Walton Middle School

"It's about the future, Madame Chancellor. Some people think the future means the end of history. Well, we haven't run out of history quite yet. Your father called the future - "the undiscovered country". People can be very frightened of change."- James T. Kirk

I spent the summer woodworking, going to the Mechanical Aerospace Engineering building at UVA, attending meetings like Design 2015 and CAI, which focus on the future, and Climate Improvement Meetings, focusing on improving Walton's past. I went to several meetings with some very knowledgeable people, focusing on "turning CTE upside down" (phrase by Chad Ratliff). People who think teachers get the summer 'off' should really have hung out with me, as I struggled to learn everything I could to prepare for this year!

 

At the end of the summer, I still worried. I had a plan, but this was unlike any other school year. My plan was NOT to know everything and simply impart knowledge on my students. I had received all sorts of cutting edge technology from a Design 2015 grant. I have Arduinos, Raspberry Pis, a 3D printer, and all sorts of new programs (at least to me), like Solidworks, FabLab, Scratch to Arduino, and enough others to make the head spin. My plan is to learn alongside my students.... but. It's hard to let go of the reins like that. Especially with ten 'preps' in just the first semester.
 
My first day was a transforming experience. My homeroom is fourteen 7th and 8th graders (and we'll add 7-8 more 6th graders soon) that run the video morning announcements called WLHW (for the full name of our school, Leslie H. Walton). Julie Lederman (Instructional Coach turned Gifted/Talented Teacher) and I had prepared in every way we could imagine to troubleshoot for the previous week and a half, but within 5 minutes, these impressive students had found three things and fixed problems that I didn't even know we had. The teachers and DART staff had converted to a digital streaming show with the help of technology gurus from all over the county, and all three shows that we've shot so far have gone off without a hitch, almost completely because of my WLHW staff.

My classes, all different across the first two days, were all like this, inspiring and eye-opening. I had kids on the first day that begged to be able to dig into wires, breadboards and LED lights, rather than just sit and talk during the last seven minutes of the first class. I had students today that were geeking out about the new things they were discovering on their own, with no real 'guidance' from me, on Scratch. Everyone was so happy and positive to just 'play' ... while really they were actually using logic, reasoning, and great attitudes to create their first projects in the fields of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Media Technology.

 

In a day of high points, perhaps my best moments were while creating a special presentation set to air on WLHW next Wednesday on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, DC. My media class is helping to find backgrounds from across the United States for our green screen and helping shoot footage for 83 student volunteers from all over the school to deliver 83 separate 'lines' of Dr. King's famous "I have a dream" speech.

 

I'm not saying that I don't continue to squirm with how uncomfortable it makes me to not be 'prepared' and 'know-it-all' .... but it helps to have such great reactions from all the kids that I've come into contact with during our first week. I look forward to continuing the fun next week and so on, into the "Undiscovered Country" of the future! Follow our adventures on Twitter and my blog!

 Thanks for reading!

-Jon Barber / CTE Exploratory / Walton Middle School