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.

Accessible Learning for All Post 2 - Leprechaun Lesson

Sketchnote by Sylvia Duckworth

I am excited about the ALA tools because they give all students access to grade level content and/or meaningful content that they may not be able to read on their own.  I also love voice typing for all students because it allows the teacher to gain knowledge about a students THINKING.  The students can get their thoughts out and not have the writing get in the way. It is also my belief that using these tools will support independent literacy and language acquisition over time.

I am going to share some of the ways my teachers are using the tools to make content accessible to all of their students.

Leprechaun Lesson:  This lesson was adapted from the global lesson Krissy Venosdale shared:
CLICK HERE.  After reading her blog post, I sent it out to my K-3 teachers and offered a coaching session if they would like to participate.  I had 8 takers and so I created a STEAM lesson that had Krissy's materials as the foundation with the ACA tools and other resources added.  The maker activity (STEAM part) of the lesson was to use recycled materials to build a trap
Here is the link to the HyperDoc I created for the Lesson: http://bit.ly/LepHyperDoc

Lesson Plan I shared with the teachers:

The first link on the HyperDoc will take the students to the HyperDoc.  They will have to go to file and make a copy and then the document will be in their Google Drive account or if you are using Google Classroom, you can make a copy for each student.

HyperDoc Tool:

1. Start with the Spark video: It is a Lucky Charms commercial from the 1970’s (I thought it would be funny for the students to see the commercial I watched when I was their age and compare how the cereal has changed…)
2. Information:
1. Click the link and read Luck’s Blog to learn what he likes so the students can plan how they will attract a leprechaun to their trap.
2. Have the students fill in the table with the 7 things Luck loves using the Voice Typing Tool (this is a link to a screencast)
3. Have the students continue reading his blog to discover 2 additional things he loves and add them using the Voice Typing Tool
3. Interesting Facts:
1. Click on this link then use Readability and Read and Write for Google (this is a link to a screencast) to have the Chromebook read to the students.
4. My Map of Ireland
1. Have the students click on the Ireland red marker, then click on “view in Google Maps”
2. Then click on the little yellow man in the bottom right corner to get street view pictures of Ireland.
3. Let them explore Ireland in Google Maps for a bit.
5. Challenge: Go over the project information
1. Have the students plan their trap and what materials they will bring in to build it.

Here is a screenshot of the HyperDoc:

This lesson was a great way for the students to practice using three of the accessibility tools.