Imagine Tomorrow Review

1. Absent at WSU
2. Feedback for Magnet Teachers about the Imagine Tomorrow Process
To start, I really appreciate how you started this project. Mr. Greene posted an assignment online to just get our brains flowing on the concepts of saving energy. After giving one recommendation for making a cleaner, greener, better school, I think the way you addressed this competition was effective and not overwhelming. Anxiety makes kids panic which is totally unnecessary for this contest. Anyways, after slowly addressing the idea of "Imagine Tomorrow" and WSU, giving us our first or second choice of the project we wanted to pursue was also positive. After choosing our ideas, however, it got slightly hectic. Not knowing what to research and with standards that weren't defined well enough, it was hard to find a path to start going down. Then the research proposal was thrown on when we had little to no research done. I think next year the deadlines need to be further apart especially after the research stage to give the students time to sort out and think about the information all the students in the group recieved. Also, the research proposal must be addressed more clearly so we know exactly what it asks for (some kids didn't even include a methods and materials section, like me, because we weren't sure what that was asking). After a path was found and an experiment was thought out, the teachers gave just enough support and time to complete everthing that needed to be finished. Also, the freedom you gave us is well appreciated because leaving the classroom and doing out work was definitely a necessity to finishing by the required deadline of the contest.
3. Considerations and Tips for next year
Given: start earlier
Must give ideas (possibly from the projects this year) so the brainstorming stage and research isn't so broad and confusing. It's much easier to know exactly what the competition is asking so the research can be guided. Also, more conferences would be helpful. Such as after we turned in our basic research questions we wanted answered just to be reassured if we were on the right track, or not. Definitely stick to an "entire group" overall project (this year: greener school) because it helps keep the stress down to know everyone is all under the same guidlines and ideas. Furthermore, a combined topic is beneficial so the groups can converse amongst themselves and possibly retrieve information from other groups for their own specific topics.