I am helping with a Senior project. This project involves teaching young pianists musical theory. I am essentially a secretary for the person in charge and I take notes on the teaching sessions as well as take photos. I also help to clarify points to individual students and I also teach students who won't learn anything from the session. This class is once a week over the course of a few months in preparation for a theory exam. The main point of this class, however, is to better prepare young pianists for piano lessons by helping them solidify their knowledge of chords, scales, and intervals. By having a better understanding of these things, these young pianists will be able to improve their playing ability.
Team Member Outline:
Name: Michael Phuong
Project Leader Name: Daryl Phuong
Project Name: Music theory for kids
Project Milestone dates: Students should have a solid knowledge of the Circle of 5ths by February 15th
Students should be able to identify and name intervals by March 15th
Students should be able to identify and name chords by April 15th
What is the objective of this project?
To help students in their piano lessons by first improving their knowledge of musical theory
How does your project align withour mission and goals as a class?
We are helping students learn to be able to apply their knowledge in a way that is more similar to what they are expected to be able to do in high school and in college versus telling students to memorize certain questions that is typical of an elementary school or sometimes a middle school course.
What is your role going to be in the project?
I will be taking notes at each session regarding what is taught, which students fully understand the concepts, which students are struggling, and examples that are provided. I will also be in charge of tutoring students that are lagging behind the main class and in some cases preparing more advanced students for more difficult material.
How are you and your group going to hold each other accountable for work getting done throughout the project?
We will have meetings after each theory session and check to see that my notes are accurate and to talk about how to accomadate struggling students and how to challenge the students that already understand the concepts.
What do you see as being th elargest obstacle in your way to success? What do you see as being an obstacle for your group?
My short temper may get in my way to succeed since I'll have to deal with younger students. As a group, students that refuse to learn and are constantly messing around during class will probably cause troubles for the project.
What is the plan for overcoming these obstacles?
I will make sure that I am calm and utilize other anger management techniques in order to prevent myself from exploding during class. To deal with the disruptive students, we will send them out of the classroom setting or put them aside from the main group and force them to study alone with my assistance in order to make sure that they stay focused.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Student Surveys
OVERVIEW:
After hearing the complaints by students about not getting the class they wanted or getting a class that wasn't what they expected, we have decided to help students choose their classes through a rating system which will be conducted through student surveys. Students have also been complaining about normal courses vs. AP courses and whether or not they can handle the work load. A few have noted that AP courses tend to have a lighter work load but students have to be much more proactive about studying. The fact is that few students know about the differences between AP and normal courses and they tend to avoid AP courses because they assume that AP courses have a much larger work load which they can not balance with their other activities. The surveys will contain a rating system of 1-10 regarding the interest level of the class, difficulty, work load, and fun. There will also be a box for more specific comments by students. Surveys targetted towards Freshmen and Sophomores will be issued for just the elective courses they may take since they have little choice in the courses that they take.
Project Outline:
Describe what you see as the end result of your project. What will it look/feel like? How does your project align with our mission and goals as a class?
We will have a compiled list of comments and the top 2 highest average classes of each category. This project will help improve the community of AHS as it will help students be much more informed about their classes and students will have less to complain about their elective classes. Students will be able to better anticipate what they will be in for in a certain class so they'll be able to make better decisions about classes based on their workloads in and out of schools.
What are the obstacles and or challenges that you are anticipating when working on your project?
I expect that we will have challenges in the form of finding a time for all the teacher's to take the survey but we will solve this by ensuring that teachers are given a few days to give the survey to the students so they can work it into their schedule or give it to their students to take at home.
What are the milestones that you are going to meet? Be detailed.
We will have to reach milestones such as making sure we have a good outline for the surveys. Having a time period set for when the surveys should be taken and when they should be completed by. We will also have another milestone for when we should finish compiling the surveys' data.
How will you ensure that you reach your project milestones on the dates listed above? How do you think you will overcome these foreseen obstacles?
We will plan ahead and make sure we meet with people in charge so that we can ensure that all the milestones are met. If there are unforeseen obstacles we will first try to resolve it among ourselves but if that fails we will go to meet with our mentor.
What materials are you going to need to successfully carry out your project?
We will need a lot of paper, cooperation with teachers, a computer, and a printer.
What things besides materials are you going to need to be successful in your project? (examples: people or special training)
We will need to have cooperation with teachers and also we will have to talk to or see examples of what people have done to compile data neatly and in an attractive way.
How many people will need to help you in your project? What do you see their roles being? Be specific.
I have a partner for this project and he will be helping to design the surveys, printing, proof read, and compile data. We will have one other helper. She will be helping us to compile that data, print, and proof read. She will also take part in helping to make the data compilation look nicer and cleaner.
What is your plan to hold yourself and your group accountable for the success of the project?
To hold myself and my group accountable we will have meetings and talk with each other about what we have done so far and what we need to accomplish next.
21 April 2011
We spoke to Gudor and he agreed to be our mentor for this project. He also gave us ideas about the distribution and how the data we gather will be presented to the students. He also alerted us to concerns about teachers feeling uncomfortable because they don't want students to say that their class are not enjoyable or aren't very educational.
After hearing the complaints by students about not getting the class they wanted or getting a class that wasn't what they expected, we have decided to help students choose their classes through a rating system which will be conducted through student surveys. Students have also been complaining about normal courses vs. AP courses and whether or not they can handle the work load. A few have noted that AP courses tend to have a lighter work load but students have to be much more proactive about studying. The fact is that few students know about the differences between AP and normal courses and they tend to avoid AP courses because they assume that AP courses have a much larger work load which they can not balance with their other activities. The surveys will contain a rating system of 1-10 regarding the interest level of the class, difficulty, work load, and fun. There will also be a box for more specific comments by students. Surveys targetted towards Freshmen and Sophomores will be issued for just the elective courses they may take since they have little choice in the courses that they take.
Project Outline:
Describe what you see as the end result of your project. What will it look/feel like? How does your project align with our mission and goals as a class?
We will have a compiled list of comments and the top 2 highest average classes of each category. This project will help improve the community of AHS as it will help students be much more informed about their classes and students will have less to complain about their elective classes. Students will be able to better anticipate what they will be in for in a certain class so they'll be able to make better decisions about classes based on their workloads in and out of schools.
What are the obstacles and or challenges that you are anticipating when working on your project?
I expect that we will have challenges in the form of finding a time for all the teacher's to take the survey but we will solve this by ensuring that teachers are given a few days to give the survey to the students so they can work it into their schedule or give it to their students to take at home.
What are the milestones that you are going to meet? Be detailed.
We will have to reach milestones such as making sure we have a good outline for the surveys. Having a time period set for when the surveys should be taken and when they should be completed by. We will also have another milestone for when we should finish compiling the surveys' data.
How will you ensure that you reach your project milestones on the dates listed above? How do you think you will overcome these foreseen obstacles?
We will plan ahead and make sure we meet with people in charge so that we can ensure that all the milestones are met. If there are unforeseen obstacles we will first try to resolve it among ourselves but if that fails we will go to meet with our mentor.
What materials are you going to need to successfully carry out your project?
We will need a lot of paper, cooperation with teachers, a computer, and a printer.
What things besides materials are you going to need to be successful in your project? (examples: people or special training)
We will need to have cooperation with teachers and also we will have to talk to or see examples of what people have done to compile data neatly and in an attractive way.
How many people will need to help you in your project? What do you see their roles being? Be specific.
I have a partner for this project and he will be helping to design the surveys, printing, proof read, and compile data. We will have one other helper. She will be helping us to compile that data, print, and proof read. She will also take part in helping to make the data compilation look nicer and cleaner.
What is your plan to hold yourself and your group accountable for the success of the project?
To hold myself and my group accountable we will have meetings and talk with each other about what we have done so far and what we need to accomplish next.
21 April 2011
We spoke to Gudor and he agreed to be our mentor for this project. He also gave us ideas about the distribution and how the data we gather will be presented to the students. He also alerted us to concerns about teachers feeling uncomfortable because they don't want students to say that their class are not enjoyable or aren't very educational.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
AP Chemistry prep class
*EDIT* This project was changed from an AP Chemistry Prep class to an Chemistry prep/review packet
Mr. Shiroma has been complaining about how his students in AP Chemistry had procrastinated over the summer and also about how some students don't have a solid foundation of normal Chemistry. Also, some students are afraid to take the course because they don't know what to expect. Conversely, there are also those students that take the class thinking they can handle it but, in reality, they can't as they are then. This prep class will solidify normal Chemistry knowledge and also help people do the work that is required over the summer prior to taking AP Chemistry. The prep class will also help inform students about what they should expect from the course. I will co-lead this project with Jonathan. Our advisor will be Mr. Shiroma.
Project Outline:
Describe what you see as the end result of your project. What will it look/feel like? How does your project align with our mission and goals as a class?
It will be a packet outlining the basics of regular Chemistry for the course. It will be useful in helping students that are confused with some basic parts of Chemistry.What are the obstacles and or challenges that you are anticipating when working on your project?
We will most likely experience challenges from having to choose what will be necessary for the packet but especially the phrasing that we use for the packet.What are the milestones that you are going to meet? Be detailed.
We will have a milestone for when we discussed the change in the project with Mr. Shiroma and another milestone when we have the packet complete and submitted to Mr. Shiroma.
How will you ensure that you reach your project milestones on the dates listed above? How do you think you will overcome these foreseen obstacles?
We will plan ahead and make sure we meet with people in charge so that we can ensure that all the milestones are met. If there are unforeseen obstacles we will first try to resolve it among ourselves but if that fails we will go to meet with our mentor.
What materials are you going to need to successfully carry out your project?
We will need a lot of paper, cooperation with teachers, a computer, and a printer.
What things besides materials are you going to need to be successful in your project? (examples: people or special training)
We will need to have cooperation with teachers and also we will have to talk to or see examples of what people have done to create great study guides.
How many people will need to help you in your project? What do you see their roles being? Be specific.
I have a partner for this project who will help to edit the packet and figure out the phrasing and making sure all the necessary information is there.
What is your plan to hold yourself and your group accountable for the success of the project?
To hold myself and my group accountable we will have meetings and talk with each other about what we have done so far and what we need to accomplish next.
25 April 2011
We spoke to Mr. Shiroma and he agreed to be our advisor for this project. He will provide us materials and use of his room after school in June for the prep class to take place.
1 June 2011
We decided to switch to a Chemistry Review Packet project since the AP Chemistry class may be cancelled next year.
Mr. Shiroma has been complaining about how his students in AP Chemistry had procrastinated over the summer and also about how some students don't have a solid foundation of normal Chemistry. Also, some students are afraid to take the course because they don't know what to expect. Conversely, there are also those students that take the class thinking they can handle it but, in reality, they can't as they are then. This prep class will solidify normal Chemistry knowledge and also help people do the work that is required over the summer prior to taking AP Chemistry. The prep class will also help inform students about what they should expect from the course. I will co-lead this project with Jonathan. Our advisor will be Mr. Shiroma.
Project Outline:
Describe what you see as the end result of your project. What will it look/feel like? How does your project align with our mission and goals as a class?
It will be a packet outlining the basics of regular Chemistry for the course. It will be useful in helping students that are confused with some basic parts of Chemistry.What are the obstacles and or challenges that you are anticipating when working on your project?
We will most likely experience challenges from having to choose what will be necessary for the packet but especially the phrasing that we use for the packet.What are the milestones that you are going to meet? Be detailed.
We will have a milestone for when we discussed the change in the project with Mr. Shiroma and another milestone when we have the packet complete and submitted to Mr. Shiroma.
How will you ensure that you reach your project milestones on the dates listed above? How do you think you will overcome these foreseen obstacles?
We will plan ahead and make sure we meet with people in charge so that we can ensure that all the milestones are met. If there are unforeseen obstacles we will first try to resolve it among ourselves but if that fails we will go to meet with our mentor.
What materials are you going to need to successfully carry out your project?
We will need a lot of paper, cooperation with teachers, a computer, and a printer.
What things besides materials are you going to need to be successful in your project? (examples: people or special training)
We will need to have cooperation with teachers and also we will have to talk to or see examples of what people have done to create great study guides.
How many people will need to help you in your project? What do you see their roles being? Be specific.
I have a partner for this project who will help to edit the packet and figure out the phrasing and making sure all the necessary information is there.
What is your plan to hold yourself and your group accountable for the success of the project?
To hold myself and my group accountable we will have meetings and talk with each other about what we have done so far and what we need to accomplish next.
25 April 2011
We spoke to Mr. Shiroma and he agreed to be our advisor for this project. He will provide us materials and use of his room after school in June for the prep class to take place.
1 June 2011
We decided to switch to a Chemistry Review Packet project since the AP Chemistry class may be cancelled next year.
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