Have you seen Osmo?
iPad + Apps + Mirror + Collaboration + Games = Osmo
Check it out: https://www.playosmo.com/en/
So you've made the PLTW commitment and have several iPads now.
Have you seen Osmo? iPad + Apps + Mirror + Collaboration + Games = Osmo Check it out: https://www.playosmo.com/en/
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Kindergarten has been using the AMSTI Balls and Ramps investigation for several years, but this year Matson's class added a key component. In addition to spotlighting the fastest ball, the smallest ball, the largest ball, etc..., they had discussions. WHY was the fastest ball fastest? HOW could one be blown forward with air through a straw when none of the others would move? WHAT would each student do differently if he/she could redesign? #STEM
BB has been an Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) school for several years now, so we've wired houses in fourth grade using their electricity investigation. But this year, through a PLTW/STEM lens, we completed the houses and then had students prepare a presentation of their architecture. PK-3 students visited the Tour of Homes. Fourth grade teachers Harris, Thomas, and Zuck plan to add another layer or two to next year's project!
BB students K-4 took a schoolwide STEM field trip to Sci Quest in Huntsville. Presentations and hands-on experiences ruled the day! Fantastic!
Students need to decide how they are going to solve the problems. Students need to solve the problems. Students need to share how they solved the problems. And as a result of seeing how their peers worked, students might just find additional ways to solve their problems. And you can almost bet they'll drop what they did for something more efficient and less time consuming. Don't we all? But LET THEM GET THERE. The initial student journey can be one of the least efficient things a teacher facilitates, but the resulting student understanding lasts. And it transfers! 5. High tech, low tech, buy them, make them... games are cost-efficient, and students love them.
4. Once there are several games in the hopper, students can have choice. 3. Students can learn from one another as they play games. A teacher can craft those small groups of game-players to create opportunities for casual student-to-student explanations. 2. Whether teacher-directed or student-on-student, games are a great go-to for filling moments that might otherwise be unproductive. Waiting in line for bathroom time? Almost, but not quite, lunch time? Some students finish ahead of others? Use those minutes! 1. Games are one of the best ways to continually practice previously-taught skills. Sub in the room? Math hour is still productive! New, mid-year student in the room with some skill gaps? Many can be filled playing games with other students and observing their thinking. And do you have a really creative thinker in your room who challenges you to stay a step ahead? Have that student design a game to reinforce a skill that she understands ahead of her peers! These second graders have been reading books about boats and talking about how they are able to float. After some discussion, they began to design their own "boats" from aluminum foil. Each team of two boat- designers carried their creation to the tub of water and placed it in. All floated! But then quarters were added... one at a time. Whose boat could handle the "gravity" of the most quarters while remaining buoyant? There was a clear winner.
Next Step--- the why. The class continued to talk about the activity and about the features of the winning boat that made it different from the other boats. The PLTW Design Model-- ASK -> EXPLORE -> MODEL -> EVALUATE -> EXPLAIN-> ASK Lesson Learned! At the same time BB is working to become a PLTW/STEM school, Hartselle City Schools is developing a new teacher evaluation model through a pilot program with the State Department of Education. The evaluation instrument, developed by a district-wide team consisting largely of a cross-section of teachers. Meeting one began with the question, "When you walk into a classroom and you see learning, what's going on?" The group broke into sub-groups, answered the question, and posted their answers on giant post-its. With the help of facilitator Grizzle we found the commonalities in the posters across the room and condensed those commonalities into the categories that would become the foundation of the Educator Effectiveness evaluation model.
What does this have to do with PLTW/STEM? It gave us a chance as a district to place additional value on tech in the hands of students, learning targets and I Can statements, student collaboration and problem solving, and more. Many powerful conversations were generated by those on the development team, and many more broke out among teachers in the district on the first roll-out day. A piece garnering attention is the "What is the student doing" and "What is the teacher doing" break out of the Educator Effectiveness model. Will some parts of this have to be re-worked? Probably. But how was it developed? Boots-on-the-Ground-Educators got together to Ask, Explore, Model, Evaluate, and Explain. Sound familiar?
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Author: Susan HayesPrincipal, Barkley Bridge Elementary School Archives
March 2016
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