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STEM
Click on the following links to learn more about Shepardson becoming a STEM school:
STEM Newsletter Articles
August 28th, 2009
TECHNOLOGY: Putting the T in S.T.E.M at Shepardson
By Margie Bucher, Media Specialist, mhbucher@psdschools.org
Kindergarten! That momentous time in life when a very big event for these boys and girls is just to get to lunch on this 2nd day of school! But just as these boys and girls will be transformed in their six years at Shepardson, technology will be doing the same to instruction and learning for these students.
In tying our technology funds to our school improvement plan, teachers said that they wanted to redesign instruction, to incorporate technology in new ways, and to deliver instruction visually. They also stated that they wanted to maximize learning opportunities through technology. Lena Ziegler, 4th grade teacher, (seen below) as well as all full-time classroom teachers will be using document cameras, projectors, speakers, and hp notebooks to transform the way they deliver instruction and help students learn. An iPod Learning Lab of twenty iTouch ipods will give teachers the ability to differentiate using applications selected for individual needs. Through the use of the mic-headphones, they will also be able to create digital stories and practice their reading fluency.
Our lab has 29 computers. With two days available for class use, teachers will be able to schedule the lab for project work for their classes. In addition, each pod has 12-14 eMacs in their mini-labs plus teachers may check out a lab of iBooks (laptops) or a lab of 16 MacBooks (laptops) that have microphone/camera capabilities. Our district tech, Techno Bob (Bob Curran) is shown setting up the new MacBook mobile lab. The 8 iMacs in the media center and the 16 MacBooks could be reserved by a teacher who is doing project work during the day on Thursdays or Fridays. Teachers may reserve the laptops anytime or use in the classroom. All of these computers used for research have a minimum of 1GB of memory due to our technology funds. A portable SmartBoard will add to the teacher’s options of expanding instruction and learning.
September 11th, 2009
Shepardson Incorporates STEM into Learning
Why?
Last year the staff and parents spent time considering the option of incorporating STEM components into our established curriculum. The response was overwhelmingly supportive by both staff and parents. We will definitely maintain our focus on the “whole child”, the arts, and language arts but we found compelling reasons to strengthen our program with these components. Our study of what our students will need to be successful as global citizens in the 21st century easily led us in this direction. These elements are not new to Shepardson but we envision integrating them within our existing standards to create a more engaging learning environment that motivates students to think, to inquire, and to be active learners in their education. More information about this is available on our school website!
What has happened over the summer?
After school was out, nearly all of the teachers were able to attend a full day personal session with several CSU professors at the learning laboratories of CSMATE (Center for Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education.) We ourselves became active learners, allowing us to better understand what inquiry looks like. The other half of the day was spent analyzing what all Shepardson is already doing and what we feel we would need to do to move into an authentic STEM school. We were pleased to see all we are already doing. CSU was highly supportive of our efforts and provided significant value to our thinking and planning process. Teachers were highly engaged all day, imagining many possibilities to make learning more fun, meaningful and exciting for our students. We want them to capture the Joy of Learning!
Principal Mary Kay Sommers was invited to attend a gathering of 200 education, business and policy leaders at the State Capitol for the Governor to launch the Colorado STEM Network. This initiative recognizes the skills that students will need to be successful and competitive for the innovative workforce needed in the 21st century. Shepardson continues to be one of the few elementary schools seeking to incorporate all elements into the learning process.
Teachers Beth Brown and Rebecca McGoldrick attended a two-day training session on grant writing. We recognize that Shepardson will need to seek outside resources to assist us with this development. We are now better skilled and positioned to seek grants alone and with our esteemed colleagues at CSU. We are anxious to have parent assistance in this process since it can be time-consuming as well as time-sensitive. Interested?
On behalf of Shepardson, Principal Sommers has been invited to join the planning and demonstration sessions of a CSU STEM-related initiative, supported by the state of Colorado. This grant will seek to bridge the gap between the skills businesses need and the talent our schools system is producing. We are excited to be viewed as a serious and eager developer of STEM elements into an elementary curriculum. Sommers has been making contacts with various groups who are equally eager to assist us in the development.
This summer our technology plan was approved for the expenditure of Bond funds. Now purchases have arrived and teachers are eager to learn ways to maximize their use in the “normal” course of learning, not as a separate entity. Media Specialist Margie Bucher enticed staff to seek new resources over the summer to expand our use of technology in the classroom, as one way to more actively engage students in the learning process. One teacher immediately responded with specific ways she could have used it last year to help a specific child. Shaun Cornwall attended a state technology conference returning with new strategies! The ideas for relevant use of technology are growing easily. More ideas are welcome!
We plan to maintain a special section of our newsletter and our website related to STEM this year. SIT will again be serving as the parent/staff team who will assist us in our decision making process. Please contact a SIT parent rep. if you have questions or ideas to share.
September 25th, 2009
Shepardson Incorporates STEM into Learning
IN SYNC Event Will Feature Shepardson
Shepardson has been selected as the one elementary school in Poudre School District to be featured at the Metro Denver WIRED Initiative in early November. Businesses and schools will be connecting to bring real-world education to students while helping them be better prepared to succeed in a global economy. This event will include national speakers, a former astronaut, while stimulating conversations about partner- ships between all school levels (P-16) and the Colorado business community. Colorado State University is sponsoring this event through a grant-funded initiative. Shepardson will be the “work in progress” school as we develop our basic skills within highly engaging learning experiences that make the world real to our students. The other PSD schools to be featured for their STEM initiatives include Fort Collins High School, Rocky Mountain High School and Wellington Middle School. Shepardson is very honored to be part of this forward-moving group of schools, eager to bring 21st century learning into our instructional program.
Teachers Infuse STEM into Learning!
While teaching a geometry unit, fourth grade teachers added learning experiences that capitalized on engineering! They either used a Power Point generated by an engineering parent from last year or had engineer parent Mr. Hartmann teach them about engineering as a career. They also had students focus on famous towers in the world with concepts related to tension and compression while learning about best
shapes to create stable structures. Using only toothpicks and marshmallows, students then designed and built structures that had to stand unsupported for a minimum of 30 seconds. This experience engaged students in learning about geometry in ways that made the concepts more meaningful and concrete, and perhaps generated interest in a new field of learning for them.
October 9th, 2009
Shepardson Incorporates STEM into Learning
Tech Tidbits
If you see students walking around with earbuds hanging from their ears that are connected to an iTouch, don’t think that their teacher is letting them bring their personal iPods on a field trip and that they’re tuned into their favorite music. What you’re seeing is probably Mr. Cornwall’s 4th grade class recording the sights and sounds of their field trip to Centennial Village. Watch for his article with pictures and more information on how they used their information in the next Newsletter.
The vision for the iTouch ipods in the school setting is that they become another way that students can have a practice session designed especially for them whether it be recording a story that they have just learned to read, practicing writing their letters, timing themselves on math facts, or helping record the parts of a digital story.
How is all of this happening? Our mill levy and bond money is allowing us to expand into these technologies. Part of that money is reserved for staff development. But the money that comes to media/technology through P.T.O. fundraising supplies the critical component: substitutes so that teachers can participate in staff development. On October 28-30, five members of the technology committee will be attending a national conference in Denver. Our interest in this conference was not only because of the iPod sessions and other classroom technologies, but also because one of the strands of the conference targets S.T.E.M.
The remaining members of the committee will be visiting three schools in the Littleton area in early November that have been recommended by one of Dr. Sommers connections. These schools are using technology or are close to being S.T.E.M schools themselves. Once again, your P.T.O. money that comes to media/technology will allow us to do that through substitutes. Thank you, parents, because your support through P.T.O. activities and through your volunteer efforts makes a difference.
November 6th, 2009
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
SHEPARDSON FEATURED AT A STEM INSTITUTE
Shepardson was selected to be the elementary school in PSD who is actively showing its initiative to become a STEM school at an event in Denver called In Sync: Making School and Industry Links. Principal Mary Kay Sommers created a slide show with many examples of ways we are expanding instruction with 21st century skills and using technology as a tool for learning. Not only did she did she learn more about what a STEM vision can be and ways to make STEM a reality, but she made significant contacts that will assist Shepardson in moving forward. Helping students begin to think much earlier about what they like doing, their strengths, and ultimately what they are passionate about needs to begin much earlier. When families have these conversations with their children, the reason for school and learning become more real. Today, only 22% of the students will work hard at school because we ask them.
The rest need to be convinced it is important. This fact is even more scary when combined with the data that predicts that this is the first generation that will have fewer high school graduates than their parents…and we are the only industrialized country heading this direction. We have developed a brief summary of what we are trying to accomplish in our development as a STEM elementary school. We envision teaching curriculum aligned with academic and National Science Education Standards that promote 21st century skills. This inquiry-based approach to instruction within a project-based learning model, will intentionally integrate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics along with a strong focus on wellness and the arts. This approach will promote learning extensions, encourage active engagement in the learning process, and ensure high expectations for all of our diverse students. We seek to strengthen the strong curiosity for learning and creativity kindergarten students naturally embrace upon entering school. We expect students to leave Shepardson with higher levels of skill and content development, with stronger development of all the 21st century skills, with personal confidence and ownership as lifelong learners, and with broad exposure and enticement to varied careers. Approaching learning through meaningful and relevant content with highly engaging activities has immediately demonstrated a significant increase in enthusiasm for both teaching and learning!
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