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!