U411C190012
Winchester is 1 of 10 public schools in the country, out of 43 schools in total, to receive the 2019 Education Innovation and Research Early-Phase grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Through the Metrics program, students at John Kerr Elementary School and Garland Quarles Elementary School will have an immersive experience with computer science and computational thinking which are driving the 21st century economy.
U411C190012
Winchester is 1 of 10 public schools in the country, out of 43 schools in total, to receive the 2019 Education Innovation and Research Early-Phase grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Through the Metrics program, students at John Kerr Elementary School and Garland Quarles Elementary School will have an immersive experience with computer science and computational thinking which are driving the 21st century economy.
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Jennifer LaBombard-Daniels
METRICS Project Director
Thank you for taking the time to watch our video! Our research team would be interested in your feedback, especially in regard to the following questions:
Kathy Renfrew
Education SPecialist
Hello Jennifer,
I know I want to be part of this project! I am a former classroom teacher who now works with teachers providing professional learning. We are known for partnering with other organizations and sharing many opportunities for thinking like a scientist and engineer and I think teachers would be very ecited about this work if we are able to show them the "why" and how they could do this with a minimal amount of work due to current stress level of many inservice teachers.
I have to say you got me in the very beginning of the video clip because one of the things i was able ot do this year through the Civil Air patrol was "fly a plane" I think this could easily integrated into a Flght unit for grades 4-6 and even above. I think the computer science component to a currenly developed unit would be added value.
I am wondering what challenges have you met through this project? How have you oversome them? What advice would you give to someone considering taking a prject like this on? Where might one start? I have soooo many questions!
Jennifer LaBombard-Daniels
Jennifer LaBombard-Daniels
METRICS Project Director
Hi Kathy thank you for your response. Absolutely, we struggle with the current stress levels as well in this implementation process but are currently working on resources for teachers to replicate even without the funds of grants. They certainly help for things like STEMersions and field experiences but we have found through the pandemic that there are lots of resources out there that are free and virtual and can easily give students experiences from outside right at their own seats. Some of the challenges we have meet include teacher buy in and turnover as well as whole school implementations when our buildings were partially running through the pandemic. What we learned though was that companies and new resources were developed, implemented and advanced because of the struggles we went through. It also helped that we were looked at as a resource throughout.
My advise would be very clear goals to start with, administrative buy in and start small-grow big.
To start I would say with the state standards and where your state (or the states you are working with) want their students to go. Find a process for delivering the curriculum and model' model, model ;-) Our community partners were crucial as well.
Margo Murphy
Science Instructor
Thank you so much for sharing! I see you are working in elementary schools and seems like you span a wide range of ages. Does this also extend into upper grades with flight as part of the goals? I am also wondering what materials you chose to use and why? It seems like there were several different types of bots/sensors. Did it depend on age group or what students wanted for outcomes? I am really interested in the design challenge for a wise age range. Thanks again!
Jennifer LaBombard-Daniels
Jennifer LaBombard-Daniels
METRICS Project Director
Hi Margo, Thank you for your discussion. Currently we are working with K-4 students and their teachers. We also work with HS, MS, and college age students in delivering CS and STEM content back to our K4 students. Most of what we do can be adapted, especially to the middle school levels. For materials we use LEGO WeDo, Spike Prime, and BricQ Motion. For the littles we use LEGO STEAM Park, Coding Express. We also use ozobots, spheros, wonderbots, beebots, Scratch and Scratch Jr. as well as other downloadable apps, etc. All of our units are integrated with VA Standards of Learning and CS standards and are built around a PBL works model. The equipment was pick to go along with the content of the units. Let me know if you have any further questions.
Jen
Margo Murphy
Science Instructor
I assume the materials are supplied to classrooms through the grant and it seems like a wonderful opportunity to use the best tool for the learning goals of the unit. You have created such a wealth of knowledge around all these different tools, which that alone could be a great resource. I am wondering if there are goals for scaling up at some point and if this would be affordable to a typical school?
Jennifer LaBombard-Daniels
Jennifer LaBombard-Daniels
METRICS Project Director
When we finish our grant yes we would like to bring the concepts to each of our other schools. The funds for resources have been great but really it is the ties the teachers have made and their commitments that have pushed us forward. We are in the process of building a resources guide for others to replicate even without the funds.
Margo Murphy
Science Instructor
Do you have a website where we could access the resource guide when it is ready?
Jennifer LaBombard-Daniels
METRICS Project Director
Here is our section of the WPS website: https://www.wps.k12.va.us/Page/11579
We will most certainly be sharing out our resources once they are published.
Thank you
Jen
Latrenda Knighten
Mathematics Content Trainer
Thanks for sharing your project. You definitely had me hooked with the opening scenes of the video. The students and teacher seem completely engaged in the activities on the video. I noticed that your project is currently in two schools. What specific activities do you incorporate in the METRICS program? What grade levels are the students involved in the METRICS project? What types of professional learning experiences do you provide for the teachers? Have you observed significant differences in the teachers' content knowledge after participation in the project?
Thanks, again.
Jennifer LaBombard-Daniels
Jennifer LaBombard-Daniels
METRICS Project Director
Hi Latrenda,
Thank you for your discussion. We work with 4 goals. For teacher we work with them through Teacher development and coaching, and CS PBL curriculum building. For students we work with our 3 student support labs (PEDLE, STE{A}M, Makerspace) and Student tethers to real world applications (competitions, field experiences, career development, family and community etc). We are focused on grades K-4. For PD we have held conferences where they get to choose their PD topic and equipment training. We have had fullday and release days for curriculum building and development and we have also participated in local and national CS, Engineering and STEM conferences. This year was a real opener where reflections from conferences teachers shared that they felt way more advanced than others in the sessions they were in so we believe it is having an effect on their knowledge. We also have a 3 step coaching model that happens all year long where our coaches train a team on a concept, then model it in the classroom and finally complete a reflective observation with the teacher/team on what was observed and where they would like to go next.
Latrenda Knighten
Latrenda Knighten
Mathematics Content Trainer
Jennifer,
Thanks for your response. I LOVE that you include coaches to support your teachers during this learning journey. The 3-step approach to coaching is a great approach to ensure that the teachers are getting the support they need as they implement these concepts in their classrooms.
Jennifer LaBombard-Daniels
METRICS Project Director
Thank you so much. We have lots to learn but for sure these steps are working for all teachers invested.