A Reflection of our Professional Development DAy

My colleagues dutifully filed in at 8 a.m. on Thursday morning after 3 straight days of meetings, mandatory trainings and way too much sitting. Coffee in hand, we briefly read through the NGSS Engineering Standards as well as the NGSS in general. I had already sent them the goals and schedule for the day so we were able to move quickly to Greg Young's part of the day.

Greg is 6'8" tall so that's a great eye opener. He is also so informally informative and calmly passionate that he engaged staff immediately. He started with a problem solving activity with the children's text, Zoom. We had to sequence individual book pages without showing them to each other. The book zooms in to the first picture of a billboard on a bus, each page going deeper into the picture. In addition to the communication and collaboration the activity demanded, Greg was making a point about perspectives - with curriculum, STEAM, and students.

Next Greg presented 2 maker challenges, first a spaghetti tower and then a Pom Pom ball slingshot. Teachers were very engaged: laughing, a little competitive, and talking about the engineering steps as they went along. After each activity Greg led a discussion of possible curricular ties to the activities and we readily recognized problem solving, communication, collaboration and perseverance. Digging a little deeper we talked about geometry, flight and energy. 

I received many thank-yous for the day and I think it was in part because as engaging as the tasks were, by 10:30 we were diving into the resources that Greg and I had prepared. We circulated as teachers reviewed materials, looking for maker tasks that would strengthen an existing unit in any content area. We started a shared Google doc to keep track of our collective ideas and will revisit it at staff meetings throughout the year. It was lunch before we knew it.

After lunch I had arranged for several teachers to share engineering projects I tried with their students last year and how they went (well, thankfully) as well as projects they are already doing. One 2nd grade teacher explained that her students were so engaged in the Engineering is Elementary project we did that she started a Maker Corner. Every Monday she gave a low tech prompt along the lines of a Pom Pom shooter. Students who wanted to could work on it before morning meetings each day. On Wednesdays they had first runs with the class and on Fridays a final run. She said it was so much fun she's going to do it again this year.

Next we had a visit from a representative from VEEP (VT Energy Education Program.) She was great, explaining engineering workshops they provide (1 free visit to every classroom) and modeling the kits we can borrow. I think teachers appreciated the offer, almost like it was a little gift.

We ended the day with about an hour of work time and collaboration. The Art and Music teachers met with grade level teams to plan integrated units. Our Librarian explained a plan for a STEAM skit for our welcome back assembly. Teachers seemed excited to try new things, some on their own and some with me. I also think they were a little relieved that there was an easy entry into this STEAM stuff they'd been hearing about and glad that we were all jumping in together. As I walked around from room to room teachers were saying, "Look what we found!", "I'm going to do this the first week of school", and "Can you meet with us next week to review the EiE materials?" The 5th and 6th grade teachers and I are going to have an academic choice period on Fridays and I will be offering Toy Hacking (hope you're reading this Lisa Foley!)

Greg and I are talking about "What's next?" My principal has offered days when he can come back and work with us. I'm preparing a staff survey for input. One idea Greg and I discussed is taking some time with the staff this year to develop some overarching STEAM goals for next year and then develop a school wide collaborative project. I like the approach of building a program and project carefully: let teachers try stuff out and provide time to process about it with others this year. Take time to make a plan for next year that we all feel part of. Wow! He suggested that I might want to visit The Sustainability School in Burlington for ideas. Greg is excited about our work at CES because, although his experience is with the high school level, he is interested in how STEAM can look in an elementary school.

This was a very rewarding day for me, personally. It was gratifying to develop a plan for the day and to see it work. I feel so fortunate to have support from teachers and administrators for a shift in direction and grateful that I am sharing this journey. I am also quite sure I will be reaching out to my Create Make Learn community for ideas and support as we move forward.