STEM is a
curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines
— science, technology, engineering, and mathematics — in an interdisciplinary
and applied approach. Rather than teach the four disciplines as separate and
discrete subjects, STEM integrates them into real-world learning applications.
The Learning
Lab was hosted at Westchester Academy for International Studies and coordinated
by District Educational Technology and Science and Math Curriculum Area staffers.
Attendees
arrived in groups and moved from station-to-station listening, engaging and
participating in hands-on activities. Attendance for the day’s event peaked at
more than 250. If shares to the school district’s Twitter account were an
indicator, fun was had by those in attendance.
“I
participated on Saturday for several reasons,” said Hunters Creek Elementary
School teacher Jessica Wright who brought her Cougar Coder students to the
event. “First, I felt it was important
for the students to have the opportunity to share what they have learned with a
real world audience. It makes their learning even more authentic and
purposeful.”
The idea for
the Learning Lab experience was simple. Bring together learners from all ages
and provide fun activities to expose children and adults alike to STEM and
inspire the next generation of engineers, technologists, and scientist while
hosting a collaborative space for educators to showcase and share instructional
practice.
From
interactive robotics playgrounds with coding challenges to hands-on maker
spaces for designing catapults and creating circuits, attendees enjoyed the
excitement of designing, testing and working through challenges while
experiencing firsthand the powerful combination of great teaching and engaging
STEM instruction.
“I love
coding so much because of the fact that if you miss only a single letter in
your code, you can break the whole thing and having to find where you messed up
and fixing it is awesome because when your code finally works it feels
amazing,” said fifth-grader Shepherd Scimemi.
In addition
to this range of maker spaces and playgrounds constructed for the event,
dynamic poster sessions were presented by top SBISD educators and several outside
organizations including industry-specific sessions from Girlstart, RICE, UofH and TAMU.
“As an
educator, it was so great to see that there are so many wonderful things going
on in our district. As teachers, we don’t get to celebrate and support each
other enough. This kind of experience teach us new things. It’s an opportunity
for us to support one another and say that your hard work has not gone
unnoticed. I think that is so important,” said Wright.
If Wright
has anything to do with it, the Lab’s impact will be a lasting one.
“Mostly I
learned that I needed to step my game up! My coders spent the last two months
working on codes for the Wonder League Competition,” she explained.
“They’ve
mostly used Ozobots and Dot and Dash. Today reminded me that there are so many
other coding opportunities out there that we need to be taking advantage of. I
can’t wait for them to get their hands on Little Bits. That, to me, will be one
of the coolest experiences to create for them.”
Over the
next few weeks, she plans to work with her students to perfect their coding
skills as they prepare for participation in the Wonder League.
Student coders programming Dot and Dash Coding Robots |
From the
sound of it, Wright’s students don’t need much-added encouragement to want to
code.
“I like
coding because I can get a challenge and it is fun to try and solve. And I also
liked doing coding with friends, because you can think of new ways to make
codes,” said fifth-grader Lexy Whitefield.
“Coding
helps me to be organized. It also helps me with teamwork and to be able to ask
for help, so I don’t have to struggle,” she said.
Along with
building teamwork skills and self-confidence in an increasing collaborative
learning environment, coding and other hands-on STEM instruction are helping
students learn that failure is an important part of problem-solving.
Maybe the most important lesson in all this is how Cougar Coder Miles Tucker summed it up. “It helps me to learn and never give up!”
Maybe the most important lesson in all this is how Cougar Coder Miles Tucker summed it up. “It helps me to learn and never give up!”
As Tucker
and the other Cougar Coders prepare for code competition with Ms. Wright, this
simple statement has big implications for the future, and the coders who are
heading into it at full steam with a curiosity and drive that educators in
SBISD can only hope is limitless.
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