The main criticism is that my classroom is too loud. Some people stop by and get the impression that learning is not happening. We develop the mind. It's hard and noisy and sometimes a bit messy, but everyone learns more than they ever thought possible.
My students truly are the poorest of the poor.
Often times, I have several of my students that are homeless at any one time. They come from a state of generational poverty generally.
We work on the big picture model of teaching. We focus on projects of the practical nature. This particular project is tough for the students to accept. My students' only exposure to law enforcement is in the negative sense.
Most of my students are adjudicated and we have to address that while training them in a forensic science class. They will realize just how good they are, when solving the crime surrounding my death.
They love a good mystery and they love the competition.
My Project
This project is very simple. Their forensic science teacher has been killed at his desk. He was shot while grading papers. It is up to the students to solve the crime. Another teacher will shoot me and I will help guide them from the grave. A gun will be with the murderer.
My students will use the trajectory kit to approximate the height of the murderer. They will use the posters and ballistics kit to determine the kind of gun used. The students will also test for blood and use the kit to analyze the blood spatter patterns. All of these kits will be used to build a case and gather evidence.
They will need to compile a list of suspects. They will need to sort through those suspects using the tools they have already learned about in class. Blood analysis, blood typing, ballistics and fingerprinting. There may be a few other wrinkles thrown in as well. The only two people in the building that will know are me and the culprit. They of course will act as if nothing is wrong.
These types of products are expensive and difficult to get for classrooms such as mine.
The value is so very simple though. My students will understand why it is important that we solve crimes.
My students will understand that many people in law enforcement are good, honest and honorable people. We will take this all the way to the arraignment hearing with someone else posing as a judge.
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