Reply To: My BIG question: spiraling in asynchronous self-paced environment

[Addie Otto]

I was able to spend some time brainstorming this morning. What do you think of splitting the course into 3 stages:

Finishing High School

• learning to cook – proportions, temperature conversions, volume conversions, soup du jour
• keeping healthy – rates, ratios, Sticky Note Challenge
• having fun – income from wages, piecework; income taxes, Fast Clapper
• spending money – basic budget, needs vs wants, Calvin’s Clearance
• graduation day – perimeter and area
• transportation – modified rates, pythagorean theorem?
• banking – choosing an account
• finishing assignments – Listening Speed

Moving Out

• earning money – overtime, tips, commission, EI, CPP, Penny a Day
• budgeting – saving for a goal
• furnishing home – scale, measuring, linear conversions, sliding shelves
• cooking – scaling recipes to 1, hot chocolate, Open Sesame, Girl Guide Cookies, Coffee Quantity
• transportation – car loan, fuel consumption, taco cart
• debt – overdraft, payday loans, furniture loans, credit cards
• good citizenship – voting booth

Moving on Up

• budgeting – utilities, different scenarios
• travel – currency exchange, unit conversions, work vs play, Giant Rubber Duck, Airplane Problem
• buying a home – fence (perimeter/pyth), grass (area), gardens (volume), rain barrel (volume vs area), mortgage (compound interest), renos (surface area), Railing Reconstruction

In this scenario, there would be spiraling of some topics, but not others. I really want the spiraling to focus on the big rocks in our curriculum and not worry too much about other parts (like calculating income tax! Who needs to do that nowadays!).

I would love some feedback (@jon @kyle) and especially if there are tasks/activities I’ve missed please let me know