Sunday, November 27, 2016

Changing Teachers' Mindsets one Baby Step at a Time

Last year and this year I have had the privilege of being a STEAM coach.  It was not part of my original job description as a Curriculum Coordinator, but I added it because I missed being with the teachers and students.

Since it is Thanksgiving time, I am truly thankful for the small district I work in and the MANY roles and responsibilities I get to experience.  I have shared many STEAM activities on this blog and on Twitter.  One thing I emphasize with the teachers and students I work with is that they will be out of their comfort zone, like Sylvia Duckworth's sketchnote:

With this sketchnote in mind I have witnessed a growth progression in the STEAM teachers I coach weekly:
(this is only a small part of my overall coaching role)

My Coaching Process:
  • Weekly STEAM time with a 5th grade, a 3rd grade, and a 1st/2nd grade class.
  • Give students a Maker or Coding Challenge: (CLICK HERE to see what we've done so far this year)
  • Create a HyperDoc to accompany our activity: (Included in the link above)
  • Get out of the students' way tell them to figure it out and/or make it work (I'm a Project Runway fan)
  • Have the teacher walk around and support but NO helping or rescuing
  • CLICK HERE for some photos of our work this year
What the Teachers Do:
  • See their students' engagement
  • See their students struggle and persevere
  • See that their students are creative and capable problem solvers and critical thinkers
And eventually they step out of their comfort zone and start creating their own HyperDocs and activities with a risk-taking mindset.

The week before Thanksgiving vacation the 1st/2nd grade STEAM teacher created a HyperSlide on Salmon for her students and had the work on it during our STEAM time so I could support her and the students.  The incredible part of the lesson was when she realized she needed their names and so she told the kiddos that she is learning along side of them and that she needed them to "redo" the form with their names.  It was an awesome example of modeling and risk-taking for a self proclaimed "non-techy" teacher and her students.





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