Mystery Google Hangout

     On December 16, 2015, we participated in our first Mystery Google Hangout.  In case you don't know what this is, here is a brief summary of the concept.  Basically two schools from different parts of the United States (or world) call each other via Google Hangouts.  No information is known about each school.  The two classes take turns back and forth asking each other yes and no questions.  An example of a good starting question is, "Are you east of the Mississippi River?"  Then the two classes compete to see which class can identify each other's location first.  
   So we started our Mystery Hangout with a good old-fashioned game of rock, paper, scissors to see which class would ask the first question.  We won, and decided to ask them first if they were located in the United States.  After a brief period of thinking, the other class answered to the affirmative, and we were off and running.  It was a spirited battle back and forth between both classes to see which class would guess the other school's location first.  We decided the best question they asked us was after they learned we were east of the Mississippi River.  They asked, "Do you touch a great lake?"  Of course the answer to that question was yes, and we knew we were going to get guessed.  We had their class narrowed down to being in the Midwest, being east of the Mississippi, and also that it touched the Mississippi River.  Once we finally established that they didn't border Canada, we narrowed it down to Nebraska or Missouri.  Unfortunately, they had already figured out we were from Indiana with their last question.  We were correct in out thinking, and were going to guess Missouri on our next turn.  
     We found out that they were a 4th grade class from Missouri. We then shared some facts about our state, town, and school with them, and they did the same.  The students had a blast participating in the Mystery Hangout.  It is something we plan to do again in the future.  Check out our photos and video clips below.

Will Bus Learning

This week we got to spend three days on the WILL Bus (Warsaw Inquiry Learning Lab) with Mrs. Baird.  After some introductory lessons on technology and engineering, the students were challenged to build a knee brace to support an injured knee.  They were told to think like an engineer.  The students discussed, planned, and created their knee braces in groups of four.  The students had a wonderful three days and learned a lot about how engineering and technology are inter related.  Check out the pictures below to see the students in action.

2015 4.5 National Championships

I had the opportunity to play this year in the 4.5 National Championships out in Palm Springs, California.  This was my third trip to the National Championships.  After having lost the previous two times to the eventual champion, I was hoping to finally get over the edge and win this year.  The goal of the team was to get into the final four.  There were 16 regions represented at the National Championships.  I was on the team that represented the midwest.  All 16 teams were placed in groups of four.  Our team then had to play each team in our grouping.  We defeated all of the other three teams in our bracket and advanced to the final four.  This was our goal from the start, so we were pretty happy.  We played Texas in the semi-finals and beat them 3-2.  (I should let you know that you play 2 singles positions and three doubles positions.)  That win put us in the National Championship match against Northern California, the home team.  The temperature in Palm Springs that weekend was extremely hot.  Most of the matches were played with the temperature in triple digits.  The championship match was no exception.  After an early struggle against out opponents, my partner Leon Brenneman and I eventually won our match 6-4 6-4.  The rest of the team held there own and we ended up beating Northern California 4-1.  It was a dream come true for my teammates and myself.  It was an amazing weekend, and it is something I will never forget.  Check out the photos below.