Hello- I am Jon Taylor and I teach the Engineering and Architecture II and III classes (EA)and the Exploring Materials and Engineering Class (EM).

Top 10 Items-

1. It's an elective. 

2. If it's not fun, tell me and we can work out a better experience. 

3. Safety First. It's a hands on course- yes, you will need to move around and use your hands and brain at the same time. EM classes will take safety tests on all machines. EM classes will need to pay a $15.00 fee for materials. Payment can be made to mypaymentsplus, a check made out to CB West Student Activities, or cash.

4.  9 weeks= 9 choices of projects in 9 different areas of engineering technologies/themes: Arduino/Pi, Architecture, 3D CAD, 2D CAD, Laser, Flight, Hand Tool, Tinker, Instructable/Mentor- 9 projects times 5 points= 45 project points. Project grades will be shown with a rubric on this blog page. For the EM class, you will have 2 project grades- The folding stool and a project of choice. Both will total 45 points.

5. 9 weeks= 9 choices of Procedural Knowledge Opportunities- 9 times 5 points= 45 Procedural Knowledge points. Please participate in the course to gain the procedural knowledge needed to learn and grow through our project based learning experiences.

6. Grades are negotiable. Sometimes we will need to include your parents with grade decisions. Incomplete in the gradebook means we will need to meet to dicuss how we can improve the learning experience. Two incompletes means means a parent/Guardian, guidance and house principal need to get involved to assist you and me in participating better in the class. A third incomplete means we will continue the group discussion as mentioned above and a fourth incomplete means you will receive an Incomplete for the semester and you will have 2 weeks after the semester ends to make up class content/projects.

7. This class is set up like a Maker Space. Take lots of pictures and videos of your progress with your phone. These will be used to create an Instructable. Yes, you will document failures and achievements. Our makerspace will have computers, Raspberry Pi, Arduino, MakerBots, Laser cutter, hand tools, CAD, and some power tools.

8. To make progress on projects- Move from what you already know in order to learn new things so you can understand what you are trying to build in a project. Do not give up on something because it is hard. I will not support that!!

9. You need to be a part of our supportive environment- Negativity affects creativity. Some projects are individual, others are collaborative. 

10. There is some lecture in this course- I stress the one on one conversations because our projects can evolve into intense problem solving opportunities. Frustration is a normal part of the engineering process. Thankfully, we have the internet with you tube if we are having trouble with a particular engineering problem. USE YOUR RESOURCES! Click here for Our Website- 

I am eagerly anticipating working with you to open up your potential to think and act like an engineer! Stay tuned to this blog AND to our OneNote, which is new for this year. Please check out my twitter feed and earleir blog posts for more picts and videos of our classes- https://twitter.com/escapesSTEEAM 

Make-Mentor-Collaborate

- J.T.