Today is my last day at Art's Way. We've spent a lot of time on the floor checking on projects. Not a lot for me to do since I got my job done yesterday. Just going around and helping where I can. It's a good day to end on knowing I got everything done and I'm not panicking to get something finished.
Week 6: Wrap Up. We have seen what you have been doing over the summer, here is your last chance to reflect on what the experience has meant to you, what you will take with you to the classroom and perhaps how the experience could be made better or more effective.
The experience was great. 1st of all I was able to see exactly what goes on in Art's Way. I've been in the community for 5 years and this is the first time I've been here. I was able to see how the Grinder Mixer was built from start to finish. I can say that I know more than anyone should know about the frame and tank on the Grinder Mixer. I am definitely going to take my experiences back with me to the classroom. First of all I am just excited to tell the students what I have been doing during the summer. I can't wait for the first time this year a student says, "what do we need this for?" And I can answer that question with a story from working at Art's Way. I feel I have made connections with the company that will continue. I hope to have some engineers come in my classroom in the future and talk about the math they use. I feel I have a great idea about a project for my students that involves improving production which is what Art's Way is always striving for. I also feel there will be many more ideas pop in my head in the future that I can credit this program for. It was a great experience and I hope to be able to do it again next summer!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
End of Week/Question 5
Eric (the engineer I've been working with) had a meeting with the CEO about projects that needed to get done. One project was a time study on the paint line. This is another study where they need to check on the standard and see how it aligns with what is in the computer system. I was put in charge of this time study and was able to complete this Wed. and Thurs. On Friday I did some computing of the numbers I got from the paint line. I figured averages for putting up, taking down, and painting the part. I was also fortunate to sit in with one IT guys to see what they do. He was working on updating the website and had troubleshoot some problems with some computers. This really hit on the 21st century skills.
Week 5: How can your business (or others) be more involved in your classroom? What can you or your school do to engage students with the real world? What can the real world (our externship hosts) do to engage students in their world?
On Wednesday afternoon I met with the CEO and the Plant Manager of Art's Way to ask them some questions about getting the school and the company connected. One thing that I brought up was to have Eric or someone from the company to come to my class to talk. They thought this was a great idea. I know Eric can come in when were dealing with Excel because he works with it so much and can show the students some cool things that it can do. During the meeting we discussed how this connection with the school is important because they feel that the students don't know what opportunities Art's Way can provide. Students may not be familiar with all the jobs involved with Art's Way that does not include working on the floor. We talked about maybe having a class tour that would show all the students the different parts of the building such as the IT department, engineers, and accounting department. All of these areas involve math that is used daily.
Week 5: How can your business (or others) be more involved in your classroom? What can you or your school do to engage students with the real world? What can the real world (our externship hosts) do to engage students in their world?
On Wednesday afternoon I met with the CEO and the Plant Manager of Art's Way to ask them some questions about getting the school and the company connected. One thing that I brought up was to have Eric or someone from the company to come to my class to talk. They thought this was a great idea. I know Eric can come in when were dealing with Excel because he works with it so much and can show the students some cool things that it can do. During the meeting we discussed how this connection with the school is important because they feel that the students don't know what opportunities Art's Way can provide. Students may not be familiar with all the jobs involved with Art's Way that does not include working on the floor. We talked about maybe having a class tour that would show all the students the different parts of the building such as the IT department, engineers, and accounting department. All of these areas involve math that is used daily.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Week 5, 1st Blog
On Monday I finished up my time study. Tuesday I spent the morning analyzing and sorting through the data. The engineer that I am working with wanted the data put in an Excel spreadsheet. I was able to give him some times on how long it took to make the parts, the average times of the parts, and I was able to give him some approximate weld percentages. One thing he really wanted to know during the manufacturing process was how much of the time was spent welding as opposed to assembling.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Week 4
This is my post for the end of week 4. It was a short week not working on the 4th however I put in some long days. Still doing the time study on the Grinder Mixer Line and collecting data. I think I will be doing this for one more day next week. Then I look forward to organizing and looking at the data a little more. After that I am not sure what is in store for me at the company.
Poll results from last week. The poll question was, "Do you have an idea for something you can use in your classroom?" 28% didn't have anything concrete yet. 57% (including myself) have an idea but still working on it. 14% of you have an idea and ready to use it in the classroom. Thanks all of you that took the poll question.
Poll results from last week. The poll question was, "Do you have an idea for something you can use in your classroom?" 28% didn't have anything concrete yet. 57% (including myself) have an idea but still working on it. 14% of you have an idea and ready to use it in the classroom. Thanks all of you that took the poll question.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Week 2 and 4 Questions
Week2: Now that you have been with the business for a few weeks engage them in a conversation of their concerns at the beginning of the externship. Share them, and what you have done to alleviate those concerns.
After chatting with Eric about this question he said there really wasn't any concerns he could think of. He was excited about the program. After a little more talking one concern he realized he had was overwhelming me. I did meet with him a couple weeks before I started working there and he showed me around and talked about some of the jobs he had in mind. After that talk it was a little much but I felt confident that I was going to be able to do what they wanted from me.
Week 4: Now that you are one month in, how do you see this experience changing your classroom? Think in terms of what you teach and how you teach. How will your students know something has changed?
Well I know for one thing when I have students say, "when am I going to use this," I can quickly tell them about my experiences at Art's Way. There are a few projects/ ideas I have in mind that I want to use in my classroom. One of them is having students brainstorm on how they can improve a process in order to make things easier, which is what Art's Way does all the time in order to improve production. I hope to have students collect data and graph their data. I will make sure to let them know this is something companies all over the World including Art's Way do this on a daily basis.
After chatting with Eric about this question he said there really wasn't any concerns he could think of. He was excited about the program. After a little more talking one concern he realized he had was overwhelming me. I did meet with him a couple weeks before I started working there and he showed me around and talked about some of the jobs he had in mind. After that talk it was a little much but I felt confident that I was going to be able to do what they wanted from me.
Week 4: Now that you are one month in, how do you see this experience changing your classroom? Think in terms of what you teach and how you teach. How will your students know something has changed?
Well I know for one thing when I have students say, "when am I going to use this," I can quickly tell them about my experiences at Art's Way. There are a few projects/ ideas I have in mind that I want to use in my classroom. One of them is having students brainstorm on how they can improve a process in order to make things easier, which is what Art's Way does all the time in order to improve production. I hope to have students collect data and graph their data. I will make sure to let them know this is something companies all over the World including Art's Way do this on a daily basis.
Friday, July 1, 2011
This is the end of the third week and I just finished up doing the time study on the tank for the Grinder Mixer. I will be doing the last part of this all next week. Below is the third week question and my response which tells a lot of what I have been thinking about this week.
Week 3: What are some of the connections you see between your externship and math or science essential concepts and skills? 21st Century Skills? Five Characteristics of Effective Instruction? Eight Standards for Mathematical Practice?
The main connection I have made deals with collecting data and analyzing it. Many times throughout the year I have students collect data and graph it and then analyze it. This is the same thing. I can make that connection with them and show them that it is being done here in town at Art's Way. There are so many things you can do with the data especially on Excel which I use in my class as well.
Week 3: What are some of the connections you see between your externship and math or science essential concepts and skills? 21st Century Skills? Five Characteristics of Effective Instruction? Eight Standards for Mathematical Practice?
The main connection I have made deals with collecting data and analyzing it. Many times throughout the year I have students collect data and graph it and then analyze it. This is the same thing. I can make that connection with them and show them that it is being done here in town at Art's Way. There are so many things you can do with the data especially on Excel which I use in my class as well.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Getting into week 3
This is my second day into week three. I am still doing a time study. It is the same as last week except I am now with a different part of the welding line. Still timing and collecting data. I am really thinking of how I can use this data or how I can dig deeper into this data to help out the company. I know they need it to check on the standard but I am trying to think of how it can help them a little more. Nothing yet but I am going strong with my stop watch!
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