"Launch"ing New Programs

As a district, we continue to prioritze college and career readiness for students, and that means being purposeful in STEM programming as early as elementary school.  Last year, Sappington's fifth graders were the first to experience PLTW Lauch; this year, K-5 students are experiencing the program at Concord and Dressel through one of their block classes.  Through these pilots, we've been able to accommodate the need for additional class options for larger schools while gaining valuable input to further more universal and integrated K-5 programming.

A Kindergarten Example:  What structure will keep the big bad wolf from blowing down your house?

Students plan and design a structure to withstand the wolf's strength.

Testing their design - yes, that's a wolf attached to a leaf blower!

They can't even contain their excitement.

Future engineers build structures that withstand the force!

Reflecting on their design and its ability to withstand the force.

 A Third Grade Example:  How do varied natural forces result in increased erosion?

Students simulate forces of wind and collect the sand that's eroded, measuring and recording the data.

Students simulate the force of glaciers to collect more data.

What we see above are low tech examples of PLTW Launch...stay tuned to see how computer science is embedded in the program.

Engaging the Secondary Student

This weekend, I attended a block party and ending up talking about my favorite subject...teaching!  One poor neighbor (a teacher from a different district) had the misfortune of sharing with me his opinion on structured engagement techniques for high school students, and we had a little "discussion"...yep, I'm that fun at a party!

Here's the truth...I was that student in your high school class.  The one who always looked to be paying attention, nodding and smiling at all the right times, cramming just before the test so that I could show mastery of what you taught, writing well enough to bypass real understanding while appearing knowledgeable, silently hiding behind that student who was bound to earn a 36 on their ACT and willing to participate in class.  Ask how much of that learning I retained...at least one of my AP tests revealed the truth.

Requiring engagement from every student in the classroom is necessary.  It's necessary in order...

• to build individual accountability
• to build social skills
• to ensure every student understands
• to expand perspectives

The list can go on and on, but check out how we engage our secondary students, and reflect on your student engagement practices.

Students take turns doing the work while their partner praises and coaches using the technique "Rally Coach."

Make students move!  Having students physically move to another location in the room for a demonstration or mini-lesson before they apply their learning resets their brains and prepares them for their next task. 

In small groups, students work to solve problems, creating solutions that apply their learning.  

Use space differently - sometimes the novel is engaging.  Writing on the desk or using vertical space gives student a new perspective.

Peer practice - students take turns practicing their student-led conference and get feedback from their partner.

Group sharing - after students reflect individually, give them a chance to share to expand their thinking.

In teams, students become the nucleus, racing to various parts of the room to learn about mitochondria and DNA structures to complete their puzzles.  (I might have messed up the details of this - sorry Mr. Edwards!  One could suspect that science was one of those subjects where I "hid" as a high schooler.)

Students rotate through stations with specific individual and group tasks.  In this station, students research various types of faults and instruct their team.

While students work in stations, teachers can pull students for small group instruction that allows for formative assessment of understanding.

Lindbergh Teachers STEMitize!

STEM Teacher Quality Initiative (STEM TQ) is a regional effort to develop teachers who can provide quality STEM learning experiences in their classroom. This year-long professional develop program focuses on creating STEM capable teachers who pass on their knowledge through their curriculum.  A cohort of Lindbergh teachers (K-8) are participating in the program this year.  

The teachers participating in the program are learning how to STEMitize their lessons to enhance the learning and help the students become STEM capable learners.

While attending a two week introductory institute, our teachers engaged in many ways to help bring the learning alive through a number of experiments, seminars and field trips.

 Castlewood State Park

Participants spent time with a scientist from The Nature Conservancy working on problem solving and the integration of water, erosion and risk management. They spent the morning in the stream measuring for stream bank erosion and how to mitigate the damage.

 Newton's Laws in real life

Participants built mousetrap race cars to experiment and demonstrate some of Newton's Laws of motion. They took our new learning and applied to the physics of racing and topped it off with climbing into the race cars at Pole Position and put that learning into action.

 MilliporeSigma - Curiosity Lab

MilliporeSigma - Curiosity Lab

What is chemiluminescence and how does it happen? The group worked with scientists from MilliporeSigma on big ideas like how energy is absorbed or released in chemical reactions. Reading about it is one thing, watch a video is ok but when they had hands on with the chemicals it all came alive.