This is what Ethan was up to this past week.
November 3
Ethan had creative writing class today. His friend Eldon joined him and they also went skating afterwards.
November 4
Today, Dong Eun was talking to Ethan and she asked him if he’s having a happy childhood. He said yes, except for one thing… That he can’t have meat again.
We recently switched to a plant-based diet and Ethan wasn’t thrilled. We tried it in the past, went back to having meat and now we’re going to try again. But Ethan isn’t too happy about it. However, Ethan knows that he can have meat when he wants it and just has to ask. (Ethan’s comment: wahhhh! I want meat!!!)
Tonight, Ethan had violin class and taekwondo class. He brought a bunch of candy to give away to his taekwondo classmates. After class, several of the kids were saying thanks to Ethan as he left. I think he felt pretty good about what he did. He said it was fun giving the candy to others and making them happy.
November 5
November 6
November 7
November 8
November 9
And that was Ethan’s week! Check back next week for more unschooling.
| I can … I can get new ideas, build on others’ ideas, and add ideas of my own, or combine other people’s ideas in new ways to create new things or solve problems. | Here is my example: I know I can because I figured out that, if you have a number that is even, and you add that to the next lower number, like n+(n-1)+(n-2)+…+3+2+1, you can rewrite that as (n+1)*n/2, or (n^2-n)/2, and from that I figured out that, if you have an odd number, n, for n+(n-1)+, etc. +3+2 +1, that is n*(n+1)/n or ((n^2-n)/2)+n | My learning goal is:I can get better at making new equations, and figuring out new equations. |
Week 11 Fall Connection
I had a Zoom call with Ethan and his parents.
Ethan spoke directly with me for a majority of it. This was the most he has ever contributed to a conversation which seems to go hand in hand with all of the self reporting and direct responses he emails me to my questions. What a delight to see how much Ethan has grown and the sense of ownership he has of his own learning.
In the beginning of the conversation I spoke a bit about grade 10-12 in Self Design and how one can not do it faster or take individual courses faster. There are other DL courses in which one could probably do the coursework necessary in 1 ½ years as opposed to three. This is to get a Dogwood BC Graduate Certificate which is not necessary for getting into university since that is the goal.
I spoke with Catherine Denin at Self Design and she recommended some private schools for gifted and talented students in Vancouver Magnasson and Madrona. In case Ethan was ever interested in going to a brick and mortar school. There are probably scholarships available etc.
His parents spoke about the possibility of sitting in on a high school science class with labs. I would also suggest seeing if there is a math or science class he could observe at a community college like Capilano sometime in the future.
Just some ideas to mull over. After I shared all that I went back to Ethan. Here are some notes from the conversation:
Ethan explained:
This year is pretty good, pretty fun so far
Learning new things
Solving square root equations,
Physics: centrifugal force, momentum
Khan Academy different subjects for areas of interest
Then go on youtube for more resources
He has certain teachers that you like
Year long goal : I can get better at making new equations, and figuring out new equations.
Figured out a formula
Want to figure out more equations for complicated problems
Simplifying calculator
Uploads more videos see what happens
Yes I teach yes my mom
What about teaching anyone else?
Not really yet
Feels good to put it out there on Youtube
Old rubiks cube a lot of comments
Most people don’t know how to solve one
This winter a lot more videos, really enjoying making them, lots of topics
Coding behind the pacman game
NASA has a youtube channel
Saw a video about how pacman AI works
Then code my own my own pacman game then wrote a code on scratch
Whats next in coding learn javascript, code in python, having fun and making stuff
This morning I was
How to throw things, how far you can throw some based on an equation
Maximum throw how far you can throw something
Try to code this formula into python, velocity and terminal velocity equations as well
Big formula did not work as integer values, supposed to set them as strings
Books by Munroe
Images
College board recommended reading list for college bound students, making them available
Math and science and really interested in
A little bit cautious, reading for enjoyment
Thinking about going to library and bookstores
I can see how quickly he can improve or accomplish something
It is quite dramatic
He improved his writing a lot in the last 6 months
He wrote the script for
History of chat conversations, written some questions and replies to the teacher
Level of clarity and sophistication
Parents: he has done a lot already this year
Looked at the Learning plan
Improved his movie making: the quality, drew out by hand the content, filmed it and then did voice over
Video about moles, matched the pacing of the voice
Inspired by someone else
Google secrets videos
Animation techniques all in apple keynote discovering all these things he can do with it
Workshop every thursday
Gives him confidence, not shy anymore
That class helped him
Creative writing class at the community centre
mindfulness
Observing a science class in highschool, doing the experiments
Writing up the lab
Saturday symphony class teacher violin he is ready to move onto regular concert strings group
Start that in a few weeks
Space centre in florida, Space Camp in alabama
One in Houston
Appreciate my asking questions to deepen my learning
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