Category Archives: problem solving

Odyssey of the Mind is this Saturday, March 2nd!

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Did you know that this year, for the first time ever (I think?), Carondelet has an Odyssey of the Mind team?  From their website:

Odyssey of the Mind is an international creative problem-solving program that engages students in their learning by allowing their knowledge and ideas to come to life in an exciting, productive environment. Participants build self-confidence, develop life skills, create new friendships, and are able to recognize and explore their true potential. OotM proves that students can have fun while they learn.


Odyssey problems have challenged students to design mechanical dinosaurs, invent new factory machinery, build working vehicles, write a new chapter to Moby Dick, put a twist on classic artworks, turn Pandora’s Box into a video game, and so much more.
Since 1978, OotM problems have challenged students to go beyond conventional thinking and incorporate creative problem solving in learning. Creative Problem Solving is a skill that needs to be nurtured and developed. While a conventional education is important, learning to solve problems creatively and confidently gives them an important edge in their education and career goals. There is creativity inside each of us and OotM teaches how to tap into it so it can be applied to real-world problems.


Our team is made up of five amazing students:  Juniors Mykenzie Clark, Liana Huerta, Dani Baur, Olivia Pinto and Freshman Lauren Roach.  They’ve been working hard since December, meeting every afternoon x-block past 4pm and many weekends to complete their task.  Their problem was to design a structure made out of only balsa wood and glue that weighs less than 15 g but that can withstand the weight of 40 lbs or more (and they earn points the more weight their structure can hold).  They also have to toss their structure with a goal of getting maximum height and distance (and ensuring their structure won’t break).  And they have to present all of this within an 8 minute creative skit.  They’ve come up with an amazing Medieval story that has at its core the power of women and feminism.  





If you are free, they will be competing at Concord High School on Saturday March 2nd at 2:50 pm.  They’d love to have your support.  Please let me know if you plan to attend and I can help you navigate to their performance location.  


Go Cougars!

Starting a Rugby Team at Carondelet Is Like Teaching a Course No One Has Heard Of

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I won’t bore you with my background with Rugby, or even with the steps I had to get enough girls out to practice to learn the game. Rather I want to share my experiences with teaching a game that no one knew how to play.

Think about it, you have in depth knowledge of something, you want others to enjoy what you’ve enjoyed, but every time you explain something you find you’re using words they’ve never heard of (lol, it sounds like my classroom). Wrapping in the tackle is extremely important, as is protecting the ball in the ruck, but these words become meaningless without an understanding of the game. So we began with some fundamental basics and built upon it.

Our first practice we had one football (Rugby not Gridiron) and we were practicing catching and passing. It was funny because the girls didn’t want to pass the ball backwards (everyone want to pass forward like in American Football) and more balls were dropped than caught. Fast forward one month and you’ll see a team of young ladies and one or two dropped balls a practice. It has become quite amazing. And so we conquered a skill that is imperative to the game, and we moved forward.

Rugby is a contact sport and so tackling is something that has to be taught. Imagining that tackling is a natural skill is foolish. It can be dangerous to not position your body correctly, so again we started with basics. Now we are at the point where we are playing games against each other and they are doing really well. These skills are important, ordering jerseys is exciting, but the biggest victory is seeing that the girls are seeing growth in the game.

After the first practice we brought the team in to a circle to give a team cry (the cheering kind) on 3. Instead of the usual, “Cougars on 3”, one of the players came up with something different that has become somewhat thematic. She called out “Potentials on 3”. I thought this was cute. They realized they didn’t know how to play the game, but they saw potential in each other. Two practices ago this changed. I expected the potentials on three again (sort of like our unofficial name), but our team captain thought differently. She recognized that the team was actually playing the game, not just having the potential to. So the new cry became, “Skills on 3”.

These labels might seem small, but this shows what the girls know. and their growth. They’ve taken ownership of the team, which is the goal. I’m there to facilitate, but I’m not the one playing, they are. They’ve done what I can’t. They’ve made themselves a team and they’re proud of the progress that they’re making.

I’m excited for our first official game to see what these girls can do, but regardless I’m proud of the small family that they’re creating. I also excited for what comes after “skills”.

Fun Friday in Math

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One of our goals in the math department this year is to foster a culture of math that is collaborative, accessible and most importantly, fun!  Several times throughout the year we have planned Fun Fridays with today being our first one.  During these days, students from different classes work together in small groups on one challenging problem during their usual class period.  Students are purposefully placed in mixed groups to help encourage students to leverage their unique skill-sets and perspectives to come together to solve a problem they may otherwise not be able to solve on their own.  We hope students experience the value of teamwork and problem-solving on these Fun Fridays and that they realize that math is much broader than what they might currently be studying in their current math class.  We also hope this gives them a chance to practice grit, resilience, and resourcefulness.  Our whole department is working hard to promote the growth mindset with our students and this is one way we are modeling it.

Today was our first Fun Friday.  Each group received a bag with 27 cubes in total – 9 different colors, 3 of each color.  They were instructed to create a 3x3x3 cube with each of the 9 colors represented on each face, similar to a 3-D Sudoku puzzle. 

 

This was a problem that had multiple ways to solve or strategies to implement.  It was so fun as teachers to watch students work together to try and solve this.  They would think they had it solved only to realize their last cube wouldn’t work.  Many students tried and tried again with some finding success in the end and others not being able to solve it. 

 





































As students were working you could hear teachers telling students that it was OK if they didn’t solve it.  Their brains were growing as they learned from their mistakes!  Synapses were firing!  

 It was great to listen to their different strategies and ways of approaching the problem.  
 
Mr. Cushing and Mr. Schooler stopped by to try their hand at solving it.

   


They were modeling to our students the struggle of working on a problem that they couldn’t immediate see the solution to and also the joy that comes when you finally solve it.  
  
We would love to invite any faculty and staff members to come join us on our next Fun Friday October 5th.  It will take place in every period in rooms 2, 5, 6, 7, & 8.  Our first Fun Friday was a success and we are already excited about planning our next one!