Sunday, March 20, 2011

iAM By: Nathan Manderfeld

     At the beginning of 2010-2011 school year I set a goal. That goal was to have my students experience their learning. I wanted each of them to produce a digital portfolio before the end of the year. This portfolio would archive their products and experiences from the year.

     The products and experiences would be based on a theme: Build, Create, and Move. The idea being that each month we would use our free time to build something, create somehow, or move somebody. Out of this idea grew another idea: iAM.  The "i" (iPhone, iPad, iPod)  representing their use of 21st century skills. The "AM" representing their experiences in various careers. At the end of their fifth grade year each of my students will be able to stand proudly and state, "iAM and engineer, iAM an architect, iAM an entrepreneur, iAM a graphic designer, iAM philanthropist, iAM an author, iAM a 21st century learner, and iAM more than a test score."

    The following post is a snapshot of what we have been up to from the students themselves.

Architect

My name is Emily and iAM an architect. Google SketchUp is a computer aided design program that allows you to build things in 3D. During our architectural design unit we learned different architectural design principles and terms. Here is the beach house I designed. 






My name is Raquan and iAM an architect. I have always loved computers. It is great when I get to use them to create things.I hope to one day become an architect and use my skills to help people build their dream houses. It was awesome when Mr. Greenwood came and spoke to us about his job as an architect. Check out the homeless shelter I designed.






Entrepreneur


My name is Erin and iAM and entrepreneur. As a class project we were encouraged to come up with a business idea. We decided on a hot chocolate business. CocoaLoco was born.Mr. Manderfeld then led us through a series of lessons where we learned about what it takes to start a small business.We learned everything from calculating margin to branding our product. We had to come up with a company name, create and test our product and write our business plan. We then worked together each day to run the business.We also had to keep track of the inventory and  finances. The computer program we learned and used during this unit was Microsoft Excel.






My name is Christopher and iAM an entrepreneur. Here is a copy of the spreadsheet we used to keep track of our finances. We used the money we earned to buy Christmas gifts for a boy from the Yucca Valley Boys Home and to purchase the Adobe Creative suite to help us with vector based graphics and publishing.







My name is Isaiah and iAM and entrepreneur. During our hot chocolate sales we came up with a number of promotions. Our most popular promotion was our, "free video game download with purchase" campaign. Each student who bought a hot chocolate that day got to play the video game I created. They then brought their downloads to our class to play the game at recess. Click the link below to play my game.

CocoaLoco The Video Game




Graphic Designer


My name is Timmy and iAM a graphic designer. Mr. Manderfeld had each of us create our own brand. We needed a logo and a business card. We used Microsoft Publisher to create a logo, business card, and brochure for our company. 







My name is Aishah  and iAM a graphic designer. I love to draw. Art is my favorite subject and I am really good at it. It is really cool that Mr. Manderfeld allows us to use all of our talents. Here is my business card for CA Cutouts.








Andrea Carter speaks to the class about her job in sales, marketing and graphic design.










Engineer


My name is Cody and iAM and engineer. During our unit on engineering we learned about the design wheel. We also worked in groups to build Rube Goldberg machines. A Rube Goldberg machine is a complex machine designed to do a simple task using a series of chain reactions. Click on the link below to see our inspiration the OK GO Rube Goldberg machine.


This Too Shall Pass Video




My name is Sergio and iAM an engineer. Building things is fun. My dad works on cars and when I grow up I would love to be an engineer. Building our Rube Goldberg machine was hard. We tried over and over again until it finally worked. I learned never to give up.










Philanthropist

We are currently in the progress of changing the world...Stay tuned for the latest updates.

    As we approach the CST's it is important for students to demonstrate to the state of California what they can do. But no matter what the outcome I have many students in my class that can truly say they are more than a test score! For more information resources or a copy of our complete digital magazine e-mail me at njmander@gmail.com




     

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