Personal Reflection
At the beginning of this year with MSUrbanSTEM, I had several major goals. One goal was to increase my competency with technology and the other was to add the Fine Arts to Science as a way to increase student engagement and deepen learning. I was looking to the students to anticipate change - what were their interests and what was not working well anymore? I was looking at the business and science world as well - what are they looking for in the students leaving the education system? It seemed to me that the Fine Arts brought in the final piece needed to prepare the current and future generations for 21st Century learning and living. I saw my students rise up and surprise me as they met challenges and tried new things. Many of them really connected with Science and it gained new importance to them as they interacted with it in a variety of ways and saw it in a different light. Some students were surprised to find that they were actually having fun!
To effect change, it is sometimes necessary to abandon the old and embrace the new. In other instances, a simple refining of methods is enough. I have started to become more comfortable experimenting with new technology and learning to “play” with programs in order to learn how they work instead of waiting for someone to show me. I am looking for some way to increase the amount of computers we have available and/or to incorporate phones in class (more of a challenge than I expected). This will allow for more creative usage of technology in Science. As a result of my Deep Play Group collaboration, I used Google Classroom with my students to collaborate on projects and a variety of resources to create some amazing projects
and I would like to do more with it in the future.
My next goal is to increase my Personal Learning Network. The network I have is fairly diverse but needs to be expanded. I have so appreciated the inspiration of the MSUrbanSTEM leaders and fellows and have been collaborating with the Accelerated Math, Primary Science, and several Fine Arts teachers but I need to branch out more. I also want to have a stronger leadership voice. One way I hope to do this is by being much more intentional about documentation. I want to start being more bold about teaching other adults and encouraging change after seeing what transformational thinking has done for me. It is tempting for me to see the work that others are doing as more cool or inspiring than what my students and I are doing but if our work inspires even one person to do something new, it is worth sharing. Finally, I would love to have a STEAM Night to show parents how STEM and the Arts connect and complement each other so beautifully and work to create a well-rounded, empowered student who is ready to face challenges of the modern age.
At the beginning of this year with MSUrbanSTEM, I had several major goals. One goal was to increase my competency with technology and the other was to add the Fine Arts to Science as a way to increase student engagement and deepen learning. I was looking to the students to anticipate change - what were their interests and what was not working well anymore? I was looking at the business and science world as well - what are they looking for in the students leaving the education system? It seemed to me that the Fine Arts brought in the final piece needed to prepare the current and future generations for 21st Century learning and living. I saw my students rise up and surprise me as they met challenges and tried new things. Many of them really connected with Science and it gained new importance to them as they interacted with it in a variety of ways and saw it in a different light. Some students were surprised to find that they were actually having fun!
To effect change, it is sometimes necessary to abandon the old and embrace the new. In other instances, a simple refining of methods is enough. I have started to become more comfortable experimenting with new technology and learning to “play” with programs in order to learn how they work instead of waiting for someone to show me. I am looking for some way to increase the amount of computers we have available and/or to incorporate phones in class (more of a challenge than I expected). This will allow for more creative usage of technology in Science. As a result of my Deep Play Group collaboration, I used Google Classroom with my students to collaborate on projects and a variety of resources to create some amazing projects
and I would like to do more with it in the future.
My next goal is to increase my Personal Learning Network. The network I have is fairly diverse but needs to be expanded. I have so appreciated the inspiration of the MSUrbanSTEM leaders and fellows and have been collaborating with the Accelerated Math, Primary Science, and several Fine Arts teachers but I need to branch out more. I also want to have a stronger leadership voice. One way I hope to do this is by being much more intentional about documentation. I want to start being more bold about teaching other adults and encouraging change after seeing what transformational thinking has done for me. It is tempting for me to see the work that others are doing as more cool or inspiring than what my students and I are doing but if our work inspires even one person to do something new, it is worth sharing. Finally, I would love to have a STEAM Night to show parents how STEM and the Arts connect and complement each other so beautifully and work to create a well-rounded, empowered student who is ready to face challenges of the modern age.