Getting started and where we are now….

Since our last meeting, Michael Mayer and Cameron Blandy came from City of Surrey GIS section to teach the Geography 11/12 students how to use the Esri Canada ArcGIS mapping software. ArcGIS is, according to Michael, the most sophisticated open source software that one can use without knowing how to code, and he said that codeless GIS is the way the industry is moving. It was great that our senior students were able to use this cutting edge technology to identify and document important community services for our junior students. Students created test maps and apps using their research about the Surrey Johnston Heights neighbourhood. They could not collaborate on the app, but will create it bit by bit with Sarah's account by the end of next week.

We also finally received all of our equipment last week. Sarah, our Geo 11/12 teacher has started playing around with the Go Pro cameras and will try to do something with her students next week. If not, as it is close to winter break, she will try to incorporate it afterwards, but the timeline is tight because our semester ends about 3 weeks after we get back.

We have also discussed how we are going to structure the project going forward as the next phase involves our grade 8 students. The senior students have laid the groundwork with the community exploration and relevant research into the different locations and services. They have uploaded that to the ARCGIS app that they were trained on by the City of Surrey trainers. The grade 8 students will use their research into the local community in addition to their own in relation to local themes about Johnston Heights Secondary to develop video clips which will then be incorporated into a “Welcome to Johnston Heights….This is who we are” video to show to incoming students from year to year.

Some of the themes we have identified so far are:

Academic and Elective Opportunities

Extra-curricular opportunities

School History

School Culture (interesting artifacts around the school)

We have decided to link it to the Social Studies class through the Community Service component. Because we have 3 pods of grade 8’s we have decided to work on it in phases. We will do the project with each pod, but stagger it so one pod will complete it, then the next and then the next. Rolling it out this way will make the large group of grade 8’s we have more manageable. It will also allow us to improve upon it along the way and make adjustments that might be needed to make the project more successful.

We did not really have a good plan in terms of how to manage the editing of the video clips, but it turns out a brilliant solution fell into our laps! In talking with the yearbook teacher, Vincent Choo, we realized that once the yearbook is submitted in March, his students will have completed their main project so he was looking for something to do. So his students will be taking the lead on compiling the videos produced by the grade 8’s and making it into one cohesive video. It was amazing how this came together and seemed to fit so perfectly with his course. So we have a new team member and a new group of students that will be involved.

In getting this project going, we have had some challenges so far. When we planned this project in June, not all the pieces were perfectly aligned. Some of our team members changed due to changes in assignments, etc. We also were using a new structure with our Community Service block and we did not know how that was going to work out. Being patient with the process was helpful as I realize we didn’t have to have everything perfectly planned out and the result has been that some positive things came out of that.

The delay in receiving our equipment was a bit of a challenge, but in a way it allowed the senior students to really focus on the research of the local community and focus on using the ARCGIS software. Having done so has better prepared them to now use the GoPro cameras because they have a real focus.

The other challenge we have faced is how to manage such a big group of students. Again, having the community service coordinators take the time to work with all the pods this first half of the year has allowed them to really develop a relationship with them. They know their strengths and weaknesses and so will be able to plan out the groupings in the most effective way. It also has given us time to consider the strategic plan of working with one pod at a time rather than all the students all at once.

All in all, as simple as it may sound being patient with the process and being flexible and able to adapt to changing situations is probably the best advice to give to others.