STEM
Below are the major projects and initiatives that I have been working on.
Welcome to the Wonder Room!
It is called by many names; tinker lab, makerspace, STEM lab, design studio... and each name gives a hit at the unique spin that school has put on their space. Our space is called the Wonder Room and our unique spin is that this room is designed to be a space where kids are allowed to ask "why?" as many times as they want and use exploration to find the answer. (Coming Soon wonder room website and video)
Design Tech Standards
As our DT team dug more and more deeply into our standards we found that several standard sets partially met our needs but nothing was quite the right fit. Using the ISTE, NCAS, and CAS standards as our guide we home-brewed a new structure to our standards to create an intentional scope and sequence for our K-12 DT program. (coming soon standards outline)
Early Years Centers
Making in the early years is all about nurturing student's natural inclination to explore. (coming soon album of samples of early years activities)
My goal for our makerspace was that students would be able to navigate it independently and that it would become a safe space for all learners. I gave a presentation at 21CL's STEM Symposium on how we did that.
STEM is all about integration and making the connection between different subject areas. The ongoing work of my job is finding ways to authentically build STEM projects into our curriculum to bring learning alive in the classroom and to help students see how larger concepts connect all learning. Linked find a sample unit plan for G4 science.
Outdoor Making
Our makerspace is open during student's free time but we also did not want to keep students from much needed time outdoors. So we created an outdoor maker space to bring creativity and making outside. (Coming soon scope and sequence for outdoor makerspace)
