My 1.5 year old jamming to Justin Bieber

OS Week 9: Saturday Morning Brick

This morning I woke up with super tired legs and  sore body from training and moving furniture all over the place. I knew I had to get this workout done early or it would never happen. After a few technical glitches I got things ready to rock and busted out a good brick session this morning.

Here is the workout

Bike - 90 minutes
MS: 2 x 12' (4') @ 95-100%/204 - 215/Hard.

MS2: 1 x 5' (5') @ 95-100%/204 - 215/Hard.

Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/172 - 182/Mod-Hard.

Run - 30 mintues or 15 if bricking

MS: Steady run as MP/7:32/Steady out, HMP/7:14/Mod-Hard back. If bricking, do 15' only.

My legs struggled this morning. It was not easy after going three straight days of training. I know I need to get these workouts done and I am glad that I have done so up to this point. After about an hour the last half hour of the ride felt good. The only painful part was that I grabbed the wrong shorts and did not have my cycling shorts so I was without padding. I was already a tad tender from the last two days of riding.

Here are my TR results - Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/139404

As soon as I finished the bike I checked to make sure Ava was asleep. Aiden and Addy were already up so I put on my shoes and started up the wonderful treadmill. As soon as I started Amanda was down with Ava. I quickly finished so Amanda could go back to bed. It felt good to have all the workouts done for the day.

I ran the following in 15 minutes

The run was not easy. I was tired and I had to focus to finish strong and keep pace. I hit my paces and felt good about it.

Afterwards I tore up a great big breakfast with the kids. Time to recover to get ready for my run tomorrow. Looking forward to heading outside for once!

OS Week 9: Double Workout Day

So Friday presented me with tackling two workouts in one day. It was tough to get the run in late at night when I was not motivated, but I knew it had to be done.

Friday morning I knocked out my bike workout which called for

MS: 2 x (5 x 1/1) @ Vo2/Zone5/Very Hard.

Take 2' easy between each set of 4 x 1/1's. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

These are Vo2 sets, as equal parts "ON" and "OFF" time, where ON is done at your Vo2 power, Z5 heart rate, or Very Hard effort, and OFF is at 65% power, Z1 heart rate, or Easy effort. For example, for the 1/1's, you will do 1' ON, then 1' OFF, repeating this for the specified set.

This was super hard for me. My legs were tired from getting back to training and all the garbage I stuffed in my piehole.

Here are my TR results - Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/138672

 I hit my goals for all 10 1 minute intervals of pushing beyond 259 on the powermeter. It was not easy and the added 15 seconds to each interval was brutal. I did not think it would be a big deal, but it was.

I spent the rest of day organizing our house and moving things all over the place as my wife decided it was time to clean house. It was much needed, but left little room for rest.

When the family was in bed sleeping at night I headed down to the treadmill to get my intervals done.

MS: 4 x 200, 1 x 400, all at @ IP/Z5/Very Hard with full recoveries between each.
 
Tip: Welcome to the VO2 phase of your run training cycle. Do your best to run at the right pace. If the repeats are "too easy" consider cutting the rest down a bit between repeats. If your target is 6:00/miles, please don't run 5:05s!!!

My Zone 5 time split for running is 6:31 after the latest run test.

I started off with a 1.25 warmup gradually picking up the pace to get the legs ready to go at a faster pace. I have not ran in 8 days so this was a challenge mentally. Add to the fact that I was on a treadmill which I hate. However, I was able to get some wireless headphones connected to my computer to watch The League which gets me through!

My 200 splits were all under, but it was hard to judge with the watch and TM as they jump around so much. During my rest periods I would crank up the TM at .2 so that by .25 of the rest interval I was up to speed and would hit the lap button and run for at least .15 to ensure I made the distance. I hit paces of 5:53, 5:58, 6:08, and 6:05. For my 400 I hit 6:02 so I was way ahead of the prescribed time. However, it felt easy and I did not feel like I was overdoing it.

The worse part of running at night is that it takes me forever to cool off and relax. I could not fall asleep until after 11 which was a problem considering I knew I had to get up early for my long ride and run. I took some healthy natural plant protein mix that tastes like green peppers despite being advertised to taste like chocolate. I was very happy with myself for getting this done and not skipping.

OS Week 9: After Christmas Workout Begins! Bike FTP Ride

I took 4 days off. I did not do any training from the 23rd to the 26th. I had plans to train, but while in Indiana the time never really presented itself to slip away for a bit. On the 26th I had total intentions of getting back on track with my training, but I was hit with the flu or something as I felt terrible.

Finally on the 27th I started from the beginning of the week to get all the workouts done. I refused to miss out on anymore workouts. Being on holiday break there is no excuses.

Here is my TR data = Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/137552

I made two new goals on both my 30 minute and 60 minute power zones

The plan called for

MS: 2 x 18' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard.

Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

I could tell that I was not feeling 100% yet because this was a struggle of a workout. My legs did not have it in them. Also, the binge eating of the three prior days did not help. It will be amazing when I get back to healthy eating and the AdvoCare 24 Day Challenge. This was a good start to getting back on track.

Info on the 24 DC

http://www.advocare.com/canyou24/

Check it out! We have a team ready to change lives starting on January 7th.

Go to this website and contact me if you have any questions about getting started. Simply Google Advocare 24 Day Challenge to see results from all over the world.

DM if you have questions and to get you started.

We have over 10 people on our GETTING IT DONE! team and would love to have more join us as we all work towards our personal goals.

Here is our team page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/304516902982290/

Getting Caught Up: Week 8 OS Saturday Long Ride 12.22.12

I have stepped away from blogging and online over the last week except for a few tweets and FB posts here and there. It is time to get things all caught up and ready to go so I can make my list of goals for 2013.

On December 22 I had the following workout to get done. I had to get this done before leaving for Indiana for Christmas.

MS: 2 x 12' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard.

MS2: 1 x 5' (5') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard.

Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

Here is what I knocked out

Here is the TrainerRoad

Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/133962

I was able to hit all my goals with my new power zones from the bike test during week 8. My Zone 4 power is 205-215 and I was within range. The remainder of the ride was in Zone 3 which is now 173-183 and I was slightly above which is good as it felt easy.

Coffeechug Tweets of Knowledge!

Just wanted to compile so very interesting reads and articles about education, intelligence, and creativity from my Twitter feed in case you don't have Twitter(in which you are missing out big time!) or just missed them along the way. 

Enjoy!

LOVE THIS ARTICLE! Project Based Learning: Put Students at Center Stage - AskteacherZ: Inspirational Educationhttp://askteacherz.com/1/post/2012/12/project-based-learning-put-students-at-center-stage.html …

Eracism Project - Eracism Project Bloghttp://www.eracismproject.org/1/post/2012/12/december-19th-2012.html …

All the 2012 Best-of Reading Lists, Together at Last | Brain Pickingshttp://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/12/19/all-the-2012-best-of-reading-lists-together-at-last/ … via @brainpicker

10 books we loved in 2012 http://usat.ly/REjr0C  via @USATODAY

35 of the best productivity and lifehack apps of 2012 http://tnw.to/d0TRh via @TNWapps

Biggest intelligence test exposes the limits of IQ | Science Museum Blog http://sciencemuseumdiscovery.com/blogs/insight/biggest-intelligence-test-exposes-the-limits-of-iq/ … via@sciencemuseum

Creative Educator - How Do You Know and Why is it Important?http://shar.es/h4NyQ  via @sharethis

Why Students Won't Collaborate http://edut.to/ZgA4Tk  via @edutopia

Via @MindShiftKQED: Why Nate Silver Can Save Math Education in America | http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/12/why-nate-silver-can-save-math-education-in-america/ …

Snapshot of a Deeper Learning Classroom: Aligning TED Talks to the Four Cs http://edut.to/UoNCEq  via @edutopia

Neil deGrasse Tyson Offers Advice on How to Be Yourself and Achieve Your Own Greatness | Open Culturehttp://www.openculture.com/2012/12/neil_degrasse_tyson_offers_advice_on_how_to_be_yourself_and_achieving_your_own_greatness.html …

Lesson Planning and the Common Core: A Unit Based on http://TED.com http://edut.to/MKqNfX  via @edutopia

Keith Yamashita: The 3 Habits of Great Creative Teamshttp://99u.com/videos/7264/Keith-Yamashita-The-3-Habits-of-Great-Creative-Teams … via @99u

if you truly want to be great, you have to develop your own unique method of getting unstuck ---Keith Yamashita

The Common Core standards are supposed to be about bigger ideas and fewer of them? http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2012/12/the-common-core-standards-are-supposed-to-be-about-bigger-ideas-and-fewer-of-them.html … via@mcleod

Out Season: Week 8 VO2 Bike Workout with new numbers

Yesterday morning I just could not get out of bed. I was not mentally or physically ready to tackle a VO2 max workout with the new numbers from the bike test. So, I planned to just use Thursday as the rest day and do the workout Friday. Well, due to the snowstorm that arrived school was cancelled and I realized that I really had no excuse to not train.

Later in the morning when Ava fell asleep I jumped on the bike and took off. I had to use my new numbers from the recent bike test which you can see off to the side. I was nervous!

My training plan called for

MS: 3 x (4 x 45/45) @ Vo2/Zone5/Very Hard. Take 2' easy between each set of 5 x 45/45's. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

You can see from the data below that I nailed it. I rode pretty well and stayed above the 259 for the 45 second intervals. I felt good about this.

I was going to run right after, but life got in the way with three children home for  a snow day and a to do list a mile long before leaving for holiday travels. The plan was to run outside later in the day when the wind died down.

I was supposed to get in the following run as well

MS: 40' @ EP/Z1/Easy + 5 x uphill 20 Strides

Well, the run never got done. Perhaps it is okay. I don't know. My body was tired from the tests this week and this workout so maybe the weather was an indication to not run. I refuse to run 40 minutes on a treadmill. I planned on going outside, but when I drove out in the storm to pick up a pizza I realized that this was not a smart choice.

After shoveling the driveway, have a snowball fight with my children, eating Christmas cookies, calling my daughter crazy for walking home barefoot in the snow, and cleaning up bath water that my youngest decided to poop in, I called it a day and laid in bed to watch Charlie Brown.

Today is a rest day. Tomorrow is another day back at it and I will hit the roads Sunday before driving to Indiana.

Round 2 Reflection of Eracism: Global Debate, An Amazing Learning Experience

The team at work

This morning I was lucky enough to have another group of students take part in a championship round debate in bracket B of the Eracism project. We came to school early arriving around 7:15 to get ready for a 7:30 am debate. This is a small sacrifice to make compared to our friends and debating opponent, AISG from China, who had to stay at school until 9:30 pm to take part.

I have not had the luxury to actually meet with my students since the semi-final debates which were a few weeks back. Between then we have communicated through some emails back and forth. I was just hoping that we would have enough students to come in early to debate as I had not heard from many of them. However, they were all there except for a few so we were ready to go.

Trying to make sense of notes and rebuttals

More random notes to organize on the fly!

We did have a major scare. I am not sure where the miscommunication was between the students and myself, but my students came to my office ready to debate the wrong side of the debate. They had all their notes and information ready for the negative side. We did not catch this error until 7:27 am which was three minutes before we started. In a mad scramble and panic we printed off a few notes for the affirmative side and the students were left to quickly change their mindset, their arguments  and really to have all plans fall to the wayside.

To say that I was proud of these students is an understatement. Here we are hearing the beep of Blackboard telling us it is time to speak and we have nothing prepared. Our first speaker took our notes and crafted a great opening based off the bullet points of our research from months ago. During this time we quickly assembled small squads -

The winning pose!

• some were developing a framework for our second speaker for rebuttal, which when even organized and prepared proves to be the hardest speaking part of the debate
• some were constructing a conclusion to wrap up and drive home key points that we were speaking on the fly 
• some were simply working on organizing any notes that we had and preparing for the other team and getting prepared to argue back

Our secret ingredient: donuts!

If you read my first reflection on this project then you have seen the office that we work in. It is small and quite cramped. We have to shut all the doors which makes the room cook us like hot dogs as the heater in the ceiling pumps a ton of hot air. As we started and continued through the debate not only were we sweating from the heater, but from the intensiveness of this debate as we scrambled to sound intelligent.

In the end, both teams did an amazing job. The topic is difficult.  It is not easy, but to listen to these students articulate their thoughts is impressive.

I am not going to be redundant from my first post reflections because many of those ideas still reign true(click the link above to read), but I would like to reflect on some other ideas.

• I love the ideas that AISG brought up in the debate. The whole notion of new emerging leaders who are empathetic is a great thought to absorb and think about. I need to follow the new emerging leaders and start to figure out how their empathy affects the countries that they lead. We argued back stating that conflicts of many lands go back generations to almost the beginning of time and a new leader cannot make change, but I would like to believe that this is perhaps a start of something positive
• I love the whole notion that AISG brought to the table about education. Projects like this where students from all over the world work together to increase their learning is powerful. How can we continue to push this global education concept to the next level? We debated against one another, but how can we take these projects further where students can begin to build empathy and understanding of one another so that when these students become leaders the acceptance and equity of all people are just common nature? As I was wrapped up with the idea of current events and education from the debates last week, this new thought of mine is also taking hold of any extra brain cells that I have.
• Debating and communicating with students from all over the world does two great things
• Raise the local bar of expectations - Our students knew that they had to bring their A game in order to be ready for these debates. We came across some amazing students, research, rhetoric, and speaking skills. This was a good wake up call that perhaps we are not as amazing as we sometimes like to think. (I don't think the students would ever admit this, but just an observation from a teacher perspective)
• With all the hype in the media about American schools falling apart and not being ready to compete globally with other children is just that....hype. Our students proved that despite all the negative press of education in America, our students are doing high level thinking and can do anything they want to do. The key as a school system is create more opportunities for them to feel motivated enough to challenge themselves while they are within our walls and school days. If we don't provide the necessary challenges and relevant issues we miss opportunities for our youth to expand and explore.

As I bring this post to a close I just want to say that all credit goes to the kids. I shared our victory with my staff and they were all very happy. The kids were ecstatic who participated. It is the joy of their emotions that reminds me that projects like these must continue. They were beyond the notion of grades. They were beyond the notion of just doing school for the sake of school. They wanted to do well. They wanted to make sure they could articulate their thoughts. Even during the moments of this debate when we struggled here and there to figure out what to say they continued to work hard and take measures to do all they could do(being ready for the correct side would have helped with this :)) The intrinsic motivation to learn was beyond anything that I could create in a regular room.

My new favorite line that I read on another blog was -

 I'm the chief learner in my classroom of middle school students.

This line is so true. I have acquired many new thoughts, ideas, questions, and development of my teaching skills through the observation of these students. Eracism has given me a new sense of how amazing students can really be and when we don't think students can do this or that, they can(that is a great reminder for ourselves as teachers!)! Today they could have just quit and said no when we realized we prepped incorrectly. Instead they thought on their feet and did awesome. Their quick thinking to prepare in 2 minutes was more impressive than actually thinking on their feet during the debate. 

Thanks to everyone who judged, participated, and helped to organize. There are too many to name. However, I would love to create a Google Hangout to talk with others about their takeaways, questions, thoughts on global ed, etc. Let me know if interested and I will work on setting a date.

As Vicki and Julie state, "Once you go Flat, you never go back!" My passion for global education has only gotten stronger through the participation of this project.

All of these students that I had the opportunity to work with through both teams that we operated have done nothing but remind me why I love my job! Kids are amazing! Simply put. When they shine and show their talents and you know that it is all them that have done the work, then as a teacher/leader you know you have done your job. I simply sat back and watched them blow my mind. It is amazing what kids can do when you place them in a situation where there is no ceiling but the ones they place on themselves. When they remove that ceiling WATCH OUT! because it is a spectacle to behold.

Out Season Week 8 - Run Test, Blah and Barf!

I will admit that this has not been the ideal week for me to do testing. It is the end of the quarter as we prepare our final grades for the semester and try to keep our sanity as kids are wound up for break. I have been battling a cold/flu that has wreaked havoc on my head, body, and joints.

Earlier in the week I had a great turnout on the bike test. I was so happy to see the progress on the bike. Today was the day for the 5K run test.

I woke up not feeling good at all. My knees and joints hurt and I just felt tired. However, I knew I had to get this done with a snowstorm on the horizon and things not slowing down at all.

Here is plan for the 5K run test today.

WU: 15' including 4 x 30" at 5k pace.

 MS: Run a 5k Time Trial. Find a relatively flat course (or track) for your test.

Goal is to hold a pace you can sustain for the full duration of the test without blowing up and without having a lot left to kick at the end. The ideal course is one you can test on repeatedly.

CD: Walking, jogging as needed, etc.

Note 1: Get average HR for test, this is your Lactate Threshold HR used to calculate HR training zones. Bonus if you can record miles splits for this test.


Below are my test results from week 1 when I inputted everything into EN. When I tested the run during week 1 I had a glitch with my watch as it did not record properly so I had to estimate my times.

At the time of this week 8 run test I weigh the same, but dealing with a cold/flu.

I started off this morning feeling not too bad. I did a one mile warm up to get me to my starting point. I was not sweating and was trying to get my body temp up and ready to go. It just was not happening. I don't know if I was dehydrated or what. I hit the one mile mark, reset my watch, turned on my jams and got ready to go after clearing out the nasal passages with some powerful snot rockets.

I took off like a cannon and tried to find a good pace and rhythm. I am not sure if that is possible when trying to push your body and mind to new heights. I also tried to not look at my watch and get concerned with time. I really wanted to hit a sub 20 run and thought I could pull it off. I felt good the first .9 of the first mile.

From that point on I started to slowly fade. I had to keep fighting and pushing, but during the second mile my stomach started to get upset. I tried to work on breathing and just get things under control, but it continued to get worse.

Right around the end of mile 2 I started to feel like I was going to puke. As much as I tried to not think about it I thought about it more and more. I had to keep swallowing air and snot to keep from barfing. I told myself I would not stop if I puked because I did not want to do this test again. I was getting mentally ready to run while tossing cookies off to the side. I was fortunate enough to not puke, but I was ever so close. Due to my terrible gut pain my time did slow down and I faded mentally.

However, with all that being said I did show progress. I ended up with a 6:37 pace. I also ran a tad over so seeing my time I was a bit bummed until I remembered that a 5K is 3.1 and not 3.2. My time the first test was 20:52 with a 6:43 pace and today I was 20:33 with a 6:37 pace. I knocked off 6 seconds off my time. I will gladly take that considering how I felt and that fact that I know I neglected a few runs here and there. My goal by the next test is to be closer to 20 minutes. I may not be sub 20 minutes, but I want to be closer so some spring I am hitting sub 20 in some local races.

My VDOT went from 47.4 to 48.3

Here are my new splits

Today will be a day to let my body heal and recover. Tomorrow is a big day of training and then rest. Even more important is to figure out the holidays and training as I have not even begun to figure that out yet and need to with all the traveling.

Enjoy your Wednesday and kudos to everyone testing and working hard to improve their fitness. I love it and feed off all of your energy and stories.

A few of my Tweets today - Would love to hear from you....

Here are the ideas completely going a million miles an hour in my head today. Trying to make sense of these as well as working on a few blog posts to expand on these topics.

Finally, working on creating a Speed Geek session online for educators to share latest, greatest ideas, books, tips.

• Why in popular culture do we conceive genius as a discrete category?
• Is genius and gifted the same thing?
• Just because someone has a talent or gift does not mean that is what they should pursue. Pursue your passions!
• To a Bright Kid With Trouble(s) http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/2012/12/to_a_bright_kid_with_troubles.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-TW …via @edweekteacher
• Where in the World Will You Go Next with PBL& http://edut.to/ZfLXZJ  via@edutopia
• We are working on how to make our independent showcase night more interactive for those who attend?
• Alright, for our showcase night we are in need of a scavenger hunt or mystery for parents and community to solve while attending sessions
• Standadized testing is a shortcut report to pidgeon hole data for quick consumption & $$$; GIGO Rules: Garbage in; Garbage out.#Edchat
• Looking for keynote speaker(s) for our gifted students showcase night......

What Do You Think? CCSS: Math - Too Hard or Just Right?

I saw these two articles posted on Google Plus today (thanks Mr. Stone). I read them both and am married to a math teacher. I would love to hear your thoughts. I need to start having more educational discussions. I would love to start chatting with others. Until then, leave a comment!

Interestingly contrasting stories this week:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/11/a-new-kind-of-problem-the-common-core-math-standards/265444/

One that asks whether CCSS is too hard, and one in which a Chicago school reports gains based on CCSS.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/04/chicago-public-schools-common-core_n_2238534.html?utm_hp_ref=education

First Lego League: RoboDawgs Head To State: Reflection of Learning, Growth, Soft Skills, Education

This past Saturday my First Lego League Robotics team competed at the regional competition against 34 other teams at the Putnam Museum. Since starting out in September we have had a long journey getting ready up to this point. Along the way we have learned many things and we were lucky enough to pull everything together Saturday and earn a spot to compete at state on January 19th.

The day started early as always and the team was ready to go. With so many teams I really felt like this regional was operated amazingly! It was smooth, stress free, and well managed. We started off bright and early with our first robot run. Our robot did okay earning about 260 points. However, our leader of our robotics did not take the extra step to ensure that everything was marked on the judges form and we only earned 240 points. This was a very valuable lesson. The team met with the judges with gracious professional to discuss the matter after only seeing 225 points pop up on the screen. This was very important life lesson. First, taking time to always double check your work to ensure no mistakes were made. Even more important when leading a team you want to make sure you are doing all the small things correctly. We have stressed this all season and it finally caught up to us. Secondly, learning how to deal with a source of conflict. Anger and getting frustrated never solves the problem. But, by speaking responsibly and professionally things can be remedied. We did not earn all of our points, but we made the mistake.

Next we moved on to the Core Values portion. I don't know what was all done and accomplished. The team said the challenge was easy and they did a great job. I take their word for it. It was amazing to watch our older students take charge. Before the session they rallied the team and created a mock challenge in the museum to practice. It was amazing to watch them come together. Leadership was one thing that myself and the other coach both felt was lacking all season and it was great to finally see glimmers of leadership taking shape.

We had our second robot run after Core Values and during this run we scored the highest run of the day with 292 points. We felt good about this, but we were not satisfied. Our robot is capable of much more and we also know by looking around at other states and regionals that we have some serious work to do if we want to be competitive with the robot. Our max is 400 points and our new goal will be to hit 500 over the next few weeks. This year it was unique that they did not hand out a trophy for the best robot performance.I am not sure why this is as this is how it has always been done. We took honorable mention with the highest robot run because they combined robot design presentation and the robot performance. This was a little frustrating because for once we actually had a great robot and did not get the recognition we felt we deserved. This just makes us hungrier and ready to get better.

Right before lunch we had out Research presentation. If you asked any of us if we were ready for this we would have shuddered. During our dress rehearsal Monday it was a mess. We were just not syncing and will doing to do the little things necessary to be effective. However, the team put their ego aside as recommended and nailed it. They delivered a fantastic presentation. I was very proud of them to be able to actually apply all things they have been taught. We ended up winning our state entry with our project presentation.

Our last robot run went solid as well. This was first year having a consistent robot. We had some issues that we need to address to make things work better as we smashed the ball contraption, but we know what we need to do.

Finally, we had the robot design performance where had to talk about our robot. We did the best any of our teams have ever done. The robot ran well and the students did well. One student was nailed at the end as he was caught not paying attention. We talked in our practice about how to behave and conduct yourself during presentations and this student went against the grain and like we told the team the judges will get you and they did! It did not hurt us, but it was another great learning opportunity that we will talk about as a team when we meet again.

There is so much learning that takes place by participating in the First Lego League. The robot board generates the interest, but what really makes this program shine is all the soft skills and 21st century skills that these students need to use to operate and problem solve.

It was a great weekend. We are now back to basics to figure out our areas of weakness and what we need to do to be ready for state. The whole challenge just took on a whole new meaning. We don't scrap everything, but we view and operate with a critical eye looking at what needs to be done collectively as a team and as individuals.

In all my years of teaching I have yet to find anything close to FLL that compares to preparing students for the real world through speaking effectively and clearly, working with others, problem solving, and being able to step out of your comfort zone for the sake of a team.

I recently wrote a letter about First Lego League that discusses some of the key elements to this program and I would like to share it here

Currently, I am in my third year coaching a FLL robotics team. At our school we host a two-week summer camp free of charge where any student in grades 5-8 can attend. During this camp we teach them how to build and program. Each year myself and another coach/teacher create obstacles for them to complete. During the two-week period students also have to conduct research much like the FLL process. We invited parents and the community to attend the final two days so the students can show off their hard work and accomplishments. From the camp we select a team that includes all grade levels and boys and girls to coach for the FLL competition. We have had much success over the years. As a gifted education teacher and seeing how education is changing I firmly believe that this whole operation from the robot to the research is one of the most valuable teaching tools available.

I believe in this program so much that I have been working very hard to make robotics a class for all students in our buildings. With the emergence of Common Core and 21^st century skills this program completes it all. I won’t even go into how it all fits as it is obvious with STEM and so forth.

From both a teacher/parent/coach what I find most valuable with this product and program is that we are able to watch students grow and mature. Our older students act as leaders and mentors and teach the younger students. Everyone has to contribute and everyone has to have a part in every aspect. With the various grade levels and maturity levels that this brings it can be quite difficult. With proper mentoring and coaching on our end, we have created a system where our 7^th and 8^th grade students take the lead and prepare the younger students to take over when their time comes. The whole teamwork, collaboration, problem-solving aspect is what is truly important through use of the Mindstorm kits and programming.

What makes this program work is that for many of our students it provides them for the first time with that sense of being part of something bigger than themselves. They have finally found their niche and a team they can relate too. Additionally, the subtle competition aspect gives them the motivation to want to do well. For many of our students, this is the first time they have been in this type of mindset.

I have had the luxury of watching a few of our students start off as 5^th graders scared, timid, shy, and lacking confidence and progressing to 8^th graders beaming with confidence, avid leaders, teaching, and maturing in ways that I firmly believe they would not have done without this program and product.

As I think on a larger scale I envision exposing more students in our district to this program. What this will allow us to do is continue to bring these elements in to all grades. I would love to bring in the early elementary students into the world of Lego by exposing them to all the models and kits that are now available. This would be a huge building block preparing them for the robotics aspect. Once they leave the middle school, then they would be ready for the high school robotics and thinking.

I think that by helping students find an interest and passion in the late elementary/middle school grades is vital. If you don’t help them connect by this stage in life it can be too late for them. They have so much talent and with a bit of guidance it is amazing what these students can accomplish. The goal is to reach out o more students to see how far reaching we can make this and give more students opportunities. By far this is the most rewarding coaching job I have and I coach several teams and sports throughout the year. 

Out Season: Week 8 - Bike Test!!!

Wow! Did I ever sweat, drool, drip snot, and test my mental capacities this morning. For some reason I thought I had the run test today until last night when I realized it was the bike.

I got up this morning had a cup of coffee and my AdvoCare products - Spark, Arginine Extreme, and Rehydrate. Around 5 am I was ready to knock out this test.

I loaded up my TR and the old bike test program. I started up with the recommended warm up. As I was warming up I remembered that the custom workout I made did not separate the timed data. I quickly stopped, created a new workout and started back up.

Here is the test workout

Bike Test, for Power Athletes ONLY!

WU: 10' easy, then 8' building from 50% FTP to 100% FTP in 2' increments, 2' easy. Fine to use estimated FTP if this is your first test. The intent here is to get in a good warmup, so use your best judgement. 

Test 1 -- Vo2 Max Test: ride 5' at the best (hardest) effort you can sustain for the full 5'. A good target is 120% of your estimated FTP.

 Recover 1: 10' easy spin, stretch, recovery. 

Test 2 -- Functional Threshold Power (FTP) Test: time trial for 20' at the best (hardest) effort you can sustain for the full 20'. 

Recover 2: Minimum 5' easy spinning

Rides - TrainerRoad http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/129203

The above TR link shows the test results but not the 18 minute warm up I did prior. The Garmin data above shows it all.

By the time it was up for the first VO2 test I was sweating and ready to go. My head was loaded with congestion and my legs were not feeling awesome, but not terrible either. I took off and tried to just hold on to see what I could do.

To give a bit of background during week 5 of the OS I did a bike test as this was when I converted to TR and the virtual power(read post here)

Here is a link to my Week 1 OS Bike Test when I used HR

During week 5 I was at VO2 max of 245
My VO2 max today during the 5 minute test was 270

How awesome is that? In a mere three weeks I jumped up 25 on my VO2 max. I wish I knew where I was during week one with power, but this right here shows that this OS plan works. PERIOD!

Next, moving to my FTP during the 20 minute test was 227. So, 95% of this is around 215.

During week 5 my FTP was 202 so this is also a great sign to see a 13 point increase. I don't know if this is a normal jump, a great, jump, or not so great jump. However, to see numbers go up is always a great confidence booster that the hard work is paying off. 

What is next?

Well, I will add the new volumes into the bike calculator and see how that changes my training. I know that the result will lead to pushing harder on the bike and that is great as long as the results continue to grow. I think about how hard I had to push on the bike to get to this point and I cannot imagine being the 300 power club. I would love to claim that I could be to that level, but I will be happy with continual improvement. 

As I stated before and is all over EN is that WORK, WORKS! This whole training is so much different from my first season, but I can see changes and a I can see my fitness improve. I cannot wait to get back to healthy eating and proper nutrition after the holidays to really see what my body can do.

This is a great start to my Monday and week. I look forward to rest tomorrow and then testing out my 5K run to see the changes there. I am tired today I won't lie, but I know it is worth it when I see these results. 

BOO-YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Out Season: Week 7 - Weekend Brick Workout

This past weekend has been so incredibly busy that I am just now getting around to posting about my Saturday workout. I had no Sunday workout for once as I have testing this week on both the bike and run.

I woke up very early around 4 am to get this brick workout done. I had a long day ahead of me with my robotics team competing at the regional all day from 7:30 - 5:30 and a birthday party for a friend of ours afterwards. It was nonstop kid noise for about 14 hours. Needless to say I knew that if I did not get up early this workout would never happen.

Here is the workout for Saturday that I had to get done

MS: 2 x 10' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard. MS2: 1 x 6' (5') @95-100%/Zone4/Hard. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard.

We have no volume goals, per se, for any of the weekday and weekend cycling workouts in the OS. Ride for the time you have availble, focusing on the mainset. Fine to ride less, or more, than the time prescribed, depending on your personal circumstances.

MS: Steady run as MP/Z2/Steady out, HMP/Z3/Mod-Hard back. If bricking, do 15' only.

You can see that my workout on the bike is split. This is because my watch filled with memory and I had to stop for a minute and delete history to keep going. I had about a 2 minute pause in the workout.

I won't lie. I was tired. I had started to get a head cold the night before, but as the ride continued I felt better and better.

During the ride I watched the documentary Vegucated. It was a fascinating documentary. As always when you watch how the meat makes it to your plate it is disturbing. I am not planning on being vegan, but it was good to watch to help me prepare to start eating healthy. You watch and hear all the stats about processed food and so forth and it is scary. This was a real wake up call. I cannot think that as my diet has continued to get worse over the last few weeks that I now have a cold and feel crummy. I really think there is a connection.

Anyways, I jumped on the treadmill to get the run done right away. I actually felt really good coming off the bike despite my legs feeling tired.

The downside to this workout is that I was on my feet for the next 8 hours. This did not help recovery much. Sunday my legs felt quite tired and I know this was due to the fact that I did not really recovery properly.

Eracism: Global Debate, An Amazing Learning Experience

I am not going to blog about the whole journey of this amazing project. You can find all information about Flat Classroom and this particular online global debate project here

You can check out my other thoughts after speaking to Dr. Zeitz from UNI earlier this week

Rather, I am going to reflect about the final championship debate for Bracket C. I want to start off by sharing an email I sent out the students who I was so lucky to work with for this project. My students were 8th grade students that were pulled from social studies for about 6 weeks to do this project. I am ever so thankful for the teachers willing to work with me and being flexible to allow this happen.

Here is what I shared with my student via email this morning. I have removed parts that are not necessary for the sake of this blog post.

Happy Friday everyone!

I have a couple of things to address and final confirmation on the debate against China.

First, team 2B did an outstanding job on Thursday! With little prep leading up the final debate this team did amazing. I am so impressed by the work and articulation of your arguments  I know you were bummed to not win, but I hope you took away some vital learning concepts and life skills. As mentioned that day, you have crafted your skill set to be able to sell your ideas or yourself when you are in the workforce, applying to college or a job! I have received several emails afterwards from teachers who attended the debate speaking on behalf of how impressed they were by you guys! Remember you were in the high school division and you held your own. Great job! I really mean that.

Second, the team 8B you debate has been finalized. It has been very difficult to overcome the 14 hour time zone difference and seeking permission for students to stay late or come early. After many negotiations we have found the following time to work. We will be debating on Wednesday, December 19th at 7:30 am. You will need to be at school no later than 7:15 am to make sure we are ready to go. This is a small sacrifice for us to make considering that this means the students in China will be debating at 9:30 pm. They will probably not get home until midnight due to transportation issues and such. They also don't get to leave school and will be at school for almost a full 24 hours. Please don't make excuses and come prepared. Let us give them a debate they deserve and make the time worthwhile. I have not heard from any of you on this team so I hope that you have been reading your scripts and slowly getting prepared. I will bring in donuts and juice. You will be done with your debate around 8:30 am so missing TA and part of 1st period. 

Some tips we received from the judges when they spoke about why we did not win that could benefit this team are

1. Impact Statement - What is our impact statement? Our slogan/motto that we want to use to drive home our entire debate? This has been missing in all scripts and has been discussed before. Think about it and see how we can incorporate one.

2. Current Affairs - a very interesting statement from a judge from another country and one that has me thinking things over as a teacher and in my curriculum. She mentioned that we need more current affairs in our research. She stated that anyone can pull from a historical text, but students should be able to show understanding of the world in which they live in. Pretty powerful and therefore if you see anything in the news that could be used bring and perhaps work it into our already existing script.

3. We need to be able to have judges feel that what we are saying is important to them. Why is what we are saying important to me(judges, you, students, the world, etc.)? Bring that passion and prove that what we speak about is urgent and important!

When debating we need to make sure we debate face to face. I think this is what cost us our victory this week. When they bring up facts or points we need to debate them directly and head on. We tend to quickly talk about a point and then resort to the script. We need to really pick apart what they opposing team speaks about.

Have a great weekend and please let me know that you read this will be here on Wednesday!

I decided to share this email because I think the information shared from judges and our experience are things that apply to life in all aspects. The examples are focused on the debate, but I always like to think big picture and figure out how what I teach can transfer to real life.

As a teacher I cannot get over #2 on the tips for judges. How do we as teachers bring in the real world? There is so much going on in the world how does a teacher decide what to focus on? It goes back to an old idea of mine where social studies is taught backwards. You find current events and trace the history of the event backwards and explore our past this way. I don't know yet, but I know that as we push for more global education students need to understand the world and cultures. Sometimes I think that reading about the past eliminates time to teach these broader concepts. I don't know the answer, but I am stuck on this piece.

Perhaps at this point I should step back and talk about our debate system.

First, Mrs. Hatch brought in some super power brain food to get us started. Can you start your day any better than with some donut holes?

Next, due to schedule and conflicts we all had to cram into my office. I brought my Mac in as the mic on this is very good and I don't always trust our school equipment. It never seems to work for me. We had to gather around the one computer and listen as best we could. It was not super loud, but loud enough.

These pictures speak volumes to process, learning, and teamwork involved.
























These two pictures show education at a high level. We have students listening, analyzing, and trying to process new ideas and concepts in real time without much time to finalize as a team. During the short quick breaks they quickly dispersed ideas and had to quickly gather all their ideas, write ideas down and looking for that one loophole that we needed to win. It was remarkable. I sat on the floor with my coffee and just watched it unfold. I try very hard to keep my thoughts and ideas out as this is their debate. I do give them things to ponder, but never give facts or information directly.

Go to the debate - http://eracism.flatclassroomproject.org/Debate+Finals+12-2

It is bracket C.

Listen to the articulation of these students from both teams. It is amazing. I have never been part of such high level system of thought with middle school students before.

We have one more team ready to debate against China next week in Bracket B. I am excited to watch them debate and see how they argue. They are on the opposite side so it is much different in terms of thought and strategies. I hope to connect with them before the debate, but who knows. I know they will be ready and I will once again share the information and reflect as well.

I would love to hear from you about the ideas and thoughts shared in this post. What is your reaction? Do you have other food for thought? What would you like to know more about? I want to keep this conversation going because I feel like these students were pushed to a whole new level and really explored their capabilities without worry of grades and rubrics. Rather, they had a live audience that they wanted to impress and do well. THINK Global was amazing we have learned a great deal from them. It is awesome how much we can learn from other schools and students through engagements like this.

This is my first time working a debate and something like this with middle school. As a teacher I learned a great deal about myself and my teaching. I have things to improve as well. More importantly, I am excited for teaching and learning. I am now intrigued by the things mentioned above and how I can make changes to my teaching to bring these concepts to life.

I will be blogging again soon when I have time to gather my thoughts a bit deeper.