Innovation in the Classroom

Engineering Design Steps

• Ask Questions
• Imagine Solution
• Plan a
• Create
• Improve

Things to look for in Today's Classrooms

• Voice
• Choice
• Time for Reflection
• Opportunities for Innovatio
• Critical Thinkers
• Problem Solvers/Finder
• Self-Assessment
• Connected Learning

Student's Role

• Think big and figure out what they are passionate about.
• Have an open mind.
• Take Risks – don’t be afraid to fail.
• Think creatively.
• Support one another in their learning.
• Guide their own learning.
• Learn to time manage.

Teacher's Role

• Take Risks – be ok with failure.
• Expose students to new ideas and issues that are in our world.
• Help ignite passion within their students.
• Support their students in finding ways to explore those passions.
• Help their students learn where and how to find credible information.
• projects.
• Advocate on behalf of your students.
• Help students reflect on their learning – what worked, what didn’t and what will you do differently next time?

Teacher's Role Continued...

• Support students on learning time management skills.
• Connect curriculum to their passion projects.
• Model the love of learning and promote lifelong learning.
• Advocate on behalf of your students.

Lesson Ideas

The Handiest Things Lesson

Time Needed: 3 Days
Day 1: Engage and Explore
Day 2: Explain
Day 3: Elaborate and Evaluate

Materials: The Handiest Things Picture Cards, 2 Umbrellas, student pages, examples of inventions such as dog leash or broom with a dust pan.

The Handiest Things: Day 1

• Engage: Read the book, The Handiest Things by Andrew Clement.
• Explore: Using an umbrella, have students create a T-chart for the parts of an umbrella and their purpose.

The Handiest Things: Day 2

• Explain: Read the book, Engineering In Our Everyday Lives. Explain that innovative items created such as the umbrella are known as technologies that were designed to solved a problem. Have students create a T-Chart and go around the room and see if they can find any technologies that were created to help in the classroom.

The Handiest Things: Day 3

• Elaborate: Students are now going to observe a backpack and identify as many parts and their purpose. Students will notice that there are differences between backpacks. Then they are going to create their own model for a new designed backpack that they are going to present to their peers.

The Handiest Things: Day 3 Continued...

• Evaluate: Students will write and present their new ideas for their backpacks to the class.

A Birthday Is No Ordinary Day Lesson

Time Needed: 3 Days
Day 1: Engage and Explore
Day 2: Explain
Day 3: Elaborate and Evaluate

Materials: crayons; list of student birthdays; computer, website that provides sun rise, sunset, and hours of daylight information; 4 poster boards; globe; pushpin or sticker; lamp with the shade removed; student pages.

A Birthday is No Ordinary Day: Day 1

• Engage: Read book, A Birthday Cake is No Ordinary Cake, by Debra Frasier. Teacher will lead discussions about determining importance and asking questions.
• Teacher will lead discussions about determining importance and asking questions.

Day 1 continued...

• Explore: Students will be given a birthday cake sheet and will fill in information on their birthday and add candles to the top of how many times they’ve circled the sun. Students will utilize a site or app that will tell them what time the sun rises, the sun sets, and hours of daylight on their birthday.

A Birthday is No Ordinary Day: Day 2

• Explain: The teacher hangs the 4 seasons cards around the room. Students will try to get in order based on their birthday and the season in which their birthday is in. We will go around and listen to the hours of sunlight and daylight each student has on their birthday and notice any patterns or changes.

Day 2 Continued...

• Explain: We will read the book, Jump Into Science: Sun, by Steven Tomecek & Carla Golembe. We will be reading in order to understand the main idea and key details about the sun and relate this information back to our birthdays

A Birthday is No Ordinary Day: Day 3

• Elaborate: Create a class graph. The graph will represent the hours of sunlight per each child’s birthday. Then as a class they can graph how many student’s birthdays fall into which season.
• Evaluate: Students will get to compare and contrast their birthday to someone in their family’s birthday.

Day 3 continued...

• The birthday cards should include:
• the month and date of the recipient’s birthday
• sunrise, sunset, hours & minutes of daylight
• compare and contrast the hours of daylight to the students,
• tell them how many trips around the sun they’ve completed.

My School's Innovation Room

Untitled Slide

Our Supplies Storage

Types of Activities on our Innovation Room

3D Printers- I don't have a lot of experience using the 3D Printer. However, I think this would be great to use to make a prototype for the Handiest Things Backpack lesson.

Dash Robot- I use this robot a lot for practicing math facts. I place cards in areas around the Innovation Room with answers. Students have to get their robot to the correct answer for the math question I provide.

Students used supplies from our supply storage to create musical instruments for our MySci Science Unit.

We use ScatchJr Coding Cards to help teach our students how to code. We also have a cool Code & Go Robot Mouse activity set to help them practice coding.

Credits

• Couros, G. (2015). The innovator’s mindset: empower learning, unleash talent, and lead a culture of creativity. San Diego, CA: Dave Burgess Consulting.

Credits

• Chambers, R. 2018, September 16. What are the roles of teachers and students in an inquiry classroom? Unlearn With Us. https://unlearnwithus.com/2018/09/16/what-are-the-roles-of-teachers-and-stu...

Credits

• Morgan, E. & Ansberry, K. (2017). Picture Perfect STEM Lessons, K-2 Using Children's Books to Inspire STEM Learning. Arlington, VA. NSTApress.