Post by samc on May 31, 2019 12:08:07 GMT -6
5/31/2019
Information provided by Point of Discovery Lab Manager Jeff S.
1. What is going well?
The only thing that went well was the fact that each experiment ended. Each experiment had lots of failure points, and after each failure tried to explain to the kids as to why it failed and how to make it better, they didn't care to listen.
2. What is not going well? Why do you think it isn’t?
The kids seemed bored as the experiments went on too long. The instructions were also out of date from the software updates we were given. Each experiment could have been done in half of the time.
3. How is attendance compared to the beginning of the year?
Beginning of the year I had 9 kids signed up at Pacelli Middle School. A month in we moved to PoDS and lost six. Two kids never showed up.
4. Did you experience any behavioral issues?
Yes.
a. If so, how did you handle them?
Due to the boredom I had a kid who didn't want to be there. I tried my best to keep him into the projects, but with only three kids to work with, it was a losing battle.
b. If so, how can we help?
No more small groups. Combine all middle school groups and don't move venues.
5. What were your favorite modules/activities?
They were all very promising, but majority of them didn't work.
a. Why?
The room we were in didn't work for the radio project, we moved rooms and it still didn't work as expected. The GPS for airline traffic didn't work because of our location for isn't near any flight patterns.
b. What module/activity would you eliminate?
Again, they were all promising, and would be great topics for discussion on the failure, if I had kids that cared.
6. How has parent participation and overall perception of the Lab been this year?
Zero parents. Overall perception was meh from the kids. Because of one of the kids, my own son who was excited for this program doesn't want to do it next year. I'm glad I was the leader so I can bring all of the projects home and work with my son one-on-one so he can enjoy them and we have good conversations about the failure points. I also have access to a VPN on my computer and get closer access to flight patterns and radio signals to larger areas.
7. How has the feedback from the school been and their perception of the Lab?
Zero feedback from either school.
8. Overall view of the STEM Scout Labs this year.
My kid was disappointed that the one kid distracted the rest, and it was hard to keep them on track. I'm surprised for the amount of times I yelled at said kid to keep on track that a complaint hasn't been filed against me. I didn't bother telling the parents because after meeting them, it wouldn't make a difference. If by some slim chance we do STEM again next year, I will not be a leader. I will just help my sons group, providing enough kids, so I don't have to deal with annoying kids who don't care. I would just forcefully remove them from our group if we happened to get one.