are free to do so. However, it is a preview of at least part of the exam that will be given in the spring.  The schedule for exams and guidelines can be found on the RRHS web page.

Students are picking up Inventor quite readily and are progressing faster than we had planned.  This week, we will assemble our puzzle cubes and create a movie file that shows it being assembled & disassembled. Then, we will continue to expand our Inventor skills and be able to create more and more complex objects.  After the Christmas break, we will make the toy train in Inventor.

If you would like to download Inventor for use at home on your schoolwork, you can do so at the Autodesk web site.  Be warned that the download and install may take up to 10 hours. If you run in to trouble, let me know, but please be specific about the error.  "It didn't work." doesn't give me much to help you with.  It should run on most modern computers, but it may be a bit slow.

There are some key dates coming up.  Make sure that you are checking the RRHS home page and getting school and PTSA notifications to keep up.  First of all, RRHS is participating launching a Laptop Initiative, to give every freshman a laptop computer.  As this rolls up in future years, we can do more and  more things in the classrooms with computers since every student will have their own computer to use.  There is an informational meeting coming up this Wednesday (Nov 28) at 6:30 p.m. in the 1100 bldg lecture hall to outline how the program will work, expectation, etc.  Be sure that a parent attends this meeting.  

The next meeting will be on December 12 for incoming freshmen. If you have an 8th grader coming up to RRHS, you will want to attend the Academy Night to get information about our academy programs and choices available.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow! The semester is going very quickly.  It is already time for Thanskgiving, which means that semester final exams and the end of the semester are not far behind.

Speaking of semester finals, students who are eligible per school rules to exempt may exempt the fall semester exam for IED.  No one will be able to exempt the spring final exam as this is an End of Course exam that is required by PLTW for all of our students.  In short, if you think you might want to exempt one of the IED exams this year, it must be the fall exam, if you qualify for exemptions per school rules.

The puzzles looked good. Everyone did a great job in their designs so far.  Make sure that you have good documentation in your journals for the work that you have done.  We will next create solid models of the five puzzle pieces that you created using Autodesk Inventor.  This industry-standard solid modelling software is used by engineers and companies in creating designs of many of the products that you use every day.  Students every year are excited to find out that the license granted to the school for use of this software package allows students to download a copy for educational use at home.  I will place the link in Moodle, and you can follow the directions for downloading the software at home.  The installation will take up to 10 hours, depending on your computer and connection speed. I recommend that you use a wired connection for this as it will speed up the download.  Many students have had success installing Inventor at home, but it is too big and complex for some older computers.

Week of Nov 12

IED classes have started working on the Puzzle Cube project, which we started on Friday.  You will use the design process and some new tools to design an interlocking puzzle cube toy.  After designing the cube and its five parts by hand, we will learn to use Autodesk Inventor to build a solid model of the cube.  This will be our introduction to Inventor.  The license that the school has with Autodesk for the software allows students in the IED classes to download Inventor on their home computers for educational use.  I will post the link in Moodle when we begin.  There are 3 huge files which take a long time to download. It would be best if you use a wired connection in the interest of time and plan to not be using the computer for 7-10 hours while it downloads and installs.

Report cards will be handed out during 2nd period Thursday.  It is hard to believe that the year is already 12 (Well.  Really 11) weeks gone.  This six weeks will be extremely quick since we have finals and the end of the semester looming in just 5 more weeks.

Speaking of finals, the exam schedule is out and posted in my room. As far as IED goes, you may exempt the fall semester exam but not the spring.  PLTW requires that all students take the EOC exam, which I will give during finals week in May.  If you want to exempt your IED exam and are eligible to do so, you will definitely want to do so this semester.

Finally, I have duty every morning this week, so there are no morning tutorials.

Semi High Tech U - Feb 20-22

Semi High Tech U is a three day "educational field trip" sponsored by SEMI, a consortium of various companies in the semiconductor (commonly called "computer chip") industry.  The link above includes a video that describes and allows you to see what goes on at a typical High Tech U.  Many companies who take part in making the integrated circuits used in not only computers but also cell phones, games, MP3 players, cars, televisions, and garage door openers among thousands of other products put together activities and host students from all over central Texas to help you to understand the challenges faced by engineers in their companies.  This is a good chance to get exposed to how the math, science, language, and other skills that you are learning are being put to use right now in some of the most fast-paced jobs available.  You will also get to meet and interact with engineers, managers, recruiters and others who work for these companies.  You can ask questions about their jobs, experiences, studying engineering, and even conduct a mock interview.  It is a great chance to enhance your resume and job-searching skills.

The team at the Austin High Tech U last year set the HTU world record for the fastest time in the "human calculator" activity.

High Tech U is specifically for all students interested in pursuing a technical field.   Events are held all over the world, but the one for the Austin area is currently scheduled for February 20, 21, and 22.  It will require that you are able to miss school for three consecutive days (2 A days and a B day), so I am telling you now so that you can plan ahead.  There is not cost to you to attend, and transportation will be provided to and from the event every day by RRISD (probably even someone you know very well).

Students who wish to attend must apply directly to Semi.  They will make the selections, but there is no limit on the number of students who can attend from any one school.  Last year, we were restricted to five students from RRHS through a special arrangement between RRISD and Semi.  Applications will be accepted beginning in January, but RRHS students may submit applications NOW.  Download the application and submit it per the instructions as soon as possible to enhance your chances of being selected.  Even if you are not certain that you will be able to attend, apply now.  You can always turn down the offer later if  you are accepted.  Also, previous High Tech U students may apply, but remember that Semi makes the selection this year.  Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions.

Week of Nov 5

IED classes will finish up a study of measurement and statistics this week by learning to use Excel to complete the tedious standard deviation calculations, among others.  Our next unit will take us in to designing first through sketches and drawing and finishing up with finally starting to use Autodesk Inventor.  When we begin Inventor, I will open a link that will allow students to download a copy of Inventor for use at home.  The school license for the software allows students to use the our software for educational purposes.

This week is the last week of the six weeks.  Make sure that your grades are up to date before Friday.  Look for report cards to come out next week.  In preparation for the grade deadline, this Wednesday will be  a WOW day, but Thursday will NOT be a late start.  Make sure to plan your schedule for the week accordingly, and take advantage of the tutoring time during the WOW period Wednesday afternoon.

This Saturday is the FADE competition. Teams will need to be at the front of the school (100 bldg) in time to  leave at 5:30 a.m.  Check my FADE update page for details and more information.  It is exciting to see the teams working through their ideas and preparing to represent RRHS well in College Station.