Phase TWO
The ImagineIT Project, which I will be implementing this year, will be conducted with 4th and 5th grade students at Mariano Azuela Elementary School where I have been teaching for the past 4 years. Students get to participate in my STEM class for 1 hour a week for the length of one semester. Throughout the entirety of the semester, they will be emerged in the engineering wonders around them which I am hoping will inspire them to think creativity and think BIG.
This year, I will focus on engineering around us, the relationships of engineering to our daily lives, and how engineering really affects everyone. My ultimate goal of teaching will be for students to become curious about the world they live in. I want students to wonder, to want to find out information, apply it and learn for themselves.
The overarching project I will be conducting this year will be a “shark tank” project, where students will use the Stanford Design model to go through each phase in order to create an invention or innovation. Throughout the semester, during each class, students will also present a day in history in engineering as well as have opportunities to tinker with the world around them. My hope for these weekly activities is to create interest, motivation and curiosity to the world around them. Also, I want to prepare them for the middle school content, which is far more in depth with creativity, design, modeling, and robotics. In middle school grades curriculum, they really have to show enduring determination in order to face tough challenges.
As for some resources, while talking to my summer group members, I learned about the Explore-Vision Competition. I will be using some of their sample lessons, as well as a timeline of giving students enough time in order to complete each phase of the design. It is important that students give this project enough thought and have an understanding that we are not just going to be making something, but they have to take time to think of their client, or the people that they are making their invention for.
Students will be using Google Classroom and Google Drive in order to keep all of their work together. Google Classroom will be a great resource that will help me track students work and give input and at the same time let them collaborate with each other. Furthermore, students will be using our Google Classroom to present each week’s day in history in engineering. This will be their homework and their groups will sign up at the beginning of the semester. Students will also have share-out time each class to talk about something that they tinkered with over the previous week. They will be able to bring artifacts and show their peers.
The grand finale of this project will be at the end of the semester when students will present their big “shark tank” ideas to a group of teachers and students. I want to host a student fair in which students will get to present their ideas and show what they have created. With a showcase of this magnitude, students will have something big to look forward to and have a purpose in mind.
This year, I will focus on engineering around us, the relationships of engineering to our daily lives, and how engineering really affects everyone. My ultimate goal of teaching will be for students to become curious about the world they live in. I want students to wonder, to want to find out information, apply it and learn for themselves.
The overarching project I will be conducting this year will be a “shark tank” project, where students will use the Stanford Design model to go through each phase in order to create an invention or innovation. Throughout the semester, during each class, students will also present a day in history in engineering as well as have opportunities to tinker with the world around them. My hope for these weekly activities is to create interest, motivation and curiosity to the world around them. Also, I want to prepare them for the middle school content, which is far more in depth with creativity, design, modeling, and robotics. In middle school grades curriculum, they really have to show enduring determination in order to face tough challenges.
As for some resources, while talking to my summer group members, I learned about the Explore-Vision Competition. I will be using some of their sample lessons, as well as a timeline of giving students enough time in order to complete each phase of the design. It is important that students give this project enough thought and have an understanding that we are not just going to be making something, but they have to take time to think of their client, or the people that they are making their invention for.
Students will be using Google Classroom and Google Drive in order to keep all of their work together. Google Classroom will be a great resource that will help me track students work and give input and at the same time let them collaborate with each other. Furthermore, students will be using our Google Classroom to present each week’s day in history in engineering. This will be their homework and their groups will sign up at the beginning of the semester. Students will also have share-out time each class to talk about something that they tinkered with over the previous week. They will be able to bring artifacts and show their peers.
The grand finale of this project will be at the end of the semester when students will present their big “shark tank” ideas to a group of teachers and students. I want to host a student fair in which students will get to present their ideas and show what they have created. With a showcase of this magnitude, students will have something big to look forward to and have a purpose in mind.
