Reactions from Others

From a Chapin teacher:

"It was wonderful to see these young ladies wielding technology skills and tools with confidence. What an inspired and memorable project!"

From Ms. Deevy and Staff:

"What fun ... 3 cheers for class 7."

From one parent:

"I'm soooo impressed! Watch out, Bill Gates, here comes class 7! And kudos to Mr. Bergen and his team for dreaming up such a brilliant project. It's one thing to know how to use software -- but to know hardware ... that makes your knowledge complete. And who knows, it probably stimulates some of these girls to try engineering and physics. Just a note to my daughter ... no, you may not take apart my computer..."

From another parent:

"The class of 2010 can DEFINITELY build 10 computers in two days . . . you don't need "good luck" just "have fun."

From another parent:

"Dear Seventh grade girls: Your computers are AMAZING!! I loved the on-site demonstrations yesterday by G6 and G10 and enjoyed going through all the websites. I'm not sure how in the world you did it. With your computer skills and know-how, you girls are ready to go out and conquer anything. (I feel lucky that you are going to be the ones in charge in a few decades!) Congratulations on all your hard work and an outstanding achievement--

Here are some of the observations from Class 4:

"There was a motherboard which holds the memory."
"They were using the computers to make a group Web page."
"They were taking lots of pictures for their web pages."
"They also had a fan so the computer wouldn't overheat."
"There were lots of wires."
"There were lots of tools to put it together."
"There was a little gadget in particular and a bunch of heads you could put on it."
"There were 6 people in each group and 10 groups."
"One of the tools was a tool that looked like a monkey wrench."
"There were bugs in their web pages so they had to fix it."

Our thoughts (Class 4) about doing this project three years from now:

"It'll be fun."
"It'll be pretty cool experience not to have class for 2 days."
"I think it would be a fun experience."
: "It will be fun to take pictures."
"It will be a lot of fun and I'm really excited."
"I think it would be cool to put the computer together."
"I think it would be fun because you could say, 'I made this computer.'"
"You could see your own work around the school and be really proud of doing something."
"I think it would be fun because you get to take pictures and put them on your website."
"Because it would be cool to make our own computers."
"I think it will be challenging to put all the wires together."
Closing thoughts: 7th grade Fun Exciting Frustrating Challenging Cool Determination

Here are some of the observations from Class 5:

One of the computers was red (connected to a laptop because of broken plug). They had moving animals on their website, which seemed a little pointless! They switched roles about every hour.
City-looking" chips were multi-colored and had specific names. There were specific places for everything, with specific instructions.
It looked complicated! There were lots of memory-related chips. The little pieces were hard to handle.
They had done the motherboard, the sound board, and the internet card. It seemed cool to learn HTML codes. They had "runners" who were in charge of getting instructions and relaying it to their group.
Lots of wires and "weird stuff!" They don't have to write a report like the 5's had to do for robotics.
One group had a purple cord. They had at least two laptops per group, and some of them were duplicating their work, which seemed pointless.
There were lots of thin, flat wires.
They were screwing tiny pieces to the base. I saw them asking for help and taking pictures. I also saw some tension among group members.
It looked weird because there were lots of unconnected wires. The girls looked really stressed out because of complications in their work.
There were many wires that had to be put into the base.
Everyone was really busy! One group had three heads in a box!
One group was trying to put a video on their website.
There were lots of tiny pieces (like the internet chip). Lots of people were updating their websites.
One group was trying to copy and paste a moving lady bug onto their website! Lots of people looked tired from all the work!
If you type in codes, you can change the color of the screen.
Some girls were frustrated when their computers didn't work, but they eventually got them to work.
The girls had to place microchips together in order to make it work.
You must be very precise in order to make the computer work.
If the green light is on, it means that the computer is working.
It is very complicated to make a computer.
It takes a lot of time and effort.
It takes a lot of teamwork to make a computer. They all want their computers to work.

Here are some of the observations from Class 6:

When my class went to watch Class 7 build their computers, they were putting these flat pieces of metal into the bottom of the computer. The computers were really big, much bigger than the computers we usually use. They were also black. The screens were black and huge. Some of the 7th graders were typing what they were doing on laptops. Others were making them into web pages. Then we had to go back upstairs."
I thought it was very interesting that you could build computers in 7th grade
I thought that the Class 7 project of building computers was cool because I built a computer (like them [from scratch]) and I could relate. I was also cool to know that I could be able to build a computer again but with more knowledge about them.
I really enjoyed seeing the class 7 girls building their computers. Watch out bill gates, here comes class 7!!!!!!
I enjoyed going because it was interesting to see what a computer looks like when it is only partly made. I thought it was very interesting that you could build computers in 7th grade
I saw a lot of wires in the computers. Each wire was a different color. You could see the motherboard and a lot of other chips. I really liked the computers and I can't wait to do it next year. Keep up the good works 7's!!!!!!
I think that it is great that Chapin 7th graders have access to this great opportunity. This is a great technical experience and I can't wait to do it myself. I am really excited. Chapin is way ahead in technical advances, and i want to build a computer.
"I thought that it was very interesting to see everyone making a computer because I knew it is very hard. I thought it was very cool that all the pieces of a computer were out on the table and I thought it was really fun."
"I enjoyed seeing the PCs after they were built by the seventh grade. I saw the inside of one of the computers. I learned that a computer is actually the box connected to the screen, called a monitor. I had a good time.
"this project looked very interesting but complicated. How long has this project taken to this point? In your opinion was it hard to put the computers together? When do you plan on finishing?"
"I thought that it was very interesting to see Class Seven building their computers. I saw the insides of the computers and it was amazing that they had built them. I enjoyed seeing the completed computers as they really would look. Over all, I had fun!"
"I thought that it was very interesting to see the computers. it was fascinating to see all the computers completed, and to see the wires all put in. I find it amazing that Class Seven can do this. It was very fun."
""It was very amusing seeing people build computers."
"Class of 2010, You guys are really good at building the computers. Maybe you can race against Mr. Bergen or Mr. Martinez! It is really cool, maybe you could reconstruct your computer at home? ( THAT WAS A RHETORICAL QUESTION)