In the Classroom April 2008
Posted by usnl in : In the Classroom, April 2008 Edition , trackbackSongwriting at PC
Let’s just say that you have this original song that’s been clunking around in your head for the past several years. You’ve been singing it over and over, just so you don’t forget it. You’ve even written the words down on an old scrap of paper. But you’re not a musician, or you stopped taking lessons when you were 13, or you don’t think anyone will like it anyway, or you don’t have a great voice, or you don’t have a tape recorder or, or…
Well, technology has come to the rescue with a dandy little Mac application called Garage Band. Yes, there are similar programs for the PC, but GB was designed not only for the professional songwriter who wants a quick, down-and-dirty tool for capturing his or her latest tune, but also for the amateur, or less-than-amateur songwriter. It’s the best thing out there to date.
Penn Charter kids, and tens of thousands of kids and adults around the world, in schools and at home, have been successfully using this amazing music writing/recording tool. It is packed with thousands of prerecorded loops and sounds of just about every instrument there is. You can play them yourself, or you can drag them onto a linear grid that is so easy to manipulate that even the youngest folks (try kindergarteners and younger) can be up and recording with as little as a three-minute tutorial. I have had fourth grade students from our Lower School gently ask me to go away so they could get started after just a short minutes or so of instruction. Of course, they called me back as soon as they were aware that there was more that they could do. And for those of us who have mastered the basics, there are a plethora of options available for tweaking and pampering our songs to make them sound quite amazing. Yes, your final product can actually sound very polished with a professional finish to it.
Some of Garage Band’s exciting features allow you to plug in your own microphone or your favorite electric guitar if you are already a singer or player, and you don’t have to worry about loading in more software, or configuring any of them. You can add thousands of extra sounds, including hip-hop beats, exotic instruments from India and the Orient, and an almost unlimited array of sound effects from train crashes and tornados, to applause and baby cries. There are prerecorded concert grand pianos (in three different sizes) and perfectly played guitar riffs from classical to heavy metal, as well as lush orchestral strings, brass and percussion. How about a tympani intro for your next movie score? That’s right, without being a trained musician, but knowing what you want it to sound like, you can experiment with GB’s extensive collection of sounds and assemble an original, magnificent soundtrack for your latest video production, or write and record a commercial for the next Campbell Soup television ad.
Think this is all just too much to get your mind around? Well, think again. Penn Charter kids and adults with nothing more than a passing knowledge of music and a cursory awareness of how to use a Mac are doing all of this, and more, even as I write. And you can, too. Anyone who owns a Mac has this spectacular application already installed, and I am privileged to have the opportunity to teach our kids and adults here how to use it, and how to be inspired through it.
Please feel free to stop in to the Upper School choral room 109 for a quick tutorial. Bring 10 kids at a time with you if you’d like, and have a Garage Band party. You may even walk away with a recording of that song you’ve been hearing in your head for the past decade. You know, the one that Usher or Celine will beg you to let them record; the one that will earn you a cool million and a Grammy; the one that will bring the world to tears.
Joe Fitzmartin
Upper School Music Teacher
PHAT Physics Competition 2008
Penn Charter Physics students engaged in their first physics-engineering competition on February 20. With nearly 100 competitors and approximately 400 spectators, this event proved to be a spectacular demonstration of science in action! With a very short list of acceptable materials, 28 student teams were challenged to design and construct a device that would climb a hill, cross the crest of the hill, and prevent their opponent from crossing in the opposite direction. The objective was to end the match with their device, and their opponent’s, on the opposite side of the competition field (hill).
While the materials list was short, the list of topics embedded in the challenge was long! This major project required Upper School physics students to master complex concepts, including Newton’s Laws, rotational dynamics, simple machines and mechanical energy, in order to successfully complete the task at hand. Integrating physics, mathematics and engineering practices, these students worked both independently and cooperatively toward a common goal – to become Penn Charter’s first PHAT Physics champions!
Cheering spectators, awe-struck Middle and Lower school students, live Internet feed, and good-natured competitive bantering marked this festive event. Teams identified themselves by dressing in costumes to match their device’s theme, and some created and performed theme songs or chants to intimidate their opponents! Indeed, creativity matched enthusiasm on this first of what will undoubtedly be an annual event at Penn Charter.
In addition to the physical competition, teams were required to submit project portfolios that included detailed descriptions of their device, technical drawings, and scientific reports that reflected thorough understanding of the essential physics concepts as well as their applications to the device’s design and performance. On site in the Old Gym, teams were required to set up a “pit” where they might work on their device between rounds and stand ready to be interviewed by volunteer judges, including Penn Charter faculty and administrators. The interview process mandated that each team describe and defend the device’s design in terms of the science that drove it. Taken as a whole, the competition, portfolio and pit interview afforded students the opportunity to learn physics in a unique way and demonstrate their mastery of the learning objectives in a non-traditional manner.
Project-based learning (PBL) is a challenging method of instruction for students that necessitates strong habits of mind and practice, as well as the employment of higher-level thinking skills. In the PBL environment, students must first master the required concepts and skills, and then apply them to a particular task or problem. Creativity, teamwork, diligence and critical analysis define both the experience and the final product. The PHAT Physics Competition proved that Penn Charter students are well-suited for the demands associated with PBL and, indeed, for a future that will certainly challenge them to think “outside the box!”
The success of the project was a direct result of the hard work and enthusiasm of the students involved. Wielding power tools, glue guns and physics knowledge, these talented students produced extraordinary results without exception! While every team is to be commended for its performance, special congratulations go to:
First Place: Mario Cart Racing
Marquessa Gray, Eliza Garrison, Julian Williams
Second Place: Camouflage
Sebastian Lundy-Thomas, Robin McDowell, Caroline Snite, Carolyn Vahey
Third Place: The Eagles
Blaise Fullen, Daniel Maravankin, Kashif Smith
Indeed, these teams have set the standard for physics students at Penn Charter in the years to come!
The students and teachers of Upper School physics would like to thank The Franklin Institute, Sargent-Welch Science Education Equipment, Tim Lynch and the Upper School science department, Beth Glascott, and the PC Bookstore for donating prizes for our winners!
Lorre Gifford
Physics Teacher
Changing History?
Under the leadership of Jason Yaffe, Andy Zuccotti and Sarah Sharp, the decades-old Model United Nations Club got a facelift in September 2007. Students now have the opportunity to experience a much broader menu of simulations and other forums primarily focused on the use of history in our contemporary world. The Upper School’s new History Club enables students to look to the past and better appreciate their own roles in changing the future. Perhaps even more important, the new activities have generated momentum and energy that we have not seen in the past in the club’s various activities.
Early in the school year, in order to assist Penn Charter students in developing their understanding of issues that affect modern Cambodia, we watched segments from “The Killing Fields.” We then held lunch-time discussions about the film and Cambodia’s history. We also heard Stormie Romero, and other current Penn Charter students who visited Cambodia this past summer, discuss their observations about the country. More recently, club members listened to Anne Caramanico, Penn Charter Overseer, discuss not only her visit to this war-torn country but also her family’s support of a new school in a rural area there. Mrs. Caramanico operated as a source of new information and insight into global awareness and involvement. Our club has certainly held such forums before about global issues, but PC’s connection with Cambodia has created a stronger bond.
Definitely the club’s newest activity is participation in the John S. Bradway High School Mock Trial Competition. Starting in October with attendance at Temple University’s “boot camp,” our students began to prepare to act as attorneys and witnesses in an imaginary case involving the alleged criminal kidnapping of a high school student by a youth group leader. While we did not advance past the local round, we clearly demonstrated that we could compete — primarily due to the generous support and guidance provided by two local attorneys and a law student. Beyond learning about witness affidavits, exhibits, laws of evidence and the rules of the competition itself, our team of sophomores, juniors and seniors, learned to work as a team, absolutely understanding how all members’ presentations complemented each other.
Students have continued participating in the Model United Nations program sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. To begin with, after registering and receiving the names of various countries and committee designations, schools attended a Preparatory Conference on March 4 at La Salle University. Along with students from more than 30 other schools, we heard experts from local universities and groups discuss the UN’s hot-button issues such as reform of the Security Council as well as the provision of basic guarantees of health care, and education, among other topics. We also attended workshops covering resolution writing and parliamentary procedures. We will soon submit resolutions with our new knowledge. On April 28 at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, students will come together again to debate the results of their work.
At one point in her presentation, Hollister Knowlton, representing Quaker Earthcare Witness of the Americas, asked her audience what our countries needed to know from each other us that would enable us to better adapt to global climate change. She moved from encouraging us to think like Americans to our roles as delegates from dozens of other nations. Ms. Knowlton urged interdependence as nations, large and small, and a forward-looking approach to developing renewable energy sources.
Finally, as we consider Penn Charter student involvement in the History Club, a fundamental question arises: how much does a young person need to know to change his or her orientation to the world? We have learned that we simply change the past by knowing more of it. We have received opportunities to stay involved globally through contact with organizations that enable us to think systematically about laws and advocacy. We have refined our understanding and appreciation of American and global citizenship.
Sarah Sharp
Social Studies Teacher
Cambodia School Service Project Update
The Upper School students and faculty have continued to actively support the all school service project designed to support the two rural Cambodian schools which have been founded by two Penn Charter families. Fund raising efforts have included:
- a croissant sale by the French club
- the request that any holiday gift donations be made to the fund
- a Chupa Chup lollipop sale
Overall, the Upper School has raised about $2,500 to contribute to the all school fund. Upper School students in the History Club enjoyed a lunchtime discussion with parent and board member Anne Caramanico, on of the Cambodian school founders, about her school in Cambodia. Jim Ballengee and students in the Seminar on Poverty course have also developed a spring service project with the Logan Hope School, a nearby school with a significant Cambodian student population. Tenth graders from the school will be visiting PC on Friday, April 18th for the first time.
As the Cambodian School fund grows with contributions from projects in all three divisions, discussions have begun about how we might best support our two Cambodian schools. Students have expressed interest in supporting a victory garden at each school so that students can have nutritional lunches and funding the purchase of computers and Internet services so they might be able to communicate directly with the Cambodian student.
Throughout the spring, look for ways you and your child might get involved with this exciting project. And look for the service booth at the all-school carnival on May 3rd to learn more about the Cambodian school service project.
Survival Suggestions for Final Exam Preparation
“Lost, yesterday, somewhere between Sunrise and Sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever."
Horace Mann, educator
With the arrival of daylight savings time, we “spring” forward, reminding ourselves as we lose an hour how precious TIME is! Looking ahead, we see that final exams will soon be upon us. How can we help students optimize the remaining time in the third trimester?
Lately there have been news stories and research on the need for managing distractions, particularly the need to disconnect from too much technology. While we are aware of the merits of information technology, students readily admit to various levels of “techno-addiction.” Now, in addition to ADD, we have IAD (Internet Addiction Disorder). Begin now to help students “unplug” gradually. Talk with them about balancing, or removing, unnecessary distractions.
“It takes time to adjust to going off-line,” says executive coach Andrea Bauer. Encourage your students to connect to themselves, not just the computer. Studies show that heavy, “info-centric” multitasking has an effect on our cognitive life and takes us 50 percent longer to learn information. Help students to take the time to slow down, focus and think!
The best advice for promoting student success and lessening stress is thoughtful, advance preparation. The following suggestions from the experts can guide parents to help at home during the final weeks of school.
- Ask your child to assess his/her current standing in each class. A simple way to do this is an easy metacognitive analysis with which most students are familiar. Have them simply ask themselves, “What is going well?” “What is not?” and “What do I need to do?” The last answer might include going to seek extra help, doing more frequent nightly review, or taking better class notes.
- Suggest that the student begin to collect and organize the year’s work. Remind the student to find and save old tests and quizzes, worksheets, lab reports, handouts, class notes, etc. Organize and clip them together by course and trimester; then chapter or unit (theme).
- Approximately three weeks prior to final exams, students will receive review sheets for each subject. At this time, each student should begin a plan of review, especially for those areas that need improvement. At the same time, they should set some realistic goals and specific action steps where they can literally check and measure their progress. It is beneficial for students to keep focused by studying “actively.” To promote active review, students can re-read sections, boil-down or summarize their notes, highlight key points and details, study out loud, alone or with a friend, and ask themselves questions for clarification. If anything is confusing, students should ask for assistance from a teacher or friend.
- Then, the week before exams, it is suggested that students refine a plan and begin daily review, parallel to the reviews that are happening every day in classes. Short reviews over an extended period of time provide the best results. Building confidence is important for avoiding a panic or last-minute stress. Enough sleep, exercise and good, healthy eating cannot be underscored.
Students need the help of their parents because it is a proven fact that the home environment is a critical factor for student success. Providing encouragement, a positive attitude and appropriate conditions at exam time are all important. Communication is key. Know, and perhaps, post your child’s exam schedule. Encourage realistic study times that fit into the family’s schedule. Minimize distractions. Help with a plan and the pacing. Be assured that this is a challenging time for everyone, but with planning and careful preparation, the results will be as satisfying as possible for all.
Dana Toedtman
Learning Specialist