As a middle school administrator I work hard at keeping a good poker face and on the surface, at least appearing that I’m not amazed or ‘shook’ regularly. But when one of my new teachers first told me his plans to build a hovercraft with his class, I was surprised and curious, to say the least. And the finished product is something that absolutely made me raise an eyebrow [among other things]
Mr Samuel Choo is our new EC math teacher at Spring Lake Middle. He brings a dedicated focus of integrating #edtech into his classroom instruction and practice. His graduate work involves research on the integration of #edtech in the EC math classroom. When we hired Mr Choo, he committed to bringing a high level of instruction and unique learning opportunities to Spring Lake and he truly has.
I’ve been in education for 16 years, 13 at the middle school level, and have seen a lot of tech projects from lego machines to robotics to building circuit boards. This was one of those experiences that remind you of the great impact great teachers have on kids.
Mr Choo applied for a grant and received a grant from the Bright Ideas Program, a program sponsored by North Carolina’s electric cooperatives that strives to improve education in classrooms across N.C. by awarding grants to educators for innovative projects. His proposal was one of many awarded and recognized at an appreciation luncheon at NCSU. He used his award to purchase the materials needed for innovative construction and math concept tie-in to ratios and proportions.
Amazingly, this construction required no hammer or nails! After Mr Choo did some preliminary work with pre-cutting and measuring, students only had to plug pieces together and appreciate the dynamics of a hovercraft! The pictures below show the final project the student projects in progress.
I really appreciate this initiative! This unique integration and work translates into engagement and relevant learning. You can see the fun on the kids faces and eagerness to learn! This type of vision and ambition is how we make a difference with learning and teaching
Derek L. McCoy 
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