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.
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.
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