This story fosters a lot of creative ideas. I love the ideas that designers come up with.
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These posts about STEM stories is a collaboration with a dear colleague who continuously inspires me to grow and challenges me to think - Amy Otis developed many of these STEM stories for our summer school course and I have had the opportunity to use her brilliance and build on some of the ideas to use with students. The first story that I am going to share is Here Comes the Garbage Barge. Originally these STEM stories were created in Seesaw and with the transition to middle school, I had to change the format to Google Jamboard. The STEM stories are used to encourage learners to connect to stories while also engaging in the Design Thinking process with a physical and virtual prototype of their ideas. Here Comes The Garbage Barge! JamboardDesigner 1 - AngelDesigner 2 - Elizabeth F.Designer 3 - Lucy J.Designer 4 - TessaDesigner 5 - DevinDesigner 6 - NadiaDesigner 7 - SauleIt has been a while since I have last blogged. It may be the transition from Educational Technology Coach K-5 to 6-8 Informational Technology and Literacy teacher. It may be that for the first time I am teaching 100% virtual. It may be that I am negotiating the difference between elementary and middle school. It may be that I barely keep myself above water most days with learning a new platform, teaching a new material, and teaching a new way. These are all possible reasons. Exhaustion is the true reason.
Teaching is an all consuming profession. Since moving back into the "classroom" at the beginning of August, I have experienced the constant teaching dreams/nightmares, the internal conversations of "is this right", "could I do this better", and the constant self questioning and reflecting that comes with teaching. I can't say that I am engaged in a healthy dance presently between school and home. My goal at the beginning was to physically go to school twice a week but after sitting in a new school and a new classroom, while masking up every time I left the room to use the restroom, only to sit in front of a screen in a different location, I slowly started staying home more. My consolation with feeling like I pretty much stared at black zoom screens with students names while seeing my face staring back at me was that I could use my own bathroom and cuddle with my fur babies in between classes. Last week I entered into the trough that all educators move through as the year progresses. The trough where personal motivation and joy becomes a rare commodity. I could feel myself sinking in a way that I didn't know how to find a lifeline. This new world of education where I speak to black screens and record lessons in Edpuzzle so that I can be sure that the learner is even on the other side of the screen. My love of creating and watching learners engage in discovery and sharing is currently hindered in this new kind of teaching where Zoom controls the flow of interaction. So it is time for me to celebrate what I can see. It is time for me to celebrate what my students are doing and creating. It is time for me to rededicate myself to sharing and blogging in the hopes that I can feel less alone in this new world of virtual teaching. So the new chapter is now starting to be written.... I hope you enjoy it. |
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