Students in 2nd-5th grade have been busy building a Tapigami world! Tapigami is an art, created by Danny Scheible, which uses tape and imagination.
Ms. Amber and I were inspired when we saw this exhibit at the Maker Faire last year in San Mateo. We tuned our project subsequently at our Pueblo Staff Day at the beginning of the year, and excitedly presented the project idea to our kids. 



​Much to our greatest expectations, the kids have loved Tapigami! Students who struggle to find their way have found inspiration and joy in making their Tapigami art. In engineering, our aim is to also create movement and interaction in our world. 
On Friday, September 25th, we were so lucky to have a special guest appearance by the artist and creator himself, Mr. Danny Scheible!
The kids were over the moon, so happy to finally meet him live, after he graciously took time to kick off the project launch via Skype from his Sacramento studio.
He shared more techniques, evaluated the kids' work so far, and gave them the added motivation to keep going. One thing he said that really stuck with us is, "When you don't know what to make, make something about yourself. Nothing is more unique than you are."
We are excited to be sharing our Tapigami project at Maker Faire San Diego next week, Saturday, October 3rd, from 2pm-4pm. It's been a great project and we've been so lucky to work with Danny!
To learn more about Tapigami, visit: http://tapigami.com/

I'm so happy to be back to school for another round of engineering with K-5 students! We have an awesome staff to collaborate with and some very cool experts whom I look forward to joining us this year.

To kick off the year, we did a little hopes and dreams activity and jumped right back into designing our magazine boxes and engineering journals for the classroom. As part of a larger theme for the beginning of the year, Dream Classroom 2.015, I am really motivated to make student thinking visible with a focus on student voice! Last year, students and parents helped our dream classroom become a reality. This year, my goal is to make sure every student has what they need and are inspired when they come to engineering class. I also took photos of my students inspired by #ilooklikeanengineer. This social media campaign began this summer by a female engineer who wanted to dispel the stereotype that engineering is a field of study for men. My hope and dream this year is that every child can see themselves as engineers through making and creating projects and learn the engineering mindest as put forth in this publication (Katehi, L. (2009). Engineering in K-12 education understanding the status and improving the prospects. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.):
The engineering mindset for K-12 focuses on:

1. Systems Thinking
   
2. Creativity
   
3. Optimism
   
4. Collaboration
   
5. Communication
   
6. Ethical considerations

This summer, I also joined the implementation team as a teacher leader for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and I hope to gain valuable processes and ideas to use in the classroom. 

I'm so excited to see what we will be able to accomplish together this school year! 

This trimester was a busy one! It was our first trimester together in Engineering and Design, and I have to say, we ended it with a bang!

We held our first Engineering and Art Exhibition with Ms. Amber on December 3rd. It was a blast! Thanks to our families, we raised money to fund our engineering and art programs.

Then, on the weekend, several fourth graders joined me to represent HTe at the first annual San Diego STEAM Maker Fest held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on December 6th. Here are the stats of the event according to the organizer, Victor:

• We had Slightly over 4,000 people total in the doors at the event
• 84% of Attendees we families with children
• 28 Schools in booths / 6 School robot teams
• 40 makers / 20 Vendors / 12 activates
• 4 stages – Steam Talks, Classroom, Workroom, Music Stage.
• 9 interactive, free, activates for learning.
• 54% Are over the age of 18 
  

We also had the honor of receiving the "Tech Guru" award at the STEAM Maker Fest!

Then, the following week, we showcased our Scratch Butterfly Games at the last San Diego Zoo Tech to Reconnect event. We were the only elementary students presenting and were very proud to have the honor.

Looking forward to the new year and a new trimester. However, 2014 was a great year for HTe Engineering!

What happens when you co-design your classroom with 4th and 5th graders?
I attempted in the first month of school to find out! What I learned in the process is that kids have great ideas and when they share them in an authentic way, they really can transform their learning experience. If environment can be the third teacher, what better way than to involve the students in the planning of their own learning environment!

Through the dream classroom design project, students were able to conceptualize their learning environment, be empathetic to their classmates, present their findings to an expert panel, and put their ideas into action by transforming the space on a Saturday!

It was ambitious to get two classes to design their idea of a dream classroom and make it feasible, accessible and quality work for our K-5 students but over the weeks, they managed to do so. In the end, we had an expert panel help us to combine their ideas into one vision. Then, over the weekend, I invited the whole class to come and make it a reality. Thankfully, four families and a 5th grade student came to work on the classroom and spend their Saturday with me designing our dreams. Mr. Romo also saved our pegboard design by doing a Home Depot run and helping a parent hang the pegboard on our wall. 

Without the dedication of those individuals we never would have accomplished our goals for the day. I am truly indebted. And, the beauty of a caring community is that not only does the child in my class attend, but the entire family! Thanks to the Flowers, Caguioa, Ramirez, and Salcido families and Mr. Romo for dedicating your time to making our dreams a reality!

In our first week, we learned about hopes and dreams for engineering class. Students shared their interests and their prior knowledge of engineering with me. It was a very different challenge for me, teaching six grade levels that are all new to me in a formal context of school. However, amidst the challenges of learning the ropes, we had some bright spots to celebrate.

The first day of school for a Kindergarten student is an exciting, new challenge to figure out his or her place in the group, learn to follow new routines, navigate the new environment, and be creative and exploratory. It was my first day of school today, too! Sitting in the Kindergarten classroom was like rewinding back to the first time I experienced school. Except, fast forward to me now– I’m teaching Kindergarten this year for the first time and I feel as brand new to it as the kiddos. I don’t want to alarm anyone by saying that today felt like my first day. However, it really was! I feel excited to be on that learning journey right along side our new Kindergarten students as a new elementary teacher of engineering and design. 

You may also wonder, what in the world is a Kindergarten student going to learn in Engineering this year? Well, after we learn who we are and the routines of the day, I have a feeling they will teach me more than I ever could have imagined teaching them. However, we are going to have to start slowly.

What I will be sharing on this blog is my own experience as a new K-5 elementary teacher learning to co-design with students at this level.

In K-5 Engineering and Design, we are embarking on our first journey to re-design the engineering classroom. Right now, it’s empty. The white walls, empty storage shelving, whiteboard cabinets, and a blank wall are waiting for students to re-design them. Here is the before photo:













There are four specific areas I hope to co-design with Grade 4/5 students. The rest of the K-3 students will be their clients for the design challenge.

Today, I taught my first class to the fourth grade and did a soft launch of the project. We began in “engineering meeting” mode on the blue carpet. We learned a little about each other and then moved on to ponder what they noticed about our room. They made several observations before we moved onto learning about their hopes and dreams. Here is just one small sampling of a student who has already engineered his hope to build a zip-line connecting one end of our classroom to the other.

What excited me about the fourth graders is that they are ready and rearing to go for a re-design of the classroom. I’ve received many suggestions to paint the walls, decorate, and get tables. So, this is just the beginning. In the next day and following weeks, our goal will be to assess our needs for the classroom, determine some dreams we have for the space, empathize with our classmates about how it will meet the needs of all students and inspire us, and build plans for the design being aware of the constraints of time, budget, and resources.  Our goal is to have a finished classroom by October 9th. We shall see! I'm so glad to be working with your children and look forward to sharing our progress!

I'm so proud of our second graders today as well! They explored their creativity by making a creativity cap. If they get out the tin foil it's because we learned to make hats today. Below you will see their first prototype. We also shared our hopes and dreams with the group through drawings and writing. I can't wait to hear what they hope for as we redesign our classroom.