Blog Post #4
I very much so enjoyed the experience of this placement plan. Although it may have been slow at times, the project allowed me to gain more knowledge with different types of technology. In this case, it was programming flippity cards for the app. This was all done while also being able to assist a teacher, which I also think was great. The project was fun and different from any other project I’ve done in high school before, making it very enjoyable.
What went well with my placement is that my partner and I were able to work together efficiently to finish a high quality project. Although the beginning of the placement might have been rough (see difficulties), by the end, my partner and I were able to work together not only to complete the project, but to solve some technological difficulties in the flippity app. By the end of our placement plan, we were able to work with focus and high spirits.
The main difficulty that my partner and I had with our placement plan was getting in touch with a proper placement teacher. This was difficult as our teacher switched twice, and then there was some difficulty in contacting our final placement teacher. This however was solved, and we were able to complete our placement plan with more specific instruction to the teachers satisfaction. Another difficulty we had was a slight technological issue in the flippity app. We were able to solve this with strong thinking skills, developed from when we were both in the ICS class; a requirement for MaCS students. Surprisingly, the basic programming skills we learned back in grade 9 and 10 came into handy!
I consider the placement I had with my partner a success! Through our difficulties, we were able to complete a very useful project for grade 9 students learning math terminology. We used glossary words, definitions, and examples, to further the understanding of essential grade 9 math terminology, to academic, applied, or ESL students.
This placement plan and project has high use to the placement teacher. Our flippity project will give great use and help enhance the learning to the students in the teachers grade 9 math class. This project does not really have value to IDC students/teachers, unless they are taking a grade 9 math course. However, the concept of the placement project, being the app flippity, is useful to everybody in Mackenzie, This can teach students a new learning method, that can help them study after a lesson to reinforce their learning, or even prepare for quizzes, tests, and/or exams. This can be useful for teachers as either a review for the students, or as a fun in-class activity!
The project can be further improved for future IDC classes by having topics and teachers, as well as what project they would like done, pre-assigned to students. This way, students will not have to worry about scheduling times to meet face to face with teachers, and will be able to start working on projects right away.