Week of Sep 30

In Class This Week
Be sure to leave your journals (and make sure that they are up to date) so that I can get journals graded before the end of the six weeks (Friday!). I am checking the first circuit calculations, the analog and digital signals activity, and the new circuit calculations activity this week.

Monday, we will finish the circuit calculations & simulation and be ready to move on.  Be sure that you watch the video on 555 timer calculations before class on Wednesday or Thursday and then over combinational logic for the end of the week.

Week of Sep 23

Classes will finish up soldering and then do the breadboarding activity.  If you haven't you should watch the breadboarding video and wirestripping video before class Tuesday or Wednesday.  If you already watched them, there is no need to do so again unless you want the review. The circuits that we are building are extremely simple, so building these circuits will get you some good experience before we start on the more complex digital logic circuits.  Towards the end of the week, we will start the study of digital and analog signals. Make sure that  you have finished the soldering, circuit calculations, circuit simulations, and breadboarding by Thursday.  There is another soldering activity that we will do later in October (which isn't that far away!).

On Wednesday, we will do a final breadboarding lesson.  Watch the video to understand how to measure current and voltage in series circuits and parallel circuits (and each one is measured differently).

There is no late start this Thursday, so school will start at the normal 9:05 on Thursday.  However, we will be on the pep rally schedule on Friday.  School will start and end at the normal time, but 1st, 2nd, and 4th periods will be shortened a little bit to make room for the pep rally at the end of the day.

College Visits This Week
Monday - Seattle University
               University of New Hampshire
Tuesday - High Point University
Thursday - University of Memphis
                 RRISD College Fair (6 p.m.)
Friday -   Baylor University
               Texas Christian University

Future A&M Engineers (FAME) - November 16-17
I am giving you information in class, but Texas A&M sponsors an overnight event that exposes high school students to the world of engineering and the study of engineering on the A&M campus.  This event is hosted and run by the Texas A&M Student Engineers' Council.  You will need to register through the SEC FAME site directly with A&M. The cost is $45 (paid to A&M SEC), and students will be under the supervision of the student engineers' council for the weekend.  Events (check out their itinerary) include a campus tour, tours of and demonstrations by the various engineering departments, and an engineering challenge that students will solve in teams.  The solutions will be judged on Sunday morning before the event closes.  Students will attend a "lock-in" at Aerofit in Bryan Saturday night.  If you are interested, be sure to register with SEC right away to ensure your space as the registration is filling up quickly. Once accepted, you will need to fill out the waiver and expectations forms for A&M.

In addition, we will provide a bus for transportation to College Station on Saturday, Nov 16 and back to RRHS on Sunday after the event.  Please fill out this form so that I will know who is interested in attending and who will be riding on a bus.  You will need to fill out an additional RRISD waiver form in order to ride the bus.

The only cost to you would be the $45 (which includes the lock-in, lunch & dinner on Saturday, and  a FAME t-shirt) and any money that you might need for breakfast Saturday morning and Sunday lunch before we get home.

Week of Sep 16

This week, we will continue the circuit simulation work.  You should definitely be completed with the hand calculations and on to simulating them using Multisim. We will start building these same circuits on the breadboards on Monday & Tuesday in class.  Make sure that you watch the 2 videos before you come to class: one on wire stripping and the other on the basics of breadboards and how to use them.  Please watch the videos so that you can use all of the class time on the equipment and software that you may not have available at home.   I have a guest speaker coming to the classes on Wednesday & Thursday.  Mr. Jason Wilson is an electronics repair expert and manager for Dave & Busters.  He knows about soldering and electronics repair, so he will be here to show you how to solder and has even promised to show all of us (including me) how to de-solder components when necessary.

As you get in to using Multisim, you may want to get access to a copy at home.  It isn't free like the Autodesk software suite used in IED and CEA, but Multisim does offer it at a significant discount.  At this link, you can download a 30 day free trial copy of the software or purchase a license for $40, a significant discount over the retail price of the software.  It isn't necessary, but some of you may want to have a copy at home to work with.

STEM-related Clubs
If you are interested in helping us to start an engineering club, come to Mrs. Saksena's room (603) Thursday after school for the kick-off meeting.  Many options are open right now regarding what the club can do and how it operates.

Also, the robotics club is now going in full swing. If you are interested, we will meet in my room (601) Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday after school to plan and begin building our solution to the BEST challenge for this year.  You don't have to attend every meeting.  I planned multiple meetings because many of you have conflicts on one particular day and because we will need the time to complete our build and test before competition day, October 26, which will be held at RRHS!

Cyberpatriots is going to kick off this week in my room (601) on Tuesday.  Cyberpatriots teams compete in a competition in November where you will be given computer image(s) with security holes. Your task will be to find the security risks in the software and resolve them. CP teams learn about many different operating systems (like Windows 8, Ubuntu, and more) and what changes to their settings to make them more secure.

This Week at RRHS
Thursday is another late start.

Grades are due on Monday, and IPRs (Interim Progress Reports) will be distributed to students during 2nd period on Wednesday.

College Visits this week
Monday:       University of Chicago
Tuesday:       Abilene Christian University
                    Johnson & Wales University
Wednesday: California Baptist University
Friday:         Rice University

Open House September 9

Parents, I would love to meet you at the RRHS Open House next Monday, September 9 at 6:00 p.m. The evening will kick off with a PTSA meeting, and you will then follow the student's schedule through all 8 periods. It is a quick opportunity for you to meet the teachers and learn about the different classes that your student are taking. If you are unable to attend in the evening, we are having a reverse open house offered the morning of Thursday September 12 from 8:00 until 9:00. You will need to make appointments with the teachers for that morning event.

Robotics
The robotics club will meet this Monday in my room, 601. If you are interested, let me know or show up to our first meeting. The kickoff for the competition is this Saturday. Meet at the front of the 100 bldg and be ready to leave by 8:00 a.m. We will learn what the challenge for this year's competition will be as well as get some good training that will help us succeed. I will have a bus to take us to Freescale semiconductor for the kick-off. Bring money for lunch, and we should return to the school by 4:00.

This week

I am waiting on the solder practice kits before we can finish the foundation unit. Keep in touch with remind101 (see instructions to sign up) to know what videos to watch.

I will do the first journal check this week. Make sure to update your table of contents, sign (or initial) and number each page of your journal. This Friday is the last day for grades before progress reports.

Week of Sep 2

We will begin solder practice this week.  Be sure to watch the soldering video before the classes that begin on Wednesday. I have also posted a video from another teacher and some soldering tips in Moodle.  There will be no quiz over these videos, but it may provide some additional tips and insight in to good soldering practice.

Be sure that you have glued or taped the resistor color codes in to your journals as well as the table with your results from the resistor identification lab.  Also, I will remind you in class to sign, date, and number each page in your journal as I will start taking journal grades next week.

Be sure to check the post from last week if you have not signed up for Remind 101 or given me your contact and background information.  I am sending out reminders when it is time to watch a video before class.

Open House September 9

Make plans to attend the RRHS Open House next Monday, September 9 at 6:00 p.m.  The evening will kick off with a PTSA meeting, and you will then follow the student's schedule through all 8 periods.  It is a quick opportunity for you to meet the teachers and learn about the different classes that your student are taking.  If you are unable to attend in the evening, we are having a reverse open house offered the morning of Thursday September 12 from 8:00 until 9:00.  You will need to make appointments with the teachers for that morning event.

Moodle Down Tuesday evening
Moodle 2 will be down Tuesday evening from 7:00 - 11:00 You will not have access to Moodle during this time, so make sure that you have what you need before 7:00 p.m.  There will not be any assignments to turn during that time, but you will need to access the videos.  I have re-linked them here for you.  You don't have to watch both videos, but make sure that you have watched at least one of them.
My solder video
Here is another video with some good tips but a bit long (34 minutes).
This is a page with some written (not a video) soldering tips.

College Visits This Week
These are posted on the RRHS counselor's pages, but I will update you here with the ones for each week.
Thursday (Sep 12) University of Houston
Friday (Sep 13) Rochester Institute of Technology (where you can get and use high school credits for engineering classes)